Table of the Week Club...Week 41: XENON

shutyertrap · Nov 22, 2015

Nothing like enjoying the pleasures of pinball and a table that seems to pleasure itself, Xenon! I think we can all agree that this is one of those tables where the art and sound make it, while the gameplay is just sorta average. And no, squinting real hard will not turn it into Paragon. Remember, this TotW is not part of the tourney this Saturday, but next month's.

Speaking of TotM, registration opens on Wednesday. So while sitting in those Black Friday lines, feel free to sign up and practice some tables! I do believe we're going to be giving away another custom shooter rod from www.Wizardamusement.com, so you'll want to play for sure to have a chance in our random drawing. See you all Saturday!

EldarOfSuburbia · Nov 22, 2015

Try a tube shot... hur hur hur.

invitro · Nov 22, 2015

shutyertrap said:
I think we can all agree that this is one of those tables where the art and sound make it, while the gameplay is just sorta average.

Well, sort of. My opinion: the art is nothing special; there are several tables from 1979-1981 with actually special art. The sound is terrific of course. I actually think that the gameplay is terrific... with the gigantic caveat that each multiball run is exactly like every other one (after the tube is maxed). Maybe this is standard for the era, but I much prefer (say) Gorgar, which has enough going on that it's not quite so repetitive. It needs one more feature to keep good players interested. But I do think that the first couple of multiball runs are outstanding fun.

Also: Farsight did one helluva a job on Xenon, unless they made it a bit too easy.

(I agree with you guys that Farsight cheesed Paragon, but I don't think Xenon is too bad of a substitute... given that I haven't actually played Paragon.

I really hope that Paragon eventually makes it but I'm starting to worry.)

P.S. I know why you folks think Xenon is a bit NSFW but I don't think I agree... it's just a woman sighing.

I think "Good head, my favorite" is much more raunchy.

Fungi · Nov 22, 2015

Answering the question... can I play pinball with only one hand? No.

invitro · Nov 22, 2015

I actually specialized in one-hand pinball back in the 1990's and won a mini-tournament or two. It was my favorite type of novelty play by far. I could regularly get replays on Addams Family one-handed. I practiced it a lot, playing one-handed to finish off the credits when I was done playing a machine. It often drew some watchers. I'm suited for it as my right hand & arm are extremely coordinated but my left hand is almost vestigial. I'm a bit sad that TPA has no way at all to do real one-hand games, unless with an accurate cabinet I suppose.

mpad · Nov 23, 2015

Seriously?

Slam23 · Nov 23, 2015

Cayle George himself (one of the top real pinball players in the world) has said that he often practices with one hand. This forces you to employ a lot of technique to offset the loss of one flipper. A lot of nudging and deadpassing.

Locksley · Nov 23, 2015

I see...
Now as far as Xenon goes I wont be practicing this table but in tournament I will just punish that tubeshot for the bonus it gives.
Wish Paragon won but don't mind having Xenon in TPA at all, it is after all a classic - the sound carries the table I hazard to guess...

EldarOfSuburbia · Nov 23, 2015

There's a bug in Xenon with regard to how it registers rollover scores. It's happened to me twice now.

The first time I got a score near to 10M, then had a bad game (150K) immediately afterward. Except that 150K game got registered in-game and on the leaderboards as 10,150,000! Didn't really bother me at the time, since I had almost got that score anyway, and I did go on to beat it with a legitimate 10.4M game.

Then yesterday, I got one score of nearly 10M, then immediately followed it up with a 12M game - except that was registered as 22M!

So, I would suggest for the tournament, to quit and re-start the table between games otherwise you might fall foul of this bug.

vikingerik · Nov 23, 2015

invitro said:
It needs one more feature to keep good players interested.

The real machine has that. The specials. That's what good players are supposed be interested in. There's three separate tracks to earn specials: X awards (the top saucer) during multiball, the tube value, and the drop target bank. We ignore those in TPA, but there's plenty to do on the machine when credits are real and significant.

Stuzz · Nov 25, 2015

Well that's unfortunate - this table isn't available on 360. Put me down for a 0 please

jaredmorgs · Nov 25, 2015

Stuzz said:
Well that's unfortunate - this table isn't available on 360. Put me down for a 0 please

:thumbsdown:

dave950lam · Nov 25, 2015

shutyertrap said:
Nothing like enjoying the pleasures of pinball and a table that seems to pleasure itself, Xenon! I think we can all agree that this is one of those tables where the art and sound make it, while the gameplay is just sorta average. And no, squinting real hard will not turn it into Paragon. Remember, this TotW is not part of the tourney this Saturday, but next month's.

Speaking of TotM, registration opens on Wednesday. So while sitting in those Black Friday lines, feel free to sign up and practice some tables! I do believe we're going to be giving away another custom shooter rod from www.Wizardamusement.com, so you'll want to play for sure to have a chance in our random drawing. See you all Saturday!

We need the TotM link......

Extork · Nov 25, 2015

I'm down with Xenon. She doesn't like me back tho.

Ponball

shutyertrap · Nov 25, 2015

The link is now open.

http://goo.gl/forms/5vJM0lMo0m

There's also an announcement on the articles page, as well as it's own thread, and it's been Tweeted about. Have I missed anything?

Locksley · Nov 25, 2015

shutyertrap said:
<snip> Have I missed anything?

Well; you might give a heads up on steam too just to cover as many bases as possible

Pinballwiz45b · Nov 25, 2015

Done and done.

Snorzel · May 23, 2016

Hey! We are closing in on the May tournament, and Xenon is one of the tables! Post your thoughts and strategies.

Xenon came the same year as Zaccaria released Star God, Fire Mountain & Space Shuttle. Gameplay on Xenon can be broken down similarly to House of Daimonds & Clown. HoD shoot the spinner with the left flipper right flipper shoot the Joker nudge for the hole on both. Clown shoot the spinner with the left flipper right flipper shoot the bouns X lane. Sign up to be eligible to win the Zaccaria Pinball on PC code!

So it seems best to shoot the tube from the left flipper and nudge to save when it ejects, and shoot the spinner with the right flipper and nudge to get rollovers before going in the hole. Anything I missed?

Table of the Week Club...Week 41: XENON

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