Gameplan: EM tables.

Jutter · Jan 3, 2013

Test-balloon-idea-thingy:

Release EM-oldies in seperate lucrative classic-bundles. Two EM tables for ($5) the price of one Steady State table. Because rom-emulation isn't nessecary, I assume such classics require less work than the solid state favorites.
Stick, primarily, to the modern voluptiousness of ramps and music and dot-matrix mini-games, but every now and then... for those who appreciate TPA as a playable-pinball-museum, as well as an arcade game, kick out a classic-pack. For those who aren't into the classics, a pack containing a bleep-bloop-outlanedrain-machine will be an unnessecarily weak sale. Keep it seperated.

Heretic · Jan 3, 2013

I believe it was once said their wont be anything pre. 65? Could wrong, thats still a huge catalog, and bigshot has went over well and unforgiving thing bt fun

Gord Lacey · Jan 3, 2013

Jutter said:
Test-balloon-idea-thingy:

Release EM-oldies in seperate lucrative classic-bundles. Two EM tables for ($5) the price of one Steady State table. Because rom-emulation isn't nessecary, I assume such classics require less work than the solid state favorites.

No, they don't require less work, because all the rules have to be scripted, instead of relying on the ROM to do the logic.

Kolchak357 · Jan 3, 2013

I really enjoy the EMs. Played a lot of them as a kid and I still know a place near me that has a bunch of them. But I don't know how well a pack of EMs would go over. Many find them slow, boring, or frustrating. But as long as they sprinkle one in here and there I will be happy. It would be sweet to have 10 or 12 of them if TPA continues for a few years.

Nightwing · Jan 4, 2013

Kolchak357 said:
I really enjoy the EMs. Played a lot of them as a kid and I still know a place near me that has a bunch of them. But I don't know how well a pack of EMs would go over. Many find them slow, boring, or frustrating. But as long as they sprinkle one in here and there I will be happy. It would be sweet to have 10 or 12 of them if TPA continues for a few years.

Exactly - while most of the great pins came out in the 80s & 90s, there are still some gems worth having from the EM days...

SKILL_SHOT · Jan 4, 2013

Its strange cycling through the tables then you get to BS and its so quite.

Jutter · Jan 4, 2013

SKILL_SHOT said:
Its strange cycling through the tables then you get to BS and its so quite.

You can see how many are playing which table? this is not an android feature.

Jutter · Jan 4, 2013

Gord Lacey said:
No, they don't require less work, because all the rules have to be scripted, instead of relying on the ROM to do the logic.

Too assumptious then. The question whether the oldest of oldies should be bundeled with a flashy 'steady', or with another oldie in a dedicated classic pack, might still be interresting to ponder though.

SKILL_SHOT · Jan 5, 2013

You will attract more sales with one of each instead of alot passing on the whole pack they worked so hard to make. BIG SHOT is quite... just BING BONG PING everything else has some kind of noise besides hitting targets.

superballs · Jan 7, 2013

Jutter said:
You can see how many are playing which table? this is not an android feature.

He was referring to the lack of background music.

I have to disagree though.
I think Big Shot was a very pleasant surprise to most.
I personally was excited for a good EM but had never played Big Shot before. I had greatly enjoyed the VP version of Scared Stiff but i played BS almost exclusively until STTNG was released then started playing TZ.

I just hope they release Triple Strike. A blazing fast and brutal table but somehow captures the tetris effect (i can do that much better i'm sure)

SilverBallFiend · Jan 9, 2013

I would love to see more EM pins on TPA!

Kolchak357 · Jan 9, 2013

A few I'd like to see are: Fireball, Ship Ahoy, Bow and Arrow, El Dorado, Spirit of 76, Mata Hari and Triple Strike. Oh, and Speakeasy, which somebody recently posted a video for, and it looked very good.

What EMs would you like to see recreated?

BStarfire · Jan 11, 2013

Any love for Gottlieb's Majorettes? That's probably one of my favorite machines of all time, even though it's a mid-sixties EM. It's so different from other machines and looks so impossible at first, but I've never had more intense pinball playing than on that machine. Despite the playfield's looks, it's not a drain machine but it takes skill. The strangest thing is getting used to the timing of simply moving your flippers to allow the ball to pass through (either direction) depending on the trajectory. I think I had one game where I went 30 seconds without the flipper touching the ball, and an intense 30 seconds as I was managing the bounce from the lower playfield and the number 5 bumpers, dancing with the flippers to avoid knocking the ball to its death. Once you start a game of Majorettes you'll forget it has no graphics, toys, or what not, but be absorbed but its play and intensity. Of course, I love some of the other classic Gottliebs but pinball has evolved in the ensuing decades. Majorettes, however, has a playability that still holds up and is a classic and unique game that deserves immortality in the TPA world. Nothing else is quite like it.

Jutter · Jan 11, 2013

Kolchak357 said:
Oh, and Speakeasy, which somebody recently posted a video for, and it looked very good.

There are VP/Pinmame files for that one by the way. But reportedly it's not an EM, so I guess it's just a really old Steady State.

Carl Spiby · Jan 11, 2013

btw SS = Solid State.

Jutter · Jan 11, 2013

BStarfire said:
Any love for Gottlieb's Majorettes?

Couldn't find VP/PinMAME files, or a you-tube clip for it, so I guess you'd really need to be familliar with the actual table.

Two VP recreations that caught my eye were SKYROCKET and HONEY. Both are relatively drain-friendly for such old tables, due to thick posts in between the flippers, that aren't particularly shy about popping up for a bit during play. Especially SKYROCKET offers plenty opportunities to prolong gameplay by earning replays and extra balls. Should Farsight want to throw in some vintage arcade-gaming, while maintaining appeal for the more casual crowd, those would be two fun EM's.

Another one that intrigued me, due to it's sophisticated mechanisms with little moving doors, was WIZZARD. But that's a tougher table, and likely a ***** to scrypt.

Jutter · Jan 11, 2013

Carl Spiby said:
btw SS = Solid State.

Facepalm. I'll remember that.

Zoku Gojira · Jan 16, 2013

As much as I love the digitized speech in tables like Gorgar, Bride of Pin-Bot ("My God, she's alive!"), and Taxi, the EM tables are my favorites and where I spend most of my time when a pinball/gameroom show is in town.

One that I'd love to see, and that would make a fantastic companion to Space Shuttle, is Skylab from the early '70s. Great art, great theme. Fun gameplay, if a little spacious in that way that is totally refreshing after all the overly busy Zen stuff on consoles.

Love that there's room for the ball to bounce around the sides, not just a couple table-length ramps.

BStarfire · Jan 26, 2013

I found recreations of Majorettes on irpinball for both vp and Future pinball. Now I haven't played a lot of those older games for real, but if the recreations are any indication, then Subway/Crosstown is also really good and I'm sure the Farsight crew could make great improvements. Actually, for the above mentioned games and Slick Chick I'd pay quite a sum for that triple pack! Three addictive games each with very different play.

Gameplan: EM tables.

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