What's your favorite type of pinball table?

Kratos3 · Sep 14, 2014

The categories are pretty generic, but I think encompass all types of pins.

I have to go with Alphanumeric SS. Those are the ones I keep going back to and enjoy the most. The fact that those are the tables from when I was a kid has a lot to do with it, I'm sure. It seems like pinball is a very nostalgic past-time.

I like the newer tables like Medieval Madness, Star Trek: TNG, and especially Theater of Magic, but my absolute favorites are Pin*Bot, Funhouse, BK2K, and tables from that era.

Dedpop · Sep 14, 2014

Solid State System 11

Kolchak357 · Sep 14, 2014

I have favorites in each category. I also have pins I don't like in each category. But since I have to pick I will go with EM. My second choice would be post 2000 DMD.

k88dad · Sep 14, 2014

I voted for the Solid State category. I came of age with the wide bodies like Paragon, but fed many a quarter into the likes of Gorgar and Firepower. Early solid state advances in pinball, like lane change with flipper, speech and mechanical locking were thrilling at the time. Centaur has been one of the most pleasant surprises in TPA, for many a player.

Like Kolchak, I like pinball from all eras. TPA needs more representatives from both the EM and Post-2000 eras. I would be as excited for LOTR as I am for Addams Family. The best Gottlieb machines were EMs. To be fair, some of those became better-selling SS machines. Royal Flush sold over 12,000 as an EM, and more as a SS deluxe version. Joker Poker was one of the last EMs, and sold most of its 10,000 as a SS.

kinggo · Sep 14, 2014

Alpha numeric SS. Still waiting for at least one of my favourite.

Fungi · Sep 14, 2014

Anything made past the '60s. I don't see a choice for that.

netizen · Sep 14, 2014

I like games from each category, but I much prefer the SS and EM categories. To me the games feel more open and free flowing; by this I mean that there isn't as much directed game play in modes and the like that you have to do specific shots in a specific order as often to get the same level of enjoyment.

BStarfire · Sep 14, 2014

Netizen is spot on.

David T. Melnick · Sep 18, 2014

netizen said:
I like games from each category, but I much prefer the SS and EM categories. To me the games feel more open and free flowing; by this I mean that there isn't as much directed game play in modes and the like that you have to do specific shots in a specific order as often to get the same level of enjoyment.

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SS & EM....constant flow. My thoughts too.

gooche77 · Sep 18, 2014

90s DMDs all day long.

jbejarano · Sep 18, 2014

Alpha-numeric SS is where I really cut my teeth on pinball, so that's my answer. But, any of those categories has its appeal.

Snorzel · Sep 19, 2014

I love all types of pins. I voted EM because they are seriously underrepresented in this game. If the goal is to preserve the history of pinball for future generations, more parody in the type of table available in the game would be nice. We have TWO EMs! At least do a couple from the top ten lists on pinside or ipdb.

nstalkie · Sep 19, 2014

Pre-2000 DMD because for me it brings the most nostalgia. Hell, I bought TPA because it had TZ, which is one of my favourite tables. On top of that, TPA has other pinballs i played A LOT (AfM (another favorite, but just outside of my top 3, now that I learned it properly in TPA, it might just be up there though), CftBL, ...). All of the ones I remember playing IRL were 90's DMD's (except for High Speed, I seem to remember playing that one in my youth club, though it may have been High Speed II, I can't even remember if it had a DMD or not ... damn my brain).

Jeff Strong · Sep 19, 2014

I like my pinball MACHINES to feel like machines, so the 70's was my favorite era. The early 80's is a close 2nd.

wolfson · Sep 19, 2014

I started on the EMs,so I have a very soft spot for them.close 2nd the ALPHA NUMERIC SS,i still luv all the tables!!!

superballs · Sep 20, 2014

The most important category was left out...The fun ones. Really at the day that's the only category that matters. I'm my opinion flight 2000 and big shot sit on the same level as afm or high speed. The era doesn't matter a bit. I don't see any point on limiting my enjoyment by preferring one over the other...I want each table to stand on its own merits.

superballs · Sep 20, 2014

Jeff Strong said:
I like my pinball MACHINES to feel like machines, so the 70's was my favorite era. The early 80's is a close 2nd.

There is way more mechanical stuff happening on later dmd tables typically than on old ems. In theory, a dmd machine could eschew keeping the score on the dot matrix and actually use the rim to control score reels...which would actually be kind of cool. Otherwise a dmd is no different than an em in that it simply uses electrical logic to control the play field. It's just a different approach and the logic is taken care of in inside a logic processor instead of physical wiring.

DokkenRokken · Sep 20, 2014

It's easily SS for me.

Elvira and The Party Monsters, F-14 Tomcat, Phantom of the Opera, Taxi, etc.... those are my favorite types of tables.

Jeff Strong · Sep 20, 2014

superballs said:
There is way more mechanical stuff happening on later dmd tables typically than on old ems. In theory, a dmd machine could eschew keeping the score on the dot matrix and actually use the rim to control score reels...which would actually be kind of cool. Otherwise a dmd is no different than an em in that it simply uses electrical logic to control the play field. It's just a different approach and the logic is taken care of in inside a logic processor instead of physical wiring.

I'm talking about from the player's perspective: the sounds, feel, etc...not what's actually going on under the hood....but really it was just a cool way of saying I like 70’s pins.

Nightwing · Sep 20, 2014

superballs said:
The most important category was left out...The fun ones. Really at the day that's the only category that matters. I'm my opinion flight 2000 and big shot sit on the same level as afm or high speed. The era doesn't matter a bit. I don't see any point on limiting my enjoyment by preferring one over the other...I want each table to stand on its own merits.

Completely agree. Especially on F2K & Big Shot. F2K is probably my favorite Stern table in TPA,and I played Big Shot more than Scared Stiff when they both came out in the same pack - and SS is on my Top 10 list of real life favorite tables.

There are tables from all eras that stand out by just how much fun they are to play. If I had to choose one - it would be 90s DMD by a tiny hair. But I want all types of pins in TPA. Pinball history right? So I choose not to vote.

What's your favorite type of pinball table?

What's your favorite type of pinball table?

Electro Mechanical (Central Park, Big Shot...)

Solid State (Gorgar, Centaur, Firepower..)

Alpha Numeric SS (High Speed, Pin*Bot, Funhouse...)

Pre-2000 DMD (Fish Tales, Twilight Zone, MM...)

Post-2000 DMD (Ripley's, LOTR, Metallica...)

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