There are some late ’80s pinball machines that, despite not having a DMD, are still really fun to play and have a faster style of gameplay that feels like the beginning of the ’90s. If I’m not mistaken, these are the System 11 machines.

Yesterday I found an F-14 Tomcat at a technician’s workshop I know. I also remember Dr. Dude, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Taxi, Diner, Space Station, and one of my favorites is Elvira and the Party Monsters.

Even without a DMD, they still have great music, light effects, and a lot of atmosphere. Do you have any others in mind? I probably wouldn’t choose one as my first or second pinball machine, but maybe as a third or fourth one.

Recently, I've been trying to find a good pinball alternative online and on steam since I no longer have consistent access to a physical pinball machine. I've ran into games like PinballFX and Zen Pinball, but I feel like these digital alternatives don't hit the same as physical machines. Is this a common consensus or have I just not found a good digital pinball game?

I am pretty excited to have my first ever machine arrived today (Thanks Zach) … I’ve been a Transformers collector for years and have always wanted a pinball machine so when I saw this one get released I had to have it. I have some Prime and Megatron prints being framed to add to the wall.

Been having a blast playing the avatar we just got in

Erm, yeah. That's about it really.

As the attract mode message I've put in on Red & Ted says, "WELCOME TO / (name)'S HOUSE OF / TURBO AUTISM / AND PINBALL / (ZERO REGRETS)"

Are free game shots (Specials) a thing anymore? What was the last Stern game to offer a Special?

I played some pinball this week (Pokemon and Rush) and was surprised that neither game seemed to offer a special free game shot The only ways to win a game were: beating the "score to beat", becoming the Grand Champion, and matching.

Is there a place to see the leaderboards for this tournament? I have scoured the internet to find it. I know it streams on foxcitiespinball.

I am new to the hobby so maybe this isn't available? I just want to keep up with it while the tournament is happening. Thanks!

Behold!

...all I could think about was pinball.

Always a happy day! #3 in the house! Already wondering what will be #4!

We could have made it all sevens

'The venture will feature immersive attractions, flight simulators, experiential retail and themed dining, including a reimagined Hard Deck bar from Top Gun: Maverick,'

Seems like a dated theme, but it's Vegas, so who knows. Old people like Vegas. With the quickie wedding chapel next to that, you'll be able to get married, sing You Lost That Loving Feeling with Goose at the Hard Deck bar, then play pinball at the PHOF, all within an hour, which ain't bad. Las Vegas is amazing.

Just picked up 1974 Delta Queen. Needed more repair than I initially realized. Lightning flippers will stay on until I get a parts order to fully rebuild the flippers. Had a wacky mismatch set of old Gottlieb and modern Williams logo flippers on when I bought it. Purchased from the son in law of the original owner. This river queen lived most of its life in LA and then road tripped to Portland. Has been in a loft viewing the Willamette River for the last decade. Will be playable on location for a few weeks before I bring it home.

Brought in a very nice condition Simpsons Pinball Party today. It looks like it hasn’t been touched for at least 10 years. I immediately put in a color DMD and upgraded the cpu board to pinsound, and changed a few easy to access rubbers.

Up next I’ll upgrade the audio add a shaker motor and upgrade the armor. Love this game!

Hi everyone!

I've finally made my decision: I'll be letting my Fish Tales go and replacing it with two restored machines (hopefully they'll be ready by September): The Getaway: High Speed II and Dracula.

The Dracula in this video was just finished for another customer, and I had the chance to play a few games on it. This is just my personal opinion after playing it, but I actually found Fish Tales to feel more brutal, twitchy, and unpredictable. I'm definitely not saying Dracula is easy—it isn't—but to me it felt more deliberate and tactical, at least before multiball starts.

What really won me over was the atmosphere. The theme, callouts, music, sound effects, and DMD animations are simply fantastic. I've always loved the Dracula movie and horror in general, so this machine really clicked with me.

I reached the video mode twice, which I really enjoyed, and that final wolf howl is absolutely unforgettable.

Now I completely understand why so many people keep Dracula in their collections for years, and why some owners even buy it back after selling it.

I'm really excited to finally own one!

first post on reddit ever just had to hop on here to say that this game kicks so much ass. easily the funnest pinball i’ve played, is this a good score for this game i have no idea .
97M let me know team

When I won the pinball tournament last week, I received this medal.

It is an original medal made to order, and I like the cool design that imitates the bumper.
IFPA points are not high, but I can do my best for this medal.

Mine seem to make aiming more difficult right after I clean or replace them. Then there is a sort of ‘sweet time’ for about maybe 50 games where the aim is better and my scores increase. Then at a certain point aim falls off again scores drop on average and I begin to realize the bands are getting too dirty and it’s time to clean or replace them.
And the cycle begins again…..

I saw that the Pinburgh tournament starts today.

Do you know if it can be watched streamed anywhere? I didn't see any link on their website.

Can anyone point me to a video/etc to explain how to do this? Sorry I’m losing my mind trying to find out how.

Quick follow-up to last week. ~1,270 of you stopped by houseball.xyz this week — thanks y'all!

What's new since:

- A weekly Pulse & Watch Lists: scene-wide leaderboards. Two favorites: a Dynasty Board of who's won their state the most all-time, and The Mike Index (lol), which settles once and for all whether there are more rated Chrises or Mikes. (Chrises. 1,491 to 1,432.)

- A real design pass — cleaner all over, especially on desktop. Hopefully more enjoyable and easier to explore (no more scrolling!)

- A few things some of you asked for are in now — the full state qualifying field, state champions, Canada.

There's a little shop too, but honestly it's priced at cost — I make about zero selling any of it, but I wanted to give people the chance to wear it at League Night if they wanted! I just hope folks enjoy poking around as much as I've enjoyed building it.

One thing I'd love to add someday is deeper machine history — which games you've played, how you trend on them. That takes more data than I've got, and I'd rather build it the right way than lean too hard on the free APIs we all share. We'll see!

Oh — and there's a Discord now. If you want to talk pinball, flag a bug, or lob an idea, come hang: discord.gg/X9TKPuwHEN — a good bit of the app started as exactly those kinds of comments. (The in-app feedback button still works too.)

And if you'd like to put a face with the name, you can find me on Flip Side's stream from last night, I'm whitdog.

lol saw the name - got excited to find pins in the wild. Nope (PS thanks for all your comments! Yeah I totally get it but just having a laugh - thank heck for pinball maps! My best way to find pins in the wild on purpose)

I'd like to take on the project of a pinball machine that has been seriously hacked to shit by the previous owner. I'm talking a machine where some dummy cut out all the internals and hardwired the flippers to the wall.

Basically I want a project machine that nobody else wants to fix because it's electrically beyond saving (but isn't literally rotting away/moldy).

Anyone know where to find such a disaster in need of love?