Whoa, that’s a pretty neat incentive. But personally, I think adding new locations and machines to the map is an incentive in and of itself. I haven’t added as many machines to the Los Angeles section as I used to though, since it seems that shortly after I started adding them in, other people started doing it too, and they’re doing a way better job of finding these locations than me. That, and I don’t do quite as much relaxed-pace traveling as I did before.
You guys can also track when machines are removed and by whom, right? Otherwise, there might be people who will repeatedly remove machines and put them back up.
Me neither. I mean, I poke my head in places here and there. But I don’t explore like I used to. Back when we started this, we had friends in Portland who’d spend their weekends scouting around… and they weren’t even into pinball! They just liked maps and thought it was a fun project.
What do y’all think about pinball machines on military bases? That doesn’t seem “public” to me, and hence not worth adding to the map. But I want to hear other opinions.
All my analogies are surfing-related: Where I grew up, Pt Mugu Naval Base was a few miles away, and they controlled all beach access. There is a really great wave hidden there, and you need base access to surf it (you can’t even boat to it). I’ve never surfed it. I feel that is the definition of private. As a comparison, to the north of where I lived is a private ranch containing like 10 world class waves. BUT, you can boat in (and anchor offshore), and you can even walk in if you walk below the mid-tide line. To me, that doesn’t seem private; only restricted/limited.
I would say add them with a note saying something like Must show military ID to enter base. Technically they aren’t public, but there are plenty of active and retired military folks out there. Would be nice to show them some love from the pinball community. As a devout location player, I can’t imagine any other scenario where I would agree to putting private games on the map. But the military, hell yes.
Could they maybe get a camo colored icon on the map?
Thanks! I added the location in question. The person who submitted it told me that a lot of people in the area have access. And I made a note in the description that you need base access.
Also, apparently you can boat into that Pt Mugu surf spot (hard to find up to date info, though). K, now I just need a boat!
I got a call today from the Santa Cruz area and caller ID said McNeil. It instantly made me think of surfing. Dude wanted to buy a 1955 Bally Miami Beach on eBay right now and wanted to know if I could fix/ restore it. I said no, but gave him a referral to someone who could help him. After I hung up, I googled McNeil surfing and figured out that I was probably thinking of O’Neil wetsuits, which is based in SC. False surfing alarm. Hope you get that boat some day. d;^)
There’s a WOF (or maybe it’s something else now) at the USPS cafeteria which I added a while ago. Ppl thought you couldn’t go in but you totally can. I like listing if there’s a way the public can visit but not if it’s truly private.
Sometimes the pins at some Cinemark theaters become semi-private. You need a movie ticket to get past the ropes to where the pins are. Just buy a ticket to the last showing of any movie, play as along as you like, then ask for a refund before the movies starts. It’s mostly kids working there. They won’t even ask why if you have your receipt.
The downtown Redwood City theaters are sometimes this way. It’s a big arcade in a cool neighborhood. If you’re in the area, check it out.
All depends on the admin. I try to add things myself after a week has lapsed. But it’s hard to keep up with it all. What’d you submit? I can add it today.
Added! Strange that their website doesn’t even mention the arcade.
Do you happen to know which machines are at Earl Bowl Lanes in Telford, and at Quakertown Farmers Market? Both were submitted recently, but didn’t list the machines. And when I asked the guy who submitted them, he didn’t seem to understand my question…
With regards to the arcade not being mentioned on the website… It is fairly new. The owner hasn’t really tried getting the word out until he had everything in place and had most of the collection up and running. But I’m going to be getting a tournament going there soon so I figured now would be a good time to start trying to get the word out about the location so the first tournament has a decent turn out.
As far as Quakertown Farmer’s Market, last time I was there it was X-Files, Terminator 2, Nascar, and Rollercoaster Tycoon. I can swing by this weekend to verify if that has changed Condition for all are usually playable, but usually you’ll find a few small issues.
For Earl Bowl Lanes, games are Spider-Man, Elvis, Ripley’s, Batman Dark Knight, NBA Fastbreak, Lord of the Rings, Simpsons Pinball Party, Pirates of the Caribbean. Condition for those are also iffy. This location is a shame because it is a great lineup but there isn’t an operator. The owner of the bowling alley owns the games and just doesn’t care to fix them. I’ve emailed him a detailed list of issues and he said he would take a look. Months have gone by and they haven’t been fixed so I stopped going back.
That’s always the worst. People buy machines without understanding the regular maintenance that’s necessary thinking they can make more profit by “cutting out the middle man”. When in fact they turn away tons of people who might be regulars by not maintaining the machines.
So now they think pinball doesn’t earn, they’re stuck with some busted-ass machines that no one wants to play, and any newbies that do end up playing are turned off of pinball by everything being broken. It’s such a lose-lose.
It’s like, I want to come and spend money at your place if you actually cared enough to do it right. I’ve seen this a few times and it always just boggles my mind. I tell employees about the issues a few times, then I just never come back.
We merged the North Maryland map with the Baltimore map. They were pretty redundant, and the NM map didn’t have many locations. So now they’re all under the Baltimore name.