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Should cocktail cabinet pinballs be made again?

CliveP

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Oct 5, 2014
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106
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New Zealand
Hi guys, I started a thread on Pinside located here https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/should-cocktail-pinballs-be-made-again and there seems to be a split between the yes and no's .
I like my Night Moves game and I believe there could be a market for them especially if a good designer was involved and maybe ramps or subways could be incorporated providing the bill of materials didn't match a full size game.
I believe Andrew heighway had a cocktail pinball design started.

What do you guys think?
Clive
 
Well count me in the cocktail fanclub :clap: I loved playing Night Moves so much at the annual Swavesey meets that I eventually ended up buying that very machine when the landlord sold up .

I'd love to see a cocktail made again - I think there could certainly be a market right now, if priced right and a decent game. I suspect we *wont* see anyone step up to do it but you never know.

There are 2 big plusses for it imo. Firstly ...the size / design mean it can fit in smaller space and be less imposing than a full size machine. I could easily see them in the ever growing number of barcades. Secondly .. I find non pinheads who visit particularly like it. I think the smaller playfield is less intimidating to new players, and the fact you can sit down playing it makes it feel more relaxed.

To illustrate the size advantage ...I was able to get my Night Moves and a small MAME cab into the slot 1 regular pin used to fill . 2 in the space of 1 is always a winner :thumbs:


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I'd have one! - no room for a full size one here and Safecracker is big money these days!
What do the cocktails go for? I might start looking.....
 
Hmm. I wonder is there potential for a well-specced cocktail VPX machine to play all the regular pins and also to play MAME video games?

CB
I don't see why not, personally I don't like to mix different styles of games on a single machine - the ones I've seen end up looking weird with controls all over the place, but you could...
The only techical thing that would need attention would be where to put the DMD/Alphanumeric display output.

I've got a from scratch built 1/2 size VPX machine (Based on a WMS standard body machine's dimensions and then reduced by 50%)
I did pretty much the same thing with the NeoGeo MVS plans to build a 90% scale one of those too.

Once you decide to build the cabinet yourself you can pretty much do anything you want....
 
If the gray matter is working correctly I think I've seen online where a cocktail vp was made and the playfield monitor was lowered to get the dmd vertically at the back.
 
Cocktail pinballs never caught on. I would be very surprised if they have a commercial future.

Even cocktail videogames came and went pretty quickly.

Just a gimmick. Dreadful things imho, unless you have no legs and/ or are a dwarf.
 
Cocktail pinballs never caught on. I would be very surprised if they have a commercial future.

Even cocktail videogames came and went pretty quickly.

Just a gimmick. Dreadful things imho, unless you have no legs and/ or are a dwarf.
You might call them a gimmick but most people who see my Night Moves for the first time are like.... 'Wtf is that?!? I love it. I want one' [emoji16]

Almost every craft beer joint in Brighton now seems to have one of those cocktail multi game vids. So why not a cocktail pin? It may well be a passing retro fad, but right now it's a happening daddio !

Sent from my D5833 using Tapatalk
 
I would love to see a roto 8 in the flesh.

The world just seemed better then.

Games manufacturers produced all manner of weird and wonderful stuff. Arcades were places of wonder. Table hockey where players face each other ? Meh. Let's produce them with a right angle in, or side by side like squash.

Jumpers for goal posts. Wooden racquets atv wimbledon. Pulse phones. Concorde...
 
Wonder what those squarer ones in the front are?
I have a suspicion that a cocktail pinball will be made in the not too distant future......
 
The killer with cocktails is that you need to sit down to play them. So the player changeover is all inconvenient. They also knacker your back and/ or knees unless you are tiny/ have no legs

But a roto 8 is a classic if you have the real estate and do not mind the awful gameplay

There is a reason, or indeed, there are many reasons why these things are 70s and 80s novelties. Like gullwing doors. The idea is wonderful, but they just didn't catch on.
 
I don't get a sore back when i played my Night Moves but I suppose it could with some people. If a height adjustable cabinet was made that would solve a few issues but then cost would also go up. Possible an extension to the cabinet could be attached for those taller people. The rotation feature is great but it would have to be super reliable long term.
The game play has to good though.
The only issue is that people will expect in depth rule sets that can't be achieved on the smaller playfield and will then bag it.
I believe there is a market for them especially with people tending to live in smaller apartments. We will see...
 
We thought about it over the years in some form, mainly as Andrew's 'coffee table pin' idea. I have a soft spot for old Ballys and for designing simpler score-based games, so if I was going to make a cocktail pin it would be a shade larger than the trad sort and hold a single-level Bally-sized playfield (20.25 x 42 inches).
 
er, with Neil. No.

Can you nudge a cocktail cab. Is the same skill level involved?
 
two player pinball is a lot of fun. Me and the wife hogged a joust for about 2 hours one night at expo !
 
The killer with cocktails is that you need to sit down to play them. So the player changeover is all inconvenient. They also knacker your back and/ or knees unless you are tiny/ have no legs

I can see if you are above average height then it could be a problem.

Personally I'm not, so no back/knee issues. I have a bar stool and it works fine. I can even play my standing up with no discomfort.

Player changeover - well yes you could see it as slightly more inconvenient but I see cocktails as an altogether more laid back, relaxed pinball experience so there is no rush to swap players ...if it it takes a little longer - hey, so be it, have another swig of your favourite tipple :)

Interestingly Gottlieb/International Concepts seemed to recognise this. The in game music volume actually decreases between balls/players and they made a point out of this ...saying it would allow conversation around the table - how very civilised :D I like that - the whole experience of a cocktail pinball is meant to be different.

I would love a room of cocktail pins and host a fancy party :thumbs:


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I'm tall, haven't played cocktail pins (yet) but don't remember cocktail vids being any prob. Saying that I seem to recall having to lookup to Mr DRD.
 
Has anybody in the UK got a Caribbean Cruise? That and Night Moves seem to be well rated.

Caribbean Cruise is bobbins! I know of at least one in the UK. Night Moves is a way, way better game :thumbs:
 
My concern, not having played one, would be longevity of gameplay appeal. The physically smaller playfield must really limit the gameplay options.

If I could come up with an appealing layout, it does however seem like the kind of game that is far more reasonable to build by myself, than a full-size.
 
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