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where are all the arcades? :(

I’ve just had an excellent afternoon at Retrodome Barnsley. Ten working pinballs with 2 machines awaiting parts for repair. Big selection of arcade machines too. Pleasantly quiet, with the pinball room mostly empty except for me. Very friendly crew and great value for money. 2pm to 10pm on a Friday and just £10 for us OAPs.IMG_5233.jpeg
 
Honestly feel really spoilt these days with the pins that @philpalmer has put into Level, Preston. Up to 6 now with another inbound within the coming weeks, all modern games with insider connected plus a very nice TAF. Only 15 minutes from me and the venue is nice too. I play more there now than I ever did at home and far cheaper than buying new games too.

Theres also another bowling alley a mile away (Red Rose Bowl) that has an equally nice TAF and an Iron Maiden pro with very low replay scores, can play all day for a quid 🤣
 
Jb3d said:
I’ve just had an excellent afternoon at Retrodome Barnsley. Ten working pinballs with 2 machines awaiting parts for repair. Big selection of arcade machines too. Pleasantly quiet, with the pinball room mostly empty except for me. Very friendly crew and great value for money. 2pm to 10pm on a Friday and just £10 for us OAPs.View attachment 222984
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Pleasantly quiet is good for a player but I imagine not so good if you are running a business. Tbh I’m amazed these places do keep going , it’s great they do and good luck to them but boy it’s such a niche thing .
 
Pleasantly quiet is what customers seem to love. Had people walk out before if more than 5 people in.
 
Sgt GrizZ said:
Pleasantly quiet is good for a player but I imagine not so good if you are running a business. Tbh I’m amazed these places do keep going , it’s great they do and good luck to them but boy it’s such a niche thing .
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Yes I was worried about the fact it was ‘pleasantly quiet’, but it was picking up as I left at 6pm and the guy on the bar said that Saturdays are very busy. Use them or lose them I guess.
 
people definetely see arcade = saturday. sundays can be dead which is why tournaments are run on that day.
 
Jb3d said:
I’ve just had an excellent afternoon at Retrodome Barnsley. Ten working pinballs with 2 machines awaiting parts for repair. Big selection of arcade machines too. Pleasantly quiet, with the pinball room mostly empty except for me. Very friendly crew and great value for money. 2pm to 10pm on a Friday and just £10 for us OAPs.View attachment 222984
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My local arcade.. great spot and the two guys that run it Luke and Tommo are top lads
 
windoesnot said:
Honestly feel really spoilt these days with the pins that @philpalmer has put into Level, Preston. Up to 6 now with another inbound within the coming weeks, all modern games with insider connected plus a very nice TAF. Only 15 minutes from me and the venue is nice too. I play more there now than I ever did at home and far cheaper than buying new games too.

Theres also another bowling alley a mile away (Red Rose Bowl) that has an equally nice TAF and an Iron Maiden pro with very low replay scores, can play all day for a quid 🤣
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@windoesnot What are the game prices for the Pins at LeVel?
 
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Usual £1 for 1, £2 for 3
Venom was added this week, 8 pins in there now

Maiden has been removed from Red Rose bowl, they only have a TaF now which was having issues recently
 
Not being able to hear the pins, get full experience is an issue playing at many venues.

Especially for complete newbies, unaware of rules and objectives, cannot hear what’s going on, will just flip away and prematurely drain. Often walking away a bit bewildered.
Unfortunately, some won’t even attempt to play as looks a bit confusing / intimidating.
 
windoesnot said:
Usual £1 for 1, £2 for 3
Venom was added this week, 8 pins in there now

Maiden has been removed from Red Rose bowl, they only have a TaF now which was having issues recently
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Thanks. Saw the Pins on Phil's FB page, there looks to be enough Pins at LeVel for me to take a trip over. I've been in the hobby for 8+ years now but have never paid for a game of Pinball.
 
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windoesnot said:
Usual £1 for 1, £2 for 3
Venom was added this week, 8 pins in there now

Maiden has been removed from Red Rose bowl, they only have a TaF now which was having issues recently
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I submitted this Red Rose Bowl to Pinball Map last night, once it appears on the map I’ll try to remember to check back in and remove the Maiden.

I also submitted Retrodome with the pins I could recognise from the photo earlier in this thread and their website/social media, but there will be some more to add if anybody goes there soon to confirm the lineup. Both should appear within the next week.
 
Marvello said:
Thanks. Saw the Pins on Phil's FB page, there looks to be enough Pins at Level for me to take a trip over. I've been in the hobby for 8+ years now but have never paid for a game of Pinball.
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Had a visit today, all Pins in decent condition.

Enjoyed Venom Pro but too bare for home use.

Foo Fighters kicked my ****, I don't think anyone has drained 2 balls faster than I did (not a euphemism). Didn't enjoy the layout at all, the whole upper left playfield felt inaccessible from the main flippers.

Thought Bond would be the same due to the non-fan layout but really enjoyed it.

Enjoyed Avengers, and Rush not bad either but the theme does nothing for me.

TAF was very dark, Whitewater was OK and I've already owned a Turtles.

If I could take one of them home it would be a toss up between Bond and Avengers. Would probably choose Bond because of the theme.

Screenshot_20240202-150242_kindlephoto-263597519.png
 
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I'm lucky to have the Arcade Archive literally 5 minutes walk away from my house....

No Pins though (there is space for a room of pins and it's something the guys are up for in theory as part of RetroCollective as its the one missing piece.)
 

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Marvello said:
Had a visit today, all Pins in decent condition.

Enjoyed Venom Pro but too bare for home use.

Foo Fighters kicked my ****, I don't think anyone has drained 2 balls faster than I did (not a euphemism). Didn't enjoy the layout at all, the whole upper left playfield felt inaccessible from the main flippers.

Thought Bond would be the same due to the non-fan layout but really enjoyed it.

Enjoyed Avengers, and Rush not bad either but the theme does nothing for me.

TAF was very dark, Whitewater was OK and I've already owned a Turtles.

If I could take one of them home it would be a toss up between Bond and Avengers. Would probably choose Bond because of the theme.

View attachment 243536
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I went last week mainly to play venom. Really enjoyed it even though I don’t know the IP that well. Will be back to play some more soon. Hoping Phil puts GTF and Pulp there for a few weeks at least.
 
mpcarr said:
I went last week mainly to play venom. Really enjoyed it even though I don’t know the IP that well. Will be back to play some more soon. Hoping Phil puts GTF and Pulp there for a few weeks at least.
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Yeh I'll be back at some point, probably when a few different Pins are there.
 
We went to Retrodome Barnsley today and five out of the twelve pinballs were not working when we went in at 2pm. Six out of action by the time we left .The playfields looked filthy on most of them in fact the entire place was decidedly grubby and not pleasant. I don't think they must touch the arcade area between them closing on a Sunday night and opening again on Friday. I can't see us returning in a hurry.
 
Went back to LeVel in Preston today, only played Venom, Bond, Avengers and Cactus.

My favourite last time was between Bond and Avengers, after a few more plays would definitely be Bond. It was the one I also got the longest games on, which when you're paying makes a difference.

Cactus was a strange one as Pins always look quite different to me in the flesh than in pictures/videos. I didn't seem to enjoy it as much as the V-Pin version I used to play, and the tilt was very sensitive on it.

@philpalmer - On Avengers the rubber on the upper flipper is hanging by a thread.

IMG_20240306_123104.jpg
 
That Bond is great, set up really well, but the high scores are early code and are now unachievable.
The Foo Fighters I'm not sure about because it's nowhere near level.
The Venom replay score is 2,000,000,000, so not even worth bothering.
@philpalmer
 
Paul R Owen said:
That Bond is great, set up really well, but the high scores are early code and are now unachievable.
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What kind of scores are you talking about?
I think that the latest code with the bond girls, weapons and martinis makes for much higher scoring potential.

Put up just shy of 5bil in Tilt last week
 
Power Pack at high value plus 7x plus 4 smart missiles, got 2bn+ from this alone last week
 
Moorey said:
We went to Retrodome Barnsley today and five out of the twelve pinballs were not working when we went in at 2pm. Six out of action by the time we left .The playfields looked filthy on most of them in fact the entire place was decidedly grubby and not pleasant. I don't think they must touch the arcade area between them closing on a Sunday night and opening again on Friday. I can't see us returning in a hurry.
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A grotty arcade, sounds like they are going for the nostalgic late 80s early 90s arcade ambiance that I remember. The seaside ones were always grotty back then.
 
windoesnot said:
Power Pack at high value plus 7x plus 4 smart missiles, got 2bn+ from this alone last week
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When I got my 5Bil, I only used the 7x as a ball save :) ,played 2 wizard modes and had the Q one ready to go, and needed one more henchman to light the last one.

If playing for score, PowerPack and multipliers is a great way to go
 
Wayne J said:
What kind of scores are you talking about?
I think that the latest code with the bond girls, weapons and martinis makes for much higher scoring potential.

Put up just shy of 5bil in Tilt last week
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Clearly I need to play better 😆.
 
I often plow away on a long game on JB at Tilt and get please with 500 odd million only to then see the HS table!

One good thing about the JJP high score of the day feature is that give something for mere mortals to aim at especially in arcades with fresh customers every day like at the coast
 
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