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NLP.....Bloody brilliant!

Yup thought avengers wasn't that great. The round thing seemed to not do anything. Probably something need to spend more time playing.
 
Johnny Mnemonic was one I was pleasantly suprised by, really enjoyed the brief time I spent on it.

Yeah I played that in Tucson and thought it was pretty good.


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Johnny Mnemonic was one I was pleasantly suprised by, really enjoyed the brief time I spent on it.

Its got the best flow of any game imo. The glove slows things down a bit, but you can whip up a loop speed that is second to none. 3 years into mine and have only got to powerdown once. Only the brave leave the outlanes open. haha.
 
The queuing system used to be bad as well - a couple of years ago I had pre-bought tickets and still managed to get stuck in a queue for over an hour - much better last year though. Are the security people external contractors who bid for the job each year? I guess that might explain the inconsistency in their approaches.

Ultimately it's like any other perceived issues though, just got to grin and bear it - worth it once you get inside. It's such a better experience than the tiny Pinball Party hotel in Daventry imo and long may it live.
 
Many thanks to all the NLP crew and helpers and organisers who looked after the machines to create a top show Again :thumbs:
Not forgetting Phil from pinball heaven for bringing all them lovely new machines in and heighway pinball for bringing FT
And every one else who brought a machine / machines in :clap::clap::)


Thanks @I TiltAlot for liking my machine (and everyone else who said thay liked it too ) :)
And yes I did set it to auto plunge after a few secs :D
It just stops the game from sitting in game if the player walks away or looking for the plunger:rolleyes:

:clap::clap:
 
Just wanted to add my bit, made it to Saturday, brought the family & had a great time!
Really enjoyed all the pins, played some great tables, stand out tables for me TAF (with colour display), TOM(with colour display), and a cracking Black rose!
Managed to play some tables that I'd not played but didn't get to play all that I wanted, might see if I can get a weekend pass out from the missus next year!
Just wanted to say well done everyone what a fantastic event.
thanks Tony
 
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The pins were, of course, AWESOME.

Some thoughts about the rest of PLAY-EXPO that many pinheads may have been unaware of:
  • I thought the rest of PLAY-EXPO didn't have quite the same "zing" as last year. There seemed to be slightly less of it.
  • There was a massive free space by the two food wagons on the far side of the arcade area that last year was stuffed with tables hosting dozens of card games such as MAGIC THE GATHERING. This seemed in contrast to the statement on the PLAY-EXPO wesbite: "Tabletop Gaming Zone Bigger for 2016"
  • I thought the RED BULL 5G eSPORTS was terrible (and so did the 3 teenagers with me - after all, they play the same games such as ROCKET LEAGUE, COUNTER STRIKE and HEARTHSTONE, and they reckoned the competitors were no better than they are).
  • The retro PC and console section next to the pins and vids was definitely as good, maybe better with the addition of PlayStation 2 zone with a "lending library" of pretty much every game ever made. We played multiplayer BOMBERMAN on the SNES, HEAD OVER HEELS on an AMSTRAD CPC6128, WIZBALL on the COMMODORE 64 and STAR WARS on the AMIGA A600 amongst others.
  • The PC LAN section was very popular with my kids. They really enjoyed LAN gaming on DOOM II, COUNTER STRIKE and STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT 1, and the entire area was busy and in constant use all weekend.
  • Although there were some fantastic COSPLAY costumes there didn't seem to be as many and the vibe and hype around the cosplay competition didn't reach the same high as last year, but maybe that was because the stage was moved to the opposite end of the hall.
  • Indie Gaming section seemed a bit sparse too and lacked "pizazz". Whilst it was great to see new titles like HYPER SENTINEL from legendary developer Andrew Hewson (and get his book signed if you wanted) I thought the presentation left little to be desired. No more than a cloth covered table with a couple of chairs and some old games stuck on the wall. If felt more like something the W.I. would put together at your local town hall selling cakes. It was lacking as many good new titles like last year, sporting games such as GUNS OF ICARUS and FEZ that are several years old now.
  • The queuing to get in was definitely not as well organised as last year, at least for those who didn't arrive before 10am. We got there about 10.30 on Saturday and I kinda expected to pretty much walk in, but ended up queuing over 30 mins. We didn't make it till 11.30 on Sunday by which time it was possible to just walk straight in.
  • MINECRAFT has definitely peeked and only during the busiest peak of Saturday afternoon did all the PCs seemed permanently occupied, and mostly by the younger kids. On Sunday it was never more than half full. If they dedicate the same space to it next it'll be a waste.
  • Although a little pricey, the £3 tubs of chips were actually very nice! As was the proper 99 ice cream with flake!
  • The only bar not accepting cards was a joke though. I suspect however that the third-party vendors also balked at the £1,000 charge by the event to drop a LAN cable required to run an online payment system. I suspect Northerners will think that £4 a pint is extortion but believe it or not, that's cheaper than most London bars. Itwas what I expected which is why I only treated myself to one pint (responsible adult in charge of kids and all that).
  • Toilets seemed to stay clean and operative throughout the weekend.
  • My kids were surprised that there was an additional charger of £8 per player for the BREAKOUT MANCHESTER game (breakoutmanchester.com). This is a real live puzzler in which teams of 2-5 players have 60 minutes to work out how to escape a locked room. We decided the extra £24 wasn't worth it.
  • Whilst VR (Virtual Reality) is almost the current rage it's still clunky and dull as dishwater to watch someone else doing. It takes so long too. The new BATTLEZONE reboot must have been good as the queue was still going even at 5.45pm on Sunday!
 
Oh, one more thing. It really is about time EventCity repainted the floor! It would make the whole place look so much better and less dingy and warehouse like. Other gaming events that I've been too have carpet floor covering in these types of exhibition spaces.
 
Some thoughts about the rest of PLAY-EXPO that many pinheads may have been unaware of
Nice list. The thing I haven't seen in any write up's was mention of the celebrity autograph signing, that felt very 'comic con'. If I recall last year we had Darth Vader a Dr Who and an Ewok to choose from :thumbs:
 
The new BATTLEZONE reboot must have been good as the queue was still going even at 5.45pm on Sunday!

I managed to get a go before the doors opened on Sunday and it was awesome!!! Definitely made my mind up to get a PSVR setup :)
 
Thanks from me and Richard to the NLP crew for doing such a fantastic job again and to everyone who brought machines and made it possible.

Queuing for us was ok but we didn't get there until about 11.30 on the Saturday as I really didn't want to stand in a long queue for ages. We actually spent most of the Saturday going round the rest of Play Expo and just enjoyed the Pinball at the lock in. The lock in is absolutely fantastic every year, don't know how you manage to arrange it but I hope it continues in future years! As for the stalls, choices of T-shirts are the best thing about them (if you are a man - no ladies sizes unfortunately) but you could probably stock up on T-shirts and not have to go shopping again for a year or two, such great variety.

Cosplay - yeah didn't seem as many this year - but did you see the whole family of Lara Crofts?! Kudos to the Dad!!

Same again next year?
 
Signed up here just to say thanks also and echo some of the positive comments on here about the NLP crowd and those that lent machines. That part of the show really is an amazing thing. I got my annual fix of BK2K :)

(also, this forum software is ace!)
 
Please let us know your thoughts on the NLP show via this short survey. Responses are really appreciated and you can go into as much or as little detail as you like. Each response will help drive decisions on future events
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/5B5XVV6

Thanks
(and yes, there is a duplicate question in there. You could ignore Q4 and instead answer Q6)
 
Just like to say a big thankyou to all the guys that drive around the country picking up and then delivering back safely our prize possessions.
This is long and arduous work starting well before NLP weekend and continuing beyond the show.
 
and exercise centre as the hydraulic ram seals have gone so constant arm pumping required to keep your pin up!!! ;)

had seals repaired last week. cost more than the bloody thing did but at least holding up without pumping now (im still talking about the forklift)
 
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