What's new
Pinball info

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Thoughts on Sega pins?

huggers

huggers

Site Supporter
Joined
Sep 22, 2016
Messages
3,248
Location
West Dorset
Alias
Andy Hug
I'm super new to pinball and am wondering what the consensus (if indeed there is one) is on Sega machines. I was talking to guy who knows his stuff (or certainly seemed to!) the other day and he was pretty scathing about them. Saying the DMD's always broke and were super expensive to replace. Also said they felt cheaper. Is this a running theme? One dudes opinion? All replies appreciated! I'm looking to buy a machine and am drawn to more than one of the Sega's. Cheers all
 
Not sure that's true across the board but Sega is now stern...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I love sega data east pins my collection consists of them now, I have always found them real realiable only ever the odd switch problem, I have owned lots of Bally Williams to and I have always had more probs with them, but I think it's a bit like a car you get some bad ones that have a few gremlins, I would suggest trying a few out to see what you like, baywatch is a fun pin with lots of Ramps and modes to keep you going for a while, my favs are sst and tftc but everyone has different tastes
 
nonsense, there's nothing wrong with Sega pinball machines. i've had a few Segas - Apollo13, Goldeneye, Independence Day, Frankenstein, Space Jam, Twister, currently Godzilla ..... no idea what that bloke was on about. i think there's maybe 3 or 4 pins that have the larger DMD, and if it breaks then yes, expensive to replace, but hardly a good reason to ignore a whole seam of good pinball machines. my advice is to play them and then make your own mind up.
 
Let's be frank here. All pins need fairly constant TLC to a greater or lesser extent. I've never owned a Sega but never heard they're any worse than any other "modern" pin. Pins are complex electro-mechanical devices. They all need periodic maintenance and adjustment but that's all part of their appeal.
 
cooldan said:
nonsense, there's nothing wrong with Sega pinball machines. i've had a few Segas - Apollo13, Goldeneye, Independence Day, Frankenstein, Space Jam, Twister, currently Godzilla ..... no idea what that bloke was on about. i think there's maybe 3 or 4 pins that have the larger DMD, and if it breaks then yes, expensive to replace, but hardly a good reason to ignore a whole seam of good pinball machines. my advice is to play them and then make your own mind up.
Click to expand...

Thanks, pretty much all I needed to hear

scottydoesntknow said:
Would say if your close to reading your welcome to try a few of mine out
Click to expand...

Ah thanks dude, sadly not, all the way down in West Dorset
 
Another thing to keep in mind is there are now easy replacements for the larger dmds if they do break.

@DrPinball does a kit that uses a raspberry pi to drive a laptop screen as a cheapish replacement
 
When sega took over from data east they told the designers to cut the bill of materials by 30%. A13 was the last de design and already the big display had been sacrificed. sega titles after that look cheaper and some of them like space jam lost world and even star wars trilogy are not the best games. lost in space sold only 600 for a reason. saying that star ship troopers would never leave me. however unlike WMS all these games made a profit leaving them and subsequently stern still in business keeping pinball alive. the costly big display as said no longer an issue plus they come in much cheaper thaf the WMS equivalent. back in the day private owners shied away from data east / sega as they had a cheap build reputation but in home ownership I have found them no worse reliability wise then anything else.
 
Ok so I've gotta dive in here and make some distinctions! :)

The history... Data East bought out by Sega in 1995 and then Stern in circa '99 or 2000 ish. Yes, that awful Striker Diarrhoea.

Sega, in my mind, is when the jewel that is Data East got ruined. They didn't change the hardware (much), so what you're getting, capability wise, from the board set was the same, but they did cut back on costs and ruin everything that Data East had built the brand up to.

Let's face it, Dara East *was* the poor-mans Bally/Williams but, actually, they had their hay day the same as WMS did.

Early-to-mid-ninetees DE produced some awesome pins, and using hardware that was way ahead of WMS, really tbh exclusively in the sound dept.

They had STEREO sound right back to late 80s which really kicked ass. My memory of '87 Robocop's multiball start will always keep me dropping coins into that pin, even if nowadays it's only ever at a show. "THE WRECKING CREW IS HERE!" ... followed by some seriously cool stereo phase effects.

You have to play it to know what I mean.

I would happily keep paying until I got there!

Data East have their place, and as time goes on people will realise, but if we're talking specifically "Sega" when, imho, they fked it all up, I'm not so fussed.

I own an ID4 which i basically treat as Data East (let's face it) and I'd put Twister and A13 in the same bag. Great games.

Oh, LW3 and LAH too... just walk up to them and have an absolute blast. Keepers? Maybe not. Fun? Hellll yes.

The morel is: "Tread careful"... they had some great pins and also some howlers.

At the end of the day it's all down to personal taste, but I know which ones I'd take to my desert island... (yes dan, JP...)

Enjoy the discovery. It's the best part of becoming an addict! :p

Tim
 
Be wary of the big screen SEGAs (BF, BW, Maverick, Frankenstein) as if the screens go they are going to be very expensive to replace.

I like some of the titles, others not so much (Space Jam and Lost In Space are unlikely to be in anyone's top 10).

All pins break down. Sega are the same in this respect.

If this price is right and you fancy the game then go for it.

There's still a few hardcore collectors who only rate B/W games. Personally I think they are missing out. AC/DC etc kick the crap out of any 90s titles. Sega games might not be the best but there's nothing wrong with them.
 
Ive got a TFTC which i absolutely love. Some of the bits on the machine dont feel as solidly built as a Bally/Williams machine, but that wouldnt put me off getting another. I really want to get hold of a SST at some point which is a Sega game
 
Having owned in the past LW3,A13,BF,simpsons,maverick and now have x files and st25 I would not hesitate to own de or sega pins but I like gottlieb so am a bit of a tart really;)
 
Nothing wrong with a sega providing you know what you're getting. I'm not 100% sure if it's all about build quality of the fact that bally/williams games seem be treated better over the years. Just feel like they really flow well.
I don't have a huge experience in the pinball field but have owned DE and Sega games and the earlier sega games feel a step up from DE games. The later sega games felt awful though i.e star wars tril. That's just personally opinion.
Never played a dot matrix bally or williams that hasn't felt right. Maybe it's that shiny lockbar ;)
 
I've never given Sega pins much of a thought but actually really enjoyed playing Godzilla at NLP. It had a really thumping soundtrack and the head/claw toy on the playfield was totally eye catching. The gameplay was not deep sure, like a lot of Sega machines but it had a really quirky fun factor. I think after playing one I'm converted a little but to me they still don't really hold a candle to Bally/Williams games of the same era.
 
I've had a POTO since year dot and apart from the usual fuse holder snappage on the pcb's over time, it's been epic. Got a DEBM last year and that's still solid too. We like Data East :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom