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Originally Posted by Spybreak8 I wish I could have more than 100 friends, then I could add a few of you guys but unfortunately yeah I'm maxed out.

I think before adding a few with this game, I had 7 people on my friend's list. I feel so unpopular.

Not really. I work nights and sleep during the day, so most of my gaming is either really early in the morning or really late at night, and hardly any of my "real world" friends are gamers.

To Twin Cities players, the place I'm talking about is Blainebrook bowl in Blaine, MN right on Hwy. 65

http://www.blainbrookbowl.com/tourarcade.html

11930 Central Avenue Northeast
Blaine, MN 55434
(763) 755-8731

The pic of the games aren't real current. They rotate games quite a bit.

Of the top of my head, their current games are:

Simpsons (Data East)
Diner
Jurrassic Park
Bride of Pinbot
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Avatar
Iron Man
Big Buck Hunter
Gorgar
Whirlwind
Pinbot
Firepower
Sorcerer
Taxi
Dungeons and Dragons
Spider Man (Stern)
Centuar II
Bad Girls
Star Trek the Next Generation
Playboy 35th Anniversary
Demolition Man
Who Dunnit

There's many more, but those are the standouts.

They have a pinball tournament the first Sun of every month.

I have a small group of friends I go with to play with every sunday too. You're welcome to come and join us.

Another cool thing about this place is that they have several games that are on the Williams Collection.

The mini golf course is now called goony golf, and they have a great selection, but they're closed now. It's about a 5 minute drive from that place.

Another place that's pretty well known is SS Billiards in Hopkins.
Expensive to play ($1.00 for newer games), but he has

Wheel of Fortune
Batman Dark Knight
Spider Man
Pirates of the Carribean
Midevil Madness
Corvette
Star Trek
Attack From Mars
Creature from the Black Lagoon

Back on topic: How would a pinball league work? When I last clicked on tournaments, nothing came up in the game.

I'd be interested. Best times for me are Thurs.-Sat. Nights and Mon. nights.

Gah, the avatar shirt award is still not working, damn it. Why would I want to get crazy hoodies if they don't work.

Originally Posted by Ginsburger 2D - what's the name of this place? I'm nowhere near MN but if I ever find myself there I'd like to know where the places to play are. For all who have never been there and enjoy pinball, you have to check out either the Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame, or more importantly, PAPA. I went for the first time this year and it's incredible. For those not in the know, it's this private facility in Pittsburgh with ~300 perfect working machines that is only open to the public 2-3 times a year. It's the world series of competitive pinball. I didn't seed in any of the tourneys but still had a blast playing all the machines. As far as the league goes, can we get a list of people interested so I can start putting something together? Finally, does anyone own any machines? I'm in the process of restoring a World Cup Soccer '94. Once I'm done with that I'm shooting for an NBA Fastbreak, Congo or Johnny Mnemonic.

I'm definetly interested in the league. The League of Extraordinary Cheapasses! I wish I owned a machine, but I'm poor, and we don't have the room for it. I miss the days when my community college had a Twilight Zone machine. I put in a lot of time on that.

Anyone who hasn't, feel free to add me. I've got all the tables and a decent superscore.

I don't know of any place around me with many pinball games.

I worked in an arcade for 6 years starting in highschool. I remember the owner constantly bitching about how expensive pinball machines were to upkeep. There was almost always something not working right and replacement parts were expensive; so I can understand it being hard, and expensive, to keep a large collection.

I remember one that I really enjoyed about river rafting. It was called white water rapids or something like that? Can anyone help me out here? Damn I wish I could remember the name. I also remember really loving Adams Family and Attack from Mars.

Originally Posted by Spybreak8 Gah, the avatar shirt award is still not working, damn it. Why would I want to get crazy hoodies if they don't work.

I believe almost everything is working on xbox.com. Just go online to use the avatar editor.

Also, by editing your 360 avatar online, it moves in your gamercard like mine, if you like that sort of thing (which I do).

NOTE: deleted my first post and combined with this one

Originally Posted by Spybreak8 Gah, the avatar shirt award is still not working, damn it. Why would I want to get crazy hoodies if they don't work.

I was able to add it via the web. However, when I went to my xbox I was still like before, not in the new shirt. However, however, I went into the avatar editor on the xbox, it said that avatar clothing and items need to be updated, and it did that (took a minute or so) and then it seemed to be appearing. It showed up on my xbox and appears now on my profile page, at least:

http://live.xbox.com:80/en-US/MyXbox...mertag=cruncis

On a different note, I was royally way confused on the wizard score. Adding 6x more wasn't going to take me to 50k!!! The number I was multiplying already had the 4x from the base 4 games in it. Doh! We need lots more people on our friends lists who play the game if we're going to make it to 100k. IF we ever get to it.

Last night I bought Excalibur and played that a bunch. I'm up to 108 million. It's a pretty good machine to get, but that right side ramp is pretty much impossible to shoot and you need to shoot it multiple times to start that multiball??? How many shots does it take? The kick out that leads down to the upper left flipper is way too fast and I can't make a reliable shot at the ramp as a result. Also, like all the games I've played in this so far, it's *really* confusing. However, the rules explanation for it is perhaps more understandable then the others. I wish they'd taken a hint from Pinball Hall of Fame and done the rules explanations that way - PHoF does an absolutely superb job of that.

Probably going to get Earth Defense next. I picked up a 1600 points card, so I'll be getting all of them soon.

Regarding real pinball, I have a William's Fish Tales in my house. I love that game, though it's not a great game for beginners as it can be vicious. I probably should have picked something else as it would have gotten my kids more into the game. They just aren't that interested, which make me sad. But I love Fish Tales. Also I'm in the Free State Pinball Association. I was once upon a time the president, but now I'm just a player, which I like better anyway. We run leagues in the MD, DC and VA area. Check it out at: http://fspazone.org/ We even give away a pinball machine every year, and you can suck at pinball and have an equal chance to win - it doesn't matter! You get chances to win just by being an active member in one (or more) of the leagues. Lastly, we have a database of pinball machine locations. Admittedly it's probably not that up to date, but it will tell you where there are machines, if not exactly which ones. EDIT: Oh, and our league is designed to make it fun for everybody. The way it works is that you move up and down in groups depending on how you do, so you end up playing people at your own skill level. Then multiple divisions are broken out for the playoffs. We have players ranging from absolute beginners to folks who are contenders at the yearly PAPA world pinball championships. AND we have a great party at the end of every season, which is free for active players. FYI, we are non-profit, though not in an official manner, but all money taken in for dues goes toward prizes, give away machines and the party.

2D - that's a great lineup of games. I've always loved who dunnit even though it sucks that it's technically "unfinished".

Crunch - I got your request last night. I'm very familiar with the FSPA and almost sent an email out to one of the private arcade owners when I was in DC last week. I know Max B, Bob S (people who run the NYC league) and Steve M were at one of your more recent tourneys in VA. I'll probably tag along next time they go if I can. I'm a fan of Fish Tales but I agree it can be relentless for newbies.

Our league is run in a similar fashion as yours, although with PFX I think there would be a much smaller skill gap. I haven't explored the multiplayer yet but will do it this weekend.

I would suggest that we just do a 5-6 week league consisting of best-of-7 head's up matches. Hopefully we can get 7-8 people involved so that we have enough people for matches. Please add yourself to the list:

Ginsburger
Crunchewy
2D
BlueWingX

I'd be interested in some multi, or possibly the tournament. Feel free to add me to FL's.

Originally Posted by Ginsburger and Steve M were at one of your more recent tourneys in VA.

Steve M, presuming it's the same Steve M which seems likely, use to be in the FSPA, before the bastard moved to NYC! I'm so jealous.... My wife and I (and our kids too) love to visit NYC and she and I dream about living there some day. We'd go to Joe in Greenwich Village every day, probably twice, and sit there for hours drinking heavenly cappuccino (she, a mocha)... and gaining (happy) weight. Of course we'd also burn off all that fat with all the walking we'd do, so perfect! Just don't ask me to root for the Yankees! ;^)

i wasn't proposing that a Pinball FX league be handled like the FSPA, I was just trying to sell the FSPA and maybe get somebody to join in if they live in the area (can also guest if you are visiting). I would be up for a Pinball FX 2 league as well and absolutely.

I'm interested.

Ginsburger
Crunchewy
2D
BlueWingX
Pure Apathy

Originally Posted by crunchewy Multiball over and over, plus going for those modes, but I'm not sure how much they factored in. Probably not insignificant, but getting lots and lots of jackpots and super jackpots is good. In any case shooting the main shot up there is safe and will get you modes, so you might as well shoot it. The hardest mode to complete is that damned skill shot one. Really sucks when you get to the second set and you have to get 4 skill shots instead of 3 (at least 4 - I got 3 but not 4 the second time). Ouch. Don't forget to bump to coerce the ball into the skill shot. Doesn't always work, but if it's going to be a miss you might as well bump the thing. Second hardest mode is the 2-ball multiball one where you have to repeat shots. That is, shoot some shot and that shot lights for a period of time and you need to shoot the same shot again within the time limit. Two shots can be lit at a time. I forget how many you have to complete to finish the mode. The other modes are easy. The one about building your strength wasn't obvious to me at first. Just shoot the "stand up targets" that are lit. The easiest ones to hit are the weird face-with-three-eyes thing in the middle of the playfield. Hit that a bunch of times and you'll complete the mode. Also worth noting about that weird face thing: During normal play one of the eyes is lit. If you hit the lit eye, some other shot on the playfield lights for a while. If you shoot that before it times out you get a kickback lit. That's worth doing. It's not worth trying to get it started, but if you hit it by accident and a shot gets lit as a result, go for that shot, especially if it's the left ramp, which is a relatively easy shot. I think the shots are left ramp, right loop and the upper loop (going to the right), but don't quote me on it. I usually don't bother trying to get that upper loop. It's hard to do that one. The wizard mode is pretty straight forward. You have to complete (successfully) all the modes to get to it, then start the next mode and it will be the wizard mode. There's 3 stages to the wizard mode. To get the achievement you have to complete all 3 stages.

My head just exploded. Apparently my eyes are not fast enough to catch all that on my own or maybe I just need to play some more.

I just sent out a bunch of friend requests to try and get my wizard score up. I own and have played all the tables. My scores aren't nearly as high as Pure Apathy, but at least I'm in the million(s) on them all. Somehow I've even got the high score on my friend list for the Strett Fighter table.

Anyone send me an invite. I just deleted some people off my friend list to make room.

Does anyone understand how you play "Mock Warfare" in Rome? There's an achievement, "Complete two successful shots against the galleon during Mock Warfare on Rome". I've had Mock Warfare come up, but it seems to be a cycling award thing, where I think you have to hit the launch button (A or right stick) to select from the rapidly rotating awards. It timed out on me before I figured that out (at least I think that's what you do.) In any case, what does that have to do with "completing shots against the galleon"? Or am I just mixed up (probably)?

You guys can add me if you want. I think my superscore is about 200.

Originally Posted by crunchewy Does anyone understand how you play "Mock Warfare" in Rome? There's an achievement, "Complete two successful shots against the galleon during Mock Warfare on Rome". I've had Mock Warfare come up, but it seems to be a cycling award thing, where I think you have to hit the launch button (A or right stick) to select from the rapidly rotating awards. It timed out on me before I figured that out (at least I think that's what you do.) In any case, what does that have to do with "completing shots against the galleon"? Or am I just mixed up (probably)?

When you hit the ball up the right ramp to the siege tower, you can use the flippers to select between two modes: Justice and Mock Warfare. You want to select Mock Warfare then hit A. The ball will then move to the left side plunger lane (or whatever it's called). What happens next is that a flashing light will alternate between the two catapults that hang over that lane. When one is flashing red, you want to hit A. If it's flashing yellow, you want to wait until it changes.

Originally Posted by utopianmachine I believe almost everything is working on xbox.com. Just go online to use the avatar editor. Also, by editing your 360 avatar online, it moves in your gamercard like mine, if you like that sort of thing (which I do).

Yeah I think the connection affects why it doesn't save. I was on xbox.com using the avatar editor and clicked on save but I always get an error message.

Originally Posted by crunchewy NOTE: deleted my first post and combined with this one I was able to add it via the web. However, when I went to my xbox I was still like before, not in the new shirt. However, however, I went into the avatar editor on the xbox, it said that avatar clothing and items need to be updated, and it did that (took a minute or so) and then it seemed to be appearing. It showed up on my xbox and appears now on my profile page, at least

I've tried to change it but I can't find avatar awards with the avatar editor on xbox.com. Yeah I've had my avatar editor on the 360 update all the time but no difference. I think it might have to do with me wearing it when I updated with the new dashboard/avatar stuff.

The avatar awards started working on the Xbox last night for me after I went into the avatar editor and it scanned my avatar gear.

Originally Posted by Cantaloup When you hit the ball up the right ramp to the siege tower, you can use the flippers to select between two modes: Justice and Mock Warfare. You want to select Mock Warfare then hit A. The ball will then move to the left side plunger lane (or whatever it's called). What happens next is that a flashing light will alternate between the two catapults that hang over that lane. When one is flashing red, you want to hit A. If it's flashing yellow, you want to wait until it changes.

Thanks for clearing that up! I got the achievement. Also, I found out that after you do that, then the goal is to hit the captive ball and then shoot the right ramp to lock a ball in the boat. Repeat 3 times and you get a 3 ball multiball. Doesn't seem all that lucrative, really, but I'm not sure I did all that well in it.

I bought the classic pack of games last night and played those once or twice each. Will put more effort into them at some point this weekend. Still have, I think it's, 4 more to get and play, which will wipe out the rest of my 1600 points card. I guess I must like this game.

Originally Posted by Spybreak8 I've tried to change it but I can't find avatar awards with the avatar editor on xbox.com. Yeah I've had my avatar editor on the 360 update all the time but no difference. I think it might have to do with me wearing it when I updated with the new dashboard/avatar stuff.

They show up in the list of shirts, pants, etc. They aren't listed separately on xbox.com. They are the first things listed in each category and have a special icon of some sort that I'm forgetting. Not showing up there for you?

Even after adding all the people, my wizard score is still only around 40,000. You really must need a lot for 100,000.