Pittsburgh Pinball League Finals were a Blast!

League finals begin with announcements, and my man Joe stood tall and made those announcements. But this post I want to stay away from the competitive side of the pinball (maybe because I was one and done and played like I'd never played pinball before, I don't know), because I found myself especially appreciative of pinball artwork. I snapped shots of a few games from the side and from some angles I don't consciously go for, and I think the results weren't too bad. Of course I need a real camera and a steadier hand, so it is what it is. Thanks for stopping by.

Up first, Grand Lizard by Williams. This game has it all: Death, blood, chains, skulls, demons, snakes, treasure, a giant (or Grand) lizard, and a warrior with a souvenir toothpick sword. I'm still not sure we can win with this weapon. The game itself has two sets of filppers, player controlled magnets, and a 3-ball multiball. The theme is pretty sweet (and the ambient sounds that play during the game are even sweeter). The glare was too strong on the glass for me to get a usable image of the playfield, but this backglass art is so much fun.

What I love about the older games is that they are simpler than the super deep modern pins, but that doesn't make them easier. In fact, I struggle more on the older games than the newer ones. Hokus Pokus by Bally (I can read!) is a fun spinner/lane game which features a magical theme.

One thing to note about the older games is that they are able to give a player most, if not all the information needed to formulate a strategy. Get the lanes, open the gate, advance the bonus and collect it by draining :(

Cabinet Art

Newer games have tremendous effort put into their cabinets. Compare the cabinet of Hokus Pokus:

Magic Theme: Check.

With the cabinet of Stern's Tron:

Or compare the backglass and cabinet of Bally's Safari:

With the backglass and cabinet of Stern's Avengers:

It's clear the intent of the modern pinball machine is to grab your attention and draw you in. I think it's working :)

But that safari game sure had some cool tigers.

Sometimes when I play pinball competitively I miss the time/effort that went into making the entire machine. It's more than just a high score contest (sometimes) and I wanted to use this post to show you something a little different. I also wanted to thank all the people involved in the league and congratulate everyone on a great finals!

There are some pretty big events in the coming months and this blog will explode with content. We have our next league starting up, we have a summer league coming (what is summer and when will it get here? It's still snowing in Pittsburgh) and we have Pinburgh. Pinburgh will get a lot of coverage in this blog in the weeks leading up and for weeks afterward. Even though it's too late to compete in Pinburgh, it's not too late to book a trip for the best gaming convention in the known universe

I hope to hear from you in the comments.