Hi Guys
Been out in the Grand Canyon for 2 days with no internet access ( just wait till I tell ya's about that ! ) - so I am finally back in Vegas to give my report on our morning spent at the PHOF the other day.
I will rate it on how I saw it, nothing I say is meant to sound negative, I am going to say what I think though - as I always do -( this may be a long read )
Firstly - what I saw as the bad.
In a town that is known for it's insanely cool signage of all shapes and sizes, the PHOF signage is simply terrible, a simple cheap canvas banner hung up very high , basic black on white and it does not stand out at all. The building is plain and simple from the outside as well - it is VERY plain with nothing on it. When you enter ( the left entry door ) you see a scrappy pile of dead games on the left side - not a good start - my rating on this aspect 1/10.
The young guy who was in attendance the day we were there was not helpful at all - he didnt engage in any conversation at all about pinball even when I prompted him a couple of times, asked about Tim Arnold, mentioned Michael Shalhoub/ Australian scene etc - he did not want to know a thing or chat at all - my rating on his attitude to the customers 1/10.
The counter area where this guy worked from at the back centre of the building was a pig-sty and looked like an absolute shit-dump - my rating on this aspect 0/10.
The good.The range of games was absolutely great - from early woodies to the latest Rolling Stones and a LOT of games in between ( not a HEAP of SS games though , but still some good titles ), there was an entire row of the later DMD games including many I had not played - Shrek, Ironman, Avatar, Big Buck Hunter and many more - my rating on the range of games available 8++/10.
The condition of the games that I took the time to 'study' was DAMN GOOD. The cabinets were original and could have scuffs etc, but the playfields were REALLY nice in 'most cases', the only one I recall being bad was the original Bally Star Trek which had a lot of wear, which I understand is normal anyway for that game. A few games ( not many ) had incorrect drop targets but worked. All the games I played , apart from one, played VERY nicely with strong flippers, bumpers etc making gameplay fast and enjoyable - my rating on the condition of the playfields and playability 8.5++/10.
The customer traffic was constantly flowing, the place never got packed or busy but there was ALWAYS about 30+ people in the place at any given time, we were there for 3 hours and the flow continued the entire time, which surprised me and is good for pinball.
My summary.Is this a 'Hall Of Fame' -in my honest opinion - absolutely not.
Sure there are a lot of games but the hand written info cards scribbled out and stuck onto 'some' games with the complete lack of any real information displayed well and any promotional material or any decorating of any type, combined with the 'couldnt give a shit about the place' feel of the place means that it just doesnt cut it as a 'hall of fame'. It reminded me very much of the old pinball parlours from our youth ( which is cool ) but thats it. It has a long way to go to 'become' a Hall Of Fame. Considering the amount of information Tim Arnold has available and all the info he retains in his head , this place could be done a LOT better. Why they have NOTHING inside in regards to displaying history of the game of pinball, disected game part displays etc etc etc I have no idea :sleep
Is this a VERY COOL place to go to play heaps of well maintained games for anywhere from 25c to ( an average of ) 75c and kill a few hours studying and playing games you may have never played or have the opportunity to play and walk away content having spent some good time playing a large selection of games - ABSOLUTELY YES.
Other points.The standout game for me that I had never played was Safecracker- what a great little game with a unique feel and also a unique style of gameplay compared to the old 3 or 5 ball choice. I REALLY liked this game.
Some other 'surprises for me were Shrek as I HATE the movies and cannot stand Eddie Murphy's donkey voice all the time non-stop, so when I heard these sounds in the game I thought I was going to hate it, I played numerous games on it and cracked a few freebies as well and I REALLY enjoyed playing it.
The other big surprise was the rare and upright Pinball Circus - I had read many times that it was just awful...I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, the challenge of trying to get the ball up to the top level ( which I did twice ) was fun and not that easy , it has offset lower flippers and was easy to see everything going on. It was the only game that cost me $1.00 a game but did have 5 balls for that ( as most his games are set to actually )
I had never played Popeye , but I had to......a great big wide open playfield with seemingly nothing to aim for?
I took a HEAP of photo's - here are just a few.
How it looks from the street
The main counter area at the centre rear of inside
Take a good long look at my family playing pinball - U will never see it again 
OMG - The daughter on an old game - must have had shoe pictures on it somewhere/B]
What a heap of sh*t
Me with an old favourote- I LOVE this game.
This was fun to play actually
I like the feel of these newer games to be honest.
Again- a 'cracker' of a game ( pardon the pun )
A nice line up to spend time on
Some shots to show the amount of games available
A row of arcade games along the right side wall as well
What is this ?You will have to attend the next Sydney meet to find that out
( this was NOT at the PHOF by the way but is relative )
For those still interested I will be back on tonight to show some of Fremont St Vegas from the other night before we left as well as our Grand Canyon 'experience'
Off to dinner
Wotto
