West and MidWest, this Week in Pinball

Couple of events happening this week that we’re happy to make you aware of:

West
Opening Friday, February 5th, and running through March 2, at the Pacific Pinball Museum in the San Francisco Bay Area, is an exhibition defining pinball as art.

From one of the PPM’s associated websites,
Written by, Melissa Harmon, Curator, Pacific Pinball Museum:

A Short History of Pinball, Fine Art and Good Taste

Pinball Art: Fine Art is a study of pinball imagery and original artwork as shown in selected galleries from the 70’s through 2010.

As the folks from the PPM were the inspiration for PAPA’s own custom pinball machine project, we’re proud to have Michael Budai’s Freak Out and Brian Holderman’s Luther’s Vendetta backglass art on display as part of this first exhibit in the Pacific Pinball Museum’s new space.
—

MidWest
On Saturday, February 6th, at PAPA HQ just outside Pittsburgh, PA, we’ll be hosting the 3rd annual Cupids & Canines charity event, benefiting the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society and a proprietary charity operated by Camp Bow Wow International, Inc. called Bow Wow Buddies.

Detailed information regarding the event, including times and ticket pricing, written up by PAPA President Kevin Martin, can be found on the Cupids & Canines portion of the PAPA web site.

Running the tournament at this event will be 2005’s PAPA 8 World Pinball Champion Bowen Kerins. Trent Augenstein will be on hand defending his C&C 2009 title.

As this is one of only two times annually PAPA is open to the public, and considering the fact that the #1 question we’re asked about PAPA is “Why open only once a year?” Pinball player’s and hobby enthusiasts alike ought to seize the opportunity to access the PAPA collection for the only time we’ll open our doors before PAPA 13 – the World Pinball Championships, August 12-15, 2010.

What Makes a Wizard

This article has bounced around in my head a while, and I know it’s not entirely coherent, but here we go.

Often, when someone who knows very little about pinball asks me about expert players, they assume the experts have some kind of wizard skills to bounce the ball back into play after it drains (death save, or bang back), or perhaps that they can shake the machine in a special way that makes the ball walk back up the outlane.  In the novice’s experiences, the ball drains all the time, so their assumption is that wizards have to deal with that.  Well, there are such techniques, some of them even acceptable in tournament play, but they’re not what makes a wizard.

What makes a wizard, first and foremost, is not draining.  Once you have longer ball times, you can use that time to focus on everything else in your game.

So how do we increase ball time?  Through ball control, shot selection, shot accuracy, and nudging.  Ball control is obvious – using live and dead catches to get the ball under your control.  Shot selection is important because there are many risky shots, where your chance of a sudden drain is very high, or where the kickout from that shot is dangerous.  Think of the Axl hole on Guns n Roses.  Shot accuracy is important because when you miss a shot, the ball is out of your control again (which is why a game such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula is so high-variance – almost every single successful shot you make takes the ball out of your control).

And finally, we come to nudging.  Nudging, and knowing when not to nudge, separates the wizards from the rest.  A wizard player is looking ahead three or four bounces, in terms of when they should or should not nudge, and in what way.  Recognizing exactly which ball trajectories are dangerous, and which ones are already good and shouldn’t be nudged, takes a lot of time to learn.  For this, there is no substitute for thousands of hours of experience.  Experts are thinking things like “I have to push the ball up off of the top of the right slingshot so it goes into the left target bank instead of the left drain, but not so hard that it will come back down the center; preferably it will come to the left flipper for a live catch”.

The late great poker player Chip Reese once listened to a hand described to him by Annie Duke, where by the river, she was in an extremely difficult situation against two opponents.  None of her questions led to what was, to him, the obvious answer: “You should have pushed all-in on the flop.”  In that particular situation, that move was the equivalent of planning ahead several bounces in pinball.

Chip Reese also famously said this about the best poker players in the world: “When they are on their A game, they are all fantastic players, some probably better than my A game.  The thing is, my D game isn’t much different than my A game.”  That’s my definition of a pinball wizard, as well.

The Rock-afire Explosion

In the early eighties, kids all over the US flocked to Showbiz Pizza for the rides, games, and animatronic rock band, The Rock-afire Explosion. Created by 23-year-old prodigy Aaron Fechter, The Rock-afire Explosion amazed children and adults alike before being mysteriously pulled from showrooms and replaced by the now popular Chuck-E-Cheese in the early nineties.

Nearly twenty years later, still profoundly affected by his experience at Showbiz Pizza, small-town disc-jockey Chris Thrash sought out Fechter and purchased a Rock-afire band of his own. Some clever programming on Chris’ part, and the band was once again performing for millions, this time on YouTube.

The Rock-afire Explosion movie reveals how Chris came to revive this fallen 80’s gem, explores his and a number of other fan’s obsessions with the animatronic band, and chronicles the rise and fall of Showbiz Pizza and what was once a 20 million dollar per-year venture for inventor Aaron Fechter. More than this, the film is a look at the importance of nostalgia, ever-changing media culture, and the eternal quest to stay young.

DVD and much more info available on the Rock-afire Explosion’s official site!

Tournament Approaches: One-Hit Wonders

When playing pinball in a tournament, the only goal is points.  In match play, of course, you just want more points than your opponent(s).  In qualifying, formats vary — some tournaments only reward the top 8 or 12 scores, so a high score is necessary.  At PAPA, you can earn points for as low as 87th place on a game, but you qualify by playing well on all the games in one “run”.  In PAPA qualifying, consistency is rewarded far more than a single high score.

A good tournament game has multiple strategies, so there are ways for players to “go for broke” or “play it safe”.  Unfortunately, some games (even very popular and successful games) are terrible in tournaments because they reward a single strategy far more than any other.  Then, of course, everyone just plays that one strategy… it’s boring to watch, boring to play, and the winner is the one willing to lather, rinse, and repeat more than their bored opponents.

Here are a few games where a single strategy can dominate, and what you should do to crush anyone who doesn’t do the exact same thing.  I hope some of these are a little surprising.

Star Wars (Data East): Probably the most obvious one-hit wonder, Star Wars has a center ramp that scores 3 million at 3 ramps… then 8 million at 8 ramps… uh, then 33 million at 33 ramps.  Even if the ramp didn’t also spot progress toward other game objectives, it’s an easy shot and hittable from either flipper.  Don’t do anything else, except when multiball is lit for free on Ball 3.  Many games fall into this “one shot all day” trap, such as Police Force and Hurricane.

Junkyard: The classic example of a one-hit wonder from PAPA qualifying.  Players realized at PAPA 6 that the game’s video mode was repeatable, and worth an increasing number of points each time (500k… 1m… 1.5m… 2m… 20m…).  In the end, this strategy dominated play on Junkyard, and the game dominated the qualifying table for the tournament’s A Division.  Several players qualified for the finals entirely on their Junkyard score.  Judge Dredd has a similar exploit, with its left ramp worth the same scores, but there is enough points in the rest of the game that “left ramp all day” doesn’t really pay off without making 30 or 40 ramps.

Earthshaker: The center ramp is worth 50k to 100k per shot, plus 2 miles — no big deal, except at 99 miles every further ramp shot is 200k.  If this ramp is easy enough, there’s no sense in playing for anything else.  (Whirlwind has the same ramp points, but plenty more points available in its modes and multiballs, so the ramp strategy doesn’t dominate there.)

Theater of Magic: Many players don’t play its one-hit strategy: the left loop!  Loop shots lead to bonus multipliers, and loop shots are part of the bonus!  This can make each loop shot, by itself, worth 4 million per ball in bonus.  Every 7 loops lights a 50m Hurry-Up at the trunk, but some players ignore it, especially if the loop shots are continuous, scoring COMBO points of 2m, 4m, 6m, 8m… with no limit until you miss.  This strategy makes end-of-ball bonus overwhelming, so don’t tilt.

Revenge From Mars: A surprising strategy can dominate all others on this game: shoot the lock!  Six shots start multiball, with three of them going to the bonus multiplier lanes.  Then, during multiball… shoot the lock!  Revenge’s multiball allows you to shoot any major shot, as long as you’re willing to wait for the saucer to reappear.  So keep shooting the lock.  It returns safely to the flipper for another lock shot, and you’re getting bonus multipliers (typically 1 million each, more on a long ball).  Then when the Super Jackpot is lit… hm, maybe shoot the lock!  This strategy works partially because multiball never gets any more difficult to start.

Cue Ball Wizard: Many games, including Cue Ball Wizard, have a set of modes with a “big mode” at the end.  If the next mode lights up automatically when one ends, consider “timing out” the modes (trapping the ball and waiting) in order to get to the “big mode” more safely.  In this game, it’s a 3-ball multiball where every target is 5 million.  Would you rather advance toward that, or shoot that Rowdy Ramp for 2 million?  Your choice!  No Fear also falls deeply into this category, with 5 modes followed by 3 “big modes”, as does Roller Coaster Tycoon.  These “timeout” games are especially boring to play in tournaments, but points is points.

Some other quick hits from recent PAPA qualifying:

• Corvette: combos, combos, combos, especially during multiball.
• Demolition Man: MTL lights “Claw”. Claw lights multiball.  Another claw starts multiball.
• Paragon: drop targets = bonus + multiplier + extra ball.
• Spider-Man (Stern): Octopus all day.
• Elvira: Right ramp all day, although in tournament the Jackpot is big enough to go for.
• NBA (Stern): Right ramp all day.  ALL DAY unless extra ball or special is lit.  And those come from shooting the right ramp.
• Tales of the Arabian Nights: Shoot the bumpers.  Make sure the “Harem” light is lit or it won’t go to the bumpers.  When multiball begins… shoot the bumpers!
• Indy 500: Loops, loops, loops, especially the left loop to “turbo” combo.

I’m sure I’ve missed many good examples, so feel free to add your comments.  The best tournament games don’t have single, exploitable strategies like these, and it’s one reason why you keep seeing the same rotation of games at PAPA.

- Bowen

Tournament Approaches: Attack From Mars

Hey, what’s up.  This is the first of a quasi-irregular series on how to play Game X in a tournament.  One of my goals is to describe how and why playing a competition game is different from playing a normal game.  I’ve picked Attack From Mars, a well-known game where I feel tournament strategy is significantly different from arcade strategy.

Before you play: If possible, ask another player how the game is playing!  For Attack From Mars, critical information includes the feed from the Stroke of Luck, the feed from the right loop (and whether the ball hits or activates the sling), and the return from a botched lock ramp shot — this return sometimes sends the ball directly to the right outlane, and sometimes straight down the middle.  Also, if possible, watch another player on the game.  Specifically, find out if a ball saver is active or not, watch for tilt warnings, and try to get a sense for how the other player is “missing” their shots.  Does this player keep missing the lock ramp to the right?  That’s good information to improve your own play.

Know the sucker shots: Each game has shots that are valuable but lead to drains.  In arcade play, these are worth going for — they’re fun, they score points, and if the ball drains, no big deal, you can earn an extra ball.  In tournaments, these shots are death.  Outlanes are usually wider.  Tilts are tighter.  Required reaction time is faster.  Basically, if you think the ball may drain from a successful shot to something, don’t shoot it unless it is absolutely critical to success.  For Attack From Mars, this is the saucer.  Do not shoot for the saucer unless the ball saver is on, you are in multiball, the drop target is down, or you need exactly that many points to win a head-to-head match.  AFM doesn’t have other significant drain shots, but by the same argument, you should never shoot for the MARTIAN targets, even if there is only one left.  The reward does not justify the risk.

Getting started: A key concept when playing a game for the first time is to have some success with shotmaking, and ideally get to multiball.  In multiball, mistakes are penalized a lot less severely — unless you “double drain” the worst that can happen is you’re back in regular play.  So, my target when playing AFM is to get to the regular multiball as quickly as possible.  On plunges, if ball save is active, I go for Super Skill Shot (hold down left flipper) to try and open the saucer, otherwise make a regular plunge — bonus multipliers are actually pretty valuable on AFM, at least 5 million each.  Then, shoot only for the lock and possibly the right orbit (a wide, safe shot to the bumpers) with the goal of getting the ball fed to the right flipper for a lock shot.  By shooting consistently for the lock, confidence and accuracy on that shot increase quickly, and the lock shot is always very valuable on AFM.  Find out early, too, if you can “hop” the ball from the left flipper to the right from a lock feed, as this decreases the number of shots you need to make to get to multiball.

During multiball: Multiball is a time to get used to other shot locations — specifically, the right ramp, which tends to be very difficult to get used to, and punishes a missed shot.  I aim for the right ramp immediately, until it’s hit or until ball save shuts off.  Beyond that, play the normal strategy of trying for a Super Jackpot.  It’s not worth aiming for the saucer; probably a ball or two will bounce in there anyway.  Ideally you should get at least one Super Jackpot, since that will raise the value of the next multiball immensely.

After multiball: There are really only two strategies worth trying for on AFM in tournament: multiball and Total Annihilation.  Multiball is easier to get to (4 or 6 shots instead of 12) and awards about the same number of points.  If you got a Super Jackpot in your first multiball, I suggest continuing to play for the regular multiball for the rest of the game: the first cycle of jackpots and Super is worth 650 million, but the second cycle is worth 1,150 million, the third is 1,650 million, and the fourth and beyond are 2 billion each.  This is a lot of points!  If you are good at multiball this is really the way to go, I feel, especially if the “hop” is working.

If instead you are a better single-ball player I suggest going for Annihilation, specifically the 1 billion bonus for Hurry Ups.  To do this, shoot each of the four shots exactly twice before starting any Hurry-Up.  Additionally, do not shoot an Annihilation shot as Super Skill Shot unless it is the last one, since you are forfeiting the chance of going for the 1 billion bonus.  During Annihilation, shoot the orbits as much as possible.  It is only necessary to shoot the lock ramp once to collect the building Annihilation Jackpot, which has no maximum value.  So, ignore the lock ramp until there are two balls left in play, or unless the value is so large it can’t be ignored.  Shooting the orbits frequently doubles the value of the actual Annihilation shot through bumper and multiplier points, and Super Jets (3 million per bumper) almost always begins during an Annihilation.  Balls shot into the jets don’t come back for a while, which is a key strategy for multiball known as “parking a ball”.

Other advice: AFM is a game where you can easily lose track of your strategy, since all shots score decent points.  Success in tournaments is often about efficiency — you will miss shots, and you will drain.  So, you want every shot you take to be as valuable as possible.  A “Fleeing Bonus” of 10 million is not that shot.  A shot to the saucer is definitely not that shot.  Get control, and advance toward multiball or Annihilation.

Nudging is not as significant on AFM as on some other games, but there are a few things to consider.  One, the feed from the right orbit to the flippers often goes into the sling.  If this is happening, consider bumping the side of the machine high on the right side of the cabinet, which pushes the ball off the railing. Frequently this stops the ball from going into the sling.  Outlane saves on AFM are pretty difficult, and often involve banking the ball off the side wall.  Saving a ball off the side wall takes practice, but basically involves a quick shove toward the side wall as the ball hits the inlane/outlane divider.  This doesn’t come easy but can be a very satisfying save.

Score targets: If you need this many points… try…

• Less than 200 million: saucers, or the orbits to light Hurry Up for 100m.  If plunging, make a normal plunge, which is typically worth more than 50 million between the Skill Shot award, the +5x multipliers, and the bumper points.
• Less than a billion: regular multiball, unless you need only one or two shots for Annihilation.
• 2 billion: regular multiball, unless Annihilation is close or at a raised value.
• over 2 billion: relax, and play your normal strategy.

Don’t panic, and remember that the T in MARTIAN is not a jackpot!  I hope you found this helpful and let me know in comments what questions you have or what other games you’d like to see profiled.

- Bowen, former PAPA champion

Venetian Snares – Szamár Madár

Hmm.  We should probably add some more pinball content to this blog soon.  I’m just sayin.

Sento-kun

Ever since his horned head was unveiled in February, Sento-kun has been the target of ridicule and revulsion. Now the mascot chosen to mark the 1,300th anniversary of Japan’s ancient capital being relocated to Nara is in danger of being usurped.

Read the full story here.

Here There Be Dragons

Heavy Traffic

Originally posted by mgk.

Spam, Spam, Spam

1 Billion Spammers Served

Plenty of insight into the statistics of Spam.