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Simon Ashmore reports from St Ives, Cornwall, UK. Pinball in St Ives is dying! The Wharf Front Arcade used to have four and the Fore Street Arcade one, but now the Wharf is the only home of pinball here (until I can afford a house big enough to move my Bally Space Invader game into).
The arcade on the Wharf now only has one machine. (I did catch sight of the side of a Street Fighter machine in The Isobar but as night clubs are not my thing I have not been in - I object to queuing at my age even for pinball).
Granted it is a Simpson's Pinball Party which plays extremely well however there is a catch. The owner has read the manual and the changed the settings. When it first arrived, the stops on the left, centre and right outlanes worked. Then the summer (and tournament play with a prize!!!!!) came and the stops became inoperative :-( I carried on playing it and then was pleased to find that the stops returned with winter and higher scores followed. (My 85 million still the highest!) So be warned - at £1 for a game this can be expensive! £2 gets you three games though and with a replay at 7 million the first time around you should only be paying 50p per game for 4. Unfortunately as Christmas is now a peak time for St Ives the settings have changed again. However visitors to St Ives can enjoy at least one modern working machine! (Just come out of season to ensure the highest scores) Update - March 2008 The Simpsons Pinball Party is still there, well maintained, £1 for 2 games and (after not playing for several months) I am Grand Champion - a never before achieved feat, knocking the man with the keys off the top. To anyone visiting St Ives - feel free to drop in to the arcade and ask if they would consider installing maybe one more machine. You know it makes sense!
© Pinball News 2008 |
