Pinballz in Austin rulez!

PublicSectorTech

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Hey, I just wanted to say I really enjoyed visiting Pinballz in Austin last weekend. Best arcade I've been to as an adult. Definitely worth checking out if you're traveling through Austin.

Oh, and in case you Pinballz guys are reading, fix your Tempest spinner!
 
Pinballz is great, we have a lot of fun each time we go (esp. if I can get a front row spot for easy beer access). Tons of pins to choose from, good assortment of old and new vids. They had some new games last time too I believe; we played a great 4-player Gauntlet run that night.

I've noticed each time though that around half of their classic games will have issues .. e.g. Defender out of focus, Ghosts and Goblins yellow picture, Star Wars sound out, Q*Bert joystick broken, etc. I can look past a few issues, but it's kind of a bummer when I bring new people and it's happening on all the games they really want to play.

LeChuck
 
I have a sales rep from Austin, and every time he visits he talks up Pinballz.
 
++++++++1, Pinballz is Fantastic, if you are in the area, it is worth the trip there for sure. I have been here about 6 times now, drove to Austin from Dallas several times just to go there and play, the machines are in really nice shape, plenty of selection for everyone and enjoy my time there every time. If I lived in Austin I would probably be there a few times a week.
 
I've noticed each time though that around half of their classic games will have issues .. e.g. Defender out of focus, Ghosts and Goblins yellow picture, Star Wars sound out, Q*Bert joystick broken, etc. I can look past a few issues, but it's kind of a bummer when I bring new people and it's happening on all the games they really want to play.

From what I've heard, their normal repair techs aren't that good, and the owner(s) don't want to spend a lot of money on them. Most of the people I know who are good enough to do the work have some story of getting screwed over as far as compensation that was promised or implied - and have decided not to help for "free" any longer.

Still - it's better than the alternative (no arcades at all)...
 
Went to Pinballz again last night and had a blast! It was 80s Retrocade night, so select games were one token per play and they had 80s music playing overhead.

One other good thing I've noticed about Pinballz is that each time I've gone they've rotated in new games - e.g. last time it was Gauntlet, this time they added Popeye and DK and rearranged to make a little Nintendo row.

Wizard of Wor, Missile Command, and Sea Wolf are my other favorites from the vid section; for pins it's Grand Lizard (one of the Retrocade games last night), Black Hole, and the Star Treks.

LeChuck
 
Poked my head in there during SXSW and it was just like the crowds from the 80's. Place was jam packed with a few people waiting at almost all of the machines. Pretty cool to see but not the night to play.
 
Went to Pinballz a few weeks ago and had my best experience yet, a lot of the video games were in much better states of repair and they brought some new games in. I got to play Operation Wolf for the first time in almost 20 years. It hadn't aged well, unfortunately.

I've heard having this arcade in town is making it very difficult for private collectors here, i.e. Pinballz is buying up all available Craigslisted machines quickly.

Some of the machines on the floor have seen better days. Their Street Fighter II CE cab had water damage halfway up the side and was disintegrating into the floor. Their Q*Bert joystick was misalligned on the lower left direction.

No real comment on the pinball stuff though, it looked nice but my quarters went to the vids.

I caught people taking pictures of the Star Wars, but no one actually played it. Odd.
 
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They had that Grand Lizard up at TPF..I was so looking forward to playing that...and then I did....flippers were WEAK WEAK WEAK.

I actually sold my Pinbot and a VERY nice Galaga cocktail to Darren (the owner) at TPF. So if you see a LED'ed out Pinbot with Red and Blue flippers and blue nylon nuts, it was probably mine, same if you see a Galaga cocktail with minty CPO's and a crystal clear monitor. CRT was produced in 2000...can't believe I let that go, but I had to pay for a STTNG pin somehow!

I'll make it down there someday, lol.
 
Went to Pinballz a few weeks ago and had my best experience yet, a lot of the video games were in much better states of repair and they brought some new games in. I got to play Operation Wolf for the first time in almost 20 years. It hadn't aged well, unfortunately.

I've heard having this arcade in town is making it very difficult for private collectors here, i.e. Pinballz is buying up all available Craigslisted machines quickly.

Some of the machines on the floor have seen better days. Their Street Fighter II CE cab had water damage halfway up the side and was disintegrating into the floor. Their Q*Bert joystick was misalligned on the lower left direction.

No real comment on the pinball stuff though, it looked nice but my quarters went to the vids.

I caught people taking pictures of the Star Wars, but no one actually played it. Odd.

I think it's better for retail places to have these available for play. Private collectors < places that will run the games and reintroduce to the public. Kudos for Pinballz for making this attempt.
 
My experience has been that Pinballz deals in bulk buys where they can get a better deal vs individual buys unless it is a hard to find machine/condition of machine.

In my experience it doesn't seem that the collector environment has changed since they have entered the market.
 
I know this is an old thread but I was searching because a friend of mine went and told me about it. He said it was packed... Seems like opening arcades can work if you do it right. Has anybody been there? Is the owner on here??
 
I know this is an old thread but I was searching because a friend of mine went and told me about it. He said it was packed... Seems like opening arcades can work if you do it right. Has anybody been there? Is the owner on here??

I've been a few times. I don't think the owner is a member here.

It's definitely an arcade worth checking out.
 
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