I heard through the grapevine that the Alibi Restaurant here in London had their filthy and malfunctioning LOTR swapped out for a POTC. This is the only remaining location in town I am aware of that still has a pin.* It's operated by Fun-on-the-Run, a subsidiary of Starburst, which basically means that the only time you'll find a game in playable condition is within a couple months of when it's first placed on location.

Anyway, I managed to sneak in a few minutes to play tonight and found the machine to be in relative good shape. I didn't realize until I dropped in my loonie that it already had a couple of credits on it. I found that odd... until I started playing.

It seemed to play well, although the sound is way too quiet for the loud pub environment and the auto plunger lacks the juice to launch the ball on its own. The auto plunger problem isn't too much of an issue, though, since the game also has a manual plunger.
  
I played 'one' game for about twenty minutes, earned three or four extra balls, two free credits and completed a few of the modes (almost all, actually). I had only played this game once or twice before in the showroom at Starburst and don't recall it being quite so easy when it was on the showroom floor. It can't possibly be on anything higher than the 'easy' setting. Fun-on-the-Run would probably earn more money if they made the machine a little more challenging... there were 6 credits on it when I left - credits that someone else will play and not pay for.

Anyway, I'm pleased that there is still 'a location' in London. If you're in the area and haven't had a chance to play POTC, you'd be well-advised to get to it before the Starburst subsidiary allows it to deteriorate into unplayability.


*I was at the Mustang Drive-In Theatre a couple of years ago and they had a CFTBL (fitting, I thought) and a Shaq Attack. I haven't been back since then, so I can't confirm if there are any pins left at that location, though I've heard they're long gone.

I believe the Shaq was still there at the early part of last season. I was too busy playing Stun Runner to really notice though.

The DOG HOUSE on WILKINS( used to be MAGINIS LANDING)just had there pirates moved and they got a FAMILY GUY last week.

Quoted from poolman

The DOG HOUSE on WILKINS( used to be MAGINIS LANDING)just had there pirates moved and they got a FAMILY GUY last week.

Thanks for the tip. I slid (yes, slid) into the Dawg House on Saturday night at about midnight. Unfortunately, it was karaoke night and all the gubby neighbourhood locals were singing bad renditions of Debbie Boone and Tina Turner songs at peak volume. This resulted in a complete inability to hear Family Guy, but I did give 'er a whirl a few times.

The machine is clean and working perfectly (as far as I could tell). It's probably only been there a couple of weeks, judging by the state of the machine.

My first impressions of FGY are not great, but I'll reserve judgment until I can play it some more and actually hear the game. It seems to me that the Stewie Pinball machine is cute, but its major flaw is that the ball is much lighter than a standard pinball and tends to bounce around A LOT. It's a novel idea, but it didn't really do it for me. There are some interesting shots and fairly good flow, but at this point I'd have to say that there are much better Stern games out there.

So that's two locations with pins in London. Are there any I'm missing?  

FYI: Mackie's in Port Stanley (a short drive from London) has a fairly clean and fully operational South Park. The display has a couple of issues, but the machine plays well.

I had to walk away from it on Saturday because my ball times were getting out of hand. We had a wedding reception to get to so I drained my last ball and left with two credits posted. I achieved multi-ball 3 times on my first ball and three more times on my second. I played for about 20 minutes on two balls before heading out. Why weren't the machines this easy when I was a broke pre-pubescent kid in the arcades?

I found another!

My wife and I went to dinner at the Palasad at Oxford and Adelaide tonight. (The Palasad used to have a number of pins, but has since replaced all of the pins with crappy driving and redemption games)

After dinner, we were walking past the coin-op laundry Cafe (I can't remember what it's called) situated behind the restaurant. I'd been wanting to slide in there for a while to see if they had a pin, so I wandered inside to see what I could see.

Well, to my surprise and pleasure, what did I see at the back of the place but a SCARED STIFF! As I live and breathe!

Naturally, I plunked in fifty cents and began to play. The playfield was D-I-R-T-Y, but the machine played fairly well. I achieved multi-ball, scored about 8 or 9 jackpots, got an extra ball and a replay on my first ball. I initially thought the flippers were a little weak, but I didn't have much trouble making the ramps and reaching the top of the playfield, so I suppose they're not that bad. We were off to see a movie, so I had to cut the game short, but I would say that it's worthy for a play, if you're in the area.

I was delighted to find another pin on location in this pin-deprived city.

Update:

Mackie's in Port Stanley now has a TOTAN as their only pin. It leans a little to the right but plays ok regardless. Flippers are a touch weak.

The laundry cafe at Oxford and Adelaide now have a Getaway instead of Scared Stiff. It also plays ok.

Rumour has it that the Dawg House has IJ4. Haven't had a chance to check it out.

Rumour also has it that the pin has been removed from the Alibi. The last one I saw there was a Family Guy about 4 months ago.

I played one game on the IJ4 at the Dawg House yesterday. It's still in new condition and played very well. It's tough to get a feel for the game with only one credit, but my overall impression was favorable.

Cons:
- The artwork is uninspired.
- The movie scenes on the DMD are kinda lame and the DMD sequences stop the gameplay for too long.
- No drop targets.

Pros:
- The open concept of the playfield gave it a bit of a classic feel. I like that there's only one ramp.
- The Swordsman is a neat toy and the shot to hit him is nice and tight.
- Hitting the Arc is cool and the way it flings the ball back at the flippers was a nice surprise.

I've been thinking about going back to log some more play time, so it left some degree of an impression, I suppose. I like it a lot more than Family Guy, that's for sure.

Not that anyone is reading this thread, but...

The rumour about the Alibi losing its pin is untrue. Subpacket and I swung by there on Friday night and found a nice new Spiderman. We played for about an hour and won about 4 or 5 replays. That is, *I* won 4 or 5 replays; Subpacket won *nothing*.  

It plays well, but the gate at the top of the left ramp was tight and would often prevent the ball from passing through or the ball would get stuck underneath it. Fortunately, the tilt is so insensitive that you could molest the machine aggressively and manage to free the ball without tilting (most of the time).

I guess all the new Sterns are $1/play or $2/3 plays, eh?

We also played the IJ4 at the Dawg House a few more times earlier in the day. I feel like I'm the only one that likes this machine. In my most humble opinion, it's a better game than SM, although the artwork is obviously not as nice.

In both locations, hearing the game is nearly impossible.

In summary, here's the current pins on location that I am aware of in (or near) London:
- The Dawg House - IJ4
- The Laundry Cafe - HS2, The Getaway
- The Alibi Roadhouse - Spiderman
- Mackie's - TOTAN

Players Sports Bar on Dundas has a MM (I think it was and yes that MM if I recall) ...and all the high scores have the initials TOM for some reason...This is what i hear at least  

Oh right. I've heard that as well... from a reliable source... named Tom.  

Quoted Text

That is, *I* won 4 or 5 replays; Subpacket won *nothing*.  

You believe that all you want.  I won time away from a plethora of kids, having fun.  And honestly, at $2 for 3 credits, we burned through what? $6 for about 2 hours of playing?  Should have ordered wings though. Nothing says mmm like a greasy shooter rod!

And besides.. I got 2 matches so there...

Quoted from Subpacket

You believe that all you want.  I won time away from a plethora of kids, having fun.

  

Quoted from Subpacket

And besides.. I got 2 matches so there...

True on both counts.

Found a couple more on location in London last night:

Both at the corner of Wharncliffe and Southdale:
- The Final Score bar and grill - Roller Coaster Tycoon - Dirty. Weak flippers. Non-working upper right flipper. Non-working pop bumper. Display has dots out. Played like crap, yet I still managed a couple of extra balls and a couple of replays.
- Tiger Jacks - Lord of the Rings. Looked really nice, but it was unplugged. I plugged it in and tried to turn it on, but it was totally dead. I'm thinking it was a bad power receptacle. I asked the bartender what the deal was with the pinball machine. Barely looking up from her receipts, she glaced over at the machine and said "Looks like it's off."  No mess. Thanks for nothing.

A few machines of note.

Champion Pub @ The Oar House
Ripley's Believe It Or Not @ The laundromat at Oxford and Mornington
Rocky & Bullwinkle @ Eastpark (very broken)
TSPP @ Tommy's Suds (Commissioners and Wharncliffe)

Oh yeah, and the IJ at the Dawg House has been replaced with a Wheel of Fortune. What a neat game. I like the CV-style outlanes/inlanes. Very cool.

I was out at Tiger Jack's last night with my wife and LOTR was plugged in and looked ready to play. My wife forbid me to even touch the game nevermind play it. Damn.... I sit by myself patiently while she goes outside for cigarrettes and I can't play one lousy game?

Cooke, you and I gotta get out for an "on location" tour sometime.

Quoted from speedythepunk

Cooke, you and I gotta get out for an "on location" tour sometime.

You're absolutely right.

There's a real dirty Elvis, at Final Score.

I'm heading down to London next week and I was wondering if someone would be able to give me a summary of any pins that are still on location? Thanks  

To my knowledge, there's a 24 at the Dawg House. There was recently a White Water at the Laundry Cafe at Adelaide and Oxford. Not sure if it's still there.

The Dawg House seems to be the only location that consistently has a pin and it gets rotated about twice a year or so.

Oh! And Speed City Records has a sweet a** Joker Poker on free play.

I also found out they have a Family Guy on UWO Campus at The Spoke.

Mackie's in Port Stanley now has an Elvis. I didn't play it, but there were 3 kids chimping the flippers hardcore and they seemed to be having fun. I had the family in tow, so I didn't get close enough to look at condition.

Monopoly at Boston Pizza on Wonderland