With the game in its present state of finesse, where a tap of the glass can result in a "tilt"; skill, talent, and "whisper-nudging" have replaced old-fashioned (and easy) friction and force. Cliche Man says "It really IS a whole new ballgame." And for what happened, and how it happened, with the final jab, it does almost qualify as Commentary-worthy.
I don't know what day it was, I don't even know what day it is now, but it was a day in the first week of September, 2003. We were playing the Big Lizard pinball machine; the one that tilts when you look at it wrong. It was a horrible 2-player game, with me as both competitors. Starting (the first of the final) ball 3's; player 1 had 48 million, and player 2 had 47 million. It was a close game; equally pathetic, place your bets, even. I decided to mark the occaision by calling attention to myself as the pinball master. "I will win replays on both of these games," said I, "there is nobody I would rather have playing the game in THIS particular situation." (that is actually true, by the way).
So what happened? Player 1 got the multi-ball, one extra ball, got the System Failure, and ended his game with a very respectable 379 million. Nice. Player 2, with a bit of pressure on him to perform, got the multi-ball, one extra ball, got the System Failure, and then also got another multi-ball, and ended his quick-to-tilt game with a towering 509 million. The story could have ended there, but did not, because with the new and profound sensitivity of JP pinball, the scores are all approximately 1/3 of what they used to be. Meaning: 509 million was barely enough to enter initials; to own the 6th and final score--I once again have all 6 scores on the game. And I will put my 1.069 billion high score up against any other feather-tilt JP machine on the planet, thank you.
Um, yes Mr. Crash, 1.069 billion is a fine score. But then came Tuesday night, 9-9-03, when we went to play pinball for therapy; alone. With a game that tilts so easily; a machine with a left flipper so weak that you can only 'sometimes' make the "O" ramp shot--and barely at that; a game for true professionals and masochists only. It took a brilliant, lucky, and spiritually-influenced tri-ball of epic proportions for me to score 1.529 billion; but I did. And I backed that game with a few others over 600 million before the left flipper died unceremoniuosly (I'm getting better at the sensitive play). Let the record show that IF this was the last night of neighborhood Jurassic Park pinball, then I celebrated as a true master; humble and thankful. I have enjoyed this run.
And now for a 9-11-03 update; JP pinball is fixed again! A new left-flipper coil was apparently installed on the 10th. My 6th favorite pinball machine of ALL TIME is going to stay in my neighborhood for a little while longer. Life is good. As of 9-12-03, on this particularly sensitive machine, you will need 630 million to knock off my lowest high score; and good luck to you!
You now need 701 million to knock off my #6 score.