I moved to a new instance, here's my re- #introduction
Hello people. I'm Ari, although I'm better known by my nick APz or apzpins in the social media.
I'm an IT guy by day, dedicating my free time to keep #pinball alive. My hobby has turned from owning a single game at home to an #arcade full of them over the years. Originally a very active tournament player, but in the past years I've been leaning more and more to the restoration and maintenance of the games. I especially love early solid state pins.
I'm a very #DIY -spirited person, often having to come up with creative ways to fix something that's been long obsolete. I do a lot of #3dprinting, tabletop #cnc and #laser'ing, among other things.
In addition to pinball machines, I'm into mechanical and video arcade games, #retrocomputing, owning plenty of machines from Commodore, Atari, PCs and old servers.
I mostly post in English, but I'll reply in other languages where I can, I can do #Finnish and conversational #Spanish.
I love animals and I often post pictures of my whisker faces.
A selfie of me, a Finnish guy in 40s, wearing a black T-shirt that says "Hopeakuula". There's a large Elvira's House of Horrors pinball banner in the background.
#pinball
Today’s for funsies felt extra special, because it’s Veikka’s 28th today! The dude with long hair and the vintage flanel on 😁 I made a note of it, so next year I’ll have a little something for him.
The normal round was played on Mousin’ Around, which Veikka won hands down, Contact, which Topi took, and Fish Tales, which I won, but since my score doesn’t count, it was won by Veikka.
For funsies round was on The Twilight Zone, with a cloth obscuring the view. Mika won that, because he managed to get the power ball.
A fun fact: Sega pinball machines used to have Sonic in their flipper plunger links. I don't know any other brand that that branded that specific part. #pinball#sega#segapinball#arcadehistory
A pinball plunger link with a pictue of Sonic on it.
In a special treat at Pinball Expo, I even got to play the famed Baffle Ball (often inaccurately dubbed the first #pinball ) - which many will remember from Microsoft Pinball Arcade.
It plays distinctly differently than the tables that come right after it; was a thrill to get my hands on it.
Occasionally I collect #art, watch #LaserDiscs, study #horology, visit museums often (The Met, MFA, Harvard Art Museum), and support my local libraries.
Hello people! I've been on the Fediverse for couple of years now, so here's my re-#introduction
I'm Ari, better known by my tag APZ and this is my #pinball repair, #arcade and #retrogaming account. I mostly post about playing and repairing pinball machines, but I also work on #retrocomputing with all the classics.
An IT guy by day, I moonlight as a public pinball arcade here in #Finland with my partner
@quester. This is purely a hobby of mine and I do this to keep my sanity and to keep pinball alive for the next generations of players. At the moment I own a bit over 30 pinball machines from 70s to 2020s.
I love to #travel, usually to meet like-minded arcade collectors. I have a strong preference to #repair stuff instead of throwing it away. I'm a #linux user since mid-90s, having been part of #foss movement most of my life.
A selfie-style picture of a Nordic looking guy in his mid-40s. I'm wearing a green, worn baseball cap, glasses and a short beard. The background shows a workshop, with a 3D printer and couple of work in progress pinball machines.
Hello people! I've been on the Fediverse for couple of years now, so here's my re-#introduction
I'm Ari, better known by my tag APZ and this is my #pinball repair, #arcade and #retrogaming account. I mostly post about playing and repairing pinball machines, but I also work on #retrocomputing with all the classics.
An IT guy by day, I moonlight as a public pinball arcade here in #Finland with my partner
@quester. This is purely a hobby of mine and I do this to keep my sanity and to keep pinball alive for the next generations of players. At the moment I own a bit over 30 pinball machines from 70s to 2020s.
I love to #travel, usually to meet like-minded arcade collectors. I have a strong preference to #repair stuff instead of throwing it away. I'm a #linux user since mid-90s, having been part of #foss movement most of my life.
A self-style picture of a Nordic looking guy in his mid-40s, wearing a worn out baseball cap and glasses, with short beard. The background shows a workshop, with a 3D printer and couple of work in progress pinball machines.
I've been with my partner
@apzpins for over 16 years, we run a #pinball arcade together as a hobby. We have two elderly #cats who also get shared on here on the occasion.
I play a lot of #VideoGames, especially #RPGs and post about my progress, usually with pictures or videos.
I enjoy #travel, I've been to 13 different countries so far. I also enjoy meeting people from all around the world.
I'm a #chef by profession, I love good #food and great #coffee. I've been working at a student cafe on a uni campus for almost 7 years.
I like #cycling and try to keep some sort of condition with it. We have pretty good cycling routes in my home town. Photo evidence is shared on the occasion.
If you read this far, and share interests, give me a follow 😁
I had heard that this was a very good console pinball game, so I've been curious about it since I hooked my spouse's childhood NES up to the TV. The edge connector of the cartridge needed some cleaning (at first it would show corrupted graphics and then hang), but after a spray of Deoxit (I'm getting fancier) and some cotton swabs it works fine.
When I say I have seen and done strange and unbelievable things, I mean I have found and played on location the #pinball game Class Of 1812.
Photograph of three early-90s pinball games --- Lethal Weapon 3, Class of 1812, and Riverboat Gambler --- underneath an illuminated canopy as would go over a small carnival ride, itself sitting inside a large warehouse decorated with carnival and amusement memorabilia.
In 1976, Sesame Street had a segment in rotation called “Pinball Number Count.” The music is captivating, hopping between 4/4, 4/3, and 5/4 time signatures. And the animation is bursting with color and life. It has forever lived in my head.
Fun fact 1: the song counts to 12, but there were only 11 segments.
Fun fact 2: the vocals were provided by The Pointer Sisters.
If you have a #Playdate handheld and would like to play-test "Devils on the Moon Pinball" you can go here https://forms.gle/G6MXGVEH1eHQRUFS6 we're opening up some spots for feedback :D
EM games and their fake score reels. Both of these machines use 4 score reels per player, but Top Score has one fake reel, Mars Trek two. And players feel better knowing they have insane scores. #pinball#empinball#70spinball
Need to rewatch
@TechConnectify's EM pinball episodes, can't remember if the fake zero in score reels is mentioned. Here we have a game that does not have it, so it counts single points instead of 10s. #pinball
Closeup of electro mechanical pinball machine's score reels. They read 0438.
After a lot of experimentation on 3D printing NBA Fastbreak's backbox ball, I've found a winner. PETG appears to take the abuse the ball gets. I bought some bright orange PETG and made a proper colored replacement. #pinball#pinrepair#3dprinting
Closeup of NBA Fastbreak's backbox hoops game's flipper. There's a small blue basketball inside the machine. Similar sized orange one is being held in hand in the foreground.
It's a national day off here, so I have some time to continue my Roadshow servo mod. I have almost all the pieces ready now, the eyes already move and the eyelid actuators are in work in progress. I'm really curious to see the first time when I have full control over Reds and Ted's eyes with servos. #pinball#pinmod#freecad
Screenshot of FreeCAD, with various servo mount and actuator parts being designed.