Intended to leave this mezmerizing review on Pinside, but you have to be a verified member there to leave any reviews.
Looking into that process, it seems it’s a paid deal, most likely to keep riff raff like me out, so instead I’ll vomit my thoughts about this local arcade with pins here. At least until I stop being cheap and pay the 10 bones to get “verified” on Pinside.
(is it just me that thinks having to pay to be “verified” is stupid? I mean, you are either legit, a bot, transient, or troublemaker … I guess in terms of internet speak, and money doesn’t necessarily guarantee you’re not any or multiple of these)
In fairness to Pinside, you can get an existing Pinside member to “vouch” for you and avoid the donation/pay/support walls. If another PGM member or reader is all about that site and wants to save me 10 bones, throw me a bone in the comments area.
Now onto the review …
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Flip Off!
15941 Meridian E, Puyallup, WA 98375
(253) 256-7632
https://www.flipoffarcade.com/
Todd says:
Have been here a few times and the actual inside is a pretty good vibe going. Gets a little warm inside, but they have some really giant portable A/C units trying to cool it down. It’s also somewhat poorly located off a very busy street with a sign that sort of blends into the rest of Meridian in Puyallup. Just look to turn into the convenience store before the big Target mall area (which probably would have been a lot more expensive there, but newer and nicer). Not a huge amount of parking, but I’ve got a spot every time there, and it’s next to a car wash. But … once you get past all these minor nitpicks and go inside, it’s got a decent number of arcade machines and selection as well as some pinball machines. I’ve only bought the all-you-can-play arcade thing once, the other times I’ve gone there solely for pinball.
They had two Stern Insider Connected (SIC) Machines when I was last there: Godzilla and Iron Maiden ($2 for 3 plays, 75 cents per play). Only the latter was connected/registered to the network, which I wished both had been. I was at another place downtown that had five Stern pins and none of them were connected to the network. Please owner/operator(s): get/keep the Godzilla and all your Sterns connected.
The pins are kept clean and in good condition. They also have a new Aliens and Scooby Doo ($1/game).
Another cool thing they have is a bar area where you can play GC or Dreamcast games on a big TV while sipping a drink. Those games look a bit off on a giant flat screen 4K TV, but the nostalgia is there. All in all this place is worth checking out and returning if you like arcades of old. A few things to iron out, but am sure they will get to that. The employees were friendly and helpful when there. Other customers seemed to be having good time. That’s what matters. Hope they get enough business to continue to thrive. I’ll be back.
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(Time will likely revise this opinion. I saw on the official Flip Off Arcade Facebook that they just installed a new A/C, so will have to see if that has improved the inside temp)
Now, some bonus PGM coverage. But before you think I’m “that guy” that nitpicks online and never says anything. Wrong. I used their website form to tell them to turn on the Stern Insider Connected on Godzilla.
What about competing arcades/barcades/etc in/around the area?
We’re lucky. There are quite a few places to play pinball in/around us, and fully recognizing we’re spoiled. This means we can be a bit more picky with where/who/what businesses we want to patronize.
Downtown Puyallup, there is a place called Caskmates. They have a row of newer Sterns and not a single one of them was Insider Connected (SIC) when we were there, which made me 100% not want to return. Help was super friendly there, but that doesn’t oversome the lack of those beautiful, expensive Stern machines not being registerd on the network. Yes, I’m going to be a stickler on that — and tell the managers/owners/PersonsInCharge every time I can. Squeaky wheels, you know!
Another place we go to by my wife’s workplace is called Purdys. They have a Stern Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles Premium and The Beatles Gold Stern machines. The Gold is older, and didn’t have the Insider Connected feature stock, so giving them a pass on that one. The TMNT is connected, registerd and I’ll be back to play again.
UPDATE 7/29/2023 @ 11:30am PST:
– at the Flip Off official Facebook page they have installed A/C units above the pinball machines to cool down the place better than the portable machines. They also activated/registered their Godzilla Pro machine, per Stern’s Insider Connected locations website. See pics below. Well done, Flip Off Team, thank you!
