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Re: The new and improved Party Thead - ifester - Van, so sorry to hear about your father. My sympathies man.
Re: Finally tried to purchase a PS3 last weekend - bucho the great - Quote: Sounds like Sony may be using the same strategy Nintendo is using. Every few months, Nintendo won't ship any Wii's to our store (GameStop) or store...
Re: The new and improved Party Thead - deschain - Quote: I wanted you guys to know. My father died this morning. Im conflicted about it because we were extremely estranged. Van, my condolences and prayers as well.
Re: Finally tried to purchase a PS3 last weekend - deschain - Quote: Sounds like Sony may be using the same strategy Nintendo is using. Every few months, Nintendo won't ship any Wii's to our store (GameStop) or store...
Re: The new and improved Party Thead - pherlonzo - Quote: I wanted you guys to know. My father died this morning. Im conflicted about it because we were extremely estranged. sorry to hear Van....regardless of the relationship you had, it's still tough to lose a parent...I'll send my prayers southward my friend

sonicmario

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About Me

Basic Information
Website
FunWithBonus.com
Gender
Male
Birthday
18/05/1978
About me
Competitive Pinball Player -------------------------------------- In the days of yore, and as the console wars raged on, I found myself in the middle of two fierce factions. I had friends who liked Sonic and thought that Sega and its Genesis could do no wrong, and I had friends who like Mario and thought that Nintendo and the SNES were equally infallible. Since I owned both systems, many times my friends would come over to my place to do battle, both verbally ("Sonic Sux!/Rox! No, Mario Sux!/Rox!" "I know you are but what am I" etc.) and on the electronic playgrounds of both consoles. One time, when I was kicking their collective asses in Super Mario Kart, I said something like this: "One day they'll make a game that has both Sonic and Mario in it together and it will be the greatest game ever!" Yes, in the console wars, I was Switzerland. After the laughter died down, someone said, "What would you call it, the sonicmario game? That'll never happen!" I said, "Yeah, sounds like a good game to me." For the rest of the day they called me sonicmario and I got my nickname. It seems that I eventually got my wish including good (SSB Brawl: WIN!) and bad (Sonic vs Mario Olympics: FAIL!) examples. Note that I'm not a total fanboy toward either Sonic or Mario games. For example: I comment to everyone that asks me that Sonic (2006) for the 360 found new and innovative ways to suck ass. As far as gaming goes, I play just about every genre except simulation sports games. But, I can get into the arcadey sports games that focus on fun instead of realism. Competitive puzzle games like Tetris Attack/Puzzle League are high on my list as well. I also like to dabble in the classic-type games in XBLA since they accommodate my retro tendencies. However, besides my bias toward platform games that star either a 2-Dimensional Sonic or Mario in them, I love to play shmups. Shmups are like no-limit poker; easy to play but difficult to master. My real gaming love though is pinball. Not computer pinball, but real, tactile, arcade pinball. I'm sure that this one may be coming out of left field for some people, but I'll continue. I am a highly ranked player in the world of competitive pinball. Touring and playing in various tournaments is great fun, and I urge you, if you like pinball, to find a league in your area and compete.

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City / Town
Somerset, NJ
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United States

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PlayStation Network ID
funwithbonus
Steam ID
funwithbonus
Xbox Gamertag
sonicmario

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Wednesday, February 11 2009 Cupids and Canines 2009 Casino Night and Pinball Tournament

At the Cupids and Canines Casino Night and Pinball Tournament on February 7, 2009, over 350 people played blackjack, poker, craps, roulette and pinball at the Professional Amateur Pinball Association's (PAPA) headquarters in Scott Township (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania. Tournament players and pinball enthusiasts could play over 400 pinball machines from all eras, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Batman (The Dark Knight), two of the newest offerings from STERN Pinball, Inc. In addition to the admission fees, all coin-drop from the pinball machines went to charity.

Video footage before the event:

Video footage during the event:

Every paid attendee at the event received $20,000 in "play money" to use at the casino gaming tables. Each $5,000 in "play money" earned you one ticket to use for the chance auction and raffle. You could also re-buy "play money" if you were tapped out.

Among the charities that benefitted from this event were: Bob Wow Buddies (Camp Bow Wow) and the Pittsburgh-area Humane Societies with the goals of promoting canine cancer research and animal adoptions.

"Want some 'Candy'?"

Though the event officially opened at 8:00 PM, PAPA President, Kevin Martin opened the facility at 11:00 AM for the pinball tournament competitors. Multiple time World Pinball Champion Bowen Kerins organized the event.

Among the games involved in the tournament were:

Batman (The Dark Knight)
Harlem Globetrotters
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Family Guy
The Simpsons
Flip Flop
Paragon
Jungle Queen
Medieval Madness
Judge Dredd

"Joust" - 2 Player Versus Pinball Game!

A $10 entry fee bought you a slot in a group of 8 players for a satellite tournament/preliminary round (though, your admission into Cupids and Canines came with one free entry into the tournament). Each group of 8 players was split in half. These two groups of 4 played a "best of three" series where first place in each game earned 4 points, second place earned 2 points, third place received 1 point, and fourth place got zero points. This was later changed to a "best of two" series because of the high amount of people who wanted to enter the tournament.

Finishing first or second overall in your group meant you advanced to the next round of four players with the winner of that group reaching the final round. A great feature about this system was that as soon as you lost a round, you could immediately reenter. A new preliminary round began as soon as eight more players were ready. A portion of the entry fees for the pinball tournament also went to charity. Trent Augenstein, ranked number 6 in the world as of this writing, won the tournament and took home an electromechanical pinball machine donated by PAPA.

It was a fantastic event, and I encourage all, who are looking for a slice of pinball heaven, to come out to the PAPA world headquarters when it reopens for the PAPA 12 World Pinball Championships this August.

Pinball, as far as the eye can see!