Back Center Up-Posts

Edit History

  1. By Flipcommons AI Descriptions (GameplayFeature)
    description
    A center up-post is a post that rises out of the playfield between the flippers on command from the game, closing the gap a ball would otherwise fall through and dropping flush again afterwards.[1] It is usually a round translucent column with a bulb inside, lit when raised so the player can see the save is live;[2] a ball that meets it stops, rolls along its edge and comes to rest against one flipper or the other.[3] The trade also calls it a magic post or a recovery post.[1] ## Origins The idea is older than the post. [[manufacturer:gottlieb]] and [[manufacturer:chicago-coin]] fitted a V-shaped metal blade between the flippers on machines of 1950 and 1951 — Gottlieb called it a blocking gate, or a safety gate — which rose to close the flipper gap and steer the ball to one flipper or the other, and the round plastic up-post descended from it.[4][5] *[[title:thing]]* (1951, Chicago Coin) is one of the machines that carried the blade.[6] The up-post proper first appeared on *[[title:playboy]]* (1967, [[manufacturer:rally]]),[7] after which [[manufacturer:williams]], [[manufacturer:bally]] and Chicago Coin all fitted one between the flippers across their late-1960s and early-1970s lines, with makers in Japan and Spain taking it up in the same years. ## What raises it Whether the game or the player commands the post varies from machine to machine. On *[[title:big-guns]]* (1987, Williams) the game raises it for the duration of a jackpot mode, holding the [[gameplay-feature:left-outlane-kickbacks]] live and diverting the right outlane back to the flipper at the same time.[8] On *[[model:harley-davidson-3rd-edition]]* (2002, [[manufacturer:stern-pinball]]) both have a say — the machine and the player each command the post.[9] ## The UK All-Skill system The post's largest deliberate use was legal rather than sporting. British law long treated pinball as a game of chance rather than skill, which put it under the same licensing and tax regime as slot machines, since the free game a player could win carried the cash value of a play.[10] The answer the trade devised was the UK All-Skill system: two extra up-posts at the top of the outlanes and a large centre up-post between the flippers, all three worked by a second pair of flipper buttons on the cabinet sides.[11][12] The reasoning was that a player who always had a physical means of stopping the ball could only lose it by reacting too slowly, which made the game one of skill.[13] The posts stayed up for about half a second and could be fired again as soon as they fell.[14] The system first appeared on *[[title:the-x-files]]* (1997, [[manufacturer:sega]]) and ran through Sega's line and then Stern's as far as *[[title:the-sopranos]]* (2005).[15] It was never universally welcome: many operators simply switched the posts off on location.[16] What ended it was hardware and then law — from *[[title:nascar]]* (2005) Stern's new siderail design left no room for the extra buttons,[17] and the Gambling Act 2005, in force from September 2007, settled that a free game is not a prize and took pinball out of gaming-machine licensing altogether.[18]
    1.
    Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_pinball_terms
    A post that can rise up between the flipper fingers and completely block the middle drain. Sometimes also called a recovery post or up post.
    2.
    Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php Archive
    A light bulb inside the device illuminates the post when raised, to be more noticeable to the player.
    3.
    Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php Archive
    Instead, the ball typically hits it, stops, and rolls along its edge to rest against one or the other flipper.
    4.
    Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php Archive
    The metal, V-shaped ball-saving device that would raise and lower between flippers on some Gottlieb and Chicago Coin games during 1950-1951.
    5.
    Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php Archive
    It is the precedessor of the round plastic Up-post used in 1960's games and later.
    6.
    Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php Archive
    An example of this feature can be found on Chicago Coin's 1951 'Thing'.
    7.
    Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php Archive
    First used on Rally's 1967 'Play boy'.
    8.
    Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #250
    During Invincible/Queen's Rescue (Jackpot mode), the center post is raised, the kickback stays active, and the right gate diverts the ball back to the right flipper for a set amount of time.
    9.
    Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #5277
    The up-post is controlled by both the machine and the player.
    10.
    Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/ukposts.html
    until quite recently in this country, pinball used to be legally deemed a game of chance rather than skill
    11.
    Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/ukposts.html
    It was called the UK All-Skill system, and consisted of two extra up-posts added to the game's playfield - one at the top of each outlane, as shown arrowed below - and a large centre up-post between the flippers.
    12.
    Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/ukposts.html
    The posts were player-controlled using extra flipper buttons installed on the cabinet sides.
    13.
    Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/ukposts.html
    the idea behind installing them was to ensure the player always had a physical way to stop the ball from draining
    14.
    Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/ukposts.html
    The posts only raised for around half a second but could be activated again as soon as they fell by repeatedly pressing the appropriate buttons.
    15.
    Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/ukposts.html
    The resulting solution first appeared on the 1997 game X-Files from Sega, and although it was never adopted at Williams, it continued to be used at Sega - and then Stern - until The Sopranos came out in 2005.
    16.
    Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/ukposts.html
    in practice many operators disabled the posts when the games were on location
    17.
    Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/ukposts.html
    from NASCAR onwards, the new siderail design which incorporated metal flipper button protectors ruled out the addition of the extra flipper buttons, and Stern stopped fitting the system to UK games
    18.
    Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/ukposts.html
    So after decades of being treated a gambling device, pinball was officially free of any licensing restrictions.
  2. By Flipcommons Catalog
    gameplay_feature_alias
    Alias value
    Up-Post Between Flippers
    gameplay_feature_parent
    Parent
    Up-Posts
    name
    Center Up-Posts
    slug
    center-up-posts
    status
    active