Episode 332 - 1973 Bally Hawaii

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·10m 23s·analyzed·Feb 7, 2016

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.017

TL;DR

Deep dive into Bally's 1973 Hawaii bingo pinball: mechanics, features, and artwork.

Summary

Nick Baldridge provides a detailed technical and aesthetic breakdown of Bally's 1973 Hawaii, a 20-hole bingo pinball machine that is the sister game to Double Up. The episode covers Hawaii's distinctive features including the star zone mechanic, score doubling and quadrupling capabilities, the Second Guess mid-game wagering system, extra ball awards, and its colorful Hawaiian-themed artwork. Baldridge notes speculation that Hawaii may have been the heaviest bingo machine Bally produced.

Key Claims

Hawaii is the sister game to Double Up and retains all of Double Up's features plus one additional feature
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, opening description of Hawaii's design relationship
The star zone is the fifth number in every section on the playfield, and if landed in as the third or fourth number, it doesn't count toward a section win
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, detailed explanation of star zone mechanics
Hawaii features a Second Guess system that allows players to wager coins for odds or feature jumps in the middle of the game, with lower probability than early-game wagering
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, comparison to Cypress Gardens Stop and Shop feature
Hawaii may have been the heaviest bingo machine that Bally produced
medium confidence · Nick Baldridge, referencing Facebook speculation about Hawaii's weight
The score doubling feature in Hawaii makes other features and odds advancement much more difficult to light
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, discussing his Double Up machine and feature interaction balance
Hawaii's playfield artwork features three Hawaiian hula dancers arranged around the playfield in outline drawing style, similar to Venice and London machines
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, playfield artwork description

Notable Quotes

“Now, Hawaii is the sister game to Double Up, and therefore it retains all the features of Double Up but adds one additional.”
Nick Baldridge @ 0:00-0:30 — Establishes the core design relationship and positioning of Hawaii in Bally's product line
“So in this way, you can be cheated out of any given section win because of that star zone.”
Nick Baldridge @ 3:30-3:45 — Colorful description of the star zone's punitive design role in the gameplay
“I guess Bally figured that was a very powerful feature.”
Nick Baldridge @ 5:15-5:25 — Reflects on design intent behind balancing the score doubling feature's power
“The playfield has the best artwork out of the whole package, I think.”
Nick Baldridge @ 10:00-10:10 — Personal evaluation of Hawaii's aesthetic strengths relative to other machines
“You have three Hawaiian hula dancers which are arranged around the playfield. These are done in that outline drawing style which I liked so much on Venice and London.”
Nick Baldridge @ 10:15-10:35 — Details the artistic style and thematic execution of Hawaii's playfield design

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonBallycompany HawaiigameDouble UpgameTicker Tapegame Venicegame Londongame Cypress Gardensgame

Signals

?
historical_signal: Detailed examination of Hawaii's position in Bally's bingo machine design progression, showing how the manufacturer iterated on the Double Up platform with additional features and refinements
high · Hawaii is identified as the sister game to Double Up, retaining all features and adding one additional; part of ongoing chronological series covering Bally bingo evolution
?
restoration_signal: Nick Baldridge references his personal Double Up machine and provides gameplay insights based on hands-on experience with sister machines, offering practical knowledge about feature interaction and balance
high · Discussion of how score doubling feature affects other feature lighting difficulty, based on his own Double Up experience
?
design_philosophy: Analysis of Bally's intentional design choices in Hawaii to balance powerful features (score doubling, odds quadrupling) against other feature availability, suggesting deliberate difficulty calibration
high · Nick's observation that 'Bally figured that was a very powerful feature' regarding score doubling's impact on other feature lighting rates
?
design_innovation: Hawaii's Second Guess feature represents a refined take on mid-game wagering mechanics, offering both odds and feature jumps with probabilistic tuning different from earlier Cypress Gardens Stop and Shop
high · Second Guess allows coins before fourth ball for odds or features, with lower probability than early-game wagering due to game state awareness
?
design_signal: Hawaii demonstrates intentional thematic artwork execution with Hawaiian-specific visual elements (hula dancers, palm trees, bamboo, purple zigzag back glass) coordinated across cabinet, back glass, and playfield

Topics

Bingo pinball machine mechanics and featuresprimaryStar zone design and its strategic roleprimaryHawaii-specific features: score doubling, quadrupling odds, Second Guess wagering, extra ballsprimaryPlayfield and cabinet artwork aestheticsprimaryComparison to sister game Double Up and other Bally machinessecondaryMachine weight and production specificationssecondaryBally's game design philosophy and feature balancingsecondaryChronological history of Bally bingo machinessecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Nick Baldridge demonstrates clear enthusiasm for Hawaii's design and mechanics. He highlights aesthetic qualities positively ('best artwork out of the whole package'), appreciates the complexity and strategic depth, and engages thoughtfully with the machine's features. The tone is technical and appreciative rather than critical.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.031

What's that sound? It's For Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to For Amusement Only, this is Nicholas Baldridge. Next in our series of a chronological review of Bally's Bingo Pinball machines would be Ticker Tape, and following that would be Double Up. However, I've gone over both of those machines in previous episodes, and so tonight I'm going to talk about Bally's Hawaii from 1973. Now, Hawaii is the sister game to Double Up, and therefore it retains all the features of Double Up but adds one additional. So, before we get into all the features, and there are many in Hawaii, let's talk about what a bingo pinball machine is in general. It is a multi-coin pinball machine. You insert your first coin, the machine resets. At that point, you can wager additional coins to attempt to get jumps in odds or features. Now, why would you want this? Well, the goal of a bingo pinball machine is to try and line up numbers on the back glass in such a way that you will win a number of replays as indicated by the odds. So in order to do this, you have to push buttons on the front of the cab to tell the machine which way you're going to bet. Before you put in your next coin, you have to push either the red button for a chance at advancing both features and odds, the green button for a chance at advancing features only, or the blue button for a chance of advancing odds only. Now your odds go from 4 for 3 in a section, 16 for 4 in a section, and 80 for 5 in a section, all the way to 192 for 3 in a section, 480 for 4 in a section, and 600 for 5 in a section. But this machine offers an additional feature that allows you to change your scores under player control when awarded. The catch is you have to do it before shooting either your second ball or your third ball. And what this allows you to do is set any one color as double Now the colors are the colors as represented by the odds but also the colors as represented by the sections on the back glass And these are the things that you aiming for So your odds can jump independently in red, green, and yellow, and blue is tied to green, so it moves in line with the green. But as you insert coins to improve your odds, you want to shoot for the one which has the highest return. So on the back glass you have sections which are carved out of 20 individual numbers, and the play field likewise has the same 20 numbers, and your goal is to shoot the ball and nudge the machine, there are no flippers, in order to land in the holes, which represent that one particular color, with the highest odds. Or if you miss it, go for the one with the second best odds. Or, failing that, you go for whatever one you can do. Now, in order to thwart you, Bally introduced, with these 20-hole machines, a concept called the star zone. The star zone is one number which is carved out of each section and has a star the same color as the section. Now the problem with this is that it is the fifth number in every section and if you land in it as, say, your third number or fourth number in a section, you don't win. You have to get three, four, or five in a section to win, but the star zone doesn't count unless it's the fifth number. So in this way, you can be cheated out of any given section win because of that star zone. Now, the star zones are useful in situations aside from your fifth in a section. It can be used in a feature that will light randomly, awarding either 300 or 600 replays for hitting all four numbers in the star zones. It can also be used to start your red letter game. The game will randomly light either three in star zones or two in star zones to start your red letter game and the red letters are one of the letters in Hawaii Those letters will increase with the red odds When you get three or two in the star zones and you have the red letter game lit, then you hold down the R button, all the balls will drop and the game will start ticking up odds and features as indicated by the score and instruction cards for that letter. So in Hawaii, much like Double Up, there is the score doubling feature. With this, you can move any one color to be double. When you do so, it will knock all the other colors to scoring one half the normal odds. Now, the trick with this is that you have to earn the feature. So as you're paying in coins, it will light either before second or before third to choose your scores. And actually this feature will light with the odds. On my Double Up, which is a sister game to Hawaii, if you get the score changing feature, then it makes the other features much more difficult to light. It also makes the odds much more difficult to They'll move, but it takes more time. I guess Bally figured that was a very powerful feature. Aside from that, this game has the ability to quadruple any one odds. So if the game will randomly spot you double in any one color, red, yellow, green, or blue, So if it gives you this doubled in any one color, and it gives you the feature that allows you to change your scores, then you can set it to give you quadruple odds in any one color. Of course, the rub is that you still get half in any of the other colors, so you need to be pretty good at making your numbers in the intended section. Now, aside from this, Hawaii brings back the extra ball feature. You can get up to three extra balls. which is always welcome in any version. And then lastly, Hawaii brings back Stop and Shop, but it does it in a slightly different way. Games like Cypress Gardens, it will allow you to put in more coins before shooting your third ball or before shooting your fourth ball, and when it does this you play for a chance at advancing your odds only Hawaii has a feature called Second Guess and Second Guess allows you to play for a chance at advancing your odds and features both in the middle of the game, which is pretty cool. Now, the trick with this system and setup is that it is much less likely to give you an odds or features jump in the middle of the game, because the game knows that if you're playing for that, you've probably got something pretty good cooking. So let's talk about artwork. Hawaii has a purple back glass, and the purple is alternating zigzags of dark and lighter purple. The bingo card is surrounded by flowers, and you have a few palm trees jutting out here and there. As far as the cabinet goes, you have a yellow base coat with some green zigzags about halfway up and then at the bottom of the cab. The playfield has the best artwork out of the whole package, I think. and the playfield for Hawaii is kind of reminiscent of Venice or one of the other recent 20-hole games in that you have three Hawaiian hula dancers which are arranged around the playfield. These are done in that outline drawing style which I liked so much on Venice and London. In the background you have some palm trees and then you've got coffin-shaped bamboo surrounds around each of the holes on the playfield. There was some fun speculation on the Facebook page not too long ago about Hawaii and its weight, and this may have been the heaviest bingo that Bally produced. Well, that's all for tonight. Thank you very much for listening. My name again is Nick Baldrige. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com, or you can call me on the bingos line, 724-BINGOS1, 724-246-4671. You can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter at bingopodcast. You can follow me on Instagram, also at bingopodcast, or you can listen to us on our website, which is foramusementonly.libsyn.com. Thank you very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.