What does pinball, generally speaking, mean to you?

[Squid]

Reply to Mr. Ehansen24: Science is fun! The more you look at it, the harder it is to see.

The fun is in the discovery.

 

[mmmagnetic]

To me, pinball is taking the fundamental physics of the Universe (gravity, speed, trajectory, etc...) and saying "Let's play a game."

Absolutely perfect

 

[mmmagnetic]

Reply to Mr.mmMagnetic: Too many words about nothing.

You seem to have a grasp on things.

Hmm.

Haha, yeah, I tend to ramble a bit

 

[Carl Spiby]

Flashing lights and solenoids.

 

[mmmagnetic]

I also love the feeling when, at first, a new table looks rather messy and confusing, and after a while it all seems to come together, as you figure stuff out and learn all the tricks and shots. Like with a pair of comfortable, well worn shoes, the most enjoyment for me isn't the initial novelty, but the intimate knowledge, the feeling of really controlling the game - the comfort level of spending some time with a game you know in and out.

 

[sixmillion]

To me video game pinball represents what arcade video games were all about before the home consoles arrived. Home console video games have become so much easier than their forefathers were in the arcade. Today most games hold your hand and walk you through them ... hints pop up on the screen, arrows point in the direction you need to go, save points are around every corner. But not in pinball, pinball follows the RETRO PHILOSOPHY ... games that were designed to kill you within 3 minutes but offer you just enough candy that you would keep coming back for more to get just a little further in the game, they have a beginning but no ending, and death lurks around every corner.

It is the fear of death which keeps me coming back for more ... it is refreshing to know that pinball is unforgiving and one screw up, and you are a dead man! This creates an atmosphere of panic during gameplay and forces you to have quick reactions in desperate attempts to save your life ... it is that twitch gameplay, as was in games like Defender, that keeps me coming back for more. Sure there are those that become masters at the game and make it look easy but that requires a lot of practice and even those which are masters must also face death with a single screw up on their behalf.

In addition, your reward is a high score, just as in the early video games, there is no ending to a pinball game and therefore you can never beat it and that provides re playability, which most games today lack ...

Couldn't of said it better myself - oh the fear, panic, heart racing , excitement , let down, all in one game. Like that sound in Funhouse when the clock reaches midnight - it is like a horror movie when that monster / villian enters the house and the music changes and fear sets in.

 

[Heretic]

Absolutely!

If you go back to the early video games and put them up against pinball machines, there is no comparison.

The classic video arcade games had so much that was simply "memorize this sequence, and repeat it".
Lots of "when this happens, hit this button".
They certainly did require a lot of hand-eye coordination, but it wasn't the same.

Pinball certainly also requires great hand-eye coordination, but it also requires a lot of physics and mathematics.
Physics like ...how long will it take the ball to get from this point on the ramp down to this point on the flipper...
Geometry like ...if the ball hits the slingshot at this angle, which direction will it go...

Like shooting pool... lots of calculations have to be done to get the shots you want.
Unlike pool though, you usually have to be doing it VERY quickly, instead of thinking about it and planning each shot.

This makes me wonder, how many people that are pinball nuts like to shoot pool?

Agreed very well said

 

[Captain Rumwood]

To me pinball is like escaping to that "world" in which the table's theme is based on and "magically" become part of that world when playing the game.

I know. Weird but it makes sense to me.

 

[mmmagnetic]

To me pinball is like escaping to that "world" in which the table's theme is based on and "magically" become part of that world when playing the game.

I know. Weird but it makes sense to me.

Actually, the theme, especially music and sound effects, are just as important to me as the play mechanics. I like the "living diorama" aspect of pinball - a wooden box filled with little bits and pieces, and endless scoring possibilities. I especially love when the playfield isn´t just a canvas for a "poster"-like art, but a little view into a small world - like the little people and cabs on Taxi for instance, or the fairground on Cyclone.

I tend to imagine myself actually standing in a little arcade while playing pinball games, really helps me getting in the right mood!

 

[Squid]

Holy Guacamole! I totally forgot about this one.

Some recent wisdom I shared with a colleague can be paraphrased as such...

Life is like pinball. You are gonna lose, no getting around that. How long are you gonna last? It's up to you to make it fun.
So, how're you gonna make it worth something?