Indianapolis, IN
Hello all, I was curious if anyone had any recommendations of your favorite game reviewers on Pinside.
Let me know, thanks in advance for any input!
Jeff
(Topic ID: 253008)
Definitely not the podcasters or distributors.
I feel the best reviews are the consensus minus the approximately 10 percent of posters that spew like a broken record. In addition if you take off the top and bottom haters and sycophants then you get to the heart of where games are really.
Perfect, exactly the type of thing I was looking for!
Quoted from ZMeny:SDTM does reviews and has a list of certified reviewers
Love the SDTM reviews.
Quoted from DCFAN:Definitely not the podcasters or distributors.
I feel the best reviews are the consensus minus the approximately 10 percent of posters that spew like a broken record. In addition if you take off the top and bottom haters and sycophants then you get to the heart of where games are really.
Why not podcasters? They are some of the people most into pinball imo (not all of them but most of them).
I agree with the rest of your statement. I am looking at something like an "initial impressions" of a new game after it is revealed and streamed. With the pinball industry being pretty small though, a lot of the most qualified reviewers are probably working in pinball or involved in pinball in some way or have a perceived (or real) bias. Wouldn't be perfect, but thinking a relatively large sample size and cutting off the top and bottom outliers will help balance that out as much as possible.
Quoted from pin2d:Perfect, exactly the type of thing I was looking for!
Love the SDTM reviews.
Why not podcasters? They are some of the people most into pinball imo (not all of them but most of them).
I agree with the rest of your statement. I am looking at something like an "initial impressions" of a new game after it is revealed and streamed. With the pinball industry being pretty small though, a lot of the most qualified reviewers are probably working in pinball or involved in pinball in some way or have a perceived (or real) bias. Wouldn't be perfect, but thinking a relatively large sample size and cutting off the top and bottom outliers will help balance that out as much as possible.
I was referring to a game's ability to last beyond the initial excitement and hype train. Reviews are much more important 6 months after a game is released than when they are shiny and new out of box games with the hope of great code that is surely lacking at the time the game is released.
Munsters is a great example of that.
Bermuda Triangle
What about that guy that posts those awesome visual pinball reviews that no one upvotes or comments on? 
Quoted from pin2d:I am looking at something like an "initial impressions" of a new game after it is revealed and streamed.
Quoted from DCFAN:I was referring to a game's ability to last beyond the initial excitement and hype train.
Seriously. Initial impressions are probably the thing I personally am looking for the least, unless I'm looking for a shitshow.
I feel caucasian2step does a great job. Other than that I check reviews of other members that I know like the games that I like or own.
Example, if we both like Hobbit (which some do and some hate) chances are I would like another title they reviewed and I know nothing about.
Ex: Stern JP.
I hope that makes sense.
Quoted from TheLaw:Seriously. Initial impressions are probably the thing I personally am looking for the least, unless I'm looking for a shitshow.
I mean ideally everyone would just go play a new game and decide for themselves if they like it or not. But that isn't always possible, and I also like hearing quality reviews to get different perspectives. 6 month reviews seem like a long time to wait though, even though I hear what you're saying on letting it percolate for a while. Personally I would like to see both initial impressions and long term reviews.
Quoted from radium:o-din is the name you can trust
Well thanks!
I don't take the time to write detailed reviews in each game category, but try to be honest in regards to what I think is great game after playing it enough.
If it is something that strikes me as a turd right off the bat in regards to "why the fk did some idiot pick this theme?", I try to be honest in that regards too.
In the end the only game review that matters is your own. It would be a waste of time and money buying games because somebody else likes them.
As many have said, @Causasian2Step is great.
If you want to read some comedic gold trolling, you can't beat @Wolfemaaan.
https://pinside.com/pinball/community/pinsiders/wolfemaaan/ratings/comments
Quoted from pin2d:But that isn't always possible, and I also like hearing quality reviews to get different perspectives.
Sure all of that is fair.
From my perspective I like a review of the game and how it plays and feels, and that's it.
I don't need someone telling me how the purple legs of the LE doesn't fit the purpleness of the theme. Or here aboot the theme at all, and whether it lives up the themeness of the theme. Or the fucking asset count vs coil count.
Now, plenty of people maybe the majority that IS what they are looking for, and good for them.
Quoted from pin2d:Why not podcasters? They are some of the people most into pinball imo (not all of them but most of them).
Because even though they present themselves as "just like you hobbyist", there are multiple factors that keep them from being objective. Some are "influencers", so they always put a positive spin on everything so they can stay "in the club" with companies. Some are distributors, so they're going to tell you everything is awesome so you buy games. Some are new to the hobby and don't have a experience or point of reference to the classic games that all new games should be compared to...and are just sucked into the hype on every release.
Case in point:
Quoted from ZMeny:SDTM does reviews and has a list of certified reviewers
Fake Reviews.
I do like the fact that Causasian2Step took the time to write a review about a rare game I own that he possibly never even played. He almost nailed it and he is always welcome to play mine.
Quoted from Rarehero:Because even though they present themselves as "just like you hobbyist", there are multiple factors that keep them from being objective. Some are "influencers", so they always put a positive spin on everything so they can stay "in the club" with companies. Some are distributors, so they're going to tell you everything is awesome so you buy games. Some are new to the hobby and don't have a experience or point of reference to the classic games that all new games should be compared to...and are just sucked into the hype on every release.
Case in point:Fake Reviews.
So Ryan C, Ken Cromwell, and Greg Bone are providing "fake reviews" on JP? Who is qualified to get a "real" review?
Quoted from pin2d:So Ryan C, Ken Cromwell, and Greg Bone are providing "fake reviews" on JP? Who is qualified to get a "real" review?
People who play before buying is a good start. People who aren't distributors or acting as "influencers". People who's sole point of critique isn't tournament play. 
Quoted from Rarehero:Because even though they present themselves as "just like you hobbyist", there are multiple factors that keep them from being objective. Some are "influencers", so they always put a positive spin on everything so they can stay "in the club" with companies. Some are distributors, so they're going to tell you everything is awesome so you buy games. Some are new to the hobby and don't have a experience or point of reference to the classic games that all new games should be compared to...and are just sucked into the hype on every release.
Case in point:Fake Reviews.
Man, you’re a dick. That’s my objective review 
Quoted from Rarehero:People who play before buying is a good start. People who aren't distributors or acting as "influencers". People who's sole point of critique isn't tournament play.
So the first people to get the game off the line are not qualified to review it...? Who can give a real review man, you're telling me the people that can't haha.
Quoted from pin2d:So the first people to get the game off the line are not qualified to review it...? Who can give a real review man, you're telling me the people that can't haha.
Anyone can give a review. Just good to know the level of objectivity when reading/listening.
Quoted from o-din:I do like the fact that Causasian2Step took the time to write a review about a rare game I own that he possibly never even played. He almost nailed it and he is always welcome to play mine.
https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/magic-clock/ratings
https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/kismet/ratings
So he reviewed a game that he couldn't of possibly played?
Quoted from ImNotNorm:So he reviewed a game that he couldn't of possibly played?
In a conversation I had with him a couple years ago I got the impression he had played a newer game with the same basic layout in which he gives the exact same review. I was the only pinsider with said game in his collection. And only recently found out about another one that is not playable yet.
No problem though, as he gave it an almost perfect rating, and pretty much nailed it.
Just as I don't always need a review to know if I will like a game or not.
Quoted from o-din:I do like the fact that Causasian2Step took the time to write a review about a rare game I own that he possibly never even played. He almost nailed it and he is always welcome to play mine.
https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/magic-clock/ratings
https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/kismet/ratings
I make a point to only review real pinball games that I have played.
Not a simulation, not virtual. REAL pinball games only.
Kismet is the most cursed-out game at Lyons Classic Pinball. Magic Clock is similar although I do not remember exactly where I played it. Most likely the PHoF in Vegas or the VFW in Ann Arbor. And yes, I will review a game that is 2/4 player the same if the game's rules and mechanics are the same, but the art pax is different.
Looking forward to playing some new games at Expo this year!
Quoted from Caucasian2Step:Kismet is the most cursed-out game at Lyons Classic Pinball.
Then I might do pretty well there. 
It's all about playing the vertical game. Keep the ball going north and south. Shoot the ball back to the top. Nail the swinging target when it's a clean shot. Even that's no guarantee...
And thank you for the kudos. Y'all are making me blush.
The story is this:
There used to be a website out there called pinballreviews.com. It was ran by @sk8ball and his merry competitive pinball playing men. It was HILARIOUS (zero fux given) and was the inspiration for the good/bad/takeaway format that I use in my reviews. Then one day he got hired by a pinball company and took it down as it hadn't been updated in a while and may have been seen as a source of conflict.
When I started writing reviews I did them on IPDB. The thing about the IPDB is that it is run by some family-minded people in Utah (if I am correct). The site had a censor-bot to keep the profanity from being spewn on their website. It's their site and it is awesome, they do what they want to with it... but when you can't credit the awesome artwork of Dick White... It's the silly kind of censorship that makes me angry. Soooooooo, I started replacing certain words with others and eventually I just started putting the quote "fuck the censor-bot" into my reviews. This did not go over well with the management and they banned my account. I asked to get back in, but it wasn't to be.
The thing that really bothered me was that I could not access the hundreds of reviews I had written on IPDB. Writing reviews on my lunchbreak for a few years, bye. Oh well, what it is. And then one day a poster put up a link that had all my reviews on it asking "Is this guy even real?" And there it was. All of my reviews. COPY-PASTE! Enter Pinside. I had stopped going to RGP for a while and I know people complain about interactions on this site at times... but man, RGP was kuh-rayzee! So here I am. Somewhere between unregulated mental google-vomit and the disneyfication of pinball culture. I'm just happily writing pinball reviews the best that I can.
I want to be clear about a few things regarding this post.
1) RGP and IPDB are FRIKKIN' AWESOME! If not for sources like these (and pinrepair.com and a few others...) the pinball hobby would not be where it is today. Pinside would not be what it is today without these incredible resources. I am personall indebted to them all. And while I may not be the one to go to these spots on the interwebs anymore (whether I want to or not)... I will not deny the impact that these places have had on our hobby then, and still do today.
2) Pinside is a great place and I have learned from my experiences. I do not forum much. But I have definite uses for this site that I make sure to donate annually for.
3) When people ask for my pinside handle I usually now tell someone I don't know that I don't go to that site anymore. More often than not I have had people take issue with one of the hundreds of my reviews to the point of I just don't need this in my life anymore. Can you imagine getting into a fight with someone over what your opinion of a pinball game is? Well, it's a thing.
One last thing. I have a podcast. It is not as active as it used to be. But if you want to check it out, look for the Little Kings Pinball Podcast. I am the host. Have fun and play more pinball!
c2s
Quoted from Caucasian2Step:One last thing. I have a podcast. It is not as active as it used to be. But if you want to check it out, look for the Little Kings Pinball Podcast. I am the host. Have fun and play more pinball!
c2s
Ok this made me laugh after everything else in this thread - Caucasian2Step is a friggin podcaster too!! Who isn't these days I guess
The little kings podcast is awsome. I love the BIAS segment where you break down machines based on Beginner, Intermediate, an so on. I always read the reviews of Caucasian2Step to see if I missed something with a new game. Keep up the great work
Caucasian2Step
1 week later
Well, lookee here...
https://web.archive.org/web/20160810220250/http://www.pinballreviews.com/
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