Smart people who wanted to make pinball more exciting!

I think we just concluded the opposite.

EMs sound like doorbells and rotary phones.

Interesting. Most people I know who are into modern era stick with modern era. Well, I for one would never replace my games with EMs. If EMs were my only option, I would rather just not have any pins.

Those aren't EMs. Those are 80's Solid State.

EM = no electronic score display & no electronic audio. They have score reels & bells and chimes.

We understand the sensibility. We just don't really enjoy it. It really comes down to what experience you expect/desire from pinball. For me (and I'm guessing Markmon) - I don't get that satisfying feedback from EMs that you do from modern games. The silence along with bells, chimes and flapping reels do zero for my senses. I don't feel emersed in the world under glass that the SS/DMD era provide. I love having choreographed music, lights, voices, sound FX that enhance the interactive experience - along with the speed, ramps, toys, divertors, magnets, subways, etc. when I say something like "all EMs are the same" - of course I know they're vastly different in design and goals...but the experience feels the same. The feeling I get from EMs is "ding ding ding flap flap" no matter what game I'm playing, while modern games don't feel the same, even when they ARE similar in design. AFM and MM are very similar but the voices, music, toys etc make them feel like entirely different experiences.

I'm sure this is from growing up in the "video game generation" that I expect pinball to have that audio/visual feedback as part of having a satisfying experience - but that's where we're coming from when even as pinball fans we don't really care for EMs. And there's nothing wrong with that - so, to the OP - if you're not feeling it, don't force yourself or let anyone shame you for not digging them.

Played this at a party last nite. One game was enough.

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