I think it is fun to do it a couple times...any more then that it's time for a "tougher" game...I'd say, you mastered that one.Congrats.

On some of the modern Sterns...absolutely! It takes that long to progress through the programming and see all the dots, hear all the calls, see all the effects.

Absolutely yes.

Not so much on older games where all can be seen in 10 minutes of play.

I am not a good player at all, but I own ACDC and have found myself having a good game once and awhile. It lasts 30-40 min,. I get in the zone and don't even realize how much time passes... if it a fun table and you have a goals you are trying to reach you totally get lost in the moment... ahhhh the beauty of pinball

The only games I have ever played for that long are TZ, LOTR and AC/DC. I had a really long game of WPT once, but I don't think it was 45 minutes.

Depends greatly on the game.
Tssp or Lotr need that long of a game.
It will take me 20 minutes to get ready for Alien Invasion and the other miniwizzards.
That said though I tend to not play these that often because if it's not a 30 minute plus game I get discouraged and feel like I didn't accomplish much.

Yes and no....When I first started playing TSPP, I relished the 45 minute games as I progressed through the various modes (never achieved SDMEWM of course)...Once you're in the middle of a game like that, it's heart pounding.

HOWEVER, when you're not in a game like that, and you know what it takes to get to the point that you've not achieved before, it becomes a bit of a chore in my mindset to start a game, and so TSPP started to sit more and more, until I eventually sold it.

My pet hate are loooooong games. Yawn. I have had and seen nearly hour long games, while this is a great personal achievement, it is definitely boring in a gathering.

Pinball is meant to be social and therefore quick multiplayer games are my favourite.
Recently loving Iron Man VE as it is very short ball times and a hoot in multiplayer.

In fact 95% of all my collection are very quick games like BBH, GI, Dr Dude, FT as an example. RBION being the odd one out.

The longer the game is, the better. When you're playing a game that takes 30 minutes or an hour to reach the wizard mode, the closer you get, the more pressure you feel. The journey to get there is something that just can't be replicated in a 5 minute game.

With something as simple as TAF on factory settings, I've been touring the mansion roughly every 6 or 8 games. I still start shaking and getting sloppy when that question mark gets lit.

This is exactly why I sold my LOTR. I absolutely love the game, but I found that I was never motivated to play it.

My high score game on baby pacman took almost two hours. I was exhausted. Haha.

And that's on a poor game.

That's the reason I got rid of LOTR.

An "average" game easily lasted over 1/2 hour.

If any machine I owned gave me a 45 minute game, it would be down the road Charlie.

A long game for me is 15 minutes and that means I am having a great games because a normal game f for me is less than 5 minutes.

I enjoy having a long game but the timing has to be right and the software has to support it.
So due to this long ball time games get played less than the shorter ball timed games.

TSPP is coming back for round two this week and hopefully it's not leaving till it's beat.

If you want to vote on the ideal length of a long high score game, you can do so here:
-mof

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ideal-game-length-for-reaching-your-hs

Long games are really not so good when you and a buddy begin in 2-player mode and the buddy goes first and you fall asleep during his half hour long first ball.

That's a closed case in my book. I never EVER thought about that aspect, since I am mostly playing after work for an hour or so. When I have friends over, and we go 2-player/3-player,etc. it never occurred to me, that my solid state collection is ideal for multiplayer games.

It appears, a longer game time is somewhat... anti-social.
-mof

Absolutely. That's why when my pinball buddies are over, we tend to only go multi-player on the harder games like TWD, Pinbot, Tommy, etc ...

There's only a handful or so titles that are likely to end up running 45+min

Then there's everything else that's over in 4-5 min

Depends on my mood. This is why my outlanes are gone in FGY & its setup stupid fast/tough. It has become my "shallow" short ball time game. Once I add met pro minus the outlanes I will make FGY more forgiving.

If you want LOTR to be tougher set it up like the PAPA tourney machine.

Almost any game can be set up brutal & short

My longest game ever is probably about 25 minutes on LOTR, and it felt epic. That game can support it. Other games can only support a 10 minute game. And Iron Man will spit in your face if you even think of a 5 minute game. So I think it all comes down to the game. If I ever get to 45 minute games I'm probably cheating by not setting up the game properly.

No. Gets boring after 10 mins or so.

Also hurts the wrists to be playing that long without a break.

How long does it take to beat LoTR (all the way) ?
What games takes second billing?
-mof

True, but as others have already pointed out, a short game of LOTR isn't very satisfying. This is especially true for a player that has already gotten deep into the game in the past. Most of Keith's games are like this. That's not to say that I don't appreciate his programming. I think Keith is an absolute master at what he does, but you have to be in the mood for an epic journey when you fire up one of his games.

Lyman, on the other hand, takes a very different approach. You can fire up a game like AC/DC or TWD, stack a couple multiballs, get some playfield multipliers going, and have a very satisfying game in 10-15 minutes. It's a completely different kind of pinball experience.

I like it with TZ because I can cradle and pause the game while I take a dump.

You must have a pretty large bathroom.
-mof

4 of 'em.

Not when I was on a 30 minute break. Otherwise, yes

while holding the button?

I had Nascar set to super easy, so ball times were pretty long.

One night I couldn't sleep and went down to play. Ended up having the best game ever, but it lasted a little over an hour. It only ended because I was so tired I let the ball drain so I could go to bed.

Thats why I got rid of my Xmen LE. 20+ min games every time and finished danger room almost every other game.
And reached Dark pheonix a few times.

That made it not so fun to play.

On TZ, if you catch the ball and then hit the buy in button, it will hold the ball in the cradle while you take care of biz.

To answer the question asked: Yes.

Oh, those of us who do not own a TZ were thinking that you just had a massive bathroom with room for a pinball machine.

-mof

No. Thats why I got rid of LOTR. My knees could'nt take those long games.

I like the way you think.....

My Dad played my EM Gulfstream for 45 minutes. It's a add a ball game, he still has the high score and I don't think anyone will ever beat it.

On LOTR, it can take upwards of an hour to reach Valinor Multiball (final wizard mode).

Same goes for family and friends and kids. When playing a multiplayer game with them I'll "accidentally" drain after 3-4 minutes just to give them a turn. By myself both my Mustang and my TSPP can run 40-45 minutes if I'm doing really well.

We tried playing a four player LOTRs last night at Pinsider speed's house. We lost two of the four players during the game...

SM also has relatively long ball times, but shorter than LOTR. I sold LOTR because it didn't make sense to have two games with long ball times. As others have mentioned, you have to have the time and be in the mindset to start up a game of LOTR and in a way short game times is why I transitioned from console games to arcade games. That being said, a game on LOTR is generally more satisfying than a game, or even a series of games, on most other pins.

45 minutes was damn near getting to be routine on LOTR. I had a few that last over an hour and a half.........I sold it and do not regret it.

Now games where 45 minutes is a little more rare (ST, MET, WPT....etc...) are just fine. If I start to routinely exceed 45 minutes then that game will most likely be leaving.

My Spider-Man doesn't get played often for that reason exactly. Depth of game doesn't excite me that much because I prefer a 3 minute game so when you play for 10 minutes it feels epic.

Wouldn't longer lasting games be harder for vendors to make money on location? While I love LOTR it seems it is more fitting in the home environment.

I can see it being boring, if you're playing 45 mins on a game that doesn't have much to it, and all you're doing is rolling the numbers. I had a 45 mins game on TSPP a few days ago, and wow, smile from ear to ear, it was so much fun and i didn't even see everything the game has to offer. I do want to buy a game with less depth though, for when family and friends come by.

I spent time last night playing IM...so no 45 minute games. 4.5 minutes was a good game for me

When I am having a good game on Maverick it's probably around 15-20 minutes. One of those will usually end my session if I have been playing more than a few games. The Gottlieb woodrail has super quick ball times. Maybe a minute or so. I'm definitely out on 45 minute games.

Have had LOTR twice. First time it was the our only pin. Firing up a game meant expecting to be there 45 minutes. It is fun, but not when I am trying to kill 5 minutes while waiting to leave. Game went for other reasons and got the same one back. This time we had 4 machines. Perfect balance. Something short when time is of the essence and LOTR for when I had an hour to kill.

Back when I was childless and had more uninterrupted pinball time I used to enjoy 45 minute games. In fact I used to even have LOTR, TSPP and WPT all right next to each-other in my lineup. Now that I have a one year old at home all 3 games have left and have been replaced with short ball time games. I'm lucky to have 5 minutes free to play a game of pinball let alone 30-60 minutes which was routine on any of those 3 games. I love Keefer's games but they are impossible to schedule around a 1 year old. LOTR is still my all time favorite game but I sold it last summer because I put maybe 10 plays on it in the 6 months following my son's birth. Maybe once he's older I'll consider adding some of these back again.