The theme is kind of a joke, not meant to be literal.

It’s not a full on comedy, but more like satire. I’m thinking Dr Strangelove, with characters like Jack D Ripper, and quotes like “you can’t fight here, this is a war room!”

Besides which, while the pin is not about a cell phone, it’s a nice prop/toy/display and a means of giving information that might otherwise be on the back box display but here it’s integrated into the main PF and in fact into the gameplay where you need to keep your power up. How many times do you look at your real phone and see a red 5% battery charge and know you have to get it charged soon.

Just curious, who is "we" you always mention?

D461B066-BC27-4365-9F26-675B94768A4E (resized).jpeg

first i heard about this.

We will order the new "cliffy" style now.

You forgot one thing in your back handed opinion.
Houdini is fun to play with tough shots, but yes, the rest of the package is very nice to.
DI is also a great package by the master, but a completly different game.
Both are great. But apples and oranges.

I didn't forget anything in my opinion, which I am absolutely entitled to as you are to yours. My opinion is it's a terrible game to play, so if you want to buy one you should like other things about the game besides gameplay.

100% spot on.

If the OP likes to play pinball, DI is the only choice.

If the OP is concerned more about theme then Houdini is pretty to look at but geometry is one of the worst modern pins made. Shame because from what I can tell the code is pretty cool.

Luckily, I like the game, game play and looks.
So win win for me.
But Levi, what confuses me is your desire to bash the game?
You dont own it. Cant say how many times you've played it.
Your entilted to your opinion, and so am I.
But.....your wrong.

I like a lot of the people here and would like to protect them from laying out $7,000 on a turd?

I'm an obnoxious blowhard?

I'm responding to the exact question posed by the title and content of this thread with a well reasoned and explained answer?

I just don't like magic?

I think whitewoods are important and would like to see them remain an integral part of playfield design?

I'm on pinside offering an opinion which hundreds of people do here every day?

Pick one. They are all legit reasons and you really shouldn't be confused.

Hilton, your wrong to.
Fun game, hard, challenging.
If you want to collect sim cards, have your picture taken, and hit ramps repeatedly. Play DI.

How many times have you played it to form such a confident objective opinion?

Here's where it gets stupid.

How many questions like this will I have to answer before I am allowed to have an opinion on this game?

The real question is why do you care that people don't share your opinion on this game? Is it as simple as trying to protect your investment? Or do you have a personal or emotional stake? Trust me, your Houdini doesn't have feelings. You don't need to protect it.

So you really havent played it?
Maybe only a handful on location at show?
Levi?
Im really trying to help you here and undersrand....but now your opinion raises interesting logic in opinions.
I havent driven a Ferrari yet, but they suck!

Desire to bash the game? The op requested opinions! I agree 100% with Levi: the game has flawed design. It's that simple. It's not a bash; it's an opinion. And for the record, if he's outright wrong, so is everyone else in this thread, including you.

PS. I've played it for a couple hours.

Houdini is the clear choice.

For people that sell Houdini mods eh eric?

You aren’t trying to understand. You are trying to be obnoxious, and succeeding.

For some reason you said that much better than levi. IMO
We all have opinions, just like farts, some just smell worse than others.

Funny, nice point.
I have about 900 plays on my Houdini, and full time access to Dialed In with about 100 plays. I actully like both games for different reasons.
My mod came to be because I like the game so much and wanted to make a fun good looking project.

I have played 4 (maybe 5?) different examples. Probably 100 games in total and watched another 100+ games. Houdini is a turd to shoot and gameplay/geometry is the highest thing on my personal level of importance (much higher than theme).

Theme is sadly very cool on Houdini so a shame to have wasted in on such a crappy design. Also sad to see all of Josh's hard work and cool ideas wasted on the poor layout. I will never understand putting so much effort into a game and falling short before you even get started when it could have been revised if a whitewood had even been used. It is extra bad that while some shots are too tight, they had the space on the pf as I have never seen a lane that requires two switches ran parallel just to be sure and get hit by the ball.

With your opinion, why wont you answer the question? How many times have you played Houdini, not that hard of question?
Sorry you feel threatend by your answer.
You have the right to take the 5th.
I actually thought it was you becoming obnoxious.
Agree to disagree.

Well said Hilton.
Thanks for your opinion.

Does Houdini at least shoot better than Alien?

Ok Eric.

I’ve played this shitty game 163 times.

Is that enough for you? Any other stupid questions?

Looking forward to your brilliant follow up.

“Ah HA! Why did you play it 163 times if you didn’t like it?!?! Ladies and gentleman of the jury, clearly he does like it. Or is lying about playing it 163 times! Either way, he as no credibility and his testimony should be stricken from the record!”

I’m getting Matlocked here, and I’ve fallen right into the trap!

not even close to the geometry quality on Alein.

For Alien (and Full Throttle) the shot layout is not intuitive at first, but it is clean, consistent, and well balanced/makeable for everything once you get some play in and learn where the sweet spots are.

Agreed.

Alien and Houdini both share unique layouts - one is actually smart (Alien) the other is just terrible (Houdini). How many times have I played Houdini? I've actually never touched it.....just seen videos. Is that OK?

j/k - I've played Houdini at multiple shows and then again on route (where apparently in California is absolutely KILLING it) and it's always a big disappointment.

As for speaking candid about pinball geometry and protecting those that might be on these boards as designers - get out of here. Last time I checked, my 7k isn't being reduced or returned so I applaud those that provide candid feedback about their experience. I also think not all is lost on Houdini (theme, company customer service is great, etc) and I look forward to seeing what else they have. Houdini just isn't for me, which is the operative word.

It's important to also remember that this is my opinion and shouldn't be right or wrong. Here's the problem though - when you start hearing the same thing from so many people you start thinking - could this be a problem? Up to the individual to decide but at least you're prepared which is all you can ask for.

I owned the pin from NIB, overspent on mods and topper, and ultimately took a small loss on it in trade. I played about 100 total games on it. It is the only example I ever played. Admittedly, I was warned by multiple people that Houdini would not last long in my collection, and decided to have the experience, as opposed to the advice. Lesson learned. No big deal. And AP didn't completely screw the pooch here, because the game is beautiful and the code is quite good.

I wouldn't say it's KILLING it at the location I help with, but it's #1 or #2 every collection at that location (against an Iron Maiden and AfMrLE, so tough competition), and high in the route overall.

Dialed In the most overrated game in the history of modern pinball. There is, however, an obnoxious vocal minority that will infiltrate every thread remotely concerning Dialed In to tell you that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Well there's an ebb & flow; Remember 6 months ago when it was JJPOTC?

Hell, that one shot itself in the foot on more than one occasion.

Thanks for letting me know. Now I can respect your opinion a little more. Still disagree, but we covered that.

Once again thats a matter of opinion.
Good thing I dont give a shit what people think. But man, you sure do.

Wow, you sure are on your high horse today. Seen it before, at least your passionate about your opinions.
It's the general negativity you expel on all topics i find displeasing sometimes Levi.
Not always, but when you go off, you keep it flowing.
I wish you no ill will.
If you go to expo or Tpf, love to buy you a beer.

Hardly overrated. Plenty of people constantly whine about how stupid the theme is, or about how the vocal minority will infiltrate every thread.

I'd say it's properly rated.

You either love it. Or you hate it. (or you think it's just okay.)

If that's what it takes for you to respect my opinion you can keep the respect. You literally accused me of lying about having played Houdini when I wouldn't play your dumb Perry Mason game.

People offer up opinions here, and whether or not I agree with them I respect that they are in fact valid opinions and they aren't just lying to hurt my feelings or insult my taste in games. Nobody needs to field an obnoxious cross-examination for me to grant them their right to have an opinion.

So yeah, we'll have to agree to disagree on a lot of stuff.

Nice.

Initially I didn’t like much less love Woz at all. I played it on location or at shows and it was just meh or worse. I didn’t really bother with or care about Woz for several years. I thought it was just the JJP deciples that were in love with it, but eventually after seeing enough videos and learning the rules and playing in a home environment, I decided to buy because it was a very attractive price that I thought if I didn’t love it I could flip it for same price. Now it’s my absolute favorite pin, and DI LE followed the same course.

I’m not happy that DI LE or Woz RR cost as much as they do, but I think if any games are worth that much it would be these two. Not everyone’s cup of tea, they weren’t even on my wish list but now having owned them I think they are both exceptional.

This isn't the witness stand, Levi, it is more like a rack setting of 9! Really annoying questions. When you played Houdini 163 times, were you rested and open to magic? Did you have an early childhood experience that traumatized you with magicians? Is your mommy a magician? Whatever, you hated it. You have every right to your opinion. Speaking of torture, how do you like IMDN? I'm totally obsessed by it.

Played Houdini at TPF a few months back. Looks nice but I had to go with DI. Not regretting it one bit. DI has flash, depth of play and a great layout. I still suck at the shots but I am getting better! Chaos wizard mode is friggin insane. Only got it twice but certainly explains a little more of what is going on in the game (story wise).

More on topic, I like DI better. Lawlor is back like when he was at Williams.

I'm surprised at how much flack Houdini is getting for the call outs. I have to say that personally that is one of the things that I love about it. It adds a certain level of charm to it for me. Here is my opinion for what it's with.

Shots and layout: DI
Theme: Houdini
Music: Houdini
Artwork: Houdini
Toys and inovation: DI but I LOVE the trunk shot Houdini for the wow facotor
Code: Houdini (if you like magic or the man it's really a love letter and very well thought out)
Display: DI
Enjoyability: DI

You can't go wrong either way.

My only gripe is the time I played it you couldn't skip them, which is an option

No one's trying to protect Houdini. It just that you're wrong. The playfield is brilliant as is the shot geometry. DI is brilliant as well. Two of the best games released in the last couple years. Especially if you consider the lackluster playfields from Stern over the same time period.

I also love DI and would like to add that its NOT an easy game, even though most of the shots are smooth. A bit linear, yes, but hard as nails trying to get high scores.

Nobody in this thread is “wrong”. It’s a thread asking for opinions, and everybody has one. Some people are a little more condescending in offering their opinion than others, but that still doesn’t make their take wrong.

Saying if you are an actual “player” you wouldn’t like Houdini is jaded. I don’t think there is any one of us that actually just sits there and stares at our games and never hits the start button. Some people are more avid players than others, but we all play pinball and enjoy various aspects of what each game has to offer.

A bunch of grown men arguing about their toys

My significant other and i .....

Dialed In did drop off after the first few months, not unlike any other new game for me anyway. That said, Dialed In continues to perform in the top quartile at my location, and it is coming up on a full year in a couple of weeks. Houdini's earnings for the two months I had it were slightly less than a typical new Stern, not bad but not enough to entice me to want to hang on to it. Glad to hear Houdini is doing well for you.

Well duh. I was responding with to the CrazyLevi inflammatory pronouncements that you should buy Houdini "if you don't like gameplay." He's not respecting anyone's opinion unless it agrees with him. If someone said that to me in a bar I would think him an giant ass. It's not moving the discussion forward.

You can turn this off in settings, but for the casual player it's very helpful do know what the heck to shoot for.

DI does the same thing, it's vey helpful for audible call outs.

Maybe the toughest VS match I have come across. I really like both games and hope to own them both. That being said, I own a Dialed In now, and I wouldn't trade it or give it up for ANY game. Don't know if I could say that about Houdini...but I hope to find out.

Now that is a great list of categories! Bravo