Just tell them your into pinball. Then the reply”This guy is into ping pong”. Yep ping pong is fun.....
Just tell them your into pinball. Then the reply”This guy is into ping pong”. Yep ping pong is fun.....
Quoted from CrazyLevi:Somewhere there is a guy who likes to clip a car battery to his ball sack in the garage while the family is sleeping ...
Different strokes dude.
lol
Perhaps literally in this case.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:Somewhere there is a guy who likes to clip a car battery to his ball sack in the garage while the family is sleeping, and in between jolts he's wondering why everybody else isn’t into his favorite hobby either.
Different strokes dude.
Why don't you just come out and mention me by name? Why beat around the bush?
Now find me another person who likes that AND pinball and I've got a ring waiting.
Because it's as expensive as hell. A new stern pinball machine costs more than mosts people's vehicles are worth and more then they have in their checking accounts.
Feel like when people come to your house and see your pins, they either think your really cool or they are confused with why you would buy such a thing. Usually leads to the 2nd, but getting people into it is fun. My lady didn’t get it at first, but she bought the second pin and now calls for a house pinball tournament at anytime of the day and expects to win.
Like someone else already said, "people just don't get it". Unless it's on TV there not interested and it seems pointless to them. There's no way they can understand it because there not used to seeing it all the time so unless there really into the theme of the game then they could really care less and even then it will probably only capture there attention for minute and even less when they ask you "how much does one of these things cost?". Thats why you don't see it on TV either, it's way to darn fast game play and the announcers could never keep up with it like they do with baseball or football (boring) to where they can explain every little thing the guy in the outfield is thinking. I think twenty years from now we'll all start to see a decline in popularity on the collector level and prices will start to fall as this generation starts to die off. I truly hope that's not the case but it happens with most other things. I think we're in our resurgence era right now...
John
Quoted from CrazyLevi:Somewhere there is a guy who likes to clip a car battery to his ball sack in the garage while the family is sleeping, and in between jolts he's wondering why everybody else isn’t into his favorite hobby either.
r/oddlyspecific
Quoted from Hazoff:Well I really wasn't taking depression era pinball into my analysis.
U know what else is common? those people never buying a pinball machine.
Yep!
Quoted from CrazyLevi:Somewhere there is a guy who likes to clip a car battery to his ball sack in the garage while the family is sleeping, and in between jolts he's wondering why everybody else isn’t into his favorite hobby either.
Different strokes dude.
I'm always looking for a new hobby.
tenor (resized).pngQuoted from captainadam_21:Because it's as expensive as hell. A new stern pinball machine costs more than mosts people's vehicles are worth and more then they have in their checking accounts.
I think cost is definitely a factor in keeping some from getting into the hobby, but my original post was more geared toward why most people are not drawn to pinball like we are.
Speaking for myself, the visual appeal (colors, lights, artwork etc.) alone is alluring. For many who enter my gameroom though, I might as well have a bunch of cardboard boxes stacked in it rather than a lineup of games.
It's not that they don't like it. It's just not what they are into.
Do you encourage their stuff ?
LTG : )
Quoted from LTG:It's not that they don't like it. It's just not what they are into.
Do you encourage their stuff ?
LTG : )
Nah. Don't give a crap.
Quoted from FalconDriver:A common response when walking up to my pins. "How much do one of these go for?" So common.
That’s because they now want one and if they can afford it....
Quoted from FalconDriver:For those that don't give a crap or are just clueless. A common response when walking up to my pins. "How much do one of these go for?" So common.
I get that too and I just say "more than you realize.. its a lot".
I figure they go home and look it up and are like "holy Sh*t!"
Quoted from pinballOsp:"how can so many people not care about knitting???? it's so awesome!"
Knitting is old news. Needle felting is all the rage these days
Quoted from jwilson:If anything it’s way more popular than ever.
Not even close to its heyday in terms of popularity with the general public.
Quoted from ectobar:Knitting is old news. Needle felting is all the rage these days
My wife discovered needle felting a few months ago and now we have small woodland creatures all over the place. She even made Shrek and Donkey. I stupidly tried comparing her obsession with it to pinball and she quickly shut me down with the $ difference.
Quoted from pinballOsp:"how can so many people not care about knitting???? it's so awesome!"
Word.
Then again, there are some that dig both (that's a "knitted pinball" in the pic):
Let’s just face the facts. There are two types of people in this world: 1) the cool, smart, fun people who are into pinball and 2) everyone else.
Hey, in my book, more obscure hobbies are much more interesting than popular ones.
I mean, whatever someone is into, that's cool. But, if you meet someone and they tell you their hobby is, for example, golf, what do you say? I usually say, "oh cool" and that's the end of it. No desire to hear any more. Honestly, I usually conclude (possibly unfairly) that this is a boring person.
But if someone's hobby is more obscure, then I usually want to hear more about it. I think pinball fits into that category for most people.
So, someone may think we're all weird, but at least it's not a cookie cutter run of the mill hobby.
Quoted from Blackbeard:For some reason, pinball has a dorky/negative stigma attached to it by the outside world.
Have you never been to a pinball show? Pretty easy to see why
Quoted from DudeRegular:Ya! if they all only knew how cool all us pinheads were!
Lmao
Quoted from Rarehero:It’s not a normal thing to be into. It’s a coin-op machine, not something you just casually buy at the store. To most people, it’s like putting a jukebox or vending machine in your house when you can just listen to music on your phone & put drinks in the fridge.
An old friend of mine just bought a pin for his dad...right away it has problems and things don’t work. They don’t know how to fix anything. This is why most people aren’t into pinball. It’s a pain in the ass unless you like to & know how to tinker.
Well said
I’ve never heard this talked about nor am I a expert in this field but I’d bet my bottom dollar that pinball helps in aging namely motor skills and reflexes.Whether a thinking game or straight shooter I’ll bet it works wonders opposed to giving in to the god on the wall and veg out on a couch all day nothing Is worse.
I'm it where I live. Some of my friends like to come over and play occasionally but that's it. There's not many Pinsiders in the part of the state I live in. The closest ones I know are 2 hours away. Most people with hobbies up here do UTV's, mud trucks or some pther outside activity (I'm 20 minutes from Sleeping Bear Dunes). I don't worry too much about it. Cost and space are the 2 biggest roadblocks and I live in a fairly poor area of rural Michigan if you're a year round resident. My wife likes them and she knows after a long day at work I'll unwind by going to the game room to play some pinball and drink a few beers. My saying about is ' it's cheaper than the bar'.
Quoted from Kkoss24:I’d bet my bottom dollar that pinball helps in aging namely motor skills and reflexes.
Plus nudging a JJP or Superpin is as good as lifting weights.
It's been completely lost to a generation. Two generations even. When I was growing up, it was everywhere. Now you have to seek it out.
Quoted from Tuna_Delight:Yeah ... yet pinball has and remains a predominantly male hobby. As Kaneda used to say - good luck picking up any woman in a bar after telling her you're into pinball.
It's a non-video competitive activity - some might even say sport - where the physical disparity between male and female is reduced to near zero. Anyone can learn to nudge a pinball table enough to affect the ball. Anyone can use the shooter rod and flippers.
Our league is about 20 percent female; the best one is an even match skill-wise for our best male player. IFPA top 700-800 or so ranked people.
You get a good mix of people with the right environment. One thing that helps is we don't have people like Kaneda in our league. That would probably run off the ladies.
Quoted from gliebig:My mother always comes over and says "I don't know why you need so many, they're all the same.
She's far from alone with having that view unfortunately.
Quoted from Darscot:I enjoy pinball but its just a fun thing to do when I'm alone. I enjoy pinball when my wife is getting ready and I need to kill 30 minutes. I enjoy working on a machine in the evenings when I'm not too busy with work, its a nice distraction. It's the obsessive personalities that I find most off putting, it's not a pinball thing it's everything. The hard cores in every hobby are nuts. How anyone can take it so seriously is baffling to me.
I agree with this! Fun distraction.
Quoted from gliebig:My mother always comes over and says "I don't know why you need so many, they're all the same. "
Mom, that cheap nursing home is good. They are all the same.
LTG : )
Quoted from CrazyLevi:Somewhere there is a guy who likes to clip a car battery to his ball sack in the garage while the family is sleeping, and in between jolts he's wondering why everybody else isn’t into his favorite hobby either.
Different strokes dude.
I tried this once, with mixed results.
Bottom line Pinball People like electricity and all the novelty it brings. From the first bright light thats wasn't a candle (take that back, even candles in ancient novelty spinning mounts qualify) people have been mesmerized by flashing lights.
Add a Bell, Boom! Player Pianos, Nickelodeons, Pipe Organs, intricate mechanical devices of all types with outlandish sensory stimulation. Sight, Sound, and Feel.
Electricity coupled with mechanical devices, really the first instance of Robotics with a heap of Artificial Intelligence, now we are getting down to it.
Pinball People are advanced.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:Somewhere there is a guy who likes to clip a car battery to his ball sack in the garage while the family is sleeping
99% of friends and family will humor me by:
Looking at my collection and say wow.
Then:
Be afraid to touch the games even after I turn them on and say just press the start button.
Will play a DMD game and be frustrated because they have no idea on what to do.
Will gravitate to the EM’s and wood rails because they remembered playing one back in high school days.
Will quickly become frustrated because they are “Chimp Flippers” and can’t do shit.
Will then play the puck bowler because they understand bowling and the game is stupid simple to understand and play once I explain you have to shove the puck hard enough for it to rebound back. The puck bowler will hold their attention for maybe 20 minutes so long as I tank when it my turn
They will combine their “collective mentalities” and decide to watch “The Game” on TV.
Bottom line:
They suck at pinball and do not want to take the time to learn or get better. Plus they do not want to look incompetent with their feeble skills.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:Somewhere there is a guy who likes to clip a car battery to his ball sack in the garage while the family is sleeping, and in between jolts he's wondering why everybody else isn’t into his favorite hobby either.
This just reminded me... we should probably start a band called “Crispy, smoking grundle” sometime over the next 30 years. Can’t rush greatness!
Quoted from LTG:Mom, that cheap nursing home is good. They are all the same.
LTG : )
Lmao
We have a pin in our apartment at all times (rotates about every other month from storage). Before Covid19 when we were still having people over, there was not a single guest who left our house and didn't say "wow, this is way more intuitive and exciting than I ever thought it would be." My girlfriend and I have effectively gotten a handful of your friends addicted to the game. Owning and collecting is another thing, but I think pinball does have an approachable fun to it that anybody can enjoy (that knitting, washing machines, and baseball cards might not). I think taking to this hobby is helped with a heavy handed introduction to the intricacy and game design of pinball to really fall for it with no prior experience.
One thing that I feel like people always say when they aren't into it is "I'm really bad at pinball," and I have still yet to figure out a proper way to reply to that one. I usually just try saying "but anybody can be good at pinball! Just takes practice." Can't say I've been too successful.
Also I see that downvote Iceman44 and I know why you did it.
Quoted from GorillaBiscuits:This just reminded me... we should probably start a band called “Crispy, smoking grundle” sometime over the next 30 years. Can’t rush greatness!
Quoted from Rager170:Most of the people who come to my house and end up seeing my machines look at me like im crazy. Meanwhile they buy luxury cars that last 6 years before shelling out a ton of more money for a new one.
To each their own I say..
That line has worked great with my girlfriend.
About the third pin when she thought I was going nuts I told her "well, they are a lot of fun, and they hold their value pretty good, actually a whole lot better than a new car".
(I was lucky though, she loves to play. When I am tired and done she always kept playing at least another half hour).
And if anyone ever said anything about the games here, she would be quick to tell them that they are fun, and hold their value better than a new car. (I trained her good).
Reasons: Ignorant, Wise, and General
Ignorant:
People experience short ball times and get frustrated, not knowing that you can improve your ball times fairly easily by researching a few basic techniques.
People have only ever seen really old and relatively simple EMs. If they saw a modern pinball machine it would pique their interest.
People don't realize that scoring strategies are complex just from looking at a machine.
Wise:
People don't want to learn 100+ different rulesets and don't want the diminished experience of playing pinball without that knowledge.
Expensive, needs maintenance, takes up space, etcetera
Less strategically interesting than most esports. Pinball has little to no interactivity between players, compared to video games. People like multiplayer interactivity.
General:
Lots of people don't like games, period.
Lots of people don't like games that require reaction time or where mistakes are harshly punished.
None of their friends are into pinball.
Quoted from Tuna_Delight:Yeah ... yet pinball has and remains a predominantly male hobby. As Kaneda used to say - good luck picking up any woman in a bar after telling her you're into pinball.
Imagine if those women knew what they cost. They'd be asking "how big is your pinball collection?".
Quoted from IdahoRealtor:Imagine if those women knew what they cost. They'd be asking "how big is your pinball collection?".
Got that right. Even if you have a little johnson. They'll be on you like flies on crap.
LTG : )
Quoted from IdahoRealtor:Imagine if those women knew what they cost. They'd be asking "how big is your pinball collection?".
Quoted from LTG:Got that right. Even if you have a little johnson. They'll be on you like flies on crap.
LTG : )
"Hey baby. You wanna come back to my place and check out the size of my.......pinball collection?"
Quoted from IdahoRealtor:Imagine if those women knew what they cost.
After I bought the 3rd pin my girlfriend asked me if I would ever sell one to buy a ring.
I said hell no, I can buy a ring for a lot less. (she is still with me).
Quoted from Daditude:"Hey baby. You wanna come back to my place and check out the size of my.......pinball collection?"
Lmfao!!
Hey baby. You wanna come back to my place and check out the size of my.......pinball collection?</blockquote
I'll let you pull the plunger if you do.
Can't remember who said it, but it was from the King of Kong, "Everybody, even grandma, games. If not now, in the past. I mean, show me a frickin' nun or a hermit who hasn't played cards or checkers."
Lots of comments mention that this is such an arcane hobby, which it is. A lot seem to miss that this is a game. So I think comparing it with knitting or collecting toys is only somewhat apt.
It used to be that people went out for entertainment. Now they have larger houses (generally), beautiful home theatres, video games, deep board games, etc.
Arcades died when people had access to top quality gaming at home. Pinball, while unique, suffered along with arcade games. Less machines got made, and the average person can't justify spending thousands of dollars (even though they more or less retain their value) on a game that serves one purpose, takes up space, and requires maintenance. Of course many spend it in other ways. But frankly, I'm perfectly happy with one 15 year old car split between my wife and I...
All that being said, I am still surprised that location pinball isn't more popular. It's unreplicable, and while I see the social aspect of billiards, I fail to see how pinball can't be similar if you have a friend on the machine next to you.
What I think is the real question is: why isn't it more popular on location? I think everyone here knows why more people don't have a machine at home.
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