(Topic ID: 118328)

Longevity of pinball?

By 5280wzrd

9 years ago


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  • 152 posts
  • 81 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by thedefog
  • Topic is favorited by 3 Pinsiders

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    Topic poll

    “Longevity of pinball?”

    • A few more years 2-5? 15 votes
      6%
    • 10 years or until the "Kings" are gone. 64 votes
      26%
    • New and exciting innovations will allow pinball to live on 165 votes
      68%

    (244 votes by 0 Pinsiders)

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    #68 9 years ago

    I think it all depends if it innovates to capture a new generation. The baby boomer generation had the Tommy days and the Gen X-ers came in during the DMD era.

    Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), what's capturing the young market the most in terms of pinball is video pinball. The popular titles sell in the millions of units at $1 - 2 a pop on many platforms (PC/Mac, smartphones, tablets, consoles). Pinball might be evolving right out from underneath us.

    Of course, a lot of people here would say, "that isn't real pinball". But I'm sure when flippers came along in 1947 a lot of people said the same thing.

    #85 9 years ago
    Quoted from jackofdiamonds:

    Tournament pinball is a TERRIBLE way to introduce pinball to a new generation.
    How long does the average tournament take? 8hrs? 3 days?No "millenials" are gonna have that kind of patience/attention span.
    No extra balls ,no specials, no matches,no explosions........boring.
    Pinball at its best can't compete with a 50" flat screen blowing up bad guys while you chat and join forces with people all over the world.No way.
    Pinballs got a couple of options.Go all the way back to making it a gambling device.Scores ,goals, skill=money.
    bring back P2K platform.....so you can blow stuff up with a pinball shot.

    Hmm... well, I've run over 40 tournaments that say you're wrong.

    I introduced the pin golf tournament to Pin a Go Go and in the first year, nearly half the field was playing in their first tournament ever. Several players went on to continue competing locally and one player started his own league in the Sacramento area.

    Another player who started at my tournaments now operates games in SF. And another now runs the bay area pinball map and runs tournaments of his own.

    You complain that tournaments take too long but then complain that extra balls aren't allowed. EBs aren't allowed in large part because they'd make the tournament that much longer. I'm pretty sure you haven't competed much.

    A lot of people have a warped view that competition isn't fun. It's an opportunity to challenge and test yourself, and equally important, meet people who are just as passionate as you are about the game and how to play it. Tournaments are social, stressful, but always fun if you don't take the event and yourself too seriously.

    #88 9 years ago
    Quoted from jackofdiamonds:

    Competitive pinball is fun when you know how to compete.If you're new to pinball how could tournament pinball be fun?Im glad you enjoy tournaments,lots do,but I don't se it as "an introduction to pinball".the tourneys you organized seemed to attract experienced players.One guy started a route!!!!Hes gotta know how to set up,repair,etc.All that screams experienced pinhead.Another dude started a league.That shows a deep seeded passion for pinball that wasn't started at your tournament ,dude was hooked before.

    Well that sounds good but its something Ive never seen at tournaments.
    Heres my take:You stand around 5x(at least) more than you play.It takes a day,sometimes multiple days.
    Ive never seen the "don't take the event and yourself too seriously".NEVER.
    Its always a bunch of super serious players worrying about their world rankings and WPPR points.
    Ive seen temper tantrums by adults,complaints about slingshot kickers and do overs.Which rubbed all the other pinball players the wrong way.Frustration so thick you could it with a knife.
    Ive heard "don't talk" when others are playing.I saw one guy complain that people who weren't in the tourney were watching him while he played.....he didn't like that.Seen a kid who was there with his Dad cry when he got knocked out of the tourney.Really,gonna make a kid cry over a fuckin pinball game.Just put more money in.Oh wait can't do that its a tournament.
    All of this sounds like so much fun.
    if you play tournament pinball,you've been playing for a while.I think a better intro for a newbie would be league play.Or just meet me at the spot and lets blow 50 bucks on pinball.

    Dude, what are you talking about? Where are these ridiculously over-the-top serious events that make little kids cry? Come on now.

    I've played at the largest tournament in the world twice (pinburgh) and it's like a huge party. I ran PPE 2011 (with Open, Novice and Kids divisions) and nothing like you described is even remotely true despite that the field had world-class competitors.

    In all my time in pinball I can count the true 'trouble-makers' on one hand (out of literally hundreds), and one them is a LEGEND, known to pretty much every high level tournament player. Even dealing with that guy I can still say the community is overall very positive and friendly to newbies.

    My guess is you haven't actually played in competition or maybe you had a bad experience at one event and formed your opinion from that.

    #97 9 years ago
    Quoted from MrBally:

    I too, have witnessed a youngster crying like a baby when eliminated. To be fair, he was in the A division which he had no business being in and got his clock cleaned.
    I've also seen the adults throwing temper tantrums when a switch doesn't score or a tight sling shot propels a ball into an outlane. That's actually pretty cool to see.
    These incidents took place almost a thousand miles apart.
    I'd love to have a player whine that I was watching him without me being entered in the tourney. People like that can go [edited by poster before a moderator ejects me].

    A kid crying when eliminated is no big deal. Kids cry, that's what they do. I ran track and cross country all through grammar school and half of high school. I saw more kids cry than you can count.

    The question is whether the kid cried out of disappointment or because s/he was being mistreated (picked on, made to feel unwelcome, etc). The latter I've not seen, and in fact, quite the opposite. I see players going out of their way to encourage kids.

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