Copenhagen
A rewrite of what as heard on the latest Slam Tilt Podcast.
"The RGB LED war"
The loudness war broke out in the 1990s. Record labels and radio stations figured out - or at least believed - that the louder your CD or radio signal sounded, when compared to others, the more likely customers and listeners were to fall in favour with you. Combined with advances in production technology, that spawned a spiral of destroying music. Making it so condensed to listen to that it wears your out fast. Even at a moderate listning level. (*cough* Foo Fighters)
Well. Here is the link. For a while now, I have been amusing myself by calling the use of the multi-colour LED "The loudness war of pinball machines". I see similarities.
Advancement in technology being a brighter light per unit, snappier on/off cycle, smaller footprint, multi-colour, less power consumption and more CPU power available to run them. And then what happens? People go apeshit.
A spiral of showing off who can swing the most colour changes, strobe lighting, lengthy and overly complex patterns and all-playfield light shows. Over and over. Hit an unlit target for 100 points. And a double strobe-rainbow, with black-outs, knocks you over. Down to bragging over who has the most number of lights featured in their game. Basically who can shout the loudest.
In all honesty, there are differences between manufactures and designers. Some are extreme while others hold back. No names mentioned. But I cherish that latter. Here is a hint: who are still mastering the colour coded insert glasses? Stay strong.
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