Does it really matter, anyone who would actually purchase a pin without playing it based on the top 100 list deserves to be taken for a long ride.

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Well doesn't that influence potential purchase if you actually care about ratings? Also I think we have all seen for sale ads where folks are asking high prices with direct relation to the list. "MM a classic B/W pinball machine 15K rated #1 on pinside" come on man. Americans and everyone else loves ratings to justify their purchase, if they just had a list of games with peoples comments that would be enough, no reason for a top 100. U know what happens? dickheads giving 1 and 2's to keep their potential next sell high on the list or just to keep it out of the top 20 whatever, critics, ratings all that suck.

Some of those machines are too new on the market to be able to displace a true classic

The Adams Family number 12?

What the hell are people smoking!!!!!!!

Taf is number 1, period

When the list was first on this site, it was somewhat relevant. You had a lot of new folks that used it for a guideline over 10 years ago. Now, it's changed (AND improved!) since then quite a bit over the years and it is a lot better... But, I do think trying to compare the new JP or Wonka to machines that are 30+ years old is simply silly at this point.

Now, there are 10+ new machines released each YEAR (30 if you are counting all versions Pro,Prem,LE,super limited LE, boutique, etc, blah, blah) that are EXTREMELY likely to settle in the "top 100" no matter what. Given that fact, the "top lists" are becoming even more and more irrelevant at a hurried pace. Just imagine in 10 more years what the TOP will look like. A few WPC games sprinkled in but games CURRENTLY in the 30-40ish range will be nowhere near the top.

You can customize what is displayed in "your personal top list" if you don't like what is displayed. So that is good.

It's always sort of been a joke to me since people just make a game out of creating rediculous reviews that move the games they want to move, up or down. Silly.

Where is my long ride? I have bought multiple machines without playing them.

I don't buy NIB machines as I don't keep them long enough to justify the depreciation, but bought a White Water and DE Jurassic Park without ever having played one and love it. I also tried to buy a Whirlwind and a Gettaway without ever having played one. Now, I can generally sell games for what I pay for them but utilize the top 100 to identify games worthy of further investigation. Of the 3 I currently own (ST:TNG, White Water, and Fish Tales) Fish Tales is the only one I could play locally before deciding to make a long drive to buy one.

I look at pinball machines the same way I would look at books. There are more books than I could ever read, so why waste my time with a random book when I can rely on the opinions of others to narrow down the list of what I will look at to what I will likely like.

With that said, I agree with OP. The top 100 is useful the way it is, but could be better if more rankings were required to get on the front page.

Games rate on a personal basis for most. Most people on here have a good idea what the higher ended pins are. The Top 100 is flawed so anyone who uses that list and no other caparison tool should be taken for a ride.

My opinion IM and IJ are 1 and 2, but that may change and probably will.

I think the Top 100 is fun to look at, but other than that it really doesn't mean much to me.

The best solution: delete the list. Why does the world need such a thing? I will entertain reasons.

I think more rankings needed to get in would toss out some of the newer games, but it would also obliterate rare games because not enough people have played them.

One or two people giving low ratings (or high ratings) to a game to help the buy or sell just doesn't move the meter that much. I'm not sure why anyone even brought that up.

Lists are really just opinions. Fortunately, the top 100 is customizable. If you like machines only from Williams...type it in. If you like a particular designer, assign it to your search criteria.

I really like the top 100 list because it gives a glimpse into what players value in pinballs. It goes the extra mile by helping you to customize it to your particular tastes...thereby helping both the entry-level pinballer and tje seasoned vet. It woukd be hard to ask for much more.

If I play devil's advocate, I feel the only realistic way to help improve the top 100 would be to give more customizable options so it could be broken down further. Perhaps adding options to select only certain years (rather than just by decade), selecting those with a minumum number of approved ratings, etc.

It’s the best Rankings list in existence. More reviews and ratings than the next best, ipbd. No list will ever be to everyone’s liking.

Robin, keep it as it is...and let time settle in where games belong on the list.

Two comments on this:

1. I agree that the Top 100 is very flawed (if you look at it as something that it isn't, which many people do). At the moment Wonka is #3 all time. That's crazy if you think of it as an objective ranking of all the games. But that isn't what this list is. If you just take it for what it actually is, a list in order of the average rating of a game, then it's fine. But you simply can't look any deeper than that at all. It would be cool to have a more objective list based on strict criteria, but the logistics of that could become insane if you really think about it. Who's rankings count? How many do there have to be? How do you get a real consensus? So the lesson is, don't think of it is a Top 100 best games. It is a list of what games have high reviews from the users of this site. That's it.

2. To the point of buying a game without playing it based on the Top 100, I can say I sort of have. Not necessarily where it is on the list, but more for how good the reviews generally are. Over half the games I have owned I have bought either without ever having played one at all (usually because they weren't working and it seemed like I game I'd like once it was working) or that I had only played when I got to the seller's house to buy it. Unless you've been in the hobby for many years or been dedicated at pinball shows to play as many games as possible, there are just going to be times where you have a chance to buy a game that you haven't played. That's where the ratings and reviews have a tremendous value. I don't care that a game is ranked 34 instead of 21 for example, but I do care if a game is ranked 146 vs 46. It won't be the only factor in my decision, but if a game is ranked fairly low, I will temper my enthusiasm and offer price.

All fair points

Just for fun, I looked up your hypothetical numbers.

21 is scared stiff
34 is funhouse

-Both very good. I prefer funhouse

46 is GOTG
146 is xenon

-Tough. They are completely different games. I probably like GOTG better overall, but for the price I would never own one. Give me xenon instead.

There's always the raffle!

Lol! True!

I have one ticket for the premium raffle (i would have to go for Jurassic Park) and one ticket for the Houdini raffle...so far.

Honestly I would too, if I won a second time I'd get GOTG

Well the truth is any ratings or reviews are mere opinions anyway so it is kind of hard to make any accurate rating system.
I still thinks it's fun to look at, and should be taken more as an entertaining opinion poll, not really a ranking system.

Explain Xenon to me. How is this a good game exactly? The artwork and sound is cool but.... shoot left spinner to light lock and start MB, shoot right drops if you want to drain. It's the worst. I mean, Mata Hari is a better game (not saying much there) and it's half the price.

Yes. I prefer a straight up vs. thread to make my decisions for me.