I think there are a few that have this option - I seem to remember this with my Elektra. Some might have the ability to steal scores as well (swap scores feature in Bugs Bunny Birthday Ball comes to mind)

I'm not sure what other enhancements to multiplayer might be done further, that's an interesting question. What about an automatic difficulty monitoring and adjustment feature that would "level the playing field" between players that have widely varying skill? That could be useful.

It's perfect the way it is. Most players feel robbed when locks or other features get "stolen." I can deal with it on some games - on Rollergames I just ignore the drop targets unless MB is ready to go - but on others like Elvira I just feel absolutely screwed.

The ol' 'One man per flipper button" is a classic. Makes for a great (and quick) Pairs tourney.
I like the wager idea though...

For existing machines where making changes would be difficult you can make multiplayer more fun by creating external games that are played in conjunction with the pinball game.
Here are some examples:

• The watcher(s) get(s) to shoot the player with a paint ball whenever an extra ball is awarded
• Drink a shot whenever you hear "Lionman" or "What Leo wants, Leo gets" (add your own callout to match your game)
• Randomly tilt your opponents game, you could install a lever or handle to make this easier
• Make each player draw a card before each ball that gives instructions to the player like: Play blindfolded, Play backward, Sing your favorite Journey song while playing, Recite a multiplication table while playing, Name the fifty states while playing, Recite the alphabet backward while playing, play wearing a gasmask etc...
• Randomly legsweep your opponent (think mortal kombat)
• High Score buys the next round
• Set a timer for 30 minutes. When the timer goes off everyone's games are over or everyone switches which player they are, player one becomes player two etc... hopefully mid-game
• Each player wear a costume for the duration of the event
• Make players call their shots

You can steal your opponent's locked balls in Grand Lizard. You can also remove an opponent's balls from the matrix in JM.

That was the nature of many multiplayer games from the 60s. Of which I have a few. Like stealing locked balls or bonuses or other playfield advancements. Plus ball times are usually not very long and scores stay pretty close. These are the best multiplayer games of all time IMO.

If the E-sports community can get sub-ms latency for any number of crazy multiplayer games, it's possible with pinball. Games where you're playing against someone on the other side of the planet could be the future of multiplayer. Plenty of hosted games exist with only a few hundred dedicated players.

The balls can be removed, but you're not actually stealling locks or affecting the opponent much beyond changing what awards are available. If anything, you can block a three-in-a-row line for the 3x multiball jackpots.

Machines are complex enough without adding another level to it. Leave them be.

Multi-player games are best when all the players suc... er, aren't very good. The better the players, the longer the wait while each takes their turn. Who wants to watch someone else play for twenty minutes, then take their own turn and get a SDTM drain just after the ball save expires, and then watch the first player play for yet another twenty minutes?

Nobody. That is why multiplayer games from the 60s with two inch flippers are the best IMO.

I would be interested in seeing combined competitive/co-op play dabbled with. Players would alternate one at a time as they do now, but everyone plays and contributes to the same game/journey in a cooperative fashion, all while possessing their own scores which is what ultimately determines the winner. Something like Zelda:Four Swords Adventures on Gamecube.

Actually this would be so awesome in a Game of Thrones machine where everyone picked a house/group to represent, and everyone progressed one story cooperatively, while battling to ultimately win alone.

Release the Total Recall pin.

image-2.jpg

Now THAT looks really fun.

Taxi and Pinbot as well. It was more a limitation of the physical ball lock than anything, but still fun to screw someone out of something they worked for.

Online competition would be great. Use the LCD for making the games more social. Who's scoring, what settings? Kind of like hardcore vs standard vs custom etc. It's done all the time with PC games, x-box etc. Log in, wait for a person to join. Your games shows their score when they play. Their game shows your score when you play. You could even make the camera/wireless kit an option from the factory "accessory shop".

I think that would make playing at home alone a lot more fun.