do the majority of people tend to rate pins higher that are easier to play(at least before they become bord with it since its so easy)? and rate pins lower that are hard which they have a hard time getting a good game on?

just wondering since i've heard people say how easy some of the higher ranked games are, and the lower ranked games where people get their a$$es handed them i hear, "that game sucked i couldnt hit anything".

honest question, don't lynch me...

Most people don't play tournament style in their homes. Most people don't grab a whirlwind machine and get psyched aboot ripping out the center post and killing EBs. Tons of games they would never put in tournament play that people like.

It's a far question. Mix match of all diff'rent types. I'll make myself play a game quite a bit before I rate it...other play once rate it whatever and move on.

Pretty much feel the same way.

This is a great poll, becuase I think everyone looks at the top ten and thinks "why the hell is that up there??".
For me(and apparently I'm not alone), it's TOTAN. It always seems like such a chore when I'm playing it. And the creepy blue genie I can do without.
The only part of the rankings that surprised me is the high total of MM. I also kind of felt it was over-hyped, but I thought I was the only one.

It probably happens WAY more than it should. Walk up to a pin for the first time and get a huge score and you are going to walk away with a smile on your face. Own the pin and do that almost every time you play it and you will soon bash it for being too easy.

Vise versa; Play a game a few times and have it hand you your ass and you're not going to be to thrilled with it (especially if you're a paying customer). But....IMHO it will make a much better pin to own and your appreciation of will grow over time as you figure it out.

Now.....all that being said I traded LOTR for HS2 and WCS

But my reasoning was that while LOTR is super deep and extremely difficult to finish.....it's also rather easy in terms of having VERY long ball times. The games were just lasting to long (for me) on average and I began to avoid it because I didn't want to commit the time.

Yeah, its about bashing bank accounts.

Last time I played it, it was a chore to reach down and
turn the power off after I let the first ball drain.

AFM all the way. TOTAN? GIVE ME A BREAK!

I've tried and tried and tried. Just can't get into TZ. Others love it and I respect that, but I just don't like it. Too bad, since I am such a fan of the original series and have the complete box set.

One break, coming up!

Same for me, but I understand why others may love it, and to my humble opinion it deserves to stay in a "global" top 10. But TOTAN? I thought it was a joke. Had to verify on Pinside rankings it was actually top 10. Unbelievable.

I would go Lord of the Rings. but the machine at the arcade near me is in bad shape so maybe thats why I am choosing it. I would say after that it is TOTAN. I love it but if it had to bump one out that would be it.

The competitive community is where a game's design quality, in almost every genre of game and not just pinball, is put to the test. If a game is unbalanced or contains wonky/broken rules or behavior, the competitive players will sniff it out and expose it.

Joe "I Don't Like Tournaments/I Never Play Outside" Blow who enjoys just slapping the ball around is entitled to his personal list of what is or is not fun, but contrary to popular opinion: quality gameplay design is not subjective. It's a carefully crafted composite of risk/reward.

Can unbalanced and broken games also be fun? Yes, but are they good? The quantitative element used to answer that question is in the game design (deep breath) AND that game design is best broken down and analyzed by the competitive side of the community.

Agree to disagree.

I don't rate a pin until I've played it enough to understand the rules at least partially. I also rate on fun factor, if I find a machine too easy to score on it's boring. The best pins for me are like my whirlwind in that I'm always having games where I finish one shot away from doing something and want to play another game.

I think a lot of people base ratings on playing a shitty working version of the pin. Can't judge a pin without 100% working and awesome flippers, that makes me hate the game right there is flippers suck.

What machine was he referring to that was overrated?

TOTAN

Quality games are best defined by quality play. Put a Hundee on the lock bar if you think you can back it up. You can disagree if you'd like to. I'll agree to take your hundred bucks! HA!

MB. Its good, don't get me wrong, but I've gotten bored of it quicker than the other ones on the list.

Lets have a TOTAN competition, then we can see who can fart the loudest!

I'll warn you I've on some heavy fiber the last week and a lot of meat. Bring it on!

Same here, and it's fine. Just making my point...

...and for the record I have no opinion of TOTAN.

Me neither. If it was my only machine, I would force myself to like it.

I have played maybe 5-6 times in the last 10 years. Tons before that though. Don;t know how I'd feel aboot it if I played it all the time...those things might start bugging me more and more.

I don't think any of them are overrated, honestly.

What do I know, anyway. I like Twister. It was 17 years ago they dropped a TOTAN next to Twister, and I threw in some money. It just bores me. I guess I just like my spinner going fast.

OK. WE GET IT. YOU DON'T LIKE TOTAN!!!!

TOTAN > TZ

TOTAN > TZ

Thats it! You and me are wrestling when we meet!!!!!

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Ha! I've tried many times to let TZ into my pin heart, but to no avail. I'm cool with TAF though.

Yeah, but if you went by my opinion, I'd have Gladiators, TFTC, CFTBL, and Breakshot, well above games like TZ or Spiderman. Maybe the owners of these machines don't feel an urgency to actually rate them.

I know CV isn't in the poll because it's not top 10, but the other two top JPOP games are the leaders. But I would bet if CV were in the top 10 and included in the poll, it would still receive less votes than the other two. Kinda funny that way.

I enjoy mine even when it's turned off.

I'd rather have a CV than either of the others on the list...

I was actually surprised to see that CV wasn't on the Pinside top 10. I agree, CV would get less votes. Maybe we should do a poll of the most popular game by JPOP? It would be interesting if the game not in the top10 wins.

I think it would. i just think it's regarded by many as the more fun game. I own TOM and CV, and to me it's no contest between the two.

I agree. And I think this is one of the reasons why many people favor it.

I only like half of the ones listed.

4.5 titles you like?

Take Spiderman off the top 10 list. The rest are great.

Man, this is a toss up between LOTR and TOM for me. I love Popadiuk games, but I have to agree with most everything that has been said about TOM here. TOM truly is incomplete, and the wizard mode is weak. Which is shocking given that the other games from Popadiuk are much more advanced in this area. At the end of the day though, I just dont get LOTR at all. I truly think its just up there because people like LOTR and that gives it a +10 instantly. If the game was called Legend of the Red Dragon and had the same gameplay, it wouldn't be a top 20 game even. The simple fact that LOTR is rated higher than Spiderman is proof of this in my mind. Spiderman is such a superior game in every way.

How many times have you completed BFTK?? I am batting 20% with 1 in 5 attempts.

Top 10 vote with only 9 pins?? Who can't count... IJ too good for the cut

Time for a lot of people to edit their original ratings of pins on this list

Tron and TOTAN remind me a lot of each other in the sense that I find them BOTH beautiful with great sounds, theme, and art, but simple gameplay features (spinning disk, spinning lamp). In fact, TOTAN has more mechanical gimmickry than Tron, with the Genie magnet dropping the ball beneath playfield and the shooting star cage. But the spinning lamp is imbalancing in terms of scoring.

Still, from a gameplay perspective, for being initially strikingly different in appearance, there are still simlarities between the two relative to other pins.

For me, for all the reasons to consider TOTAN overrated, one can say similar things about Tron.