(Topic ID: 184738)
Sana'a
Sugar Grove, IL
Anyone see underside of playfield or inside backbox? Wondering what the boardset is and how everything is put together? The price is in the mid level range so lots of competition there. Hopefully everything works out bc its neat theme and playfield layout.
Maple Ridge, BC
If it all comes together for production. That is: code, timely shipping, proper warranty/support, spare parts availability, and that they are putting out a quality product that will stand up. If they are to cater to the end customer with product and service, I would be seriously interested based on the shown videos/images. Everyone that bags on Spooky, having dealt with them on my RZ, which I am happy with as a game, their after sale customer service is 100%. During the purchase as well. AP can make headway in the industry with that for sure. It's something that has become the exception, not the rule. This applies to a lot of businesses, not just pinball.
Same as above, waiting to see final pkg and product out the door. I think the machine looked really interesting. I liked how they used the display in the backbox with the curtain, made it fit right in.
the rest looked pretty good. Still feel like there is room for a killer magic machine. Pinball magic plunge and levitating ball. Thrown in some cool mirror tricks, steal the mist multiball trick from drac, the art from magic girl, use some holographic tricks....
But back on track. Houdini looked really good, hope to flip soon.
Liking what I have seen so far. Been tracking this for a while. If it keeps developing in a good way I am in.
Interested. Awesome theme and a tribute to one of the greats. It looks great so far with a few fun mechs and full RGB lighting. The team seems very capable after getting this far in 4 short months. Can't wait to play.
looks great so far except a few things (and i think i'm not the only one) backbox is a bit of disappointment to me, don't really like the panel on each side, doesn't fit to well in a line up, i think a more conventional look will look a lot better.
the second half of the ramp should have been wire ramp (back to the flipper) looks like it's blocking the view on the left side, maybe someone who played it can comment on this.
not sure i like the eyes that light up on the playfield.
the tight shot on right side is maybe too much, most are brick shot.
other than that i think it's pretty cool.
we need a good video with a good player.
I got a chance to play at TPF.
The game is gorgeous. The theme is integrated very well, especially how the LCD matches the backglass like a stage curtain. Toys all look great. Probably a high BOM, so this will be an upper tier game in terms of cost. Not sure the chains will survive.
The layout is unique, but the flow was a bit stop and go. Tight shots.
Bottom line, this game has a ways to go, so put away your wallets. It has good bones, and with the right support could be a huge success
Quoted from perryd:Looks good, however gameplay not so good. Needs better flow and right inner shot very tight. I wanted to like it, but it didn't seem like much fun to me.
Where you able to play a dozen games on it this weekend?
Quoted from OLDPINGUY:Where you able to play a dozen games on it this weekend?
Agreed. I have made this mistake in the past by judging a game before giving it a good attempt. Some games like WH2O and LOTR I loved right away but I hated TZ and CFTBL when I first played them.
I hope AP sends a Houdini to Pintastic so the people in New England gat a chance to try. We buy a lot of pins.
I was just looking at the pictures on my phone from October and it's a totally different lay out from expo ....way different art plastics cabinet I don't see one thing the same ...an improvement in my opinion ... I'm totally interested in owning it ...I thought the guy told me 6000 but I seen some one said it's jumped to 7000 ? if they can redesign the whole Playfield and game in less than four months make it playable these dudes are not messing around ...I say congratulations to them! imagine what will happen when they have a blank slate ...I will own this machine ...no doubt
I missed the American pinball talk on Friday at TPF. from what I saw, I thought it looked really nice. When is there going to be a finished product?
Played it twice, it's pretty good, and its not done. I disagree with the other posts, the tight shots on the inner loop are awesome, the pop bumpers are brilliant, the stage mech and catapult action is a ton of fun, made me smile multiple times...neat multiball
Of the new games at TPF it was last place in my list. The shots were very tight and kind of frustrating to play. Still has potential once the code gets a little further along. Didn't get any rush while playing it like some of the other games. I thought the artwork fit the game, but the colors were a little dark because of that. But looked sharp when in good light.
I think this game has tons of potential. It needs to be polished but it looks really good out of the gate-imo. If anyone has any more input, this is exactly what we need to make it better. Here are some of my thoughts, first of all I really like the art and Houdini in the center with glowing eyes, and chains for progression on inserts. I actually don't mind the LCD screen and the curtain is a nice touch. I like the old school looking instruction cards that tie in well with the theme. The catapult looks amazing but I wonder how it will wear over time and how exactly it works. I think the shots can be improved by tweaking the gap and angles slightly for ramps and shots in-between post. The targets may need to be reduced in size(even by a couple of mm) to allow more room for the ball to get in-between to decrease the amount of rejects or brick shots. I enjoy challenging games and it looks challenging but fun at the same time.
1 month later
Pin is AWESOME!
Just played at PAGG show in Dixon. Made a point to play 5 times.
This will cost me 7k, im in!
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:Pin is AWESOME!
Man I am really on the fence for my next NIB. Houdini really has me interested and I am closely watching the progress. I am waiting for the first batch for production and the feedback that comes shortly after. This is a game where I don't need to be one of the first to own one, I am exercising patience. If the feedback and build quality is good, I would seriously consider one. I can't wait to play it!
It's weird that people are picking on the cabinet design. In my opinion that is one of the game's best features and allows a unique look and better sound.
I like the features in the game but not really a fan of waiting in lines. So will let everything die down a bit and then get some play on it.
-c
Vöcklabruck
1 month later
Quoted from PhantomO:I have wanted a magic themed table for a while, and have been coveting a Pinball Magic by Capcom. But I want to consider Houdini as well. Like the theme the best, and would like a post-modern machine with an LCD screen.
The game is amazing. Looking forward to putting it next to my Pinball Magic. Waited to long to pick up a Pm. If one pops up near you jump on it. You won't regret it. Now if only i can get my restore done by the time Houdini gets here.
Im in as well! Played it at PAGG also,so I can vouch for what Ericpinballfan says,this is a keeper!! With code updates,I vote this pin best in show so far!!
Was really hoping to see this game at Pintastic this past weekend but it was a no show! Always nice to see new pinball companies on the horizon such as Heighway and American but they just can't seem to get over the hump! Hopefully they can get this project headed in the right direction.
Look for Houdini hitting the streets soon (fall)... by streets I mean some pre-production games on location not just in Chicago but on east coast as well courtesy of PinballSTAR. Time to add the east coast to the pinball testing grounds, Chicago has had that monopoly long enough ! ; )
Stay tuned... things are happening... production line being built... parts coming in...
PinballSTAR is an American Pinball / Houdini distributor. Email us to get on the pre order list. A refundable $ 250 deposit gets you in line !
8 months later
I finally was able to put some time on a Houdini thanks to Game Exchange for putting one on their floor for demo. Here are my thoughts...
I was really impressed with the appearance and the color and texture of the powder coating. Right away when I placed my hands on the lift bar trim I felt a coarse sandpaper like texture for the powder coating. It felt rough, but I liked it and it feels solid. Next thing I did was shake the machine back and forth to see how light it feels, it did not move it was very solid and reminded me of the heavy Bally/Williams games. Compared to some of the newer Sterns that are very light weight and do not feel very solid, like my new GOTG Stern machine that can be swayed from left to right very easy because of the light weight. Again night and day difference.
Now to gameplay, I was unfamiliar with the rules but I just followed the instructions and lights and seemed to do well. The artwork and detail that went into this game is over the top. This is both good and bad at the same time. I relate Houdini to WOZ for a new emerging pinball manufacturer's first release. A new startup wants to wow it's customers for their first game launch. They want to wow people by adding in as many features and options as possible. The problem is you can over-do it and add too much stuff making the game play feel clunky. Many people have stated that the shots are too tight on Houdini. They are tight shots, especially the inner-loop shot with hurry-up (I got frustrated-but it was a good frustration). One shot that I feel was a mistake and a design failure is the milk jug shot. I tried to hit it and because of the placement and position it is lame(almost impossible to hit), and should have been left out in my opinion. Again too much going on. If I were to redo it I may have eliminated the right inner loop and milk jug shot to make the game flow better and help widen the shots. I do still enjoy the tight shots and I like the fact that they are not a gimme shot. I relate the tight shots to Black Widow ramp on Avengers and fork ramp on Star Wars. They are tight shots, but not impossible. Ok how about difficulty? I actually had some good games with long ball times and felt the game was not that difficult. I barely had any side drains and the center post helped save several SDTM drains. Overall the ball times were really long and my last game I had to leave because the game was taking so long and I had an appointment. The flippers feel solid and ball control is excellent. I did think some of the animations for LCD announcing modes, etc. were a little long and could be timed down a little, it did tend to disrupt the flow a little. The catapult worked perfect and was fun to watch. The sound quality did not seem that good, it sounded like mono instead of stereo and had a little subtle crackling in background. Compared to Stern Star Wars sound quality, it was not in the same ballpark.
I am already looking forward to putting some more time on this game and trying to decide if it would be a good addition to my collection. It has so much going on it will take some time to get familiar with the rules and gameplay much like WOZ. Overall I am impressed with this machine and I give major props to American Pinball and all of the people involved to make this game a reality.
Cheers
Quoted from pinmister:mistake and a design failure is the milk jug shot
Quoted from pinmister:it is lame(almost impossible to hit)
Well I just came up with "What is the most difficult shot in pinball?" I thought it was No Good Gophers hole in one shot, but after playing Houdini I may have to change that to hitting the milk jug shot 
Quoted from pinmister:Well I just came up with "What is the most difficult shot in pinball?" I thought it was No Good Gophers hole in one shot, but after playing Houdini I may have to change that to hitting the milk jug shot
It's not bad once you learn the cheat. Shoot the right orbit, let it dead bounce off the right flipper. Usually it goes right in the milkcan. That's the beauty of Houdini and what makes it good for a home use game
Quoted from PinballTilt:It's not bad once you learn the cheat. Shoot the right orbit, let it dead bounce off the right flipper. Usually it goes right in the milkcan. That's the beauty of Houdini and what makes it good for a home use game
That is funny you said that-that is literally the only way to get it into the milk jug-lol!
Also I disagree with people saying this game would not be good for location. I think it is like WOZ, where it may be a difficult game to progress very far on location but easier in a home environment. That does not necessarily mean it is not a good game for location. I had really long ball times and was thinking to myself, man I bet operators are going to try and open up lanes, etc. to decrease ball times. I think it makes a great game for location, and I would pay $1.00 per game to play this one, it is just plain fun. This game is not that difficult and I think it would make for a great machine on location.
One thing that I think will be more clear as more home buyers get their game, is how many unusual shots there are in the game. There are genuine complaints about the tightness (they are definitely pretty unforgiving if you use your tried and true works-on-a-B/W game shots), but this will expand as people learn the shots.
There are complaints about the SimCard shot in Dialed In being very hard to hit, but that’s the same thing; you can hit that shot fairly consistently from the top of the upper flipper (it’s still hard, and luck is a factoe)
Hey, it’s only Pinball!
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