JJP has included a camera in Dialed In, POTC, willy Wonka and GNR. Mainly used for players high score pics, but occasionally used during gameplay.

It would be nice to include more cameras as Internet connectivity increases.

I already have an learned a few things.

1. It's kind of cool, but underutilized on DI
2. Kids LOVE it
3. Old Fat pinball players HATE it. The crying that goes on around here aboot it pretty amazing, which is probably why JJP had to make it so you could disable them

EDIT: IT could really work with like a Deapool or smart ass theme so it could take pictures of you and draw stink lines coming on people or tell them to "eat a salad" or something like that. Ha, good times.

Would it be possible to have a camera that was relatively invisible & didn’t look like a “rig”?

I think if there was any factory camera option, it would be a kit instead of included with every game. Only a handful of people stream pinball.

Stern years ahead of you. PHOTOMAT August 1979. Cosmic Princess. Take a cruise to AU.and be ready for some searching I would guess.

Shane

DI has a lottery scratcher mode and you can move your hand up and down to interact with the screen. Pretty sure you can only do it once though, so kind of anti climactic. You'd be amazed how much people get pissy aboot. Don't get me started on the audacity of Stern wanting people to push a button!

We had dialed in for a while. The girls loved the selfie game play mode. They´ve never been so interested in pinball before.
I think it´s a fun thing.

2. Kids LOVE it
3. Old Fat pinball players HATE it. The crying that goes on around here aboot it pretty amazing, which is probably why JJP had to make it so you could disable them

aint nuthin but the truth

I don't really care, but they'll just use it as another reason to increase prices. They won't stop at the actual cost either, as evidenced by the $200 Stern wants for a Qr reader and wifi dongle for Insider Connected.

A camera isn't worth $20 to me, much less whatever the manufacturers will gouge for or remove from actual useful/wanted features on the BOM...

Nah, using features to increase price is long gone. Now they'll just increase the price.

So that's like 95% of real collectors eh?

I like it on my GNR - cracks me and my buddies up all the time! It’s a fun added feature IMO.

I think it's on GNR to shut people up who are making fun of Fat Axl. "See, you've got a double-chin too!"

These JJP cameras have motion sensors in attract mode.
Was quietly working on another game when GNR called out “WELL, ARE YOU GONNA PLAY F*UCKER?!?!”
Scared the living crap outta me..

So no, not a big fan of cameras.

I had an idea for camera usage that would work like this. There is an area of the playfield with targets, a playfield flipper, lit shot inserts etc. that is hidden from the player's view but has a camera there. That area becomes visible only through the LCD under certain circumstances in gameplay. The player has to make the correct shots by getting instantaneous visual feedback from the LCD about ball location and lit inserts showing what to go for, otherwise it will be blind, random shot flailing.

For verifiable online matches a built in camera would be needed. System software could verify settings. Similar tech is available for online darts, the camera is not even $50.

That’s what P3 Multimorphic does. Not with cameras, tho. But it has ball tracking so there can be interactive elements with the screen playfield.

Only if not connected to the internet.

First they put in a camera. Then they recorded me playing pinball and sent it to the government. Then the FBI came and made me take a vaccine.

BOYCOTT PINBALL CAMERAS

Not sure if sarcasm, but yes. It's like all the Smart Home stuff. YOU pay to have your privacy invaded. Whether it's an intentional backdoor, a hacker, employee (Google), or "bug" (Amazon).

Really wish there were more alternatives with smart features that don't invade or risk privacy. There is a reason Sonos released their next gen with the SL lineup. Not everyone wants a backdoor into their home.

Nobody wants to see me naked playing pinball

No ! I'm 6-7 all the pics I've seen when playing Dialed In are god awful .

If someone needs a gimmick that appeals to their narcissism in order to enjoy pinball then maybe it’s just not the hobby for them.

I have friends I can no longer stand spending any time with because they are constantly shooting videos\photos. For goodness sake, stop documenting life and actually try living it a little by interacting with the people spending time with you in person. Newsflash: nobody else cares about what you are doing enough to actually watch all the self-aggrandizing crap you post.

Probably got off target there just a little, but I feel a little better now.

F the cameras...its not in the spirit of the silver ball

A camera could also be used for showing shot replay for an especially cool shot or combo made, shown at the end of the game.

What would be really cool is to have a few cameras mounted in prime locations that can record snippets and the play back your game in attract mode or as you want. Its an easy technology to add so surprised one of the manufactures or modder's hasn't thought of a good way to do this.

I would be in for a few if someone can come up with something that could be say streamed to a monitor for some of the older games. Use a matrix to loop a bunch together for display - just a thought

I dont want cameras on my pinball but since Stern likes cameras put them on your line and look at quality control.Quality is pretty good though could be improved.Wait lets ask Big Brother if he needs photos and info my phone and TV arent providing already .Hey Alexa kma

No

I find some people are so infatuated with technology, they rush to adopt it without realizing or maybe caring about the dangers for abuse. Cameras on a pinball are a definite NO for me! "They" can spy on me if they want, but I'm not going to make it even easier for them. Call me paranoid, but I'll just laugh at you!

HaHa the guy from pot town Paranoid,thats crazy

The first time I played Dial In, things were going pretty good in several modes and suddenly, my photo was plastered all over the LCD screen in about a dozen locations, basically covering the entire screen. It was a little bit creepy to be honest. I think it covered up the score... There was no indication that the machine would take my photo and no warning that my photo would be saved on the machine, and displayed all over the LCD screen, no less. I moved to a different machine at that point.

You're essentially correct, but do you trust ANY of the concerns currently implementing such technology? The only internet company I trust with my privacy currently is DuckDuckGo, and that is subject to change at any time! LOL

JJP cam is fine.

having the camera aimed at the player on the JJPs never did anything for me. I was always captured just staring down at the pf with a scowl.

I'd be really interested in pf-level cameras that could capture the dynamics of the ball. Would even be helpful for technique. Is the ball sliding? Is it spinning?

Oh and a high-speed camera would be awesome to see the rubber deformed in slomo.

Yeah and I don;t know if they've upgraded since DI, but if you play in any low level light the shots are complete garbage. And not very low light at all really.

It's just stupid to take pictures of player. It just looks bad no matter what and creepy. Hate having to wave your arms and all that, too. I'm sure little kids find it funny but little kids think everything stupid is funny. If you could build in gameplay that keeps track of ball using a camera that would be something. You could have a FH Rudy 2.0 where his whole head and eyes move to watch the ball and react to things like missed shots. That would be pretty cool.