So which games had the greatest design, durability and quility?
1) Number one problem with Pinball is Durability. Its exactly what drove people
away from playing a game.
An underpowered Flipper for example, will ruin the games designed flow.
(For ex: Cant make it up the ramps) An OP does not always catch or fix the
problem quickly enough to keep from souring plenty of peoples opinions and desire to play again.
Even the simplest of things, such as plastics, break quickly, because they are not
made thick enough, and or made of something like Lexan, which is far more
impact resistant.
I could go on and on about mechanical faults and Intelligent software fixes that
SHOULD have been put in place Long Long ago. Had they been Smart, Pinball
never would have died off so quickly and easily.
I also believe Gotlieb was mentioned merely for the reliability of their
electronics, which from what I heard, used military grade components. Smart
move... however, many of their designs were just not that good.
Durability is even more of a factor today than ever... especially from the
remaining ops who barely even want to try to invest in a machine. Low profits
and high repair cost / efforts, is the death blow. And then there is also the home
buyer, who might be interested in a machine... but scared off by the horror
stories and bad experiences of machines that constantly are breaking down.
Why do I know? I used to MANAGE a Mall ARCADE FOR 3 YEARS! Finding
time to rip apart pins for cleaning was hard enough... let alone trying to get
them working 100%, and keep them that way. And that was with me AT the
location 45hrs a week. Of the 45 games there, the pins took more time in
maintenance, cleaning, diagnosis, and parts... than anything else.
2) Quality: Quality can mean a lot, and very simply put, the 90s Williams erra
games had some of the best Quality. From Artwork, Sounds, and well tested
playfield designs.
Sterns use of a Low resolution printer to make playfield and other artwork is
a classic example of Low Quality. Pinball is supposed to be a work of art. As
such, it should require the efforts of REAL ARTISTS!!! Not photoshop designers
that can only cut and paste others art/photos.
A classic example might be a game like Theatre of Magic. The playfield and
Cabinet art is Great! If stern had made this game, the evil rabbits would have
merely been photoshopped pictures of bunnies, with some Magican like
Copperfield in the center. Very generic & boring. No soul. No inspiration to play
it... let alone want to pop the thing in your gameroom.
Another great one is Tales of the Arabian knights. While Im not too hot about
the backbox or cab art... the Playfield is dazzlingly beautiful. Such beauty
is what attracts people to even try a game.
Some may not know this... But traditional Pinball art is made using a process
called Screen Printing. This process produces artwork with superior color
and resolution than any other process. Try printing Neon colors on your Inkjet
and you will quickly see what I mean.
Being that Stern uses something like a vinyl print thats cleared in place with
a thin soft clear... it Dimples (small dents) like Mad. This not only effects the
look of the game, but also the balls speed and spin.. and eventually, the ball will eat right through it. Its probably the most poorly made field ever produced.
Another aspect of Quality... has to do with Features.
Sterns features, such as functional toys, are usually very poorly implemented.
Originally, a game like LOTR was at least decent. The sword ball lock was
very pretty, AND functional. The magnetic eye was also very good. Lots of little
details that stood out... (However... the Path of the Death was crap, and a poor
design choice.) But then as Stern progressed, less and less toys appeared, and
many were non functional, ugly, stupid, too few and too limited.
Then again... When you chose a pathetic Theme like Ripleys... No amount
of functional toys or even great artwork, is gonna save that Big Steaming Dump
of a theme.
Games like Spiderman have almost no features, and the few it does have are
no fun at all. Its probably the most boring game Id ever played... and I only
played it cause it was Free. Features are what keeps interest in a game. I dont
care if Spiderman has the most deep rulesets... Its like the Sahara desert. Its
baron of any inspiration to even play it.
Of course, Features like Stereo Hi-Def sound, Should be in Pins. Its frickin 2010!
(heck, quadraphonic sound with a sub, and Holographic recordings (dual mic's over a human dummy head) should be the standard today)
Great Sound Quality & Composition is something that can save even the worst
things. Look at how many old video games had some of the worst graphics,
and yet, the sounds were so good, that it changed the entire way you experienced
those games.
Great compositions are Timeless. Just ask anyone about "Martin Galway".
Some of his commodore 64 compositions are Epic. Its people like him who
are probably to blame for selling more games than ever would have been
possible without his genius musical compositions. Today, people still remake
and listen to his original tunes.
While the thought may have been that location based pins barely can be heard,
so "why put in good sound?" had a partially good reason... Its just not the same
today. These machines are going into peoples homes, where quality is really
noticed. Substandard compositions, low sample quality, non-synths,
mono-sound, etc... all add up to a huge Frown.
For a game that costs Thousands of dollars to own, the thing should be
Loaded to the gills with high quality features. Heck, you can fit an entire library
of High Quality stereo surround sound music on the cheapest Mp3 player.
There are also Audio sound cards for PCs that have 6 speaker surround sound
for like $10 in bulk.
The nickel and dime attitude is not working. People desire and expect
high quality... especially today. This isnt the 60s, where you could get away
with a few simple chimes.
Anybody who thinks that there's a demand for pinball these days is delusional. There hasn't been a true demand for pinball since the '90s.
Actually, there is more demand now than there was in the 90s. There are more
people in the world today, and all the people who grew up playing pins now
want one. And people who have played virtual pinball are getting the itch to
play the real thing. Collectors children who have grown up, as well as
grown neighbor kids/friends, are also wanting their own machines.
Btw - Did you notice that this very site has only Recently added a pinball
section? Have you noticed the various virtual pinball sites blowing up?
Have you noticed the number of people building LCD based pins? (and
then eventually getting a real pin) Pinball is still in demand. Always will be.
And correction for u: Pinball was far more in demand in the days before
video games, NOT the 90s. (And even probably into the 80s, where videos were
still getting a foothold. The 90s made some of the best machines, however, the
fact they broke too easily.. coupled with high competition, meant poor income,
thus poor demand.
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