Why do you play?

[Vengeance]

This is a conversation I've had with other people and something that has interested me.

What drives you to continue to play pinball?

For me it obviously the competition, I thrive on it, it drives me, it fuels my passion and it the only reason I do as much as I do for the hobby.

Something about being good at something really keeps me moving forward, its how I found my current profession, it why I play video games, and it why I continue to play pinball.

I've never been able to understand why people who aren't as good continue to play (and yes I realize that statement is extremely condescending), but it's just the way my brain works. If I try something and I don't feel like I have an aptitude for it, I get frustrated and then I stop.

So I'm curious what fuels the passion for everyone else, nostalgia can only take you so far, at some point something else has to be the driving force for why you are in the hobby.

 

[Menace]

I think for me it's a collaboration of things...

Being the geek that I am (yes I said it) I've always been fascinated by how stuff works, be it mechanical or electrical/electronic etc. For me pinball is the perfect marriage of both the mechanical and electronic world and that's what draws me in. It is the reason I actually enjoy working on the games more than playing them because lets be honest, I'm not that good of a player. I get to deal with the logic behind the electronics when stuff doesn't work, and I get to use my hands when the mechanical stuff needs attention.

That being said, playing pinball for me is more than just the game itself. Ever since I was a kid there has always been a fascination about the silver ball flying around the playfield and that still remains to this day, the whole physics of it all. The tactile feel of it all when you're playing. The sensory overload if lights and sounds. The fact no two games you play will EVER be alike is a huge draw, and is the main thing that I know keeps me coming back day after day. And I think part of it is I know I'm not a great player, but if I practice and learn the rules of a game I can have great games from time to time. So I keep playing, and playing and playing just to see how much further I can progress...

But then someone will call, or email or text me to help fix an issue, because that's what I'm good at.

D

 

[mwong168]

1. Nostalgia Factor

I can say personally I enjoy this hobby because I like to make and tinker with stuff and original reason behind this is for nostalgic reasons growing up and spending a lot of my time in arcades all over the city. MAME was what first got me into the hobby because the thought of being able to re-simulate close to 100% of what I played as a kid was just awesome. The first time I loaded up SF2 in MAME on my computer and hit the "5" key, hearing the "credit up" sound was music to my ears and probably hit it like 50x! As a kid I never thought in my wildest dreams I would ever be able to play arcade roms via MAME and closest I would come to reliving the arcade experience would be settling for poor console conversions to SNES and Genesis. After I made a few MAME projects for myself I stumbled across PinMAME and from there that is how I got into real pins. I was never really a big pin player growing up but I did drop a few quarters back in the day in some of the more popular games such as TOM, TAF and WCS94 at the local arcades and did enjoy the break from playing fighters all the time. It is nice for me to know that I will always have a piece of my childhood that I will be able to share with my daughter and friends. Sometimes when I go downstairs to get a screw driver from my tool cart I just look around in awe and think what the hell did I get myself into and smile.

2. Time Factor

The days of spending 8-12 hours a day in front of my computer playing FPS or RTS days are long gone. Console games these days also require lots of time to get good at and a few weeks ago I played Mario Kart on my nieces Wii and probably got my ass handed to me by some 5 year old kid in Japan or he was cheating cause he always seemed to have a red turtle shell just as I was about to pass the finish line :evil: I simply do not have that luxury of time anymore between working and spending as much time with my daughter who is growing up right before my eyes. Pinball is perfect for me because sometimes I can only sneak away for 10-15 minutes and that is all a pincrack addict needs for their daily fix. I am by no means a good player but I do have my moments where I am in the pinball groove and have some pretty satisfying ball times or games (with the glass on!). I find some of my best moments are when my wife is getting ready to go out and I sneak downstairs to play a quick game and Ball 1 is still going while my wife is yelling at me at the top of the stairs "Lets go!" and then I just have to drain the other 2 balls or shutdown. I do not play for points or wizard modes and just wanna relax sometimes and playing pinball is perfect for me.

3. Friendship Factor

I just past my two year milestone from getting my very first pin and in that time I have made many good friends who I keep in touch with on a regular or daily basis via Whatsapp, SMS or email. This reason alone is what drives me to play because it is a lot of fun when we all get together at each others house and an extra bonus when we can get our family and kids involved in it too. It is also nice to know there are many others that share the same passion for pinball regardless of their skill level because bottom line every good player such as Bowen can have a bad day. I guess that is another reason why I like to play is because the next game is never your last and we are always hoping we will do better on the next ball.

I've never been able to understand why people who aren't as good continue to play (and yes I realize that statement is extremely condescending), but it's just the way my brain works. If I try something and I don't feel like I have an aptitude for it, I get frustrated and then I stop.

By the way, you are an A-hole! :lol:

 

[Vengeance]

By the way, you are an A-hole! :lol:

 

[b1buwg97]

I don't really like pinball, I am more of a classic vid guy, but because of this I feel I SHOULD like pinball, I always try and have at least 1 to smash around a bit.

As for skill level really make no difference to me, I'd rather a quick 10 minute game than 40 minute ball times, I get distracted and bored easy.
I do recall handing some pinburgh champ his ass though in a LOTR throw down a few years ago :lol:

 

[brewmanager]

I play to relax. I enjoy the competition as well. I know there are players out there who are far superior in skill to me, but I also know there are players who aren't. Plus the beauty of pinball is it's random nature - anyone really can win at anytime, and even the best player can do nothing about a sdtm shot when it happens.

It's too difficult to get out to the club to hit a squash ball sometimes, but you can always take out your frustrations on the pins in the basement. (the ball, not the machines themselves, although there have been times when I've felt like doing that to a finickity machine).

The friends factor has been huge too - I love getting together with people who appreciate the games, and shooting the shit and playing a bit too. The fact that my kids love it too doesn't hurt either, to be honest.

What more can you ask for?

 

[Chris Bardon]

I kind of ignored pinball through the 80s, but got hooked in a big way with DMD games in the 90s. I always spent a bunch of time in arcades (places to kill time at lunch hour in school), so when pins like T2, and TAF started appearing, and I finally "got" what the goals in the games were, I was sold. A big part of it is trying to "beat" the games-either through getting to a particular goal, wizard mode, or just a high score. I still play video games when I can, but in too many cases the challenge is gone there. It's either a gigantic time commitment that anyone could make it through, or something that is super-punishing, but not fun at the same time. I don't like it when the definition of "hard" is that we'll just make you repeat the last hour of something. In pinball, you succeed or fail in much shorter spans of time, and it feels like there's much more potential for mastery than with most video games these days. You're also fighting physics as well as the game design, which is a huge part of what makes pinball interesting.

 

[DRANO]

Originally it was nostalgia that got me into the hobby. But if I go back to my first experiences playing pinball, it had to be the simple mechanical marvel of these games.
I've always been mechanical and enjoyed learning how things worked and building my own toys. I started playing pinball when Pac Man and Asteroids were released. Video games were great, but every time I saw a pinball machine operate, there was some magic in the way the mechanisms were all coordinated with sound and lights to bring the game to life. And, "life" is the perfect word. Pinball just seems alive! Unlike vids, there is that physical connection that involves the player. You can't nudge an arcade cab with any real effect

Today it is an escape for me. I play, restore and mod games and all of these elements are like therapy after a hard day.
It's also opened me up to a great group of people, both local and all over the world.

I do enjoy the personal challenge (not so much competition) and reaching a hidden goal or a hard to attain wizard mode is awesome. But, I spend a lot of my time in this hobby just learnng as much as I can and trying to expose as many new people to it as possible.

 

[nics135]

For me it is simple....mostly crap on TV, winters are long, need something to do.

 

[McMean]

Well,.... after reading Vengeance's post I figure I'd best just f*&king quit, eh?

Don't play because I''m good, I play because it's fun. I spend 90% of my time in this hobby tinkering and repairing my stuff or other people's stuff, and 10% playing.

Whole hobby started out of nostalgia for me in vids, and then has progressed to a wider appreciation.

 

[Ancient Games]

I play because its fun and a good release after "working". Be it my daily job, other hobbies, the house etc etc. Some days I could smash my pins though...

 

[Grauwulf]

I'm in the same boat as Menace and some of the rest of you. I play because its fun and relaxing, get togethers are a hoot, but I really like fixing and tinkering. My goal is to do the best restorations on my current crop of machines as I can.

 

[superjackpot]

I play pinball because I enjoy it. It challenges me in the way I like to be challenged. That's the short answer. Read on for the long one

Pinball is a real game. It's physics... ball spins, friction, momentum... a tactile game. It will never be exactly recreated in the digital realm (sorry mame/vp folks). In a well designed pinball game luck does not play a big part in the result; skill should take you farther. I like that. This is not a board game with dice. While I like to play some video games, I don't like repetitive patterns or movement, or games where you simply memorize and regurgitate to succeed. I like having freedom in my game play which is why I suppose I like arcade video games like Defender, Goldentee, RTR, and my fave Millipede.

While there is always the competition between players and the inherent pressure that comes with it, in pinball, really, you are always competing against yourself - which is the ultimate challenge. To maintain focus, to know exactly what you are doing next (and next and next) that makes pinball a mental challenge, one that also requires manual dexterity to execute.

But my favourite aspect of pinball play, is multiball. I thrive on maintaining control of multiple balls at once. Predicting balls paths, allowing for collisions, spins. To keep 3 balls going for 5 minutes, or 2 balls for longer without just flailing away is the ultimate feeling. And, no I don't mean cradling two balls while shooting the third around the playfield. That's a play it safe approach, perhaps sometimes necessary in competition, but not my style. Keep all the balls moving on separate paths - ahh, nirvana.

While as I young teen I had played some late EMs, and SS games, it wasn't very often that I had the chance. Pinball really caught on with me in the very late 80s, and most definitely with the DMDs of the early 90s. Back in the day I easily played a mimimum of 3 to 4 hours per day and was on top of my game. I wish I had that kind of time to play now.

I starting collecting machines about 5 yrs ago to have in my home when I wanted (I never knew before then that games were around for purchase!). Just a game or two to start. This was the beginning of my pinball resurrection. Quite often though weeks would go between games, so earlier this year I joined TOPL as a way to make time to play. Now I play every Monday night. For gameplay reasons, and the competition too

 

[tim.sanderson]

I bet I've been playing pinball for way less than any of you! I started sometime around spring this year. In high school I played way more games like Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct etc. Hell, I actually taught myself to drive standard transmission on an Atari Race Drivin' machine.
I caught the bug something fierce this year, a trip to the Silver Ball Museum in New Jersey last July pretty much sealed the deal. I'm still a relatively bad player (super inconsistent to say the least), but the continuing betterment of my skills is one of the reasons I love to play. I also love the history of pinball, and am fascinated when I learn stuff like 'game ABC was originally intended to be XYZ' etc.

 

[Honey Badger]

Nostalgia mainly. I also love competing and although I know I will never be the best, I like testing myself. It also brings me back to the 80's and 90's. I love retro stuff.

 

[necro_nemesis]

Just to confirm how badly I suck.

 

[eh97ac]

I enjoy OWNING pins for the simple fact of using my hands. I stare at a screen all day, *nix, mainframe, pc....etc. Integrated logistics only entertains for so long.

After a owning dozen plus pins, I only really enjoy fixing them. Makes my hands and brain feel useful, manly even.

Once fixed,I play them for a few weeks and then sell them off for what I have into them. I guess that helps the community. I only wish/regret/want is the skill and knowledge on how to restore art on cabinets and playfields.

Fixing>Playing :!:

Grant

 

[JeffM]

I do recall handing some pinburgh champ his ass though in a LOTR throw down a few years ago :lol:

This does it for me. You never know what going to happen. You can beat someone way better then yourself, sometimes by pure dumb luck but it still feels just as good. I guess the competetive part too then lol