Paper 2 Final

In a world of home consoles that can create huge engrossing experiences both online and offline pinball is a dying breed. But like an endangered animal it is well worth attempting to preserve this classic genre of video gaming. Where a fighting or driving game can easily be played on a home console, pinball is one of the few games that cannot be emulated perfectly. Pinball requires the ability to think quickly and requires players to be able to react not only to the real world physics of the ball but also any mechanical problems of a particular machine that must be worked with or against. The pinball community has a unique element that very few other video game communities have. While people will discuss how to play pinball the decline of arcade culture leads many to discuss great places to play the silver ball be it arcades, bars, or even laundromats.

My brother and I are regulars at a local arcade and in this case we went with another one of our friends. On a Thursday night there are very few people enjoying the games despite the fact they have a special deal for arcade games. The pinball machines used to be in the middle of the first floor and were the first thing people would see as they entered only now that spot is taken up by some giant Connect 4 redemption abomination.

 

Pinball used to be front and center

 

We immediately head up to the second floor where the pinball machines where all the retro games are. This is our affinity space. People of all ages, skills, and backgrounds all have the desire to play the silver ball. We come across a young boy who is probably six years old or so playing one of the newer pinball machines, Iron Man. He seems confused on how to play the game so I assume that he is playing the game not because of his interest in pinball but more so because he likes the theme of the table. His game lasts about ten seconds as he thinks he is finished after his first ball drains and then he promptly runs away to go play something else. Taking over a machine is another part of our affinity space as I have noticed players taking over pinball machines if someone leaves credits or extra balls before. This is usually due to a young kid playing it and not knowing that there is more than one ball or could be a very skilled player leaving his extra game for someone else to play. Usually it is common courtesy to ask a nearby player to make sure they are not just taking a break from that machine.  Knowing that the kid is not coming back I take over the last two balls of his game.

During our play time with the Dark Knight table a small kid comes up to the machine and puts his hands up on the glass while my brother is playing the game. He tells the kid to take his hands off but the kid is mesmerized by the ball. Clearly being new to the space he does not know the etiquette of watching from a distance and to never put your hands on another player’s machine. This is not the first time something like this has happened and on some occasions we are able to take this opportunity to get kids to become interested in pinball. Typically the best way to get into pinball is continuous experimentation or being helped by a more seasoned player. A pinball apprenticeship not only involves teaching the player about how to play the game but also the etiquette of playing with others.  After telling him to stop holding onto the machine because of how it distracts the player he just politely stood and watched us play the remainder of our game. Upon completion we actually invited him to play our next game with us. My brother and I gave him tips that any beginner should know such as not hitting both flippers at the same time and basic aiming tricks. We are not able to use our more advanced pinball language with him because words like hurry up bonuses and jet bumpers do not mean anything to a young beginner. Everything we describe to him has to be done in a really simple way. So instead of saying, “go for the jet bumpers to ready multiball and then hit the slight left orbit to start it” we would simplify it by saying “try to hit those targets in the back or the flashing ramp”. After that game we moved on but the kid started to play another game of the same machine by himself.  By sharing our knowledge with this new player his appreciation for pinball grew.

While we play the a three player game on the Elvis table we all use our pinball language to tell each other  about hurry up bonuses, jackpots, special shots, and making sure not to tilt the machine. This is usually distributed knowledge that is based on the specific machine and comes from personal experience, reading about the machine on the internet, or hearing it from someone else.  My brother (who is admittedly better than I am) tells me about this shot I need to make in order to start multiball. For some reason I am unable to hit the target and instead keep hitting the same ramp. Unlike him I am not as skilled and am unable to position the ball to where it needs to go. I keep being told to control the ball but cannot follow my brother’s advice. Some knowledge is fairly difficult to express in words and being told how to aim a shot is not always helpful.  Part of the challenge of pinball is that each machine plays different from each other. Not only does the different layout make each new pinball a discussion but all of the flaws are discussed amongst each other. However not all knowledge is known before playing the machine.

There are a lot of shots to know in a machine!

Pinball machines have a lot of moving parts and often time one or more mechanics might not be working properly.  When playing Addam’s Family I let the other people I was with know that the upper right flipper is jammed. This makes some of the shots impossible to make and gameplay extremely choppy. This knowledge is unknown to a player until they are told or experience it for themselves. We let another person playing the machines know that the Addam’s Family machine is in pretty poor condition. The person thanks us and we invite him to play the Creature from the Black Lagoon machine with us. My brother will usually invite other people who are playing the pinball machines to join us in a game. He likes to make pinball a very social event.

 

Dynamics of a 4 Player Game in a simple mock up.

During the four player game there is a new dynamic not found in a normal game in pinball. Multiplayer in pinball is different than most games as only one player can actively play the game at a time but that does not mean that the others are just sitting doing nothing. Two players not currently playing hang back and talk while the person who has the next turn tends to stand watching the current player. The current player and the on deck player will talk to each other about the immediate game they are playing, but the other two sitting back do not partake in the discussion. While sitting off to the side I talked to the stranger as we waited to enter the on deck position. We spoke mostly about pinball but he also told me about his job and some of his other interests as the two sitting players tend to talk less about the game and speak in a more social manner. He seemed pretty knowledgeable about the machine and let me know that he used to compete in pinball tournaments. We discuss the goals that are particular to current machine and he lets me know that he actually has looked up the machines at the arcade on several websites in order to get insider tips on how to get high scores. It went to show that on online communities’ knowledge can actually be passed to other gamers by word of mouth. After finishing playing he gave my brother his number if we ever wanted to meet up to play again. A great day playing pinball ends with not only having fun but also making new friends.