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What does pinball, generally speaking, mean to you?
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<blockquote data-quote="mmmagnetic" data-source="post: 14683" data-attributes="member: 558"><p>As somebody who has been doing zen style sitting meditation for about a year now, I must say: The zen comparison is very fitting. While going for my personal best is a very nice indicator of actual progress (I don't care for comparing my scores with others at all), pinball is most fun to me when I just go from moment to moment, following the ball around, slamming it into the jackpot loop on Whirlwind while juggling the other balls, or listening to the sweet "ratatat" sounds of the spinners on oldschool tables like Black Kight or Gorgar, staring into the blinking light symphony of these tables, soaking in the personality of each machine - the wild taunts of the kings in MM, the very specific, retro-futuristic atmosphere on PinBot, slamming Rudy in the mouth, the noisy mayhem on RBION and Gofers or the bombastic style of ToM and TotAN...</p><p></p><p>Another thing that is very zen about pinball: In zazen, you don't really try to "think of nothing", you just keep refocussing your attention to your breath, your body, your senses, whatever you chose to meditate on. Your mind drifts off, you daydream about stuff, about what happened to you, what you desire... then you notice you are drifting off, and you readjust your attention back to your breath. It's just pure concentration, pure attention without any intention or goal - the "non-doing", that is incredibly liberating and relaxing while still challenging and stimulating.</p><p></p><p>Likewise, pinball is the most fun to me when I can really keep my focus on that silver ball. It helps me relax when my only job is to pay attention what's happening on the playfield. Once I start daydreaming I usually drain or brick the ball. I sometimes even start an inner narration, like in the PAPA tutorials. "Now, let's go for the million plus and start multiball!" Then, whoops, I start doing sloppy shots - let's get back to making every shot count!</p><p></p><p>I usually have my problems with attention spans, and pinball really is like zen to me. It's not about "getting stuff done" in a game, like in those rpg-centric games with loot, leveling and all that - in pinball every second is very enjoyable. I love the immediate feedback of it all, and I've never been so in love with a genre so much before. Even looking at closeup pics of ramps, bumpers or playfield art on ipdb or watching videos on the pinball archive is like chicken soup for my soul <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p>(And really, I don't think this is off-topic at all. I've been actually thinking about making a thread on this exact topic, and this is the first time I even visited off-topic, a part I usually just ignore on forums <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> )</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mmmagnetic, post: 14683, member: 558"] As somebody who has been doing zen style sitting meditation for about a year now, I must say: The zen comparison is very fitting. While going for my personal best is a very nice indicator of actual progress (I don't care for comparing my scores with others at all), pinball is most fun to me when I just go from moment to moment, following the ball around, slamming it into the jackpot loop on Whirlwind while juggling the other balls, or listening to the sweet "ratatat" sounds of the spinners on oldschool tables like Black Kight or Gorgar, staring into the blinking light symphony of these tables, soaking in the personality of each machine - the wild taunts of the kings in MM, the very specific, retro-futuristic atmosphere on PinBot, slamming Rudy in the mouth, the noisy mayhem on RBION and Gofers or the bombastic style of ToM and TotAN... Another thing that is very zen about pinball: In zazen, you don't really try to "think of nothing", you just keep refocussing your attention to your breath, your body, your senses, whatever you chose to meditate on. Your mind drifts off, you daydream about stuff, about what happened to you, what you desire... then you notice you are drifting off, and you readjust your attention back to your breath. It's just pure concentration, pure attention without any intention or goal - the "non-doing", that is incredibly liberating and relaxing while still challenging and stimulating. Likewise, pinball is the most fun to me when I can really keep my focus on that silver ball. It helps me relax when my only job is to pay attention what's happening on the playfield. Once I start daydreaming I usually drain or brick the ball. I sometimes even start an inner narration, like in the PAPA tutorials. "Now, let's go for the million plus and start multiball!" Then, whoops, I start doing sloppy shots - let's get back to making every shot count! I usually have my problems with attention spans, and pinball really is like zen to me. It's not about "getting stuff done" in a game, like in those rpg-centric games with loot, leveling and all that - in pinball every second is very enjoyable. I love the immediate feedback of it all, and I've never been so in love with a genre so much before. Even looking at closeup pics of ramps, bumpers or playfield art on ipdb or watching videos on the pinball archive is like chicken soup for my soul :D (And really, I don't think this is off-topic at all. I've been actually thinking about making a thread on this exact topic, and this is the first time I even visited off-topic, a part I usually just ignore on forums ;) ) [/QUOTE]
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