I know many people who saw the guy at pinburgh with a camera light on a mini suction cup mount attaching the light to the glass at the apron. Putting aside the possible issues of him flashing players with the light, what are thoughts of physically attaching devices to the machine?
The easy answer is to say no, it alters the game and we don’t know if allowing it allows a modification that helps the player. But there is an interesting accessibility angle. There is the one handed play rig, should that be allowed? Is poor vision an accessibility concern that should allow for the light. Where should the line be?
My personal view is that if you have a disability, all reasonable accommodations should be made to allow you to play, as required by the ADA laws. If not, then no. You shouldn’t be allowed to physically attach anything to the machine.
I was under the impression that this specifically was justified as a medical/disability related issue. However it was a bit distracting It’s a tough line to draw
A local player around here was testing out a suction-cup-with-microphone-and-bluetooth gadget to attach to the speakers of a machine. The goal was to be able to use headphones to only hear the audio coming out of the speakers in a busy arcade. I thought that was kind of neat
Here are a couple other hypothetical devices I’ve thought of over the years…
An accelerometer equipped electronic device that sticks magnetically to lockdown bar. The device displays the force you are giving to a machine on a meter. The device could be used when testing tilts to establish an allowable threshold of movement, and set it to give alerts when the player is in the “danger zone”.
A mechanical device that attaches to the player or machine and can be calibrated to stage flippers without skill
I was kind of jealous of the suction cup camera guy. Can you imagine coming back from Pinburgh and being able to analyze all of your balls? I would love that!
I don’t see why that specifically would be disallowed.
Barring a situation involving physical disabilities, I don’t think anything should be allowed that could ultimately influence the ball. This would be like the aforementioned device that helps stage-flipping, or something that would nudge the cabinet for you.
On my game on demoman I found myself holding 2 balls on the left flipper and wanting to use the 2 handle buttons to utilize the “secret jackpot” for the computer shot.
I tried to figure out a way to do this and was not having much luck using my free hand on the left handle button and my knee on the right handle button. I struggled a bit trying other options with no luck.
I then thought to remove my pen from my pocket and stick it in my mouth. I used my mouth/pen to depress the left handle button and my free hand to hit the right handle button. I got my secret jackpot.
At the time I thought I was clever for doing that but in hind site I wonder if that was an illegal maneuver?
You only need your two hands in this situation. Take your right hand and put it on the left trigger and hold the flipper trigger button. Now your left hand is free to use the right handle button, while your right can hit the left handle button.
It’s a tough line to draw