Our local location has just put a Whoa Nellie on route. The rest of the games are all modern Sterns around 6 tables used in our monthly league. With Mustang being the oldest.
Just wanted to see everyone’s feedback on this game in tournament/league play. Personally I like that it forces a diffrent playing approach. All the scores have been pretty low with 4000 being the highest on the night.
Was interested if there were any rules that can be exploited or if it’s well balanced and appropriate for comp play.
I’ve had good experiences in both qualifying and finals with the game. Can be equally frustrating and rewarding. Scoring is balanced, no problems I can think of.
yeah we use Can Crusher - no issues and for Whoa Nellie specifically I have a soft spot for it in competition since I had a nice game captured on camera playing it against Robert Gagno
It is worth pointing out that some people consider the game offensive and that you may be alienating some of your potential pool of players including it. Probably since it is already in the location, the incremental difference between including it or not is small, however it is something to think about.
Good point gammagoat I think that’s really up to management of the location to decide. However personally I don’t see the theme winning over any female fans, which is a shame. It’s not overtly offensive (my opinion) but it certainly doesn’t move pinball in the right direction as far a being a more inclusive and diverse hobby.
Worked fine in competition at Expo. Just make sure you record the scores off the mini display on the apron. Sometimes the score reels are not accurate.
The one issue I noticed in the tourney I participated in that used Can Crusher was confusion about whether you could start a multi-player game or had to play full single player games. That was the only time I’ve ever played the game, so I could be wrong, but my understanding is that you can play a multi-player game, the score reel just shows the score of whomever’s playing at the time (this seems like a terrible idea but it’s what someone told me). My opponent and I didn’t realize this and played full single player games. Something to be aware of, maybe someone with more knowledge of the game can confirm.
(Also +1 to @gammagoat 's point about potentially alienating your player base. The main reason I’ve only played one Can Crusher is because I refuse to have anything to do with Whoa Nellie ¯_(ツ)_/¯ )
I think taking the context of the time in which these pieces were created is super important. Things were obviously a lot different in the 60s and 70s, and consideration of women’s issues and the way these things impact their lives was in a completely different space. Take that forward to the present day though, especially considering that it is in Stern’s best interests to not alienate a huge and growing swath of their player base, and the way you respond to it is totally changed. This is similar to looking back at Tex Avery or Tom And Jerry cartoons vs cartoons today. A lot of those older cartoons are incredibly racist, but I’m not going to sit around and say they should be banned, because I think they’re totally educational about the context and time in which they were created, even though yes they still bother me (I wish Disney would release Song Of The South too.) However if someone came out with those same cartoons today, I would be completely outraged.
You’re right, it totally does! It actually also really bothered me when Stern showed photos of kids playing Can Crusher and commenting about how they loved it. Do I think that is really going to cause kids to go out and get drunk because they saw it on a pinball game? Nah, of course not. However, do you really need to be using kids to promote that product, especially when there are so many incredibly cool themes you could to appeal to them which remain untapped? That bothers me.
@heyrocker adequately stated my position so I don’t see the need to go long on explaining this. Suffice it to say, my issue with Whoa Nellie is that it was created in the present day. That is what is alienating about it, to me.
I don’t know how things are now, but when I was at PLD we pitched Gary on a Looney Tunes themed game and he didn’t want anything to do with it because it was “too kiddie”, which is hilarious considering that I doubt anyone under drinking age even knows who Bugs Bunny is anymore.
Yeah sure, and this is my opinion as well, I just decided to use sarcasm instead of straight up saying something.
Another note: If you type something out, and you say to yourself “Wow this could really cause a shit storm”, maybe give it a second thought? Just an idea.
