This follows on from my other post re improving pinball, however, this topic is around online play and exploring what it might look like to introduce a more connected pinball experience vs just scores/achievements (e.g. a next step beyond Stern Insider Connect).
From a high-level online play could include things like:
- Live match-making
- This is where you would be able to login to your table and search for others on-line to play pinball with at the same time.
- Again there are different ways in which this could play out.
- Head-to-head: you are paired with 1-3 other players and play alongside each other and see who gets the highest score.
- Fun/alternative modes: You could do things like “follow the shot” where one player hits a series of shots and the other tries to follow them, something like HORSE.
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League play: you can engage in remote leagues and participate in tournaments.
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Live competition streaming + potential participation
Other considerations:
- Obviously fairness/cheating issues are there, but in the simplest form it would be just for fun.
- Then you could layer on top things like cameras, angle detectors (accelerometers), etc. to ensure more consistent playfields.
- Obviously you could extend this a lot, and include things like a camera showing your opponent’s remote table as they play, mic’s to communicate with them, etc.
Wondering what exists in this area today? are there any greenfield attempts to build this kind of online community? Streamers have developed a whole slew of capabilities for digitally sharing their games, is this being extended into live head to heads or other tournaments in any way? Do people think it would be fun to be able to turn on your machine and play virtually with others around the world?