I believe wholeheartedly in human error. I’m not the person to blame a machine, even when Nintendo cheats. But what do you do when the ball is unexpectedly stuck? When you don’t know what is exactly supposed to happen but you’re pretty sure that’s not it. Do you complain? Blame the machine? Call for a rematch? Or do you just get on with your life and accept the defeat. Most of the time my instinct is to not make a big deal about it. Technically the malfunction is a problem but would it have changed the match? The better I get the more I sheepishly say, “Maybe?”  

It’s relative of course. When the best player in the world says something is broken, it must be. They are the standard, right? But what if they aren’t. What if the nature of the game is to play it broken. When that works against me I’m as up in arms as the next person but keep quiet when it’s not. The lowest form of self preservation, silence. So what do we make of the complainers? The person that blames the machine, the environment or even their opponent. Where do they fit into the malfunction of pinball. Sometimes they are right and sometimes they’re wrong. When my ball falls off the ramp in Medieval Madness directly into that left outlane, I shrug and say, “What are you gonna do?”

Three strikes into a tournament at Jupiter and two of them involved malfunctions I could bitch about. I don’t, of course. What’s the point, given that I don’t expect to win. If I did by some chance get to the finals and fumble into success, do I really want it to be at the behest of a technicality? No, I stay my tongue and remember it’s just a game. I silently judge some people for their insipid complaints. Pinball is a board game mixed with live-action sports. It’s important that people have accountability for their circumstances and the consequences. Otherwise go home and play a video game.