Intervju med Keith Elwin

Intervju med Keith Elwin

De senaste åren har de stora flippertävlingarna i USA till stor del dominerats av en spelare vid namn Keith Elwin, en 32-årig wizard från San Diego i Kalifornien. I tävling efter tävling har han presterat smått otroliga poängresultat på alla tänkbara spel. Han är helt enkelt en äkta Pinball Wizard som kan tänkas vara från en annan planet, med tanke på att han har en nästintill utomjordisk spelskicklighet.

Keith Elwin har antagligen sin High Score-tag, KME, på en hel drös med spel runt om i USA. Eller vad sägs om scorer som 9.99 miljarder på Monster Bash, 311 miljarder på Attack From Mars och 2,97 miljarder på Medieval Madness. Det finns en del historier om KME. Att han är en otroligt skärpt, kallt planerande och taktiskt smart spelare kan man förstå när man hör historien om hur han under tävlingen PAPA 6 fått drygt 280 miljoner på Junkyard genom att starta videomode ?Save The Girl? 21 gånger och därmed skrapat ihop drygt 110 miljoner enbart på videomodes. Denne Wizard arbetar med flipperspel i form av att reparera och restaurera flipperspel för Area Amusements i Kalifornien.

Det är inte konstigt att man blir nyfiken på denna person och hur det kommer sig att han är så extremt duktig på flipper. Vad är han för en filur egentligen? Vi beslutade oss för att undersöka saken och har lyckats få göra en intervju med Keith Elwin. Håll till godo.

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Vi har valt att skriva "***" då det kanske krävs en förklaring av vissa förkortningar och fackutryck, för de som inte är lika insöade som oss.


Keith Elwin, öldrickandes.

Tell us a little bit about your pinball "career".
Well my "career" started in 1980 at the Sears Arcade in El Cajon, CA USA. I got addicted to Frontier and would ride my bike down there every day during the summer. I then discovered Skateball at a closer arcade a couple months later and that was it, I was hooked! In high school I would rack up 10 credits and sell them for 50 cents. It wasn't until the internet era that I discovered tournaments. So in 1993 I trekked up to "The Pinball Show" in Arizona to see how I fared against the professionals. It was quite intimidating to see the likes of Stetta, Sheats, Werdrick, Shatz performing bangbacks and deathsaves. I concentrated on my game (Twilight Zone) and qualified #1 in my first tournament. But then in the finals we played some old EM (*** Elektro-Mekaniskt, äldre spel) game and I finished pretty low. But I got my revenge the following year and won the tourny! Thats how my "professional career" got started and have not looked back since :)

By the way, what's your opinion on Bangbacks and Deathsaves? Do you consider it cheating to perform them, or is it just a skill that is part of the game?
Bangbacks and deathsaves are a definate skill! Do I practice or preach these? NO! Since neither are tournament legal I don't see the point of ruining my wrists. I learned my lesson by watching Rick Stetta. A fine player that now suffers some sort of wrist problem from performing bangbacks. Plus with with the shallow ruleset games of today I am generally bored after 5 minutes so performing DS/BB has become a mute point.

Speaking of ball control skills: which skills/techniques do you consider to be the most important skills to master? And, I assume you do use a lot of nudging when playing?
Yes Nudging is important though I would say knowing when NOT to flip is the most important.

How would you describe your playing style, and do you trap the ball a lot?
I have a pretty relaxed playing style much like Bowen Kerins. I try to stay as still as posible and keep my hands light, meaning don't lean on the lockdown bar, and get the flipper back down as soon as posible. I kinda flick the flipper button rather than press it. Stern games are different since the buttons are much stiffer. I suppose I trap the ball alot but I like to keep a rythm going too. To much ball trap time gets your defenses down.

What's the most common playing mistakes of a semi-experienced amateur?
Making shots on the fly when there is no need to and leaving the flipper up to long after shooting.

How often do you play and for how many hours do you play, an average week?
Normally I play about 2-3 hrs a week. But since I am reviewing SPP (*** The Simpsons Pinball Party) I have been putting in 7-8 hrs.

Obviously, you're one of the best pinball players around today. Do you feel that you were gifted with a special talent or did you get here by good ol' fashioned hard work?
Thats a good question. I think I was just born that way. I remember having all the high scores at the arcades around here at 11-12 years old. Of course I didn't have the ball control skills I have today but I think I have a good eye and can read the ball well. As far as hard work I think that is mostly due to strong legs and shoulders. I can stand long peroids of time while shoving around a 300 lb game.

Who's the best player you've ever seen?
I think Neil Shatz is an incredible player. He puts in 110% everytime he plays plus he is a walking encyclopedia of pinball rules and strategies for just about every game made. I remember an epic battle with Bowen Kerins on a Getaway. Just about every score we had during the best of 3 match was higher than the qualifying scores that weekend. He finally edged me out on his last ball on the rubber game but that is the best match I have ever had. I don't mind losing when I get beat like that. It's when its a chokefest like when Lyman and I played RCT (*** Rollecoaster Tycoon) at expo that I get most upset. I think it was 5 mil to 4 mil (totally pathetic) that he beat me and we are much better players than that.

Do you have to put a lot of practice into a certain game before you can get decent scores or are you able to just pick any game up, just like that?
I can get decent scores off the bat but I can't truly master a game without learning it first.

What's considered to be a decent score in your book on a game like, let's say Rollercoaster Tyccon? Which leads me straight on to the next question: what do you think about the new Stern games, and what's your opinion on the future of pinball?
Hard to tell what a decent score is in my book because I am never satisfied. I just put up a 749M on Simpsons and I was pissed that I didn't break a billion (Though that would likely take close to 2 hrs.) No I am not a big fan of Stern games (Until SPP) As a good friend puts it... "Achieving a high score on a Stern game is a matter of resistance to boredom" Its hard to stay awake when you enter say your 3rd Park tycoon mode.

Pinball in arcades is dead. But so are arcades in general. There is a huge market for home pinballs which seems untapped so hopefully somebody will try.

Which is the hardest game ever made? And, which task in a pinball game is the hardest to accomplish?
Well no question taskwise its SPP now. I still have not gotten to the Mega Wiz mode. The hardest game to keep the ball in play is Dr. Who. Previous task master was getting a 3Billion victory lap on Indy 500. I have done it ONCE in my life and keep in mind I own one.

I guess on games like The Addams Family etc. one could keep playing "forever" because of the amount of EBs available. However, I tend to lose my focus after 30-40 minutes of play. What do you do to keep focused?
HAHA, I don't! Even when playing a brand new game like Simpsons I tend to start drifting and taking wild shots and not caring. Of course at tournaments its a different matter, but for playing at home/arcade I am just playing for fun.

Do you still Enjoy playing older games like Frontier, etc.? And, which is your favourite EM game? Personally I find most of the older games quite boring in comparison to the WMS/Bally games of the 90's even though I actually started playing pinball during the mid 80's.
Yes I enjoy playing them from time to time but I wouldn't want to own any. Thats why I enjoy going to Pinball shows. I get to rememis my past without getting bored.

Do you own any pinball machines? If so, which?
Yes I own: SC (*** Safecracker), IJ (*** Indiana Jones), I500 (*** Indianapolis 500), TAF (*** The Addams Family), AFM (*** Attack from Mars), Jungle bored.

Which is the next game you're planning to get?
No plans at the moment for more games but if you were to give me: Simpsons pinball party, Getaway or a Shadow I wouldn't refuse it :)

Are you into arcade/video games as well?
Not really but I do own a rare 3player Atari Rampart vid. This was my all time favorite video game back in the day so I picked one up.

Have you ever had any pinball-related injuries? Yep, that includes electric shocks etc.
I used to be a hothead when playing pinball. I remember I used to kick the crap out of a taxi pinball in the local bowling alley. While aiming for the right leg my foot just grazed it and smacked my ankle bone. Also in my deathsave days I missed my aim on a TFTC (*** Tales from the Crypt) bangback and cut my hand on the door handle.

I have a lot of problem with my wrists because of my miserable aiming skills which makes me miss a lot of targets and puts me in situations where I have to nudge/slide the machine a lot to save the ball. Do you have extraordinary hit-what-you-aim-for-skills? Out of a hundred shots on an average target, how many do you nail?
No I'm no sharpshooter. Im sure i would be 50/50. My skill lies on my ability to regain control of the ball to try again. After missing and cussing myself out, my priority is to get the ball back to the offending flipper.

What's your favourite tournament experience, so far?
My favorite tournament experience is playing in Pinbrawl. Last year we defeated the evil Chicago league empire to take first ;) I am really into the whole team play since I am long bored of the strictly single play tournaments. I have been competing against the same 8-9 players for the past 7 years now. In fact I have no plans of attending PAPA7/Pinburgh this year to defend my title unless they add a doubles format.

What sort of tournament system do you prefer, which is the most fair system?
Pinburgh, no question. Kevin Modified the PAPA format to make it more fair and he did a great job of it.

Since simple questions like "Best game" feels a bit too unsofisticated for us. We'll give you a little bit more tricky "Best-questions". Here we go:

Best Multiball: Attack from mars
Best Music: Safecracker
Best SFX: RFM (*** Revenge from Mars)
Best DMD GFX: TZ (*** Twilight Zone)
Best Design: NGG (*** No Good Gofers)
Best Flyer: LOL, Im not a collector geek ;)
Best Skillshot: Pinball Magic
Best Lock: Shadow
Best Drain: MB (*** Monster Bash) SDTM scoop shot
Best Designer: Dennis Nordman
Best Wizard mode: SC (*** Safecracker) : Assault the vault
Best Videomode: Fishtales
Best character in a pinball game: Comic book guy in SPP
Best Jackpot: Tie: Double Super jackpot on SPP, Super jackpot on getaway, TRRRRRRIPLE jackpot! TAF.
Best Tilt: "Cheating makes baby jesus cry!" SPP

Which is the worst post 1990 WMS/Bally game made, and why do you think so?
Hurricane was pretty bad, as was Champion Pub and Cactus Canyon. I can't stand games with bash toys. It was fun with FH (*** Funhouse) but then WMS overdid it.

What's your opinion on my favourite designer, John Popadiuk? At least two of his games, Cirqus Voltaire and Theatre of Magic (despite that mediocre wizard mode) are on my top three list.
JP makes some of the most beatiful games around. Problem is I am a player, not an art collector. While I don't hate his games and I do enjoy a game of TOM, CV, WCS (*** World Cup Soccer) now and then, I would never own one. Games like TOTAN (*** Tales of the Arabian Nights) and SWE1 (*** Star Wars Episode 1) are just junk in my opinion.

What would be, obviously related to an average score on the particular game, some of the highest scores you've ever got? How long did it take you to get them, and what what's your strategy on these games?
Probably the most ridiculus score I have gotten was 19.9B on BOP (*** Bride of Pinbot). I had the day off work and it was raining so I decided to go after Marc Connants high score which took him 4 hrs. It took me 4.5 hrs to beat. I then walked away. Most of my scores are posted on Mikes High Score Site. http://community-2.webtv.net/MWMahaffey/PinballWizardsHigh/. I didnt really have any strategies on these games other than max out my extra balls then go for points.

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. Is there anything you'd like to add?
YES! Let's get some non US players over here to Pinburgh like we did for PAPA!

Ja

Nej