Players approve new 'Doctor Who' pinball game
- Publication: The Star (Tinley Park, IL)
- Date: 1992-12-03
- Author: Jim Zerkel
- Page: 23
- Language: English
Field testing has long been recognized as a valuable tool in the final development of a product, fine tuning its workability and consumer acceptability. It works well with automobiles and consumer products, and it is especially valuable in testing the playability and marketability of games.
New games are frequently offered for play at exhibitions or conventions where gamers or potential gamers are sure to gather. Nintendo uses the concept by staging product shows in major metropolitan areas to push existing products and play-test new ones. You can always find new games being play-tested at gaining conventions, and many game designers will send copies of a new game to known gamers for play and comments prior to general release.
This kind of field-testing almost always results in some minor adjustment in the new games rules or presentation based on experienced gamer remarks, and sometimes, it can result in killing a game altogether.
When the game to be tested is a full-size pinball game, the testing is almost always at a convention. Free plays will alivays attract a crowd of gamers who will gladly fill out a questionnaire after playing.
Besides, considering the size of a pinball machine, it is about the only practical way to field test a new game concept.
The Gamer got to play-test a new pin ball game from Bally on Thanksgiving weekend at the "Visions '92" convention of British television fans. While this gathering attracts many fans of a variety of shows available on PBS stations across the country, it is essentially the biggest annual "Doctor Who" convention in the United States. And if you want to test a game based on "Doctor Who," this is the place to do it.
The pinball game is named, quite simply, "Doctor Who," and it com bines all the tricks and concept of traditional pinball machines with the latest in electronics to create a terrific and highly playable game.
Loaded with all the traditional ramps, bumpers and flippers, the game challenges you to help the Doctor rid the universe of Daleks, Cybermen, the Master and other enemies of intelligent life. Electronic chips allow the gamer to play the "Doctor Who" theme song throughout the game, and, if you are good at it, speed up the reflex rate of the bumpers to make the game more difficult.
The beauty of testing a game of this type at a "Doctor Who convention is that probably no more than 10 percent of the people there are habitual garners. Most are the average person who will occasionally walk into a gaming arcade and play a few games. A game that will attract this kind of sometime gamer, will do well in an arcade.
Bally's new "Doctor Who" pinball game did well at the convention. Lines formed in front of all three test machines supplied by Bally during the three-day convention, and the general chatter from the fans points to a winner for Bally.
So if you spot a "Doctor Who" game at an arcade in the next year and you like pinball, give it a try. It is a terrific game.
Remember that questions, ideas, requests may be sent to the Intrepid Gamer at The Star, 1526 Otto Blvd., Chicago Heights, 60411, or via E-Mail on the Delphi and Genie computer nets. E-Mail address on Genie and Delphi is Saganashkee and on Compuserve, call 73227,1570.
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: Zerkel, Jim (1992-12-03). Players approve new 'Doctor Who' pinball game. The Star (Tinley Park, IL) p. 23.
- MLA 7th ed.: Zerkel, Jim. "Players approve new 'Doctor Who' pinball game." The Star (Tinley Park, IL) [add city] 1992-12-03, 23. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Zerkel, Jim. "Players approve new 'Doctor Who' pinball game." The Star (Tinley Park, IL), edition, sec., 1992-12-03
- Turabian: Zerkel, Jim. "Players approve new 'Doctor Who' pinball game." The Star (Tinley Park, IL), 1992-12-03, section, 23 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Players approve new 'Doctor Who' pinball game | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Players_approve_new_%27Doctor_Who%27_pinball_game | work=The Star (Tinley Park, IL) | pages=23 | date=1992-12-03 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=29 May 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Players approve new 'Doctor Who' pinball game | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Players_approve_new_%27Doctor_Who%27_pinball_game | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=29 May 2025}}</ref>
