What's new
By:
Pinball info

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Houdini thoughts/home use experiences?

Den - aka Wolfgang

Den - aka Wolfgang

Site Supporter
5Years
Joined
Oct 22, 2019
Messages
1,087
Location
London (U.K)
Evening all, hope everyone has had a good weekend.

I'm interested to hear people's thoughts on AP's Houdini; especially from those who own or have owned one in the past.
A few initial questions come to mind:
Is the game deep enough for a home environment?
Is it easy to maintain? I
read that later versions had an additional power supply which made them more reliable?
Is the current code final?; or are any further tweaks expected?

After playing a few games on one yesterday thr game has caught my imagination (think it's partly due to being a big fan of TOM and that kind of theme) and am considering getting one if I ever decide to move on from my MET Pro*

Interested to hear what anyone can bring to the discussion and also how people rate the game against TOM?

*In an ideal world I'd have space to keep the Metallica forever and have a 2nd pin to rotate out, but that's just not possible due to strict space restraints.
Am I mental for even considering a Houdini over a MET?; maybe a temporary swap might be the answer if ever available. No rush, but fun to consider.
 
I've got 2 customers on my books at the moment that have a Houdini but to be honest I've not had a chance to play them really. As far as I'm aware neither have had any tech issues at any point. I did put a tiny bit of time into a good friends Houdini a few years back and thought it was very immersive and certainly a game I wanted to see more of. (@rolorolorolo do you still have your one?) The shots are pinhole tight and perhaps not aimed at a shoddy player like me but the machine is absolutely stunning to look at and likewise to you, a very appealing theme to me as well. Will be interested to see what some owners have to say about it.
 
I've had and sold both Houdini and Metallica (as you know!). Metallica lasted much longer!

Houdini seemed an interesting change with a different layout and appealing rules along with an OK theme. However, the game just doesn't flow very well. Difficult to put my finger on but I did feel that the flippers were never strong enough. The diagnostic menu is very good and you can change the power of the flippers but even on max they seemed weak. Not too weak to make all the shots but just not satisfying and a bit clunky. I quite liked that some of the shots were tight but in the end, I just didn't find it much fun to play.

I did have one problem with a switch which Bob (pinball toys) fixed. Can't remember the exact problem but he sorted it (as he does for all my pin faults) and would highly recommend Bob to anyone needing repairs in South Coast/East area.

So in conclusion just didn't get on with Houdini, sold fairly quickly and feel a bit burned from the experience and now more inclined to stick to the modern Sterns that I know and love (well some of them, not all) than try out new manufacturers again.

Sold mine for £4.8k, April last year as a price guide but personally would stick with Metallica. I think you're suffering from one pin syndrome - even the best pin in the world will get a bit samey if you dont have others for variety.
 
robotgreg said:
I've had and sold both Houdini and Metallica (as you know!). Metallica lasted much longer!

Houdini seemed an interesting change with a different layout and appealing rules along with an OK theme. However, the game just doesn't flow very well. Difficult to put my finger on but I did feel that the flippers were never strong enough. The diagnostic menu is very good and you can change the power of the flippers but even on max they seemed weak. Not too weak to make all the shots but just not satisfying and a bit clunky. I quite liked that some of the shots were tight but in the end, I just didn't find it much fun to play.

I did have one problem with a switch which Bob (pinball toys) fixed. Can't remember the exact problem but he sorted it (as he does for all my pin faults) and would highly recommend Bob to anyone needing repairs in South Coast/East area.

So in conclusion just didn't get on with Houdini, sold fairly quickly and feel a bit burned from the experience and now more inclined to stick to the modern Sterns that I know and love (well some of them, not all) than try out new manufacturers again.

Sold mine for £4.8k, April last year as a price guide but personally would stick with Metallica. I think you're suffering from one pin syndrome - even the best pin in the world will get a bit samey if you dont have others for variety.
Click to expand...
Thanks Greg - Hope yourself and the family are well; a belated gappy new year to you!
Thanks for your input; all very helpful comments.
It's defo one pin syndrome, partly due to not having the recently to get to flipout and other places as much to get time on other machines (am planning on getting back in to a bit of virtual pinball/VR again, which will help)

Speaking to my soon to be* wife this morning (she knows I'd regret parting with my MET) if I can slim down my modest guitar collection, and some other stuff, I have the green light for a 2nd pin in our spare room.
Will likely take me a while, but the plan now is to keep my beloved Metallica "bolted to the floor.." which has pride of place in our living room, and the 2nd pin will be the one I swap out from time to time.

On that basis, a Houdini still appeals to me, but let's see!; plenty of time to think about it! (Despite not really playing, She'd love a Jurassic park, as unlike me, she still loves the movies. I do really like the pin now though)

*finally after 2 or 3 postponements it's looking good for end of May this year (que posts of "don't do it!" Ha ha)
 
I think Houdini is a fantastic theme and the pin itself looks great: I love the Steam Punk look.

American Pinball put a lot of imagination into the game-play too. I love the tricks they did swapping flippers etc, so appropriate for this theme. I really wanted one....

until I saw the videos and read the reviews. I love pinball, but that doesn't mean I'm any good at it, and there was no way I was going to get decent games out of that pin.

IMO they didn't get the geometry right.
 
MajesticPinball said:
I've got 2 customers on my books at the moment that have a Houdini but to be honest I've not had a chance to play them really. As far as I'm aware neither have had any tech issues at any point. I did put a tiny bit of time into a good friends Houdini a few years back and thought it was very immersive and certainly a game I wanted to see more of. (@rolorolorolo do you still have your one?) The shots are pinhole tight and perhaps not aimed at a shoddy player like me but the machine is absolutely stunning to look at and likewise to you, a very appealing theme to me as well. Will be interested to see what some owners have to say about it.
Click to expand...
Yep, still have mine @MajesticPinball and you are alway very welcome to come and have a longer game anytime 👍
To answer your question @Den - aka Wolfgang it's a tough game with some tight shots and can take a while to dial in to your personal taste. The angles take a while to get your head around, one or two games is not enough to judge it. Once you 'get' them they become second nature.....except for the milk can shot, which is always hit and miss.
Code is very mature and more suited to the home environment than for a few games in the wild. My machine has never missed a beat since it came out if the box.
Out of the two, I still prefer TOM though.
Hope that helps😀
 
I've owned Houdini for some time and it won't be leaving any time soon.

The general view that the shots are 'too tight' is fair, but it's really about 1 specific shot - the 'inner loop'. This is an important shot to make and definitely a design fault - if there were one rather than two shots through the pops and everything else was widened a little, the game would be much better. But the other main shots - orbits, ramp and stage - are no particular issue.

The attention to detail and theme integration is excellent. The pinside thread is enormous, but if you read some of its earlier sections where Rosh (the coder) is actively involved, it gives you a sense of the care and attention everything was given, with many references which are not immediately obvious. . There's a bit of Bally-Williams-esque humour in the call outs and general execution which helps and the trunk mech is right up there. The light show and other playfield features are up to modern standards, but the animations are basic to poor and certainly no match for modern Sterns. I think they are OK in context but others may disagree!

You ask specifically about maintenance, depth and code. I've had literally no maintenance issues from new, which is pretty remarkable and my understanding is the power unit issues were only relevant in the US. I'd say the code and depth is fairly typical of modern games - the number of modes etc is well into double figures and there's plenty of scoring nuance around multipliers and stacking etc. There was a code update about 6 months ago but nothing material and to all intents and purposes its finished.

So overall, not perfect, but at around £5k I'd rate Houdini as being seriously good 'bang for your buck' whether comparing to older machines or more recent Stern Pros..
 
Thanks for everyone's input! Will likely be a while before I'm on the hunt for another machine, what with not having to part with MET to bring another in (that's a weight of my mind for sure!..) and so it'll naturally come down to what's available when i have the cash/space.
It also means I don't have to be so precious with what I go for with a 2nd machine, given I'll have the mind set that it doesn't have to be a keeper and isn't being traded for my pride and joy.
Houdini as it stands will be on my list, as I don't mind tight shots and I love the theme, but let's see; plenty of time to hopefully get some more games on one if Chris keeps the pinball office weekends going.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom