By Todd Russell
Am not a fan of shakers on pinball and rumble in controllers.
This point will be lost in this article because some (many?) will read and think this is an absolute. It’s not an absolute. I’m not completely opposed to using or even buying. They don’t have zero value, but in too many gaming situations they’re close to pointless — unless you want to hold a vibrator while you play.
They run down your battery in wireless controllers faster. They can vibrate loose parts in your $10,000 modern pinball machine. Yes, you can use Locktite. Yes, you can and should be checking these things as preventive maintenance, but turning off a shaker motor you really don’t care that much for in game is a form of preventive maintenance as well.
It’s no secret to those that listen/watch me even somewhat regularly that I think this unnecessary rumble is often poorly used and exploited tech. Don’t worry, I’ll bring receipts before finishing. This isn’t an empty screed, an empty shot across the pirate ship at that skulking, shaking beast.
Take a look at this message from somebody I don’t know:
The new pinball buyer “thinks” he “likes” it. No, he won’t like it when it gets old. He won’t like it when it loosens bolts, screws and connectors underneath his $10,000 game, but hey, some folks will tell him “it’s the best!” or “it’s the first mod I add!”
Probably a lot of the same people that have games that collect more dust than plays.
Really? And why is he calling it the “vibrating feature” … because that’s what it is! It’s not a “shaker” like it’s commonly called, because it’s just moves back and forth very fast, that’s vibration. Shaking would be a much more violent situation. Like grabbing the pinball machine and nudging it hard from side to side — and some do this — which almost certainly, if the tilt bob is not set super liberal or working at all, will lead to tilting the game. The object of pinball is not to TILT the ball, see the forced drain and lose your accumulated bonus.
And then there’s rumble, which came after shaker motors that are popular on LE versions of Stern pinball games. BTW, I think shaker motors come with every LE, but somebody will correct me on this on the comments if wrong. With the exception of a small few pinball games, I think the shaker motor is a bad idea. I’ll get to that..
And for those that remember the pinball Earthshaker, 1989 is the year shaking became a game function in pinball.
Now, what about the rumble? I turn that off, again, in most cases it’s stupid. It’s a controller option in Steam. If you are reading this and nodding, turn it off.
Who wants to try and perform some very careful, deliberate move and have the controller vibrating in their hands? Yes, if the idea of the game, the mechanic in the game is by using the controller to make it harder to pull off that move, that is strategic by the game designer, and a good idea. Otherwise, it’s a vibrator in our hands while trying to play. No thank you.
Let’s look at the history of the rumble in videogames. We need to go back in time before we can get to 2025. The year was 1997.
“The Nintendo 64 Rumble Pak. The original Rumble Pak, designed for the Nintendo 64 controller, was released in April 1997 in Japan, July 1997 in North America, and October 1997 in Europe.” – Who invented rumble in controllers? – Games Learning Society
The first N64 game to use rumble was Starfox 64. A great game, btw, but even back then I thought the rumbling was a bit cheesy. Did you dig the rumble in Starfox? Really?
I think universally rumble was a good idea when used very sparingly. Like when you were close to something important in a game the rumble slightly activating as a motion cue that something important was happening. When overused, it becomes annoying and a distraction to playing. I’m hardpressed to think of many games where I’m like, “the rumble in that game made it sooo much better!”
Can you mention some specific games enhanced with great results using rumble? I’m sure there are some not immediately coming to mind, there absolutely are. Remember, the premise of my opinion is that in most cases the tech isn’t used effectively. There are exceptions. Of course there are.
Modern Pinball That Use Shaker Motors Effectively
There are more than two cases with Stern Pinball and the shaker motor being used effectively and strategically, but these are two where I really love the use of the shaker motor and consider indispensable. You need a shaker motor for these two instances.
- Godzilla Premium – the building collapse is an epic effective and good use of the shaker motor.
- Jurassic Park – when the dinosaur moves around, another great use of the shaker motor.
I’m missing others, but these two above come immediately to mind. And no, I don’t like the shaker motor on Jaws and actively dislike it on other games like The Mandalorian. I’m sort of mixed on Iron Maiden. It’s way too buzzy and vibrationy for Iron Maiden and not sure why. I could see it used when you lock a ball in the sarcophagus, but no, it does it too many other times. So, they could use a shaker there, to indicate the moving of the door and the lock, but that’s about the only place that makes sense.
It’s used when Jaws comes from beneath the boat and I believe to simulate the shark swimming with the fin moving, but instead it makes the game feel very cheesy in that instance. I think a better use of shaking would be when you hit the ball through the loop up top, as if you shot a ball and a slight shake to indicate you made a great shot. Alas, that’s not how it’s used. The music in Jaws has suspense enough for the shark. Even Spielberg knew sound was more effective than sight. You don’t see much Jaws in the movie, you hear music to symbolize when Jaws is near. It’s incredibly effective but the minute you add the shake, it lessons the dramatic tension.
Others with feedback
There’s a great discussion on this with many comments on Giantbomb here: https://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion-30/is-controller-vibration-a-vital-part-of-your-gamin-472133/ – you’ll find plenty of people saying they don’t use it, turn it off and dislike it, some that do like it and some, like me, that think it is great when it’s used strategically and not lazily.
This is one of those things in gaming that can and does vary between gamers and there is no right or wrong. What do you think? Do you like rumble in videogames and shaker motors in pinball?