If you made it to this first sentence, and you’re not a Swifty, don’t despair. This isn’t another let’s fawn over all things Taylor Swift (kudos to her, though, she is a hard-working, creative musical artist), but rather the result of research into the idea of a Taylor Swift pinball machine. Seriously.
There is a vpin version of a Taylor Swift pinball machine which can be found here and is pictured atop this post. Have not played it, but have heard it’s a reskin and not a super exciting flip, but like any pin, check it out and play it yourself to decide.
Would the pop icon be behind the creation of a pin themed after her? What I’ve learned in my research to date about Taylor Swift is she doesn’t seem to have or have done that much in the way of games branding. Is Swift into gaming — at all? A music pin would make more sense than it sounds. I mean music pins have their place.
A pinball-oriented website known as the Kineticist maintains a “Pinball Hype Index”
We track all the latest pinball theme hype so you don’t have to. These are the most hyped, most wanted, and most talked-about pinball themes in the pinball community.
Pinball Theme Hype Index | Pinball Theme & IP Tracker | Kineticist
No clue how scientifically accurate this index is, so consider that before reading what follows.
Sorry to report, Swift fans, Taylor’s not even in the top 100 of this list. She sits at #130. That’s foreign territory in any sort of Taylor Swift 2024 ranking.
What are the top three? Back To The Future, He-Man & The Master of the Universe and The Evil Dead.
These top 3 themes are a long way from a country-turned pop mega star. Brought this up on the Twitch stream recently, and the consensus was that the demographic for pinheads is more Generation X and older. These people, myself included, grew up playing pinball. Taylor Swift, age 34, wasn’t even born when pinball was in its first heyday. Also, country music, where Swift got her start, doesn’t translate very well to a pinball theme. But pop music? Certainly that’s fresher territory. It’s not rock and roll. Not heavy metal like Iron Maiden, Metallica or even hard rock like AC DC or Led Zeppelin, all music pins that have been made after the turn of the century.
Would you buy a Taylor Swift pinball machine? It’s not a theme that calls out to me in any way. I can’t name any of Swift’s songs, don’t listen to her music. I’ve heard a few of her songs and it isn’t my type of music. I’m much more into rock artists than pop, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to play a Talyor Swift pinball. Then again, I’ll play any pinball theme and then judge whether or not it would be something to own. So, it’s a very, very slight maybe.
Your turn. Do you want to play a Taylor Swift pinball machine? Would you or someone you know buy one for home play?
HI Todd!
If it had great flow, rulesets and visuals at a good price, I’d like to buy it with the Swiftness!!
No. I would not buy it. But I don’t care for autotuned tables, they just lose that organic pinball feel.