Here's my thought:
When I first got into this hobby a few years back, I thought that "A"
title meant quality, or highly rated. Highly favored, and generally well
received. Like, Godfather, Shawshank Redemption and Casa Blanca would be
"A list" movies. ;)
But, as time went on, it seems that A list games are simply expensive...
usually expensive because they are sought after, but not always because
they're great games. Well, that's just bullshit, if you ask me.
Whatever idiot started this grading system x amount of years ago really
screwed things up. Who cares what letter you say a game is, as long as
it's good. I look to buy games that are generally well received and
loved, and then make sure I also like them too. Why? If a game is rated
poorly, that usually means that something about it isn't so hot. And,
since I simply have no way to play pins, I have to sort of rely on
people's opinions for the most part. I've bought pins without ever
playing them. Many times, it works out, but there are times I buy a game
simply because it's supposed to be good, and that doesn't work well.
What my jabbering about means is, there are many "B" titles that are
amazingly awesome. Shadow, WCS, BSD, Whitewater.... these games are
supposedly B titles, and yet they are better than just about all the
games out there. Why can a game rate in the top 20, and yet it's a "B"
title, while some games rated near 100 are A? Because of price? lol,
wtf.
I stopped giving a shit about A, B, C, and more focus on reviews from
multiple sites to help me. I'm very fond of
pinballreviews.com, as they
don't seem to pull punches, and really go into depth on machines as to
why they're good or bad. I have no other options except the occasional
pin emu, which helps me decide (this is how I know I love RS and DW, two
games that you folks don't like, even though they are rated well
everywhere else on earth).
TL,DR: Fuck this alphabet list.
--
skippy church