# Who said you can't tap-pass on virtual pinball? **Source:** Mystery Pinball Theater 3000 **Type:** video **Published:** 2019-05-04 **Duration:** 2m 34s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEQuSZBI0bQ --- ## Analysis The speaker discusses tap-passing mechanics in virtual pinball, refuting Jack Danger's earlier claim that tap-passing is impossible on virtual tables. They argue that pinball designers are implementing flipper routines that enable tap-passing in virtual pinball, though it may be more difficult than on physical machines. The speaker emphasizes that learning tap-passing on real tables provides valuable skills transferable to modern machines like Paragon. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Jack Danger initially said tap-passing is absolutely not possible on virtual pinball — _Speaker referencing Jack Danger's statement at an event where he was demonstrating Tee'd Off tap-passing_ - [HIGH] Pinball designers, not non-pinball people, are creating virtual pinball tables and can implement tap-passing mechanics — _Speaker's direct statement about who develops virtual tables_ - [MEDIUM] Tap-passing may be harder on virtual tables than real tables due to digital physics — _Speaker's acknowledgment of difficulty differences between platforms_ - [MEDIUM] Learning tap-passing on real tables provides transferable skills to modern machines like Paragon — _Speaker's statement about skill transferability_ - [HIGH] Not all virtual pinball tables support tap-passing — _Speaker's explicit statement: 'Can you tap pass on all virtual? No, no.'_ ### Notable Quotes > "nothing beats a real pinball machine period" > — **Mystery Pinball Theater 3000 host**, 0:00 > _Sets the context for the discussion—establishing real pinball as the standard while defending virtual pinball's viability_ > "it's not non-pinball people making these virtual tables it's pinball people making these virtual tables" > — **Mystery Pinball Theater 3000 host**, 0:30 > _Key defense of virtual pinball's credibility—emphasizing designer expertise and intention_ > "if you learn that on a real table, you're in good fucking shape. You get on a Paragon table or something, you're in good shape." > — **Mystery Pinball Theater 3000 host**, 1:15 > _Highlights practical value of real-table skill development and mentions Paragon as an example modern machine_ > "Can you tap pass on virtual? Yes. Can you tap pass on all virtual? No, no." > — **Mystery Pinball Theater 3000 host**, 1:45 > _Direct refutation of Jack Danger's claim while acknowledging nuance in implementation_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Jack Danger | person | Pinball designer and content creator; made initial claim that tap-passing is impossible on virtual pinball | | Jon Norris | person | Referenced as designer of Tee'd Off, a game used as example for tap-passing demonstration | | Tee'd Off | game | Pinball machine used as primary example for tap-passing mechanics discussion | | Paragon | game | Modern pinball machine referenced as example where tap-passing skills are valuable | | Virtual Pinball | product | Digital pinball simulation platforms discussed as alternative to physical machines | ### Topics - **Primary:** Tap-passing mechanics in virtual pinball, Virtual vs. real pinball gameplay differences - **Secondary:** Game designer expertise in virtual pinball development, Skill transferability between real and virtual pinball ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.75) — Speaker defends virtual pinball's legitimacy while maintaining that real machines are superior. Tone is passionate but not dismissive of virtual platforms. The speaker is advocating for recognition of virtual pinball's capabilities. ### Signals - **[gameplay_signal]** Discussion of tap-passing mechanics implementation in virtual pinball systems and comparison to real table execution (confidence: high) — Extended discussion of whether and how tap-passing can be executed on virtual tables vs. real machines - **[technology_signal]** Virtual pinball platforms implementing advanced flipper routines and physics to replicate real-table mechanics (confidence: high) — Speaker describes pinball designers writing 'flipper routines' for virtual tables to enable tap-passing - **[content_signal]** Jack Danger conducting public demonstrations of tap-passing mechanics on Tee'd Off at events (confidence: medium) — Speaker references Jack Danger 'showing people how Tee'd Off tap pass' at an unspecified event - **[community_signal]** Community discussion and debate about the legitimacy and capability parity of virtual pinball systems (confidence: medium) — Speaker defending virtual pinball against skepticism, noting that pinball experts are involved in development --- ## Transcript Nothing, okay here's the thing, nothing beats a real pinball machine period. But I built this and I love it and so Jack Danger was showing people how to tap pass on on I forget what was like skateboard or something like that was like the table and they said and someone said hey Jack can you tap pass in visual pinball in virtual pinball and he said absolutely not so there's that so here's the thing they figured this stuff out it's not it's not non-pinball people making these virtual tables it's pinball people making these virtual tables so if you need to tap pass they will write the flipper routines that will do it now i'm still not saying that it's i don't want to be get on a soapbox today but i'm not saying that it's perfect it's probably harder to tap pass on a virtual table than it is on a real table just because digital is a little hard but i i'm telling you, if you learn that, if you learn that on a real table, you're in good fucking shape. You get on a Paragon table or something, you're in good shape. Can you tap pass on virtual? Yes. Can you tap pass on all virtual? No, no. _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 7ed1ff97-6d7a-4641-b9be-02bb2d07aa32*