Talk:Metal ball

Name

So after reading the discussion regarding the revolving wall, it got me thinking about how we have this article named. I understand that Metal ball is also an official name, taken directly from Mario Kart Tour, but regardless of whether or not it's the most recent name, wouldn't Pinball just be a better name? It's kinda obvious that it is a Pinball and that's just a universally official name. Metal ball, while not as long as "yellow piece of the maze", still feels more like a descriptive term for a Pinball. Could we move it to Pinball or is it just better to stick with Metal ball because it's the most recent and consistent? Tails777 Talk to me!13:29, July 31, 2022 (EDT)

The thing that makes this different is that "pinball" is also the name of several other subjects. LinkTheLefty (talk) 13:37, July 31, 2022 (EDT)

Okay, that’s understandable. Thanks. Tails777 Talk to me!13:54, July 31, 2022 (EDT)

Merge to iron ball?

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Back when this article was called "pinball (obstacle)" and "iron ball" was called "Big Steely", we had kept these articles separate since this one only appeared in the Waluigi Pinball stages and Big Steely wasn't regarded as a generic iron ball back then. But now that "iron ball" has its current name since "Big Steely" fell out of use pretty quickly, and also that "metal ball" has its current name (which is also more generic), perhaps we should consider merging the two:

1. Both have the same Japanese name of Tekkyū (lit. "iron ball"), and a couple of languages also refer to the metal ball as an iron ball.
2. The metal ball's iterations in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart 7 are black, like most appearances of the iron ball. The Mario Sports Mix version has a similarly dark gray coloration (albeit with a rim), and so do the Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe versions (albeit more reflective).
3. The current name of "metal ball" from Mario Kart Tour gives off a more generic term equal to that of "iron ball" and doesn't give a specific connection to anything pinball-related.
4. Tour now added metal balls to GBA Bowser's Castle 4 as well with the same appearance and name as the ones used on Waluigi Pinball (albeit much larger), making the metal ball no longer specific to pinball-related things in its entirety in that game.

From these four points, I'm uncertain if there's still any reason to keep the two separate, unless we rename the article back to "pinball (obstacle)", move only the information regarding the metal balls of GBA Bowser's Castle 4 to "iron ball", and make the remaining article entirely about pinball-specific iron balls... but honestly, that sounds really clunky to me; I'd much prefer it if the two articles were merged. What do any of you think? rend (talk) (edits) 11:01, May 5, 2023 (EDT)