This game is truely great!
I appreciate how they did the center shot to start all the modes without putting you in jeopardy because the center shot plays through.
The integration on the Intelectual Property (IP) licensing is complete with Elvira. That is a big deal for any home user, and home use is a big part of pin sales now, so I hope pin manufactures are paying attention to the consumer here. I hope that future pins understand how important that is to making the game fun long term. One of the resaons everyone is going bonkers on GnR is because Slash was all in and JJP did not need to beg for complete IP integration in the theme. This is the same case with the IP on Elvira HOH. I did not even know Casandra Peterson's (Elvira) real name until I purchased the game, now I love her great humor and sincerely appreciate how she cared enough about her work that she was all in on making the theme great. Then you have the Beatles as a comparison... and its a joke from a beatles IP integration standpoint becuase Stern, clearly did not have a lot to work with directly from the Beatles. Casandra Peterson beat the freaking Beatles from a long term enjoyment standpoint! Casandra and her crew gave the IP needed to Stern... and the Beatles did not. Casandra Peterson for the Win over the Beatles!! You go girl!
Elvira is a top 10 game and she was popular in the '90s, this is the third Elvira game so you would think the theme would have been played out on the second game, but that is not what happened. Stern was able to get all the IP latitude they needed to make this game not only a fun shooter, but the interaction with Elvira and the clips are totaly legit. Then you add to that Lyman, who cares enough to keep the game great and update the Code. Now Elvira is a top 10 game and Stern is able to WAY OVERCHARGE for a mediocre topper becuase people actually LOVE THE GAME.
Think about that for a second... Elvira prides herself as a B or even C actor from the '90s that not a whole lot of people remember, and this is her third pin. One would not think a third Elvira pin would not be a big winner from a theme standpoint.... and yet it is. It is a big win for Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) as she is more loved, a win for Stern for putting out a great game and most importantly.... a win for the consumer. Credit to the game shooting well and the layout is great, but the IP integration is just as important, if not more so for us home use only players.
Stern, JJP and every other pin maker. Please learn from your own experiences and get latitude in your games that allows for full IP imersion. the manufacutre of pin ball games may be able to make a lot of money cranking out games like the Beatles because of the theme, but the consumer feels like they have been ripped off when there are only a few short songs and it is apparent that the theme headline was more important to get the short term sale, than the IP integration that the consumer assumed would come with the theme on the game.
Stern... if you get garbage IP lattitued, do the consumer a favor and only make those games (that give you very limited IP) pro models. I get the location games put money in the machine when they walk by, becuase of the theme. But for us Home use only people, when we buy a premium, or LE, we expect that you were able to get a lot from an IP standpoint.
Love Elvira for a lot of reason, just wanted to give props to Lyman on the code, Denis Nordam on the desgin and Cassandra Peterson for giving a sh!t when she allowes her IP to be used. And of course, whoever is in charge of the IP for Elvira at Stern and (for this game at least).