To me, the Hobbit will win or lose based on how tight the programming follows a progressive story. In WOZ and TSPP, two of my favorite games programmed by Keith, the progression of what you hit to accomplish something makes sense. For example, Homer goes to Moe's, work, and ultimately his couch if I recall correctly in TSPP. If Hobbit is logical in its storyline and not just some venture to hit the blinking lights, then I have high hopes. The playfield does looks less than exciting, but I trust Keith's ability to spin a storyline even with the less inspiring setup with which he is working. The description of collecting characters to start each mode is a really cool idea in my opinion. The main thing I am waiting for are the rules on how to complete a mode. As long as Keith can create his magic around the shots in Hobbit, and weave the popups into the story outside of hurry-ups, then all should be good for me ... provided there is reasonably solid voice talent and interesting callouts.

I think my main concerns are two-fold: 1) is the licensor going to allow good callouts by the characters, and 2) is the emphasis on the visual and audio tracks going to overwhelm the drive of JJP to make the game on the playfield more fun. It is easy to see how the visuals could be over-emphasized to the detriment of the game itself.

Has anyone seen how the subway works in Hobbit? I haven't really been able to tell from the videos.

The subways are still there ... correct?