re: extra balls.

I expect much of the crowd who get deep into rules/modes/code version (myself included) would object because whether competing against ourselves or others, we baseline our performance and evaluation of games by factory or tournament settings. Finding a machine with an extended ballsave, unusual tilt settings or a slight change in pitch feels a little weird, but an entire extra ball by default is just a different game entirely.

But that said, I get why an op would consider it and if the machines are properly maintained a $1.50 price tag wouldn't keep me away, even if I had to plunge a ball at the end of every game. For most games, the distinction between premium and pro wouldn't matter as long as whichever one was there is enjoyable. In many cases I prefer the pro although I suspect on godzilla this won't be the case.

I think some of us who really get in deep either forget or don't even realize there are an enormous number of regular, high volume players who *love* pinball but never get deeper into the rules than a few things common to all pinball and whatever reveals itself as they go. They are there for sound and light entertainment experience and are the reason Attract Mode is named as such.

There's nothing wrong with this. It's an amusement device. They paid. They're amused, so they pay again. Working as intended.

For that crowd, blowing out several bucks in 3 60 second games is a ripoff and they don't come back. They certainly aren't going to go look up a rulesheet or argue about it on pinside.

For them an extra ball is huge value. It lets them see enough of the show to get interested and play some more, and even keeps them coming back again and again.