Design = Elwin
Code = Nagel
Art = Yeti

That's the Holy Trifecta at Stern IMO. You can't ask for anything better than that.

Looks promising for sure. I'm a sucker for physical ball locks, and love that lower playfield feature on the Premium. Actually two physical ball lock features on the Premium! Looking forward to flipping it

Not a fan that they removed the Captain Marvel Wireform shot from the Pro & replaced with a basic spinner. I love those U-turn ramps.

I think I prefer the BG on the Pro tho. Various heroes are more prominently featured.

Well this mode sounds interesting. If I'm understanding correctly, you can build up a limited number of flips for the Hawkeye mode, just like building up arrows in Hawkeye's quiver. Then you have to make your shots on the playfield. Every flip is an arrow used. It's probably tied into some super-X-way-combo variation of ramp & loop shots.

This is why I really enjoy Keith's coding/scoring ideas. Take something as basic as flipping & turn it into something unique.

"Each gem has a perk tied to it. If you win the battle, you get the gem you’re fighting for, but if lose that battle for the gem, Thanos gets the gem and when you get the wizard mode the gems he has will work against you"

Sold me right here.....along with the other unique shots, various multiballs & mini-wizard modes. I cannot say enough positive things about the way Keith designs the rulesets for his games & integrates them into his playfield designs. Nobody else at Stern thinks the way he does.

I look forward to watching myself utterly failing every single mode, seeing Thanos collect all the stones, snap his fingers, and stealing half my score before everything goes black & my game ends. Haha

I watched the entire stream last night, and I understand the code/lighting effects/etc will be improved eventually. But here are my main thoughts:

1) Might be the best shooting modern pin. Every shot looks satisfying. Love that RT orbit shot that returns via a wireform. This is probably Kieth's best layout by far. Unique, smooth shots & fun to play.

2) The thing that gives me pause is that the main focus of the game is a heavy dose of rinse & repeat. Spin the disc, start a gem mode. Collect a gem, risk a gem, move a gem, lose a gem. Over & over until you fight Thanos. Or collect your Avengers team for mini-wizard modes, with various multiballs spinkled in along the way. Also collect bonuses at the drops if you choose to help you with your quest. Will gem hunting & repeating Black Order faceoffs become extremely tedious after awhile? IDK.

I'm really comparing this to JP, which has a choose-your-own-adventure path. No two games are ever the same. It's all up to the player. Multiple ways to attack it for big points, focus on collecting dinosaurs for perks (which every dinosaur mode is unique BTW), playing all unique multiballs which involve dedicated toys, etc. Even the collecting fossils & DNA is better presented vs the Trophy system on AIQ. The player just has so many ways to play JP, compared to the rather straight-forward gem-hunting approach of AIQ. We'll get some code polish eventually, but the core mechanics of the gameplay won't change.

Perhaps this was the design intention all along with AIQ. It's a huge property that appeals to people of all ages. Perhaps they wanted gameplay that was easier to grasp & a bit more straight-forward for this title. Collect the gems, fight Thanos. Most people can easily understand that concept. I personally just prefer the deeper gameplay options that JP presents.

3) There was zero fanfare for beating Thanos. No lightshow, callouts or anything. This should be an epic moment & even Jack seemed confused. And this will be coded later, but they are somewhat limited. I really wish every new game had a single string of RGB GI bulbs come standard, because it really allows for a wide range of lighting effects that can't be achieved with just the inserts. Thinking for example like the epic Horde mode on TWD. Looks like AIQ just has white GI.

I'm still very high on AIQ, I just want to see what it looks like in 6 months when the code/effects are finalized before deciding to buy. JP set the bar extremely high for a modern pin IMO.

Yeah the Thanos mode definitely needs some polish. Perks/nerfs depending on who owns the gems. Basically progress through protecting each gem, by hitting the same 3 shots every time (for each gem), then hit Thanos a million times until you beat him. They can definitely improve on that. There are multiple places to lock balls like the tower, at the popup post, and in the subway. They have to take advantage of that somehow.