After multiple mediocre machines , following the sales disaster of GTF with a game you claim you will donate all profits of (are "royalties" the same as "profits" or are we being bamboozled...) I am convinced American Pinball is a front for some illegal operation and not a legitimate business.

Any toys in this game, or mechs more unique than pop bumper and scoop?

First pic I thought was GTF looking at a playfield blanketed in purple GI. Purple GI not what I really think when I think BBQ..

I do think that sterns lighting system (and most things about pinball lighting) are archaic and need to change, but GI that cycles through blanketing the whole game in colors does not seem the way to go. You can't appreciate the artwork as much. You change the vibe of the whole game.

Then again I'm a guy that replaces his GI to warm white in every game and shuns the RGB GI kit for his MMR (but I did add 10 extra warm white lights, probably the brightest MMR without pin stadiums). Overdone RGB GI takes the nostalgia out of pinball for me.

I wouldn't mind if it was done more tastefully, or if you did something more interesting than "all purple!" Now all green!". Maybe I'm in the minority.

I guess we just bitched a little too much about all the 3d printed toys in GTF that they said "ok fuck it, not one single toy/sculpt/mech next time"

In what way is it giving stern a run for their money? Killer theme? Artwork? Unique layout ? deep code? The animations? The toys/mechs? (If you can't beat a stern pro for toys/mechs just don't make a pinball machine please). Speaker panel. Ok they've had two bomb ass speaker panels in a row I'll give em that one.

There is no charitable aspect. Royalties are a payment. They are due, not given. You want to put someone's likeness on something, you have to pay them or their family(unless they give it away but why).

Do AP designers sometimes get paid per game sold anyway? Maybe(I think that would be commission not royalties though) anyway, may be another aspect of it.

That they spun this as a good deed is kinda lame.

Does Joe sixpack and his friends not like jaws or James Bond? I mean clearly not because he didn't buy those pins for 7k. But meat. Man those clips of LIVE ACTION meat cooking. That's what's going to make him the envy of the cul de sac.

"Clean classic pinball, at modern pinball prices!"
AP you guys can have that tagline for free (since I know you hate licensing fees)

Did Barry's white wood have a screen in the middle of the playfield? I know people appreciate the practicality of that, but it kills the Pinball vibe for me. I wouldn't even want one in my modern machines. if the selling point is "it's just time a 40 year old machine" don't put a screen in it.

"Pushes up glasses higher". The 3D blocks in minecraft are voxels. The textures applied to those blocks has a pixelated style. For example you can apply a different texture pack which has higher resolution and does not have the same pixelated style.

I don't think we have to see the books to know that GTF and BBQ are financial failures. AP won't be alive in a year without continued cash infusion.

If you think that GTF and BBQ are part of some -valid- 5 year plan to "win", i dunno what to tell you man. The writing is on the wall. Dude can keep infusing cash as long as he wants (and making bad decisions like developing his own pinball controller for his company that makes < 400 games a year), but it's painfully clear that the current AP leadership doesn't get "it".

That just doesn't make any sense.
Barrels of Fun shows up out of nowhere, has no bigger company backing them. Release a licensed game that everyone loves, and 3 months later is making more games a week than AP has been able to for the last 3 years.

So if David Fix is ignoring making a good product and instead focusing on the process, he's still doing a shit job at it. And that doesn't make any sense anyway. You can do both at the same time..

Gtf has sold about 2-300. Imo it's a better theme, infinitely better art, better assets(can't believe I'm saying that!), has (shitty) toys, and has the crazy tank thing which sold them at least 15 units. Hell they sold multiple 17k deluxe units!

If BBQ has done anything it made GTF look better in comparison. GTF also came out at the tailend of the post-covid pinball boom. If it came out today sales would not be as good.

I am a pinball neophyte but I did take physics a few times. How does a low pitch make ramps harder?? Should be "the steeper the playfield, the more force required for ball to reach ramp apex"

Many manufacturers are smart enough to crank up the settings for show games and make sure their games are playing well before sending them out. As he said in his review, no other games had problems. but AP. AP is speeeshal. Like when they drove a GTF down the street to Jack Dangers for a stream and it just didn't work, they had to pull the glass off 12 times.

Regarding the super weak flippers. I wonder if the new aimtron board is partially to blame. Hey maybe like JJP they'll let you pay $400 for a new IO board once they figure it out in 5 years.

I totally get that some people are positive natured and maybe just love pinball and every pinball machine is a fun pinball machine.
But if your money is burning a hole in your pocket and you've got to go buy a NIB new pinball machine, there are at least 20 titles sitting in warehouses right now.
I refuse to believe there are more than like a dozen people on this planet who would choose this over all of them.
You want fun original theme? Buy a Cactus Canyon! Or even a GTF.

don't mind him. He's been playing too much Foo Prem, were there are 26 things to shoot at.

Yeah, go the GTF thread and try to tell the owners there that late-stage AP has good or even acceptable quality or warranty service.

heard somewhere that AP basically said "Hey let us put your game at the location for a bit. If you want to keep it, we'll give you a discount"
The launch locations had NOT already bought the game.