It's a fun game but the problem most people have with the game is the price.

Admittably I’m not a Beatles fan, but I do enjoy the pin very much. It is fun. But as above I wish it was less expensive.

Grrrrrrrrr.....

The Beatles is a blast to play. It has that one more game feel to it. I think this game has been a sleeper due to the high price tag.

It’s a sleeper because of the high price tag? Sleeper generally means that a pin isn’t getting a lot of attention/comments. Beatles is getting a high level of both positive and negative comments (probably more positive ones), can’t possibly be considered a sleeper pin.

I assumed it would be bad. After spending some time playing it, I came away impressed. Still priced too high in my opinion, but a really nice, fast and fun pin. Underrated? Maybe. definitely not underpriced

Beatles is way too new to be either overrated or underrated so please stow this thread for about 5 years.

Same, at arcade $1 one play or $2 three plays. I did the 3 plays and was sorry I did. Just not my thing. If I wasn’t so cheap I’d have left after one play.

There are many material things in life that I wish were cheaper. Fact is they unfortunately aren’t.

It's a fair assumption with the layout alone. Being based of a classic Stern 8 don't think it would get a ton of love round these parts.

The Beatles is a really good pin. As long as I’m having fun playing it, I’ll keep it.

Ratings don’t mean squat. The only ratings that should matter is your own. The truth be told, almost all new machines are over priced!

Unfortunately we’re in a hobby that is getting really expensive. The good news is we have so many options to choose from.

Beatles is also a great multi-player game. Was playing with 3 heavy hitters at my home and everyone loved it. 4 player game took about 15 minutes. OTOH, IMDN 4 player game took nearly 1 hour!

The vibe I got was Beatles was a very pleasant surprise and Munsters was "meh". Those were the 2 new kids on the block...everyone already liked IMDN, but acknowledged it's not the best 4 player game...ball times are just too long.

That's bc all of their pins play like crap and are not leveled or even set up correctly at all. Next time your in hagerstown let me know and stop by and play correctly set up pins. Beatle's is a blast when its set up correctly...

Yeah. Not enough features, code, animations, etc to justify the price for a lot of people. Game looks very nice and seems fun.

Can we get a sticky thread directory for all the threads people have made trying to justify their purchase of the Beatles to people who never asked for justification?

We already have one. The Original BEATLES KAPOW! thread continues to run at full strength, providing safe haven for those who want to continue to whine about Beatles, as well as those who continue to pump it up.

Ding-ding-ding! This.

Love me some epic LOTR, but Beatles is really fun, and in a small collection provides a great multiplayer game for family and friends. My wife and I are much more inclined to play Beatles together, and it has that "one more game" feel. When we play LOTR, she ends up back at her computer or lost on her phone when I get on a roll and have those ~10 minute balls. We're more inclined to play LOTR alone.

I have not rated any games on pinside yet because I have been seriously in the hobby for only 3 months, even though I've played pinball occasionally for 4+ decades. I think I need more experience playing the older games I've missed before I can establish my own baseline. But I see how a rating for Beatles on fun alone could be really high, while a rating that accounts for fun and value being somewhat lower.

Playing Beatles for the first time in a less crowded environment was a pretty damn enjoyable experience. Hearing little touches such as the rolling drum beat when the ball is dancing in the pops is particularly clever.

We have a few a year but you welcome over anytime. Im in the process of hopefully working with tilt and getting the games set up correctly and fixing all the issues . They wanna get weekly/monthly tournaments going but first the games need to be right.

There are just as many posts/threads where the theme is bitching about money/cost and trying to say the game isn’t worth it.
Don’t think anyone here asked for those opinions either.
Spend the money or don’t and move on already. Who really gives a shit what makes people happy.

I don't get excited for copies of old games. Seawitch is a great game.

Seawitch is a great game, but I think many modern games have lost some of what made those early games great. I don't see Beatles as a copy but as a way to bring some of the features and layout that made old games fun into the modern era.

Therefore, by the Commutative Law, Beatles is a great game.

(who says you never use math again?)

Thank you!

I think the game is superb, very addictive game play
Taxman wizard mode will be mine...one day

Sure it can, does anyone doubt that sales haven't picked up on this title in last month? I know of three local sales alone in the last week. I think the high price deterred potential buyers early on. Its hard to justify paying 8k for a modern Seawitch, until you can experience the game for yourself.

It's overpriced. If it was a $4k game, it would be more palatable.

If it were a $3k game, it would be even more palatable!

If it were a $2k game, the palatability level would be OFF THE FREAKIN' CHARTS!

Do I dare think of how palatable it might be if it were...gasp...$1k?!?!?!

Alas, it's $8K. So here we are.

I'd love one if the secondary market price of the gold approaches TNA pricing. $5.5k is about the ceiling I'd pay for it and I do think the Beatles is better than TNA (although I do love those in-line drops...)

But I mostly collect EMs and early SS games. I hate long playing games. It's crushing to have to start a new game after you chopped wood for a half hour and didn't reach the wizard mode or whatever. I like games that are mean, fast, and leave me wanting to play again. Whenever I go to a tourney, I'm the one who is hyped to play the stuff everyone else seems to hate.

I'd love to have a Beatles and hope Stern does another game just like it, but without an expensive license. Hell, give me Seawitch 2.0 with the revised Beatles layout and I'm set.

I bought 3 Seawitches and an Amazon Echo to play Beatles music instead.

In 1978 a Bally Kiss was $1800 new.

$1,800 in 1978 = $7,282 in 2019.

Both Kiss and The Beatles are 3rd party licensed rock themes.

The pricing of The Beatles doesn't seem to be too far out of line considering inflation and the fact that they are building far fewer units of The Beatles vs the 18,000 Kiss machines that were built.

Bang for the buck is a thing.

For example, people always try to make prices irrelevant when talking about bad themes..."Shadow's a bad theme but people love the game!" ...always forgetting many collectors paid $2k or less for their bad-theme/good-games like Shadow, Congo, BSD...that's more palatable than $9500 for a new POTC.

Price is absolutely relevant to a game's reputation when it's a game that's currently being sold brand new. This is a forum of collectors, not just location players.

Don't you think it's silly to suggest ANY pro pinball machine is "palatable" at $4k in 2019?

It's never gonna happen. Ever. The entry level for an actual commercial pinball machine is about $5500 now.

So I'm gonna say imaginary prices below that are simply not palatable.

Also, last I checked they are selling Beatles games. Only Hilton thinks this game is some kind of disaster that's going to bankrupt Stern. Like it or not a $7-8000 Beatles appears palatable, if not exactly winning popularity contests on Pinside.

I don't know the best way to word this. Beatle's isn't not fun. It's enjoyable. I've played worse. The theme doesn't excite me really so that's one thing, but I can get over that. The real issue is that it IS overpriced. The price is mostly about licensing and price gouging customers. No matter what spin you want to try to put on it, that is exactly what this machine is about. That is what leaves a bad taste in my mouth, what this game represents. Since I don't care for the theme, and the play is so-so, I'm not a buyer regardless though even if it was only $5k. I would buy a TNA before I'd buy a Beatles. That's just personal preference (since it's the closest comparison).

One can't really argue JJP etc because those companies are smaller, and sell less games (according to all the Stern fanboys). One expects them to cost more, but Stern is artificially raising the prices over and over. It's always a touchy subject about capitalism, and all out greed. There's a fine line.

The $5500 games have ramps and at least one toy/mech. Beatles has less than a Pro, so OF COOUUUURSE it's going to be judged for being priced at $8k-$20k or whatever the sucker edition goes for.

Stern sells home games for less than Pros. Even Spider-Man Home had ramps. Beatles is less than a home game.

Pricing aside, it's fun to shoot. Like TNA, I never once thought a ramp would improve the game or wished for a bash toy. Sure, the layout is basically Sea Witch, but Sea Witch is fun too. The geometry is good and there's risk / reward decisions to be made. Solid B to B+ game.

Bang for the buck isn't a thing when talking about recently designed/manufactured NIB games. They are all expensive!

For all of us, the "value equation" is different I guess. I consider my most expensive game (TRON LE) the best "bang for the buck" since I play it more than anything else. SWLE is another pricey game that I almost never play (I respect it, but it makes my head hurt...not such a great BFTB.

Looking at the price paid is kind of irrelevant, since it's fairly easy to cash out of a game without getting hurt too bad (in this current market, at least).

What do you think ramps cost? You think 2 of them makes a game worth $5500 instead of $4000?

I hate to break it to you but plastic ramps are cheap AF. Beatles doesn't not have ramps to save money. It's got three DT banks for christs sake!

Let's count some coils...

Perhaps it is, but actually I have never played it . I love the Beatles but not really interested in the pin.

I'm maxed out anyway.

For me, it's principal. Beatles was trying to cash grab, especially w/ the mid/higher priced models. I don't respect that. As for the $8k version - as a customer I have tons of other choices that offer more for less. Simple as that.

In any case, the OP claimed its an underrated game. Price is a huge part of why.

I know TNA, sir, and Beatles is NO TNA.

It's just a feature baseline. Something expected on an expensive new game. Think Stern would sell many Munsters w/ no ramps at $8k?

TNA did just fine without ramps, no?

Like many SS games (Seawitch included), the game is fun for about 5 minutes. This was the ultimate squandering of the ultimate license. They made the wrong game. The fact that it costs 8K just makes matters worse. Mop top era? Even John Lennon was embarrassed to be associated with that. At least have some respect for half of the greatest song writing duo of the 20th century.

Oh, they did include Taxman from Revolver, (the Beatles transition era). That just adds insult to injury since it sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the bubble gum nature of the theme.

TNA didn't sell for $8k-$25k. Also it's phenomenal. Beatles is mediocre AF.

Yay! Let's all rehash the same Beatles arguments that never ended in the Hilton thread.

I blame the OP!

For a game nobody gives a shit about we sure can't stop talking about it.

And yet even Whysnow bought a Beatles (never heard if he got that $6k price-point he was after).
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-beatles-kapow-stern-pinball-official-speculation-thread/page/71#post-4839849

TNA could have sold 500+ units with Beatles Gold pricing. No question.