That's the problem. Too many barns, poker cards and ice skating, not enough "scantily clad women". Unless you like pointy scantily clad women, lol.

No, there's nothing sexy about a cell phone. But, this is JJP. We knew it would be family friendly regardless of theme. My point is this art is way better than that which is on games that are considered classics.

If you don't understand a phone has less attraction than for example castles, knights, dragons, monsters, vulcanos, tsunamis, earthquakes, ghost houses, oceans, deepspace, jungle, sahara, rollercoasters, thiefs, trains, end of the world, etc etc etc, you will never understand why this pin will sell way less than it should be.

It will be one of the most fun games ever i am afraid. And only a few millionairs jump on it, have the greatest time of their life, and JJP is fighting to survive this lowtime in selling pins.

Why pick this theme? Why???? I am still shellshocked everytime i think about it.

Next pin, please before you start with it, of the next after that one, please try to ask the community somehow, or the people that actually bought jjp pins. It will never hurt you knowing the theme you pick is widely wanted.

I want to jump on board mate, just make that grale!

I don't know what games you are buying, but that does sound like some pretty weak selections.

Yeah, o-din..the exception does not prove your point. I thought of Fireball too when making the post. I only wish more EM art looked like that instead of this:

image (resized).jpeg

I don't understand why posters are using this as a critique. JJP has a huge announcement of a game and the best they can do is have only 20% of the code complete? It's not like they had some hard timeline they had to hit for an announcement. This was the time and place of their choosing.

So, again, if you want to release a new product with an iffy at best title, theme that has to be explained in detail, a pricing scheme that is hyper-aggressive (I'm being kind here) AND then make sure only 20% of the code is in place....then I think you deserve every bit of criticism that is being heaped on you.

Get past the Lawlor fan-boy crushes and just look at this unbiasedly. This is a half-done machine at a price for the SE that is double what JJP was charging just five years ago. I've lost alot of respect for both Lawlor and JJP with this product launch. And, I did play about 20 games of DI at Expo.... I thought it was "meh" at best. Who wants a damn game taking their picture?

I'll pass on that one. Thousands of titles and you pick that.

I think you're exactly on the right track... Even if I agree that the name sucks, theme is fine, and game play might be great, it still misses the mark big time in the -IMPLEMENTATION- of the theme...

It doesn't need to pull from one of your example licenses, but it needs to have a way better holistic implementation contributing to the theme. Instead we got a hodge podge of random shit: drones, mobile phone, drab and uncharismatic characters, Bob the Builder / Red & Ted's offspring.

You'll only get thousands of different answers. I don't think any sane manufacturer would ever do that.

LTG : )

I have absolutely no interest in mobile phones, I hate them. The LAST thing I would pay for is mobile based pinball, I have absolutely no interest in this game.
And then of course there is the price.
Thanks but no thanks.

And what point? How many recent games have beautiful, scantily clad women on them?

I love cell phones, I can hardly live without one, but same can be said about gasoline or the Internet. However that's not the same as saying gasoline or the Internet would be a great theme.

What's next after Dialed In? 'Log on' or 'Full Tank'?

Some things just aren't very interesting. I know cell phones are powerful and a great advance but I'm just not excited like I am for Iron Man or some classic songs/bands of all time.

People pay hundreds and thousands of dollars to see the Rolling Stones. While I love my phone, two years from now I'm on to the next one. It's an object to me. Just like a nice set of tires or a beautiful TV. I can appreciate it but don't really jazz me up to spend $9000 for a pinball about a phone.

Edit I know the pinball is more than about the phone but just to me, I'd far rather have a different theme/title.

Let's say TZ was not about TZ but rather was called 'Slot machine' or a 'Gum Ball machine'?. It'd still be a great flipping game but just not really a great theme. Can you not see the difference?

Suppose the next two pins are licensed themes? Would that please people?

None, unfortunately, but I thought your point was EMs have that kinda art.

you're not looking at the right sites on your phone then.

this game has several of those things you just listed as awesome as modes. The "phone" just tells you that its happening.

not a fan of metallica then, huh? Gotta fill the fuel gauge.

OK ...I actually played the game at EXPO and had some good time on it.

Personally ..I found it fun and refreshing.

It had that Pat Lawlor feel to it which I can tell right off the bat.

I think its interesting what JJP did integrating Cell Phone use into the game. That's another first and it's smart move.
Why? Well just look at the other games that are coming out. Alien has an integrated LCD display in the middle of the PF..LEXI Lightspeed is mainly a LCD screen with interchangeable upper PFs. And look at the success of VPCAbs..the vertigo.

Some purist are not going to like this game just for the fact of the evolving technology. But if you look at who's getting into pinball these days..it's the younger generation who are all tech savvy to begin with. They are going to eat this up.
The selfie shot.. people spend money on selfie sticks...

Even if you take away all the tech in this game..I think it's a winner. But that's me.. I will be getting one.

It is the other way around. Jjp thinks of a theme, and tries to find out if it has any attraction. There are other companies based on doing this by the way. It is completely normal. Speaking about sanity, it is actually insane to NOT pitch your product before producing. It really is.

I think 99.999999999999% of all products being made are going through this proces..... it happens everywhere, all over the world, but sadly jjp just picks his themes, well... on his own, or he let his dog pick, roles a dice, or something, i dont know.

Sadly, title and phone give this pin a zero chance of me owning it...I truly despise my phone that much (have destroyed several, job related). That's not opinion, but fact. I do hope the game is successful, however, and many enjoy it.........

One man's opinion (and that's all this is).

1)Theme is important to me....especially to own it. This one is a fail in that department.
2)(again...for me) even great code can't make up for bad theme/art. Now. that doesn't mean I don't want to (or won't) play it. I do want to play it and if it has GREAT code and good flow I'll keep playing it when I come across it.......but I still won't buy it.

The games I hang on to the longest tick ALL the boxes for me.....theme, code, art, flow....etc...

WOZ was a "meh" theme for me....didn't hate it, didn't love it. But then I didn't really care for the gameplay either.....and to this day I keep trying it but it hasn't gotten any better to me.

Hobbit - better theme for me and I like playing it. In fact I like playing it quite a bit but probably won't buy this one either becasue of the really long ball times (just not my thing).

For 9k (or even 7+k) The game has to have EVERYTHING I like in spades. Haven't come across a 7k + pin yet that does that. (Although there is a theme or two that could do it if properly executed).

LOL. Yeah, weird argument. I wonder if hates almost all games? Bat mobile is smaller than the Joker on BDK, the witch in WOZ is way to big to fit through the door of the spinning house, cross on Metallica is smaller than the snake (that's a big snake or a really tiny grave), etc...

Besides, the electric man in DI is the sign for the electric company (supposed to be big) and that chick in the back? Robot. Giant robot. LOL, see it all makes sense.

Many of them do. Including the oldest machine I own.

image-3 (resized).jpg

Hot chick with bow and arrow>lame dude with cell phone

The silence in the room when the sheets were pulled off was crystal clear even in the video stream. Waiting impatiently for around 40 minutes for what it turned out to be dropped my jaw to the floor. Ah well, you can't please everyone every time.

That is true of every pinball manufacturer.

No matter what you make. Some people will like it. Some don't. Williams didn't plan on so many close outs.

LTG : )

I think if it was a hot chick holding the cell phone, this would be getting a whole different response.

The guy on the playfield does look slightly hitlerjugendy, if you slapped a curled-up tie on that polo it might pass as a Dilbert pin.

Thats the question, does it matter. I think it does. You say every theme some like it some dont. But if that is the situation, than all those themes are not the ones you want.

It seems to me, as a company you dont want a theme where some like it. You want a theme where first responds on announcement lifts the roof. Any less reaction is just not wisely chosen, .

And there are dozen of (original) themes that would get that responds. And Dialed in is even worse than ' some like it some dont. ' Cause almost everybody sitting at expo, all hyped up, were disappointed. How is that a good thing????

Ah well.... agree to disagree.

A lot of that seems to happen on Pinside.

Full Tank sounds awesome. Assuming it's military tank.

Well said.

LTG : )

It would please people if those licensed themes don't suck. The same goes for the shitty choice of an unlicensed theme.

All of these are way better IMO. Take your pick.

+1. Massive point that needs to be underscored.

*************

Being at the lower end of the age of the bell curve on these forums, I think that a lot of the complaints I've seen about this game come from people who don't necessarily understand it. Asking about current trends and popular culture questions on pinside would be like going into a Whole Foods and asking the shoppers there what their favorite McDonalds menu item is.

Hell, why do you think Stern is selling Batman '66 at such crazy prices? Because baby boomers have amassed the largest amount of wealth than any other generation of people ever in history. Stern is catering to that particular generation with theme and price. They know that within reason, the theme caters to that generation AND they know that a lot of people are willing to open their wallets for it.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just trying to underscore a point. Ask anyone my age or younger what they think of Batman '66, they'll tell you the theme sucks, "Why is Batman purple?" "Where's Christian Bale?" "Wait you're telling me Bookworm is a villain?"

You show literally anyone currently in high school or college right now (the people who are actually going to be spending any real time in an arcade anyway), and they'll instantly be able to relate to a cell phone. We already drool over the latest phones, but now there's a game that surrounds a cell phone so technologically advanced, it can potentially destroy an entire city by tapping into quantum energy? Damn. I know a lot of friends who'd line up to play that game. Maybe the name and theme of "Dialed in" are an allegory for cell phones destroying what little threads of face to face communication and society we have left in the age of instant information and networking.

At any rate, I think the game is brilliant. I don't want to discount people who dislike it, however; you're certainly entitled to that opinion. Constructive criticism is what pushes games to new boundaries. In the end, we all win. Pinball has had such an exciting rebirth since the death of B/W and Gottlieb, and new manufacturers have risen from the ashes. And even though I can't afford any of these NIB games, it's still exciting for me to watch them being cranked out.

Jersey Jack, if you're listening: If you could somehow get the game to accept Apple Pay, or Samsung Pay (or even an atm card), you'd have the biggest game changer since the bill acceptor. I can't remember the last time I carried cash on me. I can't imagine an NFC chip and a wifi card would be a deal breaker inclusion to the board set.

tl;dr:

"Dialed in" isn't a game built for the bread and butter users of pinside. It's designed to appeal to younger audiences in an arcade setting.

Good luck with that.

Hey, maybe you're right. Maybe it'll flop. Maybe it'll succeed. I'm just glad to see something fresh and relevant is being made.

I think you've just given an inspiration for the next licensed theme to appeal to the same demographic.

Hahahaha, it wouldn't be complete unless you included pumpkin spiced lattes for the women, and man buns for the guys.

Title: "Hipster: The Game"

You want to know what kids are really into today? Extreme sports and rave parties.

Looks like the operators should dig out their old "No Fear" games then!

On a serious note, I know a lot of people my age are really into yoga and hiking. Being "outdoorsy" is sorta getting really popular.

Dude, I'm far from a kid and I love me a good rave, uh, party. PLUR forever!

Posted from a pair of JNCOs

You sound older than me now. I'll take surfing and skating myself. Yes my legs and arms can still do it. And I still have never owned a cell phone.

It sounds like a great game that everyone says is not just about a cell phone. If JJP keeps everything the same and just admits they made a mistake by centering the art-package all around a guy holding a cell phone, all this controversy would stop (and rename it Quantum City).

Upon first seeing it, the reason everyone gasped, had a personal moment of silence and sat there in disbelief was that we were looking at a guy holding a cell phone. Even if you love everything about this game you have to be honest and admit that this image sucks. Whether you've played the game or not, the point is that one does not wrap a great game with an image like this. It's just the guy, not the game so get rid of the guy and everything will be great. Take a look at the pic below and tell me that you don't agree.

Screen Shot 2016-10-25 at 5.39.27 PM (resized).png

It's still not too late to fix it.

download (1) (resized).jpg

You did not mention ...

KISS is 43 years old.
Rolling Stones is 54 years old.
Rob Zombie is 20 years old now.

Well I guess it's why Stern will never do an original theme again, they are in business to sell machines, lots of them

I applaud JJP for taking a risk, and it's all fine and good for people to cheerlead original themes, but if it goes down in flames it wasn't a risk worth taking was it? Then again, it's not your money lost

The problem with this one is the fact that there are a ton of new great pins coming out in 2017

Star Wars, Aerosmith, Aliens, Iron Maiden, Batman66, Pulp Fiction, JJP #4 and Spooky

Take your pick

I don't agree.

I am imagining this same pin created decades ago with the guy holding up a TI calculator with some incredible ability to calculate the end of the world.

That image would seem pretty silly now ... I think some are concerned the same will occur with this guy holding up a 2013 vintage cell phone.

I am imagining that would have been at least as popular a choice.

blue (resized).jpg

I like Avatar - not Sterns best or biggest selling title.