Ok, I'm officially off the fence. Played AMH this morning and again in the tournament and decided to order one.
Had a nice conversation with Charlie at the Spooky booth and it was a pleasure to talk with someone down to earth and quietly passionate about what he does.
Running a small business is hard; running a small pinball business is 100x harder, but it seems they get it and are positioned for the long haul with a planned mix of both original theme and licensed games with a target of building a game a day and (eventually) a new title a year, though that won't be for a while.
My original impression of AMH was that it was somewhat of a simple game, but that changed after some game play. I don't know all the rules yet, but the game is light years from where it was at Expo 13 and it's pretty obvious that Ben is committed to really fine tuning the code.
The playfield looks better in person than in pictures - some say the PF art isn't "polished" enough, but I disagree. There's still something about the callouts that don't seem quite right, but being somewhat campy, they fit right in with the art and overall look of the game. I get the concerns about lighting, but they seem easy enough to address. Ben, Charlie and the team mixed the right levels of campiness, cheesiness and original art to transform Ghost Hunters into America's Most Haunted.
My biggest problem with the game is that I don't know where I'm going to put it - something will have to be sold by the end of summer to make room. But I'm glad to be part of the Spooky family and support a company that is now the front runner in the bootique (!) pinball business - no games, no BS, no stupid PR moves or taking customers or potential customers for granted.
If you are at TPF and on the fence - go play the game and talk to Kaytee and the folks at the booth. I really do think the last 40 games will sell out fairly quickly.
(4/12/15 update: AMH is now sold out!; there are 10 reserved for Austrailia, and the 150th game will be auctioned for charity. Additional requests may be honored if all games reserved for Austrailia do not sell)
Ann Arbor, MI
Villejuif
Maple Ridge, BC
