Quoted from pinballwil:Stern and JJP are appels and oranges to me.
Stern games are fast flow games.
JJP is more like a solid 90 game, build like a tank.
Keith's games have more complex layout and shots.
Erik game's layout is more simple dress-up with more expensive toys and ramps.
So Keith is the better designer for me, sorry.
Al true Stern have a ton of people behind keith to back him up. While Erik at JJP have a small team.
Dailed in from pat is more a smooth remake from the 90's with a perfect playfield design.
Same as WW but simple layout beautiful dressded up.
At the end they make both beautiful games.
Agreed.
Bring on the downvotes, boys!
I watched a gameplay video of GnR and read their promotional language for the various models and man it seems like it's multiball heavy.
I think Elwin said in a recent interview that he tries to limit multiball, he tries to focus on single ball play. He also really puts energy into offering various strategies to approach beating a game and tries his best to not offer a single strategy that can almost "break" a game (Super Awesome Pinball interview).
A game is designed, from the ground up, with these basic goals in mind. IMO GnR looks like, from inception, multiball is a big part of the gameplay (even though you can make MB adjustments, the shots and gameplay look like they were designed around MB).
I have a large collection and already own Hobbit and PoTC. I have my Hobbit set up to severely limit the multiball, so it's not about chopping wood and is becomes about discovering the modes/adventures. PoTC is all about stacking multiballs to jump from a 100,000 score to 1,000,000 if you do it right...at those moments of multiball, it's a bit like flailing around. Still, to set those multiballs up takes a lot of skill -- so it stays in the collection.
I'll be in the market for 2-3 new machines in early 2021. At this point, I would shy away from GnR...the LE looks absolutely mind blowing for music; eye candy; light show effects; etc but I'm wary of the layout. Looks cluttered to me and MB heavy and I already have 2 JJP's that offer a similar experience. Contrast this with AIQ, which is so flowy and well-thought out; JP2 which I played about 10 times at an arcade in March and absolutely fell in love with (the shots just like nothing else, fun and varied and challenging - they get you thinking after you leave the arcade)...or even EHOH (which I also played 10 times at the same arcade) with the long ball times/"easier" but great flowy design and depth of the scenes/code. And Mr. Ritchie has yet to release Led Zep...
JJP's are jam packed with high quality components; busy screen stuff going on; great lights and sound, etc. But are they really boiling down the layout and trying to produce "classic" layouts that focus on success in single ball play?
Sterns are obviously cheaper in BOM and more flimsy for cabinet etc...but IMO the design and conception is lately at a higher level. It's all about the shot design; refinement; and rules. Not that JJP ISN'T about these things...just saying Stern and JJP seem like they are focusing on bringing different things to the user's experience.
