Please excuse me while I go update my game......i havent played it in a while......

I just played Weird Al.

I’ve never played a P3 before and it didn’t feel right to me. Almost feels like a Zizzle. I know it’s a nice idea to swap games maybe I’d like other modules but I didn’t like it.

Ha I acutally didn't either...all 3 of them
I think most games were just a system thing, unlike GZ.

Nice way to wrap a Monday…

I'm with you. I actually prefer pinball.

I have only played JJP Pirates a couple of times, so this may be unfair. If I had more time, I might like it better. I just struggled to get into it. I felt like there were too many choices and didn't fully understand the rules and found it "dark". It seems like an amazing game. I just didn't find it fun. I have a Willy Wonka and love it; so this is not about a company. I just struggled to find fun and joy in it.

I've definitely said this about AIQ before. I used to love firing it up, and whipping a few combos on it - the shots and layout are probably the best Elwin has done it really is incredible. But - after one game, sometimes even before the first game is over, I just felt this weird malaise while playing it, and I'd almost sigh when the next ball came up. It's quite honestly the strangest game i've ever played. Even now, after I sold it, I do miss it.

Definitely agree on Hobbit too - what a beautiful, well made, superbly themed game - that I played once and mid way through ball 3 I just felt tired of it. I'd still maybe like to give that one another go, because I really love anything to do with LotR or The Hobbit theme, but I just wasn't having fun playing it. I think maybe the ball time was just too long, and it was just so chaotic with all these multiballs happening one after another. See also GnR - loved the spectacle of it, it's phenomenal to see, and it has an interesting layout - but I don't think i've been so unengaged shooting a game. It was a bit like Hobbit too, multiballs just seemed to keep happening again and again. I'd really like to own one of these, or maybe another JJP to give them more of a chance but it's difficult to pull the trigger on a game you didn't really like at first.

I totally agree! When I played that machine it seemed like it was constantly telling me to make choices/selections when all I wanted to do was play pinball. It was beautiful and seemed like a very cool machine but wasn’t fun. I’m sure that might change if I got some time on one in a quiet environment with someone explaining the rules.

I’m a huge LOTR fan. I read all the books as a teen and again as an adult. We saw all the films in the theater. I was initially afraid to play The Hobbit because I figured it would be a machine that MUST be added to my collection.
I was surprised that It played kind of strange and floaty. I just did not care for it at all. Goes to show that You can’t judge a machine based on theme, Even if it’s one of your dream titles.

My top two for this category are tied:
-Stern POTC
-Avatar

As much as I’ve played them, I just don’t enjoy either. They both have a good fan base for the machine, but those are two I never understood why. TWD is another....

Have to add guardians to this list too, omitted in the first post.
GOtG has some great shots, good flow, the rocket kickback is fun… BUT; it’s too much like a video game. There’s so much emphasis on missions and character, it feels like the actual pinball play is secondary. Like you are trying to achieve things in a video game and the entire playfield is more of a controller for the video game than a game in itself. It simply doesn’t feel like playing pinball.

That’s what’s great/funny about this topic.

Half the pins mentioned I agree with but the others I love

Love:
TWD
SM
Godzilla
DP
Woz
Stern Potc (I’ve owned one for 17 years).

Ditto

Same here!!! Thinking of going real OG and ditching the flippers.

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I think it can make a big difference in the impression a game makes if you know the rules or not. If you don’t know the rules you focus more on how the individual shots feel when you make them. I was recently at a distributor and had the opportunity to play all the various games which came out in the last year and a half or so and the game that made the most fun shooting was AIQ. I actually went there thinking I should pick up a Godzilla because it’s so popular but that game did nothing for me. I felt like none of the shots were fun. So what I’m trying to say is maybe “fun” comes a bit more from the layout and a game being “good” comes a bit more from the rules.

Some themes I just can't ignore- I'm a huge Alien fan, so I just had to have one of those. Of course I waited until PB did a proper reveal of their LV but when they did, I was all in. Similarly Halloween was my all time favourite slasher movie and I ordered one as as soon as I saw the trailer.

Now - I haven't played it so perhaps I am totally wrong about this, but I absolutely adore Pulp Fiction, it's up there with Aliens and Halloween for me. However, I can't bring myself to order the game. I'm not against the retro styling of it, in fact that's probably the right choice artistically - but I can't help but think it would have been so much better with a DMD or LCD. Then I saw the Deadflip stream thinking the gameplay would pull me in, but every shot just seemed to be a dead end of some sort and it didn't look much fun to me at all to shoot. I think it might turn out to be the one absolute-must-have theme I'm not going to get NIB. The theme is still so compelling, but I'm gonna have to wait to play it I think.

I can’t stand Tron either played it many times and ended up leaving the credits to go play iron man..

Most JJP’s seem like a chore to play.

NGG seemed like it was supposed to be all about fun…except it wasn’t. MB the same…but to lesser degree (it’s seems like it should be REALLY fun, but it’s only a little fun)

Cussing can be fun now and then…but cursing like you’re demon possessed while playing ACDCpro, makes you realize gotta either sell the game, get psychiatric help, or both.

Surprised by all the AIQ comments. Very fun.

Good games that just do not have the fun factor for me...

EHOH-Great layout with good flow-but just not any fun for me(I think it is lack of connection to theme)

AIQ- Love the franchise, good layout but can't connect(do not care for art either)

Cactus Canyon remake-Good theme, good layout, something is missing and game gets boring quick

007-Love the franchise, has a unique layout, hitting rocket and offset ramps has not been that fun for me yet-need more time on it.

Foo Fighters-Do not like the band, unique layout-lots to do but feels clunky, fun factor for me=zero

Just curious. What games do you actually like?

JJP Pirates: Owned one for about a year before selling it. The layout and shots are all designed for it to be a top tier game. However, the ruleset design severely holds it's back. All 125 main modes basically play the same, shoot the lit character shots. There's very little mode choreography in the game due to license restrictions. No actor audio and no actor video is allowed so instead you see a few clips of ships and random objects, very odd Same goes for the main movie multiballs, they all play very similar (hit the lit jackpot shots), with a quick animation at the start and then an animation of the mode playing in a quadrant on the screen (it's happening again with Godfather). 4+ years later and there's still no final wizard mode either.

Walking Dead: Another botched license IMO. Some fun shots but damn is that playfield ugly. I've never been a fan either of show based pins while they are still in production as not all seasons are represented in the theme. For Walking Dead pinball that means only 3 of 10 seasons are in the game, there's nothing about Negan at all in the game. No amount of custom code clips can change the actual rules, inserts, etc. Also, some of the worst callouts in pinball history.

Dialed In: Very fun game to shoot with a deep objective based ruleset but the theme is just bizarre to the point that I was the only one ever playing it in my house (friends and family didn't get it). A game about a magical cell phone? Yes, that's weird. Some of the modes, Quantum Singularity or something, would result in the ball going SDTM regardless of setting changes.

Stern Pirates: An actual fun game to shoot and theme but where's the objective story based modes? There are none. The ruleset is a huge disappointment for this game IMO. If a custom ruleset / hardware kit could ever be implemented for this game it could be a hit.

But you do know that you can control the ball from the magnet, right? When the zombie that looks like Borg is getting whacked in the head, I hit both flippers in rythm to the strikes three times. The ball goes on a random pattern, and not SDTM.

Doesn't do that on mine.

That's what we did. As our budget is limited we couldn't pass up a loaded premium. We aren't very good anyway, enjoy the ramps a lot, and had enjoyed playing it locally over others. We listen to music while playing and are used to hearing music playing at the bar.

Speaking of music. I see a lot of people love the music themed pins, but to me those i will play out, but i would never buy one as the music gets too repetitive and in the way of the variety of music id rather hear while playing.

Take a look at my collection-if a game is not fun it does not last long in my line up. Several of my games I have purchased multiple times and they have become keepers because of the fun factor.

Once i eventually get to try everything ( might never happen ) I want to ill go back and get the ones I " kinda miss".

I feel fortunate to be at this stage of the collecting hobby. I took a dive straight into the pool trying to explore as many tables as possible. Over the years I started to realize what games are fun to me personally as I no longer considered others opinions when deciding to add a game(too subjective).
I started to realize I like Steve Ritchie style tables, cool old Gottliebs, classic Bally/Williams, and a handful of EMs. For some reason JJP tables just don't do it for me and Dialed In was the closest I came to enjoying a JJP table. I also realize I am big into theme connection to make the game the entire package and make them keepers for me. If it is not a theme I can connect with-the game usually does not do much for me.

One of the best things I have done is buy a virtual pinball machine with 1500 tables that has all the bells and whistles. I have been able to explore a ton of tables without having to own them-highly recommended to expand your horizons.

I Just started to come to the realization of this myself. I HATE Star Trek but I can play a Premium all day long! Just got a SW premium the last December and am friggin loving how fast it is. Play a ton of Zeppelin on location and Finally got around to playing ACDC .

I'm with ya man. Great fast games!

Ok, what are some standouts in your collection? Older games and newer games let us know what makes them have staying power?

I often find pin owners either too biased cuz it’s new and shiny or too apologetic cuz, it’s a boutique game riddled with flaws, or they don’t care because it’s a dream theme and they know they will never achieve a high score, never see all the modes and a 5 figure box of lights is fun when it flashes randomly.

You had nascar and that game has a good flow to it, if theme isn’t a thing, and you also had Jp pro and I find the flow on jp pretty good when connecting combos ramp to ramp. What are your criticisms of each?

Well I am a theme horror that is for sure. I actually turned my Nascar into a Talladega Nights

One thing I can recommend is to try and not care about money or resale value or anything monetary. What you should care about is-is it fun to you personally? I have sold fun games to get other titles-just to realize I made a big mistake. Games that come to mind are BDK(one of best movies of all time), Elvis, Spiderman, STTNG, etc. All of these games I let go and then had regrets and had to get them back.

JP Pro is a fantastic game and the Pro really shines(did not want moving T-Rex) tons of bang for your buck.

Right now a stand out game for me is Godzilla. What a great game with the entire package(a masterpiece). The art is awesome, the gameplay and layout is epic(probably one of best modern Sterns) and the call-outs/sounds round out the entire package. I would say Godzilla, Star Wars LE, Mando, and TNA really stand out in my line up and are all fantastic(fun) games.
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Please listen to this advice - and I'd also add, form your own opinions, and don't just go by the pinside top 50. My current favourite game - and it really is becoming entrenched in my all time top 5 - is Oktoberfest. If I had considered it in any kind of financial way, or listened to popular opinion I would definitely have passed on it. As luck would have it, I got to play one at a pin festival and it really blew me away. I managed to pick one up, and it is sooooooo much fun to play, it's unreal.

No doubt if you just buy the latest Stern, chances are you are getting a pretty good game no matter what (outstanding in some cases obviously) . They know how to design games and they are put together well. But do yourselves a favour and put the feelers out a little further - there are some absolutely incredible hidden gems out there that might speak to you.