Creating fun games is an ART. It's not a matter of punching the keys fast enough until it's completed.

Video games have huge teams who work for 2+ years working on games. By the time a pinball programmer gets the finished design to code, they might only have 4-6 months before release. On top of that - they're creating a non-linear game with multiple possibilities and events happening simultaneously...video games are relatively linear.

No. Every game has completely different rules and logic. Have you played a pinball machine!??! It's more than just "switch mech switch light mech switch coil". It's like creating a massively complex mechanical board game or chess every single time.

Wow...your ignorance of the process and disrespect toward the experts who do this for a living is baffling.

Please show them how it's done, genius. Program a fully functional, deep and fun pinball machine in 6 months. Grab a P-ROC. Go.

Looking forward to your first game. I'm sure it will be flawless, brilliant, fun, and 100% complete on schedule. Go.

It's very simple. Their schedule is too short. They don't have time. Once the schedule for one project is finished, they move onto the next. If there are loose ends...oh well. Lyman does a lot of work in his spare time. As owners and players, we owe him a great debt of thanks for that. To be fair - I don't think we should personally crap on the other guys for not doing this. Yes, as a customer of Stern, it sucks...but these are people just doing their jobs the best they can in the time they're given. As someone who works under tight schedules, I understand. I certainly won't work for free during my own time. Just think about what you do for a living...if you're working your ass off during normal business hours & your boss asked you to work for free to make up for shortcomings in the schedule that they created...would you? Well, my answer is "NO"...they should adjust the schedule accordingly to achieve the results desired.

No, but a lot of people crap on Lonnie. When people get personal toward guys who are just trying to make a living, I don't think it's right. Lonnie's one of the nicest guys around, and I'm not going to deny him time with his family because the schedules at Stern don't allow him enough time to get the games where they need to be. Sure - I bitch about code...but perhaps I should be clear about who the target is of that bitching. Not the programmers.

What's their motivation? This has been their M.O. for 5 or 6 years at least, and people are throwing MORE money at them for each game released. Until people speak with their wallets, it's going to be THE SAME THING...and at this point, anyone who's been a part of the pinball community for a while knows what they're getting...and if you complain about it like you're surprised, you've chosen to ignore the facts.

LOTR LE was NOT their first LE. That was released in 2009...and aside from added shaker support and removal of action figures, it was the same exact game which had been finished YEARS before. LE's before LOTR: Elvis Gold, Dale Jr., Blacksuit Spider-Man...you could even say Harley 3rd Edition was an LE.

The first LE that actually had different mechanical features and not just bling was Avatar LE, which added a powerball & sensor, extra switches, extra coils for the AMP suit's feet, and a motor to open/close the Link Pod.

Dale Jr was the LE of Nascar, but released later. Spidey Black was not announced/released at the same time as the original...it came later in the year, and many people who bought the regular version were pissed that the LE was released so soon after, as they would have preferred it. Pretty sure Elvis Gold came later. Even Avatar LE came later - just like Spidey. The first Multi-Tier simultaneous release game was Rolling Stones. Pro and LE were announced simultaneously. Then came Transformers with more variations. Pro with stripped features, then the "Combo" LE of 500, Decepticon and Autobot "Designer Editions" of 125 each.

AC/DC Pro, Premium, Let There Be Rock LE, Back in Black LE ...sorry to keep correcting lol

I think it is a coincidence....there's nothing "George specific" when there are code issues on games. To be fair, my complaints about TF were mostly subjective...I didn't like the fake Optimus voice, the Optimus Multiball "roadblock", and the overall "chopping wood" nature of the rules...but if that's the game they set out to make - I really can't say the code wasn't complete....and Lonnie DID release an update with the option to turn the "Roadblock" on or off.

At the end of the day, it's simple....people just wanna buy a game, open a game, and play a game. When you buy a game, you expect it to be a completed product. This stuff just gets exhausting after a while.

Oh yeah...and Pro LED version if you wanna count that!

Nintendo released a complete & fun iPhone game, Super Mario Run...and people complained because it was $10 lol ....can you imagine the average game buyer, used to 99 cent apps, learning about what WE are paying for games, and the development stage they're in when we get them!? Their heads would explode.

Wait to buy lol

Every game is expensive and every game should be complete.

Collectors are nuts and will buy anything Stern makes if it has a badge on it that says "1 of 80" or "1 of 240". You all know of the code and QC issues and bought this game anyway. If Batman 66 still isn't finished when $25k Star Wars "George Lucas Will Come Over And Lick Your Balls Edition" is announced, they will all sell.

Anything can be done. Just depends if the programmer has the vision, talent and time to accomplish it.

The Pro is missing some callouts that the LE has.

It's better than the usual 6-8 month-to-never wait for most games, eh?

You all bought the game knowing Stern's M.O. You spoke with your wallet. Your money said "I don't care about finished code or QC issues".

Why did you expect anything different? They made you beg to buy one. They wouldn't let anyone play it at expo. There were no gameplay videos before release. Anyone who bought this for collector OCD or speculation is happy. Anyone who bought it to play - you knew what you were getting.

This isn't a 99 cent app or a $60 console game. This is a $10,000-$15,000 machine. The manufacturer made a massive mistake in planning this project, and has now placed a burden on the customer that shouldn't be there.

The "true believers" like you are few, and dwindling. Most want the kick-ass unique experience when we open the box for this amount of money. I never want to go thru the X-Men/ST experience again. I refuse to pay that much to be a beta tester. Release a COMPLETE product!!!!

Lyman did all of BDK, 100%. I bought the game after the 2.94 update...it's still not one he'll be remembered for, but it's pretty solid. I still wish he had time to make the 4 modes (from the BATMAN targets) different. I think I remember someone finding a skill shot exploit that gives you a bazillion points, and they were hoping for a tweak to that.

Ghostbusters was a massive disappointment in terms of the game itself & the QC....and then the arrogance of B'66 ($15k for an unfinished, untested prototype) destroyed any chance I'd ever buy NIB from Stern again. Stern's 2016 pushed me away from being a regular customer completely.

Just being a horrible unfun bastard of a garbage dumpster in general.

It's so bad it made me question whether I even like pinball anymore at all...but then I played some other games and realized it's just GB.

No, it just means Lyman needs time. He's an artist, and good artists need time to create.... and like many artists he might be halfway into a painting, decide he doesn't like it, and start over. They should not have released the game last year...but it is what it is now.

Oh come on...for all intents and purposes, it's a new game. There's a whole new center mech. All the inserts are different. The context of all the shots and what they do are different. The ramps are different. If he "re-used" anything, it's crane code movement...but that doesn't really mean anything because how the crane factors into gameplay is entirely different than BDK.

Everything except GB lol...seriously though, I enjoy more games than I don't. The only ones I'm fine never touching again are GB, 24, X-Men, IJ4, WWE, Freddy and CTFBL. I'll play anything else...actually, I'd even play most of those except GB and WWE lol.

Look at my ratings if you're curious.

Not true. Stern gives test code to trusted friends/players/collectors to get feedback & bug reports.

Yes. It's Stern. This isn't a shock. Everyone knew what was coming when people weren't allowed to play it at Expo in October ...and you STILL gave them that much money. You knew what you were buying and you got what you paid for.

Is it that it's truly great, or is it just a relief that it's complete & functioning?

Have any of the new updates added voice clips and custom call outs? Last time I played it there were very few voice clips aside from "Holy Extra Ball" and a couple of others. Rules are the substantial meat of a game - but on a title like this, all the voices and humor are really what will make it feel super fun even if you don't know the nuance of the rules.

I had IM and now have IMve...plays and feels exactly the same to me.

Well, they both have the metal heads instead of wood...but they're both SAM and still have all the wiring - what was taken out to make it 30 lbs lighter? I played Spidey Vault a few times on location, and aside from the voices and animation, it felt like I was playing the same Spider-Man I'm used to. I mean...I guess if I was MOVING the games I'd notice...but when they're just planted and I'm playing - seemed the same to me.

MMMM....X-Men too a LONG time to get unbroken...maybe around the 8 month mark? And it still had bugs. I believe Metallica took about 6 months for a really good update and then around 8 to become stellar. BDK didn't get a killer update till about 2 years after it was released. I had STLE for about a year and it's asteroid flashers still weren't functional.

I dunno, I sold it after I was basically told "who cares" by someone at Stern.

Mmmmm...I dunno man, Metallica was missing all of the Crank It Up stuff at launch - although I DID think it was fun regardless! X-Men was completely broken at launch...I wouldn't say that was mostly complete at all. Anyway - I won't make excuses - this is total bullshit, especially for how much the game cost and how it was rolled out....buuuuuut - no one should have been surprised if they've followed Stern over the years.