Wow. Just got back from the local distributors and have now had a chance to play the game in person.
Right from the start, you can feel the Ritchie design. The last title that flowed this smoothly was Star Trek.
I've always been a big Stern fan so this may be somewhat biased, but my friend and I both feel the game kicks ass.
We were impressed with the Pro model as it doesn't seem stripped down or bare at all. If I had space for 2 new machines and the same budget, I would definitely consider a Pro GoT and a Pro or VE something else.

I'm stoked to get my Premium whenever they're released though and I expect that the extra playfield will only improve on the already-great gameplay. I personally found that there's enough flow to spare, in the event that the upper playfield slows things down a little.

A few things that pissed me off though were the dots (some of the video captures are absolutely horrible. Everything's so red, it's hardly even clear. To me, this was one of the worst elements of the game. Someone's getting paid to do dots and this appears to have been created early Monday morning, 10 minutes before some sort of presentation. "Quick! Meeting's about to start! Bring the dots so we can show them what we've been doing all month!" -"What dots?" -"Never mind. Just digitize a few pieces and we'll fix things later". Embarrassing. And don't get me started on this. While I don't need an lcd to be happy, this display is tied for worst with the other digitized masterfailures like Spiderman and IronMan (awesome games overall, but digitizing video on screens with this low resolution is not something that should come on a pinball machine this expensive. Tron somehow gets a pass -barely, as they just seem clearer to me). It's just sad when Ipad minis and GameGear from 20+ years ago show better video. Stick to cartoony dots, like Walking Dead, ACDC, and Metallica -or up your game.

Additionally, there were times when the lightshow seemed WAYYY over-the-top, ridiculously bright in my opinion. I love the colours and variety, despite it not being perfectly suited to the theme (doesn't bother me at all), and I like the playfield art (and am hoping to like the Premium artwork even more) but the lights were too much. -and that's in a very well lit showroom at 11am.
Fortunately, my place is also pretty well lit but you basement-dwelling pin players may need retina implants for Xmas.

Overall, I'm excited about the Premium version and can't wait to get it. I think Stern has knocked this one out of the park and Ritchie wears the crown for a reason. He continues to show why he's the king of flow. Nice work in that department. Quite possibly his best, or very near it.

When people ask "What has Stern done?", I think "flow" is the answer. While there are definitely some older titles with awesome flow, in my opinion NOTHING compares to ACDC, Metallica, Spiderman, and StarTrek. I think that Stern is at the top of their game and that Game Of Thrones is the best option for a new pin with everything currently available.

My opinion, anyway. Hope you guys love it as much or even more!

Valid point.
I should have said:
I expect this will sell well as Ritchie is at the top of his game.

Haven't played the Premium/LE yet but I expect the upper PF will add something just a little different, adding longer lasting appeal.
I really think this will be a Coke vs Pepsi scenario where it's just personal preference.
For the price difference, it might be tough to justify the Premium/LE but for those with tons of cash or limited space and fewer machines, it may make more sense.

Yeah. I'd have to agree on the ball times. Not a great player, I put up over 700k yesterday after only playing it about 3 times.
One thing that helped that was the extra ball lit from the pop bumpers in addition to the one I bought using the gold I had earned.
Kind in mind that the point multipliers are all from combo shots so you're encouraged to play fast and loose -keep the ball moving.
Not like ACDC. Combos are also rewarded on ACDC, but I find my best scores are from games where I continually fight to control the ball.