Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:JJP: Hobbit and POTC...Jesus, could you pick anything less inspiring and insipid? Everyone agreed the Hobbit trilogy was a bloated piece of suck, but JJP presses on. And POTC? It was tired 3 movies ago...this isn’t Rocket science people.
I'm really surprised that people think Hobbit and POTC are crappy themes/movies. I get the Hobbit movie weren't spectacular, but the canon of the books and movies is a great adventure to draw from. I can also understand that people want different things from pinball. In the case of the Hobbit it's a grand adventure to go on, not just a fast and furious melee of pinball ball action. If you like adventure-type pinball then I don't know that there is a better game than the Hobbit.
If you like the faster paced games, there are plenty, and maybe that is what you are getting at. If JJP got away from the "grand adventure" and produced something with a faster pace (i.e. Star Wars), perhaps that is what people want..?
Personally, I like JJPs "grand adventure" style. But, I also enjoy fast-paced action too. I can scratch the fast game itch with so many different games I don't worry about it.
Stern seems to have gone in the opposite direction of making much more simple games: Munsters and BKSOR for example. I can only speculate as to why, but my guess has to do with trying to release games with some working code and trying to catch up on their coding backlog. But, I digress. However, if you want simpler games that are faster there are other choices out there than JJP. I'd rather see JJP sick to grander things. But, perhaps, it would make sense for them to do something different and less "adventurey" to appeal to our fast-paced action desires..?