Until the NIB games do something on the playfield better than the DMD-era games, that's not going to happen. The appeal of those games isn't the score display - it's the GAMES. Nothing in the LCD era has upstaged the 90's games yet. A HD color score display doesn't make those games undesirable.

That's true - and that's mostly due to all the wackiness on the playfield. However, most of those original themed Lawlor games are still "cheap" by pin standards...so they're not really in "competition" with Dialed-In, a $9000 game. I don't see Fun House, Road Show, Whirlwind, Earthshaker, No Good Gofers' value being affected by new games at all.

You missed my point. Does WOZ make MM undesirable? MMr is still in production. My point is sound. Depth doesn't = better. Depth doesn't = better stuff on the playfield. Complex isn't always better. MM has the perfect amount of depth any pinball would need for most to find it super fun. I like "Keith deep" games like LOTR, TSPP, and Hobbit a bit not every game needs that. That depth isn't required to be modern, fun, or good. Games like MM and AFM really do have that perfect sweet spot - easy to pick up, enough nuance to figure out as you go, and fun factor that keeps them relevant 20 years later.

Road Show used to be a $1200-$1800 game. I think it's generally in the $3k's now. Will DI make it drop? Doubt it.

It's subjective and objective. The fact that a 20 year old game is STILL in demand and people still love it OBJECTIVELY shows that what MM does is desirable. You may not like it, or be bored of it....sure...but the fact that they were selling for $20k before the remake & the fact that the remake is still selling shows that MM and it's design/code is loved. AFM, too...similar style & code...the remake is selling great.

The problem is, complex code isn't always good. They don't have enough time to program, test, and refine to make something that's complex AND fun. IMO only Keith & Lyman are good at it, and they take forever to do it....everyone else that has attempted "depth" have created games that just have tons of content...which just feels like chopping wood thru endless modes & nothing really ties together, or it's resulted in convoluted math-chess like GOT/SW.

I think TSPP & LOTR are masterpieces of deep code in a character/story context, with Hobbit getting very close...and Metallica and AC/DC are the best deep code games in an eccentric/nuanced context...Stern hasn't outdone themselves with code since Metallica. Aside from those deep games, I'd much rather play something like MM, Tron, IM, BSD, Shadow - any 90's game really...games that have code that matches their design perfectly, offer super fun experiences, relatively easy to understand but challenging to master.

Exactly - it's all relative. When NIB games were less than $4k, Road Show was less than $2k....as NIB went up, "cheap" became relative. All the games were $600-$1800 when I started collecting are all $2500-$4000 now. That seems BONKERS to me...buuuut, for new collectors, it makes sense compared to the NIB or high end scene. No reason those games will be dropping any time soon. Remember when WOZ was about to hit, people said all DMD games would soon be obsolete and drop in price? LOL ...we KNOW that didn't happen, but funny that people are still expecting it.