Quoted from Wicked-Flip:Stern is better at getting around to it at some point but not calling them out for the same problems is pretty forgiving. They ship unfinished games, too. I've had more than a few that were pretty wonky when you dug into them.
Just as a side note to this, I think this all stems from the blending of two worlds. In the past manufacturers just had to make a shiny object that would eat a quarter or two from a passer by. The code wasnt very polished and didn't need to be. Operators didn't care about code. The only concern was (and kinda still is) is this shiny thing eating quarters or not. So nobody complained.
Now there is this new world of pinball. Home consumers. They expect a complete game. They expect it to be rules deep and have hundreds of hours of content. Rightfully so. They just spent a lot of money on a high end toy.
The manufacturers are still straddling the fence of these two worlds and haven't really stepped up with regard to code and content. Or not remotely stepped it up enough, anyway. Hence the complaints.
I won't tell them how to run a business but I would suggest that fewer titles and MUCH more software support for a MUCH longer period of time of those titles would probably make the pinheads happy.
It's inexcusable that this machine doesn't have its wizard modes. Thats the final word. Inexcusable
There are some exceptions to this - the EHOH game shipped some damn fine code... eventually. It is still missing a few modes which were ... let's say "implied", but it is finished, with an actual wizard mode and everything. And of course no it did not ship with very impressive code. Stern also shipped Munsters with pretty finished code. Has it even seen an update? It's basically Monster Bash deep, but it's technically done. Coding these more advanced games is WAY more difficult than it would seem at first - I suspect Stern made a lot of effort early on to create a framework which makes the games easier to code, but I have no way to confirm this. Shipping the games with incomplete code is a factor of the expense - they are shipping getting just enough done to justify releasing the games as playable, and are adding more depth as more units are sold. This does also mean that there will eventually be a game which never gets completed...
When Lyman left, the ship basically sailed on getting those last couple of things. With POTC, it's clear that the fiasco with presales getting cancelled had a years-long impact on the game. It's still amazingly fun, but it is a bummer we'll likely never see anything final. I know WOZ still gets occasional updates - but it also sells a LOT of units.
Anyway just my opinion and speculation.
Vernon, BC
Pleasanton, CA
Dubai
