2nd movie was awesome!

Has subway for sure. Upper left magnet to bottom right VUK. Looks to have 2 magnets up top. Very interesting fish tales style ramp arrangement. I still am also completely lost when it comes to the 3rd and 4th flipper. The right upper can hit all smaug shots that might be enough for that side depending on game rules. I have yet to see anything for the left flipper. There is a place to the lower left of the pops for a bank of drop/standing targets but I could not tell by the schematic what was in that location. It looked like two metal plates separated that could have a switch of some sort in between. It could also be some kind of pass through into the pops from below. I would place bets at this point that the lower flaps are entrances or exits from the subway/subways. Very interesting.

Too funny that they are using parts for the whitewood that another company designed. I would think they would be mocked up as something different for the video. Copyright police where are you.....

Cool update.
Looking forward to this game.

I will certainly give it a view, hope for the best.

I am not saying the pin is bad, was only pointing out so far that I was not excited. I did not appreciate the MM trolls which I think is bush league, not only steal the idea but steal the actual mechanism from MM. I think trolls work great for MM in a funny, campy type of humor.

I hope this pin is spectacular in every way possible. Just from these teaser videos, I am not moved to place a pre order.

But more pinball is always a great thing in my book and I hope JJP the best success with WoZ, TH and every other pin they make.

I really want to buy a JJP pin ASAP, but am willing to wait, I think the video technology is going to be great, and can only imagine will get better with each successive game.

Maybe its just cause its whitewood, but in no way does it look faster than WOZ to me. Lots of long shots to the ramp from what I can see. WOZ has some mid playfield shots to shoot at.

This is definitely going to be a player's pin.

I have no intention of buying one, but I wish JJP the best.

I could see them coming up with a new troll for the pin, and just using the mm trolls for now (like the WOZ tree bumpers)

I like how the pop-ups block the ramp so you cant spam the same shot.

..but it has haunted forest pop bumpers, so i guess im out.

WOZ whitewood oct 2011

Looking nice. I really hate The Hobbit theme, but whatever. Hopefully it's a really good game.

My god what a bunch of negative Nellies. The trolls will be orcs, duh!!!! Game looks extremely promising. It's always all the guys that didn't pre order that come on and try and make themselves feel better. Lots of ways to keep the ball under control. Ramps and VUKs feeding the flippers. Kickback yeah!! nice captive balls in the middle. Subway!! Orcs!! And Smaug himself will likely be very good.

That being said, I do agree that I hope the upper flippers are used more. maybe when the orcs are up, the upper flippers are the only way to hit Smaug and the banana target on the right. Left loop shot to upper right flipper (Smaug turns to follow ball and exposes his weak spot) upper right flipper shot at Smaug.

so you're saying we can not say what we honestly think of the videos? Only positive comments are welcome. Good to know.

in that case this is sure to be:

01.jpg

No that's not what I am saying.

I think he's simply saying folks don't seem to be familiar with the purpose of a white wood. It's not like it's anywhere near a finished game or even callibrated (pf level) like a finished game. It's simply for evaluating shot angles and playfield layout. Obviously there are no rules, art, lights, or even toys for that matter. So to judge it beyond that is pointless. Comments like "it seems floaty" or "I did not appreciate the MM trolls" are actually kind of funny.

What makes you think this is the only white wood? This could have been done months ago; JJP may have a newer version that we haven't seen yet. I wouldn't show "real time" progress with updates ...

Oh, I highly doubt this is the most recent white wood. I was only saying that to try and judge the game from the video shown alone is silly (responding to the other post).

Spot lights on lower slingshots.
GI response from WOZ critiques?

Anyone else notice that the purple targets in front of where Smaug will go are sitting in a slot. I'm guessing that the targets will slide in front of the VUK to allow hits on Samug itself.

whitewood.jpg

Think outside the box. The rules will likely implement the upper flippers. What if there is a hurry up after an orbit shot and a troll pops up for you to hit, if you do not hit it with the upper flipper quickly you miss the hurry up.

Most people who play Starship troopers have no idea what the third flipper is for (it counts as two bug kills when used to hit a bug standup target)

Try and keep in mind who is programming the game. While I am at it, play and learn the WOZ rules, there is more to the game then pretty colors.

Flame suit for the hatters.

Metallica LE.

Can't tell anything from that video in my opinion; are those the exact same trolls from mm? No one else is worried that the whitewood is not further along?

Lol, could you not have started your nonsense with that line?

If you did not see it, dont comment on the movie. Jackson did fine.

Of course, nicely thought out

No, vid was properly take ages ago IMHO, Its coming out end of year, they will be miles in front

Hey, i am not sure. But on those videos, the flippers dont have rubbers on?

I am i right?

Yeah, they are there. On my pc it is full screen and HD..quite clear.

Great idea to incorporate Smaug's weak spot. I hadn't even thought of that.

watching that woz video posted several posts above, the final one plays exactly the same.
so we can only assume the final hobbit will play as the videos above.
not $8k there. don't care how cool the 1 toy will be. useless upper flippers and any dreams of anything cool going on under the playfield were squashed yesterday with the reveal that it is just 4 "orc" popups and not any cool subways entrances like ToM, etc...
Flame away. I owned a wozle for a month and have Hobbit preordered and paid in full, but not sure it's going to stay that way.

I am sure with Matt from Back Alley on the team they will be custom figures for the pop ups that relate to the Hobbit. Likely just used the trolls for testing purposes.

Surely they're joking with those tree bumpers, right?

There is a lot we haven't see. TH is driving 17 more things than WOZ. With that being said there could be an underground playfield that cannot be seen from.above but only on the LCD. If that's the case the Smaug toy could interact above and below the playfield.

Is that a prototype or a Frodotype? MMMMM......Hobbit Burgers!!!

It's an early proto ffs. Negative-Nancy's like you aren't satisfied by anything less than your childhood fantasy made real. Be thankful that you get to see this much. And don't worry...just like the Hobbit movie franchise, these pins will be fine without your financial aid.

And we care not if you "appreciate" Jackson's treatment of the book: skip the movies then, read the book, and get to work finding a studio to fund your reboot.

These vids look weak the game seems lame. That being said what is an early prototype supposed to look like... I think Stern has the right idea with revealing nothing till its ready to hit the factory line. Not a good teaser imo.

This is why I completely disagree with releasing pictures, descriptions or especially videos this early in the design cycle. I just can't see how this early version of the game with no artwork and most of the toys missing is going to influence people who haven't already done so to buy a game? Of course it looks terrible this early on! In my mind this can only hurt pre-order sales and possibly cause cancellations. Wait until it is done and release it to all kinds of wows, ooohs and aaaaahhhs. They proved they can make a good first game with WoZ; no need to do this at all. I sense desperation for sales...

I don't sense that at all. I think they are trying to appease the people constantly asking for Hobbit updates.

So then if it "looks terrible" why would they release it in a "sense of desperation for sales"? They have already sold a big number and will sell more when it comes out with all the oohs and ahhhs and then if it plays great they will sell even more.

The point is that all games look "terrible" at this stage. I see no reason to be showing this. Its not like WoZ. This game will be out in a matter of months.

0:45 Ball gets caught by middle top magnet after a second is released by the right VUK

I like a lot what I see. I think it will be a strategic game with combo shots to make your way to a shot which is really needed.

From what I see is that there is another diverter on the top left of the playfield. This will feed the circle shaped wireform in the Playfield CAD drawing. Probably a ball lock feature.

Another thing I notice are the four rollover targets in the middle of the playfield. I'm really curious to the drop target bank they came up with protecting Smaug. Must be something interactive. I like how that works in TSPP already software wise. A Shadow loop would be great but am not expecting that anymore. Diverter control is already great!!

Last thing I remember is they spoke about two subways and a lot of underplayfield action. Lots to await!

Enjoy the ride

Screen Shot 2014-04-12 at 11.36.21 PM.png

hobbit-42014.jpgdiverter-777.jpg

Was also thinking about that... and your right.

What struck me most was the idea how they gonna feed the most left wire form. It cannot be fed form the main (right) ramp or from the VUK. There is a 'block' on that wire. Could that be the point where Smaug spits it's load on multiball?

Hobbit_playfield.jpg

^ Looks like there will be a 5-bank of the new drop targets: 3 protecting Smaug, and 2 blocking the VUK entrance. And the top center diverter to change from 2 ramp entrances to a FT-esque U-turn shot is cool. Interesting....

Looks to me like Smaug could be a ball lock, multiball diverter element, I am thinking JD Planet, JP T-Rex and DM Claw here.

The targets (and slot) in front of Smaug seem set for a drop bank in front with hit targets behind, I don't really see the point of moving targets as drops would do the same thing although JJP has hinted at something new here so who knows (JJP does obviously). Maybe a magnet incorporated Drop/Target that would feed Smaug the ball from the playfield T-Rex style, anyway fun to speculate.

Looks like a winner all round anyway to me, upper flipper purpose not withstanding.

Maybe there will be side entrances to the subways on the right and left side of troll targets that can only be hit by upper flippers?

Look's great, fast with good flow. Can't wait.

I really like that idea

Thanks for taking the time to mock up the ball flow!! That helped me out a lot ... nice job! I also love that apron. I really wish they could add some lighting underneath it to help show the player where they've been on their "journey" and what they've completed. It would definitely be cool to have an interactive apron that actually serves a purpose.

I'm still feeling that they should drop the upper 2 flippers.
Other than that, looking great.

With or without interactivity the apron looks really nice. Big improvement...

I can't think of a wide body pin that only has two flippers.

IJ