People say they want something new and different, but most people get uncomfortable quick and just really want familiarity and nostalgia. This happens everywhere else outside of pinball...

Sports - Why doesn't the NFL change? They make money hand over fist, and when something "new" comes along like the XFL it fails because no one knows the players and it's not something popular enough to discuss with other people.

Music - People: "Why doesn't anyone make ORIGINAL music anymore?!" Indpendent/Soundcloud/Whatever you want to call it hip-hop artists: "Here give this a try" People: "No not like that, I meant why don't people make music that sounds what I've listened to for the past 25 years!"

Food/Beer: "Craft beer? These hipsters and their IPAs! Can't beat my trusty Bud Light". Compare the line at a McDonalds to any of the independent/smaller restaurants on the same block at lunch time.

TVs: Remember 3D TVs? Curved TVs? HD-DVD? All dead products that no one bought.

People fear and hate change. I'm not saying I'm any different ha, but people will always gravitate to what's familiar. P3 is probably the biggest risk pinball has taken in years. I'm not privy to their sales or financials, so I don't know how we'll it's selling or how popular it is, but I'll tell you I've only seen one once in person at a show maybe 2 years ago, and never on location, where as I can find any new JJP/Stern game within minutes of my house on the day of release to play. Familiar sells, innovation is a risk. Wish it was the opposite.

I think you're on to something here. I also find myself much less concerned with technical innovation these days and more with design innovation. The toys and screens are neat, but ultimately I want to play a game that shoots like something I haven't played before. Some good recent examples of what I mean is Stranger Things and Radical (ha). There is some "innovation" in Stranger Things that's neat...the projector, the UV stuff (cost, etc. aside), the ramp that comes down to reveal the toy (which is cool when you can make the shot). All of these are "new" for pinball, but ultimately I just felt like I was playing a fan layout game with a target bank in the middle, and I've played that game ALOT.

On the flip side, I just picked up a Radical that honestly I didn't even really intend to keep, but the layout is new (to me, not age wise) and the game doesn't really feel like anything else out there. It's 30 years old, but still felt fresher to me than playing Stranger Things. I have appreciated some of the newer Stern games for the same reason...JP, TWD, Maiden, even Deadpool...nothing really innovative about them toy/tech wise, but they just feel like something I haven't played before, and I'll take that all day.