The network loved Batman66 TV series. It only went off air because of all the lawsuits and entanglements from all the major companies all claiming soul rights to it (DC Comics, 20th Century, ABC, Warner Bros, Greenway productions and Disney to name a few, lol) because it was so hugely successful. They tied it up in courts for many years.

Every actor in Hollywood wanted to do a cameo or appearance on it. It would have gone 10 seasons without all the lawsuits and is the very reason why it took so long to get it released on DVD.

I can understand people not wanting to buy a game for their house (based on theme), but to hate a game just based on the theme alone I'll never understand.

How aboot when people say "I cant stand widebody machines!' WTF

Big Game would like to have a word with those hillbillies.

Game of Kings!
90% of the time they say they are too slow...another WTF moment.

In comes big game to punch them in the mouth.

Played Turtles yesterday and gotta say - this game is stunning!

Both the playfield, the coding and the media package just works. Seems they just put it together this time. And I also think it will stike a great balance between the casuals/newbies and the experienced/competition. And that is just as-is now. Assume there is more to come on the coding and rules.

And hey. Please stop comparing playfields and say that this is just a copy of something else. It is all in the finess. And the shots work on this one (with the under-the-flipper shot being an exception unless it is ment to be that hard).

I don't understand how you can be that nonplussed by a machine's theme. Even generic themes can have their limits. I bought a Dialed In because everyone said it was a must buy but after 5 months I could hadn't the theme any longer, it was getting on my nerves. I'll certainly never buy a rock theme Stern that's theme I'm not into. AC/DC is the only one that holds meaning to me and I've still not bought one yet. But played IM, thought it played well, artwork was top notch, but I stopped liking IM when I was like 10, so no interest in owning that theme. On the other hand I wanted GOTG to be great as I love the theme, but it was a dog IMHO so I didn't order one. Same with Stranger Things. Theme won't sell me a pin alone, but it gets a foot in the door over a theme that has zero appeal.

Haven't played Turtles and I'm sure it's good. I own a TWD and It's great. Also own Met and think it's great too. Could be a Borg and Sheats combo that make them great. But I'm betting the next Borg game will stir things up again and be his "best" game ever. I look around me as I type this and see 8 Stern game not 1 Strens Chinese knockoff.

I agree. There are plenty of really good pins that I will never own because I only have space for so many, and I prefer to fill it with top notch pins that ALSO have themes I love.

even I don't get that and theme is very important to the overall experience. DI, WOZ, Stranger things etc. for me suck but I like playing them, its still pinball.

Interesting to note TWIP's recent poll on most important factors in buying a new pin. Funny how theme comes in as 2nd most important aspect after gameplay..

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I'm surprised it wasn't first. Hobby filled up with pop culture man-children sometime in the last decade.

I think people didn't get the question: "Look to own" and not "buying".

I "look" for games that look interesseting (wich is of course influenced by the license) and THEN I decide if I buy it ideally after having some games on it.

So there are games I looked to own, I wouldn't buy after palying them and vice versa.

German semantics?
Thats not how i read it.

Legal semantics.

Back to the question I think TMNT is all hype, played it. Love the artwork, but it's MEH...Played a Pro version, don't know if LE is any better. I do like the LCD though and the animations are cool, but I got bored quickly, it was like a 7ish out of 10. Not the worst, not the best, just another pin with some really cool art and this is coming from a TMNT fan in general.

Also me...

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Big time.

For the past ten year commercials have made men look weak and children like. It worked.

lmao u kiss ur dad with that mouth?

You know, 77.3% of polls are bs. I should know, cuz I’ve spoken to 98.3% of pinball owners.

One poll on one website? Yes, funny.

Coming from this collector, theme comes in second only to gameplay. Wait, what?

I wonder how many of the "Hype Train" votes have even played it. The game is absolutely a blast to play. Like most games if you only played it once and didn't get the incredible flow going or you kept missing shots then you may not see it yet. The game is spectacular.

Did this game just go from #1 to #12 in the Top 100 in just one weekend???

Top 100 is a joke. A general guideline at best. Check the reviews and you will see anything over a 9 has been flagged by multiple haters and anything under an 8 has been flagged by owners. Some people put far too much effort in to keeping the top 3 the same for all eternity.

Another example would be a guy who gave it a 3.5 also gave Whoa Nellie a 10. So there will be some discrepancies. Hahaha

Wow, wouldn’t complain about that - that’s actually a good result. They usually slip at least 20-30 places.

I think there are even more people who get a new game and rate it a 9+ in just the first couple of weeks ("My other games have been collecting dust since getting XXXX!!") than there are haters doling out poor ratings for games they have no vested interest in. I get it. People want to share their excitement for their new purchase, but this nearly always results in a familiar rise and fall pattern for every new release.

I haven't played the game. But from the outside looking in it seems like a solid all around game that doesn't offer anything really "special" other than the theme for some. This is how I would personally rank the newer sterns in terms of interest to me...

JP
Elvira
Deadpool
IMDN
Star Wars

I think you are heavily discounting the amount of people that hate rate new pins they haven't even played or only played it a few times on location. That's something I've been guilty of in the past and I try not to do anymore.

Modern pinball is hard to rate if you've only played 10 games at bar. How are you supposed to grasp Star Wars/JP2/JJPOTC in a couple games?

That’s cow pucky not horse

That is a major issue too, no doubt. Especially with less common titles that not many get easy access to. Still, I view most of the 'hate rating' on new titles as more of a backlash against new owner ratings. As in, the new release gets bumped to the #1 spot and needs to be knocked down a peg. The new game doesn't start out with a bunch of BS negative ratings and then slowly get raised by the more thoughtful reviewers.

Games that start with bad code do slowly rise through the ratings. Look at GotG which deserved it's awful launch reviews but has crept it's way up the chart.

It's not "new owners" that are the problem but the system itself. If a pin has bad art or theme you can bury it. If you want to know if a pin has good gameplay or not you can't judge the art or theme. If JP2 was Johnny Mnemonic do you think people would still love it?

If Shadow was Back to the Future or something it would be #1 forever.

Gee u really know ur shit.

Taking hate rating out of the equation which is separate and lame, "playing on location" however many times is the way the games have been rated forever though.
I just don't agree games are so complex now that someone whom's been playing pinball for 20+ years couldn't grasp JP2. I grasped SW in roughly the same time as The Shadow, TZ, MM. JJPOTC....maybe diff'rent but the majority are just fine.

This first bit I posted in the club (I added a bit down the bottom for this post):

“Got the game yesterday. By after dinner (pizza of course), I hated it. Could not hit a thing. Brutal. I find TWD fine, so I can handle hard. But just too fast and could not find the shots.
Then this morning checked the levels 6.9. Took it down to 6.5, huge difference. Getting combos, completing episodes. Having a great time. Can get lair fairly consistently from right flipper. Doesn’t bounce out. Can backflip both ramps. Can post past. My only issue is rejects from left orbit. Maybe hitting ramp exit above or clanking around t-intersection. Will try to slo-mo. If anybody else works this one out would love to know.
I really like this game. At first I found it confusing and not fun to shoot, but dial this sucker in!”

Is this the beat Borg:

Does it deserve number 1? Probably not. But it is a top 20 if not top 10. It is definitely not a stinker. I really like it but too early to call it the greatest Borg or pin of all time. But it is awesome! Thanks Borg, Dwight and the team for a great game. Cowabunga dudes!!!

Calling any brand new game Top 20 at the moment is a big call IMO. There's so many amazing games in the Top 20 that a game has to be pretty special to get in there long term.

Plus, if anything, TMNT's rating is benefiting from the lack of location play due to Covid. I know some people hate rate games early without having playing played them, but Id have to assume that's the vast minority. Let's see where TMNT lands in 6-12 months once most have had the opportunity to play.

You also have to remember that hate rating in Top 100 is pretty much a level playing field. TMNT might get some hate ratings, but so has every other game in the Top 100 making the relative effect negligible.

Everything you said applies to most the top 20 as it’s now mostly LEs and or boutique games never on location. How many people have played a Rick and Morty? Would it be in the Top 20 if they had?

Not every pin gets equal hate ratings too. Look at Elvira, that game isn’t Top 10 all time yet there it sits. I’m guessing if you put a poll on Pinside for IMDN or EHOH it would be a massacre.

I read the chart as follows:

I think for all pinball *players*, yes, absolutely the gameplay is most important.

However once the collector aspect comes into view, ie the game will be in a person’s home, theme is very important. This would be a stretch to defend: Yeah I know the Office Supply Online Shopper pin doesn’t sound appealing, but toner cartridge multi-ball stacked with stapler frenzy and free next day shipping is just sick.

Then Pinside added the flagging system to peoples reviews, making the ratings even more worthless to people and more pissy.
A rare miss by Pinside.

I only skimmed the ratings once, when someone asked who had played everything in the top 100. Sounds like I don't need to revisit them.

So I know of a local establishment that took out TWD due to theme, but Iron Maiden remains. I think even if you love the layout the actual theme/DMD is a bit much in a family establishment or even a family home for that matter. As much disdain as people show to TNMT as a concept, as a location pin it is absolutely solid gold. Remember companies Like Stern don’t make pins to satisfy a small group of collectors but rather still cater to the public locations they will be put in. I suspect that license was worth every penny they are paying for it.

Not sure why Maiden gets this rep as a gruesome pin. Other than the extra ball animation (which i totally agree with) what else in this game is so bad. The almost cartoonish Eddies? I got mine when my son was barely 5. Only thing that spooked him was the face in the clouds on the display.
Hell the GB scream is 100x scarier than anything in Maiden. Still makes the people at the bar jump.

Definitely lots of dudes looking at other dudes feet and fashion sense, and judging them lol. Who knew..