Features get cut all time, but usually not after so many people have played them. I guess that's the big part of why everyone is upset, but the level of disappointment is a little silly.

The discs were a very cool feature, for sure. But they were secondary to the shot geometry on the game, which was already a huge success. After playing it a bunch at TPF, I never really felt the impact of the 3 disc setup, but thought it was neat. With so much already happening in the game, it's a disappointing, but hardly disastrous omission.

For people who just look at their games, and let's not pretend that Pinside isn't full of those types, the change is probably a big blow. For people that will care about reliability first, it's probably a take some good with the bad sort of announcement.

Reliability should always be king. It's one of the main reasons I don't enjoy Star Wars or The Hobbit. I rarely find one that's reliable top to bottom.

Actually, this is better. They caught some issues ahead of production and they're not putting problems in owners' homes. I wish Ghostbusters had more time to test and bake. That was a maintenance nightmare for me.

Watch all the video you want. I played it a bunch. But whatever.

I'm not going to keep telling people not to be upset though. Big money in play with these things these days. Whatever tilts your scale is up to you. But as far as playability and maintenance goes, this is a positive step. It's just a bummer for aesthetic appeal.

It's pretty dickish to make claims that the company is bleeding money and that's forcing them to make these changes. At best, you're calling them liars, but you're also implying that the company is likely to fail and they're resorting to company-saving measures. I'm preeeeeeetty sure you don't have eyes on their financial books.

So feel free to call them liars, but just come out and say, "Jersey Jack Pinball is lying" if that's what you think is going on. Maybe cut the cute story out.

But it was preceded by a claim that a public explanation would only be a farce.

I bet you have another trollish analogy in you. Dig deep! Find it!

Here, I'll offer a starter for you. I had a JJP employee tell me that POTC is still their most preordered game by far. They also know I'm not buying one, so no real incentive to sway me.

Is it like a breeder with a box of accidental mutts in a cardboard box saying that 7 of the 9 dogs are already spoken for, so I should tell my friends to hurry and check out the other two? Is it like that, or like something else? Help me out here.

At this point JJP doesn't know who the end customers are, so it's on the distributors to notify their buyers. JJP puts out a general announcement and informs distributors. From there, distributors make the notifications, because the have all the customer contact info and the direct relationship.

When I had to deal with my Stern playfield replacement, it was all through my distributor as well. Most announcements pre-release SHOULD come through your distributor. When you preorder a video game from Best Buy, any updates to the price, shipping date, or feature changes come from Best Buy, not Nintendo. Nintendo doesn't have your order info, Best Buy does. Same thing here with JJP and distributors.

Uh...early release software is super common! Beta testing has been pushed on the public a lot in recent years. Between opt-in beta programs for all kinds of major electronics and PC gear to just "ship and patch it later" mentality, there's a whole lot of unfinished software being sold. Apps crash and ask for bug reports, PC software does the same. As society demands things sooner and more quickly, often times they unknowingly opt into a less polished experience.