Quoted from CaptainNeo:Stern is starting to head back into the Econo game realm again like IM, BBH, RS. It seems more of a place filler game, to fill in the 4 month gap.
It's not that simple. A basic game with simple rules makes sense for a lot of reasons right now. If indeed the game has the new boards and a new operating system, wouldn't it be best to start with a simple game? It's been reported that the new board system has been tested in the pin. This may be the first higher end games to get it. Secondly, simple rules would allow the software developers to catch up somewhat on previous games, and maybe even get a head start on future games. Would that be a bad thing? Also, this deal has been done for about a year now. I suspect Stern got a good deal on the license (Ford really wanted it) and that they hope to mostly lure first time buyers (car nuts) and operators with this game. Not the home market. They're also well aware that the collector community has collectively dumped boat loads of money into the hobby in the last year or so. Game rooms are full and millions more are tied up in deposits. Wouldn't surprise me at all if they took a game off from going after the collector market.
Stern has no reason to go 'econo game'. They're doing just fine. Not every game needs to be as deep and as fancy as LOTR. IM is a econo game and the collectors love it. The collector community still buys less games than operators. No surprise that some in the collector community already feel butt hurt after see crappy videos. It's embarrassing IMO. Sorry to say, but not every game is built for you.