So your complaint is that the "inserts" on the LCD playfield don't look enough like traditional lightbulb-based inserts? I mean, that's kind of the whole point. You don't need a bunch of unlit inserts cluttering up the playfield at all times -- you just show the "inserts" (arrows and text or whatever) that apply at the current moment.

It's much more flexible and easier to read/understand (I've seen a lot of comments indicating this). If the same ramp does different things in different modes, you don't need to have many small inserts lined up in front of it or reuse the same generic insert for different purposes. You can have whatever art/text you want show up that denotes that ramp is lit for whatever event(s).

That said, the beauty of the platform is that the designer can do anything they want. You could make something where the digital playfield art looked and worked exactly like a traditional game with inserts that looked lit/unlit. Or have a hybrid approach where it looked like a traditional insert, but could actually change dynamically. Maybe that's what you're getting at. I believe some of the tables in Pinball FX are actually like this. There will be like a square shape that looks like an insert and can be lit or unlit. But when lit it can actually show different characters/icons based on the mode.

It's definitely a chicken-and-egg problem, much like a video game console, as mentioned. As someone pointed out there is so much new going on here it might take awhile for people to really "get it".

I'll tell you this. I would never consider designing my own traditional pin. I don't know anything about electronics/hardware, wiring, woodworking, printing, etc. I don't have the space or equipment even if I did. But as someone who programs for a living, the idea of messing around with my own game that uses an existing playfield module is quite intriguing. I've never programmed a game before, but with Unity and the Multimorphic SDK I bet I could figure it out. And I could even use the LL code as a reference.

You don't have to go with 3D models/environments, either, as Rarehero said. There's a lot you could do with 2D art or even static playfield artwork.

It would still be a lot of work, sure. But I think there's potential here for people with skills on the software side. We've all seen how a different set of rules and/or a different theme can transform a game with the same or similar playfield into something quite different.

I'm definitely excited by the possibilities this platform has. You can make traditional 3-balls-per-player games. You can make simple mini-games (possibly using only the screen portion of the playfield). You can make something that blends these together. You could even design a game purely for home users, if you wanted, since not every module or game for a given module needs to be feasible for coin-op.

Imagine something similar to an old-school turn-based RPG, but in pinball form. You don't need to stick with the 3 balls-per-game format. It could have an actual story that takes like 40+ hours to complete. It could have towns and shops and dungeons. It could have complicated item/spell commands using the 2nd/3rd flipper buttons that would usually be too complicated to teach someone for a 5 minute game.

That's just one broad idea. I look forward to seeing what people do with this.