It sold me. Working on placing my order.

Pinball n00b here. Consider me a sign of growth in the hobby. . Just hit 1000 games on my new Dialed in and broke 2.5 million. Pretty much never played pinball until 8 weeks ago..

I've never owned or really played a machine with stacked rules. This will be my first. I do really like the simple rules, modes, progression of dialed in. Hopefully I find this game as much fun when I power it up at home the first time.

I've watched the POTC videos a couple of times, and my head is exploding with the rule set

It's hard to see the target as each rule is described. Hopefully when this thing ships to me, it has a decently documented rule set. But if not, it'll be a lot of weeks with the glass off hitting switches.

Yah - my hope though is that the fun of the game/layout transcends the code style. I suck at pinball, but having great fun with dialed in. I hope the code on POTC won't spoil the simple fun and challenge that they managed on Dialed In.

The toys and layout looks fun. Lots of multi balls. Lots of non mode challenges. Risk reward. Seems like a ton of fun. And then the modes challenging you to work through lots of varied shot combos.

It’s a bummer when your top rated pin can’t be bought. Almost need to split our pins you can buy new. And pins you have to hunt for used.

Maybe a lot of software work, but they could have multiple game modes, including "simplified" rule version, that makes the games simple and linear.

Also, I really wish these new machines had WiFi/networking, where the community could post and compete with scores. Would be really cool to see a world wide top score and aim for it. Get in the top 25, etc etc.

We are in the age of cloud computing and WiFi everywhere. Probably this is really easy to implement.

I think the art looks great. Original, captivating, and really pops.

I’d be a buyer, but too much blood spatter for my kids to have it around. We all love to play, so. Have to keep things kid friendly. This thing will give them nightmares!!

Makes a lot of sense to say Stern is focused on its greatest sales strength - which is to retail and on route. Vs home collectors.

The other thing that seems to have changed in the last couple of years is the merging of video and pinball. Which significantly ups the production effort needed on these machines. To do it really well requires teams where some guys are totally focused on graphics, animation and video. Lengthing the production time needed.

Games like TNA made by a guy with skill in electronics, fabrication, music, and programming - it’s just awesome. But for Stern/JJp it’s a team of guys to do the same work. It’s great that stern brought back in a veteran (Eddy) that has video game experience and pinball. Perfectly suited for the new modern machines that merge both disciplines.

So Iron Maiden or TNA?

I have a Pirates LE on pre-order and I'm waffling on it. With a delay to August, and watching all the streams, slowly loosing my enthusiasm. The game looks amazing. I'm new to the hobby, and not yet feeling too stocked about the super complexity. My Dialed In is a fun shooter, with simple rules.

My TNA has shipped, so assuming I'm in love with it, I may jump ship from my Pirates order. Pun intended. Simple fun rules, impossible to master. Chaos. Sound. Light show. I'm more excited about TNA than Pirates. Since the deposit is refundable, I will wait until summer to see how I feel about a third pin.

Definitely sounds great. I have watched all the JJP streams, and have a good feel for the game play. In the meantime, I've expanded to a 2 pin collection, so my desperation to get a POTC soon is subsided. To be revisited in the fall when they start shipping.

The real question though - will JJP announce the next pin before Pirates ships? If they do, and I like the theme better, maybe I will switch. Really doubt they will announce early again though. I already heard they wished they had waited to unveil POTC at TPF instead of 6 months earlier.

For POTC we will have been watching a full year of video before it finally ships. That has to eventually hurt sales?

I watched the archive on twitch. Great show guys. I think the comedy is better than the pinball content.

Houdini vs POTC. Hmmm.. is Houdini really that good? The tight shots kind of turned me off from it..

You guys have to accept you are THE VOICE of the community. So when you rank a pin really low like this, it gives us N00bs HUGE pause from making a purchase.

But basically, you love the game/rules. Hate the theme. So this shoots it to the bottom of your list. Even below a lot of "meh" pins. Because you REALLY hate the theme, and gave it a D there.

So I guess as a community leader, you can review a pin based on what Zach likes personally. Or on the execution of a product as a whole. I think most of us are used to product reviews where it's ranked as a product objectively. Not personally. I think this is why we're all dazed and confused when a guy we (I) really look up to, ranks something so low. When we expected the opposite. But it's because it's a rating based on personal taste. Not an objective view of a product.

Anyway - I've come to peace with the fact that Zach hates IMDN metal, and this colored the result. If you take that component out of the review, I think the pin would be a top 5 for you?

I'm looking at it as a "monster" pin, with music to match. So then it's not about the pin or the music. It's about shooting down monsters, with a super high energy sound track. When I think of it this way, it's a must own. When I think of it as a statement of "I love this band", I don't want to go there.

...

I actually think IMDN is pretty family friendly. It’s not Disney. But it’s a cartoon monster. TWD is way hardcore.

Also it’s super fun for kids to shoot it. With the ramps and big center target, balanced scoring.

I watched the pinstadium stream and picked up a set. Looked fun. And I like that I can dim it to make it more subtle.

I picked up a premium with HD glass, shaker, now pinstadium. Super amped for this. But my 9 year old daughter is more excited than me.

Exactly!! I bought my IMDN pin as a cartoon monster pin. They did a great job making the design universally appalling vs hardcore fan specific. That’s why they went with Eddie and all cartoons instead of focusing on the band.

When we played it at Golden Gate Festival it changed my pre bias immediately.

On the POTC tangent, the last stream is a few guys having a great time. Victory/defeat. All inside of one game. Looked great. And the guys did a really good energetic job marketing the machine this week. The wizard modes really elevate the risk, and make the movies more unique. I think that's one piece that's been missing for me when I watch and when I played it.

I've been hitting Chaos in Quantum City on DILE most sessions lately, and I really feel the build up. The machine has a personality. I think POTC will get there with a lot more polish of the gameplay code/style.

But I'm super stoked to have my IMDN Premium ordered. It's a seriously fun and deep game, with tons of shot variety.

In terms of needing a deep pin for home fun - well I love my TNA, which isn't deep at all. It's a shooter, it builds tension, it's insanely fast/brutal. And as a result has really helped me learn the game. While also being the one pin my family consistently plays together.

But it’s all relative not apples to apples. Iron Maiden is walking to the bottom of your list.

Love yah Zach - I almost didn’t buy the premium after watching the review. But then I realized it was a kick ass monster theme pin with high energy music. Then my music preference played zero in the decision to buy it.

Now to wait for Willy Wonka, or grab a Star Trek VE. Or wait to see Dead Pool.

POTC is a beautiful game. I just wish it had more humor. And that all the movies weren’t “qualify, shoot characters, multiball, wizard”. 5x times. If each movie had a unique personality (which it does in the wizard mode only), I think I’d be more excited about it.

Anyway for now I went with IMDN. When POTC ships late fall I think about it again.

Yah, about 8 games at Golden Gate Pinball festival. best looking hardware at the show. We played back to back POTC and Iron maiden for some hours. Waiting in line.

My 10 year old daughter had a lot more fun on IMDN. As did I, so we bought a premium. I'm still seriously thinking of a POTC some day, but struggling with it.

Star Wars has a theme that practically sells it site unseen.

I’ve played some hours on Star Wars. And it’s fun. But pretty much you plunge into trouble. The rule set takes a lot of plays to become coherent. Overall it’s uninspired game with a great theme and fast flow.

Iron Maiden feels and shoots like an inspired game design. It’s special. Inspired layout. Inspired software. Being a multi year project for Keith, and inspired programming from new blood at stern.

I think Zach needs to own a premium IMDN for a couple months. Just like how Star Wars grew on him, despite very poor impressions of the game at release and months after.

I personally struggled with which to buy. SW and IMDN. And watched the SDTM video review with Valdimort as a guest. Personally it helped sway me away from the pin.

However I went on location and played the crap out of sw. While I’m a life Long die hard fan, I struggled to enjoy it.

At the golden gate pinball festival I got my first hands on a IMDN. I don’t like the band at all. But saw it as an amazing monster themed pin with matching music. So this overcame the dislike for the music/band on its own. I ended up having a lot of fun and enjoying the shots. In my first 10 plays I had gotten trooper and mummy. Played through modes and got hooked.

Maybe some day I’ll get a sw. depending on what comes out q4 and q1.

Four so far. It gets going FAST and timing is tough. Also a late hit often ends up with a drain.

Three on the inner loop.

I wouldn’t confuse “subjective opinion” with “biased opinion”.

IMO STDM has their own subjective take on pins they review. But not a biased one.

Anyway - they are the only game in town for reviews, and I give them an A+ for the review content they have produced so far.

And oh - thanks to Zach for buying a new pin every week to keep us entertained.