Aerosmith is awesome dude! I've never been a big Aerosmith fan myself but I'm a fan of classic rock and the songs that they have on the game are good songs. Also after watching some YouTube videos, Steven Tyler is much better than I ever gave him credit for. Hes actually a pretty bad ass singer.

Anyway, with that being said....AS is a blast to play, the artwork is amazing, the light show is amazing, the LCD screen and the animations are amazing, and the game design/layout and the rules are great as well.This game is a winner big time. I have the Pro model and it's a very nice game and a good value.

The Hobbit by a landslide. Much better build, much more depth and better for the home. I have played Aerosmith and enjoy it but it will get boring after a while, just like every other music pin IMO. Good luck with your quest.

Are you employed by Stern? I have never seen someone that touts a game on demand like you and AS.

I have/or had them all. Metallica is the winner in the bunch you mention in my opinion and while the Pro is a great game I highly enjoy playing premium/LE more. Best rule set, fast and challenging, music and sounds are great. I didn't care much for WOZ but I enjoy my Hobbit quite a bit(for what it's worth, I have a few friends that love WOZ and aren't big fans of Hobbit, so go figure). Code is mostly finished, could use some polish(and sure it is getting it) but there is plenty there already, not sure where you got that from? It's the open layout that bugs people more than anything and not much goal of the little story modes. Long ball times are my main gripe, to get deep you will be playing 30+ minutes typically. Overall I think it has one of the better sound packages out there(other than damn Hobbits screeching all the time) Aerosmith is a good game and LCD definitely gives it a small edge over other Sterns and is a new/shiny toy in terms of Stern but I feel like it is limited in what they have there right now and is quite repetitive, hopefully they add a lot more. Rules are good enough but still would like to see more depth in them than hit XX shot, XX times to enable XX award for each mode. It works but been there and done that on plenty of other games.

All my opinions of course, don't think you'd be disappointed with any of them hopefully. Or just go buy The Walking Dead and have a game better than all of them.

Yes I am Garys right hand man....how could you tell? I'm not the only person hyping up AS, many people on here are and many people like it better than MET even, and I happen to be one of them. MET is obviously a great game but for whatever reason it just doesn't do much for me. I think its because I don't like the music probably.

You should buy a Williams Argosy.

Hobbit is a very long playing game with a lot of modes to dig into, but a bit less of an adrenaline rush IMO. If you like a deep game, with a long "journey", then Hobbit would be the best for you.

I own AS and Met, and they are both great. AS grabs you right from the start, and is just a constant blast to play. Met takes a little bit of effort/time to get a game going (no normal modes), but once you get a good game going it has a lot of awesome modes and multiballs - as you know since you have friends with it. AS and Met are pretty equal overall IMO - Met has pros over AS, and vice versa. You will get more Met votes for sure, because there are a lot more Met owners than AS owners and most will vote for what they own. People that own the same level of both will give you a less biased opinion IMO.

I would choose AS because it's new, and you've probably been playing Met for the last 4 years. IMO less experienced players will prefer AS over Met - because like I said it takes a bit to get Met going. Again - both are fast and fun.

you need to like hitting drop and stand-up targets, at least 11 drop and 10 stand-up if i'am not wrong. this is equal or more than mechanic pinball.

and you also need to not really care about a quite unused 3rd flipper.

Tough decision between hobbit and AS. If your buddies have MET I'd pass on that. Hobbit is a long game but very special. AS is tough as nails but a blast to play. Can't go wrong with either but I'd buy an AS Pro, and put 2k toward a Dialed In

I own Hobbit and Metallica. Both great games. Neither choice is wrong. Metallica gets to be like chopping wood sometimes, yet it's a high adrenaline rush. Hobbit is really cool not only since it's one of the Best looking games ever, but because it plays different than most games. Hobbit starts out peaceful and slow, strategically hitting shots, and then it suddenly takes off and goes absolutely nuts. It's a great journey through the 3 movies and modes. I'm currently debating on moving on from Metallica, but can't fully decide. Hobbit I doubt ever leaves. It is about time though for a final code update. My vote, especially per your theme preference is Hobbit.

Play limited on AS at show but I did like it. I have met and TH both great but I love TH.
TH is something I really enjoy playing
I think these are solid choices

A game which you enjoy playing , opinions are subjective what we like might not be the same for you. To be honest just play some of the games which you might fancy then make the decision

Slightly OT but curious whether TH fans consider it on par with LOTR?

I have hobbit and lotr next to each other. Besides the Middle Earth themeand longer game times potentially (many of my games are pretty short on both but if you get them going you will be there a while) I find them to be nothing alike

I liked playing Hobbit the few times I did but not that great of game for money. Aerosmith sounds like a fun game but have not tried one myself yet. Really don't like the theme, though. I don't love Metallica either but think the metal songs work well as theme. MET is kind of repetitive but such a fun game. The more I played it the more I liked it. Ended up having to get one last year. The pro is a lot of game for the money. You could buy another game with money saved over Hobbit.

I love our Hobbit. It really does get going crazy after getting into the game. It is definitely a game that needs set up at about 7.1° incline though. It's not floaty then like many people say from playing in the wild. I don't have enough time on lotr, but it looks like a great game. After playing both, I definitely prefer Hobbit.
Also, for the price of Hobbit compared to a premium stern, Hobbit just feels like you get more and better quality. Aerosmith has certainly gained ground on jjp however. AS does look fun.

I would rule out any games your friends have, you can always play it at there house , so it never gets old, and vice versa they can play your new machine at your place.

Good choice on TH. The code is great and feels complete. I agree that there needs to be a final Wizard mode once all three Arkenstone modes have been played, but personally haven't gotten that far yet. Revisions are still in beta and lots of people comment about them on the owner's thread. So wouldn't worry that it won't happen. Just picked up LOTR and looks great next to TH. There are similarities in theme and gameplay (Keith Johnson coded both) but also some differences. The shots are different and standard vs widebody make the gameplay different as well. Having both is like the source material, same universe, different tales. Just depends which adventure you want to take.