Nice to finally see some official confirmation so the speculation can end. I can't wait to see the first photos!

The most recent season ended almost 3 months ago, and new seasons typically begin in early April. So they are in a lull between seasons right now. Not quite sure about the release timing, but could just be a good way to keep the series in people's minds while they wait.

Eh, sort of. It's easy to make that comparison because of the general look and feel of the show, the depth of the world that's been created, number of characters, elements of fantasy/dragons, etc. However, it's a little bit more politically oriented than LotR, dealing a lot with the various "houses" (families/dynasties) making a claim to the throne. It's kind of like the historical War of the Roses. That might sound a little dry, but it's a very entertaining show with a huge amount of drama and likable characters. The fantastic elements are reasonably limited, if you think that would be a turn-off. It can be hard to remember who's who and why they're doing what, but if you are willing to invest yourself in the show, there are a lot of good resources and it's very rewarding. Just my 2 cents.

I'm not an expert, but considering how ubiquitous and cheap LCD screens have become, I can't imagine it wouldn't be less expensive than a traditional DMD. And cutting in video clips would almost certainly be cheaper, easier and faster than animating dots from scratch. Worst-case scenario for me would be video clips converted to smeary dots again.

Whatever happens, and however the game turns out, I'm just happy to be excited about a theme and announcement again. The last handful of themes from Stern have been major misses for me, personally.

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https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-game-of-thrones/page/4#post-2659333

Didn't WHO Dunnit already do this exact thing 20 years ago?

So, I just went back and re-read the official press release for GoT, and this sentence stood out to me:

"In addition, the limited-edition model comes with a certificate of authenticity, a numbered plaque, a designer-autographed playfield, a hand-drawn cabinet and backglass artwork by Bob Stevlic."

I have no idea who Bob Stevlic is, but I find it a little odd that he should get called out in this way for art that's being extremely poorly received, while Steve Ritchie doesn't get mentioned by name anywhere? Is there a reason why Stern chose to simply use the term "designer-autographed"? It seems odd that Steve wouldn't want to be recognized, or that Stern wouldn't want to use his involvement as a selling point. I know he may not be as well-known to the general public, but is he any less famous than Bob Stevlic?

Well, I'm in the camp of people who would argue that if you're going to make it photorealistic, why even bother doing hand-drawn at all? There should at least be SOME stylistic element to it, like you'd see in a Drew Struzan movie poster, or something.

Having said that, my point was really that this is much more Steve Ritchie's game than Bob Stevlic's, so I'm surprised to see one get the recognition but not the other. After a little research, I understand that Stevlic is a respected artist in his own right. But as I said, I think Steve is a much bigger selling point and I was surprised he wasn't mentioned by name.