Finally got a chance to play WW today! I’ve got an hour on the machine and it’s a fun shooter. It’s really early for me to say one is better than the other but after an hour on each game I feel Oktoberfest is more fun.

There’s just not a lot in the game compared to Fest. Fest is packed cool stuff to do and better mechs. Hands down better mechs than WW. Not even a contest.

Three things stand out in Fest:

1. Two physical ball locks that do something really fun with the balls when released. The rollercoaster and the keg drop on the beer stein magnet. I like those two mechs better than any toy on WW.

2. The bar bash toy is slightly better than the WW secret machine. You can bash to open much like the secret machine. And Otto the bartender interacts.

3. Targets. Lots more to shoot for. I counted at least 20 Stand-up targets on Fest. The crescent shaped banks of targets are “swipe-able” - something I’m not sure has been done before.

As for the theme, Wonka is a favorite movie having seen it a dozen times. But I don’t want that theme in my man cave. I’m not 12 anymore. For me Oktoberfest just makes me happy when I played it. The beer festival/carnival game atmosphere is a better fit for me.

I just bought MBr SE last week so I probably won’t be buying an Oktoberfest this year but it right at the top of my wishlist.

I'm the first to admit that I was very critical of the animations. However, there are not that bad and have improved. As someone pointed out, there's a lot more going things of substance going on on the Oktoberfest screen than WW.

The "content" on the WW screen and sound package is not great. I found the theme integration to be TERRIBLE! Why would anyone think it is okay to play movie clips with no sound. What's the point of the movie clips without the sound? After all, its far more likely you'll be listening than watching. Missed opportunity by JJP.

A few months ago I might have agreed. Stern has really upped their game. BKSOR and JP have pretty good animations. The rendering of the Hell Hand is the coolest thing I've seen on a pinball machine display. JP also has some great (and some wonky) animations. The gap is closing.

I find it shocking that Oktoberfest still leads in this poll. 150+ voters is a significant number of votes. Perhaps WW was not as good as the initial hype train and that Oktoberfest is better than the initial hate train. I hope people take 2nd look at API games. They are way better than they were initially given credit for.

Thank God we have you to explain this little known and understood phenomenon. Well duh, that's been going on in marketing since the dawn of time. Doesn't mean that's how all manufacturers set their serial numbers.

In the Houdini thread people where posting their serial numbers and you could see the progression as sales went up from very low serial numbers. I got mine two months into the run and guys that were getting their machines at the same time were posting in the 1090s and mine was 1098 (#98). Josh Kugler posted the process back then. If serial number is 1071, then 71 heads were created. Didn't mean they were shipped in that exact order but I don't believe there was an attempt to fool customers with some serial number scheme.

Agree! Houdini is a difficult machine. Difficult doesn't equal "not fun." Oktoberfest is also difficult. But was you get better at learning these machine they really open up. I've had some epic, epic games on Houdini.

BTW, I really don't think the lock shot is that difficult. There are easily as difficult shots on most new Stern games. Not sure why people freaked out over that particular shot. I hit it on 40-50% of my attempts. For some reason, the only time I can't seem to find it is during timed modes like the Bullet Catch.

Houdini had many screens that were not complete or "placeholders." Nearly all of that has been resolved. I'm sure there will be many more releases of code for Oktoberfest over the next year.