Smaug in the above photo looks like he is visiting Hawaii

If the license holder actually put restrictions on smaug interacting with the ball, that is INSANE. Why would you let someone license something, and then throw out all these rules keeping JJP on making the damn thing cool? What the hell do these people managing the license rights know about pinball? Nothing.

Got to say it's dissapointing
Will wait to see the game play, but at $10,000 over here in UK, I can't say I'm going to stay in on this.

Costs do not define the price sold... Artificial constraint is always a way to raise selling prices. The key tho is people need to want that edition...

I doubt it's the licensor's fault. I'm not buying the same excuse he used for those clumsy sculpts. I doubt Warner Bros asked for that blotchiness and lack of polish.

I think the simplest explanation is usually the right one and that JJP is not as high-budget as it used to be, they're just doing this game on the cheap to make up for the extravagance of WoZ. Or maybe that Hobbit license cost him a pretty penny, which forced him to lower the budget for the rest of the game.

Yep this exactly even though i lost interest long ago i have no idea why this was kept under wraps for so long? Compared to Sparky on met its not on that level at all art wise.

Its a well done head but no body or arms and seems off color wise. What they should have done is shown this earlier after second film was released and asked for feedback. Talking effect is a great idea but it will get old fast and no custom speech from Benidict Cumberbatch. I can only hear " i am king under the mountain" so much so my two viewings of the second film were plenty.

After looking at the players view of this toy i am shocked they went with this. Sorry Matt no offense as i am normally a fan of your work but that is in no way menacing. Hope the gamepLay makes people forget about this overhyped and letdown of a toy.

Some of you people better check your teeth this morning with all the gnashing going on.

Seriously, wtf, let's see some gameplay. Smaug doesn't have to lick your balls for crying out loud.

One of my favorite toys on a pin is the simple yet very cool rotating big foot on Wh20

Have a little patience, the call outs and clips with Smaug will probably do something with your balls

The flyer does say;

'The mountain spins to reveal Smaug who can talk to you and steal your pinballs'.

I can not see how, but says he can.

He does interact with the ball

Not being a downer, but I too am a little Underwhelmed. I want this to machine to be great so I will have to reserve final judgement until I see the game in person - I almost liken Smaug to DE T-Rex! Maybe Winter_is_coming can make a new Smaug too
Thanks for the pics everyone!!

Too bad...

I'm a big Tolkien/LOTR fan, and a Hobbit fan --- albeit to a lesser extent.
I love the look of the Hobbit, and Keefer is tops on rule set /programming. But for this price point, I think I'm going to go towards P3 / Multimorphix instead.

For everyone who is complaining about Smaug and what he does and doesn't do, you have to know that JJP went round and round with the rights holders. They refused to allow Smaug to EAT the balls or be used as a 'bash" toy. JJP was pretty limited in what they were allowed to do with Smaug.

They could've done something like Godzilla, like he came up from under the playfield.

godzilla_14.jpg

Did you not see the inside of the game? It's got a TON more to it than WOZ and a redesigned lighting system. I think they spent a LOT more to bring us this game.

Than JJP shouldn't have used Smaug as the main focal point in the game.
It's basically Rudy who can turn his head. I will say that Rudy is one of the best interactive toys in pinball.

All artists that have worked with the suits had to fight for their ideas, James Cameron had to break down a door back when he was a nobody.

If all else fails, forget Smaug and go with another creature.

He physically talks, but yeah not much else, im a little bummed. The drops are cool but really they are still just drop targets, there is innovation in the way they work but drop targets have been in pinball for many decades. That book looks very uninspired. I hate to say it but just cause a game weighs more than your last game doesnt mean its better aesthetically. There are two toys on this game, smaug (no ball interaction), and the troll pop ups. Where is the innovation? Only innovation is the independent drop targets. Man this game was hyped so far beyond what it is. Meh

So, the Hobbit video game won't have the player fighting Smaug? Makes no sense.

And what about having Smaug swipe the ball with his tail? Would Warner Bros have said no to that? What about using a negative magnet to push the ball when Smaug breathes fire at the ball?

Or what about going with another creature?

There are no excuses for this kind of disappointment.

I think people would be more understanding if it was stated as something like:

We tried all sorts of ideas, but reliability was an issue, and we wanted to create a rock solid game that can earn tons of money on location.

Who would argue with that? Hiding behind the license seems weak.

No one is hiding behind anything. Those are the facts. Like it or not.

It is what it is at this point. I think where things went south a bit was certain things were said early on that set expectations high about ball interaction. I still think the game looks awesome.

There have been many movie license themes in pinball's history, but all of a sudden we got the licensor from hell...

oops

A little clip.

JJP has been giving is excuses since the beginning of WOZ. They over sell and over promise everything and when they don't deliver, they blame someone else.

That's why they need to make a game, produce a finished product and sell/ship them. Maybe they need to follow sterns method a bit more closely.

yes, a letdown. With the anticipation for the reveal that JJP created I certainly thought there would be more. I honestly expected the entire back of the game to be taken up by Smaug. Maybe a moving tale that would lock balls or a claw that would swipe at the ball as it was locked on a magnet or something. The reveal of the dragon is such a power image from the movie, I just don't get any of that from the way it is used in the pin.

I have no doubt the rules will be great so Smaug certainly isn't going to make or break the game for me but I certainly feel a letdown after all of JJP's buildup.

What a great and practical idea, Rob T(roll). But why stop there? Why not have Smaug consult me on my wardrobe and go on double dates together? That sounds reasonable, no?

??

snake.jpg

Lol, anything that gets announced or released gets killed on this site.

The smaug is not what I was expecting. But the more I think about it and look at it the more I think it's going to be really cool. Ball interaction would have been nice but if coded right it still could be extremely interactive. I like how smaug is revealed and that he will be taunting you as you play. As far as everyone freaking out about lack of innovation, did you see the pictures from under the playfield? I think the drops and pop up targets along with the crazy amount of modes has a chance to make this game a must have. Why not wait until you can play or it at least see several game play video's before making a definate decision on the game. I'm really excited to play this game or at least see some other people playing it.

You people crack me up with your "TWD sucks, TH sucks, TBL is awesome" even though no game play has ever been seen or exists for TBL.

He is not being a "troll", he is being constructive. That being said, it is the most interesting game at the moment .imho.

Doesn't anyone remember the big ST reveal one year ago--all the anticipation focused on the laser light show followed by immense disappointment? Turns out, it's a fun game anyway.

Based on some of the disappointment levels, I think people expected Smaug to detach from the game, fly around, and lay a big dragon dump on a ramp to block your shot.

Its an 8k pinball game with what appears to be some pretty cool innovation and effects. The drop target functionality alone looks incredible along with the timed LCD animations.

Wow. Godzilla definitely looks better than Smaug. I have never played that game but no doubt that looks cool. The Joker gimmick just doesn't cut it considering the huge build up.

or just interact and have a presence befitting all the hype. No hype, no letdown.

Ok I will say this woz looks packed full of stuff and toys; hobbit looks sparse and other then the heads that pop out of the playfield and the gigantic talking head; there are no other toys, and the shots are way too far away from the flippers; not to mention the screen looks even more confusing now that it is split up into 5 segments now.

My first impression of disappointment comes from too much hype and my own deluded expectations. While I have no love for the theme, I thought woz was amazing and was eagerly awaiting what JJP was going do with something I am keenly interested in. Leaving Smaug to be the big reveal and then having it just be a toy that takes up space and does not impact the gameplay is a let down. Aesthetically, I think it looks more like a dragonborn head from D&D wearing a high-collared grey cloak and a gold lobster bib. In my mind's eye, I unrealistically anticipated a toy that was the centerpiece of the game and showed an entire body of an imposing and articulated wyrm that had to be defeated by being bashed or it would attack the player by shooting pinballs.

Maybe after I see it live tomorrow I will be more impressed.

Personally i think Smaug looks good. It's a good if what common toy. With this i mean the mechanism and what it does isn't new. Let's be honest here, JJP brought this on themselves. Why did they do so mysterious about the Smaugtoy if they weren't really bringing anything new to the table (pun intended ). Did they really expect there would be no negative feedback or reaction?
Now for me one toy doesn't make or brake a pin. And i'm pretty sure The hobbit will be a blast to play thanks to the combination of rules sound and pleasant shots.

I hope this is not a finished product of The Hobbit! Looks like a lot is missing. I can't explain. Can someone help me here.

You are totally missing the point here. JJP made it all about Smaug. They announced an innovative toy that would interact with the ball in more than one way. Now here it is and it does basically nothing that Jack said he would do.
So the licensor didn't let you do cool things with the dragon? I don't care, because it wasn't Warner who made big mouthed promises.

But yeah, at least I get some drop targets. And a book that Bilbo the mentally challenged Hobbit started to write not on the first page, but in the middle.
And all the other great features: shaker and stuff... Hey, it's true, manufacturer XY doesn't even have invisglass for that price!

Give me a break, that's not the point. Jack said innovative and interactive so that's what people expected.

Really?

There is an option to cancel.

I agree with you Pen, there is an option to cancel for anyone who doesn't like what they see here. I'll go one further, at least with JJP you don't loose $500 like you would have with PPS.

I think Smaug looks cool and when audio and mouth-movement and lightning are combined well, it's gonna look great. And maybe a nice effect with the turning-around-timing (when the ball goes round him).

That said: I don't really believe he couldn't do more for licensing restrictions. Maybe that's what Pinchroma has been told, but I simply don't believe it and I think it harms the credibility. Mayby A proposed smaug hasn't been approved, but simply 'we can't do anything with the ball and Smaug....' ? Maybe I'm wrong, could be, but I'm not a bit convinced.

I think it'd be better to just be proud, say that you're really confident with how it turned out seeing it IRL and that it's a shame if some people think it's disappointing (even if it's partially(?) due to the licence). Don't go hiding by saying 'it's not our fault, really, we can't help it!' If JJP hadn't done that, this post would only say the first 2 lines.

Well, anyway, I'm still excited about the Hobbit and hopes it turns out great! If software is good (rules, sound, animations and lights combined) it can even turn the most bad game into a good one. I'm confident that this game will be a good one.

I think the sculpture looks good. The gold coins look really cool. The backside of the mountain could have had a little more pizzaz. It's solid, just over-hyped.

So basically, IIRC, all that marketing talk about Smaug being the most interactive toy ever boiled down to a broken promise, or a lie, because it was being yapped up before it was approved what it could and could not do with the licensor?

/facepalm

Third game's a charm? I hope to god it's Lawlor's original theme so you guys don't run into idiotic problems like this. Yes, disappointed would be a good word here. All the time to wait for it to be revealed, and it's a Stern Batman Joker with a moving jaw? OY.

The total package looks AWESOME! 28 modes of Keith rules. Jam packed pin. See some of the Smaug clips on the 27 inch lcd. Not "dots"

I'll take it

I thought it would be cool (and I guess expected from the hype) if Smaug "protected" the target bank by swiveling in front of it. Add a switch (for bashing) and a magnet (for ball capturing) to his head. In one mode, the targets are gold and you have to hit them without hitting Smaug...maybe he captures the ball (the hobbit) and the mode is over. In another mode, the targets are his body and you need to hit him, but can do more damage with a head shot. Oh well.

It's been well known for a long time that the Tolkien estate is one of the toughest licensors to work with....apparently by everyone except JJP.