I agree I am a bit underwhelmed with smaug. . . . and that plastic book looks like ass . . . is that placeholder? does it do anything?

Is that book final and Does smaug interact with the ball at all? hoping we get more videos and pictures of this game in action.

really kind of lame and that book. . . . I just can't get over the placement of it and it just looks out of place. I have to see more pictures and video, but very underwhelmed by this reveal.

yes, I would like to see the gold smaug also and if this is an option red smaug with gold trim and side art.

agree! is this a possibility?

If this is the case people need to know and what will change in the final game. If this is the current state of the game and final it's not looking so hot for the hobbit. I am sure after expo JJP will speak out and give an update on whats final and whats not.

was the lower subway working at all to people that played it?

100% agree

Its great to get an update direct from JJP about some of the concerns. But there are a number of issues that I think are to large to fix in the given time frame. I don't see Smaug being altered much and I was really looking forward to how he would be integrated into the game. I have already owned "The Dark Knight" and seeing Smaug like the Joker was a let down.

Good to hear about the book being placeholder, because that was just a mess.

Also watching people play the game in videos I just don't get the 3rd flipper. I thought this would make more sense after seeing the game being played, but it just seems to serve no purpose.

As others have said the game will be out within a couple months and I don't see any larger changes being addressed. The game has already had a very long dev cycle and time is $

We will see how the game shapes up as time progresses. I would love to see this one come together, but with so many other buying options on the table in 2015 its going to be a flooded market for pin buyers. Especially if LOTR VE comes out with that color DMD combo! That would just be a brutal hit to this title.

This is what it comes down to time. If the game needs to be out by Dec 17th not much will change. I would much rather have a delay and better game. I am not confident that all of my concerns about hobbit can be addressed in the given time frame, sucks because I was really looking forward to this game.

If possible I would much rather have it delayed as long as possible to get it right.

This is the rationalization I have also come to. . .

yes, many have. This game just had a lot of expectation and build up, with such an incredible theme and WOZ as the bar, hobbit does not hold up. Lets hope for some good updates and changes.

yep all 3 of those games got nailed and personally I really enjoy each of those games. Hell I even like the games that everyone bashes on and own Transformers and Avengers! I love those games

This is on my bucket list to design a professionally built pinball machine. Would love to one day have a chance to do it, not sure what the pay is like though. In the meantime I will stick to video games, but I do agree the designer should be driving everything and the games overall vision.

Speaking of south park I did work on the old classic South Park N64! hahahaha ok back on topic

I hope he gets some teeth or the mold gets revisited. I really liked seeing the entire body of Smaug like in mock up someone did shown on the first post in this thread. My expectation for this game was that he would look just like shown in this mock-up, his entire body and not just a head. His head would be down and sleeping default, but would pop up at set-times and the tail would divert the ball.

I also really want to see a mode where he is sleeping and the player must avoid hitting certain switches not to wake him up.

If he does stay as-is I hope JJP fixes the head mold (gets him teeth) and gets a nice looking mountain with surrounding molds to make it feel cohesive.

I would be so happy if this happened, even if it means delaying the game. Plus I think if this portion of the game is re-worked a bit JJP will be selling more Hobbits. This is how he should have been in the first place, but who knows did anyone ask if Smaug was placeholder or going to change?

agree, I was just asking what others thought or if anything was mentioned about it direct from JJP or heard at expo. I do not assume anything mechanical will be re-done @ this point.