Some of us think it's one of the greatest themes ever. It's a shame so many people think pinball can't be pinball unless it has superhero dudes in tight pants, vampires & zombies, or rock & roll bands.

The fact of the matter is, Jack isn't trying to pander to the traditional pinball market. So he doesn't need to follow the same, tired formula Stern has been doing on autopilot for the last 10 years... Perhaps it's time to attract something other than middle-aged white guys to the hobby?

The WOZ theme is really deep and existential. It's not so shallow and viceral like modern pinball themes where they're all we're-the-good-guys-theyre-the-bad-guys-LETS-KILL-THE-BAD-GUYS! Basically with few exceptions, the last dozen Stern themes have been the exact same thing. Just another variation of cops and robbers with different costumes. WOZ has so many intricate things going on within the plot and the characters and their symbolisms... perhaps in time you can learn to appreciate the many different layers of things going on in that theme? Or maybe not. I recognize some people just want blood and explosions, but I look forward to WOZ attracting a different group of players who appreciate more subtlety.

What you guys don't understand is that WOZ is the "Beatles" of adventure movies. Everyone from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to John Carpenter and Michael Bay would credit The Wizard of Oz as being an epic, inspiring and amazing piece of cinema history which influenced their own careers.

How many films have a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes????
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1092277-wizard_of_oz/

And Judy Garland isn't so tough to look at... I'd choose her over Angus Young or Optimus Prime any day: judy.jpg

I'm curious.. what do you think of Circus Voltaire? It would be hard to top that game in terms of limp-wristed goodness.

It blows me away how little significance people give to what I personally think is the most important part of the game: the software. The software determines the scoring, the modes, the gameplay, the ruleset, how everything integrates, the lightshow, and everything in between.

In this respect, WOZ has Keith Johnson, the undisputed best software developer of the modern pinball era.

Themes are OK, but if the gameplay isn't enthralling, all you have are some graphics and sound bits. Stern has some rock star designers, but their rock star software guy is now with JJP. TSPP and LOTR are nothing without KJ's contribution.

There's plenty of good reasons to be very excited about WOZ, not simply because they have a veritable "dream team" of accomplished developers, but they also have a virtually unlimited budget (compared to all their competition), creative freedom, and recognize that they have to make this game several steps above everything else or it won't matter. I think they're under no illusions about how critical the first game is and how good it must be or they might not have a second.

Stern is only stepping up their game because they feel compelled to, and even then the new designers on board are being hamstrung by management and bean counters -- I'm not saying that's wrong - it probably makes good business sense because in the end Stern was the last company standing so they must have done something right, but Stern has never had a history of blowing peoples' minds with innovation (with a few exceptions like Orbitor One). OTOH JJP is taking a much more grandiose approach and willing to put a lot more on the line. He strikes me as the kind of guy who does not want to lose, and every step he's taken demonstrates that he wants to make sure he doesn't.

The other players in the industry, whether we're talking about Predator, JPop, P3, etc. they're all hobbyists in comparison.

I think it's possible for one of the the underdogs to show up even JJP. If so, it's going to come down to the software, not the playfield; not the theme. If Predator or MG or BHZA can do really cool things with technology and rules that bring new things to the game, that will change the industry. We'll have to wait and see. But IMO, in the long run, the theme won't matter if the software doesn't kick ass. And I don't see anyone else attributing the necessary significance to the software that JJP has.

However, Stern has Gomez, and I think it would be unwise to underestimate what he can do if he's let off the leash... Hell he did P2K which is still light years ahead of everything else! I know those guys have a lot of great ideas that I'd like to see make into reality.

Speak of the devil, or should I say the wicked warlord of the cpu? ; )

C'mon give us some info.. you can give us just a little tiny tidbit on what you've got planned? Just between us here. Nobody else has to know. We won't say a thing to Jack. Just between us.. shhhhhh : )

Really? What part of "Shoot the left ramp!", "Shoot the quickie mart!", "Shoot the garage!" doesn't make sense? When Bart says "Daredevil ramps" or "Daredevil bumpers" doesn't it make sense that they want you to hit the ramps and bumpers? And then there are always the huge honkin' flashing yellow triangles signaling what to shoot for. I've never seen a game that was more intuitive of what to shoot for than TSPP.

I've hear other people say, "I don't know what I'm doing on TSPP. I don't like games where all of a sudden you can score huge points and not know what you did.." I don't see this happening on any regular basis in my experience. You can flail around at the ball, yes, like you can on any pinball game, but to score big points, it's hard to do that accidentally. Something as simple as trying to stack more than one TV mode before couch multiball is a major undertaking that is very unlikely to be done accidentally.

It is true that in a game like TSPP there are lots of different objectives. It's like the Grand Theft Auto of pinball. You can play around randomly and then look and see where you are towards various modes and begin to focus on certain objectives, or you can try for something specific immediately. Maybe the number of choices turns some people off, but I think it's what makes the game so playable over and over in the long run.