Enh... I dunno about all that.

I will say this: it's making money. For JJP, and probably for operators.

- JJP is operating on, from a business perspective, one hell of a business model: everyone pays for their machine in advance_, without having something tangible in front of them. Stern doesn't do that. JJP's model is a great business model from the business perspective - they get paid right away. It's a tough model for the consumer - they just put faith in that business. But I don't think you'll ever hear JJP complaining about their business model. The fact that people are buying into it is, IMHO, impressive. That causes me to raise my eyebrows: pinball people sure are willing to throw their money around on faith. Doesn't surprise me that Stern is following suit by raising prices and pre-selling certain models, like Hulk LE. There clearly is more money to be made here than previously thought, and made easier than previously thought.
- That said, after playing the one at Expo (great build quality, sad software) and the one at MGC (they fixed the software!), its a pretty good game.
- It's an entertainment product with a children's theme, which is brilliant. Stern's last few games are not aimed at younger children, which really limits their target market. In the film industry, children's films make lots of money, far more money than rated-R films do. Why? Because the number of tickets purchased is far greater. Parents will take their kids. The likelihood that parents would be willing to put quarters into a WOZ machine for their kids to play is much higher. After showing video of WOZ to my dad, he said "If that was around when you were younger, I would have totally let you play it."
- It ties into current pop culture with the movie Oz the Great and Powerful. Wizard of Oz is on people's minds. Hobbit? Same thing.
- Wizard of Oz fits in the last place for kid-friendly coin-op entertainment: the Family Fun Center. I can see WOZ making a mint at FFCs. POTC makes mint at FFCs near me for the same reason.
- The build quality is terrific, and I think is aimed at the PC-builder generation. Most of the assemblies use LEDs and are wired up with CAT5. The bundles are neater. After watching the video from the PAPa group showing the underside of the machine, I got warm fuzzies. They are trying to adopt some of the same approach the Pin2K team did: make the machine easier to maintain for operators.

Those are a few of the ideas I've had kicking around in my head.

At the Stern Launch Party in Chicago, Josh S. basically had to *ask* women to play Avengers. There's a demographic that's being missed. I also find it hard to believe that a six-year old girl would want to play Avengers unless prompted by someone else.

I really don't believe the "all ages/all demographics" argument for modern Sterns. Sorry. They are by and large built by geeks + nerds + bros for geeks + nerds + bros. And that's fine - I am a nerd, after all. But there's more to this world than that. There are a few more pocketbooks and markets to be tapped here, and given some pinball fun.

JJP is taking a chance with something outside the norm. It will be neat to see if it works out.