Right on brother,well said!

Great, more fuel for another 1/2 hour of ranting from that guy.

Another kaneda roller coaster ride!

Kaneda talks a lot about pinball but that doesn’t mean he knows anything.
Its kinda like most threads on Pinside. A very few contain useful information. The rest... not so much.

Yet you all still tune in.

I bought Wonka and like the game, but I agree with much of what Kaneda says. This game could have been a home run, but ended up being just a good game. Drains from the pop bumpers happen a lot.......too much, thank god for the ball save. The voice actor sucks. Movie assets were poorly used. Code structure is poor. With all of that I give the game a solid B+. Oh, and I didn’t even mention the fact my playfield is chipping and where is the Candy Man song!! If you hate Kaneda you are probably the type of person that focuses on only one side of the coin........A coin has two!

I say play what you like. Who cares what he thinks?

Looks like Kaneda claims another victim. It blows my mind how certain people can get so tied up in knots over another person thoughts and opinions....like he's the oracle of pinball or something.

A message to whoever is holding that gun to OP's head forcing him to listen - please stop and allow this man to go about his life in peace.

Just posted a 36 minute pod. You are closest without going over!

Listening now...

Why does one persons opinion upset you so much? Have you never changed your mind about something? You love the game. That’s great! Have fun and stop caring about all the noise.

There's a Willy Wonka game?

For me, it's not so much what he says but how he sounds when he says it that i find annoying, so I had to stop listening

Bravo! Now why can't everyone just do that instead of posting their grievances with Kaneda's podcast all the time?

I got to admit I listen occasionally,even tho he’s an Ahole
Do your think there’s any truth to the Turtles rumour he’s spewing?

I think the theme is very poorly integrated on this machine. So poorly, that it kept me from buying this game.

And it's not about having more movie clips or call outs. It's about using the assets in a way that relates to the movie.

I don't listen to K, so I have no opinion on that portion of the topic.

Exactly!! If you love Wonka, why do you care what anyone else thinks? Enjoy the things that make you happy and don’t worry about anybody’s opinions.

-If you hate Kaneda, don’t listen and enjoy something else.
-If you love Kaneda, listen and enjoy

Wonka is all on perspective

Owners: Wonka is amazing

non-owners: Wonka sucks

Opinions vary if you dropped 9k on this dud or not.

I talk to a lot of pinheads and it's the first game since wrestlemania where i haven't heard a single positive review.

Well, I left a positive review on Pinside for it. And it's not an issue of justifying the purchase or not having enough pins to play. I've got arguably the hottest games in pinball right now: JJPOTC, Wonka, and Jurassic Park.

Wonka is by far the one that has us deeply hooked right now. And that's not a slight on the other two because everyone knows POTC and JP are also amazing!
There is something about the game that has a seriously addictive quality.

Maybe it's the difficulty? It beats you up a while, then you have that one amazing game and it gets you riled up again.

I have an SE with now over 4000 plays and I am eagerly ready to upgrade to CE.

I mean from players off the street in conversation - not pinsiders or owners of the machine.

Admittedly the game makes a tough first impression. It takes a while to learn to fight back and make progress and that's when the hooks are dug in.

The first night with the machine I was pretty unhappy. Now we can't stay off of it.

Perhaps the new "coin op" settings that make the game easier will help with that.

kaneda ? Never heard of it. Is that a soft drink?

I think it’s that country to the north of the United States

this comment just literally had me spit take my coffee...

There's more to the story. Is suspect he felt like he had to buy it after being invited to the factory and had to come up with some excuse when he realized he couldn't flip it for a profit

I don't think so. He clearly stated it was the code and lack of more assets. I totally understand what he's saying. The game is beautiful, it's got a cool playfield, it's a great theme, but the code is a miss with not using the movie correctly. It should follow the movie progress, and it just doesn't. Now does that mean it's still not fun or great? No. The game is fun, and I would love to own one, but just like potc, I wanted more assets like woz and Hobbit had. Same exact deal with Jurassic Park. Everyone has a different taste, and it's all good. I like assets at this price. He clearly states several times that some people will enjoy Wonka, and still says the game is fun. It just doesn't fully deliver the theme like he expected.

I don't think theme integration necessarily requires the pinball machine to re create the movie, or follow the movie progress. But, the pinball machine should at least integrate the movie assets in a way that makes sense.

For example, Wonkavision. It's definitely an iconic thing from the movie, so I'm glad it's represented in the game. But, in the game, Wonkavision is a screen. And, it's used as a screen, presenting the player with info, images etc.

In the movie, the whole point of Wonkavision is that it's NOT a screen. It transmits physical objects through the air and they get smaller. Then you can reach in and grab them. At first, everyone thinks it's a screen, but there's NO screen.

I think the pinball machine blew it by making this into a screen, and actually USING it as a screen in the game. Personally I would have represented Wonkavision in the game using a physical trick to make the ball smaller, using a mini ball in some fashion. But even if you're going to use a screen to show things getting smaller via Wonkavision, that's fine, but DON'T use it as a normal screen too.

Also, the Gobstopper. Another icon which definitely needs to be in the game. So, it's in there. But how is it used? I mean, why am I shooting it 3 times and what does it represent? They should have integrated this better with the actual movie.

Pinball is very subjective. K's podcast is just his personal opinions/rants on pinball, if you don't agree with his pinball world view you're probably going to be irritated by listening to it so maybe don't?

For what it's worth I sort of agree with him on Wonka. I was ready to buy it, but the theme integration just didn't work for me. I'm happy lots of people enjoy it though and am always willing to change my mind.

I do think grown adults should be able to have huge disagreements on pinball and realize that it means next to nothing in the scheme of things. Not sure why it ever has to get personal. (I've failed to live up to this standard many times for some reason).

I find it hilarious that K-man continues to live rent-free in so many people’s heads, and must say it’s actually somewhat impressive that even 3+ years after being kicked off Pinside he STILL retains the power to so effectively troll this place (without a single keystroke, no less)!

Break the cycle, stop feeding the troll!

I'm still personally not a fan of the game it's a dream theme but I find the game to be very long playing and easy of you do the boring strategy. Also the lack of assets I would like to see is a killer for me.

This is as far as I read, but you're right, you shouldn't listen. Life is too short.

I can’t decide if the game is good or not, or if I like it yet. But I finally got in a few games on an LE, and....Kaneda’s 100% right on no audio attached to video. It’s unfathomably lame and an utter fail. Same with the chocolate factory “animation” that sits on the LCD most of the time. Looks like a kid drew it. It’s uninspired. You have the movie to work with and use that?!?

Game is gorgeous and shoots like butter. Feels well made. JJP games do feel like B/W games, and that’s the bar right there.

But I don’t really enjoy the layout, so I’m not sure how I’m going to feel about this one. So far it’s just meh for me.

Oh, and not one ball went SDTM out of the pops.

"Game is gorgeous and shoots like butter. Feels well made. JJP games do feel like B/W games, and that’s the bar right there."

Well said here. I agree 100%. Unfortunately, the game is an absolute failure for me though b/c of all the things mentioned in here already (sound, horrible theme integration, cheap drains, etc) - it just isn't fun. Period.

Has nothing to do with being hard either - I've actually progressed pretty well in it but it's just not fun. Let down of 2019 for me no question so I'm not sure if the OP means the verdict he gave himself but the verdict for me (and many other people I talk to that aren't owners trying to defend their purchase) - this game is a wonker.

LEs sitting around and a CE that is MIA is never a good thing. Bring on GnR.

Jersey Jack has again taken pinball to a new level. Take alone the Kid multiball route - combines cool features of both MB and MM - you‘re qualifying kids (like monsters) then you play a mode to collect them - I don‘t think something is unlocked for collecting all the kids, though, it might be a cool feature. Once you‘ve qualified some kids and hit the far left lane then the MM part starts up - if you complete this then another mode starts (with golden ticket). Then there‘s all the other rule sections - factory tour, different bonuses, multipliers and side modes - everything potentially at the same time. Was there ever such a nonlinear game? You even get to collect things - Wonka bars.

JJP uses the screen like an animated backbox. Your status is shown on various locations in a playful way within a cohesive whole. There are film clips to break things up, but they‘re not too distracting. If I want to see film clips I pull out the blu-ray. It‘s much less expensive than a pin.

With amazing light shows, sappy music fitting to the film, innovative layout and it‘s all driven by a standard pc running on linux. What‘s not to like, except maybe the price ? - Euro 8600.

The CE is likely MIA because of playfield issues, I’m guessing they don’t want it going out unless they know it’s perfect. Can’t believe people are hitting them on this. If they get it out and it has issues, people will be pissed, they can’t win. Yeah, it’s a long time to wait, but I’d rather wait then get a bad game. It’s unfortunate, but if that’s the reason for the delay, good for them. Stern just keeps sending bad stuff out the door.

There is only one cheap drain, not drains, and it’s the pops and while it’s frustrating, it really only happens maybe 1 out of 10 times, just need to be ready to nudge the game. Maybe future code could pulse the magnets above the flippers after the pops are hit to divert it. If you think the outlanes are cheap drains, you can close them up easily. I installed the extra post on the left side and it makes a big difference.

I have my game hooked up to an external sub and it sounds great. The video assets dont bother me as much as some others seem to be bothered by it. The new code update has some improvements.

Overall, it’s one of my favorite games. I like it better than JP, so much more going on and a world above in terms of quality, depth and light show.

To each his own.

Sorry but that statement = Garbage. R U kidding, have u played JP?

Of course, I owned it several weeks. It’s a great game, but I prefer wonka. If people hit wonka for theme integration, I don’t know how you cannot hit JP for it. It has nothing to do with the movie(s). That doesn’t make it a bad game, I just feel wonka pulls me into the game more than jp.

A premium/Le jp does not compare to a standard/le wonka for the same price. There is so much more to wonka.

I wish the polls would show you who voted which way! Love to see who voted “Wonka failed”.

The fact that one of the best themes is 50/50 fail vs success per the vote is crystal clear on why this game is a disappointment. It should have been a clear winner.

They had to try to make this one not succeed.

And the pf issues have nothing to do with at least showing what the CE looks like.

So for the people who are out solely due to the asset use...honest question from me, why?

Star Wars had clips with sound and they get SO repetitive after hundreds of games. I insta-skip them every single time.
As for “telling the story” - also puzzling to me, do you want every game to start with the same mode? To tell a story that’s what you’d have to do, unless I am missing something.

Wonka gets played more than JJPoTC but less than JPLE in my collection. JPLE is my current go-to. But Wonka is beautiful, has butter-like gameplay (think of a HEP B/W) and deep rules. The only "failure" about it was my losing the ball out the left side, until I stuck in the post. Yeah, the narrator stinks, but he's still corny AF, just like the movie. JJP likes that kid-friendly old timey crap tho. The theme would have resonated with me more with the new WW movie. Boingo music, Deep Roy playing all the Oompa Loompas--use THOSE assets with Wilder's face and I'd have loved it. I LOVE edgy stuff.

That said, I do love me some Wonka pinball.

As for JPLE, I dig what's linear about it, the flow, etc. I keep going back to it.

Ur missing something alright. Its StarWars. R U putting SW's in the same theme category with Wonka?

U would need to give an example of a pinball machine where the clips and sound doesn't get repetitive after hundreds of games. U won't be able to because it doesn't exist. I think most people can handle SW's a lot longer than some other themes out there. At least I could. Some pins, TWD, MET, BK3 I had to attenuate the call outs to the point that they are inaudible.

Is it supposed to be different than what's on their site?

Screenshot_20191012-105551 (resized).png

YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!! (We want nothing to do with him either, though I suppose it's a fair comment since you guys are stuck with Beiber.)

Well now u went from garbage to high grade commercial toxic waste.

OP sounds way too invested in the opinions of others for their own happiness. And why listen if it upsets you so much?

Wonka is amazing. I also enjoy Kaneda's podcast. I'll even go further: I bet there is a high probability that he still buys that CE when its released. Wait and see. He clearly cares about the future of the game or he wouldn't keep bitching about it. The bottom line is that it shoots better and has more to offer than any other pin out there right now.

Exactly my point. They get annoying and repetitive so how can the lack of them be a deal-breaker on a pin?

Does anyone with a JJPOTC complain about the assets? Nope.

Haters gonna hate, lovers gonna love!

So much time, so little to do...

Per jjp themselves, yes or it might be different.

They said that is subject to change and haven't said anything since.