It think it's an amazing game, if you're a good player. I think most people can't actually play it the way it was designed...everything can be stacked on everything..timer super important, great modes and wiz modes...

My HUO is currently for sale or trade for 5k in Kamloops Send me a PM if anyone is interested in it...won't ship though..

Did I say, best game ever?? Ya best game ever

I used to think it was average, but the more and more I played it I started to really appreciate how awesome it really is.

Traded mine recently for a FG- but missed it so bought another TSPP- love the depth and challenge of the game.

I would think the ruleset alone elevates TSPP above average game status.

Now, whether one enjoys playing it or not is an entirely different matter. There are TZ haters out there as well. Doesn't mean it's an average game.

Its the best game Stern has ever made, and always will be in my opinion. YMMV.

John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, Mi.
269-979-3836

Don't like it at all and glad it is sold !

Jim

Love the game, not so hot on the theme, I mean, who watches that show anyway?

-Wes

i am not into mine yet. I am going to give it a chance though

The programing is very impressive. More than any other game I have seen.

I can see why some people like it. Its too slow for me to even think about buying one.
In stereotyping, its always with those people who say "ZOMG! B/W-LOTR-TSPP" often.

awesome game, would love to have one

When I first picked this pin up I wasn't as thrilled with my choice as I was with some of my other titles. I loved TZ the moment I got it home. The more I play and understand the game the more my appreciation has grown. There's so much that can be going on all at once!

Dogh!

Double post

Am I the only one that thinks TSPP is an average game? :flame suit on:

User ignored

JK

To me TSPP & LOTR are the two finest games ever made. To others... they just can't get into em.

You prefer a different type of game than what TSPP offers, no big deal. People love IM, Tron & SM, but not me. Although I certainly play them (a lot, like reeeeeally a lot) I am not interested in using my personal money/space on ownership of those titles.

Take what I say with little credibility as I consider my LOTR, TSPP & FGY as keepers so our tastes differ.

I invested a TON of time learning the complex rules of TSPP & I still need to learn which stacks are most righteous to utilize & why of course. Now I look at the code of other games & think "that's it, seriously".

Truth be told I do need to contrast TSPP with a fast flowing game, but never sell it

image.jpg

My family and I like TSPP and LOTR too.

It looks from your photo like you live in a zero-gravity situation.

I get that some people don't care for it because they don't like super deep, ultra challenging games with tons of stacking opportunities, ingenious (and complete) rules (AI & Springfield mystery spot anybody?), more playfield features than current LE's costing $7K or more, and a theme based on one the most beloved longest running prime-time comedy television series in history. Sounds like an average game to me If there was ever a game designed with us home collectors/players in mind, TSPP is it.

Well, if "average" is new slang for "awesome", then yes it is...

I do.

Space muffins, 10.5% Trappist ales & Beastie Boys instrumentals.

You should see me play pinball, it's like a Jamiroquai video.

Edit: ios6 uploads show right side up on my ipad but upside down on my droid, weird.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=4JkIs37a2JE&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D4JkIs37a2JE

Love the coin door

I'm a huge Simpsons fan, but the amount of shots, modes, and the TV timer all tying them together is what makes TSPP. I have yet to hit pretzel multiball, so lately I've been just trying to get that. So much to do on TSPP. I still don't like Stern's flippers because of the buzzing, but I do love TSPP.

Love the coin door

Thanks, it's a heavily customized TSPP now but only 50% there. Should be complete by the end of Jan.

I'm still adding blades, a white apron, CT LED's, FF speakers/sub, color posts (clear plastic & color cliffy), star posts, chrome plating the ugly brown bart metal, green backbox trim, pink speaker grills & McKee style cathode illumination for my baby blue modded NOS DE topper.

I'd list what's been done already but that's for another thread. This thread is for how much the game sucks lol

image.jpg image.jpg

That coin door is flippin awesome!! I want it

Alright, I need to stop overposting in this thread but here is one last coin door porn pic

It looks fantastic in person, fo reals. Makes my $500 PDI gold LOTR door appear plain.

Enjoy

image.jpg

you need the donut shooter rod!

I thought about it but passed as they seem too big & gnarly to properly execute the coveted CBG skillshot.

Instead a clear rod handle will suffice & brighten things up a bit until my wife makes a mini sprinkled doughnut rod out of colorful epoxy.

Thinking clear coin rejects with custom tiny printed Duff beer transparents & slow color changing LED's will make Buddha proud & zen.

Oh good Gaud, yuck.

All you have to do is take off the coil stops, remount the flipper coil tight and straight, and you should never hear a buzz again. If that doesn't work, file down the end of the coil stop a bit. Solved.

Yeah it's only been on for about 25 years, airs in every country on Earth, makes billions of dollars from merch sales, has its own theme park attractions...sure, no one watches it

yeh i thought about one for my machine and thought that size of it might be a problem

Yuck to your bright annoying avatar & constant thumbs down to nearly every post (yeah, I've noticed you) & political/religious banter.

Oh look, here is a thread specifically about your hater ways

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/hey-apimomfan

Congrats on your notoriety negative Nancy!

I bought it NIB because of the theme (love The Simpson's), and although I initially liked it, it took me some time to fall in love with it. Even after owning it all these years, I'm still amazed when I hear or discover something new. Like others have said, it's a very deep game and for that reason, it's one of my absolute favorites.

Millennials.

The total package looks sweet, nice game

As a recent buyer of a TSPP, I have to say I love the game. Incredibly deep rules, but also approachable due to its' theme. My 7yo daughter loves to play this game (much more so than my Twilight Zone).

I enjoy my TSPP but I havent really started playing it a ton. It's one of those games where it takes a lot of time to figure it out. And Ive been concentrating on LOTR before I really get into it.

It's complex and has a ton of things going on. It may not be for everyone, but it's definitely not average IMO.

Hate the show and the game but glad people like it. As for TZ like the show and game but that is not my reason for not liking TSPP game.

Let me know if you ever sell your TZ and condition. I go back n forth with wanting to own one someday but not as my first pin.

It is a fun game, still have not got the wizard mode though. My son (14) doesn't really enjoy it and prefers ToM.
I love the challenge it provides.

I owned one and tried to love it. Just couldn't. I liked the timer aspect of the rules. But I hate the shot layout. I agree it's loaded with toys and features. But the fun factor is just low due to the playfield layout. The upper playfield feels clunky and feels like it fights against you. The ball times are very long and have to be in order to get anywhere in the deep ruleset. Great rules and toys can't resurrect an ok playfield design. In the end, I kept mine 3 months or so and was done with it.

TSPP is certainly of the best Sterns ever created. This is the pin that made Stern from fakers to makers. (yeah, I made that up.)

I felt the exact same after owning tspp for a couple of years. Got bored of hitting the garage over and over. Didn't play it for nearly a year after lending it out. Then after I kept reading post after post saying just how brilliant the rules were, I broke down and started to learn them. A whole new game opened up to me.

Now it's my fav. But just like every deep pin, I play sparingly due to it's marathon like games.
Hope you find that game-within-a-game-within-a-game that makes TSPP so much fun

The only way TSPP could be any better is if I could pick one up in good condition for $2500

I doubt it...

I'm sure some people think Stevie Ray Vaughn was an "average" guitarist.

Average game? 55 Million and 4 quarts of Apoo's expired Milk!

Awesome, Terrible, Average. Who Cares?

Solution:

If you have one and Love it great!
If you dont, sell it.
If you dont have one, buy it.
Repeat as needed,

It's a top 5 game for me. The rules are absolutely amazing with how everything stacks and builds to some of the most interesting and enjoyable wizard modes available in pinball. The theme is solid, the art is great, and the voice work is top notch. That and Lord of the Rings are still Stern's best efforts, I feel with Spider-Man sitting in a close 3rd.

The original post is so insightful and brings to light some interesting and new criticisms of TSPP that I hadn't contemplated before. The arguments he laid out didn't completely sway me to his opinion, but it sure got me thinking.

Oh wait...

What I love about TSPP is how many different paths you can take on the game. And those who claim to have long ball times, they don't have their game set up right. Any pinball machine, if set too easy is going to be boring.

What's nice about TSPP is that the scoring is extremely well balanced, so you can play the game any number of ways and still be on a high scoring path. There are so many modes and wizard modes that it's fun to see where the ball takes you. Sometimes you start a game and you get deep into completing hurry-ups; other times it's TV modes, or I&S, Otto, or jamming the right ramp, etc. There's a ton to do.

I don't understand the people who don't like the upper playfield. It's brilliantly designed. It takes a lot of skill to master. Sometimes it seems so easy but then just when you need to make a shot you miss. I still find it challenging.

Of all the games I own, TSPP is in a class by itself. It's the only game I continually come back to and feel like there's more I can do with it.

I'll go ahead and call BS here. The game is ultra deep. It takes about an hour of play on a good game to get anywhere far in it. If the ball times are short, no one could ever get *anywhere* on this game. The same with LoTR. So no, it's not that I had my game set up poorly.

My game was like new. Waxed, very fast, outlanes opened about a 7 degree pitch. I never once said the game was too easy. I said the ball times are long. Two very different things.

Some games are made for short ball times but are still rewarding in those quicker balls. Examples of this are Tron, Congo, Johnny Mnemonic, Ironman. Ball times are short, scores can still be quite high and you're well rewarded during short ball times. Simpsons is a trek. The ball times are long, and your scoring accumulates slower.

You're thinking of TSPP as an exclusively linear game, when it isn't.

The nice thing about TSPP is there are so many goals in the game, you don't have to play for an hour to get somewhere exciting. There are so many mini-wizard modes and other objectives you can do.

When I play TSPP, inside of 3 minutes I know which direction my game is going... I don't have to shoot the TV if I don't want to. I can try to go for I&S or Pretzel or Treehouse or Secret Stash.... there's a ton of things to do, and they don't take an hour.

You don't seem to get what's special about TSPP. It's not about "breaking the game" - it's about the journey and how much fun it is along the way. Normal pinball machines, there's typically one route to score, one direction to go. In TSPP, even in just a few minutes of play, you can have an adventure. If your typical TSPP game is an hour, you're playing it wrong. You're making it more tedious than it needs to be. TSPP can be set up with short ball times and still be incredibly exciting. The whole point of the wizard modes is for them to be special and not easily beaten. You can't treat TSPP like it's some shallow game that has to be played the same way every time. It isn't.