We agree on this.

And no, Quake remaster isn't my shining example of what's good in video games right now, I'm just addressing the thing about CoD...which my kid plays. Far Cry 6 is pretty fun though, I kinda dropped it and haven't picked it back up yet. Metroid Dread was *fantastic*, and I plan to get into speedrunning it (casually).

Sorry, bad phrasing on my part, I was not trying to imply that "all games" are new and fresh every 3 months, but MMOs do lean on that facet pretty hard, and MMOs are what I primarily play. Patches in FFXIV are typically about every three months, and I literally can not keep up with all the crap they put in....and that's on top of major expansions, one of which launched....yesterday! =Þ

Speaking as someone that has played 20+ MMO's, you're right that most of them have devolved into absolute garbage. FFXIV is the sole survivor right now in my opinion, and it's the only one I play. The story, and the music and attention to little details, the interaction with the developers and the community, Square goofing on itself and MMO tropes (Hey, sorry, I'm going to need to ask the strongest person on the planet to fetch a flower again, sorry about that!) in subtle ways without turning into a "let's make everything as bloody silly as we can" in the vein of WoW.... it's honestly maybe the best game I've ever played. Period. And I spent 9 years playing Asheron's Call (and met my wife through that game!). It's honestly THAT good, but I do understand that MMOs just as a function of being endless RPGs require a lot of time and involvement, so they're definitely not for everyone.

Story. Narrative. You know...the stuff that would actually matter to a JRPG player. And actually.... they did something genuinely new in one of these fights in this expansion that I've literally never seen before in this game, or any other MMO for that matter, mechanics-wise. It's really cool, but I'm not going to describe it in case any fellow players are here. It's possible some game I've never played did it, but this is definitely a first for any MMO fight I've ever personally seen.

Uh, no, I'm quite adamant that JP is a turd. I don't like playing it. Maybe there's something to the premium or LE that might SLIGHTLY change my opinion, but I very seriously doubt it. The game is bad. I just posted that it's bad on this thread (even though I've openly been saying so for like half a year) because I knew someone would get their panties in a wad over it. But as always...I'm willing to have an open mind, so if someone wants to bring their personal JP over to my house, leave it for a few weeks so I can get a good thorough feel for it (I've played a pro in a local league on location many times, but nobody ever really gets deep into the game)....I'll be happy to accept that offer and give it the time to find out. As it stands though? It's a shit-tier game to me, and likely to remain as such. I hate the stupid car mech blocking the smart missile shot, I hate the unbalanced ass scoring where the easiest multiball in the game can give you shitty jackpots or massive ones, I hate the left ramp and the right orbit shots....but to be fair there I hate all right orbit shots...and I really, really really hate the far right reverse ramp to wireform shot. I hated that nearly-identical shot on Metallica, I hate it on Guardians.... and those don't even require a fully clean shot. My opinion has been, was, and is....Keith designed a game for himself and got lucky that anyone else gives a damn about it, and without the JP license attached, it's the absolute worst of a set of games from the guy that designed Iron Maiden, AIQ, and Godzilla.

Raptor pit is slightly better but I don't think it would sway your opinion that much; didn't much for me.

Calling me a Pinball Wizard is a badge of honor.

I also (still) love the song.

There is only glQuake.

Hopefully someone will do that. It's so amazing.

That's what makes that shot so amazingly satisfying when you hit it. You have to have absolutely precision aim. I love it. Feels so good to hit the lockdown bar to "Invalid?" & then nail it to get that rare "ah-ah-ah" Multiball.

It's my favorite of the four! I almost bought an AIQ, but then was like "why would I play this when I could keep playing JP more?". I'd sell Godzilla before JP. I'd sell Godzilla before Rick & Morty...BOOM, back on track for the unpopular opinion thread! LOL

People who call "Chicago Gaming Company" "Chicago Coin" should get temporary thread bans to reflect on what they've done.

Hey, I'm really glad you like it, and that you and a bunch of other people got a game they *REALLY REALLY LIKE*....which let's be honest...these days in pinball, there's not much of a guarantee that will be the case when you buy a new game! It just ain't for me. Not a single thing that I really like about the game, and JP as a property was dead to me before they even made a third movie. In fact, I've never even SEEN JP3, or any of the other recent ones! But this is why it belonged in this thread. I have no illusions that it's an extreme outlier opinion, and that nobody's going to agree with me!

Really.....GZ would go before R&M huh....I haven't had a chance to play either, watched a bunch of footage of both, and the R&M playfield just looks so...so....bland to me. Theme goes a long way on that one of course, but that layout just looks so vanilla. It reminds me of 80's games for some reason. That's surprising. I really need to get my hands on a Godzilla. It might be the last pin I ever buy, to go with Ultraman......but if I don't like how it plays, I'm not spending the money. Ultraman is my one and only "shot in the dark."

Funny...I was listening to a podcast while I was out at lunch, and the guy on there did that as well.

Saying “I’m in on an LE!!” does not make you cool.

rd

Well, we all know that games are more than just their layout in a vacuum. R&M is totally 80's style, but with modern flavor...I loved TNA, so I knew I'd love it. The theme, music, callouts, rules, color FX, etc. all just gel together perfectly. It's a chaos game...hard to control...but chaos works with that theme so well. Some can't hang with it tho...different strokes/different folks. For me, it's bolted!

GZ is awesome...but if I was making choices to whittle down or mix things up...I'd keep JP Prem for my Elwin fix.

I was going to say that it reminded me of TNA, but I thought that was a bridge too far. I guess not LOL. I don't.....dislike....TNA? Nor do I think it's the best game ever. It's a brilliant revival of the "no ramp layout", though, and for what effectively was one man's mind....pssssh get outta here. I'm a jack-of-all-trades, but I'll never be Scott Danesi! I can't freakin' wait for that 45 to show up and go in my jukebox. Hopefully nobody gets their hopes up if I ever get back on my Voltron project, because I can promise you it won't be as quality as TNA! Inline drop lock and the inlane/outlane ball save mechanic might be some of the best ideas that could've been done 30 years ago, but weren't.

I like when people have an off topic conversation in a thread that would make a great PM exchange. But I’m a quirky dude.

Lionman! Is the best thread on Pinside.

Just going with the topic.

X-MEN is a great game and I love shitty beast!

You asked....from decades of personal experiences;

Gottleib series 1 and 80 pins can be reliable and are a blast to play
Bingos belong in any collection of moderate or larger size and are fun
never buy a NIB pin, buy used and learn to fix them
just because others don't like a pin doesn't mean you won't like it
there is rarely any need to buy reproduction electronics, with patience
and some skill original boards can be fixed

So there.

Home pins are a waste of parts and manpower.

I believe that IJ IPA will get re-made.

I love it when people don't use the tools available to them and just bitch about things without taking any action.

Now returning to your regularly scheduled groupthink....

It was all Brady, not so much Belichick

Unpopular opinion: A lot of folks spend money on pinball when they probably can not afford it and should reevaluate their life choices.

Pinball is not played on a table.Pool table ,ping pong table.Pinball machine.

+1...
you eat dinner at the table...

also, they dont shoot. they are not shooters... (guns shoot.)

a pinball machine is a lot of fun to play, or it plays well. or has some great shots...

Modern Pachinko machines are fun and make a nice addition to a game room.

I hate Pinstadium lights. Ruins the intended look of the game design.

If only gameplay is considered, Bram Stoker's Dracula is the best pin to come out of the 90's

Jackbot is better than both Pinbot and Bride of Pinbot.

Jackbot is by far the worst of the pinbot three

Bride is by far the worse of the Pinbot set.

Shoot the ramp! Again!!

rd

At least bop moans and oohs at you. Jackbot makes bickity book slot machine sounds at you.

Original pinbot has one of the best light shows in all of pinball

There’s that …

One old guy I know confessed one day he was errrrr “excited” by BOPs sounds. Lol!

1986 Pinbot is a pretty bitchin game, for its era.

rd

Isn’t Pinbot the only Python approved version?

He was involved in all of them.

But left for Capcom in the middle of the design phase of Jackbot.

Whether he “approved of” them all - who knows.

rd

I like the original best of them all. Bops swirell ramp is pretty Badass for the time. Surprised No one stole that design

Pinbot unpopular opinion - always felt like this guy shouldn’t have lost his job.

EA63EB18-6713-4EB2-9E77-45A5EDC4F133 (resized).jpeg

Pretty sure my unpopular opinion won't be changed by a picture of a topper that, while it may seem attractive to some, is still pointless...

I think it was a play on words, as the topper is a triangle and has 3 points on it.

Python did all of the main artwork on Bride. It’s his best looking one by far!

Flipper Football is a good game, if it had real alternate scoring code people would love it.

totally. He f'n hated Jackbot, according to his topcast interview with Clay. I thought he was a little on the fence with BOP too.

Back on topic for unpopular opinion

cfh Topcast is the best pinball podcast ever.

alright amigo, you're right. I should've upvoted his post. this is the forum for unpopular opinions after all right? I suppose my ego got the best of me there with my response. I could and should have upvoted, and then posted my response. my only rationale is that I am endlessly enthusiastic and passionate about our game which has brought me and so many countless others so much joy and communal stability. We are all zealots, and I can admit that my zealotry took over my body and mind when I read his post, which so easily and harshly dismissed our beloved games. I should've clickd the other arrow, and then declared that his post reflected a starvation for passion in our hobby which so occupies our lives, and for the better!!

I'll switch my vote tonight, and I appreciate your candid reply, my friend and fellow addict.

not sure what you mean. I offered a plethora of niche opinions which are largely unpopular. Do you want more unpopular opinions?

Heres a few more:

EM games are almost all the same gameplay experience

ACDC is not a good home collection game

John Trudeau should not be exiled from our hobby, despite his transgressions. He has designed some of the most interesting games that we have all enjoyed playing for thirty five or forty years, and we ought to separate the man's work from the man's personal transgressions and presumptive addictions/crimes.

Judge Dredd is a top tier game and has an amazing, unparallelled layout and offers an incredible pinball experience. This is another nod to the infamous Trudeau

the Rolling Stones are a terrible Rock Band, and the game should never have been produced. The Rolling Stones Pinball game is one of Stern's worst releases of all time, without a doubt

The Beatles Pinball machine is only popular because of the ubiquitous acceptance of an unprecedented effort to popularize and inject society with "BOY BANDS" comprised of attractive, unobtainable males in positions where they could have sung southern Jazz and still have been praised for their work. Beatles music is GARBAGE, and should never be considered as "revolutionary" or even original and/or Unique. They are hacks who stole most of their catalogue from jazz musicians who preceded them in the industry.

Bally/Williams only made about ten amazing games, and everyone's endless desire to own all of their titles from the nineties is completely misguided. I'd rather spend five thousand dollars on a used Stern from the two thousands era releases/titlles

is my opinion the unpopular one, or what are you inferring here with this repost? I hope you've not lost your zest for pinball. After all, we are all in this together to love these games right?

I enjoy most video modes. Indy's Escape from the Minecart and Raven Bar are my absolute favorites!

The Red Premium Star Trek VE Cabinet is better looking than the Blue Star Trek LE cabinet

How is this an unpopular opinion?

People poo-pooing machines for sale to say they aren't shopped out or restored because they are still running incandescent light bulbs.

Taxi is the best Pinbot-related game.

Now that's a hot take, and one that I fully can =disagree= with.

That's like saying we shouldn't push JPOP out even though he scammed a crapton of people, just because people like CV and WCS....only one of these things is massive degrees of difference worse than the other.

*Edit* Wasn't Trudeau convicted of those charges?
*Edit 2* He pleaded guilty, bro. There's nothing "presumptive" there.

100% with you. I love the phurba video mode in shadow as well.

And if a 30 second Video mode "kills your flow," your flow is weak sauce and you should work on it.

The only way John Trudeau should be welcomed back into the pinball community is if he physically or chemically castrates himself.