How many more of these posts are there going to be? All they do is upset people who like a game, and cause a bunch of arguments, I think this topic has been covered to death both good and bad.. there IS a ranking system in place.

24.
It has a cheap feel - couldn't just stick a die cast helicopter in there instead of the cheap plastic?

But, in keeping with the theme of the show, I think timed modes would have been more exciting .... "you have XX seconds to defuse the bomb".... "xx seconds to located the sniper". get you chasing shots, ramp up the tempo of the audio, get the adrenaline pumping!

I played it this weekend. The artwork and images were stunning. Lighting was also well done. From my perspective, the game lacked "feel good" shots and difficult shots. The upper right flipper is wildly uninspiring. For example, in TRON, the upper left flipper has both a difficult shot (GEM) and a "feel good" shot (Light Cycle Ramp). In The Hobbit, the right flipper can shoot for drop targets...boring.

In general, the pin seemed really easy with LONG ball times. My first ball lasted for minutes...racked up nearly 700 million points. Normally, when you have a killer ball, you feel energized because the pin is hopefully going wild Unfortunately, I felt like I was "chopping wood". Sure, it was cool to score a lot of points, but I'd gladly trade some of those points for some excitement! Example...when you "destroy balrog" or "destroy the ring", LOTR rewards you with cool images, sounds, and call outs.

As you say, the code is early and I'm sure some of this will be fixed. Nevertheless, it's hard to beat LOTR in terms of being a well balanced package. The Hobbit has already surpassed LOTR in terms of aesthetics. Hard to know if it's possible to beat it in other facets...the wide-body PF (with some questionable design points) will never be as fast and furious as LOTR.

Nevertheless, there is clearly a market for this gorgeous game and I'm sure JJP will sell as many as they can build. Even though it doesn't seem like a "players game" to me (yet), I'm sure it will find a loyal fan base.

My 2$.

Ahhhhhhh

If ONLY there was a way for people to skip threads they don't like - instead of being forced to not only open, read, but also post into.

You should post this in "forum feature requests"

Disappointment has to do with expectations about a game. Over the past 20 years there have been plenty of titles I had no familiarity with, so they couldn't disappoint me as I didn't know what to expect. When it comes to themes I am familiar with IJ4 and TSPP come to mind. Both games didn't have the theme integration I was hoping for. Generically speaking I'm disappointed with every game that gives away too much too easy (multiball too easy to achieve, or guaranteed on ball 3, endless ball saves, nothing left to discover after playing 2 games, no easy to understand but difficult to master challenge - which is not the wizard mode) resulting in me loosing interest in the game.

X-Files.

I actually like the game, but it could have been so much better with just a little more effort. Such a classic show with a huge cult following but the game seems like it was rushed into production.

- No insert lights for the various modes in the game so you never know what was completed (this is huge for me)
- Cabinet seems to be made out of tissue paper so it's always beat up
- Sound is not good
- Lots of problems with the file cabinet

Again, not a bad game if it's meticulously shopped out and tweaked to perfection - just disappointing which is what this thread topic is looking for.

Well it misses by one damn year but I still have to go with Shaq Attack!

This one is at the edge of 20 years, but I have always been disappointed with Theatre of magic. Very cool artwork and toys, but the gameplay is lacking... left loop all day.

isn't this thread all based on personal opinion?

Yes, I am well aware of how to drop a thread, just tired of seeing the same questions over and over.. there is a search feature too, and the original posters can check out the past threads.

Street Fighter II, most boring for me.

Harley Davidson... great theme terrible game

I was so happy to get mine...it was my first with a shaker...I knew on the second ball of the first game I hated it and sold it soon thereafter...It was early in the hobby for me and I got it on a trade

I've enjoyed this thread myself. There may have been older threads but this is a live conversation that one can participate in. Even though I may not agree with some opinions they are interesting to read. I knew a lot of people didn't like Monopoly but I didn't realize why until now. Threads like this are able to transport me back in time when these games were released before I was in the hobby. I bet people were hyped for Monopoly with it being Lawlor's first pin since NGG. I like it but people's opinions are probably similar to the way I feel for GOT. The first impression didn't live up to expectations and spoiled the game for them.

Hard to take the opinion of People who can't read the title of the thread and do simple math.

And in this thread SWEp1 has already been accused of destroying Williams.

Maybe Predator if that one count...

aaaaaaaaaand, bumped it back up to the top again.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

copycat

Oh man, you will probably get a list of every game made in the last 20 years.
I would say SWE1. It had the name, it had the new platform, it had the hype, it had...a lack of fun.

Compared to his early games, basically every Pat Lawlor game in the last 20 years has been a disappointment to me.

Since Indiana Jones 4 was one of the worst and most disappointing movie sequels ever, I cannot fathom how the pinball disappointed. It was entirely in keeping with the abomination that was the film.

Nope - thread title says "produced". Was about to propose that game until I read it.

Harley Davidson seems to fit the bill.

I like IJ4 a lot. Played a HUO one this past weekend when I went to pick up a game, and I liked the layout and mechs. I know the rules are pretty bad, but it's a fun one to play. Great candidate for a PROC makeover.

True, but it is a "fact" GOT is ugly.

Produced. It didn't say in what quantity. Remember, apparently 3 PRED are out there with one being very publicly in the hands of a pinsider - who has verbally felt the ire of others.

I played the pin before I saw the movie. So I took the damage from the pin first.

someone is doing one on P-roc, while I might have this wrong, I believe it will run on either version of IJ and I believe it brings a lot of the modes and play of the Williams machine to the Stern machine. First link is about the first work on improving the Williams version, second is on the port to Stern.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/indiana-jones-software-rewrite-the-journey#post-1805871

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/indiana-jones-stern-software-rewrite-port-over-the-journey

Popeye caused distributors to turn against WMS and was the first game to go down the "closeout price" rabbit hole that eventually lead to P2K as the hail mary, but then JPop and Lucas dropped the ball.

So both are true.

You're right that it's more than 20 years though.

People also blame the ET game for killing Atari. When the truth is no one game kills a corporate division. Business decision are made to cut losses or increase profitability. The decision by Williams to force distributors to buy a certain amount of games starting with Popeye was not the game Popeye's fault. It was another bad decision by corporate.

And also most people who trash a game have never put enough time on to get to even form their own opinion. Group think takes over. I use to pick on Popeye myself. After going through the entire game to color it I learned it has a pretty solid set of rules and fun game play.

Williams was dead before Jar Jar Binks could put the last nail in the coffin 6 years after Popeye. Williams had already decided the money was in the slot machine division. Even Gary Stern use to say the real money was in the redemption games. But "he" did not want pinball to die. He made pinball a positive revenue flow, but he could have made more if he shut pinball down and diverted the resources to redemption. He personally did keep pinball alive while Williams let the shareholders decide its fate.

Personally to me, WWE. Between TV shows, podcasts, and watching classic PPVs I consume 10-20 hours of wrestling content a week. The theme is spot on for me as a huge wrestling fan, but I can't get into the layout as a pinball fan.

I expected GOT to be a grand slam and we got... a double? I love the gameplay but the art and theme integration blows. I was also expecting some JJP crazy innovative deck based on the hot theme and Jared saying it was going to have the highest BOM of any Stern. The biggest playfield difference ever between a pro and LE also took a bit of wind out of its sails when it was revealed.

Star Wars: The Phantom Meance. A rushed effort to coincide with the movie debut and it showed. If the Pinball 2000 series was on its death bed this game was IMHO what caused WMS to pull the plug. Revenge From Mars was decent enough but had a funny streak that was hard to deny; Phantom Meance.... not so much.

I've only been in it for about five years now so I haven't had enough time to truly be disappointed by much. Most of Stern's output in the last five years has been pretty solid. Of the games since then that I experienced new off the line, I'd say WWE is the most disappointing. I'm not much for the theme or the art, and that ruleset left a lot to be desired. I haven't tried the new code but I am looking forward to giving it a go. I think the layout is interesting and with great code it could be a fun game, but right now it's the lowest Stern on my list from the last five years.

Avengers and every Star Wars pin made in the US. Great licenses but very mediocre games. WOF as far as unfinished code and as far as B/W Bugs Bunny comes to mind.

What does this even mean?

You saw TOM in an arcade in 1995, and were like "Wow!!! That game looks awesome!!!"

But then you played it. And it was left loop all day!!! And you were disappointed.

I've got to agree this has just turned into another "games I don't like or think are overrated" thread. I don't see how you can be "disappointed" by a game you probably played for the first time when it was 10 years old.

For sure a serious contender. Theme has great potential and yet Stern managed to makes it an incredibly boring affair.

ToM may be "left loop all day" if you are playing in competition. However, it won't get you very far if you are trying to get to the wizard mode, heh.

DE:SW is petty good. But not amazing by any means. And I am not just saying that cuz I own one. I also own a SWE1 and I knew it sucked before I bought it lol I just needed the complete set since I already had RFM and a pinbox system. I mean, why not have a extra game that is just plug and play. 2 games in 1 cabinet. As well, SWE1 isn't that bad I mean it is better than GOT lol, I just play it when I am extremely drunk.

Alien

Have to say it, after all the games produced, and everyone has a different view, I have to say that WTF was the wasted time and money on Whoa Nellie.

I can't be disappointed in a machine that is covered in bells and whistles but amounts to little more than a single shot? Yeah, I saw the game in an arcade and thought "Wow! This game looks awesome!" and it wasn't... Sorry.

Kannada, is that you?

At least wait for it to be PRODUCED before reflexively crowning it the "most disappointing pin produced"

Elvis ..... I thought it could have been better and was left disappointed with it

Funny, Elvis was one of my favorite pins to play at TPF. Of course, playing and owning are 2 different things.

I wasn't around for Elvis' launch so I don't know about initial disappointment, but I've walked up to that game with a theme I don't care about, one ugly playfield, and no real reputation and every time I've had a ton of fun. It blew away my low expectations, I like it more than Stern KISS even on the subject of music pins.

Gotta love pinball!! I own over a dozen pins, with some being heavy hitters. My absolute favorite has been mentioned in this thread several times. Different strokes for different folks. It's all a matter of opinion. Wish alot more of the pins I'm after we're on this list.

If ur talking 24 or TF then I with ya, great pins.

The more I play RFM, the more I hate it. It definitely had potential, it is such a huge drop off from AFM.

Brad

I agree... While vastly superior to SWE1 it's still kinda clunky. Too linear and repetitive. I wish they had used the technology to release one really great pin2k game.