I thought more of IM's love was coming from the competitive pinball side. It seems like it reached a fever pitch shortly after Daniele Acciari's PAPA Circuit Finals run.

I used to hate Star Trek. A mode-based game with repetitive modes and useless targets. As they integrated the photons and varied the black holes, I hated it a little less. Seeing Bowen Kerins's tutorial of the second-gen code with the combo system and Kobayashi Maru mini-wizard that made the modes more valuable raised it to Level Meh. The big update about a year ago with the Galactic awards and medal system, however, made me a fan. The basic modes themselves are still nothing to write home about, but there's now enough in the code to make me want to "shoot the shots" (the main complaint people have), which makes each game more of an experience and less of a slog.

Problem is, that's also something that can be said for a lot of older games too.Nothing wrong with Getaway or T2 for instance, but they show their age pretty fast if you play them often. The code just isn't particularly interesting there either. Fun to flip for a bit an in arcade, not so much to own at home.

...but they were created for use in an arcade, and not the home. You know...this is one reason that I don't understand this whole "Modern Stern vs. 90s Bally/Williams" arguments. It's comparing apples and oranges. There was no serious homebuyer base back then to demand deeper rulesets or more technology, just operators who wanted steady earnings and ease of use. I'm sure the people then could handle it...because they're the same people doing it now...

Really though, being a Stern snob just seems dumb to me these days. STTNG? Designed by Steve Ritchie, coded by Dwight Sullivan. Game of Thrones? Designed by Steve Ritchie, coded by Dwight Sullivan.

...which is funny, but kind of sad. Shouldn't we be looking forward to the next Tanio Klyce programmed game by now? Shouldn't there be some fresh-faced designer getting their first shot with a title? Or is it just going to be Ritchie-Trudeau-Borg until one of them can't lift a pen anymore?
I can't help but wonder about the future of pinball when the present of pinball isn't too different from pinball's past.