When the pinball bubble bursts.

Since we can't see the BOM it's kinda pointless to argue about it, but when I look at GoT and SM the thing that jumps out to me is the RGB lighting. GoT Premium has a ton of RGB inserts. Which are not only more expensive, but also contribute to the whole "Premium" part of the deal. You get this cool light show that the cheaper Pro game doesn't have.

SM has none.

Rob Zombie has a color display. Full Throttle at that price range has RGB lighting for every light, and a high rez color display.

I think it's reasonable to say that if you're gonna charge that much, we have certain baseline expectations for what we are getting. Normal LEDs and a red DMD? What was the last Premium to not have any RGB lighting? (Honestly can't remember. Before ACDC?)

I have sekrit insider information that it will actually be Feb 30th 2016.

You wait. Come Feb 30th you'll be saying "damn, that dude knew what he was talking about!"

I'm investing in Stone Delicious IPA, the best gluten free* beer on the market!

* under 20ppm

Gluten is the stuff that's not in weed or Jack Daniels, you're good.

Huh, thanks, found this because of a search for Duvel, interesting.

http://gluteninbeer.blogspot.com

I'm a celiac, the gluten thing is serious for me, but anything under 20ppm is cool with me.

Thanks man.

Edibles man ... gotta be careful with them shits.

Stern's Star Trek isn't that great of a game. IMHO. I had one and I sold it. Pretty and shot well, but not very compelling to play.

And ultimately that's because the rules just weren't that interesting to me. 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. That's why they're $2k games.

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.

You can be mad at Stern I guess, but it's the same people you're idolizing here.

I honestly don't want pinball to get too high tech. The P3 is very cool for instance, but it's not for me. I don't want a video screen under the ball. I don't mind a high rez display, dots for the sake of being retro is dumb. But the game itself is about physicality. The less like a video game it is the better.

I love Bally/Williams pins. Really hard to top them in many ways. But I enjoy modern code too, that's something that's advanced nicely.

White Water is amazing, love it. But it's pretty unbalanced. You get to a point where you're just going for the 5X award and jackpots. Rack up a 100 milly a shot. The software just doesn't have a lot of depth, it's all about the great playfield design.

On the other hand Shadow still holds its own to me against any modern title.

I waited until that update, but it just wasn't enough for me.

And I think part of the problem is I got tired of the game before it was good. I bought it early, played the early code, and was kinda sick of the repetitive nature of it by the time Dwight started bringing more polish to it.

It shot great from the get go, smooth and fast. But the code just wasn't there to make use of the playfield and RGB lighting for me.

Yes. And they were great arcade games. You could put in your quarters, master them, and then a new game would appear at the arcade. Totally different model from home use.

But some older games hold up at home better than others. And as Neo pointed out, hard and shallow games can be a ton of fun at home. I still love my Flash Gordon.

I think the P3 is enormously clever, and I hope it sees success. And I realize it's not a virtual pin, and is very physical.

I'm just someone who prefers the video side to be a little less prominent. If I could switch Alien to be backbox display only and have no playfield LCD I would. As it is we'll use it to the best effect given that it's in the playfield. I'm glad it's not any larger than it is.

I play video games! For me personally though the anachronistic nature of pinball is part of the appeal.

I totally get that that's the approach you guys are doing, and I wish you an audience and success with it. There's no question you have new opportunities to explore gameplay.

I just happen to prefer my playfields to be wood with printed graphics. The old school approach is part of the appeal for me. Half my game collection is from 1981 or earlier, I don't even need a DMD let alone an LCD to have fun.

Don't get me wrong, I like modern advances, I'm just a little conservative when it comes to combining tech and pinball, because there are just elements of tradition that are important parts of the experience for me.