That band you like, but I don't like? Terrible music!

That theme you like, but I don't like? Worst idea ever!

That woman with boobs and jokes? I don't like her boobs! Her jokes are bad!

That logo with the H? Worst H ever!

Don't confuse having an opinion with anyone caring or it mattering. People make shit up all day here like they know the facts. This game sold bad! This game is selling great! This guy made playfields! You don't know, just stop. Will JJP be around? Either post up their books or admit you don't know Jack.

Stick to opinions, and don't project them onto the world.

My opinion is that Wonka will be seen as a misstep that does okay but not that good, simply because they didn't nail the theme and package, and they'll either correct it or they won't the next time around. But since I have no idea how it's actually selling, or what the next game is, who am I to predict beyond that?

So if I understand you right your point is that a band that successfully toured for 4 years to be the second highest grossing of all time isn’t relevant enough to attract a few thousand people?

Doesn’t that sound kind of silly to you? I’m not buying a GnR pin. It’s been done already too, who needs a repeat?

But calling them irrelevant in the face of facts is just a weird argument. Just say you don’t like the band and move on. I haven’t cared about them since Lies, but so what? I haven’t liked an Iron Maiden album since their second one, didn’t stop them from making a game.

I hope no one makes an ACDC pin then, will clearly be a giant flop.

Just put frightener on ignore and move on with your life already. Seriously, it's too short to spend time arguing with people like that.

I dunno about dismissing the game, but sound is definitely a deal breaker for me if I don't like it. I can ignore bad art, but I just can't ignore bad sound. There's no "it blends into the game" for me.

Like, I bagged on the Wonka logo, because it deserved it. Someone did a real hack job on it, and that stuff bugs me. But it wouldn't stop me from buying the game. I wouldn't glance up at the backglass in the middle of a ball and sigh about the H and stop playing.

But you can't escape sound. I like to put game streams up on a second monitor and kinda half watch them while doing other stuff. I don't have the attention span to WATCH a pinball stream closely, if it's not like Bowen giving a lesson or some kind of competition where I'm invested in the outcome. New game like Maiden or Black Knight gets an announcement stream? Yeah, cool, put it on the second screen, half pay attention here and there, kinda get a sense for it all.

I tried that with Wonka. Couldn't do it, sound just rubbed me the wrong way. Closed the stream after a few minutes. If you dig how it sounds that's great, I honestly wish you happiness with your game. I'm sure JJP will sell however many to people who feel the same way. But if I were them I'd rethink where to go now that David Thiel is gone. That's a big hole to fill. Maybe the new guy can do it, I'm not trying to take personal shots at him, just take a different path next time.

Oh man, the shit storm of whining about film grain online when the Blu-ray of 300 came out, people were losing their minds.

The film grain thing on Wonka is because some scenes are meant to look like they're being projected on a screen, no? It's only on those bits, and not the full screen I thought. I dunno, I don't love Wonka's AV package, but you're never going to hear me say JP isn't creative. He's done the best LCD packages in pinball, hands down. If he didn't nail this one, well, maybe it's the theme. The music and sounds are fighting the same thing, maybe the guy behind them is talented and just doesn't have much to work with. I know the art is dull because of the license, it's the slot machine package, it is what it is.

I feel the same way about this that I do about any license that holds a game back. It sucks, I feel for the people making it, and ultimately it's the company's fault for choosing it. There are a million ideas out there to use, pick a better one next time. It's weird to me that for all the time and work pinball entails more time isn't spent making sure that work is being spent on something that will shine.

I have zero doubt that Pat's talents would sell better with a more appealing package. JJP needs people who aren't engineers making more decisions, that much is clear to me at least from what I understand about how they're run now.

(Wonka is a fine movie and fine theme, but the assets and restrictions are clearly an issue, so you gotta be realistic about what really working with a theme means, regardless of how much you love the idea.)