Quoted from JodyG:Is Wonkavision with a camera superimposing the player into the LCD screen on the playfield not a new, never before done feature?
K said the “most secret machine“ toy underneath of the spinning never-ending gobstopper was the new innovation in pinball that he’d never seen before. He was amazed that there was a toy that would spin around and reveal a gobble hole for you to shoot into after you hit it enough times. The chest on TOM does exactly what this toy does.
We’ve had LCD screens in games too. There was an LCD in Dialed In, in Houdini, and most recently POTC.
The Wonkavator appears to be very similar to couch Multiball on TSPP.
I pictured this game being vastly different from what was presented. I’ll admit, I got bit by the hype too. It wasn’t just K responsible though, it was almost every ‘pinball insider’ that got an early peek. But I would’ve rather they kept quiet and not said anything at all until after the release. K swore up and down that this game ‘looked like the Wonka Factory’ from 3 feet, 8 feet, and 15 feet away...where is the river, why aren’t the pop bumpers capped like the trees/mushrooms (or even gummy bears), where is the Wonkatania boat sculpt? K said this was loaded with incredible 3D sculpts...that oompa lumpa sculpt fell off not even 2 minutes into playing it at the reveal. The cabinet artwork on the Standard was nothing but a logo. Personally, I thought the most confusing aspect of the Wonka reveal was the mish-mash crossing of parts between the models and I was left to use my ‘pure imagination’ of what features were exactly on which model. Yes, I looked up the model matrix, but the display machines at the reveal seemed to be parted together in haste just to get something on the floor. The standard doesn’t have that, this is an LE, but only the CE will have that artwork/armor, and the CE will have that (insert feature), while the LE that’s here today will not have that (insert feature), it’s not gonna be ‘brat multiball’ but actually ‘kid multiball’...it was confusing.
Why isn’t there isn’t a chocolate river mech with a saucer you shoot into and the ball gets VUK into a pipe (Augustus Gloop)? Why isn’t there a mode where you eventually hit a ball up a ramp, it gets held by a magnet for a second, the arrow tells me if it’s a good/bad egg, and then it’s dropped downward like Veruca Salt? The character, Violet, loved chewing gum...missed opportunity to have a physical gumball machine (TZ) that releases a blueberry ceramic gumball into play.
And sheesh...what is the deal with the oompa lumpas during the match sequence placing their heads into eachother’s crotches like Chinese acrobats? They couldn’t have just had an animation of someone unwrapping a Wonka bar?
I really do hope it’s a successful title for JJP as I think they’re great for pinball. Wonka looks like a fun machine to shoot, but I can’t see it lasting in my collection because the theme is just too kiddie for me and I think that music is going to drive me crazy at some point. I liked the movie when I was a kid, but it doesn’t resonate with me as an adult. Personally, I don't want my pinball machines playing movie clips just for the sake of having ‘assets’. If you want to watch the movie, watch the movie. I guess if you love the movie, then it’s probably a no-brainer to put this right next to your WOZ.