The game is shipping this month as far as we know

They maybe are ahead on some things but they just aren't tested fully yet. Wouldn't want something not heavily tested brought to the show for everyone to hammer on.

I would say you are 100% wrong. Releasing (and never finishing) your FIRST game ever would be company suicide.

It's funny how not many people appreciate the fact that JJP is basically sharing the process with us, good and bad. Has it gone smoothly? Nope. Is Jack and JJP happy with the delays? Of course they are not.

The fact is, we should be happy that there is another player in the Pinball world, and that we still have pinball games coming from Stern and JJP.

WOZ will be here when it's ready, and I have no doubt it will be great, because JJP knows it HAS to be great. It's make it or break it for them.

I think that is probably the smartest and best answer to date. I think that sums up how some are saying there is more done than we see. Jack has also said he wants the owners to see what is there first. The last time something was showed at an expo first, the owners freaked because he told owners they get the info first on his google group.

Here is one piece nobody seems to rememer from the original post.

We have already watched this work. They are not longer showing it. We know it is there and can show clips as fact. That fact and as positive as Jack is about shipping after not saying anything for a long time and the fact the he is telling owners they get to see it first. I can not see how it is not much further along. If you do not believe that it is further, then you think that four programers can only add one multiball mode and some shaker inputs in a week, I think that is one day at most for a team.

I don't know if it's just patience per say, but I think some of us have been in the hobby long enough to know that creating a pinball machine (let a lone a company) from scratch almost always takes a lot longer than anticipated. How long did Big Bang Bar, Big Juicy Melons, or King of Diamonds take to complete?-How long has Wayne been trying to make MM in Austrailia? These took years and some of these games were just copies of existing games or didn't get produced at all. There are so many things that need to fall into place just perfectly for a game to be made on schedule. JJP is just the first of a recent group of new manufacturers where we are likely to see these types of delays. I really hope that companies such as Skit-B, Heighway, JPop, P3, Spooky, etc. will be able to keep to their original schedules for production, but chances are the majority of these will be delayed by months if not years.-It's just the nature of the beast.... It's not like these guys aren't trying to produce a game on time.

I just saw a distributors post saying they were having a launch party on march 23rd with jack attending so somethings shipping.

Link good sir.

How did your X-men flip 20-25 days before it was to start shipping? Was it the same as this?

It will be no more "re-skinned" than Avengers is of AC/DC. Those run on the same OS with the same backbone of software.

Hey I want to own hobbit like I've already got a woz coming. But no more than I'd want to own both shrek and family guy

Zero chance of The Hobbit having the same playfield as WOZ. ZERO. JJP would be out of business.

Fair enough.. Only brought up xmen as someone that could relate to unfinished code. To me the amount of OS / fundamental items in that list would worry me as far as either further delays or releasing early. Like audits.. Maybe nobody uses audits, but its part of the platform.. They are likely going to use the same audit code in every game they make forward, and its pretty easy code. But to be 20 days out and not have that all buttoned up.. even if they do want to surprise owners with game features, it's hard to imagine they'd hold back audits. Now, I guess I could see them releasing without the audits done and maybe nobody would cry too much about that vs game modes.. So maybe they're being strategic. Anyway, they're not just building a game, but a platform for all future games.. Both need to get sorted.

I agree. But if this is where woz is at then that's a lot of work to complete it and hobbit for 2014. I definitely want jack to succeed though.

If anyone has info on status of the underlying Os then chime in. If that's complete they could actually in theory be developing hobbit right now as we speak on a virtual table.

Game code is NOT going to be "complete" upon the first game shipping. Just ask Jack and he will absolutely state as much. However, it will be a "game". If there is anyone at the front of the line for shipping that would like to wait for a later release of the software I am more than happy to take your spot and be able to play the game at home as the code evolves. Besides, as has been stated on the WOZ forum ... the mechanism JJP is putting in place for code updates is simple and "sexy". Strong hints toward internet based updates (no USB or PC needed for downloading.) The physical game is complete.

Regardless of what they use as a topper, I think the game stands on it's own(aesthetically) without a topper.

Toppers are so damn over rated Who cares what it has. What it should have is another Tv like on arcades in japan so others can watch. With a camera pointed down at pf. That would be BOSS. Would be cool if Jack could throw one in the head so one of the 1/4's could show the shots

Haven't heard that expression in years.

Drop dead means, 'It'll be done now, unless it's not!'...

It would be pretty cool if the LCD showed a picture-in-picture style window, showing key shots in the game, depending on the mode your in.

I love the idea about an external display showing the playfield. That WOULD be boss!

You mentioned new animation for R E S C U E. Did you notice new music for or any sort of multiball based on the castle playfield? There has been talk here recently of Rescue Multiball and new music progress.

Also, is the GI still slowly cycling colors or does it change with gameplay or anything?

Thanks for posing these updates.

I am a programmer and I can say that there's really no way to know where the hold up is. It could be in any number of systems.

Most likely, it's simply a sh*t-ton of work. Not only does Keith have to design and implement an entirely new OS, but a game development system and API, and then a set of rules for the particular game. All the libraries that WOZ as well as other games will use also have to be designed from the ground up, including controlling all the game hardware, doing animations, etc. It's a TON of work. I can't believe he's as far along as he is at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a few more months before there's a workable piece of game code. It's the nature of the beast given the fact that this is an all-new hardware and software system.

People are going to bitch and moan about delays, but anyone who has done these things before knows what's going on is not out of the ordinary.

This is what I have been saying. A new platform like this will take a whole lot of programming time. There is no surprise to me that this is well over budget in both time and money...

I've seen that effect on LED'd games when the inserts are Super or Ultrabrights...they tend to silhouette out the areas surrounding it, making the playfield look darker. Also - it's a widebody, so the GI is a bit further from the center...and are there spotlights? I forget...but those brighten up a PF nicely.

Anybody taking some video yet?

I spent 5 hours filming it Wednesday. Working on the video now while I scan pinside. Will try to post as soon as it's finished.

Two things I've noticed that are incorrect on this thread (though they may have been corrected by other posts...) The ramp is absolutely not a concern. It may have been at one point, but on the game I played it was easily accessible with a clean shot from both flippers. And I also believe the monkey did work to carry the ball. I'm pretty certain I filmed it happening and am trying to find it, because after rescuing dorothy it gave me a 2-ball multiball, and the only way that could happen is if the monkey flew it up there.

Very cool. Thank you very much.

Jack said in the WOZ group: "The Green game was Gary's - the Silver game - we just built."

So... I'd probably want to play the "standard edition" to get an idea of what's actually going on mechanically (more current parts).

I'm certainly as frustrated as any with the time it's taking. I don't agree, however, that no part of the project has gone good. There have been many pleasant surprises as developements have been annoucnced. Wide body. Clear coated playfield. Shaker motor. Anti-glare glass and so on. There are a lot of positive but I'm like a lot of the pre-order customers. I want my machine yesterday.

I want to see a pic of the silver or regular edition

I would be frustrated as well but I personally believe that JJP is trying to make one of the best machines of all time. This game seems to contain far more features and toys in it then any recent machine. Those new features need to be combined with a deep rule set (not seen in many recent machines) and also integrated with animations on the LCD. I believe that the wait will be worth it. How many machines have we seen over the years that have been rushed out and resulted in disappointment? I don't want to see this machine turn out to be like Pinball 2000 due to it being rushed. This machine has a chance to set a new standard for pinball and increase pinball interest to new highs. If waiting a few more weeks or months means that we get one the best pins of all time I think that's well worth the wait.

In the meantime I'll be continuing making payments on a Hobbit LE, lol.

Just got back from the show. I wont go into details about WOZ, but it was SLOW. You could put bricks under the back legs and it 'might' speed things up a bit. IMO. On the lighter side, the pin felt solid as a rock.

Its been less than 3 years from idea to concept. We have a high quality machine soon to be released and like all software its not complete. Loosen up. By the time the Hobbit gets here well be laughing about the impatient pinheads that thought the game would be done in a few months.Takes time, brand new game system has to go through lots of labs(UL) to get approved and yes LOTS of software for 4 people. Somebody talented should donate some time. Just imagine trying to coordinate all the sub-contractors for pieces in a brand new company. If it was that easy then wheres all those custom pins?I thought Jack said 1 game every 18-24 months. Cut him slack or well be forced to live Wheel of Fortune pins again!

No need for anyone to worry about anything with WoZ. There was an article in Fortune Magazine recently stating that the machine is shipping in March so it must be true. It did say 2013, correct?

For those complaining about performance on the green LE game (with the now defunct twister plastic)... a couple hours ago Jack posted:

"Good thing Joe looked at Gary's game....it was a very early version with mixed coils that somehow never got updated. It will be updated tonight and fully functional tomorrow.....so much for that!"

Just met Joe at the Ohio show, cool guy, Played 4 games. Enjoyed it very much but they need to turn the points up by 100% at the end of a good round and you only score 614 points its kinda weird. I don't like the 256,000,000 scores on Sega games. I think a good round should net you a System 11 score of around 1,000,000 points. WOZ left me feeling very insecure and everyone there felt the same way.

March 13th is less than 2 weeks away, I guess we'll see if the game's improves by leaps and bounds at that point.

I am not a WoZ project hater, I am just curious what the real scoop is. I remember last year at the Northwest Pinball and Gameroom show Jack was leaving for a family vacation to Europe, and he made a remark to the team along the lines of "and these guys will be working hard while I am gone and get this game ready to go". Fast forward several months and the game is diplayed again with code that did not appear to have progressed much.

Fast forward again 1-2 months (now in ~Dec. 2012) and you still have very basic code. Fast forward 2 months to March 1st and it still seems far from done.

Painful on all sides. I am sure everybody just wants this game to ship, but even the playfield insert lights do not appear to be functional... is that another 6 months away?

Regardless of the level of code completion a machine should be set up in optimum form at any location its moved to for demonstration. Not setting pitch and level is just being lazy or not caring becasue it costs nothing to do correctly.

For something that is suppose to be completed and ready to ship the demo units sound shaky.

614 points?

Seems most games at least a couple minutes long are easily in the 5 digit range, and considering how few rules there are I'm sure the average game on more featured code will end up in 6 digits, with a good game crossing into 7 (like you say you'd like).

And yeah... these poorly leveled games are starting to get very annoying to hear about. Get it right the first time, guys!

"WOZ left me feeling very insecure and everyone there felt the same way."

Do you mean insecure because of the low score or due to your concerns the game is not performing up to what you hoped and you are insecure about it's outcome?

He did say "Enjoyed it very much".

Games will ship in March (2013), Period.

I mean I played 4 games with 4 people in each game, so that's 16 games I was involved with and witnesssed and the bad ass score with multi ball was like 64,400. Don't over analyze what I am saying but what I saw was lots of drains on right lane, low scores (and I mean a good 3 minute ball play was betting 10000 points.) and balls launching on their own so it was confusing if the player before u was getting a ball save, but it was actually the game launching ur second ball for u without using plunger for no known reason. Like i said i am giving it the benefit of the doubt just reporting live feelings. I would love to fall in love with this game and maybe it needs more time? I am totally not hating. And i can't wait to try again Tom.

Yes inscure bc of low scores with a decent ball time. Compared to other games 4 or 5 minutes nets u 500,000 points. I had a good run and needed up with like 60'000. Stern games over do it and give u a 1,000,000 for just putting a quarter in... Which I am not a fan of either.

LOL, I hate it when games give you points before you even leave the shooter lane!

I am using hyperbole but the point remains the same. I'd rather have JJP WOZ than the trash Stern puts out. Clip art sucks. The games feel cheap. I have not played one stern game that feels like anywhere asd good as any Williams\Bally game from the 80's or 90's. I showed up praying Tron was cool and it looked like my 8 year old daughters art project. Clip art sucks. And Stern games feel like they were made in a factory in China I will never buy one. At least WOZ with its low score and flaws feels like a real pinball game and not a Toys r us product.

Are you buying a WOZLE or regular version.