I was but since sold a week ago. It was a rough frustrating ride, but the current code got a lot better. I was tainted by older code, but I'm glad I sold it local so I can go back and play when new code is released. I hope for all the owners they finish it the right way.

I'm in the same boat as BriGuy5. Finally ditched it after disappointment, but overall, I can see me owning it again one day once the wounds heal.

-Wes

Pre Ordered it, dealt with code and finally sold it. Played one on location and realized I made the right call. Started playing one at a friends house and really realized I really made the right call. Ugh.

I detached myself from the suffering right after the 1.24 release. But I felt a disconnect from stern not kicking me in the nuts so I picked up a pro last weekend swelling has since reduced back to normal and I'm enjoying the pro very much!

Have had Wolverine 141 since the beginning.

I'm a patient, patient man....and luckily I could see the potential in this game. Selling early would have been like bailing on Spider-Man because of its early code, or dumping LOTR because of weak flippers.

I couldnt wait. Sold my pro after a few months. Tried to sell it on day 2 caught flack. Pro is the way to go.

I preordered the pro for my first NIB due I think in a large part to the whole hype thing going on. I have always liked it though, unlike everyone else. I am not a good player, more like a flailer who just beats the ball around for a little bit. That's probably why I like it more than most of the other people. It's fast and bright and the magnets make the ball go crazy, plus I like the x-men theme. I would like more call outs though.

I don't know what to say...

I wonder if Borg does the LEs as add ons. His Pros are awesome and his Les get clunky. Vs SR looks like he makes an LE and the strips it for Pro.
I feel like I could by any Borg Pro and would have to go Le for SR.
Just an observation.

Borg designed them side by side. Ritchie stripped. Gomez added.

i've had mine since before xmas power pack
rumor had it that the power pack update would be the big boost for x-men le's lol.
still truckin, been through the aux board biz too. great game, enjoy it lots more now.

I'm shocked, because you are usually so patient with games. =)

Yep pre ordered before the pics were out. I love the X-Men and obviously Wolverine so I had to jump on this band wagon. Its been a bumpy ride but now its smooth sailing.

Wolvie #63, pre-ordered before pics and sticking with it. I love the theme. I've always really enjoyed the game, except for the abortion that was the power pack. Couldn't get that version off the machine fast enough.

I called the guy at ajax to pre order one but never heard back from them. Work happened and I never made the call to anyone else. Few months later and I picked up Hwawonyu's running 1.22 so I missed most of the hell you others dealt with.
Love the machine though. 1.3 is really quite good and if the deadpool mode makes it then it will be even better. Still very happy with the purchase. I gave up my tspp for it.

Here is my X-MenLE game history which I would not call "long-term suffering".

I have been on board with Magneto since day one and still own the game. I think I was fortunate not to experience many of the issues X-Men LE owners had posted about.

Game purchased in July 2012.

I waited for about 1 month in July/August 2012 for the machine to learn how to add. That was the only suffering phase to me-owning a pinball machine in 2012 could not add numbers. Seriously, Stern? I refused to play it.

The code then improved in August/September 2012 and the game was playable. Perfect? No. Easy? No. Complete? No. Playable? Yes. Fun? Yes. No more suffering at my end. Of course I wanted more and knew it would come-this was not my first dance with Stern. However, wanting and hoping for more is not akin to suffering.

The Christmas 2012 code release was not at all what I wanted in the rules and I thought it was a giant step in the wrong direction, so I did not update the code. I considered the drastic rule change the second bad phase, but nobody *had* to update. (Backup the older versions of code just in case, or study the readme file first).

Some decided to go back to the earlier code. Some liked the changes. Stern saw this and gave people the rule option in the next release.

Version 1.24 came out in March 2013 and the readme code looked much better and the game played much better than the August/September code (again I skipped the Christmas update). No suffering for me here. I still wanted more, but I was content to enjoy what was offered.

Version 1.3 came out in June 2013 which to me is even better. No suffering for me and having lots of fun. Do I want more? Yes, of course-that will likely never change

So in my opinion, I "suffered" for a month in July 2012; I have not been suffering a year; the game has been improving, albeit a very circuitous path.

But, if Stern wants to send me a T-shirt, I wear XL and prefer black, heavy cotton

Long sufferer right here, also NIB. #250 wolverine. Have gotten close to selling it a few times.

Coming up to my 1 year anniversary with it. It was my first and last NIB. I loved the theme and played it CAX, so I knew how the shots were. Just too much.

Buying a HUO for 80% of the cost, or getting a Premium is the way to go next time. It turned out to be a good game, but there were times where I wasn't sure it was going to happen. I did not have the confidence Stern would continue to improve the software, and I thought it was going to become the next Wheel of Fortune.

I realize it isn't an investment, but watching it depreciate 100 bucks a month sucked. I bought it realizing that I probably wouldn't get back what I paid into it, but losing 25% of its value in a few months put a pit in my stomach.

Canadians got their games first and I'm pretty sure mine was the 2nd LE to be unboxed (by a matter of hours)...
so yeah, I'm a long standing club member

Fortunately, membership has been relatively painless for me. I haven't had any of the typical QC issues that some have experienced (knock wood). And, I've also remained pretty positive about this title throughout the long wait for good code; always looking at the potential it had.

I don't think Wolverine 109 is going anywhere soon. Just wished I'd waited and gotten a better deal

I purchased an XMEN PRO day 1 after playing my friends LE. I knew it was going to be an incredible game someday. 11 months and counting and never once did I regret my decision.

The artwork, layout, sound and dots sold me. Plus John Borg is my favorite designer, so I knew the game would be awesome someday. John used beta testers for the first time ever as he wants this game to be one of this best. I think we should all cut Waison/Lonnie and Mike some slack as they've really turned the game around.

Thats not to say I haven't been disappointed with the delays, I have. I also know Stern has learned a thing or two also in the process and I think thats why we have 2 games this year, not 3 so they can focus on q/a and software.

Picking up our X-MEN Magneto on Friday. NIB.. <<< No-sufferers club!

Do you guys think they will continue to release software updates for it? Not an owner, but skimming through the posts after the last update it seemed pretty positive, with a few "nice-to-have's" left. Maybe that is Stern's pass to focus Waison's and Lonnie's efforts on the next big thing?

Word out on the street is there will be another update and maybe 2 for the very fine polish

I ordered a Magneto #88 before the pictures even came out. I tried selling it a couple times but I was not going to sell it for the low prices people were wanting to buy it for. I would rather just hold on to it. I didn't play it for a while but with the last code update I have been playing it allot. I am really starting to enjoy the game. Sucks it took a year.

I have my xmen LE that I bought new. I like the game a lot Nd don't think its been such a rough ride.

I've heard this quite a bit in the hype thread and after, so I'm sure it's true. But if I was Borg I would be asking people to stop saying it..... Piss poor design when your main feature has to be moved a half inch between pro and le, impeding shots in some games. Ramp is nothing to be proud of either, at best it's clunky but looks cool, at worst if it moves when you go for it, it looks cool but auto-drains. These toys are terribly designed, all the Wolvie figures I've seen have a lot of variance in mounting point, arm position, height, width and depth. The fact it is actually mounted in such different places between pro and le, being such a fatass figure is completely insane and deducts huge design points imo.

I pre-ordered. It was the first theme I was interested in since LOTR. If it was a movie pin I wouldn't have looked at it twice, but being based on the comics which we never see was huge. Also I was certainly egged on by the insane hype thread, led mostly by mr "10000 by christmas" dude. Who sold his game in weeks for a loss for "business opportunity reasons"....while keeping his many many other pins and going on to hype every single game heavily since. If anything this ordeal has soured me on Pinside (which I was crazy about for a year prior) as much as Stern.

I always liked the game more than most, I put thousands of plays on it right away. I enjoyed collecting heroes to start Magneto and then doing hero modes. My scoop was pretty worn by the time cliffys were even available, and that's with cleaning waxing and coating it in hard as nails every week to 10 days. My game showed 1300 games played by the first update, or maybe it was second if the first one came right away I don't remember now. I've put thousands on it since. I'm neurotic about any game I'm into and play it over and over and over.....

I think the game is great, really great, but in my mind it can never be what it easily should have been. Between the craptastic implementation of the bash toy, the clunky erratic and sometimes longshooting iceman ramp, and the mostly functional but not quite right Storm ramp it will always be in the back of my mind that just a little more attention would have made it my perfect shooters game. If they would actually prototype all their games and spend a month tuning their toys and angles a bit instead of their whiteboards with standup targets and handmade placeholders all of their games would get that extra ~10% they need to all be truely great amazing games.

And I do have a chip on my shoulder that I don't think I'll ever get over about Stern's attention and communication about the code blunderclusterfuck. There will never be an excuse for it taking a year to get where it should have been at launch, and its not ok for it to only be there now and not finished and polished.

I still have my game, still love it, and enjoy playing it. But I think it will be the first game I don't keep forever. And that's ok. The longer reaching effect on me is a huge loss in faith for Stern and Pinside (for that and alllllll the other BS its turned into around here in the time since).

Ordered my Wolvie in July 2012 (not a pre order but close enough as the machines weren't out yet). Was planning on buying a Tron LE but decided on the Xmen LE instead (still can't believe I did that).

Played it for about a month and that was about it, just couldn't take much more of the scoring issues of the machine.

Like everyone else, I was pumped up for the Xmas update, but we all know how that panned out. The pinnacle of my frustration was reached on January 5, 2013 when I wrote a little story about the Xmas update:

http://pinside.com/pinball/community/stories/stern-code-updates-sometimes-good-intentions-go-bad

Once again the machine collected dust for months and months.

Now though it's a different story. Finally starting to get some games on 1.3 and I'm having a blast with the game!

Can't see Wolvie # 265 going anywhere soon!

Had Wolvie LE #153 since August 2012. Been lucky (so far) and have had no aux board issues. Love the game to death, although I don't think I'm a good enough player to fully enjoy the experience and the flow of playing it. I got the game because of the ambition/potential I saw in it, and the code is on its way to being something really special.

Original pre-order owner of Wolverine LE #263. Thought about letting it go several times through this rollercoaster of code revisions. Game plays great now but still not fully convinced it is a keeper.

+1

<edited>

How many threads do you need in order to understand this game is a MAJOR turd.

_{Post edited by The_Dude_Abides : Homophobic comments have no place on Pinside. Please refrain in the future.}

In since day 1 - #157 Wolvie LE. 1 year anniversary coming up on 7/14. I pre-ordered on a first run SM and was more upset with that code progress than X-Men. Since I lived through SM, I learned how to be patient. I assumed that X-Men would eventually get the love it needed based on Stern's history. It's annoying how long it takes for Stern to make things right, but the good thing for those that are patient is that they typically do (WOF owners excluded).

Scott

I bought BriGuy's LE Wolverine last week. Loving it so far, but that could be the new machine syndrome. Time will tell.

BriGuy - while I have the machine you are welcome to visit it anytime.

Still both LE's available NIB in Canada.

This is pretty much exactly how I feel. I didn't like the pin nearly enough to even consider waiting for additional updated code. There was a lot about the pin that I liked, mostly the appearance, dots, and cool modes, but the way it shoots/plays was a different matter and no code was going to change that, so I sold it after about 7 weeks if I remember correctly. And of course at the time the code blew too, which made it pretty much a no brainer for me to sell.

It all personal taste, but XM LE is one of my least favorite pins that I have ever owned, including ones that cost less than $2k.

I've played it a few more times since selling, at two different peoples homes, and decision was correct for me.

I'm glad that I got out when I did, before the pricing really bottomed out. Still lost plenty of money on it though.

So all said, I guess I didn't "suffer" too long.

I am happy to hear that Stern has improved the code on this though, even though I still see plenty of discussion about the code and what else is needed in the XM thread.

XM Pro was our first pin. I got it home and then found out I had to take it completely out of the box to get it to the basement. We got it down there and played the crap out of it! Since we had never played a pin so extensively, this was the first time we ever learned the ins and outs of the rules on a game. The rules could have been fantastic or complete garbage (I know most leaned towards garbage) and we were completely happy. Every time we got a new code update we couldn't wait to try it out! Then I would come on Pinside and watch everyone barbecue the new code (that we generally liked because we don't know any better). Anyways, the game keeps getting better and we love going downstairs, firing it up, and playing pinball.

Dang guys, opened this thread thinking it was going to be actual owners who still owned this pin and liked it (like me) only to find more complaining about the same old stuff. I love this pin, all stages have been different and enjoyable for what they are...wish more could just play and not be so Siskel and Ebert about it.

I was in for an early pre-order. I still have the game. I still consider it on probation. Code updates have had their ups and downs. Almost every update has had at least a step or 2 backwards for every few steps forward. It's better than it has been in the past, but still a hollow shell of what it could easily be or have been.

After the final update we will see if I enjoy the game or not.

I bought NIB July 2012 with first code and always liked the game and now love the game
Magneto #191

I started the other thread.

I got Magneto #126 on preorder. It's the only one in New Zealand.

Everyone is in awe of it. The dots, the modes, the cabinet.

Nuff said.

rd.

I think if you really read the posts, these folks do like the game.

Is it really bad that people have criticisms about the game? Especially the mechanical components of the product.

These are the places folks from the pinball companies are going to come, to gauge customer satisfaction, and get bug reports.

Never hurts to repeat yourself on the criticisms. Especially if they haven't been fixed yet, and hopefully the company can learn from that, and make a better product. OR, hopefully fix the current product.

Nah, just a specific style of game play and a bad history. Its great to see folks that picked one up at the end and love it. Thats pinball.

The simpler solution would have been to get the Kerry Stair scoop protector and you woudn't have had to have done anything. They were available when the game came out. I put one right away. Zero wear.

On topic - I am no longer suffering lol Enjoyed the layout, dots & art....but the rules and sound package lacked the magic-sauce...I feel like X-Men's updates aren't so much "creative advances", but fueled by necessity from misunderstood outrage and just feel like "Gah! Here, we changed and added some stuff, will you guys get off our backs already".

Not really interested in ANOTHER scoop protector argument, but the other protector does not protect the top of the bevel where the wear is. Would have made no difference whatsoever. My wear is a full quarter inch above and outside of where that one stops.

One is for scoops with walls or posts on at least one of the front corners, and one is for scoops in space where the scoop misdirects a missed shot at an angle directly down on top of the bevel. The protectors have two different purposes.

Alrighty, all I can say is that I've installed "inner" protectors on various non-worn games - STTNG, Tron LE, Metallica LE. They don't wear with these protectors. My X-Men had over 1000 games on it. Zero wear. My Tron's prob on 2000+ games...zero wear. My STTNG has about 1000. Zero wear. Install inner protector from day 1, scoop won't wear.

My XM Journey

- Pre-ordered Wolvy LE

- Got it with shit beta code that didn't score right

- Suffered through a code update or two and sold it to fund MM

- Drove to Vegas to get a phenomenal deal on ANOTHER Wolvy LE (Thanks Tozzi)

- Rocked it for the past 6 months or so

- Updated to newest code, played, enjoyed, sold to a local dude who wanted one

- He LOVES it

And all I can say is for Xmen you are incorrect, the protector will not work in the reality we live in. It doesn't come anywhere near the wear....and as far as I know it does not jump up out of the hole and go back in when needed.

Wolverine was my first NIB purchase. I LOVE it, and it will NEVER leave my collection. Yes, early software sucked, but the latest has made it on par with my ACDC premium and currently consider those 2 my favorite Sterns every owned or played.