I don't think there are any machines which can save pinball at this point. I really enjoy it, but I fear those who do are in the vast minority nowadays.
Pinball is gaining a resurgence in popularity. Lots of young guns starting to get into it, from playing with digital tables.
Of course, its more than just on-site sales. Home sales have been keeping Stern alive... and their poor quality has led to less and less sales.
Pinball does have the ability to make money on location... but not in its current iteration. Much more durability and better design have to be in place for that to happen.
I think you should be a little more open minded about the design, though. It's so hard to tell how the game will play from a static image like this.
When you have played enough pins, you get to a point where you can look at a machine and know how shots will flow. Most especially when you have played many tables from the same designer. Theres nothing really revolutionary or exciting about the shots here. Its old hat... and not really the good kind of old hat.
It has enough going on to be interesting, and your comment about the spinning disc being out of place doesn't make sense. What classic pinball device would you have used to showcase the "identity disc", which is the focal point of the story? Seems like a good match to me.
The Disc isnt really the focal point of the Story. Its a part of it, but not the focus. Anyways, the problem isnt so much the disc itself, but that its enclosed. If for example, the disc was in the center of the Playfield, the ball would be shot all over the place, such as on Whirlwind. But even then, its cheese at best.
I could go into a lot of detail about what Could be put in place of it that would far exceed the crappy spin field, but Im not going to bother at this point. Stern doesnt have much experience with building good worthwhile mechanical toys, and doesnt want to pay to have them made. So they simply recycle the same things over and over again on every machine. Its a losing strategy, especially when something like a spinning disc holds no playability or coolness factor in it for the player.
Lets put it this way... whats more fun?
A) Sinking a ball into a tight hole at the correct time
B) Knocking down Drop-Targets
C) Watching a ball roll around in circles while you wait for it to finally pop out
An evil CLU figure that moved back / forth would have been 3000x better than the ball blender.
Also, ramps which feed back to the flippers are a useful element for setting up shots, especially under tight time constraints. Have to see how it plays to judge the design.
If you have ever played BK2K, or a related SR design, you would know that the quick loop feature is a skilled shot event that provides challenge and a lot of fun, to see how many times you can make the loop before you fail to get the timing down. It makes for a fast intense experience, rather than a lullaby of leisurely wait times.
As for ramps to flippers, its obvious why its done, but doesnt mean its always the best ways to do things. As said, I would have been far more excited with a quickloop option.
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