in East London this week, there will apparently be a Hobbit, Walking Dead, Wrestlemania,, and Full Throttle. scorchio!
Anyone going?
What day?
Anyone going?
What day?
EAG show in London (Hobbit, MMR, Walking Dead, Full Throttle, and some wrestling pile of crap)
- Thread starter cooldan
- Start date
Going today....leaving shortly. Also an MMr and Jersey Jack himself going to be there.
D
Deleted member 181
Please can someone get some decent video footage of the hobbit... All the stuff on YouTube is shocking shakey crap... Can't make it this year , so mortified as they have a Star Wars battle pod up there as well :'(
OP
OP
i'm gonna just repost what i put in my facebook page after getting home;
First impressions: Hobbit boring slow just up and down. Wrestlemania yawn zzzzz. Full Throttle awesome fast and fun. MMr not as good as MM. Walking Dead looks good has potential. WOZ with redemption tickets ****ing ****.
(why do i say MMR < MM?) - my opinion is based purely on feel and first impressions. This machine looks slightly different - LEDs everywhere (i don't like LEDs), colours seem less bright (but that might also be the LEDs), cabinet and ramps seem slightly less sturdy and a little flimsier - i'm not used to seeing them wobble; also there is a funny bounce i've not seen before when the ball comes off left orbit (like on launch or after a lock shot) and tries to go SDTM. add to this the fact that the boards are attached to the pf (so lots of vibration and carbon and tiny metal flakes) and surface-mount so not repairable, and leaded solder ..... just all adds up to i think an original in good condition is massively preferable to this thing, that cost them so little to create and yet cost a bomb and appears inferior. sorry to Phil Palmer for being negative here but i'm sure one pinhead's opinions won't affect your planned extension to the Orangery. i will try to give a more reasoned opinion later of Wrestling, Hobbit, and Full Throttle too. just my first impression was that FTh was about fifty times more fun to play than all the others.
The Hobbit: theme is excellent and playfield design looks a lot nicer than originally. for me, the game is just a bit too up and down and up and down and slow and slow and. and stop. weakest launch spring in history. annoying playfield protector means that the rollovers (required to light lock at the FishTales boat ramp)are often scooted over without registering. i am not a fan of the 'book' LCD on the playfield, i find it a bit pointless, like the upper flipper that is redundant and not a single shot can only be hit with it. the Smaug toy which was hoped to be a fun interactive toy, just rotates a bit and looks like an ornament in a Chinese restaurant, doing nothing. it doesn't look as impressive as WOZ, and it doesn't play fun. for me anyway. maybe it needs to be set steeper, i dunno. anyway, it was a disappointment to me. Jersey Jack the saviour of pinball? not on this evidence.
Wrestlemania: (sigh). the theme leaves me cold. the game looks nice, but nothing happens. the left ramp is quite steep, and no shots go anywhere or do anything. it bleeps and blinks and buzzes noises like Qbert, and the 'wrestling ring' idea is original but i was already bored of it after two balls. i had two games on this title (one on each of the two machines) and was thoroughly underwhelmed. i just wanted it to end.
Full Throttle: first the bad - the two new machines were out of action being fixed when i was there, so i only saw the prototype playable. the front corners hurt your hands. there are still lots of airballs that mean you get balls bouncing over the top of your flipper, plenty of balls lost to bad physics with no chance to even touch it to try to save it. on this prototype, no multiplayer games possible, and skill shot wasn't quite dialled in (sometimes you successfully hit the orange bit and weren't rewarded, and vice versa); game currently set too easy, as i'm crap but i almost reached the wizard mode after only about four goes...... and the good: man this thing plays FAST! ..... really nice strong flippers, good looking cabinet with some great ideas like modular parts and lit up cabinet and replaceable playfield for new game .... glass/frame lifts up without a need for a huge footprint ..... previously sun-bright backbox glare now completely fixed and looks good .... made in Britain and has English accents in the callouts .... great fun to send the ball screaming round those ramps and orbits for combos ... apparently scoring is exponential (worth more for the same shot later in the game, which i *love*). this game reminded me of Corvette and HS2. i kept going back for more. it was the most fun of all the games at the show, for me, and frankly ****ed all over both Hobbit and Wrestling. i predict the future is bright for Heighway Pinball if this ends up as good as i think it could do. and followed by Alien(s) ..... if there's only room for two pinball manufacturers, i say to Jersey Jack Pinball this: get your coat.
First impressions: Hobbit boring slow just up and down. Wrestlemania yawn zzzzz. Full Throttle awesome fast and fun. MMr not as good as MM. Walking Dead looks good has potential. WOZ with redemption tickets ****ing ****.
(why do i say MMR < MM?) - my opinion is based purely on feel and first impressions. This machine looks slightly different - LEDs everywhere (i don't like LEDs), colours seem less bright (but that might also be the LEDs), cabinet and ramps seem slightly less sturdy and a little flimsier - i'm not used to seeing them wobble; also there is a funny bounce i've not seen before when the ball comes off left orbit (like on launch or after a lock shot) and tries to go SDTM. add to this the fact that the boards are attached to the pf (so lots of vibration and carbon and tiny metal flakes) and surface-mount so not repairable, and leaded solder ..... just all adds up to i think an original in good condition is massively preferable to this thing, that cost them so little to create and yet cost a bomb and appears inferior. sorry to Phil Palmer for being negative here but i'm sure one pinhead's opinions won't affect your planned extension to the Orangery. i will try to give a more reasoned opinion later of Wrestling, Hobbit, and Full Throttle too. just my first impression was that FTh was about fifty times more fun to play than all the others.
The Hobbit: theme is excellent and playfield design looks a lot nicer than originally. for me, the game is just a bit too up and down and up and down and slow and slow and. and stop. weakest launch spring in history. annoying playfield protector means that the rollovers (required to light lock at the FishTales boat ramp)are often scooted over without registering. i am not a fan of the 'book' LCD on the playfield, i find it a bit pointless, like the upper flipper that is redundant and not a single shot can only be hit with it. the Smaug toy which was hoped to be a fun interactive toy, just rotates a bit and looks like an ornament in a Chinese restaurant, doing nothing. it doesn't look as impressive as WOZ, and it doesn't play fun. for me anyway. maybe it needs to be set steeper, i dunno. anyway, it was a disappointment to me. Jersey Jack the saviour of pinball? not on this evidence.
Wrestlemania: (sigh). the theme leaves me cold. the game looks nice, but nothing happens. the left ramp is quite steep, and no shots go anywhere or do anything. it bleeps and blinks and buzzes noises like Qbert, and the 'wrestling ring' idea is original but i was already bored of it after two balls. i had two games on this title (one on each of the two machines) and was thoroughly underwhelmed. i just wanted it to end.
Full Throttle: first the bad - the two new machines were out of action being fixed when i was there, so i only saw the prototype playable. the front corners hurt your hands. there are still lots of airballs that mean you get balls bouncing over the top of your flipper, plenty of balls lost to bad physics with no chance to even touch it to try to save it. on this prototype, no multiplayer games possible, and skill shot wasn't quite dialled in (sometimes you successfully hit the orange bit and weren't rewarded, and vice versa); game currently set too easy, as i'm crap but i almost reached the wizard mode after only about four goes...... and the good: man this thing plays FAST! ..... really nice strong flippers, good looking cabinet with some great ideas like modular parts and lit up cabinet and replaceable playfield for new game .... glass/frame lifts up without a need for a huge footprint ..... previously sun-bright backbox glare now completely fixed and looks good .... made in Britain and has English accents in the callouts .... great fun to send the ball screaming round those ramps and orbits for combos ... apparently scoring is exponential (worth more for the same shot later in the game, which i *love*). this game reminded me of Corvette and HS2. i kept going back for more. it was the most fun of all the games at the show, for me, and frankly ****ed all over both Hobbit and Wrestling. i predict the future is bright for Heighway Pinball if this ends up as good as i think it could do. and followed by Alien(s) ..... if there's only room for two pinball manufacturers, i say to Jersey Jack Pinball this: get your coat.
Interesting stuff Dan, thanks for posting it all. Has FT had a backbox change yet or does it still look Zizzle(ish)?
Shame to hear Hobbit is disappointing after all the build up and can't see me paying much attention to Wrestlemania if/when I stumble across one.....
Shame to hear Hobbit is disappointing after all the build up and can't see me paying much attention to Wrestlemania if/when I stumble across one.....
OP
OP
looks good to me. it's not the same as a backbox on a ballywilliamsdataeastsegastern, and it's not the same as those convex segas like SST and XPiles, it's sorta thin and lean. the backbox is getting less and less relevant these days with smaller computers and boards, and with screens in the playfield etc.
i will upload some vids to youtube and post some pics later
i will upload some vids to youtube and post some pics later
Thanks for a honest report Dan.
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2011
- Messages
- 11,336
- Alias
- Ive
Yep - say what you think eh Dan 
Good man
What you say about The Hobbit tallies with what I thought watching the videos. All the shots are at the top of the table so you get endless long shot, wait for ball to make its way back to flippers ....rinse repeat. Plus the slightly pointless top flipper. Does 'look' much better now, even the book looks less cr*p, yet still a bit cr*p.
Good manWhat you say about The Hobbit tallies with what I thought watching the videos. All the shots are at the top of the table so you get endless long shot, wait for ball to make its way back to flippers ....rinse repeat. Plus the slightly pointless top flipper. Does 'look' much better now, even the book looks less cr*p, yet still a bit cr*p.
OP
OP
Some pics from phone.
Uploading video now to YouTube
Uploading video now to YouTube
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2011
- Messages
- 11,336
- Alias
- Ive
Cheers for those .
So the apron is *clear*
on FThrottle ?? Or was that the proto ?
So the apron is *clear*
on FThrottle ?? Or was that the proto ?
OP
OP
the red one is the new one (?LE), the playable one is black.
vids below
that's the lot
vids below
that's the lot
Nice one Dan. 
OP
OP
oh, and i missed out my review of WOZ 'Pindemption'. i kid you not, it's called Pin-farking-demption. hahahahahahahalolzzzzz&roffles
WOZ 'pindemption' (wtf? pindemption? oh the horror, the horror): the idea is this - you pay your money and you get a guaranteed minute playing pinball. depending how well you do, you either win X tickets, or Y tickets, to go and buy some crappy stuffed teddy or some haribo sweets with. if you are doing really badly, it doesn't matter, because you get your ball back apparently the operators love it as it 'introduces new people' to pinball (and basically because it makes them a profit). the trouble is - they will soon learn to *not* love it unless it needs less maintenance than pins always do. people who never played pinball may well like it, BUT .... and it's a big but... even if you're doing really well, your game just dies anyway and the power goes after 60seconds. so why bother to try again? the new people who didn't realise that pinball exists will hopefully look for a real machine .... and the pinheads will probably just think it's a piece of **** idea. i absolutely loathe the concept. the best thing about WOZ for me was always the appearance. this ticket ****ness just makes a crap thing even crappier.
WOZ 'pindemption' (wtf? pindemption? oh the horror, the horror): the idea is this - you pay your money and you get a guaranteed minute playing pinball. depending how well you do, you either win X tickets, or Y tickets, to go and buy some crappy stuffed teddy or some haribo sweets with. if you are doing really badly, it doesn't matter, because you get your ball back apparently the operators love it as it 'introduces new people' to pinball (and basically because it makes them a profit). the trouble is - they will soon learn to *not* love it unless it needs less maintenance than pins always do. people who never played pinball may well like it, BUT .... and it's a big but... even if you're doing really well, your game just dies anyway and the power goes after 60seconds. so why bother to try again? the new people who didn't realise that pinball exists will hopefully look for a real machine .... and the pinheads will probably just think it's a piece of **** idea. i absolutely loathe the concept. the best thing about WOZ for me was always the appearance. this ticket ****ness just makes a crap thing even crappier.
Nice one Dan What about the Star Wars Pod Battle, how was that?
What about the Star Wars Pod Battle, how was that?
Thanks for the vids Dan, great ( and a shock! ) to see Full Throttle getting the most positive feedback of all the machines there. The Hobbit still looks boring as ever at least in videos.
D
Deleted member 181
Well done mate glad someone got some video
OP
OP
Full Throttle - the only working one was the prototype and only one player still. The other two were 'LE' I think and supposedly upgrades. Shame, but tbh I enjoyed the basic model so much I didn't care. What did you think? @Onze @Wizcat
The Battle Pod was ok but for €30K I'd have expected it to tilt you about with hydraulics and shakers instead of just a big single screen inside a phone box. I think it was mostly filler and that the gameplay and graphics can probably be matched on a PS4.
Just one person's opinion so far. I'm hoping to read some feedback from everyone else who went soon. Especially about FTh and Hobbit. Bolloc_ks to that Wrestlemanky
The Battle Pod was ok but for €30K I'd have expected it to tilt you about with hydraulics and shakers instead of just a big single screen inside a phone box. I think it was mostly filler and that the gameplay and graphics can probably be matched on a PS4.
Just one person's opinion so far. I'm hoping to read some feedback from everyone else who went soon. Especially about FTh and Hobbit. Bolloc_ks to that Wrestlemanky
Nice one Dan
It made me feel a bit dodgy when I played it yesterday quite a bit of lurching but the graphics were awesome, there was tilting and shaking as well as wind in your face (unless I imagined it all)
I thought Wrestlemania was woeful, ring was boring as anything, it may have been more fun if the slings were more powerful, but it was just dull with weak flippers and very basic rules. I'm not sure rules can save it but you never know - it's disappointing that code is so basic yet again but then it is a trade show so **MAYBE** the code will be more meaty on release.
I didn't play FT as there was a wait for it (even at 6pm), I really enjoyed the Hobbit, I had no pre-conceptions of it though, I just enjoyed it for what it was, I thought it looked stunning and played really well and the code that had been done was well done.
FT still completely underwhelms me. Its such a shame. The shot layout is great, and the flow is fantastic, but everything else just seems amateurish. The graphic design in particular, but also the cabinet design. But hey, that's just like my opinion man. Once they get the game fully working it may still win me over, but it still has issues with ball hangups, airballs etc. The guy there said some plastics were due any day now to resolve some of the hangups..
Hobbit was, amazing. Absolutely beautiful cabinet, graphic design, animations. Code is very very early, but already has some good challenges. And the layout of the backbox graphics suggests this is going to be another 'deep' pin. I realise now the upper flipper does have some use, despite not having any obvious shot to aim for. Really looking forward to see how this develops.
Wrestlemania was just bland. Totally unfinished code, which must be embarrasing , especially when placed next to TWD, which also still feels far from complete. The upper playfield is reasonably fun, but doesn't seem to offer any real challenge. Players could spend minutes at a time up there just flailing away. I don't think code can fix this element of the game (except maybe by disabling the flippers after a time limit). You also need to be a fan of the theme to have a cabinet like that in the house!
Redemption ticket WOZ is a great idea. Its absolutely not aimed at pinheads. Its aimed at these idiot proof arcades where you put money in thing, press buttons on thing, get tickets. In this regard WOZ, (with its fancy lights, interactive game and purdy graphics) completely blows away all other redemption style games. There is a decent chance that kids will enjoy this, despite it being pinball in its most basic form, and seek out 'real' pinball games in other venues.
Hobbit was, amazing. Absolutely beautiful cabinet, graphic design, animations. Code is very very early, but already has some good challenges. And the layout of the backbox graphics suggests this is going to be another 'deep' pin. I realise now the upper flipper does have some use, despite not having any obvious shot to aim for. Really looking forward to see how this develops.
Wrestlemania was just bland. Totally unfinished code, which must be embarrasing , especially when placed next to TWD, which also still feels far from complete. The upper playfield is reasonably fun, but doesn't seem to offer any real challenge. Players could spend minutes at a time up there just flailing away. I don't think code can fix this element of the game (except maybe by disabling the flippers after a time limit). You also need to be a fan of the theme to have a cabinet like that in the house!
Redemption ticket WOZ is a great idea. Its absolutely not aimed at pinheads. Its aimed at these idiot proof arcades where you put money in thing, press buttons on thing, get tickets. In this regard WOZ, (with its fancy lights, interactive game and purdy graphics) completely blows away all other redemption style games. There is a decent chance that kids will enjoy this, despite it being pinball in its most basic form, and seek out 'real' pinball games in other venues.
Thanks for the reviews, pics and vids!
Wow some widely conflicting opinions on the Hobbit there. I took the trip mainly to play the Hobbit as I'm still in on the preorder but on the fence.
It was dead quiet at the show early Tuesday so managed to get quite a few games in. First impression was how massive and bare the playfield was and first couple of games I was disappointed, felt like playing an old EM with slow gameplay and not a lot going on. Flippers were weak and level was way off though, they should have ramped it up steep and set the flipper strength high, would have made a big difference with speedy ball returns.
After a few games I grew to like it, fairly easy to get multiball going. I particularly liked the bash toy hurry ups, think they add quite a bit of shot variety.
Upper right flipper is still useless, safer to let the ball return to the right flipper rather than risk losing control of the ball with a target shot from the upper. Smaug head does virtually nothing at this stage, a lot of work to be done there.
Code seems very poor to me, altough the screen animations and film footage so far look very good.
Overall an awesome looking machine, potential to be an awesome player too, but it isn't at the minute. Probably a mistake for me to play the prototype, still on the fence on this one then
Agree with the others on Wrestlemania, no excitement there, really needs some funny callouts and animations. Also noticed that there was a lot of nudging going on to try and keep the ball in the ring, those cabs are going to get a lot of hammer!
Wishing I had more games on Full Throttle now after reading Dan's review, only managed to get one game in, did enjoy it though despite a couple of ball hang ups. Kept checking back hoping the other machines with the red trim would be working with the Valentino toy, but sadly not. Maybe they will be working today or at the launch party tomorrow?
It was dead quiet at the show early Tuesday so managed to get quite a few games in. First impression was how massive and bare the playfield was and first couple of games I was disappointed, felt like playing an old EM with slow gameplay and not a lot going on. Flippers were weak and level was way off though, they should have ramped it up steep and set the flipper strength high, would have made a big difference with speedy ball returns.
After a few games I grew to like it, fairly easy to get multiball going. I particularly liked the bash toy hurry ups, think they add quite a bit of shot variety.
Upper right flipper is still useless, safer to let the ball return to the right flipper rather than risk losing control of the ball with a target shot from the upper. Smaug head does virtually nothing at this stage, a lot of work to be done there.
Code seems very poor to me, altough the screen animations and film footage so far look very good.
Overall an awesome looking machine, potential to be an awesome player too, but it isn't at the minute. Probably a mistake for me to play the prototype, still on the fence on this one then
Agree with the others on Wrestlemania, no excitement there, really needs some funny callouts and animations. Also noticed that there was a lot of nudging going on to try and keep the ball in the ring, those cabs are going to get a lot of hammer!
Wishing I had more games on Full Throttle now after reading Dan's review, only managed to get one game in, did enjoy it though despite a couple of ball hang ups. Kept checking back hoping the other machines with the red trim would be working with the Valentino toy, but sadly not. Maybe they will be working today or at the launch party tomorrow?
The arcade I goto every now and then in Newcasle (County Down) has a X-men redemption pin (used to also have a Hulk one but was replaced by Woz non redemption). But its a full proper game that gives out tickets for different shots and scores. I usually put £2 in and get my three games, usually gives me enough tickets(200 or so) to buy some Haribo for the drive home, 40 miles.
Nearly ever machine in the arcade is redemption other than a few driving games and coin waterfalls etc
Havent been up since about october so might take a run up this weekend once I sort the spider misfire
Nearly ever machine in the arcade is redemption other than a few driving games and coin waterfalls etc
Havent been up since about october so might take a run up this weekend once I sort the spider misfire
I had a go on the WoZ pindemption and got 21 tickets, at which point a French guy standing next to me said "let me see if I can get better than that, horrheehorr" and did his 60 second go (and got about 14 points). After that he put it to me that the 21 was a fluke and bet me that I couldn't beat his 14 points, which I had a go at and failed miserably and got 11 or so. Anyway, my point is it was quite a laugh to play competitively like that - I can see the attraction.
But I agree with Dan about Wrestlemania. Seems like a bit of a waste of space to me at the moment. TWD was immediately fun with some interesting shots and some lights to aim at, but Wrestelmania just seemed aimless and not interesting at all. It COULD all change with new code and callouts etc I suppose and it will get better, but with zero interest in the theme or the art package then I don't really care.
Having said that I have zero interest in American Football but seem to remember many years ago getting into a PC game called Mike Ditka's Ultimate Football because it was a bloody good game, so if Wrestlemania becomes good after code updates then maybe I will be eating my words....
But I agree with Dan about Wrestlemania. Seems like a bit of a waste of space to me at the moment. TWD was immediately fun with some interesting shots and some lights to aim at, but Wrestelmania just seemed aimless and not interesting at all. It COULD all change with new code and callouts etc I suppose and it will get better, but with zero interest in the theme or the art package then I don't really care.
Having said that I have zero interest in American Football but seem to remember many years ago getting into a PC game called Mike Ditka's Ultimate Football because it was a bloody good game, so if Wrestlemania becomes good after code updates then maybe I will be eating my words....
