I got a chance to play the Big Lebowski and Ghostbusters machines

[Seven]

It is a bit rough around the edges.

The ball kept getting stuck in two places. On the wireform below the upper flipper and at the top of the playfield to the right of the lanes. In both cases we had to shake the crap out of the machine to unstick the ball.

We also noticed particular things stopped working. The carpet toy wouldn't bump back when hit. It would sit either all the way forward or roll all the way back. A few modes wouldn't start. We couldn't control the ball when bowling. We rebooted the game and that seemed to clear it up - except the bowling. That never seemed to work.

There were a few other glitchy things going on with it.

That said, I really liked it even with the flaws. Once the game is tweaked and running correctly, it will be a good one. The artwork and toys are cool. Audio is cool. The shots and gameplay seem good.

I don't know why they took a perfectly good LCD screen and put a mask over the video elements to make it look like a DMD. What was the point in this? Why not just have a regular video screen with crisp video? Hopefully code updates will make this an option and the pinball world can start to embrace LCD video.

I put some time on Ghostbusters as well. Also a fun machine. Of the last 5 or 6 Stern machines, this is the one that got my attention.

This machine is super approachable. The colours pop, the playfield looks fantastic. It sits there and screams "PLAY ME"!

I'm looking forward to spending more time on both of these.

 

[FastEd]

Curious as to where you played these?

In your opinion, what existing game is GB most similar to?

 

[Seven]

I played these at Nitro Amusements in Mission BC. I think Nitro is the Dutch Pinball distributor for Canada.

Ghostbusters is similar to a lot of machines. They used the traditional layout with the pops under the lanes, scoops and ramps where you expect them. The layout was not groundbreaking. Start modes and hit crap that is blinking to finish the mode. Pretty standard. I liked the Skolari Brothers knock down targets in the playfield, but they didn't add much to the game. They're just kind of fun.

The game is pretty, colourful, and whimsical. Call outs are good. Music is good. Even though it is pretty similar to lots of other machines, it's very inviting.

My one gripe with the game was the outlanes. There is a large wire that separates the outlane from the inlanes. It isn't tall enough. My ball went flying into the inlane and hopped over the bar and drained. You could probably fix this by moving the bar up half a centimeter.

Another minor gripe is the upper lane lights. You can't see them behind the toys. They've put a piece of clear plastic above them to catch the reflection (like Theater of Magic) but it doesn't work very well since the plastic is clear. They probably could have done this a bit better. I'm sure it just takes getting used to.

 

[fantasygoat]

The DMD look on TBL is two-fold - one, it appeals to pinheads who like DMD graphics, and two, it's way way easier to do lower resolution graphics. I actually quite like the look of it.

 

[Seven]

It doesn't look lower res. It just looks like it has a mask over the video. In terms of actual video, it probably takes up the same amount of space and processing.

Then again, I don't know how they are doing the video in that machine.

 

[dnewman]

I played TBL at Allentown last year... the only problem they had with the prototype then was that the kicker sending the ball back to the under-playfield bowling game wasn't making it. Such a great theme!

 

[BMHouze]

I am so jealous Dude.
Sure hope it had a cup holder for your white russian.
I just want to hear the call outs: "Don't fuck with the Jesus", "Shaddup Donny!"