Dungeons & Dragons

"I think what's going to happen with D&D that's going to get really interesting is there's going to come a moment where Stern is done with the code... they're going to end up seeing everything. And I think they're going to be done with the game... I think that's going to lead to like a ton of D&Ds hitting the second hand market"

D&D owners will dump their games when they complete the journey, flooding the used market

"this is the greatest, one of the greatest mechs Stern has ever made. And they have to be applauded for that. And this game embarrasses on a mech and a toy level and a theme integration level, games like Avatar, games like John Wick, games like JAWS really"

D&D has greatest mechanisms Stern has ever made and embarrasses Avatar, John Wick, JAWS on mech/toy/theme integration level

"I think the LE is the worst of the three. And as I mentioned, I think the red armor is atrocious and I think it looks pretty atrocious next to the art colors"

D&D LE art package is worst of the three models, red armor is atrocious

"looking at evil dead next to Dungeons & Dragons premium gang it look like the D&D cost half as much money. I there's no other way to put it. It just felt like there's twice as much going on in an evil dead"

Evil Dead looks like it cost twice as much as D&D Premium

"I think the game is an amazing shooter. It really is... I just don't like the artwork. I think the game's kind of ugly. And as I look down a row of Stern machines, this is a stinker when it comes to art package."

Dungeons & Dragons is an amazing shooter but has ugly artwork

"the problem is in this game is nobody's dying, so you're getting into these battles and you can't die or get hurt or have to start the battle over or go back and redo it... What people are realizing in the game right now is Pinball isn't really set up to do it that way"

D&D pinball has fundamental design flaws with battle consequences

"I think there was no reason to buy a D&D LE. I think they're going to be $10,000 games in just a few months"

D&D LE will drop to $10,000 in a few months, no reason to buy the LE version

"it doesn't feel like the game that's just, ah, yeah, can't wait to get my hands on it. Can't wait to save my progress and see which dungeon I'm in and then wake up next Sunday and have no damn clue which way I'm going. That doesn't sound like pinball to me."

D&D doesn't feel exciting despite unique features

"Here's the vibe over there and I'm talking to people who work over there. The vibe is simply this. We need a hit. Like they really need a hit. Is D&D that hit game? I think D&D is doing alright, but it is not what this company is used to."

D&D is performing below Stern's expectations and they desperately need a hit game

"what they have done with this game might be one of the best interpretations of a theme in the history of pinball. Because this game is D&D in pinball format."

Dungeons & Dragons may be one of the best theme interpretations in pinball history

"D&D LEs are still for sale, not surprised! They couldn't move 740!"

D&D LEs failed to sell out 740 units, showing market weakness

"I still think if you bought an LE, you're losing three to $4,000, but that's just me. I don't understand why you would buy a D&D LE. I don't think the LE package is that nice"

D&D LE package not worth buying - will lose $3-4k

"People are saying something interesting. They're saying that this game, and distros are saying this, this game is selling better than Jaws Pinball sold. I don't get that. How is that possible?"

D&D supposedly selling better than Jaws but questioning the validity of these claims

"if you're going in now on a $13,000 Dungeons & Dragons LE and they're still not sold out, you really have to have your head examined"

Don't buy $13,000 Dungeons & Dragons LE now - you have your head examined if you do

"I think dnd's art isn't miss all of it all of it I think I know they use like legendary dnd are yeah but maybe that guy's good at making $10 dnd booklets but I just think the art and dnd really comes across as looking pretty ai generated pretty flat looking pretty boring it's just boring"

D&D art package is boring and AI-generated looking compared to Evil Dead's dynamic artwork

"So I again I and so what I recommend to everybody see I think the dnd to get is in six months the premium for $7500"

Wait 6 months for D&D premium to drop to $7500 instead of buying now

"right off the bat the LE I think is not a good LE I don't like the LE I think the what the beholder the guy on the right side is really hard to look at I get he's a main figure but I don't like how he looks I don't like the colors against the red armor"

D&D LE is ugly and not worth buying - premium is better choice

"I think the way to go on this game is the premium. I get that the pro gives you a lot, but I think losing all of the movement of the dragon is a huge, huge loss in this game."

Premium is the way to go for D&D, but wait for price to drop

"But on a pure pinball level, I think this is one of Stern's best offerings in a long time. And I think if you don't see that, I don't know where you've been."

Dungeons & Dragons is one of Stern's best offerings in a long time

"And it's at the point now where people that proclaim they bought an LE this week, they look foolish. Like you really do look foolish because again, it's going to be a $10,000 machine in just a few months."

Dungeons & Dragons LE pricing makes buyers look foolish due to rapid depreciation

"I think Stern could have crushed making a great D&D game which is I think they did. But it's a D&D game."

D&D Stern Pinball - great game but poor theme and market appeal

"I don't like the LE at all. Like I think the LE is the worst of the three"

The LE version is the worst of the three models with bad artwork

"Stern Pinball has put into this game what I think is one of its most impressive and incredible mechanisms they've ever put in a pinball machine and hard stop right there"

Dungeons & Dragons has one of the greatest Stern mechanisms ever - the dragon toy

"I don't like the LE at all in this game. I don't like the red armor. I don't like the artwork on the right side... I don't think I've seen an LE in a long time that has made me feel so underwhelmed in its LE trim."

D&D LE artwork and trim package is underwhelming

"The complexity of how to play it. Is going to be something that feels very unpinball like for a lot of people... I just don't know if anyone really cares... If this kind of choose your own adventure. Save your character. You know, continue where you left off in the dungeon. Is like really something that you want to drop. This much money on."

Complexity and choose-your-own-adventure gameplay will be off-putting

"I just don't know like how most of us are going to have an emotional attachment to D&D... What moment of D&D are you like you can't wait to see how they translated into a pinball experience?"

D&D lacks emotional connection and won't create FOMO like other themes

"The dragon is definitely a cool mech from Stern pinball. Definitely a cool mech. I think standing over this game is going to, you know, make a smile and, and have some fun flipping it. But, you know, I just worry about the whole. Choose your character. Go into the dungeon and get into these like random video modes."

Dragon mech is cool but overall game won't have broad appeal

"Don't order anything on Friday. Trust me, the game's not going to sell out. What the game is going to do, it's going to sell through every single distro is going to grab their LEDs that they get. They have a certain allotment. They're going to buy them. The game is going to technically sell through a K a sell out, but that doesn't mean that those dealers have found customers for all 740 units at 13,000 a pop."

Don't rush to order D&D on launch day - the game won't actually sell out

"I'm telling you right now this $13,000 LE is just not going to be a game that holds better value than James Bond or Foo Fighters... I mean think about it for 13 grand they don't even match the color of the armor. With the color of the team holding on the backbox for 13,000 dollars they don't even paint the coin door."

LE cabinet art and value proposition is poor for $13,000

"Dungeons & Dragons is a much better theme for pinball than evil dead. And you know, as much as evil dead looks amazing and the mexico like all it's cool. It's but it's still evil dead like do you want to own in evil dead game. Do you want to watch those movie clips over and over and over again. I don't I don't D&D is a better theme. It's a bigger franchise. It's way bigger."

Dungeons & Dragons is a better pinball theme than Evil Dead despite the nerdy perception

"I encourage each and every one of you wait to see this game. I still don't think and I'm just saying this. You know, I don't think it even matters like what's in it. I don't even think it matters if this game is incredible. I just don't see this game going up in value or being hard to get."

Advises waiting to buy D&D instead of ordering immediately, expects values to drop and better games coming soon

"You know my feeling on all of this, less is more. I want to see there be only 500 LEDs. I think that's a nice number. I think when games were just 500, the frenzy to get one was amazing and was incredible."

Kaneda believes Dungeons & Dragons LE production run of 740 units is too high - prefers 500 units like older releases

"I still see D&D LE going from 13 to 10 grand in less than six months, regardless of how great the game is. I mean that regardless, because 10k is what an LE should cost."

D&D LE will depreciate from $13k to $10k within 6 months regardless of quality

"Hasbro went to Stern. Hasbro is the IP holder of D&D and they went to Stern and they wanted to make this game. And so that is how this worked."

Hasbro approached Stern for D&D license, not Stern's choice of theme

"if you think about D&D as a theme, it is the perfect spiritual successor to medieval madness. Is Brian Eddy and our Dwight and the team over at Stern, are they going to make a game that is worthy to be sort of like the spiritual sequel to medieval madness?"

Dungeons & Dragons could be the spiritual successor to Medieval Madness with the right execution

"I think this game is going to be loaded. I think it's going to be loaded with mechanisms and stuff we haven't seen in a long time from stern pinball... I think what's going to be in D&D is going to embarrass even the building in Godzilla"

D&D will be loaded with mechanisms and toys unlike recent Stern releases

"I don't want Dungeons & Dragons. I don't want it to be next. I don't think Dungeons & Dragons is gonna sell very well."

Dungeons & Dragons won't sell well and will have limited LE production

"I think D&D is going to struggle to be a hit game for Stern Pinball... I just don't think this game is going to be a home run and I think it's going to be because of the theme."

Dungeons & Dragons theme won't be successful for Stern Pinball

"I gotta be honest, I never did. It was like the dorks and nerds and losers played D&D. It was so nerdy, right? It was like so... Why would you be playing that when you could be playing Nintendo and Sega?"

Dungeons & Dragons theme is too nerdy - only dorks and nerds played D&D

"I don't care what they do, it's gonna flop. Like it's just not a theme that people want. I get it, but how many of you raise of hands have been thinking about Dungeons & Dragons into your 40s, into your 50s, into your 60s? It just doesn't carry through."

Dungeons & Dragons theme will flop because people don't care about it past their youth