King Kong

"I guarantee you, come fall. King Kong premiums will be closer to 7,700, not 9700."

Prediction: King Kong premiums will be closer to $7,700 rather than $9,700 by fall when the code is completed.

"Go look at King Kong. No license assets and we're still spending that much money on the game. It's not right people. It's not right."

King Kong has no license assets and consumers shouldn't accept these shortcuts

"I'm absolutely confused about who are you as the player in King Kong... I really feel like this game should have had more of like a duality to it that worked... I just think throwing King Kong, both Jungle Storyline Kong and Cityscape Kong into a blender like this... How are you going to explain to me how that makes any sense?"

King Kong's narrative is incoherent compared to successful themed games like Godzilla and Jaws

"From an artistic standpoint, think about what separates the LE from the other games. It's really the only thing different on this LE and this was lazy on Stern's part. Only the Translight is different."

King Kong LE offers minimal differences from other models for $3000+ premium

"So yeah, while I think the game shoots well, my prediction on Kong is that this mashup of the narrative is going to wear thin over time. And it's not going to excite people the way Godzilla did."

Prediction: The mashup narrative in Kong will wear thin over time and won't excite people like Godzilla or maintain interest like Jaws.

"if Godzilla and Jaws were animated like this game is, I don't think they would have nearly as much appeal. There's something about when you go animate it with the game. It feels more like a Netflix cartoon. It feels a little bit more like it's for kids."

King Kong's animated style makes it feel more juvenile and less emotionally engaging compared to live-action games like Jaws and Godzilla

"Will this King Kong LE sell out? I think it will. I do. Will it hold value like Jaws? I don't think so. I really don't. I think this game is going to be really fun for people. I don't think it's going to be a bolt to your floor game for years, though."

King Kong won't sell as well as Godzilla or hold value like premium Keith Elwin games

"But man, this game should have had an Empire State Building. The fact that there's no Empire State Building is still a huge miss in this game. I don't care if it's on the screen. It should have been a mechanical thing in the game."

King Kong missing Empire State Building as mechanical feature is a huge miss

"So they spent zero money licensing anything from the King Kong film archive. Look at Godzilla. It's got everything from the Godzilla film archive... So you're telling me that when Godzilla came out for $10,500 and gave you everything a Godzilla fan could want and more, and now we're spending 30% more on a King Kong LE. They licensed nothing."

King Kong has no licensed movie assets unlike Godzilla, making it cheap at 30% higher price

"I can look at that King Kong playfield and I can say that's way too busy. It's way too cluttered. It's got way too much colors going on for a theme like King Kong"

King Kong playfield is too busy and cluttered with wrong colors for the theme

"How do you make a King Kong game where the major mech in the game is not the Empire State Building?"

King Kong lacks Empire State Building as main mechanism, which is the most iconic element

"Gang, trust me. I've seen Kong... This is not going to take down King Kong... Kong is going to pummel this like it's going to pummel it"

King Kong will significantly outperform Dune

"I would have liked a little bit more of sort of like old Kong movie poster Art Deco vibes and I just don't think Art Deco and comic book go together... these colors here are much more like X men e vibes than King Kong vibes"

King Kong's art is too busy and colorful, lacks Art Deco feel

"Is it a dream theme on a surface level for most people? No... It's basically like a glorified spinner. I'm not seeing this thing do that much."

King Kong isn't a dream theme and the teaser mechanism looks like a glorified spinner

"This Friday right this Friday get I guarantee you this is how this all rolls out this Friday maybe earlier this Friday we will get the teaser confirmation of King Kong as the next theme from stern pinball."

Prediction: Stern will reveal King Kong as their next theme this Friday, getting out ahead of other announcements before the media day.

"I think if Stern really wanted to just clobber and reestablish themselves, I would drop the price on King Kong a little bit. I would turn King Kong into a 12-5 game, not a 13-6 game... I think Stern Pinball needs to win back a lot of people that just don't want to buy New and Box anymore because they feel like they've been overcharged."

Stern should drop King Kong price to $12,500 from $13,600 to win back customers who feel overcharged

"Kong is going to be spike three. And I think it's going to come with a $600 price increase. I didn't make this number up. That is what the people have been saying. My source is and other sources. And I think it's going to be $13,604 the LE."

Kong will have a $600 price increase bringing LE to $13,604

"But I think, and here's my prediction. I actually think people are going to be unboxing King Kong's before they unbox Harry Potter. That is my prediction."

Prediction: People will be unboxing King Kong machines before they unbox Harry Potter machines.

"I think King Kong is gonna be harder to turn into a masterpiece like Godzilla. That the theme of King Kong is not as exciting, not as campy, there's not as much content and not as many assets as there are in the world of Godzilla."

King Kong theme will be harder to turn into masterpiece than Godzilla

"My worry about Kong is what's going to be on the screen. Godzilla worked so well because Godzilla is campy. There's a guy inside a rubber suit and Godzilla is fun. It doesn't take itself too seriously. King Kong is 100% the opposite."

King Kong is a problematic theme that lacks the universal appeal and fun factor of successful pins

"Stern Pinball needs a hit. They need a hit. They need to give the distros and the dealers something that is going to fly all the way off of the shelf."

Stern needs King Kong next, not Dungeons & Dragons, to create a hit

"If you want a Keith L. N. King Kong LE, you can't wait and see. They're going to sell out day one."

King Kong LE will sell out day one despite $600 price increase

"King Kong art? I mean, it's fine, but man, no. And I'm just going off of the community's feedback. There has not been any universal love for King Kong art. In fact, the vitriol, a lot of the vitriol for Kong outside of lack of assets is the art package"

King Kong art package doesn't deserve award recognition