Oktoberfest

"taking the cake for the ugliest and the worst pinball playfield art package over the last five years... it literally looks like the art director tripped on his way to the machine and just vomited all his ideas over the playfield and wherever stuff landed when it's spewed out of his mouth. Is where they drew stuff."

Oktoberfest has worst artwork ever - looks like vomit on playfield

"Oktoberfest, I kind of, I got it, I played the games, I didn't understand what market they were trying to go at. Because Oktoberfest is kind of a different art package, then I would have thought they would have done with that game"

Oktoberfest had confusing art direction and a major gameplay flaw with the barrel lock that went unfixed for too long

"they are failing at pinball they are failing at pinball they put a lot of money into Oktoberfest and look at where it landed it failed"

American Pinball is failing at pinball

"I want to just ask Joe balsa what market research did you do to take these people's money and apply it to Oktoberfest did you do a survey did you ask people did you put up three or four titles in which you said which one of these would be most exciting to you you didn't do anything"

Oktoberfest was doomed to fail due to terrible theme choice and lack of market research

"There is no way they should have made that theme. It's up there with full throttle bad. It's up there with Mustang bad. It just ridiculous"

Oktoberfest is as bad as Full Throttle and Mustang - terrible theme choice

"Had an entire year to make the art package better, but they failed to do it. What a great business decision."

American Pinball failed to improve Oktoberfest art despite having a year

"American Pinball, when they were projecting how many Oktoberfest they were going to sell. This is not a lie, you can ask them. They were projecting to sell thousands of Oktoberfest, thousands people, thousands of them. And so then they did all the hard work, they made the game, they put all this stuff into it and they won't even sell probably more than 500 when all this said and done."

American Pinball projected thousands of Oktoberfest sales but will only sell around 500

"3000 people chiming in on a Joe Balcer Oktoberfest thread. Does not indicate to me that the game is successful... that thread is much more indicative of how well the game is selling. Because people are not going to go to a club thread and talk about unboxings unless they're doing one thing unboxing the pin they just bought."

Oktoberfest is not selling well based on low unboxing thread activity

"what I said from day one what I said before we even saw this game was it wouldn't sell that Oktoberfest in America would not sell let alone trying to sell Oktoberfest in July and August a festival that takes place in October it wouldn't sell"

Oktoberfest theme was a terrible marketing decision that won't sell in America

"I just don't think people are gonna buy this game I think it's a game people are gonna play on location. People will have fun with but the desire to own it is not gonna be there"

Oktoberfest is failing commercially - lacks appeal for home ownership

"I can't get over Oktoberfest and how just just bad it looks... they had six months to redo that art package six months it just looks I just can't get over it"

American Pinball's Oktoberfest has terrible artwork

"If you let me make Oktoberfest, I guarantee you will sell at least a thousand. Okay, Joe, you got it. What happens when it sells three hundred and seventy five units and then sales are stuck?"

Prediction: If Joe promises to sell at least 1,000 Oktoberfest games but only sells 375 units, what happens to him and the company?

"I've been critical from a marketing standpoint of the theme Oktoberfest"

Critical view of American Pinball's Oktoberfest theme choice

"They are not at the level of where other companies are right now with artwork. They're not at the level where other companies are with the animations. They are not where other companies are with the theme selection."

American Pinball has work to do on artwork, animations, and theme selection

"This stuff looks like stuff I had on my PC computer like 25 years ago. I don't understand. This doesn't look like there's much effort or much talent being applied to these animations. I'm sorry."

American Pinball's Oktoberfest animations are embarrassingly poor quality compared to mobile games from 25 years ago

"I couldn't help but think that this game coming out at this moment, at this time, is nothing but bad news for Oktoberfest. It's bad news."

Black Knight: Sword of Rage release timing is bad news for American Pinball's Oktoberfest

"Joe has really put together another fantastically unique layout that was a lot of fun to shoot. The game is a lot of fun to shoot. If you can get past the theme and some of the animations and stuff like that and some of the art direction decisions"

Oktoberfest has great layout but weak theme and art package

"I still think the artwork is a crowded mess. It just looks like a wears Waldo book. It's like they gave a creative brief to throw as much artwork to vomit as much artwork onto the game as they possibly could. And I'm here to tell you, they were successful in doing that and completely just like art vomit all over the thing."

Oktoberfest artwork is a crowded mess that looks like art vomit

"I think the monkey was just, the whole thing was a bunch of horseshit. I think the monkey's funny."

American Pinball monkey controversy was overblown

"I think all four of those are better themes than Oktoberfest."

All four American Pinball trademark themes are better than Oktoberfest

"when you put a theme like that out, you're already sort of got two strikes when you walk into the batter's box"

Oktoberfest theme hurts sales potential - comparison to batting with two strikes

"I thought it shot fairly well. Some of the shots were a little tough, which I think Joe went back and this tweaking some stuff, especially off that third flipper. Aesthetically, I did not mind it... I was actually kind of blown away at the bottom because I think that it could have went in a worse direction."

American Pinball Oktoberfest - Mixed reception but game plays well with carnival feel

"I think Oktoberfest is going to be a sales flop"

Oktoberfest will be a sales flop

"It's a terrible theme. It's very limited in the audience. They could have picked 10 other themes that would have sold sight unseen"

Oktoberfest theme is terrible and will be a sales flop

"I don't think they're going to crush it with Oktoberfest. It's just not exactly the theme I would have made. It's not exactly the art package I would have put in a game. Those aren't exactly the animations I think are good enough to be competitive in 2018."

American Pinball won't succeed with Oktoberfest

"Here are the hypocrites. The real hypocrites are all the people on the inside that cheerlead American Pinball's Oktoberfest. Yeah. Kaneda, look at it. You know, how does it feel now to eat crow on this game? They all cheerlead. But then if you ask them one question, one question, they always shut up real quick. You ask them, okay, cool. You love it. Did you order one? Are you going to buy one? And then all of a sudden it's crickets, all right."

Podcast critics are hypocrites who cheer Oktoberfest but won't buy it

"I said that if they pick Oktoberfest and as a theme that they will struggle tremendously and that Oktoberfest could bank up this company and could just send them into obsolescence"

American Pinball's Oktoberfest will struggle and the company made a mistake choosing that theme

"I thought it was awful. And it's the thing that boggles my mind. American pinball seems to have signed some pact with some devil where they get away with Photoshop collage art."

American Pinball's Oktoberfest artwork is awful - anatomically impossible Photoshop collage

"Well, my first reaction was that it was an awful theme. It's seasonal to one month, which is bad enough. It would be like making a Christmas pin or an Easter pin."

Oktoberfest is an awful theme for pinball - seasonal to one month

"This is not a theme that anybody wants can we be honest with ourselves nobody would write down if you could write down your top two themes it you would love to see come out in 2018 2019 if we if we We sampled everybody in the pinball world. I'm talking, if you took 5,000 pinball buyers, and you said, give me five themes that you would want to see in 2018, 2019, I don't think anybody would write Oktoberfest or Pirates of the Caribbean and put it into that hat"

Oktoberfest theme is terrible - nobody would put it in their top 5 desired themes

"pinball should never be the catalyst to even begin having such serious discussions or topics or debates... It's a monkey on a backglass... It's a fucking pinball machine"

American Pinball monkey controversy spiraled into inappropriate debates about serious social issues

"There were so many other glaring artistic mistakes on Oktoberfest that I completely missed this thing. There was so much going on, like I said, it's just wears Waldo artwork package with so many inconsistent art designs"

Oktoberfest artwork package is poorly executed

"I think we sort of hit the nail on the head a little bit that the overall feeling is a little bit of a mixed bag. And I think there is some work to be done in terms of the artwork and the animations on this game"

American Pinball Oktoberfest needs major artwork improvements

"it was like overload of colors of of imagery of shapes of inserts of art of art styles you know it was a lot like a lot to process like I didn't know where to look at first it was very very busy very very cluttered feeling artwork"

Oktoberfest playfield art is overcrowded and cluttered with competing art styles

"Do you want to own this game? Like own it. Do you want to own those callouts? Do you want to own that artwork? Do you want to own this and have this be played over and over and over again in your home for like $7,500"

Oktoberfest creates desire to play but not to own at $7500

"So do I think Oktoberfest is a bad theme? Yes, I do do I think Oktoberfest will not sell well for American pinball Yes, I do"

Oktoberfest is a bad theme choice for American Pinball that won't sell well

"Oktoberfest is just not gonna get it done... if American pinball makes Oktoberfest it will not sell very well this is not What pinball needs right now"

American Pinball's Oktoberfest theme will not sell well and is a poor choice for their sophomore title

"The only thing I think everyone has the big issue with, and I really do, I think the big issue has to do with the woman in the artwork. She is on the left side holding a big pretzel and a big pint of beer. But she's like twisted in this awkward way where it's like her body is turned unnaturally around. And her legs look really skinny and awkward."

Oktoberfest artwork criticism - woman character looks awkward and strange

"after playing it for a while I just couldn't help but come away with a little bit of a feeling is the game is good but it's it's not great and then it's $7500... just being a fun flipping game just isn't enough anymore"

Oktoberfest is good but not great, and overpriced at $7500

"He said nothing worse than art assembled by Google images, paint it over, and blend it together and called art."

Pinball artist describes Oktoberfest art as low-quality assembled imagery