This Game Has Divided Us!

TL;DR

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland reveal trailer criticized as poor despite strong sales.

Summary

Key Claims

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the most divided community reaction Hardy has seen regarding a pinball machine, particularly over artwork.

  high confidence · Direct statement from Hardy: 'I think there one thing that we can pretty much mostly agree on and that is that the trailer for this game was bad... I am pretty damn sure that they were aware this game was going to be polarizing.'

• The game's official reveal trailer was poorly produced and did not effectively showcase gameplay mechanics, shot routing, or audio quality.

  high confidence · Hardy's detailed critique: 'you don't get how the game shoots you don't see where the shots lead to where the ramps start and end' and 'the call outs that you hear are very low and mostly bad'

• Despite the poor trailer quality, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is selling well in the U.S. and U.K.

  medium confidence · Hardy states: 'the game is selling relatively well... particularly in the u.s now the united kingdom area' but notes full numbers won't be available until the next day

• Dutch Pinball's intended audience for Alice is approximately 500 home collectors, not the general pinball market.

  high confidence · Hardy: 'obviously targeted not towards the masses but towards a select few hopefully maybe 500 that could potentially have this game in their home'

• Hardy was selected to be part of the game's release without creative restrictions on what to say.

  high confidence · Direct statement: 'When I was brought into the circle on this game, I was told that they wanted me to speak my mind. I'm not being restricted on what I can say'

Notable Quotes

• “I think there one thing that we can pretty much mostly agree on and that is that the trailer for this game was bad.”

  Carrie Hardy@ 2:20 — Core thesis of the video; Hardy identifies the one consensus point across the polarized community

• “The game looks really pretty, but I still don't know how it shoots.”

  Carrie Hardy@ 6:56 — Encapsulates Hardy's core criticism of the trailer's failure to communicate essential gameplay information

• “If I would have seen this in advance, I would have recommended that it not be shown to the public.”

  Carrie Hardy@ 2:55 — Strong endorsement of the trailer's poor quality; Hardy suggesting suppression would have been preferable

• “There's no sugarcoating you guys... I did not know what the trailer was going to be like... I assumed it was going to be amateur to an extent, but not to this level.”

  Carrie Hardy@ 2:44 — Indicates even Hardy's low expectations were exceeded negatively by the trailer quality

• “Pinball art and art just in general is very subjective, and I think that this game is a prime example of that.”

  Carrie Hardy@ 7:44 — Hardy's conclusion attempting to contextualize the divided community reaction as inevitable given art subjectivity

Entities

Signals

• ?

  community_signal: Dutch Pinball scheduling follow-up stream with Carrie Hardy and team member Melvin to provide in-depth gameplay details and address community questions/concerns not adequately covered by reveal trailer.

  high · Hardy: 'I will be hosting a stream this coming Wednesday with DPXMelvin... he will be showing us some more in-depth with the game... giving you an idea of the ball pass'

• ~

  sentiment_shift: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has generated the most polarized community response Hardy has witnessed, particularly regarding artwork aesthetic choices perceived as sexually suggestive by critics.

  high · Hardy: 'I think there one thing that we can pretty much mostly agree on... this is probably the most divided i have seen the community when it comes to a pinball machine particularly on the art... people... shaming it calling it like slutty or just bad'

• ?

  design_philosophy: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland's artwork aesthetic represents a deliberate design choice targeting specific collector preferences (female figure-forward design) that divides the community along subjective art preference lines.

  medium · Hardy: 'Me personally, I like the way the female figure looks on games, and there's evidently a lot of you out there that would prefer the male figure on games' and 'pinball art and art just in general is very subjective'

• $

  market_signal: Despite negative reception to reveal trailer, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is selling relatively well in U.S. and U.K. markets; full sales data pending.

  medium · Hardy: 'the trailer doesn't seem to have bothered many people i mean at least when it comes to sales because as of right now the game is selling very well'

• $

Topics

Sentiment

mixed(0.35)— Hardy is positive about the game's aesthetics and animations but heavily negative about the reveal trailer's execution. Overall tone is constructive criticism rather than hostile, with Hardy defending the game despite community backlash while acknowledging legitimate concerns about marketing quality.