So, I Played Jersey Jack's AVATAR...

Cary Hardy·video·13m 53s·analyzed·Sep 26, 2024

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Avatar's shooting mechanics exceed stream impressions but high price, weak lower playfield, and steep learning curve limit appeal.

Summary

Carrie Hardy provides a hands-on review of Jersey Jack Pinball's Avatar: Battle for Pandora after playing it for over an hour. Despite initial skepticism about the Avatar IP and not being impressed by early streams, she found the game's shooting mechanics, kinetic feel, and audio design to be excellent, particularly praising the Eclipse spinner shot and multiball music. However, she criticizes the lower playfields as unsatisfying, aesthetic issues around the tree area, the high price point, and the need for a rules flowchart, while noting the game requires atmospheric conditions (audio, lighting) to fully appreciate.

Key Claims

Avatar's kinetic shooting feel and layout are significantly better experienced in person than on stream due to camera angles and audio immersion.
high confidence · Carrie describes specific shots like the scram shot looking different from player perspective vs. stream camera, and emphasizes audio is critical to the experience.
The lower playfields (crab battle area) are the weakest part of the game and lack satisfying shot mechanics compared to the top deck.
high confidence · Carrie explicitly states 'the under play fields that's probably my least favorite part because none of those shots are as satisfying as what you're going to experience on the top deck.'
The tree/buck aesthetic area looks unfinished or budget-constrained compared to other playfield elements, and will likely be a target for modders.
high confidence · Carrie notes 'that's where they ran out of money or something' and 'that's the first thing you modders out there are gonna target.'
Avatar requires extensive play time and learning (via rules flowchart) to progress through code efficiently, making it less immediately accessible.
high confidence · Carrie states 'this is a game that you're going to need time on' and 'I shouldn't have to do homework in order to enjoy a game.'
Jersey Jack plans to bring multiple Avatar machines to Expo with canopies and potentially UV lighting to showcase the aesthetic and eclipse experience.
medium confidence · Carrie references Mark (Jersey Jack rep) discussing plans for at least multiple machines at show with atmospheric setup, though she expresses hope for '10' machines.
Avatar's audio/lip-sync issues with movie footage are being addressed in future code updates per Mark's statement.
medium confidence · Carrie notes Mark states audio syncing issues 'are something that they're going to be improving with the code over time.'
Carrie's gameplay score after ~1 hour was 562 million and she considers this respectable compared to Joel and his brother's performance.
high confidence · Carrie directly states 'my highest score so far is 562 million and judging how joel and his brother are playing this game i'm not doing too bad.'

Notable Quotes

“The streams just do not do this game justice guys... there's particular shot the scram shot where you hit it with the upper flipper and it zooms around and goes up the ramp and loops around you don't really get to see how cool that looks unless you're at the player's perspective.”
Carrie Hardy@ 2:28 — Core thesis: Avatar is camera/stream-dependent and must be experienced in person to appreciate its shooting mechanics.
“My favorite sound in this game is that Eclipse spinner... that's probably my favorite spinner sound effect in a game bar none... it's oh so satisfying.”
Carrie Hardy@ 6:03 — High praise for audio design; identifies Eclipse spinner as standout mechanical/audio element.
“If you're planning on playing this game at Expo fraying headphones. You're not going to really like fully like experience this game with not being able to hear the audio and you're definitely not going to be able to hear this game in the Expo Hall.”
Carrie Hardy@ 3:46 — Practical warning about Expo experience; implies audio immersion is critical to game enjoyment.
“I didn't have to do homework to enjoy the game... I shouldn't have to do homework in order to enjoy a game.”
Carrie Hardy@ 12:15 — Criticism of game's complexity and rules flowchart; suggests accessibility/learning curve is a barrier.
“I'm almost willing to say that I like this game better than Elton John. There was an Elton John sitting right next to me, guys. I could have easily stepped over two feet and played that game, but I had no interest. I was enthralled with this game right here.”
Carrie Hardy@ 13:15 — Strong endorsement relative to recent JJP release; indicates Avatar's shooting mechanics are compelling enough to override IP indifference.

Entities

Carrie HardypersonJersey Jack Pinballcompany Mark SeidenpersonAvatar: Battle for PandoragameAvatar (IP)productJoelpersonElton Johngame

Signals

?
event_signal: Carrie Hardy's hands-on review signals strong positive reception for Avatar among content creators and community; emphasizes experiential nature of game appreciation.
medium · Carrie's video is titled positively and encourages community members to play and share feedback; calls for Expo multiple games to enable repeat plays.
?
design_philosophy: Avatar's lower playfields (crab battle area) lack satisfying shot mechanics compared to top deck; aesthetic budget constraints evident around tree/buck area.
high · Carrie identifies lower playfields as 'least favorite part' and tree area as appearing budget-constrained; predicts modders will target tree aesthetic improvements.
$
market_signal: Avatar likely to see increased interest and sales once community gains hands-on experience at Expo and other venues; stream-based opinions underestimate game quality.
high · Carrie predicts 'we're probably going to see that this game is going to really go up in interest once people get their hands on it' and warns 'do not judge this game by what you're seeing on the stream.'
$
market_signal: Carrie expresses concern that Avatar's high price point ($10k+ implied by context) limits market appeal given learning curve and accessibility barriers.
high · Carrie states 'I'm honestly a little upset that the game costs as much as it does' and 'if this game was cheaper man y'all would sell so many more of them.'
?
announcement: Jersey Jack planning significant Avatar presence at PinFest/Expo with multiple machines, canopies, and potential UV lighting to showcase aesthetic and Eclipse experience.

Topics

Hands-on gameplay experience and mechanicsprimaryAvatar game design and layout critiqueprimaryAudio design and immersion importanceprimaryGame accessibility and learning curveprimaryPricing and market viability concernssecondaryPinFest/Expo planning and experiencesecondaryAesthetic/playfield construction quality issuessecondaryIP theme preference and engagementmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.72)— Carrie is impressed by Avatar's shooting mechanics, audio design, and lighting, upgrading her expectation significantly. However, enthusiasm is tempered by criticisms of lower playfield design, aesthetic gaps (tree area), high pricing, rules complexity, and personal indifference to Avatar IP. Positive experience is qualified as 'very good so far' but contingent on hands-on play and not representative of stream impressions.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.042

So I've honestly got the flipping out stream going right now, chat and everything as they're playing Avatar Battle for Pandora. Now today I got to play it and now I'm going to tell you how I feel about it. What's up guys and welcome back to the channel where I talk and do everything pinball. So if that sounds interesting to you, then hit that subscribe button down below. Now look, I've got a list of things over here of my likes and I don't want to say dislikes, but they can be considered dislikes. But I've also got a little bit of a disclaimer here that I need to divulge. One, let's start out with yes, I am well aware that the code on this game is not complete. Two, I'm not a fan of the Avatar movies. I've seen the first movie, but I have not seen the second one. uh third i've got a little over an hour of gameplay on the game today and i think my highest score so far is 562 million and judging how joel and his brother are playing this game i'm not doing too bad so let me talk about my feelings about the game before playing it okay so the game gets announced i'm like okay wow an avatar game whatever kind of thing and then we get the featurette video the 18 minute video that is one of the best featurette videography wise that i've ever seen in this industry so congrats on that obviously and then we get some streams early pretty much right after that and i wasn't really impressed i wasn't really caring about what i saw but i was kind of just like i should be able to play this soon so i'm gonna hold off on any kind of criticism just yet it won't be much longer kind of thing but overall I wasn't really excited about this game I didn't care I was like it's probably not going to be a game I'm going to enjoy and what I'm seeing on the stream wasn't really getting me excited about it so there was my feelings before playing it I played it today and let me tell you what things have changed I did not expect to enjoy this game but honestly I really did enjoy how this game shoots so many good shots on there just the kinetic feeling of when you make them the the streams just do not do this game justice guys there's particular shot the scram shot where you hit it with the upper flipper and it zooms around and goes up the ramp and loops around you don't really get to see how cool that looks unless you're at the player's perspective when you're directly over it you kind of it just kind of looks like it's just doing a loop you don't really get the full visual effect of it and that's just one of the things whenever i first saw that and made that shot i was like oh i really like that and the shot never got old and i don't know if it will but that is one particular shot that might be my favorite shot in the entire game i mean the layout in general is pretty darn good. I mean there's plenty of shots so many ways to combo guys. That is something I definitely realized. There was a lot of looped repeatable shots and shots that led to another flipper that led to another shot and I love stuff like that So it had those features along with it that really got me to where i wanted to play another game something else you not going to get on streams mainly because joel you don't shut up i swear to god man you're killing me like but it's it's fine i get it you gotta entertain it is what it is but i'm telling you right now if you're planning on playing this game at Expo fraying headphones. You're not going to really like fully like experience this game with not being able to hear the audio and you're definitely not going to be able to hear this game in the Expo Hall. I'm just telling you right now it's just you're not going to get the full experience. Whenever you go into the multiballs and the music just amps up the way it does it sounds so good. I got to experience this game in a room to where I could hear the audio entirely there was no interference from any other games so remember to bring headphones with you so you can actually get the full immersion experience but going along with the immersion i don't know how we're going to be able to get the full eclipse experience when it comes to this game uh what mark is saying on stream here they're working on ways to get people to experience that but with canopies and stuff like that at the show as far as how many games are going to be there he's also stated that there's going to be a lot of them. So if you remember last year, Elton, there was two or three games. The lines were ridiculously long. So I'm glad to hear that they're going to be bringing a lot of these games. I'd like to see at least 10. I think that's well within your capabilities, Jersey Jack. I'd like to see the CE underneath the canopy with maybe even some UV lamp assisting to show off how pretty this game is under the play field and everything with the correct atmosphere. and that was one of the things that I had a complaint when it came to Stranger Things is that I didn't really like it but I found out that it was a very atmosphere based game and when I got to play it with the UV and the lights dimmed down and the music was going it drew me in and it really upped how I felt about the game and I feel that this game is definitely going to be one of those as well. But it's not dependent on the atmosphere. That is also my point is that even with an environment that I was in where I didn't really get to see the full visual experience of an Eclipse and stuff. I was just mainly loving how it shot. The shots just felt good. And the audio that goes along with it really amplifies that as well. My favorite sound in this game is that Eclipse spinner. Every time I hit it, it was just, I can't even mimic it. I'm not even going to attempt it. All I know is that it's probably my favorite spinner sound effect in a game bar none. Because it, I can't even, you're just going to have to hear it for yourself. Wear headphones, hit that eclipse shot, if you can. And then when you do, it's just as the ball is coming down that rail back to you, you get a nice sound effect that goes along with it. And it just, it's, ah, it's hard to explain, but it's oh so satisfying. Some other things to point out that's kind of obvious with Jersey Jack games is the light show. obviously that's a big perk with their games different modes were really showing off what they can do with their leds underneath the inserts when it comes to like the the viper mode where it's flames it makes it look like the shots are on fire i thought that was a really visually appealing so that was really good when it comes to the on stuff with the movie and stuff i mean there complaints currently that the audio is not synced up with the lips and stuff like that of the actors or sound effects I honestly didn notice nor did I really care because I'm looking underneath the glass. That's what I mainly care about. But according to the stream, Mark states that that is something that they're going to be improving with the code over time. But from what visuals I saw on the screen in between the balls or during the ball saves looked perfectly fine and enjoyable to me. Something else that I really liked was the skill save. It's not a ball save where it's like, oh cool, I get my ball back. You have a skill save shot, and the shot that you're going to be getting for this is completely random. So if you drain your ball on the very far right out lane and the skill save is lit, then basically you're going to get a ball and you've only got, I want to say, two flips on your flippers or a certain amount of time to hit a particular shot to keep that ball if you don't make that shot in the in the amount of time or the amount of flips then you lose it kind of thing so I really liked that it kind of it really gets you to where like I really can't miss this shot I got a chance to keep the ball in play that was just a nice little thing I really like that so let's take a minute and talk about the things that I just kind of don't like or didn't care for or feel like there's room for improvement. Sadly, the things that I feel that need improvement are not going to change because they're not code related. So the lower playfields where the ball goes down there for your dive with the crab and everything, again, I haven't seen the sequel where this crab takes effect and it's part of the movie, so I don't know that. But as far as just, you know, hitting the ball around down there and doing that stuff, it was my least favorite part of the game. I found me being in the pop bumper section the first play field that you reach i found being in there for a long time and maxing out my jackpot for the crab what because that basically by hitting those shots up there they change colors and intensifies all the way up until it basically says max jackpot reached or whatever for the crab battle or something and then it goes down to that next area and you hit those shots and then you go into another multiball and you complete it and the music for that multiball was really good anyways but like i don't know just the under playfields that's probably my least favorite part because none of those shots are as satisfying as what you're going to experience on the top deck but that's not to be completely like oh surprising you got a little bitty play field how are the shots going to be satisfying i don't know if i've played a lower play field that has satisfying shots honestly Now when it comes to the aesthetics of the game and underneath the glass, everything looks pretty damn good. Except when you get over there to where the tree is at, it's like you have these floating rock mountains that have nice sculpts, you have these McFarlane figures, and you have this side art, and then you get near the tree where the buck of the tree is at, and it's like that's where they ran out of money or something. It's like you got these flat layered little plastics and it just doesn't look as good as the rest of the game. and I'm pretty much guaranteeing you right now that's the first thing you modders out there are gonna target is making that look a lot better so the modders are gonna take care of that area of the game but that was one of the things where I was looking around the playfield just enjoying how everything looked and then you get to that tree with the buck and I'm like what happened here it like like I said they just ran out of money like yeah good good good Ehhhhh plastics there that work But that was my complaint when it comes to that And then you have of course the theme It not a theme that speaks to me I don't really care for it. It's like, man, this layout and the efforts into the sound design and everything was in a theme that I really did like. Let's just say The Matrix or something like that. Holy snap. Then I would be really excited about this. but it's just hard for me to get excited about Avatar. It's like whenever I can't even pronounce the names of the modes or the particular things without the, I mean, I couldn't. They're like, oh, go for the Magooka Mooga Mountains or whatever. I'm like, I don't know where that's at, but I'm going to go for the blinking shot. I don't know what that word was. So not being able to pronounce a lot of words that are on the play field is a little bit like, it's hard for me to say, oh, go for your knobby Magooka shot or whatever when I'm telling somebody else. That's just not going to happen. So overall, the game, I believe you guys are going to enjoy how this game shoots. And honestly, I'm a little upset that the game costs as much as it does. Because this is obviously towards the household. Because this is a game that you're going to need time on. To really fully explore and to figure out how to play it to the best of your abilities. And learn what this game can and can't do. And figure out the shots and everything. You're just going to need a lot of time on it, and that's why I'm hoping that they bring a lot of games to Expo, so that way you can go around and do the line over and over again without waiting too long to really get into this game and dive deep into it. and it's a phrase to use because you actually do dive in the game, but I digress, is that I don't like that the game comes with this flowchart of the rules on how to get to particular modes and stuff like that. I shouldn't have to do homework in order to enjoy a game. Luckily, I didn't have to do homework to enjoy the game. I just probably wasn't progressing through code as fast as you can if you actually knew what you were doing. I merely am complimenting on how well the game shoots, how well the shots feel, and just my overall experience with the game. I think it's a very good game so far, and I cannot wait for the rest of you out there to experience yourself. do not judge this game by what you're seeing on the stream it does not do it justice but i feel like if this game was cheaper man y'all would sell so many more of them ah and that's just not going to happen but i think we're probably going to see that this game is going to really go up in interest once people get their hands on it and for those of you out there that have already played it by all means let me know what you think about it in the comment section down below but I'm almost willing to say that I like this game better than Elton John. There was an Elton John sitting right next to me, guys. I could have easily stepped over two feet and played that game, but I had no interest. I was enthralled with this game right here. So, by all means, Jersey Jack, you've done good. Congratulations, Mark and team, for what you have created. What's your current thoughts about Avatar? Let me know in the comments section down below, and until next time, guys, peace out. Thank you.