No doubt Stern's stocks have increased with the last few very good titles.
Seems that there is way more vocal hype from fans, and as mentioned, new will get discussed more than old as people learn about their games, find new modes etc, and of course, Stern sends out updates etc which creates a lot of attention.
I have played most of the new Sterns and they are a big improvement over the vast majority of their ho-hum releases of the 2000's (with a couple of exceptions like LotR and Simpsons). But I simply have not yet played one which (in my opinion) has the feel and playability of games like AFM, CV, and MM. An hour and a half non-stop on AC/DC revealed a very good game, but it does not have the flow and feel of the best B/W titles (nor the solid feel of Capcoms).
I think because there are some exceptional B/W classics, there might be some other titles that are over-rated just because they are B/W - there were plenty of ho-hum B/W titles - but there were some that set a standard that Stern has still not reached.
For the record I only have one DMD B/W (AFM), so I am a long way off being a "fanboi" although I like a lot of the other titles from the 1990's (just like my SS games a little more - and they are dominated by Gottliebs). I have bought games that play well - whether they are B/W, old Williams, Capcom, Gottlieb. I would buy a LotR for its playability if the artwork wasn't so dreadful (plus theme doesn't do a lot for me).
If I had $6 or $7K to spend on a game today and it was a choice between a new Stern and a classic B/W, I would probably seriously consider a new Stern (avengers interests me), but I suspect I would more likely buy a B/W for the better feel.
