X-Men: Ah, the memories.....

Just going through random stuff when I remembered this hype reel for X-Men. So weird seeing it now after the crazy roller coaster of emotions that all us XM owners have gone through over the past year or so. So much potential.....hopefully we will still see it finished.

Funny to see that the whitewood prototype they had back then had Wolvie as a captive ball shot with a bunch more inserts circling it. Made me think about how awesome it would have been if that Wolvie shot, instead of a bash toy, was a set of in-lines, like MET, that ended with a magnet that fired the ball back. Would have added so much to that area. Oh well, could'a, should'a, would'a.

Still a blast to play, logged in some time tonight with it. Can't wait to see it finished *fingers crossed*.

Hmmm.....I also remember a somewhat recent video on YouTube that had an alternate white wood shown in it that had some weird line inserts leading to the Clops shot, some weird "burst" insert window above the hero wheel and the spinner was in the Beast orbit.....I'll see if I can dig it up.....

#2 10 years ago

RJC

Rcade

Pinside member

Well that didn't take long to find....

#3 10 years ago

RJC

Rcade

Pinside member

I'm sure the usual "XM sucks, what a turd!" brigade will get turgid and start posting the usual stuff, so be it :p

#4 10 years ago

rotordave

Pinside+ Frequent

14y 210K 13,705

Xmen LE is gold. Solid gold.

$10k by Xmas. Might be Xmas 2014 though ....

rd.

#5 10 years ago

MAF

Kiwipinhead

Pinside member

12y 78,800 2,213

Quoted from rotordave:
Xmen LE is gold. Solid gold.
$10k by Xmas. Might be Xmas 2014 though ....
rd.

Shit RD, have they dropped that much in value

#6 10 years ago

AAA

pintechev

Inactive member

11y 91,300 4,437

Love my Xmen. What a great pin!

#7 10 years ago

RON

Apollyon

Pinside member

Edmonton, AB

12y 108K 2,577 10 23

A big acknowledgement / thank you should go out to Rcade for his thorough and in-depth summary of the Xmen rules. Lots of modes and shots, and his summary breaks it down superbly. Helped make the game understandable and more enjoyable. Like a Bowen tutorial.

#8 10 years ago

RON

Apollyon

Pinside member

Edmonton, AB

12y 108K 2,577 10 23

I have bought 6 NIB Sterns, but Xmen was my one an only pre-order. It has been an interesting ride the last 14 months. HUGE anticipation and excitement. A ton of code issues, problems, delays and frustration. This experience will likely keep me from pre-ordering again. When I bought all my other NIB games (LOTR, SM, IM, TF and AV), the code was more or less complete and I had a good knowledge of the game's weaknesses and strengths. With Xmen I went in blind. Got burned, but with the code now very playable and fun, its like it has been a bumpy journey with a happy (though not complete) ending. This game will always have a special place with me. Love the dots, sounds, music, rules, etc. Its a fun deep mode based game.

#9 10 years ago

rotordave

Pinside+ Frequent

14y 210K 13,705

Quoted from Kiwipinhead:
Shit RD, have they dropped that much in value

Errrr $10k USD!

15k New Zealand by Xmas! 2014!

Take it to the bank!

rd.

#10 10 years ago

PGL

northvibe

Pinside+ Frequent

12y 121K 13,929

I remember the thread with the white wood pic and all the speculation.... good thread. And I still need to play more of this game!

#11 10 years ago

TOM

DocRotCod

Pinside member

Edmond, OK

11y 60,150 1,551 2 6

I actually got a NIB X-Men pro today!

#12 10 years ago

RJC

Rcade

Pinside member

Quoted from Apollyon:
A big acknowledgement / thank you should go out to Rcade for his thorough and in-depth summary of the Xmen rules. Lots of modes and shots, and his summary breaks it down superbly. Helped make the game understandable and more enjoyable. Like a Bowen tutorial.

Aww, shucks. Thank you! I would have spent the time anyways figuring it out front to back....because that's just the way I am, I dig game code and all the nooks and crannies of what makes a game unique. All the games I have I've gone through and figured all the code scoring out pragmatically, but X-Men needed some explanation given how friggin' deep it is. If it wasn't me, Dug or someone else would have.

I actually would have loved to do a Bowen-esque video breakdown of the rules, but:
-I'm no where near a world class player such as Bowen and Keith
-I don't have the proper cam and mic set up

Thanks for the kind words, man. Just trying to do my best to attribute somehow to the hobby while hopefully helping a lot of players understand this misunderstood game.

#13 10 years ago

RON

Apollyon

Pinside member

Edmonton, AB

12y 108K 2,577 10 23

OP
Quoted from Rcade:
Aww, shucks. Thank you! I would have spent the time anyways figuring it out front to back....because that's just the way I am, I dig game code and all the nooks and crannies of what makes a game unique. All the games I have I've gone through and figured all the code scoring out pragmatically, but X-Men needed some explanation given how friggin' deep it is. If it wasn't me, Dug or someone else would have.
I actually would have loved to do a Bowen-esque video breakdown of the rules, but:
-I'm no where near a world class player such as Bowen and Keith
-I don't have the proper cam and mic set up
Thanks for the kind words, man. Just trying to do my best to attribute somehow to the hobby while hopefully helping a lot of players understand this misunderstood game.

I love the video tutorials for sure (they have given me a whole new appreciation for some games like TF), but they also make me feel like crap. Like, "wow I totally suck..."

#14 10 years ago

???

Shoot_Again

Pinside member

Vancouver, WA

12y 83,400 8,453 2

Love mine also. Interesting to look back at that video now.

#15 10 years ago

EDH

TigerLaw

Jennings, LA

14y 224K 20,100 24 240

Quoted from DocRotCod:
I actually got a NIB X-Men pro today!

And you are going to love it! XMen pro is an awesome game, enjoy and congrats.

#16 10 years ago

PRH

rockrand

Pinside+ Frequent

Bloomfield, MI

11y 84,800 3,532 1

It will be a sought after game some day,maybe 10.000 in a few years
X men LE = best game ever

#17 10 years ago

EDH

TigerLaw

Jennings, LA

14y 224K 20,100 24 240

Quoted from rockrand:
It will be a sought after game some day,maybe 10.000 in a few years
X men LE = best game ever

It is currently sitting at my personal number 1 (and I never thought I would like another game more than Tron).

#18 10 years ago

MAW

BillySastard

Pinside member

Elkhart, IN

11y 108K 1,829 2 25

The second video had a spinner in the Beast loop. I have always wished that there was a spinner there with some cool sound effect like Beast roaring. I love the sound effect from the Cyclops spinner, and wish there was another one somewhere on the pin.

#19 10 years ago

RJC

Rcade

Pinside member

Quoted from BillySastard:
The second video had a spinner in the Beast loop. I have always wished that there was a spinner there with some cool sound effect like Beast roaring. I love the sound effect from the Cyclops spinner, and wish there was another one somewhere on the pin.

Yeah, me too, pity it was costed out. And there were three standups in both the HFC and BH banks on that white wood

#20 10 years ago

JWC

mechslave

Anastasia Arcade

Saint Augustine, FL

20y 74,900 1,178 20 30

Ah the memories, indeed. I owned a Magneto from July - April. It's a good game, but I think I finally narrowed it down to just not liking the Wolverine shot and the Xavier shot. They never felt "good." I think XM needed a left ramp to shoot from the bottom right flipper, instead of the Xavier shot. It just doesn't kinetically reward a big right flipper power shot in the same way a left ramp would. IMHO.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed XM, even with horrible code for a long time (conflicting goals leading to the game begging you to timeout modes, UGH!). XM's code problems are most of its poor reputation.. Waison really should not have been coding that thing, and designing that ruleset, because he wasn't prepared. I haven't experienced the latest code on it, but for me, code or no code, I'd still be left without a truly satisfying right lower flipper shot.

There's a lot to like about XM, though. Prices dropped on the LE's but they seem to have held for the past few months. It's a beautiful game, too. Apart from Master of Puppets, Magneto is the best looking Stern machine maybe ever.

#21 10 years ago

rotordave

Pinside+ Frequent

14y 210K 13,705

Quoted from mechslave:
I haven't experienced the latest code on it, but for me, code or no code, I'd still be left without a truly satisfying right lower flipper shot

You reckon?

I think nailing the very tight Beast and Zavier shots with the right flipper are two of my favorite pinball shots.

With the base of Wolvie being so wide both shots are tight. (LE model)

If you move Wolvie to the right, Beast opens up but Zavier becomes tighter.

Zavier and Iceman are my bogey shots on Xmen. Hard to nail either of them under pressure.

rd.

#22 10 years ago

TOM

DocRotCod

Pinside member

Edmond, OK

11y 60,150 1,551 2 6

Interesting tidbit of info. I always hear people talk about right out of the box issues with pins. On mine, we thought the DMD had cracks in the display. But upon further inspection someone at the factory had the power cable going to the DMD wedged between the DMD and front panel. Quick pull on the cable pulled it free.

#23 10 years ago

DJL

PinDescabarian

Pinside member

11y 61,800 482 30

X men is a true test of skill. It is my favorite pin as well!

Quoted from TigerLaw:
It is currently sitting at my personal number 1 (and I never thought I would like another game more than Tron).

#24 10 years ago

JIM

jimjim66

Pinside member

Madera, CA

12y 73,550 2,577

Quoted from rotordave:
With the base of Wolvie being so wide both shots are tight. (LE model)

If you move Wolvie to the right, Beast opens up but Zavier becomes tighter.

Love the game also. I wish the Wolverine on the LE was slotted like the Pro and made his waste slimmer. When you cut the back to open the Beast lane, after a lot of plays, the back gets compromised.

#25 10 years ago

904

HighProtein

904 Pinball Zine

13y 167K 6,348

I dig the PRO and could see myself owning one someday.

#26 10 years ago

SKB

Eskaybee

Pinside member

12y 155K 12,965 40

Don't be too fooled; beast and Xavier are just as tough on the pro. Even though there's a hair more room to see the beast shot on the pro - it still has a sweet spot the size of the LE which makes me understand why Borg moved it on the LE to open up the Xavier shot a bit. The Xavier shot is probably the hardest shot on the pro, but dam it feels good making it! I'm finally getting the shot dialed in - one of the best feel good shots in the game.

#27 10 years ago

Keebler

Inactive member

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wolverine-remount-a-variation

Quoted from jimjim66:
Love the game also. I wish the Wolverine on the LE was slotted like the Pro and made his waste slimmer. When you cut the back to open the Beast lane, after a lot of plays, the back gets compromised.

Not if you use the following method...

That worked great for me.

#28 10 years ago

SKB

Eskaybee

Pinside member

12y 155K 12,965 40

Quoted from Keebler:
Not if you use the following method...
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wolverine-remount-a-variation
That worked great for me.

Quoted from jimjim66:
Love the game also. I wish the Wolverine on the LE was slotted like the Pro and made his waste slimmer. When you cut the back to open the Beast lane, after a lot of plays, the back gets compromised.

Honestly; having owned both the LE and pro now, and having done the wolvie remount on the LE. I wouldn't do it again if I had the choice. It's just not worth it in the end and beast isn't all that hard in the LE factory position. That bit of hair you trim on the beast shot with the remount, adds to the difficulty of Xavier. And Xavier is a far more important shot in the game than beast.

#29 10 years ago

SKB

Eskaybee

Pinside member

12y 155K 12,965 40

IM still surprised there's no mainstream wolverine variation figure mod. Maybe cause he's such a PIA to take on/off.

#30 10 years ago

Keebler

Inactive member

Quoted from Eskaybee:
Honestly; having owned both the LE and pro now, and having done the wolvie remount on the LE. I wouldn't do it again if I had the choice. It's just not worth it in the end and beast isn't all that hard in the LE factory position. That bit of hair you trim on the beast shot with the remount, adds to the difficulty of Xavier. And Xavier is a far more important shot in the game than beast.

Hmm, I don't know... I think I got mine just right, I can hit the Xavier shot without too much effort. Both shots are pretty open on mine now.

#31 10 years ago

EDH

TigerLaw

Jennings, LA

14y 224K 20,100 24 240

Quoted from Eskaybee:
IM still surprised there's no mainstream wolverine variation figure mod. Maybe cause he's such a PIA to take on/off.

I totally agree on this. Why hasn't someone made a mod for Wolverine? Maybe Stern waiting so long to make custom toys was because of the challenge in making them? I'm okay with Wolverine as he is, but a really cool custom version of him would be installed for sure by me.

#32 10 years ago

DJL

PinDescabarian

Pinside member

11y 61,800 482 30

At this point I am not sure I would buy the Wolvie Mod. I like the challenge and have become good at both shots. Some days are better than others. I would not change a thing.

#33 10 years ago

Keebler

Inactive member

Here are a couple pictures of my remounted Wolverine. I also adjusted his arm, which now has over 1/2" of clearance from the Iceman ramp. The remount improved the gameplay a lot... it feels just as easy to hit the Beast and Xavier shots as the pro at the local arcade.

wolverine-remount-1.jpg wolverine-remount-2.jpg

#34 10 years ago

DJL

PinDescabarian

Pinside member

11y 61,800 482 30

That looks cool. Do you have any pictures of his back. How is it holding up and with how many plays?

#35 10 years ago

Keebler

Inactive member

The remount has about 75 plays on it, but I didn't cut the back, so it hasn't shifted at all. The extra screw you see is there to hold his arm in place... I used a hair dryer to move it and it would slowly try to move back.

wolverine-remount-3.jpg

#36 10 years ago

MKE

Pinballmike217

Pinside member

Naples, FL

11y 74,800 1,672

Quoted from TigerLaw:
I totally agree on this. Why hasn't someone made a mod for Wolverine? Maybe Stern waiting so long to make custom toys was because of the challenge in making them? I'm okay with Wolverine as he is, but a really cool custom version of him would be installed for sure by me.

Agreed, a new Wolvy about 2/3rd's the size of the original would be a great mod.

#37 10 years ago

JIM

jimjim66

Pinside member

Madera, CA

12y 73,550 2,577

Quoted from Keebler:
Not if you use the following method...

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wolverine-remount-a-variation

That worked great for me.

I did mine before that method came out. I would do it that way if I could do a do over.

#38 10 years ago

Keebler

Inactive member

Quoted from jimjim66:
I did mine before that method came out. I would do it that way if I could do a do over.

Yeah, that makes sense. I just got mine recently, so I was lucky to have more options.

#39 10 years ago

RJC

Rcade

Pinside member

Quoted from Eskaybee:
IM still surprised there's no mainstream wolverine variation figure mod. Maybe cause he's such a PIA to take on/off.

Always thought the same thing. Guaranteed money for the maker, as "we" would all buy it just put of curiosity.

I replaced my Wolvie with a Bowen figure I custom drilled to fit. It looks awesome, but honestly, it didn't change the gameplay that much. Wolvie's waist really doesn't take up THAT much real eastate. The Bowen figure I mounted is slightly slimmer, but I didn't necessarily make anything "easier". The resin bust of the Bowen figure would sometimes not register a hit on Wolvie unless I got a strong hit on the left side. So what I "gained" in space, I lost in switch sensitivity.

If someone was able to fabricate a durable plastic custom Wolvie to mount there that worked, I would gladly spend $80-100 to get a nice, well painted alternative to the stock Wolvie.

#40 10 years ago

RJC

Rcade

Pinside member

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rcades-x-men-full-bowen-mod-attempt-1

My Bowen Wolvie attempt thread, for those curious to what I was talking about:

#41 10 years ago

RJC

Rcade

Pinside member

Quoted from Keebler:
Not if you use the following method...
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wolverine-remount-a-variation
That worked great for me.

I will have to try it this way when I get my reprinted Wolvie back from Zdoor!

#42 10 years ago

Keebler

Inactive member

OP
Quoted from Rcade:
I will have to try it this way when I get my reprinted Wolvie back from Zdoor!

Nice, I might get that done to mine at some point

One thing missing from the write up for that method is the measurements for the new bracket. I got lucky and got it just right on my first attempt. If I get a chance I will take mine off and measure it so people will at least have a starting point to work from.

#43 10 years ago

RJC

Rcade

Pinside member

Quoted from Keebler:
Nice, I might get that done to mine at some point
One thing missing from the write up for that method is the measurements for the new bracket. I got lucky and got it just right on my first attempt. If I get a chance I will take mine off and measure it so people will at least have a starting point to work from.

Sweet. Would be helpful. The original method remount I did worked fine, but adding extra bracket might make the angling a tad better, so I figure I'd give it a shot

#44 10 years ago

Keebler

Inactive member

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wolverine-remount-a-variation#post-1143348

OP
Quoted from Rcade:
Sweet. Would be helpful. The original method remount I did worked fine, but adding extra bracket might make the angling a tad better, so I figure I'd give it a shot

I ended up taking it off tonight. It has held up really well so far. I posted pictures and the measurements on the original thread...

#45 10 years ago

SSD

PinFan4Life

Pinside member

Tampa, FL

12y 63,400 570 14 47

I'm very happy with my XMEN LE...lots of fun - I don't see it leaving anytime soon.

#46 10 years ago

FPG

luvthatapex2

Pinside member

North Wales, PA

11y 129K 5,772 7 100

I wonder if Waison will have some new XMEN code to test at expo? Its time....

#47 10 years ago

JRE

jespo_19

Pinside member

13y 57,800 832

http://s1238.photobucket.com/user/jespo_19/media/X-Men/MOV02226_zpsca86af04.mp4.html?sort=3&o=0

i still have to mess with the hardware.....been working on changing beast voice clips (the two i have left to change you can hear in the video) but the rest i put in.
also changed wolvie multiball music (rusty cage) and gameplay music (90's animated series theme)

#48 10 years ago

RJC

Rcade

Pinside member

Quoted from luvthatapex2:
I wonder if Waison will have some new XMEN code to test at expo? Its time....

I emailed him this morning, hopefully he'll reply, haha.

#49 10 years ago

TDA

The_Dude_Abides