Stern announces Avatar!

By robin

September 14, 2010

This story got featured & frontpaged on September 15, 2010

With all the heavyweight licenses that Stern seems to be picking for each and every new pinball machine, it has almost become a hobby in it's own right to guess what the next title will be. Rumor on the internet combined with common sense and a glance at the IMDB revealed to many of us early on that James Cameron's Avatar was up for a pinball treatment.

So will we be playing ball? Avatar is a strong license, that's for sure - it grossed at over 2.5 billion worldwide in the box office and made quite a splash for it's unique approach to 3D. With a 3D backglass, the game has it's own approach - albeit a little less unique. Didn't we already see that 3D backglass used on some of the last SEGA models? Anyway, it's a cool trick and looks amazing in real life (real life being YouTube).

Avatar was designed by the almost veteran design team (John Borg, Lonnie Ropp, and Lyman Sheats) but unfortunately misses our design hero Steve Ritchie in its credits. But wait, didn't Steve already design an avatar game? Well, he did. But his design never saw the light of day as he left Stern before production.

With or without Steve's magic designing capabilities, I must admit that Avatar still looks amazing. The colors alone make it stand out - and with that backglass this would look great in any living room. Will I ever be able to play it? I hope so, pinball is getting more scarce here in Holland every year.

But without further ado, this is what Stern has to say:

PRESS RELEASE

JAMES CAMERON’S AVATAR™ PINBALL WITH 3-D BACKGLASS BRINGS OUT THE NA’VI WARRIOR IN YOU

September 15, 2010- James Cameron’s Avatar Pinball by Stern Pinball, Inc. through a license with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products transports players to the planet of Pandora on a quest to protect the Na’vi people from an invading mining colony. Based on the number one film of all-time with $2.7 billion in worldwide box office receipts and the top-selling Blu-ray release of all-time, the pinball game translates James Cameron’s history making epic into a one-of-a-kind gaming experience. James Cameron’s Avatar Pinball will begin shipping on August 15^th.

The game’s release follows the August 27 worldwide theatrical debut of AVATAR: SPECIAL EDITION, which includes almost nine minutes of new footage. Staying true to the innovative nature of the film, James Cameron’s Avatar Pinball features a 3-D backglass with incredible depth, clarity and color, speech and sound effects from the movie, and an original voiceover by Stephen Lang, who plays Colonel Miles Quaritch.

In James Cameron’s Avatar Pinball, you are Jake Sully. Capture the pinball in the transporter link that reveals a Jake Sully figurine, thus transforming yourself into his Avatar. As his Avatar, you will have to escape the Thanator, fight the Viper Wolves, and ride the great Leonoptyrix. Travel through the Hallelujah mountains and do battle with the RDA in the bumpers and face Colonel Miles Quaritch in his mechanical AMP Suit. Be sure to destroy the Colonel before he destroys you to access the 4-ball multi-ball as a reward. Score jackpots and save the Na’vi people from total destruction. James Cameron’s Avatar Pinball also features a banshee ramp, magnet for random ball play, stationary targets, bank of mobile targets, and lots of multi-ball action.

Stern’s design team of John Borg and Lonnie Ropp created the James Cameron’s Avatar Pinball. Pinball Hall of Fame member Kevin O’Connor designed the artwork with David Thiel in the sound booth.

About Avatar

Since its global theatrical release last December, AVATAR has continued to make motion picture history. Written by James Cameron and produced with his long-time collaborator Jon Landau, AVATAR stars Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi and Laz Alonso.

The Oscar® and Golden Globe® winning epic is the highest grossing film of all time, taking in over $2.7 billion in worldwide box office. It is also the top-selling Blu-ray disc of all time. Director James Cameron takes audiences to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. AVATAR delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the epic nature of the story.

To get your James Cameron’s Avatar Pinball, contact your nearest Stern Pinball distributor or dealer. You can also contact Jim Belt at 1-708-786-7039 or by e-mail at [email protected], or Shelley Sax at 1-708-786-7030 or by e-mail at [email protected].

To learn more about James Cameron’s Avatar Pinball and Stern Pinball, visit www.sternpinball.com. To learn more about the AVATAR movie, go to www.avatarmovie.com.

About Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products

A recognized industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products licenses and markets properties worldwide on behalf of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Television and Fox Broadcasting Company, as well as third-party lines. The division is aligned with Twentieth Century Fox Television, one of the top suppliers of primetime entertainment programming to the broadcast networks.

So what do you think? Is Avatar going to be on your wanted list?

Find it here: Avatar pinball on Pinside.com!

Updated 15 sep: Replaced the press release with the update Stern send out today.

No photos are attached to this story.

For some reason, I am just not that excited about Avatar. There has been a prototype on location about 30 minutes from my house for a month, and I have not felt at all compelled to go check it out. This was not the case with IM, where I was chomping at the bit to play one.

That it because Iron Man rules, the movies and the comics. There is some depth to the license, as there is with every superhero pinball. That is because comics for these characters have existed for over 25 years...you can't beat that kind of notoriety. Doing something like Avatar seems foolish to me, as it was simply the first movie to wield 3-D so well, and it is far from a deep choice, and it is something that will fade over time. This will be another pinball that no matter how the gameplay is, will be forgotten over time like Johnny Mnemonic or the Shadow. Avatar's license will NOT hold weight in the long run, at least in my humble opinion.

I'd like to see the new pin do very well,
like Robin stated above it made over 2.5 billion at the theater and sure still has a large fan base. Will it do as well as LOTRs ? will they ever make Avatar 2 or 3? hard to wait for a game to show up but in time will be sure to play it.

Gweempose I can't imagine having that prototype so close by and not going to check it out? I haven't seen Avatar (movie) yet but I kind of excited about this game.

Frankay39, I understand your point but have to say Johnny Mnemonic is a pretty amazing game despite the rather bad movie. I think some pins have the ability to grow above their license - but hey I haven't seen Avatar so I don't know how bad that is :-)

I truly hope Stern will make butt-loads of cash on this game! That new lockdown bar mechanism and the plastic aprons look so cheap - I'm very afraid of further cost reductions to Stern games.

Played the "Prototype" here in germany at the Gauselman Autumn Fair.
You missed nothing.

- Overall boring shots "Shot five times the 'Banshee-Loop' ... and then some more!"

- Gameplay does not even try to follow suit to the movie.

- The (few) toys look so cheap that it almost hurts with no function. For example:The main soldier guy looks like he's lying in a fridge.

- Art of playfield and cabinet is just a eye hurting blur of blue and purple.

- The 3D-backglass looks just bad and blurry.

The best thing?
"Iron Man" looks in comparison like a superb machine.
As bad as Indy 4...

Going to built my own Muppet Pin.

Robin you are right, Johnny Mnemonic is a wonderful game, can't hate Gomez. But the fact of the matter is, it could be a pinball that has the best gameplay ever, but is still overlooked because of license. Check on eBay, you will see tons of Mnemonic machines and for cheap, and it obviously is not because of the gameplay. Even though we collectors can overlook themes, the main audience Stern is trying to hit with these games aren't quite as kind, and they want a theme that they know and love. Although I think Avatar hits this description at the moment, down the road I think it will fade, and when a machine costs $4,000 you want longevity out of it. Think of the top machines of all time, Twilight Zone was a VERY long running TV show, same with Addams Family. Indiana Jones had a trilogy, so did Star Wars (and now it has 6 movies...), and LOTR had 3 movies as well. Monster Bash, another top 10, takes many movie monsters that have huge history in literature and on the screen and makes a pinball. As I said b4, all the comic-based ones have deep history as well. Although there are some that break the mold like the unlicensed MM and ATM, it seems that basing a new machine on a single movie that made alot of money is foolish.

I just played Avatar at Gameworks in Schaumburg, Illinois. Since the Avatar video games were not so good, I figured Stern got a chance to retain the public`s attention on pinball, because everyone probably would search for any other Avatar-related product. With that said, I feel that Stern has don a decent job for their Avatar pinball. Fans of the movie will no doubt enjoy the game, because it does a fantastic job with keeping in with the theme. For people not interested in Avatar, it is best to see the movie first, because the pinball machine has wierd themes and characters, at least, to the perspective on non-movie fans. Anyways, Avatar has a mix of the good and the not-so-good. The artwork, dots and sounds are great, but I am a little tired of that split-screen technique used on this and Iron Man and 24, to name a few. The playfield is nice, but Avatar sadly suffers from cost-cutting(Due to the economy). The only features are the AMP suit and the transporter. The AMP is cool, but a DMD animation of the suit crashing to the ground would be nice, and the suit should slowly fall over, like in the movie. When the AMP suit is in its crouching position(when it falls over), behind it it looks deserted. The transporter does nothing, in short. Like NBA, there is not a whole lot of features, so if you expect less, you expect to pay less. Avatar costs the same as any other game, with not a lot of features. But overall, Avatar has an impressive rulesheet and theme.

Played it, hated it. Boring and repetitive gameplay. Looks cheap too, toys are just actionfigures slapped inside and do nothing to improve on the game. Artwork is mediocre at best. Overall IM is 1000% a better game, and honestly I don't like it that much either. LOTR is still the best game stern has produced. With what Stern has been releasing lately it looks to stay that way.

Avatar is not bad. Its does look a little cheap looking i will say. I placed 4th in the tournament @ GameWorks in Schaumburg. I still am digging IronMan and will probably buy it soon.

I've said it before: yuck. Every summer blockbuster movie has its intellectual property spun into a pinball machine now ? I can see it for Lord of the Rings, or Futurama (if only!), but Avatar was just another bland movie, albeit with new technology, that mostly failed to impress.

Should we expect that when Men In Black 3, Ghostbusters 3, and Independence Day II come out in the next couple of years, that Gary Stern will be banging on Hollywood producers' doors for the licensed theme scraps so that he can build another mediocre tie-in pin like this one ?!?