Cgc - customers are tired of waiting for shipping and pricing info on mbr. Stern showed toppers for older games at the factory. Nothing at expo new wise for Stern and Jjp so far. American pinball may steal the show with Octoberfest. Circus Maximus who knows when - if they will ever ship Circus, let alone get Kingpin into production.

So my opinion is that all companies are dark accept American Pinball at this day 1 of expo. Day two could be a diff story. Hopefully some surprises are revealed in the next couple days.

I think Octoberfest will be a return to the whacky, campy humor we all loved about 90's games. Dialed In had a touch of it, but while I love that game, it wasn't really all that funny. My utterly baseless prediction is Octoberfest will be a huge hit.

Don't say all because while I didn't mind it then I really don't care for it anymore, even back in the day I much preferred Terminator and STTNG, DM, Shadow to SS, MM, AFM etc. the bad jokes and terrible music get real tedious real fast. I doubt I'm the only one.

Fair enough, but since Stern is the major player these days and they only do licensed themes, only Deadpool has been even remotely comedic recently other than Dialed In. Big Lebowski too, but I'm one of a relatively small number of players who have had enough time on the game to hear all the dialogue. I think the interests of your demographic have been well sated recently. Give me something stupid, cringy, over the top, filled with beer barrels and bad oom-pah music and I will die a happy man.

I like all the details in Oktobefest and wish Stern would do this once, hoping Elvira 3 has everything. Sterns pins always seem to flow good that others can’t match just wish more in them for the price.

Stern has always had the flow with gameplay.

Ritchies next game is unlicensed

Yes I know that’s what I mean always flow in Sterns that I can’t seem to find in other company’s as much.

A good number of Stern games flow so well because there's a standard left ramp and right ramp that return the ball straight to the flippers and two orbits on nearly all of their games. Combine that with little else on the playfield in terms of items that actually interact with the ball / player and any game with such layout will play fast. I like flow but at some point it starts becoming overrated with the games costing $5500+ for a pro, $7500+ for a premium, and nearly $9k for an LE. At those prices I want multiple interactive features as that's why I'm personally paying the $5.5k-$9k for a new pinball machine of all things.

Stern must love it when they read "that magnet slows down the game", "that toy will stop the ball", "oh that mini playfield just stops the flow", as it's all the more reason for them to put less in games and increase their profit margins, lol.

What a difference a year and a half makes. At the 2021 Amusement Expo International (call it the AMOA show), only Stern was present with pinball machines on display. No JJP, No American Pinball (Although Dave Fix was present "walking the show floor"), no Deep-Root etc.

Is Stern the only one that presents at CES?

What a difference a year and a half makes. At the 2021 Amusement Expo International (call it the AMOA show), only Stern was present with pinball machines on display. No JJP, No American Pinball (Although Dave Fix was present "walking the show floor"), no Deep-Root etc.

You mean has a booth/presents their wares at CES?

I don't think much has changed .
The initial post , talked about how much JJP puts in their games and depth of code compared to stern .
Both companies recently made a band pin .
It's pretty obvious which company put more effort in .
Neither company can keep up with demand , so I think they're both happy making their games at their price points .

The point is that JJP did not display at the largest industry trade show for route operators while Stern did.

This was a dumb thread then. It’s a really dumb thread now.

If you're gonna be a dumb thread, might as well be top 5 dumb

Yeah, not sure if this is dumb thread as if I remember the points discussed were valid then and valid now. But this is a memorable thread!

In the Led Zep vs GNR camp I am in the GNR camp for now. It is not perfect by any means, but certainly has a next level wow factor, whereas zep pro looks like it came out of the dark days at Stern, not at peak pinball.

I just bought JP premium couldn’t be happier with the theme, toys, and code.

Bought SW premium comic a while ago and it’s my favorite pin.

Aboot how amazing JJPOTC was and was going to stunt Sterns sales #s?
I mean, it was a fun idea at the time I guess.

This thread was made 3 years ago and Pirates code still isn't completed lol.

Yup; Stern did, they focused on gameplay and quality. I had both and LedZep is the winner. GNR gone and with the playfield shitshow how anyone can position JJP as the quality brand is sucking hard on the crack pipe.

Yup , Stern has quality warped playfields and mechs that don't work .
GNR has sold way more than Led Zeppelin so the win goes to GNR

Another sign of stern quailty. Manda encounter divertor.

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In fairness, JJP only have 2 issues - incredibly crap Mirco Playfields and their response to those incredibly crap Mirco Playfields.

True. Should be cleared up in a couple years and then the dark night will return!

Lol. Can’t wait.

can you post your data on what has sold more please? And if you've made it up add an asterix

For the record. I have an Avengers IQ LE that had a warped playfield. Stern replaced the entire playfield. I had a GNR with bits falling off it all over the place and a complete playfield failure. JJP sent an email saying tighten the bolts I wrote to them 6 weeks ago and have had no response.

Neil.

reminds me of my trap door on my Dialed in which still isn't 100% after 4 years!

I don't agree, Divertor mech has failed on loads of GNRs, the magnet also and several reports of the board that does the skill shot; then there is the drones on DI, trapdoor on DI.

Stern aren't perfect but those preaching that JJP is are just that - fanatics.

I’m sure you’ll get a replacement quickly, if you’ve asked for one. Stern has been great any time I’ve had problems.

I’ve owned every JJP and waiting on GNR and haven’t had one mechanical or electronic issue (other than the usual nib tweaking). It’s only been Playfield issues since Potc.

But same with Stern. Only real issues I’ve had are Playfield issues. The difference was Stern looked after me every time.

You brought up quality , I didn't say anything about quality .
I said jjp put more EFFORT into Guns N Roses than Stern put into Led Zeppelin.
If you believe Stern put more effort into Led Zeppelin then you're the one smoking the crack pipe
And if you want to dream Led Zeppelin out sold Guns N Roses , that's fine by me

Maybe they finally ran out of those damn washers.
Ridiculous

I think we should resurrect Sterns’ Dark Night in honour of Spooky’s new release(s).

Yep, it would be almost as dumb as the original.

Someone in this forum said they did. Sad indeed.

When I start seeing Boo-tique pinball machines at the arcades in large Nevada casinos and Tim Arnold's Pinball Hall Fame, I'll consider them a serious manufacturer of commercial games.

And no, Spooky was not at the Amusement Expo.

I agree with you, BUT: LZ is still more fun to play than GNR.

I would say it another way. LZ is less lame to play. The pro that is. Haven’t played the premium/LE. Until JJP comes out with a better flipper system, they will never be more fun than a Stern.

You guys are all so serious.

But im going to do it anyway - starting a new thread - "Stern's Nighmare on Elk St"

That’d be Welk Street.

I finally got to play Led Zep pro the other week and it's a really fun game and I got the number one high score
My wife didn't like it , she preferred ACDC .
If someone said I could have a Jurassic Park or Led Zep , I'd take Led Zep in a heartbeat .
I've never said LZ is a shit game , I've just said the artwork doesn't look that good and GNR has more in it .
I say buy whatever YOU like , because at the end of the day you're the one who has to play it .

JJP GNR is a work of art! LZ is a fun pinball machine to play. I've been enjoying the Prem at league. Different strokes.

Just like the Mona Lisa, it’s not much fun to play.

Smart woman - u married well.

There were a ton of light board issues on WOZ. Early one they would send me a few replacements, but eventually it was on me to buy replacements (if I could even find one) or buy and install a whole new lighting system. I'd had enough and sold it. Hobbit was my next JJP. That game had a bunch of mechanical issues out of the box like the balls getting stuck in the monsters, the ramp flaps bending up, the springs on the drops breaking. They did send out fixes for that stuff. Also on my Hobbit, every single light board failed and had to be replaced which they did under warranty. The new owner has told me he has had to replace one of those again. I have GNR now. They seem to have finally gotten the light boards figured out but forgot how to make a quality playfield. What really bothers me is that even though I have offered to buy a new unpopulated playfield they won't sell me one. They aren't even sending out washers anymore.

I would agree that Stern has also had issues but they have much better support.

I've always said that JJP makes the most beautiful games on the planet. But until they figure out a way to hang a pinball machine on the wall so I can admire it in a museum--or they release a theme I can't pass up--I'll be content to look at others' beautiful games while I play my ugly (but incredibly fun) Sterns.

I sure did , she didn't even blink when I spent a 500 bucks on a neon GNR sign

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Why did GNR win all of those TWIPYs then, including game of the year, if it wasn't any fun to play? Some of you guys just have it out for JJP and will never give them a chance, it really comes across that way at times. If Stern had made GNR you would be acting like it's the greatest game ever made lol.

Have had a chance to play both LZ LE and GNR LE. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed LZ, it's a really fun game. Do I think more should be in it considering the price? Absolutely. Against GNR there's no comparison. GNR is more fun to play in my opinion, there's far more songs in the game, animations / graphics are better, and theres far more band participation. Toss in the multiple molds in GNR, the mechanical features such as the 6 ball physical ball lock (why isn't there one in LZ?), and other interactive features such as the moving symbols, and the stage LCD + moving stage lights and again there's no comparison. JJP created the ultimate music pin with GNR.

Now at $9500 there's no question which game I would buy and it's easy to tell side by side which game has more in it. However, the new $10,500 price for GNR LE would make it a harder decision considering LZ LE is $9200. If money was no object I would own both games in a heartbeat.