I'm very surprised at how cool this looks. I didn't expect much. I love the artwork, animations, and it seems like it would be fun to shoot. I don't get the comments about preferring concert videos to the animations. That seems akin to photoshopping the playfield vs custom art, but whatever. I think the art direction as a whole is outstanding.

Could not agree more.
The Pro looks to be pretty full featured.
Love my Metallica Pro especially since I added the spinners back on it.

But the biggest revelation of this thread is that there is a $5 secret for wrinkles.

Gotta agree with that, too. I thought it would be a big fat no but I really want to play it now. Pro looks great. Not sure I can get over the theme, though. Aerosmith does have some decent songs but it would have to play mind blowing amazing for me to buy one. Prices are creeping up out of my comfort zone but at least this time you can argue it's a good deal with the added lcd.

Would agree if Aerosmith is your bag, the Pro has a lot to offer and heavily borrowed from the success of MET.

It appears as though this game has been ready for a while and was delayed only because of BM66- so if that's the case, will these start shipping in a few weeks? Anyone know?

Stern says end of Feb.
So you know the drill. July. lol

Arriving Aus end of Feb.

They did on mine.

Ron...

Same here. It's the coolest looking thing since breakfast.

So what happened to being done buying new in box games?

the game and art looks good, not sure about that upper PF with a regular size flipper bat.
unfortunately not a theme for me.
the good thing is, more money for star wars, if the rumour is true.

Even though I'm impressed by this reveal, I'm not buying NIB games. I'll play it once it hits a location near me.

With the quality of console / PC / handheld / arcade game graphics, the bar is very high. If game animations are not up to standards, it looks like an eyesore and distracts from the gameplay. I know, the game is on the playfield, but don't expect me to put that game in my game room.

Sterns Aerosmith animations remind me of a Rock Band / Guitar hero clone. Rock Bands animations fall flat compared to Guitar Hero, and Sterns Aerosmith graphics (and Batman 66) would need to go some to catch up with those.

I can understand why Stern was hesitant to include a color screen. The awkward looking graphics are off putting and unfortunately are not going to lure new players to pinball. That being said, I don't find the JJP animations off putting, although JJP uses mainly an graphical info screen more than classic DMD animations.

These old GH Aerosmith graphics are nothing special, but are an example of what could have been done. Aren't they friends with the guys at Raw Thrills (Big Buck Hunter games, etc)? Imagine what the talent at Raw Thrills could do with Batman 66 or Aerosmith graphics??

I hope someone at Stern is reading this!!!

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No thanks. Utterly wrong look.

Agreed. 3D puppets have ruined video games, animated feature movies... no need to have them invade and ruin pinball too.

$0.02

That might actually look worse.

I thought exactly the same!

Lots of people get excited about the removal of DMDs. However, I expect we are going to see a lot of games with really weak graphics and animations on these screens for two reasons:

1. The manufacturers don't have the skills to make anything better.
2. The manufacturers won't commit enough of the budget to do it properly (e.g., graphics that at least compete with video games from 5 years ago).

A lot of what I've seen on these newer games so far looks like power point presentations, or web Flash animations at best.

I'm probably in the minority, but I don't consider footage ripped straight from a movie or concert as an improvement either. Rather, it usually has a very sudden stop/start feel to it and lacks any sort of meaningful integration.

The fix for either of the above problems isn't simple either. Any additional investment in that area will mean either more expensive games, or less resources focused on the mechanical element (you know, the actual pinball!).

"Smart Button" on the lockdown bar is going to confuse the hell out of non-pinheads who read it as "Start Button".

I didn't like the speaker grills much at first but I think they look a lot like guitar amps so the design has grown on me

The animations look amazing in Aerosmith; are you guys crazy?

I'm not a huge aerosmith fan, but after seeing the playfield layout I'm really interested in playing it now.

At 3 plays for two bucks, play ten bucks, 20 games and be done with it. You might win a few replays as well. Save thousands. Play a few more games at shows which are "included" in the gate fee.

I don't know. Looks a lot like Kiss too me and with the same code.
This game has a lot to live up to before you can even begin to compare it to Met.

Could you please explain what you mean by that?

I would take Sam in a heartbeat. But that's not reality anymore.

Anyone seen a game matrix yet for Aerosmith?

Node based. Less wires, streamlined logic flow, less possible points of failure. Easier to work on. More menu settings and control. Better volume. I'm sure there are more examples, but those come to mind immediately.

Pics of the Pro model?

Pinball News has it.

I think it looks great and I've always been a fan of the band. Looks like a great shooter and the ball lock throw/release and jester are awesome. I'm excited to play it. Just like GoT, the pro appears to be the way to go...the upper playfield doesn't look like my thing, but I can't wait to try it and see if I'm wrong. Ramps look smooth and satisfying.

I LOVE the irony in the fact that I've read so many posts complaining that BM66 uses TV clips instead of custom animations and now everyone is complaining about this using custom animations instead of video clips. Just amazing. I swear some people just looks for stuff to complain about instead of stuff to be excited about.

Visually I think the game and animations look great. I'll consider buying a pro down the road but only if the code turns out to offer depth and uniqueness. A game can look amazing and have cool toys / features but none of that matters if the code support isn't there and isn't done right.

Currently I'm hearing a lot of sounds from KISS in Aerosmith and see that the typical filler type modes (super ramps, super pops, super target's) are in the game...There better be far more then that if I'm going to drop $5k+ on a NIB pin. For todays NIB prices I expect a deep objective based ruleset that works the entire playfield in fun and unique ways.

We know who the programmer is.

I like the reuse of the IV4 ark like MB start.
I like the shooting the ball into the toybox.
Artwork is Dd so awesome.
Color lcd screen is the right size. Not too big like JJP. Content on screen is good. So much better than DMD
Wish guy on toybox didnt look like sparky as much (esp his hands). His voice was the exact same too.

Seems like kiss and met and iv4 had a baby.
Im skeptical about code, but if it were lyman id seriously consider forking cash for pro.

from the press release:
Players will be mesmerized by the interactive “Jacky on the Box” mechanical feature on the playfield.

really? mesmerized? cats sitting on the playfield glass, maybe. but I'm going to go out on a limb and state that I don't think that the box will ever mesmerize me

Sorry, didn't follow what you said...I was mesmerized!

Touché!

Hasn't this been standard practice forever? I mean, when game code (and sounds, animations, etc.) is so early in development they simply re-use things from previous games as fillers? Heck, JJP was using MM trolls as pop-ups in early videos, right?

Also, just curious, from people's own past experience, how long after Stern announces a new game does it typically take before they start shipping games? 3 months? 6 months? And has Stern been consistent in which games they produce first in terms of Pro versus Premium versus LE?

I agree this is a quarter dropper. $20 and done.

I noticed on the matrix list on pinballnews there is a 3,4,5 or 6 ball multiball from the toy chest.
There is a picture showing 6 balls on top of the box, but this is probably just to demonstrate the 6 ball multiball.
I assume the toy chest will hold 4 balls (like the ARK in IJ4), 1 ball caught on the magnet in front and 1 released from the trough for a 6 ball multiball?
I think it was really cool to team up the flick mechanism with the chest for a new implementation.

Complaints about price are just a continuation of the price increases Stern has implemented on past models. It may only be a two hundred buck increase but added on to the previous gradual increases it feels like a significant difference in a short time.

Is there any video of a pro available?

It looks like the game borrows from Mustang in that you can cancel out of earlier multiballs in order to increase the number of balls and jackpot values. A fun piece of risk/reward which should give the software a nice boost!

I thought that Stern's KISS and Corvette were the ugliest and least relevant pins ever made. They have now been surpassed.

And I actually do like Aerosmith.

Try this link. "Testing games at CES". This is the Pro.

https://www.facebook.com/sternpinball/videos/10154881564674244/?pnref=story.unseen-section

Yes Stern posted a few videos on their Facebook page of a pro they have set up at CES.

Dear Dirty Donny,
Why waste art on bad music?
Make Babymetal!

You think this game looks ugly??? I think you might be in the very small minority on that one.

It looks like the underside of an over-the-range microwave.

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Gimme Chocolate!!!

I think if you put a red dot filter on it, it would look good. Seeing it in full HD reveals its flaws as animation. The art style is fine and cohesive with the package, but just judging the animation as animation - it looks like bad Flash from the 90's. Floaty puppets with no sense of timing. When elements pan, they're choppy. DMD animation, despite its limitations, usually had good animation principals and timing. Watch the snake match seq on Met or any of the TWD stuff. Lots of great timing, overlapping action...good animators using true animation skills despite the resolution and lack of color. That's also the key to good TV animation - good timing makes limited animation really appealing. There's no timing or real animation principle in the shot of the band playing - it's just random limb movements.

Now, despite my critique - I don't think the animation flaws are a detriment to the game. The style matches the rest of the art package well enough. Would I like them to do better? Yes. Is it a deal breaker for this title? No.

Never heard of Clutch Cargo, had to google it. Speed Racer came out a decade before I was born, but I grew up on the reruns. It's not that it's not great, because it is, but go back and look at it, the animation quality itself is actually pretty ass. Lots of frames of everything totally still except an animated mouth, choppy animation, etc.