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There's gonna be a learning curve with these LCD displays I imagine. It's intimidating to really think about everything you need to populate a big LCD screen with original content, feeling your way through what it takes on top of that has to be some stress. Getting the playfield artist to draw things for the LCD was smart. I don't think the end result looks that amazing, as you said it's like Flash animation, but it's a good match for the rest of the game art, and that helps a lot, it feels like a cohesive design. Will get the job done while you're playing for sure. No one wants to hear what I think about the fonts.

I do think it's funny they hired these 3D animators who did all these horrible 3D things with dots (horrible because detailed and shaded 3D models just look assy with low rez shades of red, need proper hand drawn dots to work) and now that they have a high rez color display it's all flat stuff.

Sure the 3D will come, when the next game is $200 more.

The warning signs have been in place for a while, but to sum up my feelings I think we've finally crossed the "pinball has become a total joke" threshold and there won't be any turning back.

It's actually kind of sad in a way.

Looks nice - love the art.
Great time to be in the Hobby

lol, what the heck are you talking about?? I get it, you hate this game. But get over it, not every game is gonna blow your mind. I look back over the last 10 years and think Stern is doing a helluva lot better job than games like Monopoly, Rolling Stones, Harley, Big Buck Hunter, etc. Throw in innovation and competition from other companies like JJP, Spooky, and Heighway and I think pinball is anything but a joke.

I don't hate the game. I really have no feelings for it at all. And I don't feel the need to explain why I think it's a joke. That should be pretty obvious.

That criticism actually makes some sense to me. Batman is primarily thought of as a comic, even if the pin is the '66 series, it's still primarily a comic book hero, and cartoon-like graphics seem more appropriate. For a real band, isn't real video more appropriate. For anyone that took the band/music seriously, I'd imagine so.

In other words, those opinions are based on the -context- too, there's not a one solution fits all... Which is what you're suggesting.

Have you seen the artwork for Rolling Stones?? No, real photographs Photoshopped are generally not more appealing. Every time that happens people scream for hand drawn artwork! Well, here you go. I don't want to watch music videos on the screen. I want artwork that is consistent with the artwork on the playfield, cabinet, and backglass. Just as they did here.

I never heard of Clutch Cargo until I saw Pulp Fiction. It's in the beginning of the scene where Christopher Walken's character visits the young Butch to give him the gold watch.

As for my opinion on AS, I think it looks phenomenal. Dirty Donnie is a genius. I've always loved Aerosmith, but was never keen on it as a pinball theme. Looks like I may be wrong. The LCD is a fantastic upgrade, but I agree that some (not all) of the animations need work. I feel that over time, the animators will warm up to the LCD and incorporate better graphics and animations that really stand out. I love how the elevator arrow moved positions, as well as the song select screen and bonus graphics.

As for the layout, it's mainly KISS, but rearranged. Not thrilled about that, but no major biggie. The LE/Premium upper flipper should be shorter, just my opinion. I LOVE the airborne toy chest lock, ala NBA. Very clever use by Borg. The announcer is HORRIBLE. Please get Steven Tyler to do some call outs! In all, I think it looks like it will be fun as hell to play.

Looks awesome to me, Wicked PF artwork, Dirty donny did all the mode logos for the LCD etc. I'm by no means an Aerosmith fan at all but looks fast and fun to me... I'm a big theme guy for my collection but hey I do own a Baywatch because its such a great game so there is always exceptions

Is it the age bracket ? I digg it.. I'm in my 40s and grew up on classic rock..
I love classic.. metal..punk.. roots country.. ect... I think its killer .. great art.. music.theme ect ...

Artwork looks fantastic! Layout looks fine, while game play and lighting are less inspiring. Animations, however are gawd awful. Graphics are so bad that they keep me from considering one until addressed. I'd suggest scrapping everything and beginning again - starting from the ground up. I base this against what I could likely do - using an off the shelf software, without training and no talent - final results appear comparable (and that is not good).

Am I the only one beeing bothered by the giant bleak/wooden area of the saucer?

I'm sure some aftermarked mods will take care of that, but right now it just looks wrong to me. (in this game even more so than maybe in others, due to the vibrant art of Dirty Donnie)

Wow this game looks fantastic and great continue your flaming of the game guys before you even play it

Some decent songs!!!!!!!!!!!! What are you kidding me it's f____ing Aerosmith and you think they have "some" decent songs. I am sure that it only your opinion. I am probably showing my age but I think they are musical legends.

I think it's gonna be a great game and can't wait to play it on location. That being said, it's not a theme I would own.

He might be onto something. I grew up with Aerosmith and listened to them ever since Dream On. BUT...for me, they jumped the shark around the time that they did that stupid "Don't Want To Miss a Thing" song for the meteor movie or whatever. On that song, and ever since, Steve Tyler has had a super-whiny quality to his voice that's really like nails on a chalkboard for me. (And although I enjoyed Get a Grip, it was still annoying after a few minutes.)

But if you're talking about Toys in the Attic or Rocks? Bring it on...I can listen to Last Child, Back in the Saddle, or Sweet Emotion jacked up to 10 any day of the week.

So yeah...they have "some" decent songs.

I know Pinsiders are made up of people of all ages but for you that are not that familiar with Aerosmith just take a minute and Wikipedia them and I think you will be surprised just what they mean to the American music frontier. They have toured every year for 45 years enough said, just think about that.

I'm wondering why the LCD must be bigger than a DMD. The more square-shaped screen absolutely creates bad negative space in terms of the design on the backboard. It just takes space from the potential backglass art.

Was thinking about this last night--why the push for a more modern score screen? It's kind of odd that people demand a higher res scoring screen for games that have tech (on the playfield) that could have been done in the 90s.

If they could manufacture or just use LCD screens with the same aspect ratio/form factor of the DMDs IMO it would look much better. The demand for HD video in place of animated dots IMO makes no sense.

I do think the pro looks a great all round package.

My worries are primarily code in that KISS may have been used as a blueprint and it's not Lyman.

And lastly whilst not a deal breaker, I can't understand why they couldn't make the speaker grill more aesthetically pleasing

Maybe it's a more standard sized LCD that they can get cheaper and not have to have one specially made?

STRONG agreement on this point. I don't get it either. Hopefully they consider grill covers for at least the Premium and LE's. Maybe something like stacked speakers (like this AS animation) would be very fitting.

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They dressed up the speaker panel on Batman SLE, so it would be possible to add lighted speaker surrounds around the cones to dress it up. I am sure one of the modders is at work on it right now!

I thought it was asteroid.

So are there really only 9 songs in this game? Or are there 3 others reserved for multiballs/wizard mode? 9 songs would seem rather small compared to the other music pins.

I feel the same, for that kind of money there ought to be a couple more songs. Most of the other music pins I recall have roughly 12 songs on them

Really??? Uglier then Austin Powers, Starship troopers or Big Hurt even??? Let's not get carried away.

Seriously...Austin Powers graphics looks like it was printed on my Apple IIe printer...what a shit show.

Seems like almost everyone is talking about the price. Should a game really be judged on only one criterion, that being how affordable it is to you personally? Are cars out of your personal price range shittier just because of that? I can appreciate cars that I can't afford. Reminds me of the countless pin reviews I've read where the reviewer downrates because of market price of the pin. I think these considerations should be separated in any discussion.

So in that spirit I'm going to give my initial opinion of the game itself as a playable work of art regardless of price.

It looks fantastic Stern!

I think cartoon style (GB) is the way forward as I have never cared for photoshop art on pins. Another reason for cartoon style is that it integrates well into the display.

The pf, bg & side art look incredible to me - out of the park incredible and even better than GB! I love pf's and bg's with tons of fine details (GB,MM,MB). Look at the great integration with the display with same art style etc.

It's not like I have any posters of Aerosmith on my wall so my initial theme impression was 'meh' but after being reminded from the video, I think this will be killer. Even if they're not your favorite band, they are a solid blues/rock band with tons of hits so it's going to work.

Initial impression is that there are lots of toys and looks fun to play and that Stern really went all-in here to do something special.

Most of all, I think Stern might have reached a milestone in the history of pinball here, that of a very high level of cohesiveness and balance between the artstyle in the pf, bg, side art and display at the same time and all in gorgeous color. One reason why games such as MM or MB are highly rated is for this same reason, the pf, bg & side art (& dots) just all flow together and were clearly part of a team vision with the intent to do so! With the larger color display, this is a new challenge and it looks like Stern might have pulled this aspect off here.

Can't wait to see/play it!

I covered that with the "or whatever."

The simple answer is that custom shapes are expensive and need to be done in bulk to be cost effective. Who knows how many games Stern sells, but it's not in the hundreds of thousands. They need an off the shelf screen, that's already in production for laptops etc. It's the only route that really makes sense.

Same reason ColorDMD uses laptop screens and hides the rest behind the speaker panel.

Go on ...

No...we've heard it enough

I haven't really read any comments yet on someone saying "yes , Im in on this pin." I'm proud to say that I am. I love Aerosmiths music and I think the lay out of the playfield looks great and should be fun to play. I think some people just don't realize how big Aerosmith was in their day and still highly recognize today.

I will admit that the LE looks like a waste of money. I was in on the LE but dropped down to the Premium this morning. After owning 7 other LE's, the signatures on the playfield and Gary's signature on a piece of paper just doesn't do it for me anymore. The lollipop side rails and shaker I can add myself for just a few hundred dollars. I do think the Pro is the best bang for the buck on this model, but for myself , I prefer to have the model with all the playfield features. That's why I always bought the LE's, but probably not any more here on out.

I love music pins and can't wait to get Aerosmith next to my AC/DC and Metalica.

.....and one more thing, I do hope some moders are out their already making something to dress up that microwave speaker grill.
Other than that, the pin looks bad ass!

Also, why has no one mentioned the alternate translite? Keeps the game current with the band's more recent work, I'd say.

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10k+ lesson learned

Makes sense. They would be better served then (IMO) by going to the wider aspect ratio by covering part of the LCD screen so that there's not so much negative space in the back board. Would give more room for the translite as well.

Aerosmith looks Awesome!!!

Great band - top seller 70's, 80's and 90's!!!
FACT : Aerosmith sold MANY MORE post 70's albums than 70's - so there are plenty of fans of all there music.

This is going to be a great game - just hope the software matches the rest of the package

I am totally in!!!!

I'm ordering the Pro model as soon as Stern decides to replace my GBLE playfield they have been promising me for 5 months. Looks like a great game, but I refuse to give them any more of my $$ until they come through and make it right.

This is shaping up to be my first NIB pin purchase after being in the hobby for 1 year.

Hopefully it's smoooooth. Last year burned all of us with months & months of push back

I just watched the video and this game does nothing for me. I think the Ark from IJ4 makes a much greater impact than the toy chest. I didn't see anything else on the playfield that really excited me and this theme was not made for me.

I do really like the LCD and I think that is a step in the right direction.

Hopefully they will make a couple more average titles, so that I can save some money. Something like Star Wars with the new LCD screen is going to be hard for me to pass up.

Thought better of it lol

Old and out of touch because he doesn't like Aerosmith? That's a novelty!

I'm still in on the LE at the moment but I agree, unless I see a few more incentives to stick with the LE in the next couple months I might well drop down to the Premium as well. This is the weakest set of LE features I've seen in a while from Stern. Different color armor and a backglass instead of translite (with different art) are the only tangible things different from the Premium. The couple of signatures, and piece of paper ("COA"), and number plate are not differentiators IMO.

Was moreso about the feeling that the artwork is a "rehash" or copy of Roth and not liking the display.
As far as classic band themes, I can't think on one modern music artist that would make for a decent pin...Drake or Kanye West anyone??

I'm about 50-50 on this. I'm excited to see and play this. The cabinet artwork is great but I'm not blown away by the 1960's acid trip playfield - just not my taste. Maybe it looks better in person.

Sorry guys, but the animations are ridiculous. Looks like a game from one of those LeapPad educational toys - only worse. That animation where they're jamming out on the bus is hideous. Look at the animations on smart phone games and video games. I don't expect PS4 quality, but damn, that is awful animation for 2017. JJP is way, way ahead in their usage of the new display technology. However, it is a step ahead of the DMD so for that I am thankful.

Playfield layout and toys look great. KISS is a great layout so looks like it should flow well.

I like the KISS layout too. I think it's fun. They just killed it b/c of the code.

It's a bit "Scooby Doo-ish", but like the animation I've seen so far. I'd rather see something created from scratch than a bunch of movie clips over an over. I don't need a TV to watch in my pinball. I've seen the movie.

If an LCD TV, what would they show? Concert clips? That'd be awful. Let's see what they do with AC/DC Vault now. I'd love animation like a "Gorillaz" video.

I agree - look at DMD animations? Total shit, but in a cool way. I like the clunkiness and cheeseball DMD dots, and this is the next-gen version of that perfectly. I love JJPs screen and graphics, but I have to admit - this is a great implementation- especially vs the video clips on BM66.