Damage control...

The analogy to ColorDMD isn't good - because this will include new art to take advantage of the bigger screen, while a ColorDMD can not in the current design.

And Trim Options. Well they aren't options... its buy level X and get the standard trim for it.

But I imagine the LE will change it's tune unless they've already ordered a ton of parts.

The video just posted on facebook shows not only are the speakers LED lit. They appear to be game controlled and multicolor as well. So not just cycling, but actual game code controlled.

Excatly.. it's just another way to bundle in a 'feature' to help justify the price.

I expect these to probaby be 8-12k for the range on the conservative side. LE could even be much more...

Nearly every business now sells 'extended warranties' - This is you getting one thrown in for the price you paid for that tier.

No, it has the custom art like the MMR color upgrade. You can see it already in the videos posted that show the attract mode.

This user has it in their live videos
https://www.facebook.com/arcadecaptain/

AFM martians.. target bank is one motor.. one drop target.. kicker for ship and the plastic ships.. two poppers. 3 plastic ramps, 2 habit trails. Saucer assembly, (I wouldn't even count the aliens). 20+2 coils.. 51 switches.. 1 motor.

MM.. catapult.. motorized drawbridge.. castle gate.. actuated castle.. two trolls.. partial subway. 2 plastic ramps, 3 habit trails.. 2 troll assemblies, the gate and drawbridge assemblies.. castle assembly. 19+4 coils, 52 switches.. . 1 motor

I think MM has it beat by a long shot. More coils, more assemblies, more formed plastic, more habitrails, more assembly.

No, what you get is recovery of the capital sunk into the developing the platform.. you don't make the game cheaper due to that, you use the higher margin to repay yourself.

I left out PCBs deltas yes... mainly because its hard to quantify the meaningful cost delta there vs other deltas not mentioned (like metal work). The point was to contrast the difference in 'common elements' between the games to show that even tho the games were both fan layouts, both of the same generation, and both have a central bash target.. there are still significant deltas in the things we take for granted. I also didn't go into how many custom molds would be needed for each game, # of flash bulbs, etc.. you gotta stop somewhere for a simple comparison

Even in big ticket items.. Attack has one motor, one saucer toy, and alien poppers, with only the ships and ramps being new plastic. MM has castle towers, castle gate, castle bridge, catapult, trolls, damsel, castle walls, all significant assemblies and all with new plastic. There is a reason Stern tries to make alot their stuff out of flat cut plastics these days

Think of it as getting an extended warranty thrown in by your sales guy to put you over the edge to buy the more expensive model.

Its like tools.. You buy the commodity part..you get a standard warranty.. or you buy the 'pro' tool and it comes with a lifetime warranty. It's part of the price justification they charge for the higher priced product.. not that they expect the other product to fail sooner.

In tournament mode I think it's the third SOL award?

And think about what that means to all the stories that Stern switching PF companies being the source of the bad PFs

It would be trivial to make the check code for AFMr different than MMr even if using the same basic concepts. Given all the time they took to come up with the locking system.. I'd expect they'd like to keep using it for AFMr.

The 'every game has a cliffy' isn't something that started in the 90s.. and there are plenty of original playfields that were not blown out or chipped.

Chipping vs wearing is what is so different with the current processes.

True.. but CGC is not an upstart from zero like JJP or others. CGC has been manufacturing for a long time.. just not full pins. And of the most parts that can't be fixed easily afterwards (cabinets, playfields, inserts) they are the grand-daddys of. For other bits.. like sourcing, engineering, etc they've already done it before. It's just getting the games physically built. Software they've already shown whomever they used did a reasonable job.

To me, QA, output rate, and of course 'Do I want a 2017 playfield and PCBs' is the only real things to question. If they can't build fast enough.. that's a great problem to have. I'd be more worried about spotty, inconsistent building.

Not a market disruptor, but cheap enough to get all the 'gotta buy the next game' people to buy in I'm sure. I think the manufacturers will take notice... 5-8k? People will buy... and say "at least its not xyz". 8k+? People start moaning and tougher to justify.

Personally I think 6k+ is too much for the toys, but the number of "i'm in" buyers seems to be there for the 7k+ prices still.