Question for those that have the game? What is the code version? Do you ever hear the Joker laughing, The penguin's distinctive cackling etc? The game seems to be full with good music, which I like, but light on call outs and taunting from the villains. I hope that is just a result of early code.

These questions have all been answered. Read through the last few pages.

Yep, "ghosting" is a nasty word the absolute worst term you could use

It's .6 code. Game is just being shipped, one thing is for certain, its "early code".

Did it come with a coin box?

You would think the smaller box would get there first. Or it could be taped to the top of the other box.

I don't think that is a valid excuse. Otherwise customers should have been informed ahead of time. Maybe a new topper application and video drive is under way.

LIONMAN!!
Also batman

IMG_7338 (resized).JPG

Other Villain modes like Catwoman or Riddler?
Or maybe those are not coded yet and that is why you guys are just posting Penguin and Joker.

Does the batsignal in the upper right corner come on? Is it tied into a specific insert or flasher?

Same. Looks like a regular ripple insert to me?

Edit: read the follow up comments. Continue!

what model of jensen speakers are being used? Do they sound better than standard Stern speakers?
Can we see closeups on how the bat toys are mounted?
And echo Docquest's request, how is the Bat signal hooked up and to where.

Thank you.

"Jensen speakers rock!" - said no one ever

I really like the implementation of the LCD. Congrats Stern- you've finally pushed the tech further!

Yes, congratulations Stern, your solidly behind Dutch Pinball, Heighway & JJP. You've finished 4th in the race to implement a LCD screen and bring innovation to the industry in a technical way.

QSS

Don't care if they finished 4th as long as the display and its content are the best

Well, Data east was first with a dmd so they (now stern) get some slack!

It's kind of irrelevant anyway nobody really cares about LCD. It's a pretty insignificant "innovation" in the scheme of things.

Hopefully someday Stern will get there, there is still much work to be done!

Spooky also did it before Stern. Stern is 5th

Worse than that. Two spanish manufacturers to add to the "before Stern" list:

- Marsa Play: The first pin to have an LCD is... a spanish pin, New Canasta (2010). http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=5554
- Quetzal Captain Nemo also has an LCD. https://pinside.com/pinball/archive/captain-nemo

So far, my favorite thing about this game is the high score, newspaper LCD. That is pretty awesome.

Take away the bling and LCD and the game just looks average - so far.

Lyman could change everything of course.

Lyman signed the playfields, for the first time, so there's no doubt in my mind he is highly dedicated to this being a masterpiece.

I also acknowledge that Lyman's games take a while to mature.

Randy @ ColorDMD would tell you otherwise.. he's made a business of selling the shit out of LCD's for pinball machines of all ages.. there are very few people out there who would rather have a DMD versus a ColorDMD and colorization ROMs.

Right. And in the meanwhile Stern has sold tens of thousands of pinball machines with regular DMDs for years. Way more than the "innovative" competition.

Color is a nice mod for existing games. It's a cute update for new games going forward. but it really matters very little in the grand scheme of things. This is nothing like the jump from displays to DMDs.

Stern did it right. JJP to big and high up.

It's a clip show, man. I'm REALLY hoping for custom animations in updates, because right now it's the laziest thing ever.

People saying that Stern has to raise prices to "account for development cost with the LCD" aren't looking at what the LCD is actually doing. It's removing the need to create art. Instead some intern can just chop up video into 3-4 second clips and they throw it on a solid state drive. An LCD is also cheaper than a DMD to produce. If the LCD is going to be just a bunch of video clips and there's no custom animations or clever uses for the display, it's a step backwards for pinball.

The high score newspaper thing is neat. It's just 32 years old. But lots more of that style of integration would be nice. That's easy stuff though. Let's see some animations. Let's see some custom art.
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JJP, Spooky, and Dutch Pinball have all shown good amounts of custom art in their games. I just hope that we don't backslide to the easy out and just beat players over the head with lazy video clips.

Ha I totally forgot about that! Loved this game on my C64 but by the time you got to Friday there was so much shit moving on the screen the computer couldn't handle it.

I don't think anybody really cares about "who did it first" it's still nifty. Can't get hung up on that.

You really do have a point. I have to say its much easier for Stern to create content for their version of an LCD implementation. It's basically a bunch of editing video clips with some pasted scoring and info bubbles. No need to create custom dots or other unique artwork. They have found a way to cut costs with development time in the display it seems. Hopefully it will only get better with time.

I trust these guys. Stern employees the most talented, dedicated people in the business - many of whom happen to be top players. They know what a good pinball machine is and aren't just making it up as they go along.

Have a little faith.

or just whine about issues past, perceived slights, or games you aren't gonna buy, whatever works for ya pinside!

I hope so too. Pedestrians, moving cars and repeated mini clips of the joker seem pretty lame. Since it's their first LCD game, I'm sure they'll improve over time.

I'm expecting more with this game. Custom animations could take a while, but they could be coming. Post launch, I'm sure we'll hear more about future plans.

Did you guys seriously not see all of the custom overlays? The utility belt for earning gadgets? The batmobile streaking by when you hit a combo? The minor villain selection screen when you hit a left orbit after completing TV scoops? This is much more than a clip show.

They must have not been watching the same video we were I guess

They were overlays. OVERLAYS! That's something you make in Photoshop that takes all of ten minutes. Don't call that a custom animation. Push Stern to do more with the medium. It's for all of our own good.

TWD has a FAR more impressive display than B66 at this point. So much better stuff to look at on TWD, despite the older tech.

No F ing way! Now I know you are on the pipe Jar.

Comparing TWD dots to what we have now and saying it's so much better is a JOKE! Have you gone and lost your damn mind son

Secondly, why T F would Stern reinvent the wheel when that have so much material to work with. Sorry that is asinine as well.

The background is and will be cool custom stuff.

We are in the early 1st inning of code here.

This pin is gonna kick ass and the LCD will be a great complement.

The whole idea of dots being better gets a huge WTF

It's not my fault that you have poor taste. There is zero artistry in video clips. They sucked rendered in dots, and they still suck as straight rips on an LCD. Not saying that they shouldn't be used at all, because there is reason to have some, but when it's the main visual element...that's terrible. Boo. Boring and stale.

"Clip show" my A

None of you experts could even sniff much less come close to carrying Lyman's jock when it comes to coding a pinball machine

So first you said their new animations were horrible and twd dots are awesome and now you are saying their dots suck? Makes no sense brother

And I'm sure Lyman couldn't come close to sniffing many of our jocks when it comes to video editing....so there!

It's cute but it's also low hanging fruit for sure.

The only thing that's boring and stale are dots

I stopped playing Pong and Intellivison in the 80s

Comparing Stern to Dutch,Highway,JJP is like comparing the New England Patriots to the Cleveland Browns

I totally disagree. Stern's red dmds look horrible. Video clips and many animations are almost completely unintelligible. Just a mess and no better than 20 year old displays. They got the job done and somewhat excusable when trying to build the cheapest pro possible. We accept it because there are not much alternatives. I still remember seeing WOZ for the first time. Big wow factor. Stern games at the time looked like garbage in comparison. Stern makes fun pins but color displays are a long time coming. There is so much more you can do with them presenting information, rules, and video. Dmd displays can only show one simple thing at a time. You end up having to have a long slideshow to display everything. Gameplay won't change much but I see it being a big step forward, especially for non pinheads.

WEll now they've switched and raised the prices so we all can be happy

I understand how a few folks are disappointed with the repeated clips of the traffic, the joker, and the penguin, but during expo, Gomez said they had access to thousands of clips. I'm sure they'll put more in there as code develops (as well as villain heckles)...it looks like a great start, as far as I'm concerned. I'm looking forward to playing it! Then again, in my opinion, I'd rather get to play a game with earlier code than have to wait another half a year or so for more complete code.

I blame JJP. They got me back into pinball with the LCD.

Then came the price hikes

Now I've got 10 pins and still trying to figure out Wtf just happened.

Without the LCD there was ZERO chance I buy Bm66Le

Sure sure...we'll just wait for the code to mature...how long could it possibly take?!?

For sure their the ones that started the whole thing.

I noticed Atari 2600 was not on your list. Is it safe to assume you are still playing that system?

Speaking of dots, an off topic plug for an amazing homebrew version of Atari 2600 Pac-Man. This releases made up for the original piece of crap by Atari. I was so disappointed as a kid after my hard earned grass mowing dollars went to the Atari release of Pac-Man.

Happier note, LE arrives this time next week. LCD, huge improvement.