I'd put money on it...someone will recreate them, it will be half the size with less components when its all said and done. The resources now available for a "hobbyist" to recreate anything electronic is staggering.

I was talking to a friend of mine who was has been operating for decades, he remembers taking truckloads of Gottlieb pins to the dump, the common thread was the broken boards that were NLA back then. With exception of some Atari and Alvin G stuff most boards have been recreated and even improved. Stern boards will be no different....

You shouldn't have to worry about that any more with spike games. As far as I know all updates from now on will auto-save your high scores and settings adjustments.
It's been a while since I updated a spike game and lost my high scores.

Good to know - thanks. I must have missed this change. My Batman 66 high scores have been reset every time I've updated the code in the past.

Who said this?

Rob

Don’t you have to save/reload scores/adjustments to a USB drive first?

Anyone have a good suggestion for Where to buy a new rubber kit? One of the rubber rings in my batcave snapped last night which started making the ball get stuck when it goes through the batmobile.

Titan......I changed the size/config of a couple rubbers in the turntable to make the ball less likely to trap. Think it's in the thread somewhere...if not I'll see if I can dig it up.

Spent WAY too much time in OCD land w the game early on.....an absolute blast to play now, however....

I just did the update an hour ago and didn't lose scores. I was surprised, but I guess if the only play changes were really minor, it makes sense. I can't imagine having them stay if he implements major scoring changes.

I’ll admit I’m lazy.
Does the new upgrade add anything or can I hold out? Thx!

Not really. I only did it because of the new node firmware. Took a very long time. I imagine the next one should be quicker since I did this one with the major node updates.

The main node boards are interchangeable between most of the games. A fellow pinsider has created a chart. As long as you can get node boards game will work.

We did a full code update on our BM66 last night and machine kept all the settings, high scores and lifetime play count.

???

It is nice feature.

BM66 updates are always long, so wouldn't count on any future updates being quicker... it's always a good idea to update however, imho..

I beg to differ.

( I kid, I kid)

Yes, I noticed this too, and was somewhat surprised. I saved my settings to a USB prior to doing the update, but after doing the update, my high scores and settings were still there, so there was no need to load them back on. Is this something new?

I "think" it's because the update doesn't have much in the way of scoring or game changes. I believe that settings like free play and coil strength have been carrying over for a few months now on stuff.

Super bummed you lost a board during the update!!!! They have to send you a free replacement, in warranty or not......keep us posted on that one...

The previous update had all the coding to keep your high scores, settings and lifetime count. This is in all the recent code updates

From a code read me (not Batman):

Games will now persist ALL SETTINGS after a software update. This
functionality will be available in the game release AFTER the release which
uses system 2.24.

Batman 1.05 includes Spike 2 v2.35. I can’t find when previous Spike code levels were incorporated into Batman but presumably 1.03 or 1.04 were above 2.24.

Is this by default with latest code or do you have the enable it in a settings menu?

Have to enable it. Default is NEVER.

So this update does not override high scores? For precaution, there is a way to save high scores and reload them? How is this done?

It does not override them. I don't know how it all works for sure on the new system, but if Lyman puts new features and updates scoring, I wouldn't want my scores to carry over. They would be meaningless in the new scoring. Especially if he tones down the scoring like he did in the last update after the 2 trillion score from Escher.

Does anyone know where to find a helicopter from Biglaw? I hope you are still making them! Awesome mod.

Just PM him. It's great!

Spoke with Chas who's always exceptional. Unfortunately Stern will not be replacing the board. I'm left to pay for this and any other future board failures. I think it's pretty crappy considering these boards have a known history of failing during updates. Probably won't be buying any more Sterns. Not worth the gamble. All I can say fellow Bat fans is start saving for Node boards. Get them before they're gone!

That sucks. What was his explanation? Was Stern willing to sell you one directly?

He asked when I bought my game. After I told him he said it wasnt under warranty and didnt offer to sell me a board. I have no idea what went wrong with the board. I have both service bulletins in place for Nodes 8 and 9. There were no broken transistors on the board either.

I love my BM66 and had decided to get a new Stern, but between the "non-wide spread," play field issues and machines that break when updating them I've decided to pass. The fact that they can't even bother to respond to Who-dey, one of their biggest cheerleaders (and a bigger customer than I'll ever be) tells me it's time to limit my potential exposure to loss here. I'm sure Stern is full of good people, but the company seemingly cannot afford to offer what I consider reasonable support for their product.

Same here. Was about to pull the trigger on a nib JPLE, but I’m out. Releasing updates that fry node boards and then refusing to stand behind the product is too much.

You want to buy a game that you rated at 2.653/10? Is that a mistake in your ratings?

2.653/10
13 days ago

RST
rs812

Pinside member
Wauseon, OH
6y 70,550 1,035 5 60

Pinsider rs812 did not leave a comment with his rating.

6 Pinsiders flagged this rating/review.

Or maybe a premium is better?

3.334/10
6 days ago

RST
rs812

Pinside member
Wauseon, OH
6y 70,550 1,035 5 60

Pinsider rs812 did not leave a comment with his rating.

2 Pinsiders flagged this rating/review.

Considering they can easily repair and resell/reuse they should at least offer a purchase discount for sending back the bad board.

Node board failure is going to be the end of Stern unless they get it back to the easily-replaced-$50-replacements that was implied when Spike was originally announced.

I think my BM66 was my last NIB game and I think that put me at 7 NIB Sterns over the years. I think I'm going to focus on finding a used ST Pro or TWD Pro for my next expensive game. I'll still pick up every cheap classic Bally I come across, though.

I'm pretty sure you will not get a node board replaced by directly calling Stern even if it was under warranty. This is the type of thing you need to go through your distributor for. I would suggest doing that and see if they have better luck getting it replaced.

Rob

I may consider not updating my BM66 and DP. They have a great code now.

This whole thing is crazy to me. I've bought a few new spike games.. GB, SW, GOTG, BM66, JP.. and had zero issues with any updates. It has never occurred to me that updating could fry a node board. I would be absolutely furious if installing an official code update fried a board and stern wouldn't do the right thing. That's bullshit!

Clearly not my rating. Thanks for pointing out that I may have been hacked, super stalker.

This place is unfucking believable. Yes, i planned on purchasing one from Trent at Tilt.

I have several ratings which were apparently not made by me. Regardless, this place. Has become too aggressive and creepy with people such as yourself.

Me too. I have a B66, GB, and an AS that are all up to date on the code. Never had an issue. My B66 is less than a year old and only had minor issues, mostly just setup.

I've reached out to my distributor 2x in 5 years. Once was for a topper purchase and another was for a bunch of phantom errors on my KISS. Both times I was told to call Stern/ Chas. My distributor just wants to sell new and be done with the customer. Dealing with him otherwise is pretty useless.

Man, that's pretty bad. Melissa at Cointaker is awesome. Mike at Automated has never let me down. Definitely other options. Everyone likes Zach at Flipnout. Time for a change. As to Stern, they aren't going anywhere. A little more pressure on Chas, much as I love him, might be a good idea, at least to price out a replacement at cost.

Thanks for letting us know, I’ll speak to distributor here later and if that is indeed here I won’t be buying anymore SPIKE Stern’s.

Totally understandable if a board blows out years down the line but when it’s “bricked” by Stern’s own code updates that’s a reach to far for me.

Absolutely. I had another device (not pinball related) fail over the weekend. Support told me it got bricked because of a problem with the firmware update that was pushed down and they were going to send me a replacement without having to go through the retailer.

It is a foolish decision on Stern’s part to not take care of this. Go to your original distributor and insist politely. Negative press is not worth it. One time one of my idiot VPs ordered $1 million dollars worth of custom paper, which I did not give permission to do. Because the negative press would have been far worse than just paying for the paper and using it endlessly in applications that I didn’t want or would have preferred to use otherwise, I fulfilled the ill gotten contract, fired the VP and saved face. (BTW, I’m not in the printing business, but the nutraceutical business.)

My business motto has always been: “Our service will spoil you, but we don’t mind”. Stern and all other pinball companies need to adopt this philosophy. Are there people that take advantage of this motto? Absolutely, but who cares, my bottom line has only grown over the years because of it. Everyone buys with confidence. My short sighted competitors have come and gone over the past 35 years and I’m still here.

Was his name Dwight? Is your company Dunder Mifflin?.....Sorry couldn't resist.
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