GOT and SW appear to be in good shape, especially Star Wars. GB code support though has been terrible, the worst in years by Stern in my opinion. Stern keeps saying its been of of their best selling games and yet look at where the code is. The game is one of Stern's most loaded games to date but what's the point of adding multiple interactive features if they are not coded properly?

There's no way in hell I'm going to drop $6k-$9k on a new Munsters when Ghostbusters code still isn't finished. It just doesn't feel right. Dwight seems like a great guy, his rulesets are unique but I don't think Stern is giving him enough time and / or resources to properly finish his games.

October 2017, Stern's first Stern of the Union address.

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January 2019, 15 months later!

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Keith Johnson games contain multiple easier to obtain goals / modes that are rewarding to achieve as well as more difficult to reach modes. I believe Keith once described getting to Battle the Wicked Witch in WOZ and Destroy the Ring in LOTR as having a good game. Those two modes are perfect for a lot of players and offers a sense of accomplishment. Keith also said that modes like Somewhere over the Rainbow and Valinor are for a game of a lifetime. That's perfect for players that always want something to accomplish.

Personally I have no interest in spending $6k-$10k+ on games that have a simple ruleset, they just won't hold my attention for long. Deep and unique code offers value for a game, it's what brings a game to life if done properly. Overall I think Keith Johnson is offering the best objective based rulesets that follow a story.

I hear what you are saying, good points. I wasn't trying to pick side and think a lot of Stern's latest games offer very deep rulesets. 1980 Bally's are great (wish I had more room for some). I was referring to dropping $6k-$10k+ on NIB games with shallow rulesets.

That's a great comparison, I know what you mean. I think all of JJP's games now have a "good soul" in my opinion as each contain deep as well as unique code that offers the player multiple paths and makes them work the playfield in interesting ways. Not all games need that level of code depth and do a great job with a smaller ruleset. If I had more room I would like to have a TNA in my collection.

Some Stern's offer a similar experience (Batman 66, Star Wars, Star Trek, TWD, etc) but like you said there's also those that seem soulless. Stern loves to code "super ramps", "super pops", "super spinners" etc type modes in many of their games that I think are incredibly boring, not unique (generic animations and sounds if any) and come across as filler modes. It's as if those types of modes are copied and pasted from one game to another. Hitting the same shot over and over again with the same animation and sound playing just isn't fun. Having to play 3 objective based modes to unlock a multiball or mini wizard mode is more fun and rewarding.

Well damn lol. The wait for Ghostbusters code is ridiculous at this point.

Here's the video of Gomez talking at this Expo 2018 about Ghostbusters code being delayed, starts right at that section.

Highlights

1. Waiting for break in coders schedule (Dwight, likely referring to Munsters code work)
2. Mentions insert that doesn't do as much as it should
3. Hint of mode on instruction card that could be more complete (more complete? Are You a God isn't even in the game)
4. Could use some polish and a few other things
5. Gomez made decision to put Dwight on new game and then maybe can put him on Ghostbusters update (MAYBE?!)

Thank you and thanks Dwight for doing the interview!

Below are some notes I took regarding Ghostbusters

1. Highest item on Dwight's list for Ghostbusters is to do something about the game being too messy, said too many things stack. Would like to see Loopin Supers played on it's own and not stacked with other modes, should be a moment type mode to get to

2. Library insert - was never intended to be a feature or mode (used as indicator to shoot for in Librian mode) but will now get it's own little rule

3. Are you a God? - First off Dwight said yes he is (good answer lol), never meant to be part of 1.0, putting Are You a God on instruction card was a mistake, doesn't know if it will happen...

4. We Came We Saw - could be more polished, should be worth more and be more interesting

Dwight also went into how he will have more time after Munsters to work on other stuff. He said that it took Stern a long time to get to where they are at today. Mentioned how working on Spike revisions impacted code updates and how George Gomez has worked on hiring more programmers. According to Dwight Stern now has 9 in house programmers and 3 external. Programming staff used to be spread too thin but now is better. Finally he mentioned that programmers now get time after a release to work on other stuff and that he will get that time after Munsters.

I really want to see Dwight knock it out of the park with the coming Ghostbusters update. It's not Dwight's fault for why Ghosbusters isn't finished, if you want to put blame anywhere place it on Stern management who at Expo 2018 admitted that they had to have Dwight on another game even though it meant Ghostbusters code would be delayed. Still...it's been 26 months since the last update.

With that being said on the Head2Head pinball podcast Dwight mentioned that after Munsters is complete he will have time to work on other items. He mentioned that other programmers have had time to work on other game code as they recently rolled off a project. Once Munsters is complete I would fully expect for Stern to have Dwight working on a massive code update for Ghostbusters...that's the hope at least.

Even though Stern is finished making Ghostbustsrs it still benefits them to finish the games code for the same reason they finished KISS. Good will and future sales.

Abandoning code is a quick way to piss your customers off and have them buy a competitor's product. I did just this when I heard Munsters was announced, considered placing an order and then remembered "dude you've been waiting 2+ years for Ghostbusters code". I ordered a JJP POTC instead.

Stern said that to us over a year and a half ago with the first Stern of the Union address.

Its time lol.
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That's good to hear. The wait, 26 + months now, has sucked. I sure hope the update is a substantial update similar to the final KISS update.

"It's some dock supervisor down at pier 34, he said the final Ghostbusters code update just arrived"

Yes lol

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