Actually, Tron is one of the few games I can think of that was fairly well received right from the get go. I remember being at the launch party and everyone thinking it was pretty damn cool.

You are probably right but it certainly wasn't as loved as it is today. All I am saying is give it time and judge the final/finished product for yourself, it might surprise you.

What made those games great? I'll tell you, the code! If Tron had come out with the final code it would have raised the roof. If AC/DC had shipped with even close to what it is now it would have been a sensation selling even more. I still think Stern is making a huge (and very expensive) mistake by releasing crap code in games when they come out. It takes a very rare game to overcome that first impression. TWD is now hampered by the fact that it didn't meet my expectation of call outs from the show itself and the basic ruleset when I played it. So now it needs to do something amazing to overcome that impression it made.

I agree Stern is doing the wrong thing by pumping games out without final code in in some cases just abandoning them altogether. I agree the call outs can be a lot better, disagree with they have to be from the show though, that point is getting very tiring. I have quite a bit of time on the pro and yes the code is sparse and the callouts kinda suck but I really enjoy the gameplay and when Lyman gets finished with the code I think it will be a winner and we will talk about these old threads and laugh about them like we do with AC/DC.

Kill the redneck!!

So far I like it a lot.

But I'll give my final opinion in a year when the code is totally finished.

My teenage son really loved playing TWD and has requested its addition to the collection. However, I was not as thrilled with it as he was. Part of my reservations, but also potential improvements, was the code. The other part was cheap drains, and besides the two figure shots, there wasn't anything else unique, shot-wise. To me it was fun, somewhat challenging, but not a keeper. My son won't be happy with my decision, unfortunately for him.

A poll that will have more meaning and be more appropriate when the code matures, early days yet.

Xmen pinball was the comic book not the movie, Could be why none of the actors are used.

ooops

Ok, latest correspondence.

Stern is taking TWD code issue very seriously and is scrambling to reinstate older code with Lymans latest ruleset update. New code may be forthcoming with release of LE, which will probably be released in December due to code issues. Not sure if Stern will just release pins as is and then issue updates through website.

Older code = show voices? Man that would be amazing. I'm sure people would still find something to complain about, but still.

In this case it shouldn't be tiring because when you look at the side of the game it says this is "AMC WALKING DEAD". And when you look at the front it is "AMC WALKING DEAD". And when you look at the backglass it is "WALKING DEAD AMC". I think that all conveys that it is all about the show. If it was called "Walker(tm) Attack" I'd be totally fine without it having calls from the show.

In some cases I accept that it can't be the same people as the show or movie. But this game is all about the show. I'm fine without custom calls, but have sounds of the show. Have music from the show. Or just call it "Generic Zombie Bash".

You can play through the older code without running into Rick, or Darryl, or Michonne, or the Governor.

Basically the premise is survive. On your own or with the group. Depends on shots and timing. Lyman worked hard on the original code, and for Guy to say it was immersive and a strong playing pin, he's no idiot.

Not sure if issue was with AMC, or with Producers, or just a lawyer screwup. Im being told it is in process of being fixed as we speak.

David (Stern partner) is not one to procrastinate and hope for the best. He seems genuinely upset over the whole fiasco and more than willing to do whatever it takes to get us an A list pin.

Gary is riding along, so it's a management consensus at this point. I have little doubt we will have an awesome TWDLE showing.

Thanks for the update! I hope you're right about Stern trying to get the callouts from the show back into the game. I agree with what others have said that the lack of audio from the show will hinder Stern's ability to sell games. The LEs may already be sold out to distributors (not sure about that one actually), but there are a lot of potential TWD pro buyers that won't touch the game if it doesn't have callouts from Rick, Daryl, etc ... The community was asking for a "Walking Dead" pin. What we got instead is a pseudo "Walking Dead" pin. It just doesn't make any sense. Since the voices were in the game originally and then subsequently removed, it's clear that something unexpected went down between Stern and the people involved with the license. Hopefully, it's not too late to rectify the situation.

For what its worth, the Well Walker is only blocking a single target on the play field (Right Stab) from right flipper - but its clear from the left flipper. And while he is an inch further away than Wolverine, that inch makes a huge different. Very rarely will you accidentally hit the Well Walker, except when you're desperately flailing about. That's been my experience anyways.

Do you find that it also partially blocks the prison from the right flipper?

If the ball is staying in the pops a lot, I hope to Christ Lyman writes some interesting rules for the pops. The pops serve one cool function in AvLe, but after that they are useless. Really irks me.

I'll never understand why Stern (basically) puts the same pops configuration in every game and leaves them mostly irrelevant. Pop bumpers could be tied into multiple, varied aspects of overall gameplay. But instead, they typically are given one minor scoring function (or thing to do) and are otherwise an afterthought. Boring.

And I don't mean just throw in a "super jets" feature. Get creative. Especially if the ball is up there a lot and the game is deep.

Not on Pinside, though.

Too bad Stern doesn't work more closely with this community on their designs for approval .

A virtual playable download perhaps that would mimic what the actual machine would do based on say 1000 plays of the prototype, may work to give players a good idea of the physics.

Players could critique that model. Stern,JJP,DP etc. would then make their adjustments based on the majority vote of flaws by this community in any problem areas revealed.
Using a closed Beta trial to avoid non-pinheads from overexposing the release could work.
We would certainly then get an A machine in a Pro model,which is what we should get in the first place. Any withheld code updates would be pointed out and addressed by Manufacturer to the community as well .

I have to say I was pumped up ready to play TWD before it's release,but my eagerness has waned after reading the reviews. Not really interested anymore.

You're clearly not a golfer. Or familiar with the work that that would take in any way shape or form.

i didn't mind the game play. The well walker was inconsistent at best at picking up hits (the one is Johns row at least) sometimes a light hit registered and many times a solid bash that totally rocked the figure would not. The left ramp is massively steep and once it levels it its actually still uphill for a while and it can be really slow if the ball barely clears the top. I can see this working great at first but on route one it get dirty and the flippers aren't fresh, its gonna get really hard to make that ramp even with a clean shot.

Looks like stern is in damage control after expo, or maybe it was a kick up the jacksy Stern needed seeing new competition

The days of Stern having the market to themselves are long gone, and now it's not just Jersey Jack they're competing with. Suddenly, there is a slew of boutique companies vying for everyone's hard earned cash. I'm hoping this creates even more of an incentive for Stern to get this game done right.

Played it in league a bunch the last week and it gets a firm 8-----D alert. No hole sucks, no action at the house and center drains on magnet release sucks, well toy size sucks, no show callouts sucks, pops really suck, ball gets stuck behind when up the left ramp often. The code can maybe fix some things but really I'm no expecting higher than a C game upgrade.

I'm reasonably convinced that this is what prompted the VEs from Stern. Sure, they can put out 3 games a year, but code falls behind. It makes sense to capitalize on previously popular titles, and better align the code to the release dates for the new games.

So now, you're really only coding two games a year, and maybe making some tweaks on a VE. Seems smart to me. Hopefully we see code come through faster.

Not really, I can still hit the shot pretty well. From a right cradle, I'm about 75% on the shot.

Imagine if you spent 6 months writing code and rules for one of your dream titles.
Again, imagine if your boss came up and said scrap most of it and you have six weeks to rewrite it.

Imagine your initials were LFS.

Imagine if that same boss then said give us back your awesome setup, we may just use it if we can.

Imagine Lyman's lament.

So Lyman had to completely rewrite the rules? That sucks big time!

Is that "Lyman Fucking Sheets"?

I'm imagining that its really hard to believe you spend 6 months and then scrap it? And then a 6 week re write? What was the reason Rick?

Yeah,in fact I do play golf,not that it has anything to do with pinball. Really, is it too much work for them to partner with the Pinball Arcade and do a Beta for any machine someone is about to pay the equivalent price of a nice used car for? They wouldn't have to go very deep in the rule set and could set a point limit like Pinball Arcade already does. Hell,download it on your virtual pin for that matter for an even closer simulation.
But whatever,as there seem to be plenty of folks here with deep pockets to take the hit for budget minded people like myself.

That, Ice my main man, is THE $64,000 question.

Man STERN really has to get their shite together with games and code. Xmen, ST and now this. Crimminy!

No kidding, I wonder what its like when you show up for work every day? What happens?

Scrapping 6 months of work, how can that even be possible. Violations of the agreement with AMC? Maybe somebody should have read the contract first?

It may as easily have been AMC doing the screwup. Keep it in mind.

I agree with a lot of what you say, but Stern seems to have gone out of its way to make "collector decisions" these last few years (milking the LE market dry, "The Pin" etc...).

They have just not been very good at it from a buyer's perspective (this has been clearly revealed by the newcomers offerings, ASSuming everything goes as planned over the next year or so).

Stern has been a success at sucking up the easy money the last few years, lets see if they can actually step it up and offer some games that blow our minds, not just our wallets

Could be the Stern chickens are coming home to roost with the "collector market".

Obviously they still don't care with the way they handle code, yes I get the fact that dummies will roll into a location and drop quarters galore out of curiosity and code doesn't matter, well that doesn't work for the HUO guys like most of us.

Now we have options that cater to the "HUO market". Thankfully!

A machine would never get made if consensus was required. Put four engineers in a room you get five ideas, one that each individual likes, and one they all hate.

PLEASE give me show callouts, I want to really like this game and I do like the layout, push me over the edge and show me an LE with updated code with Rick reasoning with me, Carl whining, Michonne kicking ass, Glenn nailing Maggie, Hershel fathering me, Sgt Abraham Ford yelling at me

******SPOILER ALERT*******
and Eugene Porter saying:

"I was part of a 10-person team at the Human Genome Project to weaponize diseases to fight weaponized diseases. Pathogenic microorganisms with pathogenic microorganisms. Fire with fire. Interdepartmental drinks were had, relationships made, information shared. I am keenly aware of the all details behind fail-safe delivery systems to kill every living person on this planet. I believe with a little tweaking on the terminals in D.C., we can flip the script. Take out every last dead one of them. Fire with fire. All things being equal, it does sound pretty badass"

PLEASE!

Heck, why not make games with all inlanes and no gap between the flippers too.

Outside of the cabinet art it just feels like a generic zombie game. I guess the toys are specific to the theme, but not especially so. Seems like a wasted opportunity with that source material. The gameplay also wasn't very exciting, it would get tired for me very quickly.

There is some cool stuff about it, but it's definitely more along the lines of a Mustang Stern than a LOTR Stern.

While Eugene's speech was badass, I would shoot myself in the head if I hit that ONE switch during that mode that started that speech over and over.

Ya but some of his quick quips would be hilarious!

"You're both good people. And I have to say, you are seriously hot, Tara."

"Infrastructure constructed to withstand pandemics even of this fubar magnitude."(Imagine this when bashing the barn)

Sgt. Abraham Ford: So you tell me how in the holy hell did you possibly kill this truck?
Dr. Eugene Porter: A fully amped-up state and an ignorance of rapid-firing weapons.

I don't like how the game shoots at all. The shots just feel awkward, can't put my finger on why. This is coming from someone who owns & loves three other John Borg games. And I'm not into the bash toy which feels like it blocks half the playfield, even though it's "only" as big around as a baseball.

Also not a fan of two ramps which both loop back to the same flipper. It's passable on some games, like BSD, but I don't like it here.

All four TWD pros I've played inconsistently register well walker hits. Might be possible to dial it in nicely, but 0 for 4 is a bad start.

Bumper area is odd. Seems like the ball has little action when it's in the middle, and only gets multiple bumps near the edges or on the way out.

Code plays like a typical bare bones Stern early version. Might be fun in a year, but I can only judge what they've given us. Maybe if someone could explain the multi-kill thing to me I might enjoy it. Doesn't seem intuitive at all.

I voted dud. Code might eventually upgrade my opinion to "meh," but nothing can change how it shoots or that it's brown & tan with a giant torso like Sega Frankenstein.

Walker big as a baseball. Man I really hope it's nothing compared to Wolvie which destroys that pin for me.

Fair assessment.

I like how it looks, but time will tell I guess.