oh and no schematics....and the boards components are shoehorned in so it's very hard to work on if we did have schematics , oh and that there are 6 different version and not compatible with each other.... Did I mention how bad spike blows?

I guess if GOTG is a cookie cutter of AS which is a cookie cutter of kiss code (as iceman said) there is a huge chance that GOTG is the last polished pass of this code!

This pin needs simply many humorous callouts sounds, this is one of the main constitutive of the movie

I prefer SAM over Whitestar... but I do realize that I need to wait 5 more years before I make the final call on that. Just to make sure there are no long term issues with it. It’s only been out for just over a decade. But out of the gate, it’s more reliable in my opinion.

For SPIKE, I was able to make the final call in the first couple years. Junk.

I just watched it a day or two ago as well, and had the same thought about the groot scream and groot/rocket yelling...Im also looking forward to this on the lcd...

giphy.gif

Yessss!!!!!!

whitestar has been very reliable for me, and the boards arn't hard to work on. But Sam has been dependable as well, I just havn't had to work on them yet.

yeah I agree. fan layout for sure; looks like a classic Ritchie design. reminds me a bit of NO FEAR with the lanes. seems like a fairly generic design which may get really old really quick

I love this idea. I can't fathom why it got 2 down votes.

Agreed, 100% The cost difference is negligible.

Stern started regular LEDs out in their Premium/LE line, then they trickled down to the Pros eventually. Hopefully the same happens with RGB inserts and GI.

One of the most ridiculous and preposterous comments that circulates among Stern bashers is that the SPIKE system is somehow junk.

SPIKE is vastly superior to SAM, and any other assertion is asinine.

Dude, no. SPIKE is objectively a step backwards in nearly every way. Higher failure rates, inability to diagnose, more expense for the end user over time, more difficult to repair, less friendly to modders, and far less interchangeability between games. You often like to blindly defend things, but SPIKE is one that is best left undefended until they make it reliable.

SPIKE is still unfinished and they've been using it for years. Kind of a crazy thing to think about.

Completely wrong! No high failure rates. No issues with my SPIKE games, any of my friend's SPIKE games, nor any at my local pinball arcade.

Easier to repair, especially with node boards being swapable.

Sound system BLOWS SAM away. Can drive LCD screens

Less friendly to modders? Quit making stuff up.

Your whole list of replies is phony.

You are a blind Stern basher, and per my post you're responding to, you have now self-admitted to being asinine.

On a lighter note......

i am groot negan (resized).jpg

as someone who honestly does not know too much about either system, Im curious as to why this would be? Im only asking because all I hear is people complaining about spike...

Edit: nevermind you answered while I was asking...

Ummm.. you only own 1

My only Spike game is on the blink. My S.A.M pins have been bullet proof. FG is coming up 10 years old

With my game, my friend's games (plural) and all the SPIKE's (plural) at the arcade, none have any issues.

There are games from the 30's that work still too.

Bingo!

I'm not disagreeing with your other points, but how do we know that Spike has a higher failure rate than SAM or Whitestar? I've seen some reports of node board failures on Pinside, but have no way to judge if it's a .1%, 1%, 5% etc. failure rate. I'd think it would be tough for anyone but Stern to evaluate comparative failure rates with much confidence.

Sinestro, buddy, you're kidding yourself if you think SPIKE is better than SAM. Your experience with it is not everybody's experience. Your reality is not everybody's reality. It's great that you haven't had problems, but many, many people have. There's a real concern about the long-term viability of SPIKE. You can't come here and stomp your foot and thumbs down people and throw around terms like "hater" when there's a mountain of evidence to contradict you. It just makes you look like an apologist. And what's crazy about that is that you're not getting anything out of it.

I never had to worry about game code updates blowing out my driver boards before SPIKE. Now it's a real concern. With SAM being properly fused, board failures weren't nearly as common. I've seen SPIKE games taken out of the box and before the first play they've been completely unplayable due to a dead node. They're finicky and fragile. And worst yet, if you short one, you're not replacing a simple fuse or transistor, you're sending the entire board back for replacement. It's not a great situation for the operator or the hobbyist.

You're kidding yourself if you think SAM is better. No stereo, no LCD, CPU equivalent of a Game Boy Advance. Outdated, 70's matrix system.

Same goes for you. Your experiences aren't everybody else's experiences. Just because there have been a few issues with node boards, and Pinsiders who have complained LOUDLY about on these forums, does not a majority make. You're too self absorbed in Pinside to see the larger picture.

The long term viability of SPIKE is just fine. It's not in Stern's financial best interests to have a platform that's falling apart. Use common sense and logic. Get outside of your bubble. Interact with others not on Pinside. There's a larger pinball world out there.

Forget it. For those of us that have been around in the hobby to watch things go from Whitestar to SAM to SPIKE, the differences have been obvious. I'm not interested in arguing a point with someone who is irrational and so blasted defensive. You're acting like I'm calling your mom flawed or something. The emotional attachment is extremely weird.

Your emotional and irrational bashing of Stern is what's odd.

If your arguments have merit, then a discussion can begin. When you say outrageous comments, it's no different than if you claimed to have invented the question mark.

Likewise, I have nothing else to add.

Yes, the guy giving examples of problematic aspects of the SPIKE system is the emotional one, not the one who is calling people delusional, accusing them of lying, and basically saying, "nuh-uh!" Cool story.

Back on track. SPIKE can be discussed elsewhere anyway.

On the Stern of the Union when they mentioned that the game will have pop songs in it, did they clarify that it came from the film? It was kind of weird to label them simply as "pop songs" and not "songs from the film." I would doubt that they would be using songs that don't have anything to do with the license, but found the wording strange.

Thought exactly the same. Might just be them covering themselves because they havent actually signed off on the license yet.

Nice try, but I gave examples of how you we wrong.

So....you would be the guy unable to respond.

Ah, good point. Music licensing is a hassle.

What was this thread about again?

Let's get back to Guardians, k?

Gentlemen: this is a GOTG thread. Take the back and forth on SAM vs Spike to PM or to a different thread. Some discussion on the issue is fine in this thread, of course (it is not a hands off issue), but let’s not lose track of the thread topic.

Thank you.

The only discussion needed would be rehasing old, established points. Points you conveniently stay ignorant of. Such as:

- Lack of documentation
- Incompatible revisions
- Lack of conformity for parts stocking
- Lack of availability for quick replacement (for a system promoting... lack of downtime)
- Lack of/poor protection circuitry on the driver boards
- Power design change that makes the old high power interlock/testing abilities NLA
- Lack of a long standing platform to date (already had 3 platform changes in its short life)

Yes it has capabilities SAM didn't
- native RGB support
- better sound capabilities
- "native" LCD support

But as a platform to deliver reduced costs, improved servicability, and reduced downtime... all which were the lead features of the new platform - it's failed to deliver on all those fronts. And until they address the problems, the platform will still stand to be a great liability... even tho it delivers new functionalities SAM didn't.

To TigerLaw, I will make one last post on this since flynninus ignored your edict and inserted himself into he argument.

There's been 2 revisions, not 3. They don't need to be completely swappable anymore than SAM to SPIKE would be.

You forgot to address the obsolete 70's matrix style that SAM had. SPIKE allows much more modularity and features. It also gives the owner the ability to quickly remove the playfield, and from there the head for disassembly.

SPIKE has adjustable LEDs for lighting. This allows the lights to auto dim when in service mode. It also can be permanently lowered to reduce or eliminate backglass reflection. Beats he hell out of the old fluorescent tube in SAM.

SPIKE runs on a removable SD card. This allows easier servicing if corruption occurs. You were literally fucked if something went south with the internal flash memory on SAM. Also, a removable SD card allows owners to hot swap out original code versus modded code.

SPIKE has built support for shaker motors. No more installing ancillary boards, plug and play.

All points you conveniently stay ignorant of.

Maybe he was counting The Pin. Lol

I'm out. Peace.

you don't know shit about board repair do you?

Do you know what No fuses means? Means that you will be fawked in the ass so hard, without lube when shit goes wrong.

So....how about that premium huh? Pretty nice right!?

Bye...

yup, pretty nice indeed

This sums up the last couple pages

Funny, the output for the shaker in pre-spike games was just AC instead of DC. The boards that Stern made a heap of money on are just a big diode and a powerresistor and a fuse (yes it was fused) to turn the AC into DC. 50 cents of parts there. Just another money grab as they could have just as well made the original output DC.

I know this won't go over well, but I really don't like any of the Steve call outs in his Stern games. Every time I hear them, I don't think, "Wow, that's a guy from Star Trek" or whatever, but "Eh, that's Steve the pinball guy." It takes away from the games for me.

I'm still excited about this game and I own Metallica. If Neo is right and I have to push it off of a roof in 10 years because of Spike 2 then that will at least make a good video. Premium or pro is the way to go on this one. Let stern sit on their LE's for that price.

You won't have to.

Apologies if I overlooked this and it's already posted, but are there any rumors of a release date? And what's the difference between the premium and the LE, besides the colored trim?

Check the feature matrix on sterns website.

Pros start shipping in 2-3 weeks. LEs shortly after that.

Here you go, give this a read:

http://www.sternpinball.com/upload/games/guardians-of-the-galaxy/premium/GOTG%20Feature%20Matrix.pdf

Pro's have Shot arrow RGB LED lighting and General illumination LED lighting (red, white, blue), so that's good enough for me! Start shipping already Stern!!

I've seen launch parties set for mid-December, so they have to feel pretty confident about delivery by that point. Exciting stuff.

Pro has multi color gi?