missed the stream but watched a little today.

Game looks like it will be fun to shoot/geomety and nice physical risk v reward. Also appears to be different enough to not just feel exactly like the other comparable titles.

Code is scary bad in the stream and I really hope it improves quickly. This looks like a huge step backwards for code upon release.

Was considering moving my Metallica because of how much I love the Guardians theme. I will be happily holding onto it instead. This game has potential, as almost any game does, but Stern's use of the LCD is still laughably bad (and is that way on more finished titles as well), and the way they use clips, both video and audio, is such a waste of an amazing theme. Look at the Stern Star Wars game. They had a full trilogy of amazing movies and the screen and audio use is awful. No matter what great themes Stern lands, they need to start actually integrating them like JJP. Say what you will about WoZ or Hobbit, but it feels like you're IN those movies when you play those games.

Awesome! Thanks for the info

Second worst in 12 months. Only Batman'66 shipped in worse shape.

I'm pretty satisfied with the screen on Star Wars (other than the stupid looking Mystery sequence), but would agree that it's nowhere near Hobbit-level so probably not worth debating. But in what ways, specifically is the audio "awful" in Star Wars? Too much sound and character speech from the movies? Too many John Williams tunes?

You needed a lifeline. The locations around you have pretty much just broke-ass relics and undesirables.

You may be a fine person face to face. But your posting style stinks, and your "everything is awesome" attitude is a broken record and unbearable to many.

People who don't care don't respond like that. It's ok.

You don't know the former, and the latter is only true to those who have so much NIB money they have to start threads claiming their affluence is a "problem" because they bought all the NIB games and don't know what to do next.

No further thread derail please.

PM me any response. I mean, there's zero point zero chance I'll read it... but feel free to do so.

Sorry all. Got called out by a shill. Back to discussions about the current state of the code and whether there will be any Walkman/Awesome Mix animations, decent call outs, better song placement/utilization, or Groot head talking.

I honestly have paid very little attention to BM66. It was out of my price range and I played one locally that did nothing for me. Was BM66 really worse than this appears currently?

There's also over 100 games on rout in Nashville and Nashville just had a show 2 weeks ago.

Not bad audio choices, just integration. The way the sound and video work in unison in a JJP pin is very immersive. Stern, at least for me, hasn't captured that with any of their LCD games yet.

Yes. Yes it was. And 11 months later it's finally a little better, but still a hot mess nowhere close to 1.00.

Far worse. Literal bare bones. I honestly still can't understand how they pulled the trigger on that game with a straight face. Lyman will probably get good code on there at some point, but the geometry of the game will be forever busted though. Just played a few more games on it again a few nights ago. It's one chintzy and underbaked game from the physical design to the current code.

with that being the case, I hope people are canceling orders and holding off on buying after seeing the stream. (only way to influence Stern to fix their coding practices)

We are still getting one for route, but yikes the lack of code would scare me off if ordering for home.

I am sure it will get better with time, but if BM66 is still bad now then this is not indicative of a good trend.

I really thought the "wheres the code" thing seemed to help and games were better with starting code more recently. This is the wrong direction but the only way to push them is to not buy till coded.

I played couple of games on the newest code a couple of weeks ago. I liked it and thought the new code was a huge step forward. It's an odd layout but that's not always a terrible thing. Stern has plenty of similar layouts so it was good to play something different. It didn't sell well due to no code, QC issues, and the money grab price hike. I think if most people went back and played it now they would enjoy it. Maybe not enough to justify the price tag but it's definitely getting better.

Batman is much better than it was just 2 months ago, so that's great, but it shouldn't have taken 9 months to get there, and not being even at 1.00 almost a year later is crazy.

But yeah, the only way to stop this trend (3 out of 4 have not shipped with 1.00 code in the last 12 months - that's never happened to my knowledge) is to stop buying pins at launch from Stern.

That's 2x as far, but I could see making the trek for a pin convention.

It's all subjective of course, but I've found just the opposite with the sound package on Star Wars. The use of movie sound clips in the modes is very entertaining, and the music cues for different modes and events are well done (e.g. the tense music for the Hyperspace Hurryup). I haven't played it nearly as much, but I have no real complaints about the sound on Aerosmith either.

That said, I do hope Stern continues to improve their use of the LED screen. Another reason that it's great having multiple manufacturers, so they can continue to compete and steal ideas from each other.

Game will be here in about 15m. I'll be starting to stream on http://www.twitch.tv/pinballundesirables for the unboxing and the setup and playing. So if ya wanna see that, head there, and i'll turn the stream on asap.

(pay no attention to the host, it'll stop automatically as soon as I broadcast -- blame my streaming partner stephen.)

So it's my money that bothers you. Huh! All this time I just thought you were a ****.
My Bad...

My Everything is Awesome attitude should be a breath of fresh air here on pinside. The negativity sometimes is so overwhelming that people forget that were talking about pinball. If you look back a few post perhaps you forgot that you started all of this by telling people that I did something wrong by thanking Stern for offering a pro version of their games? Hence a lower price point offering more people the opportunity to play and own. Last I checked this was a GOTG thread. Not like I was too off topic. That said my opinion is GOTG will be a great game if the code gets worked out. I think Stern has a lot of work to do to get this game where it should be.
Pinside you are great
Yoko2una

I'm excited to get this game in next week, and JJPOTC in a few months! GOTG is a much better theme IMO, but JJPOTC looks more immersive. I think my friends/family will really enjoy GOTG next week (they will never notice the unpolished code). I'll get to start getting it set up like I want, and learning some of the shots. When JJPOTC comes in, I'll have another super deep/immersive game to compliment the simpler GOTG.

I really enjoyed the stream last night. Movie clips and music are cool once organized better. Call outs will be a huge improvement (and sounds like they are funny which GOTG should be).

I know some people are disappointed, but I can't blame Stern for selling machines people (including myself) will pay money for.

I almost wish Stern would go back to DMDs, even if they made them color ones. It would still be cheaper for them to make than LCD games and they know how to integrate them well. I feel like they only started to include LCD's in response to JJP without any concept of how to use them properly. I have yet to be impressed by them and would rather have the pro prices lower again with regular DMDs. Competition is great, but I feel like Stern just stole an idea and didn't know what to do with it.

I really don't think BM'66 was worse than this ... the audio and LCD are a total joke.

Nope. Based on that extensive GotG stream. Batman'66 was certainly worse at launch.

I honestly didn’t like what I saw. Hoping with code it gets better. Glad I waited to buy. If there wasn’T a long line for TNA I would grab a TNA.

I don't deny that the game code was worse for BM'66, but sound and video? Come on ...

What sound? What video? At launch there were almost no callouts and the same handful of short clips played over and over. BM'66 was most definitely worse. I mean GotG is a MESS, but it's not for lack of video.

I really have no idea why anyone would have an order in on this game right now. It's half-baked. Put it back in the oven and wait.

It's not lack that's the problem re: the LCD. It's the graphical equivalent of verbal diarrhoea.

The sound ... no callouts, the original music / sfx / film stuff all run together and over each other, without correct cues and ducking. There was also tons of stutter and slowdown.

BM'66 there was a very basic framework that worked, but that was terribly lacking. I don't see much if anything to build on with GotG. It looks like it needs to be done again from scratch.

Going live now for unboxing and setup http://www.twitch.tv/pinballundesirables

Has anyone ever suggested a pricing tier? Not that we need another one, but let's say Stern offers a discount, say $500, to any early adapters when code is beta. Provide some incentive to early purchasers, then regular pricing is administered when code is acceptable, not necessarily final.

I like the way you think. Unfortunately, if you haven’t been reading this thread or pinside for that matter, people are throwing money at them whether there’s code or not...and this is with NUMEROUS price hikes. People are actually paying $500 MORE as an incentive to beta test their machines

It’s an addictive part of the hobby, and it is a hard cycle to break, and sometimes takes a few kick to the nuts for new hobbyist to realize being an early buyer is not a fun thing; and usually is very frustrating. I know from experience, cause I used to be one (XMEN, TF, ST, Avengers, etc...). This is nothing new with stern. Early buyers = Guinnea pigs; both with software + hardware.

Hahaha this is the best unboxing ever. I love how you mutilated the hell out of the box with your bare hands and mercifully finished it off with a steak knife.

Screen Shot 2017-11-21 at 3.04.12 PM (resized).png

And here I taught him in person how to properly open a NIB. Smh

Good-Fellas-Hilarious (resized).jpg

The behavior (and stupidity of it) is the same for all releases. People are so eager to buy a game, they'll leap before they think.

It makes no sense what-so-ever when there are huge catalogs of games that are a KNOWN commodity you could buy. But instead people can't get out of their own way fast enough to buy the new release... even before the release is fully understood... with full knowledge the release will STILL be available months later.

Unless you think you are buying a LE because they won't be available (another subject all together...) the only person you help by buying early is Stern... certainly not yourself. But people do it over and over and over here... and then bitch about Stern not following through. Maybe because the buyers keep telling Stern it doesn't matter... with their wallets.

Has someone else noticed the soundeffect from Star Trek in GOTG or did I just imagine that ?? Serious question.

I would not be surprised. Groot multiball is an exact replica of Klingon multiball. You may have heard that sound effect during the double super jackpot roving shot cause i thought i heard it too.

The chair trick works every time.
Some people would chew through a box to get a new pin out.

That mindset is self-destructive and I have zero empathy for anyone who goes that way and moans afterwards. Unless you are an Op, this is a stupid mindset.

You should want the games that match your preference and appeal to you. If the appeal that attracts you is "its new!!" and not about the game itself, then you get what you deserve.

The "you can't get one right away" issue is only if you are trying to buy a game before production starts STOCKING inventory (aka.. I bought it before it started shipping). Even JJP has a reasonable turnaround for games (and distributors with inventory) once a game is in full production and not the first few weeks.

The problem is again... people getting wound up in NEWS and HYPE instead of actually shopping for good pinball machines.

Personally I do not like that. It is like hearing another game. Reminds me of Sparky/Jacky.

edit: this was a reaction to the post of @eskaybee, just to be clear. Forgot to quote.

Self destructive or not it happens on every release. Half the people that preorder do not even wait it out and jump to something else shiny before their preorder is ready to ship.

Is there anything in the media that makes you say "ahh.. pinball and star wars together!!" - No
Honestly the most integrated part of the game is the idea the death star is a 'kill shot' that ties into some mode rules

The rest of the game is a media slideshow synchronized to you playing a separate pinball machine.... that uses a star wars sound library.

People are happy it's using true star wars assets (photos, sounds, music) - but completely missing that none of it is tailored to the game, nor is it particularly integrated all that well. The media resources and how the player intermix is incredibly static and stiff. Hit target, play sound... Start Mode.. play loop.. hit target.. play clip.

I just replayed the video on you tube. Happens around the 25:40 mark when he starts the Star Trek roving double super jp; he gets a level up award similar to ST medals, but it's not a ST sound byte. The rules however, during that multiball, are a complete COPY+PASTE from ST.

The layout/flow/art package altogether is so epic and good. It's a shame this game is going to get rehashed code and rules from AS & ST (which were taken from KISS & TF).

The game looks so amazingly bad ass besides that code + rules. makes me sad. There was a day i would be an early buyer on this and think it was the shizzle and i only feel pain for those who are early buyers and havent felt the wrath of re-processed factory stern early beta code. It's simply not fun; and owning a game to watch code develop and cook while you own it, is even worse. Sounds fun in theory, but it's not especially when an update finally does come and it's even more underwhelming than the last.

I’m surprised he didn’t maintain the box in pristine condition. We all know it will be for sale later tonight.

Yes that is right!

Thank you for saying this. It was the point I was trying to make. Stern can have access to movie clips and soundtracks, but they have no idea how to integrate them in any special way. I am not a hardcore pinhead so I don't worry about how games score or play in tournaments, but I know that for home use, JJP blows Stern away for overall experience. Those themes are well integrated and make you feel like you are a part of the movies. They customize clips and audio with pinball animations and don't just copy/paste.

Didn't have a chance to watch till now. Its painfully clear that Stern has no idea how to build with the LCD or at least not a movie based game. Its a complete mess. I find it hard to believe but I don't think they even have an engine. There is no theme of any kind, it's complete random. They really need to hire some modern people. This could easily be the beginning of the end. They corrected the way the hardware looks but everything else seems to be getting worse.

I totally agree, SKB. What’s incredible to me is that the playfield layout is a cut and paste job, too, mostly from MET. Looking at the stream last night, it just looked like a cobbled together hodgepodge.

I agree completely...and I'm a happy Alien owner. But you're right; they still have a lot to prove/fix and a looong way to go.