I picked up my game yesterday Thanks Cointaker!

Personally I'm glad that it's here because I'm coming into my busy season at work and to make a 2 hour round trip to go pick it up or be home to wait for a shipping company just isn't happening in the next month for me.

To have no call outs was a surprise to me that it shipped that way but that also tells me that they almost have to have an update sooner rather than later. That's not a code that's going to be around for very long I'm sure.

I have a larger collection so games don't have to be super deep for me. I like the theme as it goes with my other Marvel pins. If it's really bad I'll just play something else while I wait for code. I understand if you have a smaller collection where this would be a bigger deal.

Why does everyone act like they're married to these games? It's not till death do you part. People buy and sell them all the time right here. Yes you may take somewhat of a loss but it's not total by any means.

Because $5000-6000 might mean a little more to other people.

I don't know about you but if I am spending $5500 on anything I don't plan on selling it within the week. Sure I understand trading when you can get something better but all these pinball sale groups sell games before the paint has time to dry.

Oooph, vaping all over that poor new game...instantly drops the value of the game when you put it up for sale next week.

BTW people are saying it sounds like BDK because it's the same composer, Ken Hale.

Good for you! Very nice choice of machines, I am sure that plenty of fun will be had. Going through 55 pages in this thread has been the same as all other new Stern threads. Plenty of comments both good and bad and lots of controversy. I think that we will get plenty of fun from our GOTG when it arrives and we are looking forward to it.

hehe. the funny part is that I'm the one to blame for goading the person (who will go unnamed) to post that empty box on craigslist. trust me, we all got a laugh out of that

But it IS new this time because there's never been SO MANY unfinished machines shipping. Literally never in modern (or probably ancient) Stern history. Prices are higher than they've ever been, quality is lower, and games literally are nowhere near done. Unprecedented.

I'm not saying it's not a lot of money. I'm just saying it's not a total loss if you decide you want to sell it. If you have a small collection and early code bothers you this is not the game for you right now.

Yes, it should have shipped with better code but personally I would rather have the game and wait for code then not have a game at all. I had been waiting since April for my dialed in and paid in full since September because I was told I was getting the game shortly. Still no game or Eta late November, I bailed out and got a refund. I would rather have a game waiting for code that's in my basement then someone who has my money and is not telling me when I'm getting a game.

I spoke to Melissa on Thursday and had my game on Monday. Yes I have to wait for code now but I'm not looking at an empty spot getting pissed off.

I'm enjoying this stream very much

So for you losing a couple hundred is the risk and thats fine. I'd rather lose a few dollars at an arcade making that decision.

And support your local OPs in the process.

Is there anything in the display and sound that makes me says "ahh, pinball and Star Wars together"? Yes there is. Take Rescue the Princess, for instance, which plays situationally appropriate sound clips when you miss your shots (Han shouting "what the hell are you doing?" or Leia's sarcastic "you came in here, didn't you have a plan for getting out?"). Or Lightsaber Duel, which uses sound and lighting to great effect. Or Hyperspace Hurryup and ball lock sequence, which again use the music, SFX, display and lighting to great effect. At least for me, the SW "media" package is not perfect, but it actually works pretty well in context, and makes a fast, fun shooting game even more enjoyable to play.

"Integration," "intermixing," "world under glass" etc. are of course all totally subjective, so I don't expect to change your or anyone else's mind. Just reflecting that not everyone views Star Wars as a horrible mishmash of clips and quotable quotes ripped thoughtlessly from the movies.

Thanks everyone for the comments and showing up for the stream. It was a hell of a lot of fun, and Stephen and I stream most nights, and we're both idiot terrible pinheads, so feel free to come by anytime and talk to us! <3

Can't say that I am that impressed with this title. Stern seems to be in a bit of a rut. Nothing new or exciting about any of their recent games. Similar layouts and rules are a bit of a let down. At least their art packages have gotten better.

I am a lot more impressed with the game than I expected, even sans callouts. But this is coming from a guy who's not spent any real time on any of the games that it's "based" around, so it's completely new to me. Will need an airball deflector for the left ramp though, if any mod makers need a guinea pig to try some mods out, hit me up.

Unfortunately some of the opinions and comments on Pinside do not really reflect the true pinball market. Please remember this if you get hammered for your opinion on this site. My wife and I love pinball and all things pinball from every manufacturer. Our favourites are late model Sterns and 90s BWs. Pinside is a fantastic site and a great experience everywhere except on some Stern threads. Awesome stream too. Thanks for taking the time to show us all some great pinball.

Happy Flipping!

Yeah, Thanks for the unboxing, setup and play waspinat0r!

Really enjoyed watching it this afternoon.

Great stream waspinat0r it was fantastic.

I didn't say the clips were random... they just have very weak correlation and there is nothing but Gandolf telling you that you scored a jackpot that is really pinball unique.

Still stand by the fact the theme is horribly integrated. Take away the hyperspace loop and what says Star Wars about this game but familiar media...

Don’t buy it when it first comes out.

Play it on location or at a show. Wait until it has some code updates.

I’m still pretty pumped on The purchase, game looked great on waspinat0r stream... call outs and code will come

What were you saying about he left ramp? It takes a beating or sticks?

Thanks for the kind words.

For those who couldn't make it, here's the stream vod:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/203252907

If the version of SW you played featured Gandalf doing callouts, I begin to understand your complaint re: theme integration....

I just got back from playing a few games on GOTG. It was in a loud pinball bar so I couldn't hear the music/callouts or lack thereof really so I guess I didn't miss anything there. I thought it was fun, I don't think it's nearly as bad as some people say, I think it's more than a "box of lights" for instance, it's really just Metallica layout with almost an exact copy of the Aerosmith ruleset currently. Start a mode, start a MB to have a chance at scoring big points. Modes have the "upgrade" available after hitting a shot just like in Aero for more scoring but like in Aero most aren't worth playing and you just ignore them while you try to start a MB. Modes time out, shoot scoop to start a new one. Same mini wizard and wizard mode format. Same 3rd mode start for lighting EB. Same "lock a ball" playfield multiplier like in Aero and Met in MB. Same SJP values in MB. Same shot multiplier as in Aero. Art is really nice and the shots feel good for the most part. I didn't have a ton of ramp shots that didn't make it around and when they didn't it was still pretty safe, it didn't drain SDTM for instance. I want to play it again, but there really isn't anything new here. If you have played Met and Aero you have already played GOTG in it's current state.

It may have had newer code. I have 0.65, but 0.66 exists.

IMG_5149 (resized).jpg

That's the joke... once you think it, you'll never unhear it. The akbar sound alike is so horrible, he sounds more like Gandolf than akbar

I didn't check the code version, but it arrived yesterday and was already on route last night so it seems it was one of the first to be delivered anywhere so it probably doesn't have any newer code than any other GOTG.

You’re right that he would be an absolutely terrible Ackbar. Likewise he’d be a terrible Lando and a terrible Obi-wan. Of course he’s not intended to be any of those characters!

The narrator is British, but otherwise doesn’t sound much like Gandalf.

Unless your joke was pretending that you thought the narrator was meant to be Ackbar in the first place, in which case ... touché?

I thought the narrator in SW is supposed to be Ackbar? isn’t the guy doing the voice work/narration on the pin the guy who does the voice work for Ackbar in Clone Wars?

[Delete]

I heard Stern’s next pin will be Charlie Chaplin

It will feature the same guy who did GOTG’s call-outs.

Nope, not the same voice actor and no, he’s not trying to be Ackbar. He’s just suppose to be a unknown rebel commander/general.

So, is it true that GotG wasn’t meant to be their next release but was instead supposed to be a Trudeau pin? This would somewhat explain why it’s only half-baked.

Seems that way from the many folks I've spoken to

Perhaps, but we've heard this story/excuse before. AS was supposed to come out around the same time last year, but they jammed in BM66 instead. Now, about a year later, we just got to .83 in BM66 code "today" and some inserts still don't work. It's better, but still not how it should have shipped. Both games shipped half-ass and that's not fair to owners.

Would explain a lot.

Same situation as B66 which was switched for Aerosmith at the last minute for the Stern Anniversary. As a result B66 was literally a box of lights and AS was all but finished.

Also, the recent Franchi interview sees to indicate GOTG wasn't ready at Expo because they feared another B66 situation. So as recently as mid October, it was barely flipable.

Edit: taz read my mind. lol

It makes sense that Stern didn't want to show the actual physical game at Expo if it wasnt ready. But why didn't they let Franchi show a couple pieces of art from the game at his seminar?

If he showed the finished translite during his talk people would have loved it and it would have gotten the pre -launch marketing excitement going. If I was Franchi I would have been pretty disappointed not being allowed ro show his latest work at expo. Maybe Marvel didnt approve it by expo?

But that's not even a valid excuse. Let GotG finish development and move up a run of a planned vault or something to keep the line running and fill the gap. People have been waiting for Tron - give them that. Keep cranking out FINISHED games, not half-assed-nowhere-close-to-done messes. It WILL catch up to them if they don't get it under control.

Well, apparently they had planned to have one more game on the market before the end of 2017 so to follow through with that they had to push GotG out the door regardless of the state of the code. Merry Christmas.

Nope. They didn't HAVE to push out anything, and I'd be very surprised to see another machine this year. Move a vault in, move GotG to 1Q and it would have been a much better reception.

Buying my LE for the home collection but holding on my order of 10 pros for my locations until they do something with the code. Big fan of Stern but can't justify spending that kind of money if the game is not at least at 80%. Willing to cut them some slack but 80% is not asking for alot. My money is sitting right here when you want it Stern.
Ball is in your court........

Game looks good but that's about it. Sorry guys honesty is a Big part of who I am.

Play Better!

It’s easy to say these things from the outside looking in. I’m sure they scrutinize over every scenerio and ultimately will do whatever they feel will benefit the company the most. Your scenerio evidently, wasn’t going to cut it in terms of their bottom line.

You seem sincere and I accept your apology.

Given that it's the 3rd time they've "benefitted the company the most" in the last 12 months by shipping games nowhere close to 1.00, it's pretty clear there's a problem with management or cash flow or both. Customers clearly are not the first consideration. Once could be an anomaly, twice a mistake, but three times in 12 months points to a very serious problem at Stern. It's literally never happened before twice, let alone three times in 12 months. Something is very wrong.

Possibly but can you tell me for certain that their sales are suffering at all?

No one can, but if this literally half-done launch code and 6-18 month wait for 1.00 is the new Stern norm, I can tell you sales WILL suffer, especially with so many more options coming to market now. I know a number of NIB buyers that are out of the new Stern game now. More than at any time I can remember. It will catch up to Stern (if it isn't already), and the fact that Stern has allowed this to happen THREE times almost in a row points to serious problems internally of some sort.

Guessing the only thing wrong is the fact that people continue to throw pre-order money at games sight unseen. Vote with your wallet.

Like I said, I personally know a number that are voting with their wallets by just not buying new Sterns now. They're done with Stern NIB, and it will be a long road to get them back. But yeah, the best way to affect change is to make it clear to Gary that no, he can't sell just a box of lights with a great license like he said at expo.

Fortunately, I don’t care for their LE’s so I can afford to wait a year for a NIB Stern and will certainly do that given what they’ve been delivering at launch the past couple of years. I agree with you but until it hits them in the bank account they have no motivation to change their ways. I couldn’t imagine buying this game right now the way it is. All my games are Sterns at the moment but I think it’s time for me to test the waters over at JJP for a while. I’ll come back to Stern once they get their shit together.