I vote iron maiden it is a dream theme for me but I still think Archer could have been cool as well.

IM is a dream theme for me. LE already reserved. Don't know what Archer is and don't really care to.

It boils down to which is more popular worldwide.

Iron Maiden

Archer is cool for what it is, however imo it's humor and mood wouldn't translate well to a pinball machine. Just 'my opinion' though so no need for panty bunching.

According to google trends, Archer is currently twice as popular. Although both are non-existent on trends compared to game of thrones, star wars, or walking dead.

Didn't mean to come off like that. I'm just not into animated movies/shows. I do like Family guy [pin layout kinda sucks] but other than that..... Just personal taste, really.

Archer was a funny show when I watched it back in the day - the first two seasons. Dropped off my radar after that though.

Iron Maiden? Never was a fan of high pitched, opera style singing of heavy metal. But I hope whoever like Iron Maiden finds the pin to be fun.

No worries I vote iron maiden. Much better theme for pinball imo. Archer much better theme for a tv show. Win win.

For me it's Archer for sure. It was the most brilliant brutally funny show I've seen in years and I would love to have that as a pinball machine.
As for Iron Maiden: Their music is something very particular that might not call out to a broad audience. And even if Maiden were my favorite band, I would not buy a pin of them, because as always with music pins: If I play it too often the music starts annoying me. That's fine for a game on location but it would kill any band for me on a home setup. And I would not want that to happen to my favorite band.

I dont care for the theme.
The archer lay-out looks fantastic and Keith has a very good taste of pinball rules so for me that combination can make a super pinball and not the the theme , artwork or whatever...

So I am very excited....

I like the Archer theme better but the artwork will be better for Iron Maiden since it has Zombie Yeti art.

Maiden. Not even close.

I would prefer Archer 10 over Iron Maiden. The IM art is interesting, but I don't care for the music. Although, Keith's first game? I'm probably in, regardless of theme.

I think the art on IM would be better for sure, but Archer is obviously better not having to listen to that whiney cock rock.

Archer for sure. It would be a "take my money now" situation since both my wife and I love the show. Iron Maiden is a no go for me.

I just can't imagine Iron Maiden would sell a ton. I know it has its loyal fan base, but it is a small fan base and then combine that with a small hobby and I just can't see this thing selling 1000s of units. I could be wrong, but we will see. The only thing I think that will help it is if Keith totally nails the layout and the code is amazing.

I think it will sell well to Europe and some vocal, hardcore fans in the US, but I don't think the average person who isn't necessarily a pinball fan is going to care at all. Everyone knows AC/DC, Metallica and KISS songs...you can't avoid some of them for the most part even if you wanted to. IM was never played on the radio in the US and just doesn't have that same kind of exposure as those other groups. I would bet the vast majority of potential customers walking into an establishment that has an IM couldn't name a single IM song. Some may have heard Run To The Hills, but they wouldn't know it's an IM song off the top of their head. I already know that one of the main operators here locally that buys every new Stern release is out on IM. If it is a great game, pinball fans will play it, but he makes his money on casual customers and IM doesn't cater to that group, especially since he has other pinball options there.

Can someone please post pics of the archer design.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160819182610/http://pinballreviews.com/archerblog.htm

archershotmap (resized).jpg

Here is another video of Elwin playing Archer.

Even if your not a fan of IM now, I think this game is going to change a lot of minds. IM is absolutely PERFECT for pinball. I would argue its the best choice for a music pin to date and I'm not even a crazy fan. The layout looks promising, but hoping there is a bit more creativity when it comes to the insert placement. They remind me of WPT in their current layout.

Fans of bands always think other people will end up loving what they listen to.

I’d absolutely love an Archer machine and have no interest at all in Iron Maiden. It’s a shame really - would have been great to see Elwin’s Archer prototype produced with the intended theme.

I didn't vote because I don't buy games for themes, I buy good games.

The Archer layout is a good layout, would be an excellent start for a good game (I've flipped it, I like it). Don't really care about Iron Maiden, and I do like Archer, but Iron Maiden could have great art, and the music isn't offensive or anything, just kinda softer than I like my metal.

My vote is we let the companies develop the games the best they can, and then we can judge what they put out. It seems somewhat unfair to saddle this unreleased game with expectations it can't meet.

I agree. They are way bigger overseas than in the US. I think IM would be more of a boutique game that you try to settle on selling 300-500 games. Stern is setup for selling 1000s of games. Like I said, if the layout and code are fantastic it will help. IM as a theme is really hard for me to digest as a grand slam and I feel like Stern is in need of a grand slam game. Pinball is already a pretty small hobby and then you want to produce a game that has a really small fan base. If it ends up being a great game I guess you can always change out the music with something else.

I'm a metal fan and I think Maiden kind of sucks. But the awesomeness of their art, mascot, and name can't be denied. They've been living off all that shit for decades and it'll translate well into a pinball machine.

Archer? Hey whatever. You want an Archer game you gotta build it yourself.

Any option for neither? I'm surprised Iron Maiden is popular enough to get its own game. Not joking either. To me, came out of left field but I was born in the 80s.

Theme doesn;t matter that much anyway. If I actually knewm the code would be on sort of a Dwight schedule I would put monies down on this cheeseriffic music pin myself!

Maybe the older folks (myself included) that are more prone to buy a new game are more familiar with Iron Maiden than Archie? Or Archer?

Archer by miles and miles.

Seems as though Archer is international as well.

Stern should do a generic band pin, customized by backglass and videos. Easy sell.

Archer "could " appeal to more households, depending on rating, or adjustability

c76478e353f8f45cc68c4fa77701a474 (resized).jpg

Archer would be good and released with ability to swap in current episodes.

After more thought, if it's a good game I'll be happy either way.

Archer for me. Action, adventure, comedy, great art that translates well to a pinball machine. I love IM music, but the art package will likely not be good for me to bring home with little kids in the house.

What is this Iron Maiden band we speak of? Do they matter? Yes.

For those of you unfamiliar with heavy rock and heavy metal in the late 70s and early 80s...

If you wish to give yourself a quick history lesson:

Browse from 1971-to-1989 on the "top-10" lists on this site and notice what bands come up. It suggests how FEW options there were for heavy rock or metal until 1979. http://www.bnrmetal.com/v5/topten/intro -- notice that you can't even fill out a top-10 until 1979 when heavy rock is surging.

Super short version of the story:

Iron Maiden was the KING of the heavy-rock/metal world from 1980-1983. Four years is a LONG time in the music industry to be on top with no competition. Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica and Megadeth (thrash metal) took things in a new direction in 1983 and got real traction in 1984 forward. Iron Maiden got left in the dust by 1986 -- but they have stayed relevant with their fan base to this day.

Those of us who grew up on heavy rock/metal cannot forget the impact, excellence, and reign they had during this four year period. Just like the impact of early Black Sabbath, or Led Zeppelin -- their first 5 albums are all masterpieces.

So in short, not knowing who Iron Maiden is -- would be like not knowing who Deep Purple is, or Led Zeppelin.

(beatles, rolling stones, the who) -> (led zeppelin, black sabbath, deep purple) -> iron maiden -> (metallica, slayer, megadeth) -> etc...

They are part of the progression of blues rock, into heavy rock, into heavy metal.
Today we have 100+ sub-classes of heavy metal and that would require an entire encyclopedia of pages to explain.

-mof

class dismissed.

Archer for me.

Oh, and after the quick rock history lesson. I vote: Archer.
I think (cartoons + humor) is a better fit for theme integration than music themes.

-mof

Archer no contest. I’ve never got Iron Maiden, was born in the late 70s and Iron Maiden always seemed kind of ridiculous.

The game will sell amazingly well in Europe and Australia though. Europe will probably pave the streets with them in the same way that Aussies did when AC/DC came out.

Archer would be awesome
Especially Keith's original design, (Hoping it is saved for Archer as intended)

Up first for me will be IMDNLE

as long is there is no cheapskate bs from Stern

Ar1 (resized).png

i just cant imagine stern would use all the mechs and stuff Keith had in his archer pin. I would imagine it is dumbed down some. i mean, when was their last game (pro model) that even had more than 2 flippers? Star Trek???

no matter if its archer or iron maiden im guessing it is stripped down from what it was going to be as a home brew. imho

****OPINION ALERT

Theme matters. Financially (for stern, JJP, etc) theme REALLY matters. If it's either of these, the gameplay has to be rock solid in order for this to sell b/c it won't sell on theme alone (SW, GOTG) and even those are suffering due to code.

If the gameplay is really good, imagine that paired with a great theme (wide spread popularity) and you're talking gold mine for them. Very surprised they would release either although that seems to be the case.

No shit. Now, I'm off to play my DI.

Yeah this is always a fear, but you never know if it's sort of their new way of doing things or they just decided to do a bunch of rehashes in a row...that happen to be 2 flipper
EDIT: You'd have to think SR would go back to his old school 3 flipper layout next?

Maybe that's how Stern differentiates the Pro and Premium/LE? Pro doesn't have all the mechs and the others do?

They go up and down though. Remember when they decided spinners were only on PRem+ for awHile? It's weird how they deal with it. Then people get all pissy there's no spinner...then SW is "bare" and has a spinner, ball catch, and colored GI etc.

yeah it's actually pretty simple. Called responding to the market.

I don't know how it looks for the market in the USA but for the rest of the world I can see that there are way more people into playing or buying an IM game than a Archer themed pinball game. Sry Archer fans, I like the show a lot but only cause I heard so much from you guys here at pinside and watched a few episodes on netflix. But most of the people here in germany I asked if they ever saw an archer episode thought I would talk about Arrow.

I still don't know if I will buy one, but let's wait and see I bet they will sell way more Iron Maiden games than Aerosmith.

Or we can imagine that since stern saved alot on the r&d they'll be kind and give us all the things we love.