You forgot the third kind - the player who never plays, but turns it on, drinks their 8 IPAs and just looks at their 2k topper and color puked game, color puked powder coating, and sets the ball count to 5. And when they sell it, the game has only 80 plays on it.

He came back and started right off the bat with RECENT licenses which I really applaud him for.
Both Stranger Things and Mandalorian are current and not 10-20–40-40 years old licenses!
I would say he’s right on top again as both stranger things and Mandalorian are very good location games!
Theme might not click with everyone(yet) but I that part alone he made a very interesting comeback!

Sad to hear what a putrid game Sth is.... sounds like its trending down.

Anyone wanna dump their LE?

I like the shots on Mando...the “mini-playfield” in top right is quick and challenging. The center shot is better than a bash toy. I don’t know the code because I don’t play it enough, but from what I’ve played numerous times on location, it’s a pretty good shooter. Better than many other recent “Ho hums” (ya, I’m looking at you, TMNT)

Yes.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this but for Mando, its odd that the lights go out during modes and there seems to be a latency with a few things. The game timing seems to be out of synch. I played a few others thinking it was just mine but they all do this? What am I missing? Is the code THAT far off?

As far as ST, damn its unique and for SOME, the theme is great. Its seems no matter what BE does it will always be compared to MM, AFM and Shadow. I'm just happy he is still doing it as the next legendary game could be next

I downvoted your first post b/c I disagreed with the premise, not because I own a modern Eddy game. This one I'm downvoting for whining about downvotes. You got a healthy conversation going which I assume was your goal, no need to pout because not everyone agrees with you about Eddy's more recent games (or about whether we tarnish our legacies when we keep working past our prime years -- remember the age demo on Pinside before you expect people to sign off on that).

At a podcast for STh when it released, Brian Eddy was there with his girlfriend. I asked in the message post, "What's it like dating a legend?" His girlfriend said, something like, which one of us are you asking? Brian Eddy is a good ambassador for pinball as well, seems like a good natured guy.

Brian is every bit as awesome as we thought and even more so. His 2 new machines blow away his old efforts by light years. The oldies were good, but in a far different era, where no one walking into a barcade cared these were unlicensed themes. They only put in a few quarters and played, then left. No one invested money in MM, AFM, or the shadow, because it was only operators buying. Put any of these themes out today and they’d not sell for the home market. Yes, they’ve sold remakes, but only because of the nostalgia factor.

Fast forward, ST and Mando are flow monsters, with interesting game play and far deeper code than MM, AFM and TS. Those games don’t last in the home environment they are so shallow. Every person I know who purchased the remakes have sold them off, from boredom. You can easily see everything the game has to offer, 2 or 3 times over in one session of playing. Brian’s new machines will stand the test of time and be a great deal more popular than his old ones, once enough people get to own and play them.

This is a rough crowd.

I find STh gets repetitive and boring. Played about 30+ games on it, but the game was set up pretty easy to be honest. Afm gets boring quicker. Mm has the castle, which can keep me somewhat engaged.

Shadow, on the other hand, plays like no other machine, and the shots are a great mix. I love the upper pf extra ball carrot, the ball locks, the Khan super jackpot etc etc. His best game by a looooooong shot. Never gets old at all.

I wish the orbit shots were more lucrative. Maybe I’m missing something. Getting Super Vengence is a rush!!

To each their own…

Stranger Things is and has been my favorite pin out of 40+ pins I own. It gets played the most by myself and my kids. Cleland's code helps it.
Mando LE was not for me. I bought it thinking the wife and kids would like it. They didn’t and I didn't. I may have not given it a chance and may regret selling it once the code is done and I doubt it.

In the case of Mandalorian, Dwight is reportedly credited for the game structure, rather than Brian Eddy. Don't know if or how much that would have affected the playfield layout. Don't forget how many games Brian Eddy has coded in the past; we won't know his true current potential until he's allowed to do another one himself.

The left orbit sets you up for the upper flipper. Both get you the Mongol hurry up. 30 Mill is pretty decent. Love that the gun works for that and for the awesome video mode (I usually hate video modes). Oh, and the secret laugh mode is a blast. Gotta session that game in the morning!

Tell your mom. Dude seriously, you come out swinging and expect everyone to agree with you?

Have you tried a ball of twine? It’s a lot cheaper than a falling castle

Peking duck!

Brian Eddy stated that there were originally 2 separate "up the middle" shots that became just the one Razor Crest shot with the up target because of tight spacing there. It's why it's more like a boulevard now. There is a post sleeved post behind the Ambush scoop that is unreachable by the ball so something definitely changed with the design there.

I love my Mando pro. Only played a couple of hundred times so far. I feel it is one of the most different layouts I have seen in a while with interesting shots. I love how important nudging is with the mine playfield. I feel it has 2 different tops. I love MM & AFM, but have never liked Shadow, mainly because it doesn't like me. People tell me you need to be a good player to like it. I didn't like Stranger Things until I played a LE with the projector. Wow, what a difference.

He made a decent comeback with ST, which certainly wasn't easy...such a dull, dull TV show but regardless of it's dullness, seems to be massively popular worldwide. Converting a dull TV show into a fun and exciting pinball game....well, there you have it - you'd need to be an awesome pinball game designer to pull that off.

You're quickly becoming my favorite Pinsider.

Yea, no

I think your downvotes came from the rude way you crafted your opinion of a legend, not necessarily the opinion itself.

Have an MM and shadow…. And I played ST and mando…. They were both really fun as well.

Different times.. different companies…. I
AFM for the win for me… it’s perfection. But they are all good. Keep’m coming Brian.

Ok that’s an important point you made about Eddy’s role i have been thinking about this along with thread. Previous Eddy’s games at Bally/Williams were laid out, designed and coded by himself and were on a different operating system while using different software coding tools. He is one of the rare renaissance men that can (and who has!) designed every element of a game. Once Eddy joined Stern, everything required to do his job changed. In spite of this, his first game on return was STh and he continued the successful formula of MM and AFM by having a centralized bash toy but then also incorporated uv technology and projector mapping technology. It feels like STh is up to date on technology and that Brian Eddy had never left pinball. Similar points with development of Mando, his second game since joining Stern. It followed a different formula similar to Shadow but software structure feels gamer friendly and current.

At Stern, Eddy needs strong project management skills to direct resources to make his game on time. He doesn’t have to develop every element because he has a team of experts. If Mueller had hired Eddy on day 1 and fired JPOP on day 2, dr would have built some pinball machines, while they were scamming investors.

The best bash toy in pinball is the lamp in Totan. Nothing better than getting that thing flying with a few shots in a row

Eddy designed and coded The Shadow, but AFM and MM were coded by Lyman. The Shadow is a masterpiece of a game though so credit where credit is due. I believe Eddy said on a podcast (while promoting Stranger Things) that doing Shadow that way was insane because of just how much work it actually entailed.

They are. Actually, it's one of the scoring "errors" on the game. Look up the PAPA tutorial on it, I think he tries to do 4 different strategies for tournament play and the orbits win out.

That's a fun video to watch. It also demonstrates that you need to be fucking awesome at pinball to properly exploit a Shadow! For us mere mortals it's very well balanced.

Hell, if you look at tourneys with the absolute top players, there is no single strategy that everyone uses.

Coded/programmed in assembler I think he said. No higher level language was used at that time, early '90s.

Is eddy’s lack of awesomeness pushing people out of the hobby ?!

Agreed. Everyone does what works for them. That's the sign of a great overall game.

It’s this that makes shadow such a good game. There are at least two viable strategies, and a third if you are really good with the upper playfield.

Coupled with the new prices, YES!

Wait till you see how many different ways there are to approach STH.

LOL. Brian is GREAT. I get your point however Levi .

Too much over thinking in this hobby I believe. Pinball is meant to be enjoyed with a Beer and a friend ( or like me just drink alone )

Nah !

I agree, but some pinball Designers can have fantastic layouts decades apart.

Example. Steve Ritchie with black knight 2000/highspeed then decades later spiderman/star trek.

George Gomez with monster bash then decades later Deadpool.

Brian Eddy is doing great work right now, I feel one issue that has plagued stern games 2018-2021 was Bill of materials keeping up with inflation, now with the price increase and what we have seen with Godzilla, the next Brian Eddy game I bet will be a hit.

Also, not a huge fan of Mando, like the show but don't like the pin (except for the foundry, love that shit, need more of it)

Hated stranger things at first, but it is growing on me, also like the show

Original Eddie games I would rate

1. MM
2. Shadow
3. AFM

Afm
Shadow
Mm
(Honorable mention: IJ)

This is a lie. Tons of people bought MM, AFM, and Shadow for their homes - and kept them there...that's why the prices went up, which drove the creation of the remakes. They're brilliantly designed & coded games - nostalgia has nothing to do with people wanting to own them.

Those games have literally been bolted to the floor in countless collections. They're not shallow games. If you think these are shallow games, you've never played an actually shallow game. This is an ignorant statement at best, a lie at worst.

Every person you know hates pinball.

The guy probably doesn't even own a pinball machine.....