Leaking images is one thing but in this particular case, with Cary, as he explains it, looks like they (likely being Stern or who knows) got to the location and put the clamps on the whole thing. This is a machine that is no longer under wraps and is now fair game for comment both good and bad. The whole thing reeks of the evil empire fighting to snuff out the resistance.

Just leave Stern alone!!!

You guys are getting them all flustered over there.

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But Stern doesn't have the right to try to stop it, other than trying to be better about controlling things before stuff gets leaked. Once it's out there, it's out there. They can file DMCA claims all they want, but it is widely considered fair use to cover newsworthy items in a hobby. This sorta thing happens all the time in video games industry.

Unless it was stolen or illegally gained in some other way, they have no legal right to remove that content.

I have no idea what is going on with this, and it sounds like most people really don't. Which goes back to my original point that this is all speculation and no one has provided any proof that Stern had anything to do with anything.

You may be right on this, the fact is we can't get into specifics about what they can and can't do, because no one knows anything. We have no idea what was said or done or by whom. We are talking about them hypothetically trying to limit the leaking of their promo material, is there any thing documented about this happening at all?

It's complete bullshit with zero evidence but people think Stern should be issuing a press release to combat it.

I kinda thought fewer podcasts was better but now I don't know. Before, you had one guy telling everybody what to think and a couple thousand people here just followed whatever he said and it became their opinion. Now, the inmates are running the asylum and everybody is coming up with their own crazy horseshit. So instead of one line of opinions/conspiracies, we got a whole clearinghouse.

As a social experiment it's pretty fascinating.

To be fair to Stern, they should have those pre-announcement conferences calls with their distributors. It's a professional courtesy and a good business practice because the distributors need to know what they're about to sell, because their customers will be calling instantly.

What I think is a mistake is having that call a few days before the actual announcement. It could be done in the morning and the announcement posted that afternoon. That way the leaks are minimized and a bunch of people aren't trying to dissect and draw false conclusions based on low res photos.

This is the way they've always done it because it's the way they've always done it.

If they really want to end the leaks they should really stop. I don't see what antiquated purpose this practice serves any more. Thanks to my pal CJ for convincing me of this.

I don't assume that I'm being intentionally lied to.

And again, while I notarially certify that you're the most bitter person on the interwebz, you're usually right.
But it's funny how you yourself are "bittering" all over the place, but yet always seem to run to Sterns defense if someone else is.
(While the gist is still right, as always, but your attitude changes. )

I can only guess Gary and co feel mildly embarrassed and wants their licensing partners to know they don't run some rinky-dink operation. It's important that they can be trusted with potentially confidential things. (Not that Stern makes anything in advance of a movie/show/band release anymore)

So let's back up, what did Cary actually say about Stern? Did he say they requested that he not stream anything? Did he say anything about why they asked that?

Yes. And for leaks, say, within a few days of their own public presentation, it does not change anything for them. Or diminish they sales potential or competitive position. But, they have to think ahead. Maybe it is several weeks next time.

Besides. A business partner that has a date for a presentation in some contract, may see it as a violation regardless of how little or small. Which may burden Stern with needs to explain, legal dispute, claims of compensation and what else. If not for anything else, they will expect Stern to try and control it.

Sad that we have people trying to control everything in the hobby.

That's Weekly World News! I recognized their work here. They were the BEST!!!!

Here's another WWN pinball story.

https://books.google.com/books?id=hfEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=pinball+death+machine+weekly+world+news&source=bl&ots=jyH-fXWjGL&sig=ACfU3U1p9sSAvX166RaRkoaV8u9Qitv74w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwje58yHhbzqAhXWjp4KHYjqAd4Q6AEwAHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=pinball%20death%20machine%20weekly%20world%20news&f=false

Yes everyone but the Stern sycophants and shills - Buy, Buy, Buy

This is absurd! Sorry to ask, but was this the explaination? And given by Stern directly. I thought Stern Army was for supportive locations. Regardless of competition activity. Let alone IFPA activity. Maybe Zach Sharpe is wearing one to many hats at the same time these days.

Yes? But it's not my choice. I'd run the hell out of Stern...straight into the ground most likely! But what a glorious few years it'd be for the consumers in the hobby (till the support is gone and buried)

Ghostbusters and Deadpool, to name ones at the top of my head, was not from a semi-official presentation closly before launch. It was way ealier.

Oh, Stranger Things was reportedly leaked via the licenceholder. It goes both ways, I guess.

Are you talking about his video titled "So, I Played Stranger Things Pinball and I'm Done" because that's his video where he talks about the problems with the build quality and design? He had definitely played it before voicing his opinion on the various issues he experienced.

I don’t get the need to be so secretive about releases. What exactly is the correlation between leaks and sales?

And the video shows his gameplay footage as he talks about it...

You might say he went in there with his opinion allready made up, but that's no problem if you see what he does for what it is - his opinion.

There are things I don't like, wich doesn't mean they're shit, I just don't like 'em.

And that is a good thing, because you get opinions you can relate to.

I personally do not like Stranger Things (Pro), but Black Knight very much.
Cary was pretty positive on BK and not so much with ST, wich for me makes his taste one I can relate to.

I love to play certain types of Japanese Visual Novels and RPG's and I read a video game magazine with most of the writers doing this for decades, and by knowing them I know if THIS CERTAIN GUY loves (or poops) on a game I will love (or hate) it, because we have identical tastes.
(You don't get that when not critiquing.)

Ok, so I went and watched the video where he talks about it, and as I suspected, this is pretty much all speculation. He says the owner told him he couldn't stream because of a "conflict of interest" and something about the content of his previous videos. I don't know who this guy is so I don't know what his previous videos are about other than what he says. Was he leaking images or information in these videos, or was he just talking about games that had already been released and his opinions of them?

But, he is the one who speculates that it is because Stern didn't like him being negative. We don't know of that is the case. A conflict of interest doesn't make sense to me there, maybe someone can explain that.

I'm not saying Stern isn't being petty, it just seems like everyone is jumping on them for doing this stuff when we don't know any of the facts.

I could see pin-stack or another FEC doing that. Especially since they have had cross promos in the past.

This is some serious bullshit and this is the time all the content creators should be calling this out. Cary is by far my favorite so it's real easy for me to simply not watch anyone that doesn't voice some support. Zach pulled a video the other day and had to make edits. These guys really should not be doing this for anything in the public domain.

I think we all are over looking the most important issue here as stated in post #26 :

When the hell did we find out Dinosaurs plucked their eyebrows.

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Leaks are the best publicity for any new launch. So good I always assumed they were deliberate.

Why leak poor quality photos on purpose? How does that help anything?

The first impression is the most important, so the first impression needs to be high quality, informative, and tempting. A fuzzy photo from a circa 2007 cellphone does none of these things. If it's to gin up appetite, then there are better ways to make teasers.

Just making a point as to how ridiculous it is to try to stop 100% of leaks (if that’s what they’re doing).

If they are leaks, just go with it and be thankful everyone is taking about your game for days or weeks before launch.

Nevermind.

Just as a reminder, politics isn't allowed on Pinside.

Stern wants launch parties to be IFPA.

What's the problem? Competitive pinball players want to attend IFPA events, not bootleg non-IFPA events, and there's only so many launch parties to go around. Allowing non IFPA events to be "Stern Army" endorsed dilutes the brand.

I didn’t even think anti-IFPA was a thing anymore.

Wait... antIFPA... antIFA?? Antifa??

The issue is that Stern is missing a segment of the fan base that doesn't enjoy playing with hyper competitive players. I wouldn't call playing pinball for fun bootleg. Isn't that the whole point of the game? To have fun?

Kanaeda had his links to his podcasts all censored off Facebook shortly before the end, by Facebook. He said he did some research and made a call or a friend at FB or something, and was able to confirm it was Stern playing dirty.

Here is an example of Stern throwing a hissy fit at select fan pages (but the seemed to let other go).

There is more than just rumors and conjecture in this thread.

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Rent? you mean the buck per entry.

Counterpoint. Not condoning or even defending what they are doing... but I'm going to make an anecdotal observation. It seems to me, most pinheads slam / go negative in the narrative no? Huge expecations, followed invariably by disappointment with LOTS of raging commentary. Of course there will be lovers of any game who will sing its praises, but for the most part, I get the impression that a disproporationate amount of commentary outside of actual game owners tends towards the negative...

So if you are Stern, trying to expand the pinball universe beyond this eclectic community, do you risk having die hard pinhead culture pollute your message with opinions that tend toward negative and/or spotlight things that a neutral observer would never notice on their own accord?

somebody said the “F” word!

Guy who supports Stern gets no support in return? That's about as succinct as I can put it.

Yeah, those dorks only show up for whoppers. Cool people just wanna have fun. Might be a good idea to cater to both groups.

Is the brand Stern, or IFPA?

Even if it's a total coincidence that the Stern employee delivering the news is the VP of the IFPA, it's a bad look. Like the old saying goes, Jimmy Carter sold his peanut farm.

There is nothing stern can do if the people doing the complaining aren’t getting anything from stern.

Boom!

What is Stern's objective in pursuing such a strategy? What are the benefits and risks of pursuing such a course?