Spot on 100%

Stern cares about noone bu their bottom line. Many of the people in charge don't even care about pinball or the people.

There is more to it, but the TLDR version is tha Stern bought godzilla licensewith no inten to make a game and just to prevent spooky from being able to make their dream theme.

Pretty sure pinball would have been just fine without stern. I think pinball stayed alive despite stern and i dispise how they run their business on the backs of the hard working poor. Go read some of the old eddit threads from previous stern employees if you want a eal look athow dark it ison the inside.

Yes, 100% someone would have stepped into the market. Everyone always says that "Stern saved pinball" because that is the dialog they started and want you to believe. That is merely marketing that stuck. I firmly believe that us pinheads saved pinball. We saved all the good games from going to the dump, we started up shows and kept them running, we kept games accessible and working for the general public to be exposed to.

If Stern had just closed up shop during the "dark years" then someone else would have stepped in when timing was right and we probably would have seen more innovation and change sooner rather than just the past few years. Stern has done very little positive for pinball history from my perspective.

Alice was a dream music theme. Then again anyone paying even a sliver of attention to team Spooky knows Godzilla is THE dream theme. Go look at the short history of Charlie/Bug and their first ever pin... or go listen to almost any of their podcasts where for years before even manufacturing pins they obviously loved the theme.

For all those of you that keep saying "it is just business" please step back and realize that this is not just business. Watch the actions and behaviors of Sterns head licensing guy over the years and he is obviously filled with spite and hatred of a small insecure boy. His actions are what provide a clear understanding of his intent. Those that are paying attention have hit the nail on the head with this one. This license grab was done for spite. I know that can be hard on the feels if you are a Stern fan, but that is reality and a reality we all have to live with when we support them.

I really do think we are currently in the beginning of the dark ages of pinball. Stern has ballooned out of control and cant possibly sell enough games in the coming years given the looming competition that are taking market share (sorry but all those smaller parts add up). Toss in a little deeproot which seems to be more than happy to use his financial weight and legal ego to sue others into submission. Mix it all together with decreased Stern quality with higher prices (it is all just business right? and they gotta make hay while the sun shines). Exciting times with lots of new games as the NIB high prices market is all tanking.

JMHO, but the less I can support a company that ruthlessly takes licenses from others with no intent to make them, continues to decrease build quality/qc, and has increased prices over 30% in the past 4 years, the better for the longer term health of a community and hobby I care for.

lol. Gary Stern ran a business. He definitely did not save anything.

Roger Sharpe > sure that guy saved pinball. Gary Stern knew how to do 1 thing and that thing was/is the business of making pinball. Pinball machines were still on route and in bars and even in homes during those dark years. Stern make some sub par games, learned how to cut costs during that time, and cheapened the entire product.

It is not like others had exited the industry because it was not profitable. It merely was not as profitable as other areas where they could leverage the same manufacturing expertise.

ANY company that came along and decided it was a market space they wanted to be in. You can easily predict the alternate history... A previous company could have started back up. Multiple new companies could have started. The reality we now see would likely not be much different in number of players if Stern had closed shop.

Do you really think JJP and spooky only entered the market because Stern was still around? They entered the market despite Stern being the big player with a history of how they act.

I gotta say, it really is not that big of a void to fill... From 2000 to 2010 they made ~30 different titles. How many of those are currently considered good? 3 maybe 4 if you are a stern lover.

LOTR, TSPP, Spidey, Tron

All the rest is largely junk titles that nobody really seeks out or rates highly now. Stern during the dark years is not very good...

yes, i said they are good businessmen... That was them doing business.

This issue at hand is they have no heart and in fact let "business" for the short term (sniping a license) get int he way of business for the long term (good relations with the community as a whole).

I can completely see after that experience why you are all in for them. They stroked what you needed and you are committed to them because of it (you already were if you have bought numerous NIB) and that is cool for you. i am glad they gave you a personal tour and you got that fun experience. I hope you can see where others feel in the same way you do, just opposite due to their recent actions. They kissed your ass while others rightfuly feel kicked in the junk

Others = stern customers

You are fooling yourself if you don't think $5000+ Toys are emotional purchases. Stern has been slowly pissing people off weather it is bad product, poor qc, missing code, lies about code every two weeks, 'just business', etc...

Seems like more and more decisions of where to spend money are out there and the things like this all add up.

I don't experience that IRL at all. I see both companies and individuals that regularly do nice things for others despite not making the nost money or benefit for them. I have bought and sold multiple deals in the past year. Could have sold for more. Could have been charged more.

I also saw with Spooky that they. Could have easily upped the price on TNA, but they worked hard to keep BOM down and the price of the games down. Pretty sure it is the least profitable game they have meade to date, but they actually care about the community and wanted to not strip back the game in any way just for business reasons. Sometimes it is OK to show your heart IMO. Feels good to.

Can the real Jody Yankberg please stand up? please stand up.