Posted by PPS on their forum

"Here is the latest update from a call with Doug Duba at CGC this morning 3/31 - note that this is the 'best' info I have from CGC, but as we always have seen, even the best info will likely change (more things move out than move in).

THE 'CURRENT' PLAN FROM CGC FOR GAMES (note caveat that anything can and usually does change):
- Some parts have been re-done due the mfg quality issues (i.e. rejected by Quality Control), that put some delay into the works.
- Also I believe there are some scheduling due to Stern running some batches of games
- Some golds that will be shipping in the next few days.
- CGC indicates that some blacks (we had some ship) about 1-2 weeks ago, and then more Blacks will be run and coming out in about 2 weeks.
- So there will be games coming out to satisfy most of the outstanding requests from resellers in April
- Then CGC will prepare Europe games for shipment (not sure how many or in how many batches - that is discussion between CGC and MoP) - that may be a couple of weeks.
- Then final batches of LE's as well as Standards will be run.

SOFTWARE UPDATE:
- Software update final rev that was to fix some things came out today.
- CGC will be packaging for distribution soon (1-2 weeks?)

COLOR UPDATE:
- Color software is done.
- We have discussed the mechanics on delivery and the pricing and that will be communicated in the next week (I hope)
- Anticipated availability 2+ weeks"

I have a comp meet at my place in exactly two weeks and one days time from now........what's the bet I don't have the color update by then

Probably will be sent on a card in the post and take six weeks.

I really hope I am wrong.

Hey wait up, I just realised that it's April 1st again (in Australia anyway) the same as last year when we were told that the update release was imminent.

If this turns out to be another April fools joke I'm gunna be pissed.

Download it? I sure hope so, but I can see them posting it on a card encrypted to the serial number of your machine.

They might even go as far as asking us to post our boards to them so that they can apply the update and post it back. Should only take about a three month round trip

Time? LOL
The release has been "imminent" for over a year and now you expect it to be pinned down to an accurate time. I guess you are joking.

What we do know as it has been confirmed by PPS is that it will not be free but will be discounted for LE customers.

EVERYTHING ELSE is still unknown, it will probably be released in the next couple of weeks. We might know more by next week. From what I have read I am guessing it will not be downloaded but posted via snail mail. If that ends up happening I WILL be annoyed.

Yeah I agree, Stern are giving away a free hardware upgrade with the latest code for WWF right now. Are you watching the competition CGC? Obviously not.

There has been some information posted on the PPS forum. I won't copy and paste it here as they want to keep their forum a walled garden and protected from the nasty customers here.

Can't say I'm happy about what has been related and I guess it will lead to even further delays. Anyway hopefully all will be revealed this week so at least we will know what we are in for, or not for those who decide against.

Just to put a different view foward, I have my machine and I love it, but I am very disappointed by the way this update has been handled. (and the inserts but that's another thread) Not all owners are blissfully playing in utopia without a care for how long this takes or how much it costs.

I made my decision to buy after seeing the completed color video. I had been deciding between a few new releases but that colour got MMR over the line.

I'm not disappointed with my decision but I certainly am with this update and how it has been handled and the bullshit communication.

I just tried to send a list of questions to CGC but it seems that their website email form is broken. Is it working for anyone else?

This is what I tried to send. ...

"PPS has requested that I direct my questions to you I do hope you are willing to provide some answers.

We know that a security chip will need to be posted with the software update have the chips been sourced and ready to go or will this mean another delay?

Will the update be free for LE customers? If not how much are you planning to change?

When can we expect them to be sent and what about international customers?

I look forward to reading your reply."

Mine came with big dirty hand prints on the bottom also, it was like the person had carbon or something on their hands, strange, but it wiped off quickly and easily and you can't see where there were. I left one of the prints as it might add value

Hey labnip don't worry I heard they are going to release a filth kit for those that missed out.

I can't see how anyone could have so much black stuff on their hands and think it was OK to handle an expensive pin about to be boxed without thinking to have a quick wash. I really wonder where this black came from?

As I said it doesn't really bother me because it wipes off fine, I'm just curious to what it is and why it's there? Perhaps it's the black print on the outside of the boxes getting on people's hands as they are packing them?

For those giving the explanations and quoting me.....I worked in a factory in the painting/final inspection/packing area that produced mag wheels for luxury cars for 7 years. The Japanese and German customers were rightfully very fussy, there was never any dirt anywhere, these wheels were worth a few hundred each not 10k.

Years in packing wrapping shipping final inspection painting....some in machining casting metal movement quality control trials.

Never did I see big black hand prints on packaging or product.

Someone please PM me a link to the torrent when available.

If the whole update situation had of been handled better I would have already paid a reasonable price to download. I want to support software development, but I'm losing that motivation in this case.

If it was quick and a good price every LE customer would pay and download straight away. No one would bother waiting for dodgy release.

Then they could install the security requirements in the standards and still make their cash.

The screen tearing and adjustable contrast has been fixed by an update that was released to a few who complained ages ago. I was lucky enough to get a leaked copy and the update is great and makes the display look heaps better. It's just stupid that they have not made this fix available for download. It also fixes some sound issues and other minor bugs.
From what I can gather we have now been waiting months for them to implement LED dimming for the bug update and encryption for the color update. Nothing more needs doing, why CGC are still unable or unwilling to release a price or expected release date even after assuring PPS that they would weeks ago is beyond a joke.

I would have gladly paid a reasonable price to download and support the color update. But they have been so crap that I'm unlikely to be happy about anything they come out with.

I need to keep the two separate in my mind....love the game......loath CGC.

After applying the update and spending $50 on a speaker upgrade mine sounds good.

Sucks that a machine of this price can benefit so much from putting in speakers that I bought from eBay for AU $50 (less in US) I wonder how much they spent on the factory installed speakers that are in no way up to the task? Probably about $10 a pair I would guess.

Do you have an interest in MMR Jack or just trolling?

The update was linked here for a few days and quite a few people downloaded it.

Then it was requested to be taken down so was. People either need to wait, really can't be long now or contact CGC and request the update in a ticket.

Drinkduffbeers the update does improve the callouts a little but I think the speakers improve it a bit more. With both combined I'm happy with call outs and sounds. I'm still looking for a second hand woofer to setup externally as I think that would be even better. There is a very helpful thread about upgrading MMR speakers that I used doing mine, a quick search should pull it up for you.

You certainly are an unusual customer Top dog, most new comers to a forum like this would want to make a good first impression especially if you are heavily involved and have a bad ass collection. But you seem to not give a toss, which does make me think you have probably been banned before.

As far as being a Shill....well I don't know, would anyone directly linked to the product make such a lame and obvious effort?

Then the ratings, I know ratings are just personal opinions, but what he has done there is absolutely ludicrous and I hope that they can be deleted as it makes a mockery of the system.

Game was display only you can see the professional looking sticky note in the first picture.

That video looks even more amazing than the teaser 6 months ago. I was amazed then that I little color LCD that you don't even look at much on a game of this price actually helped push my decision to buy an MMR-LE. I'm even more amazed that over six months later we still don't even know when it will be released or how much it will cost.

IMO the whole reason for the delay of the color and the bug fix updates is because CGC only want to release one update so everytime they are about to release it they find something else they want to fix so delay it again rather than letting us enjoy the bug fixes that have already been proved to work and improve the game.

I see Rick locked the thread where people were complaining about it on the PPS forum, instead of being sympathetic or apologetic he suggested people should "move on".

Well if I'm not happy with the price of the update I certainly will be moving on and I hope that others do also. I do want it and will have it eventually, but if it's overpriced I WILL resist on day one and see if in time the price goes down or an alternative method of obtaining it arises.

He left the ridiculous new Color Update thread by gaspumprob on PPS open though where Rob gushes about how wonderful the color looks in person and how he doesn't mind how long it takes and that it will be good value, although after I questioned him he really had no idea how much it would cost seems he is just happy to pay whatever it costs whenever it happens. Why would anyone post such on the PPS forum? MrPumpRob do you go into a used car lot and tell the salesman that price is of no concern to you?

Fair enough, yes everyone is entitled to their opinion and I know nothing of Rob apart from seeing a few of his posts on PPS.

What I found annoying was that he said " Do not worry about the Cost . It will be fair and worth every penny." when he does not know what the cost will be. I can see he is just excited after seeing the update in the flesh, but if everyone were to conjecture as such then CGC would see that as waving a big "take my money" meme at them.

I apologise to GasPumpRob for being too blunt.....but I still don't think he should have posted that there like he did.

I wonder how many people who saw it at PAGG would still be excited by it if it's not released for another six months?

That is a good way to look at it I suppose
Part of my annoyance about the lengthy delay is the awesome color teaser video is what tipped me towards purchasing MMR.

I am glad I made the decision anyway as I am enjoying the game but if I had not been told six months ago that the release was imminent and had been refreshing the PPS forum daily waiting for it then perhaps I wouldn't be as disappointed now.

Then there is the bug fixes update....I already have the beta of that and it's great. For them to hold that back for so long and deny everyone the improvements that brings is just wrong.
Just release the beta now and the final later like everyone else.

I am currently pushing for info on the PPS forum and have been told it will be passed to CGC so.......probably more crickets await lets see

They sell arcade games to the general public aimed at home use customers, they also sell updates for them and offer support for them.

How can they do that without interacting with customers?

Saying they are not a customer facing company does not excuse them from this poor communication and customer service....PPS blame CGC and CGC remain silent and round and round we go.....it is inexcusable.

OK well the business model between CGC and PPS and Distributors and the customers is totally broken and beyond a joke, that is also a fact

Anyone can post open, honest and transparent answers to questions on a forum it's not rocket science and doesn't take that much time, or answer emails or support tickets or the phone. Let me count the ways they fail, epically.

But you need to be interested in doing so, there lies the problem I think.

I guess that they are not training a new customer support employee or working on a new company strategy. I would guess that when they told you that they were planning on doing better they were just trying to get rid of you as they don't really like talking to customers.

Interesting, I wonder how many got a new playfield and how they decided some would get them and some would consistently be told that their playfield falls into the CGC "acceptable" range so you get a free diffuser instead?

Release date has been downgraded from "Imminent" about a year ago to "really should be soon now, maybe"

But who knows as CGC'c refusal to communicate with customers or even with PPS defies all logic. At this stage I would not be at all surprised if it took another couple of months to be released.
Then just imagine how long we will be waiting for them to process our orders and post them via snail mail.
Could be getting colour for Xmas.

Is there proof this time on the playfield?

The sound is improved by the bugfix update and upgrading the speakers (which shouldn't be necessary) but the lights out of sync? I have been playing mine over 6 months and not noticed that? I'm not going to go looking for it now though, mine plays fine and I'm happy with that, I am fussy with how a pin play so I'm not just saying that to justify my purchase.

If it's USD $250 that will be AUD $330 for me and at that price point I will be waiting...................

If it's $100 I will buy straight away

I hope CGC is better at posting the chips than they are at communicating.

LOL Even after all the other delays, missed deadlines and the continuing failure of PPS to get CGC to tell us a price or date for the colour I am still surprised they managed to squeeze another one in by saying we should know "later today" which then did not eventuate.

I really can't imagine what goes on when PPS are talking to CGC and how that leads to us continually being told information that ends up not happening.

If PPS don't know the price yet then why don't they know? why would CGC not tell them? do they not work together as a team?

I can only assume they want a "Buy Now" button for it in the PPS store ready to go before they tell us the price so that people don't have time to think about and discuss the price before it's ready for sale. Doing it that way increases the temptation to buy even if the price is unpalatable.

Perhaps this was a ploy to stir up more excitement and discussion about price so they could make sure they set it at the maximum price the "take my money" crowd would swallow?

I really do hope that turns out to be wrong and that we are all pleasantly surprised with a reasonable price rather than one influenced by what the posters above are expecting to pay.

Is anyone expecting a delay in the packing and shipping of the chips after payment has been made?

Considering it's now 9:43pm on Friday night in Chicago I assumed there would not be an announcement within the next couple of hours, I will be happy to be proved wrong though.

When you first started talking about increasing the call out volume Rick posted saying he would prefer that CGC fix the volume levels and he would ask them again to address that as a matter of urgency. That was weeks ago and there has been no follow up to let us if they are working on it or not. I can only assume they are not as if there was good news I would expect Rick would have told us.

This has been said would be a quick and easy fix for them, they have known about the issue for many months (people posting, tickets submitted, Rick passing on details) and have known that many customers were dissatisfied and yet it was not addressed in the latest software update. We have not even seen an acknowledgement of the problem from CGC. Now they know that people in the community are trying to fix the problem that they have refused to address and they are trying to stop that but still not saying they will fix it themselves.

Where is the logic?

I want my colour AND my sound please.

TWOO WEEEEKS.......

Yep OK the one or two weeks was posted on the 8th July so there are a couple of days left, but obviously we didn't get the one week early surprise.

Of course once they do confirm......no doubt it will be another two weeks or more for postage.

LOL dude you certainly do have an apt username as you often come across as being "Off your tits" as we would say here

Yay the colour update will available to purchase tomorrow as that will be the end of the one or two week deadline that PPS said CGC had indicated.

I can't imagine anyone would want to endure the embarrassment of missing yet another announced deadline so I expect we will see the "Take Your Money" button appear on the PPS store very shortly.

Once we install the chip will we be able to swap back and forward between original and colour?

Yeah I'm waiting, doing the currency conversion that is AUD $268 for the colour plus AUD $75
for postage.
I was going to buy......but now I'm going to continue to wait and see what happens.
For all the people who are pre-ordering now (remember PPS don't have them yet and CGC have in my experience never done anything PPS has said they would) I truly hope you are not plagued by further delays and bugs.

It's still going to be at least a week before PPS get them and processes orders and start posting them if all goes well.

Why would anyone pay excessive express postal charges in advance only to still have to wait again?

I will have the $12 option please.

I imagine more than half of Pinside would be banned from the PPS forum by now as my negative comments here got me banned there. So I imagine it would be fairly quiet over there.....unless I was just singled out because I dared to mention one of the positive spruikers in one of my posts?

To MrDrugSmoker some of us myself included could have easily accepted the quality control issues if customer service had of been up to a reasonable standard.

That is what people like yourself do not seem to be able to understand.

It's still has not improved. .. take DeeGor's posts above for example.
They knew about the call out issues ages ago and did nothing. When he developed a fix Rick stopped him from releasing it with threats of persecution, then said he would ask CGC to prioritise the fix. Then nothing......again and not even an acknowledgement from CGC for his submitted work which is actually doing their work for them. In the mean time we all miss out on another fix we should have had ages ago with no explanation.

That kind of behaviour is why this thread has turned into a bitch fest.

Was going to quote but thought better and deleted it.

Is someone above suggesting that no matter how long it takes and how much they annoy their customers as long as manafacturers eventually fix things in the end then all is good?

If that's the case then the NIB pinball market is an even stranger beast than I imagined.

I came here happy and excited to purchase my first NIB pinball. I'm still happy to have my game. But after being price gouged for the last NIB available in Australia (yes my decision I didn't have to buy) and then having the imperfections and bugs that were and still are poorly handled by customer support I have now become a jaded customer.

That is not Pinside's fault and it's not because I am the type of person who goes looking for fault in everything.

People need to stop saying that the complaints in this thread are just how Pinside is and start looking for the real culprits as to why people are disgruntled.

No one wants to be unhappy about the quality of their purchase and customer support.

Let's stop the victim blaming.

Ok Wacky you have stated that you can't understand why anyone who doesn't own an MMR should be able to express an opinion. That is your opinion and you are free to express it as I am free to disagree.

Do you also think that positive opinions should only be posted by owners? Or are non owners with positive opinions allowed?

I don't fit either of those groups as you know. Also I like the product but not the customer service. So should I be able to express myself?
Or has your love for MMR blinded you so much that you think it's creators are gods above reproach?

Glad people are having them arrive and are enjoying them.

Is it possible to change back to original through the menu?

I would much prefer a no frills package with just the chip in a protective case about a tenth of the size as I don't need the tool or the SD card. I'm sure that it could be posted to me for much less than $75AUD then. Perhaps they could knock some $ off the no frills chip only pack by not including the sticker also.

Is there any chance of this Rick? Looks like I could easily pay $100 AUD less in total without it cutting into anyones profit margin?

Thanks for the offer Marc, but the problem with that is I would still need to pay $15usd to post it to you and then probably about $15usd for you to post it to me. Thus minimising my savings and maximising my waiting time.
But if you can post the chip only in an express envelope for less than $15 to Australia then please let me know.

If it had of been available as just the chip in the smallest protective case possible and posted straight from CGC instead of double posting already within America from CGC to PPS to customers then the cost of both the chip and the postage could have been considerably less.

I will probably just give in and buy it soon then I can be done with PPS/CGC and move on.

The $30 is USD so $40aud which is still a $26aud saving for me which is worthwhile perusing if those estimates work out. I assume that it could easily be cheaper than that if you could put a square of cardboard on each side of the chip (with legs still in foam) and put that in an express envelope rather than resending the box provided.

I will PM you soon Marc with some details and thanks again for your generous offer to help cut the cost of this purchase for me.

If it proves to be too much of a hassle for you or not much of a saving for me after you do an online quote with my address then we can reconsider and I will just put up with the PPS postage costs.

While we are all in a jovial mood here is a wacky fact for you

Brakke Tablet Uses
Brakke Tablet is used in the treatment, control, prevention, & improvement of the following diseases, conditions and symptoms:
Urinary tract infections

http://www.tabletwise.com/brakke-tablet

I hope my shipped email is coming soon.....I bought mine shortly after Rick posted saying there were a few more left in the batch....then a couple of hours after I purchased he posted again saying one left so I can't have missed out and must be getting my shipped email soon???

From what I can see the colour is in the same state of development (not quite finished) as it was over six months ago, so to me that doesn't bode well that there will be an update to finish it.

Also as far as working on the sound issues, there has been no public announcement that is happening, Rick has said a couple of times that he will ask them to fix it but I have not seen him publicly state that it is actually being worked on. (Maybe I missed that?)

I hope that I am wrong and that both these are updated in a timely manner, but I would suggest no-one holds their breath

When Rick posted this I emailed him immediately asking if he could please put one aside for me briefly while I had a quick look at postage fowarding options.
About 2hrs later I purchased. ....the next day Rick posted that the first batch was sold out.

Six days later I still don't have an answer to my email or an email saying mine has been sent.
Am I getting one Rick?

I also noticed a new post that MMR parts are finally available for sale.
But there is not yet a post to acknowledge or address concerns that the colour update appears to still be incomplete and that was not advised before going on sale.
Priorities?

I politely asked Rick if there would be an update to the colour to fix the issues that had been reported and also asked if the update to the call-outs was happening.

In his answer he did not address either of my questions but instead told me he did not understand what my problem was and asked if I wanted to cancel my order, so I can only assume neither of these will be addressed.

My colour has not arrived yet but looking at the tracking it will be very soon now, so I have not played it in person but from the latest video I would say that I agree with the above and I'm confident that overall I will be happy with the colour.

That said I'm disappointed about the fact that PPS/CGC have totally refused to acknowledge, explain or address anyone's questions about imperfections.

As for the price, well those in US who are paying $200 I can understand how some of you would find that to be acceptable. I don't think any standards have made it to Australia yet but when they do the USD$400+$50post = AUD$586 I wonder how many they will sell at that price that's a bloody expensive chip.

But Rick that still leaves everyone else in the dark, we still don't know if you have asked for any updates to the colour or the sound as you keep dancing around the question.

I re-read your comments and they provide no answers.

Do you want everyone who has asked or is interested to ring you individually?
I would have thought it would be easier for you to post an answer.

Even easier would be for CGC to communicate with customers.

Rick your continual inference that people who decline to call you do so out of fear is both incorrect and childish. I am a shift worker in a very different time zone it is both difficult and unnecessary for me to ring you. Let me assure you that it is not fear or an inability to communicate that stops me from ringing.

I assume that you are not answering the questions because you don't know the answers. Sadly I can only guess CGC ignore you as they do us. I'm sure if you had positive news about updates to the sound and colour you would feed that back straight away, it would be madness not to.

That is great news thanks for passing it on

It's astounding that information had to come from a forum member, why couldn't CGC post that they were working on an update? they are on pinside and have posted before.
Why hasn't Rick posted telling us this good news instead of being evasive, cryptic and rude? perhaps they have not told him yet? again that would be astounding but who knows what goes on.

My colour chip has arrived and I installed it and played a few games last night, it is great and I am happy with it as it stands, but I'm glad to know that it will receive an update sometime in the future to address some issues.
I will post more detail (mostly positive) later after I have played a few more games

Played a couple of sessions on the colour upgrade now and I must say it looks even better in person than the videos show, some of the effects are great especially the Merlin extra ball.

Some of the effects I have not seen properly yet due to the fact that when I excitedly took my wife and son down to the games room to show them wife said "oh that's nice dear" and wandered back upstairs to play casual games on her tablet. Son played one game as he felt it was his duty, I could tell he was bored before I finished my game, I asked him if he wanted to play again or one of the other pins and he said he had to go to bed. Later I went upstairs and he was looking at his phone in the loungeroom, LOL. So I will have to wait until some pinhead mates come round so I can watch it properly.

Was surprised to notice the STATS text is unchanged, but then I decided I didn't mind that, I don't like the look of Save The Children which is more of an aesthetic opinion rather than a bug. It would be nice to have some of the other previously mentioned imperfections fixed especially the cut off text. The way moving text and scores change colour as they move over where the border was red etc looks clunky and unpolished.

As far as postage goes, well the postage cost to Australia was ridiculous for a chip and to top that off it arrived in a comically large box.
Is it really the same cost to post this HUGE box as it would be to post just the envelope with the small plastic box inside?
Even if it is the same cost for postage there is still the unnecessary cost of the box itself and the environmental issue of a wasted box filled with styrofoam peanuts

Pen in pic is pointing at the chip for scale.

20160820_110220 (resized).jpg

Seems Rick feels that my legitimate questions about postage costs and environmental issues are not worthy of an answer only ridicule.

Look at my post #2313 it won't come in a little box. For some unknown reason (Rick refused to answer) they put it in a small plastic box then in an envelope and then a hugely oversized box.