See above.

LOL. That thing is cool!

I see the standard playfield module listed at 3K on website, any mention of what the LE package cost is yet?

Weird Al is a PR machine! This pin has more articles written about it already than Stern's Rush did at this point. Crazy!

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Yeah, I've seen posts at sites like Stereogum that don't usually cover music pins - Al is a four-quadrant juggernaut.

Games can have extra mechs in the lower 2/3 of the playfield which might need to be swapped too. The first few games did not use that feature heavily, but we saw a third flipper in the upper right, and now with Weird Al, there is a habitrail across the screen.

Looks like the LE package is an extra $1800. I'm kind of disappointed that Multimorphic is going the route of limiting and charging separate for different art packages (especially when it comes to the digital art on the back box). My original draw to the P3 was the vast options and customization that it gave to it's users. This seems like a step in the direction of Stern where it's more about generating hype, FOMO and exclusivity. They could just charge $1800 for the topper and signed translite. Seems like there is a rather robust topper market that exists.

Why? Im actually surprised it took them this long. Why leave money on the table.
I've been personally pushing multimorphic to start doing LE features.
I welcome the topper, the custom art, etc.
Now... If they start putting game code behind LE features... Then, yeah. I'm with yah

Well for one thing, you can't just expect a celebrity to sign a potentially unlimited number of items. That's just not reasonable, so the translite was *always* going to be limited in some fashion.

what's nice about P3, is you can change the cabinet art in about 4 seconds.

My point at the end was in reference to that specifically. Understandably, it's something that should be limited. My gripe was more with the limitations put on the digital art. If you're limiting access to digital features I don't think it's a stretch to see it continue in the future with other features.

I'm not necessarily saying it's a bad business model. Might just be the way of the world. Look at Stern or Fortnite and YouTube for that matter. If the worry is leaving money on the table, there are plenty of threads here that would outline how they should become more like a "real" pinball companies.

As a consumer it's just not what I see as value in the platform.

Too me, the only point of it is to feed into the collectable aspect of the pinball market. The part made up of people that buy games in the hopes of flipping them later for more money. A signed translite is a collectable. I don't see how limited access to digital content is. (I also think NFTs are stupid if that's a counter argument).

I am on the fence .. Thinking of selling of some games and buying a P3. ( may of just made mind up )

Pro's
#1. Open Source ( I'm a developer, like to get into things and build stuff )
#2. Scalable and looks stable now. ( Looks like P3 is going stick around now )
#3. Weird al Theme big plus, Heist is also cool

Cons / Questions
#1 What's the lifepsan on display ( what resolution can it support - is that scalable )

#2. Does it still feel like pinball. I liked the feel initially when I saw Lexi Light speed.
Just not sure how long that is going last here. Novelty or new way?

#3.. Wonder if I could port virtual Pinball onto this somehow

Does anyone have one of these in St. Louis or nearby on a location?

yes it feels like pinball. Heist feels like a stern game when I played it. It plays snappier and better than JJP games.

Yup, why wouldn't Multimorphic do it? They probably haven't sold 200 P3's in 10 years - and could sell out 227 LEs quickly...that's almost $3 mil coming in.

I'd rather they just called it standard and premium. Kept making toppers for people that want it. Just make kits for whatever version people want as long as they produce and have the licensing. Don't make it "limited" by any means.

At least their standard model vs LE is just a matter of cosmetics vs actual gameplay/code.

So just have the actual "limited edition" games be signed ones?

Why? It's a proven way to instantly sell hundreds of games. If they can handle that many orders, go for it. Take the FOMO money.

I'm thinking about putting down a deposit. Kicking myself for not grabbing that pandemic Heist deal, now. On Al, I'm not sure about the LE package. On the fence. On one hand, looks great and that topper is cool. In the negative column, if you swap playfield modules, you'll be playing Sorcerer's Apprentice with Al staring at you from atop the backbox.

That sounds like a bonus to me.

I need to see about playing one of these machines. This is a fantastic theme for me but I’m a little worried about how it will feel compared to normal pinball machine. The game looks amazing though!

If you've been in this hobby long enough you embrace something different. Flippers will feel different, upper flippers on separate buttons and playing on a lexan playfield with a monitor underneath is not normal which is the whole point of owning one.

What is the warranty on the display? How much does it cost to replace When not if but When it goes bad and it is out of warranty? The likelihood of a monitor going bad is very high. If there are bad pixels in the display what is the policy on replacement when covered under warranty? 1 bad pixel or multiple bad pixels before they would replace under warranty. This is newer technology that we need to ask these questions prior to spending 11-13k. If someone could help me with these questions it would greatly help me make up my mind. Thanks

I asked Gerry this question a couple years ago: The P3 runs some form of Linux. You would have to port VPX (or the Virtual Pinball Platform of your choice) to run under Linux. Then you would either have to run the game in a window to avoid clashing with the P3's apron, flippers and slingshots, or require the flipper module to be removed.

Gerry seemed to be very open to the idea. But, I don't have the time to start such a project.

- Mark

Why is it limited?
Pretty simple if I were in their shoes - Limit the availability to ensure you have bandwidth to work on the next game.
Outside of stern, everyone else has limited manufacturing lines. Look at JJP: how many years are they going to be stuffed to the gills working on GnR. How long is Spooky going to be doing r&m?

Limit the LE builds so you can build the entire base and also have time to work on game #6.

Again, that's my perspective... Probably has no basis in reality

MM’s warranty is the best around - by far. Looks like you have many Stern LE’s that basically have no warranty (beyond Stern’s goodwill) and cost as much as the P3. While the application to pinball is innovative, the technology in the P3 is not new. They use standard computers, monitors, solenoids, etc, (similar to JJP) and the P3 platform has been around for almost a decade. If you’re comfortable buying a JJP, Multimorphic is a FAR safer bet in my experience.

I couldn’t disagree more…..the support I’ve received from Multimorphic is beyond exceptional.

You run into an issue - any issue - a quick email is usually answered in an hour or less. And they (Gerry, TJ and the team) stick with you until the issue is resolved. Unlike any other experience with Stern or JJP, the response and engagement from the MM team has been consistently great!

Is it open source? That'd be awesome if it is, but I'm not sure that the code is actually published under any kind of OSI license. In fact, I can't even find what the license or conditions are on using or publishing a 3rd party module. All that is mentioned is that it's an "open platform" and an API and unity assets are published.

It would also be even more impressive if they could open source their hardware and allow others to innovate and contribute back improvements, but open hardware is an entirely additional discussion.

I was able to run windows 10 off a usb on the p3. I could not get the flippers button to work properly. I could not find the right driver. The sound on pinball fx was crazy loud. The intro musicshook the wall of mystore. Unfortunately, one day windows decided to rewrite the USB and brick my module. Thankfully, Gerry was able to save me. THAT WAS Last day I ran win10. It was fun while it lasted.

I'm excited for this game and will be ordering one but want to address the elephant in the room. Are half of these songs deep cuts because it was too expensive to include more of his mainstream hits? Maybe some of them will grow on me but "Mission Statement" and "Sports Song"? I'm happy for half of the list at least.

There’s no such thing as a license where you get to use every single thing for the same fee. It just doesn’t work that way.

I know that in the past, Al has said something along the lines that his original works are important too. It could be his creative input that influenced the song list.

Yep, but that doesn't actually say it's open source, or what OSI license it might be under. Just that it's an "open platform" and that they are providing an SDK. That's completely different from being open source sadly. Still very cool that they are supporting 3rd parties - don't get me wrong - it's just not the same thing .

Yeh I was wondering about selection of songs. Some are presumably deemed insensitive in 2022 vs year of release. It’s not like a rock pin though- so maybe not the obvious top 17 that works best to integrate into MONH. Hard to say until see more gameplay with code/audio visual

Parody's of existing melodies are "not fair use".
I'm certainly not an IP lawyer and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn last night... but it's not fair to assume that "like a surgeon" was the same price as an original like "Dare to Be Stupid”.

I distinctly remember many bands being sued because their intro sounded too much like another song.
I'm positive that a song like "like a surgeon" with the same melodies as "like a virgin" have to be licensed from the original publisher.
That said; I'm not an expert.

I'll remind everyone that while they aren't all Parody songs... at least they aren't "acoustics" versions like Stern likes to do.
I'm convinced that One person's ideal mix wouldn't fit another's of the perfect fit.
So it really all comes down to theme integration, If they all fit cohesively with the layout / game play modes then it's a perfect fit regardless of a personal opinion.

I really want that topper.

PS: Don't get me wrong, I want the whole game, but I just really want that squeezebox topper. So cool.

Some funny YouTube comments on weird Al’s channel

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I'm warming up to a few deep cuts/originals like "I'll sue ya" and "Germs". Glad "Dare to be Stupid" is on there, I played the crap out of that song on my walkman in the 80's one summer.

I for one am ecstatic that most of the songs aren't the direct parodies and are Al originals (12 of 17).

BTW? "Sports Song" is an absolutely brilliant choice. It literally has a crowd chanting "YOU SUCK!" in the middle. What an awesome taunt for a pinball game...

Later,
EV

They missed Trapped in a drive-thru, stuck in a closet with Vanna White and One more minute with you.

It's always a shock when non-pinball collectors learn the cost. It happens with almost every release.

What's worse is they think it's only $4800 for the LE kit. ROFL

They'll be paying $5k by xmas

https://twitter.com/alyankovic/status/1496862795689697280

Looking at this more and more I have decided... I am totally in for my second NIB pin to be Weird Al (After Rick and Morty)!

I am going to put a deposit down on Weird Al on Monday, but won't be clicking the send button right and 1000. If there weren't other modules available I would absolutely be going for the LE kit as I am a huge Weird Al fan. However, for $900 more than the cost of a topper I can get a whole other game. I am looking at either Heist or Cosmic Cart racing, and will be doing more research this weekend. If it is a huge hit for me I could see buying another module down the road.

To be clear, Weird Al's inclusion in this is 100% the reason why I will be jumping onto a P3 platform.

Yes, the package is stupid expensive, but with the prices today I could sell a single pin to fund almost all of this.

I don't feel like I am guaranteed to get my money back out like I am on most pin deals, but Weird Al is a dream theme for me, and If I could choose to have only one themed pin it would be a Weird Al pin. I was seriously considering doing a E.M. conversion to a Weird Al pin that played his tunes, but I'm no artist.

Edit to add I started a poll/ discussion thread here https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/heist-or-cosmic-cart-racing-what-to-pair-with-weird-al-on-p3 for opinions on what would be best to pair with the Weird Al module.

The more I think about it, weird al really makes sense for the P3 platform. Weird Al is a novelty act, and P3 feels like a novelty platform. That's not a bad thing...