I agree, clearly this game was not setup properly. Stern, why oh why won't you make your own professional videos at game release instead of throwing us to the wolves and unflattering videos like this. If I only had this video to go on and I didn't have a lot of faith in Borg/Lyman, I couldn't imagine buying right now. The call outs are atrocious. I already committed to a pre-order but I have to admit that after watching this I wouldn't jump in if I hadn't already. I know it'll improve, but right now, I've got an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

Since when is ST a letdown? It's a great game!

Rpb

wasnt that the same for Metallica for instance.. with no CIU / Blackened modes?
i like seeing the wellwalker doin a sort of a wheelie when u hit it..
the ramps are long.. i do like that. we didnt seen much magnet action too yet.. no modes been seen..
the software is very dull at the moment.. but it will definently improve over time.

At one point the ball seemed to just sit on the pf.

Sooooo happy I canceled my pre-order. Hope all that bought one loves it, but from the 3 or 4 videos I've watched I am happy with my decision.

From everything I have heard, there will be no character voices from the show in this game. None. Not just because it is early, but because they will not be there. In my opinion this makes the game a non-starter. I really hope pressure from the pinball community can change this.

Wow. That's too bad. Like you said I hope pressure from the pinball community can make Stern reconsider. I think that a vast majority of licenses pins need audio from the theme its based on or custom voice work by one of the actors to create attachment with the player. Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Metallica, Simpsons and Family Guy all benefited greatly from having voice work from actors / musicians that are attached to those themes. ACDC is the only game I can think off that pulled off voice work well (Steve Ritchie did a great job) enough without someone attached to the theme. Games like Batman and The Avengers both suffered in part because lines from the films actors are not in the game to create that attachment and many of the ones used don't even sound like the actors. When playing Lord of the Rings and hearing a Gimli callout (or anyone else) you know its him. Imagine if it was some random dude? lol. Personally, that would take away from what makes LOTR so great.

Even if Stern, or any manufacture, cannot get an actor from a licensed theme to do custom voice work at least get the license to use voice work from the films or TV series. Maybe there's worry about there not being jackpot and multiball callouts then. At that point I would get someone just for those types of callouts. Heck, Stern should do just that and have Steve Ritchie do the jackpot and multiball callouts for TWD!

Don't forget Sopranos. Could you imagine Stern Sopranos without voices from the HBO show?

I agree; this title needs clips and call outs from the show otherwise its just a zombie pinball machine. You can't market a huge following like the walking dead and make it a generic zombie pin instead. It either has to be an original zombie pin or a walking dead pin. Cant be both. That said, Lyman is a magic man and im sure he'll come up with something very creative; time will tell

Well said.

I'm one of those who is in favor of a more generic zombie themed pin, but like you said, to have no representation of the TWD characters at all doesn't make sense. They should have just done a generic zombie themed pin at that point.

This is even more important given how bad the call outs are that we've heard so far. Hopefully those will be greatly improved.

I really like the music. And dots.

Well they added Karl Urban's callouts to ST long after the initial release. So there's a precedent already at Stern that they could add voices later on TWD. Fingers crossed for the fans. Nothing worse than getting your dream theme pin & being disappointed (ex. see DE Star Wars).

That's a great example! I couldn't imagine that.

From the Sopranos pinball flyer.

flyer.JPG

im gonna take a little bit back of what i said and that the DOTS look great customized so far. So while i really think they need audio from the show incorporated into the pin, im not sure if they need video.

I think it's great that people are stating how important it is to have voices or call outs from the show. If it looks like the lack of them is going to really hurt sales, I bet Stern will listen.

That's most likely the case. In Hollywood anything extra usually costs extra. In case of a pinball license it doesn't make sense to, as I would expect all sorts of original footage to be available for game developers, but apparently that's not the case. Still a fun game.

This is working out better than I imagined, no call outs, no cheesy pinball references that ruined Metallica for me. I'm not a fan of bubba doing the current voice work but that can made right with code. I love that people are hating this game, the more the better as long as I get a pinball playfield with undead all over it and severed zombie heads/Well walker toys I'm happy. I think my LE with the volume up loud and a dark room with the lighting will be insane.

While I was disappointed and canceled my ST order after seeing the initial release (not saying ST isn't a really good pin, too much SM for me), I think this one will be great when its complete.

You can't tell anything on a 2 degree pitch!

Nothing about any of the other videos indicate that its "slow and boring", but if it makes you feel better about not jumping in, keep telling yourself that.

I said it when the first review of the game came out last week. What's the point of licensing TWD if you're not going to use the characters? At the time, there were a whole lot of people who seem to just support it being more of a generic zombie pin. That's fine, but TWD is about the characters, not the zombies.

Edit: Also, the reason to license the name is simply to sell games. If you're not using the characters, that's really the only reason.

Don't count on it. The sound package is the sound package. They didn't change Storm or Shittybeast in X-Men...although some Pinsiders LIKE those voices...ugh lol...so I'm sure plenty of people will be OK with TWD's custom voices. Even Iron Man has Stern's "random redneck voice" and no one complains about it anymore.

Star Trek got Karl Urban because he's a pinball fan. Maybe someone from TWD is a pinhead?

If anything, the voice you hear so far will stay - and a few more will probably be added as code gets polished. Wouldn't be surprised if there's a female character voice added...and maybe another male voice. Tron had male & female computer voices. Star Trek had the computer (female), Klingon & Admiral Stevens.

Unfortunately some games just have bad voices, and they don't get changed to "boost sales".

Because it's a pinball game...sometimes pinball is better with a simple narrative. If any game were to work with a simple narrative, it's TWD.
-KILL ZOMBIES!
-SURVIVE!

It features scenarios (Well Walker, prison, fish tank, etc) and language from the show (calling the zombies "Walkers", for instance). Even if it's not 100% accurate to the show, the fact that it has "The Walking Dead" title on it means something...it will attract fans of the show to play it. Even non-fans will see "The Walking Dead" and instantly understand what to do - Kill zombies & survive as long as you can.

POTC didn't feature any voices or many storypoints from the movies. Yet it's one of Stern's all-time best selling games. People see it and say "Oh, Pirates, sweet!"...they look at it...the toys are obvious (sink the ship, open the chest)...they play it and have a good time.

I think voices from the license are usually important...for example, not having Peter Cullen as the custom Optimus Prime voice in Transformers was a huge blow to the game - but he's massively iconic to the license. Are any of the human characters THAT iconic to TWD? In this case, I don't think it's a gamekiller IMO.

My "issues" with the callouts isn't their 'quality', it's that they don't match the theme mood at all.

I can deal and live with Shitty Beast and Storm because it's a comic book game and, hey, comic stuff can be over the top and cheesey sometimes, so no big deal....for me at least, those callouts don't take me "out of the game" from the theme standpoint.

However, with TWD the callouts are a little too goofy and light. The playfield is not playful, it's graphic and has a more serious tone to it; the music is more serious and intense and fits the theme and art together.....but the voice callouts stuck out like a sore thumb and just don't match the direction of the rest of the machine. Nothing about the Tv show is light and jovial, really, so why have the "PRISOOOON MULTIBAAAAAAALL!" Callout like it's Mustang? Just confused, the voices need to have a more serious tone to match the rest of the machine and theme, or it's just going to take me out of the game otherwise.

Just my opinion.

It's unfortunate but you may be right. That's one disadvantage of only showing the game when it's all but ready to ship. If there is a huge backlash to some aspect of the game, there is no time to make a major change.

Still, if people make it clear that they're not buying the game due to the lack of call outs from the show, that is something that Stern can enhance later. Would make current buyers happy and would boost sales for the Premium .

We'll just have to see how well the game does or doesn't do and for what reasons.

Yes, Merle, Rick, The Governer are all iconic to TWD. TWD is all about the characters and their interactions. Its the essence of a show like TWD...just like The Sopranos, Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, or Breaking Bad. The reason these shows are so good is because of the characters and to have their voices replaced by random callouts doesn't work in my book. I'm sorry, but I can relate to someone like Glenn on TWD, but I cannot relate to some giant robot that turns into a truck - original voice or not.

Stern, pay the fee, get one TWD voice like Michael Rooker. You will sell more machines.

Well said! Call outs need to be a bit more creepy and dark like scarecrow in BDK. Not BBH/mustang like.

You can have a simple narrative, and still incorporate the characters. Rick is easily an iconic charater on the show. You could help Rick clear the prison yard (which is what he does anyway). His picture is featured prominently on the side of the pro. To me, if he's not in the game, it's simply getting much closer to being a generic zombie game with nods to the show, and not a TWD themed pinball machine.

It might not bother some people, but not having show characters will bother me. It also may be a fun game, and appeal to casual players. That's fine, I just won't be particularly interested in buying one.

I posted in another thread about posting on Facebook to comment and express disappointment with no show call-outs or voices and it got removed by Stern within 2 minutes. Too bad their fans and avid fans of The Walking Dead don't matter to them to try and make constructive criticism.

Oh well maybe my Big Lebowski pinball will have an actor portraying The Dude's voice.........OR NOT, if you do a pinball off a show or movie and are explicitly using the title of that show or movie use the damn voices of those people in some fashion in your game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rant off.

Maybe they can save money get Andrew Lincoln (Rick) callouts from "Love Actually".

Mark: With any luck, by next year - I'll be going out with one of these girls.
[shows pictures of beautiful supermodels]
Mark: But for now, let me say - Without hope or agenda - Just because it's Christmas - And at Christmas you tell the truth - To me, you are perfect - And my wasted heart will love you - Until you look like this.
[picture of a mummy]
Mark: Merry Christmas.

I'm sure they can work that shit in there.

To me, this would be like licensing Star Trek, and then just having you battle a bunch of different aliens. It's no longer truly Star Trek, it could almost be called Battle Beyond the Stars. What's the point of having a Star Trek pin if you don't use the characters?

TWD would be literally nothing without Rick and most of the other characters. An hour long show showing zombies killing random people who never interact wouldn't get past the pilot stage. TWD is a classic "serial" show complete with cliffhangers almost every other week and especially at the end of each season. The zombies are secondary and just a series of antagonists. The clever use of them in weird situations (well zombie, bicycle girl, etc.) are just icing on the cake.

I was so excited for this title and ready to deal my LOTR for it. I hope I am wrong.

I know we don't know how the games are setup and leveled but every ball the approaches the flippers seems to be a fight to keep it in play. This is pronounced when the ball travels between the well walker and the ball guide on the right. I can see that pissing me off big time.

We have been running around the office all afternoon yelling Prison Mutltiball in our best / worst redneck voices. It works way better with a yeeeeeehaaaaaw at the end.

I agree. I was really excited at first, but I've tempered that until I see more. It could still be a great game, but it could also be a waste of TWD theme IMO. But it's still too early to tell what the case is, and it's only pinball.

Well, that video certainly didn't win me over. This is a Borg game, right?

It kind of reminds me of Xmen (huge bash toy, lame voice actor call outs, not much flow, etc).

I was hoping it would be more like IM/MET/Tron (tons of speed, tons of flow, super exciting, blood-pumping soundtrack, immersive theme, etc).

Too soon to peg it as subpar, but so far not so good.

I added a comment, stating how much I liked the dots, the music, and the play field layout, but that the voice work needs some serious improvements, and not only was my comment removed within a few minutes, but I can no longer comment on their page. WOW.

Must be set up poorly,when I watched other vids the last couple of
days the ball was flying all over the playfield

Same insanity release after release...

The USSR(Union of Soviet Stern Relations) is back in force.

NO COMMENTS FOR ANY OF US! ALL OF US QUIET! YOU BUY PRODUCT AND LIKE!

Gotta love the Ministry of Truth. Big Brother is watching you.

Stern reads Pinside. They're seeing your comments.

Putting comments on Facebook that are negative is a waste of time. That's their public platform, they're going to remove them.

Sweet, can I give them my money then? I mean come on, I get it, but seriously.

I am not bashing them on Facebook, I made a comment about why they weren't using clips from the show and good I hope they are reading all this on pinside and can see a lot of people are pissed.

Let me amend that I am not even pissed, I want to see a real product before i judge it as a whole not Iphone camera footage with beta code on it, I want explanations WHY they didn't use clips from AMC's(I couldn't type it any bigger or would have) THE WALKING DEAD. They are basing a pinball off a "cult" show with huge followings and barely have but a few recognizable things to relate it to the show it is based off of. Voices and amazing actors being the main one!

I think stern will likely ignore the backlash because as someone stated already every new game, EVERY NEW GAME gets this backlash, its like a broken record and to be expected when a new title comes out. The funny thing is usually the people complaining the most end up buying and loving the game later.

Stern had to opportunity to make a big hit with this one... i mean c'mon it's the walking dead.
if it's a license issue, why they didn't pay for it, that would justify the new price.

no voice at all from the show, instead they go a with cheesy hiiiiiiiiii hhaaaaaaaaa red neck announcer.
it just doesn't make sense = epic fail. it's like buying a car with no tires.

it's a zombie theme with the amc logo all over it. at this point why not go with a generic zombie theme.

wake up stern!

Perhaps instead of critiquing the fact that the voice over guy is a hack, people should repeatedly say something like, "The game looks amazing! I sure hope I hear Rick, Daryl, Merle, Michone doing call outs!"

And voice work is a talent, whether they ultimately get someone from the show or not, the person who did the work for this game should NEVER be used again, unless it's a comedy pin and requires a bad southern accent. Although based on his reads here, in a comedy pin he'd probably do it deadly serious.

Stern doesn't do original themes. They were Sega and Data East before that. When did that company last do an original theme?

I suggest contacting AMC and inform them that the licensed they went into agreement with Stern to produce a pinball machine on their hit series TWD doesn't really depict the show at all. Maybe they will battle with stern to add callouts from their series.

I posted this in one other TWD thread...but, thought I'd stick it here too:

There's so many threads on this...but I came across some more TWD video footage on FB. Pretty good because you can hear the SFX. Might be the best footage yet

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1553455671544324&set=vb.1454230371466855&type=2&theater

along with the worst callouts thus far, I mean did they hire bubba for $5.00 to make those...

LOL. Stern IS producing the game under the terms of the license. AMC are likely the ones who said "you can't use actor assets from the show" ....LOL ...you think they've been "wronged" and are going to "battle"!?!? Are you insane!?!?

A lot of you hated Mustang just because of the theme. From the looks of the videos posted here on Pinside, if you play Mustang and then play TWD and you'll fall asleep while playing TWD.