Finally got a chance to look at the specs. I don't usually hold much hope for Stern, but WOW, this game is full-featured! I hope this means that Stern is back, that we'll get games like this from now on. I'm very excited for the company and can hopefully stop bashing it for being blood-sucking-cheap-assed.

The shots looks crazy awesome! The only concern I have is how tight the shots look due to the sheer number of them. Knowing Keith, I'm sure it will still shoot well.

If Stern would bring back SAM, I'd be broke!

We all know you love Stern, but some of us don't. Get over it. Stern has been stripping value from games for quite some time, which most would agree with. They now appear to be adding back value for the dollar. I didn't mention the T-Rex at all in my post. This game is as loaded as their games USED to be. I compliment the company and you still find a way to troll. LoL.

I don't think that's nit-picky at all. Scoops are supposed to be the end of a sewer line IMHO. I call Stern's potholes because they are not scoops. Stern just doesn't do sewers anymore, except if you consider IMDN's micro sewer. I'm guessing that's why Kieth doesn't bother.

You can't do worse than Avengers. That's just not possible!

Never said they've been shit and never said it is a winner. More trolling. Good day to you sir.

The Stern cheapness has been discussed to death, but the days of posts instead of service rails was the worst period. Spike vs Sam and putting a cheap power source in the backbox are big ones to me. Splitting cabs and of course everyone's favorite, coil count!!! I also find that playing my IMDN after IM is night and day for weight. I can toss around IMDN like a six year old, but IM is like tossing around a fatty.

JP2 has a crazy amount of mechs, which is why I'm excited. I personally prefer games that have a bunch of neat ball manipulations. This is a stark contrast to Munsters and BKSOR. I think we owe a lot to Kieth!

I am happy that Jack does a lot for pinball, and I think his audio and video setups are great. However, I find the production-the actual content-unbearable. Are the videos to reveal and interact? If so, what a great idea! Unfortunately, the reveal (actual useful data) is done so haphazardly that you have to watch a camera happy dude play pinball with his buddies forever to learn simple things about the game. I prefer JJP’s approach with Eric, where organization and information takes precedent over ego. Imagine how wonderful it would be if Bowen did their reveals alone. As of now, I wait until the reveals are online so I can scrub my way through with the volume off. Oh, and I’m not that old, and I’m in a great mood!

Watching Keith play is a treat. The way he nails the shots so quickly is crazy. I could see this being a really good collection game, much like Maiden is. Animations are great, and I love that Stern puts progress icons etc. on the screen. I wish they would do this even more. What a great looking, sounding and, most importantly, playing game. Stern is earning my respect again.

I swore I would never buy another Spike game... Now I'm going to have to focus really, really hard to resist. DAMN YOU ELWIN!

They aren't perfect, but look at stern even two years ago (Aerosmith anyone?). They have made leaps and bounds. I have a few issues with IMDN, but I have zero with this game. The animations are not only well done, they are balanced with serious and humorous. The Pterodactyl) crashing into the glass is freakin' awesome.

I complain about spike like crazy, so that callout was FUCKING HILARIOUS!

I think it's more the way people voice critical opinions, and this applies everywhere in life.

Nope.

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I was simply pointing out that Stern has gone from 2d cut-out animations to fully rendered 3d animations. IMDN still has some of that crap in it. I didn't say anything about the game itself or the art on the game, although I do dislike them both tremendously, now that you mention it.

Gameplay looks crazy good. The only translite that I remotely enjoy is the LE. Don't really like the fan-like dino on the pro, and the big raptor on the Prem kinda bugs me. LE looks good though. I'm probably out, but if gameplay is awesome, I'll have to get a prem and swap out the trans.

Agreed. Pinside is a premium site. Thanks Robin!@

I'd like to know more about this as well. From what I've read, there are chips on them that have proprietary data that has not been released. If they go bad, you gotta pay. Plus most of the boards cannot be repaired by hand. This means no repairs and no after market boards. It is a legitimate, long-term concern.

If you have one I suppose. Logic would support that repairs won't happen at all, like my post clearly states.

I'm getting it from pinside, in threads like the one posted above. I also own imdn and can physically look at the boards. I've done alot of board repair, and these are not repairable by most who could repair Sam games. Watch the Aussie guy bitch about it on YouTube if you want to hear it from an experienced router.

I'm not trying to bash Stern or be aggressive about node boards. A guy asked if they are a potential issue, and the jury is out on it. I own a spike game, and I'm not excited about boards I can't repair. The proprietary data makes the repair discussion moot anyway.

My question to you is, do you really believe the boards are going to last forever and that Sterns unwritten warranty is infinite?

True, but I was responding to a guy that was inquiring about the system, not complaining about my machine. I will likely only own one spike, but who knows. I am excited with Stern lately, but I still question the viability and cost of spike.

My imdnLE has the crap brackets. I paid 12.5k CAD for that machine....