David Lee Roth-era Van Halen.

I see what you did there.

The world needs another rock n roll pin featuring the band as they look now. Old and wrinkly. Because we don't have enough of those.

Actually, my vote would be for Pink Floyd. You could focus on the imagery of The Wall alone and create a great theme without ever having to feature the band itself. I have my suspicions that Roger Waters would probably never agree to it though.

Are you saying you prefer a playfield to have pictures of (for example) The Rolling Stones in their 70s as opposed to in their prime? Maybe The Beatles pin should have had two skeletons standing next to old Ringo and Paul? Look at AC/DC. Those old farts dancing on the playfield and backglass are the best they could do? At least with Pink Floyd they have more interesting imagery to choose from besides a hooker in a devil costume. Better music in my opinion too, and it has absolutely nothing to do with drugs.

I don't know what it has to do with my Pink Floyd selection or my critique of using geriatric imagery on a pinball machine to represent a band, but "Today's bands" aren't the "alternative crap" you mentioned, old man. That genre (or more like a marketing term for just an evolution of Rock and Roll) was popular in the early to mid 90s. Almost 30 years ago. 30 years before THAT, The Beatles were just forming as a band. You sound like you're ranting at the MTV generation decades after they moved back to the suburbs to raise grandkids of their own.

Also, just throwing it out there, but Pearl Jam are still touring and selling out stadiums 29 years into their career.

Pinball has "died" at least 3-4 times in my lifetime. Some of you are just extremely negative people. Don't let your own fear of your creeping mortality translate to your outlook on everything else.

This weekend alone I've had the experience of seeing smaller children play or watch pinball for the first time in their lives. They were absolutely fascinated with the game. It was something that their iPhones and video games can never provide. Things work in circles: the TV generation abandoned pinball for simple video games because it allowed them to finally control televisions. Skip ahead several generations and those things are so commonplace that now young people are craving things that are real. Barcades are a huge part of the resurgence in pinball, and they aren't filled primarily with 50+ men in faded AC/DC shirts complaining about everything under the sun.

They would not. And judging by how barren BK:SOR is, I would imagine that without JJP, the games probably wouldn't have pop bumpers either at this point. There also would be maybe one flipper, because two flippers is cost-prohibitive.

JJP saved the 2nd flipper.

I see mild sarcasm and softball humor still sails RIGHT over the thick heads of some of you. What is it about Ontario that seems to make people so dry and reactionary?

So Stern should not be criticized just because they kept Pinball alive? My comment was related to how competition makes Stern up their game. We've seen basic features like subways, physical ball locks, sculpts (instead of vinyl cutouts), and other basic features get culled one by one and no one says "Boo" because almighty Stern is the only game in town. That's not practicality, it's Stockholm Syndrome.

I don't hate Stern, but I find a lot of their machines to be just as clunky-feeling as the Data East/ Sega titles that they made before the name change, and those games at least had more mechs in them. I am glad for the competition and I hope it creates better games for Stern fans. The LCD screens are a prime example of how this has already happened. And for the record, I'm a Bally/Williams fanboy, not a JJP fanboy.

And it is not BS to state a preference.

PREDICTION: Stern's next game will be BAFFLE BALL 3000

It will have no features. Just a ball and a playfield. Skid Row will do the soundtrack.

Steve Ritchie will design it.

Hazoff will declare it the greatest pinball of all time.

You honestly thought "JJP saved the 2nd flipper" was me being serious? And no one said anything about bowing down or shit. That's hyperbole.

I'm glad you like your Maiden. That's terrific.

Trust me, you wouldn't want a Stern reboot of TZ...

Friday the 13th. Playfield looking all Crystal Lake. Humor similar to CFTBL, maybe with a Jason rising out of the lake modern "hologram". Jason's mom's head as a bash toy. Animation of Jason doing the sleeping bag kill in the pop bumpers.

Nah, they'd have to break Trudeau out of prison to do this one. It's gonna be a lousy home pin. And a dinosaur one with less features than the DE one.

JJP and American just sold a bunch more machines to impatient people!

I was referring to people on pinside who are desperate to spend money on a new pin who were hoping Stern was gonna deliver something actually good.

I thought he said “in the next 2-3 weeks”?