(Topic ID: 137852)

It's Official! Next Stern is Game Of Thrones

By flashinstinct

8 years ago


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#834 8 years ago
Quoted from beatmaster:

if the pro had all the features it would be a real pro like we used to have.
remember TSPP, LOTR... oh wait, they made the le version with brass trims but gameplay was the same.

Lotr Le added a shaker.

Ironically tho Lotr is an example where earlier runs were better than later runs due to the figurine cuts.

#835 8 years ago
Quoted from beatmaster:

rob i got no problems with what you are saying.
i think the le is a good thing for those who wants the extra bling.
the premium we see today is what the pro used to be, like i said in the post above, tspp and lotr was a fine example.
i think on any version the gameplay shouldn't change.
or let say i like the art package on the pro better, can't stand the color of the le/premium.

Then start your own pinball company... It's what jack did.

Why is it so hard to accept... Stern tried to acknowledge the operator vs home buyer. Ops were more price sensitive... Home buyers were not... The home buyers wanted loaded games. The le is purely about capitalizing on those willing to pay for the "best" because they can.

We can argue forever about the price points and why they aren't what you want... Or what comes in each game... But the tiers are always the same. Price conscious... Loaded... Bling'd. Pick what you want. And stop whining over the product tiers

Do you guys go into the car dealership and pitch a fit that the option you want isn't available on the SE model of the car and whine why aren't all options just included on the standard model??

#836 8 years ago

If you want another way of looking at it... Compare nba to tspp... That is what you are really getting in the old model. Stern was cutting costs left and right to try to maintain a certain price point to not upset their operators. We were not getting TSPP anymore... Were we getting the shit stripped down era of stern as it struggled to build games within the constraints they set.

So NBA was your "premium" game going forward. It wasn't until JJP disproved sterns way of thinking and the new leadership came in and said established they would build to TWO price points to target the different markets that we got stern aiming up again... And not trying to find as low as they could go and still sell games.

Clearly stern is still selling pros decently... So stop crying over multiple models. Stern wouldn't be selling the ppremium at pro prices... They'd be selling you the next NBA at pro prices

#845 8 years ago
Quoted from EricR:

Of course the question would be whether they would gain more in upgrades from Pro to Pro Plus than what they would lose to those that would have bought Premiums instead? I think if the Pro models are really the bulk of their sales as many suggest then this might be a good option for Stern.

What you are going through here tho is your exercise of establishing your product tiers... something every business does. What feature goes into what tier?

You highlighted it before where you said 'sometimes people just wanted that one thing...' - there is two stories behind that. One, the selfish one.. which is where a customer wants a customized game that suits THEIR tastes and refuses to acknowledge there are more customers than just them... or that they can't have their cake and eat it too. (of course not everyone is this way... but some can't step back and see the world is bigger than themself). The second story is the intentional product upsell. You intentionally put a desirable feature in a higher model to create an upsell opportunity. This is of course marketing.. and you must balance creating the demand without pissing people off.

If we put everything everyone wants in a model... it costs too much. If we don't create enough differentiation between models, they cannibalize each other and we create confusion with the customers. You must have enough separation between models and a reasonable target customer... else your tiers won't be effective and you lose money in building inventory that won't sell.

From a business standpoint, we want to ensure people are buying the highest model we can make them feel comfortable with.. because we want to maximize revenue per transaction, and typically your premium products have higher margins.

In most cases, Stern is doing a reasonable job of differentiating products... but many people gripe because the cheapest product doesn't fit what they want to buy. And there is some merit in that purely from the point that the lowest model is the PRICE point many customers were used too.. so it's not as much about model #1, #2, or #3, but rather what people used to get at a certain price point.

If the price tiers were $3500, $4500, $5500.. I bet we'd be having a very different discussion around Stern's tier'd model. But the friction comes from collectors wanting the feature edition that is moving towards a $7000 price point vs the $4000-$5000 of not too long ago.

#870 8 years ago
Quoted from EricR:

This is all of course true. I just get the feeling that many people are put in a position where they want more than the Pro is offering but aren't comfortable upgrading to the Premium. The ~$1800 difference is about 40% of the Pro price so it is a significant upgrade. I think for some titles offering something in between might be an upgrade more buyers would be comfortable with.
Of course I absolutely agree as mentioned before, that the sales figures would have to support this. If Stern thinks that another model between the Pro and Premium would take away more sales of Premiums than what the upgrades from the Pro would warrant then it absolutely would not make sense. I just have to wonder if it wouldn't be the other way around on some tiltes where the Pros appear to be strong sellers in the home market.

IMO - something better solved with better feature breakdowns instead of another model.

Maybe someday in the future Stern could support 'custom ordered' pins so people could get exactly what they wanted... but we are still in the 'pick from 3' world for the forseeable future.

I personally would like to see more game impacting deltas between versions.. and less 'armor, spinner, light' differences as the basis of the split. The price deltas just aren't supporting the feature gains beetween the tiers IMO on later titles.

#977 8 years ago

let the bashing begin!

That overhead shot of the pro looks vile... that mini PF looks interesting. This one certainly isn't a looker... and of course after all this time, no LCD.

11
#1092 8 years ago

Looks like we got the LCD price point... but they forgot the LCD

#1161 8 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

I'm reminded of the very bad initial impressions Star Trek received after such a long rumored hype faze. And now its a top 10 pin. So... I make no conclusions about anything.

ST got beat on for being so close to STTNG...
GOT is getting beat on for being close to a zizzle...

I think the initial reaction is a bit different

I think we really need more photos... Those overhead shots never do the game any favors.

#1186 8 years ago
Quoted from flashinstinct:

ST got knocked down on color choice in the playfield as well.

which is why I said these overhead shots do not reveal well..

When I see all that yellow.. this is what I think of
image-35.jpgimage-35.jpg

#1378 8 years ago
Quoted from RobT:

I'm really looking forward to reading another 10 pages of post slamming the artwork, with virtually nobody talking about the layouts and shot maps.

So you are saying we can start with the 'its just a basic fan layout' posts??

#1390 8 years ago

So the LE is targarenan.... the premium will be around the Starks (and presumably Jon Snow).

RGB pop bumpers again.. and RGB flood lights now. So I assume we'll see some blue lit winter multiball mode, maybe the red wedding mb, etc

#1408 8 years ago
Quoted from thedefog:

Before anyone poops on the PF art anymore, consider this:
LOTR-pf.jpg
Other than the characters between the slings and Gollum, on the actual PF, nothing. The other elements are what capture the mood/feel of the movie/books.

Wrong... to start off.. we have the background is the map... then you have the shire on the left.. the green/woods for the elves.. the big honking RING in the middle of the pf... and we can go on.

LOTR is one that actually looks quite busy and has that earthy feel to it. What people see in GOT are these enormous white inserts everywhere, oversized shields, and desert tone background that are dominating everything else.

#1414 8 years ago
Quoted from sturner:

"Animated dragon" sounds like it'll just be on the DMD.

I think it means animated by jolting.. aka.. think bouncing from pops, etc.. where as the other dragon actually has articulation.

#1435 8 years ago

They should care about what the price they are selling their games at... that does include the current exchange rates. It's one of many reasons why companies frequently have different pricing in different regions.

Your eyerolling is basically saying Stern shouldn't give a f about what the price of their games is... think about that one again.

#1439 8 years ago
Quoted from T7:

What can "any exporter" do about another countries exchange rate?

Have region specific pricing...

Are you all coming out from under a rock and have never seen global pricing before?? Global companies don't operate on 'we sell in USD.. and don't pay any attention what happens overseas'. That's what companies that don't address their market do... for a business that used to rely almost 50% on overseas sales... we can be sure Stern doesn't live under a rock like apparently some people do.

#1467 8 years ago
Quoted from Code_Blue:

I honestly thought it was a no-brainer that "The Wall" would be featured prominently in the pinball. Why the hell is there some generic castle taking up space???

Well.. the game centers around houses.. of which each has dominate castles. And the The Wall is centered around Castle Black in the series.. and the dragons are caged up in castle keeps... so.. yeah..?

#1495 8 years ago
Quoted from Code_Blue:

None of the houses have traditional castles that are featured in the show. Hell, we've never even been to the Lannister's home city, least of all their castle.

Uhhmm... I think you need to watch a bit closer. The show and books spend an enormous amount of time on the house's castles.. The Starks (Winterfell), Arryn(the vale), Targaryans (Dragonstone), Dorne (Dragonspear), Tully(Riverrun), Freys(The Twins)... then we have the royal seat at the Red Keep, etc.

Maybe you think just because you don't see the castle in the distance view you have in your mind they aren't 'featured'... but come on.. Winterfell dude... or at least 'Castle Black'..

#1498 8 years ago
Quoted from DefaultGen:

Where's the mechanical door? Does something happen with the battering ram door that I'm not noticing?
Also, everyone should take a moment to admire how stupid the battering ram on the Pro looks since the door doesn't actually lead to a castle. Noticed that while looking for a door...
doortonowhere.png

clearly you need to view it in the angle intended to have it look better (the triangular stone piece behind it will look like vertical wall surrounding the door).

#1509 8 years ago
Quoted from rai:

90% of the show does *not* take place in the desert.

It does if you are Daenerys Which is why I could see the brown theme going for her part of the story and the LE themed around her... but can't see it working for the Stark premium edition. Maybe the PF will differ...

But like LOTR, I'm sure there is detail in these regions we can't simply see in the photos so far. My grief is with those crazy huge bare inserts sticking out like Duplo pieces.

#1512 8 years ago
Quoted from Code_Blue:

Neither Winterfell nor Castle Black are traditional castles that look anything at all like the one on this playfield.
And I must have missed the pivotal battering ram scene from the show - can someone point it out to me please?

Seriously dude... read a book. Both Winterfell and castle black ARE very much traditional castles... Maybe you think a castle looks like Medival Madness's castle? The castle in the PF looks more like what one might think you'd see in Kings Landing.. or even meereen.

As for ram scenes... yes, you've missed it.

#1668 8 years ago
Quoted from Captain_Kirk:

I'm interested in these new quiet flippers. Wonder if they can be bought and added to existing games or not.

It's referring to the parallel wound flippers that all spike games will use. You can't just swap them as they are driven different. This is just stern changing to the hi/lo coils Williams and others used previously

#1670 8 years ago
Quoted from jints56:

So the lockdown bars are the same across all models now? Does this mean pegs instead of service rails for all models too?

No - matrix shows perm/le get sliders

#1685 8 years ago
Quoted from T-800:

Just read the fine print on the matrix - anyone else catch the new flipper concept with no buzz? No buzz would be great. New flipper concept not so sure of...

its simply marketing for dual wound coils as Spike uses now.. vs the pulsed single wound coil sam/whitestar used.

-1
#1786 8 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

History says LE on display but not playable by the masses.

I think that was just Star Trek last time around.. but I believe pros were the first to ship the last few times around yeah? KISS, ST... can't remember with TWD...

-1
#1793 8 years ago
Quoted from Roo:

People keep making comments like this. That may well end up being what it's like, but the fact is we don't know because these images are fake CG mockups (I assume no production prototype is ready). The castle walls in particular look really bad/fake. It probably won't be drastically different, but I'm holding out hope the real version looks a little better.

While obviously there is compositing going on in those images.. (especially the backglass/cabinet stuff) they aren't completely renders. The images of the mini-PF, and overheads are real photos. The castle walls look bad.. because well when you make a box out of acrylic and just print on the inside.. well that's what you get. No depth or texture. That is the game in the flesh...

-1
#1794 8 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

Last year TWD LE was in the factory that vips got to play (like Pinside Robin).

Ah.. like STLE was. So the pattern has been... 'we haven't finished those extra toys on the LE.. they still need work.. so the game isn't on display'. Remember how secretive they were on the starfield, etc.

#1817 8 years ago
Quoted from rai:

anyway, I apologies not having seen the show except 2 seasons and mainly I'm a fan from the books.

This is an area where the show is diverging from the books quite significantly. Now that the show is at the point where meereen is being RULED by this girl along with the Imp.. you can see how the show story puts a lot more emphasis on her vs what you've had in the books. This last season they've diverged from the books in quite significant ways... they've almost been accelerating away from the books the last two seasons.

#1831 8 years ago
Quoted from Iceman5000:

Incorrect, not a single game has been produced. The final white wood, is the only thing that exists at this moment. The first set of prototype Pros should be done next week.

I can't challenge you... but that is some damn impressive rendering if so..

#2037 8 years ago
Quoted from rai:

Did they say all models will have fiddly clips or the normal lockdown mech?.

Clamps are the new black... clamps for all.

#2044 8 years ago

I just want dots showing someone trying to sword fight a ball or chop it

#2361 8 years ago
Quoted from flashinstinct:

I don't think people insist on licensed themes. I just think Stern wants to use those because they are popular (make sense). If they come out with something original VS licensed and it's awesome people will buy it.

Pinside is the poster child of why they do licensed games.. yet pinside doesn't see it.

How many threads and posts do you see about someone being 'in' on a title simply based on the IP involved? Be it stern or JJP or Spooky... people are already ready to put money on the table based on the title alone. That's how much weight the theme carries.. and people will buy a game (like WWE) based on that alone. People are willing to leap, even before everything is known to be awesome. Contrast that with the alternative.. where people want to know its awesome before they leap.

Is it any wonder why businesses find the licenses worth the tradeoffs? People are willing to buy.. where the alternative is 'build it, PROVE IT, and then maybe they'll buy'. Stern wants orders UP FRONT to build forecasts. Licensing doves into this... making games and then proving its good.. don't.

#2362 8 years ago
Quoted from Nemesis:

Because they are fucking clueless over at Stern. Their facebook social media troll tried to convince me that Khol Drago is an integral member of the show, story line and Daenerys Targaryen's character development. Give me a fucking break.

uhh.. he is.. and the Dothratki are not done in the story either. Drogo is essential how how Dani transitions from a scared teenager to a confident queen. Yes he's dead now, and that chapter of her life is behind her, but its role is huge and the Dothraki are right there setting up the next season of the show.

#2372 8 years ago
Quoted from aobrien5:

obvious exaggeration, but either way - he was a very popular figure. Fact is they were very short on Meereen/Daenerys characters to choose from. More surprising than him being there, is the lack of Ned Stark. Obviously they were stuck on 3's and there's a lot more than 3 Stark's to choose from.

Ned was more of a setup character.. more important than Ned is his children obviously. For Dani, having Grey Worm up there is a potential.. or she could have been portrayed as the mother above the freed slaves. I think just the whole 'portrait' design they went for is kind of limiting

#2374 8 years ago
Quoted from flashinstinct:

I don't think people insist on licensed themes. I just think Stern wants to use those because they are popular (make sense). If they come out with something original VS licensed and it's awesome people will buy it.

Pinside is the poster child of why they do licensed games.. yet pinside doesn't see it.

How many threads and posts do you see about someone being 'in' on a title simply based on the IP involved? Be it stern or JJP or Spooky... people are already ready to put money on the table based on the title alone. That's how much weight the theme carries.. and people will buy a game (like WWE) based on that alone. People are willing to leap, even before everything is known to be awesome. Contrast that with the alternative.. where people want to know its awesome before they leap.

Is it any wonder why businesses find the licenses worth the tradeoffs? People are willing to buy.. where the alternative is 'build it, PROVE IT, and then maybe they'll buy'. Stern wants orders UP FRONT to build forecasts. Licensing doves into this... making games and then proving its good.. don't.

#2559 8 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

But you have to admit Red White and Blue doesnt really fit with the GOT theme.

It works like stage lighting... you don't see the actual lights. What matters is what effect it gives the stage (the PF) - not what the source color is alone. Really, there is ZERO reason to care about those backbox lights... care about how they work in unison with the rest of the game's layout and colors when assembled as a whole.

#2563 8 years ago
Quoted from PinballConspiracy:

Ooph..almost forgot about Ramsey
..
He freaks me out
"WREAK!"

FYI.. its REEK. Like 'it reeks of rotten food in here'

Reek was a friend of Ramsay, and Ramsay escaped the Starks' Bannermen by pretending to be Reek (a foul kept person that no one would want to get close to inspect or clean up..). When Ramsay captures Theon.. he tortures Theon and tries to meld him into a new Reek to be his subservient follower. Ramsay's early story when Rob and the Stark bannermen rise in the North is not covered in the show.

#2586 8 years ago
Quoted from guyincognito:

I'm surprised they didn't add the HBO logo prominently, like they did with AMC's The Walking Dead.

well that might be because it's HBO and not AMC Why would Stern want that.. clearly AMC's branding called for that. Look at the Sopranos for an example of licensing with HBO.. much more typical branding.

#2623 8 years ago
Quoted from paul_8788:

Because they don't have it ready yet? Most manufacturers announce a product and then take years to show anything, it has only been four work days since Stern announced GoT.

Except Stern didn't need to show GoT to raise money like the other companies you infer... It's unlike Stern from the recent history to show games that don't have a single model near production ready.

#2624 8 years ago
Quoted from benheck:

Cab art never gets seen in a collection, and backglass can be changed.

So does that mean you can buy a 'I don't care about Stern's choices model...' for a cheaper price? Instead you get the luxury of paying a premium for something you don't want, and having to buy the replacement as well. No this isn't fatal, but it sure sux from a pricing point of view.

-3
#2629 8 years ago
Quoted from paul_8788:

I think you are inferring meaning from my post that was not intended. All I am saying is:
There are no pictures yet. Most likely reason there are no pictures yet is because Stern doesn't have a machine ready for pictures yet. It has only been four days since it was first announced. Given how long it takes other companies to show anything, perhaps only waiting four days is a bit impatient.

So given your assumption... why should Stern make announcements for games it doesn't have ready? Stern had built up quite a reputation of late for their efficiency in having games production ready and actually shipping games. Given the competition's struggles.. this is a huge experience feather Stern should be wearing proud.

Giving them a pass based on other people's struggles doesn't change how this failure impacts Stern. It also makes you ask 'why now?' - it's not like HBO is needing to advertise the show yet.. the only thing I can understand is the claim that the Pros are starting to ship. So that means the factory is ready and needs to be fed.. the business is waiting to be fed with sales... but the game development itself is way behind. Not showing the premium could be because of the desire to let the LEs sell..

It just shows Stern is cornered here to do the launch.. yet the game isn't ready. what other companies do really has no relevancy here. We are comparing Stern to Stern...

#2878 8 years ago
Quoted from jwilson:

It's like Kaneda *wants* people to hate him.

Attention whores gotta eat too...

#3387 8 years ago
Quoted from RobT:

You didn't limit your stupid statement to Fiat.

So you'd like to include Alfa in there too? Not exactly helping your cause

Italians are known for passion driven vehicles... not 'great' all around vehicles. The fickle, temperamental nature of the extreme aspects they stuff into a Ferrari is often just what comes with the territory. They are amazing cars - but not without their major flaws.

-2
#3401 8 years ago
Quoted from RobT:

WTF are you blabbering about? Alfa has made some of the greatest cars in history.

Great looking... not great cars. Like many of the small british cars of the 60s and 70s... cars we love because we chose to ignore their disastrous flaws.

Lambos are known for their absurdity.. not their actual greatness as super cars. Massearti? When was the last car they made that was notable as anything beyond a 'cheaper ferrari'

Besides.. they are all owned by Fiat these days anyways. Their reputation as fickle, ridiculously expensive, and lack of reliability is just as well known as their reputation for style. The Ferrari dealership is just around the corner from me.. and I know both owners and mechanics. They are trophies that need a whole new level of tolerance.

#3467 8 years ago
Quoted from playernumber4:

No aero at those speeds....stupid driver is the problem.

nothing about aero... any RWD will spin out when you accelerate BEFORE the apex of the turn. Nothing but a stupid driver in that video... he turns in.. and gets back on the gas hard before he's even hit the sharpest part of his turn. He would have crashed a Miata with that kind of stupid move.

#3473 8 years ago
Quoted from DaveH:

Serious question... Does Pinball Browser work on SPIKE games?

Not yet.. but it's in development and coming.

#3826 8 years ago
Quoted from chuckwurt:

Oh so distributors have decided to raise their prices? Gotcha.
Also, is it cheaper to pay in full cash and pickup myself?

the comparison you want is what people are paying for KISS - those are the same prices.

If paying cash, I'm sure the distributor will take notice... 'pickup' unless you mean from Stern's factory will still include some freight charges as it ships from Stern to somewhere. I don't think they allow factory pickup? The distributors normally drop ship from Stern to you... or get several games together to ship to them.. and then you might pay for shipping or setup from your distributor to you.

10
#4026 8 years ago
Quoted from Baiter:

I like the "laser red" rails with the Premium theme better than the blue rails on the LE, which is another of Stern's blue-on-blue-on-blue color schemes. Add Aurich's translite to the Premium and the only aesthetic difference left is the laser cut EL rails.

STPremium looks like just another pin in the lineup.. STLE looks like it should be standing in the middle of the room with everyone gawking at it. It can't be discounted just how visually stunning that game is in person.

#4028 8 years ago

BTW.. the stream is back now...

#4341 8 years ago
Quoted from Aurich:

Because let's be honest, this wasn't how it was going to be originally, they changed things because we spoke up. There's no way that they just randomly decided to change the gradient in the middle of the playfield on a whim.

Why do you think this? The LE being Daenerys and the Premium being Jon Snow was clear from the start... The LE is the desert tones... The Premium the darker tones of the north.

Why couldn't it just be the brighter background of the center shield on the LE design didn't work on the darker premium overall scheme?

#4350 8 years ago
Quoted from PanzerFreak:

The premium looks really nice! The blue on the playfield and different cabinet artwork look 10x better then the LE in my opinion.
My only complaint is the large picture of the ice king on the back glass...Seriously why does that character take up that much room when he's been in what one episode?

You are aware that the impending winter invasion is pretty much the backbone of the story right? The whole 'who is king' fights between the 5 kings was just the warm up for the real discoveries and pending doom in the books. How will the mortals stand against the horde from beyond the wall?

#4372 8 years ago
Quoted from Aurich:

Who knows, we can only guess. Stern isn't going to ever say, so we'll never know for sure. It's what I think, I could be wrong. Doesn't really matter in the end, the game looks like what it looks like. I think the Premium is an improvement, and I'm staying positive by stating that.

Yet the first two pages of the thread since the photos were posted were loaded with everyone claiming the differences are due to Pinside complaints... or how Stern went back and fixed things.. instead of having to face the reality of 'it could have been planned this way from the start'. We can't say it is or is not... but that doesn't stop pinside from claiming to be the reason for the design with nothing but coincidence to support that theory.

But we even got a throw in how wheresthecode strikes again...

#4469 8 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

The Pro and Prem/LE are so drastically different that it would be silly to purchase a prem based off seeing/playing just the PRO.
If I cant play the Prem/LE then I am not sure where I could play one in the future.
I really cant come up with any good reason for them not to have both a pro and le for free play at expo.

How has the community lived through this tragedy in the past? Just think of all those releases through the years that didn't happen right before expo... oh the humanity.

Distributors... find one.

#4492 8 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

I am talking about smart business for Stern... not the community.
There is no good business reason for Stern not to have a prem/LE for potential customers to play at the largest and local pinball show in the world which is also timed perfectly for this release.

There are probably thousands of reasons... all stemming from the point that a product doesn't magically appear when you snap your fingers.

Maybe Stern recognizes it's not worth compromising lots of other things to make this hard deadline... decisions that are larger than a single moment in time. Stern knows they will have lots of other marketing opportunities.

Expo ain't the largest show - just the most established.

Maybe people should recognize the business is larger than just ensuring Hilton can see the game he might consider buying... and Hilton will have lots of other opportunities... just like he does with every other title the company has produced.

#4509 8 years ago
Quoted from Deaconblooze:

Well, that's the thing... why only show the machine that was released right before expo? Until recently (just last year?), that's how it was done. They should have any machine that's available for purchase there at the show (and at most shows, but especially Expo).

This is why Stern has distributors... They are the ones there to make games available for purchase.. and Tilt, Cointaker, Marco, etc all fill that need. Stern is there to demo their products and they typically do that hand in hand with their distributors. The whole 'what is the latest game' mix-in with Expo is tied to the legacy that the Expo Tournament traditionally was ran on the new title launched just before expo.

Quoted from Deaconblooze:

As a business though, why wouldn't you want your machines available to prospective buyers at the biggest show of the year? You spend all that time developing it, the marquee show for your industry is within a short drive, and you decide not to bring your large ticket luxury items to show to your target market?

Clearly Stern (and the companies before them) have set their product schedules around Expo as a major launch in the past. But it's not the end-all-be-all. Some things will ultimately take precedence over having the game available at a certain date.

Imagine if Stern said "there will only be a Pro edition of the game" -- that's the kind of thinking you are driving here.. that the release date is more important than everything else in the business so unless its ready at this target date.. screw it. Stern will have GOT Pro there.. and the other editions aren't ready yet. They are probably just behind schedule... for reasons we don't have confirmation of.

#4511 8 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

Lots of people will be at expo and looking to buy their next game after they play it. Stern is missing a huge opportuntiy.

Well duh... but you're basically saying "Stern is missing out by missing this marketing opportunity". Duh... the same as every other product that misses it's target ship date.

But you raise this as some dealbreaker... like GOT is going to suffer some new special pain. More games are launched somewhere that is NOT Expo than games that are launched at Expo... so I'm pretty sure GOT and it's potential buyers will somehow manage to carry on.

You're making a mountain out of a mole hill. Is it a miss they can't have the games on the floor? Yes... will it cripple GOT? No.

#4521 8 years ago
Quoted from Deaconblooze:

I know what you're saying, and that's who they've relied on in the past.. but this is largely an industry show

No, it's a community event that due to its proximity has a greater participation from industry people than most other shows. It's the 'grand daddy'. If you want 'industry show' you're thinking shows like AMOA, etc. Stern does take their personnel and games to shows.. but even at industry shows they tend to be cheap and partner with someone to share booth space.

At ReplayFX, Stern's distributor Cointaker had a full line of Kiss, WoahN, and WWE games. Just like JJP's distributor Pinstar had WoZ and Hobbit.

What would a Stern booth have that a booth by Cointaker not have? Stern works with their distributors to ensure they have the goods to promote Stern at the show. Just like Stern works with the Expo organizers to ensure they have the games for the tournament, etc.

Stern has plenty of presence at the show.. that's a non-issue. The beef people have here is the new product isn't ready yet. Disappointment.. yes. End of world? No. Worth crippling the product or business to make happen?? No.

Quoted from Deaconblooze:

I'm really not. I'm not even necessarily talking about GOT Premium, specifically (though yes, I'd like the opportunity to play it there). I don't think it make sense to only show your most recent model, even though you have others still available for sale

As the market has gotten healthier, and standing inventory is more common... you've seen more and more titles shown concurrently. With inventory available, more models are being shown concurrently. But balancing that is the unavoidable issue that 'floor models' are big hits on companies. Having 'demo inventory' that is expensive, and expensive to move is EXTREMELY expensive to the company. They want those pieces sold.. not sitting there losing value day after day as free-play machines.

Remember not too long ago.. there was very little inventory in the channel.. and it was a struggle to move what you had.

This isn't a car dealer where the scales and overhead are worlds different.

#4530 8 years ago
Quoted from Deaconblooze:

^ this is what I'm looking for. I don't care who brings the machines (Stern, CT, Marco), but there should be a presence at the shows. And yes, STERN, JJP, whoever, should be working with their distributors (if that's the route they choose) to make sure their available models are represented. The tournament is fine, but I don't think that's how the majority of people are going to want to demo a machine.

I think this dialogue can be summed up as.. don't paint the rest of the world based on what you see at Expo Expo is it's own beast.

I think at Expo there was motivation in the past as well to keep the 'new game' in the tournament only where people had to pay to play and pump the pot...

Quoted from Deaconblooze:

I don't think they'd have much issue selling floor models. I would imagine there would be several people that would take the opportunity to get a machine with 2k plays on it to save some cash.

It all depends on the price You gotta price it to move.. and you're competing against a brand new NIB which so many people value now, etc.

#4806 8 years ago
Quoted from PanzerFreak:

Can't say from where obviously but I've heard $6500-$6600 shipped. Is that more then say TWD Premium? I thought the average TWD premium shipped quote I got was $6100 but I think it was $6300 now that I think about it.

Gotta be way more than that... the last run price increase for AC/DC was more than 6100.. like 6300. And that was before the last round of price increases.

#5122 8 years ago
Quoted from Aurich:

Jody confirmed that's the case on Coast2Coast Pinball. Listen here, it's at the end:
http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/episode-200_60351
It's worth listening to if you're curious. I thought Jody did a good job explaining things.
I believe though that Mustang Premium had a unique playfield, it was the Boss edition right

Also consider the source... The head of marketing/PR. The head of spin. Be careful of just how much you take in blindly.

What better way to deal with a huge backlash of negativity than to say "you are right" and throwing you a bone. You can take something happening and spin it into even more positive energy for you by just how you present it, describe it etc.

Never mind nate's show notes setting up the tee for Jody who amazingly was ready without hesitation to answer to that point. Amazing.....

4 weeks later
#5638 8 years ago
Quoted from Aurich:

I love being married with kids. I mean, to each their own, but it's the opposite of a burden for me.
Hasn't stopped me from owning a bunch of games and working on mods, and hell, working on Alien for that matter.

How old are your kids? When they start sucking 20, 30,40k a year out of your budget for their activities and weekends are dominated by getting them to all their activities the balance changes a lot

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