Boerne, TX
No LCD for this game. What a shame.
Love the theme, Ritchie, etc. Plus it sounds like its not the usual Ritchie cookie cutter fan layout.
Stern is rocking! 
(Topic ID: 137852)
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Game of Thrones (LE)
Stern, 2015-
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Stern, 2015
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Game Of Thrones (Pro)
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Quoted from benheck:All I know is we'd better up the boob count on Rob Zombie game to compete with this.
Negative. GOT can't compete with Rob Zombie for my $$$ 
That said, boob count and nips are always appreciated.
Quoted from pezpunk:not from me.
Doesn't surprise me that you aren't a Nascar fan Pez? 
Quoted from Wamprat:In Australia atm........
8k for a pro
10k for a prem
12k for a le
Probably another price rise around the corner too.
That's nasty.
Not sure what the solution is but I wouldn't sign up for any of the above no matter how good it was. 10k for a premium, WTF.
Quoted from centerflank:I see great opportunity for a smuggling operation across the border to our Northern friends.
You can throw a rock from where you are at into Canada Flank. No buyers in Mexico down here.
Hook up a trailer and sneak two dozen or so across! What's not to like?
Quoted from iceman44:You can throw a rock from where you are at into Canada Flank. No buyers in Mexico down here.
Hook up a trailer and sneak two dozen or so across! What's not to like?
On top of that though, Canada is officially in a "recession", whatever that means.
But look at it this way, at least you have "free" health care, so what if pins cost more right? 
Quoted from centerflank:Ive got it all figured out, you exchange your canadian $ into Pesos first, you get a ton of them since Mexico is basically worthless and hit the first bodega you come across, see if they will trade you Yen for it. Next hit the post office and buy Forever stamps. You will now wait a few years for the stamps value to increase, at this point you will transfer all your currency into the Euro dollar. Stop off at the bar and enjoy a beverage for all your hard work, then trade it back into the American dollar and you have just nullified the 30%. Fact.
Throw in a case of 100% agave tequila and it might work?
If GOT.........ISN'T the greatest pin ever with the higher price and Stevo banging out the design on a great theme then....WTF?
I'm expecting it to debut as #1 on the charts. No doubt. Expectations are a bitch.
Stern is showing mercy on JJP by not putting in the LCD yet. 
Quoted from chessiv:I have a 120" screen. My new projector can go higher I just need a bigger screen =)
Can't see it at 120"? Get some glasses 
Quoted from rai:So I got my deposit in, but it's got to be a real convincing argument for me to spend close to $8K for one.
Ditto that.
No LCD and 700 LE's for the "real price" of around 8k, I'm thinking premium after the reviews are out.
I agree, world economy and strong dollar have got to hurt overall sales, no? Didn't Stern used to say 50% of their sales come from international?
Our friends in Canada are looking at 12k? WTF, time to tap out at that point.
700 "LE's"
I think I recall I had deposit on STLE at $7395, I paid $7395 for TWDLE I think and GOTLE is gonna be $7995.
Is the Canadian and overseas markup really that much higher at $12000? How many buyers are there at that price?
Crazy pinball times. Hard to believe we are crazy enough to keep buying $8k plus pinball machines by the thousands. 
We knew no LCD, disappointing, the artwork that we have seen so far sucks, disappointing, but so what in my book.
Did they raise the price again on all three versions? Sorry if I missed it.
Whitewalker premium is only one I'd consider right now because that is my favorite part of the show.
As for the shot map, doesn't look like my cup of tea. Nothing on it looks like it has the wow factor.
As for Ritchie, there are only so many ways the "king of flow" can change it up. At least its something different, yet appearing to be underwhelming.
Maybe it will play great and the code is awesome.
I'll wait 3 months for the next pin thank you
Quoted from kaneda:Thanks for doing this. Hobbit and LOTR capture the look/feel of middle earth. Nothing about GOT reminds me of the show visually. Bummer.
I'm gonna agree with Kaneda here!
Play field could have had a cool artsy map with the different regions.
Yeah so the art doesn't matter to the gameplay but this sucks and looks like a pre expo JJP job of just phoning it in.
Maybe the game play will be great, who knows.
$8200 for a one of 700 LE, I'm not suckered into that for sure.
Maybe a premium, but if you gotta search for things you might like about it it's probably not worth dropping 7-8k on it?
Quoted from flashinstinct:But to try and be positive it does seem like a lot is happening on 2 of there models feature wise.
Shouldn't there be "a lot happening" as prices keep going up, at least on the LE?
I expect a lot to begin with for the $$$ we pay.
I doubt it was HBO's fault, the teaser video looked awesome. Where TF is some of that artwork!
Sorry, but if I'm buying a ferrari that's a blast to drive and kicks ass, I still expect it to look good too, wtf, it's a ferrari, I'm not getting the purple and green paint comb package.
For everybody saying the artwork doesn't matter and you don't play it, I'm sorry but it does to me on a $7800 purchase.
Throw in the $400 topper you have to have like TWD topper Stern sold.
Add a shaker motor for a another $125, gotta have that in GOT for crying out loud
Colorize the DMD? Of course, chalk up another $400, I'm surprised Stern is selling those now.
Add another $200 in mods easily, this will surely be the most modded pin ever.
Now you are at $9000 for the LE and about $7700 for the premium......the artwork matters.
Sorry, but an LCD could have helped overcome a whole lot of the ugliness on display.
Quoted from Eskaybee:One word and one word only LYMAN. He saved that pin and brought the theme back to life as much as he could possible.
I think I'd give Borg a little credit as well for the unique and "bad ass" layout.
Lyman making the theme work and the pin great was a given from day one. That's why I picked one up on day one and I was excited about everything I saw going on with that pin, the potential looked great to me
One thing i like about GOT is it appears to be "different" but unlike TWD, Lyman ain't doing the code on GOT, so it's not a given.
Who knows, GOT may end up playing like a ferrari, but it looks like an old Pacer.
Hope you enjoy your TWD Skb!
Quoted from Wolfmarsh:Again, this is a me & bathrooms problem. Lots of people don't seem to have a problem with it. I won't go to stadium events because the men's room in a stadium during a sports game is honestly my worst nightmare.
How about airports? 
Gotta sneak into the handicapped/children's solo room there. Not as disgusting.
Quoted from Jrnyman:As for the playfield art, it looks no worse than some Bally/Williams favorites of mine when you look at them with no lighting. Reminds me a lot like WH20 playfield art actually. I'm betting there will be blue (and probably white) GI to illuminate "the Wall" on the back of the playfield and make it stand out.
If we ever see a play field that blows me away like WH20, an unlicensed theme that you supposedly can't sell these days, I'll be all over it like stink on shiitake .....
Whitewater is pure awesomeness. The layout of GOT is not, artwork aside. Whatever, I'm waiting to be wow'ed like Whitewater.
And btw, its a gorgeous pin.
Quoted from BoJo:If the LE's don't sell out we likely won't see a premium. However I expect they will sell all 700 to distributors since the Pro is so neutered. Stern is basically forcing people who want a full featured machine to get a LE until the premium is made available.
They did the same thing with TWD, but at least they are acknowledging today that they will sell a premium.
They won't show the artwork because they want to lock in the LE orders.
Quoted from Rick432:Agreed, but it's a little Catch-22ish, isn't it?
Who wants to plonk that kind of coin down without seeing the Premium first, especially when the LE and Premium feature lists are so darned comparable?
Exactly, you wait for the premium, and let 700 other people buy the LE.
The LE is a JOKE by comparison. The artwork has to be 10X better, they are letting the distros book LE sales before its released, just like TWD.
Stern made a decision after the MET LE fiasco that they were going to pocket the "flipper profit".
So they raised the price of the LE and cut back here and there. Why on earth would you buy a 700 qty. GOTLE that will undoubtedly look a whole lot worse and play the exact same? Because you want to blow $1300?
Quoted from mnpinball:As mush as I'm a HUGE Alien fan, it will not have the code that GoT will have. Sorry.
If it doesn't it will be the last Heighway pin I buy. And who says it won't? Dwight?
We shall see, the artwork, theme, LCD, side panels, layout, etc. already blow GOT away, for less $$$.........
Quoted from mnpinball:Rumor is next game
Along with Ghostbusters and an LCD. Make it happen Mnpinball....
Quoted from beelzeboob:I thought the features matrix said mirrored backglass on the LE. Have they been doing mirroring with the cheap translite stuff? Or does that suggest a real backglass?
Here's the reality, my TWDLE "mirrored" whatever is 10x better looking than my Ac/dc or SM sitting in the same room.
It's not even close.
Btw, WH20, RS and Woz are much better as well.
So, if GOT looks like TWD, you'll like it, whatever the heck it is.
Quoted from TigerLaw:You should see how my TWDLE looks next to my XMenLE The XMen smokes it hard, much higher quality and better performing.
Stern has cheapened the translight while raising prices. Its sad but true.
Dang that's disappointing Tiger! Is XMENLE different from what I'm looking at with SM and Ac/dc? They have a "dull" look to them versus TWDLE.
And I'm talking about in a darker environment and with games turned off. WH20 and RS look great too.
Quoted from benheck:Doesn't matter. You're all going to buy it anyway.
Not necessarily, not while we have options like Alien and Rob Zombie.
Plenty of people like myself want to support you guys and a disappointing GOT gets sacrificed in the process.
Quoted from kaneda:Let me clarify my stance.
GOT art sucks.
GOT will shoot amazing and go down as a classic.
Alien should be great, but come on, show us something.
STERN is the only real player in pinball. They have manufacturing down. Everyone else struggles to ship a pin. Fact.
No need to clarify your stance Kaneda, you've said the same thing 100 times, just switching up the verbiage a bit
Even though it's somewhat annoying, I like your enthusiasm.
Quoted from kaneda:Love you Ice! Going to expo?
If I do I'm buying the first round of beers!
After the Metallica LE debacle Stern decided to cut out the "flippers" profit and keep it for themselves. Why not?
Sure they hope that 700 "lemmings" (and I think that's how they view it), keep buying the LE's and they pocket whatever people are willing to pay. See how far they can push the envelope.
The problem with this "model" is that they have a Premium version that costs $1300 less for virtually the same pin. Announce the LE and let the distros lock as many people in as possible and then release the Premium version.
People either have or will begin to wake up to the joke that the "LE" really is. 500 or 700.
I guess there aren't higher taxes, utilities, Obamacare, etc. on the premium version, only the LE
Quoted from kaneda:So let's say today you want to buy a NIB pin to stick it to Stern. What are your options? WOZ (2 years old), Full Throttle (theme most don't care for) and....what? AMH is sold out, no?
We all wish Hobbit could go head to head with GOT so consumers could vote with their wallets. We're all hoping Hobbit starts shipping in October, but that doesn't seem likely.
Why would anybody buy a NIB pin from someone else just to "stick it to Stern"?
Most people have enough patience to wait. At this point now, Hobbit in October, November or December, not life changing. And a lot of people have multiple pins to hold them over.
Why are you so anxious to spend other people's money!
Quoted from HighProtein:Yeah, well, "not planning on" in pinball speak is double speak for "waiting to see if LEs sell out".
So, by your purchasing of the game, you helped the Premium come out. Patience is the key to pinball.
That's why I have the "patience" to wait on GOT premium if its any good. I'll probably pass though and wait patiently for the next latest and greatest Stern pin.
Aside from TWD theme, I'll have plenty of patience in the future. Live and learn.
Quoted from pinballophobe:You mean none of those badass arm chair art playfield pro critics wants to step up and shine to show stern how it's suppose to done. Now that's shocking!!!!!
Why should anybody? Stern knows how it's done. See Metallica.
Quoted from kaneda:I know it's not real, but all you have to do is compare GOT art to this (which only cost JPOP $10,000) and it makes you want to cry about what could have been possible. Even with an License to support, so much was possible.
Let's hope the rumors are true that Zombie Yeti is working on the next Stern artwork, Ghostbusters or whatever it is.
You want to bring more people into the hobby, which it absolutely has to have, they have to keep innovating and evolve.
LCD's, like it or not, will help draw more people in.
Pinball was dying a slow death with the status quo. Stern kept it alive.
Innovate or it will just stay a small group of hobbyists trading and playing old pins.
Quoted from kaneda:This is how you pull people into a them. You see environments from the film. You see the characters from the movie. Wow, this pin has done a 180!
HUGE difference.
Like others that are filling up their game rooms and not buying 2 or 3 pins a year anymore, gotta discriminate and be really picky
Quoted from kaneda:This is how you pull people into a them. You see environments from the film. You see the characters from the movie. Wow, this pin has done a 180!
HUGE difference.
Like others that are filling up their game rooms and not buying 2 or 3 pins a year anymore, gotta discriminate and be really picky going forward
That means GOT is out for me. Ghostbusters with an LCD, next possibility!
Not trying to start a controversy here but is it possible that Lyman would consider joining JJP and teaming up with Keith again?
Interesting comments by Lyman re TWD and per Jack, "Lyman isn't at the new factory office"
JJP has deep pocket capital now.
I'll say this about Stern and the possibility of GOT being a great player with fantastic code, I still can't get over how much fun my TWDLE is and I'm playing the crap out of it and just don't get tired of it!
The picture of the Ferrari's was from the "Ferrari driving experience" in Florence, Italy, I did earlier this year.
It was gorgeous countryside through the wine country but it was freaking too SLOW. Roads were too windy and they didn't let us get out on the autobahn. Slow means up to 130 or so for a brief few seconds and then paddle shift down. 
Quoted from Hazoff:Exactly, IM and Tron and ST really do not have impressive artwork, I mean come on look at AC/DC for christs sake but the gameplay is there and those pins are very well recieved.
How much did they cost? It's about the $$$. For what they want today at $7900 for an LE it better look a whole lot F ing better than it does and be a whole lot better integrated into the theme than it does for me to buy it.
F that, not buying at that price anyhow for what Stern sells as an "LE" these days, TWDLE was the finale.
Quoted from Plungemaster:I dont understand that.
I don't understand a lot of shit on a daily basis.
Has anybody played GOT yet? Any version? Does price matter? WTF
There is no right or wrong answer here. Everybody has their own standards and expectations.
As many others have said, the expectation bar gets raised higher as the price keeps going up. Some people don't care.
Plus the fact that when you already have 10 pins to play or multiples in most cases, you can afford to be patient, discriminate and wait for the next one to come out.
Play it first and let the code develop is usually a good general rule to follow anyhow
Quoted from swinks:good points but I wonder what would happen if more and more people start to hang back for better code before buying could cause another issue, as in the past games that are not so popular don't tend to get updated code and therefore not reach their potential.
I'll support a pin like TWD up front because I love the theme and it was Borg and Lyman. I liked the look of the layout and as always, Lyman crushed it.
Not saying other programmers can't get it done but we KNOW Lyman will no matter what. When the day comes that he drops the ball, and I think he has too much pride to allow that to happen, then I'll have to go with option B.
Option B is Keith.
Bringing a layout and theme to life is crucial, and those two guys are the best at it. I guess it's a bet on the jockey.
They keep raising price after the METLE debacle to cut out the "flipper profit"
IMHO that profit doesn't exist anymore and we have gotten much smarter with respect to the LE money grab.
Many more options today. Choose wisely.
Quoted from PanzerFreak:Looks like Stern raised their prices substantially after Transformers which is right around when WOZ preorders started. Stern then and still is charging JJP prices...but is forgetting to include the same level of features, audio + code level support and tech features.
Because people have kept paying it.
Quoted from Wolfmarsh:I wear t-shirts and shorts to work every day. I'm wearing the sandlot "You're killing me smalls" t-shirt today.
You are my new hero Wolfie!
I thought the Live Stream was GREAT! What more do you want? WTF
Clearly they aren't releasing the Premium artwork until they give ample time to sell the LE's. Surprise?
All that said, I won't buy the Pro, it was "underwhelming" to me. I have enough SR "flow" pins.
The code seems much farther along. Tanio enters the stream and had been "working all weekend" to get it to that point. Didn't know he was "the guy".
I'm interested in the premium only. We'll see. Great stuff.
Quoted from Aurich:Now they take the game that we've all been talking about and are curious (good or bad, it's generated comments) and stream a live session. Not one little game, but a whole bunch of them, taking comments in real time.
I really enjoyed the whole unscripted unveiling. And I LMAO at some of the live streaming comments. Some brutal and many very complimentary.
You gotta at least give Jody credit for taking all the incoming on the FB ban comments. They put themselves out there.
At least Stern is trying! Even though Steve had to text his wife and tell her where the F he was at during the stream.
It's Pinball, and it's a WHOLE lot better than before.
Quoted from Trekkie1978:When they stream the LE, let Lyman play it, while Steve talks about it. Jody should go on a Starbucks run for everyone.
On TWD, sure, I don't care about seeing Lyman play a pin he has nothing to do with. Poor Jody, forget the Starbucks run, he needed to make the BEER run.
Quoted from Grinder901:And don't get me wrong, when we are being dicks and asshole so (not saying I think you are Rob) I have no problem some one calling someone out on it.
It's because they already know people like RobT and myself are in the "dicks and assholes" category so its just standard operating procedure here. We mean well though.
QB is a good dude.
Quoted from RobT:I hope that is not accurate. No way am I going to pay $500.00 more than I did for TWD Premium.
Don't forget the $400 topper, shaker, Stern castle mod, etc.
Maybe its the Steve Ritchie per pin bonus he negotiated in his last contract, it did take 2 years after all?
Quoted from XXVII:Of course he doesn't have to provide any evidence of his own, nor does he owe it to the Internet to provide it, but that doesn't mean the Internet isn't allowed to dispute his claim. I disputed it; based on his merits, I made an extraordinary claim, so I was compelled to provide evidence to support that claim, which I did. Get it?
Quoted from winteriscoming:Why pay for something if it's not what you were expecting? I'm not trolling here. I'm genuinely curious why the mentality exists that you're still willing to pay for something that's not meeting your expectations. Why would Stern ever put effort into meeting expectations if people still buy?
It's gonna take JJP, Heighway and Spooky to gain traction and provide more options that do meet expectations.
For example, I'm anxious to see what the Alien reveal looks like at Expo.
TWDLE exceeded my expectations except for the lack of an LCD.
Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:I would have bought TWD too, but they borked the theme IMO and I don't love the gameplay enough to overlook that.
TWD is awesome, no "Bork" about it! Everything about it except the DMD and crossbow, and Lyman is talking about the lack of actor callouts. They are in there now thanks to Cleland and Millhouse.
Best gameplay of any Stern pin imo. Why? Because its all I've played for the last year, never gets old.
GOT, remains to be seen. I've actually had fairly good luck with Stern on QC so far (knock on wood).
Quoted from Eskaybee:The crossbow and bg ramp are NOT worth the upgrade but the added elements of rules and strategy with walker bombs is next level. Both are great versions in my opinion.
Crossbow I agree, maybe Lyman can pull that one out of the crapper too with the next update. You can't even make the right loop shot from the bow, how are you supposed to complete all the shots?
However, I think BG is great with the light mod, I love to bash her!
Premium is well worth it imho
Quoted from The_Dude_Abides:Yeah I think once they move this amount up on Premiums Stern will notice a drop in demand. At $6500 they have a full featured pin at a cheaper price point than competitors. IMO this is what will keep Stern ahead of the rest. If they raise it much from here the making it at a more appealing price point advantage disappears and it will become a real competition.
I think that's right on. $6500 is the sweet spot for the premium.
The LE at $7800 for GOT has already jumped the shark. That model is on its way out at those prices imho
Quoted from pmWolf:Tried to talk him out of it, but he's decided to take a break.
Pete
Yeah it can be good to give yourself a break. Lord knows I needed one after the Jpop blowout. Things and emotions got way out of control for me, partly because i got tied up with trying to help him and all of that frustration. Oh well, life goes on.
Go play some Walking Dead Rob and come back with a pic of beating Last Man Standing!
Quoted from pmWolf:Someone who loves drama more than pinball, I assume.
Pete
Pinball IS drama Pete, its partly why we love it! The passion of it all.
The huge takeaway from this is the fact that Stern is listening to the community and that is a GREAT sign.
With the new Spike system they are in a position to blow us away with great stuff in the future.
When the LCD comes, with I'm sure awesome future artwork, etc., I'm gonna be anxious to see what Expo really has to offer.
The one thing that is a guarantee, Stern can deliver and if they keep getting better and adding more and more, watch out!
TWD is the best pin ever for me, imho.
The only negative is having to look at that crappy DMD and the 80's technology dots, but that's changing soon enough hopefully!!!
Quoted from TigerLaw:No, he isn't overstating it. You've earned the respect you have here in the art department and in the mod department. Everyone takes your opinion seriously.
Yes Aurich! And for the record, there is no pressure on you with Alien artwork! 
Quoted from QuarterGrabber:Yeah but you buy every LE, even WWE LE
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