Quoted from HOOKED:

I believe this one was known about since Expo when JJP asked SR how it was coming along.
Biggest surprise to me about Kiss and GoT is the time it took to hit the market and the lack of the LCD screen on Kiss.
Odd that WWE was the first to use the LCD and Kiss was skipped.

Quoted from beelzeboob:

PS - Sorry it took so long to respond to that post. But I'm in Canada. Need I say more? I'm too busy trying not to be eaten by grizzlies to post...

Quoted from QuarterGrabber:

Anyone else notice that the LE has three extra game feature inserts on the main Playfield that are just covered by weird shadows on the Pro?
image.jpg

Quoted from LyonsRonnie1:

My favorite part so far is how everybody's panties are in such a wad, they found that the archers were an exact copy, and threw that up as proof that this was just phoned in.
Later when it was explained to them that it's actually pretty cool; the same guy drew both, and it's a tip of the hat to a great machine from 20 years ago.... they find a way to twist that around and make that bad too
Haters gonna hate!
Keep it up guys, it's only been 24 hours, if you really try you can probably work yourself into an even BIGGER frenzy before you finally call your Distributor and order it!
This will probably be the first game people buy, and won't admit that they bought
Fat Chicks and Mopeds, am I right????

Quoted from DaveH:

The only downfall in that argument is that they now need to sell 50 more games to make up for the 5000 dollars I won't be sending them.
You can always make the argument that cutting $1 off of 1000 machines saves like... a thousand bucks. But we are talking $5000 machines. Removing and cost cutting in some areas doesn't have that much impact. I don't like the peg legs on my games when I work on them, but it isn't a catastrophe. And I have to admit I don't mind the snap latch lockdown bar (less "fitting" issues with it). But then snip off an entire playfield? Something that will probably be integral to the game like that? Remove the actual throne in game of F-ing thrones? There is a point of diminishing returns.
It has everything to do with steering people to the premium and the higher profit margin associated with that.

Quoted from Marty_Graw77:

Yes! Because the pro DOES NOT feature the same quality that JJP, Heighway, Spooky, etc are at a $7500 +/- price point! The argument can be made that the current PRE/LE models don't compare at the $7500 +/- price point either!

Quoted from PinballConspiracy:

Wow..crazy

Screenshot_2015-09-11-10-17-45.png

Quoted from XXVII:

After I got out of work, I took a quick stab at what would have made me excited for the GoT cabinet. Obviously it's not going to appeal to everyone, and I'm sure lots of people are going to prefer Stern's effort compared to mine, but according to Stern's Facebook rep they spent months nailing down their look whereas I gave myself a handful of hours. And everyone's tastes are different of course. Not everyone wants a black cabinet, but I've owned TZ, TAF, HS2, RFM, and SC, and I'm a little fond of them. It won't offend me if you don't like it.
I'm going to try the playfield next, but I can't promise to finish that. Huge project.
cab.jpg
For the translite, I imagine it having a mirrored backing, so where you see the flourishes around the logo, and the logo itself, would be reflective. The character montage is missing some key players, like a Baratheon, a Tyrell, etc. I just took what I could quickly find on Google that fit the brooding look I wanted. I don't think there's anything wrong with having a montage of characters on backglasses as long as they are well composited and interesting looking. Like I said in another post, the way the actual translite is setup reminds me of a medieval group photo shoot at a Sears.
The gold T-molding is replaced with mirrored T-molding. Instead of another character montage on the side of the cabinet, I just went with the house motto and sigil. I imagine the opposite side would be House Lannister since the LE model is Targaryen themed. Kept the front of the cab simple. Instead of two random characters, I just have the logo and some flourishes.

Quoted from locdb:

Alright... I'm over the terrible artwork. I'd like to see more complaining about the playfield being stripped down on the Pro. That's my biggest disappointment with this game since I could've been a NIB Pro owner and no longer will be. I think it's a more important thing to complain about. I'd rather Stern release the same playfield on a Pro and Premium/LE with bad artwork on them than see good artwork and 2 different playfields, which are really 2 different games.

Quoted from frolic:

I don't know if you can even compare those numbers since the Hobbit price is the going rate and more of a floor price, where as the Stern MSRP can be had for $1k less. So it would be more fair to compare actual street prices.

Quoted from Iceman5000:

Except average selling price from distros was about $7200 shippped for STLE. Average price for GOTLE shipped is $7900.

Quoted from beatmaster:

this is in usd? gotta be.

Quoted from Iceman5000:

By calling distro's. Most will give you a shipped price.

Quoted from Nevus:

I agrees it's a lot of what you said. I'm a huge Steve Ritchie fanboy, I totally admit it. I don't own many of his games due to theme because theme is a big deal to me for games I'm going to purchase. I'm not going to put GoT the art on Steve. I know that many of you disagree. Art aside, the LE/Premium game looks totally awesome to play. I'm not as excited about the pro, but I want to see it in person. I will definitely own one of these games. Temporarily, I went from a policy of play it and buy it to "Shut up and take my money!!!!!". I got caught up in the hype. Now I'm back to somewhere between show me the premium and take my money or play it and buy it. . If anything, the less than I hoped for art package gave me enough pause to regain my senses and be a rational consumer.

Quoted from CaptainNeo:

I disagree. I think you should NOT buy, and bitch about it. Because sterns marketing staff will blame lack of sales on something stupid, like a bad license, bad timing, something else released sooner. Instead of just good old fashioned shitty product, and greedy price attached to it. With so many bitching about the same thing, they have no choice but to see the fingers pointing back at them.

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.

Quoted from Aurich:

You never know.
We thought Karl Urban was going to be great. He phoned it in, utterly disappointing. Maybe this will be the opposite.

Quoted from Aurich:

See what I said above, phoned it. Utterly flat delivery, totally disappointing. There were a couple good ones, and the game was better with than without, but I thought his performance basically sucked. From a pinball fan I expected something more. I think I blame the direction in the booth though. He wasn't being coached well.

Quoted from Aurich:

Considering that the show doesn't take place in Britain I don't really know why anyone would be worried about them having British accents.

Quoted from Aurich:

Speaking as someone who's working on playfield art right now it's work, and I can't see anyone decided to redo it all, with professional high rez art, for free, for what? So they can show it off? Who's going to print it? Not Stern. Who's going to make the playfields and provide the custom shield inserts etc? It's just a lost cause, no point in even discussing it.

Quoted from iceman44:

Why should anybody? Stern knows how it's done. See Metallica.

Quoted from TimeBandit:

And new people don't know who the hell SR is, nor are they that discerning when it comes to gameplay, so the art's all they got.

Quoted from Purpledrilmonkey:

It's not Stern's fault, but his point is it could be their problem. Whether due to tax, exchange rate, etc... fewer pins will be sold (in theory) in Canada at Stern's current price point.
Whether Stern cares or not is the real question - I would guess the Canadian market isn't big enough for Stern to get too upset.

Quoted from swinks:

has anyone counted how many gears are actually on this game, it would be like the "how many jelly beans are in the sealed jar" competition

Quoted from Asael:

I don't understand why it's so important for them to have colored house inserts? A lannister shield in yellow or pink? does that make sense to you? I would like to have a tri colored GI like in Metallica that would help to set the game in different moods.
And why do they have the stannis symbol on the lord of light drop targets? They should take out the stag there. Small details that would help me believe that they understand this theme.

Quoted from playernumber4:

Is it just me, or does the color in all the color changing inserts look "washed out"? They just do not look rich in color at all.

Quoted from RavenBlackthorn:

Yup. I think you might be right. What's your thoughts on this approach rather than a sculpt? Do you think it contributes to the lightshow somehow?

Quoted from MotorCityMatt:

My problem with pinball is, we have the best designers on how a pinball should play. The world has the best gamer designers we have ever seen. When do the old farts and young talent come together and make something on the playfield and backglass that is truly amazing. My guess is the pinball manufacturing world can't afford to pay the true young talent we have out there. That is the business model that would change pinball forever once again.

Quoted from mesmashu:

Can't believe some of the negative comments about the twitch feed. Must be a generational thing, I don't know. I sure as hell don't want to see Stern employees dressing up for a late night "fun" reveal of a new pin. He was wearing a Star Wars shirt for goodness sakes. I'll take that over khakis any day. And if some of you can't handle an f bomb while someone is playing pinball... yikes. not my kind of crowd. "Would you like to come over for tea and play some pinball? Don't forget to wear your khakis. tee hee"

Quoted from Trekkie1978:

I guess I'm in the minority, but I'm sticking with the LE. I love the hand drawn art on the cab.

Quoted from John_I:

I haven't read this thread in three weeks because the bashing was nauseating and I see that has not changed. Just one question to save me reading 2000+ posts: any idea of when the Premium pictures are coming? I need to decide between the Premium and LE soon.

Quoted from Luckydogg420:

It's themed around the north. Probably John snow. Maybe some wildlings like tormund or ygritte.

Quoted from canea:

They tried pretty hard not to put any of GoT's beautiful women on this machine, didn't they?

Quoted from sturner:

I'm in the minority here but I really like the look of the LE. That cabinet is great and the backglass looks much better in the follow-up pictures. And the playfield has a more desert look which matches the characters on that machine.

Quoted from luvthatapex2:

IMHO Nobody should buy a game without playing it first. If you can't play it at expo wait until you have the opportunity to play it at another tshow or somewhere else. What's the hurry?

Quoted from XXVII:

Despite gears having nothing to do with GoT, I realized they weren’t ever going to budge on them after I saw some of the DMD animations. They obviously think the gears are clever since they included them in some of the mode graphics (also with Roman numerals? because GoT is medieval and not a fantasy setting on another world, I guess? and Roman numerals are old-timey?). I have to give them some credit though, they did change the silver shield, which was the biggest blight on the playfield. That’s something.

I agree. Cabinet-wise, I’m not really impressed by either. And neither of them feel like HBO Game of Thrones officially licensed products to me.
Steve Ritchie said the cabinet mockup I made would never fly through approvals, but I think that’s BS. Not because I think there wouldn’t be any issue with my design; I’m sure there are plenty of problems. I’m starting to think the cool metal Stark wolf sigil I used on the cabinet side was just fan art. But I say BS because almost everything I did already had a precedent in some other officially licensed GoT product.
Here’s a quick breakdown:
got.jpg
I think my design has been a hit with a lot of people not because what I did was good so much as that it connected better with fans' expectations of what a Game of Thrones product would look like.
Steve Ritchie said in the Twitch stream that he’s read all the books and watched all the episodes at least seven times each. I believe it. But I don’t think the artist Stern used is familiar with the series at all. None of the three cabinets or playfields do anything to capture to the mood of the series. They feel to me like the artist was provided the promotional photos and then assembled them together without much understanding of what they represented. Like the orange starburst from the seven-pointed star symbol behind the Iron Throne on the Pro translite. The impression that I’ve been getting from the latest season of the show is that the New Gods don’t actually exist, so showing god rays bursting out of the star on the Pro translite make it especially ridiculous.
And as I keep saying, these pinball machines are the most divergent officially licensed HBO GoT products on the market. The closest products I can find that the pinball machines are like is non-HBO Game of Thrones licensed products:
boardgame.jpg
[Edit: just found the source for those house sigils. HBO should officially license these because they are awesome: https://www.behance.net/gallery/Game-of-thrones-wallpapers/3985601

Quoted from Aurich:

Those are hot, followed on Behance. Really well executed, good find.

Upvoted for the best non-car analogy yet!

FWIW I totally agree. But I feel like at least for me personally I've said my piece, and I'm trying to find the positives where I can. The Premium is still disappointing to me, and flawed, but I think it's an improvement, so I'm focusing on that as best I can. We don't know if Stern listened, just already had this, or what. I choose to believe that they made some last minute fixes based on feedback, and we should at least applaud that, even if it's still not awesome.
At the end of the day Stern is still making "commercial" games. For whatever reason they're not truly caring about what the collector market wants. I think that's too bad, but they know the numbers and we don't, so maybe they're doing what's right for them. Feels like a mistake to me, you can serve both, but I don't work for Stern.
At the end of the day this is just a forum, lots of talk, and not much else. Money really talks. I'm not going to tell anyone what they should buy, go with what feels right for you. I won't lie, I'm looking forward to playing the Prem/LE at some point. The Pro not so much. Has the most annoying art package and feels too stripped down, might be the weakest Pro Stern has ever done. I'm sure there will be a crowd that like it because it's fast, and I'm sure Steve Ritchie nailed the geometry in that regard. But I need more than a fast game with every shot returning to the flippers myself to get interested. Upper playfield might provide that. Wish it would be at Expo, but I'll find a chance at some point.

Quoted from KLR2014:

Any idea when premiums will be delivered ? Q1 2016 ?

Quoted from thearcadegeek:

LE with maybe a new translite is my fave of the 3.

Quoted from Arcade:

Imagine how many more GoT machinies they would sell if they came out and said "Yes, all of our Spike games will be backwards compatible with our LCD screens in the future."
Now of course that may not be true at all, which would be sad.
But if they do know that it is possible, they are crazy for not stating it up front.
So I would guess it is not possible at this stage.

Quoted from Arcade:

Yes. The point is.... That if it were available to me, I would be a customer.
I know some people are happy with a DMD for the rest of their lives, but I want video and I have no problem talking about it.

Quoted from rai:

the fact that this thread has almost 5000 posts shows that this is a prime theme and a lot of Pinsiders were waiting to jump on this.
But the fact that at least half the posts are negative or people saying they won't buy even though it's a great theme has to be a serious missed opportunity for Stern.
It's not like WWE or Mustang which were probably marginal themes and probably wouldn't sell crazy.
Anyway, my game room is filling up, and I have to be more careful what I pick. I suspect others are in the same boat.

Quoted from beatmaster:

starburst?
if the price of the premium (shipped) in the us is $6500 how can it be $7200 here? in us is in us, no? and plus taxes... something's wrong here.

Quoted from Captain_Kirk:

I am German!

Quoted from winteriscoming:

I wonder if there would be any risk of showing approved concept images well before they run them so they have more time to listen to feedback.
It seems like sourcing opinions from the target market and making improvements based on that feedback would result in more sales. Obviously there are people who don't care about artwork, so Stern has them in the bag, but if they wanted to expand sales, seems like being more open during the development process might lead to that.

Quoted from Trekkie1978:

I like toys like the Vengeance…just look at Wolverine...

Quoted from BigDan:

+1
and now back to our regularly scheduled program.
I wonder if the new premium only playfield was a result from comments they received? I'm pretty sure this is the first Premium game to receive its own unique playfield excluding Luci which was a special premium amongst regular premiums. If so then Stern must be turning over a new leaf and listening to the community before they finalize a product which is great news because look at what it did for Jersey Jacks The Hobbit. The Hobbits original playfield received a lot of criticism, apparently JJ was listening and cared enough to fix it and now it looks the part. Its nice to have companies that show us pre-production units so they can gauge their work and tweak things that may have been overlooked by the design team.

Quoted from Lethal_Inc:

When are the pros shipping?

Quoted from Shapeshifter:

Having played it, it is horribly bright. Blinding.
It's like the thinking was, make it as bright and shiny as possible and people will buy it.

Quoted from Luckydogg420:

I'm a big sucker for mini playfields. I would be satisfied with a pro game, I've seen enough of it to know that is going to be fun for me. Many people have said the pro is too stripped down for them, or its to much like game x in their collection, but those arguments don't work for me. I think the pro has enough exciting gameplay elements to appease the masses and it will mature into an all around good pin.
That said; I'm a sucker for mini playfields and gimmicks. I haven't seen the game play of the LE yet, but I'm pretty sure I've got it figured out flow wise. I think the mini Playfield/throne ball lock will be a fun component to add to the pro rules. Im betting that the premium game will be worth every penny. I'm a big game of thrones fan, but don't see the added value in an LE purchase.
This is my first NIB game and I live about an hour from the distributer. I really wanted to talk face to face with someone and ask a couple questions. Today I had some time to kill, so I went Toronto and decided to get my deposit down. Why 50% down? Just cause it was cash onhand from selling other games.

Quoted from Ballsofsteel:

I don't see anyone getting their premiums/le before Christmas. I was informed this week I won't even be getting my pro until the 3rd/4th week of Nov now . I ordered 1st week of October.

Quoted from flynnibus:

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