This is a good point. Sometimes kicker slings can play "keep away" for a while (I'm looking at you IJ), so perhaps you'll get the ball back sooner to speed up overall gameplay. What they won't do is send the ball into targets in the lower half, but this pf doesn't doesn't really have targets down there.

My biggest concern is if these tend to drop the ball STDM, especially given the wider flipper gap. Won't be installing the tilt bob I guess, or maybe just the metal bar without the actual bob.

That is what left me dumbfounded.

Just pointing it out that it never just kicked it away..Don't get your panties in a ruffle.

A haunting one I'm sure...that would be pretty cool.

The problem is most of the time when it hits the right MagnoSling®™, it ends up on the right flipper, and vise versa which is of course the opposite of how normal slings work now.
So it's pretty obvious that by reversing the polarity of the magnet on the right MagnoSling®™, that would make the ball go to the opposite Flipper. Pretty basic science and I'm sure they know that; this is just test mode.

Not a fan of the magna slings…
I think the pro model just got a huge boost in sales.
Hopefully they can code the slings to behave like "normal" slings 99% of the time.

That's what I'm hoping for. If they worked like normal slings, but could also do tricks like this, GREAT!!!

I have to wonder why they wouldn't just show them working normally first though.

I don't think that's right. The ball isn't a magnet it can't get pushed away no matter what you do with the polarity. The magnets will always pull the ball toward them. Pulsing the magnets is what give the crazy ball movement.

After this KISS debacle, Gary has a taste for screwing with costumers.

Well I guess if you look at 1:25 of the video and 1:34 respectively the ball did bounce and make it to the other sling. I hope they show a video of the slings behaving like a traditional sling soon. I posed this question on their Facebook page:

Michael Lewis On a John Trudeau interview he stated that the slings function close to a traditional sling as well. Can you show a video of them behaving like a traditional sling and will they act more traditional the majority of the time during gameplay?

I hope this was a joke. That is not how magnets work at all with a neutral. Take a magnet, stick on your fridge. Flip the magnet over and stick on the fridge again. Does it push away? No...

The magnetic slings look awesome! Finally a new and refreshing feature in a pin

They look like they could work, but the ball bounces away then stops in the middle.

Theres no point of putting magnetic slings in a game just to have them act as regular slings 99% of the time.

Personally I'm tired of the same old action of traditional slings. These magnetic slings look like a fun feature that will enhance the game.

I disagree with some others - I know they said "early code", but I'd venture to say that what they've shown is exactly how they are going to work "normally" .. Sure there may be some tweaks, but I think what you see here is exactly how it is going to play normally (except for when they do some mode-based different magnet action). I'm still on the fence - I don't know if I like them or not. It's certainly a big departure, and will affect general game-play quite a bit.

It's definitely a big risk on a game like this that has this level of excitement - in fact, I'd go as far as to say the magna-slings probably shouldn't have been used on this game. If the Premiums and LE's didn't have magna-slings, would it have really reduced the appeal to anyone with all the other toys they have? I think they should have used them on a title that wasn't going to be as popular. I don't see much of an upside to using such an experimental feature on a game that was going to sell a ton anyway based off of all the other stuff. And, if they did normal slings, they probably could have saved enough to add one more toy feature in, or one more magnet.

The more I think about it, and I don't know if it's physically possible on the playfield - I think the best use of something like this would have been to have regular slings, and a big magnet right in the middle. That magnet could be off during normal gameplay, but then do some crazy things during certain modes. I think that would have worked out overall better.

I'm in on an LE, but I'm 50/50 on whether these magna-slings will stand the test of time.

I think they are sweet. Looking forward to getting to play some.

Well my fridge wasn't magnetized in the factory so magnets don't stick to it (bought the cheap one).
Anyway, since this thread started I've been reading up on magnets quite a bit and I'm pretty sure I'm right.
I understand what you're saying...but the MagnoSling®™ are charged with electricity, that means it had electrons which obviously can have their polarity reversed.

I agree 100%. I've played the pro, and that right ramp would be an issue for me.

But despite trying to like them (and I am REALLY trying to like them), if I end up hating the MagnoSlings®™, then I'm not sure they are getting a sale from me either way.

Which is too bad, because up until today I couldn't have been more excited, and I've already sold stuff off in preparation.

I don't know....magnets can do some amazing things.
You can find many scientific designs and solutions related to magnets on the Interweb, and the possibilitys shown will blow you away!
Just have a look at this:

57db89506850dffaa564b34b3bca3a5a_(resized).jpg

Yup, just wait until the sound effects for them are programmed in and they will be even better.

Why so grumpy?

lawn_(resized).jpg

agreed..though the pro is packed, the premium shreds it with extras. Its a no brianer

Sorry, I didn't mean a STD, but the ball bounces then pauses in the middle to drop on the flipper vs. bouncing across to the other sling or flipper with the full momentum.

I wish Captain_Kirk was still into ST and left GB alone. Really ruining the possible discussion with the fanboydom.

I have no idea what to think after watching the magnet sling video. I cant tell if I am going to hate it - or not hate it. I just don't know if its a feature I am going to say "I love this way of playing the machine!"

This is definitely something that none of our debating or speculating will solve.. it is a must play pin before you can make too many judgments on. As it stands, I just don't want that type of action happening 100% of the time. I would expect that with some type of mode - but not full time. But then again, I will have to play it first. This will definitely create a very polarizing opinion of this game, and is going to end up as a love it - or hate it game for many.

After watching the video I really want to see the gameplay.

It also proves that a certain distributor claiming the LE's will ship in a couple of weeks *has* to be wrong.. what they just showed is they aren't even ready to demonstrate the actual gameplay, and may not be even close..

I think the slings appear to have the 'potential' to be really cool, fun, and different.

I just don't see the magna slings ever being able to mimic a normal sling. The angles and physics are too different.

Doesn't mean they will be bad though. They will just offer a different playing experience.

Edit: That's one of the things I like about John Trudeau's designs. He's willing to try something different.

Exactly the way I felt.

If all the hardware is working magnets, Googles and slimer and the only thing is code they will probably be shipping soon.

I did not expect the magna slings to just replicate regular slings. I expected a different effect, and some sort of "ghost ball" effect. So this video seems to be doing exactly that. It will make the game unique which was the whole point. John has said he'd considered them in the past, but this theme opened up the possibility again. I can't wait to play it.

yes but the ball is the same as your fridge, magnets only repel other magnets, not a neutral. Unless you meant something else by your statement. reversing the polarity of a magnet and sticking it on a neutral (in essence what i meant with the magnets on the fridge) will always result in attraction.

Nope, the Magno slings are just electromagnets, which means there is no magnetic field until current flows through them. It is true that you could reverse the polarity but the ball does not have a magnetic polarization so it will always be attracted to either pole of a magnet, it will never be opposed to either pole of a magnet which is what you would need to push the ball. The slings work, like many other implementations of magnets in games by pulsing the magnet thereby pulling it - shut off - ball hits rubber sling and bounces off. The Doc Ock magnet does something similar when it catches the ball, releases it to let it roll down the PF and then turns back on for a quick pulse pulling the ball back up the pf, over the magnet (which is now off) and into the Ock hole.

To me the more interesting part of this is how these will affect multiball, just like The Power any ball near enough to be affected by the magnetic field will be attracted to some degree, so even balls that don't hit the slings, or the other balls, will have their paths affected to some degree. Could be really fun, could be horribly frustrating.

Yep, I think it goes with the theme perfect.

I see the potential for some really wild and unpredictable multiballs with this. I was already excited before, and even more so now.

I agree with everyone saying it fits the theme perfect- I have been saying that since I saw that feature announced and put my $ down on an LE before it was even officially announced.

Although it fits the theme, I just don't know how I feel about how they work yet- I don't think any of us can draw a proper conclusion until we see how they work in gameplay when its eventually live streamed. We can all give our opinions and that's fine, but none of us have seen them in action when the game is running.

I am just not a fan boy and call the shots as I see them, that's all.. I have skin in the game with $ down, will have an LE right when they start leaving the factory, and have been waiting many months for this game. I am just blatantly honest and am never a fanboy about any product or company, so I prefer not to be biased here and shoot down any critics until we actually play the thing and see it in action.

Well said. If you want to just mimic regular slings what's the point of it?

Wow we hit 10,000 posts before a game shipped. Impressive.

I wont buy a GB if it cant play like a pinball game.

Some novelty during special modes etc would be great but if I want an oddity in my collection I'll just grab a pachinko machine or something.

Edit: Apologies for adding reality into this thread. Apologies to those that are opposed to critical thought.

Great points. The magnetic slings are certainly not a feature that would work for every game. I couldn't see them fitting with any of the themes Stern has used for their several titles. Ghostbusters works though to use the feature and I think its going to be great.

The entire vibe of the premium / LE model has this "all in" approach to me in terms of Stern offering their most feature packed game to date with Ghostbusters.

That's the only part that would really worry me...sounds like some DE mistakes.

well, if GB came to my house, it will be PRO only...

Putting too much in the game? It all depends on how those features are used. Ghostbusters premium looks like it will use all of the extra features in unique and fun ways while still providing a fast gameplay experience.

At nearly $7k ($8k for LE's) these new games should be loaded like Ghostbusters is.