Quoted from The_Dude_Abides:

Totally disagree with you there IMO the premium looks better than the LE. I'm not too crazy about how the LE looks myself. To each their own guess its good that they have a few models to give us options.

Another reason why the Premium appeals to me on this one. No crazy and IMO uwarranted price increase like the LE. I mean I like lit side armor but not enough to put an extra $1500 on it.

Quoted from PappyBoyington:

Hmm well it's all really a personal taste. Personally I wish I liked the Premium better, it would sure save me some money. However I really prefer the overall LE package.
You may be able to get most of the LE upgrades after market but you can bet they won't be cheap. I don't think anybody will want to cut out the inside of their side cabinets for the inside LED cabinet strip. However Lets look at what the Premium owners may be paying for the LE upgrades if they CHOOSE to buy them aftermarket.
Now these prices are just MY GUESS but we all know that aftermarket pin parts are not usually cheap. Look at the $250 video game mod for Tron. Hard to make great product, but not cheap.
Side armor legs & lock bar w/ blue powder coat, cut-out artwork & animated LED backlighting $450
Steel speaker panel ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $150
LED strips cut out of side panel ----------------------------------------------------------------------- $50
Backglass----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $250
Shaker Motor--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------$200
LED Illuminated 6" Steel Star Trek Emblem on backbox---------------------------------------------$200
TOTAL--- $1300 and you still have to pay for shipping +$100? and you have to take the time to install the parts. Of course, this is if you choose to buy all of these parts and IF they become available.
This is NOT for all those people who don't want the extra bling, we get it. But for me, this one time it's worth it. I usually don't care about the bling but for me this bling is really cool and the best overall package available.

Quoted from mechslave:

None of you pre-order guys are concerned by that Wizard Mode video?
Trim chasing lights, a Spencer gifts laser show, art package, blah, blah.... if I had one of these things pre-ordered then the *software* would have me extremely worried at this point.
Not to spoil the wizard mode, but you might want to check out that Wizard Mode vid, esp if you've already reached Portal, Battled for Cybertron, etc.
Software would be my first, second and third concerns if I was ordering a ST. Just sayin' I'm someone who ordered an XM and got rid of it because of the software. I went forward with Metallica because of Lyman. But ST would have my (ahem) spidey-sense tingling if I had money down on it...

Quoted from mechslave:

Well obviously, it's a recycled layout so of course it's going to shoot great. And yes, software can be fixed down the road (*can be* is the key phrase).
I'm sure the wizard mode will be dressed up eventually with different display effects, but it's still a recycled wizard mode at this point, and I doubt the core of the wizard mode rules are going to change much. Big letdown.

Quoted from The_Dude_Abides:

I agree if they were going with red they should of went with a much darker tone IMO. Dark blue would look even better.

Quoted from HemiOrange09:

We are still working on the replacement colors for the Premium machine (need to see a machine is person)... We are going with a nice pearl blue for the Pro also we will be offering lots of mods for these machines...still developing and testing them.

Quoted from Eskaybee:

Yea...but will it turn into bland TF 'Roll out/AHM' wizard mode or awesomeness Xmen Danger Room? Or perhaps a little of both with Assault on the Heli-Carrier? Or worse....and just say "wizard mode' Yay for wizard mode...are there wizards in Star Trek?

Quoted from Eskaybee:

Uh....I think we have better odds of getting an LCD than that

Quoted from PappyBoyington:

Yea, sorry I was on a roll.

Quoted from frolic:

They may be secretive, but they do always announce new hires. So I do believe we'd be able to catch wind of a new graphic team when that day comes. Today is not that day. Nor at expo.
Also, in another thread, there was talk about an ACDC being put on location running the new bus system as a test. And guess what, it's still a dmd. Time to get over the rumors.
JJP will have to be producing 3 titles a year and threaten a serious dent in Stern to really shake things up. Right now it looks like ST will easily outsell WOZ by a huge margin, and think of all the titles Stern has released since the WOZ announcement.

Quoted from frolic:

I'm sure Stern would love to sh!tcan the Pro line, focus on the higher end stuff. That alone could be the reason for slow movement away from dmd and small steps forward. The good news for us is they still make very compelling Pro models.

Quoted from gearheaddropping:

Stern's main business is selling to operators so the pro models are key for locations at a reasonable price. The home market with LE editions is secondary.

Quoted from swampfire:

There are 2 assumptions here I simply don't agree with.
1. JJP can survive through 2015 on the high-end collector market (and some ops), and will generate enough profit to fund R&D for 2-3 titles a year.
2. WoZ out-earns Stern pins 2 to 1.
Let's see how WoZ is doing in a year, when there's nothing new from JJP to replace it yet.

Quoted from musketd:

Guys LCD does not make a game you play the PLAYFIELD last time I checked

Quoted from sk8ball:

That would make diagnostics and adjustments hard to implement...

Quoted from iceman44:

It's SR's last design for Stern, he is becoming a "free agent" and going to work for JJP....

Quoted from Rarehero:

That was the old days. There is no more SRP....24 was the last "freelance" SRP project. Steve is a Stern employee & lives in IL now.

Quoted from 2RustyBalls:

I'm sure at the time Stern seemed like a logical choice. Do you really think JJP has the capital to pay? Think about it, going to move to NJ for a start up?? How many games has JJP produced? I was told by a Dealer last week 179 total as of last week, that's it!!!! That's not much of a production for what 7 months. Going with Stern still seems like the smart move.

Quoted from RobT:

» YouTube video
He hits the warp ramp 5 times in a row.

Quoted from Ilthuain:

Yeah, it fires the ball back in Vengeance mode.

Quoted from tbanthony:

Seriously? Compared to a Pro you think a better light show is worth $3K+ ??? Ok, apparently, I am an entirely different type of collector because $3K worth of bling isn't worth it to me -- I mostly care about getting the full version of game play. There are too many other things in life that are more important than spending too much time or money worrying about bling. I may spend some money on bling (shaker, etc) that enhance the game play experience, but not thousands. But hey, it's all relative, so if that amount of money is small potatoes to you, that's fine. I'm not going to make this a rich v. poor thing and whine about it. It just appears that the Pro is looking to be the better value relatively speaking. If the game play ends up significantly different, I'll stretch the budget to get a Premium.

Quoted from RobT:

Dude. This is Pinside. People are definitely going to be getting their panties in a bunch regardless.

Quoted from mummite:

I agree I am a little bummed this feature was removed. Now it will take the ball back to the bottom left flipper is what I have heard. Really hoping that LE owners will get something to replace this feature loss. Even though its just a wire form and not a massive feature, it changes the flow of the game and made it feel/look different then the pro.
Let's hope they add something extra special to the LE models.

Quoted from The_Dude_Abides:

Yeah using that logic they could take out every added feature of the Premium/LE models and it could be for the best because we haven't played it yet.

Quoted from Kiwipinhead:

How does this happen at the last minute? how long has this design been in development & only now are fixing it?
Seems the pro layout is the main design & the prem/le an after thought?

Quoted from SDTM:

You are just figuring that out? The pros are always designed first and then they add stuff to the LEs. If you see the trend of XM LE, TFs LE, etc, the pros play better. The added features have mechanical issues, code issues, etc.

Quoted from Kiwipinhead:

If this is true, would they have not found out earlier the VUK didn't do the job?

Quoted from Eskaybee:

I heard they will be adding a feature to make up for it. I don't know if it will be an LE only feature or not. And from what I heard, its not a design change to the layout persay, but something to function more within the rules to indicate to the player what's happening as they 'battle' their way throughout the game.

Quoted from SDTM:

Ya both LEs and Premiums. Just mentioned it on the LE since they will be shipping first.