I have some video of the toy lock as wel.

The prem elevator shoots to the upper pf. It also has a metal protector on the scoop. The upper loop has the outer orbit but it goes to the right ramp.

I couldnt soft plunge good enough to see where it went on the upper orbit.

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That ruined Metallica for me and I'm quite happy that Aerosmith doesn't have custom call outs.

I have to say this is a pretty strict deal breaker. Dream On is (along with Sweet Emotion) the greatest song(s) they have. I was flabbergasted it was left off. I still ordered the game because I like the look and the total package else wise. It might layout similar to KISS but I don't own a KISS and this looks better. I'm not trying to knock you but maybe loosen your ideals a little on it maybe.

thanks for the additional pics northvibe It does look like stern decided to put a protector on the upper scoop as well as the lower. How is the PF and the magnet looking after all the plays the game has been getting?

Game looks great! I forgot to check the shooter lane but they all looked good otherwise.

I kind of feel the same way a bit however I am willing to loosen my ideals a bit but, 9 songs? Really, they couldn't do better than that?

How many are on every rock machine since and including the Stones machine?

I'm pretty sure they all have 10-12.

Maybe they can throw us a bone with a wizard/encore/multi ball mode in a code update that includes an extra song.

Agree. I would have thought that around 12 songs would be in the game. With the 9 songs in Aerosmith being used for the games 9 main modes what music will be featured for multiballs and a wizard modes(s)?

12 songs would be ideal as a couple could then be used for multiballs and then save "Dream On" for the games main wizard modes. I guess we can...dream, lol.

Agree, don't really know enough about the game but it appears the 9 songs are main mode songs.

Maybe there aren't dedicated songs for multi balls and I find it sort of odd that there wouldn't be a super hard to get to wizard/encore mode... Maybe there is, what happens when all modes are completed?

The way this appears to be setup makes me think it would almost be impossible to use the pinball browser to make a change as well since these 9 particular songs are so integrated into the playfield inserts, toys, artwork and animations.

Not necessarily asking for 12 but let's at least make it an even 10 and have Dream On and it would push quite a few folks over the hump on this one!

Here's more gameplay footage, I think #3 has the multiball toy box shot where the ball gets shot from the saucer to the box

Gameplay 2

Gameplay 3

I just noticed the pro elevator spits the ball just like gene's head spits the ball on kiss.

Only it feeds the left flipper rather than shooting it straight down the middle.

Didn't see one shot ip the right ramp in either of those videos. Looks like a tough 'steep' shot. So the saucer doesnt always feed the toy box- seems in the pro it just kinda dribbles out.

It depends if lock is lit. If lock is lit, it goes in the box... if not, it dribbles back into play.

It is a pretty cool toy! Definitely waiting on code though.

My kiss and the one I have played in tournments don't spit it down the middle it just takes a simple adjustment.

I know I have played some on routes where it does spit it down the middle and that's because no one takes the time to fix it because they are lazy operators.

Played both versions today (& BM66) for a few hours. Pretty fun. The rule for the upper pf is how to light multipliers so even though it's tiny and kinda easy to hit all the stand ups you just wanna do that then shoot the orbit to light multipliers.

Answer to the lock shot lane thing. Yes you can soft plunge into it if you do it just right so maybe there's a one way gate there?

I liked the Prem/LE better than the pro b/c of the upper pf even as limited as it seems. Pretty fun. Got a GC on one of machines

Rules seem sorta like Mustang (mb-wise) and Kiss (modes) as far as I can tell. I picked the "blue" song b/c I play deuce on kiss & the sounds are similar too (super ramps sound is same)

Agree the joker sounds like Sparky's separated-at-birth twin or something.

The screen is really sharp and animations look pretty good. I pretty much am agnostic on the band but had fun playing all afternoon

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Looks like they went back to the crap wedge sockets for the gi ....you can see them flickering on and off when the flippers are hit i the videos posted. How much more wld it possibly cost to keep at least the lower half of the playfield bayonet sockets? Its little shit like that pushes me away from stern pins latley. For what they cost nib , little cost cutting like that is very annoying. Makes u wonder what else they cost cut....

I'm thinking everything they can possibly think of cutting...

I'm assuming you mean the 3rd video, and the GI on the inlane. Because those are standard plastic inlane guides with round holes, I don't think you could fit wedge bulbs in there if you wanted to, but they are definitely flickering. Looks like whoever built that sample didn't make sure the bulbs were pressed in good.

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Yep, even on wedge bulb games, the inlanes are still bayonets.
Metallica inlane..

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OMG waaaaay too much Sparky voice. MET got it right because it's an occasional sound bite. Constant speech? It's super annoying.

He sounds like Edith Bunker.

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Yeah the inlanes still have bayonet style

The 2 screws holding the backbox really drive me crazy. Why change the backbox latch? Geezzzz....

Of all the things to whine about I wouldn't put that at the top of the list...

Aerosmith fan here. And I agree Dream on is a classic. I can understand why they left it off. May be a too slow a song to play pinball to. Imagine people complaining about that next.

It should randomly play dream on as a taunt after you completely blow a GC opportunity.

As for the latch. I have always felt not installing the bolts to be a temporary setup.
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Come on...without Dream On or Train Kept A-Rollin, they never would have broke as big as they did. Heck, they re-released Dream On and it charted higher.

They could have easily dropped Rats and Child. Damn glad they limited the new stuff to what they did.

How about some love for lightning Strikes?

How about Joe Perry's version of Let The Music Do the Talkin'. ?

Great song.

Well, pinball browser can take care of whatever you want in there.

I've got maybe 4 Ac/dc songs left in that pin.

Dream on? I'd throw some Journey into that Aerosmith pin. Don't Stop Believin

Unless your able to change the text in the animations or come up with a PF sticker for over the song your changing, don't think it will seem correct.

Acdc was an easy game to swap songs, as is the Rolling Stones and even Metallica.

Those games only required changing dmd text and weren't loaded with specific lit playfield inserts for each song.

Yes Acdc has the jukebox but there is a mod for that to reflect the changes

What kills me the most? The total lack of innovation by Stern.. there is nothing there that we haven't seen before many times over. Sure they are selling pins, but it would be nice to see some engineering and advancement in the hobby... you know, custom things that make you want to buy the machine because it's got a cool toy. To me, they could have just re-used the Austin Powers toilet and shot the ball into that for "Back in the saddle" multiball. I don't consider a color LCD to be anything special, even if Stern wants me to think it is. JJP came out with that in 2013.

And to be quite honest, I wouldn't mind paying the $200 more every pin if they took the time to be more innovative. Sure code can make or break these games, but whats wrong with having great code AND cool toys/innovations? Imagine how cool that would be.

Seems like I'd just be buying Aerosmith just to have a different theme and slightly different layout, but certainly not because it's better.

Instead we are getting a version of two of the most lame things they have put on a pin in 10 years on the last 2 releases... the IJ4 multi-ball release and the pitiful crane from BDK.

Who cares, have several beers, crank up the sound, don't look too closely and it won't really matter. Can't overthink this one.

With Ac/dc you still had the juke box to change out, which Leon did for me and i still haven't installed it.

Dude nothing is new and innovative. It's all stolen. I beleive John Cleese said it when he realized out of all his sketches he thought only two were new. And cheese shop has been copied a 100 times.
So play the game and decide if you like it. Personally out of all the themes you all say it "copied" or is similar. These are all themes I had a hand of cash and passed on. So let some have this and you can have Metallica. The minor differences apart from a complete re theme make it special.
Remember the gripes when PBR came out. "At least they could have changed something".

I don't know if it's lack of innovation, or just playing it safe. Steve Ritchie has said many times over, he uses the EXACT same lower layout on every pin (IE flipper gap, inlanes, slings) on every design because it works, and why mess with what works. With recent issues (nevermind the clearcoating), but things like switch mechanisms not working on ghostbusters, they are probably going to be more conservative than ever for a while until they can proove quality out of the box.

It's not unlike the movie companies. Disney keep re-hashing 100 year old stories.. Oh let's try something original like tomorrowland. Oh that tanked? Go back to re-hashing old stuff we know that will make money.

My hope is that with new blood like Keith Elwin, he can inject some new life into Stern.. he's proven it with his Archer layout. Think about how safe Williams was in the 80's, until Pat Lawlor hopped on board and really innovated with nearly every design.

Funny.
Now get in there and change that sucker out. lol
And on topic. Can't wait for my Aerosmith Pro to show up. Very excited for this one.

You can do this. Here is my KISS reloaded with Muse songs. Text too.

Does anyone know if they used original recordings for the music? Or did they pull what they did on kiss?
From the few videos it sounded right but hard to tell for sure.

Ghost busters with the magna slings, slimer and ramp through the playfield put together a nice new innovative package, and they have to keep pushing creativity or we would be stuck in a GoT fan layout hoping for code to bring the games alive over and over again.

Pinside: We want something new and innovative!

Stern: Here are Magna Slings.

Pinside: Do they work like traditional slings? THEY DON'T WORK LIKE TRADITIONAL SLINGS! WHAT WAS STERN THINKING?!

^^^^ that exactly ^^^^ We want a LCD screen already...here ya go....I dont like the animations..geeze will it ever end?

Innovation in pinball almost is always completely overrated and unnecessary. You must be a big Pin2K fan.

I swear people say they want innovation just because they think it's something one should say. I could not give two hoots about "innovation", just give me cool.
AS looks like it might just be cool.

I think his point was that with the LCD, we don't (as of yet, I don't think) have any easy way to change titles they way you could on a DMD.

You know what innovation gets you? Jpop, P3, Heighway...AKA a game that never or barely makes it to market. You know what John Borg at Stern "not" innovating gets you? Iron Man, Metallica, Tron. I know which one I'd rather have.

Haha, of course. Don't know what I was thinking Don't drink and post

I'm laughing my ass off, this is the cold hard truth! I wonder if Cobray, or anyone who doesnt like newer sterns, would trade their stern pins or any of their pins, for (1) jpop pin of their choice, (1) P3, and (1) heighway pin...go ahead boys seems like a fair trade to me

People also have to remember at the end of the day, Stern needs to keep the line moving. They have to manufacture and have new product to sell. Borg is generally a very "practical" designer, and I respect that. He tends to get tighter deadlines than some other designers, and he does what he can in the time he's allotted...so, when he doesn't have the time to come up with some brilliant new mech - he digs into his bag of tricks and comes up with something that'll still be cool and fun. It's not Borg's JOB to impress some hardcore hobbyists with innovation. It's his JOB to make a fun game that can be built by "X Date". He accomplishes that. Does Metallica have any "innovation"? No, but it's a solid, fast, fun, awesome machine and is headed toward being an all time best seller for Stern.

So what is the solution for Starchild? I can handle the music (although I like yours as well) but holy crap "you kept your end of the bargain..." is already old and annoying.

AS pro for my route is looking like it will happen.

Jacky in the box. I believe you install it by putting an Aerosmith EXACTLY where your KISS used to be, and it lines up exactly.