General Dodanna tells the pilots prior to Death Star attack:

"The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes."

So much harder to blow up than the garbage chute door.
Yes I am a nerd.

Man, I would love to see a Prem/LE in action or, better yet, get to play one. I'm in the market for a new pin and I'm really on the fence between this and AS Prem. And I have little patience when there is an empty spot in my basement just calling out to put a new pin there.

I just watched Rogue 1 last night on netflix - I was pleasantly surprised. I've been putting off the last round of star wars movies as episodes 1-3 were so god awful, I was still in mourning. Now I get the purpose built weak spot in the death star

Now watch The Force Awakens when you have time.

Surprisly German pinball distributor Freddys-Pinball-Paradise announced upcoming premiere of SWLE (flight in) this saturday at 3 pm (8 am CDT) in Germany.

Hopefully some german pinsider post their thoughts about the LE, or better, STERN show us earlier a video of the production.

Time is running...

I saw it in the theatre and wasn't impressed, watched it on the weekend and almost fell asleep. I could go on for about half an hour all the problems I had with the movie, and don't even get me started on Force Awakens. I am hoping The Last Jedi is actually interesting and not just a rehash of previous Star Wars movies.

Force Awakens was a rehash (or homage if you prefer) but I still loved it. Coming off of the prequel trilogy the bar was low, but they managed to capture that "Star Wars" feel better than George Lucas has since 1983. I get all the criticisms but would still give it a solid recommendation.

Homage is generous. Blatant lazy ripoff of Episode IV with no original ideas is how I viewed it. I paid $20.00 to go watch a movie I have watched dozens of times with updated special effects and different actors. It wasn't even a good ripoff. The forced comraderie, emo villains, unbelievable coincidences, using the death star plot device again, all just unacceptable to me. The only bright spot was Daisy Ridley imo. Sure, different gender Luke knockoff, but at least she had charisma and was interesting to watch on screen. That being said I am trying to keep an open mind for Last Jedi, but if it uses the same plots as the previous films I think I will be done with the Star Wars universe.

Anyway, enough off topic rambling. Have played the Pro, and while fun it just hasn't clicked for me yet. Eagerly awaiting some Premium/LE video and to see where the code goes.

Mini-review:

I put only about 5 or 6 games on SW the other day. Most my pro's and con's falls in line with everyone else's - and 5 or 6 games is nowhere near what's needed to give any game a full honest review. But, here's my initial impressions from what i gathered:

- First off; yes - game loooks sparse, art is average but better in person. But all of that - ALL OF THAT goes out the door once you plunge your first ball. When the ball is in play, nothing about the gameplay feels sparse or lacking, and the art fit in perfect for how fast you need to be to track the ball.

-Multipliers: I was skeptical but really like the implementation. It was fast, fun, and exciting to lock on/off multipliers and move them very quickly and get them locked in before the next shot. I was having a hard time to follow what my multiplier was at even though its center stage on the screen. This would probably become second nature after about 20 or more plays though.

-Tie Fighter Button Mashing: Loved it! It was quick; only lasts like 5 secs and really keeps you on your toes. I take back all my opinions on this mode and fits perfect. Plus, to boot, in my 5-6 total games, twice did i drain the outlane during this tie fighter mode and got multiball going to save my drain. So yea, i really like this but i did notice my hand getting weaker and slower from game to game.

-Scoring: Unlike GOT, i had a hard time watching the screen and seeing big scores pop up and knowing whether the 40X shot i just made was the right choice or how much i got from it. It was very hard to follow my scoring on the screen. I imagine this would get better over time - like i said, only put on about 5 plays; and i do have over a thousand plays on GOT so i know when to look up and see what point value i got for a shot - but it would be very cool if the mini screen showed the major jackpot or 20x/40x cash in shot values with a pop up; or some kind of sound queue to let me know i should look up at the display. I also think bonus scoring is out of whack. Once in these 5 games i got 1+ billion bonuses TWICE; and one of those times the ball wasn't in play for more than 30 seconds. I didnt feel like i deserved a billion point bonus, but got it. This was a turn off and hopefully gets balanced in future.

-Shots: Every shot felt sweet to hit. Loved the outer loops. Loved the inner loop shot. Ramps felt good with their long shots and fast returns. The death star captive shot was awesome! The drops felt great and the 3 bank shots was good and didnt feel out of place at all. I loved the side to side movement action as well; I couldnt find anything bad with how the game shoots. I felt the ball is in the pops for an appropriate amount of time - i dont understand the criticism's ive read about the pops on this game, they felt great and i understood quickly (maybe cause i know dwights programming?) when the ball should be in the pops and not, but overall it didnt feel like it was in the pops area too much or too little.

Cons:
- Call outs within modes. #1 complaint is i didnt know what to shoot for. I agree with other complaints mentioned that the display is information overload. There's no way to follow the instructions with the speed of the game. In every game i played i had this annoying count down timer sound; i say annoying because its a standard mode or hurryup count down which i like, but there was no indication of what to hit within that time. I was shooting flashing shots but didnt seem to be progressing in anything and just kept hearing the count down. I think i eventually figured it out that i had to hit the FORCE drops; but a call out when a count down starts of what to hit is much needed. Like '...use the force' - indicating to hit the FORCE drops. But even on one game i think i hit the FORCE drops and i still heard the count down going; and even then i was hitting flashing shots but didnt feel or hear any type of progression in the modes. I know this would come over time in a home environment; but still, there was one mode that said shoot the orbits 4 times - i did that once in 4 shots (game flows nice) and it felt like nothing happened. It was very unclear when i was progressing in a mode, completing a mode, or a mode ending. Something to say, 'one more ramp' or 'one more loop shot' or 'one more orbit' or 'hit the targets', something! The only thing that helped me in this department is my knowledge of GOT and dwights coding with those modes.

- Theme integration: I now understand others' complaints about the theme integration. You really don't feel immersed into the star wars universe, and i agree with this complaint. There are times where i did, like when i was fighting darth vader, that felt good - but still there was a lack of info through call outs on how my battle with vader was going. It was all display information overload. I think there's a severe lack of call outs going on in this game. Sound effects, display, shots, speed, layout, rules, and code were all top notch; but the lack of helpful info call outs of what needs to be done and general call outs felt severely lacking.

My best game in 5 plays was just over 4 billion. No HS initials which made me sad but also made me think, is 4 billion even a good score on this game? I laugh when people say they got 2 or 3 billion on GOT thinking they know the game now that they got that score.
So im thinking 4 billion on SW is average...but it sure felt like i had to work hard at getting that score. And I know a lot of my cons would be solved over time with more plays. But i really do think the call outs are severely lacking; even the jackpot call outs didnt feel good. And what i think may be missing the most more than call outs is that holy shit wow moment of cashing in a 20x or 40x shot like in GOT. For example, when i got the extra ball, the game went ballistic and i was like 'oh yea, here comes the cash in of a major shot....' then it was just an extra ball. Like that scene, those explosions, that drama, that build up and intensity of an extra ball is what's missing for major cash in shots on this game. If i hit a 20x or 40x shot that cashes in a shit load of points, i want to be made aware of it some how, some way, in some form.

Overall, the game is great and i had a blast. In my limited play, the rules seem legit and awesome with LOTS to explore. But holy hell i was sweating after 5 plays. This game makes you work, and sweat. As much as i enjoyed the game, i didnt feel like this is something i had to have in my lineup; at least not yet. But for just over $5k, this is a fantastic value and great machine to have compared to everything else on the NIB market.

When you start a mode keep you eyes on the screen. Very easy instructions on what to do in the mode. Then keep your eyes on the PF while playing the mode.

I keep hearing that people want callouts in the modes. What game has good callouts during a mode telling you what to do? I feel like those types of callouts are very rare, and for me would be very annoying. It's a slippery slope with callouts. Not enough and it the game seems to be missing something. Too many and it's annoying as hell.

Also that thumping countdown noise you heard is the multiplier timer. Hit the three bank to stop it and advances your X my one.

Again. The mode instructions with the exception of one or two modes made it very clear on what I needed to to. Don't skip the mode start animations and concentrate on reading the screen. Play modes one at a time at first.

It is a slippery slope. And i know the modes will come together with more play. But I did read the screen. It said shoot 4 orbits; i shot 4 orbits...nothing happened and i was still in the mode. You dont always have to put a call out on what to shoot - but if the player is about to miss a big shot or a countdown timer is going, then a call out of what to shoot would be nice. But, you're right - it may not work in a fast game like this.

Interesting. Don't remember an orbit only mode. Remember ones that required something before or after an orbit to complete though.

I'm sure there's more tweaks to come. Glad you liked it. Like I said, this seemed right up our alley

Reading the screen at the start of the mode was what I had to get used to also. Especially while running two modes. What confuses me sometimes is the purple shots, there is a light purple color, and a darker purple color, the darker is the shot for the mode and the lighter purple is for hurry ups during the mode, at least I think that's it. I have gotten used to reading the lcd while playing a mode now also, it is quite helpful but also takes some practice. The lcd has little boxes that pop up on the left and right of the screen saying which shot to shoot. It will say "Shoot left orbit!" and the text will be in the corresponding color for the mode you are running.

Also there are modes where you have a timer to shoot the shots, so for example the escape from the death star mode says "shoot three inner loop shots, then shoot an orbit" what it doesn't tell you is, once you shoot that first inner loop shot, you have 15 secs to shoot it two more times, other wise it kicks you back to 0 shots completed. I think that was some of the timers you were hearing also.

Perhaps you're just not a Star Wars fan? In these movies with lots of sequels (Star Trek, Marvel, Star Wars, X-Men, Transformers, etc.), I can see enjoying some more than others and having favorites, but if you say it was boring to the point of almost putting you to sleep then you are just not a fan. That's ok, but as a fan I was on the edge of my seat for the new movies and while there are always some elements that could be improved, I thought they did the series justice. Even with the prequels, which I did not enjoy as much due to the cardboard acting and love story, they did not bore me to the point of almost falling asleep.

We won't know if the story is a repeat rehash trilogy until we see the next installment. While the Force Awakens somewhat had to spend time introducing a new generation of characters and there were some similar story overtones, it's really what happens in the next 2 installments that will bear out what the real story is and whether it has some fresh elements or completely recycles with new people and better visuals.

As far as repeat plot devices, they blow up the Enterprise in about every other Star Trek movie; usually in some new improved spectacular fashion. Just saying that Star Wars is not the only series to want to revisit familiar plot devices because they worked well in the past. This is why it is hard to keep a series fresh and some group of people is going to be pissed off no matter what they do.

I'm with Jason Mantzoukas on the prequels - heard an interview where he described taking his girlfriend to Phantom Menace and weeping in public afterward (at age 30) because it was so, so bad.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I thought Rogue One was freakin' awesome.

I don't think you are in the minority Just the haters are speaking up.

You're not in the minority, it was very well reviewed. And it's worlds better than the Lucas prequels. Just predictable, unnecessary and lacked that "Star Wars" feel that Force Awakens had in spades.

But enough about that, when are we going to see some LE play footage?

lol, I can dislike the movie and be a fan at the same time. Rogue One is boring. There is no dramatic tension because you know how it is going to end. The characters are wooden and two dimensional. Combat sequences were a snooze fest. Plot points were a rehash. If you want to put on rose colored glasses and say because it has a Star Wars logo on it so if you are a Star Wars fan you have to like it is one of the more ridiculous things I have ever heard.

I have owned the original Star Wars movies on VHS, wide screen VHS (still have that set), the special editions on dvd, I even have the prequels. I have sat down and watched all the movies with my kids. When I was a kid I had a Snow Speeder and a remote control R2D2. Was in line for the midnight showing of Phantom Menace as an adult. Trust me, I'm a fan of Star Wars. Just not a fan of mediocre at best movies no matter what the franchise.

Yes, surely someone knows something about LE's ????

How does victory multiball work? I thought you needed to complete all modes, but it started after completing every mode except the three Death Star missions.

It starts after completing one of the big inserts ie: battle above endor, or destroy the deathstar.

I'm just as much of a fan; Star Wars was the first movie I ever saw in a theater at age 9. I was awestruck.

From an opinion standpoint, I will agree to disagree. While you know the ultimate outcome of Rogue One (or, at least most people would), the journey was still enjoyable. There are other movies where you knew the likely outcome, but you can still enjoy and appreciate the story. I think the Star Wars franchise is in as good hands as possible with Disney. I'm sure I won't like all of them as well as others, but I'm going to enjoy them and appreciate them as long as they don't ruin the story like with Matrix 3. After all, much like pinball, there was a time where it was considered likely that there would be no more Star Wars to come and they have that interesting interconnection.

Ah, so theoretically you can play it 4 times? I thought that it was supposed to be the main wizard mode, but this seems like a mini wizard mode. Guessing Jedi will be the main wizard?

Get that. Just don't accuse me of being a a hater or not a fan because my movie opinions (or pinball opinions, or whatever) don't jibe with yours or someone elses. That's the joy of opinions, everyone gets to have one.

Yes yes we're all Star Wars fans just like the entire world is. Put your schwartzes away.

Rogue One was layed out for us in 1977 A New Hope opening crawl. I really liked R1 it felt right except for the speech scene by Jyn, that was bad.

Yeah Jyn speach was bad but blind guy was the worst part for me....and there were tons of awful parts for me to choose from. I mean he was worse than Forrest Whitiker and that's saying somehting.

Im not sure if you can start it multiple times or not to be honest. Im sure waspinat0r can chime in as he has way more play time on his machine then I do mine.

This sums it up. Only thing I'll add is I just didn't feel compelled to "care" for any of the characters.

Rogue One was god awful.

Remember, almost half the movie was reshot....it wasn't reshot because it was good.

I'm not going to go through the whole movie, but I want to focus on one scene...Vader at the end. Completely 100% out of character for him. End of Rogue one he is slaughtering rebels, beginning of new hope he lets the storm troopers slaughter rebels. Once Anakin turned to Vader, he only raised his lightsaber against a Jedi...not rebel fighters.

To switch topics, I am can't wait to get my LE.

Because Vader was tired out after killing all those rebels, duh. Couldn't you hear him wheezing?

HAHAHAHAHAHA

To be honest, I like both Force Awakens and Rogue One despite their flaws. TFA had no other choice but to take cues from the OT to get the bad taste of the prequels out of our mouth. Rogue One had way too many characters and some continuity issues with New Hope. I don't hate these two, but I'd take them over the prequels, well Revenge of the Sith wasn't too bad IMHO. I hope Rian Johnson directs an amazing movie (Last Jedi) that finally unites all of us......

Any word on when the LEs start shipping?

I heard from my distributor that LEs will start shipping the first two weeks of August.

I was told by my distributor that LEs are shipping in less than a week and mine is in the first allotment.

I can't believe Stern didn't get any real actor call outs. Total let down. Imagine if James Earl Jones did Vader call outs, it would take this game to another level. But no, cheap ass BS. I'll pass on owning one but want to play one on location.

Apparently (source: Pinside ) the call outs are one of the actors from the cartoon series (?).....if that helps.

Actually it was talked about on the deadflip stream. It's the actor who plays c3po in the attack of the clones series.

I think Anthony Daniels did a lot of the animated C-3PO voiceovers if I'm not mistaken.

Must not have been that terrible... some of you are in the 13% I guess.

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So perhaps we'll see some LE video in a week or two. I do have a strong interest in a Premium, so I'm curious to see the video. I enjoyed the Pro but I always was a fan of the Getaway supercharger. Still miss Getaway a bit, but never felt like there was enough to shoot at or interesting shots to keep it long-term, but I loved the supercharger.

I like a lot of movies (and pins for that matter) that other people don't, and dislike a lot that others like. Its okay, I don't have to follow the crowd. Not quite sure why you seem to feel threatened by other people's opinions though. Like what you like. It's all good.

This may or may not be it, but I think some people (posters and reader alike) do not make sufficient distinction between:
1) "I think the movie is bad" (implies one person's personal opinion)
2) "The movie is bad" (implies a consensus opinion)

Clearly your posts are more in line with "1" (whereby it is a *fact* that you did not like the movie), but a reader who thinks you stated "2" could be offended by the implication that the movie was widely regarded as bad, which is demonstrably false.

We'll see where the Star Wars pinball machines ends up by consensus, but things seem to be generally swinging in the positive direction.

Girls Trip has 88% on rotten tomatoes and 89% of audiences liked it, so it must be better than Rogue One. You Rogue One fans should rush out and see it.

Have you seen Girls Trip?