child's illustration of a ghost?

Art this, layout that. Psh. The only thing that really matters is code and how fun it is to play. Code = rules, animations, sounds. Polish is the key word, just put the work into it Stern and it'll be great.

TWD is an amazing game. Why? Code! Sure ain't the photo shop art or clunky layout.

It still had something around the button, has there been any Stern with a button on the lockdown bar without a plate or sticker to dress the button up since that became the thing to do?

Steve's games may not be innovative but they always play great. I like all the metal ramps and habitrails at the premium level. Sounds, lights and LCD displays should bring the theme home. Playfield art is good enough, IMO.

I won't be buying as I tend to like games that are packed with stuff and I already have a few of Steve's games. However, I think Star Wars fans and those without one of Steve's games will be happy.

There are not many of us that are thrilled or even like the artwork but I dont think we should be aiming that criticism or throwing our pitchforks at Stern for it they had their hands tied in that department.

Jeremy aka ZombieYeti posted earlier in this thread the artwork was done by Disney artists, I'm pretty sure if Stern could have used one of their in house talents like Jeremy they would have.

Stern do a lot that often disappoints some of us but this time I doubt the artwork disappointment is on them.

I know this has probably been mentioned in another thread. With the $400 jump in price on the new LCD display games, what is the going street price for NIB premiums?

I have been thinking for some time that Star Wars would be Stern's biggest challenge. Its probably the most expensive license they have ever bought, and could lead to a lower production cost machine to compensate and stay at the same price point. The only way to make up the difference in lower quality, or less populated game is in the gameplay. If anyone can do it, Steve Ritchie can.

The game may be great. Certainly hope so. However, if it's not, they would have been better off adding $200 to $500 to the BOM and charging more.

I'd say list price minus $200 if you ask for it. Pickup and save $300 shipping. See some AS Prems listed for $7395 including shipping.

I have my fingers crossed that do RGB GI and can change the GI on the floor for the modes your in, yellow oranges and red shades for tatooine modes, blue and whites for hoth, greens blues whites for endor and stark whites for Death Star modes, would really add a massive visual depth to the game plus being damn cool in the process.

Might be why the background is so blue, easily contrasted out with the GI. I really was hoping for a hologram feature, but the playfield LCD could simulate that I guess.

Topper for sale. Tape from 1983 no extra charge. $17,666. Low ball offers will be ignored.
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I agree. While the playfield, backglass and side art are key, the most important things for me are: (1) how fun the game is to shoot; (2) how innovative and intuitive the rules are; and (3) the immersion level of the game.

I was and continue to be extremely excited about this game. Hell, I have a life sized Darth Vader in my gameroom.

As far as the visuals so far (based on the low res pics), I think the game is ok. It is about what I had expected. I think it looks good. ESB is probably my favourite movie, and I love the villains, so the premium artwork looks the best to me so far. The backglass on the LE is the biggest let down for me. I think it is possible that Stern may have some lighting effects to simulate "light speed" when that occurs in the game. That would be pretty cool. I think I just expected the LE to be more of a dark side / Vader vibe. I do like the glossy legs and armor on the LE.

As for how fun the game is to shoot, I trust Steve will deliver. It is a fan layout, and does have similarities to ACDC, but it does add an extra shot to the main playfield shots, so some of the shots may be a bit tougher to hit than ACDC. I expect it to feel buttery smooth. The metal ramps look great. I hope the Death Star and hyperspace features are well integrated. Maybe Steve was able to perfect the hyperspace shot based on the issues he had with the changed kickout on Star Trek (when it was changed to an upkick to the inlane). Really curious to see how the mech works under the Death Star on the premium / LE. Is it a ramp to shoot up, or a ramp that drops balls down? The extra LCD screen on the playfield could be a great addition. Hoping for magnets somewhere, or at lease something behind the 3 bank on the premium / LE.

For the rules, I have full faith and trust in Dwight. He absolutely cares about the games he puts out and I know he has been working hard on this title for a while. His code on GOT is simply amazing (all it needs is a few more callouts ). I expect great integration of modes and scoring strategies.

The final thing that is critical is the theme integration / immersion level. What I want in a game is to feel like I am in the world of the licence. And of all licences out there, Star Wars has the most iconic sounds, voice callouts and lighting effects. This can make or break this game. I so desperately hope that they have the full licence to use all the movie quotes, sounds (e.g. lightsaber, tie fighter, lasers, x-wing) and music from the movies. I want to FEEL the game. The lack of "toys" and average art can be rendered completely moot if the game is completely immersive. Think Tron. The playfield art on Tron is ok at best. There is what, one interactive toy on that game (i.e. 3 bank with the spinner). But yet when you play it, you enter the world of Tron due to the lighting, voices, and music. Same thing with Ironman and LOTR. I would absolutely take complete licence integration on this theme over a few extra toys on the playfield.

I cannot wait to share this game with my son and daughter. I know they will love it and it will be something we can share for years to come.

As a Star Wars fan, I like all of the cabinets but I think I do like the Premium best.

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This would hold water if the licensed digital Star Wars Pinball games didn't have much better composition. They're licensed, too, require Disney approval, and they are in many cases better than what we have here. Plus, they cost $10-$40, not $8000. Face it, this is an art direction issue.

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Keep in mind the models shown are renderings, art combinations of the 3 models may be different on the production games.

I just hope to be able to play any new model before my likely soonest opportunity at the York show. When GB was released it was right before a York show and my wife and I were excited to play it. And we did play it a lot and liked it. But we decided to buy a GoT pro instead because we just had SO MUCH FUN playing it.

The huge difference in artwork between the two games wasn't a factor for us because we had a blast playing GoT. So even though GB is way cooler looking, GoT looks like the TV show and we both are fans of the show so it was what we expected it to look like.

I'd suspect plenty of fans of Star Wars will be happy with the cabinet choices and playfield artwork won't matter if the game is just fun. Now add in the LCD displays, great sound and light and I think this is a winner.

And that direction, I take it, is thumbs down? Personally I like the lack of action figures and having ship centric toys. Exactly what I was hoping for. The cabinet and backglass on the premium I like the most. Seems like you are fighting the "bad" guys with Vader and villians on there..pf art I see the point that its lacking. That's the only issue I can see with the game if its SR flowy as expected. I am one of those, no to the themes of similar layout games like SM and ACDC but I do like ST though. So no re-hash issues for me. I figure this is a 2018 purchase for me. One aside, I have MMR and I really like the combo of plastic ramps, metal ramp entrance coupled with wire form ball return. I think this looks better than all metal ramps, the selective use of ramp plastic allows better pf field of vision, acuity or something I can't quite explain.

I'm okay with the Premium backglass and most of the cab panels, but that Playfield art is atrocious.

I agree that a combination of metal and plastic ramps when artfully applied, can help the look over all wireform or all plastic.

I was planning to get on a list for an LE and was caught off guard. It appears that the LEs are long sold out, so I have been looking closer at the Premium and I like it! That is my favorite art package and it will give me a chance to look at game play. It looks fast and tons of flow, which makes it my kind of game. I have a feeling that when we finally see the balls flying around on that ramp, it will be amazing. If it doesn't turn out to be great I'll grab an AS, Metallica or IMVE. All are way better than DI.

I think I'm in the minority here, but I was actually hoping this game was going to be based on the latest movies (at least partially) and not just episodes 4-6.

Actually the ramps could have been like MMR, plastic with wire form ball returns and this would allow for a different metallic look, insert the M Falcon hatchway\ship entrance ramp metal pattern under the plastic sections of the ramp to look like the LE lit side rails. I predict ramp mods.

I went from meh to all excited

Got to say, with the price a pro is today, a few years back you could have brought an LE for the same price.

Pretty lame that Stern cannot use wire ramps on the Pro.

Some pretty convincing renderings for Steve and Dwight to be able to stand next to them!

Probably a pipe dream but maybe Stern is going to surprise us all and price it below their current MSRP because it is somewhat "stripped down."
They could potentially sell even more of this game to more first time buyers (the traditional Star Wars fan...not pinball addicts like us) to cover margins and create new consumers for future games.

Probably not gonna happen but a boy can dream.

Its certainly my favorite of the bunch. I wonder how it would look with white armor, storm trooper addition? Looks like it already has white trim around the head.

Also not impressed. Still getting the LE though I think the premium looks best.

True , forgot about that pic prototypes? BM66 came to mind when the backbox side art didn't match what was shown pre production.

Yes. Pipe dream. Same as Aerosmith pricing, I heard.

This game looks great! I'm not talking about the pf art, which is way better than got or st (I don't notice art while playing those awesome games).

7 shots, drop bank, and the targets or whatever is under the pf lcd. Possibly a Congo style skill shot (my favorite in pinball). Lots of flow and it doesn't look like the ramps will be backhand-able which will encourage rapid, cross-pf, ramp and loop flow. Deep, narrow shots will make you feel like you're bulls-eyeing womp rats when you're locked in. Can't wait to see more.

BLUF: New potential owners need to start watching more closing the features in the games that they are considering buying.

The button script moulding was another example of "invisible" cost cutting decisions by Stern to increase profits, just like backglass boondoggle. They knew they could get away with it.

These are the things people naysay. It was an excellent representation of things people rarely catch and exemplifies continued degradation of game build quality even in comparison to games made by their own company less than 5 years ago, let alone 20 years in the past by other manufacturers.

The provided quality is simply not comparative to MSRP, and production material and labor costs have not skyrocketed in the industry. In many cases owners are paying over 40% more for less of a game. In the specific case of BM66, it was astronomical.

It is not about price, only what you receive for your money.

Stern, you sank my battleship.

ok, thanks to ZombiYeti for clarifying that the art is no cheap photoshop product.
(but it looks as it is... )

but: is this an uplift (forklift )ramp underneath the death star? ( yunk yard alike ?)
and on the right side : a simple kickout hole or a subway ramp ?

sw uplift ramp (resized).png

subway sw (resized).png

If you set the game to HOME Mode... it would be nice to hear an Easter Egg Harrison Ford say "Chewie we're home"

The Easter Egg is the Death Star when it splits open and reveals the prize inside.

I just hope they resisted the urge to add a video game mode to this game. I realize the temptation would be strong given the source material but man do I hate video game modes (and yes I have two games that have them, and they both stink).

LE has a metal apron, hope the Premium will have the same

OH SNAP.

Pretty sure that is what the video mode insert is for on the playfield. Haha

I loved GOT and ST. Very much looking forward to seeing the gameplay reveal... I can definitely see picking this up down the line. Congrats to everybody that was able to snag an LE.

It's like the old saying goes, "Dwight on code? Video mode!"

When I'm betraying my best buddy then speeding off to a galaxy far far away, there's only one choice for my Pingulp : Colt .45
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the cab art on all three looks great.

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Looks like the Death Star has green LEDs built into it, it would be good if it interacts with the LCD on the playfield, Death Star LEDs come on and LCD shows clip of Alderaan being blown to bits.

Actually very true! The top down view does nothing to help sell this game. When viewed from a player perspective the game looks pretty nice if you ask me.

I like the DE backglass. I think it's really well done.