Cool. So what parts of SW's gameplay are you excited for or have thoughts about? Features you like/dislike?

Nothing excites me so far, but I am looking forward to playing it.

I have AC/DC and IM. Is this going to be faster or flow better? I look forward to finding out.

I don't have either of those games so if this game is comparable, I'm gonna be very happy with how this game plays.

You must not be a fan of thrones show. Just cause it doesn't have a lot of show call outs doesn't mean it lacks that world under the glass.

- Houses battling for right to rule the seven kingdoms
- becoming the hand of the king and different ways to achieve it, brilliance!
- winter is coming and winter has come is amazing integration of just winter chills. Perfect for the white walker plot line.
- the hounds call outs are top level for pinball.
- the sound of the horns and battling in wall multiball. Not to mention the wall + winter super stack where it becomes complete pandemonium in winter effects as you're battling at the wall. Great theme integration!
- building the Targaryan modes is epic, and that dragon getting bigger, badder, and more epic with a dramatic feel as you progress. Fits the dragons story line perfect
- and then finally, you get the iron throne and go on a little mini journey through the seven kingdoms.

Just shoving call outs of the show into the game would not work for this pin; it was integrated perfect...this coming from a big fan of the show.

Sweet, then it's even better and I already liked it. Will take the update with me to league on wednesday!

Agreed on some of the initial selection/complexity for casuals. For a while we had 3 GoT's on location - 2 Prem's and 1 Pro - one of each model at locations where lots of casual players visited. The amount of casual players that just hit start and launched a ball without choosing a house was staggering. Those who did toggle houses, looked puzzled at the benefits each house gave because they couldn't understand the meaning.

Ever talk to someone who is outside your field and they start talking in their own lexicon and you get lost immediately? This happens to me every time I call my I.T. department at work... or as a drummer when I talk to a guitarist and they get into music theory.

I like the strategy as playing as different houses/characters with different advantages, but for a casual player I sincerely hope Stern uses that new big screen to explain the differences of each character in plain English. Seeing "Bonus +5X" means jack to a newbie as that's really more of a player's phrase. Maybe have a blurb pop up next to it which gives it a bit more context will allow casual players to understand what the heck they're selecting AND why. Don't dumb down a game for newbies, as pinball would never progress for hardcore players. Instead keep adding features but make them easy to understand if they're going to be on location (and that doesn't mean rule cards with 1pt font and 10 paragraphs).

Isn't all pinball like this? Almost every novice player I interact with says the same thing, "I never knew there were rules in pinball". Selecting a hero or house or song or whatever is the same thing, a rule.

When I first stepped up to TAF, TZ, or FT back in the 90s I had no idea there were rules and stopped playing immediately. Then months later I revisited after a friend showed me some rules and I was hooked. Same thing happens at my house; I show people a few rules and they get hooked in.

I'm not a novice and I've been pretty good about picking up rules and nuances in tons of games....GOT is still like deciphering quantum physics to me...I've given up on trying to understand it. If I play it, I just enjoy the flow, shoot the colored arrows and go for Multiballs...I have no idea what means what or what advantages any choices give me. I got to Winter is Coming and Hand of the King...so, whatever lol

The part I found most interesting about the SR panel was actually the information Greg Freres mentioned. He talked about the back and forth with Lucas on the artwork. The initial drafts Stern sent LA (technically first drafts, but really 5th according to Greg) weren't really all that good imo, so the input that came back from LucasArts must have been solid. The more I look at the game, the more the artwork has grown on me.

Starts at the 1:45 mark of the video - lot's of "progress artwork" photos that show where they started and how they got to the final selects.

SW Pin Pro (resized).png

I don't know. Friends seem to do pretty well with looking at the 4 beginning choices on my BF, and there really isn't any audio prompt to look at the screen and choose anything. GoT has a very audible cue.

But a limitation on DMD games may have been the resolution of the dots and resulting text you can squeeze. With these HD displays, they now have the larger real estate AND better resolution to give a bit more info than shorthand notes. I'd hope they'd use that to their advantage, especially if it was available to turn on in the options so location play for ever-increasingly complex games could be easy to approach.

Listening to him explain it, I think the hyper loop ramp would have been awesome on XMLE Magneto. Looking forward to seeing it in person on this game. And Ritchie said that production was starting...what are the chances of at least a prototype showing up at Pintastic?

I wish they would of had that fast looking art on the sides of one of the games :/ Very cool to see the art progress. Hope they release more info on how the game was made!

I liked a lot of the elements in this concept.

sw-concept-art (resized).png

Definitely. The left cab art was awesome....so was the right.

In the mention of game of thrones I enjoy the game, fully.

Just played at a friends last night he has about 12 great games in total.

We played got pro ghostbusters pro, shadow and circus Voltaire. I really do like got. I like the theme. I think it's a clever game. I like the way playing houses differently is a strategy. Clever.

I have to wait and see gameplay on Star Wars, but stern is hitting some hits right now. My thoughts are really on gameplay and finished package. I can't judge anything by pictures. I need flippers in my hands...

I'm surprised you haven't picked up on the rules of GOT, maybe you need a game with more straightforward modes......say ghostbusters?

Right...every game I love has non-linear modes...don't bring that horror garbage game into this conversation.

GOT's rules are math/chess. Your brain loves that. Mine doesn't. Also, I'm playing on location...I don't think it's as easy to learn GOT on location vs. playing at home. Due to the hideous art package, horrible DMD video clips, and lack of any interesting mechanical features, I will never buy GOT for home.

Is that GB's u are referring too? because its far from being a horror film.

+1. Ha

LOL....I was referring to the experience of the game. The film is fantastic.

I've cheated using this method before when working on my fifth element pin art. It wasn't working IMO so cracking the knuckles and digging in the make my own drawings. I may come back to it so definitely not knocking it as 'unacceptable' but with so much authentically hand drawn art from previous posters, where they referenced photos for anatomical accuracy, vs here where its a reference or even source for full frame comp.

The technique can look more subtle but you can see some obvious tell tale signs of this or a very similar technique. I'm not knocking it, except to point out that sometimes the still doesn't fully capture the movie's moment. A good artist can alter to use element and composition that does a better telling of the story/moment that the movie relies upon several seconds or minutes to convey.

Most of it looks fine IMO save for the row of characters above the flippers. That is composited and scaled poorly and just looks sad. However after hearing the discussion, can imagine that Disney would dictate that 'so and so must be this size, from the waste up etc...' making it difficult to get it to look good.

Most won't notice. Should be a fun game.

Edit: I called this 'cheating' but honestly, to do it as well as Spoon Graphix does, its really a shortcut. If you don't have a good understanding of painting or drawing and can make decisions on what and how to emphasis, it can look horrible. In a pro's hands, it can look fantastic.

Oh, you meant this kind of horror

The_Horror_The_Horror_gallery_primary (resized).jpg

Curious....do you have to get the Premium to enjoy GOT like this?? Or would Pro suffice?

No skin off my nose. Don't take it personal bro, I was just bustin your chops cause your love for GB.

Pro is more than fine. In fact most players seem to prefer the pro over the premium on this title. I like both versions, but the pro seems to mesh with the rules better.

I feel the same way having played both, the Pro has a slight edge. I also feel like the upper playfield on the Premium blocks a lot of the game off so that you can't really see what is going on (and it is already a fairly crowded game at the back).

Any news on when we will see a gameplay vid?

Of course, now that SW appears to building on the GOT rules/format, thinking I may as well go with SW. Not that much more in $$ to get a family friendly them.

... but you bought Hobbit?

Rob

Phenomenal, deep, non-linear game without ghosting inserts or cabinet splitting....why wouldn't I buy it?

The same reason most of us play pinball instead of reading encyclopedias.
It's an "excitement" thing.

Right, I'm not playing pinball lol. ....it's exciting every time I hit start.

GB is a great pin! I think it boils down to the fact that you aren't a fan of the movie, and that's why you hate the game.

As we all know, a true fan of the movie would love the game.

One of the greatest...that's why it's such a shame the game turned out the way it did, and the theme blinds you to it's problems. I guarantee that same exact design, toys, and rules with another theme (Ghostbusters'16 for example) - your opinion would be very different.

Thankfully, I have freed myself from the concept of "dream themes" ...it's a concept I will never allow myself to get passionate about again, as I am no longer ever buying NIB pins again. Good luck!

Does anyone think this will be too similar to Star Trek in a small home collection?

They're not the same thing?

(JOKING)

I know Disney would never approve, but I would love to see an "I've got the money" hurry up. If you make the shot, you see the proper clip of Han shooting first, and if you miss you see Greedo shooting first.

I have an AC/DC and I'm worried about that.

No. It will shoot different enough.

Well, anything with the reboot I wouldn't buy, but the same toys and design with other themes, I would love the same.

The ramps, holograms, magna slings, bash toy, perfect art with very nice accessories would rock under just about any theme.

No I don't think it will be.

Nah you'll be in the clear.

Probably not, except for style of game play. SW looks like it will play very fast like just about every other SR game (except GOT).

Besides, if you have both maybe you can answer the biggest question of the last generation - "Which is better? Star Trek or Star Wars?"

I'm a big fan of the show, I've seen all the seasons and am eagerly anticipating the next, I just don't care for how Stern integrates themes in general, which is why I'm hesitant about a Stern Star Wars pin.

If Star Trek was based on the original series I probably would have bought it.

Star Wars is set up to potentially be great, now all we need to see is some Danger stream!!!!!!!

GOT LE is a gorgeous game. Better looking playfield and the cabinet art was done by an artist.

Cool now what about Star Wars? You know, the topic of this thread?

There was one for sale locally and I contemplated biting on it....buuuuut, I don't really like the upper playfield at all on GOT - so, I like the look of the LE better than the other 2, but prefer the gameplay of the Pro.

I think it has the potential to be Ritchie's best game since AC/DC (that's my favorite of his current-ish Sterns)...but we won't know till we can play it or get a sense of what the rules are gonna be like!

Cause its not that fun. GoT it way easier to understand rules wise too.

I love the art on all 3 cabinets.

Playfield has a lot of detail that won't be appreciated until seen in person.