I have a ton of sympathy for how hard it can be to work with art on licensed titles now, I can't criticize that stuff anymore. It's disappointing, but that's part and parcel with the reality of working with these big studios these days. It's a miracle Ghost Busters had the freedom it did.

But overall it basically looks like what anyone would expect a Stern Star Wars game to look like if you just keep your expectations in line with what they always do. Art is what it is, basic fan layout, couple plastic toys, same old three models.

I'm sure it will be fun and smooth, and with good rules could be a good game. But speaking as a giant Star Wars nerd there's nothing here to excite me.

Just see where it goes from here, these days you're an idiot to get Stern games early, so no rush. If I play one and it's rad then great.

By who?

lol GTFO. Dave is a great guy, and I think has a bright future in pinball if he's allowed to just release games. Taking Ritchie's King of Flow Crown? Maybe in a couple decades or something we can talk about it, but not right now.

He's released one and a half games, the first of which no one bought, and the second one is half because it's only half out, and he only half designed it. Little early to say he's taken shit from anyone.

Yeah, probably. But Stern gets the boring launch code and cross your fingers for updates crown, most everyone else has other issues. There's really no reason to buy a Stern early unless you're an op or you just have to have the LE and don't care how it actually plays.

lol, so they're just going to let everyone look at assy pics for a week, forming opinions and settling into them before letting anyone see it decently? Okay.

I heard full RGB with white inserts (I assume Prem/LE only) so the inserts are likely just photoshopped colors. If you look at Star Trek and GoT that seems to be the new Ritchie thing, so makes sense.

Uh, everyone? That's exactly what the reveal reaction was like, right here on Pinside.

Chicken Walker.

The more I think about this the more I wonder why the original trilogy?

I'm a Star Wars geek. Have hundreds of toys, I don't collect just anything though, just things the emotionally resonate with me.

And the thing is, we've seen all this before. It's the 40th anniversary. Any of the art could have been on a lunchbox. It's the 3rd or 4th time the original films have been made into a pin (depending on how you count).

It's like making a new Playboy pin. Why would you do that? It's been done to death.

Ritchie likes action. Do Rogue One. Do something new. Data East, Sega, Stern, it's all the same company. Going back to the same well.

I want to play it. But I wish it looked like it was done by super fans of the films.

Maybe the animation package will help. Seems dumb to make people wait a week to bitch about things before officially releasing stuff. Maybe a video would shut us all up.

I'd be stoked to find one in the wild. Ops should buy these up. Public won't care about the art.

They obviously have photos, and they supplied them to the video. It's weird that they aren't just posting photos now.

On the other hand, Dialed In was announced and made playable last October, and they just now released the trailer for it.

People want shit now. And I think it's dumb to not control the narrative. But it won't matter. People here will still eat up video in a week.

Agree to disagree, I enjoyed Rogue One, and it would make a slick looking action pin, for Fast Ritchie.

Good plot for rules. Lots of action scenes for the LCD clips.

Tons of bitching about that. And they're not wrong either, it's too expensive for a reissue of an old game.

Whatever I bought it anyways, I'm a Street Fighter fanboi.

You haven't posted a single character from Rogue One, what the heck are you doing? Who asked for a prequel pin?

Have you even seen the movie?

You don't need to be an 'art expert' to see those are drawings, and not movie stills or PR headshots, that's obvious. There's a massive library of Star Wars drawings and paintings, whether or not these came from that or were original for the pin I couldn't say. But even the most casual fan can see they're not film images.

When people wish for hand drawn art, what they mean is what Yeti did for Ghostbusters. What Donny did for Metallica and Aerosmith. An artist sat down, and drew the whole playfield, as a cohesive and complete vision. Stern is obviously capable since I just listed three modern games, and I'm sure in this case they didn't have that option. It happens. If they could have I'd think they would have.

It doesn't automatically mean gold! The Rob Zombie response wasn't that great, and that was a freaking oil painting. Data East Star Wars is hand drawn, people are dogging it in this very thread. It's just a style, good or bad isn't baked into it.

Photoshopped art doesn't have to be actual photos, it's just a reference to the collage style that you get when the license strangles your options. I think you can be disappointed that reality works that way, without actually being mad at Stern, or saying Ritchie always has shit art, or anything like that.

It's just a pining for the 'good old days' of pinball, when the art packages felt more soulful, and a little less commercial. The tradeoff is we get modern rules, modern screens, modern RGB lights, pinball hasn't withered, it's just that some of the old parts are worth being nostalgic over.

/art expert out

I mean, again, it's not good or bad just based on the medium. Jurassic Park has had drawn art. People mock it all the time, laugh at the fingers, etc.

What's more important is style and vision. People got excited over Ghostbusters because Jeremy has style for days. He understands composition and color, he's got great line work, and when you put it all together you can see something he's done and it doesn't feel generic, it looks like a Zombie Yeti piece.

Ghostbusters took chances. Magnetic slings, interesting newton ball arrangements, a ramp that plunges through he playfield. It has an art package by someone who was clearly passionate about the theme, 3D plastic areas, it felt like the details were sweated out just looking at it sitting there, turned off.

The game isn't for me for various reasons, but so what? I give Stern tons of props for it. It's proof positive they're a company that can execute a vision with soul still in my opinion.

Star Wars might be super fun, when the sounds get going and the lights are flashing and the LCD screens are playing stuff it might be awesome. Anyone dogging that is an idiot, we haven't seen anything.

But just looking at it, all we can do, as a Star Wars super fan I just wish it felt like it had the same soul and passion that Ghostbusters did. It's not just the collaged playfield art, it happens, I know that better than anyone, it's just that it doesn't look like it was made by people who feel the same way about the license as I do.

Hey, life isn't catered to me, I'll get over it. But I don't think it's unfair or whiny or Stern hating to express those kinds of feelings when the license is important to you. Why else are we here if not to talk about how pinball has our passions?

Hard to see clearly, but that photo seems to back up the earlier whitewood comment about not having RGB inserts after all, the LE inserts look like normal colored ones there, anyone else agree?

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

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

An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age.

I tell people it's a stupid hobby. The games are heavy, take up a lot of room, they're expensive, they break and require maintenance, and that's not even touching on all the nonsense in the world of *new* pinball. Only idiots think this is a good hobby to be in.

The big news for Alien is the pop bumper eggs split open and spew out balls. It's like Apollo 13, just balls everywhere like a John Waters teabagging orgy. Keep it a secret though!

I highly doubt anyone feels like doing a bunch of art work to get slapped with a cease and desist. Between Stern and Disney? No thanks.

I sugest they don't advertise it on Pinside, they will get contacted by Stern, I can promise you that.

Personally I'm more sick of the people who can't stomach reading opinions they don't agree with.

It's okay to care about the way something looks more than the way it plays. It's okay to only care about how it plays and not give a shit what it looks like. Neither is wrong.

If you buy pins to look at them and hardly play them, good for you. Someone will probably get a really nice shape pin to play some day when you get bored, I sure don't care. Your dollars are funding the hobby still.

If you think spending $8k on a pin is stupid af and would rather play the shit out of some worn-to-the-wood solid states I salute you. That game is probably super fun, why it got worn down to bare wood, people couldn't stop playing it.

If you're a giant Star Wars fan and one look at this disappoints you then I feel you. The things we love the most are sometimes the most easy to be critical about. You don't have to wait for a video or new photos to have an opinion. You're also allowed to change it when those come to light. Just don't be a bitch about it, admit you're changing your mind.

If Steve Ritchie wants to be a cranky old man and shit on his customers that's his right. I don't have to respect him for it.

This is a discussion forum. If you can't handle things being discussed then learn to knit or something.

Oh, this is my other pet peeve, people who think they get to dictate other opinions based on what they buy. Leave with that nonsense.

Your wallet doesn't mean crap. I buy Sterns, doesn't make my opinion any more valid that anyone else's.

I'm gonna say that Ritchie is 100% cranky. And I buy his games.

Sure, no one is trying to shut you up. I'm just expressing my opinion. By all means, bitch away.

Here's the difference, to me.

You can have an opinion without being a dick. You can be disappointed in an art package without saying "looks like someone took a shit on the playfield".

You can be negative and still respectful. World of difference between "I don't really care for this, it's not what I was hoping for" and "Greg Freres is a hack, did he do this in one day on crack?"

Like with Alien, I get that for some people the art wasn't what they wanted. I feel them, if I had other avenues to explore I would have taken them. If it's not for you or you're disappointed I get it. But some people made it really personal, and attacked me and said shitty things about me. I've got thick skin, but man, it wears on you.

I said similar things in the Total Nuclear Annihilation thread. If Scott's vision isn't for you, fine, but man, he's a member of the community, have a little respect.

Ritchie is a pinball god. I think he deserves some ribbing for bitching about all of Pinside, full of people who buy his games, that's a little rich, but it doesn't change his resume and game catalog, and he's earned plenty of slack too. So he was cranky, whatever.

Yup. And mea culpa, I was kind of a harsh dick to you about having an opinion in the TNA thread, so everyone could use a dose of chilling out, and I'm certainly no exception.

Oh, they all read it. It's just a fact. Back in the day when I still talked with people at Stern I would hear about it all the time. They see the complaints, the suggestions, the insults.

You should just post assuming the person you're talking about is seeing it. One more reason to not be a dick, why intentionally try and hurt someone's feelings? Be honest, but think about how you'd say it to their face, or in an email.

Penny-Arcade-Internet-Dickwad-Theory-700x500 (resized).jpg

You've never read car forums.

I've PMd him twice to man up with whatever his issues are. He's apparently too scared to do anything but randomly downvote even the most innocuous posts. Maybe he's frightened of my tattoo avatar.

It's all three. Photoshop is just a tool. I'm sure Zombie Yeti used it tons for Ghostbusters, though if I recall correctly he also likes to do line drawing in Manga Studio. You can draw, you can cut and paste, you can do everything in between. Tools don't dictate the style or results, any more than a pen controls what your drawing looks like, that's up to the hand and mind right?

Clip art can be hand drawn. In fact when I think clip art first thing I think of is line drawings.

What Star Wars looks like to me, and obviously I'm only speculating, is that Stern had access to a library of Star Wars images, hand drawn images and whatever else, (remember, film images generally are pretty low rez for print use, actually taking a movie clip for your art is going to be pretty rare, or used for smaller stuff). They brought those images into Photoshop and collaged together a layout.

Like the end result or not that how I imagine it was actually assembled. So Photoshop, clip art, hand drawn, you can be all of those.

That post was epic. Steve Ritchie truly speaking his mind, and not a throw away Facebook comment about a forum, is a sight to see.

Way back on an earlier page someone said Stern told them PR release of better images etc would be on the 6th, so assuming that's true won't be anything until tomorrow.

Whoever put that canned rock track on a Star Wars video should be fired. That was just awful. Maybe the sound package is still too raw to show? I really wanted to hear the sounds.

Definitely nice to see in action, and it looks better in high rez, no question. The Pro translite looked like a mess in low rez, in high rez it was a lot better for instance. I want to play one. I just don't have that "wow I want that" feeling still. Maybe hands on time would change my mind, I really want it to be good. I seriously don't care that it's competing with Alien, the Star Wars fan in me hopes it's great.

If I may though, that video mode looks really dumb. Why does Dwight insist on putting video modes in his games? I'm not a fan. I want to play pinball, not bang a button, or pick bacon or star, or do bad pixel fights. Just leave the video modes out!

I loved the armor on my Star Trek Premium, but I guess they didn't want to put cool armor on this Prem because it would make the LE look even worse? Just not seeing the value on the LE on this one.

Or, more likely, they're going to announce some armor upgrade kit, get your dollars flowing. Where's the $500 topper?

Uh, you might want to put your glasses on, those aren't filter jobs.

Obviously it was all done over stock photos, but was still done by hand, not a "insert photo, click filter, done".

More likely all digital, just done with a Wacom, and yes, I'm sure some filters, but there's no such thing as a "drawing filter" that will take a photo like that and generate that result.

I'm not gonna defend the art on the playfield, I don't really like it, but let's stick to the facts. TBL had a backglass that was filtered photos. This isn't that.

Maybe. When I look at it I see a lot of nuance that a human eye did. Look how the light was brought around the edge of the sleeve on the gun arm to help define the dimensionality, that wasn't in the photo.

I'm not trying to call this a work of art. It's a trace job over a stock photo, a realllllly well known one that we all recognize right away. The composition doesn't interest me. The whole playfield style overall isn't doing it for me.

But it's not fair to just call it filtered photos, there's more going on with all of this than that.

I hear you. I've got over 2 decades of Photoshop experience myself, there's always a trick. But I don't see it here. That's not a Find Edges job, there's too much nuance in the line work.

Anyways, I don't care. If I'm wrong and that's some slick filtering work, good for them. If it's all hand drawn, cool. I think the end result feels generic, because regardless of technique it's too familiar of an image.

Just two guys talking shop, no worries! And I'm with you on that.

Tell him to stop lying to you and share his filter secrets!

Here's the truth as I see it: this is a Ritchie game, sure it will flow well. It's also very similar to a lot of his other layouts, no denying that, so the code is going to be super key on this one. If Dwight knocks it out of the park people will be happy with the game. If it's fun but nothing special I don't see it lasting long, just too much like all the other Stern games you can flip with similar feels. Code is gonna be the big differentiator.

I assumed the video mode thing was while the ball was in play, would be incredibly lame without that. Could be fun. At least it's kind of a new idea.

True that, why I love Tron so much.

If you're selling modified Hot Wheels or Hallmark ornaments or whatever you're utterly safe, first sale doctrine means they can't say boo.

If you're sculpting your own and selling them you're probably gonna hear from Stern telling you to stop or they'll contact Disney.

With the exception of the extra stupidity that was the pricing of Batman 66, has Stern ever lowered prices from one game to the next? Serious question, I don't think so, but I don't actually know.

This is a problem only Stern has.

No one else can announce and ship a game that fast!

With the LE being as weak as it is it shouldn't be hard to just wait, unless you're a "gotta have it no matter what" buyer.

Just like you can't use the BOM to measure fun you can't use the number of modes either. Hobbit has more modes than any game ever, that doesn't mean much to me though. Star Trek has 18 modes, but the reason I sold it is they all felt pretty much the same to me. SKB can explain why I'm wrong, but it still felt that way!

Are the 16 modes actually unique? Are they ladders like Ghostbusters where you're playing them in the same order every time? That's my personal turn off with Ghostbusters, every time I see it at league someone is playing Who Brought the Dog.

Same token, number of toys doesn't equal a fun equation either. AFM is a brilliant game, not much to look at at first glance.

Nothing about Star Wars excites me now, but let's see the video of gameplay and actually learn how it works. I might change my mind once the meat is revealed.

I'll see if Jim Belsito and Bob Matthews are free.

Seriously, don't want to give my peoples a bad name, lots of good players in OC League, the WBTD stuff is just from lames like me who haven't played the game before. I shouldn't judge overmuch, I haven't played GB a lot, but in general I'm not a fan of linear mode progression in a home setting, I like games you can approach differently.

I believe that they prefer to be called Tusken Raiders, sand people is a pejorative.

I personally think pre-ordering (any game from any manufacturer) without playing is dumb, but if you're gonna do it with Stern you're probably pretty safe with Ritchie + Dwight. Whether or not you'll like the game is an unknown, but I can't see the game being "left behind" by that team.

This is why Lyman is a genius. Not throwing shade at Dwight or Keefer or anyone else who does different kind of deep games, but Lyman's games have that great combination of being really approachable to a casual player, while providing a lot of depth for more serious players. It's not an easy mix.

His secret, IMHO, is that he's always trying to provide multiple paths through the game. He's talked about this in interviews, both about his own games, and the games he personally enjoys playing. I remember him talking up Shadow for instance, and that's a great early example of a game you can approach in a lot of ways. You can focus on modes, you can try and go for the wizard mode, you can just shoot for Vengeance, you can try for loops, you're not stuck in any kind of linear approach.

Look at how you can play Metallica, ACDC, TWD, you can always find your own path, when you step up you don't have to play it the way the guy before you did.

But you also don't need to spend 45 minutes on it. LOTR is an amazing game for instance, but it's also one that sits unplayed in a lot of collections, because you know that to really play it you gotta set aside a lot of time. I've got friends who own it, love it, and yet never play it for that reason. Need to be in the mood for the whole epic journey thing.

Pinball programming is hard, not because actually programming rules is super difficult, but because balancing the whole experience, not to mention trying to balance the scoring on top of that, is a real art.

Keefer is one of the all time greats in my book, but I also find his games personally unappealing, simply because I don't have the skills/patience/time to really enjoy what he does. It's more like I appreciate them for the brilliant designs they have, but aren't my cup of tea.

I'm more likely to step up to my Flash Gordon, play a fast game even with it set to 5 balls, maybe rinse and repeat a few times, and then be done. Got my ass kicked by a brutal game and it felt good. If you're next to me on LOTR you're still on ball one after I finished all that.

My Sterns are Tron, Metallica, and ACDC. You can have some good long balls on any of them, but they're not about the epic journey, and my games are set up to kick your ass more often than sailing through for a 20 minute ball.

Safest bet is don't order until you've played it, and assume what you played is what you'll get. Anything after that is a nice bonus.

I love ewoks. People just like to be haters. Just means I get more enjoyment out of watching Return of the Jedi than the haters do, so feels like a win to me!

"This GB playfield is for Dwight to program"

Also, if you didn't think this toy was bad ass I can't F with you

ewok (resized).jpg

I only came back to read it because someone started a Star Wars video thread, so I figured there must be content in here. Nope.

Why the hell would you start a thread for videos when there aren't any? I refuse to bump it up so just gonna bitch here.

Meanwhile if you're buying a pin without playing it or even seeing any video then you deserve to be mocked a little. It's dumb as hell. Don't get all offended because someone points out it's stupid, just roll with it, your money, your game, have fun.

I thought it was full of interesting ideas, and I suspect lots of people will have a lot of fun with it.

I just don't see myself as one of them.

As a big Star Wars fan it didn't click with me, the magic of the theme wasn't there. That's just a personal thing. This looks better for people who aren't actually giant fans and won't care about nitpicky shit that doesn't feel right, or who don't use ridiculous words like "magic" when thinking about the game.

The LCD style and animations reminded me of a slot machine, just a mash of different things from the movies popping up all over. For me that's not a good thing, but I bet it works great on location with casual players who see all the shit flying around. I'd route this for sure if I was an op, it will earn.

If I could sum it up I'd say that I'd prefer a game that was more story immersive, more focused, and they had a different vision for this that's more stack-heavy, more chaotic, more tons of things going on. Just a personal preference. It's probably because I love the idea of the theme so much, like I said, if you're not pre-biased you might not care.

Still curious to play it and experience it in person!

But the deal killer really is the layout. It's boring. We've seen it too many times. I'm not paying thousands of dollars for it, doesn't matter how good the code is. I can buy video games for code. I buy pins for the physical experience, and this one is dull. Ritchie played it safe, did what he's done a ton of times already; it will flow and be fast, and it's not even vaguely interesting. No crazy shots, nothing that interacts with the ball, just straight up fan layout. If you've owned a modern Ritchie you've played it already. I have ACDC, I had Star Trek, no need to rebuy something so similar. (Not the same! But close enough to feel like it.)

No video was going to change that, probably why after a bit I got bored and closed the stream. I was just watching the LCD screen, the actual ball play wasn't compelling.

I tuned in for the game where Sharpe had to drain his ball (too close to wizard? missed why that happened) and then watched a game or two after that. Maybe 40 mins? But I stuck it on a second monitor and multitasked.

Yup. Money is money. I dunno about others, but I'm not contractually obligated to buy new pins. Being cheaper than DI doesn't mean I'm gonna open my wallet or anything. You gotta f—k'n wow me for the prices these days. If I'm not 100% sold then I'm passing.

A toy on a spring with a standup. It's definitely not an interactive toy in my book. If it counts for you then by all means enjoy it. Sparky is more my level if we want to talk toys with standups and springs.

All I've seen in action is the Pro, I can't judge the rest. But same layout just with a loop thing. Maybe it's super cool, but it's not going to change how the game shoots. When I see it if I change my mind I'll say so. Just not thinking it will matter much, and for the Prem price? Really doubt it. The LE is a bad deal this time around.

If you like the game then great! Buy it. I want someone I know to buy one so I can play it. Not a hater. But it's not for me, and I stated why.

It's pretty obvious this game isn't a LOTR-style adventure, where you 'play the movies', it's just using Star Wars as window dressing for the kind of rules Dwight wanted to do. I think lots of people will enjoy it, seems like that style lends itself well to home replay value, and on location people probably won't care.

But yeah, it's not my preferred style either. I sold my Star Trek after the latest rules were updated, I don't care for the way the rules on GB work, and GoT has never excited me, maybe I just don't dig the same stuff Dwight does. Or maybe we just haven't found a middle ground yet and a future game from him will be the one.

It would take a more interesting playfield, that's for sure.

GoT is not even remotely story driven in my opinion, but maybe we think of 'story' differently. It has rules that utilize the world of the theme, and it integrates well, but it's not at all narrative-driven play.

Nothing you're saying here resonates with me after watching that video. It sounds nice, but it's just not an experience the game is actually offering, that much is clear to me.

I don't doubt it has a ton of different scoring opportunities, lots of paths to choose, I think this will be a killer title for you. It's the opposite of actually immersive as a story though. Like, I'm not hating on the stacked mission option, it's clearly in line with Dwight's vision for the code, but it represents the opposite of what I'm interested in for this theme.

It's because I'm a Star Wars fan that I'm not really interested frankly. Things like the wiggling rows of tie fighters and a star destroyer flying across Hoth, I called it a slot machine, and that's what it looks like to me. Lots of Star Wars assets, very little that actually feels anything like the films. The tone and character that I love isn't there.

That's fine! As I said, the cookie cutter playfield layout basically doomed it from the start for me anyways, so it's probably best that I don't really dig the software approach, means I'm not tempted by something I'd ultimately be bored by anyways.

This is what I meant by GOT not being a "story" pin. It uses the world as trappings for a rule system, and that's fine! Very valid way to design games. But it's not my preferred style, I'm not attracted to them, and Star Wars looks like a similar approach after watching the video, and that's why I'm not turned on as a fan.

I get the attraction to 'math' rules, and different paths, and especially stacking, all makes sense to me. Lots of replay value for sure for instance. But I'd rather be locked into a single mode that was full of atmosphere and really conveyed the heart and soul of the theme even if it meant giving up some of that freedom. If the modes are creative and fun then it will keep its staying power for me still.

Well first off, I don't own an Alien, I honestly have little opinion on it as a game because I simply haven't played it yet.

But since you brought it up I will say two things about Alien that make it more appealing, on paper, to me.

1) The layout on Alien is original and different. 4 flippers, new shots, it's not a rehash of games I've already owned and played. That's really important. Stern hiring Keith Elwin is great, his Archer game for instance doesn't shoot like anything else. Innovate your layout if you want my money, repeating the same old fast-n-flow doesn't do it for me, don't care how smooth it is.

2) The modes in Alien were purposefully designed to not stack. It's the opposite, every mode is very much about the story and atmosphere, when you're in one you should feel like being in the film for those moments, it's meant to be singular and immersive. This is what I've been getting at as my personal preferred style of game.

Honestly Alien and Star Wars are really very different games, being bored by one has no bearing on the other.

Edit: I'm not going to bring up Alien on my own, but if someone asks me about it I'm not going to ignore them either, so downvote away if that hurts your feelings.

I missed the stream and I'm on my phone in a car, tried to skip around in that YouTube video (thanks for the time stamped Death Star bit that helped) can anyone explain how the loop works? Like what's the point? It's not a ball lock apparently, so what's it for?

Death Star toy was underwhelming, trying to figure out what the Premium and LE actually offer for the extra cash. Right now I'm not sure why you wouldn't just get the Pro if you want the game.

I'm glad people are enjoying their games, but enough with the "anyone who said otherwise will surely regret it!" takes. Have fun, do you, let other people have their opinions ffs.

Here's the thing, and this is the core of my personal issue: no software, no art, no sound effects, no extensive game time is going to change the layout. And I'm bored with that Ritchie layout, I've owned it enough times, I've played it enough times. Obviously not that exact one, but close enough, no one is going to successfully argue otherwise with me. Flow flow flow. Okay, whatever. I'm looking for something else now.

Doesn't mean the game can't be fun, or that you are bored with it. By all means enjoy it. Some people are delighted it's a smooth and fast ramp shooting experience, happy for them. No snark, I really am.

I play pinball for the physical experience. The code matters, but the physical game layout comes first. I put my money on Total Nuclear Annihilation instead. It's not as deep as Star Wars, but I don't care, flipping it is something new and fun. That's what I want pinball to be, and I'm putting my money where my mouth is.

I'm tired of people brushing that off. Great, you like it, bless you and I wish you happiness with your game. My money is supporting new ideas, not overly familiar safe ones, and if that sounds harsh it's still the truth. Steve Ritchie is a god, always will be, but if he doesn't want to try new ideas I'm gonna stick with enjoying his previous games.

tl;dr Enjoy your game, stop telling me and others that our concerns aren't valid, the game is what it is and it's not changing. That's not bashing, it's just having an opinion and a principle and sticking to it. I've downsized my collection and half my games are still Sterns, but it takes more than a cool theme and being new and modern to make me want a game.

Yes, but as I noted in my post, my primary issue is the layout, thus the "not changing" comment. Dwight is a smart dude, and a good coder, and I don't doubt his layered approach to the game rules will make Star Wars more interesting than say Star Trek, which I sold because it started to bore me. Though at least Star Trek had a third flipper.

People should buy what they want, I'm not telling anyone to avoid Star Wars. As a huge fan who owns a ridiculous amount of toys and collectibles it's a little disappointing to me that it turned out the way it did, but whatever, I don't have some "omg must have a pinball of the things that I like" complex. Passing on it isn't making me lose sleep.

I'm just annoyed with the chorus of "people will sure feel dumb when they realize how great this is!" like my objections aren't based in something rational. The layout is not interesting, and nothing will change that, just accept that some people actually care about those things. This is pinball, that's not actually weird.

You're both right in a way. Yes, that's 4 LOM, but there were toys with that figure shipped that had him named Zuckuss.