Premium/LE playfield looks cool but the art is not what I was expecting, little disappointing.

But with SR and his most recent Sterns its all about how they play!

Hopefully Stern through up some HD pics soon, would have thought they would want to make this a BIG announcement themselves.

Spotted those laser cut rails straight away Nick, would be a nice touch if they do light up, but they seem a little out of place Imperial design on the (good guy) LE art package

How can anyone judge a pin one way or the other from a couple of low-res pics?

Hopefully Stern will put up some HD images of the playfields and art/cabinets and some HD videos of it flipping.

Your in luck, Hallmark do a nicely detailed Snowspeeder and they are releasing a X-wing and Tie Fighter this year that light up and interact with each other.

Needs a nice bit of bling around that lockdown bar button, looks abit of an after thought without anything around it to dress it up a little like previous games with a lock button, only a small thing that can be improved added.

SWT looks more packed but maybe that's the super busy art collage

Good call! One of TWD best features is it's colour changing GI, it would be a great feature to have something similar here. Blue in Hoth, Orange/Yellows for Tatooine and Green for Endor could be very cool - please read this Dwight!

Would have been cool if the apron was used/designed as the trench and have the wireform either run through it either in and out (loosing sight of the ball as it goes under the apron) or along a shallow channel molded in the top of the apron.

Is it just me but zooming in (admittedly on my iphone) but do the pro and premium translites look hand drawn?

Question I would like to know the answer to is what is behind the 3 bank and LCD screen?

Yeah the Tie-Fighter is there its just hard to see, shows just how bad the resolution on these photos are.

Sure there looks to be a 180 degree ramp under that Death Star, looks like it drops or raises or something?

Good eyes, that's actually pretty cool, nice way of keeping the flow and speed going when either shot is available, clearly a lot of the BOM has gone into the Death Star mech and Hyperspace ramp and not left much for anything else.

Wonder if that dome inside the Death Star spins at all, or if its just one BIG flasher with GOT level of eye scorching brightness

Looks like the Tie Fighter is on some sort of arm or spring, possibly a solenoid? Guessing its going to react with some minimal movement to shots on it?

That was one of the first things I noticed about the LE, thought cool hope they light up and instantly thought but why are they on the good guy/falcon LE

Honestly I don't think it matters someone can and should come up with some better "lite" side armour for all these models.

Lightsabers - one side blue one side red
X wing with laser blast (similar to STLE)
Tie Fighter with laser blasts (again similar to STLE)

The Enterprise on the Prem and STLE is on the right hand wireform its just on a metal stick doesn't interact at in anyway, I think the Tie Fighter here might be on a spring or solenoid tied to the stand up target in front of it, so hit the target and the Tie shakes about a little is my best guess.

EDIT: Then again looking closer it looks like its on a small arm, connected to a spring with an arm/solenoid arm going into the playfield so maybe it can crash into the playfield or raise? then again maybe it just wobbles

With a licence like this Panzer I don't think Disney would even give Stern the choice of a cheap option without speech and audio assets from the movies. But your totally right its a massive plus for the game to have all the movie assets.

Might be because I have the Hallmark one on mine, wired into my game and it doesn't move at all, literally never played a single game with the factory Enterprise installed.

Looking at the Tie Fighter though it looks like it has the potential to lower or raise on an arm/solenoid, here's hoping.

Yeah would be nice if the modes are all individual and unique, so completely different to ST where its essentially the same modes with harder shot patterns, completely different modes for each location plus a mini wizard mode for each large (location) insert, with a final wizard mode for completing all 4 areas would give us 17 modes which would be EPIC!

Maybe that is why they are re-running AC/DC now as SW goes onto the production line, if the playfields are similar enough and other things are shared maybe its a clever way of sharing/cutting costs between the two games?

You would think it would be a no brainer to have "The Force" (basically have it work like The Power from Addams) as a feature especially with all that open space in the middle of the playfield.

With that LCD in the way of the pops and the lanes, it would be a great idea and mod to add some sort of building/base (maybe rebel themed) with 3 LEDS in it linked to the pop lanes so they are clearly visible to the player, plus it would dress that area up and make it feel more finished and even with the Death Star on the left.

Maybe Bespin Cloud City, one for each pop?

I didn't see Hyperspace rails when I saw the LE I instantly thought of Imperial corridor lighting.

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Good spot! I had it in my head it reminded me of the corridor wall lighting in the first death star in ANH, either way its not exactly exciting

Could have had side rails that light up using any of the following:

Lightsabers
X wing or Tie Fighter with laser blast (think STLE)

Anything would have been more exciting than lighting or flooring

Snap, I posted that on the previous page with Obi-Wan fighting Vader, it was the first thing I thought of seeing those rails but it does look even more like the Falcons metal flooring, doesn't make me think Hyperspace at all.

The whole sudden change of their Facebook banner and link to the video was done after the video went online, so you would have to assume they heard about it and quickly panicked to update their Facebook page and link themselves to the video, it was certainly a leak, but your right it happens time and time again with Stern and really it shouldn't as there are people in paid jobs who are supposed to be organising and be in control of this stuff

I think it's a safe bet to assume Stern where caught off guard big time with the video going live, we probably aren't seeing official images and video until the 6th because they don't have any of them completly edited/ready yet...

Of course we will all eat up some video after all we all love Pinball whether it's good or bad plus your forgetting THIS IS PINSIDE!!

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It's not a stretch of the imagination that Disney only offered the rights to the original trilogy knowing it's the most lucrative, not to mention with the addition of the 40th anniversary. I wouldn't put it past Disney to already be thinking well we can do a prequel pin and once we get episode 8 & 9 out there's another trilogy/pin we can licence $$$$$

The art really does seem kind of thrown together, none of the 3 models feel very cohesive they all feel and look a little random. Premium so far is my favourite but that LE translite could be awesome "if" it's a real backglass and has a animated Hyperspace back box effect.

Does anyone know how the rails on STLE lite up? was that EL paper or LEDs set into a routed grove in the cabinet?

The ACDC similarities are a double edge sword for people like me who enjoy playing ACDC and its layout but wouldn't own it due to the theme/band, this is great as ACDC is one of Steve's best games, for others that have ACDC the similarities suck, but I think they are going to play so different and have such different rules it will hopefully be a win win for both camps.

Yeah for the phaser fire that runs up the side rails, but how is the Enterprise lit? EL or LED strips in a routed groove? Curious if anyone has ever taken their side rails off to look.

Also be good to know if the inserts are white with RGB inserts or coloured inserts like in the badly shopped playfield images.

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?

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 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.

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.

I feel the same way, some magnets under the playfield for "The Force" and that 3 bank below the LCD being a motorised drop bank (like SM/TRON) would really kick this game up a gear!

If everyone who wants a premium or pro waits and holds off buying straight away until code is complete, I bet Stern would let Dwight finish up the code on double time, I thought an LE would be hard for me to resist but I am feeling the Premium the most so I will happily wait and watch and get a premium for Xmas maybe as my present to myself

Was hoping to see a Jedi LE or Sith LE or a Light v Dark LE.

Oh well, I will most probably be going for a Premium, the LE doesn't do much for me not a fan of the backglass or the side rails, I think they are the worst laser cut rails Stern have done to date, so I have made some LE type (STLE inspired) side rails to match the Imperial/Hoth side art, excuse the bad mock up, I am at work and we only have an old version of paint (supposedly firefighters don't need photoshop ) it would obviously all be laser cut (STLE style) simply messing about with possible design ideas.

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I cant understand why they didn't give Steve a few more dollars on the BOM and make the extra overheads back with a SLE, if any title could justify one and sell out its SW.

BTW not saying I agree with the SLE model because I don't, but if it would have ment more stuff under the glass in all the other models then I would have been happy to see Stern try their luck again if it ment buyers at lower levels would have got more bang for their buck.

Just because it "is" the way it works time and time again, doesn't mean it "should" be the way it works?

Surely Stern controlling the narrative and release of info and letting those pinsiders trash whatever they do in the midst of a majority of positive impressions, is better than there current strategy of leaks allowing those pinsiders to trash it in the midst of a majority of disappointed reactions/impressions?

Maybe Stern will do a "Luci" on Star Wars and we will see a Yoda & Vader editions!?

I would like to see the Death Star and playfield LCD combined for several scenes, green LED ring on the Death Star lights and pulses and the LCD can show Alderaan being blown up

Wow! That would buy you ALOT of pinball machines

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Yeah something needs to be made for that area it looks pretty bare, I guess it depends what the pops represent in the game - whats shown on the LCD tied to the pops, but I was hoping for something like in GB a model of something over the pops like Endor or an AT-AT.

Stern have the licence for the movie assets, so I would hope callouts, sound fx and music would be taken care of and awesome. Would also be beyond stupid with two LCD screens for the video assets to be weak, this has to be a massive consideration there end and be nothing short of excellent, otherwise why add a second LCD to begin with?

Dwight is doing the code so I am more than confident he will take care of the lighting and add some cool lighting effects, although there will probably be a million and one scoop light kits and unneccasry RGB lighting kits for the backboard, these are fairly standard now for every new game.

I agree though that I can see a lot of custom translites appearing and maybe custom art packages - I wouldn't be surprised if we see a playflied protect complete with art work like the old overlays used for restores. I already have better models that have a great level of detail and inbuilt LEDs of the Tie Fighter plus Darth Vaders Tie Fighter, X wing and Falcon.

Didn't SEGAs SWT have the X-Wing cannon (BF) mech? I agree there is so much else that could have been done, I am hoping that the 3bank under the playfield LCD is motorised, if not that will be massively disappointing. Game looks like it will flow like a dream but there just isn't much "in" the game.

Pro, Empire on the side we can see & Rebellion on the opposite side?

Prem, Empire themed, as its Hoth we can see, I wouldn't mind Endor being on that side another memorable scene from the movies.

LE, maybe Boba Fett, Slave1 and Han in carbonite with Jabba, LE is Millenium/Han/Chewie focused so that would be cool.

Since art is the big discussion, these seem to be the best quality images I have seen so far, thought it might be worth posting them for better clarity.

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Great minds think alike

Seems like a no brainer, Boba Fett, Carbonite & Jabba where a big part of Han's arc in the original trilogy, would be awesome to have that as the LE art.

Grab a Prem, that's what I plan on doing, I thought I would be 100% in on an LE but for the extra $$ the LE art and side rails don't seem worth it to me. I will make my own side rails for my prem, themed around the artwork on the sides. I do love the Pro artwork though Stern absolutely nailed the artwork on the Pro.

Well there are plenty of people already doing it, I wont mention names as some of those guys are bringing products to the hobby that a lot of people are in need of.

Good spot, the other side looks like the Millenium Falcon in space being pursued by Tie Fighters with the Death Star in the background, kind of difficult to see for certain but you can see the green laser blasts from Tie Fighters and what looks like the Death Star at the front upper corner.

Higher resolution version of the Steve & Dwight with the LE & Pro, can zoom in and make out the details a little better. It looks like Death Star behind the Falcon being chased by a Tie Fighter.

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Looks like this is the Han pose used on the right side of the backbox

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If someone feels that way they are clearly too sensitive for the internet. I have had to watch my 9 year old niece be ravaged by cancer, over the last 15 months, so I find anyone comparing negative criticisms or disappointment on pinside to cancer to be truly out of touch with reality.

Truth is the the art isn't great on SW it could have been a lot better but like with a lot of Steves games they always play way better than they look! I'm just hoping for some magnets under the playfield and that 3 bank to be motorised and that will knock SW out the park for me!

Looks like the GI is colour changing but doesn't seem like it's full RGB.

"Dramatic zoned red, white and blue general illumination LED's under plastics"

Would be cool if they can somehow get the lighting to reflect the mode your in, so red/orange/yellow for Tatooine modes, Blue and Whites for Hoth, Greens, Brown & Blues for Endor and White with some strobe or flickering effects for Dearh Star modes (don't think purple would be that menacing lol)

I was hoping the video mode would be a Death Star Trench Run re-skin of the HS2 video mode simple yet effective and would match the fast looks of the game.

Goldeneye has a similar mode where you have to pull the trigger on the ball launcher while balls are in play it's pretty cool actually - but it fits the theme having to draw your weapon and shoot henchmen before they shoot you.

For SW I was hoping for more than just bashing the lockdown bar button, like I posted about a trench run re skin of the video mode from HS2 would have been the most iconic/fitting.

Also be nice if they dress it up with a plate like their previous releases that have lockbar buttons, looks a little unfinished without it.

I hope so, if not I'll just deactivate the video mode and if it's the only thing the button is used for just remove the button and put a standard lock bar on without a button, it will also save me designing and making a plate for the button that's missing

They couldn't possibly do that for Star Wars!? Could they!?

Surely they wouldn't dream of doing that!? Would they!?

Exactly! Seems obvious and cool, plus it uses all the player buttons for maximum interactivity for the player, casual players on route would eat it up!

I know Dwight added the cross the streams video mode after it was coincidently mentioned here on pinside, so maybe if the idea gets enough thumbs up and reposts/quotes Dwight might see it and add it? Worth a try!

Totally agree would have quoted you in my above post but didn't see your post until the next page. Seems quite a few people are on the same page for what they would like to see in a the video/second video mode that Dwight has done in the past namely GB post release.

When it cracked open on the gameplay video I immedialty thought of a disco ball and Space Ball

It's definitely something that can be improved exactly what can be done to it we won't know until we have games in hand but I reckon there is enough space in there to make a reactor cover to dress it up a little.

I feel the same, diverters are great fun and a good way to mix up a lane/shot, but it's abit of a boring way to do it on a theme like SW then again maybe a magnet wouldn't be reliable enough so this is the compromise plus with such a short shooter lane the ball will be right back into action almost immediatly.

A magnet save between the flippers would have been cool though, say if you complete the force drops, it gives you a kickback/ball save, when ball drops between flippers magnet grabs it flings it back into play! Never gets old on my Goldeneye.

So are you saying your Stern?

Seriously though it sure seems like that is what they are doing, just adding another $100/$200 each release.

I could accept it on Aerosmith new system and all getting some of the costs back from it but there appears to be less here on SW compared to AS, so what's the reason for yet another price increase?

The best way to visually compare price vs value from a couple of years ago to now is STLE vs SWLE!

Prior to any reveal I thought I would be 100% in on a SWLE, thought it would look amazing next to my STLE, was expecting it to have lite side rails, lit back box emblems - rebel & imperial signs (upon reveal I thought well okay that backglass will be lite an animated, nope!) basically I was expecting an LE on par with STLE. SW doesn't even have a plaque/plate around it's lockbar button

Reality is I can't justify a SWLE when it's going to be sitting next to my STLE.

Do you think the 9 multi-balls are included in the 16 modes and 1 wizard mode though? I noticed Stern like to state a total number in a feature row then break it down so it looks and sounds like more on first glance, I am sure they did it on the lighting on the features matrix.

Which leads to my second question anyone think they might know what Stern can do with the white blue red GI seems fairly limiting wouldn't RGB given them more flexibility and colours to choose from.

Yeah I spotted that announcement but sounds like they are just the lite (translite boxes) frames that people have been making on eBay for years, if Stern make an animated one I'll be surprised.

Plus why are they even offering these like they are something special for LE owners to have to store their extra tranlites in!? I'm sorry but an LE should be far more than a couple extra translites and some terrible side rails.

It's an old idea a few DE & SEGA titles used similar modes/setups.

Goldeneye has a shootout mode that appears on the DMD while balls are in play you have to pull the trigger on the ball launcher to shoot the enemies on the DMD asap. It's a pretty cool risk/reward trick that adds a little something extra to your regular games with hands glued to the flippers.

If you have a terrible ball, like hit zero or less than 10 switches it would be amusing if Chewie made a depressing yodel/wail

A bezel for the LCD that could look cool and make a lot of sense (if the screen is used to show tie fighters/ships/space scenes) would be to make the screen look like an Imperial Hanger Bay door/force field.

Two pics show the detail of the force field opening, 2 or 3 runs of EL wire could create the same look inside a hanger bezel!?

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BM66LE costs exactly the same as SWLE here in the UK.

Wow 2 days away from pinside and over 400 new posts in this thread to catch up on

That's the beauty of being in for a pro or premium instead of an LE, no rush at all to order, you can wait and see how it plays and how code progresses before pulling the trigger.

Clearly you have never seen a Space Hamster, they are hi-tech little things

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I would love an AT-AT for the Imperial Premium, with interactive Snowspeeder that spins around the legs of the AT-AT with successful shots to Hoth

I'll admit that made me laugh, I do like the new backboxes, didn't think I would be they are great!

Batman 66 was certainly the biggest lottery when it came to which LE your going to get, as each one was not only numbered but named and not all the gadgets/episodes have great names. I got lucky with mine

Double villain episode, was really happy with it

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Wonder if we will ever see another LE released based on episodes or some other form of theme related naming.

SW could have used characters/vehicles/weapons maybe or quotes loads of great lines from the films but not 800 so maybe that's why we just got numbers

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Confirmed on Sterns official SW feature matrix:

http://www.sternpinball.com/upload/games/star/premium/Star%20Wars%20Feature%20Matrix.pdf

Death Star is in the game, topper needs to be lightsabers, there are not enough lightsabers in this game and you can never have to many lightsabers

X wing vs tie fighter would also be cool especially if animated and interactive.

Is that real? That's amazing if that was a real toy back in the day, maybe the force should have been "the marketing is strong with this one"

That's the LE gamble and Stern don't need to show footage to sell LEs, plenty of people like you that are "in" on an LE. Pro buyers are certainly not in the same boat no deposit needed or commitment for a pro or premium, btw I am not criticising I have done the LE faith gamble plenty of times, thankfully Stern didn't offer enough with SWLE so I've officially dropped my LE.

Yeah that's the beauty of going for a Pro you can just sit and wait without missing out, with SW there are going to be a tonne of OPs who want this out on a route it should be a killer earner, simply because it's SW, so we should see plenty of footage as soon as the overseas OPs get their hands on games.

I am in agreement with you and totally j understand where your coming from, the biggest LE gamble I have ever done (in my own mind) was with my BM66LE, that one did have me a little nervous and doubting my decision/purchase, luckily it worked out great as I love the game and hopefully as Lyman progresses the code it will only get better.

I have spent the last 2 weeks going backwards and forwards between LE or Premium, finally deciding Premium it's almost a relief can sit back watch and wait. But I wish all LE buyers the best of luck as always it would be great to see good code on release and a killer game.

Yes they do, have you never heard of Jody & Jared?

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Yet it is all of us "civialans" that seem to be keeping this hobby/industry alive with our yearly purchases of multiple Stern Premium & LE games.

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Your referring to John Buscaglia, who was VP of sales at Topps and is now Chief Revenue Officer/VP of Sales and Marketing at Stern.

I have had to deal with him recently due to a fairly big/expensive NIB issue and the guy seems pretty straight shooting and seems to get sh*t done.

I thought someone said ages ago the LE tiered model came from Gomez? Maybe it was a collective thing from a handful of people, John, George and others? Someone here will know.......

From the sounds of it your weighing up a PRO or Premium with Stern and the equivalent with JJP, so just wait dude and see what turns out better and ultimately gives you more bang for your buck!

As long as you don't need to have an LE, you have all the time in the world to wait and see which game is for you, plus another bonus is by then Stern will have put out 2 or 3 more games and Jack will have announced #4.

Clearcoat on his Aerosmith LE

Yeah that will be the day when pigs fly!
IMG_3481 (resized).JPGOh......well maybe!?

DJNOEL30 spoke with Jared who said there was a fault with the Dearh Star models, which is being redone hopefully for the better and the LE is being enhanced/tweaked.

Isn't Pintastic this week? Maybe I have the wrong date in my head but sure I saw it was annouced as the 7th, got me questioning myself now

Midnight for us in the UK which is perfect I am on a night shift tonight, so I will be streaming this at work on the fire stations big projector

If Jody is calling the shots maybe it's more to do with the marketing side of things? You know by simply not showing all the game and spoiling the wizards modes on its first stream

Or it could be the issue that maybe the content/assists in those modes are not yet approved?

I too thought the same, especially when it was creating what I thought was creating a glitch in the LCD (cockpit showing Hoth sequences but suddenly tie fighters and a star destroyer appeared out of nowhere and where static images).

Edit: Looks like Dwight has already made it so you can play modes to suit your personal preferences

Cool good to know boob, I completely missed that was an option on the stream.

Dwights enthusiasm was infectious during the stream, nothing better than watching and listening to someone who's passionate and loves what they do.

Yep the Link Lock, one of my favourite shots on a Stern, lightshow and music on that lock and MB are awesome! Majorly underrated game along with Ironman at the time, at least Ironman gets the praise it deserves now.

Interested to know how this Death Star lock that trunchbull spotted in the stream and chuckwurt managed to setup himself.

Plenty of SW video games to draw inspiration from for video modes, although that one you mention Levi doesn't sound or look half bad, makes me thing of HS2 in HD.