Star Wars (LE)
Stern, 2017
Star Wars (Premium)
Stern, 2017
Star Wars (Pro)
Stern, 2017You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider jvspin.
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I think Stern is smart in the way they allocate their resources. Put Ritchie on a big license like Star Wars and the game will shoot well and sell well without great toys or extra features.
The art may not be a masterpiece like GB but I doubt it will prevent most people from buying. It’s certainly better than the Face.
Rules as yet to be determined but I expect the game will sell well with even mediocre rules.
Quoted from dgoett:Yep - SWDE and SWT still sell as fast as we add them to stock despite price increases.
Star Wars! Star Wars! I want a Star Wars......
Yep, it will sell itself if you don't get in its way. Save the expense of fancy toys and higher BOM for the less attractive themes.
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.
Quoted from jar155:Star Wars is pretty bare bones. I don't think anybody could possibly look at it and say that it is anything but. I'm still excited about the Steve/Dwight combo, but the bill of materials is laughably small, even at the premium/LE level. Unless it was REALLY expensive to use the Star Wars license, I just don't understand why they've skimped out so much on features.
Because they can and it will still sell like gangbusters. That's just good business!
Quoted from ignusfast:From the matrix: "Laser-cut Jump Ramp raises from under the playfield to launch balls into the Death Star and Hyperdrive Accelerator"
That sounds cool. Would rather have the ball jump into something based on how well I hit the shot versus the machine propelling the ball for me like AS.
Quoted from Guinnesstime:It DOES look like the best System 11 game ever, though.
Better than Whirlwind?
Three spinning disks, fan topper, three flippers, two ramps (one lift ramp) etc..
Quoted from bigdaddy07:I was just comparing premiums, since there is really no LE here IMO. So yes missed the kickback. As for the magnet in the vengeance, well, the death star has a ramp and explodes. LOL I was equating the two as one feature.
Funny seeing people arguing about what is essentially, who wins the battle for the most stripped down game.
Quoted from Pincrazy:Is the hyperdrive going to be a distraction?
Maybe, but I think it's going to be a neat effect seeing the ball flying by.
Quoted from bigdaddy07:True. I'm trying to maintain some sort of positivity here, but it's a struggle for sure. It's very difficult to argue that its not stripped down. I was hoping to find some hope with other successful games that were also stripped down. IM TRON and ST come to mind for me right away.
Stripped down doesn't mean it won't play great and be super fun. Especially if they do a good job with the sounds and rules.
Quoted from Pimp77:Not many SR games use a randomizing pf magnet come to think of it. Are there any?
Speed is Ritchie's randomizer.
Quoted from scarybeard:Instead they are just going to make a lot of money. No denying that.
Isn't that the definition of "knocking it out of the park" for Stern?
Do they really care what its value is 10 years from now?
Quoted from DEN:From pics, i really dont understand why any home user wants to buy a pro model, i mean just look at the playfield, who cares about cabinet artwork? it will probepley stand next to another pin and you will never see sides of the pin. Pf is most important, pro model looks so empty. i am not talking about money here, just the fact that anybody thinks about buying a pro.
It seems most people buy current Sterns because they are fun and a theme they like, not because they are a good value due to all the stuff their loaded with.
Usually it's the speed and flow that makes a Ritchie game so much fun. The pro may be better in this regard like on GOT, we'll have to see.
Quoted from Rarehero:Not sure about that - as the main extra gimmick on SW is a speed/flow toy, while GOT's upper playfield was just a swing and a miss.
Agreed, just don't want to make claims before even seeing gameplay video.
Quoted from pins4life33:However, lets be real the game is a complete write off on gameplay, total snooze fest, a real lost opportunity. Keith couldn't save that game even with the greatest ruleset in the world. JJP really needs help in the playfield design department to increase their gameplay this is really what is holding them back in coming a viable competitor in the industry right now.
Hobbit shoots fine to me, it just needs the rules improved to tie in all those modes and make a complete game.
Not every game has to have all the stuff that gets in the way of the ball removed.
Quoted from IdahoRealtor:Just confirmed with my distributor the prices are indeed $5400 Pro and $7400 Prem. That's a $200 and $400 bump over Aerosmith, which had a bump in price itself.
I'm not too keen on paying what was just LE money 1-2 years ago for a Premium. Probably going to sit this one out.
Hopefully this isn't the new standard pricing for all future Sterns.
Of course not...the next release will be higher. 
I think Stern and JJP actually help each other with their pricing.
Stern's pricing makes JJP games look like a good value.
JJP's pricing helps Stern make way more profit from buyers who don't care about how much it costs to make the machine.
Quoted from smassa:They have made plenty of good games and also some great ones. AC/DC, Metallica, GoT, Aerosmith, Hell even Spiderman & that game hardly has any complex mechs on it & it is pretty darn fun too. They have just shown us that you don't need to pile on a bunch of crap on the play field that will most likely just slow things down in order to make a fun game.
I like Ritchie's flow fests and I like Lawlor's stop and go controlled play with cool toys that interact with the ball. Variety is good.
Quoted from Rarehero:People don't buy pinball to break down the BOM. They buy it for the theme and/or gameplay experience. Iron Man is a great example of that. All the pinball hardcores initially said it was a piece of shit because it was so barebones. Flash forward a few years - everyone wants it, it becomes the first Vault Edition. BOM = irrelevant in the long run as long as the game is fun.
I do, in part. It has to be fun too. Theme is less important to me than how well a theme is implemented in the sound, display effects and rules. Especially at these prices.
A friend was saying how fun he thought RZ was and I told him, I don't care how fun it is, I'm not paying $6k+ for how little is in the game. But that's just me, I probably miss out on owning some fun games.
Manufacturers don't have to cater to everyone, just enough people to remain profitable.
Quoted from cscmtp:Does anyone think this will be too similar to Star Trek in a small home collection?
Quoted from Darscot:I have an AC/DC and I'm worried about that.
If you find they are too similar, just keep the one you like the best.
Quoted from smassa:Cause its not that fun. GoT it way easier to understand rules wise too.
The thing about "fun" is that it's all a matter of opinion. Now BOM can't be argued. 
Quoted from Tommy_Pins:Don't do it. Play on a computer until you can get a real machine.
I like the idea of virtual pinball but I have yet to find one that was enjoyable to play due to the flipper lag. Do they exist?
Quoted from konghusker:Gotta wait to see them in action. Pro looks like we're strictly paying for a theme. Premium offers a little more with hyper loop, but is it worth$2k? Probably not, but I'm not sure theme alone sells me the pro. We shall see.
From what I can see, people aren't going to buy SW because it's loaded with toys. Its biggest selling features are the theme, a fast flowing Ritchie playfield and hopefully a good ruleset from Dwight.
Even if the premium and LE play a bit different you still get all these features on the Pro.
What you say:
Quoted from Hoser:I'm pretty sure they could give us all a wonderful video right now. Edit it any way they want to make it look stellar. Everyone Buys!
However, this is looking more like a popularity contest. They paid for the license. Now they want to milk it.
How? Get as much online (website + facebook) traffic that they can to boost the whole companies profile.
Why try to get people to visit their facebook page once, when they could have tons of people visiting every day. Hits! Hits! Hits! That's all they want. Can you blame them?
Still, it appears as if they have gone a little mad-cow here. They are milking this just a little too much. Our teets are sore at this point!
I'm still planning to get one. But I've got to be honest. They are stripping me of that magical impulsive thrill I thought I would have with going through my 1st NIB purchase. Enough to say, that if it were any other theme than Star Wars ... I'd probably just back out and do the wiser thing (buy a used machine).
We are over-paying for these machines. We deserve to be treated better every step of the way.
These flash tease videos are great for their facebook #s ... but ultimately will rub some people the wrong way. Sure everyone will still buy a Star Wars, but after that, and with a little awareness as to how we are being used, the miss treated sheep-cows may take their coin elsewhere???
STERN ... enough already. There are 85 pages of useless posts here.
Find other ways to get your popularity traffic! (Stern Army, Stern Tournament Circuit, Mods, etc...)
Do the Right Thing! Give us a proper video!
***note: I am a very quite guy on Pinside. Some would say more of a lurker. Yet, this whole teasing thing has even got me willing to post. Never happens. They must be pushing this too far. Moooooooo!
What Stern hears:
"Blah, blah, blah.....I'm still planning to get one."
Quoted from John_I:They probably held up mailing them to get the new revision. The sky is not falling. The $5 SD card will be in hand soon enough. At least you have the machine and didn't have to wait a year from first seeing it like DI or TNA.
Judging by this post and many others in various topics, I have to ask;
Are you affiliated with Stern?
Quoted from Mfsrc791:If it's the "face" of the game then why is stern stripping it away and charging 2 grand for it?
Because they can and enough people will still buy?
Quoted from Chambahz:My comment was based on the MASSIVE amount of negativity that people have been spewing based on pics and videos only.
This is just the normal release cycle.
1) Stern releases game Title - People either rave about how great it will be or are scratching their heads at the theme choice.
2) Game pictures are shown - People either think it looks amazing and will be the best game ever (Met, GB) or are disappointed (most others) but hope gameplay will make up for it.
3) Game videos start popping up. Mixed positive and negative responses.
4) First buyers start getting their game and most think it's fantastic! (unless there are QC issues)
5) First couple of years people are clamoring for code fixes/updates.
6) Two to five years code is finished being worked on and where the game sits in the pinball pantheon starts to emerge.
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Redwood City, CA