I was joking months ago about a giant bash Death Star toy but wow, I didn't think they wouldn't actually do it, lol.

Too early to judge this one, especially without seeing it, hearing it and playing it. First impressions though...I'm guessing the artist that did GOT artwork also did this one, artwork between both look similar which is not a good thing.

The toys? Death Star exploding toy is kinda cool but it seems like a waste as a main toy, need to see it action. I like that there's a motorized target bank in the game and the warp ramp seems kinda cool.

As for the LE? Forget it, Stern has gone bonkers charging what they are for LE's over premiums for very little features in return.

The good. Stern has the rights to use original audio and clips from the original films. This is huge and the game would be a dud without it. There's still hope but damn that artwork.

Well, this is disappointing. Looks like there is not a motorized target bank on the premium / LE? In the pic from the video there are only stand up targets underneath the mini LCD...Game is the premium / LE model as there's a left metal ramp and metal habit rails.
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In regards to rules I hope the inserts in the screen grab below represent a deep objective based ruleset. Looks like there are 4 quadrants of modes, each containing 3 modes and a multiball / mini wizard mode. That would be 16 modes right there! Fingers crossed.

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Yeah I hope so too. If not then that's really only 1 mode (3 total with slight twists) for each quadrant and a multiball mode, that doesn't seem like enough. Content wise I think there's certainly enough to work with to make 3 unique modes + 1 multiball for each of the 4 quadrants.

With the actors audio from the films + video clips being licensed by Stern (along with at least the main score) I wouldn't be surprised if the licensing cost is Stern's highest ever. That may have impacted some of the games design choices.

Yeah. It would still be like having 16 unique modes by having Endor 1, Endor 2, Endor 3. I can see Endor 3 ending with the Darth Vader vs Luke Skywalker lightsaber battle. Hope its true.

Holy sh*t. Wow.

"The game features speech and film footage from the original trilogy"

That right there is a huge plus for this game and makes it appealing, even with the lackluster artwork. Without it forget it.

Yup!

Looks like the 4 quadrants are

1. Escape from Endor
2. Destroy the Death Star
3. Escape from Hoth
4. Escape from Tatoooine

Lots of escaping, lol. 3 missions for each quadrant (12 total) that hopefully are all unique along with the main insert for each quadrant representing a multiball / mini wizard mode.

Hopefully Yoda fits in somewhere as he's barely represented on the games artwork (only on a small area of the pro).

Would of been nice if Stern had finally ditched the traditional 3 pops for at least 1 game, put just one pop there (like on WOZ) and used the extra space for a motorized target bank with a shot behind it (AFM style).

Now that would be amazing, lol. Imagine if that actually happens. What would stop Disney from licensing the theme out to another company? They do it all the time with other products.

I bet a mod will be in the works to improve the look of the bezel on the mini LCD.

I'm surprised that the bezel of the mini LCD at least on the premium / LE is just a piece of generic black plastic with no artwork or instead a molded bezel (ex, mini book LCD from Hobbit).

Absolutely. Also, with GB LE, AS LE, and now SW LE the only difference between the premium / LE is different artwork, baked on enamel armor(not a true high quality powder coat) and mirrored backglass...for $1500 more. Where is the value that Stern offered with Star Trek LE?

Have to say that at these crazy NIB prices flow is over rated. I'm sure Stern loves to make these high flow games as there's far less on them compared to a game like Ghostbusters Premium which in my opinion remains one of Sterns most innovative and loaded games to date. Will still consider purchasing this title but need to play it first and should probably wait a year for any bugs to be worked out.

I'm thinking that the 7 "x" arrow inserts will be RGB across all models and that the premium / LE may have the inserts above those (7 more) be RGB as well.

Those kiddies sound pretty smart as toys, gimmicks, great art, one trick ponies, mini playfields, etc are what creates value and helps to justify these crazy prices. All of those items can help create a unique world under glass...2 regular ramps and orbits can only do so much.

Yup! He took several songs from the official Ghostbusters soundtrack and added a really cool pinball vibe too them all, better then the actual tracks in my opinion.

Besides the artwork my main gripe about the game is lack of features on the playfield. The area below the mini LCD seems fit for a motorized target bank. Instead there are standup targets in that area across all models which as a main shot right in the open are boring.

Lol! That gave me a good laugh

The area below the mini LCD on Star Wars seems intended for a motorized target bank like the one on AFM and without it leaves both models feeling empty in my opinion. The use of stand up targets for the central area of the game just seems boring. The pro model doesn't even have one toy that moves or interacts with the ball, not one.

Heck, Dominos at nearly the same price as Star Wars Pro has a motorized target bank, a magnet, a moving toy and all metal ramps! Crazy.

Just noticed the comment on Sterns FB page saying that the game will feature "select speech and footage" from the films. That makes it sound like they don't have the rights to use some of the actors likeness?

Just read that the game will feature 16 modes, 1 wizard mode and 9 multiball modes! Yes! Also, 400 clips from the original trilogy.

Bummer about no real backglass on LE. Ridiculous.

Yeah not good, the slow mo effect is terrible as well.

If the SW Pro did anything extra Stern would certainly not forget to document it on the feature matrix. They include every little item on the thing, even mentioning it comes with a "modular power cord", lol.

The Ghostbusters video modes are pretty cool, especially they actually tie into items from the movie. The bashing on a button video mode in SW just seems like a waste, with no skill or even luck involved.

Yup I just cancelled my LE spot and asked for a premium instead. $1500 more for baked on powder coated armor with some cut outs that don't match the Falcon....thats it. I don't see the signatures or LE plaque (that is barely visible) as extra features.

Yup. The last LE Stern made that actually justified the extra cost over a premium in my opinion is Star Trek LE. Since then all LE's seem like a money grab.

Nope, that's it, just a button masher based off the video Mindless.

If Stern had one of the actors do custom callouts they would put it on the feature matrix, they don't forget to mention anything on those from what it seems.

It's possible that Steve Ritchie himself may do the callouts but I don't see how those would fit with the theme.

Oh I got it, Stern must be doing custom R2D2 callouts for this one, now it all makes sense!

So the premium Death Star toy opens and theres...a cube of lights in it. That's it? Really?

Still looks like the helmets from Space Balls.

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Star Wars was built for one purpose....to take as much money from wallets of the world of men. Lol. It may very take some of mine.

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So prices have really gone up $200 more for each model compared to AS? This is after the $100 price hike from January...Crazy.

Sadly that is true. I just can't see paying $7200 or $7400 for a premium, especially with what's in the game. LE at $8500 or $8700? That's nuts.

With each recent Stern LE release it seems like something is stripped out. This time it's mirrored backglass. No shaker motor either.

An LE needs more then just different armor to justify the extra cost over a premium. Guess Stern doesn't care though as long as they keep selling out.

As a company though that wants to come across as taking pride in their products I'm surprised Stern doesn't want to offer more value with LE's. They did with Star Trek LE.

Yup! Its sad. The last couple lines of your post are exactly why I cancelled my LE spot. The premium and pro also seem stripped down compared to their previous games.

Oh that can't be the same toy ya see as Sterns Star Wars pinball Death Star toy features "9 green Super Laser Weapon LED's" according to the feature matrix. That's SUPER LASER WEAPON LED's! Those are no joke, sounds like its something from the defense department. Certainly they are not just standard LED's? Nah

Yup, neither model of Star Wars has a lot of interactive toys and features. For $1700 over the pro to premium cost you are getting a plastic Death Star that opens up with a cube of lights in it, Falcon figurine, metal ramps, metal habit rails and the magnet device that moves balls around in a loop.

Considering that AS Pro comes with metal ramps, metal habit rails and a far more interactive main toy Star Wars premium / LE doesnt seem like that great of a "value".

I still think Star Wars looks cool but I just don't see how the game offers a similar amount of features compared to AS premium and especially GB Premium. From a pure "value" perspective (prices are still nuts) Star Wars pro is the way to go in my opinion.

I agree. I still think the game looks cool but that's it's not worth the asking price due to lack of features. Star Wars Pro is Sterns first modern game that literally doesnt have one festure that interacts with the ball. For $5400 that's nuts.

Even GOT pro which is one of Sterns most heavily stripped down games has a physical ball lock, kicker shot, and the moving mini battering ram toy.

Star Wars seems purposely designed to have the lowest build of materials cost yet for a modern Stern. It's hard not to think that due to these crazy prices and comparing it to games like AS and GB.

That will be a neat shot. I take it that is how balls get into the hyper loop habit rail as well?

Yeah... It's a mini standup target to "hit" the tie fighter. Very basic. If that's the main toy on the pro then just wow. Has to be as there isn't anything else.

ST pro has a large moving ship toy (well rocking ship, lol) that is tied into a drop target, kicker and magnet below it.

GOT Pro has a physical ball lock, kicker shot, and the mini battering ram.

Star Wars has...a mini Tie Fighter on a spring that moves when a small standup target is hit...

I sure hope so. If the mini LCD is intended as the main toy Stern could have at least put a molded bezel around it resembling something from the Star Wars films rather then a plain old black bezel...

Many, including myself, would take a mirrored backglass over 3 translites. Including 3 translites versus a mirrored backglass is another example of cost cutting and is even more frustrating considering the $200 price hike with SW. Ridiculous.

Sterns loves to over embellish everything on their feature matrix charts, Star Wars most of all.

The plastic Death Star toy doesn't just have LED's, oh no but rather SUPER LASER WEAPON LED's! That isn't just a shot that turns right around, it's a Super Speed Loop!

My goodness, Stern lists some items twice just to make it seem like there's more to the game then there really is.

"Pop bumper array using 2 pops and 1 Sling"
"2 slings in traditional Pop Bumper area"

Slings are now a feature? They might as well list that the game has "Super threaded action screws" as well...

I tend to count shots by ones where the ball can either pass through (orbits, lanes) or drop into. I rather not count stand up targets as shots as in many games they do little and are not as satisfying to hit as orbits, scoops, ramps, etc.

I see Star Wars having 7 shots and Dialed In at 9 shots using the above counting method.

I believe there are two unique shots from the upper right flipper. They are not visible from an overhead picture.

Will disagree as would many others.

Funny as the Hobbit can play pretty fast and I've never had a 45 minute game. Its obvious you know nothing about the games deep objective based rulset. I like The Hobbit as it has a deep, loaded, objective based game with unique rules. I hope that Star Wars has a similar objective based ruleset with unique rules for each mode.

Should I say that Game of Thrones is hitting plastic ramps over and over again? No, there's more to it.

Shouldn't it be considering there's not 1 interactive toy on the game?

Also, Dominoes, yes the pizza pin, has more features then Star Wars Pro for the same price. It has metal ramps, a motorized target bank, a magnet and a toy that rotates. That game is being offered from a company that isn't planning to sell thousands of them so there build of materials cost is much higher compared to Stern.

Also, $5400 isn't cheap! At some point people need to ask themselves "Is this game worth $5400 to me"? That questions seems easier to answer for AS Pro compared to Star Wars Pro.

and there you go again with the insults...I have a Star Wars Premium on order. My only point was to bring up what we are getting at these prices. Sorry I questioned it. Each plastic ramp alone is worth $1k, hand forged in a mountain in the Himalayas.

Lol. Same here. My only point was to ask what the hell are we getting for these insane prices? It used to be $3500 for a new game, then $4k, then $5k. Will $6k one day be the cheapest?

I would never buy one. My point was only to compare what is offered parts wise on each and it seems like the pin based on a pizza company has a lot more for the same price...

I hear ya there. To be fair Star Wars probably has 10x the code work as Dominoes and that does contribute to the overall bottom line, and value, of a game.

Any word if the 9 multiballs are part of the 16 mission modes and 1 wizard mode? I'm thinking that the 16 main modes are 4 for each quadrant. The main insert for each quadrant may be a multiball so that could be 4 / 9 multiballs right there. Then there's Death Star and and Jedi multiball. There's 6 of 9. Wizard mode would be 7 / 9.

Just heard Steve mention that Brian Rood is one of the artists that worked on the games artwork. I got to meet Brian at a Star Wars Celebration event in 2010 and purchased the print below from him. He's an incredible artist and it was nice to meet him. I was wondering if he did the games artwork as it resembles the look in this print. Incredible stuff.20170610_201124 (resized).jpg

Well, there's the reason why you had a half hour game...6 balls. That will happen if the owner has the game setup to reward extra balls for things like replays, at specials, at certain scores, etc. Any pin will be easier when the settings have been modified to award more extra balls. The reasons those settings exist though is to give a owner / operator more freedom for how they want to the game to play.

Someone asked Steve during the presentation how the hyperspace speed loop feature works in game play. Steve said that you will load balls into it when the pop up ramp comes up and then you can continue to add more. This sounds like something that may occur in multiball modes and reminded me of adding balls during multiball to the Getaways supercharger. Also, it uses 4 magnets as opposed to 3 in Getaways supercharger.

Seems like a pretty fun feature!

For Star Wars I think it will be a cool feature as when you select a character you can see on the LCD how that character will impact the game. I think R2D2 helps with multipliers, Leia with missions, and then Luke and Han another ability. Each character will have their own unique way to impact scoring. That sounds pretty cool.

Also, watch Star Wars Watch at least the original trilogy. Grab the trilogy, some beers, snacks, and make an afternoon of it. I really need to do that again, lol.

Lord of the Rings is such an amazing game because of its deep objective based rulset. Hitting loops, targets, and ramps over and over again just for points or bashing the same area 20x isn't fun after a while, at least not for me.

Keith Johnson is a genius at creating deep objective based rulesets as they work every feature and shot on the playfield in interesting ways. LOTR, TSPP, WOZ and TH all require the player to work the playfield in unique ways.

I like that Dwights rulesets are somewhat similar to Keiths for some games. Star Wars appears to have a deep objective based ruleset and that is exactly what an epic story theme needs in a pin. If Star Wars was about hitting the Death Star 10x for multiball, hitting the ramps 10x for Jedi multiball and hitting the Tie Fighter 10x for another multiball I think the game would get old quickly in a home environment.

I feel a similar way with some of Lymans games. I think ACDC and Metallica are fun but they are not games filled with objective based rules that I want to play when it comes to buying a game for my home collection. I like that Metallica has objective based modes with its Crank it Up modes but do not like that they are locked behind modes centered around bashing the same area 10x, 20x, etc.

I've never really cared to play pinball for points but rather for how far I got into a game in terms of missions attempted / completed, wizards modes reached, etc.

Really? With a game like WOZ, LOTR, and TH (not sure about TSPP) there's a mid wizard mode for completing a set number of tasks. With ACDC and Metallica there is just the main wizard mode which a vast majority of players will never reach.

I think it's awesome how Keith puts a mid wizard mode into his games that is a challenge to reach but can be done by a good number of players while at the same time having a final wizard mode for experts. When I owned ACDC I realized I'll never finish all 12 songs to reach Encore, that's a game that would have benefited greatly from a mini wizard mode for say completing 6 songs.

It's the overarching goals of Keiths games that I think make his rulsets stand out. It sounds like Star Wars will have an overarching objective based ruleset.

Agree. I feel the same way. I still wanted a way to play digital / VR pinball but didn't want to spend $3k+ building one (or $5k+ pre-made) or devote the space to a full size digital pinball machine. I had the cabinet built below locally and then installed the buttons, painted it, and wired it up. I use it for Pinball FX2 VR and also Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX2 (bring cabinet over to a 50" 4k TV, lol).pinsim123 (resized).jpg

A magnet in that area would have been great. Heck, it would have been awesome if both pops were dropped and a motorized target bank with a shot behind it (AFM style) was put there instead along with the magnet in front.

Having 3 standup targets in the games central area instead makes the playfield feel very empty.

Riiiiiight. Ferrari and Lamborghini must not be real car manufacturers either since they don't make as many cars as Ford.

Quality is more important then quantity.

Yeah, damn that Ghostbusters with its multiple interactive toys and cool unique layout. What was Stern thinking trying new things with Ghostbusters and creating a feature packed pin with the premium / LE model? Crazy I tell ya!

All "real" pinball machines have two ramps and two orbits in the traditional fan layout configuration, anything else is against The Constitution of Pinball Playfield Design. Lol.

Looks cool so far. I like that the Tie Fighter toy moves around a bit more then expected, makes it seem like an actual bash toy. Also noticed a magnet on the left ramp that appears to hold the ball while a mode is selected?

I'm on the fence about the split modes. It appears that two modes are always in play. Will having two modes in play take away from one and make objectives appear confusing?

Also, the callouts seem to be by an Admiral Ackbar sound-alike?

Agree. A lot of games stack missions along with a multiball or a general switch based mode (super ramps, super orbits, etc type "modes") but not two objective based modes at once.

Having two objective based modes running at once looks to take away from the immersion factor as neither mode can really be enjoyed. With two objective based modes running at once video and audio clips from scenes get cut short often as they are stepping on each other.

That's good to hear that only one mission can be picked. I think the option to pick 2 missons will result in the game playing a bit easier versus going through all individually.

I don't think stacking is an issue with WOZ as most of its modes are not story based missions with shots tied to advancing scenes from the film.

Star Wars though is filled with story based missions and having two playing at the same time results in video and audio clips being cut short as the modes step on each other. I don't think a game like Star Trek, LOTR or TH would play as well if two missions were always in play.

One benefit that I can see from having two missions in play is that it will allow players a greater chance to see one of the games 4 mini wizard modes.

Good to hear. Much better choice then the Walking Dead voice actor...lol.

Gimmicks help justify these insane prices as well as increase the fun factor in my opinion.

Super fast flow games with little on the playfield can be fun...but myself and many others cannot see spending $5k-$8k+ on them when there's not enough on the playfield to justify the asking price.

The more fun gimmicks the better in my book. Bring on the mini playfields, magnets, moving bash toys, etc. Those are the types of items that help justify a $5k-$8k+ game.

There are a lot of good points in that article. While only so many layouts and shots are possible in a finite amount of space Stern could at least attempt to implement more interactive features more often when they choose to use a traditional 2 ramp layout.

I know some people dislike Ghostbusters for its non traditional playfield design but I think that is one of the best things about the game. GB in my opinion feels like Sterns most refreshing, loaded and unique game in years.