How long to the point of No Return.........I love Kansas. They ROCK! 
(Topic ID: 72152)
Buffalo, MN
Quoted from RGR:Because they have only released one game. They will not have 10+ by the end of 2014 that are not complete. Yes they are ful of it as well given that they said they would release a complete finished game...
How long has it taken???
No given that its a multiball game. Just like ACDC it was released without a wizard mode.
Never said I was, but at the same time you can clearly see JJP has better build quality which has to say something for a brand new company
91% of people in this thread are not happy with what Stern are producing. Are you saying they need to pull their heads in??
I respect your opinion but the reason for this thread was to determine the likelihood that Stern may get to the stage where they just will not have the time or resources to finish games.. Could it not be possible that one day the company closes its doors which a hand full of games that will never have the chance of being completed???
Imo whats going on here is that Stern are taking advantage of an upswing in the market and getting their games out there as fast as possible. Worry about updates later...
+1
Quoted from Rarehero:There were 4 Multi-tier games before AC/DC. It actually started with Avatar LE...then Stones LE, Tron LE, and Transformers LE.
There's no denying that. I think I was thinking only Premiums, but the software is the same as LE, so point taken.
Maybe the most hyped difference was for AC/DC's release with the Premium models. That's what's sticking in my head, at least.
I know Avatar LE was done as afterthought, after the game's design and release, right?
And what's different on Stones? I have only played the game a handful of times, on both versions.
-Mark
Quoted from marcos:I know Avatar LE was done as afterthought, after the game's design and release, right?
Yeah - but it was the first to have different features. Open/closing pod lid, 2 coils on the AMP suit's feet, extra switches & flashers, powerball rules & recognition.
Quoted from marcos:And what's different on Stones? I have only played the game a handful of times, on both versions.
-Mark
Under playfield Magnets, powerball, extra buttons to control outlane/center drain up-posts, flashers under apron.
Quoted from TomGWI:How long to the point of No Return.........I love Kansas. They ROCK!
Showin' your age there buddy! 
Quoted from limelime20:As long as home buyer's rebel against unfinished code, by NOT buying future games, thing's will improve... Stern has the mindset of an operator mentality, meaning, like other's have stated above, It doesn't matter that there isn't a wizard mode for Metallica , the average player, will only look at "Hey, this is a new machine, let me dump money into this and play it".
But Stern must realize, that most of their business is now home owner's....and the demand is a complete coded game.
I think they are getting the message...If they read here....I hope.
Williams didn't have this mindset with their 90's masterpieces and basically none of them went to homeowners. They were releasing title after title and code was never an issue. They were complete games all the way through.
Quoted from Manic:Showin' your age there buddy!
Look at my picture. I'm an old man. 
Quoted from usandthem:Williams didn't have this mindset with their 90's masterpieces and basically none of them went to homeowners. They were releasing title after title and code was never an issue. They were complete games all the way through.
Likely because offering ROM updates was much more cumbersome and costly for the end user, and not seen as a practical solution. That and WMS had several teams of programmers, and they weren't releasing several different versions of the same game.
The "new" tech of USB allows Stern to make the updates available when they feel like it, and the updates are easy for the end user to perform, at no cost.
Sometimes, technology enables bad traits and behaviors.
-Mark
Quoted from Manic:Showin' your age there buddy!
I saw them perform here in town at the end of the summer/early fall...and yes, they still rock!
The turnout was pretty spectacular, too!
-Mark
Gary doesn't care anything about the status of code on any particular pin. There are 6 pins in the next 18 months rolling out. That is what matters. Bitching, whining and complaining will fall on deaf ears. Just the way it is......
Quoted from Eskaybee:ST xmen and MET are in definite need of code updates. I consider acdc, TRON, tf, avengers complete or at the very least great games if they never got another code update. Could they use some polish in the oven? Sure, but what game doesn't?
I don't care if stern doesn't release games unfinished, but by golly man, have them complete or near complete within 6 mos. xmen (and what appears to be Metallica now too) code update progress are perfect examples of unacceptable in my book.
Nailed it.
Beecroft
Quoted from phishrace:That number is ridiculous. ST and MET aren't finished. Everything else is.
Pretty sure ACDC and Xmen are incomplete. Those together with ST and Met along with 4 more releases next year makes 8 incomplete games....
Quoted from phishrace:They've already wasted way too much time on it. XM will never be considered an A title. Move on
Lol I wonder how Xmen owners feel about you saying that... I think every game deserves the same amount of attention... I agree with you tho they have not done this.... with alot of their games...
Quoted from phishrace:You mean like BDK? This isn't new.
How could I forget!! They have been screwing around with code for years..
Quoted from phishrace:It's no different than they have in the past. Spidey, which came out more than 6 years ago, was way more bare than any recent Stern game. Some games actually shipped with version 0.0 software. Ever play that software?
Was not playing pinball back then. Gave up for 10 years or so.. You cant say that due to them shipping games out in the past with simpler software than what they are doing now makes it right to screw their customers around.
Maybe they will outsource the code to india? "Multi-BOMBAY-ball!"
Seriously though, I don't think you can necessarily blame Gary. It's my understanding he doesn't actually own the company anymore, investors do, and they will make stupid decisions to try to keep the bottom line up (IE pump out as many games as possible even if it means shipping incomplete product so they can maximize profits).
I am still waiting for the link on the stern website for the WhiteStar O/S 8 bootFLASH file for 512 KB EPROM to work.
Flint
I am complelely pissed off with them re MET code updates.
As it stands would have been better keeping my SM and spending the remainder £3k on Robowar,Gold Wings and a.n other.
The comeplete lack of updates is a joke,the few updates there have been have mainly concentrated on foxing ther screwed up hammer lock.It now stands a s a ok game with great "potential".
After 6 months "potential" aint enough!!
Aint buying another Stern till they sort out their coding practices.If others did that it would improve but doubt it will happen.too many,myself included have in past bought on faith/theme/belief of improvement,till that changes we all are screwed
SAD
JJP aint much better.Din't they say they would ship with near complete code?
At the moment ok as they only have one game plus one W.I.P,IF that carries on they will end up like Stern- a few games out there with far from complete code
Guess thats whyin the States and UK I start seeing MOPS for sale,patience has run out,mine is too
poibug
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