And who made the decision to not include WiFi in Spike 2? WiFi existed for about 20 years before they started the design of it, so it would've had to be discussed. I think the conversation went something like:

"We could include Wifi on Spike 2 for $x a CPU to future proof it and have it ready for our online plans!"

"No way, let's just sell a dongle when we are ready, and be able to charge $4x!!!!"

Bah. Starting to rant and go negative. I am a big Stern supporter, but I just get a bad feeling from this in general. I really don't want to have to spend extra bucks for a system like this, whether I want to use it or not the cost will be there for future pins, and if they designed it slightly differently from the get go no one would have to.

I just realized that Stranger Things Pro w/ UV kit needs a special apron as well. :/

What were the requirements (from the get go)? What were the risks of adding something that may/may not be used (from the get go)?

Just saying… its easy to hindsight/armchair-quarterback and say things like ‘should have back then’.

The whole point of this is to be IN YOUR FACE! If they hid it in the DBV cutout, or just mentioned it on the screen, it will be ignored. Then forgotten.
They are launching this to get players to want to use it, to think it’s cool, to seek out the games that have it implemented, to drive more money into the cash box of those operators,….so they can later get a cut, or your revenue drops by not having it.
I mean LTG says it’s “not for his location”, but if his players dig it, and start playing elsewhere because they have it and he doesn’t, I bet he might suddenly find it suits him to set it up.
Home guys can probably easily run the QR reader to the coin door, the one somebody posted a pic of used a USB to connect, it looked like.
In any case, it’s going to be forced to all of us, …operators, route players, collectors, and anyone that has a new Stern. I just hope it’s cool and really does drive up revenue on location. If not, it will just fade away like the QR codes on Transformers.

I hate to admit it, but this will end up being a huge waste of time and resources, all paid for by us true pinheads.

How is this a waste of time? Having Daily, weekly and custom challenges for points to redeem for merch or giveaways. This will add new life to games people get bored of.

So far meh. Seems like an over engineered implementation and the achievement stuff is pretty lame imo.

Sounds like it’s capable of more.

Seems geared to location play, not home play. I wonder at home do I have to do the awkward scan thing every time I turn it on or will it just remember me?

Probably great for operators and running up comps on location though.

lol I get ya, but how would a Nigerian price get on the machine? There would be no port forwarding, no browsing, no user driven interaction responding to outside requests. I guess it could come from a centralized Stern compromise or downloading infected software/firmware update, but thats about it and seeing as they are both from official sources, that’s on Stern to pay/compensate. And why not just throw in a new clean SD? Problem solved, may lose high scores, but so what. New pin to beat!

I'm waiting for the Pin*Botnets that will spring up after someone hacks how to update all the Sterns with malware... some evil genius will have an army of pinball machines doing their bidding. Or Ransomeware that bricks the machine until you pay the ransom or have to reinstall the software from a clean SD card... or wait, how about the inevitable notification of a security breach at Stern and they have to pay for my fraud protection for a year? Or any other number of other doomsday IT scenarios... yeah, sign me up for that.

If you’re the only one playing your game, print out your QR code and tape it face down over the scanner? Heh

Man there is a lot of fear over the internet from guys in an online forum?!

You’re an ideas man epthegeek

Just trying to logic why they would have the scanner on the game and not just the QR code. Can’t think of a reason.

Maybe it was in development years ago when phones that could recognize QR code’s were still new/rare? Are Stern worried some people won’t have a qr capable phone? The fact they mention printing it out seems to indicate this.

Awesome consept. If it worked on all/most pinball machines. This will however work only on newer Stern machines. That have it activated. That have paid the subscription fee. Etc.

Do most pinheads only own/play the latest Sterns?
Do pinheads that actually use an app for scoring want yet another app to use as well?

Eventually this will end up in how fast/easy/user friendly the app is, if you bother to use the app at all, especially when it is only for a handful spesific machines, and how many players actually use the app in the long run despite playing on Bally, Williams, CGC, JJP, Spooky machines etc. as well, maybe with other apps.

From the consumer/player perspective, a solution like this should have easily worked on all machines where Pinquest, Scorbit, Pindigo and PinballMap merged into one superb solution for us all.

No, there are good reasons for not including wireless in the spike CPU years before you'd use it

1) Radio requires different kinds of certifications and testing
2) Radio frequency use is regional
3) Putting wifi on the board still needs external antennas
4) Putting wifi on the board locks you into the feature set of that wifi chip

By using a dongle via common interface, you separate spike from all those things. The system was always intended to be modular - putting radio as a module or component totally fits that architecture. There is really no gain from putting it onboard when it's such a commodity item that is better served by being externalized.

You are trying to argue the static 3" triangle on the apron is more IN YOUR FACE then the HUGE animated LCD Screen in the head of the game... you know where they put the TITLE of the game and thousands of hours of effort into making the draw of the game?

And then remind people about how the QR codes on transformers on the apron were a complete flop.

Ok...

Do we know whether it’s going to be a standard feature in all games going forward or an optional add on?

Fair enough. Never thought of the region thing. I know they have had way more time to think about everything than me and have some smart people there. As I mentioned, I know I am getting negative.

Just not looking forward to having to decide whether or not to shell out cash for features for a pin I have already paid thousands for.

What would be really cool / amazing would location Insider Connected Tournaments. Where by say a location has one Stern game hooked up to the system. Set it up to have a tournament run for the next two weeks or something. Anyone that logs in via the app can choose to participate. Then you try to get a high score. At the end of the two weeks, highest score user is declared the winner. Winners could get a special badge in the app, or discount on a drink at the location, or something.

Could have the tournament have an option for number of allowed games per account, say your best game out of three will be your tournament submission. That way someone can't just keep plugging in cash. Or have the tournament setup to be take as many tries as you are willing to pay for.

With this feature you could have say a league night and lots of folks show up, but anyone that couldn't that particular night still has a chance to come in and participate.

For people who route and don't visit their games often, this thing kicks ass. To warn them about issues is a perfect feature for those guys.

The social media/videogame-like parts are meh to me. Some people will definitely use them, and they might help to grow the community a bit, so that's a plus.

Most old farts that buy games won't use it...

Or you setup a google voice number, put a sticker on a game and tell people to text you any issues. 95% of the value, 0% of the cost

It will be nice to have it built into the app... but let's not pretend this is some door opener. The metrics on game play, knowing its up, checking for variances in patterns, those would be bigger tells that are more difficult to do today.

I think people are undervaluing this. People that obcess about 'finishing' a game will buy right into achievements. Imagine when Pinside links your stern profile to your pinside profile and shows your XP and badges.. etc.

If done well and kept up, people will wonder how they did without them before.

Ever heard of TOPS?

Things like direct engagement to players - including the ability to transfer value to is a big deal. It's also the start of an eco-system... which is why jumping into this space is worth a lot more than simple 'high score boards'

The example of like giving away promos... coupons... prizes... are all things that create new ways of engagement that if all digital, are far easier to implement then prior methods.

What Stern didn't talk about yet is how your personal info maybe used or monetized.

Imagine a scenario where as an Operator I was able to find out which zip code had how many Stern Insiders. Then if I were able to pay Stern to place a push ad to all those people to say "Hey, we just put a brand new Avengers Premium at Suds Laundromat! Come enter the launch tournament between now and Saturday!".

The greater the attach rate of the app, the more valuable the user data and their patterns become.

Important tells will be how focused Stern is at easy user adoption

- What kind of credentials can I use with the app? Can I use m existing Google, Facebook, appleID, etc to make signup silky smooth and easy?
- What kind of payment options can I use? Will they quickly integrate with platforms like apple pay, paypal, etc or try to lock you into adding credit cards manually, etc
- What kind of programs will they offer Ops to push adoption?
- How quickly before they move features behind being ONLY accessible via this eco-system...

Lots of potential - but every step takes work from Stern. The opening launch plan is aggressive for game coverage... let's hope they have a similar roadmap for functionality.

Huh... I watched the video.

I am a "technology guy" and made my living that way for a large part of my life.

Cant say I give a single fuck about anything he said in the video as far as pinball goes.

I appreciate the forward thinking though even if its years late.... to me that effort is better spent on making better games.

Pretty hard to get all jazzed up that pinball is joining the social media revolution 20 years into it.

If Stern is going to be data mining me, can't they at least do it for free without me having to pay for an up front upgrade and probably an ongoing service fee?

Come on, man!

Just a quick observation with no importance whatsoever, but I still wanted to share it:
The QR code in the video reads

42 02 1b 5a 06 a2 7d 65 6d 9a 34 cf f1 3a cf 37 35 10 d3 7f 71 f0 7d 74 72 a5 25 d7 f3 55 33 60 55 b0

which in "text" would be

!µ j'ÖVÙ£Lÿ¬ósQ7÷×G*R]5S6[

and as a decimal number

1956667095441107843716972890750728168951853317041228063084830717059783886020564400

So you probably won't be able to just roll a QR code and play as someone else.

player_qr_code (resized).png

Looks (potentially) fun / cool

you were going to drop 8-10k on the game before this was ever even announced. This doesn't detract from what you would've gotten. This feature is designed for operators. As a matter of fact, Pinball was invented for operators, and this is the first thing a pinball company has designed or geared towards anything but the collector market, in prob over 10 years. Us operators didn't cry when they bumped the price of pro's because collectors insisted on having 12 Aux Power ports to light up their mods and toppers. It's nice for us to get some long overdue respect. Let us have our moment. Not to mention, you can easily just opt to not buy the machine, and use just a fraction of the money to go support your local pinball joint, and partake in the fun.

If this was was revealed 10 years ago it would have been cool. What’s been revealed now just seems like 10 year old tech now.

At least they finally got to the plate. Let’s see what these cool features zombieyeti is talking about.

Playing against friends in real time (eg. a challenge based format like heads up) would be fun. Or 4 player games with chat etc.

No doubt it’s been a huge effort to get all this up and running, so full credit to everyone who has worked on it.

All apologies, but fuck off. Respect? Ops make money doing this, we spend this kind of cash to play these toys in our homes AND then come to our local establishments to pay to play your toys as well as pay you for food and booze.

“Your” moment? What a joke dude. This ‘us vs them’ narrative you are trying to sell here about ops vs. collectors like there is some clean separation is so divorced from reality it is laughable.

Well, I, for one, am hoping Stern offers free hours for Insider Connected like AOL does!

D7743E6C-AC29-4601-9971-6AFF4A440692 (resized).jpeg

put in an Mini PCIe slot

Call me an old fart but this is the stupidest thing I've seen in a while. I dont want to scan codes, read codes or have my playing tracked. Nor do i want to pay to have this technology in my pinball. Just let me drop my quarter, flip the ball around, and enjoy myself. This stuff has less than zero value to me, but if others like it, have at it.

WAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Sorry. Felt left out on all the whining about an add on for a 5k+ toy, that's optional, that no one really knows anything about, yet everyone is bitching about. How about waiting till there's actual details for once instead of all the "they shoulda, they shouldn't have, but mine, but me, but WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" instead of speculation on something y'all (including me) literally know nothing about other than it's gonna involve the internet, a QR code, an account with stern, and an apron mod.

Y'all bitch that no one innovates. No one does x,y,z..then someone does..and ya bitch more. Sometimes the over grown babies in this hobby still manage to surprise me.

watched Gomez promotion, I could live without everything he described.

This thread is spicey!

My first and last take. It’s cool, not for me; it sucks, I’ll wait for judgement until the time I see it.

As a tech guy… I like tech, just don’t think I want it on my pins. But… it’s optional to use, even if not optional on NIB pins soon. My big worry is the tech slippery slope… for now, it’s optional.

Pinball is the ultimate escape from tech, phones, etc. last thing I want, personally, is my pin gamified in my house with silly badges to keep up with the Jonses - fahk dat.

But on route it’s very cool. Do agree with others, wish it was an add-on/option.

But… in GG we trust and if him and ZY are this excited, we may be arguing around what we don’t even know about.

So commence the spice, but I’ll eat the pepper once it arrives on scene.

Lol. Triggered.

What’s worse than someone whining on Pinside?

Someone whining about the whining on Pinside.

In GG we trust.

I am as excited for the reveal as much as I would be excited for a beta max reveal. Old tech that adds nothing for me in my home environment or when I go play in the wild. I don’t care about scores and only care about having fun with my family.

I am an old fart and don’t want to pay for something that I will not use or pay a monthly charge even if I wanted to. This offers nothing for the home for me. If you like it fine, but it should be an add on, not a factory add on on the line.

<duplicate post>

Why? when a USB port is more universal and does what is needed... the problem isn't there wasn't expansion, the poster wanted the radio built into the cpu board.

Many operators don’t update the code that ships with the game. Not sure expecting those types to embrace a new ecosystem is the key to success.

Probably more sizzle than steak and a novelty that will be used by a tiny fraction of players.

hey, it's only pinball!

Listening to a bunch of old guys whine about new technology is funny. If this attracts more younger players then I am all for it. Plus I think it sounds pretty cool.

Ya forgot to add that. While it may or may not be for me, if it brings in new young players and keeps production alive another 20 years, stick the Stern QR code on my ass. I’ll let’em scan if they’re over 18, binary or non-binary. Just keep pins alive. At worst, this is the Golden Age and we have thousands of pins without the crap.

I feel like that was true of older ops who’d just toss stuff at a bowling alley & collect the cash box. I think modern ops, especially barcade owners are totally about keeping games current, clean & working.

Just unboxed my late july build Gotg Pro. Theres no QR reader but there is a big antenna going straight down from that right apron area. I guess thats half of the product for the wifi piece.

Pics

This makes sense as Hemispheres has GOTG in stock with the full kit.