why would you need a new apron?

https://sternpinball.com/2021/08/26/stern-pinball-launches-insider-connected-platform/?utm_source=constantcontact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20210826_Connected

The kit will include a new apron with a qr reader for Pros, and mostly just a qr reader for Prem/LE as well as a wifi dongle. George said he doesn't know price but said he emphasized that he doesn't want this to be focused on making profit because he wants widespread adoption.

I hear ya, but I'm open to believing that they won't gouge people (on this single item). I think there is much more value for Stern in this being in every machine than selling the individual units.

But we'll certainly see what they actually sell them for.

The achievement system has a "verified" label for location games. So at least there will be a distinction between games you can pull the glass on and ones you can't.

They'd be stupid to require wifi to play and Im sure that would be a problem for a significant number of operators.

For me personally, I like the idea of "official" challenges within the existing ruleset to go for, I think it will give some games a little more life and might help to keep them fresh for longer. I'm not too worried about leaderboards or anything like that but I'm open to things that get me to play a game in a different way than I might otherwise play it. There is a lot of potential for what the design teams can do with this kind of connectivity, so I'm optimistic.

For people that are interested: new content, for those that aren't: don't bother with it. Seems like a win-win to me.

If you wanted to do heads up-style timed challenges, I don't see why this Insider Connected system couldn't handle that. Set the challenge, start a timer on the screen to plunge and then just compare the times to complete the challenge when both players have completed it. Then you could show a challenge completed screen which compares both players completion times.

The main issue with this would be whether you trust your opponent isn't cheating which would be a far bigger issue in random matchmaking type situations.

Oh man, it would be awesome if in the home environment you could have games auto linked to QR codes/Insider Profiles so that you don't have to scan anything just select from a short list of pre-linked profiles. AND THEN, also allow for different rules difficulties for different profiles. Like if you could go into the adjustments and create specific difficulty profiles: Level 1, 2, 3 and factory for example and then set those difficulties for individual profiles.

In my opinion, that would be a cool way to add some real value for home users.

The PinClash stuff is pretty fair, in my opinion. The qualifying attempts are required to be live streamed so you see the glass is on and the player isn't cheating, plus the qualifying round objectives arent really based on keeping the ball alive for longer so pitch and tilt sensitivity aren't as big of a deal. But even those are verified for the actual tournament so I think its actually a pretty poor example.

I suggested that as being in the home environment, not location. My whole post was about making this stuff valuable for owners and not just location players and operators.

I don't understand your whining about this ADDITIONAL feature. You can still play any online enabled game without logging in, without doing challenges, without achievements or leaderboards or whatever. It just sounds like this is a reason for you to be angry about mean old Stern Pinball doing things you dont like that dont even have to affect you at all.

First things first, my "logic" is that if there's a feature you don't like, don't use it. I certainly didn't say ALL additions are improvements but this one is. If you want to talk about price increases, that's another issue worth discussing. But a price increase was coming with or without this hardware, we'll see what it ends up being but if the increase is $400 or $500 for a Pro but $1000 for a Premium, then clearly there are other considerations than the new hardware.

It would sure be nice if they used this opportunity, where they will be releasing updated code for ALL Spike 2 games, to update the menu system. I know very little about what that would take but it sure seems like an across-the-board change like that would be worthwhile for owners and operators. And if they could give me an option to create custom adjustments profiles/pre-sets that I can quickly switch between, that would be great.

This would be cool but a feature like this would have to be locked to a specific operator so you can't get free games on one operator's machine and then spend it on another operator's machine.

In the George Gomez announcement video (around the 1:42 mark) it is mentioned that 7 machines to start will include the Insider Connected platform, and implies they are: Avengers, Deadpool, Jurassic Park, Led Zeppelin, Mandalorian, TMNT, and the next released game (Godzilla).

I'm very curious what "affordably" actually means. Hopefully the actual price will be shared soon.

From the article above: "GG: Insider Connected will remain free. Insider Connected All Access will be a subscription based service just like the existing All Access loyalty program has been. Insider Connected All Access will have specific premium features on top of everything that has been described above."

Where did you hear/read that this was happening?

I disagree that it's "blatantly obvious," of course it's possible but I'm personally much more interested in what is confirmed to be happening rather than what every random pinball fan THINKS Stern will ultimately do with this technology.

I think you're missing my point (starting with my initial comment/question) in that I'm more interested in confirmed features, costs, requirements, etc. rather than just speculation, even if your experience in pinball informs your current expectations.

I certainly think there is room for speculation and discussion but I keep seeing people say things they expect or that are "blatantly obvious" but saying them in a way that implies it's an actual thing and not just their opinion. That's why I asked the question in the first place.

As an operator, how do you think operators in general would respond to Stern Insider Connected for "free" and as a subscription service? Do you think it will increase earnings to have it enabled? Especially enough to justify an additional expense.

I feel like the retrofit kit will certainly be a huge stumbling block for operators existing machines. But I guess, the upcoming games with it pre-installed will be a chance to test the waters. As a player, I feel like a single machine at a location with Insider Connected would kind of miss out on the overall potential of the system but I guess that is unavoidable as anything non-Spike2 will lack obviously lack the functionality.

Bits and pieces from various articles, interviews and a video of George Gomez talking about the system. It actually speaks to the point TaylorVA is trying to make about knowing ahead of time what you're gonna get. Everyone is speculating what it will be, what direction it will go in, whether it's great, whether it is the worst idea Stern has ever had, whether we will get "less" in the core game than we have been, etc. The reality is, Stern announced Insider Connected to coincide with a price increase that it is a part of as well as the release of Godzilla (the first game released with the tech) but haven't yet adequately informed machine buyers what the immediate and long term plans are for it.

Any Stern machine with an LCD uses the Spike 2 system. Aerosmith/Batman66 were the first 2 games to use the system.

did you convert your existing account or create a new one?

Nope. I just ended up making a new one because it wasn't like I had all-access previously or anything that needed to transfer over.

He was pretty forthcoming in the ad that people are hinting at MUCH less direct from Stern when they're actually available. I see no problem with the ad.

Fair point, that was misleading. I still don't have a problem with the ad.

I'm gonna be honest, I don't really know the specifics of all the drama surrounding the guy but there seems to be a bunch of a pre-existing conflicts at play.

Not Xbox Live... yet!

How would a glass out sensor even work though? Surely it would be difficult to do or create something that could just as easily bypass it if you have access to the internals of the machine.

What's the process for being verified? Is it just applying or is there more to it?

Tanio said something on the Godzilla Prem reveal stream that strongly implied they were working on them. Which would be nice, but better, more detailed/intuitive diagnostics would be cool too.

$200usd

Not sure, but the "right" thing for Stern do is enable some level of support for online features with just a wifi dongle for the home environment. Im fine using a Stern Insider App to scan a QR code on the screen to associate my account with a specific machine I own. Then, when you want to add a player, you could have a list of associated accounts to choose from. Of course, that won't happen, but it would be preferable to spend like $30 to add wifi to 2 machines rather than the $600 through the current method.

It's nice to just be able to keep playing without constantly scanning in, if possible. I wonder what the balance is though. I feel like a "Recent Player" option would be nice, but also, I don't want anyone being able to play on my account.

Another issue I've run into is, 3 players, all signed in, 10 credits on the game. And then, Start button 3X, because 3 players, right? Well in this case, 4 players because Start button the first time auto-adds 3 players (because we're signed in) and then 4th player for 2nd Start Button press. How do you address that?

It will be overwritten with the new update that supports InsiderConnected. The question then becomes, will Pinball Browser work on those future code versions and/or will Stern be checking the code is proper through wifi. My guess is that online connected games won't be able to use custom code but offline games will.

I agree that they need more features to fully realize its potential but I've been enjoying going for specific Achievements for things that I don't otherwise need to go for. For example, I just went through and completed all of the DNA combos on Jurassic Park and am not keeping an eye on the Fossils. While I COULD have done that anyway, the fact that it is tracked as Achievements has highlighted those specific things. Also, I've pretty much got my fill of the "right way" to play TMNT, but I'm going to focus on the Achievements for a little extra incentive to play the "other stuff" that is in the game.

Obviously "to each their own" but I think a lot of people are enjoying it and it is currently in its infancy so there is tonnes of room for improvement. It seems like getting Achievements out for all the different games is goal one so after that we can expect more features. I'm personally hoping for daily/weekly/monthly challenges that alter the way you play the game, rather than just rewarding you for doing what is already there, but we will see how things develop.

Or re-work the system to work without a qr reader entirely, especially for home use.

Cool set up, Ive "only" got 3 hooked up so I don't have to mess with multiple switches.

Not that you need my advice but I wonder if the following setup might be more intuitive.

Bank 1: 1, 2, 3, 4
Bank 2: A, B, C, D
Bank 3: E, F, G, H

and then your games would be 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 2e, 2f, 2g, 2h.

You could even put a little "1a" or "2g", etc. label in the corner of each backglass, where the qr reader is designed to go, or where the price card is.

If you are talking about a wired internet connection? Then yes.

And the QR scanner does NOT need to be connected before boot. I have 3 machines on, and can cycle between them easily using a manual network switch.

I received the file for a coin door mount for the qr reader from mattosborn and made some modifications in order to accommodate a 4-way manual network switch. I've never worked with 3d printer files or anything before but I did my best to make something functional and plan on making additional changes, getting it re-printed, sanding it, and painting it with a hammered black spray paint to better match the coin door. I'm very happy with the result and it is certainly better than opening the coin door to change which game is "connected." Again, huge shout out to mattosborn for sharing his work. I'd also like to give another shoutout to KingVidiot for his explanation of how to configure a network switch to utilize a single qr reader between multiple machines.

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Here's a pic of inside the coin door. It actually worked out a lot cleaner than I expected. Each of the rightmost cat5 cables run to a connector in the head of each of my games.

I'll gladly share the .stl, but I just have a couple of tweaks I'd like to make and test for a "final" version before I do that.

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I connected my machines to a free connector in the head, I think it's often used for toppers.

The QR Reader is attached to a node board, that's gonna be the issue that prevents anyone from making the kits.

Neither Black Order MB and Battle Royale Achievements seem to work, the Disc RPM ones also dont work.

Yeah, definitely not a must have yet. I borrowed a kit from a friend and got most of the achievements on my machines, so now the usefulness is pretty negligible. Having your user name instead of "Player 1/2/3/4" is pretty nice on location but relatively useless when playing single player games by yourself.

I know I definitely expected more to be available by now. I borrowed a QR reader from a buddy that bought one for his Mando, I used it on my 3 Sterns for about a month and then gave it back to him when he bought a supported game. Now I find myself with little to no urgency in getting my own kit because the achievements, while cool, are just not worth the cost (in my opinion). I am definitely excited for potential new features but it would be cool if they were to start releasing additional functionality or even some sort of road map.

whoa whoa whoa, that list is gonna see us all the way through 2042.

Isn't that the truth. With achievements you go from earning a ridiculous amount the first dozen times you play a new game and then all you're left with are the very difficult ones. When it was first released, adding achievements to games I'd already played a ton game them a bit of new life but having them from the launch of the game isn't adding much for me personally. We need so many more features to make this system worthwhile, especially when you considering we're paying like $200USD per machine for this system.

Or they could let you do all the association stuff in the app. I might try borrowing a scanner to register all my games and see if that will work as a work around for me.

It would be much better if you didn't need the QR reader at all. It is clearly an unnecessary requirement, primarily in the home environment.

I guess you just need to add them as full-fledged home team members and then just remove them later.

Definitely a sleek solution, Stern should really add that to their cabinets or the head from factory.

Especially considering every new machine is coming with IC anyway. Also, I'm glad it's there currently because it's harder to take a "feature" away than to never provide it in the first place.

I agree that they have a solid, long term vision for Insider Connected but I do think the community has pushed them into potentially new directions. But the most important thing is, they need to speed up the process of rolling new (planned) features out.