Baltimore, MD
I sense we will be getting a Zeppelin Toy that can light up, be bashed ala the UFO in Attack from Mars. That would be cool .... just not on a spring 
(Topic ID: 283504)
Linked Games
Led Zeppelin (LE)
Stern, 2020-
Led Zeppelin (Premium)
Stern, 2020
-
Led Zeppelin (Pro)
Stern, 2020
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Quoted from UNCgump:I heard it's a bit of a dud. I have little to no faith in Ritchie making a solid game. Which sucks, since I'm a big fan of the game.
A dud in what way?
Quoted from UNCgump:I heard it's a bit of a dud. I have little to no faith in Ritchie making a solid game. Which sucks, since I'm a big fan of the band.
If you're hearing feedback then give some more detail ... layout, art, etc.
Quoted from beelzeboob:Let us know how you like both when you get them...we can always count on you for honesty.
My guess...LZ won't come close to GnR for toys, light show, or build quality, but will surpass it in replayability and pure fun.
If Led Zepp has a Blimp bash toy then it will have 1 more actual toy than GnR 
Quoted from kermit24:Does a physical guitar lock, spinning record, or bass ramp 3 way diverting wireform interact with the ball?
No, Yes, and No. I forgot the record but a wireform is not a toy and neither is ramp. They are ball locks and ramps. Quite different.
Well I will still stick with the artist being Franchi. I think he's on it. It will be a big "surprise" but he has been so cozy with the Stern folks the past half year with interviews on his podcast that I would be shocked if he doesn't do a game with them again.
Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:Congrats to the LZ fans for getting a pin!
I hope you guys love it! This is a hard pass for me, but I'll be supporting the pin by buying what someone sells to make room.
Enjoy your fun!
Positives: Steve Ritchie! New Lighting!
Negatives: Art...art...art... art...
Why the pass? Great flow, Actual toys (Not GnR). Yeah its album art but its the album art. Cant say it doesn't fit the theme 
Quoted from davijc02:Gameplay looks boring
Personally I think Zeppelin is way overrated
The old folks got a dream theme though.
Dude piss off
Quoted from TKDalumni:Anyone else they think the side lights look like Pingraffix Power Blades? If not, certainly that can be replicated pretty easily...
No it can not. Its integrated with songs just like GnR that everyone loves
Quoted from Phbooms:Is there a magnet in the middle of the pops?
Yes
Quoted from mpdpvdpin:Soooo....I hope ya’ll can get your deposits back
Not me cause Im buyin it 
Quoted from EMpins16:It just seems like Steve Ritchie is the go to guy for a theme they paid way too much for , or a theme that’s a small niche for , because his “style” is cheap ..
He clearly loves the band from the Stern Insider. They had no choice in the 10 songs. That came with the deal. They had very limited assets to work with, which agrees with Aurichs points.
Quoted from dsmoke1986:This game looks like shit. I love Steve Ritchie, he's my favorite designer ever, but he straight up mailed it in; it's a reskin of Star Wars, which was a reskin of AC/DC...WTF Stern
4Ramp shots, Magnet/Spinner/Ball lock, Sculpted toys, Brand New Technology of Expression Lighting to synch with game modes - Yeah total shit 
Showed the LZ to the wife. Wanted her gut feeling. She liked it compared to the Pro/Premium because it was colorful. Loved the color in the playfield ... Its the 60-70 vibe. Art is subjective but it passed my wife test. Any one in on LE have that conversation? Haters gonna hate. I see the design as Star Trek, Spiderman, ACDC. But I dont have them. I love the integrated lighting and psyched after hearing Tim discuss. I mean those that were losing their shit on the hotrails must see how the same applies to this game. It also sounded like he is planning cool stuff the lights and with the magnet spinner beyond just spin. If I must have one Steve Ritchie game and this is it. Might make the rails black but wife loves the blue
Quoted from spinal:The art package is really poor compared to any games released lately (playfield included). The premium is probably the laziest I’ve ever seen, probably looks like 5min tops work, same pic everywhere.
Now Aerosmith is the *kind* of art that Stern is capable of doing and this is what I was expecting - a proper and respectful treatment of this iconic band - not some phoned in lazy slop.
So here it is, imagine just taking the same art approach for Led Zep as for Aerosmith by people who actually care about making something special. Imagine what the art on Led Zep could have looked like if someone cared.[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Yes. Aerosmith is great but you assume that Led Zepp management would allow this kinda treatment. Listen to the podcast and you will here a guy that wrestled with a very stringent / narrow style guide. Dude was not lazy.
Quoted from spinal:The art package is really poor compared to any games released lately (playfield included). The premium is probably the laziest I’ve ever seen, probably looks like 5min tops work, same pic everywhere.
Now Aerosmith is the *kind* of art that Stern is capable of doing and this is what I was expecting - a proper and respectful treatment of this iconic band - not some phoned in lazy slop.
So here it is, imagine just taking the same art approach for Led Zep as for Aerosmith by people who actually care about making something special. Imagine what the art on Led Zep could have looked like if someone cared.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
This is what Stern is capable of. Look at how the LE pops and everything goes together (including armor). Look at the playfield art.
So what the fk happened here w LZ? Fk. What a shame.
Now look how fn stupid this looks in comparison:[quoted image]
Dude the licensor is what happened! Stern is not going to bash LZ management but they are not apparently willing to allow for expressive freedom with their IP. What you gonna do? Work with what they give you to the best you can iand incorporate into the game. I get the frustration as I would loved Franchi on this but don't look at Stern and say they are lazy ass phoning it in. Using the album art makes sense. Im not a fan but it does make sense. If the light show is amazing, the game shoots great, and its fun as hell then no one will care on side cab art.
Onto other things ... I thought I saw someone state something about there being 5ish extra minutes of song time on top of the 10 "selectable" songs. Anyone know more on this? I also thought someone stated that Ocean and Stairway were in the wizard modes? I am guessing the ? is another song like StH but curious if others have heard details leak. I am assuming that like IMDN, there will be a wizard song or two. I think Stern made note/stressed selectable for that reason. If I was marketing at Stern I would just come out now and state if there are extra wiz songs to address that concern.
Quoted from VALIS666:I think this *possibility* is being used a lot as a fact at this point. A lot of rights holders sell tiers of access/assets; the more you pay, the more you get. None of us have any idea what Stern had to work with, or could have had. I don't know what the deal was, but neither do you, yet you're presenting this "Stern wanted to get creative, but Led Zep said no!" story as facts. It's a possibility. It's also a possibility covid messed up their 2020 schedule, they're not thrilled about JJP moving to town and getting all that hype for GnR, and cut some corners to get a machine out in their usual December slot. Beats me. It's as much a possibility as any other scenario.
I don't even mind the pro/prem art, personally. I wish the pro LZIII art was on the premium. I'm more bummed about how basic the table seems in terms of features, but that's a different discussion.
Im scratching my head thinking Im taking crazy pill There are 20/21 shots on this game, more than AIQ, for Premium/LE. I love AIQ but folks saying nothing to shoot for on Led Zeppelin need to look at facts:
IMG_7420 (resized).jpgQuoted from spinal:So if you’re new to pinball you may not know that pinball art is an art form. One aspect to great art is when care is taken to incorporate the inserts artistically and cohesively into the playfield art so they become one. Again here is AS by Stern:
[quoted image]
See how the inserts and rest of art become one?
Now look at this from LZ:
[quoted image]
Notice how amateur it looks in comparison with almost no consideration or coordination relating the inserts to the art. Basically an insert pattern that does not tie at all into the art and just covers over it. No care taken. Amateur hour for what we expect in 2020.
Dude its the same looking insert style. Plastic with color band and with outer color/black. Hand drawn art makes it much better but the inserts are what they are.
Quoted from coop:I’m a creative director at an agency that works with the movie studios. We have these same kind of restrictions: limited assets, tough clients and budget constraints. However, there is actually a way to work with clients in a manner where everybody ultimately gets what they want.
This design(s) signal to me that the assets they were provided were extremely limited. Unfortunately the solution was to simply reuse those assets over and over. The redundancy I’m seeing snuffs out the enchantment you might encounter when you slowly pour over the artwork of a game like Deadpool or even something older like Captain Fantastic. Pinball artwork has a history of being, busy—for last of a better word. Successful pinball artwork is rich with little moments and I always enjoy finding something I didn’t see before.
What I’m seeing in this pin is not just a lack of assets, but a lack creativity, and client management.
On the premium I see two airships on the apron, an airship on the playfield, an airship on an insert, a toy airship, one airship on the back glass and a couple on the side art. Now I’m airship-ed the fuck out at this point but there’s more.
The iconic band symbols are above the coin door, apron, in playfield inserts, and if that’s not enough they have made a wallpaper out of the symbols and have plastered that all over the art blades. You can also buy the custom shooter rod if you want to go another round.The repetition doesn’t stop there. You’ll find a Swan Song logo on the apron, playfield, a Swan Song toy and and three more logos on the pop bumpers. You get a few more if you buy the LE but at least they’re on inconspicuous places like the entire back glass and side art.
I’m no expert but I’m into pinball. However, I can’t think of a game that doesn’t have art on the slingshot plastics. I’m sure it’s out there but in the last 10 or 15 years? Has it hit home that there is literally no art on those plastics? Why don’t we have Jimmy Page playing his double neck Gibson on one side and Robert Plant singing into a microphone or even holding a dove on stage like that wonderful photo from ’73? The omission of artwork on the plastics feel like more than a missed opportunity to me. It just makes the package seem incomplete.
Where was George Gomez durning all of this? Did he sign off on 8 airships? He’s done such a wonderful and impressive job assembling the team and pulling together a cohesive line of products. I just don’t know what happened here.
Led Zeppelin hits every nostalgia chord in my body. Emotionally I want this pin but as someone in the field it’s hard not to get past the tactical errors and view this as an under-delivery.
I do agree on the repetition. We will never know how much a pain in the ass LZ was, Gomez will never say, but they could have added other things in playfied (gold/ platinum records, drums, guitars). That said, I will custom spinner stickers and pop bumper caps to break it up a bit. Not an excuse but it will help.
Quoted from onemilemore:Bonham gong sticker for the Electric Magic spinner.
I was thinking that as well. Old man carrying sticks for the left orbit spinner
Quoted from VALIS666:Neat stuff. Who makes that Egyptian archway for the Maiden right ramp?
Mezelmods
Quoted from Psw757:The speculation was based partly off the time theory from Tim because even rounding up doesn’t get you to 50 minutes and Tim said well over 50 minutes of music. The other piece that was interesting from Tim was if you go platinum for all records something really special happens in that wizard mode. What can possibly happen with no crazy mechs or anything?
Lastly he specifically mentions a timed and synced light show to John Bonham’s big drum solo, in these 10 songs is there an epic drum solo that rises to that of the Ocean?
Not saying there is something more just thinking there has to be something more to those wizard modes than shooting more arrows.
Yeah I Agree. If I played 10 songs to get to mini and final wizard modes then what music am i listening to during those stages ... not the last 10 over again i hope.
Quoted from kermit24:A montage of the 10?
Possible but i doubt it. Whats special about achieving that. Stern should just state it now like Iron Maiden.
Quoted from chuckwurt:Yeah good points on the wizard modes. They have to have some music there. Interested to see what that is.
Yeah. I get the surprise but now its a marketing negative. Announce it and let people know what they are working towards. Hell I suck so may never see it with the glass on
Quoted from Guinnesstime:I want to know what music is in the multi balls too. Usually they're different, like KISS w/Love Gun and Calling Dr. Love.
In Tims interviews they will play within any song being played, so i don't expect unique music. But the wiz modes are after all 10 are done. I cannot believe they would mash up as songs there. Maybe live performances but that would be redundant. Everyone ping Tim on the Facebook stream .... what is the wizard mode music !
Quoted from J85M:Led Zep has made me curious about one thing, what other mechs could you have rise out a playfield? A kickback could really change a games layout and shots.
This mech can sorta do that. Tim mentioned coding to catch and lower ball and throwing back at player after caught. I love AIQ but Im more psyched on this mech then the portal spinner.
Quoted from onemilemore:Yeah this is what has me a little skeptical on code. Granted Maiden is my only recent music pin experience, but I like starting a song but then having different tracks come in via modes - breaks up the repetition. But on that interview Tim said you're always in song mode, which makes me wonder if you pick Rock n Roll, for example, then start Zeppelin Multiball, is it still just Rock n Roll? That might feel a bit flat but we shall see.
Similar to how your always in GNR song with multiballs?
Quoted from flynnibus:Only because you are counting individual standups as 'shots' - which is non-sense.
Its not nonsense. A shot is a fn shot. So 1 standup to you equals a bank of 4? If you say yes then you must love Borg mono target banks
Quoted from Psw757:Someone will need to make a replacement slingshot plastic mod with art retaining the same coloring or at the very minimum some sort of decal.
Thinking black and clear decal of Page and Plant
Quoted from andre060:Made the mistake of clicking on a comment which took me away from the video - as soon as I tried going back to the video it was gone.
I did the same thing
Quoted from mrossman5:If you have instagram, they started a live video there.
Whats the link?
Quoted from Psw757:Light show is on point as well, glad the pro buyers can get it.
No - just Premium/LE
Quoted from delt31:Went to see this game officially play and after reading these forums beforehand (as I’m late), I was happy to see such positive comments. Then I saw CrazyLevi’s over the top praise for it and thought, shit is this just the stern army defending this dud? Hopefully not
After watching the stream for 20 min, I can confirm. Stern army is in full effect.
What a borefest. Nothing interesting. Spinner sound is also really annoying. I heard Tim defending the terrible art which I thought was hilarious.
Game is almost as boring as Munsters when I saw it. Well stern has been killing it recently (JP, Avengers and yes TMNT) - can’t all be winners.
You lost your Fing Mind or must be blind
Quoted from Aurich:Caught like a minute of the Instagram feed, hardly enough to get more than a glimpse of an impression. Glad people are enjoying it. It's a Ritchie game with Zeppelin music, dunno what else you expected as far as vibe and speed. If that's enough for you be happy. If it doesn't float your boat, well, there are so many options these days.
Criticism of things like the art feels fair to me, but no reason to just try and tear the game down if it's not for you. Keep it constructive.
I'll be curious to see the LCD stuff that people are liking, that's often the weak spot for me with modern games, hopefully there's a decent video of it at some point. Sounds like the DMCA issues might make it a pain to see. All I saw was like 3 seconds of what looked like live concert footage.
Highly impressed by how they incorporated all the footage and art in the LCD package. They took everything give and it works. Yeah the Cabinet art could be better but this stream showed that this game will be a joy to play. Expression lighting timed to the music sections was very cool. BTW Aurich ... glad to see your efforts on Alien get used and be recognized for that.
Quoted from DeadFlip:The reason we weren’t on twitch is a long one with reasons I can’t discuss. Twitch just wasn’t an option for this one tonight.
Then how will you be able to stream the game when its in your facility? Music off?
Sooooo many people sh!t on this game. Super pumped for the game and the team behind it. You could here the pride in Steve's voice. What an incredible year for pinball 2020 has been. 2020 has been horrible in so many ways but amazing games.
1 week later
Modding your Led Zepp! Credit to another Pinsiders who referenced these but I ordered a few Jimmy Page guitars and wanted to give a review. These Gibson mini guitars are awesome. I was impressed by the quality and detail. I am looking to position both of these in my LE. It looks like the high quality sculpts that the game needed. The sunburst guitar will be over the wireforms near the shooter lane and the double neck in the far right corner. I have a Bonham drum kit and Marshall Amp on order!
5ABB9C39-2590-46C8-A6A0-82185ECA17C9 (resized).jpegC36DD715-FF5C-46F2-8CB6-04FA79B200BD (resized).jpeg
Quoted from beelzeboob:Are those from Axe Heaven?
Yes they are!
I see there is a lot of talk on the mini and wizard modes. I wish Tim/Stern would just come out and state what occurs. I mean the first person to achieve it will post the info on forums/social media. The idea of it being a surprise seems silly to me. I also cant imagine that the mini and wizard modes will rehash the prior 10 songs. I cannot see LZ allowing stern music in their pin, so, applying Occums razor, the simplest answer would be that there must be hidden Zepplin music for the wizard modes!!! Just tell us Timmy
1 week later
So no Stairway to Heaven was confirmed by Tim. Does anyone think there will still be new music in the Mini wizard (Top of Charts / World Tour) and Final Wizard Modes (?) ?
I cant see playing to make those modes and relistening to the same music all over again.
Quoted from chuckwurt:Multiple friends have reached the final mode. It’s not coded yet.
For the mini wizard modes as well - nothing there ?
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