It's a miracle! Lol. Seriously though it's about damn time. Thank you Stern.

Great to hear that a final update is coming for Ghostbsuters

I hope it does as well but wonder if Stern only licensed the content up to the current season at the time the game was made. I think anything past that would point would require additional licenses unless the license they have includes the rights to use content and character / actor likeness from all seasons.

November update is up! First Tuesday of every month according to Stern

http://www.sternpinball.com/community/stern-of-the-union-address-november-2017

Edit: Oops, just saw the other two posts, lol.

I'm not surprised there hasn't been a bunch of developments regarding code for December. During December there's typically company holidays and a lot of workers also take vacation. Also, having fellow coworkers out on vacation impacts timelines as well.

Hopefully a ton of people over there took extra time off around the holidays as time with family and friends is extremely important.

"KISS is still in line for a final code update by the end of the century".

"Ghostbusters is still in line for a final code update pending the release of a 3rd movie".

Lol. Hoping for some good news today.

I hope so! Knowing how Stern has handled Star Wars, probably forced by Disney, we will have to buy 3 toppers and 3 shooters...

Well Star Wars just got another update, small one but still a nice update to continue polishing the game.

I think there's an art to making code deep yet also beatable. Keith Johnson games often have a mini wizard mode, sometimes multiple mini wizard modes (Hobbit), that a player can reach on a good game. Then there's the super wizard modes Keith adds to his games for those rare occasions when you have a game of the year, or game of a lifetime, type game. Dwight has been doing something similar with his recent rulesets.

Keith Johnson games also incorporate multiballs and modes that work the playfield in interesting ways rather then just hitting the same shot over and over again. These modes also give a game legs by offering multiple stages which gives a player a rewarding feeling as they beat each stage.

The types of rulesets I mentioned above are the ones I personally prefer if I'm going to purchase a game for my home. I don't want a game that can be easily beat, is just focused on points (versus objectives) and lacks mini wizard modes. If I'm going to spend NIB dollars on a pin it's going to be on a Keith Johnson or Dwight Sullivan type game that offers deep and unique code.

On a final rant note, lol, there's also the question of value being provided by a games code depth. The more code work that goes into a modern game the greater the games perceived value is in my opinion as without code these games are all just a box of lights.

For anyone concerned about code depth you just need to get certified and earn your code degree.

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I just noticed that Stern is having their own "Stern Pinball Arcade" room at PAX East 2018. PAX, Penny Arcade Show, puts on several huge video game and table top conventions throughout the year. Sounds like a great way to expand pinball. Hopefully Stern has physical games there and not just their pinball arcade video game...I've been to the past 5 PAX East events and will be there this year (one year Bowin did a panel) so I'll be sure to take some pictures!

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Well well well, what shall today's update bring?

It's great to hear that Star Wars has yet another code update coming soon

Yeah. I thought I read that Dwight owns a Star Wars himself which I'm sure helps with the game continuing to get updates.

Stopped by the Coin Taker / Stern booth today at PAX East in Boston. It was nice to meet Melissa after talking to her about buying games over the years. They gave me a free Stern pinball t-shirt which was very nice. Games setup included Star Wars, ACDC, GOTG, Spiderman home edition and Ghostbusters. Great to see Stern spreading pinball to more people.20180405_173418 (resized).jpg
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Seems fine to me. They provided updates to code status of their newest games and GB, KISS and AS are still on track for summer updates. Sounds good, better then not hearing anything for months like before, lol.

Today's the day for the June update, nothing yet.

Posted...not much this month.

http://www.sternpinball.com/community/stern-of-the-union-address-june-2018

Status of Code:

We are continuously working to update and improve software for our machines. There are always code updates and bug fixes in various stages of development; we will release them upon update completion. Here are some of the latest updates and the status of things in the works. As always, if you do encounter any bugs please feel free to provide information to [email protected]:

Guardians of the Galaxy – In case you missed it, we released version 1.01.0 code late last month and hope you’ve been enjoying it! We plan on having a live stream with the game team later this month so stay tuned.
Batman ’66 – We had another great code update released last week and are working towards our next release later this summer.
Iron Maiden – Be on the lookout for 1.0 code this month.
Star Trek – We’ve done a bug fix update that will coincide with our recently announced vault release. This code update will work on all Star Trek models.
With the added resources to our software department, we continue to address updates, enhancements, and bug fixes while adding various polish to our catalog of previous titles including Ghostbusters, Aerosmith, and KISS. We expect these code updates to start releasing by mid-Summer, starting with Aerosmith first.
Just because a game isn’t listed on here doesn’t mean there can’t be surprises from time to time.
If you would like to join our mailing list for all code updates for any of our games, please send an e-mail to [email protected] to sign up.

Accessories:

Celebrate the latest Guardians of the Galaxy code release with the full line of accessories now available. We also have the Star Wars shooter knob accessory in stock, and will make a formal announcement once the topper is available. All Stern Pinball accessories are available to purchase from your local retailer - http://www.sternpinball.com/find-a-retailer

Yeah, could be. I think most SW owners, including myself, are very pleased with the code at this point. SW is now one of the deepest objective based pins Stern has created. The last update added a lot of polish. Another update with further polish may come down the road. I hope some additional speech and clips from the movies are added.

Oh, Stern didn't mean this summer for GB, AS, and KISS code. One summer we will get these. Just joking, lol. Hopefully we will hear something tomorrow about code being actively worked on for these games. Looking forward to new GB code.

Yeah, typically Stern releases their monthly update the first Tuesday of the month. Tomorrow is a holiday though so who knows if we will get an update today or not.

The biggest news of them all though...the Star Wars topper is coming soon!

"The Star Wars topper is in the final phase of production development and approvals. We’ll make a formal announcement once it’s available."

Yeah, Ghostbusters should be receiving its updates earlier. It's an in production game, is fairly popular and for such a great theme / license its a shame how Stern has thus far supported its code.

Exactly. One line of code a day, no more, no less. After each line of code is written it must be submitted to an internal and external review board. Once approved by both boards the next line of code can be worked on.

This has to be true as why else is it taking 6-12+ months for code updates to come out? Lol

Just insane. Stern knocked it out of the park with Ghostbusters artwork and toys but is now doing the theme a disservice with taking forever to finish the games code.

Have to disagree and I think a lot of others would too. Magnaslings, subway with ramp that drops under the playfield into a physical ball lock, moving slimer, drop targets, two captive balls, etc. Its one of Stern's most loaded up games to date. Yes, it doesn't have a traditional right ramp / left ramp layout...thank goodness!

Agree. Incredible and timeless theme and one of Stern's most loaded pins to date. Ghostbusters deserves to have its next code update be made as a priority and to be substantial. Stern keeps referring to the upcoming Ghostbusters update as its "final update", well it better be a huge update similar in scope to the one that was just released for Aerosmith.

I think a lot of owners get so frustrated with Stern's code support as NIB Stern prices are the same across titles (except DMD vs LCD games) yet the code support across their releases isn't consistent. You can have one game receive a ton of code support with deep and unique rules and then another title offer the complete opposite yet the prices of both games are the same. One game may have its code completed within 6 months and the other within 2 years...if it's completed at all. That's BS at these prices.

Stern has been doing a much better job recently with their code support. I hope the trend continues and that the upcoming updates for KISS and Ghostbusters are substantial in the way that the latest Aerosmith update is.

Yup, Stern now appears to be putting out at least one title a year with a smaller number of modes that is more approachable for casual players. Last year it was Aerosmith, this year it's Guardians. I don't think it's a bad thing, just glad they are still making games that have deeper code and a lot of modes.

It better not be. Owners are hoping for a large update along the lines of the Aerosmith update. If not that's BS.

I really hope so but I think the October update will mention that the update is being worked on, Nov still being worked on, Dec testing, Jan that work continues, Feb that its nearing release and finally its out in March. Same goes for the Ghostbusters update and its out next summer. I sure hope this doesn't happen but I can see it going that way, lol. Maybe by then the Star Wars topper will be released.

Nearly a year ago Stern said that a final code update for Ghostbusters will be worked on once Star Wars is finished...

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Yeah, it's much better to just fork over the $5500 - $9k and not ask for a company to deliver completed code in a timely matter, lol.

Oh I know, when it comes to a Stern game receiving good code support we are basically playing the lottery. I got lucky with Star Wars but not so lucky with Ghostbusters at this point.

Halloween 2019

They must be getting ready to reveal the Star Wars topper. That has to be It!

Wish there was better news for the Ghostbusters update but I'm glad they are at least being open about what's going on.

Yeah that's not true. Let's say JJP has sold 6,000 games total since WOZ was released at an average price of $8k across all games and models. That's close to $50 million in sales, that's a big chunk of change considering there's only so much pinball money to go around. Yes, JJP is a threat to Sterns business as that $50 million could have been theres.

Just ridiculous for both games, especially Ghostbusters considering it's still in production and has been a very popular title.

Here's my predictions

1. Batman 66 just had another update released, the team will be finishing the games code soon.

2. The KISS update is now in testing and is scheduled to be released by the end of the year

3. The Star Wars topper is in its final stages of the final approval stages and will be released once the final final approval is recieved

4. A final Ghostbusters update will come following updates to KISS, Dead Pool, Guardians of the Galaxy, Batman 66, Iron Maiden, and Beatles.

Lol

Lol! Yes. I can read the headlines now "Stern Aquires JJP, Stops Production Of All JJP Games To Make Theirs Look Better".

Gomez mentioned at Expo about the library insert needing to do something, the need for another wizard mode alluded to on the game card (Are you a God) and a good amount of polish needed. I would expect at least those items when the update finally comes.

Well, it's almost that time again. What are everyone's predictions regarding code? Below are mine.

"KISS code is released and it's a huge update, get it now!"

"A Deadpool update will be released by the end of the year"

"Batman recieved another code update this month to polish the game"

"Ghostbusters code has been further delayed and will be worked on after Munsters is complete" lol

It's now been 14 months since Stern first mentioned a Ghostbusters code update coming after Star Wars is completed...that was in their first ever Stern of the Union address. That's ridiculous.

What will come first, news that Ghostbusters 3 is in production or Sterns code update for the game?

There wasn't an update last Tuesday due to the holiday but I'll guess there will be one today considering Stern is also set to show a new game today at CES.

Munsters looks cool but won't even consider it until Ghostbusters code is done. What's to say that Munsters code will even be completed if Ghostbusters after this long still doesn't have completed code?

"Ghostbusters code update is delayed, but remains in our schedule."

SW feels like a complete game at this point, probably one of the deepest Stern games out there. A final polish update would be nice but overall it's in a much better state then Ghostbusters.

I think Star Wars premium / LE is a loaded game that offers a ton of speed. The pro version is bare, I would agree there but the premium and LE are a different story. The hyperspace toy is a large interactive toy, as is the Death Star toy, the other extra features on the game (fork ramp, outlane diverter, Falcon, etc) also compliment it very well.

Posted this in a couple other threads but also relevant here.

Below are some notes I took regarding Ghostbusters code from the new Head2Head Pinball podcast interview with Dwight.

1. Highest item on Dwight's list for Ghostbusters is to do something about the game being too messy, said too many things stack. Would like to see Loopin Supers played on it's own and not stacked with other modes, should be a moment type mode to get to

2. Library insert - was never intended to be a feature or mode (used as indicator to shoot for in Librian mode) but will now get it's own little rule

3. Are you a God? - First off Dwight said yes he is (good answer lol), never meant to be part of 1.0, putting Are You a God on instruction card was a mistake, doesn't know if it will happen...

4. We Came We Saw - could be more polished, should be worth more and be more interesting

Dwight also went into how he will have more time after Munsters to work on other stuff. He said that it took Stern a long time to get to where they are at today. Mentioned how working on Spike revisions impacted code updates and how George Gomez has worked on hiring more programmers. According to Dwight Stern now has 9 in house programmers and 3 external. Programming staff used to be spread too thin but now is better. Finally he mentioned that programmers now get time after a release to work on other stuff and that he will get that time after Munsters.

Stern has been doing a great job over the past year completing code but there's one huge glaring item that still isn't complete.

Stern

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Programming Master Yoda

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"Ghostbusters code is still delayed after 24+ months, and remains somewhere in our schedule. Send in your $9k for Munsters LE"

Ghostbusters update... Wow, 26 months and counting since the last Ghostbusters code update dropped in January of 2017.

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Well, here we go again. Ghostbusters code news today? Lol

I heard it's just been delayed for 27 months but remains in their schedule.

Here we go again! Time to see if its the same old same old regarding Ghostbusters code or if we will finally hear something new.

Just disgusted at this point with the Ghostbusters code update delays. 29 months and counting. Stern should be embarrassed.

No

If Stern goes into Expo 19 with code for Ghostbusters not completed it will be beyond the embarrassment that this fiasco already is considering George Gomez at last years Expo said GB code is delayed... 29 months, that's nearly 2 1/2 years owners have been waiting. It was October of 2017 that Stern said in their first Stern of the Union address that a Ghostbusters code update would be coming after a Star Wars update...

Kaneda was right "Stern has passionate people but they are driven by money, not by passion". If Stern was driven by passion Ghostbusters code would have been properly completed months ago. I'm sure some people will disagree but this is the image Stern is portraying with the way they have chosen to handle code for Ghostbusters.

1 more day until the 30th month Ghostbusters code delay anniversary! I hope Stern doesn't delay the party.

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Finally the Ghostbusters code status update has changed, it's a miracle. Great to hear more resources have been allocated to the code update. That makes it sounds like it won't be a small update by only Dwight but hopefully a huge update on the scale of the final KISS code update.

"We’ve recently allocated additional resources to the Ghostbusters update". The use of the word "allocated" implies that the resources are already working on the update

Keith Johnson, Joe Katz, Ted Estes The dream team has been called in. lol I wish.

Here we go again, what code news will we hear from Stern tomorrow? ZombiYeti revealed that he's been testing new Ghostbusters code.

I think Stern only skips a week if the first Tuesday falls on a holiday.

My goodness, a Ghostbusters code update sounds imminent! The most anticipated code update in pinball history (excluding WOF lol) may drop within the next month or so.

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To quote Dwight from the GB code update stream when asked about the Star Wars topper "I don't know where the hell that is" lol.