This reveal seems so crazy to me, what would they possible have to gain by announcing it on Dec 23rd. It's like how to fail at sales and marketing. If your selling a product anywhere near the Christmas window in the United States consumers have to at least be aware before black Friday.

Rick and Morty is a very limited run of a fairly niche item. If Stern is paying for the Stranger Things license why would they want to hide it?! Why would you not want to at least have it in peoples heads. It was very odd that Stern just did nothing while Rick and Morty sold out and they are sitting on Stranger Things. It makes no sense.

It's always because of the license, when you license something they actually want to make money too. I have never heard of a license the actually tries to limit revenue. If they didn't want you to sell it why would the grant you the license. Why would Netflix or whomever owns Stranger Things want this under wraps, maybe if it was a Stranger Things season 4 pin but this is Stern they are always behind.

Stern is not tipping anything off about Stranger Things. If Stern is this far along the licensing is done and there would be no reason for the licensor to limit the announcement. Also everything about these deals is negotiable. I'm just so tired of every oddball ass backwards move Stern makes gets blamed on some license from a company that is super modern and cutting edge. We see 5 billion Star Wars products but it takes Stern years to get a way over priced cheap topper done and its all because of the license.

Every reveal I'm always scratching my head but this time the only thing weird is the reveal itself. The pin looks bad ass no idea if it will work and be fun but I love that they appear to actually have a proper license. I love that they are being innovative. I love the art, honestly I love everything so far. Just release some proper media and info!

I think the projector is pretty cool and innovative. If it was up to me I would have kept the projector on the Pro and dropped the LCD. I’m not confident Stern can come up with enough quality content for the projector and LCD. Just seems redundant. I also think the magnet stuff should be on the playfield doesn’t do anything up behind like that. A solid offering by Stern though. I will own this and JP2 one day. Still not risking NIB.

I really don’t get the concern over the projector. Didn’t they say it was basically off the shelf. I just bought my daughter a portable projector and it was half the price of pin stadiums and way more than you would need in a pin.

It has to shine like two feet onto what a ten inch area, a killer projector for that spec would be $100. Sure Stern has to deliver content but technology or bulb life is not an issue.

Do you seriously just drop JP2 as an example of good. I love the original but the playfield on it is hideous. Stern kinda following the art style of the original is the worst thing about the new pin. The guy shared an objective opinion and backed up his point with evidence, people need to chill out with the protect the hive bullshit. Stern has gone backwards with the art on this one and it could have been much better. It’s hard to deny it looks a little clown puked.

The DLC argument always makes me laugh a little. DLC has proven to increase future sales. The more excited a person is about a current product the more likely they are to buy another product. The best thing Stern could do is drop new code or features on the last pin just before they announce the next pin.

Paid or unpaid makes little difference, the math doesn't lie, Stern is laughable behind the times and leaving money on the table. Paid DLC, Season Pass, Subscription model, call it whatever you like it works and its proven to be profitable and increase future sales. Stern is trying some new things with the projector and clearly the wheels of change turn very slowly for them but at least they are starting to move forward. It makes me chuckle that Pinballers throw thousands at limited edition badges and mods but the idea paying anything for new modes and features and people act like its outrageous. How much is that Star Wars topper, you could easily get $500 for special edition code.

This has nothing to do with what I said, Stern is going to keep doing what they are doing. I said it it’s nice to see them try something new with the projector and hopefully they keep moving forward. DLC is a proven model and it works. I didn’t say Stern is going to do it but they should. They said the exact same thing about video games and now even Nintendo has DLC. They are just like Stern a hardware company super resistant to software progression.

I know I shouldn’t bother because your like talking to the wall. You know like in Stranger Things time period when video games were coin-op devices meant for 5 minute plays. Shit evolved and now people sit at home and play them for hundreds of hours, how many hours did you play switch this year?

The second point your making, no shit the should release finished code. You continually just post completely unrelated issues like your making a point. I’m not here trying to argue that Stern should follow the DLC conspiracy voiced by the tin foil hat wearers of the internet.

If they dropped additional seasons and modes for The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones as paid content into the run up to Stranger Things they would see both profit on the DLC and an increased sales of Stranger Things. People love to support and feel the are part of a group or community. The more they can contribute or buy in they better they feel.

It’s not just video games, it’s a proven business model. It’s why they drop constant software updates in so many products from Cars, Cell Phones, Televisions. If consumers feel supported they stick with you.

Stern may be stuck in the 1980s but eventually a pinball company will sort this out and they will capture the market.

It will also be very profitable for operators, giving machines on the way down new life or increasing their value as they are sold into household environments.

If the only thing your going to respond with is negativity just save the key strokes. I’m completely cool to agree to disagree.

Some things never change and I just can't be bothered with this anymore. Time to clean up this site a little

Paid upgrades can be really great. Some people just think it’s always a scam, that companies intentionally hold stuff back and force people to pay for it later. In my experience that is not how it works. It’s always about time and budget or something you just didn’t see during development. I would happily pay for a mini wizard mode half way through the jukebox on my AC/DC. I understand that it seems obvious and people will complain and say it should have been there from the start. You just have to ignore that very vocal minority and focus on the positives. The pinball market is obviously very willing to spend on cosmetic upgrades, they would pay for value added content.

Just to be completely open I work at EA. My opinions are my own and purely hypothetical as the relate to pinball.

Ah anti-intellectualism alive and well. I leave you arm chair experts to it.

Sorry if I announce where I work a lot, I am legally obligated to make it public. Just so everything is above board. It’s part of the agreement to be able to post on any platform.

The same handful of people do not always speak for everyone.

Lol, personally I’m partial to 94.

I love when games influence culture, that scene in Swingers is amazing. Look how far those guys went.

This whole DLC sub topic did come from how cool it would be to add Season 3 content with the projector.

My last post on the DLC topic it’s literally been over a decade of learning with DLC. The whole hold stuff back for future makes no sense. Step one is make your product great and deliver as much content as possible. Every feature you don’t deliver at launch is lost sales. Every lost sale is lost potential for your next product and DLC. Launches of current product directly correlates to the launch of your next product. Stern is clearly struggling at step one, launching current product. DLC is all about keeping that ball rolling. Great launch starts things moving, follow up with great DLC and you rolling right into the next launch. The goal is for people to love the current product and playing the shit out of it when you announce the next one. New modes and features is a great way to do that. It’s all about momentum.

This is why I thought the projector on the pro with no LCD would be interesting. Can Stern deliver enough content for both or will it just be redundant. I know that thought is as popular as my thoughts on DLC

As the topic of DLC is continuing I just want to say I’m not in any way pushing for paid DLC. It all depends on the numbers and the product. I don’t pretend to have any knowledge of Sterns costs or financials. Free DLC or subscription based service can be far more lucrative than charging for updates. If you can afford the upfront cost, long term it’s the way to go. Most companies aren’t willing to take that risk or have that ability to carry the debt. All I was trying to share is that DLC works and Stern would be smart to look into it. There is no reason for all this drama and negativity. In its infancy it’s gone wrong but it’s maturing and no one that wants to stay in business fucks over their customer base. When I use the term DLC I kinda assumed everyone knows what it means. It’s Downloadable Content, it’s not patches or bug fixes or code updates. It’s direct to consumer new media, new features, new modes. It would be like adding a season of A show not available in the original machine. I tried to use AC/DC as example with a new mini wizard mode that does not have an insert or any reference in the original machine. No one is for or trying to push Stern to just rip everyone off.

I really wonder what process is in place for art review. You see a lot of just weird stuff in the art, there is really no excuse for this stuff to be in the final product.

I’m surprised they didn’t just use a matte ramp with paint on the backside. I would lose the stickers and just paint them. Lots of information on the internet that specific household paints have the exact same reflection, absorption as high end specialty paints and screens. If it gets dirty or chips just apply another coat.

This launch has been a complete shit show. From the leaks to the terrible pictures from CES. Do they even have a marketing department or do they just leave it to the influencers?

I don’t think a co-op releasing a page or two a month counts

I can understand not streaming from the show but not having media prepared before a major show?! They may as well just do a press release saying we have no confidence in our product and just couldn’t get our shit together.

There is that one guy that makes pants.

This whole projector issue feels so disingenuous. Mini projectors are dirt cheap and everywhere, it would be hard for even Stern to find one so cheap it couldn't shine a couple feet and light up like a few square inches. I don't think they could get this wrong if they tried. I know a lot of pinballers are not exactly current when it comes to tech but come on maybe 5 years ago this would have been an issue.

That did not take long, LOL

They are working they just kick in for modes. They don't seem to show up as well as the large flat panels but they are working.

I really love the projector, not sure if Stern will invest the resources to really make it awesome but it has huge potential.
Sadly I do not like the way this pin looks, it looks like it has a Pinball Bulbs kit on it from the factory, just way too much neon and color.
I haven't watched the show in forever but it made me think of autumn, halloween nights in the 80s a completely different pallete.

He just entered a mode and the clips from the show with them riding bikes outside is the pallete I expected. The pin completely clashes with that pallete.

This works for certain pins, Tron, T2, Demolition Man, TNA, it just doesn’t fit with Stranger Things. To me Stranger Things is a muted earth tone palette. The outdoors, kids on bikes, Friday 13th, scary fall trees. For me this art is a huge miss on this theme. The LCD is obnoxiously clown puked and those gradient stripped fonts what were they thinking.

Obviously the game is not earthy, I feel the show is and wish the pin used a similar pallete as the show. It's just my opinion, how can people argue with how something artistic looks and feels to another person. If you love it all the power to you. To me the colour pallete of the pin is a massive miss. Where are talking about the art style obviously different people are going to have different views and opinions. My interpretation is this pin looks too over the top and clown puked, if you love that style this pin is probably great for you.

I'm talking about the color palette do you know what that is, I don't need to see it in person to realize it does not use the palette I remember from the show. When I think of the show I think of earthy fall outdoor, sunsets and forests, darkness and I personally would have prefered a pin in that pallete. This is the same as GOT do you think the GOT pin uses the same palette as the show? Are all those neon pinks, blue and purples going to change into earthy fall colours in person. I don't remember Eleven shooting lighting like the Emperor from Star Wars I remember a subtle drip of blood from her nose. I do admit I haven't watched the show since season two came out. Its ok that you have a different view and opinion its not a competition.

For me and my taste this choice of colour palette is a miss. If it hit the bullseye for you that is fantastic. There is no need to protect the hive.

I have no idea why you care and are so fussed by my opinion. I'm not a fan of the choice of colour palette, it's ok, this is clearly hard for you but I think you'll get over it.

Keep in mind this forum has the hardcore of pinball fanboyism, people will accept and defend pretty much anything from Stern. You are completely justified in your feelings and it is laughable that people just shrug it off with, well that's pinball. You get both sides people will rant and rave about the smallest things from Stern and endlessly hate on them. This place is a completely weird view on reality.

P.S. No matter what you say someone will feel it is some personal attack on them and tell you to take it elsewhere.

This is a new low for the Stern defense force, did you call Stern to try and tattle tale. You may have thought you were outing him but it’s just creepy and sad.

I downvoted you for your tone and online detective work. You did not at all come across in that first post like you were trying to help him out. You came across like you were trying to out him and throw him under the bus for doing something wrong. Bottom line even if the mod caused the problem, a new pin should be able to handle a shaker motor and a couple of LEDs with out blowing up. This place is brutal to new guys and there is really no reason for it.

He is my favorite content creator, he is pretty straight forward with some subtle humor. His tech stuff is really good, if you like working on pins as much as playing them you should check him out. I think because he likes working on pins it keeps him a little more grounded. No one covers the frustration of when things don't go your way like he does, he takes it well though, I would have lit that Getaway on fire already. I enjoy Zach and Greg but the are so focused on new pins and anything new and shiny is just automatically the greatest thing ever, then its posted on facebook for sale a week later.

I've never actually seen the underside of a new Stern. Do all the board still have replaceable bulbs and sockets? Or are they like those little boards that the LED is right on the board?

I've worked in gaming for a long time and I'm a big believer in DLC done right and I fully accept there has been a lot of it done wrong. This is just a colossal blunder on Stern's part and there is really no excuse for it. The question is can Stern get away with it. If people buy it and keep on ordering than you can fully expect it to get a whole lot worse. Gaming has generally made a correction already but Stern clearly has taken nothing from that and looks to repeat the same failures. Personally I don't think Stern is big enough to survive the back lash when it hits. If they haven't cooked it already they are already starting to pluck that golden goose.

The math doesn't add up on this theory, the BOM is virtually nothing, they already paid for the art and paint, plastics and parts. They are just swapping things out and adding a couple of LEDs to light them up. How much increase do you think this really adds if they added from the start it would have been almost nothing. THey wasted more money and resources having to build the two versions and now people have to pay for both and one is garbage. I would actually bet this move actually increased the costs per machine. I could accept that maybe that some manufactures couldn't get them parts on time and they needed machines on the line. Even then they should have been up front about it. This is a poorly executed cash grab and we have seen many times. Shit I work for EA I have been in the room for many of these planning sessions and I'm lucky enough to be in a position to have input and be able to say this is a bad idea.

Sometimes people post things so stupid its obviously an attempt to enrage people into long winded stupid responses. The appropriate response is to post a Tom Hardy meme.

P.S. If you not hip and going more for the Dad joke Admiral Akbar also works.

I think you answered your own question.

The big difference is Tesla told them up front. Everyone knew it would cost Tesla more money to make different versions so all cars had the same seats. Tesla agreed to the lower price so they honoured it. They do the same thing with batteries if you really want a tiny battery they will sell you a car like that. They don’t actually waste the money building the tiny battery for the handful of people. The just give them the same battery and limit it with software. They have done this for years.

It was enabled but Tesla told them we don't actually manufacture the config you want but we will give you this car at that price but you will not get to keep the extras. Its just faster and cheaper to give them a car they have already built than try and build a different version. It would be like if Stern decided that all new Stranger Things now come with the UV kit built in from the factory but the price goes up $50. Someone that already ordered said no I'm not giving you the extra $50 and I don't want the UV lighting. So instead of spending time and money trying to remove the UV kit Stern just disabled it with software. People were just hoping they would get it for free and they didn't.

The thing to keep in mind these people literally had to special order this config, it might have been available online very briefly but they still had to specify they wanted it without heated rear seats. Tesla mistake was not making people wait for the car and letting them enjoy it for a couple weeks till the software was ready. They conveniently leave that part out and pretend to be surprised the didn’t get what they specifically said they didn’t want.

Didn’t mean to hijack the thread, back to regular scheduled programming.