I wonder if they throw this on the back burner/delay...and release Led Zeppelin QS redux as a kind of "sacrificial lamb" to fill the release void after Rick and Morty.

If they're smart, they would put on the brakes and hold back ST for a softer release environment.

Announce ST in Feb or even just before TPF and demo it there. If they make that smart marketing move, I bet they get more sales and you would even see some Rick & Morty spots go up for sale.

A lot of ST money just got thrown at Rick & Morty IMO.

Well, you obviously know something that I don't. Perhaps it was Spooky that got lucky here (or knew when ST was going to be released and finished up development faster to get this out before ST).

I think for home use they're the same demo (35-50 year olds) but perhaps you have some other points, especially about the pro level of purchaser.

I just can't help but think Rick & Morty being released took a little wind out of the Stern sails for the ST release.

For me, it made a difference. I jumped at R&M and was considering ST but now that's unlikely.

Looks intriguing. LOTS of inserts, lots of code updates and rules coming...

Like others have said, I wonder how the projector situation will work in the real world. That said, I really hope the pro has the projector, this would seem like a different game without it.

I kind of wish they had a third (or fourth) flipper and something different for the basic layout. This is part of why JP2 is so loved currently...and part of the reason for the stampede toward Rick & Morty.

But it certainly looks highly atmospheric of the series and I look forward to playing this! Might be super fun! All depends on the execution of the code, modes and rules.

Yeah, I agree. I don't want to hack at a game I haven't played and I hope it's totally amazing for owners and players but I'm confused by inclusion of the projector. Couldn't they have streamed video from a small LCD like you said (book on the Hobbit etc)? Was it just done because it hadn't been done before? Depending on how this plays out, an actual "retro" projector may never be tried again...From the delays, though, it appears it wasn't thoroughly tested.

Maybe an LCD on the "drive in movie theater screen" and projection on the spinners etc. might have been a better way to go?

well, I hope it turns out to be very cool and dependable! I hope to play one soon.

To be Captain Obvious here, Stern is a large company with huge expenses compared to the other pinball manufacturers. They have an entrenched network of operators and vendors who put most (if not all) of their games on location/or for sale to customers as soon as they are available. So, a large network of what are essentially pre-sales who have a hunger to obtain new games and the cash to pay for them. "Here, take my money!"

Stern simply *must* release product to keep cash flow and keep the company running. It's similar to the tech industry, where they release something with buggy software but fix it as they go.

The sin of no cashflow/sudden turning off of the $$$ faucet for a company of Stern's size would far outweigh the positives of keeping things back until they are "polished".

IMO, they have no choice but to release games on schedule and shore up the code as they go.

To be fair to Stern, all the other pinball manufacturers do this too. Perhaps their initial release models aren't as "code empty" as Sterns...but still, all the others are guilty of the same thing.