Hats off to Stern. They are making pinball great again.

Black Knight matters!

Every game appeals to different people in different ways. BTW I should have said THEMED GAME ROOM ONLY not basement. Black Knight rocks that is all that matters. But dont 'kid yourself WOZ will sell just fine but to a different group similar to the person who paid 25k for Beatles. LOL

No matter I'm buying the Black Knight looks like the best game Stern has ever made.

The YBR edition?
Sounds good to me.

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LOL . Like i said, put the pipe down

That's not the reason. Revealing a new machine at the show has no effect on vendor sales at the show: all the Sterns brought by Marco are all pre-sold well before the show starts.

I love BK and BK2K.
Listened to the interview with Steve Ritchie, what a sweet guy he is and so humble. I really hope this game does well for him.

Has this been done with any game yet? I can’t believe no one has thought of this yet. This should be done with ALL games instead of using the lockdown button. Would make Star Wars etc so much better.

What interview was this?

Sweet or humble aren't exactly the words I feel falling out from his words and demeanour. He's a talent for sure, no doubt. But from what I've seen from interviews and pressers, not the most modest.

And he's not exactly a fledgling talent. This game will sell boatloads and bolster his legacy.

I'm anxious to play this at Helicon soon!! I wish the offcenter BK wasn't there. It's not the best visual, and there's enough imagery on the table already. I also wish the shield didn't seem so...dinky. Otherwise the three art packages look solid, energized, and fun!

Best game ever ??? definitely not best game built ! JJP has that department taken along with CGC
Make no mistake

Reading is not your strong thing, is it? XD

I highly doubt JJP built Sterns best game.

Stoked!!

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I ordered the Le. Very happy!! One of the best designers + his favourite title he did = a stellar game!

He said "best game Stern has ever made", not "best game ever."

Most of us are already a bit tired of JJP enthusiasts trying to spoil Steve Ritchie fans' party.
Give the JJP comparison bombing a break. At least for a day or two.

I walked into this thread and am wondering the same thing too. I'd rather just fixate during the release window on what the game is, how it'll play, how it feels, etc. No need incessantly having rah rah cockoffs with every game release. At least for the first five or ten minutes anyway......

Reading is not your strong thing, is it? XD
I highly doubt JJP built Sterns best game

Thank you so much ! I’m really new to pinball

I don't think so, but I'm going to do one. If it works out, I'll offer them for sale. It would be good for lots of games that have action buttons.

its a nice way to merge old character and look with new style gameplay and rules.

If you want to know how good Steve Ritchie is, just ask his brother Mark... they are a real pair when they are near each other. Mark really likes it when people ask him to sign his brothers stuff. He thought I was going to ask him to sign my TGA:HSII coaster, but it was just sitting on top of my Fish Tales key fob in my stack of promo plastics which is what I did have him sign.

I, for one, am absolutely thrilled to see Stern using a non-TV, non-movie, non-comic, non-band license. My favorite period of pinball has always been late solid state-to-mid 90s Bally/Williams.
Most of the themes were original and fantastic. There was so much more variety, & most games for quite a long stretch were home run after home run.

Black Knight-Sword of Rage technically isn't a new & unique theme (but it's a step in the right direction--it's not a trending pop culture license--it comes from a license within the pinball industry), but it's a sequel of a sequel to a great & innovative game that was based on an original non-licensed them.

And double whammy bonus is that it seems possible that we can hope to see more work in the future related to my favorite era of games from my favorite manufacturer. (I was giddy to hear all the distinctive Robotron/Defender sounds in Deadpool, & I wondered how Stern got permission to use the Williams sound library...I guess we see now that there were grander things afoot).

Stern, I've encouraged you folks at shows to be bold enough to make original themes instead of licensing. I hope this is a smash & that you can find that you can put into your business plan some plans to build up some creative staff who can create *brand-new* stories & characters & ideas that aren't based on pop culture.

Thank you,
-Jason

PS--I rarely post op ed pieces & chatter on Pinside. This announcement moved me to a rare non-tech, non-transaction, non-unemotional post.
PPS--I don't have time to play & study games nearly as much as I'd like, so my feedback on the images & video is all but worthless, but it sure looks hella fun...

No sweat. Next I'll teach you how to quote correctly and the meaning of emotes.

All around Kevin O'Connor nailed it with the art! But damn does the Premium look great!

It looks as good as Rob Zomibie's cabinet artwork!

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black knight has to have the upper playfield, maybe this is where stern should of went back to the old days, 1 model only, a complete game...….take it or leave it.

Damn, why couldn't RZ have been a better game?....

You left out "from now on..."

For a long time, I really wanted to own a BK2K. Now that i've been seeing and reading about this new BK pin, I want to get this one instead!

Premium has the artwork I like the most.
I typically like upper playfields, but I do prefer the extra spinner on the Pro, instead of the single drop target.

Can't wait to try each version out!

Being his 3rd attempt it had better be good as my mate just reminded me. The other Black knights were average.

Episode 250 of Coast2Coast Pinball: http://www.coast2coastpinball.com/

As soon as funds and space free up, I’m in on this for a premium. So long as it doesn’t disappoint, that is. Have a feeling it’s going to be a keeper though.

Undoubtedly pinball is rather subjective. Perhaps you need someone like me to remind you that Black Knight is one of the best pins of all time? (joking here of course over your wording, but it is a top game for me). Unfortunately BK2K is below average for me (love the audio, but that's about it).

One reason I purchased a Black Knight was due to my memory of "The Pinball Wizard" episode on "Are You Afraid of the Dark?". It essentially featured Black Knight in theme...or at least fantasy medieval characters in a mall setting (my 7 year old self saw it in 1992 and nostalgia for it remained). The Black Knight pin was present in the episode and the figure holding a mace near the machine comes to life as a villain. I'm going to assume I'm in them minority when it comes to this show having an influence on my pinball collecting, but Black Knight remains one of my favorite games to play solo (usually with fast-paced synthwave music playing in the background).

Premium version of BKSR is looking like something I'll want eventually, but will probably hold out for a used one considering how much less I saw IMDN premiums going for (lightly used premium IMDN showed up locally a day after I got my Pro...and for not much more over the NIB Pro cost).
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What makes the game great though take away the theme?

I liken Black Knight to Tetris in gameplay. Fairly simple, repetitive goals that increase in difficulty to reach a high score (eventually having to knock all the lower playfield drops multiple times to progress, etc.). The gameplay is addictive for me, the magna saves never get old, it's my favorite game to rip the spinner on when lit, and I never feel like I've been playing too long before draining (always seems exciting to keep the ball in play). Some games (particularly modern games with ball times that are too long without a particular set-up) have me feeling like I'd rather walk away than finish the game. GB got to the point where I set it to 1-ball play with no extra balls (my friends and girlfriend won't let me sell it :p).

I also have two regular balls and one glo-ball in my BK to spice it up a bit.

However, I'm not sure I've ever played one at a show that didn't play poorly (either a bad set-up or weak flippers). I rebuilt my flippers and such when I got my game and it plays great.

yep

Black Knight has always been about the theme and sound. BKSR has a better playfield than before. If the code is on Maiden level.. well.....

BK2K is coming off my wish list and I'm ordering a Premium! Very excited about this release! Really happy to see Stern release something that isn't from a music group, movie, or tv show.

Nice to see drop targets again. (Munsters needed some). I'm really digging the lexan upper playfield. Unlike a BK2K, you're getting a lot more playfield area, now that you can play beneath the upper playfield.

I'm stoked to hear about the retro mode with the old familiar sounds. Love the Knight with his flail and shield that interact with the ball... Good stuff!!

I think I'll be installing a magna save button on the side though!

Way to go Stern!

Thanks I'll definitely give that a listen! Was reading up on the unveil and interview with TWIP.

Listen to the interview, you'll understand what I mean.

I definitely will on my way into work! I'd much rather have a very positive view of him, so I'm definitely willing to give it a go. Him and his brother are way up there as far as table design, so an open ear and mind is what I'll always have regarding anyone really.

Holy crap was that phone connection bad. The podcast should have been edited to take out the copious dead air and static/digital sounds. Could have shaved literally 15% or about 3 minutes off the running time and made it less annoying to listen to.

One nugget that was interesting. The top "playfield" we know is plastic, but in the podcast he says it's essentially like the plastic on the top level of WPT - not even that thick. Anyone with a WPT knows how crappy that plastic looks after not a lot of play. Counting on it to stay clear enough to provide some visibility to the area below that solid wood will not is a foolish wish as all other pins that use plastic playfield pieces have shown. Disappointing they didn't use wood.

Oh Lordy Lou......whatever you do don't post that mod on Pinside, a hole drilled into in your cab ......absolute blasphemy around here

Hmmm...transparent wood, so hard to find.

Wrong, I don't want an upper PF, can't stand em. I think there are many who feel that way and its a great thing that the option is there. Oh and anything blasphemous can only be a positive.

Wouldn't be that hard to find a small surface mount switch type setup. I'm sure the talented modders around here can whip something up! Would be handy in all the games with lockbar button.

Did this with ACDC.. material costs less than 10$ .

It exists, but probably not practical yet.

Can hardly wait to play this new Ritchie pin, maybe his next one could be HSIII !

This is pretty short sighted. There were 17 Munsters Premium games at TPF. Of course the show games are pre-sold, but the reason why there are show games is so that OTHER people can play them and hopefully buy them. Stern subsidizes the show discount. This show was the Munsters coming out party for pinball with the cars, actors there, etc. Revealing Black Knight at the show wouldn't have been the right move and WOULD have absolutely soften interest in Munsters and take the spotlight away. MGC is the BK3 show.

I think even the sniff of HS3 depends entirely of the success of this game.

So no $5600 option, only $7300? As long as Stern can widen their addressable market, why wouldn't they? And no you can't have your cake and eat it too with a $5600 Premium, as much as everyone, including myself, wants one...

That's the only thing I'm worried about. Clear plastic tends to get really cloudy over time.

I am not a fan of playfield protectors, but I think I would cut a piece of .020" PET-G for the clear top playfield if I bought a premium. It would be somewhat easy to swap that piece out when it eventually gets dirty, as opposed to polishing or replacing the WPT-esque clear playfield.