He makes great shooting games, but hasn't really made a game with fun toys/features since Metallica. He too often falls back on torso shampoo bottle tops or giant heads that do nothing. X-Men, TWD, Kiss, Munsters...custom sculpted toys that do nothing might as well be nothing.

I really hope there are some innovative and interactive toys based on the Technodrome, Krang, Shredder's subterranean drills, the dimensional portal...things related to the villians so when you fight/bash/interact with them, it makes sense. Hitting Wolverine makes no sense. Hitting Herman makes no sense. This is a classic good vs. evil theme, so hopefully the features will reflect that.

True on the two flipper part, but not always. Even where there are two flippers his games tend to shoot nicely. Munsters is a pretty cool layout even if I don’t like the rules very much. Walking Dead is another really good layout. I love my Metallica even if the layout is pretty straightforward. It’s a riot.

Honestly I’m pumped and terrified for the potential of this title.

Not trying to kick a man while he's down, but did you play Munsters before you ordered your LE? After one game on Munsters I knew the game was absolutely not for me. I played a few more games to be sure, but it didn't change any of my impressions. I knew I didn't like the code and I didn't like the shots. Even a complete overhaul on the code likely isn't gonna sway that opinion... At least it was nice to see that Dwight went back and improved Ghostbusters (ALOT) to the point where that game is actually quite fun to play again and not nearly as repetitive and linear as before.

People have commented left and right about how cool it would be to be able to choose your own turtle and have some depth to this game in that fashion. To me, Dwight's the ONLY person at STERN that's really successfully done that kind of coding. His games take a while to get to the fit and finish we've all come to expect (why I don't know - just because we spend thousands of dollars on something doesn't entitle us) but when they do get there I think they are masterpieces. Star Wars and Game of Thrones both took a while but have come out as clear gems in my collection -- both of which have a choose your own adventure feel to them, both of which have very unique game play feelings each and every time I step up to them. If turtles can be on this level then I think it'll be an awesome game to have in a home collection.

All good mate, In Australia we get put on a list for LE and can not play a pro until basically a few months after you guys. It gets put on a ship and by the time its from USA to Australia we have already put 50% deposit down. LE's here used to be really easy to move on but not anymore. Our dollar has slipped and now an LE is around 14k or more. I made a mistake on Munsters i thought that pin would be awesome and maybe it will once code is complete. Now i have heard that Stern maybe doing a LED ZEP and that is a dream machine for me, So what do i do put a deposit on an LE and cross my fingers its good. I did that with Maiden and Munsters so its a 50/50 thing. You guys in America have it great wish i was there sometimes just for the pinball stuff. I also now have to do the same for Jersey Jack with GNR another dream machine for me. I waited and played a JP2 and loved it but by that time all the LE's had sold out only 40 arrived in OZ. Same with Deadpool. Not interested in the theme of TMNT but it may be like JP2 where its just great theme does not matter. Anyway on those i will try and pick up a second hand pro but they do not come up for sale and a NIB Deadpool is now $9450 wow!

Really hope they get Rob Paulsen to do the call outs, that guy is fantastic. Turtles could use some of that Rick and Morty magic.

He did the voices of so many different characters.

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He’d do it - he’s Nickelodeon’s voice director now...and he was Donatello in the last version of TMNT!

3 plus flippers make games so much more interesting (JP and IMDN). Adding an east west game play is epic.

If we were able to step up to TMNT2 and play as one of the 4 turtles, with internet connectivity, sales will soar. I’ll be pressing my friends around the world to buy their machine so we can all play. That will begin another huge growth for pinball like it has never seen if done right. Let’s face it, friends far away enjoy playing games online and if they could do it with pinball no matter where they live, sales will explode to a new height. Stern will have to double their factory to keep up with demand, because so many more will be introduced to pinball through the ever tight family and friends network around the world. So many businesses already benefit from this: it’s time pinball does too.

That will be super cool. And it has me thinking. Let’s say it turns out the 4 player co-op mode is popular and you want to play with a friend (1000 miles away) and will be players 1 and 2. Then you go to InterplanetaryQ -> a queue of people who want to play and they can be anywhere on the planet, and you get the first 2 players to round your foursome. Now all four of you begin playing co-op mode.

So there will be 4 people playing on 4 machines on 1 co-op game, each person will play their turn. Locked balls can normally be stolen by subsequent player, it since you are on separate machines, they will not be able to steal your locked balls. Instead you will be able to steal your own balls on subsequent turns. This would be multidimensional.

I’m excited for the diverter rumors it’s about time we get to choose what direction a shot send the ball. Shadow is one of my favorites for this!

What would “playing together” actually mean, or how would it be fun? In a video game, you’re sharing a screen and seeing each other do things simultaneously - how do you “play online” when you each have your own individual wood playfield that you’re looking at, with each machine doing different things? How could “online pinball play” be functional or fun?

I think the most people are going to see are high score tables, achievements, virtual tournaments....nothing where you’re actually doing something “together”, as the concept doesn’t make sense. However, even high scores between machines doesn’t even make sense, since everyone’s games will be set up differently...different outlane positions, different pitch, different options...and anyone can cheat with the glass off.

Pinball is inherently you vs. machine. I don’t get how people envision it becoming Fortnite.

There are different ways to pull it off, depending on the game. Take Jurassic Park. The game has an indicator on the map for each player. It could easily show your buddy across the country on the map and you can race to go through the park as an objective based challenge.

You could also have a challenge of the week. It could be something like starting Chaos Multiball, where your buddy is racing you to start the multiball. When the first player starts it, the flippers go dead and the winner is displayed.

I think online connectivity could be cool, especially from a cooperative perspective. But when you get to playing against someone, each machine's specific setup: tilt, slope, etc. is going to introduce too many variables to make it a "fair" game, in my opinion. Those variables are far less of a concern when it comes to working together. JP could be cool where 2 or more players try and clear ALL the paddocks or something along those lines.

How would that be fun? You can’t see or hear them...your game would just die. Sounds annoying.

People have to remember that these games are made for coin drop on location...these silly most likely non-fun functions would only be for home buyers...and honestly would probably not be used much. Online servers & play make sense for an all digital universe. There are so many factors with a complex physical object like this. I don’t see “online play” ever happening with pinball....especially since Stern (and most companies) still can’t release finished fleshed out gameplay and rules at launch...now they’re expected to come up with some kind of convoluted online play infrastructure that most probably wouldn’t use? It wouldn’t move sales up, and just be a costly pain in the ass on their part.

I’m calling it...Pinball internet will be:
-Operator stuff (remote updates, service alerts, earnings, remote setting changes, etc)
-Tournament & Social Media stuff related to scores & events.

No “online play”.

I think that the Stern “head to head” series was designed to set the foundation for objective based online play. We shall see if the are able to execute it. I have much more fun playing pinball with friends, so while playing online won’t be nearly as good as a real person next to you, it could still be fun if done correctly.

wait for others like MK wavenet?

and that needs to work on local lan not on line as the lag time can make close calls an big mess.

You’re probably right, there are too many variables, but it’s fun to dream. Even unrealistic dreams. Lol

What about if the games came with a networked camera, like JJP games? Then when the other three players have their turn, all others watch and listen to the game via camera from the active player's game. Camera to show playfield, player and balls in play You could actually be there by seeing and hearing what's happening. Maybe you'd be able to verbally offer helpful suggestions during their play time too. The possibilities are endless, we just need a Walt Disney or deeproot to make this dream happen.

dupe

Do you really want to sit there and watch someone else play on a different machine with different setup? I dunno, that sounds horrible...wouldn’t you just want to spend your time playing vs. waiting? It’s one thing when you’re waiting on the machine in front of you - but waiting for someone somewhere else while your game is just sitting there saying “play me”?

Pinball is not a video game, people...but I guess we’ll keep seeing people try to will nonsense “online play” into existence. Enjoy pinball for pinball.

Also - I do NOT want a pinball camera connected to the internet in my house. Prob the easiest thing to be hacked ever. No thanks.

I could tolerate it, it would be similar to playing any tournament now. You play your ball and wait for the others to play theirs and then you get ball 2. However at home you could wander over to another machine and play during others turns and just come back when needed. But when you play in co-op mode you are playing together as a group to accomplish the end goal. So you kind of want to watch the other players to keep up with what is happening and that is where having a camera pointed at playfield with sound would be appreciated. . Granted if you played with 3 strangers, you'd have to question the benefit, but if you know one of the people you'd have a good reason to care. Online pinball could add options for enjoying pinball in new ways.

For instance another way online playing could work is to have 3 online people controlling flippers on one man's machine using a hand controller and 1 guy playing the physical game directly. Stern will have latency issues to work out as well as nudging, but it could be a fun too.

Houdini has a good reverse flipper mode and an inverted reverse flipper mode. Oktoberfest has a right-handed mode. These are novelties but fun ones. Today you can find the following: split finger tourney's, 24-hour endurance tourney's, stall-ball tourney's, pinball Olympics (unconventional) and other variations of playing a pinball machine that aren't really pinball. Remember this is all for fun and no gambling is required and there is nothing to win.

But in co-op mode your are working toward a collective goal and are either going to get there or fall short and will maybe try again. It's not something I would use a lot but would sure like to see what's possible with on-line playing and give it a go. Regardless how on-line play comes out in the beginning, if you had the option of playing anybody in the universe directly and could go against Steve Bowden, Escher Lefkoff, Raymond Davidson, Karl Deangelo, Bowen Kerins, Keith Elwin or Zach Sharpe in a game - that would be plenty THRILLING. It is easy to unplug a camera when you don't want to be online.

The word on the street is that for TMNT, the online feature will be co-op play.

and how many locations will have networking setup?? And how many if there is some added fee for it?

co-op, online play sounds good, but would probably require using a computer or phone in conjunction, don't see how communication would be done otherwise (without loading additional new features into the machine).

but, online co-op play could offer things like x, y and z modes must be completed to play wizard mod, so each player can aim at a mode to complete, then everyone plays the wizard mode together which could be like a Deadpool villain mode, but more shots.

Unless this game has been in development for years & has gone through tons of testing, I don’t see how Stern could actually pull that off in any kind of meaningful or functional way...or how it would be fun. Look at STh...code barely finished, games are falling apart. Oh well, we’ll see!

Why would a hacker use their time to hack your pinball camera? It’s not very likely a good use of their time. Pinball streamers want ppl to watch and they have a hard time getting people to tune in. Lol

If you’re still concerned, go spend a dollar on a roll of electrical tape and voila, problem solved.

some hackers may just hack for free games others may do the MOB thing of MR owner if you don't pay me $1000 I will burn out all of your coils!

And if the games have an CC reader linked that can be nice hacking target.

If you want to stare at art, buy a Turtles poster for $10. This is a pinball machine. Make sure it’s good, built well & works well before throwing cash blindly.

Historically I think they release right after. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

The internet sounds dangerous. Where do I sign up?

Maybe just me. But really ..Ninja turtles? That's the best they can do on a license? This is a child's theme. They should have done a goat simulator pinball. thanks

It’s just you...

Maybe online camera like what Arachnid came out with in 2012 with their Galaxy 3 dart board?

They don’t seem to like to reveal at shows and for some reason go with IGN followed by Jack Danger stream. I think it would be awesome if they revealed at the show and brought some games with them to sell on the floor. That would create some good hype and Stern might as well cater to the place that pinball enthusiasts are already at.

Even if this only has local co-op I'm all in. I own TNA because of co-op mode. It is such a good way to play with non-pinball players.

I think if stern can make it so we can play as one of the 4 turtles(and choose which one)that might be fun. If it’s possible maybe even have each turtle with a special perk like super spinner...super combos...super ramps...super pops. I would also like to see villain battles that come with different perks if you defeat them in a given amount of time. As I think about it once you get to a certain point of the game you should be able to change your turtle just in case a certain perk from that turtle can help defeat the next boss that’s ready to do battle...Just dreaming a little today.

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I'd bet no, a new game almost always comes out right before the Northwest Pinball & Arcade Show, I'm guessing May.

It’ll come at or near TPF. Since there is going to be so much innovation rumored to be in it, it’ll steal the show from other manufacturers and be a good marketing move for Stern.

Would think it will be front and center at TPF. Stern released BK the day after TPF, only because they wanted the emphasis to remain on Munsters and BK would not have much impact at TPF, because of it not being a main licensed theme, imo.

May is a long time for Stern, they’ve been releasing games at about 3 months so that puts something out near the end of March.

My money is on the Midwest Gaming Classic for TMNT to be released.

Really hope so. This thread has me so pumped for TMNT that I am already saving up the lettuce. If Stern jams this game with features and toys and doesn’t cut and paste little turtles all over, it will be coming home with me.

I haven't been following this thread.

Could someone give a summary of the rumors around TMNT for me?

The only thing I've heard is 3 flippers and possible internet connectivity.

SPIKE2 boards have ETHERNET connectivity may also be added to older games over time as well.