I’m of the mindset that if it’s important enough, the info will make it to me. Haha

Some hype better rescue this thread quick, the fake moon landing and Fox News stuff is worrying me. Next thing you now it will be full of LUMALEGZ memes and unsavable at that point

Good technique!

There are a lot out there. It's how BREXIT happened.

(too soon?)

Capricorn One is a great movie. But, it's just a movie.

I watch a lot of news, and it's amazing how much stuff NHK japan news covers that's relevant to the US that the US news just doesn't cover AT ALL or is delayed covering. The deal the US made with Philippines for more bases which was a BIG DEAL was covered on NHK WEEKS before I heard a peep about it on US news. Ditto the fact that Japan has a TSMC partnership for a giant plant that is going online in Japan this year, and a second on the way, and both will be cranking out chips outside China before the first US plant from the US CHIPS legislation deal bears fruit. Instead, in the US, I get to hear about some Kardashian or Kanye nonsense that isn't even actual news, even on "real" news channels sometimes. It's frustrating...uh, like Stern pricing. <- back on topic.

don't know if this was posted, interview with Zach Sharpe

https://butwhytho.net/2023/07/venom-pinball-machine-interview/

"BUT WHY THO: Can you talk a bit about the music, the sound design that went into Venom pinball, and how it complements the narrative and just the overarching experience?

Zach Sharpe: What’s really unique and sets Venom apart from a lot of different songs is we had Mark Tremonti from Alder Bridge and Creed Fame, the Grammy-winning artist. It’s awesome. I always say everyone loves pinball, they might not know it yet, and Mark Tremonti is a humongous pinball fan. He owns over 20 machines, and it’s so cool to connect with famous athletes famous musicians. And when you share that common bond of pinball, it’s just magic. For him to be able to collaborate with us and do over 12 tracks in the machine, I mean, that’s pretty cool."

My wife and I have been married 22 years, and never once have we paid for cable or watched news. When I see this crap in passing (NBC, CNN, FOX, etc.) it blows my mind: A. How negative everything is B. How many damn commercials people are conditioned to sit through.

Maybe it’s cause I haven’t watched tv in over 20 years, sports included, I just have absolutely no tolerance for commercials. I swear it’s gotten way worse too, both in the grating tone of the commercials (ummm.. awkward comedy is still hip, right? dur, hur, typical combative relationship tropes, amirite guys?), and the relentless frequency.

Allow me to use this opportunity to inform y’all of 2 life-changing services:

1. YouTube Red. Eliminates all commercials. Worth every single penny. Yes, I know about ad blockers, but if I can afford 10 pinball machines, I sure as hell can support a service as useful as YouTube. The amount of tutorials on home improvement and general fix-it is honestly the biggest wealth of practical information people have ever assembled.

2. Twitch Tubo. Same thing, and even less people know about this one. No ads for any channels. If you watch a lot of pinball streams, video games, dash ducks, etc. do yourself a favor and kill those shitty ads.

Please move away from the news channel and politic Esq discussion and mosey on back to Venom pinball. Just a friendly reminder.

Venom looks like a fun game! I didn't have much interest in the theme before I watched this stream, but now I'm both impressed and intrigued.

I like fast pins, but when that's ALL you can say about a game and is the focus (fast lock!!) then it's going to take me a lot more to commit to buying. And to me, that means used, not paying Stern prices.

I hope we see some Premiums on location, but most locations can't afford the premiums. So not sure I'll ever get to play one.

Well, I thought about it since the videos were released. The biggest takeaway for me from the streams is the guys are simply having a lot of fun with this game. You can see it in their faces so I just placed my order for one with GAP.

Some people just need to vent, by saying the pin sucks although they've never played it.

AKA the 5.0 ratings on pinsides "not top 100."

I think the stored history is very cool. So many pins I play and dread replaying modes I've done 600 times just to see something new. That being said the theme means nothing to me so I can't justify the price. Looks fun though

I don't really understand the second position on the up down ramp that holds the ball. Jack was playing the game and he said 'I love that hold' after the ball was held for 1 second and then released. But it didn't seem to mean anything by holding the ball, like the LCD didn't show any animations it was just like it held the ball for a second for no reason.

Also the LCD doesn't really show much unless you are in any battle or MB just looks like a storage building with crates on the side and people walking in the background. I hope that's just early code like a placeholder and more will be added to the LCD animations.

Here is a clipped time stamp of the part where Jack says he loves the hold. He does the shot like 3 times in a row, all the same one second ball hold. I mean what's the point? It could just as well be a rubber band back there and shoot the ball back at you, to me that would be more fun that the one second ball hold.

Also shows at this clip where 90% of the display is just a picture of a storage building.

The shot wasn't lit, so it was just a pause shot, like dropping it in an unlit scoop. I think Jack just loved it because it's something that throws off your rhythm.

Yeah. The code in place is definitely already out of date - they were mentioning the AAA bug on high scores was already fixed - so hopefully it's just a case of being early

You would think the mech would not move to that position if there was nothing lit. It may be that the purpose of that shot is not programmed yet either.

Hold or “safety” shots are always welcome for a player of my average abilities. The VUK shot for Rush, upper play field FF, many scoop shots, and many ramp shots. Orbits on Bond 60 are the closest, but can be dangerous.

My son and I own all Spike 2 games and yeah we have Venom in our future. I couldn’t care less about the theme. I did see the movies and thought they were fun.

What really intrigues me about this game is the innovative software. Not the least of which is saving progress. Yeah, some of you really good players don’t need this. I am a fairly decent player, but have never reached final wizard mode on any of my Stern spike 2 games. Have come very close within a shot or two… Yeah, I could definitely choke the outlanes and make ball play easier, but I find factory settings the most fun.

Currently, I am playing bond corner stone a lot because of the updated code. Can’t get enough. King of the Monsters on GZ is really FUN. The code on Venom already looks very mature.

Previously, when asked what is more important, layout or code, I always answered layout. Now, the layout and play of any Stern game is always good if not great. So it is the code that really makes the difference and this code looks fabulous.

In all fairness, like many of you, I have not played this game, and it may not meet expectations. I know my son and I had really high expectations for Toy story 4, but those were dashed in about two weeks. It is a good game, but not for us. My son, a really good player, traded TS4 for GF. He really enjoys GF- shots are good, but the code is really good.

So this game has a fan layout obviously. A very highly rated high flow game, stern Star Trek, has this type of layout, but I find it not that exciting. Yes, I do own it and will not be getting rid of it because it is an easier game for most people. Venom looks much more intriguing.

As is always said so famously, “we shall wait and see “.

You can always get a sense of how fun a pin is with the first stream . These guys honestly looked very entertained and happy during both of them .That’s always good enough for me .

Likely some people don't like the RPG elements of this pin and prefer a traditional pin that resets every game. I understand that but this is not an either or decision meaning you can play all the older pins like JP, DP, etc.. all the older pins and Venom could be a different type of experience. I am not saying that all pins or most pins should be like this but one pin surely might be a cool way to play.

I have JP and guess what most paddocks I've cleared is 1 paddock and started on 1.5 level. that's it. I really have not played JP a ton so have only seen like 25% of the possible game.

DP is a simpler game because it isn't that deep so I can play all the 3 front battles and 2 quests but have not got to the second half of DP like the boss battles either.

I think Dwight mentioned somewhere you could choose to play Venom without progress saving so it would be like a traditional pinball experience. Best of both worlds if you can choose how you want to play, as you mentioned above about JP, it would be great to see this kind of progress option on future pins so lesser players can see more than just the same 10-20% of a game.

I don't think the mechs change position outside of character select

It kind of amazes me that people spend way over 10000 dollars on a game, and then they maybe only see a 1/5th of the game.

I sold AC/DC because encore wizard mode is one of the best there is.

But probably only 1% of players get to see it and I realised I wouldn't either!

That's why I am a fan of breadth v depth.

There are browser extensions that block Twitch ads, no need to give Bozos more money

I am getting to see that, I don't use IC that much and I am sure a lot of people who do are included in the data are just casual players not owners, but the data showed some interesting things.

I am not any great player so it's not like I am saying other people aren't great. But we watch Jack Danger and Karl and other presenters make these pins look easy. So I just collected my first Eddie card for Trooper Supper JP and I just missed collecting Mummy SJ. But anyway just looking at the achievements and it shows that less than 1% of record IC game player have collected 4 cards in one game. I know maybe a lot of folks have got 4 cards and they just don't bother with IC stuff. But it just says something that at least 1 subset of players (those who use IC) less than 1% have gotten 4 cards in one game. Collecting 4 cards is how you get to Number of the Beast Wizard mode. So likely very few people are getting to that mode.

Less than 9% have started Cyborg Eddie mode (I mean people who use IC, I am sure people get there that don't necessarily use IC).

Less than 4% get to 2 Minutes to Midnight and less than 3% collect a shard on Rime of the Mariner mode.

On Jurassic Park only 35% (recorded on IC) have started the second paddock.

Yup, I really hope all their future games feature saving progress as an option. That way people like me that have never ever gotten to a wizard mode can enjoy more of the game, and those that get to wizard mode in the first day of play can turn that feature off. In fact I'm hoping they can add this as a firmware update to the most recent games, likewise with the ability to turn it on or off. Now that we know the majority of pin purchases go into homes I feel there is no reason not to do this.

$7500 for three nights with her right?

And they say pinball prices are crazy!

Just played some Venom at Comic Con!

Definitely a fun shooter. Has a real classic B/W feel to it - has that Eddy classic feel. Played the Prem first. The moving mechs that change the shots are wild. I like the Doppelgänger swinging out & having to aim for specific targets. I liked the hidden nooks & crannies like the Hideout Skill Shot. The staged lock releases are really cool…it makes a traditional flowy combo game even faster than usual. Although a few times, the ball going up the ramp triggered a lock release, but then flew off - causing an unintentional 2 balls in play.

Played the Pro a couple times. I think a switch was bad on the right side of the horseshoe, as there was a lit yellow shot I kept hitting & nothing happened. Losing the moving mechs is a bit of a bummer, but it’s still fast and smooth…the fast locks are still there. It was the right choice to keep that on the Pro. The Doppelgänger solution on the Pro is pretty good - the left side of the horseshoe flashes red/blue so you know those Spidey colors are there begging you to shoot.

As for the rules, my brain just can’t even comprehend them. I just shot for what was lit, flashing, combo inserts, etc. I didn’t really know how to start the things I was starting, but it was very clear what to do once in a mode. I knew when to bash Carnage back, I knew when to shoot all the blue inserts for the Web Combo bit, etc. Could I figure it out if I kept playing? Maybe. Even if I don’t - I think the progression thing is cool…cuz every time I step up to it, I’ll use Insider Connected maybe I’ll get to that big boss fight!

Anyway, those are my first impressions. Very beautiful, cool design, fun to play. Not gonna buy one - but I have lots of new games I need to jam on more before getting another new game. I’d def play one at someone’s house or location.

Oh - one negative: The Video Mode. UGH. The. Worst. Option to disable, I hope.

IMG_1738 (resized).pngIMG_1739 (resized).jpegIMG_1740 (resized).jpegIMG_1741 (resized).jpeg

Thanks for the write up!!!

Got to agree the video mode looks lame as hell.

Boomy write up thanks

Video mode would be a LOT better if you were looking through the character's perspective INTO the screen (player perspective) and it had the enemies coming TOWARD you, aligned left, right, center on the screen. You use the flipper buttons and center action button to whip your hair INTO the screen left, center, right. Basically it would be more like Dracula werewolves video mode and potentially a lot more engaging. Throw in some things you're NOT supposed to whip hair at to keep it interesting. Maybe some powerups, too. It CAN be fixed with something as simple as a perspective change like this. Hopefully Xaqery is already thinking about changes like this that can make it much more exciting.

Video modes were a cute novelty back in 1990 but I don’t think we really need them any more.

There’s only
So much you can do with 2 buttons.

Or 3 buttons and two hands (and one gut)

Ha. 3 tickets. 1 show.

YouTube red was rebranded to YouTube premium last year or so. It also includes
YouTube, google and Spotify music for $12 monthly. I use it all the time and it’s a great value.
I found twitch Tubi and Twitch turbo, never heard of either but worth checking out. Thanks.

That explains it!

We’ll shit, if you like it, I’m out.

For some, it doesn’t matter what Stern does or charges, it will always be the mentality of drive on up the price, no big deal, just the next game in the line of greatest ever pins. Until it’s not.

The reality is not much changes except the pricing.

Pinside will circle the wagons to defend and protect our supposed “investments” and attempt to rationalize the insanity.

I’ve been part of it too for a long time but the outside world has to look at it, if they were exposed to pinball, and say “what a bunch of F ing idiots”

I’m saying that to myself right now

Btw, how much better does JAWS have to be versus GZ and JP to make sense at these prices? Best ever already?

Had a lot of fun in the Stern Pop Up Arcade at Comic-con the last couple days

In a con that was ravaged by the writer and actor strike, this made the weekend for us, and was a first class pinball experience. Well worth a trip out to San Diego just to have that much pinball, but still be able to hear things and not have people all over each other and never have to wait more than a couple minutes to play a game. Delightful to see such a mix of people (lots of kids and civilians) enjoying pinball as well.

Major kudos to Stern and Orange County Pinball for putting it together.

I think the progression stuff is neat, it’s good to try new ideas.

I really like YouTube Premium.

I believe we landed on the moon, and that the Earth is a sphere.

I’m happy Brian Eddie is designing new pinballs in 2023 with hand drawn art.

But where do you stand on El Chupacabra?

Such a sexist assumption.

I am pro cryptozoology and anti cryptocurrency.

I’m over in London. Don’t think I’ll complain about prices again in USA. Their VAT is nuts like 20% every thing you do. Rode that stupid London eye wheel and was $225 usd for two adults and two kids. Kids had to do it. Prices are insane.

For people in the area does vat help your income and property taxes be lower or is that insane too?

And exercise.

I miss Levi already......

Had to look it up....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology