Update: High-res photos (courtesy of Aurich) added to the bottom of this post.

Stern has released the first photos of The Walking Dead. The game looks pretty awesome! The first set of photos is the pro, and the LE photos start with the photo of the different cabinet. I like the art package more on the pro, but the playfield features on the LE look damn fun!

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It's got star rollovers. We haven't seen those on a game in years.

Agreed. Best art package we've seen in a long time.

I just updated the first post and added pics of the LE.

Star trek LE for sale .... $5,700.

Yes they did. It's 600.

That's kind if what I'm thinking as well. The code will be mature by then too. If the game turns out to be great, I doubt we'll see LE's selling for under $6K any time soon, but it's unlikely they will skyrocket in value.

Therein lies the key. If there really isn't a premium, I agree that the LE's should hold their value. I have trouble believing that Stern won't make a premium, though, if the game is a huge hit. One has to look no further than Luci to realize that Stern has no problem pissing off customers if the move will net them some nice profits. I agree with your argument about them not making a Tron premium, but this would be different. TWD was introduced in a post-premium world, so buyers should proceed with caution.

All of this, of course, assumes that the game will be f***ing awesome. If it isn't, this whole conversation is moot.

I assume Thiel is doing the music, so I'm not worried in the least. The guy is damn good at his job!

Hey, I hope you're right. In my opinion, if they introduce only two models at launch, they should stick to only two models. Releasing a premium after the fact would be a dick move. That being said, it wouldn't necessarily surprise me.

It almost looks like they have Cliffy-like protectors around them from the factory. If so, that's a smart move by Stern.

Here's why I personally think there will be a premium. From a financial standpoint, it simply makes no sense not to have one. Stern has to be thinking this will be a HUGE seller for them, and here's why ...

1 - It's a license that collectors have been clamoring for for years.
2 - It's a license with enormous worldwide recognition.
3 - The combination of Borg and Lyman has yielded some of Stern's most popular games to date.

Given these facts, why would Stern limit their market by not offering a premium? They've sold a gazillion AC/DC premiums, and it's safe to assume they would do the same with TWD premiums. To me, the fact that they gimped the pro so much practically tips their hand that a premium is coming. If they truly had no intention of ever making a premium, the pro would be way less stripped.

Who knows, I could be wrong, but my gut tells me that a premium is coming down the pipe. I'm not sure why they didn't announce at least the possibility of a premium at launch. I'll admit that this was an odd decision, but it doesn't change my core belief that Stern would make much more money in the long run by offering a premium version of this title.

They can call it whatever they want, but the fact remains that if there is a market for it, Stern will build it.

One thing that nobody can deny, the excitement for this game is palpable. I don't think we have had this many people salivating over the initial pics of a game since Tron.

One less Cliffy to worry about.

ST premium didn't prevent them from selling all the STLE's, and there were 800 of those. I can't imaging Stern would have had any problems selling 600 TWDLE's, even if they had announced a premium model upfront. That's why their decision not to do so is so perplexing.

Exactly. When they first announced that AC/DC would have a premium model, everyone rejoiced. It was exactly what the community wanted; an non-collectible version of the game with an unlimited run, but the same features as the LE's. I really don't understand why Stern didn't continue this 3-tiered approach with every game going forward. All they have to do is put an asterisk next to the premium model that says *pending demand.

Did it? I didn't really follow those early MET threads, as I had absolutely no interest in the pin at that point in time. It's certainly no coincidence that all three of these are Borg/Lyman games.

Thanks! Now that we can see the LE art package better, I like it more than I first did. I still prefer the red motif of the pro art, but the LE is actually pretty cool.

So the modders will have something to do ...

True, but the three zombie heads in the fishtank are even cooler!

No. He wants the 3D version.

Lucas was the master at this. Back when I was collecting laserdiscs, it used to annoy the f*ck out of me how they would keep releasing new versions of the Star Wars films. First the regular edition, then the widescreen edition, then the Special Collector's edition, then the EXTRA Special Collector's edition, then the remastered edition with the new special effects .... It never ended.

Cameron is another one of those people who knows how to milk every last dollar from his fans. Pan and scan, widescreen, Director's cut ... I bought them all.

Those photos are great! Thanks, Aurich!

Looking at the high res photos, I definitely prefer the backglass on the LE over the pro. It's essentially the same artwork, but in color instead of b&w.

The star rollovers must be the skill shot.

Depending on the speed, it looks like it could bounce off the one way gate and go into the pops.

With the high resolution playfield photo, you can really see how cool some of the artwork is. I love the train tracks leading into the tunnel with the "Terminus" sign above.

Sure, but other than the newer high-res photos that Aurich provided, I'm not sure there's much to add at this point.

This would honestly be the last thing I would worry about with Lyman at the helm. Seriously, the guy always comes through. Not only is he Stern's best programmer by far, but he is also a perfectionist. That's why games like AC/DC and Tron have received updates years later. The guy has a lot on his plate, and it sometimes may take him a while to finish the code to his liking, but I have no doubt that TWD will ultimately have a phenomenally fun ruleset. There is simply no other programmer on the planet that I have this much faith in.

Are you talking about the LE or the pro? If you're in the market for a pro, I see absolutely no reason to pre-order at all.

This is what sets Lyman and Keefer apart from the pack. They are both hardcore players with decades of experience. Because of this, they have a fundamental understanding of what's fun and what isn't. It's second nature to them.

Fret not. The odds are pretty good that HUO LE's will be available for way less than what they went for NIB. As someone who ordered an LE, I hope I'm wrong, but history isn't on my side.

If you're going to faithfully recreate the frenzy of the scene where Rick first goes into Atlanta, you would need about 50 balls.

You could always just swap it out for Mick on a stick instead ...

I think it's just for looks. I'm sure it's functionally the same as the silver one on the pro.

Exactly. If MET didn't physically say "Metallica" anywhere on the game, many people would just assume it was a generic monster theme.

He was probably referring to the added metal ring around the magnet core. This should reduce playfield wear.

The playfield tends to wear around a magnet because the ball is continuously coming to a screeching halt right at that spot.

It's too early to say that, but I agree that Borg was probably forced to make some concessions for cost cutting purposes. I suspect that he had much cooler plans for the jail.

Like I said before, the jail seems like it fell victim to cost cutting. I really like your vari-target idea. It would have been really cool if you smash that sucker back a few times and then the ball falls below and locks. A subway could have then taken the balls to a VUK that would be used to put them back into play during multiball.

I have a feeling a lot of these early callouts are going to quickly go the way of "Bum bum bum bum ... Tron!"

I'm not so sure my wife is going to be thrilled when she sees that match sequence. Then again, she probably won't be very happy when I tell her I ordered the game in the first place.

Something definitely has to go. Either one of the games, or me.

I'm going to play devil's advocate for second. When I first heard that they were considering making a Walking Dead pin, I was super excited, but I was also a bit worried about how the theme would lend itself to pinball. It's a pretty darn somber show, and I just couldn't envision how they could turn those story lines into an exciting and cohesive pinball game. Well, it looks like Stern didn't even try, and perhaps that's a good thing. Instead of following the characters in the show, they turned the game into more of a frenetic zombie attack scenario set within the Walking Dead world. I can understand the logic behind this.