It goes up the center ramp and then falls down to the PF next to the C lane.

The Baby Yoda area just looks like some rubbers in increase ball play with the magnet that seems opto based.

If it was a physical lock, they'd advertise it as such.

I agree this looks better, but then you're getting way too different for the pro model

At least based on the assumption that a lower playfield is a non-starter on a Pro's BOM. Because if the premium helmet is a lower playfield, then it has a whole different upper right side...but the pro uses that area for its helmet...so then then the differences between the two start to get really drastic, which is probably a manufacturing headache.

Yeah it feels like a step backwards from the expression lighting in LZ

Guess it got cost cut? Or maybe Mado was too far in development before the expression lighting on LZ was finalized?

Seems like the kind of thing that should be in all games.

At least there is a representation of force powers on this Star Wars

Aren’t American games all RGB? It’s been a while since I played one

Celts was all RGB as well to my knowledge. Fathom Mermaid as well

It’s not necessary. But it’s a fun accessory like shooter knobs and toppers.

Not every game needs them elaborately synched to the game soundtrack like LZ.

You know Dwight could do wonders with a bunch of extra RGBs to play with.

Just seemed odd to not make them a standard accessory

I think Baby Yoda is great for pulling in new players. If it did something, it would keep them coming back. It needn't be Rudy complicated, but whatever. It's good enough for most. Besides people will focus on the magnet whipping the ball around and forget the doll doesn't do anything.

The magnet over the roll over lanes and pops is a simple design, but I think they can do some fun magnet tricks with it. That could wow the novice player, and more experienced players don't have to complain about the magnet tricks sending the ball down the middle.

That area is definitely more interesting than the standard 3 pop and roll over cluster. Let's see how the code adds a level of skill to a relatively safe playfield feature

Overall a lot of the playfield seems safe. The Baby Yoda area, the helmet is almost like a bash toy that doesn't punish the player, a few ways to stop the ball to calm things down, a standard fan layout of 7 shots where most of the shots would appear to have safe ball returns.

Most Brian Eddy games have had big sucker shots/bash toys in them. So this is a bit of a departure. It has the target that raises up and down (fun idea, sorta like a drop target but the opposite?), but it's not exactly like the bash toys in MM/AFM/ST.

Theme doesn't do anything for me, but I'm always excited to pour over a new design. I look forward to playing it.

Lazy is harsh. It’s a low priority luxury that could cause more gameplay issues than fixing a minor esthetic issue.

People would be a lot more upset if it didn’t flip when they think it should than getting them flipping when they maybe don’t need to.

I don’t disagree that they should stay static when the playfield isn’t in use, but I recognize how much additional testing and issues could arise.

That’s why most separate playfield flippers are always live. People point out the cabinet leaf switches for flippers. But what about the switches that are supposed to help track where the ball is? It’s not the end of the world if the switch before entering the playfield is misadjusted if the flippers are always live.

It’s irrelevant that the game can hold the flipper up. The issue is player frustration when the flipper doesn’t flip up when they expect it to.

The limited flipper hold meter game mode may apply to the upper playfield as well as the lower. (Or heck, the base game may have some no holds up there too for some modes)

Are the Star Wars kids the school bullies these days? Times have changed....

This is America. Violence is fine as long as there is no naughty language or sex.

That's basically how we got the modern magnet design. A magnetic core with an protective metal collar around it, each replaceable/adjustable.

Some intrepid modder can make some stickers for it like they have on other games with this magnet design.

Seems like it would have to be a very strong magnet to pull a ball flying through the air a noticeable distance. Some games have been good at using jump ramps to catch a ball (NBA, Goldeneye) or using magnets as a diverter (TOTAN), but that would be a pretty cool trick if they can pull it off.

While speaking of magnet tricks, bring back the wand from Capcom Magic

Well that's because the magnet is a lot closer to the ball, a few mm if not directly touching. Magnetic force is inversely proportional to the distance squared. So the magnetic force on a ball 3mm away is 100 times greater than if it was 30mm away. So a ball flying through the air would have some distance between the magnet and the ball and it would need to be a very strong magnet to affect the trajectory.

Actually that Goldeneye/ACNC center magnet would be a pretty fun ball save on Mando. It was a good force power reveal on the show where he saves Mando from that one beast. Have the child save your draining ball just before dying

What does it do on LOV? Short video clip?

Yeah Monster Bash has more stuff on the playfield, but the code is shallow (fine enough for most people though).

Mando has more sculpts than a typical Stern, licensed video/audio from a modern hit TV show, a celebrity on voice call outs, and a much deeper rule set in comparison.

That’s the modern trade off. Depth for home collectors at the expense of playfield features (and considering how many calls I do to replace a simple coil stop, a lot of home owners don’t really want to maintain a complex game)

I feel like most people buying NIB have deep pockets. Especially the ones who just want a few things in their gameroom that maybe get played five hundred times tops.

Paying someone $75 to fix a flipper is chump change on a $9,000 game.

Wasnt AIQ a bit behind because they worked with Marvel to be on the front page of Twitch?

I was surprised that the stream announcement was so far behind and assumed it was because of it being scheduled for the front page. But I also remember Jack hyping the front page stream for AIQ in advance.

I’m sure theres a sensible boring business reason why the reveal and stream are so spaced apart.

Plus side is the extra two weeks gives Dwight and co more time to put on some initial polish. Some of these reveal streams of games clearly still in the oven do more harm than good IMO.

Baby Yoda bobblehead confirmed

First thing Dwight can explain tonight is what the word rotation means. A surprising amount of people need a geometry lesson

Plastic ramps are a lot cheaper than metal wire forms. Making the ramps compatible with either form is them reducing inventory to manage.

Sure it's only a few dollars difference per game, but it adds up.

I think Dwight has gotten better about this when he comes with prepared notes. He's always super excited and can go on a mile long tangent on a very minor feature. It's fun in its own way. But yeah, probably 30 minutes lol.

I'm still surprised Stern doesn't do a more produced video that's a bit more focused. Then again, it's probably not worth the effort. Baby Yoda sells the game, not the ten minute overview video.

This is a great offering overall from Stern. Looks to shoot great, good art package, a fun RPG-lite code base, and they did an above average job with audio and LCD presentation. Definitely makes LZ look like crap in comparison

And I say this as someone who got bored of the show in the middle of the first season. The theme is whatever, the game looks good.

Promising reveal. I think it’ll be one of the better games from anyone the past few years.

Giving everyone but Mike a lav was a good call

I remember Munsters reveal stream where Dwight said the goal of the team was to make an easy rule set, which is why it defaulted to ball save off and such. I think it’s only major flaw is the second time through the code is weak. Definitely a game I put $10 into that summer of release and haven’t thought of since.

Batman 66 was a turd for a year. Now it’s one of the best games (code wise)

Ghostbusters code was ok, but it did need some extra work including the Are You A God super wizard mode that was teased

The difference is Stern was upfront about Batman 66 being a work in progress and they promised they’d come back to Ghostbusters for years before actually doing it

I think Stranger Things was poor when it came out, but you could see the skeleton of a game that they were going to fill out

Mando seems like a good framework. Just needs the polish and the wizard modes that few people will ever actually see.

If you want a LE you don’t get to wait. It’s annoying AF

No, plenty do

I saw a few people pointing out the ball would keep falling off the metal rails. Plastic ramps may actually be better?

Dwight (and co) is not lazy. He randomly updated GOT for seemingly little financial reason other than a last call on GOT when the update came out, which couldn’t have been that big of a run in 2019.

Munsters last call is coming up I believe. Maybe it’ll get a little love, but don’t peg your hopes on a substantial rework.

It always seemed like a niche title. I think the LE number being bumped up after reveal had more to do with their decision on the black and white vs full color art scheme. And worth noting they eventually ran the color version as a premium

Course I’m just speculating from the outside.

Anyway…I think Mando will sell very well and is going to get more resources than some other titles.

Watch Dwight go over the rules from when they were first showing them off.

Starting around 27:45 he even talks about how the features were designed to be easy to get to, which is why it defaulted to the ball save being off

He really goes over the entire game in detail and says the later madness modes are just slightly harder versions. It’s on you.

And no duh Star Wars gets more resources than the Munsters.

We have people doing reports on how full the deeproot parking lot is in that thread

Probably because there is a clock ticking on a licensing agreement and marketing releases were agreed and scheduled in advance.

I'd pay money to actually watch someone get that third championship ring. Such a pointless insert lol

What do you think a deep game is if Star Wars isn't deep? Tons of modes and multiballs in that.

Did she have much issue seeing the helmet playfield?