I think this looks great so far, and this is just the stripped pro.

It's funny how so many non buyer/tire kickers are so disappointed with how this turned out, but they own turds. Somehow twd just isn't good enough. Right, like the bar isn't high enough now.

People that didn't buy should zip it. If the LE was 4500.00 you wouldn't hear anyone bitching. Most people can't afford it so that's why everyones got an excuse why they hate it.

Code will obviously improve, but I wouldn't totally expect the voice to change. I'm pretty sure that is the voice actor that played a main character (Kenny) in the Walking Dead video game by Telltale. If so, they may use other clips he recorded or have him re-do some things, but I can't imagine they'd scrap them if they already paid him to do the callouts.

exactly, if i buy ac dc it's also because i want to hear their music not hear them talk.

yeah let's buy a metallica but the music is from twisted sisters

I'm glad it's basically an unbranded zombie bashing game. Could you imagine if it had missions that closely followed the TV show.

- Hit drop targets and try to convince Beth not to commit suicide.
- Hit alternating ramp shots 30 times to contemplate whether to kill zombie family members in barn.
- Conceal the pregnancy mode followed by "Who's the daddy" reveal shot and Shane vs. Rick battle.
- Hit combos to perform surgery on Carl

I might decline to hit this sequence

Understand your frustration, but we know nothing about the licensing restrictions from AMC. Maybe they weren't allowed to use any voices from the show. Maybe getting actors from the show to do custom voice work was not allowed either by AMC or by some exhorbitant cost. Dunno. Some intellectual properties are more locked down than others. It isn't like Stern never uses voice actors from the properties when they can.

That being said, a Walking Dead branded pinball machine is going to attract more players and buyers than a generic zombie themed pin ever would, and my guess is to the vast majority of people who plunk down quarters in locations could care less whose voice is doing the callouts as long as the game is fun.

Why? Their opinion isn't any more valid as they didn't play the game either. One could even argue their opinion is less valid because they have invested in the table, if one wanted to be the other side of that silly coin.

It's mostly speculation that won't be relevant in a couple of weeks or just days. Telling people to not discuss a new pin with so few coming out each year is akin to trying herding cats.

Here you want characters from the show - go nuts:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1

let the mods begin

It's easy to pick plot lines that don't work in a pin; it takes a little more thought to identify the ones that really do:

- Escape from Atlanta
- Defend the Farm
- Prison Battle (vs. the Governor)
- WHERE'S CARL??

I have a hunch that you're right - this is probably on AMC, not Stern.

I think you know how the fans feel about it. You've been hearing them over and over and over again like a broken record about "the voices from the show", it's actually getting really annoying. I am a big fan of the show and I'm actually glad there is no actors voices, they could have put a better voice in then the hill billy for sure but I'm still glad it is set in TWD universe and not restricted to ONE TV show. That way it relates to the tv show and future TWD tv spin offs/sequels and also relates to the comics and everything else in TWD universe. I am getting an LE so I don't have to worry about the actors faces being there.

You forgot:
- Lizzy feeds the walkers like pets
- Lizzy look at the flowers (maybe a match sequence)

i think you are right, it's probably a restriction from amc.
it's all about attracting the customers toward the machine with the big name on it.

how hard did they tried?
you can use the music, pictures but no voice. i mean c'mon....

i'm not a big fan but i do watch the show, i was just hopping (at least) for some quotes from the show.

You can shut down non-buyers easily. Start a "Members Only" thread, and drain the rest of TWD threads so you don't have to hear any criticism. Or you could start a whole 'nother forum like they did for WOZ.

"Lizzy look at the flowers mode" Hahahahahahah

At least get someone who has a fighting chance of sounding like Rick. Not high pitched BBH guy.

Great videos, thanks for sharing. Aussies know how to shoot!

Looks far more interesting than what the first videos suggested.

ACDC - Pretty sure you hear their voices in the music
Pirates - Yes but they have someone impersonating Johnny Depp

Edit : Sorry someone said this already...

I'm guessing Star Trek would be much less cool if instead of the actors, it was just random non-name Star Fleet officers.

I hear ya but I don't think it will relate to another Waking Dead show as the locations represented on the playfield are unique to the current Walking Dead show. With those locations present on the playfield there's no excuse to not have characters from the show represented in the game. Imagine if Stern pulled this with LOTR just to make the game appeal to Harry Potter and other fantasy movie fans? No Gandalf, Frodo, or Gimli speech and instead some random announcer? "Come on, bash that Balrog", "Do it again", "Let's go collect some souls"...lol. If that was the case I don't think the game would even be in the top 25. Same goes with ST.

dick-grimes-how-come-barbie-never-gets-pregnant.jpg

LoveHateTWD.jpg

Great video RGR. Spent my lunch hour watching both on my phone. Can't wait to get mine home.

So is "Coral" how they spell "Carl" up north?

I don't know but I just laughed out loud at work and everyone is looking at me funny.

No, that's how Rick pronounces it on the show after he repeats Carls name several times.

CORAL jokes never get old

pinball customs!...now THAT'S funny stuff! Thanks!

I know, right? It had me in tears for some reason.. haven't heard that joke since I was a kid

i just want to say its not like a gamebreaker to me if they wont use the actors voices originally spoken by the cast members or impersonated. for me things like Flow and rules are more important.. the ramps are fun to shoot for so it seems within the videos of RGR. the Dots are looking good especially the match sequence 1.. i truly love the music, especially the 1 when u got to slaughter those prison walkers after opening the door from the prison. i also love to see the prison light strobe from within.. like fading in and out. i find it an cool effect! i also love the Sound FX when u shoot 1 of the ramps and hear that metal kind of sound, which also kinda reminds me of Demolition man when u shoot the ramps.

i cant wait to try this game myself in a couple of weeks in Chicago!

Ah I get it. It's even funnier now.

Yeah, you make a good/valid point there. I still don't mind if they are not in there though.

As a huge fan of the show, I must say what a disappointment. Why call this the walking dead when any other zombie name would make do. Characters where are they? This just looks like another wasted license by stern.

Where are all the people that have been clamoring for an unlicensed title from Stern all these years? Stern comes up with a pin that is mostly a generic zombie pin with great artwork and original music, voices and dots. Sure it's loosely licensed after the Walking Dead as it shares some of the concepts from the show but this is for most intents and purposes an unlicensed zombie pin that will prove to be timeless long after the show goes off the air. This is also a pin that you don't have to be a fan of TWD to understand or be a fan of. It appeals to everyone that likes zombies. This is as much of an unlicensed pin that we'll see Stern do in the 21st century.

Generic zombie pin is spot on.

From all the posts I've read, seems to me the people expressing their disappointment are the ones that were really excited because they are Walking Dead fans.

Also seems like the people who were more interested in a generic zombie pin aren't so bothered by the lack of character voices, or prefer it as it makes the game "timeless".

Makes sense to me.

I had ordered an LE, but decided not to move forward after watching the various videos. Might be a great game at some point, but I decided to wait it out and see. I agree that the game NEEDS actor's voices. Even if it's only Andrew Lincoln's (since the gameplay is you on an adventure with Rick Grimes). Maybe that's the snag? Maybe Lincoln didn't want to do it, and having anyone else doesn't make sense?

Still looking forward to the launch party and playing this in league, but it's looking like my TZ is safe for now. I'm quite bummed that this is just a generic zombie theme that just happens to have AMC's The Walking Dead all over it. TWD is my wife's favorite show and mine as well, and THIS AIN'T IT!

Excited for my LE. I do have to say that this is a classic Stern, though. Very good, fast and fun, but not much different from recent releases. Enough to keep me happy, but I do wish they would break more ground. Perhaps if the modes are great, it will feel more unique. I mentioned a blood red ball earlier, what it really needs is an eyeball pinball. Hit the pluck the eyeball shot and an eyeball is launched.

Is there any other pin that 3 shots on the playfield end in the pops?

Call me crazy but if custom audio from someone on the show is not an option, for whatever reason, and we're left with:

1. Audio ripped from the show, but NO pinball contextual lines (Jackpot! Combo! etc)
2. Audio ripped from the show & pinball contextual lines that don't sound the same. (Indiana Jones 4 and its fake Harrison Ford / Sean Connery lines that you hear alongside classic audio ripped from the movies.)
3. NO audio ripped from the show, but contextual lines and custom VO with the inflection and spirit of the characters. (Avengers was like this. Iron Man said things like Iron Man would, but it wasn't Robert Downey Jr.)

For me the clear choice is 3 all day long.

The problem with incorporating audio from the show is that it's probably not going to sound as contextual as a lot of people here are imagining.

Name one iconic line from TWD show. (CARL! doesnt count.) The only thing that comes close is "look at the flowers." That's hardly enough to build a whole pinball experience around, and probably wouldn't make the game anyway given what happened in that scene.

Maybe they could get one of the already off'd characters to do the voiceovers, like Merle or Shane.. or even T-dog!

I think the real beauty(?) of this TWD pin is that it is a good cross between the comics and the show. Lots of hand-drawn art, and even the images from the show like on the backglass and Pro side art are stylized like a comic book.

I'm personally OK with a generic voice actor doing the calls, I just wish it wasn't the same effin' guy all the time.

I like that its a 'generic zombie machine'. I don't need to follow a sitcom show, just kill zombies. please no actual character call outs from the show!

thanks for the vidjas!

easily can be done with any pc, decent cheap microphone and programs like sound forge etc with some audio effects and it can be done nicely.

I already have Tascam studio equipment, power and passive mics and sound booth for audio recording, just need to make sure Pinball Browser works on the game image.

That's going to be the approach I'm going to take with the game.

It's actually 5 shots.

plunge
Left Orbit
Inner Left Orbit
Weak right orbit shots
return to flipper lane shot (which is auto plunged)

Thanks RGR! I'm in on a preorder and after watching a previous vid in another thread, I was about to call and try to cancel. But your vid comforts me a lot. Due to the outstanding theme, I'll now ride this one for a s/w update or two. The music is awesome and to me the most important characteristic. The dots are awesome too. The voice callouts, not so much, but let's give it some time.

Awesome. I think that this is the route that Stern is going for.

My guess is that once the shitload of audio that we haven't heard yet is in the game, there will only be a handful of bad lines that you can record your own replacements for.

Here's a great video about Andrew Lincoln developing Rick's accent:

I agree, I don't believe there will be too many that'll need replacing. However that game over line will be the first to go and might grab a witty clip from the show to use there instead.

If I'm a guest at any of the conventions the Walking Dead guys are at, I'll record a few call outs from them. (We'll be drunk and smoking cigars...but what the hell).....
Disclaimer: I'm serious
Norman and Ted 1w.jpg
walking dead cigar club Her.jpg

Played this yesterday and have to say its not as bad as the original vids indicated it would be. (The Gary Stern TWD video has to go down as the worst ever viral marketing blunder in pinball history).

The game was a bit bland as it is, but with the programming so unfinished it's way too early to tell.

The shots feel good but so many end in the pops.

I think the game needs to be LE to give it a bit more variety. As a potential buyer, I'm just not sure if its enough for HUO. Will most likely be a good location pin for me.

Hopefully this whole TWD launch is a lesson to Stern: don't release games before you finish the programming, and when you do release it, put a bit more effort into selling it. You have a pinball community that is so active and eager for new information, they will do most of the marketing work for you - provided you manage it correctly.

Competition is heating up with so many promising titles due out soon. At the same time buyers are becoming more selective. Most people are at "maximum pinball capacity" - for a new game to get a spot in my collection its got to force another one out.