Would much prefer a Tron VE or LOTR VE but that is selfish reasons cause I already have a loaded TWD Premium that is bolted to my floor.

I know some people have researched when licenses are obtained or re-upped.

Anyone know how to do that? I think that would be a key factor... Have they re-upped on TWD?

I cannot vouch for the accuracy, but I was told last week by a distributor that they are DONE with TWD and have not re-upped the license.

Maybe I'm alone on this one but a pin based off the comic book would not be good to me. When TWD came out I did not buy until a certain someone came out with the real voice actors call outs. Until some real was put into the game alot of it felt to wimpy and cartoon like for it to be a real walking dead game. That said I have played the walking dead comic book games on Xbox as well as mobile app. I thought they were ok just not a kick ass walking dead theme to me like the original. Same with that fear of the walking dead just cant get into it. Love TWD pin its in my collection just I would not see myself buying a softer version of what I already have. That's not an upgrade to me.

It worked on Spiderman but they are too way different themes.

Yeah, the Spider-Man VE-style callouts wouldn't be great, but TWD callouts were bad to begin with. @cleland's work made this game awesome. The same thing can be done with the VE.

If they keep it the same with more features then yes it still will be a good game. Some were saying they were goinging to the Comic book style version. If that is the case I think it would be a huge mistake.

I'm sure I saw a YouTube video of someone who added spinners to a pro, can't find it now though.

Stern has NEVER done anything like this. Not once. They use features like that to differentiate models of their games. If you want Walker Bombs and Spinners, you are going to have to pay the price of at least a Premium to get them.

It wasn't speculation you were reading, it was wishful thinking. And if wishes were horses...

AC/DC Pro+ with bell?

It seems like you are saying that a comic style on this title would be "softer" than TV series style. If that is what you are saying, I am guessing you aren't familiar with the comic. The TV series is as tame as a gerbil by comparison.

I thought TWD was still a current title, no?

From what I've been hearing and reading they are making a last run and then that's it.

I have to laugh at this as distributors have been trying to sell off old stock of TWD for a while. Of course they are going to tell you it is done...

Pretty sure the code update last week was to help distributors get rid of current games as Stern tries to take care of their only real customers (the distributors).

Premium model is differentiated for sales at the time. They have zero problem rebooting a game and adding new features and then upcharging for them. Premium model will still be differentiated by bicycle ramp, extra magnet, extra drop.

It is understandable that some prem/LE owners will be frustrated by this IF it happens, but reality is that Stern is very smart when it comes to business. The rebooted IM and SM when people said it would never happen. They did it because there was money to be made. They also added features like LEDs, more animations, light up toys, etc...

Same thing with TWD and reality is that they can do almost no work and sell 1000 games. Adding a spinner, a different lockdown bar (or heck, just an extra flipper button on the right side to differentiate it for perception of prem owners), and some slightly modified code. Reboot the art to make the pf so much better and you are talking easy money.

Technically, you're right. But, it's just a pendulum that hits the stand up that's already there. Nothing like adding a spinner with code.

--edit: It's freakin cool , though!

I would consider trading in my Pro for a VE if they did this. Love the game so much, but really don't care for the art package. Clelend's sound package removes any sound issues I had with the stock sound package. A game with comic book style art, with Cleland's sound and it would make a great game even greater.

But all of these things were just speculation and wishful thinking. I don't think there's any "official rumor" that Stern would be making a VE of this.

Flash is correct, they just finished. This doesn't mean there won't be a vault some day, but dealers still have new stock. At least I do.

Greg

spinner is a $5 part...

Code is a simple copy/paste or edit to unlock on Pro turned vault...

We are talking very MINOR modifications here, but ones that the customer pool will drop money for.

I would take a comic TWD in a heartbeat!

thanks for the confirmation.

I'll grant you it's a lot smaller job than redoing the SM dots!

If Stern made a TWD VE comic edition they would have to redo all of the dots to the comic book characters. That would be similar to Spiderman VE and cause a hefty upcharge.

The current dots are already cartoonish. I don't think they would have to do much more work on the current dots to make it saleable.

I agree, current dots are not even remotely show based, more cartoon based and would fit very well with a comic theme.

TWD comic would be a different license. Stern would need to redo the playfield art, plastics, backglass and all DMD assets.

Might be cheaper to go that route instead of working with AMC, actually. I'm not sure how the DMD assets work, but I would imagine Stern owns that already. They would have to contract the comic book artists to do the artwork...but that was the point of the VE to begin with, wasn't it?

Even if it happens, it sounds like the premium would still be a significant upgrade. I certainly wouldn't want to lose the bicycle ramp or crossbow, and the lighting, extra magnets, drop target, etc. are fair bonuses as well. The BG Ramp and X-bow are the main reasons I went with a premium, so it wouldn't have affected my decision if a Pro+ was available, and I wouldn't feel like any special value has been lost from the premium. The Pro should have had walker bombs and spinners from the start, and the premium would still have considerable value over the Pro+ compared to what we're seeing now with GotG and such. Though I'm in the camp that would prefer only one version of a game to exist.

Or they could just make a Tron VE. Not really change anything and charge $5300 for it. I do not see why they would rerun a title that still has stock available unless its a second premium run like ACDC Luci. Even then it makes no sense and they are not going to sell a ton of them. Tronve with no changes would likely sell 5-10x more games then another run of TWD. If you want a TWD just buy one now.

I agree with only one version, but Stern does what Stern does, and it seems to be working for them.

In a more perfect world, the Pro would have an action button. I could easily live without the prison door opening on my Pro, if we're trying to balance out the BOM. Spinners are nice, but I can live without those, too.

Agreed. I actually prefer the Pro over the Prem/LE as far as game play, but in the back of my head I can't get over the lack of Walker Bombs. I never really knew how to utilize them back when we had an LE on location, and now that I play only Pros, I'm dying to try the bombs properly. Everything else I can live without... but if/when it's time for us to pull the trigger on a TWD, and funds aren't an issue, I think it may have to be a Prem for that one feature.

Swinging bell didn't require code changes, did it?

wait, what? TWD premium? but but Stern said they were not making a TWD premium

They just stopped making TWD earlier this year. I would imagine the next Vault will be a game that’s been out of production for a longer period, such as Tron, TSPP, or LOTRs.

Vaults have been all over the place. Some are basically re-runs of past titles (Iron Man/AC DC), then you have the re-skins like Spiderman, then you have the re-dos like Batman66. So who knows what form a future version might take.

Stern was still assembling TWD PROs in late September 2017 as I bought one the first week of October and the assemble date is late september. I was told October 2017 is the end of production.

didn't they just rerun Tron Pros in the past 2 years?

I could see LOTR as being higher on the list but reality is that the originals are readily available also and does not seem to be a huge demand for them?

IM and IMve were only 4 years apart
SM and SMve were 8 years apart
BMDK and BM66 (esentially a vault plus) were 9 years apart
ACDC was almost no time at all; 1 year?

I dont think time from original to remake is really part of the equation.

It has to do with demand and what could make money.

I see tronVE with lit ramps and TWDve with new art/bomb/spinner as being the best thing from a business perspective.

Well the issue isn't the Pro owners because I'm sure the vast majority would drop their Pro in a heartbeat for a VE...it would be a clear upgrade. The Pre/Le owners will be somewhat torn on this I think. I'd love to have the comic art on my game but would not be thrilled with giving up the BG ramp, Well Walker magnet and crossbow. It would be a tough choice for me.

I think this is the only consideration. Which I'm not saying is a bad thing. But their internal calculations of that is what will drive the decision making.

If I recall Stern ran TRON PROs in 2011, 2012 and 2013. There were 4 or 5 runs with different translites and 1st run had screened cabs.

And what's to stop them from getting the license again? See AC/DC.

Stern is never "DONE." If there's money to be made, they'll go there.

I wouldn't drop my PRO for a VE. I have everything I want in the LE in my PRO (LED lighting, game controlled ramp lighting, shaker) and arcade cab running the TRON game.

All items I could (and have) lived without, which is why I bought a Pro instead of a Pre/LE. It's really the artwork and sound package that is the only downside for the current TWD machines. Upgrading that (even without the walker bombs and spinner) would be worth it, imo. If I were in the market for a SM, I would take a SMVE over a regular SM, at the price difference. I like the style of SMVE with the toys, dots, and artwork, just that much more.

The last run I recall was late 2012 / early 2013 with the chick translight; it was also a small run as I recall. The world needs more Trons in my view. I think you are right about the lit ramps, I predict that when they do Tron (and they eventually will) it'll have the lit ramps.

Frolic is right, it's hard to predict what VE's will look like as Stern is all over the place, but walker bombs on TWD when it eventually gets it's VE (a couple years from now most likely) it'll get the walker bombs.

It wouldn't surprise me to see some kind of Comic Book vault, but I doubt they would add spinners onto the game. That would require changes to the wiring harness and possibly some playfield modifications to make it work. I could see them possibly adding Walker bombs since that would allow them to use the same base cabinet as the Premium model and would allow them to use the same playfield as before.-it would just require slight modifications to code to make it work.

My guess as to what will actually happen is that they'll use the same playfield and playfield art as before but just slap on some different cabinet decals and a new translite in the comic book style on and call it a day. I'm sure it would be expensive enough to hire the Walking Dead artist just for that. Doing the playfield, plastics, and possibly new sculpts for the toys to match the comic style would add way more expense to the game. I could also see them doing some kind of special armor that includes a new lockdown bar "Walker bombs" which would allow them to charge a more "Premium" price for this model much like they did with SM VE. It isn't really like Stern to give you more stuff for the same $. If they really wanted to bring out the sales they could number the games and limit them to 250 which would further justify charging a premium price for the game.

Didn't they do a special "Dirty Donny" run of custom games for Metallica a few years' back where they upcharged a couple grand for a custom painted Sparky and some other minor features? If you're expecting a souped up Pro model with extra features for the traditional Pro price I think you are going to be disappointed.

Yeah I fully expected a pro with spinner and bomb button for vault (premium light) priving.

Scary part is I would pay the extra for those 2 things, lol.

The idea of a Pro with a spinner and walker bombs was Hilton's idea. It is pure speculation/wishful thinking from Hilton - nothing more.