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They didn't do too much because they didn't have to. No competition after '99 until recently.
Their SPIKE system is a huge advance, even if they haven't utilized it fully yet. Gary has used Bally and Williams based systems, and they've all been Matrix based since the first days of SS pins. SPIKE is bus based, and that alone is a huge change.
Quoted from smokey_789:Pinball is a fad right now (sorry) so innovation will not be relevent when the demand for new pinball machines wanes. Sad, but reality.
Uh, no.
I love how some people continue to defend Williams, even after they kicked everyone in the nuts and left pinball.
Quoted from rai:That's not true, I've heard the distributors get a couple hundred dollars per game.
Says ever car dealership when you try to chew down the price. Complete horseshit.
Quoted from Swainer80:"kicked everyone in the nuts" I think you are talking about that 2,000 price difference between a "pro" and "LE". Hell, Data East tried harder than that and at least the paint is still attached to the cabinets as well.
No, I'm talking about a company that milked profits on pinball when the times were good, then bolted at the first sign of trouble.
But hey, keep blowing sunshine up Williams' ass!
Quoted from markmon:The BOM on a Stern is really no one's business or concern. They build the machines and choose to sell them for whatever they want. If they are priced too high, no one will buy. Someone buying any product shouldn't have any concerns as to what the manufacturer paid for that product. It's just no one's concern. Stern is not a non-profit organization and under no obligation to justify their price with BOM costs. If the prices are too high, dont buy. That simple.
Don't forget, a $2000 machine does not profit stern $3000 on a $5000 sale. They have to absorb all the development costs that went into the machine as well as the labor costs to assemble and the costs of just keeping the business running (managers, electric bill, etc).
Finally, just because something changes, people should stop assuming the only reason is to cheapen out and save money. A good business should constantly be asking why something is done the way it's done and not just be doing it that way "because that's how we've always done it." An example here is the lockdown bar assembly. Why is the lever better than the clasps? Both hold the lockdown bar in just fine. Why is moving the power switch important? When the old days half the circuitry was in the cabinet maybe it made sense. But now when all the circuitry is in the head it doesnt make sense to have the switch way out in the cabinet.
If I were at Stern, I would be questioning a lot more. Looking at the components in the backbox itself, there is no reason to have the backbox head be so damned tall. The boards dont fill that area up any longer. You could have an arcade style marquee, a display, and a half sized head. Sure that would be cheaper, but its wouldnt be just to save money. It would be less weight, more convenient to handle, and the only reason not to do it is "because that's how we've always done it", a very stupid reason. I'm sure if stern ever did make such a change, it would be considered only to cut costs as if the extra $3 of wood was going to make or break the company.
Far, far too much common sense for many Pinsiders.
Quoted from Swainer80:Bolted at the first sign of trouble? Like the game crash of the 1980's? Which company made a game that is touted as "the game that saved pinball"? Again if you bothered to read the entire post, I gave Data East some props as well (as much flak as they get). Hell even some system 80's are good fun. I am just frustrated that when I come up to a pinball game in the wild, it is $1 to play the stripper model. That is bullshit and I despise Stern for propagating that business model. I put my fair share of quarters in LOTR, TSSP, FG, and PotC but I'll be dammed if I spend a buck to play 3 balls on a pro TWD or WWE. Speaking of milking it when times were good . . .like having a virtual Monopoly? No, milking the profits is all this LE and "premium" shenanigans. I love pinball but could there at least be some decent crap put into the mainstream games?
Different management in the early 80's Study your history.
Also, a quarter in 1976 is $1.05 today, so essentially the price has remained even. Stern Pro Pinball machines are actually cheaper price adjusted than they were in the late 1970's, and even the Pro's run circles around a game from that era.
Quoted from CaptainNeo:I don't know. Is it true stereo? might be. I don't own any spike games and didn't research what the system is capable of.
Yes. 2.1 stereo.
Quoted from Swainer80:Uhh it was pretty easy to find 3 GAMES/$1 into the 2000's (hell you can still find a few of them in the wild today). These new "pros" I've been coming across are a buck for 3 balls. Then you go on compare late 70's games to 2010's and say the pros are better so essentially, you made a straw man argument. Again, Stern has made some decent stuff (LOTR is rightly up there with the best of them) and apparently brought back stereo, but Stern can take that pro model and shove it.
You could find 3 games for $1 in the 2000's because Pinball was in sad shape on location.
My argument stands on comparing the advancement of games from then till now, and how the price is actually cheaper.
Move along....
Quoted from Swainer80:There is no argument that the games have advanced since the 1970s. But saying three balls for a dollar is cheaper than three games for a dollar? You are right, I think I will just move along. Have a good day.
I was talking about the price of buying an actual pin, not playing the games in an arcade.
Keep moving....
Quoted from flynnibus:Stern's marketing is being generous with the term 'we'. It is 'we' as in the people.. but not 'we' as including the company Stern Pinball. The people came from DE.. but not the company itself.
First rule.. never treat marketing as if it were an encyclopedia.
Learn your history. You're embarrassing yourself.
Quoted from paul_8788:They are different corporate entities, but really, the same company, just sold and renamed a few times.
Stern Electronics -> Data East -> Sega -> Stern
Actually, Stern Electronics was a separate company, created from the ashes of Chicago Coin. When it went under, Gary screwed around for a couple of years making upgrade playfields for Bally games, then started up a new pinball company with backing from Data East.
That being said, the current Stern Pinball owns all of the IP from Stern Electronics.
Quoted from paul_8788:<shrug>. Don't know the entire timeline and the intricacies of how each corporate changeover was structured (buying assets, corporate name changes, etc). Time break aside, from what I have read Data East pinball was formed from the assets of Stern Electronics, Gary was in charge of both, so there is some continuity there. Close enough imo.
Although some Data East personnel came from Stern Electronics, the companies are completely separate. Stern Electronics reverted back to Chicago Coin and dissolved.
Quoted from flynnibus:Well even with my gaff today, I can still sleep comfortably knowing I have a long way to go before catching up to you. So
You should never sleep comfortably knowing that I'm always out there....correcting you.
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