Is Stern going to try this?

User modifiable pinball machine
Patent number: 10463950
Abstract: A modifiable pinball machine includes a processing device, a memory storing instructions executable by the processing device, a communications interface coupled to the processing device for receiving new music data from a source external to the pinball machine for storage in the memory, and a speaker coupled to the processing device for playing music retrieved from the memory. The new music data is provided with data useable by the instructions to cause the processing device to automatically retrieve from the memory the new music data in lieu of originally provisioned music data, for playing via use of the speaker, when the pinball machine is caused to operate in a predetermined operating state.
Type: Grant
Filed: March 12, 2018
Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
Assignee: STERN PINBALL, INC.
Inventors: George A. Gomez, Gary Stern

It's time

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Holographic images are about as real as you can project them onto the Stranger Things playfield as you want them to be Imagine the ball is rolling on the playfield and BAM .... something like this happens... or when Joyce has her axe
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Pretty sure we all talked about this as soon as USB ports became standard on Sterns years ago. Gets around the whole licensing for additional music issue entirely.

Maybe they are making sure that it's released with no issues and plays perfect NIB

Did anyone buy the new ninja turtles sight unseen?

Uh....

Tell me if Stern already had games made and they are being shipped they wouldn't have shown a teaser video or at least some pictures to take the wind out of Rick and Morty sales . It's not like they're going to give their competitors a free kick .

750 games is a teaspoon of water in the ocean for Stern. If Spooky had gone with the LE/Standard model and was selling unlimited Standards still, Stern might have cared to throw a wrench in that, but Spooky self-limited and it was all over same day, so there's nothing really for Stern to do.

750 potential lost sales is nothing to sneeze at , even for Stern .

Depends on the timeframe.

But 750 lost sales in 1 1/2 years isn't, right.

If Stern brought Godzilla just so spooky couldn't make it it , shows they don't want to lose a single sale to them no matter what the time frame .

A: I say „this“.

B: Yes, you‘re right

A: No, I‘m not!!!

B: ???

Must be a communication breakdown I'm not sure if you agree with my original post or not ?
All good either way .

True but Spooky did a surprise reveal/order and they sold out same day, nothing Stern can do about it now.

Plus your forgetting 90% of the people who put down on R&M have the means to pick up the phone and order a Stern or 2.

Spooky didn't announce it and sell it on the same day . Stern had time to put out some pictures and that would have made a lot of people question whether they brought a Rick and Morty or not .

It sold out in one day from orders opening, not sure what your continually trying to argue in here.

750 games won’t even blip on Sterns radar as most if not all of their customers that brought a R&M have the coin to buy everyone of their next releases aswell.

A lost sale is still a lost sale and no business enjoys that.

You should read posts better .

Stern has a history of releasing pins straight after their competitors have released their pins.
All I'm saying is , if Stern has the games made and shipping , I'm surprised they didn't release pictures of it . If we see it before Christmas we'll know I'm wrong .

Every company loses sales here and there unless they have absolutely no competition. It’s only when those sales start to effect your own that it’s an issue and 750 R&M won’t have any effect on Stern at all.

When another pinball company can compete with Stern on a manufacturing level then you might see Stern worry but until then most can afford every Stern plus another pin or 2 sprinkled in their every 12/18 months.

I did say " potential sales " .
90% is way too high . Lots of people in the Rick and Morty thread said they would have to sell a pin or wanted to be further down the list so they had time to save for it . And like I said Stern wouldn't want to lose any sales to Spooky .

reveal it.

If new pins have been on the line and are shipping then the minimum wage workers at Stern are in the wrong job.
They should apply for a position at the NSA or CIA as they seem pretty good at withholding sensitive info and keeping tight lipped.
It would sure be tempting to sell some photos and info to interested parties.

what do you think past sales #s are for Stern?
most recent games in the past 2 years?

6.5mil off the table is an impact based on what I see.

I think you are severely over estimating the amount of sales Stern sees.

Best case I think they are doing 13,000 games a year (that would be 50 games every working day of the year without holidays. More likely it is 7-9,000 games is my best guess.

That puts 750 sales at ~10% and that money just left the market days before your end of year/ Q1 launch.
Stern sniping Godzilla shows pretty clearly whom they view as a possible concern.

That's what I've been thinking , how many black knights have been sold ? ( I actually really like that game )

I would love to come to this thread after 40 new posts and see something other than people bickering about “lost opportunities/sales”. There is enough pie for everyone. The economy is booming and people have money to spend on toys. ..Period..Why does everyone care so much that Stern dropped the ball by not hinting at a new game already?

I dont think anyone really cares?

Just a matter of pinball nerds talking pinball nerd things.

I think they need to spend a bit more time on the 3 Ps:
Prior planning and preparation prevents a piss poor performance.
Primary consideration given to theme, then get a seasoned team behind it. Everything from proven coders, artists, game designers to mechanical engineers.
This was proven solidly with Metallica, they engaged the right team, band members to make it more authentic. No wonder this pin was in production fo so long.

Spewing and churning out half arsed efforts just wastes everyone’s time and effort and clutters up the production line.
I’d rather see less quality releases than plenty of dodgy ones.

Sell me your Fathom. Lol

could work it in trade for a nice Creech, but zero interest in selling at this time.

Until they show a new pin what else is there to talk about

Then why did Stern buy Godzilla so spooky couldn't make it

Because they can.

“The next Stern pin”

Not everyone just me , and it was just an opinion .

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I think what we're witnessing is a greater evolution of the home use vs. location games discussion.

The backbone of Stern's business model is their insider network of distributors and location games. This probably guarantees them sales of xx amount right off the bat, sight-unseen. Like the current rumored Stranger Things.

Rick & Morty was a different situation, mostly home use. It evaporated because it appealed to Pinheads for reasons of theme, Danesi, callouts from the creator of the series, and the seemingly awesome and funky PF layout.

Most of us on Pinside are home users/hobbyists.

Perhaps it would be more realistic to compare sales to home users/hobbyists for titles to get a better idea of market share for home users? Anyway, we'll never know because Stern doesn't divulge actual verifiable sales figures. I suspect they would be over the moon happy with a 3,000 sold title...and that would be A+. Jurassic Park 2 (all models combined). I'm pretty sure some sell under 1,000 - even with those "blind" purchases by operators.

Operators seem to purchase sight unseen. Those purchases would be less based on Pinhead Cred for "Title xx." but would bump Stern's sales numbers.

Gahhh!!

Love this dialogue

Trades are how it works for the old and desirable titles.

You know where to find me...

You‘re still so sure about this?

Hey he was serious then and you didn;t take him up on it...goddammit I was 'going to' but chickened out myself.

I did.

Just asking if he still sticks with it.

It isn‘t impossible for the game to still get announced, just highly unlikely.

double or nothing, I like it

LOL Whysnow said nothing of the sort "Actually sounds like they will be finally taking care of our Elvira also.
I will say that if you are reading along, there are quite a few people with all sorts of issues (missing washers, ball sticks, trunk issues, ramp issues, missing ball guides, optos, blown nodes, failed SD cards, etc...) There have been lots of issues on this game.
It is really sad. When the game shoots it is really fun to play.
I hope you can actually take a step back and realize my concerns are justified. I have over 60hours in fixing, diagnosing, and adjusting this game already.
It has been down more than up over the past 2 months. I operate every Stern game made in the past 5? years now. This game is a bad look on Stern and for business as a whole. Frustrating is an understatement." Whysnow

Just betting „who is right“.

And I‘d like to be wrong.

I don‘t have any inside info also, just... reasoning.

So....... I think it’s safe to say no Stranger Things are even close to being loaded onto a truck heading out of Illinois , far from being on a container halfway across the Atlantic or Pacific.........
Who’s in for a JJP GnR

Yep they call that "taking the field" in betting around here

I've heard from the Belgian distributor that a container is on its way to Belgium as we speak
Title is still not confirmed though

Stranger Turtles