Isn't it?

I said earlier that I think, even as a not huge fan of the movie(s), that Blade Runner would make for a phenomenal pin

No. What makes you think it is?

1. Stern likes money.
2. Game is essentially done. Porting a sure thing is much less cost/risk than a from-scratch pin.
3. It would sell a ton.
4. Amazon is spending $450 million for ONE SEASON of middle earth, and that new multi-season LotR content from them is not far off.
5. Gomez has said on multiple occasions if there's enough demand for a pin, Stern will fill it.
6. LotR is, not coincidentally, one of Gomez's best designs.
7. Licensing crosstalk.
8. Stern denies stuff strongly until literally the day of announcement at times. See: AC/DC Luci vault.
9. Strong need to erase dickbeard LE.

When they announce it, I'll be first in line. The LotR upgrade to Spike is one of the best ideas Stern ever had.

Weird that you’re still peddling this as an absolute and something in progress. Pure speculation. They’re not making it. lol.

New games are selling like crazy. There are already almost 10k LOTR machines out there. Demand was filled. A vault wouldn’t sell nearly as well as you think it would (all those LOTR owners aren’t going to buy it twice), and it wouldn’t sell as well as a new title would in this market.

Just thought I’d drop this here since it combines a couple of themes in this thread.....

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I agree and that's why they should do Tron instead

So now that they've made it official, when does Stern start production on Mandalorian?

Unpopular opinion but id much rather play a spiked Tron 80s version than a spiked lotr. Very different games obviously.

They usually ship same week of reveal. They’re most assuredly already in production.

Im sure its started already. Distributors sometimes have pros on the floor the day after full announcements are made. My distributor said he had a Stranger Things pro ready to go half a day before that was even revealed to the masses.

We disagree.

I still like you otherwise, though.

This isn’t an agree/disagree thing. I get that you think it’s a good idea & that you want it. I want a CGC Big Bang Bar...and while it could happen, I don’t know that it will. You’re spreading disinformation by presenting it as an absolute fact that it’s actively being developed.

Completely disagree with the Lair shot being broken. It is quite easy and I can hit it 90% of the time, by just slightly hitting the button and letting the ball roll up and then down the flipper, with a fast flip to the Lair. Can hit that reliably 90% of the time. From right flipper, you’re right, it is much more challenging and can only hit about 20% of the time. Code is deep and not a one trick pony, with many ways to approach the game. Hitting the right or left targets on the left ramp, allows changing which mode gets played in order to accomplish one’s goals. TMNT never gets old, with many goals utilizing every shot on the table. Toppings on pizza are cool and yes, great way for higher scores.

This is the way.

I want a Big Bang Bar, too. But I'm not saying they're making one of those. I was accused of not knowing what I was talking about when I insisted that a AC/DC vault was coming almost half a year before it came. I even made a thread about it 5 months before it happened. This was my favorite post, quoting George and Gary saying a vault was "never coming" LITERALLY the day before the announcement of it:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/acdc-being-re-run/page/3#post-3774674

So yeah, I don't believe the denials on Spike LotR. Heard enough around to think it's coming, and for all the reasons I stated, it seems to jibe. Did COVID delay it? Maybe. I dunno. And when it does, they will sell a TON to existing owners that want color, stereo, non-dotty playfield art, RGB inserts and GI, native shaker support, better flipper heat management and a host of other things Spike makes possible for just a bit more than a 20 year old machine goes for. It will be the best-selling vault (super-vault?) they've ever done by a lot. There are a LOT of people in pinball now that just weren't around for the original and don't want to deal with its limitations relative to newer machines.

But I'm not asking you to believe me. Does it change my buying habits? Should it change yours? Nope. I'll still bring in cool pins, enjoy them and send them down the road, and so should you. Enjoy the ride.

But it does give me something to look forward to.

Sure. I don’t think Mandalorian show is great (by far) but i don’t dislike It however as i like star wars univers
Then i can enjoy the pin...if the design playfield is really creative and unique and if Lyman is on board. If it isn’t, i won’t be in anymore for a LE. This is the way!

That will be our NZ distributor

Too many conditions and too hard to please. If I was your distro you would be way down the list! Lucky I am not your distro!

so you reserve a flip just on the theme, whatever the playfield design is crap, music is crap, theme integration is crap, whatever the coder, without seeing it.
sorry i don't shit money to do that.

If we put our name down with our distro for a LE we buy it. We have never ever been let down and have been doing it for 10 years.

Put yourself on your distros shoes... Do you want to stuff around with someone that may buy or a repeat customer that buys when he says he is going to buy?

No pinball machine is crap. Designers, coders, artists all put their heart and soul into every game they are apart of. Calling their work crap is a really shit thing to do IMO.

Or don’t buy into the hype. Can’t live without next UNSEEN pin! I’m torn between hope that the next pin has more than a huge bom in it or it is the cheapest pos Stern can test the speculators with. For both obvious reasons.

Cuz either Stern will adjust or the buyers will.

FOMO is as real as individuals make it....

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that’s good.

New pin coming. Great day to be alive!

I say if it’s half as good as XMEN they have a winner on their hands. But will it have as many cool toys?

Exactly. What if I they mean DeepRoot’s interpretation of soon? Mando in 2023!

Surely, you mean twice as good as XMEN?

Or just wait 2 months and buy off the “buyers remorse” market. Or 6 months after the ballers have put on their 50 - 100 plays and are ready to move on. Or in a year when the “only 300 plays” games hit the market.

Or, alternatively, ANY TIME in the next 30 years when they (and every other machine) will be available fairly regularly on the second hand market.

Give me The Fifth Element .
Because it's the 5th of the 5th they're playing it five times in a row on free-to-air TV here ,that's how good it is.

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I love that movie !

I love Star Wars and these are pictures of my ceiling in my game room . I don't subscribe to Disney so I have not seen the mandalorian .
Because the game is in the Star Wars universe , I could be interested but only if the actual gameplay is a Knockout .

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To me the episodes were (kind of) watered down for general viewing by all ages. Not like TWD or Blade Runner for example that are more adult oriented.

However I can see episodes/scenes used like Stern Star Trek where a mode is a scene. I’m not overly in love with the ST movies but they have snippets of action that play well with pinball modes.

I’ve owned a dozen Stern pins including Tron and LotR both are great but Tron makes more sense as a Vault. It’s probably cheaper BOM it’s probably more expensive on the used market and more rare than LotR. If both were remade I’d buy a Tron in a heartbeat, LotR is great but it’s super long playing so I might not want it again.

Wow, that's really amazing! How was that done on the ceiling?

instead of multi-ball it'd have to be "Multi-Pass"

Your kiddin right? Like 90s BW games have way more code and modes than what Munsters has as it stands today!

Stern should be very ashamed at what Munsters code is at current release! I'm not sure, but very sure if the code was deeper and not just a copy past for level 2 and 3, Stern would have sold twice as many.

Yes Dwight can code! and can do a great job. But GB was over 3 years and was only completed because of the pressure from GB owners.
Munsters is going down the same road. (No excuse)

In Lyman I trust!

Custom call out - “ yeah , of course it’s a multi pass - she knows it’s a multi pass “

I love Munsters and it’s my granddaughter’s favorite so it’s going nowhere - but if ever there was a pin that deserved more coding attention and integration of the assets it already has - this is the one .

There is no where near 10K LOTR pins out there. May I borrow what you're smoking?

IPD lists approximately 5,600 LOTR between the 2003 and 2009 versions combined.

That's the band pin I'm looking for.

So changes your rates and put 10 to all as there are no crap machine. The word crap is not fine for you? « Merdique, nul, mauvais», c’est bon pour toi?
Don’t worry, if my distro doesn’t sell this LE to me he will do to another and make his happiness as there are already sold out
Don’t put your shoes in my distro, it seems to be bad for your health

Not every pin has to be a deep masterpiece of coding..I have an Alice Cooper, Tales from the Crypt and Pinbot..When non pinball fanatics come over to my house and play they always play Pinbot the most, then Tales from the Crypt and then maybe Alice Cooper...I like Munsters because it is an approachable pin..Most new pins are so complicated it turns newbies off...

I think you're confusing "depth" with "complexity" here. Deep games can definitely be as approachable for beginners as any other game. I think in the case of something like Munsters, depth would provide more things to do further into the game without affecting the approachable structure of the game.

For example, look at Deadpool, that game is not complex but it is deep, there are lots of things to "get to" and parallel objectives to do but there are also pretty straightforward objectives for anyone that steps up to the machine: Lil Deadpool MB/Modes, Battles, even just the Katanarama Time combos. Approachable and deep.

I’d say something like ST is deep but fairly simple. A new player could spend forever on the level one missions and be happy but more advanced players can dive down and do shot multipliers or away modes etc.

I do like Dwight code when it gets completed but has taken a long time in the past GB and GoT.

Don't forget Elijah Wood at the Twipys which is unusual for 2021.

That could have been due to his brief role in BTTF2 for the rumored BTTF pin, or a double for BTTF AND LotR. Stern upping their trolling game.

Him being on the Twipys has nothing to do with any pin being made, and more of the fact that he is on Cameo.

I think Dead Pool is too deep for the Noobie..That video fighting screen of different characters is not clear on what shots to be making..

I think you give Noobie's too much credit. In my experience, Noobie's spend their time hitting both flippers together (as fast as they can) while complaining about the hidden magnets that make the ball go to the out-lanes. They aren't asking "which shot do I aim for next?".

DP is perfect for newbies. The battles are just a series of lit shots then flashing scoop to finish, it’s as simple as shooting what is lit, How is that unclear?

But that video fighting scene isn't "depth". I do understand how that screen might not be intuitive, that's when a pinball sherpa needs to be guiding the newbies to "shoot the lit shots." Don't you want to be a pinball sherpa?