I have not been in this thread forever. It dawned on me that the new Netflix release Wednesday would be an awesome title as no one would be willing to remake the Addams Family.

Agreed. There is some discussion about this a few pages back

So two cornerstones this year for 2023 both with ZY art? One things for sure they are going to be good looking pins!

Eddy/Dwight - Venom
Jack/Tanio - …? Any ideas or rumours?

Foo Fighters is the current rumoured game for the Jack Danger design. It's taken a bit of heat whenever it's brought up, but I'm optimistic for it as a title (if true). Popular well-known hits and you know the art will be amazing with Zombie Yeti. Another art package to go in the line-up of the best art in pinball.

Thank god if so, I need to skip one here sooner or later!

I heard the foo fighters rumours a while back, not sure it’s a great use of ZY if true but I’m pretty excited to see Venom if true so if the other release this year is something like foo fighters that’s an easy pass for me which helps the old wallet!

Nobody can name Foo Fighters songs, you just know it when you hear it.

Sales flop if made...

Added to the list Pins That Will Never See The Light of Day.

Agree that it's not too likely but danger could push an unlikely theme.

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I'm with you Zombie Yeti on a Music Pin doesn't line up. I would lean more towards 80s with JD like Heman.

Somebody pointed these out to me earlier. He has worked with foo fighters. His art on my Primus and IMDN is also top notch.

http://zombieyeti.bigcartel.com/product/foo-fighters-2021-albuquerque-gigposter
http://zombieyeti.bigcartel.com/product/foo-fighters

What does lineup with ZY art and JD design enthusiasm is MOTU. GG said it was going to be a different category than what they usually do. Foofighter’s another music pin is not a different category, but MOTU just might be.

He Man is an animated morning show. They already did TMNT, so that wouldn't be a new direction.

My money is still on video game IP, which would be a new direction for Stern for sure.

Or maybe card/board games? Magic:The Gathering or Settlers of Catan? That'd come out of left field. It'd also require a lot more video assets be created than video game IP where a lot of that might already exist in some form.

Jack has expressed interest in doing a Pokémon pin in the past. That would be a collassal license for Stern and a new direction for themes and would be something that Zombie Yeti would have the chops for. My kids would go absolutely crazy for Pokémon and I think the collector market would as well. If individual trading cards sell for 10's or even hundreds of thousands of dollars I can't imagine how valuable a Limited edition version of the pin could sell for.

I have to admit I kinda like not knowing what the next Stern is. This 007 Elwin anticipation has me biting my nails and I am not sure I would even be interested in it. Just the anticipation of the reveal has the nerves fired up. I feel like a rabbit running in circles with a carrot on a string. Stern from here on out just drop the game when it is ready, my nerves can't handle it

Ok you guys have some good ideas on what could be totally different. I got to daydreaming about this yesterday and my out of the park different daydream was this:

New Disney CEO bust out Avatar-Way of Water summer 2023
A whole new experience with the use of holographic projectors, UV ramps, LCD below playfield, and an immersive pin that takes you straight to Pandora with multiple levels. I am not into theme, but they could do a lot with it

I love the idea of projection mapping onto blank canvases. The scenes can change with the modes without the limitations of single sculpts to build the world under glass. That said, I think a new direction would be to make a pin that has a theme primarily aimed towards female players. A la Barbie.

In family (feminist?) mode sure, adult male mode changes everything.

Then you would be stuck with a Barbie game even the women wouldn’t play. Women don’t give a fuck about pinball. Fact

My daughter loves pinball…

Fact: In the last year, since introducing women’s IFPA tournaments the number of women participating in the open events has increased here to nearly 30% of players.
Fact: I am hosting the first IFPA Minnesota state women’s tournament at my house in a couple weeks… they are pretty excited about this event.
Fact: Women actually give a fuck about pinball.

You alright there?

Anyways.....
Maybe the new direction is a "younger" band whose music came out in the 90s and not the 70s/80s. ‍
Or it could be something jack did in the game. Jack sorta teased that on a stream but he could have been trolling.

Good point. GG didn’t say explicitly that the theme was going in a new direction, but rather more generally that Jack’s cornerstone was going in a new direction. So that could be something new/different on the playfield or in the software.

Pokémon Go! would mark a new direction. Since reading the rumor above, I am starting to get excited to see JD’s PG! Makes sense from nothing.

I wish what the new direction was a 3d playable game that incorporates oculus goggles. Still have the physical table but buy the goggles to get an “enhanced” play. With the technology driving what’s new, He-Man or Foo Fighters themes would work and then would make sense with one part of the rumor.

Popcorn eating gif!

It’s nothing against women. It’s just a fact. I’m not going to be questioned by someone who makes money selling translights and decals of busty women.

What ‘fact’ are you referencing exactly?

We know that Stranger Things is one of the top earning games on location. I see that as a sign that there's a younger market that's interested. I could see Pokémon earning well too.

I don't think it would automatically sell like mad and introduce new people to the hobby or anything wild like that, it's just a theme. But themes that earn can only help pinball really.

I personally doubt it's ever going to be a license made into a pin though.

JJP and Disney’s marketing departments beg to differ.

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Why does every Stern thread feel like it’s about Toy Story now?

It’s like people can’t even tell you their favorite 80s movie in peace anymore.

crujones4life lol.

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To be fair, is she actually enjoying it? Its TS4 after all.

Let me be clear I'm not agreeing that this is a fact. I'm not. But...This hobby is male-dominated which is why I suggested adding adult male mode which got me two down votes ... no surprise. Lol.

I thought Jack was working on He-Man

Especially if they made even cursory changes to the sides of the art on the head for the Premiums and Pros so they had different pokemon featured on them. 50 or 100 different pokemon art on the heads spread across the whole Pro/Prem run. It would make specific machines within the Pro/Prem group even more collectible and the extra cost for additional paper stickers for the head would be negligible. Pokemon fans would go insane.

Switch has NFC, too. So there could be some kind of interaction with the next Pokemon release for switch.

This is the direction Williams was headed with the Pinball 2000 systems in the late 90’s. Way ahead of its time.

Pokemon Go was a massive phenomenon. People that were never into Pokemon were out in the real world trying to catch rare Pokemon. I have a buddy in his 40s that called me in the hunt talking about a random horde of people that were at this one random location hoping for a rare Pokemon to show up at 11pm at night. He previously had zero interest in Pokemon, but had gotten swept up in the excitement of the hunt.

If pinball locations can have different pokemon that appear on your IC profile and there's some kind of integration with the games, it would turbocharge pinball awareness across a wide multi-generational demographic, especially if you need to hang around the pin for a while. And while you're there, why not play it, too?

Hannah Montana, confirmed. Oh, Jack, you perv.

This Pokémon would be a take my money now:

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I think PinballMap is basically like Pokemon Go right now. Whenever I travel I'm looking at it to "catch" all the pinball games I can at different venues.

“She came in like a Stern Pinballllll”

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If you're right, I'm pretty sure this is the next Stern game...

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I can hear the glass CLANK! like when playing "Junk Yard" when I see that wrecking ball pic

Sherlock Holmes is now completely in the public domain (it was only partially PD prior to 2023). It'd be great to have a WhoDunnit style pin with a Sherlock Holmes theme. I was bummed when American Pinball abandoned doing a SH pin.

https://apnews.com/article/public-domain-2023-5c30746553953b5accffcbaa9e860de0

Let's just get this Bond stuff out of the way........ it's been here since Sept.

Five months of Bond...... com'on Stern we're so tired of this theme already. Give us something new.

Bond 60th anniversary game is revealed tomorrow! You're welcome.