Absolutely. It would take them longer but only because there would be far more features in the game, a much deeper and unique ruleset, and less QC issues. Sadly that won't be the case. I just hope SW isn't another Stern rush job. Haste makes waste.

Stern can put out as many dream themes of mine as they want but I won't buy them as long as they continue to have QC issues, take forever with code, don't offer unique and deep rulesets on a consistent basis, and continue to strip down games all while having the nerve to keep raising prices. More and more people are thinking the same way.

If Stern is making Star Wars I wonder how they will handle the games license and ruleset. Do they go cheap and get none of the actors likeness and / or voice rights like TWD? If so I would say "I've got a bad feeling about this", lol.

Hopefully the game has a story based ruleset where you progress through events in the films versus generic type modes. It would be awesome for each film, 1 to 7 let's say, to each have 3-5 modes with a mini wizard mode for each and a trilogy multiball for both the original and prequel trilogy.

Sadly I don't see Stern spending the time to create a unique and deep ruleset like above and instead we may get "hit ramps to kill womp rats" and "super Ewok bumpers" type modes with TWD announcer guy doing callouts...lol.

Isn't that already Star Wars Pro?

Star Wars Pro HUO prices seem to be hovering between $4800 - $5200. Maybe the rumored "The Pin" Star Wars game will be in the $3k range. Not sure how much more they could strip that game down though...

Absolutely, check out the video below where college students are asked if they know 80's movies. Every single student knew about Back to the Future and seemed excited about it. BTTF is pretty much timeless at this point, same goes for Ghostbusters. A new BTTF trilogy pinball machine would sell like crazy.

I'm with ya. The other day I was able to play a TMNT LE, AIQ LE, and LZ LE on location. AIQ was a blast to play with a great layout and a decent number of interactive mechs. TMNT really surprised me and almost came across as a loaded Bally / Williams game, fun layout too. Then I played LZ LE...wow. There's barely anything there. "Electric Magic" means a pop up spinner? It's just dull and too wide open with nothing interacting with the ball in the lower 2/3 of the game. For the price the Zeppelin "toy" should have locked balls and moved on a track diagonally across the playfield like the train in Cactus Canyon.

Wait I mentioned JJP in that post? No, I complemented two Stern games and provided criticism for another. AFM looks loaded compared to LZ lol. Hell AFM looks like TZ next to LZ.

I partially base a games value on the asking price and in my opinion games like TMNT and AIQ are offering more value then LZ simply based on number of interactive mechs. LZ premium looks like a $6k pin compared to TMNT and AIQ premium.

Toys are fluff? What the hell are we then paying $6k - $10k+ for? A piece of an old couch and some thin pieces of metal? Lol. These insane NIB prices need to be backed up by toys, features, code, etc. That's why I was impressed with what I saw on AIQ and TMNT.

That sounds pretty damn cool, would probably sell well if done right. I can imagine a ruleset where you select a character to play as that offers a unique perk (similar to the characters in JJP POTC). From what I read Brian Eddy worked on several MK games.

I wonder how Stern would handle the license. Would there be licensed assets from multiple films or at least from a specific Bond era? If Stern pulled a generic Bond theme with their own assets (the players is Bond!) then I can't see it going over well.

Mando would be a hard pass for me as well. Theres just not enough content there after only 2 seasons. I also would never buy a pin based on an incomplete TV show as there's never a start to finish of the story represented in the games code. This occurred with TWD, and GOT, each only tell a part of the themes story as the pins were released about half way through the shows life cycle.

That wouldn't be good lol. However, TWD pin is missing everything regarding the war with the Saviors (nothing about Negan), The Whispers, etc. The game only seems to represent half the story. Same goes for GOT with about half of the show not being represented in game modes.

Right...and events from seasons 3, 4, etc won't ever be represented in the game. Well, unless Stern goes back a year or two later and adds more code...LOL.

LOL! $999.99 limited edition Mr. Fusion topper coming soon.

Buyers care that want a theme to cover it's entire story and a ruleset that makes them feel like they are on an adventure / quest. Would LOTR be as well regarded if it covered only the first movie? No way. Same goes for WOZ (what if the theme just covered the first 30 minutes lol), Hobbit, Star Wars, etc. The idea of playing a game for a few minutes with a bunch of generic points based modes that covers half of themes intended content sounds dull in my opinion.

Releasing a pin based on a TV show is designed to generate quick sales while the theme is still relevant in my opinion. Will "The Mandalorian" theme be as well regarded as the original Star Wars trilogy in 5, 10, 20, etc years? Probably not.

A blast alone isn't worth $6k - $9k+ for many. We are at the point with these crazy town prices that fun factor and flow (often an excuse for a lack of features in some recent pins) are no longer enough to justify the price tag.

Need more features and toys Take away the standard cabinet and general basic parts in a pin then question what you are getting for $6k - $9k+. $1k per orbit and ramp? $2k for 3 drop targets? $1k for a bobble head on a spring? That's insane but its where we are at.

Lol Gary at home reading this.

3033856-7373530381-25107.gif

If the next Stern pin is really The Mandalorian I hope Stern has payed up to get the rights to Baby Yoda's voice for custom callouts.

"Hit messa bobble head for big points"! Signature edition for $15k comes with an original film used piece of a rubber Jar Jar Binks head.

We now know Stern wants to reach the late teens and early 20 year old market. The nearly confirmed rumor of the next Stern pin is a game called "YouTube Star", an official license from Google. You are trying to get as many subscribers as you can to become the number 1 influencer in the world. Hit ramps and orbits to generate ad revenue in a race to become the biggest YouTube channel.

Shoot the 3 drop targets and "Like and Subscribe" bash toy to earn ad dollars. All games feature custom callouts by some of the worlds biggest YouTube stars. Go crazy in "Subscriber Multiball" where all switches score your channel a new subscriber. This game will be internet connected and if you earn a high enough score you will appear on Stern's official "Trending High Score" leaderboard (*subscription to The Stern Global Lifestyle Network required). A built in camera will also capture video of you playing and auto upload to YouTube (hit bumpers to add more jump cuts). The special "Gold Subscriber Edition" comes with a unique gold mirrored back glass for $15k.

I'm sorry lol.

If the next pin is Mando I'm interested but only if Stern obtained the licenses to the first two seasons of the show, some of its music, and voice + video rights to Mando and Baby Yoda's character. No more odd static character animation images flying in and out like Avengers, sorry but those look cheesy and do little to help immerse a player into the theme. Carl Weathers doing custom callouts would be awesome. I can imagine callouts for bounty missions where Greef Karga assigns you bounty pucks for missions.

Do we know who is rumored to be on design / code?

Kaneda has some rumored info about the game on his latest podcast. He's hearing full assets which would be great.

https://soundcloud.com/kanedapinball/episode-573-stern-is-the-way

The rumored main toy is called "Baby Yoda Magic". A spinner will pop up out of the playfield, with each spin Baby Yoda laughs.

Lol probably. Too cheap now for Stern, $1k with a limited edition plaque on the back of it.

THIS! Please.

Ghostbusters has custom callouts from Ernie Hudson, he did a great job.

Yup, $1,000 each for these... Absolutely insane. Both look like items sold at pop up Halloween decoration and costume stores. What a joke.

fdfdfdf (resized).JPG
fdfd (resized).JPG

Meanwhile Gary at home seeing people defend Stern's game and topper pricing.

2539433-2642583531-24674.gif

I wouldn't say that. Zen Pinball has done various Star Wars games based on the original trilogy and none have full assets unlike an actual real Star Wars pin done by Stern. Zen probably can't afford to get full assets when selling a digital table for $5 or whatever.

Beskar armor for trim sounds amazing!

Reality = flat silver paint

Brushed stainless steel trim is probably the closest we can get to imitating the look of Beskar, but when was the last time Stern trimmed any of their games in stainless steel? Maybe never.

Mando pro white wood. The flow is going to be off the charts with this one.

whitewood (resized).jpg

Blah blah blah. That tiny company kicked Sterns ass with their very first game, WOZ, made Sterns look like inferior overpriced products, and has been doing it with every release since

By the way, it was you who had a fit a few pages ago going off about JJP and now once again.

We disagree a ton but I'm glad there's options for everyone like you said. I really enjoy my Ghostbusters Premium and would be happy to add another Stern to my collection which is why I'm on a list for a Mando LE.

Stop repeating your same garbage comments over and over again, it's old. This one thousand times lol.

You posted a 1,000 word rant against JJP that makes zero sense and now keep repeating it, please stop.

Also, I currently own two Stern pinball machines, have owned many in the past, and I'm on a list for a Mando LE. I don't hate Stern, far from it. Do I think their games are often overpriced for what you get? You bet and I'll always be critical of that at these insane prices, just as I've been critical for JJP raising GNR prices by $1k (which by the way we both agree on in that other thread). What you are now doing is attacking me, and spreading lies which isn't cool. I'm done, have fun arguing with yourself.

Let's get excited for Mando instead of arguing. Speaking of Mando I've contacted a few of the larger distributors and all have wait lists for LE's at this point... I'm sure some people will decide not to get the game and open up spots for others.

I think its going to be a tough LE to grab. I'm on 4 wait lists for one...Then again, not everyone on the current lists will end up buying one so expect spots to open up.

Lol. Stern should just give that one the old copy and paste Pabst Blue Ribbon / Primus treatment and sell 50 of them for $10k+.

Yeah good points. There's deep and then there's overly complex. I've found many modern Stern modes to be too focused on points and crazy multiplier rules rather then telling a themes story through code. This is likely for tournament play but as a home buyer I'm not a fan.

For Mando I would like to see at least 12 main objective modes (say 6 for each season, two mode ladders), a mini wizard mode per season, and then a super wizard mode. Of course there would be a handful of multiball modes in there as well. Have the modes tell the themes story with great mode choreography versus static images and scores flying in and out.

An example of this would be the modes in LOTR versus Avengers. The modes in LOTR tell the themes story with shots synced to animations based on a scene along with music, light shows, and sound effects. The modes in Avengers on the other hand are primarily about points / multipliers with static images of characters flying in and out.

So shallow like Munsters? People hated that and are still complaining about it lol. At these insane prices code needs to be deep with a ton of modes, especially for the home buyer to keep the game interesting for years to come. Basic rulesets like on Getaway or T2 no longer cut it.

How about mode ladders but random or player selected? I wouldn't want to have to play them in order either.

I just gave it a shot and submitted a refund for the game. I may have just played too much real pinball but the entire game feels off and awkward. The Mando table has some very repetitive callouts and animations. Text on tables is also a bit difficult to read.

WOZ is amazing, a modern day TZ. I've happily owned a WOZ ECLE since 2013 with very little issues. Myself and many others think it shoots great too with a ton of shots throughout the playfield. How did you miss the multiple shots on the sides? Must have never played it! There's more to pinball then 2 standard orbits, 2 ramps and toys on springs. I'm more then happy to own WOZ, a game with a fun unique layout that has one of the deepest rulesets in pinball that works the playfield in interesting ways.

I'm not sure why a few people here hate JJP so much. That's why yourself and a few others here have zero credibility here, you never say a single good thing about JJP. The crap some of you Stern fanboys complain about when it comes to JJP games is hilarious. If Stern had made WOZ you would have been going crazy as in your eyes they can do no wrong lol. Also, I don't hate Stern. I currently own two of their games and compliment them regularly. How many JJP's do you own?

We can agree on one thing and that's the hope that Mando is great. There's huge potential with the theme. Thank goodness it will have full assets from both seasons, second season is amazing. Looking forward to the reveal and possibly buying an LE.

Unsubscribe Arguing with you is like arguing with a rock. This is a thread about the next Stern pin, please stop trolling.

I would like to see this change as well. It seems like majority of newer Sterns are focused on points and multipliers versus creating moments with great mode choreography. The new hires / talent that Stern has brought in over the past few years are great but they seem too focused on creating rulesets for tournament play. A good example of this is the modes in LOTR versus modes in AIQ. One game tells it story through code with great mode choreography (animations, music, sounds, stages in modes, etc) while the other has static images and scores flying in left and right.

The last Stern pin that I think told a themes story well through code with multiple moments, modes filled with stages, etc was Ghostbusters.

That's great to hear. People hammer on Dwight for his code but maybe he would be the best choice for Mando code if people want it to have a deep objective based ruleset. Dwight got ripped on over Ghostbusters code for literally years but he eventually came through and went over the top with the final couple updates. Munsters though...yeah lol. I Had a blast playing a TMNT LE the other week on location, fun pin and will take a closer look at it.

Good to know about the modes and side games. I was really impressed how loaded the game appeared while playing it. It felt as loaded of a game as Creature or a number of other 90's Bally Williams pins. If I don't end up with a Mando I can see picking up a TMNT Premium.

I bet a vast majority of those people having new cars that cost $30k - $40k+ do so on payments, they are in debt. Looking rich is easy today, it's called fake rich which means having a lot of debt, just take out a loan or charge it! Is it disposable income? Partially but that's just to afford the car payments, very few people can actually afford to pay in cash for a $30k - $40k+ car. When I see expensive cars on the road I see car payments lol. Many of those same people with the $30k - $50k car loans also have huge 30 year mortgages and are saving little towards retirement. Now that's normal sadly.

Don't waste your time, the more you argue with him the more your head will hurt lol.

Lol yeah true.

Here's a couple pics from the Where's the Code GB thread I created some years back. It was nearly a 3 year wait for Ghostbusters code...Also it was world wide news when it finally dropped lol.

f6287e03a53e06901a0b56a25e480afcb31c4b66 (resized).png
0fb584c481471c42e6b2a9ab0c62f671bf39002c (resized).jpg

The way you post makes me think you have never played a pinball machine before. Just bizarre.

Guess what, nearly every modern pinball machine has mechs that stop the ball briefly. That's normal. Pinball is more then just ramps and orbits. Flow can become overrated when it means minimal mechs on games that now cost $6k - $9k+. This is one of the reasons many have hammered on Star Wars pro and LZ pro.

Oh, please let me know the name of your Pinball Design 101 book so I never buy it lol. Here's the front cover for you, sounds like your perfect pin. Send $8k and I'll build you one, it's a flow monster.

whitewood (resized).jpg

Please add "Stern Trigger Warning" if posting something like that! Comments like that will give some people a heart attack here.

Myself and others enjoy looking at the 27" JJP screen at times during the game (especially during those big game moments that are in all JJP games), easily viewing goals / progress, and seeing HD high quality graphics versus basically static images flying in and out on a majority of Stern games.

There's nothing wrong with the Stern LCD screen size but they need to step up their animation game or at least be more consistent with offering high quality animations across all titles. The animations for TMNT come across as PS2 era (even Zach from SDTM hammered on that and he's a Stern distributor), same with Avengers AIQ. Animations for Black Knight are much nicer (probably their best) but why isn't that the norm from Stern?

Agree. I'm sure Stern could match JJP in the animation department if they spent more money on that area. The "You don't play the LCD" type comments I read end up coming across as excuses for cheesy animation work. At first I was bummed that Ghostbusters didn't have an LCD but it probably worked out for the best as the dot work in the game is awesome.

To each their own. Have never had an issue with glancing at a JJP screen during gameplay. The JJP screens are all broken up into quadrants / areas for the games different objectives. Stern has tried this to some degree but I find it harder to read due to the much smaller screen.

Good point on Deadpool, Stern did a nice job with the animations on that game. The 8 bit style animations look great.

Lol I'm not even reading your posts anymore and it feels great. You cannot accept any criticism, even if it's constructive and includes compliments, against Stern.

Lol. No one is here saying Stern games suck but there are a handful of Pinside members that take it that way when reading any criticism towards Stern. Stern makes great games that are fun. Does that mean they are perfect? No. JJP is no different and has had some serious issues again with playfield issues (yet again) with some GNR playfields.

Duplicate, sorry, please delete.

Hopefully today we will actually have some news for Mando! Maybe a teaser. I'm either buying that, a Stranger Things Pro, or TMNT premium next.

See we can get along lol. I had such a blast playing TMNT on location a few weeks back, was not expecting that. The game feels loaded like a 90's Bally Williams pin. Code looks great too.

Personally I think Dialed In has the best animations in pinball, especially the phone character animations, but that's just me. Much better then 90's CD-ROM.

I still think Dialed In by JJP and Black Knight SOR by Stern have the best animations from each company. It's a bit ironic that both are also original themes, I think that motivated each company to do a great job.

Now good to go for buying Mando (or a Stranger Things or TMNT) after ordering a Namco 20th Anniversary Ms. Pacman / Galaga cabinet for my wife. She's always wanted one and said no more pins until she gets one, ok I'm not arguing I said haha.

Oh damn, and here we go!

I think speculation but I wouldn't be surprised if we see a Kapow licensed Back to the Future with Lyman on code.

We now know what Baskar armor is in the game lol. I'm thinking the armor will look better in the high resolution photos.

123 (resized).JPG

So those 6 drop targets we heard about for weeks are really 6 standup targets representing the top of Mando's head? Baby Yoda is a doll and does nothing across all models. Upper playfield looks odd. WTF lol. Just initial impressions.

Back to waiting for Back to the Future.

We have come to the point in this thread where some people who have decided to buy the game are now becoming very defensive over it. Happens with every new release but the people being offended need to realize this is general game thread where criticism is normal, not a club thread.

In regards to your comment to Stern I'm glad you made is as the name of the Nerdist article is "Baby Yoda Controls the Balls in THE MANDALORIAN Pinball". No, Baby Yoda does nothing. "The game’s best component, though, is its large custom sculpture of Grogu. He looks and moves like he is controlling the balls in the game. Just like he controls the little round knob from the Razor Crest". No, Baby Yoda doesn't move, he doesn't control the pinball, he does nothing.

False advertising.

https://nerdist.com/article/star-wars-the-mandalorian-pinball-baby-yoda/

I'm with ya there! This is such a great time for pinball with so many different types of games available, there's something for everyone. I waited for the Mando reveal, was disappointed, and then bought a TMNT Premium lol.

There's even people on Pinside now saying "Maybe Baby Yoda does grab the ball after all" and "I think his hand does move". Stern includes even the most minor of features on their feature matrix charts, they sure as hell didn't miss Baby Yoda being interactive.

Kodak and Polaroid probably said the same thing.

Like it or not other competitors have forced Stern to change for the better. If it wasn't for those competitors Stern would probably still be using DMD's...

A new BTTF pin would be a money printing machine for Stern. Really hoping this one happens and with full assets.

Still want to see a new BTTF from Stern but Karate Kid would be pretty cool too! Either way each theme needs full assets to be done right.

Lol yeah. We've seen Stern get full assets before, probably just depends on the cost and if they want to pay it. If BTTF is coming it sounds like it will be the next Kapow game as higher pricing partially due to the license cost. Hopefully the signature edition comes with a piece of the drivers seat from the destroyed Delorean in BTTF 3.

Damn dude lol. There's been price increases by Stern for literally years and it hasn't resulted in more features. Actually there's been cuts in features and hardware designs to save on costs. Everything from the new head design, lock down bar removal for brackets, plastic versus metal leg protectors, removal of the head lock mech for bolts, cheaper coil stops, and hell even the entire Spike 2 system have been designed to save on costs. Have any of those changes resulted in more hardware features? No, just more money for Stern. NIB prices were already insane a few years back and are in crazy town territory now.

I wouldn't be surprised if this price increase is partially the result of Stern seeing JJP raise prices by $1k. Both JJP and Stern have been playing the back and forth price raising game for years. At some point customers are going to say no which I think has already been occurring. In the past two months I picked up a NIB TMNT Premium for $7500 and a NIB GNR LE for $9500. There's no way in hell I would have bought either game, at least new, if they were $8k and $10.5k.

I see we have another two people blaming JJP for Stern raising prices...my goodness lol. This is Stern's choice to raise prices, try holding them accountable for once and what they are putting in their games (or lack of). Instead of blaming JJP ask yourself why Stern isn't putting more into their games with each price increase and overall increasing value. Maybe don't do that though and just be happy for paying $1k per orbit and ramp, if it's fun who cares what the price is!

You don't like any criticism directed at Stern and then lash out. Criticism doesn't mean a company or product is bad. I post in Stern related threads because I own, enjoy, and will continue to buy Stern games.

So Kaneda is saying that Pro prices are going up $500 for pro's, $750 on the premium, and the LE price increase is being decided to be raised by $1k or $1500. This is insane considering what we already get, or lack of, at existing prices. Really hope this is just a rumor.

Also, Kaneda is saying that Godzilla is next and that it will be followed by a John Borg designed Back to the Future.

Kaneda is reporting that Ghostsbusters is going to be vaulted. Not sure how accurate of a rumor this is.

Venom is the next Stern pin? I don't get it, doesn't seem like that big of a theme but I must be out of the comic book loop. Venom has always come across as a B level super hero character IMO. What's next a Hawkeye pin? Hoping I'm wrong and this is a hit like Deadpool with a cool comic version of the theme.

Also, much rather have a Back to the Future pin That theme will print money.

The Doc is ready for the next price increase

download (2) (resized).jpg

I really hope we get full assets for Jaws

Stern is going to beat JJP to launch, here's the whitewood. Supposedly it's Stern's fastest games to date. There are no stupid mechs or toys to slow the ball down, just pure speed for $7k - 13k! It's all about the flow.

Pinside_forum_7426297_0 (resized).jpg

Shots are the new toys right? lol. $2k per ramp, $1k per orbit, that barren space in those areas is very valuable for the flow of the game.

What if it's generic Jaws though, like generic Jurassic Park, with little to no license assets beyond the main theme song? Jurassic Park has enough stuff going on with the theme for players to forget about the lack of the movie actors but Jaws? I don't see it. There needs to be Quint movie quotes by Robert Shaw in the game among others. A combination of generic plus modes based on the first film would be great to see.

Knowing Stern though who knows what we will get. Instead of the Orca boat we get the Morca boat designed by Gomez that spins around in a circle.

Jump ramp with benson posts, large spinning disk, large pop up character mech, physical kick back, etc. What's your point? Try again lol.

Stern shot themselves in the foot moving to a newer larger factory yet again. That decision was likely made when they were still selling games left and right and the secondary market was on fire. Now that's not the case. They expanded too quickly IMO.