I guess it depends on how you define mediocrity...

Over the course of their career, Foo Fighters have won 12 Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album four times. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, their first year of eligibility.

I thought he said on his stream, or maybe it was Hot Nudge, that Jack is 6'7"

I just remember that he is taller than me, and I'm 6'5"

Good luck buying jeans that don't look like you are prepping for a flood. The struggle is real.

I could see a new Avatar pin before ever seeing Pokemon (which would need a licensing deal with Nintendo).

The long awaited upcoming sequel to Avatar will be out in 2022. Stern seems to have in roads to licensing IP with Disney (e.g. Marvel and Star Wars properties). The fantasy style lends itself well to a pin and has a wide appeal across age groups. The last Avatar pin was back in 2010 on the old platform. I think it could be a possibility.

If they do Bond I would imagine they would try to tie it into newer IP given that there will be a new Bond actor by the release, sort of like how Golden Eye was done.

Pretty sure those are photoshopped with how blurry that image is.

“ Mookie Blaylock soon signed to Epic Records and renamed themselves Pearl Jam. In an early promotional interview, Vedder said that the name "Pearl Jam" was a reference to his great-grandmother Pearl, who was married to a Native American and had a special recipe for peyote-laced jam.”

Yeah just did here
https://rulefortytwo.com/secret-rock-knowledge/chapter-13/pearl-jam/

It's probably because there is no rating system for pinball like the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is for video games. With video games, you can point to the rating and say it is inappropriate for children, so you can do whatever you want.

I think pinball is all assumed to be rated PG.

I almost spit my drink out reading that…

Ladies and gentlemen, flippers and butts up

Really though, JP home is a great game. Can’t say it enough.

We’re at 25 years on Titanic. Let’s build a table that commemorates that. From coin up the table starts listing continuously until you inevitably drain. The budget game music is from a second grade class recorder recital playing “My Heart Will Go On”. The topper is Jack’s wet frozen lifeless hands clinging to the head.

Titanic pinball wizard mode…

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I had one. It’s great but it’s tough. I traded mine for an AIQ after 18 months or so

Say what you will about dimpling, ripples, etc, that people have issues with on their NIB machines, Stern's playfields still hold up surprisingly well under heavy use. My GOTG pro was routed and had these beauties in it when I picked it up. It was inside a laundromat and you would think this thing needed its own lint trap. When I got it you couldn't see all of star lords head between the flippers, it was just a brownish mass. It had ball trails and grime all around the orbit. A little bit of Novus 2 and an hour of cleaning and the playfield looks beautiful.

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No forgiveness for you BriannaWu !

Does AC/DC not exist where you are?

Morbius! It will suck your wallet dry and leave you feeling empty inside!

This going to get moderated just like the Disney thread. Right wingers hate Howard after he started speaking out against a certain former guest of the show and criticizing said guest. That’s when he became not funny to them.

I think JP is a good comparison here for conversation. JP is basically a generic themed dinosaur pin (dinosaurs are inherently cool) with license to the main theme song and one side character (Nedry). If Universal Studios (same company that licensed JP) licensed back to the future in the same fashion, would you still be lining up for a pin with a 1955/1985 theme with just George McFly (Crispin Glover) as the only licensed character? You would probably get generic depictions for Marty and Doc in the art and video instead of actual film assets. You would definitely get the main orchestral theme for the movie, but you probably wouldn’t get Huey Lewis and the News. You might not even get a Delorean like how on JP Stern wouldn’t pay the rights for a Jeep. I think if it happens in the same way it could be a pretty weak offering with an expensive license.

The IGT Jurassic Park slot machine had all the film character and video assets in it too. So I guess it really depends on if they go through Kapow! to license it or straight through Universal like they did with JP. It’s very possible could go the way that the Pinball FX version did, where they use likenesses but no actual film assets. At least that had a Delorean

I think 98% of crujones4life reason for being is posting about BTTF

I guess we'll have to see. It's a lot of speculation for a title Gary keeps saying is not going to happen

It does shoot great. I picked up the floor model at slight discount from my local distro a while back and added a larger screen and a 8” cabinet speaker. It’s a nice pin for the home environment. Yeah prices are little bananas but that is just how it is these days

Good call. You could probably do it on the cheep with an arduino and a small lcd for audits.

Wasn’t the last vault AC/DC back in 2017? And wasn’t it the tail end of when they were still making SAM games? I also question if Stern would vault a SAM game when they are set up for Spike 2 production.

Especially with postponing a cornerstone in an attempt to catch up on the backlog I don’t understand putting in the effort on converting an old design to a vault. Unless they went the route of colorDMD and keep the dots, they would have to redo all the graphics an animation, and possibly have to license more IP. I don’t understand why they would do that when you already have designed work ready to go.

I watched a ton of HB stuff growing up and I'm about as old as you are. There were some new shows in the 80s, but where I lived they seemed package up all the old cartoons and play a ton of reruns of stuff from the 60s and 70s (USA Cartoon Express?). That said, cartoon network played a ton of that stuff through the 90's, and I think spun it off into its own network (Boomerang), so I imagine a lot of people in their 20-30's watched a bunch of the same shows. There is definitely a lot of IP where you could almost make a HB Saturday morning mashup theme if Warner Brothers ever wanted to license it. Kids these days will never know how cool Saturday mornings were in the early 80s. Here is stuff I remember watching and enjoying.

-Flintstones (a great rip off of the Honeymooners)
-Scooby doo (except for scrappy doo)
-Jetsons
-Yogi Bear
-Johnny Quest
-Space Ghost
-Birdman
-The Galaxy Trio
-Mightor
-Atom Ant
-Secret Squirrel
-The Herculoids
-The Fantastic Four
-Super Friends
-Super Globe Trotters
-Hong Kong Phooey
-Grape Ape
-Jabber Jaw
-Smurfs
-Shirt Tales
-Richie Rich
-Snorks
-Pirates of Dark Water (cancelled too soon)

I kinda new MoM was going to be more serious but that’s not a bad thing. Thor is sure to be good. Taika Waititi does an amazing job with those making them fun.

That took me a sec. It’s been a minute since I saw blazing saddles. It’s probably time again.

Just watched MoM. Love when Sam Raime throws in a Bruce Campbel cameo. So good The movie has a lot of evil dead vibes which makes it a lot of fun.

That’s how I feel about other bands of the time like Stained, Korn, SlipKnot, etc. I can’t listen to them.

I think Foo Fighters has held up well.

Of course they did. For 10 years before end game came out it was the highest grossing movie of all time. Remember back that it stayed in theaters for 34 weeks. That’s just crazy.

Exactly. Disney has always been that way. All the merchandise is out there to cross promote their other products and services. They see every Marvel and Star Wars pin as an advertisement for their movies, toys, music, and subscription service. This growth map from 60 years ago shows how they have been thinking this way for a long time. Notice how their merchandise licensing is viewed as a way to promote the parks and their films.

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Growing up in the 80s I love the whole aesthetic of Tron. That said I don’t understand all the love for the pinball machine.

And here I am a big Disney fan whose looking forward to the ride, and the game just doesn’t do it for me, and certainly not at 10-20k

Walk into either Harry Potter themed section of Universal Orlando. It is always packed in there and people are decked out with the merchandise they sell there. It's definitely still a valuable license.

I think a good barometer is when you can sell full body length dark colored robes in the Florida sun and heat, and people are happily buying them, you have a dedicated fan base.

It's true. I don't know how so many people struggle through the parks in 90F weather with 100% humidity in those robes when in shorts and a t-shirt I'm sweating my brains out.

Because adult themes like inflation, geopolitical conflict, and supply chain issues don’t scream good times like fantasy IPs

How many people bought Godzilla because they were such huge kaiju fans? Maybe half? As with all pins it depends on the layout. If it doesn't play well (*ehem* LZ) then it doesn't matter how much I like the theme.

I send that exact video to one of my good friends on a regular basis just to annoy him. I love it. If they made a game that included that clip I would probably buy it to stick in his brewery as a form of torture

Don’t forget these gems

I was a little disappointed when you posted a picture to find that you weren't actually a Blacula like your profile pic suggests. #falseAdvertising

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I don’t know what I just watched, but I’m hooked and I’m buying the T-shirt

I think it’s a fair way to compensate for the crazy people calling to demand to be on lists for games that don’t exist. Most distributors don’t have staffs of 50 or 100 people where they can waste their days with rabid fanboys who want to be first on the list for games that are only rumors.

I think if it is a title you care deeply about, put in you $5 and get on the list before the flippers call on day one of the release and try to buy up all the new stock.

.

I think pretty alright is an apt description. The game was more fun than I thought it would be at first glance. I actually like it more than Turtles and think it shoots a bit better than GOTG (had TMNT, still have GOTG, I have a bit of a Borg problem). The left shot behind the drops is easier than the Yondu or Lair shots which was a nice surprise. I would happily take it any day over over a Led Zep.

Same reason mentioned before. The Osborne Effect. If people find out a designer has a title just around the corner, like Keith Elwin, orders for current stock dry up as people wait for the next thing.

Stranger Things was a sleeper that wasn't exactly well received out of the gate. Early sales were likely affected. That's probably why they are gone.

You can see below that the first year and a half it was out, it wasn't cracking the top 25, and has only trended up more recently since it has stopped production.
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I think it was JP Home Pin

So there is a catch with using public domain Mickey Mouse that would probably keep it from getting made. Disney would likely tie a company up in litigation long enough to make it not worth it.

“You can use the Mickey Mouse character as it was originally created to create your own Mickey Mouse stories or stories with this character. But if you do so in a way that people will think of Disney – which is kind of likely because they have been investing in this character for so long – then in theory, Disney could say you violated my trademark.”

The court rulings may go against them eventually, but really they just need to tie it up and make the litigation lengthy and prohibitively expensive that would impact the profitability of any product made

One Piece would make for great pinball fodder. Manga started in 1997 while the anime is still going after 23 years with 1026 Episodes, 17 movies, dozens of games.

The modes could be taken from each of the arcs (East Blue, Arabasta, Sky Island, Water 7, Thriller Bark, Summit War, Fish Man Island, Dressrosa, Whole Cake Island, and finally Wano). Lots of content to pull from that would make for a fun theme. It'll never happen though..

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My local distro had one. I played it and ended up buying his floor model. Reviews have been positive. It's a fun layout with an easy to grasp rule set

Ren and Stimpy will never happen. Stern has shown it wants nothing to do with pedos

https://www.newsweek.com/john-kricfalusi-involved-new-ren-stimpy-after-abuse-allegations-1523097#:~:text=Kricfalusi%20was%20accused%20of%20the,she%20was%2013%20in%201994.

Kricfalusi was accused of the sexual abuse of two minors in 2018. In a report first published by Buzzfeed, a woman named Robyn Byrd shared a detailed account of alleged sexual abuse she endured at the hands of Kricfalusi when she was a teenager. She claimed that she first contacted Kricfalusi when she was 13 in 1994.

If they could get Patrick Warburton doing the call outs that would be an amazing pin

It seems like for one week every month, this thread is hijacked and turns into the back to the future hype thread. If you want to talk BTTF hype, that's the better thread.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bttf2-hype-great-scott

"I'd rather pay more for XXX title done right..."

-Stern raises prices-

Half of Pinside "Pinsanity! Pins used to cost $4,000 new! Delivered! With tax!"
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The other half of pinside on the phone with their distros "Put me down for 3 LEs"
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I also give it to Stern for having some of the best flipper feel. I personally have trouble with JJP games where the flippers feel like wet noodles.

I think Gomez has shot down wide bodies in the past saying that they never shoot right. He does have a point there.

George Gomez:

I didn’t know then but in my opinion, wide-bodies are inherently flawed. The kinetics are compromised. Shots outside the standard 20.25“ width are weak shots, given the available stroke on standard flippers. The stroke of a flipper is approx. 50 degrees. You can rotate the entire flipper to help that but then you compromise the shots in the center of the playfield. One constraint is that the flipper is a lever and it accelerates thru its arc of travel as a function of the force applied by the solenoid. The position of the ball on the flipper, combined with its weight and velocity when you engage the solenoid, is what determines the direction of the shot. All of the widebodies I’ve played feel really soft on those outside shots and fairly unsatisfying. The reason the older ones from the 70’s and before feel fine, is because the nature of those old games was slower and the ball was what we now call “floaty”. Neil Falconer who was a software developer at the earliest versions of our company, used to say: “when the company you work at starts talking about making wide bodies, its time to dust off the resume because they are a recipe for disaster”.

https://thepinballchick.com/2021/03/05/the-pinball-chick-interview-george-gomez/

Because everybody loves weird flippers???

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I wonder if 50 degrees is a bit of a design sweet spot and that is why it has stayed that way. I would think as you increase the stroke of the flipper bat, that the centrifugal force on ball as the bat accelerates through the arc causes it to leave the flipper bat early before the end of stroke. I would also think that as you give it an extra 10 degrees, you would have to angle your in lanes as well, which means as a ball comes from the in lanes it's going to hit the flipper with more speed making shots a little more wild.

So if Stern goes with Bond, is it going to be the new Joe Pera Bond?

We should start up a gofundme to buy condolences bourbon for crujones4life if BTTF isn't announced

I was born in 80 and remember watching it in the theater as a kid and the craze of teens trying to hang on to the back of cars and skateboard. I even remember playing the awful LJN game released on the NES at a friends sleepover.

I played it at my distro. It’s a fun shooter for sure. Selfishly, I hope others dog it for a little while longer so I can maybe pick one up on the cheap

People hate on GOTG too, and I don’t understand that one either. It did help me get it for a good deal, so I’m okay with that.

It also gives you pause to think of how badly even popular IP can be implemented. Kong is great, but with the very same technology, Fast and Furious is a big steamy pile.

D&D has some funky music. I’d be down with a remake if they keep the audio

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DeadFlip makes jokes about a Golden Girls pin, but is it really a joke?





What if…
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Me neither, but there is a pretty fun VPX version that made me think twice.

Gold wings? Airborne? F-14?

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So... the plan is to invest capitol into something you think will be a losing venture so you can say to your consumers "Hey, we think this is bad but we put this out there to say we put something out there"?????

That's a great way to go out of business.

I think Stern's licensing department drives what IP they get, not Pinsiders. That said, there are some Stern guys like Dwight and Jack that seem to interact over Pinside to get player/owner feedback on existing titles.

Pinside is really focused on home collectors, so it gives them insight into their more boutique sales lines like the Elvira anniversary edition.

As mpdpvdpin often points out from his perspective, operators are driven by what delivers a profit on location, and can be very different than what a home collector wants.

100% you could make it work. While it would be "Jaws", it would really be a shark theme with some music licensed from the film. It could be made in the same vein as a horror themed pin, and really leverage the shark attack idea to build tension with timed missions and hurry ups based around trying to avoid imminent shark attacks.

The Jaws name would just be for some market place recognition. It could thrive with just a generic shark theme with no call backs to the original film and still do very well. The original film is so old, and special effects have come so far that trying to use assets from the 1975 release would feel campy which would run contrary to the design if you are trying to make a true exciting thriller/horror pin.

Also any pin that adds a physical lock with a shark head will sell even if it is a giant piece of monkey dung. People need to see sharks eat stuff.

Very interesting. I wonder if they are doing Bond without movie assets?

Sounds like some reasonably priced Godzillas are about to hit the market

Nice! I need to get a CRT for a retro set up. I recently lucked into a family member doing some basement clean up, who handed me a big rubber maid bin with
- Front loader NES with light gun, controllers and about 20 games
- Genesis, 3 button controllers, ~10 games
- 2 N64s, controllers, games
- 2 PS2s, controllers, games
- 1 Original GameBoy, with the crazy ass magnifier, battery pack, extra speaker add on
Amazingly enough, everything still works. I need to find homes around here for the extra N64 and PS2.

Deposits are something customers have asked distros for. Free waiting lists have too many people on them so people want to put some money down to get their name higher on the list to be sure to get that machine. Some people opt to put down as much money as they can to get as high on the list as possible by depositing the list price in full. This isn’t locking in the price, it’s still just a deposit towards the game.

I stumbled on adventure time a couple years ago. I really loved the comedy and story telling. It replaced futurama as a before bed show for a while.

Damn. Age 96. That’s a good run.

I am curious what they are working on. It might be salesmanship but Dwight did mention it is Eddy’s best shooting whitewood in his opinion

This is the only Ozzy I would be up for

Avatar, highest grossing movie of all time with 2.9 billion USD in box office sales. So lame

People love to hate on things. Welcome to the internet.

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