What part of Stern's announcement mentioned a movie? Just because a bunch of you guys grew up smoking weed to softcore cartoon porn (with a decidedly non-metal soundtrack) doesn't discount the hundreds of issues of the magazine it's based on.

Sounds good to me.

If I was rich I'd be all over this thing. There's gotta be at least 100 wealthy Heavy Metal fans who'll pony up eight grand for a cool hunk of nostalgia.

Star Wars fans aren't exactly underserved for expensive collectibles. But your point is well taken. Fandom doesn't necessarily equal sales.

I’d enjoy a Thor pin with the humor and vivid artwork of Ragnarok and (presumably) the upcoming Taika Waititi fourth film.

Mission Impossible, John Wick, and Fast & Furious all sound boring as shit. Want a generic middle-aged action hero game? Get a 24. What art would a John Wick pin have, old dude wearing black fighting other dudes wearing black in a dark room? I just don’t see a game there.

I’ll take the under.

I've heard this SW/chess comparison more than once, but I can't say I agree. It's a pretty straightforward mode + multiball game, with shot multipliers, which don't make the game any deeper. I'd compare it to backgammon, with its use of the doubling cube; you can ignore it and just play the game, or you can raise the stakes.

I'd give the chess-like compliment to Game of Thrones.

Nooooooooooooo!!!

I wouldn't. Played a 70 minute game where I was two shots from Valinor, but the ring shot had become impossible. I'll take my chances with Spike boards.

So did I. Speakers are 20" apart and five feet from your head in a playing stance. It's irrelevant.

Jaws was the internal codename for JP2. No way they'd use that if actual Jaws was even on the radar as a theme.

Yes, Jaws would have a codename, every game does. My point is they wouldn't use the license of an upcoming game as another game's codename. Tips their hand, and would just be confusing around the office. "How's Jaws coming along? Not actual movie Jaws, I mean fake Jaws."

Of course it's not off-limits. But it wasn't being considered at the time JP2 was designed, or they would have avoided the name. If you disagree you simply don't understand how these things work.

As someone who grew up a massive nerd, I gotta say, you nerds are killin' me with this Harry Potter crap.

I've never seen one but the trailers are like if that Disturbed song that goes "OH WAH AH AH AH!" was a movie. Could not sit through one even with hot buttered popcorn.

...only after the director had Johnny Jewel score the film, and the studio replaced him since he wasn't a big name. They paid Cliff to mimic Johnny's style. But the soundtrack still has a few songs from bands on Johnny's label Italians Do It Better. That whole sound was one of the director's inspirations for the vibe of the film.

Sorry, music geek tangent.

Confirmed crazy.

No worries, they stopped that years ago.

Lol, ask someone under the age of forty.

That, plus people who were 5 to 12 in 1987-1996.

Because almost no TMNT fan would prefer that. And neither did Nickelodeon, apparently.

I take it you've never seen the show. Not every theme is for everyone. I'm guessing you're a bit north of the age demo for this one.

Set up the terms of a sales bet and tell me where to escrow my wager.

Just imagine how long these playfields have cured.

Van physical lock. Krang bouncing toy.

Yes. $5 billion and counting in worldwide box office.
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Plus all the non-film stuff.

I said "plus all the non-film stuff." My kid is a huge JP fan and he literally doesn't know the movies exist. Duplo, Lego, bigger toys, cartoon, books, stickers, etc. Feel free to add it all up yourself.

Exactly.

I'm not saying what makes a good game. You said what's bigger.

Agree to disagree I guess.

So it's a 90/00/10's rehash instead.

I don't care enough about themes to be automatically in or out, but I don't see a game there. Who's your adversary, Biff? Time itself? What's worse, nonstop Huey Lewis, or fake Huey Lewis? It'll have Christopher Lloyd custom callouts, I guess. No way you can get any Michael J. Fox involvement, unless you're talking about the one that works at Pinball Life.

It's a pretty shallow theme, with an already shallow pin to match. Paper-thin sci-fi romantic comedy. Funny that our generation has so much '80s nostalgia invested in a movie that's actually a love letter to the '50s. Everyone wants it to be 30 years ago.

In that case you need KME to design it. Steve only does Steve layouts. There are two: third flipper, or no third flipper.

Most of them? None as profane as Sopranos, though.

Not very, unfortunately.

Zero chance Stern reveals another new cornerstone title "very soon." Hot Wheels or Heavy Metal is my bet.

This is the saddest part. The license is primarily known for stunning visuals, and it's the ugliest playfield in years. Should have been a case of "looks amazing but not worth $8k!"

Jack was teasing his next Dead Flip reveal, which could be anything.

Who said Stern is doing Hot Wheels? I said Stern isn't revealing a new cornerstone game anytime soon, so Jack's reveal will be Hot Wheels or Heavy Metal. I played Hot Wheels at the factory, pretty sure I know who's making it, numbnuts.

Let's not get crazy.

How about “they are boring and suck.”

It'll be an actual pistol with real ammo that shoots the petals off a live rose.

I'm not a big Bond fan so I didn't realize his game of choice was baccarat. That game is a joke, zero skill. Poker is a huge step up story-wise for a guy who's supposed to be a suave secret agent or whatever. It involves psychology, combinatorics, people reading, calculating direct and implied odds on the fly, etc. It's like flipping coins vs. chess.

I'm with you there. Almost every poker scene in movies or TV sucks.

I know someone who replaced all the Metallica tracks with Guitar Hero or Rock Band instrumentals.

I think that's like, the point of downvoting? If you're opposed to the concept in general that's cool I guess.

I agree with pretty much your entire Pearl Jam argument except that they are the most somber, straight-laced, image-free band imaginable. Just don't see a game there. One of their biggest hits is a dirge about a kid who shot himself at school. Their other biggest hit is a ballad about a kid with learning disabilities who gets beat up.

Great minds rock alike.

Downloadable Roth?!?

Scheider, Shaw & Hamilton are dead. Richard Dreyfuss probably doesn't need the money, so if he doesn't care about pinball, good luck. I guess they can afford Lorraine Gary.

Dead guys aren't good at returning phone calls. Negotiating with their estates is a task I don't wish on anyone.

Tarantino loves kitsch, I bet you could talk him into an affordable pinball deal.

When QT first met with Travolta about being in Pulp Fiction, QT insisted on playing vintage board games all evening. Grease, Welcome Back Kotter, Saturday Night Fever. He asked John to quote lines in character while playing, so he'd definitely understand everyone's desire for their precious callouts.

Gonna see if I can break pinside's all-time downvote record. Ghostbusters was an overrated, average comedy, carried entirely by prime Bill Murray's screen presence and swagger. 2016 reboot was a perfectly fine popcorn flick.

I love Groundhog Day. And I live a half hour from where it was filmed! Great little vegetarian mediterranean restaurant in the town square. ANYway...

Scooby has balls?

...and when they finally make it, get ready for "see I told you so!"

And if it does it's just coincidence/luck. Every year is some multiple of 5 anniversary for something related to a theme.

I've never liked STTNG and always said "if they made this in a standard body with regular outlanes, I'd buy one." Stern did, and I did! Those wide cannons ruin the playfield geometry. Worst slingshots ever. Good riddance. Also, no lame video mode.

Yes I realize I'm in the minority.

Steve has two games: 2 flipper & 3 flipper. I hope he proves me wrong.

My impression is that he's busy enough being the EVP/CCO that he only works on special projects, no cornerstones. Deadpool seems to be an outlier, emergency bailout of you-know-who.

I know how to do all that, thanks, just never cared for the game. Riker poker even more boring than the pattern memorization mode. I'm not sure how you adjust the trapezoid shape out of the slings, or make them not dead near the top where there is no switch or kicker.

Tanio is due to code a game, right? Deadpool was his last AFAIK.

I dunno if it's getting bumped so much as he averages one Stern game every 18 months withOUT a pandemic, and it's only been 16 months since BK3.

Losing score is never fun. Casual players will think it's a bug or just feel ripped off.

Designers & artists don't leak games. All these Jaws puns & jokes from KME & ZY mean you guys aren't getting a shark game anytime soon.

In that order? Your number five is #1 on that list at the box office. Dr. Strange made half of Black Panther's haul. He's a supporting character at best.

That's kinda the goal.

Find a distributor with something in the box today, buy it, have fun with the kids.

If you're always chasing the next game, you'll never catch it. Because then there will be a NEXT next game.

Yeah, just order another dirt-cheap batch of diecast Tron toys on closeout. Oh wait...

...to the hundred or so people pouding the desk & screaming for one. Minus the half that would find some fatal flaw with the vault and not buy it after all.

My shitty college band sampled a line from Jaws which is now burned into my brain. But I still haven't seen the film.

Ever been to the movies? Or a steakhouse? Or on vacation?

My sources tell me Spooky will beat them to market with a Sharknado pin.

...or even better, last year's Banana Splits horror film.

I see what you did there.

Yeah, if I know KME he wants nothing to do with that old Avengers layout. Why tarnish a perfect record?

Umm, no and nope.

You guys know you can watch these films anytime right?

I didn't say you shouldn't want it. I said you're not getting it.

It is.

Theme is whatever, I'm in on any KME game. Who wants a HUO Metallica LE?

Can you squeeze one more in there?

That ain't no lie. This TWIP poll was a real eye-opener for me:
TWIP poll.jpg
55% of responders are 2011 or later, so like half of current TWIP readers weren't buying games when Stern released Avengers. It's old news.

Yup. I was buying the new KME game regardless, but with a soon-to-be 3 year old boy, Marvel is a slam dunk over Led Zep in this house.

Call your distributor yesterday.

I mean, as long as we're digging up old ZY stuff, Ghost Rider pin!

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You new here?

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Hold out for something a little more mature, like elderly men in cat clown makeup.

Yes.

Tough but fair.

Yeah definitely.

That's a great idea if you have $20k lying around to buy one. Licensing ain't cheap. And good luck getting approval from all the bands. Who gets top billing?

Slim chance since he's already in the new AIQ game and Chadwick Boseman passed away. Maybe a few years down the road if/when they recast the role and do another film.

Futurama would've been great, but that spaceship sailed 7 years ago. Show went off the air right when Stern got into their modern groove of great games.

Stern themes have to sell thousands worldwide. Modestly successful American TV show canceled seven years ago? Good luck with that. I dunno if Futurama will ascend to "nostalgia" status.

That said, Futurama is in the top 10% of viability in this batshit crazy thread.

They're also super boring with regard to all the non-music factors that need to translate to a fun game.