Jackass theme would be hilarious! Moving shopping cart captive ball (like TF or TSPP), a mode where you have to be Preston and you must catch WeeMan, a Party Boy dancing toy, and somehow they need to involve "antiquing". Tons of source material for that game. Would be even better if there were settings where the game could fight back (shocks, scares, blinding lights... paper cuts, hell go nuts!)

Or more recently like this...

spidermanpin-home (resized).jpg

Lol can a Mod just step in now and put the kibosh on all things “rapey”. I’d really like to focus on how more gimped a SW Pro can possibly be...

Hell, Diner is a fun game, right? Actually in a similar vain, one of my son's and my favorite game on the Nintendo Switch is Overcooked. It's a beat-the-clock cooperation game where you have to act as line cooks to get orders done correct and fast.

It could make for a very simple and fun pinball machine. You're in a kitchen and you have stations - grill, fry-a-lator, plates, chopping board, toppings. Order comes out on the screen and you have 30 seconds to make all the shots required to make that order (grill a burger, chop lettuce, add ketchup, fries on the side...etc.) but the orders change each time, and as your progress, the orders get harder (double burgers, less time... etc.). Get the orders done quicker, get a bigger tip. It could make for a really fun pinball machine... freggin line cooks. Similar to Diner, but could be much more complicated with kitchen toys and stations. Didn't think it would be fun on the switch, but it's super fun.

Let me save you countless hours of your life...

It starts off really cool, and you get pulled in for a few seasons... then they repeat the same story arc over and over... gasoline apparently never has a shelf life... and then one day you realize you just watched Carol fucking pick blueberries for an hour and you question what you're doing with your free time.

And Mafia too... oh wait, no one bought that though.

A lot of good ideas in there, but holy hell no to the Eggo pop bumpers! That's exactly the same logic Stern had for Inner Tube pops in the new Elvira.

Just because something is round doesn't mean it needs to be a pop bumper. The Eggo's in Stranger Things have a minor place in the story, but do not have nearly enough of an impact to be featured as pops, since a pop nest makes up about 1/6th of the available space in the PF. That space needs to be something a lot more prominent and part of the world in which they exist, and not just having giant waffles tucked up in a corner and cartoon Eggo's pop up on a screen each time a ball gets kicked around the pops.

WoZ had it right by making the pops trees. Stranger Things could have a "pops forest" with that tree with the gateway behind it via diverter or gate when enabled. In my opinion, THAT'S how you get theme integration and not think of "something round" for the pops.

It could also be done by changing the GI to dark blue and the lasers from ST Prem/LE (preferably in blue or green), perhaps some physical changes on the PF too (moving ramps, pop up items, subways opened for portals...etc.).

It almost certainly will be. The lock bar looks like the home edition lock bar, and the top of the backbox (though not 100% clear) looks to be that thin bar you unscrew with a #2 screwdriver to remove the backglass. The rest of the specs seem to match what the home edition has - passive ball lock, 3 pops, 2 metal ramps. The 2 new toys will probably replace the Death Star and the Tie Fighter on a flex pole.

What I can't understand is why they went with a traditional DMD, when the two main home editions we've seen had a resized color dots DMD and a small LCD. Supreme did have the red DMD, which this appears to have as well, but the art is so iconic from this title, a simple red DMD seems a bit underwhelming. The color dots DMD or the small LCD would probably do the theme more justice.

Add on top of that 2 main multiballs with no real meaning to the story... just two things chosen from random from the theme. Groot MB? Ummm yeah, because you hit a toy on the PF (who is on your side!) a bunch. Orb MB? Well, an orb is round, and there's an orb in the game, so sure, have an arbitrary MB named after it to supposedly immerse you in the theme.

Compare that with things like Prison MB - zombies in the yard, each shot kills one off the DMD... or ST Vengeance MB - destroy the enemy ship... or AMP Suit MB - take out the AMP mech.

Those tie you into the theme while playing. Orb MB just because both that and a pinball are what, round and an Orb is in GOTG? Neat...

I wasn't asking for your approval of my approval of your opinion.

It needs to die on all levels.

Genius.gif

I'll take a Lawrence Welk pin if it has the Maharelle sisters and baby arms for flippers.

The Mummy ride would be one of the top rides in all of Florida, if you weren’t subjected to the same awful Brendan Fraser 30 second clip on loop at the end of the ride. It makes it unrideable.

Yup. Everyone says “I’ll only buy a game if Lyman is on code”. Gary Stern heard dollar signs.

So close

For starters...

1) The Pin has super, super simplified code.
2) Layout is completely different.
3) Only runs on one node board, so both slings and two pops are tied to a common coil (so both slings fire when one is hit).
4) LCD size is about 1/4th the size on the Pin
5) Cabinet looks to be some sort of Ikea-style bolted together particle board.
6) Lockbar style and material.
7) BG is held in by a small piece of plastic with 2 screws (not a keyed lock)
8) No coin mech

I don't know if code can be updated on the Pin either. For instance, on DeadFlip last night he said he thought the StormTrooper target doesn't do anything behind the drop targets. If they somehow rectified this in future game builds, I don't know if you can update the one you already own.

Don't act so surprised. Did you know it was a "feature" with the original Pins like TF and TAV, and even IM Classic I think? No updatable code. You got what you got out of the box, and if it was buggy, tough. I thought I heard it was carried over to the new Pins as well... which if isn't true, great. But if it is true, then you may have a target that scores 0 points and does nothing.

Weren't the street prices for the first SW Home Edition (non-comic art) $3,600 with a MSRP of $4K? This hike to $4000/$4500 respectively seems like a lot considering they just changed the art.

That's where I'm scratching my head. EHOH has had 3 production delays since summer. People are waiting months for their AIQ. Tons of people want certain titles that are borderline impossible to come by (DP, JP Prem...etc.). They just announced yet another version of the Home Edition (SW comic).

Why would you announce a new title when you can't even pump out the games you already have? If inventory of game-specific items isn't an issue, why not keep the lines on the titles you've already released, and when Planning or Production can see a spot in the future when they will begin to come back to normal, then release the next title. They're like a movie theater with 6 screens but want to have 8 new releases.

Agreed with you until that last point.

Really? I find watching Carol pick Blueberries for an hour riveting television!

QUICK! Someone shine a blacklight on that pic to see if the STH topper will have a $350 lighting DLC add-on!

Worse - baby toys. Really want to push the whole lifestyle brand BS from cradle to grave.

I had never ever seen BTTF until 2 weeks ago. I’m 38 and it seemed cool but never had that draw. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I mean, having watched Star Wars with my son before that, I question whether that era had a fixation for family members wanting to hook up, but outside that, it was a good movie and I look forward to the 2nd.

Ghostbusters however... that movie sucked. How is it listed as a comedy??? It starts off with a sort of funny card reading scene and then just continues to prove Dan Ackroyd was never funny, ever. You can’t have a comedy and forget to include jokes. Sigorney plays her usual “stick up her ass self”, and Rick Moranis is a nerd. It’s should’ve been called “Type Cast: the movie... with some ghosts”

People always say Dan Ackroyd is funny and then can’t ever mention a time he is.

Could be true. Since they’re basically all 80s movies, I don’t know the exact order of them all, but it’s not like anyone was taking a risk in the whole scope of their respective careers.

For TWD, that may have been a good thing. I'm glad there's not a mode where I'm Morgan walking around for an hour where I have to hit orbits but go nowhere and get no points.

I think it was because the internets couldn't allow a "What will be the next Stern pinball machine?" thread where no one actually knows what the next Stern pinball machine will be, and instead just hopes for themes that won't ever happen for 300 pages.

The last SW topper they attempted had sharpie and stickers. F’ing sharper and stickers!!!

The next SW topper will be flat plastic and 3x the price.

Well, obviously you must mean Mandalorian Prem/LE... and the Pro will have like a flat plastic and a flasher bulb.

Ain't happening (resized).jpg

Reply deleted.

It's actually an $800 arm moving kit to fit to the existing doll. You think Stern is going to give you a free topper (knowing you'd put the static one on top and not buy their $2000 topper)?

Though the themes are basically interchangeable, you have Nascar/Grand/DaleJr all as different versions of the same layout. Then you have WNBJM/Pabst/Primus as a recent example. Then there are the home games, but there's slight differences between SM/Supreme/SW. Old one would be NFL/Striker.

Before my time back in the hobby, but wasn't Sharkey's also a reskin of something?

Let's not and say we did. Each and every one of their "stomp / clap" songs blow.

Per GS's email - Of the USA Pros, we will first supply games through our distribution to commercial locations; we ask for information about these locations so that we can help market and attract players to see and try Godzilla. LE’s come during the last week of September and early October. The Premium production will start in October. We also will continue manufacturing many other games – all the commercial LCD games will contain the components needed for Insider Connected.

It honestly looks like the best "Pin" model by a mile. Congrats on the project!

I'd even take a Beavis and Butthead pinball machine!

When I used to record, I used a metronome. When a metronome needs to record, it uses Neil Peart.

5 years ago it was "I won't buy a game unless Lyman is on code". Stern hears that and next thing we know puts Lyman exclusively on the expensive pins (BM66, EHoH).

Now it's "In KME we trust" or "I only will buy Elwin designs". Stern hears that and...

I didn't say Lyman was to do ALL the boutique pins. I suggested he was strategically made to only work on expensive games (i.e. no more cornerstones) at some point because so many of us pledged allegiance to him. Stern saw our Lyman lovefest and put him on $8K+ pins from there on out. Also Supreme was a joke and would've been a waste of his skills.

Wouldn't shock me if they do the same to KME at some point because it's history repeating itself.

I can name like 20 Foo songs… problem is that only 2-3 are good and they’re all early hits. FF is a band who can consistently pump out C-/D+ caliber songs and still get their puds tugged by every dying rock station and CBS awards show. They had one good album, and then every album since has been all B-sides.

Wish you could choose the 17 songs and pay some sort of iTunes fee. I know Red Barchetta is in each fan’s setlist they wanted in the game, but the song does nothing for me. Give me YYZ over that all day, every day.

So after $6000-10000, you wouldn’t spend another measly $1 to $17 bucks to change the setlist to your perfect mix and rather would live with songs you don’t like picked out by someone else. Got it.

Seriously, who was asking for Venom??? Rush is polarizing enough, but at least there were a small handful of Pinsiders saying they'd love one. Where are the "We need a Venom!" threads?

I rolled my eyes so hard last night, they hurt. Such shitty Marketing spin BS. They had 1000s of games on backorder long before some app thingy (which doesn't have an actual app yet) hit the market.

But you got to tout the latest and greatest things... even if you come off as a total transparent nozzle by doing so.

But no one is asking for it. Mando, Deadpool, GOTG, GB...etc. all had people wishing it would come true some day. Three of those are the annual Disney/Marvel releases.

Meanwhile if you search Venom on Pinside, there are 10 topics in the forum, 8 of which concern mods for SM, and 1 for Pinball FX.

The ONLY thread about a physical Venom pinball was when the rumor was leaked that Stern would be making it, and here's the current poll results as I write this. Note how you can vote more than once and how the thread has been dead for 37 freggin days. Two most popular responses are "No" and "I'll play it on location".

The pin no one asked for (resized).jpg

...of which 3 are good and the other 15 are because of fading rock stations trying to remain current so they threw whatever hook-less crap FF put out there and thanked them for the opportunity. It was either that or playing the new Imagine Dragons songs which neither classify as rock nor music.

So just to recap: Just about every rock band in existence > Foo Fighters > My ex screaming in my ear > Imagine Dragons

I thought I'd miss my Luci, and I really don't at all. The entire game is building up a Song JP and cashing in with 2x or 3x bell going. There's no other way to blow up a score IMHO.

I mean, you can also try to play all the songs to get to Encore, which is very wood-choppy along the way (and objectively impossible). Game really could've used some mini-wizards to help break things up.

Great F'ing looker though. I think I liked looking at the game more than playing it by the end. But if one fell in my lap for a reasonable price, I honestly think I'd spend the money on a different title right now. It was just too much of a one-trick scoring pony (albeit with a shit ton of features and mechs).

After the Bob Loblaw Law Blog MultiBlahll

This guy gets it.

Foo has somehow figured out how to brainwash people into thinking their "hits" (outside early hits like Monkey Wrench, Big Me, and I'll Stick Around) are catchy, but it's all unmelodic drivel with the occasional Grohl scream so you think you're listening to something good.

I literally just played "The Power of Love" on my phone speaker while riding my OneWheel for a beer run. It's dog walking hour. Lots of adults totally got it and smiled, but still wondered WTF I was riding that acts like a real hoverboard.

Onewheel2.gif

Nah. The topper would be a flat plastic and just say “Mickey Mouse” right over the backglass that says “Mickey Mouse”, right over the left speaker which has a small “Mickey Mouse” edition badge… which is of course over the playfield which says “Mickey Mouse” on it, on top of the “Mickey Mouse” apron… which of course is over the front decal (I’ll let you imagine what it says on it).

Wasn't Aerosmith also announced at CES a few years prior?

They just released their monthly fluff email. If there was a teaser coming, they surely would've included that in there.

To their credit, AIQ got more than a IC update. I haven't read them all (just DP and AIQ as those are the two I have that got updates today) but DP was the Home Team update and AIQ got a bit more polish on top of that.

They already did. They just have to double post everything here too so that we have to hear about BTTF hype twice.

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

Weird Al is the closest thing, but it's just one guy sounding like a ton of different bands.

Warped Tour is good, but I think Tony Hawk (especially with a bunch of Goldfinger and 90s punk and hip hop) would be the tits. Quarter pipes w/ magnets (like AIQ), ramps that are like rails and ledges, and even Champion Pub jump ramps on the edges of the PF to allow wall riding on the inside of the cabinet would be a home run theme for us in our late 30s - early 40s.

In fairness they may have expected to sell about 8 units total across all 3 models.

I’ve seen Rush in stock from multiple distros for basically the entire run. Meanwhile the additional runs of GZ, DP, and JP all got scooped up immediately. Rush still may have beat expectations but who knows what those were.

30,001 posts… or just 1 of 46 that doesn’t try to will BTTF into existence.

THERE IS ONE!!!

I’ll take zero of those please. Prince almost makes the cut, but just doesn’t lend itself to pinball. Negative 2 for Foo Fighters!

Instead newer music pins should be Beastie, Rage, Alice In Chains, STP, Incubus, Tool, Pearl Jam, RHCP (only pre-Californication/Stadium stuff), and maybe NiN if I’ve had a few drinks.

… and a ska pin too.

I thought it was ok, but I'm fucking over 2 out of every 3 posts being about a BTTF pin that doesn't exist.

- Physically demanding game shows (Wipeout, American Gladiators, Ninja Warrior)
- "Newer" music pins (hip hop, grunge, ska, hair metal)
- Action sports (snowboarding, skateboarding)
- Video games (Portal, Zelda, GTA, RDR2, Splatoon, Pokemon, Overcooked... maybe Sonic )
- Anything Harry Potter
- Comedies (Seinfeld, Arrested Development, Superbad, Beavis & Butthead, Bob's Burgers)
- General unlicensed themes (disc golf, evil lab science stuff, hell even last mile delivery could work)

Meanwhile... at Stern - "Hey, so we got Venom done, that no one asked for. So, should we squeeze more juice out of the Marvel rock with Ms. Marvel or She-Hulk next?"

And still "newer" than most of the music on AS, Kiss, RS, ACDC, ACNC, Elvis, LZ, Rush, and Beatles, which is what I'm comparing it to.

Every time you mention BTTF, the US experiences another day of drought. Please stop for the crops’ sake.

Well at least it has one thing going for it then.

Seriously, even forgetting the music, any pin with a bunch of Suzanna Hoffs in her prime (which is like a THIRTY year span!) all over it would get my attention. Could be an empty playfield with just one flipper and I’d still at least consider it. First ballot HoF.

And wasn't WWE technically the first Spike game made, perhaps to test whether they long-term could handle 2 displays at once (PF LCD on the LE model)? From there it would be known they could run just one larger LCD, or even a large in the backbox + a small on the PF (like SW)? I vaguely recall something along those lines.

The last part is the most interesting. Most will get over the theme or the fact it's not their dream theme. But if the Pro comes out gimped, OR the Prem/LE offers pointless features (Groot arms, upper PF with nothing on it, twitching Paul Stanley...etc.) then the pitchforks will come out, especially given the wait for something new and fresh.

If I've learned one thing in life...

What was that again about the cake (resized).jpg

George isn't at home...

Fun fact - Last week if you searched "007" on Stern's website, it pulled up the August SOTU letter. However within the memo searching "007" yielded no results. Almost like the announcement was knowingly delayed until today's SOTU, but there was a connection on the website that still existed.

Classic example of correlation not equaling causation.

Bally didn't go out of business because of only having one model. They went out of business because my entire generation started to shift to home gaming when the NES/SNES came out and swore off of quarter eaters for good when the PS1 kicked down the door and put the nail in the arcade coffin.

I say the same thing about chicks for free.

Counterpoint: An hourly rate which equates to $30K/year to be a high schooler with no established skillset or completed education ain't that bad. Flipping burgers at McD's isn't supposed to be the foundation of a family income. It's part time work for kids who want money for gas, weed, and Mike's Hard... and $15/hr offsets those costs fine.

So is $44K-50K/yr bad, or are people being stupid for not taking those jobs when they're making $15/hr with the same qualifications?

In the late 90s I started making $5.25/hr at 15yrs old at the mall but when I turned 18 I actually went to go drive a forklift for $12/hr. But I also was a high schooler who lived at home so I was well able to afford my $.85/gal gas and Twisted Teas. So I over-doubled my income when I turned 18 and was allowed to do something slightly more intensive. The mall job could F off the moment I was able to drive a forklift and make $6-7/hr more.

I've been through this debate before, but I'm just in the mindset that you may want to reconsider starting a family if your income doesn't suggest you can afford one. Sorry. We have the rare exceptions like the politician trying to push something by giving the sad one-offs about the single mom of 9 they just met that day, or the person down on their luck who couldn't get a break. That's why we have programs and safety nets (but probably room for growth in trades education programs and better community colleges). But to just say there should be >>> $15/hr to vaguely "support families" (when apparently $22-25/hr jobs are also out there) when many argue there isn't $15 in value in the output given by the employee at the McDs position, there's a serious cost/benefit discussion that needs to take place. Automation is already hitting these industries because it's cheaper.

TLDR - I've debated this countless times, and yeah, it's not worth debating. There's two sides, and though one may be more "moral" on paper, economics will prove the other is ultimately right. You can't force wages without a ripple effect everywhere else. Labor value is relative to all other labor. Moving one piece moves all. Sad but true.

Came in the mail just the other day.

Innovation meets Technology! (resized).jpg

That, plus the teens who still work at McDs still get their weekend fun money while the 35yr old next to them has 7 kids to feed, so instantly both positions deserve $30/hr.

Oh, and by the time we sort that all out to everyone's satisfaction, 007 code still won't be finished. Now we're all caught up.

It’s the exact opposite. The entire SNL cast during the Ferrell years were terrible. Mugatu wasn’t funny, and Night at the Roxbury is criminally unfunny.

Then he won me over with Old School. Then he did that pretty damn good stretch (Ricky Bobby, Semi-Pro, Step Brothers… etc) and Elf is a top 5 Xmas movie for families that adults can enjoy too.

Jingleheimer Junction, Robert Goulet, and Celebrity Jeopardy were good. Night at the Roxbury and The Spartans alone negated anything good he did prior to Old School.

Skill shot obviously over a moat, and if you choose the Purple Parrots at game start, the Wizard Mode instantly gets blocked since the Purple Parrots sucked.

I'm less than lukewarm on FF, but the rest of your statement I'm 100% in agreement with.

Don't forget MET came out 32 years after their debut album, and they still make new music. FF will come out 28 years after their debut album, and they still make new music.

The magnet under the Overlord does nothing meaningful. So the main two upgrades are the upper PF (mixed reviews) and the Deadpost (the Pro still has a left outlane save, and there’s a mod coming anyways). The other two changes are two sculpts which will be available as mods for those who want them.

So most of the differences can be bought aftermarket for the Pro… or you can buy none since the differences are mostly nonessential. The Prem is not worth the $2500 extra in lots of peoples’ opinion.

Looks more like you roll the dice on an LE and then the next day you get to see what you bought.

Completely underwhelmed. Using up unused Mando Razor Crest swinging targets, flimsy looking buildings and wireforms, zero going on down below. Prem doesn't look like a $10K game. Pro looks like a Home Edition.

Would be interesting if MET got upgraded to Spike. Would they really run a SAM again?

Either way, they should make a M-72 edition. Would fly off shelves.

Bingo. Also my vid and my bubble hockey both have coin doors on them, so it helps to keep everything authentic. Plus it helps resale value as a few games I've sold have gone on to locations. Not having a coin door would've killed those sales.