Ghost Busters - 2016 - would you get it

[pinball god]

I studied the Ghost Busters Pro flyer tonight & came up with a simple mod that I think I will definitely add to the
GHost Busters Pro game,

Instead of the fitted white flipper bats, I thought bright green flipper bats the same colour as the bright slimer monster toy and then add white super band rubbers on the green bats. This would look so much better IMO than the std boring white bats. White rubbers would need a clean periodically but bands are cheap n easy to change.
Even green bats with purple rubbers would work well. If u have a look at page 2 of the Pro flyer, on the bottom right the picture of the slimer monster is there. He is bright green with a purple tounge. So purple bands to match his tounge would match if set against bright green bats.

You could also play around with purple or yellow bats but the green ties in nicely with the slimer toy.

Also on the Pro, you could easily add some splashes of bright green powder coating to the black metalwork side rails and lockdown bar making it look like the slimer has left a trail on them. A simple and nice way to customise and dress up your Pro model & make the machine unique. Same for black legs. A splash of slimer green.

I find the white super bands don't get dirty as quickly or as much as standards, so should not be a problem.
 

[Cow Corner]

Unboxing videos.....
What a wank.

[Retropin]

Slings:
I wondered why slings have two switches, then realised that it's only because the kicker is in the middle.  It may have been that Stern saw it as simple as that by using the opertunity of putting in only one switch with no kicker taking up the middle position.  They probably didn't realise it would affect the sensitivity of ball detection.

There may be an opportunity for a mod here.  Tap of two extra switches and surface mount them.  Perhaps even add an optical sensor that sees the rubber move.  Or maybe a simple bending of the switch leaves will be good enough.


They have 2 switches so the ball gets rebounded back at any point of the rubbers. In the 30's this was done with a long coiled spring that ran the length of the area required. This was replaced with a rubber band and then the switches ( 1 at first and then 2 of them) were added for extra effect. This has remained so for some 50+ years because it works.
If Stern didn't realise that the way THEY want to now make slings takes a lot of the effect away then they obviously didn't watch their own video that was released prior to the games launch. They also couldn't have been watching at any point of the R&D process which of course is impossible.
Im all for innovation and the game to be ever evolving, but if you are to reinvent the wheel then the accepted outcome is to make it BETTER ( key word there). When I first criticised the Magna slings the usual pathetic reply of "Stern bashing" once again got banded about... but here we are with a games launch to the market with less effective slings and the customer reaction appears to be luke warm at best. The ridiculousness of the situation becomes almost laughable if customers are actually buying the game and then considering Mods to make the slings act like... wait for it......... SLINGS!!!

So... either the Magna slings are still in the refinement stage in which case its not ready for market... or... Stern want to sell a less effective product and be applauded for striving to be clever ( or unclever in this case). Either way, the punch has been taken out.
Good on you Stern for having a go, but the company isn't a pre school child to be rewarded for at least attending and attempting.. its supposed to be a professional pinball machine manufacturer with some 30+ years below its belt and  should only be treated as such.
If they bring back the passive bumper and customers start talking about ways they can make them pop, im taking my ball and going home as its GAME OVER.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

@ Retropin, why do you care?
I was not aware you were in the market for  NIB stern

As far as I am concerned, Stern can do what they want, I find none of their games appealing for the asking price

[oldskool1969]

Unboxing videos.....
What a wank.

Agreed, that is why gameplay videos were posted

[Retropin]

@ Retropin, why do you care?
I was not aware you were in the market for  NIB stern

As far as I am concerned, Stern can do what they want, I find none of their games appealing for the asking price

I care because Stern are the market leaders and in all essence ARE pinball today. Having loved pinball for as long as I can remember and having owned games from the 30's right through to the 90's I have a vested interest in the way the game evolves, as does ANYONE who is into pinball. So when we get a hype of "all new magna slings" I am very interested in the new developments and can see great potential.
But.. and heres the crux Pete.. what we actually see is a lack lustre product. Those slings have more dead spots than a friggin grave yard.
So now with Stern we have pop bumpers with a controlled release through a gate and slings that have the "all new slide action wipe with random no action".
Do I like it?..LOL - you decide.
Do I have to be a buyer to cast a critical eye?..NO
Do I have to justify that opinion..NO... but just for you... I did.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

it seems to me that not only does Stern not do QC during production, they also seem to be half arsed during research
surely you dont update an important part of a pinball machine without building a test rig and putting it through it paces 1000000 times?

[pinnies4me]

it seems to me that not only does Stern not do QC during production, they also seem to be half arsed during research
surely you dont update an important part of a pinball machine without building a test rig and putting it through it paces 1000000 times?

It will all be fixed with the next code update. 

[Retropin]

Just watched the video of Steve Ritchie playing the PRO with regular slings... the ball gets kicked right across the PF as per normal.
PRO looks the way to go on this title. I reckon Magna Slings just like Banana Flippers will be a passing fad

[swinks]

just for those getting a game be aware of some minor issues arising and fixes

a few people are having hit registering issues with Slimer after 10-20 hits. Interesting it is a wire that swings and hits a frame completes the circuit like a tilt bob but if the wire is not straight it can reduce the number of registered hits. Apparently the last image is the way to make slimer more reliable.

[swinks]

the other is the mid to rhs captive ball wire form as the wire rail is quite thin and after a few games many people are discovering that the wireform is bending and then trapping the captive ball high. Stern's fix at the moment is - just bend it straight.

just some tips for those getting a game to watch out for.

anyone was if the flipper was in the up position and if a ball dropped down on to the flipper in the up position it would drop a little and spring back up rebounding the ball back high again - this at the moment has been solved with a recent code update.

edit - another one was slimmer flew off his wire within 10 games - but a one off with no else yet reporting this one

[pinball god]

hey Swinsky don't really see the fix for slimer in the last pic? can you elaborate if you see what's going on there??

my bad, I see they have positioned the cable on top of the plug. So maybe a cable tie to hold it in place may work if it fits

[swinks]

hey Swinsky don't really see the fix for slimer in the last pic? can you elaborate if you see what's going on there??

people are aligning the cable (that exits that white ball) over the centre of the plug compared to the 3rd pic with the wire more to the lhs, not highly technical nor long lasting apparently

that plug almost needs a small piece added to the top of it with a slot where the wire can locate in and keep it central

hope that clears up any confusion

[pinball god]

swinsky any chance of making something like this ghost to fit over a flasher etc

https://i1.pinside.com/1/c0/1c04eefff8b7930b8f6f3bd88b3d12f00e018774/resized/740/1c04eefff8b7930b8f6f3bd88b3d12f00e018774.jpeg.jpg

[swinks]

this is the one here

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mattel-Ghostbusters-Classic-Winston-Zeddemore-Build-Glow-In-Dark-Ghost-Sign-2016-/322100757872?hash=item4afeb38570:g:G-oAAOSw2x1XLlIc