The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => Pinball Reviews => DMD 1991 - Present => Topic started by: Caveoftreasures on September 14, 2012, 08:45:58 PM
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REVIEW. X - Men Pro Review with some photos.
Well, I am happy to say I played the X-Men Pro today for a good 2 hours and have done a small review for those AP members who havent had the chance to see or play a PRO yet.
Cabinet Artwork.
Well, I expected the cabinet artwork to be very pixalated after seeing the brochure on the Stern site etc, but I was delightfully surprised to walk up to the machine and see that the cabinet artwork is pixel free and absolutely beautiful. The colours are vibrant and the artwork itself is very detailed. Staring at it for a good 5 minutes each side and you see more and more the more you look at the detail. I was very impressed.
I was surprised and believe Stern have done an amazing job on the cabinet, both sides and headbox plus the coindoor area look great. The difference between the left and right cabinet art is significant. The art rocks for sure.
Translite.
The translite is very colourful and has a cartoon feel to it, where as the cabinet whilst being cartoon like, seems to feel alot more high definition and more movie high definition with alot more depth.The translite is nice and I would give it a 8 out of 10. The cabinet artwork i would give a 9.5 out of 10.
The translite colours work well with the playfield colours.
Playfield.
The playfield is vibrant. The colours are terrific. The toys are excellent and look amazing. The layout works really well. There is plenty to see and nothing looks wrong. You can clearly see 90 percent of the playfield exceptionally well and the lighting is ample.
Coloured inserts are many and the playfield looks very upmarket with alot of action going on with both LEDS and std bulbs present both above and below the playfield. The pop bumpers have Leds and I noticed a few more around the playfield. This is a very attractive playfield. All proportions look like they work well with everything else.
Playfield Shots n Gameplay.
Well, I was ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY, by this pinball title. It is missing nothing at all. It doesnt have the spinning disk like the LE, but it doesnt need it, or feels like it is missing it at all. There are ample shots to keep both novices and experienced players very busy and entertained. There are heaps of things to shoot for, and the 3rd flipper adds a dimension to this machine that gives it alot more to do than a 2 flipper game. The 3rd flipper can handle at least 4 different shots and it doesnt feel like a one shot pony at all. This is probably the best used and designed 3rd flipper I have used on any DMD game. Shaker motor effects are many and used well. Scoring is lower than most modern Sterns but it doesnt really matter even if ball times are very decent.
The pop bumper positions are excellent and the pops are used more than any other stern I have played before.
The magneto ball lock is excellent and there are 3 different ways to lock balls from different shots. The ramp shots are excellent and again there are plenty of shots for both ramps. The ramp shots and returns are very fast. The whole game is very fast. Multiball is fun, fast paced and even the game without multiball seems so fast paced, it feels like multiball all the time. Lots of fun here. Playfield magnets on this machine are the best random magnets I have played on any DMD.
Audio and Dot Matrix Display.
The audio is excellent. The dot matrix annimations are many and very detailed. This machine rocks here and no expense has been spared.
The missions allow you to press both flippers at once to choose a mission/action X Men character, and pressing left or right flippers gets you to toggle thru the choices.
The one dot matrix display I loved was a jet taking off and this was one of many which blew me away.
The code on this machine feels finished, and u could happily play the machine like it is forever. AC/DC needed 2 or more updates to feel finished. Whoever did the code at Stern has gone well n truly past any other recent titles with the code on this game. It feels very finished.
Overall Experience.
Steve Ritchie and AC/DC used, USED to be the Stern KING. Not anymore. This game is as good, if not better in some/many ways than AC/DC , and
AC/DC is a bloody excellent game. This X Men Pro game is highly entertaining and I found it a easier game to play than AC/DC which can be a bit brutal. Ball times on X Men are twice, three times as long, and there is just so much to do. It really keeps u entertained every second of every ball.
The entertainment factor of X Men Pro is probably as fun, or MORE fun than any DMD machine I have played, and I have played probably 80 DMD titles and own plenty. For a DMD game to stand out to me, to really blow me away, it has to be good. This machine isnt good, ITS GREAT !
Everything here is polished off very well. The art is better, way better than you see on the internet, the audio and annimations are excellent, the general illumination lighting and insert colours are great, this machine could be left stock without mods and you would be happy as a pig in mud forever. I played it for 2 hours non stop and I havent done that on any pinball machine in 4 years.
Question - Should you seriously think about contacting AMD/STERN and ordering one if you want a new STERN that is ALOT of FUN, hell YES.
I wasnt that excited about the X Men theme, I am not really into cartoons etc, but I am DEFINATELY into this pinball. It is that good.
I have sent a email to AMD/Stern distributor and I have ordered one tonight. You cant get a more positive review than that.lol
regards, Cavey !
( 8 x photos below.)
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8 photos in total.
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next photos
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next photos
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last 2 photos
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Thanks for the review and the pics. ^^^
I'm glad you liked it. I can't wait to get mine.
I will take the kids down on sunday and we will have a few games.
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Awesome review Brett sounds like a fun game so no TRON for you?
Peter
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X Men Pro - fun game.
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Awesome review Brett sounds like a fun game so no TRON for you?
Peter
PM sent Pete.
Wife whinged all day about a TRON. nag nag nag etc. She says NO more pins. She says kids would only play a cartoon type pinny.
She didnt know about X Men til I piped up with info on that one.lol Then she was still NO more friggin pins. So I will order it and just not tell her til it arrives. Then I will say its for the kids for Xmas.lol (last year i bought the wife a new tool box and BBQ for Xmas). There is always a way to slide something past her.lol
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Thanks for the review and the pics. ^^^
I'm glad you liked it. I can't wait to get mine.
I will take the kids down on sunday and we will have a few games.
Daz, dont go and play it. It will make your BNIB opening sooo much more exciting. U have to get to timezone on opening or you will not hear the audio. Also, when u swipe your card once in the machine, quickly press the start button 4 times and u get 4 games instead of one only. Thats what happened to me.lol But i say stay away from it, wait for yours to come and u will enjoy n look forward to the start of October more.
Can u stay away Daz, or is the draw of just playing it tooo much to bear.lol THE BNIB day will be awesome if you can stay away. !
You know it's funny...I was just thinking the same thing, that I should wait until the box arrives, unpack and set it up, add the cliffy protector for the scoop and give the kids the first few games. Then have a few beers and get stuck into it.
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Yeah you have to wait for your BNIB game don't spoil the surprise I did that with my AC/DC and to this day haven't played another one lol
Peter
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Great review mate, it is a great game, congrats on your purchase
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what kind of score's did you get? got 24m odd (4th place)
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what kind of score's did you get? got 24m odd (4th place)
I did see your name up in lights on both the AC/DC Pro and the X Men Pro. I knew instantly it was your scores ROB. lol
I think the best I got was 22 or 26 million. I didnt get to put my initials up when I was supposed to cause I hit the start button too quick.
(I was cheating a bit cause I got 4 games for only 1 x $1.50 swipe. You press the start button quickly non stop when u first swipe and it gives u 4 games which gave me a 4 player game instead of 1 player only game)
Man, that X Men Pro was alot of fun. Thats why i could keep playing for a long while cause i only swiped 4 times but got literally 16 games. I wasnt really playing for points, just trying to learn it and get long ball times. Because you cant hear the audio sometimes, it does make it hard with all the other machines screaming around you.
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I had about 8-10 games that lasted about a good hour on a LE, long games compared to some other games especially on first playing. My average was around the 10 mil and then a game at 19, 21 and 24 - needed 25 to get initials up. I am looking forward to playing a pro to see the difference with the spinner. Interestingly though I only played the first software version on the LE and not sure if the spinner has sped up a bit with software revisions, but at Pinfest I played a twister and the spinner action on that is much better in my opinion as spins faster and hangs on to the balls a bit longer.
Great work again Cavey, captured the game well.
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UPDATE !
I emailed Patrick Powers from STERN Pinball a copy of the review on the X Men Pro last night to pass onto game designer John Borg.
This morning, I was surprised to get a reply from John Borg himself which I thought was really nice of John to send me a nice email.
Here is Johns email below >
Hello Brett,
Thank you very much for the kind words and review of the X-men pinball. I worked very hard on it and had a little more time on this project.
I like the fast and furious play but I always keep the novice player in mind. I want the people that have no clue what they are doing to have as much fun as the advanced player. A couple shots that will expose something, start a multiball or something unexpected and cool happens. That is the way to hook a player. On my next project I plan to top this one. Keep an eye out for our new model late winter to early spring.
Best regards,
John
I am a John Borg fan. He has a passion for pinball and works hard at making us happy. Excellent.
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^^^ awesome Brett and great of John to take time out to write.
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Great stuff Brett your review was balanced and two sided great to see, it makes me wanna play one now hopefully one turns up in Victoria soon.
Peter <..>
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It would have been great if Borg let the cat out of the bag as to what title he is doing next.
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I had to go and play it, I couldn't shell out that sort of $$ without test driving it first. I spent about an hour on it today.
The volume was nice and high so I could hear everything and it sounds great.
I love the artwork on the pf, translite and cab...gameplay..well...WOW...what a pin, from the first game I knew straight away that I had made the right decision.
Had some games on Tron too to give some balance and perspective, didn't bother with TF...I kept wanting to go back to X-men while playing tron and while I still enjoy tron they are chalk and cheese for mine. This game rocks and will sit very very nicely next to IM.
Everything in caveys review is spot on the money, this is a top class game. Stacking modes into multiballs is a blast and this game while tight in some shots has some serious flow and is so much fun.
Rob I knocked your top four spot on the high scores off as well...just got 25 million.
I can't wait to get mine....WOW!
$#$
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I had to go and play it, I couldn't shell out that sort of $$ without test driving it first. I spent about an hour on it today.
The volume was nice and high so I could hear everything and it sounds great.
I love the artwork on the pf, translite and cab...gameplay..well...WOW...what a pin, from the first game I knew straight away that I had made the right decision.
Had some games on Tron too to give some balance and perspective, didn't bother with TF...I kept wanting to go back to X-men while playing tron and while I still enjoy tron they are chalk and cheese for mine. This game rocks and will sit very very nicely next to IM.
Everything in caveys review is spot on the money, this is a top class game. Stacking modes into multiballs is a blast and this game while tight in some shots has some serious flow and is so much fun.
Rob I knocked your top four spot on the high scores off as well...just got 25 million.
I can't wait to get mine....WOW!
$#$
Good stuff glad you enjoy it CC as Brett said we are in a good at the moment with stern as there's a game for everybody's taste keep it up stern.
Peter
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Imagine what Stern will have released by this time in one year. We all need bigger houses and bigger wallets.lol (and maybe new wives by that time as well as we will all be in the doghouse.lol) %.%
I am off to timezone right now to play X Men Pro again and am taking my brother to show him how good the machine is. See ya guys later ! $#$
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Rob I knocked your top four spot on the high scores off as well...just got 25 million.
I can't wait to get mine....WOW!
$#$
I will have to have another go lol, should have had a crack at the ACDC comp machine %$%
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Rob I knocked your top four spot on the high scores off as well...just got 25 million.
I can't wait to get mine....WOW!
$#$
I will have to have another go lol, should have had a crack at the ACDC comp machine %$%
I would have stayed on playing for hrs, I enjoy the game that much but had to go and grab the family from the beach.
Where was acdc? There were only 3 pins in the usual pin spot corner.
Otherwise I would have had a go for sure.
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AC/DC is at the front of the Timezone on the far right side against the wall in a special competition set up area (although the comp stuff they have set up doesnt stick out or look that great). They shld move AC/DC down to the pinny area to be honest. I have reccommended that again !
I told the manager that the top left flipper on TRON wasnt working 2 days ago and they have fixed that. I told him tonight that both the TRON game and the TRANSFORMERS games need both flippers fully rebuilt on both games because you cant get the ball up the top of each machine and the flippers are dead weak. They promised to get them looked at ASAP.
Anyway, i had some more games on all 3 machines tonight incl X Men PRO again and it is definately a great game, my brother loved it as well, and I really enjoyed TRON except the flippers being weak. My brother now wants a TRON and says to hunt for a cheap TRON or TRANSFORMERS or both this next 6 to 12 months. I want to downsize the collection, he wants to build it up to a huge amount.lol Anyway, all good pins these 3. Seems sort of stupid going out to pay to play pinnies at a arcade when you have 40 machines at home.lol I felt a bit stupid. My brother laughed and said we have never payed to play a game ever before. He said it felt strange.
Cant wait to see more Sterns out n about.
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I wonder if there will be another X-men code update before xmas?
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I reckon there probably will be. Not that i felt the X Men Pro needed it when i played it, it felt very good, but someone somewhere will suggest something technical that the guys at STERN will implement. The LE will probably be the first one to get the code update ofcourse, and the PRO will just get the same for its code if some little things are needed, excl the LE only code bits.
John Borg did say in that email that he had alot more time on X Men than he had on the previous 4 or more games.
Either way, the X Men game is great already. Any extra code will just be gravy I reckon making a great game even greater !
I am wondering, who will get the std black trim on the legs n re-do a custom paint job for legs n lockdown bar n side rails to the same red as the Magneto LE has, or the same blue as the Wolverine LE. Or even a combo or red n blue like the transformers LE got, or a blue n yellow powdercoat combo etc to match the playfield of the X Men Pro. ?
Its not like u cant put std black legs or siderails back on and redo the lockdown bar back to std black later if u wanted to.
One part of me wants to do a custom job on the metal work, and one side of me wants to keep it stock. Hard call, cause either way it will be great looking.
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I think the red and blue on the LE looks cheap. It's crying out for a deeper shade or a chrome finish.
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I am looking forward to seeing one of the X Men LE's in person. The X Men Pro looks much better in person than the photos on the internet.
Things look flat on the net, but alot more shiny when at the machine. I was surprised at just how good the cabinet art on the Pro looked.
Also, having a few days off work, I have been looking at alot of the John Borg designs of the past 15 years and alot of the features he uses on his machines that really work.
I like the placement of his pop bumpers, use of scoops to catch and shoot balls from, use of fast ramp shots with quick ball returns, and the use of spinning disks etc and always a great 3rd flipper placement.
I worked out that I have alot more John Borg designed games than what I knew.
Games like ** Last Action Hero, Tales from the Crypt, Frankenstein, Lost World Jurrassic Park, Twister, and soon X Men Pro.
He also was involved in designing another dozen great games at least.
I can see all the best features of the above ** machines incorporated into X Men. I like his designs. They work very well. Anyone who has played some of the above machines will know just how much fun and how varied the gameplay can be on a Borg design.
Recent Stern offerings like Tron and Ironman were great. A game like Avatar with only 1 x ramp cant be blamed on the designer to my mind, cause budgets/lack of toys etc and time constraints are set by the company, and not the designer. Avatar etc was made during the lean cost cutting times at Stern. Things are looking alot better for Stern these days, and the cost cutting seems to have been knocked on the head. It shows with the end result for the X Men game anyway. Cant wait to see John Borgs next title.
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I have played a LE Wolvie and it looks great - doesn't look cheap in my opinion for what it is worth, but am looking forward to playing and checking out a Pro.
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I have played a LE Wolvie and it looks great - doesn't look cheap in my opinion for what it is worth, but am looking forward to playing and checking out a Pro.
I would love to have ago on the LE,nearly bought one but couldn't justify the extra coin for the features it provides.
The spinning disc was the only extra that I would really like but I can live without it. The pro is a very cool machine, plays great and looks a million bucks.
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I have played a LE Wolvie and it looks great - doesn't look cheap in my opinion for what it is worth, but am looking forward to playing and checking out a Pro.
Did u really like the LE Wolverine gameplay etc Swinksy ?
I am really hoping u like the Pro.
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I have played a LE Wolvie and it looks great - doesn't look cheap in my opinion for what it is worth, but am looking forward to playing and checking out a Pro.
Did u really like the LE Wolverine gameplay etc Swinksy ?
I am really hoping u like the Pro.
The LE was good, but the swinging ramp - can live without, the night crawler pop ups - can live without, the spinner was ok but the twister spinner adds more randomness to the ball path where the wolvie did a little but not something to spend over 2k more on. The leds light effects like on AC/DC Premium and LE was good where it went to one colour for a selected villain (all blue GI or all red GI) but not a deal breaker. I haven't played the pro but I think it would be great value for money so I think you guys are on a winner.
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I found a few X Men Pro videos someone had uploaded to Youtube. (below)
and the second one with slightly different angle.
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New code patch for X-men has been released and there will be a big powerpack update for both XM and TF around xmas.
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New code patch for X-men has been released and there will be a big powerpack update for both XM and TF aound xmas.
Excellent.
Code for X Men Pro is as below >
V1.02 - September 24, 2012
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- Fixed an issue in Sentinels mode where new sentinels may not appear after one was destroyed. This only occurred when Magneto Multiball was started during Sentinels mode
- Adjusted the scoring in both Beast and Iceman modes. Scores are now 700,000 for the first shot and 1,300,000 for the second.
- Fixed an issue where Magneto "ball locked" and multiball jackpot speech calls repeated in an unintended fashion. These speech calls are now evenly spaced for repetition.
- Fixed an issue where hitting the pop bumpers during Beast mode overrode the full shot award. Now the Beast shot award has higher priority.
- Added back panel flasher lightshow for Storm mode.
- Added sound effects to the outlanes.
- Changed Xavier mode. Now when Xavier mode starts, the player can attempt to blindly find the mutant. The player has the option to hit the Xavier shot instead to reveal the mutant. Finding the mutant blindly is worth more points.
_ Fixed an issue where the side banks were not displaying their information correctly.
Code for X Men LE is as below >
V1.21 - September 24, 2012
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- Fixed an issue in Sentinels mode where new sentinels may not appear after one was destroyed. This only occurred when Magneto Multiball was started during Sentinels mode
- Adjusted the scoring in both Beast and Iceman modes. Scores are now 700,000 for the first shot and 1,300,000 for the second.
- Fixed an issue where Magneto "ball locked" and multiball jackpot speech calls repeated in an unintended fashion. These speech calls are now evenly spaced for repetition.
- Fixed an issue where hitting the pop bumpers during Beast mode overrode the full shot award. Now the Beast shot award has higher priority.
- Added back panel flasher lightshow for Storm mode.
- Added sound effects to the outlanes.
- Changed Xavier mode. Now when Xavier mode starts, the player can attempt to blindly find the mutant. The player has the option to hit the Xavier shot instead to reveal the mutant. Finding the mutant blindly is worth more points.
_ Fixed an issue where the side banks were not displaying their information correctly.
V1.2 - August 8, 2012
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- added Dark Phoenix artwork.
- fixed scoring for all modes.
- changed game progression. Game now starts with all modes available.
- added speech and sound effects for several modes and villain select.
- added wolverine multiball mode.
- fixed a scoring issue where some magneto multiball scores weren't being added to the totals.
- changed all X-men modes to be easier to advance towards and complete.
- fixed an issue with the villain selection screen where placing money in the coinslot would prevent you from changing your selection.
- changed Brotherhood and Hellfire Club logos in selection screen to clearly state their multiball status.
- changed Brotherhood to be a 3-ball multiball.
- changed Xavier mode requirement to only find one mutant.
- changed Cyclops mode requirement to only combo shot. Cyclops mode no longer uses the scoop as a shot.
- changed Rogue mode to incorporate more shots including the nightcrawler mech.
- changed Iceman to requirement to be only two shots and to incorporate movement on the motorized ramp.
- changed Magneto Multiball to have the ramp move based on iceman shot being available as a jackpot.
- added adjustable for mode advancement to make them easier or more difficult. Reset default difficulty to medium.
- added text and modified lighting effects for Hellfire Club and Brotherhood side bank strikes.
Heaps of stuff to make a great game even better !
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a few photos
click on any pohoto to see some things twice the size &&
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a few more photos, notice the first few girl photos were nice, followed by a grown man in a yellow costume (fail !)
You would have to really need the money to dress up like that ! lol @.@
click on any pohoto to see some things twice the size &&
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A few of those pics look like they are from comic-con this yr.
The pros were supposed to land today but will not arrive until Friday now....not long to go though!
$#$
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A few of those pics look like they are from comic-con this yr.
The pros were supposed to land today but will not arrive until Friday now....not long to go though!
$#$
the photos were from the Stern facebook page.
I ordered my X Men Pro for a early/mid November delivery originally, so u will have your machine before I get mine.
I am selling a Twister pinball and a Star Trek 25th which I have 2 x of, to fund my X Men cause I have absolutely no room for another machine unless 1 or 2 go. First time the wife has got her way. The 2 pins I am selling will be appearing on ebay this next week or so.
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the girl photos were from the comicon early this year
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A few of those pics look like they are from comic-con this yr.
The pros were supposed to land today but will not arrive until Friday now....not long to go though!
$#$
Daz, the photos were from the Stern facebook page.
I ordered my X Men Pro for a early/mid November delivery originally, so u will have your machine Daz before I get mine.
I am selling a Twister pinball and a Star Trek 25th which I have 2 x of, to fund my X Men cause I have absolutely no room for another machine unless 1 or 2 go. First time the wife has got her way. The 2 pins I am selling will be appearing on ebay this next week or so.
Daz, are u getting your X Men the moment it arrives at AMD ?
I haven't seen the Stern FB page, I don't get down on FB but I am positive the ones of the chicks playing were taken at comic con.
X-men for me in around a fortnight.
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I thought AMD would have X-Men in stock already. Kids Just wanna have fun have them in stock going by their website.
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I thought AMD would have X-Men in stock already. Kids Just wanna have fun have them in stock going by their website.
That's good news for anyone in wa who might want one.
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I thought AMD would have X-Men in stock already. Kids Just wanna have fun have them in stock going by their website.
On the 24th Sept, Joe from KJWHFun said
"our next container which is due any day now, This container has 11 AC/DC pro's,10 AC/DC Premiums,10 Xmen Pro's, 1 Rolling Stones Pro and 1 Avatar Pro"
Joe must be getting his container sent after it hits AMD/Seafreight terminal in Sydney (after customs clearence) as he has 33 machines in his container.
To my knowledge, all pins go to Bruce at AMD first, as he is the Australian Stern distributor, then stock is trucked out overnight accordingly, or a few days because of the distance to W.A. Check with Joe or Ratbag who is usually always knowledgeable as well for the full story.
It means we shld see some container unloading photos very soon if the guys get time. ^^^
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* Report re Timezone Surfers *
X Men Pro - very dirty playfield after only 3 or so weeks of heavy play. Flippers are weakish, and are down about 40 percent of power compared to when machine was new when I played it the first day it was unboxed. Game has probably had 3,000 games and I was amazed today that flippers have weakened so quickly ?
AC/DC PRO - very dirty playfield. Management still havent cleaned after repeated requests for 4 weeks.
TRON and TRANSFORMERS - playfields need a clean. Both machines require flipper kits. Still hasnt been done after repeated requests over a 4 week period. Games are virtually not worth playing because flippers are to weak to reach top playfield with any shots.
NOTE -Leaving pinball machines like this gives the pinball industry a black eye cause people walk away thinking thats a piss weak game to play and its very unsatisfying to play a game that has such weak flippers. No fun in it whatsoever, cant get multiball, cant make any shots etc. No fun at all.
I have asked the Manager in writing again, for the 6th or 7th time to attend to these machines. Even gave them Beaky's details if they dont know how to change out a flipper kit. One tech I spoke to said they didnt know how to do it @.@. Maybe they might ring Andy, or maybe it will stay hopeless for another 3 months.
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hopefully no one will beat my high score on the comp machine :lol
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hopefully no one will beat my high score on the comp machine :lol
X-men pro has a comp machine?
point me in he direction.
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Rob meant the acdc comp machine....
Also, had the chance to pop into robs(replays) place and meet rob, see his collection, play some pinny's n chat, what a top bloke, really enjoyed playing robs x men le wolverine, great game...plus all his A title bally williams etc n acdc le too...thanks rob for a great time... ^^^
$#$ $#$ $#$ #*# #*# #*#
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Rob meant the acdc comp machine....
Also, had the chance to pop into robs(replays) place and meet rob, see his collection, play some pinny's n chat, what a top bloke, really enjoyed playing robs x men le wolverine, great game...plus all his A title bally williams etc n acdc le too...thanks rob for a great time... ^^^
$#$ $#$ $#$ #*# #*# #*#
Yeah I know, I was having a giggle.
Been to robs a few times and have watched the lineup change over time, always top games in amazing condition and a good bloke to boot.
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ok, thought u might have been,lol , but i didnt want people making a special trip to timezone to look for a competition X men.lol
yeh, i enjoyed the machines, espescially acdc le and x men le, tron was great as well, as was medi evil madness and a few others i cant remember...played attack from mars, but still thought revenge from mars was a much more entertaining package for a third of the price...the color dmd he had on it was good..
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Played all 4 x machines last night and NONE were levelled correctly. A dollar coin did the trick on X-Men and the felt used on the others were adjusted accordingly.
First timer on Tron & Xmen and I must say, I'm not of fan of Borg's work on these two titles.
Tron only has one good shot and that's the left ramp. Is there a plunger skill shot?...
That left hand side trickle into the sink hole is a bore and the right hand side playfield is a complete waste of real estate space.
Xmen on the other hand, looks clean and fresh with the colours and clear ramps used. Gameplay wasn't too bad, but both machines incorporate the upper flipper to make the ramp shot. Tron was a bitch to master, whereas Xmen had the feel of Lawlor's TAF - shot through the bumpers, looped around & onto that flipper shot up the ramp.
Brett, your not wrong about the weakness of the flippers. Could not make a backhand shot from the right flipper up to the right ramp on Xmen. Oh yeah, the instruction card was NOT English. Wouldn't want GS to find out lol.
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yeh, the flippers on all machines there are crap n need rebuilding badly...even X Men Pro which is 6 or 7 weeks old, has been flogged 500 games a day by people who just smash the flippers non stop....its a shame cause I played the game like Rob and Daz did when only a few days old and it was a cracker with snappy flippers...
Tron is a game u like or hate vewry quickly...I personally like the theme, the cabinet, the audio and dot matrix, and this makes the overall package much better..on gameplay alone, I would not buy it, but if u combine all its positives, it just slides into the yes for purchase with me...I think with snappy 2 x flippers and at a home environm,ent, the overall enjoyment would be much better...
X Men Pro I love...the 3rd flipper has lots of shots, n the overall play I love, as do a few others...havent heard many people not like it, but it is to be expected cause we all like different games etc...hopefully you get to play x men more with snappy flippers and maybe u might like it alot more..
thanks for the feedback, cause all feedback is good to hear.
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Let you know when I find one on site in Melbourne.
Brett, drove past your neck of the woods yesterday. With yesterday's bleak weather, i took the family for a drive up to Mount Tamborine. Shit myself driving the rental Hyundai i20 car, up the steep 18 degrees roads!!
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Let you know when I find one on site in Melbourne.
Brett, drove past your neck of the woods yesterday. With yesterday's bleak weather, i took the family for a drive up to Mount Tamborine. Shit myself driving the rental Hyundai i20 car, up the steep 18 degrees roads!!
most weekends, a motor bike rider flys off the cliff at a 140 klms per hour...and the amount of car write offs are huge per annum..sounds like the hyundai I20 got a good flogging...and they are hard to see out of as well with the A pillar causing a bad blind spot...lucky u got home in that wet slippery weather...not a fun drive even in the dry sunny day..glad u had a good time on the gold coast...come back anytime and I will ring up for sunnier weather.lol
and to think they wanted to put a pinball museum up there ! @.@
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Great write up guys it's a shame the games aren't maintained and strange as that site always has the new titles straight away.
Peter
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Pete, the ACDC pro had a globe and it's holder, literally hanging over the right orbit, in lieu of a broken plastic from the right ramp.
ps - Can't upload my iPhone pics, due to the file size.
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Pete, the ACDC pro had a globe and it's holder, literally hanging over the right orbit, in lieu of a broken plastic from the right ramp.
ps - Can't upload my iPhone pics, due to the file size.
Geez which lamp? You should be able to upload just select small file size. It must be hard being a pinball operator these things have so many small parts that can move/break where as video games just keep on going with any pinball you would have to check weekly, even with home use things break or fall off.
Peter
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Gee Timezone Surfers better get there games up to scratch before the AC DC Comp next month !@)
Are they having 25 pins at this comp? !@#
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The snr manager at timezone told me that they do NOT do anything to the pinball machines at all except clean and globe if globes are avail...they do not know how to do flipper kits and they do not have kits onsite to do anything on the pinball machines at all...I gave them no less than 6 x written requests to have all the Stern machines serviced over a 5 month period and they have done nothing...
I gave them Beakys(Andrews) phone number and said he would service them for them and swap probably for some free arcade games for his 2 x young kids, but they still never phoned him after I repeatedly asked...
The only 25 machines going in there to Timezone are from local collectors who are taking them in apparently....
Someone who is in the finals comp, should email Bruce at AMD and tell him to have flipper kits on hand for X Men Pro, Transformers Pro, Tron Pro and AC/DC Pro, otherwise it might just turn out to be humiliating for anyone trying to play a decent pinball game on any of their machines....
To date, Timezone doesnt do the Stern brand any favours at all, because they do not maintain the pinball machines on any site that I have ever come accross.....................shame really, cause Timezone could be a much better advertisement for our great hobby of pinball... *%*
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It's the right globe that sits behind the lightning bolt target (-23) - pop rivet has come of the bracket.
I'll upload the pic when I'm back in Melbourne tomorrow. For now, I've uploaded a pic from IPDB for reference.
I spent around 90mins in this joint and was surprised to see young & old, playing these pinball machines - some serious swipes indeed.
Didn't GS visit here back in September 2010?
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Yes, Tony(ANT68) who is a AP regular and a friend of Gary Sterns had lunch with him at Surfers back then...
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Does timezone just buy the games outright? And I thought they'd have a tech onsite to repair pinballs and all the other games?
Peter
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Does timezone just buy the games outright? And I thought they'd have a tech onsite to repair pinballs and all the other games?
Peter
my understanding is that they always get the first batch of test machines/earliest test mules to place on site at a slightly discounted amount from what the fellow was saying...but they definately do not have or do any flipper kits or decent maintainence at all except a wet rag wipeover and a flipper rubber change at best....the games at surfers timezone are practically unplayable unless reaching only half way up the playfield is considered satisfactory....and it would leave a bad taste/boring feeling with anyone who played any of these machines....put it this way, no one would be rushing out to buy a pinball machine at all unless they played the machine in the first week of its delivery or arrival to a timezone...
someone needs to do something on a national level with timezone....even the machine supplier to timezone could send a local tech past or something and include the servicing in the purchase price if it was something they could negotiate/work out...If i was the national sales agent, i would not want my product represented to the public the way Timezone does..it would cost me sales per annum for sure...what a shame a bit of common sense from Timezone cant be organised..every machine is just woeful.
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Does anyone know if you have to be invited or pre qualify for the QLD AC DC comp? !@#
If that's the case I'll go as a spectator and play 25 pins for $10 seems a good deal to me $#$
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Does anyone know if you have to be invited or pre qualify for the QLD AC DC comp? !@#
If that's the case I'll go as a spectator and play 25 pins for $10 seems a good deal to me $#$
Don't know?
Maybe it is in the acdc thread... %$%
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Does timezone just buy the games outright? And I thought they'd have a tech onsite to repair pinballs and all the other games?
Peter
my understanding is that they always get the first batch of test machines/earliest test mules to place on site at a slightly discounted amount from what the fellow was saying...but they definately do not have or do any flipper kits or decent maintainence at all except a wet rag wipeover and a flipper rubber change at best....the games at surfers timezone are practically unplayable unless reaching only half way up the playfield is considered satisfactory....and it would leave a bad taste/boring feeling with anyone who played any of these machines....put it this way, no one would be rushing out to buy a pinball machine at all unless they played the machine in the first week of its delivery or arrival to a timezone...
someone needs to do something on a national level with timezone....even the machine supplier to timezone could send a local tech past or something and include the servicing in the purchase price if it was something they could negotiate/work out...If i was the national sales agent, i would not want my product represented to the public the way Timezone does..it would cost me sales per annum for sure...what a shame a bit of common sense from Timezone cant be organised..every machine is just woeful.
They wont change, it's timezone and they don't give a stuff.
The only good thing is they get the new stern games to test drive before buying, the only thing is you have to be there in the first couple of weeks to get the machine at it's best.
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Leon, You had to already qualify by having a highest score on one of the AC/DC Pro games placed around QLD operator sites in the past 3 to 6 months apparently. Dummies like me didnt attempt cause I have one at home, so thought playing mine for free was better, but that was a mistake cause I should have tried to get involved n kick Robs butt and try n win the overall prize, a brand new AC/DC Pro I think....(one is never enough.lol)
AMD/Norbert have already sent out invitations to the highest score placers, being Replay(Rob) and Mickthepin(Mick) who will be representing AP. ^^^
I think a few AA guys have been invited as well and qualified as well.
It will be a great day, 1st December to meet some nice people and play some pins (25 perhaps) that fellow collectors have been kind enough to bring along...for any further info, or to take a machine along, email Bruce at AMD at bcolbourne@amdcoinop.com
Maybe Rob or Mick might add some more info...hope as many AP guys from QLD area s can come along. X Men Pro should be avail to play, hope they fix the flippers on all these machines to save embarrassment.lol
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Leon, You had to already qualify by having a highest score on one of the AC/DC Pro games placed around QLD operator sites in the past 3 to 6 months apparently. Dummies like me didnt attempt cause I have one at home, so thought playing mine for free was better, but that was a mistake cause I should have tried to get involved n kick Robs butt and try n win the overall prize, a brand new AC/DC Pro I think....(one is never enough.lol)
AMD/Norbert have already sent out invitations to the highest score placers, being Replay(Rob) and Mickthepin(Mick) who will be representing AP. ^^^
I think a few AA guys have been invited as well and qualified as well.
It will be a great day, 1st December to meet some nice people and play some pins (25 perhaps) that fellow collectors have been kind enough to bring along...for any further info, or to take a machine along, email Bruce at AMD at bcolbourne@amdcoinop.com
Maybe Rob or Mick might add some more info...hope as many AP guys from QLD area s can come along. X Men Pro should be avail to play, hope they fix the flippers on all these machines to save embarrassment.lol
Thanks for the clarification Brett ^^^
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Pics uploaded.
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Globes a nice mod lol