Stern - Avengers Pinball (late 2012)

[Cow Corner]

i have an early 80's pinball, it has a ramp and bit of a raised playfield at the back a few drop targets basic sounds but at least has good art, its fun to play.
thats all fine its limited by the tech of the time.

now i have another machine built 5 years later, a bit better tech has come along and the game has a rediculas amount of inovation in comparison to the first machine, and has great art and all that and better sounds.

then we can look at some of the Dmd's that came about 5 years after that machine and thats a step up again.

now come on, its 2012 mate, stern have not gone to the next step, we have seen decade after decade of machines being built with new innovation making the game that much better than the last. right upto the late nineties, then it all stops and its the same crap from that point till now, and when a half decent game comes out like acdc its a revelation wow, how fantastic, then back to pumping the same shit as before.

well no ones complaining? well they sell a few thousand machines world wide? out a world wide population of 7 billion, hmm.

it is pretty frigen piss poor imo that you have sys11 games from the 80's that have more going for them than a 2012 model pinball.
and for xmen not having a cheap toy stuck to it??? well that wolverine looks pretty cheap to me and thats the feature item of the game.

You have to be kidding! pinball is nearly dead, the fact that there are any manufacturers running around at all any more is astounding.
Pinball will be dead with this generation, no doubts about it.
Both of my nib sterns are better players than any 80's game, system 11 game or just about any 90's game for that matter.

pinball aint dead, stern is almost dead, and he aint pinball. stern is like that dodgy 7/11 that is the only shop in some town, it sells overpriced shit they think they are the bees knees but once woolies comes into town every one who shopped their relized just how crap that 7/11 is.

ive gone out of my way to play a bucket load of sterns of late, and they dont even come close to being outstanding.

you could grab one top of the line standout machine from each era over the last 60 years, put them in a shopping center side by side and ask people to pick out the oldest to the youngest, i recon they would be able to tell on every machine from the 50s to 90s but when they get too the 90 and late model sterns from 2000 and the 2010's, a person who isnt in the know wouldnt be able to tell what one is the most modern. stern are not innovators
they are just pumping out B-grade style 90's pinballs.
and there are plenty of things that have almost died in fasion that have made a massive reassurance because of invotaion and marketing. thats know excuse

and pinball aint dead, if you saw how many people played my dodgy shop pinball and who was playing it and the attention it gets all day you would see there is a market, i know of three people who have bought their first pinball from playing my average old game in my shop, and about to have 4th as the tattoo shop up the road now wants one in their shop.

 

[Olivia_jason]

yer i feel like that when i play a stern also.
and your right this theme would put anyone to sleep

[GORGAR 1]

i have an early 80's pinball, it has a ramp and bit of a raised playfield at the back a few drop targets basic sounds but at least has good art, its fun to play.
thats all fine its limited by the tech of the time.

now i have another machine built 5 years later, a bit better tech has come along and the game has a rediculas amount of inovation in comparison to the first machine, and has great art and all that and better sounds.

then we can look at some of the Dmd's that came about 5 years after that machine and thats a step up again.

now come on, its 2012 mate, stern have not gone to the next step, we have seen decade after decade of machines being built with new innovation making the game that much better than the last. right upto the late nineties, then it all stops and its the same crap from that point till now, and when a half decent game comes out like acdc its a revelation wow, how fantastic, then back to pumping the same shit as before.

well no ones complaining? well they sell a few thousand machines world wide? out a world wide population of 7 billion, hmm.

it is pretty frigen piss poor imo that you have sys11 games from the 80's that have more going for them than a 2012 model pinball.
and for xmen not having a cheap toy stuck to it??? well that wolverine looks pretty cheap to me and thats the feature item of the game.

You have to be kidding! pinball is nearly dead, the fact that there are any manufacturers running around at all any more is astounding.
Pinball will be dead with this generation, no doubts about it.
Both of my nib sterns are better players than any 80's game, system 11 game or just about any 90's game for that matter.

Your spot on well written but I think pinball may last in people's homes in the future but not sited.

Peter

[Cow Corner]

yer i feel like that when i play a stern also.
and your right this theme would put anyone to sleep

No mate that was for your diatribe posts.
 

[Caveoftreasures]

some of the Sterns from the 1999 to 2010 are basic, but still fun.   the ac/dc and x men games are just excellent.

Stern lasted thru the global financial crisis when companies like Cheverolet with billions of dollars didnt...how, I am not sure, because cost cutting and producing very very basic games should have finally killed them off because instead of cust cutting to survive, they shld have been going the extra mile to get more sales and expanding their market with a little more design innovation, not basic basic basic layouts n 1 x ramp etc. In a crap market you attract more buyers with more frills, not less frills. How they survived I dont know but they did..

Doing more numbers to make the same profit, thats smart business, not cost cuting and offering less then adding a price increase...luckily, somehow, they survived, and now the innovation and more for less ideas are coming thru...its never too late to turn things around which they have..play ac/dc or xmen with a open mind and u will see the quality and extra effort coming thru...It shld last if Stern keeps its new ideas..

pinball aint dead, its actually on the increase worldwide, whats old is new again, and pinballis back in, people have money to spend, and enjoying things at home with family is what the 2010 to 2020 era will be about....if u want pinball to last, send constructive emails to Stern or JJP with positive ideas, thats what will help pinball, look forward, not back i say !

I say the future of pinball has never looked so promising...

[GORGAR 1]

Shouldn't be long until Stern unveil this new title I can't wait gotta love a new release. Looking forward to seeing the LE's also hopefully pics next week.

Peter

[Cow Corner]

Shouldn't be long until Stern unveil this new title I can't wait gotta love a new release. Looking forward to seeing the LE's also hopefully pics next week.

Peter

+1

[swinks]

We should be lucky that Stern are around, who knows what would of happened if they dropped away 12 years ago like the others - the industry would be totally different to what we have now.

Stern, SkitBpinball and sure JJP all use illustrator, corel, photoshop products as it allows you to do so much - it comes down to the artist and the attention to detail to make it look professional or rushed as well as licenses expect certain images on a game. Non license is risky so not used as much as the manufacturing industry in the US is doing it tough so they are cautious - is what it is. Some people love what is done and some don't and then the next theme comes out and it is opposite to the same people.

Back on Track - AVENGERS - rumour is not long to go.

[GORGAR 1]

some of the Sterns from the 1999 to 2010 are basic, but still fun.   the ac/dc and x men games are just excellent.

Stern lasted thru the global financial crisis when companies like Cheverolet with billions of dollars didnt...how, I am not sure, because cost cutting and producing very very basic games should have finally killed them off because instead of cust cutting to survive, they shld have been going the extra mile to get more sales and expanding their market with a little more design innovation, not basic basic basic layouts n 1 x ramp etc. In a crap market you attract more buyers with more frills, not less frills. How they survived I dont know but they did..

Doing more numbers to make the same profit, thats smart business, not cost cuting and offering less then adding a price increase...luckily, somehow, they survived, and now the innovation and more for less ideas are coming thru...its never too late to turn things around which they have..play ac/dc or xmen with a open mind and u will see the quality and extra effort coming thru...It shld last if Stern keeps its new ideas..

pinball aint dead, its actually on the increase worldwide, whats old is new again, and pinballis back in, people have money to spend, and enjoying things at home with family is what the 2010 to 2020 era will be about....if u want pinball to last, send constructive emails to Stern or JJP with positive ideas, thats what will help pinball, look forward, not back i say !

I say the future of pinball has never looked so promising...

Gary Stern must be a great businessman to last through these times and thank god for that after all pinballs in his blood, pinball is for home use now I think and that's why we are getting choices in specs and so on yeah there's the odd game in the wild but not alot its good times for pinball.
Your get the knockers and that's fine who cares it is what it is.

Peter

[Olivia_jason]

some of the Sterns from the 1999 to 2010 are basic, but still fun.   the ac/dc and x men games are just excellent.

Stern lasted thru the global financial crisis when companies like Cheverolet with billions of dollars didnt...how, I am not sure, because cost cutting and producing very very basic games should have finally killed them off because instead of cust cutting to survive, they shld have been going the extra mile to get more sales and expanding their market with a little more design innovation, not basic basic basic layouts n 1 x ramp etc. In a crap market you attract more buyers with more frills, not less frills. How they survived I dont know but they did..

Doing more numbers to make the same profit, thats smart business, not cost cuting and offering less then adding a price increase...luckily, somehow, they survived, and now the innovation and more for less ideas are coming thru...its never too late to turn things around which they have..play ac/dc or xmen with a open mind and u will see the quality and extra effort coming thru...It shld last if Stern keeps its new ideas..

pinball aint dead, its actually on the increase worldwide, whats old is new again, and pinballis back in, people have money to spend, and enjoying things at home with family is what the 2010 to 2020 era will be about....if u want pinball to last, send constructive emails to Stern or JJP with positive ideas, thats what will help pinball, look forward, not back i say !

I say the future of pinball has never looked so promising...

i agree with many points you say, some things i think are just excuses for their laziness, majority of my frustration is i want to buy a NIB but stern now have every reason to build something that just blows the market away.

and as for pinball dead i had this convo with Beaky as im sure you have too cavy, it is growing and he recons the amount of work he is getting from first time owners has grown to the point he is snowed under. the you talk to those importers who cant import them fast enough with new first time buyers all the time, infact there are heaps of new owners appearing here and other forums all the time.
and as you said "Whats old is new again"  is 100% true,
there are cable tv shows that are top viewer ratings that are purely about these classic coin opps and all that, there are dozans of them now, from pickers to restoration shows all about old school making a comeback.
if he isnt capitalizing on it now then he will miss the boat.
as said these sort of themes limit designs, you have to conform to the company like marvel rather than to your designers ability imo.

safe isnt exiciting if thats the case Apple wouldnt be number 1 if they didnt care about inovation

[Cow Corner]

My point has been and always will be who will take up pinball after we are gone?
Kids today are just not interested in it the same way we were as kids, even my kids get jaded with the pins quickly as they would much rather play the playstation or xbpx or ipod whatever.
Maybe this might change but I think we will be the last generation of full on pinball collectors. I just can't see that many people getting into the hobby after we are gone.

[Olivia_jason]

My point has been and always will be who will take up pinball after we are gone?
Kids today are just not interested in it the same way we were as kids, even my kids get jaded with the pins quickly as they would much rather play the playstation or xbpx or ipod whatever.
Maybe this might change but I think we will be the last generation of full on pinball collectors. I just can't see that many people getting into the hobby after we are gone.

if kids are exposed to it, they will have those fond memories, the same reason we buy them now. as i stated before, kids walk into our shop holding iphones, they catch a look at the pinball, and down goes the phone and in goes a dollar. and every time they come in next time with their parents they beg for them to give them another buck to play.

[Cow Corner]

My point has been and always will be who will take up pinball after we are gone?
Kids today are just not interested in it the same way we were as kids, even my kids get jaded with the pins quickly as they would much rather play the playstation or xbpx or ipod whatever.
Maybe this might change but I think we will be the last generation of full on pinball collectors. I just can't see that many people getting into the hobby after we are gone.

if kids are exposed to it, they will have those fond memories, the same reason we buy them now. as i stated before, kids walk into our shop holding iphones, they catch a look at the pinball, and down goes the phone and in goes a dollar. and every time they come in next time with their parents they beg for them to give them another buck to play.

That is interesting, whenever I take the kids to timezone in the city or on the gold coast the only people playing pins are adults and this happens all the time.
Maybe your right but I just don't see it at the moment.

[Olivia_jason]

My point has been and always will be who will take up pinball after we are gone?
Kids today are just not interested in it the same way we were as kids, even my kids get jaded with the pins quickly as they would much rather play the playstation or xbpx or ipod whatever.
Maybe this might change but I think we will be the last generation of full on pinball collectors. I just can't see that many people getting into the hobby after we are gone.

if kids are exposed to it, they will have those fond memories, the same reason we buy them now. as i stated before, kids walk into our shop holding iphones, they catch a look at the pinball, and down goes the phone and in goes a dollar. and every time they come in next time with their parents they beg for them to give them another buck to play.

That is interesting, whenever I take the kids to timezone in the city or on the gold coast the only people playing pins are adults and this happens all the time.
Maybe your right but I just don't see it at the moment.

maybe this is where stern should use their brains as far as making a arcade only machine, and have ticket spool, so kids play it,
thats in an arcade situation, as arcades now are like gambling for kids and a pinball isnt,
they do need to adapt to that.
but all you guys talk about the cafe that had a pinball in it being a fond memory. its not really that different today, they do put their phones down to at least look at the pinball machine and try and figure it out. if they dont have the money to play it they sit their pointing and making up a game in their heads. its prety interesting, i think it was STEVESE from this forum came to our shop, he was amazed by the amount of interest in pinball, and Beaky when he comes to work on the machine in the shop he is just harassed by kids asking him how it works lol.
the problem with pinball isnt iphones is exposure, and in the case of arcades they haven't adapted. i bet if a pinball had a ticket spool that at the end of the game pooped out three tickets every kid would choose that over throwing a ball in a hoop to get three tickets.

expose a kid to it now like you all had, and bingo you keep it alive for longer.

[Cow Corner]

Yeah you could be right, anything to keep the hobby alive for another generation would be sweet.
I hope it does but I will never know once I have kicked the bucket.
So for now I just enjoy them for myslef,my family and friends.

Anyway back on topic.....when will the Avengers be revealed?