When will Stern leap into new Technology ?

[Ant68]

When will Stern leap into new Technology ?
They usually release 3 or 4 (?) titles a year ,and I have read that they are doing a complete board change at the end of the year .
Say there's  2 more releases by the end of the year , JJP releases his WOZ in say 3 months (June) ,What happen to the 2 new Stern releases  that are old tech and have to compete with a JJP pinball .
My thoughts are that Stern will load them up with way more bells and whistles to compete  with the release of WOZ.
So we should get more bang for our bucks .Maybe even a cookie cutter amongst them ?

Tony

[swinks]

I reckon they will pump out 1-2 titles with the technology they have now and they probably are already working on new technology (it be smart to anyway) but will leave until they are forced to upgrade. I think it is awesome that JJP and the Zombie pinball is coming out as it will make Stern look old tech forcing them to keep up with the times.

[Cow Corner]

As long as a game is a good player does it need new technology?
I am all for new innovations in pinball but not if gameplay is foresaken. I am happy with a basic game if the gameplay is fast and fun.
The technology, theme, audio etc in woz is neither here nor there for me, it's the artwork that has grabbed me.. it looks great.
I hope it plays as good as it looks.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

When will Stern leap into new Technology ? 

Adding an LCD will not bring much extra to a game

Sterns are still just a pinball game

the best games are a pinball adventure

[Caveoftreasures]

I think adding a LCD screen will bring "EVERYTHING" to the pinball game. Just play Revenge from Mars, or play Star Wars Episode 1 and feel the difference.

Its not pure pinball, but its "different" pinball.  and people like choice and differences. U play a different machine everytime u walk into your games room because of the mood u are in. So, u will buy a game today, based on it being different. I dont want to see pinball ALL move to the LCD screen situation, but maybe a choice.

What we need is for the Pro model to be stock like it is now, with a dot matrix display, and for the LE to have the LCD screen. Everyone wins. 2 x simple choices. We dont need to overcomplicate every machine, maybe just one version or the 2 x versions.

Sterns current technology works well, so only change it if u need to. Adding anything is fine, provided we dont end up with pinball machines that look n feel too much like video machines.

We all need to be careful we dont ask for too much change too quick. The last thing i want is for everything to feel like a video game. Classic pinball works well.
*Just a choice on the title with the Pro staying the same is great, and maybe a LE with the LCD will be enough options.

[swinks]

But some of the new technology I reckon would be the stuff you don't see - proxy sensors in the lanes to replace the wire exposed  micro switches - proxies can pickup metal 10 - 15mm or more so they are under the playfield screwed into a plate and recessed into the back of the playfield, never seen and then no cuts through the playfield and much more reliable. Yes may cost twice as much but last a life time of playing.

A vertical 19 inch LCD in the back of the playfield would be awesome then you can catch the features of the game while playing. Personally not a fan of the RFM etc as the video image is a little too much and you don't get to see the ball travel around the (back of) playfield much. Haven't played this much but when I did it just seemed repetitive in goals, got old very quickly for me.

And with the woz - it just sees they are putting a little more effort into the toys where stern now seems to be using $10 toys from walmart and perspex panels - like the dancing band in the back rhs corner and even the cannon is average - this could have been enhanced for the LE with plastic molded ones like on Transformers. I suppose better to say Stern could pickup the quality on the LE's, as for the pro's - good value for the last release.

[Retropin]

Stern have only ever copied... right from the very start... a Stern game was all copied technology, so much so with SS that its all interchangeable with BALLY. If you are looking to Stern to come up with a new approach or some sort of inovation, then forget it. Stern have always copied the industry leaders.. now they are the industry leaders their lack of R&D is screamingly evident.
Stern may well take a loooong look at Jack and see what they can emulate for future games, they may not. But doing something outside the box is not in Sterns comfort zone.
Im just glad they werent industry leaders when it was bagatelle... or before pop bumpers... or flippers.... or multiball... or speech.... or... anything! Cos it would never have happened.