Doesnt hold up to titles like LOTR or TSPP. Aside from playability, the ruleset isnt as deep.

Quoted from wbradley

Doesnt hold up to titles like LOTR or TSPP. Aside from playability, the ruleset isnt as deep.

Why are LOTR and TSPP always used to set the Stern standard? Aren't POTC, RBION, WPT, FG, SM, RCT, WOF etc. decent games? I just find it odd that LOTR and TSPP are the only Sterns that repeatedly get honourable mention. I must say anyone of these titles appear far more attractive than the last few offerings.

Quoted from machine.slave

I hate to tell you, Axe, but Stern can't build pins solely for enthusiasts.. they'd never make any money.

That's thier biggest error. The limited revenue a game will make on location these days has to be offset by collectors buying the game for decent money at the end of it's commercial cycle. Not accounting for this will be thier demise. The revenue isn't there anymore so they have to look at the whole cycle like a car lease and that lease is based on residual value of the machine. Your used machine market is the collectors.

Quoted Text

The revenue isn't there anymore so they have to look at the whole cycle like a car lease and that lease is based on residual value of the machine. Your used machine market is the collectors.

Glen, I believe you just hit the nail on the head.

[quote=191]

Why are LOTR and TSPP always used to set the Stern standard? Aren't POTC, RBION, WPT, FG, SM, RCT, WOF etc. decent games? I just find it odd that LOTR and TSPP are the only Sterns that repeatedly get honourable mention. I must say anyone of these titles appear far more attractive than the last few offerings.


I think that you have to add SM to your list ...

There’s more animal toy in this pinball that on a Fisher Price farm.
Love the cow…imagine the sound coming out of this junk.

I think TSPP and LOTR are the ones that get the biggest mention cause they are the big sellers.... and mostly because of their license tie ins...  Simpsons fans will buy a pinball if they are hardcore enough... even if they aren't pinball people. same with LOTR fans.

I understand that license tie ins are easy money, but only to a point.  As was said, routing a machine doesn't get much cash. Hell last time i was in Dave and busters, i'll bet that the crane/redemption machines made more in a half hour than every pinball machine in the place does in a day.  Bars i've been to with a pinball machine, they never seem to get touched... Golden tee at least gets people playing now and then, most of the pinballs sit lonely and forgotten.

I think we'll see a drop in the number of these people willing to buy a machine to route, then who is left?

Sure they always have a movie tie in pinball at Famous players... but they usually have ONE, not a bank of 6.  and it's usually not being played anyways.  I think complicated pinball machines are too much maintenance for arcades in malls and movie theaters, where they don't even have a person on site for change anymore, let alone maintenance.

They have pinball at Dave & Busters???  Geez I keep telling the kid no but that will change.

Quoted from axe

...  I think complicated pinball machines are too much maintenance for arcades in malls and movie theaters, where they don't even have a person on site for change anymore, let alone maintenance.

Hmm... operators don't care if a pin has lots of toys or not... in fact, they would rather see a simpler pin with less to maintain.

Could it be that collectors are just too damn difficult and we always want new toys?

I know... this is another discussion. But I just see new Galaga/Ms.Pac machines still raking in the cash today and cost a lot less to purchase and maintain than a newer simulator-type vid.  I gues that raises the P2K debate again... virtual toys instead of mechanical ones. Maintenance is much easier and the wow-factor is there.

If you ask me... pinball is not aging well, or should I say, just not evolving at all and getting real old real fast. And I don't see Dollarama-bought toy animals and antlers changing much for that.

Gary Stern needs a serious evolution, or someone else needs to step up to the plate. If someone comes out with a pin that is much easier to maintain, less expensive to build and to buy, and retains a good attractability factor for the clientele, Stern is dead. The market is ripe for the picking... too bad an idiot owns the Williams rights and a lawyer owns the Gottlieb rights.

What's wrong with lawyers?

Nothing, if you are one!

Quoted from Dr.Who

Love the cow…imagine the sound coming out of this junk.

The cow is in there for hunters who can't aim. It's stationary so you have lots of chances to hit it with the ball.

Squid. I did put SM in there.

Quoted from wbradley

Glen, I believe you just hit the nail on the head.

When Ops go to bail on this machine and are raked over the coals for price they won't be in a position to re-invest in the next Stern. Maybe that's when Gary will realize we count.

Quoted from necro_nemesis

When Ops go to bail on this machine and are raked over the coals for price they won't be in a position to re-invest in the next Stern. Maybe that's when Gary will realize we count.

Call me crazy but, stinker or not, I still think this pin will do better than most expect..

Only time will tell.