Stern Pinball

"I think we're getting a lot of artwork to make up for a lack of a lack of wow in the game... when it comes to pure innovation and pure engineering Stern pinball is not giving you the greatest possible pinball experience"

Stern Pinball lacks innovation and uses artwork to cover lack of wow factor

"whether or not you like the node boards on Stern, it is an innovation. Right. They are also being innovative by ripping you off for the replacement cost, but that's the same shit Apple does."

Stern's node boards are actual innovation despite replacement costs

"Stern's already hit a home run with Avengers. So and they're not even talking any smack and that's like that's the sign of a mature Company a successful mature professional company. They're not talking any smack. They're making money the games are already on the line"

Stern is mature and professional, not talking smack like other companies

"if you like pinball you've got to like totally respect Stern pinball and I totally respect Stern pinball and I I think the man I have the most respect for in all of pinballs George Gomez"

Stern Pinball deserves total respect despite quality issues

"I think what's happening over at Stern is we've got an artist who's incredible, But he's got a certain style and if you see it every three months or four months, There's gonna reach a point where this stuff stops feeling like a moment"

Stern Pinball's frequent releases with same creative teams are creating fatigue and sameness in their lineup

"I love the way the stern apologists have to always make sure we're hyping everything stern does, We're not allowed to have a difference of opinion on stern's product ever, according to the stern army"

Stern apologists controlling narrative by changing owners thread to hype thread to suppress criticism

"I think Stern Pinball needs to figure out a different system by which they explain the rules to these games the best time to explain the depth and the rules set and go into extreme detail on how it all connects is not is not the introductory stream of the game"

Stern needs a better system for explaining game rules during introductory streams

"I heard a crazy rumor that Avengers Infinity Quest was originally supposed to be designed as Ninja Turtles"

Kaneda speculates that Avengers Infinity Quest was originally designed as a Ninja Turtles game

"It seems like they're the only pinball company that just gets it done time and time again"

Kaneda believes Stern is the only pinball company that consistently executes on delivering games on time while competitors hype and delay

"I have been saying from day one I wouldn't go back in on a stern machine until they get their playfield quality up"

Kaneda criticizes Stern's playfield quality issues and states he won't buy Stern games until quality improves

"Why don't we just make a topper that looks like it's a $10 prop. You would put in your front yard during Halloween and let's charge $1,000 for it."

Stern's $1000 Elvira topper looks like a $10 Halloween prop and is deliberately exploitative timing

"they're probably still very greedy. They probably still are not going to give us what we're paying for"

Stern's topper pricing strategy is greedy and takes advantage of collectors

"my biggest complaint of Stern pinball and you've heard me is that they lack mechanical engineering they lack putting toys in their games they've used artwork to hide the fact that there's not a lot in the game."

Stern's biggest flaw has been lack of mechanical engineering and toys, which Avengers finally addresses

"Stern Pinball is the only pinball company that has figured out the most important thing in pinball. And that's manufacturing"

Stern Pinball is the only company that figured out manufacturing

"I will say Stern, your playfield quality is not as good as Spookys. It doesn't look as good... If you look at his Stern and you look at Spooky, the Stern one just looks like beat to hell."

Stern playfield quality is inferior to Spooky despite Spooky also having dimple issues

"I think it's the wrong move for pinball and I think for an LE buyer, he should get everything in that game for the amount of money. You are buying machines that only cost them like $3,000 to make. They are selling these machines for double, double and a half and triple what it cost them to make the game."

Stern's DLC toppers are wrong for pinball and LE buyers should get everything included

"if you support moves like this Jurassic Park topper, you are a moron. If you buy El Vira signature edition, you are a moron. And I know that someone out there has a big problem with me calling people morons, but you are."

Buyers of Stern's premium editions like Elvira Signature and Jurassic Park topper are morons

"Ernie Hudson's cost to be part of the game was $5,000 and a premium machine so you this notion that and break that down over the amount of games they sold with Ghostbusters and it's like a dollar per machine"

Stern doesn't invest enough in licensed content despite low costs

"this paywall to get to it is absolutely the wrong direction for stern pinball"

Stern's DLC model is wrong direction for pinball

"I'm getting tired of stern's entitlement and the fact that they feel like entitled for everyone to cheerlead everything they do"

Stern is acting arrogantly and entitled toward customers

"they have not fixed the fucking problem and if you look at their own images stern's own images that they release to the world and you zoom in on their playfield there's ribbing"

Stern Pinball still hasn't fixed their playfield quality issues despite years of complaints

"Stern machines should still be like four thousand dollars they all should be like four to four five hundred dollar machines... Stern premiums with what they have in them should all be like five thousand dollars or less and you fucking know it"

Stern Pinball machines should cost $4000-5000 maximum, not $9100, and Jersey Jack proved people will overpay

"I can only draw one conclusion that it was Stern Pinball who complained to Facebook about Kaneda"

Stern Pinball got Kaneda's Facebook links censored by reporting his TMNT episode as abusive content

"we know they don't cost that much to make. We know we're all kind of getting ripped off on every Stern machine and we don't really care because Stern machine gets it done"

Stern Pinball is overpriced but efficient at delivery

"I just don't see the same level the same level of creativity of innovation there's that word again but I just don't see that world under glass coming to life over at Stern"

Stern Pinball doesn't create the same level of creativity and world under glass experiences

"stern needs to get better at these streams... just play the game. Why is who do who does this with the video game like oh no go go to level three... just show the game"

Stern needs to dramatically improve their reveal streams and stop over-explaining games

"It does feel a little cheap... It feels like if I saw that toy in a store, it would be five bucks. And there's no real artistic sculpting going on with any of this stuff... It feels like a child's Fisher Price toy when I looked down at a $9,000 stern alley."

Stern's toys and mechs feel cheap like Fisher Price toys, especially the van and Raphael glider

"Again, they're the only drug dealer in town. When you're the only drug dealer on the corner all the time, you can control the price of the market. That's what Stern can do."

Stern can charge whatever they want because they're the only consistent manufacturer

"All they have to do is go live with all of their intended media and all of their assets and HD images and videos. They just need to send that out to the world. At the exact same time, they do the distributor seminars. It makes no sense that you do this distributor conference called the day before your media is set to go live."

Stern consistently spoils their own product launches by doing distributor presentations before media releases

"I'm starting to get this sense that this is just the best we're ever going to get from stern. That they just have hit a limit on what they will be able to give us... I feel like we've hit this limit."

Stern has hit their limit on what they can deliver and won't improve quality further

"I'm telling you right now, spooky pinball's clear coat mixture is better than everyone else's... it's as close to perfect as I've ever seen a pinball clear coat as of the last five years. And so why is Stern Pinball still confused about how to get these games to that level of quality?"

Stern's dimpling/playfield quality is unacceptable compared to Spooky's solution

"Why does in Stern pinball look at buying spooky pinball? Why don't they look at absorbing this little boutique company that has a big fan base that has some really talented people and why don't they combine forces?"

Stern should buy Spooky Pinball to access their superior playfield technology

"I'm so sick and tired of the celebration by the Stern fanboys and the Stern army as they celebrate the fact that the game they bought four months ago is still not done... It's pathetic. I really do think it's pathetic."

Stern's incremental code updates on incomplete games are pathetic

"there's no excuse now for Stern Pinball machines that are shipping in 2020 to have poor code in them"

Stern Pinball should use this time to focus on code quality

"that's always stern's incentive to everyone in the industry if you want to be a part of something where things are happening you join stern pinball if you want to be a part of something where there's always delays where there's always pauses where there's always financial insecurity you join everybody else"

Stern Pinball's appeal to industry professionals is based on constant activity versus other companies with delays

"that's why if you're wondering why all those Ghostbusters games had crappy inserts and poor playfields if you're wondering why stern cabinets all of a sudden didn't have the same quality that they had before and we start to see stern cabinets cracking left and right on new games why do you think that is because Churchill their supplier for decades had left"

The Chicago Gaming/Churchill split from Stern caused major quality control issues with Ghostbusters

"I think it was brilliant I've got a stern if it was his idea to come up with three versions of a pinball I think it was a terrific idea because it lets people get in on an entry level"

Stern's three-tier pricing system was brilliant

"in my mind the two companies that are best best suited right now to ride out this wave are our stern because they've got cash in the bank and spooky pinball because they've got every game sold over the next 18 months"

Only Stern and Spooky can survive the economic downturn

"Most stern machines, even if you're just flailing and throwing the ball up the playfield, you will probably start something. In Rick and Morty, that's not the case"

Stern makes games accessible to beginners while Rick and Morty does not

"And so I think that's what has sort of Disrupted it Robert a little bit he's putting more in he's gonna charge a little bit more But you're getting much more any and I don't think people just didn't feel it when they stood over Raza All right, what else did Jeff ask and he said what type of innovations can we expect to see during the launch and Robert said We will be excited to show a portion of what we've been working on on launch day"

No Stern Pinball machine feels worth more than $6,000

"Hilton's Rick and Morty has been played over a thousand times...The playfield still looks like glass...Look at Stranger Things pinball after over a hundred plays. Heck, after ten plays, a Stranger Things pinball machine looks worse than Spooky pinball's 1000 plays on Rick and Morty."

Spooky Pinball playfield quality vastly superior to Stern

"I think another sleazy move by Stern marketing... They introduced the full color premium completely destroying any sense of specialness to the LE game itself... they go out of their way to screw over the people that have made this company so successful"

Stern's sleazy marketing moves with Monsters owners

"I do think there seems like people don't give stern, um, as much slack as something like spooky because I don't know."

People are softer on smaller pinball companies than on Stern

"as much as they're increasing revenue, I think they're losing, I think they're losing people's good will. And I think they're turning people off"

Stern is losing customer goodwill with their pricing practices

"I think it's scummy. And I think people feel that way... I've just never seen any feature where you had to pay extra to unlock it like this since I've been covering this hobby"

Stern's UV kit controversy shows scummy business practices

"I don't think Jody and Gary give two SHITS about any of you. I don't. I really don't. I think the designers care about you. I think the coders care about you. I think the people actually making these games care about you. But I think the people at the top, the investors and the fat cats, they don't give two SHITS about you."

Stern leadership doesn't care about customers, only the designers and workers do

"It is like going to see a movie that has 3D in it and then the movie theater after you buy your ticket the movie theater wants you to spend additional money on the glasses. And to me that is what is happening here."

Stern's $280 Stranger Things UV kit is like a movie theater charging extra for 3D glasses after you buy the ticket

"It is I think the biggest joke cash grab I've seen since I've been covering this hobby. They intended to do it all along... You spent $9100 on an LE that's unfinished and not only is it unfinished code wise it's unfinished because they left a feature out that they already put into the game."

Stern's UV kit is the biggest cash grab joke in pinball - they intentionally left out features to sell later

"These are the worst these were the worst games in the 80s and 90s and now all of a sudden they have 85% of the market... Stern pinball has fooled all of you in so many ways they have but the saddest thing is this and you all know it you're spending so much money on a company that is making games and they're not the best pinball company."

Stern was the worst pinball company in the 80s/90s and only dominates now because better companies left

"why is it that I can option out my machine and get immediate emails back from someone helping me customize my machine exactly how I would like it when I buy a spooky pinball machine for $78,000 but when I buy a $15,000 from Stern pinball they won't let me choose any options they don't let me paint the coin door they don't let me add this or add that absolutely nothing"

Stern doesn't allow customization options like Spooky does despite charging $15,000