Stern Pinball

"This was never part of their plan on how they were gonna launch John Wick. Did they invite any of these pinball media into Stern pinball before they launched John Wick? People are getting this access right now. Think about it is because John Wick sales are abysmal."

Stern's media invite campaign is damage control because John Wick sales are terrible

"There's like this arrogance now by these companies that if they make anything, we will buy it regardless of the price, regardless of the theme."

Stern is arrogant and thinks they can sell anything regardless of theme or price

"the company that's just pumping out really the cheapest mass produced product in all of Pinball, it's Stern... They have the lowest bomb in all of Pinball. They have the cheapest manufacturing because of all their efficiencies. And yet look at where they are priced."

Stern has the cheapest manufacturing but highest prices in pinball

"They killed their own FOMO. The stupidity at Stern marketing these days, they killed their own FOMO. They're the other submarine and they just fired a missile at Red October and they thought they had it, right? They blew up their own FOMO."

Stern Pinball destroyed their own FOMO marketing strategy

"You used to say that Pinball is a game where it's a world under glass, right? That was the thing and now Stern Pinball is a new thing. It's a world on the screen and that is why John Wick is not selling because we're not stupid and we're looking at the game and we're not seeing a world under glass. We are seeing a world on the screen."

Modern Stern games are 'world on screen' not 'world under glass'

"The fact that Stern pinball is making a thousand John Wick LEs when they only made 800 Star Wars. I mean, think about how stupid that is... What market research did you do, George Gomez? To say to us that you think there's demand for 1000 John Wick LEs."

Making 1000 John Wick LEs shows Stern's arrogance

"I'm hearing the next Vault game from Stern pinball that's supposedly coming out in June or July. It's got to be like July is no other than Metallica."

Stern Pinball will release a Metallica Vault Edition as their next game in June/July due to poor John Wick sales

"If Stern does this and they burn all those original Metallica owners, they're really digging the grave even deeper... all of a sudden you've got a few thousand people that don't like the way Stern is doing business."

Stern's strategy of burning previous buyers with remakes and high prices is creating thousands of angry customers

"That is the mafia, ladies and gentlemen. Stern Pinball operates like they are the mob and that is why on my very expletive show, I'm like F off Stern."

Stern Pinball operates like the mafia by controlling dealer pricing and preventing deals

"No modern Stern does or will ever or can ever. Even Jaws LEs now are sliding down to 12. They're going to slide back down to 11 after 12 and this is what happens. No modern Stern is worth what these rip off prices are"

No modern Stern pinball is worth current retail prices

"the fucking truth so while Gary becomes richer and Gomez and set Davis I don't need to see fucking pictures of the team has celebrating over beers because my friends are losing fucking three to four thousand dollars on every single game"

Current Stern games lose $3000-4000 immediately while company profits soar

"This was the worst marketing launch in history of stern I've never seen a stern launch week turned so negative so like so disgusting on so many levels now the game is lost in all of the debate"

Stern's marketing team caused the gun controversy by not showing gameplay footage on day one

"I think everyone knows deep down that a Stern bomb is like $3,500... So we're paying almost $10,000 over the bomb for a Stern LE"

Stern's pricing is a ripoff - games cost $3,500 to make but sell for $10,000+

"instead of bringing in all these Mickey Mouse YouTubers and guys that don't even own your product, who own a godfather and a toy story for, I mean, talk about people with no taste in games"

Stern brought in Mickey Mouse YouTubers with no taste instead of real pinball media

"it's really easy to turn Stern pinball into the bud light of pinball in which you're so big, and you have so much volume in market share where you think the only way to grow is to go after new audiences at the expense of your core audience"

Stern could easily become the Bud Light of pinball by abandoning core audience for new markets

"They significantly raised the prices on everything. They didn't raise the price on the BOM. They didn't put more into these games. And they just started charging more and more and more for less and less and less."

Stern has been making calculated greedy moves, raising prices while reducing content

"The same price as a Stern Foo Fighter topper. The greed is real. The arrogance is real. And I think it's catching up the Stern Pinball. I think all of us are tired of it. I think the enthusiasm around that company and their new games is just dissipating really quickly."

Stern Pinball's pricing is greedy and disrespectful, comparing $2,000 Foo Fighter topper to furniture

"The person you go to to launch John Wick Pinball is some YouTuber named Beekong that no one's ever heard of. Who's never made any real significant pinball content in his life. Who has no followers that are pinheads."

Stern ignored pinball content creators for John Wick launch, using unknown YouTuber instead

"The big move that's coming at Stern Pinball is they're going to want to bring downloadable content into every single game. So you're going to have to spend more money on your game. After you buy it, you think they're going to keep updating code for free? No, they're going to probably have these games come out around 1.0 code."

Spike 3 system is designed for downloadable content monetization, not better games

"I am not going to support Stern pinball. I don't even care. How are you going to come to New York City with a pinball press tour? Not even invite Jason Knapp... I'm so happy I'm selling my Batman SLE because I just want to be done with them until they make a move that shows us they care again about us."

Will not support Stern Pinball until they show they care about the community again

"It can't be only about the artwork in the game. It can't. And what I think I'm gonna articulate right now is the real reason why a lot of us are really angry at Stern Pinball. And this was just the final thing that lit off what's been brewing for a long time."

John Wick controversy isn't about guns - it's the final straw after years of greedy moves by Stern

"So you don't really lose a license, right? It's not like where my keys? I lost my keys. The reason why Stern Pinball decided not to make Indiana Jones, they did not want to fork over the money."

Stern lost Indiana Jones license because they didn't want to pay, not because they 'lost' it

"I think Stern Pinball is now a company that is just 100% out of touch with what people who supported them all these years want. They are out of touch with who the real community is that's going to keep them successful. They are out of touch with the people that are going to spend 7 to 13 thousand dollars on their products. And not only are they out of touch with us, they are treating us like we don't even matter."

Stern Pinball is completely out of touch with their core community and treating loyal customers like they don't matter

"Stern has beaten down their fan base over the last like three years with overpriced LEs, way too many LEs, and they don't seem to be cognizant of the vibes that have shifted dramatically around their company."

Stern has beaten down their fanbase with overpriced LEs and too many releases

"Because trust me, I speak more to Stern customers on a weekly, daily, and monthly basis than they even do. And so do all the other content creators out there."

Content creators know Stern customers better than Stern does

"I just don't think they work anymore like this. Like, this is still the old way to launch a game where you're still trying to drive that FOMO and that urgency through the door... those days are over."

Stern's marketing approach is outdated and doesn't work in the current market

"I'm sorry, but how can Stern Pinball in 2024 walk up to an Elton John machine and see what's possible from a modern lighting standpoint in Pinball and then try to sell us this like bag of like Tic Tac lights for like $13,000?"

Stern's lighting system is poor and outdated compared to competitors

"They want to push us into this world where like Insider Connected and achievements are where we're gonna get the value... Because that's cheap for them to do... they want to take this highly physical kinetic game, take out most of the mechanical magic"

Stern wants to replace mechanical innovation with cheap digital features

"And I think they're destroying this hobby. I think they're destroying their very own business model and it's just not gonna work."

Stern is destroying the pinball hobby and their own business model

"I think Stern Pinball is almost setting up all of its designers to somewhat deliver underwhelming games. And what I mean by that is at this price point, seven to $13,000. I don't think Stern Pinball has increased the bomb of their machines enough so these designers can actually put enough into these games to justify games costing that much."

Stern is setting up designers to fail by not increasing BOM while raising prices dramatically

"Like a Stern machine at this much money should look more like a Jersey Jack machine. It should have better lighting. It should have more mechanisms in it."

Stern machines at current prices should look more like Jersey Jack machines with better lighting and more mechanisms

"I don't think any modern Stern ever is ever going to be worth $13,000 for an LE or $9,500 for a premium. I don't care what they put into these games. These games are all so overpriced"

Modern Stern pinball machines are overpriced regardless of features

"The majority of Stern LEs that have sold for $13,000 within a year, the majority of them have gone down to being worth $10,000"

Modern LE machines are losing the most value of all pinball variants

"Seriously, when you think about it, it's like, thank you, Stern Pinball, for bringing out a game that's geared towards men that like action movies."

Current Stern themes don't appeal to core demographic - John Wick is a rare exception aimed at men who like action movies

"at the end of the day, Stern Pinball makes the best decision. Stern Pinball has been consistently bringing out the best Pinball machines over the last 20 years. They've consistently put the best code into Pinball machines. They consistently have the best designers in Pinball"

Stern Pinball consistently makes the best decisions and games in pinball

"stern needs a hit game, if this is another Venom, and this game is like 13 grand and 1000 LEs, I think stern is in big trouble because I'm talking to distros, and they're canceling their orders"

Stern needs John Wick to be a hit or they're in big trouble

"I still think John Wick is going to struggle. I don't think Stern's pricing model works very well. I think people are just getting into jaws. People are finally enjoying James Bond on Final Code. It's just too much. You can't ask these people to keep dropping 13 and $10,000 game after game after game after game"

John Wick will struggle because Stern's pricing model doesn't work

"you can go get a Black Knight Pro Remade by Stern Pinball in the new factory, where the quality is not as good as the old factory"

Stern's new factory has lower quality than old factory

"Stern pinball does not make high-end stuff. They are the Honda Civic of pinball. They're the mass-produced product. They are not capable of commanding these prices on every single game."

Stern Pinball cannot justify premium pricing - they're mass market, not high-end

"I'm hearing that Stern pinball has a fully designed game, right? The game is done and they are going to turn this game into a commercial product for us to buy. Here's the problem that this game doesn't even have a theme yet... This is as lazy as it gets."

Stern Pinball is designing games without themes first, then acquiring themes to slap on top

"I still don't think Stern has these juggernaut themes... So I think Stern Pinball might be playing catch up, especially if the rumors are true."

Stern Pinball doesn't have juggernaut themes and might be playing catch up to competitors

"I'm just exhausted by Stern and their greediness, and the apologist who defend these moves... Stern Pinball thinks we're all idiots. These are idiot prices."

Stern Pinball has become excessively greedy with accessory pricing, charging $2000 for Foo Fighters topper vs $500 for original Black Knight topper

"One shooter knob from Stern Pinball that they can make in a nanosecond. One shooter knob is the price of four years of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast."

Stern's $225 shooter knob costs more than four years of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast subscription

"What's going to sting people is when you spent $13,000 on those games and they slide all the way down to like $8,500. And now you're losing $4,500. You're losing $4,500 on a single Stern. Nobody's used to that kind of loss."

Stern LE prices will continue to drop significantly, causing major losses for buyers

"The moment you're all on Insider connected, guess what's going to happen one day? They're going to flip a switch and you're going to have to pay a monthly subscription fee to play your Stern pinball machine. They're going to start charging you every month for new modes and new this and new achievements and you're going to pay for all that."

Stern will eventually charge monthly subscription fees through Insider Connected

"Stern's lighting system is so outdated and they just don't have it. Like Jersey Jack has it. Like they have the ability to make that John Wick atmosphere pop... Their lighting is like 20 years old and outdated. They haven't done anything truly innovative."

Stern's lighting system is outdated and they lack innovation

"it only goes in one direction, it's only going from left to right and then the shark apparently swims backwards to start over again. Stern pinball really crushing it with their mechanisms people."

Stern's shark fin mechanism only goes one direction and is poorly designed

"Ever since Stern moved into the new factory, it's not just the playfields. The quality of the builds has gone downhill. I have a lot of friends who bought like Elvira when they made that in the new factory. Nothing but issues. I'm looking at these stranger things playfields and they're terrible."

Stern's build quality has gone downhill since moving to the new factory

"I'm a little worried over at Stern these days because they don't really have the engineering power anymore. Their head of engineering went over to Jersey Jack Pinball for a reason, and I heard he quit because he was not happy with the stuff that was going into Jaws Pinball"

Stern lacks engineering power compared to their past, citing head engineer leaving for Jersey Jack

"And over time, we're going to get used to Keith Elwin designs. He's not always going to be able to wow you. It's the same way with art. When Zombie Eddie came onto the scene, it blew you away. Now we've had so many Zombie Eddie games, it no longer has the same impact. The same is true of Keith Elwin. Because what Stern doesn't have over there, they don't have any mechanical engineering people that are wowing us."

Stern is over-relying on Keith Elwin and lacks mechanical innovation