Rumour is TRON is next

[RayB]

I was told by someone who claims they know for sure that Stern's next pin is TRON, and will have LCD screen instead of DMD.

[Q*Bert_OP]

Uh huh...and they hired Steve Ritchie to design it.

[Xiaou2]

Tron would be cool if it was based on the Original movie.   

Since Ive not seen the new movie, I cant be too harsh... but from much
experience... its pretty rare that remakes surpass the originals.

 I would find it interesting if Stern actually dumped money into a new display
system.  Personally, I think its a bad idea.   In an original game, you would have
to develop costly CGI animations.  I guess Stern figures it can rip them from
the films directly.  Will probably be Cheezy.

 If they are doing custom video... the files will be quite big.  Will have to put them
on Hard Drives or Solid State drives.  If that was the case, they could probably fit
better quality music / sounds  into their games for once.

 Id bet they either bought the new system from that french company,
or felt pressure from them, and decided to make their own upgrades out of
mere fear.

That would be unfortunate.  Everything he's done for Stern has been a flop.

 You really cant blame S.R. for what he had to work with.  Being told what he
could not do, and given a shoestring budget.. does not lead to good pinball machines.

 While dumping tons of money into a machine is never a guarantee, its surely a better
plan than the current "K-Mart" level of quality.

[RayB]

Personally, I think its a bad idea.   In an original game, you would have
to develop costly CGI animations.  I guess Stern figures it can rip them from
the films directly.  Will probably be Cheezy.

And chunky looking "GIF animations" in 3 shades of orange isn't cheesy???
 

Id bet they either bought the new system from that french company,
or felt pressure from them, and decided to make their own upgrades out of
mere fear..

You mean the Spanish company that makes "New Canasta"? Rumour has it they might be selling those in North America. Wasn't clear to me if the guy meant Stern would distribute or if he meant the distributor whose showroom we happened to be in when he said it.

[Jeff AMN]

Uh huh...and they hired Steve Ritchie to design it.

That would be unfortunate.  Everything he's done for Stern has been a flop.

Spider-Man has been quite successful from a sales and critical standpoint. But you could argue that he didn't quite design that one 100% and basically created his homage to Attack From Mars.

[Xiaou2]

And chunky looking "GIF animations" in 3 shades of orange isn't cheesy???

 Dot Matrix displays are "Artistic".  They display animations in an interpretive way,
and it looks pretty cool.   Same way that a painting has more value than a mere
photograph.  Its an artistically interpreted work.  Pixel art is also interpretive, where as
the opposite end may be CGI.  Many people prefer pixel art, claymation, and other media
to CGI... for that very reason.

 Which is Cheezy, & Which ones a work of Art:  Dragons Lair,  Sega's Time Traveler

You mean the Spanish company that makes "New Canasta"?

 Yes.  Too bad about the first design being primitive.  Hopefully they will improve, and
get a good table designer on board.

Spiderman Stinks.  But hey, you give the man no budget, and the best you get is
a shallow boring layout.   Im not gona defend SR much, cause who knows if he
still has anything good left to pop out.  But hes got no chance with no budget & no time.

[Smeghead]

A Tron pin at least has the potential to be Godlike!

Can you imagine all that blue and red neon!

On the subject of DMDs, i've always been really impressed by the creativity of the graphics on DMD screens. Even roadside ones outside Walgreens or something. All done by computer now of course but I love how they do such great animations using only large scale dots. I love watching the Gilligans Island DMD or the Cactus Canyon one. Makes me play  badly actually because I watch it instead of the ball lol

[Zero_Hour]

Lot of resistance to change amongst the regular staff.

If I was ever insane enough to run a gaming related company, resistance to change would be grounds for dismissal.

[Smeghead]

"The only constant in life is that everything changes"

[JeepMonkey]

I can't wait to see LCD animations.  LONG overdue in my opinion.

As far as Tron, I never got into the original movie, but it does have the potential to look really cool.

[Gorotsuki]

From what I've seen of the current Tron art style is the neon colors are
in strips over a predominantly black base.
While still cool, not nearly as eye catching as the original.
I will probably never get to play this pinball machine
whether it turns out good or bad.

[Q*Bert_OP]

I will probably never get to play this pinball machine
whether it turns out good or bad.

Yeah, same here unless Qbert buys it.   

And if they make Tron, I will buy it, especially if Steve Ritchie designs it 

[FrizzleFried]

According to the folks at KLOV Stern and Disney have some "bad blood" or something and "it's not going to happen..."

[Jeff AMN]

I'm not a fan of the LCD screen idea. I'm sure some cool things could be done, but I don't want to spend even more time staring at the screen that I already do with some of the lengthy DMD sequences. If you give them an LCD, they're going to feel like they have to use it to its fullest. It's going to become a movie clip dumping ground for every little scoop shot and ball lock. Basically any time the ball stops in play, it's going to be stopped for an extended period of time so you can "appreciate" the new feature being brought to pinball.

[Pinball Wizard]

I agree with Jeff here. Not trying to start a Pinball 2000 war here but the concept behind it where I don't have to look away from the playfield to get my information is a good idea. I came to play pinball not a video game, and some of the DMD sequences are like watching a feature length movie. I just ignore the DMD and play the pinball.

[Smeghead]

I love the DMD images and sequences, even the 'video modes' like in Indiana Jones
I'll sit there and watch the attract modes for ages lol

Theres even a commercial for the new Star Trek pinball game in one of them, batman I think

[RayB]

How do we know it's not embedded under the playfield?

[smartbomb2084]

It would really suck if this LCD gimmick is buried under the playfield because I would be FORCED to look at it and not be able to IGNORE it like I could if it were in the backbox.

If I want to play a video game and get bleary eyed I'll fire up DEFENDER, ROBOTRON, or STARGATE.

[FrizzleFried]

It would really suck if this LCD gimmick is buried under the playfield because I would be FORCED to look at it and not be able to IGNORE it like I could if it were in the backbox.

If I want to play a video game and get bleary eyed I'll fire up DEFENDER, ROBOTRON, or STARGATE.

Sounds like a crotchty old fart bitching when they put flippers on pins!  "FLIPPER?!  Who needs flippers!  If I want a flipper I'd just bat the damn ball around with my hand!  Flippers!  Pfft!"

God forbid someone actually try to INNOVATE...

[smartbomb2084]

Old crotchety and proud!

What an innovation LCD pinball is!  It's front page news!

Sometimes innovation isn't needed when we are happy with the game the way it is.

I bet the empahasis put on playfield design will suffer greatly and video game designers will be in control.  Why do we need to blur the line between video game and pinball machine?

[Smeghead]

 Why do we need to blur the line between video game and pinball machine?

erm well ill keep quiet im building a VP cab   

[RayB]

My mom is happy with her 1990's standard def CRT television...

[Xiaou2]

Yeah, no kidding.  There's frankly not a whole hell of a lot left to do on playfield arrangements.  Only so many types of toys are going to work and we've seen them all.

 Ohh, I wouldnt say that.   Just the other day I was thinking about an idea for
both flipper assemblies to be on a sliding rail.  This would allow the player to move
the flipper area left or right across the bottom of the field... However, it would also
mean that the entire bottom of the field would be a danger zone... needing very good skill to keep the ball in play. Could be interesting.

 Ive came up with other move conventional ideas.. yet still very different from the
standard fare.  A lot of it has to do with old mindset, unwillingness to risk something new,
no willingness to dump money into new innovations,..etc.

 
 As for the Display in the field.. it Could be interesting if done well.  For example, if a ball rolled over the area, it could track it and display a trail of fire.  It could be used for animation of typical playfield art... such as a Indian Jones virtial insert decal animating as he mouths off to one of the other characters.

 The problem with pinball 2000, was that it took valuable playfield space away... thus making the shots too simplistic, easy, boring.

 If a display is small enough, and has a nice round bezel over it.. it could be alright.
However, if the LCD takes up too much undercarriage, then it would be bad.

 Also, if its going to be simple movie clips, instead of actual "Art" animations... then it
will detract more than aid the experience.   And we all know, Stern has no art dept... so detraction it is. 

 I wouldnt really call a playfield LCD much of an innovation either.

erm well ill keep quiet im building a VP cab

 Virtual pinball is ok for a time waster... but its nothing like a real good pin.
If given the choice between spending $1500 on a virtual machine that plays 1000 virtual tables...and a Real machine that plays 1 game... Id pick the real pin without hesitation.

Why do we need to blur the line between video game and pinball machine

 I dont see a problem with video-game type of interaction.  I like mini game modes on pins.  But, if you take it too far, sacrificing actual pinball gameplay... thats when it becomes real trouble.

[piecesof8]

Stern was dropping some pretty big hints about this on facebook a couple weeks back:


STERN PINBALL, INC.  anyone excited about the new TRON movie?
September 21 at 10:59am

STERN PINBALL, INC.
September 22 at 1:00pm via Facebook for iPhone

[RayB]

ELO tape?

[piecesof8]

Some type of fiber optic lighting for automotive applications, I think. Looks like it could make some nice lightcycle trails.  

Edit: here it is