Everything looks real good so far imo. The one thing that seems to slip through the cracks when judging games is Atmosphere, and this team is incredible at it. They really blend sounds, lights and rules together better than any other. IMDN with FotD lights out mode, GZ’s DJP shot, JP’s Raptor tri ball start, are just some to mention. They know when to cut the lights, when to blind you, and when to build tension with all of the above. Really happy for everyone that has ordered already, I have no doubt you got a good one. I need some time before joining and can’t wait for another pin reveal to draw the eye of Sauron away so we can discuss Jaws’s shots and coding .

I was referring to Gary Stern.

You'll pay for a subscription on the app on your phone.

I am lactose intolerant

I too wasn't impressed with the official release and short gameplay
wanted a ball eating shark (like most of us wanted) and a locking multiball mech, just something with a bit of wow besides a moving fin decal target

But with Keith, I'm sure the code will only improve and within a year or 2 it will be another one of his greats.

I'm still in on a Le (Only because it was my dream theme), MadMax would be another Le if or ever it happens.

is it me or does the topic heartbeat look like a shark fin?

Sorry I thought I was posting in the looney tunes thread ….my bad

Thats classic!! Lol

Best image yet

The crazy thing is there is the option to not play the 3d mode at all. You seem like a really happy person, so thank you for stopping by to share!

Imagine having an identity so fragile that a pair of plastic glasses threatens to dismantle it

Funny how people give Steve Richie and John Borg so much criticism for recycling Playfield designs that are proven winners. Now we have the best designer ever creating innovative designs for each game and people are upset because it's different or not what they pictured in their minds? Sure he could make it a rehash of Godzilla layout or have it eat the ball like in Jurassic Park but then we wouldn't be getting something new. I don't give two shits whether the shark eats the ball or not. The layout on this looks fun and fast and I like the upper Playfield. I also like the randomness and not to mention the reliability of a shark bash toy. Can't wait to play it.

Avengers Infinity Quest enters the chat...

Game seems to have sold well and still is being made. It has very mixed opinions about it of course but it still is a very common game to find in most arcades and it's been run for a long time now.

so...I don't have a ton of time on that game, but I actually liked it. Never understood the hate.

Elwin's best layout imo, shoots like butter. The theme falls flat.

I think Pat Lawlor is still the goat, elwin hasn't been around long enough to be the greatest of all time

I never said a single thing about 3d glasses. I said old farts probably won't be on board for DLC.

What’s the numerical cutoff for old fart?

Avengers would be great with better easier to understand code, callouts and animations. stern could fix that but won’t. Sold mine.

What's funny to me is this Pinside redundancy syndrome (PRS), where in every hype thread, criticism comes from "complainers" and the non-complainers incessantly complain about the complainers.

I'd say, maybe 1978? Give it take?

Remember the hype threads: “let me guess - the shark is going to eat the ball like JP”, with all sarcasm. Can you imagine the comments if it did: “wow, a rehash of JP. Keith could not do something different. So predictable.”

Well then........

The game looks like a fun shooter, but the chum bucket is kind of a lousy toy. I can see that they built the code around shark encounters and chumming the water but I think the buoy would have been a more fun target with a nice bell ring on each hit and could still work towards shark encounters. Also a harpoon gun (aka crossbow walking dead) could have been fun to hit the shark and add barrels, but I suppose that may be tiresome with a single target.

Top 20 game of all time (per pinside) = hit

now i wish the ball fell in the chum bucket…. can we get a mod?

think the chum bucket is more of an aesthetic than a toy. Buoy would be fun not not sure how that would work thematically

JP
GZ
Jaws
AIQ
IMDN
Bond 60th

In that order. Best games of all time. Not even close. Everything else in pinball is a distant 2nd.

Jaws will probably leap frog JP and GZ soon as the game rolls out and the hype train picks up.

Can I use these IC badges to stroll into Stern’s new lounge area and get my 15 minutes in?

Trying to hit the moving shark fin with a moving crossbow sounds more frustrating than fun

TWD Premium is an all time great game, but the crossbow is the most forgettable part after a few games.

But not the worst part (bicycle girl pop-up)

I like the bicycle girl bash toy. Makes the game even harder

Kinda disappointing none of the zombies eat the ball though. Pfft

I write the following as a HUGE supporter of this game and someone who has an LE already purchased and is very excited to get it......

So I heard a certain podcast today complain about why are people so mad about Jaws right now. They said pinside is super shallow b/c all we want is a mech and we're just closed minded or as one of them mentioned - just don't get pinball or geometry or physics. PLEASE!

Just b/c Keith says they tried it and it sucked doesn't mean the community can't second guess it. Do you know why so many are questioning it? Not b/c we don't like keith but b/c Stern is cheap, charges 13k for an LE and who knows - maybe it was the BOM that was the issue? Ever think of questioning these companies instead of always just taking it?

And no - cool shots with awesome combos are NOT TOYS. They are not MECHs. That is a cheap cop out that BUY BUY BUY wants you to believe. Sorry - we're not idiots.

And no - toys like thing on TAF shouldn't be dismissed b/c it gets "boring" after awhile. Another misguided comment from tournament players who just want a score but lose the fact that pinball is so much more than that.

Why can't we get it all guys? Why can't they put in the amazing shots, code AND ALSO MECHS to an A theme?

And that is the main question for pinball right now. I still think this game will be awesome and I do think Stern delivered, as what mechs are in it seem to integrate well. I'm expecting FOR ME to like it better than Godzilla b/c it's a dream theme with a dream designer but for me to dismiss the frustration I read about it and say it's the community 100% but not stern? That's just ridiculous. The more balance the better.

I think part of the issue here is that the mechs/interactive components Elwin could have integrated on this game, well, he's already done them on his other games.

Shark eats ball: JP T-Rex
Fire ball into shark's mouth: IMDN jump ramp
Sinking Orca: GZ building

The dude is a victim of his own success, but this game should play well. Shark popping up in different locations on the playfield coulda been cool, though.

DE JP Dino eats the ball (and swallows!)

DE Robocop has a jump ramp. NGG has a jump ramp and target. Old EMs had bullseye targets

GZ Building = time expander on Dr Who

But the moving drop target? Gotta give Elwin and co full credit for that one.

People who played the premium/LE really liked it, even on early code. That's good enough for me.

I said something similar on a comment on that podcast. It's $13k! That's $4k more than an IM. Do we really see $4k worth of improvements? Yes it's Kieth the shots and code will be amazing. But for $13k ALSO add in astounding mechs/toys and spend the extra time/money engineering a ball eating shark that IS fun. As they said themselves it's what their first thought (and everyone's expectation) was.

That’s a joke right? The moving target schtick was done years ago.

IMG_0658 (resized).jpeg

Meh, I take the side of Pinsiders being shallow and closed-minded.

I'm always of the mindset to think "Wow! Look what we got!" rather than "Wow! Look what we didn't get!" <-- I know lots of these people. They're rarely happy. It's because their expectations aren't realistic. They think they know everything there is to know about a hobby (which they don't), make a bunch of assumptions, and then get mad and confused when their uneducated guesses fail to pan out.

You ever watch a movie on DVD and then go through all the deleted scenes? Are those scenes trash? Well, sometimes they look and sound like shit because they cut them before the colorists and sound mixers got a hold of them, but chances are, they're solid ideas, or else they would never have wasted set fees, actor day rates, lighting crews, film, catering, transportation etc.

The reason these scenes get cut is because they usually drag the pace of the movie down, or make it too long, or clogs the audience's brains with too much exposition.

A movie needs to flow, just like a pinball machine. Just like the movies, sometimes a cool idea can kill the pace of a pinball machine.

The ball-eating shark is a fine idea. Seems cool on paper, and it sounds like Keith actually tried it, but didn't like it. At the end of the day, it's his decision, and not Stern's, in terms of what things get added to a machine and what things get cut. Could another designer have figured out a way to make it work? Sure. But I wouldn't have bought that game. The only reason I preordered a Jaws premium is because Keith is the designer, and has proven time and time again to be far-and-away, the best pinball designer active today.

Also, a ball-eating shark simply isn't as cool as a ball-eating T-rex. So how is Stern "cheap" if they're still running JP premiums at the same price?

And as a previous owner of Jurassic Park premium, I wasn't terribly sad to see my finnicky ball-eating T-rex go... but maybe that's the key difference here: Those of us who've experienced our balls being eaten aren't exactly eager to jump back into those waters.

Not saying he innovated these things, just that he's already done some of the Jaws-y tricks in his other games. I can see why he wouldn't want to just run them back.

The Buck is a moving standup target, not a drop target

That’s about a 35% increase or so? Seems like everything is 35% more than 5 years ago. Eggs were what, a buck fifty or so 5 years ago. then they went over $4 before falling back down. Gas, cars, homes? Everything seems to cost more than 5 years ago. I figure pinball is no different.

Yeah. I just wanted to emphasize the actual new mech. People are so hung up about the shark they don’t see Stern put a very unique and cool mech into a pro model game.

And I think the drop target can pop up from anywhere along the path, not just at the ends.