Avatar pinball officially announced

RareHero

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From Stern's site:

Our production of Avatar pinball will begin in the middle of August,
with export games first and in time to reach our overseas export markets as the
post summer selling season begins. Domestic shipments should start
early in September.

To capture the full excitement of the 3-D Avatar movie, our pinball has
a sensational 3-D backglass. Its depth, clarity and color are
amazing.

In Avatar pinball, you as player are the hero Jake Sully. Capture the
pinball in the transporter link, a case that reveals a Jake figurine,
and transform yourself into his Avatar. Then, after a series of
challenges, get past the motorized up/down target bank protecting
Colonel Quaritch and fight the Colonel in his AMP Suit, aiming your
pinball at him. As you overtake the Colonel, his AMP Suit crashes to
the ground and you save the Na'vi people from total destruction. Avatar
pinball also features a twisting ramp, the magnet for random ball play,
and lots of multi-ball action.

Avatar pinball has lots of great sound, including speech and sound
effects from the movie as well as original voice over by actor Stephen
Lang, who plays Colonel Quaritch in the movie.

As we always do, we have been playing Avatar pinball without art, and
tests begin with temporary art, allowing for changes that may still be
necessary for final Licensor approval.

Official pictures will be available early August. Stay tuned for more info.

AvatarGame1-1_page1_image1.jpg
 
Should be pretty cool. They've got a pretty great license to start with. Let's just hope they don't screw it up.
 
I hope I'm not reading into it too much, but it sounds like a one ramp game. I really hope there's at least two.
 
I hope I'm not reading into it too much, but it sounds like a one ramp game. I really hope there's at least two.

Nothing wrong w/ 1 ramp games if there's other cool shit to do. Or, like Batman Dark Knight - the one ramp has a divertor..sometimes it goes to the gadgets playfield, sometimes it goes to the bridge.
 
Sure, I'm just saying for the sake of all the crap they'll take from the haters.

People tend to forget how barren games like Attack From Mars (have one and LOVE it) are when they start bashing the sparse Stern layouts.
 
Unless it was based on the movie...where Sokka just acted like a pissy wannabe badass ...
You got that right. M. Night managed to completely screw up what should have been a slam dunk. That being said, I actually think Cameron's Avatar has the potential to be a great machine. It's all in the execution, and Stern has proven to be very uneven in this respect. I'll continue to keep my fingers crossed that this is one of their better efforts.
 
I tend to not get wrapped up in this crap. It's not like I can afford to go out a buy a brand new pin anyway ;-)

And FWIW - I think Stern realizes the OP market is about dead. A local OP in the biz for 25 years told me pins don't make squat for money.
Only thing Stern can do is focus on the home market and thus why cheaper models are being made and sold in Costco. So why shouldn't they use a movie theme ... makes sense to me.
 
I tend to not get wrapped up in this crap. It's not like I can afford to go out a buy a brand new pin anyway ;-)

And FWIW - I think Stern realizes the OP market is about dead. A local OP in the biz for 25 years told me pins don't make squat for money.
Only thing Stern can do is focus on the home market and thus why cheaper models are being made and sold in Costco. So why shouldn't they use a movie theme ... makes sense to me.

They have a further-cheapened cabinet designed for the next Costco pin (probably Avatar). I wonder if the game itself will be the same, or if it will be like Batman w/ stuff taken out. MNpinball on RGP claims it will have drop targets...I could see the Costco version just having regular targets.
 
You can rest assured the Costco version will be dummed down as well. And I for one think it's a brilliant move. People complain - why? It's not the only version out there so don't buy it if you don't like it right? I mean ... seriously.
Like I also said before, it's not like I'll ever be able to afford a new pin - and quite honestly I wouldn;t pay that much for even if I could afford it. $2500 yes - but I realize that's completely unrealistic.
 
Well they did by not using Steve Ritchies layout of the pin.
Like most pinheads, I love Steve Ritchie's designs. That, of course, doesn't mean that every non-Ritchie pin is fundamentally bad. I'm generally a glass half-full kind of guy, so I'll give Stern and Borg the benefit of the doubt for the time being.
 
God Stern what is wrong with you?
So the movie is being rerun in August and you plan to get this pinball to market in September?
What the hell?? Yet another Stern pin I will not be buying for my arcade, unless it really shines in game play. I mean come on! Avatar is old news already, at least get the pin out a month or 2 before the rerun.
I cant understand why Stern always puts out their pinballs after the movie is out in theaters, they need to hit at least a month before the movie.
3D backglass? Starwars one looked like ass, this one better be better.
I got Indy, Batman, and spiderman all after the movie was already out because they are awesome titles.
I want to get another pin this year, looks like avatar wont be the one.
 
God Stern what is wrong with you?
So the movie is being rerun in August and you plan to get this pinball to market in September?
What the hell?? Yet another Stern pin I will not be buying for my arcade, unless it really shines in game play. I mean come on! Avatar is old news already, at least get the pin out a month or 2 before the rerun.
I cant understand why Stern always puts out their pinballs after the movie is out in theaters, they need to hit at least a month before the movie.
3D backglass? Starwars one looked like ass, this one better be better.
I got Indy, Batman, and spiderman all after the movie was already out because they are awesome titles.
I want to get another pin this year, looks like avatar wont be the one.

At some point, a movie will be "old" ...so - getting it out before it's in theaters isn't the be-all-end-all with a pin. Avatar has 'legs'. ...it made billions & almost everyone has seen it, worldwide. There will be sequels. It's a smart license for Stern to go with. The plus side is - they'll have access to all the audio/visual material for reference and use in the game. One of the problems w/ Spider-Man, Batman, Indy, and even Iron Man is that the studios don't let Stern have anything but the trailers if the movie isn't out yet. I love Batman, but it would be a lot better w/ more real audio and scenes from the movie. Iron Man kinda gets away with it cuz the only cool stuff from IM2 WAS in the trailer... ;) At the end of the day, it'll just have to be a good game. We'll see....
 
Can you order already??? Let me know because I just talked to Mrs. ZF and we WILL be getting an Avatar Pinball :)

Dealers can order. Im sure you could pre-order one through us..:)

Our online price will be the same as anyones but lately as with the new Iron Man pinball they are showing up on ebay brand new with people only making 200-300 on the machines. The cost I believe is the same for all unless you maybe buy 50-100. Not sure on that. What I do know is that its hard to compete with people selling them for nothing. The only thing we got that they dont is they are on ebay which as we all know can be a pain in the ass.

For someone on here I would try to get something extra like an autograph on the back glass or something.
 
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