Looks like Stern "Rolling Stones" pinball machine is official

[RareHero]

Tron is a theme that could translate into an AWESOME pin. I would love to see it happen and hold out hope that it will. I'm just not getting my hopes up.

It's a done deal. It's being made. Stop hoping. Save your money.

As far as the release date goes it makes no sense to me whatsoever.

#1 - Waiting to see if it was a hit. It's not an Avatar hit, but it's a moderate hit, and Disney is committed to the franchise w/ a new animated series and sequels.

#2 - It will release around the time the DVD comes out, so there can be cross promotion w/ that.

#3 - By waiting till after the movie's released, Stern gets access to all art, sound, story, etc ....this way they avoid a Dark Knight or Indiana Jones 4 situation where they're in the dark on plot or don't have access to materials. That's why Dark Knight doesn't have Two-Face or that much audio from the movie...and IJ has barely anything from IJ4 (not that most people care on that one, though...hehe)

#4 - If a license is strong and iconic - it is irrelevant if it's released with the movie. Tron fans won't like Tron Pinball in less in April'11 vs. Dec'10

I won't be convinced that they'll even make a TRON pin until they officially announce it.

Stern doesn't announce games until they're pretty much ready to go. They're busy selling Avatar, Iron Man, etc...and want to sell some Rolling Stones soon.

 

[jar155]

I know they tried for Harry Potter but Rowling herself shot that down. That could have been a huge get for Stern. I know that they only want to do licenses right now, but I wonder if they could do a bit more market research on these things. I feel that they missed out on a few that could have been hot.

- Transformers - It's declined a bit, but a couple of years ago the license was red hot and it appealed to both young players and mid-30s types.

- Ninja Turtles - The TMNT franchise has had a big resurgence, but it's waned in the past 2 years or so. 3-4 years ago this would have been a surefire hit with the same crowds as Transformers, and there's tons to work with there.

- James Bond - Again, the franchise is in decline, but it was very big not too long ago. Maybe they could have included more than just the Daniel Craig Bond, but even limited to that it would have been worth looking at.

- X-Men - Comic themes sell well, and X-2 was HUGE! There was no reason not to go after this license at that time.

- LOST - 24 was chosen at a time when LOST would have been the better pick. It's too late now, but back during its S2 and S3 days, it would have been interesting to do.

- Halo/Super Mario/Other Video Game Franchise - It's never too late to do this, but if they had put out a Halo pin to coincide with Halo 3 or Halo: Reach, buzz would have been insane. At the very least people would have been out looking for it in the wild. Super Mario Bros. is timeless and they should look at doing another one of those. A big gaming franchise would be smart to piggyback on right now (Call of Duty for example).

I'm not saying that they should have done all of those, but while they were doing The Sopranos, World Poker Tour, Wheel of Fortune, 24, and CSI, they really left much better licenses on the table. Some are too late to go after now, but some could still be done. It just seems like they're a bit late to get on many licenses. Heck, by the time CSI came out Grissom was off the show, but he's on the backglass.

 

[Deadly]

Tron is a theme that could translate into an AWESOME pin. I would love to see it happen and hold out hope that it will. I'm just not getting my hopes up.

As far as the release date goes it makes no sense to me whatsoever. I've heard virtually nothing about TRON outside of this forum. I could be wrong but the movie doesn't seem like a runaway sensation. I won't be convinced that they'll even make a TRON pin until they officially announce it.

The person I got the info from is not a person I can honestly say I would trust with my wife/life or consider my best friend. He's simply an internet acquaintance. So with that being said, yesterday morning I emailed him and asked, "Is Tron ONLY a concept/consideration on paper at this point or will it come to fruition? I'm asking because if it's not I have my eye on another pin."

His response was, "Positive, after stones . Will be in April )"

Time will tell of course. But he's been correct on several other pins that were previously hush hush so I have no reason to doubt him.

 

[GameyMcGame]

They should have struck while the iron's hot and made an original zombie themed pin.

No license fees, and a chance to make a pin unlike any other in the history of pinball.

+1!

I'm not bashing the Stones pin, I think they know their target market and I assume, its not 20 somethings and never will be (certainly doesnt seem like they want it to be).

But I totally agree. If you look at the best 50 pins of all time, many are not licensed themes. A generic Zombie pin or something like that would be great!

 

[Lindsey]

It's a done deal. It's being made. Stop hoping. Save your money.

That's what I keep hearing

#1 - Waiting to see if it was a hit. It's not an Avatar hit, but it's a moderate hit, and Disney is committed to the franchise w/ a new animated series and sequels.

#2 - It will release around the time the DVD comes out, so there can be cross promotion w/ that.

#3 - By waiting till after the movie's released, Stern gets access to all art, sound, story, etc ....this way they avoid a Dark Knight or Indiana Jones 4 situation where they're in the dark on plot or don't have access to materials. That's why Dark Knight doesn't have Two-Face or that much audio from the movie...and IJ has barely anything from IJ4 (not that most people care on that one, though...hehe)

#4 - If a license is strong and iconic - it is irrelevant if it's released with the movie. Tron fans won't like Tron Pinball in less in April'11 vs. Dec'10

I understand all of those reasons but I still think a release to coincide with the movie release trumps them with the possible exception of content but even then it should be in line well before The Rolling Stones. But again... just my opinion. I think the jury is still out on TRON being iconic. I certainly wouldn't call it iconic at this point. It has a strong cult following but I don't see a lot of interest beyond that. The average person has no interest in TRON beyond maybe seeing the movie because there's nothing better out right now in that genre. Disney putting a ton of money into marketing doesn't make it iconic but it's a pretty subjective term anyway. Of course... it really depends on who they're planning to sell most of the machines too. You're right that TRON fans will still buy regardless of the release date but will the game make as much on location (like a movie theatre)? I doubt it. If anything people will have had a chance to forget about the movie or not like it and not play the machine.

In any case... I'll trust Stern to know how to run their business better than I do. I just hope the pin outshines the movie and actually lives up to the colossal hype.

 

[RareHero]

But I totally agree. If you look at the best 50 pins of all time, many are not licensed themes.

***cough cough Addams Family cough cough Star Trek:TNG cough cough cough****

The anti-license groupthink is fascinating....non-license does not equal mass appeal. How many times have I heard "Road Show sucks....who thought construction was a good theme!?!??!"

BTW I love Road Show.

Williams had the time, money, and resources to do well produced original themes. Stern doesn't....you'd probably end up with something like "Alvin G's Garage Band Goes On A World Tour" ...would you rather have THAT, or Stones or Elvis? Stern generally does their licenses justice, and if you're a fan of the theme, there's nothing more awesome than a well made pinball of a cool theme. Just played me some Spider-Man this morning...good times! I prefer Spider-Man to the theoretical "Stern's Superdude"

 

[RareHero]

I understand all of those reasons but I still think a release to coincide with the movie release trumps them with the possible exception of content but even then it should be in line well before The Rolling Stones. But again... just my opinion.

Why? It's not going to affect sales one way or another. If someone likes Tron and wants to play or buy Tron, they'll play or buy Tron a few months later. I mean, if I run w/ your logic - lets say Tron Pinball came out w/ the movie....so, when it leaves theaters, no one wants to play it anymore? C'mon.

I think the jury is still out on TRON being iconic. I certainly wouldn't call it iconic at this point. It has a strong cult following but I don't see a lot of interest beyond that.

Yeah, I mean it's not Spider-Man iconic....but it's iconic amongst gamers and arcade collectors who will want this thing in their house (or one on location to play). ...and if Disney is set on making Tron an ongoing franchise...then it's got more of iconic "cool game" potential then say, CSI, Wheel of Fortune, or 24.

 

[jar155]

The anti-license groupthink is fascinating....non-license does not equal mass appeal. How many times have I heard "Road Show sucks....who thought construction was a good theme!?!??!"

I've posted this a few times, but look at how much better licensed games sold than unlicensed games. Stern needs to sell to survive, and that's why they go with licenses.

Licensed Games
Sales over 20,000: The Addams Family
Sales over 15,000: Terminator 2, Twilight Zone
Sales over 10,000: Indiana Jones, Star Trek: NG, Star Wars
Sales over 5,000: Demolition Man, Bram Stoker's Dracula, World Cup Soccer '94, Creature From the Black Lagoon, Doctor Who, Corvette, Judge Dredd, Jurassic Park, Hook, Last Action Hero,
Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, Simpsons Pinball Party.

Unlicensed Games
Sales over 20,000: None!
Sales over 15,000: None!
Sales over 10,000: Getaway, Fish Tales
Sales over 5,000: White Water, Road Show, Theatre of Magic

So yeah, people whining about licenses need to see exactly why Stern does it.

 

[pudluther]

i like licensed games.


not gonna buy a rolling stones pin though.

 

[Lindsey]

Why? It's not going to affect sales one way or another. If someone likes Tron and wants to play or buy Tron, they'll play or buy Tron a few months later. I mean, if I run w/ your logic - lets say Tron Pinball came out w/ the movie....so, when it leaves theaters, no one wants to play it anymore? C'mon.

That's not running with my logic at all. Unless you twist while you're running in which case it is

If you wanted to run with my logic you would say that if the game was released with the movie people will lose interest in playing the game on location several months after the movie release and I think that's true.

I'm saying there was a whole lot more interest in TRON in general right up to and shortly after the release that would have been better to capitalize on than waiting for a DVD release which no one will really care about. I never said it would affect sales. In fact I agreed that it probably wouldn't affect sales of the machine, thought it could affect sales to the casual home buyer which is a big part of their demographic. Garry reminded us about 10 times in his expo speech that collectors are a very small part of their market and casual home buyers make up most of the games sold to homes. So I guess in that sense I do think it will affect sales but not in a dramatic way. Especially with a game like this that will have a lot of arcade nerds buying it regardless of gameplay. I said it will affect earnings and I don't think I'm wrong about that. I'm saying it would do better on location if it were released with the movie because casual people are all excited about the flavor of the week their TV told them was cool. By the time the pin comes out people will give even less of a shit than they do now which is not much.

Yeah, I mean it's not Spider-Man iconic....but it's iconic amongst gamers and arcade collectors who will want this thing in their house (or one on location to play). ...and if Disney is set on making Tron an ongoing franchise...then it's got more of iconic "cool game" potential then say, CSI, Wheel of Fortune, or 24.

Agreed. It's not even in the same universe as Spider Man and I thought the modern Spider Man movies sucked ass. Maybe I'm living under a rock but I'm just not seeing TRON as a huge hit.

EDIT: In short, waiting is better for home buyers but worse for operators. I'll stand by that logic.

 

[Nerbflong]

Ugh. Why the stones? Bleh.. Waste of time

 

[Lindsey]

Ugh. Why the stones? Bleh.. Waste of time

Hey! This thread is for arguing about TRON! Way to get back on topic, jerk

 

[Geese]

If they are going to do a serious rock-n-roll theme, I would hope that Stern will improve the sound system that they have to do the music justice.

 

[vipe155]

Rock and Roll theme? Give me a Hendrix pin then. I'm 24 btw, and great guitarists like Hendrix are more in style now with the Guitar Hero/Rock Band games.

Even so, I second the Ghostbusters pin if another movie comes out....

 

[Nerbflong]

Hey! This thread is for arguing about TRON! Way to get back on topic, jerk

ROTFL

I couldn't help myself. The thought of big lips and nasty tongue on another pinball just makes me shudder.

 

[RareHero]

If they are going to do a serious rock-n-roll theme, I would hope that Stern will improve the sound system that they have to do the music justice.

Dude, have you played a Stern game since 2006? The SAM system has awesome sound...CD quality. Iron Man and Avatar sound like you're in the movie.

Here's a Stern game that features "real" music so you can hear the quality:

...and yes, that's the game's real sound - not an edited overlay.

Here's Iron Man if you haven't heard its sound:

Here's a good example of Avatar's sound:

 

[FrizzleFried]

Hell... release the Metallica pin they did a one-off of for Metallica...

...that would be more exciting than the Stones.

Of course the Metallica pin was just a re-package job... but that doesn't seem to stop Stern from releasing games.

 

[Nevus]

No interest at all. None.

 

[p1899m]

Supposedly Tron is next (in the Spring). That's the one I'm really waiting for.

Now that it looks like there may be another pinball company coming onto play that will actually care about game play and quality of product, I'm not sure I want stern to make the game. I think it might be a better game if the new upstart made it.

 

[dc2010]

ok, rolling my eyes @ rolling stones, this came out of left field!

i will drop 4600 on gnr before i even look at a flyer for rs