The DMD animations were the best part of TWD. If those are not present in a remake/remaster, with footage from the mediocre TV series in their stead, zut alors.

Probably comes down to licensing affecting the timing. Ghostbusters and TRON are likely much more complicated re-licensing than a comic book reskin of a pin they already have essentially done. I don't doubt we'll see both GB and TRON later after the licensing is worked out.

Enough talk! Time to will GB Remaster into existence.

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That seems a bit harsh. With a brand new design you would be throwing out all of the market test data that you can learn from, as well as an existing Pinside top 50 design… but I do feel like there is some truth to the unfair drain issue. It is a game that has probably frustrated me about as much as it’s blown my socks off. I would love to see it remade with a narrower flipper gap. I don’t think that fixes everything but I’m sure there are some other minor tweaks they could make to the geometry and code to reduce the unfair drains. Not sure if you can kill off the Scoleri brothers but what if you successfully hit one and immediately drain, it can just give you your ball back. Maybe there is an even better code or geometry tweak (angle them slightly differently?) to make it so that they are trying to block shots and not just trying to steal your quarter? It’s a really fun game when it starts flowing and it’s an A+ theme for my family. I’m really hoping it gets remade.

The Scoleri brothers are fine as is. Get good, complainers.

So enough what ifs and speculation on any recycled titles. Been there, done that.

What does everyone think the next Elwin title is going to be? Is coming out next month? What ever happened to the l9ng rumored Back To The Future pin?

Still waiting...if Dutch decides to make it we won't see it until after AIW run has completed late this year. If Stern can wrangle the license from Dutch then we still probably won't see it any sooner at this point. If Stern already has it, then nobody has leaked it yet cause we'd all know.

I mean "rumors" need lead time, maybe give any hopeful rumor 9-15 months to pan out.

Yeah. Everybody loves shooting the bad guys in Cactus Canyon, it's weird that there's so much hate thrown at the Scoleris. We've gotten a little too coddled with modern games about expecting ball saves from anything that can direct down the middle. Backhand them (on either table) if you want softer rebounds. Also you don't have to be so drastic about cranking up the slope; 6.5 or even a bit less is fine, not every table has to be a 7.0 speed monster hurling everything back in your face.

Do the bad guy targets rebond the ball over the the flippers slings, and inlanes?
Never had it happen on the OG CC, that's for sure.

Ok no they shouldn't give airballs (and I haven't seen that on any of the GBs I've played), but that's fixable with design, build the drop target assembly to lean slightly forward.

They were HORRIBLE on release, wrong springs if you can believe it. People swapped out their own early & Stern fixed later. One of the many shit shows on release that buried it for me.

I totally agree!

Back handing up the steep left ramp with the left flipper, past a Scoleri brother, and into the subway when the green Storage Facility insert is lit, is one of the most satisfying and brilliantly designed shots in all of pinball.

D&D isn't even shipping Premiums yet. It's likely May before Elwin's Kong is officially announced.

I expect cornerstones to be Jan, April and August because when Stern released the Covid statement saying they were going down to 2 cornerstones a year it specifically mentioned those months as their usual release dates.

It sometimes ends up being a month either side of that but I think it’s basically what Stern aims for now.

You would be correct. It’s GB remastered

Why?????

I think the general consensus for quite a while has been King Kong.

A lot has changed with the Ghostbusters franchise since the pinball machine came out. It is an active franchise now with new locations, characters, and actors. If Sony/Columbia were to license anything ghostbusters I think they'd want to push their current product. Plus there is the baggage of the original designer. I think the best people could hope for would be at the very least a re-skin and retheme that follows the more recent movies, or more likely, a new machine entirely. Stern might even get some people to own two ghostbusters machines.

Brain damage, but I also like the game.

I would own 2. Not unloading my LE

A+ theme.
Best sound package in last ten years.
Best BOM in last ten years.
Beautiful game.
Fun to flip.
A hit that they never made enough of.

That's news to me. The operator near me traded down to a GB pro, I wish I could have told them that instead.

Here's your market research: there are lots of dorks who would buy a literal box of lights if it had Slimer/Stay-Puft on it and played clips from the movie. Everyone agrees that the art package and theme integration are excellent, but a pretty sizeable subset (people who don't suffer from the sunk cost fallacy) also agree that the layout blows, or at least has several critical flaws. While in theory you could fix most of the issues, by the time you did it would be well beyond "remastered" and you might as well wash your hands of the whole thing. The Scoleri targets are a great example of this: they're so close to the flippers airballs are endemic, they're positioned to block half the game, they only pop up to punish you, and even if you do shoot them carefully there's a chance you'll just instadrain anyway. But if you moved them to fix any or all of these problems, where do you put them where the drop target mech won't clash with existing shots and inserts?

Ah yes, the "complaining about bad design means you're bad at pinball" argument.

GB is no harder than CFTBL, one of the acknowledged greatest games of all time, and shares many design similarities (for obvious reasons).

If Stern cared about the “difficulty” of the game (and there’s no sign that they would), they could easily adjust ball times via code changes.

I turned off the Scoleri brothers, and then purchased and installed a piece that added height to the lane guides and added a center post. After that, Ghostbusters was a fantastically fun game. Still fast and challenging, but not frustrating and annoying.

First time i've ever seen anyone say that, most consider it a B grade title at best

So buy one on the marketplace.

Buy one on the marketplace.

The original designer is out of the picuture, but the mechanical engineer on GB recently got designer credit on Wick. Play the Internets favorite game of 'compare those playfields', and there are enough similarities make you wonder, if you are so inclined...

I’ve waited this long, I can wait longer. I’m loving the Metallica Remaster, I have no doubt they can kill it with a GB.

No thanks, I’d rather have the upgrades! One thing the game could use is a bit of updated code. I’m sure we’ll get that.

and how to get locations / people to 2 buy 2 copy's of an game?

Also may need an local link cable or e-net networking only. Wifi (with sterns cheap parts) may have to much lag.

they also have spike 1 test games of it to build from

AC/DC as well

TGTBTU

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For the next remastered, Knapp hit “The Walking Dead” final answer button with a high degree of confidence a few days ago. If I that was Kanaeda I would be 100% with you thinking it was going to be just about anything else, but I think Knapp has a pretty good track record when he’s confident?

If you have a source, are you able to share a little about the direction your info is coming from? TWD is a definite pass for me but a GB remastered would have me start trying to figure out how to open up a slot!

I think the Scoleri brothers complaint has been right up there with the flipper gap issue in the forums. Most players aren’t pros so I’m with you that the “get better” answer can be a little condescending when it pops up as cover for things that make games frustrating for the vast majority of players who are okayish or lower. Hopefully it’s also not just about “you.” These games are made to be shared. I have friends and family that I consider when I’m picking out my next game to bring home. You think those issues frustrate me with a few thousand games under my belt, just watch someone with a few dozen or few hundred try. I want all my friends to love pinball. I only want to bring games home that are easy to learn and difficult but fun to master. I don’t mind being punished for missing shots but cheap drains fail both tests.

How about doing Elvis remastered? He has a lot of material, plenty of video clips could be incorporated, do a better jail and hound dog bash toy, etc etc. I'd seriously consider dumping my DM Elvis for that!

I’m excited for a TWD remaster, awesome game with great code. I’d pick up an OG but waiting to see if the rumors are true.

GB I absolutely love the theme but IMO the game isn’t fun. Great theme, great art package but a mess otherwise.

And who wants a GB remaster to include any thing from the new movies? Total garbage from the re boot to the after life sequels…..almost as bad as beetle juice 2…….almost

G.I. Joe or walking dead remastered? Which one would be better?

It's not a great game, so it would have to be heavily reworked. I don't see it selling a ton the second go-round, either.

Stern is having trouble selling anything right now. If sales are foremost in their mind, I can’t imagine a decision to go with the walking dead over Ghostbusters. Yikes.

I bet they could sell a shitload if He-Man if they had the guts to do it!

There is no reason to do it if they are just going to get Toy Story 4’d by the rights holder… Stern knows their audience. I can’t see them believing that would go over well.

I liked Afterlife, it was a good balance of nostalgia and adding new stuff.

I didn‘t like Frozen Empire, worst thing showing the new ‚expanded universe’ HQ yet ending with a bossfight in the shitty garage. (And the whole interpersonal storyarcs… :-/)

Here is the latest from my undisclosed but knowledgeable sources.

1. Next pin is Elwin's Kong. Expected to be a monster hit with people wanting the Godzilla/Jaws/Kong trifecta.
2. Stern's Pokemon is coming, but it is further down in the chute.
3. Metallica Remastered was a bigger seller than expected.
4. Venom accessories were developed/approved last year with a cool liquid metal looking topper, but the prototype caught on fire and they had to go back to the drawing board.
5. John Wick accessories are next and expected to drop in March.
6. Harry Potter by JJP is happening, most likely to be revealed at TPF next month.

That's not fair! Per Paul Newman as Michael Gallagher in the film Absence of Malice:
"Knowledgeable sources", you said. Now who is that? Somebody's trying to get to me. Somebody with no face and no name. You're the gofer. You listen to them, you write what they say - and then you help them hide. You say you've got a right to do that. And I got no right to know who they are.

I agree - GB appeal is night and day better on theme alone.

TWD is a good game but it it's more of a players game.

A new game is nearly always better than a retread.

GB the 2 movies were fine, entertaining and fun.

However that franchise has been destroyed much like SW & IJ.

There may be some nostalgia for the Murray ackroyd GB, but recent stuff is simply horribly bad.
Far as I’m concerned, GB is done.

A lot of people liked Toy Story 4 also. I just think a GB afterlife pin would do about as well as TS4. TS should have been a blowout for JJP if they had been able to do the original movie. It’s a really fun pin to shoot with an interesting layout. I just don’t have any connection to the property. For the pin buyer demographic the late 70’s to early 90’s is the current nostalgia gold mine.