If we have a TWD Remaster coming this year, it will be more than likely 2026 for a TRON? I better start putting money aside...

Who has been asking for a TWD remaster? Was it just a cheap license to re-up? Looks like everyone has been looking at it as an impediment to getting to the re-masters we really want to see???

If it's comic based like the rumor it wouldn't even be a re-up. The license deal would be with Robert Kirkman the creator of the comic not with AMC.

A new Walking Dead Pro I'd be down for. No to premium/ LE. Otherwise I'm ready to buy an old Pro for about $4200.

when you find one of those 4200 pros, let me know. i'll take 10 of them.

TWD is a real players machine. Machine has a real love/hate relationship with people. Existing machines are finding their way into love collections and are getting harder and harder to find. People are asking for TWD remaster. I cannot really see the demand for a remaster myself. We have a LE and have had it since new, it is one of my favourite games of all time however the game can be brutal and have short ball times (which I like).

Besides the obvious plus-up of a comic-remaster art package, another consideration for Stern is people who came into the hobby in the Spike2 era and just don't want a DMD machine because it "looks old." Yes, it's weird, but I think it's a considerable untapped market for a game as awesomely coded as TWD. Add the comic art and an LCD and a few whole new markets open to it that will not buy the OG machine. I think we're about to find out how this goes early next month...

After buying a METr, (I previously owned a pro and Prem) I will be very interested in any OG they remaster. After all, these will all be better versions of all their best games. Best deals in pinball imho.

Do you think AMC will let Stern do a comic edition? I do agree that TWD is Lyman's best coded game.

This will be very interesting if the rumour is true.

An LCD TWD remaster?

I’d like to get a TWD back. Traded my original for POTCCE plus cash a few months ago.

An all time great!

I’d like to see it again but I’m not sure how many others would go for it. 100% buy for me

I’m out on Star Wars, a Tron and Pokémon

In on Spooky Beetlejuice on December

See this is how you work deals guys!

The details I heard about TWD remastered is that it will have a LCD with the TV show clips, badges and achievements, so it will have Insider Connected.

Mark it!!

Sorry, I can't recall if it will have TV show playfield and cabinet art. I want to say yes, but i was paying more attention to the above details.

Seriously? Man that’s really getting my hopes up!

Great game for IC if you like that

An LCD with walkers getting heads lopped off. Wow

Thought GB was getting the 1st LCD, another great remaster candidate.

BM66 is still great. Made for the LCD and Lyman masterpiece.

Oh Hell yes!!!

The original deal was a branding deal, and I'm sure that's long over. So they would have no say in a comic version. There's no voice acting or show clips in the original game, it's all no-names and custom dots. If Stern does a live action version with show clips, it would be a disappointment, to say the least.

No way would we trade our TWDLE for any game. I love the game way too much. Same with Luci.

We are out for SW, Tron r, and Pokemon. Not sure about Beetlejuice yet, we want to see it first.

If TWD remaster is up next, we are keen to see it!

Hopefully we will find out soon!

Im with you on BEETLEJUICE DECEMBER. IVE kept money back for it. What I’ve been told it’s going to be fantastic and I can’t wait to see it.

Paid $4200 for a routed pro with a color DMD in 2020. They are out there.

I know you are more of a "pro guy", but it is a remastered edition. They may fix/improve some things like the bicycle girl on the premium/le versions because I am sure Stern realizes what the complaints about the game were the first time around.

Really hoping they do the next cornerstone first though as they just released Jaws 50th, so to me it would be like rehasing two old games back-to-back and I am hoping for Borg's Star Wars game next as I am wanting to see it before pulling the trigger on a Jurassic Park Premium.

So you are telling me we are really getting a TWDR?
I think I have a post here from many years ago when I was describing how awesome it would be if Stern makes a TWD comic edition but didn't think this will REALLY happen!!

IMO buy the JP Prem now, fantastic game that will keep you busy for two years while they work out the code and hardware fixes on Star Wars (if it is next).

When is the next cornerstone due?

Stern is on a 4 a year cadence and King Kong was released in mid-May, so mid August should be their next announce. The rumors have only gotten louder that the next two are Star Wars (likely ep 1-3) and Walking Dead Remaster.

Got dangerously close to a new page without a Pokémon gif! Drowning in a sea of speculation for non-Pokémon content

Psyduck 1

Psyduck 2

Psyduck 3

Oh how I do love good humor with my morning cup of Joe!

Thank you!

Here's hoping to see Pokémon, a SW prequel trilogy or even a LOTR remaster.

I can't help to think of Stern's approach regarding licensing costs. Of the last 9 new Stern titles, I'm guessing the most expensive licenses were John Wick, Venom, Jaws & 007. In terms of cost, none of these would even compare to the assumed high licensing costs of the three I mentioned as hopeful titles. Stern had it easy with King Kong and D&D, hopefully that made room for paying more for future licensing.

It sounds like Costco and Stern are happy with the way the home edition + deal went last year and are circling back around for another release this fall, rumored, but not confirmed, to be Star Wars Home Edition +. I spoke with someone who has played the next iteration at Costco HQ. They wouldn’t confirm the title but there wasn’t any pushback when I mentioned that I was pretty sure Stern really didn’t have anything naturally cued up to + other than Star Wars HE. It would be cool if it was a completely new home edition linked to the new Star Wars cornerstone but that might be too much to hope for. Yeah, they aren’t pro’s but at the very least we should hopefully be getting another few months of free pinball play every time we go to Costco this fall/winter until they sell out…

I had a chance to talk with a Costco buyer who isn’t directly involved in the home edition + project but knows what’s going on. It’s my understanding that JDJP is done, if you know anyone who wants one then they need to get it from Costco direct before they sell out. I guess there was an initial run for the holidays last year and then a follow on order, but apparently what is left now is all they are going to get. Looks like they are $500 off of the original online price of $4,999 right now.

Home editions obviously aren’t aimed directly at us but the buyer was asking me what I thought it would take to move the needle for the enthusiast community. I laid out my thoughts on what might possibly work without upsetting the dealer network too much. I was thinking maybe they could approach Stern every year to see what titles they would be vaulting and to put in a large discounted order at the end of their run to be able to offer the most popular of the retiring titles in a Pro trim level for maybe 10-15% off MSRP near or shortly after they officially retire. That would still be putting them at $1,000 over HE+’s though, but they would be “real” pins. The buyer essentially acknowledged they know they aren’t going to be able to do anything with broad appeal unless they can come in under $2k regardless so even with HE+ models at ~$5k they are only targeting pinhead adjacents at best.

The other thought I had was if they wanted to keep the home edition + concept running after JDJP and SWHE+ might be to do the same thing for upcoming titles that are being vaulted but just take the most popular cornerstone that is up for vaulting, pull out a pro edition playfield and just drop it into a HE+ cabinet and continue the same HE+ pricing. That would give them an unlimited ability to keep producing new HE+ editions with minimal design effort? I know guys rag on the MDF cabinets, small screen, crappy sound, even lack of a coin mech, etc. but at it’s heart, we are really about the playfield right? MM and AFM have much worse sound and displays than any home edition… Would you really balk at a brand new Deadpool or Iron Maiden pro just because they dropped it onto a HE+ cabinet but you could get it for $4800 rather than $6,999?

I don’t think Stern has been looking for a new way to reach us via Costco but I figured it couldn’t hurt to offer some feedback anyway.

Maybe the Star Wars Costco edition is the rumored next Stern Star Wars pin.

Nah. With Star Wars and Mando retired, we getting another Star Wars cornerstone.

I seem to remember a pinsider claiming that Stern ripped off Costco with the home edition deal and they'd never do business again

It *seems* like the next announcement is TWDr late this month or early August, then the next cornerstone pushed to Sept/Oct. The order could be reversed, but there's a big hole in the Aug production schedule, so one of them is coming.

They did rip them off, but the general public had no idea what they were buying and sales seemed to be good, so I'm sure Costco is down for more.

I would argue it wasn't a rip off then, and Costco knew what they were getting into.

I hope it’s the prequels and it does well…setting them up to do the original Star war with Keith for 2027 50th .

I just hope Kieth does the rumored Tony Hawk pinball next year

Sorry

Pokemon when!?

Early 2026 is the rumor.

Join us

Pokemon

Oh im here for pokemon all right. The boomers just dont understand.

I dont think you understand. The boomers have the cash and thats why the themes are what they are. I think Pokemon will be a pretty popular location game, HUO sales could be a different story.

I don't understand the pokémon thing or why it's popular but I do know it's huge and my 24-year-old is excited to see it and thinks it could be great... Although he's not the demographic buying a pinball machine.

I can relate to this though

Here's the thing though, that clip is from an episode that aired almost 26 years ago. I got addicted to the first ones as I was a huge Gameboy fan and they brought that platform back from the dead, but I will admit to being aged beyond the target audience for it and I have not played one since. I am really curious to see how the audiences overlap in pinball though. The theming doesn't interest me on the surface level, but a connected pinball machine where you can collect and level a bunch of creatures and have battles... there is a lot of promise there for something really new. I am curious how ambitious they will get.

FUN games, with exciting layouts and decent to great immersion Sell and sell well.
Theme isn’t that important to a pinhead IMHO; not to a pinhead like me.

That what I love about Sterns.
They prioritize fun, innovation and immersion.
Stern designers are the best and my fav in the industry, and with GG at the helm, I’m enjoying what they’re doing.

If Pokémon is a JD pin, so far I love what he is doing with his layouts and design. FF & UXM are fantastic layout, exciting and will remain in my collection. (*UXM code is work in progress granted, but so much upside atm)

Purely committing to and betting on theme alone takes a special kinda person. Some people buy everything, and their opinions mean the least to me.

Just look at HP, Avaturd, GF & TS4 ffs SMH. That’s what buying purely on theme and ignoring the fun, layout and Lastability aspects of a game gets you. Doesn’t make sense to me, especially in today’s market where these are depreciating 50-60% the second they’re shipped and opened.

I have not played Avatar, I think it looks fun, but I am with you on Godfather and Toy Story 4 for sure. After playing Harry Potter and Elton John, I feel like Eric needs to spend a lot of time with Steve Ritchie. Maybe the programmer can too and maybe it's just the coding and not Eric at all but my point is this, the Harry Potter Layout, shots, and mecs are fantastic but when I step up to the machine and spend time playing it I have absolutely no idea how I am scoring points or progressing most of the time. On Elton John this is not the case. I know what to shoot for on that game and how to progress and it is fun to play in the sense that I am doing what I am being challenged to do. Harry Potter is still fun to play and maybe it's just me, but there is still something missing in the connection of what should feel like fun and accomplishment from making shots or knowing what shots to make and progressing. I probably need to play it some more and watch some videos, but I didn't have to do that on a Elton John or a King Kong.
I am with you for right now Sterns are more fun to play right now consistently than the other companies' games but I think the gap has closed. I really wanna see the rumored Halo from CGC.

If Elwin really is on pokemon it will sell just off his name.

Pokemon leaves a lot of room to make things interesting on the code side.

I have about as much interest in the theme as I do in the prequels but definitely see the possibility for a fun pin for both of them.

Could be like Godzilla where the pin makes people fans of the theme.

Kind of thought this would be a better Dwight eddy pin because their profession style games.

JD would make a great layout pin and seems to be more his type of theme but with Elwin comes him and his code team.

Yup, that was me. And yes, they did rip off Costco. Costco didn’t get a good deal last year. The buyers aren’t subject matter experts. I guess it’s pretty typical for manufacturers to essentially create a Costco version and then stick whatever MSRP they need to on it to allow Costco to be able to show enough markdown to meet their discount requirement. Sometimes the Costco version adds a lot of value, sometimes it’s just a faux coin door and a QR reader.

I don’t know the terms of the deal they got this time around. Hopefully it’s better. What they definitely were happy about were the lines in the store to play the demo games and that they didn’t have to discount too many in order to move them.

I hope not. They haven't gotten saved progression right yet. Venom and D&D both just make you stuck failing the same quests over and over, and you can't even play a proper game when you're locked out of doing the easy stuff because you already did it. Pokemon might get collectors credit-feeding for the wrong reasons but it needs to not make a mess of the pinball scoring.

Even if Danger and Elwin designed the next Stern Pokemon........
I will not buy Pokemon on theme alone.

Bring on the epic Metal pinball that will make Pinheads " rock on " \m/

d0of5Cg.gif