(thanks to IcePagoda on the forums for the tip) Via Pinballnews.com
Stern Pinball has revealed the first picture of their next pinball machine, Iron Man and with it, a good idea of what to expect from Stern’s next outing.
This pin will continue the more simplified playfield design as we have seen in the past couple of games, putting most of the important stuff in the back. I like the design from what you can make out of it in this mock-up (so be aware, there could be some changes before the final release) but as always we’ll have to wait and play it before making detailed comments on the game.
According to Pinballnews.com, “The game features two ramps, a pop-up Iron Monger toy (like the Brain Bug in Starship Troopers or Dr Evil in Austin Powers) as well as a Whiplash ball accelerator and a War Machine ball kicker.” No word on whether it will feature any licensed music from the new movie (much of it by AC/DC I hear) or snippets of dialogue from both movies, which would be a little bit of a disappointment if they aren’t able to get those. I can fully understand them not being able to license people like Robert Downey Jr. to do some original voice acting just for the game but one thing I liked about Indiana Jones pinball was that it included a bunch of clips from the first three movies with some dialogue straight from the movies and some recorded by different voice actors for the game. I hated how they apparently were unable to get anything substantial from the most recent movie however, which I would think that the studio would want to get out there since these kind of machines which are released around the time of the new movies help serve as cool advertisements for them. It’s probably all about money so I’ll leave it at that.
Playfield looks kind of sparse and reminds me of “High Speed”
Hmm, something’s been bugging me for a while about the recent (say, last 2 or 3) Stern pins.
I couldn’t quite put a finger on it, until today.
If you look at a recent playfield; look at things like the strange new ‘flat’ pop-bumpers and the all-plastic ramps.. they look the same as… the ones you see in TOY pinball machines!
POTC was great. Terminator 3 was fun. Simpsons had lots to do. But the last few Sterns look cheap.
I know WHY (economic realities), but it really dampens my enthusiasm.
Very sad, for the ‘last man standing’. 🙁
agree!
I totally agree that the last several machines are looking cheeper with many of the features now missing such as side cabinet hand wear protectors, not as many licensed voices, cheaper powder coated legs, no 3rd flipper, no raised playfield, many less toys or features in the playfield, no metal ramps, no metal slide rails underneath the play field used for maintenance (now bolts instead) and the lower area of the playfield is now plastic instead of metal, also no tournament button but a hole is left in the cabinet instead. I have bought most of their pinballs up to now but with their prices still going up and quality going down I may have finished my collection unless something changes drastically.