[Thanks to IcePagoda on the forums for the tip]
Stern’s latest pinball game, “24” is soon going to hit the streets and with it, Pinball News has got their hands on a prototype of the game and have snapped some shots of every angle imaginable of the machine, as you might expect from them. Up close the game looks better than I thought it would based upon the blurry shot we had of the playfield beforehand – I just wonder if Stern is ever going to plan on doing a little more with their games and go as far as adding a multi-color dot matrix display or something along those lines. Of course the consideration of changing something so sacred and established as that might be blasphemy in some circles so I suppose they must tread carefully.
Click on the image above to enlarge.
Looks pretty neat, 24 is about the only thing I watch on sky tv but with the ever increasing pinball prices for UK guys, I don’t know if I can justify it!
I’m kind of conflicted. I think realistically pinball manufacturers are best to keep things old school in the current climate. If things turn around and get like the early 90’s then they can start blowing huge budgets on high tech tables.
Displays aren’t where I’d spend the money. It should be about the stuff on the table.
But I don’t think that things will turn around for them if they continue to just throw a license onto the same kind of thing we’ve been seeing for more than a decade – I think that is one of the things that Pat Lawlor was talking about – there is practically no difference between a pinball machine in 2009 than there was in 1992, except for some LEDs perhaps.
I think that displays are a good place to start. They aren’t the most important thing on the table because you aren’t looking at them all the time but a full-color display is more likely to help attract initial attention to the game than monochromatic, which looks very dated in today’s world. I actually have other ideas for pinball tables but personally I’m not sure if I should go around saying anything since I actually have been toying with the idea of building an actual table. 🙂
“have been toying with the idea of building an actual table. 🙂 ”
Find that man a padded cell!
If you did it would probably help me actually sit down and finish designing the blasted thing. 😉