No this isn’t a surprise, given the slow roll-out of the news, but in case you missed it, Stern Pinball’s next game is John Wick. They first shared a teaser of it on their social media on Friday, then today gave us all of the details. Let’s take a look:
John Wick Pinball – The Trailers
Let’s start with the story trailer that dropped on Monday, then we’ll do today’s more fleshed out trailer that actually shows the game.
[UPDATE] Stern has also put up this more detailed look at the game:
John Wick Pinball – The Cabinets
There are three models for John Wick – Pro, Premium, Limited Edition. Standard setup there for now, although if this became a megahit, then they might do a Vault edition down the road. IIRC, they are no longer doing additional LE models, as that upset a lot of collectors. Pro MSRP is $6999, LEs are $12,999. Stern distributors should have the game listed already or sometime soon.
From this image below, it goes from left to right, Pro>Prem>LE:
Pro & Premium playfields; Apologies for the quick job at the moment; Stern has changed how you can access the images on their site and they haven’t sent out a Dropbox with media images for press to use, so this is the best I have for the moment:
For the features matrix, click here (off-site PDF)
John Wick Pinball – The Game
From the official game page, they have quite a lot to say about the game; I’ll quote a couple of snippets, starting with the basic game setup
In Stern’s John Wick pinball games, players step into the role of the world’s greatest assassin as he fights to escape his past. As the titular character, players can engage in high-speed car chases and fast-action drifting across the playfield, which incorporates models and artwork inspired by iconic locations from the franchise, including the New York Continental Hotel and the Red Circle Club, all set against a dramatically edge lit New York City skyline. Players can also open John Wick’s weapons crate to reveal a hidden shot target path to retrieve an array of weapons. Players must use the sculpted Blood Oath Marker carefully – or risk the consequences. Players need to survive other assassins, complete jobs for the legendary Factions of the High Table, and eventually take on John Wick’s “Special Assignment!”
They are also employing artificial intelligence (AI) into the game, which I have to assume is being done in a way different than standard reactionary if-then coding statements within the software:
To raise the stakes, John Wick pinball introduces Stern’s all-new dynamic AI combat system, an innovation that brings the frenetic combat of the legendary films to the game. The Stern team has created a primitive video game AI system to control the enemy lights on the playfield, setting the John Wick pinball games apart from prior pinball machines, where all lights were controlled by player actions, timers, and random number generations. In this new AI combat system, enemy icons are responsive to player behavior and will illuminate dynamically around the playfield to challenge the player. The enemies move tactically with this dynamic software to counter player objectives, creating a unique challenge in each game session. The system also features a new action video player that dynamically reflects player action – as you defeat three enemies, you’ll see video clips of John Wick doing the same in the films!
The game is in production now and is ready to ship on the usual first-come, first-serve basis. Gameplay streams will be shown on this Friday from the design team, although as of the moment, I missed who is behind it exactly.
Is this a game that you would like to add to your collection or business?
