STERN Pinball Blog Posts

New Instructional Series Videos

9/8/2010 2:16:07 PM

13 brand new videos from Stern headquarters. Learn how to set up your machine and make sure you are ready to flip.

http://www.sternpinball.com/Media/Videos/instructional-series.aspx

Jaime Flowers Wins the Guitar!

9/2/2010 12:51:03 PM

Jamie Flowers of Chesapeake, VA wins the ESP guitar giveaway.

Now he can rock as well as flip!

Stay tuned for more great giveaways from Stern Pinball.

ESP Guitars/Stern Pinball Guitar Giveaway

7/29/2010 4:13:34 PM

http://www.sternpinball.com/Contest/esp-guitarsstern-pinball-guitar-giveaway.aspx

Pinball At Comicon - Time For A Comeback?

7/27/2010 10:48:57 AM

http://www.nerdblerp.com/story/2010-07-27-pinball-at-comicon---time-for-a-comeback

by Pinwizkid

07/26/2010 10:49 PM

For those of you keeping score at home, pinball has been losing a pretty nasty battle the last over the last 15 years. What was once a more popular and profitable form of entertainment that the ENTIRE motion picture industry, pinball has been reduced to a fading glimmer of what it once was. There is only one manufacturer of pinball machines left in the world - Stern Pinball... However, things have gotten very exciting in the industry again, as Stern has begun a huge campaign to get both kids and adults back into what is truly one of America's greatest contributions to the world of gaming.

With Stern's recent release of Iron Man, their appearance at the 2010 Comicon is both smart and warranted. Stern has been uploading a nearly un-ending stream of photos from their booth at Comicon on their new facebook page, which was created as part of this massive new campaign to get the company, and pinball as a whole, back on its feet.

Space must have been at a premium at Comicon this year, as Stern only had room to setup one machine. Clearly, setting up one of their Batman machines (released in 2008, and in my opinion, Stern's best offering since Monopoly in 2001) would have been icing on the cake, but I suppose beggers can only be choosers when they work for Sony or Microsoft.

John Borg, designer of titles such as Jurassic Park and Sharkey's Shootout handled the playfield design on Iron Man, while Lyman Sheats (who is considered one of the world's greatest pinball players) handled the programming duties. Iron Man features an Iron Monger action figure that pops out of the playfield, letting the player hack away with the silver ball.

So what's next for Stern? Well, it seems as though their plans to produce an Avatar pinball machine have been revived in time to coincide with the DVD release of last year's mega hit feature. Legendary game designer Steve Ritchie had already drawn the playfield for Avatar before the game was scrapped due to what must have been tricky (and by that I mean expensive) licensing issues. Stern announced that a photoshoot for the new machine has been scheduled, and we'll be sure to get those images to you right away.

I'm Brendan by the way.... Great to be here!

Avatar Pinball This August

7/19/2010 11:06:33 AM

You all know about the record breaking 3-D movie Avatar. Worldwide this
has been an amazing success. Avatar is the highest earning movie of all
time, having grossed $2.7 billion worldwide. If you did not see Avatar in 3-D, you are going to have a chance to see it in 3-D very soon at a theater near you. Avatar is soon to be re-released in 3-D movie theaters throughout the world, and 8 new minutes of never before seen film. Some release dates have been announced, including:
       U.S.                    August 27
       Australia               August 26
       Russia                  August 26
       UK                      August 27
       India                   August 27
       Belgium                 September 8
       Spain                   September 17
       Japan                   October 16
More announcements will follow. The excitement of Avatar will continue
with the release later this year of the DVD in 3-D.

Our production of Avatar pinball will begin in the middle of August,
with export games first and in time to reach our overseas export markets as the
post summer selling season begins. Domestic shipments should start
early in September.

To capture the full excitement of the 3-D Avatar movie, our pinball has
a sensational 3-D backglass. Its depth, clarity and color are
amazing.

In Avatar pinball, you as player are the hero Jake Sully. Capture the
pinball in the transporter link, a case that reveals a Jake figurine,
and transform yourself into his Avatar. Then, after a series of
challenges, get past the motorized up/down target bank protecting
Colonel Quaritch and fight the Colonel in his AMP Suit, aiming your
pinball at him. As you overtake the Colonel, his AMP Suit crashes to
the ground and you save the Na'vi people from total destruction. Avatar
pinball also features a twisting ramp, the magnet for random ball play,
and lots of multi-ball action.

Avatar pinball has lots of great sound, including speech and sound
effects from the movie as well as original voice over by actor Stephen
Lang, who plays Colonel Quaritch in the movie.

As we always do, we have been playing Avatar pinball without art, and
tests begin with temporary art, allowing for changes that may still be
necessary for final Licensor approval.

Official pictures will be available early August. Stay tuned for more info.

Chuck Hess Wins The Ironman Pinball PIzza Party

7/1/2010 2:23:44 PM

Congratulations to Chuck Hess! His gameroom was chosen to host his own Ironman Pinball Pizza Party. We hear Chuck loves Pizza and Pinball so its a perfect match . We had so many great entries it seemed impossible to only pick one.

Chuck's gameroom really caught our eye take a look.

Chuck Hess Wins The Iroman Pinball PIzza Party

7/1/2010 2:16:08 PM

Chuck's gameroom really caught our eye take a look.

Shop The Stern Store

7/1/2010 11:53:26 AM

Shop the Stern Store – Stern Pinball Inc. brings you a brand new e store with a great assortment of Stern branded clothing and accessories including t-shirts, hats , sweatshirts, stickers and more. The “Shop The Stern Store” button can be found at the top of the Stern Pinball website Dealers and distributors email jody.dankberg@sternpinball.com for wholesale pricing and to place your order. Enjoy...

IFPA 7

6/21/2010 11:13:42 AM

The greatest players from around the globe came to compete and play their best to win the title of IFPA Champion!

http://www.pinballnews.com/shows/ifpa7/index3.html

Q & A with Gary Stern

6/8/2010 10:57:42 AM

Question and Answer Session with Mr. Gary Stern – Founder, CEO and Chairman of Stern Pinball, Inc.

Q: Gary, there seems to be a lot going on at your company these days. Can you tell us a little about it?

Gary: Yes, we’re living in interesting times, aren’t we? Pinball was born during the Great Depression and the industry has never seen economic times like that until the current Great Recession started in the second half of 2008. When the credit markets froze, it caught our entire industry (and most of the world) by surprise. Our games are expensive to design and build and, as a result, their price points are relatively high. Most buyers end-up financing their purchases. When they couldn’t get credit, they had no choice but to slow buying.

Q: Are things getting any better today?

Gary: A little. The credit markets are starting to open up a bit but there’s still a lot of bad economic news out there so buyers are understandably skittish. But we are seeing pick-ups in volume, which is encouraging.

Q: What has the company been doing in light of the times?

Gary: In November of 2009 we partnered with a group that has been helping us in many different ways. They brought capital to the table and expertise that complements skills we already had in-house. They’ve helped us shore up the business, think through the future direction and execute several initiatives that are in various stages of completion.

Q: Can you give us a few examples?

Gary: Sure. A few of the items that are visible to the public include upgrading our on-line presence. We recently launched a new website and upgraded our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube sites. Our primary goals with those efforts have been to provide additional places for pinball fans to get together and to raise overall awareness of the game. We’ve also begun to test what we call a “Standard” version of our games that is designed for what we believe is a largely untapped segment of the market. Buyers in this segment are interested in owning a pinball game that is simpler than our traditional “Pro” (coin-op) model. With fewer features, the game also carries a lower price.

Q: Does the introduction of the “Standard” model mean that the company will be moving away from the types of games it has produced traditionally?

Gary: Not at all. We will continue to produce our main “Pro” models with features designed for location play and, of course, our “Premium” models that are designed for pinball enthusiasts and collectors. In fact, we hope that we’ll be able to incorporate some of the results from our R&D work associated with the “Standard” model into our more expensive models. The goal is to bring down costs and price points without adversely effecting game play.

Q: What other things are you working on at the company?

Gary: We have many other initiatives underway including improving our product development and manufacturing processes and leveraging the e-commerce capabilities of our new website. As volume picks up, we also expect to add talented new people to our team. We’re also excited about the new titles that we anticipate bringing to market later this year and in 2011. It’s been a tough stretch, but our optimism is growing.

Q: Your last few games were developed with your in-house design team. Do you expect to use outside designers in the future?

Gary: Absolutely. Our in-house team has really done a great job on the last few games but it’s important to partner with outside designers too. We will continue to do that.

Q: Do you see any major innovations in the game somewhere down the road?

Gary: I think in terms of “improvements” and “innovations”. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve the game. We’re currently focused on reliability and ROI improvements. With regard to innovation, we believe we need to innovate; our market demands it. The rate of innovation is affected by economic conditions of course. There are more resources available for innovation when times are good. Times haven’t been so good as of late so out of necessity our pace of innovation has slowed.

Q: Can you give some ideas of the types of innovations you’re working on?

Gary: We are beginning to experiment with new ways to make the games more engaging for participants on location. Networking games in different locations is another area of interest to players and us. We’re in the early stages of both of those initiatives.

Q: Thanks very much for your time today. Would you be willing to do this again?

Gary: I’d be happy to do it again.