What's up with Stern?

A few things have been bothering me about the Stern license, and I wonder if anyone can offer clarity on these points.

The Stern agreement should include all the older alphanumerics (1977-1982), the newer DMD tables (2000-current), Data East machines, and SEGA acquistions. I guess we've all come to the conclusion that machines running SAM (anything after World Series Poker, 2006) are out of the question, but so far, we've only gotten two Stern tables, both of which are from 2004. That means that FarSight is definitely able to draw from the 2000-2005 series, but why haven't we seen or heard news on any of the other stuff?

First, is Stern leaning on FS to focus their attention on the 2000-2005 era? If they're not, it's seems like most TPA players would like to get some classics like Galaxy, Seawitch, Catacomb, or Flight 2000. There has been no indication that we ever will, and that makes me a tad suspicious, mostly because Stern is arrogant about their control of the current industry. Old Stern stuff is easy, as they don't require any additional licensing.

Second, I realize that a large portion of the Data East and SEGA collections are licensed, but stuff like Phantom of the Opera or Starship Troopers are nowhere close to the cost of Star Trek or Twilight Zone. Is there any hint that FS has a gameplan for Data East or SEGA?

Third, Lord of the Rings is often listed as a Top 10 table, but does the 2007 limited edition run SAM? If it does, wouldn't Stern have a problem with FS acquiring the LotR license to emulate the 2003 version? Either way, LotR would be expensive. But its viability goes back to my initial question about Stern's control over which tables receive attention.

Fourth, while I like Harley-Davidson Third Edition, what made it a priority over a dozen other Sterns? It's not the highest rated table by any stretch (neither is Ripley's), and its license probably cost a fair amount.

The way Stern is being handled seems somewhat inconsistent (or perhaps TOO consistent in the wrong ways), but something tells me that FarSight has underlying reasons for it that we haven't heard. It would suck if we got a year into this thing only to discover that Stern's contract has FS hemmed in and unable to include Old Stern, Data East, or SEGA tables. It's not a conspiracy theory, and maybe I'm just being impatient when the answers are right around the corner, but I'm not the only one wondering what's up with Stern.

Why are SAM machines out of the question?

In the WGN interview, Bobby said they were exploring Pirates of the Caribbean and AC/DC as potential tables to be included in the future. Either one would face licensing and technical challenges, but it sounds like Stern itself is not standing in FarSight's way.

From what I understand, the barrier to SAM and SAM2 tables is primarily emulation. Even Whitestar is pretty demanding; pretty much anytime a mobile user reports a slowdown issue, it's with RBION and not the other tables. SAM and SAM2 will be even more stressful to mobile devices. But I'm not aware that Stern has forbidden FarSight from emulating these tables; else Bobby would not have mentioned AC/DC and PotC.

LOTR-LE is still a Whitestar machine.

Relative to other Stern tables, Harley-Davidson is probably one of the least expensive licenses. I see it as TPA was getting very Williams/Bally-heavy, and FarSight needed a Stern table to balance things out a bit.

I've been assuming it has nothing to do with the contract but with what Farsight regards as being in demand.

It's not just Stern. They did a bunch of Gottlieb tables (scripted) for PHoF: Gottlieb, and we've seen exactly one of these return (scripted) in TPA, with hints that two others will appear eventually. I doubt there are licensing issues with any of them; they're just not in as high demand as the Williams/Bally tables. I'd guess it's the same for Stern/Data East/Sega.

And then there's the apparent fact that Farsight, going forward, wants to concentrate on tables that they can emulate. That creates an incentive to stick with pins based on chipsets where emulation is already working well. Doing old Stern or Data East machines would mean emulating new platforms.

Now, on the other hand, Stern does provide something no other company can, which is relatively new pinball from after 2000. Probably Farsight sees that as their primary value. Hence the concentration on post-2000 machines (but old enough that they can currently emulate the chipset).

I'd guess that if this project thrives for a sufficiently long time, they'll branch out to old Sterns and some of these other companies. But there might be a wait.

Serenseven said:

In the WGN interview, Bobby said they were exploring Pirates of the Caribbean and AC/DC as potential tables to be included in the future. Either one would face licensing and technical challenges, but it sounds like Stern itself is not standing in FarSight's way.

From what I understand, the barrier to SAM and SAM2 tables is primarily emulation. Even Whitestar is pretty demanding; pretty much anytime a mobile user reports a slowdown issue, it's with RBION and not the other tables. SAM and SAM2 will be even more stressful to mobile devices. But I'm not aware that Stern has forbidden FarSight from emulating these tables; else Bobby would not have mentioned AC/DC and PotC.

LOTR-LE is still a Whitestar machine.

Relative to other Stern tables, Harley-Davidson is probably one of the least expensive licenses. I see it as TPA was getting very Williams/Bally-heavy, and FarSight needed a Stern table to balance things out a bit.

Click to expand...

Sounds like Lord of the Rings might be viable, after all. That's cool, as it's one of those top 10 or 20 that FarSight may eventually want to snag. I don't really care one way or another about PotC or AC/DC, but it's interesting to know that SAM stuff isn't completely out of the running. Still, I would rather see TPA focus on older classics in the 40 years between 1966 and 2005.

I suppose the Harley-Davidson thing makes sense, but if FS was just trying to fill a need for Stern tables, it just seems like Old Stern non-licensed tables would be a more efficient solution, especially since a lot of players want to see them. In other words, I'd rather have Galaxy and Catacomb over RBIoN and Harley, but maybe I'm in the minority on that one.

Maybe Harley Davidson gave them a very good deal on the table? Or even approached Farsight in the first place.

I also think that it was kinda needed to break the chain of having a series of advanced tables that are difficult to get into, let alone master by people new to TPA. It's easy and kinda fun and possible to rack up huge scores. A bit like how Rock Band doesn't just give us Through The Fire and Flames every week and sometimes has a few simple but fun songs which are easier and more relaxing to play.