Classic Stern Poll - Official FarSight Poll (Closed)

[Kolchak357]

Played Meteor and Flight 2000 at Pinfest today. Sterns of that era are just so satisfying to play. All those drop targets and spinner shots. TPA can't make them fast enough for me.

 

[jaredmorgs]

Great work Farsight.

Great work voters.

Whatever the pinball, it will be played. It is its nature.

 

[Fungi]

Whatever the pinball, it will be played. It is its nature.

Yeah sure, tell that to my Harley Davidson.

 

[jaredmorgs]

Yeah sure, tell that to my Harley Davidson.

::waves hand:: We don't talk about HD 'round these parts... I actually think these older STERN tables will be more fun to play than HD.

 

[karl]

Congrats to all Flight 2000 fans. Felling optimistic that we will get more early Sterns soonish.

 

[clembo2021]

I just hope that Flight 2000 is properly hard. That special lane and the lane to the left of that should be quite hard to hit.

 

[k88dad]

It's no Gorgar, but a talking F2K is a talking F2K

That's twice that my preferred table has come in second. I'm going to get a complex if this keeps up.

It's a good thing that pinball is such good therapy.

Classic Sterns need to be represented in the PA, so there is no downside to this.

Where's my Eight Ball Deluxe?

 

[ER777]

Classic Sterns need to be represented in the PA, so there is no downside to this..

I agree completely. I always seem to end up liking the late 70's to mid 80's era tables a lot.
So let's hope these guys are right about what Farsight's plans are:

Oh, that makes a lot of sense.

Maybe they plan on doing all of them, and using them as companion tables for next year.

They will be done with Williams PHOF and Gotlieb PHOF by the end of this year. So maybe next year they plan on making PBA the unofficial Stern hall of fame.

Just to clarify, Sorcerer, PinBot (next month) and Whirlwind are all that's left of Williams. Victory, Tee'd Off might be all that's left of Gotlieb depending on what they intend on doing. Some of the Gotliebs won't make it because they were made from pictures, not the actual tables, and I think Farsight is on record saying they won't be adding those.

So just to clarify what I am trying to say. It is my current belief that they are going to use Stern to round out the rest of Pinball Arcade. I'd say that once Gotlieb/Williams re-releases are done, which is another 6 months give or take, it's going to be classic Stern as the companion boards from then on out. Can't say for 100% certainty, but if I had to guess I'd say yes, as this makes a lot of sense.

So everyone freaking out that Space 2000 or whatever is going to lose to Sea Witch can take a major chill pill since it's doubtful they'd only do one of these.

It's gonna be Stern mixed with Data East and Sega. Bobby mentioned in the Jeff's last interview that those are probably a year out, which ties in with when FS will have to get a new list of tables from WMS. So Stern for the 'b' table, unlicensed WMS for the 'a', and Data East and Sega sprinkled in for easy licenses.

And with that, I think I've talked out my butt for long enough, since I'm just completely spinning wild speculation there!

 

[sotie]

I agree completely. I always seem to end up liking the late 70's to mid 80's era tables a lot.
So let's hope these guys are right about what Farsight's plans are:

My top three most freqeuntly played tables are Gorgar, Firepower and Space Shuttle!

 

[phreaker47]

Prepare
for
mission

 

[JoshuaKadmon]

I tend to believe that only the top 3 (Flight 2000, Seawitch, and Catacomb) will eventually end up in TPA. FarSight probably sees the poll as a qualifier for any of the Old Sterns that they felt confident they could acquire, but there's really no reason to sweat the tables that got less than 10% of the vote, especially when there are plenty of excellent Williams and Bally tables that we haven't seen yet. And Meteor may have squeaked out a 12%, but since it had a minor film license attached to it, FS may not pursue it after getting voted 4th.

I also think Fireball's #2 position (or was it third behind EBD?) from the classic Bally poll will eventually show up. These polls are really just an aid for FS to make intelligent development decisions, right?

In the end, I expect the following tables to show up over the next several months, but again, this is just speculation:

Flight 2000
Victory
Eight Ball Deluxe
Whirlwind
Seawitch
El Dorado City of Gold
Fireball
Ace High
Catacomb
Sorcerer
Fish Tales
Tee'd Off
Swords of Fury
Xenon
Earthshaker!
Haunted House

I'd also love The Getaway: High Speed II, Big Bang Bar, NASCAR, and a number of others, but they would probably take longer. Mark my words, I bet the release list looks remarkably close to this in eight months...

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

I also think Fireball's #2 position (or was it third behind EBD?) from the classic Bally poll will eventually show up.

Eight Ball Deluxe was neck-and-neck with Centaur. Fireball was a very distant third.

 

[JoshuaKadmon]

My bad. Either way, I think both are quite possible for a later release.

 

[Fungi]

I can't imagine FS passing on Fireball. Besides, that poll was to choose which would be made first amongst those 3. Doing all three should not be a problem. Now this Stern poll. That was 8 tables. I believe as you do and that the poll was used by FS to see which should be made and which can be passed on.

That list you created is spot on in my opinion.

 

[alop]

golden arrow

 

[smbhax]

Man I can't believe I forgot the excellent Stars was a Stern Electronics table (1978). I bet that would have won if it had been in the poll. >_>

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Man I can't believe I forgot the excellent Stars was a Stern Electronics table (1978). I bet that would have won if it had been in the poll. >_>

I just played a Stars for the first time this weekend. Playfield was a little rough, but otherwise it was an excellent game. I even managed to earn the special and the first replay score (and nearly the second).

 

[JoshuaKadmon]

I'm sure the poll was based on tables that FarSight had already sourced and knew they could acquire at a reasonable cost. As good as Stars is, though, I doubt it could've beaten Flight 2000 or Seawitch.

And I still want Catacomb.

 

[brakel]

I'm sure the poll was based on tables that FarSight had already sourced and knew they could acquire at a reasonable cost. As good as Stars is, though, I doubt it could've beaten Flight 2000 or Seawitch.

And I still want Catacomb.

Based on previous polls they don't "source" the tables in advance. I'm not even sure what that would mean. Every used pinball sale is a one off sale from one party to another. Even when you're dealing with a vendor of used machines you don't know if a table that they have today will still be available in a week or two.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

I'm wondering if they'll do a modern Stern poll (using Whitestar, pre-2006). Would they be a nightmare or as easy as RBIoN and HD3E?