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STAR WARS: FALL OF THE EMPIRE REVEALED
Pinball News
Stern Pinball today revealed their latest Star Wars game, titled Star Wars: Fall of the Empire.
The title relates to the period in Star Wars history leading up to the destruction of the second Death Star at the Battle of Endor in the Return of the Jedi movie. Consequently, the game features assets from the original three movies – episodes 4, 5 and 6.
The flipper area of the new Star Wars game
The game was officially announced their new game on 26th August, but it’s taken two-and-a-half weeks to get licensor approval to launch the title today.
A Media Open House was held two days ago to show invited members of the pinball media the new game, show them round the Stern Pinball factory and then give them the chance to play the game.
The Media Open House at the Stern Pinball factory
Those attending had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to ensure they didn’t reveal any details of the game until after today’s launch.
The Media Open House at the Stern Pinball factory
Jaws was the game on the production line
Jaws games being completed
All three variants of the Star Wars game – Pro, Premium and Limited Edition – were set up at the factory.
The Pro model of Star Wars: Fall of the Empire
Game Designer, John Borg, and software lead, Raymond Davidson, talked about the mechanical features in the game along with the rules and assets included. George Gomez then demonstrates the power of the new sound system.
This is Stern’s first ‘cornerstone’ game to use the company’s new Spike 3 controller board. With that comes a larger LCD panel, a higher display resolution and improved sound quality. The Limited Edition model now comes with both a tweeter and a mid-range speaker on either side of the display.
And so to the Star Wars: Fall of the Empire game itself.
The Pro playfield
The Pro model doesn’t have Stern’s Expression lighting system. The Premium has the cutouts in the cabinet sides for an aftermarket add-on purchase, while the Limited Edition includes the Expression lighting.
As you might expect, one of the main toys is the Death Star. This contains a motorised door which, after enough hits, opens to lock balls for multiball. When three balls have been locked they are fired back out of the Death Star onto the right flipper as Death Star Multiball begins. This device is common to all three variants of the game.
The centre ramp is different on the Pro compared to the Premium and Limited Edition. In the upper two versions, there is a bridge which can be raised or lowered to allow shots into the backboard, much like the drawbridge in Medieval Madness. The ball enters the backboard, turns left and runs on a wireform down the left side of the playfield. When the ramp is raised, the ball is blocked from entering the backboard.
To the right of the centre ramps is the Sarlacc Pit, which has an illuminated Jabba The Hut model above it and a drop target in front. When the ball manages to get past the drop target it enters a cup where it spins around, highlighting different features on the display. When it stops spinning the highlighted feature is awarded.
To the left of the centre ramp is the AT-AT model. This is motorised to movie its legs up and down in the Premium and Limited Edition but remains static in the Pro.
On the Premium and Limited Edition there is a Darth Vader sculpt on the left over his mystery award and multiball start, and a Stormtrooper sculpt on the right over his target. There’s also a Tie-Fighter model further up the playfield. However, these are all flat plastics on the Pro.
Continuing Stern’s trend of doing something interesting in the outlanes, Star Wars features a Force magnet between the flippers which can be activated by the lock bar button once J-E from J-E-D-I are lit to grab a left outlane ball before it drains, and fling it up the right outlane and into the shooter lane. If J-E-D-I is spelled in full, the Force magnet grabs the ball and holds it before flinging it back between the flippers onto the playfield. Again though, this is a Premium and Limited Edition feature, and not in the Pro.
So, the Pro differences are, the AT-AT is static, there are no Darth, Jabba, Tie Fighter, or Stormtrooper sculpts, no Force magnet, and no moving bridge on the centre ramp.
Here are the basic game rules from the instruction card:
We’ll be adding lots more pictures of the three models as we receive them from Stern.
In the meantime, here’s the feature matrix showing what’s in each version of the game:
The feature matrix for Star Wars: Fall of the Empire
So, check back here at Pinball News for all the latest details of Stern’s new Star Wars: Fall of the Empire.
Continue reading...
Pinball News
Stern Pinball today revealed their latest Star Wars game, titled Star Wars: Fall of the Empire.
The title relates to the period in Star Wars history leading up to the destruction of the second Death Star at the Battle of Endor in the Return of the Jedi movie. Consequently, the game features assets from the original three movies – episodes 4, 5 and 6.
The flipper area of the new Star Wars game
The game was officially announced their new game on 26th August, but it’s taken two-and-a-half weeks to get licensor approval to launch the title today.
A Media Open House was held two days ago to show invited members of the pinball media the new game, show them round the Stern Pinball factory and then give them the chance to play the game.
The Media Open House at the Stern Pinball factory
Those attending had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to ensure they didn’t reveal any details of the game until after today’s launch.
The Media Open House at the Stern Pinball factory
Jaws was the game on the production line
Jaws games being completed
All three variants of the Star Wars game – Pro, Premium and Limited Edition – were set up at the factory.
The Pro model of Star Wars: Fall of the Empire
Game Designer, John Borg, and software lead, Raymond Davidson, talked about the mechanical features in the game along with the rules and assets included. George Gomez then demonstrates the power of the new sound system.
This is Stern’s first ‘cornerstone’ game to use the company’s new Spike 3 controller board. With that comes a larger LCD panel, a higher display resolution and improved sound quality. The Limited Edition model now comes with both a tweeter and a mid-range speaker on either side of the display.
And so to the Star Wars: Fall of the Empire game itself.
The Pro playfield
The Pro model doesn’t have Stern’s Expression lighting system. The Premium has the cutouts in the cabinet sides for an aftermarket add-on purchase, while the Limited Edition includes the Expression lighting.
As you might expect, one of the main toys is the Death Star. This contains a motorised door which, after enough hits, opens to lock balls for multiball. When three balls have been locked they are fired back out of the Death Star onto the right flipper as Death Star Multiball begins. This device is common to all three variants of the game.
The centre ramp is different on the Pro compared to the Premium and Limited Edition. In the upper two versions, there is a bridge which can be raised or lowered to allow shots into the backboard, much like the drawbridge in Medieval Madness. The ball enters the backboard, turns left and runs on a wireform down the left side of the playfield. When the ramp is raised, the ball is blocked from entering the backboard.
To the right of the centre ramps is the Sarlacc Pit, which has an illuminated Jabba The Hut model above it and a drop target in front. When the ball manages to get past the drop target it enters a cup where it spins around, highlighting different features on the display. When it stops spinning the highlighted feature is awarded.
To the left of the centre ramp is the AT-AT model. This is motorised to movie its legs up and down in the Premium and Limited Edition but remains static in the Pro.
On the Premium and Limited Edition there is a Darth Vader sculpt on the left over his mystery award and multiball start, and a Stormtrooper sculpt on the right over his target. There’s also a Tie-Fighter model further up the playfield. However, these are all flat plastics on the Pro.
Continuing Stern’s trend of doing something interesting in the outlanes, Star Wars features a Force magnet between the flippers which can be activated by the lock bar button once J-E from J-E-D-I are lit to grab a left outlane ball before it drains, and fling it up the right outlane and into the shooter lane. If J-E-D-I is spelled in full, the Force magnet grabs the ball and holds it before flinging it back between the flippers onto the playfield. Again though, this is a Premium and Limited Edition feature, and not in the Pro.
So, the Pro differences are, the AT-AT is static, there are no Darth, Jabba, Tie Fighter, or Stormtrooper sculpts, no Force magnet, and no moving bridge on the centre ramp.
Here are the basic game rules from the instruction card:
| REBEL MISSIONS: Complete FORCE targets to light Rebel shots to start a REBEL MISSION. BATTLE OF HOTH MULTIBALL: Hit the AT-AT target to light lock at the Luke shot. Lock 3 balls to start BATTLE OF HOTH MULTIBALL. DEATH STAR MULTIBALL: Hit the Death Star to open the hatch. Lock 3 balls in the Death Star to start DEATH STAR MULTIBALL. JABBA EVENTS: Knock down the Salacious Crumb drop target to access the Sarlacc Pit and start a JABBA EVENT. FALCON FEATURES: Shoot the Millennium Falcon to qualify FALCON FEATURES. DARTH VADER MODES: Complete Empire return lanes to light Darth Vader scoop for Dark Side Mystery and DARTH VADER MODES. CHARACTER COMBOS: Make shots in succession to collect character combos shown on the yellow inserts. ION CANNON MULTIPLIERS: Charge up the Ion Cannon by hitting the pop bumpers to light SHOT MULTIPLIERS. |
We’ll be adding lots more pictures of the three models as we receive them from Stern.
In the meantime, here’s the feature matrix showing what’s in each version of the game:
The feature matrix for Star Wars: Fall of the Empire
So, check back here at Pinball News for all the latest details of Stern’s new Star Wars: Fall of the Empire.
Continue reading...
