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Foo Fighters Announced

Gonzo said:
I think Deadpool is the favourite game of 'The dangerous one' so I wouldn't be surprised if there was an influence.
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You are spot on mate, Jack has said a few times now that Deadpool is his favourite game.

Wouldn’t be surprised if he asked for Tanio, which is great as it’s clearly giving him a chance to execute the full vision he originally had for Deadpool in Foo fighters.

Van modes seem pretty similar to battles, team ups/van upgrades, nice that he gets a full length project as he had to cut about 3 modes out of Deadpool due to the time constraints.

RayDay is an added bonus as he will flesh out and add depth to the code that Deadpool was lacking.
 
stumblor said:
Okay getting a bit antsy with the premiums now hitting stateside. Without annoying Phil more than I already do anyone got a lead on when our first container is touching down?
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Would also like to know if anyone finds out. No idea if I’m in on the first run of pros though or if I’ll have to wait. Got over my little cold feet stage and excited again now!
 
Jib said:
Would also like to know if anyone finds out. No idea if I’m in on the first run of pros though or if I’ll have to wait. Got over my little cold feet stage and excited again now!
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I’d hope for may/June …. Perhaps late may for pro and le and June for premium
 
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I finally got down to Funland (in Russell Square, London) to play the Foo Pro that’s onsite. It’s a great value evening out because the replays on all the pins are set ludicrously low. Paying 4.8 credits per game (I think), you can play all night…

Anyway, Foo Pro was very popular on a Friday evening with the punters who were logging into Stern Insider and also photographing their scores (for Instagram?). One guy was even chortling at the cartoon graphics while playing (they aren’t that funny… shrug). Who says pinball is an old person’s game. I was probably the oldest person there.

It’s… very very good at being what it is. It’s better than Godzilla at being fast, flowy and combo-tactic, with novel geometries and a wide variety of shots. It’s extremely accessible to new and beginning players, mostly due to the colourful graphics, narrative gameplay and the fact that it’s a complete ‘noodle’-fest (as I’d describe it). By ’noodle-fest’, I mean a pin where you can flail the ball around and it will generally make shots, and cool stuff will happen. It benefits a style of play where you don’t know the rules and don’t care.

Foo has the advantage that noodling leads to lots of combos and flowy shots, which means it feels fun to play even if you don’t aim and aren’t intending to achieve anything. There was a father/daughter duo having a whale of a time making shots on Foo while not ever getting above 20 million (the daughter was averaging about 4-5 million).

It feels like there are two main ‘areas’: the top/upper playfield, and the lower playfield sections (the upper playfield is missing from the Pro, but you can still feel it’s there in the design). There’s a spinner and a ‘ball/lock/bash toy’ near the top, which generates a multiball - again, very accessible for new players. However, starting modes means shooting the little green ramp on the lower playfield, which is a much tighter shot. So, depending on how the scoring is balanced, something for more experienced players too (maybe).

Going by my experience and the punter reactions tonight, Stern have a huge hit on their hands here. It’s a very entertaining box of lights and music, which is accessible to new players and easy to shoot - but with more depth too. I would be shocked if it doesn’t rise into the league of AFM/MM/GZ quite quickly, and stay there.

From my POV, I blasted through the replay on my first game, and self-sabotaged my second as I felt I’d seen everything I wanted to see. I subsequently ended up playing Stern Jurassic Park for about half an hour (again, paying for a single game) and then moved onto trying to make shots on TMNT, and trying to reliably make the Henchman shot on Bond (the father-daughter duo did not want my free Bond credit when I left!)

Again, from my POV, I didn’t especially gel with it, but I’m not its intended audience. I’m someone who likes games that pose a bit of a challenge, and Foo is *so* easy to shoot that it feels a bit like playing football without the goalie - there’s simply no pushback. It was pretty hard to drain on the one in Funland and, when I did, it was balls howling off down side lanes. It reminded me of the Cactus Canyon Continued in Medway Pinball Club (for anyone who’s played that one) - very few bricked shots and very very forgiving. You can basically hit the ball pretty much anywhere and it will make a shot, and the games can get very long as a result. I prefer pins that hate me. Foo Fighters does not.

P.S. @Gonzo I think you’re going to love this one. Genuinely, if you don’t have a preorder in already with Pinball Heaven, you need to phone Phil.
 
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VeeMonroe said:
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I finally got down to Funland (in Russell Square, London) to play the Foo Pro that’s onsite. It’s a great value evening out because the replays on all the pins are set ludicrously low. Paying 4.8 credits per game (I think), you can play all night…

Anyway, Foo Pro was very popular on a Friday evening with the punters who were logging into Stern Insider and also photographing their scores (for Instagram?). One guy was even chortling at the cartoon graphics while playing (they aren’t that funny… shrug). Who says pinball is an old person’s game. I was probably the oldest person there.

It’s… very very good at being what it is. It’s better than Godzilla at being fast, flowy and combo-tactic, with novel geometries and a wide variety of shots. It’s extremely accessible to new and beginning players, mostly due to the colourful graphics, narrative gameplay and the fact that it’s a complete ‘noodle’-fest (as I’d describe it). By ’noodle-fest’, I mean a pin where you can flail the ball around and it will generally make shots, and cool stuff will happen. It benefits a style of play where you don’t know the rules and don’t care.

Foo has the advantage that noodling leads to lots of combos and flowy shots, which means it feels fun to play even if you don’t aim and aren’t intending to achieve anything. There was a father/daughter duo having a whale of a time making shots on Foo while not ever getting above 20 million (the daughter was averaging about 4-5 million).

It feels like there are two main ‘areas’: the top/upper playfield, and the lower playfield sections (the upper playfield is missing from the Pro, but you can still feel it’s there in the design). There’s a spinner and a ‘ball/lock/bash toy’ near the top, which generates a multiball - again, very accessible for new players. However, starting modes means shooting the little green ramp on the lower playfield, which is a much tighter shot. So, depending on how the scoring is balanced, something for more experienced players too (maybe).

Going by my experience and the punter reactions tonight, Stern have a huge hit on their hands here. It’s a very entertaining box of lights and music, which is accessible to new players and easy to shoot - but with more depth too. I would be shocked if it doesn’t rise into the league of AFM/MM/GZ quite quickly, and stay there.

From my POV, I blasted through the replay on my first game, and self-sabotaged my second as I felt I’d seen everything I wanted to see. I subsequently ended up playing Stern Jurassic Park for about half an hour (again, paying for a single game) and then moved onto trying to make shots on TMNT, and trying to reliably make the Henchman shot on Bond (the father-daughter duo did not want my free Bond credit when I left!)

Again, from my POV, I didn’t especially gel with it, but I’m not its intended audience. I’m someone who likes games that pose a bit of a challenge, and Foo is *so* easy to shoot that it feels a bit like playing football without the goalie - there’s simply no pushback. It was pretty hard to drain on the one in Funland and, when I did, it was balls howling off down side lanes. It reminded me of the Cactus Canyon Continued in Medway Pinball Club (for anyone who’s played that one) - very few bricked shots and very very forgiving. You can basically hit the ball pretty much anywhere and it will make a shot, and the games can get very long as a result. I prefer pins that hate me. Foo Fighters does not.

P.S. @Gonzo I think you’re going to love this one. Genuinely, if you don’t have a preorder in already with Pinball Heaven, you need to phone Phil.
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Thanks Vee (for the tip and extensive review).

I do have one on order and I'm pretty excited about it actually.

The added bonus is that the band have been on my playlist for years.

I know the pro will be completely stripped down but I'm sure Davey and Co will bring some garnish for the noodles 🍜 😉
 
I always find upper/lower playfields a bit crap (with the exception of Alice Cooper) so it would be Pro all the way for me. Just a shame it hasn't got that death-save thing on the Pro.
 
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Marvello said:
I always find upper/lower playfields a bit crap (with the exception of Alice Cooper) so it would be Pro all the way for me. Just a shame it hasn't got that death-save thing on the Pro.
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The upper playfield is getting pretty positive feedback over on Pinside and they usually get torn to shreds.
 
J85M said:
The upper playfield is getting pretty positive feedback over on Pinside and they usually get torn to shreds.
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The whole pin is a work of genius, TBH.

It’s like Gary Stern, or whoever calls the shots at Stern these days, called Jack Danger into his office and is like “Look, Jurassic Park Home Pin was a success, so we’ve got a big new pin design project for you.

Brief is that we’re strong in the home collector market, but people are telling us pins like A:IQ are too difficult and complex in bars, and we want to sell more pins to bars and arcades. So, we want a pin that’s as fun to walk up and shoot as one of those arcade basketball machines, but which doesn’t scare off the home market. Oh, and some retro bars are buying second-hand vintage 80s and B/W era machines to avoid our ludicrous pricing, so make it something they want too. Don’t just do a fan layout or something, or they’ll just buy the MM remake. Be as different from that as possible. We also want a cheap pin for maximum profit, so no complex mechs. Just wireforms, ramps (the shorter the better, metal is expensive) and maybe a few plastics. If you really want to push the boat out, you can use a drop target bank, or maybe a ball lock made of a couple of pins.

We‘ve got Zombie Yeti on graphics, so you won’t have a problem with it looking nice (unlike Bond… grumble grumble, those license-holding f*****rs). Oh, and the theme is Foo Fighters… yes, Foo Fighters. So, good luck and GO WILD!”

And he met the brief beyond all expectations…
 
I spent most of today getting some ideas drawn up which may be tweaked or changed altogether but happy so far.

Speaker inserts, Bat toppers & some test bits.
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Shooter Plaque
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Hinge Dressing
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Bill Acceptor Plaque (maybe)
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Still have more ideas brewing but feel free to get in touch with any ideas you may have and I’ll see what I can do.

I am also in the process of doing a plug and Play Speaker light kit with another forum member which will hopefully come to fruition very soon. 🤞

Oh and the usual plastic protectors once I get some donor ones.
I’ve also been told some people are already experiencing broken plastics Stateside apparently. If not addressed by Stern I’ll try knock something up quick.
 
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Played this yesterday for the first time at Funland and didn't like it too much. Probably because I didn't know the rules but the game had amazing flow and combos (for those that like that kind of stuff).

The shots seemed limited (even though they were many ) but will have to play it again once I figure out the ruleset.

Also played Bond for the first time and like that even less. Weird.
 
Same here. Went to funland today and enjoyed playing it, specially since getting a replay is relatively easy... so good value for money!
It has a nice flow and knowing the rules would help but to me GZ is a much rounder machine. FF has many shots but for example, the upper loop, similar to FF, feels more satisfying in GZ as is not as easy.
I did like how the balls get locked under the Overlord with those two pins, projecting up from below the playfield. These and the inner lane targets are the same as my Heavy Metal Meltdown, which was great to see. 80's features on a 23 pin!
It was good to play, music is great but prefer other clasic pins. I don't like how the Stern pros are stripped down to flat plastics instead of toys... just makes them looks cheap... when we all know they ain't.
 
Jackpot said:
@VeeMonroe said it was easy

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I didn’t say I was good at pinball… :p

I said it was a pin where you could ‘noodle around’ a lot and not lose the ball. My husband points out that I am personally offended by pinball machines unless they kill the player instantly for messing about. I have actually drained balls on Lord of the Rings, on purpose, in a fit of rage because I bricked a tonne of shots, achieved nothing at all, and still failed to lose the ball…
 
VeeMonroe said:
I didn’t say I was good at pinball… :p

I said it was a pin where you could ‘noodle around’ a lot and not lose the ball. My husband points out that I am personally offended by pinball machines unless they kill the player instantly for messing about. I have actually drained balls on Lord of the Rings, on purpose, in a fit of rage because I bricked a tonne of shots, achieved nothing at all, and still failed to lose the ball…
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Vee self flagellating because the machine had not been naughty enough. 😂😂

I once called Walking Dead a C U next Tuesday but it still misbehaved which is sort of different I guess.
 
VeeMonroe said:
I didn’t say I was good at pinball… :p

I said it was a pin where you could ‘noodle around’ a lot and not lose the ball. My husband points out that I am personally offended by pinball machines unless they kill the player instantly for messing about. I have actually drained balls on Lord of the Rings, on purpose, in a fit of rage because I bricked a tonne of shots, achieved nothing at all, and still failed to lose the ball…
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Just teasing Vee, actually I agree with pretty much all of your points on the game. Great combo shots and flow, you don't really have to know the rules well and you can have a good game. Hitting the ball anywhere gets you points (although clearly you want the modes at the van ramp) and you'll have a decent amount of success just by keeping the ball in play.

The upper flipper shots seem really easy to hit compared to most games with two main shots from that flipper - at least the copy at Fun Land. Smooth like butter, almost never rejects. So if you are half decent with an upper flipper you might enjoy how nice those side loop/ramp shots are to hit in flow.

Also there seem to be very few unfair drains, perhaps off the overlord targets/hole, or if you brick the Van ramp.

I like the game, it's fun to shoot with good geometry - think it favours on the fly players more than control oriented ones.
 
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