Stern Star Wars

The Force Is Strong With This New Stern Pinball Code

February 23, 2022 By ausretrogamer

For those of us that have been consumed by the beautiful silverball game, Stern Pinball has kept spoiling us with some brilliant innovations, including their new online platform, Insider Connected.

When launching Insider Connected (IC), Stern Pinball announced that they would roll out the platform to all of their past Spike® 2 LCD games, dating back to late 2016 with the awesome Batman 66 pinball machine.

Well Stern have been quite busy in updating the code on their previous Spike® 2 LCD machines so that they can take advantage of the new Insider Connected platform. With that said, we were quite excited to see that Stern have finally released the new v1.20.0 code for their Star Wars pinball machines!

We can’t wait to update our Star Wars Comic Art Premium machine with this new code, but we still have to wait a tad longer to procure and install the Insider Connected kit (they haven’t reached Australia as at the time of this post) to unleash the full online potential of the Stern Pinball Insider Connected platform. The FORCE is indeed strong with this new code!

PS: If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to sign-up for your free Insider Connected account here.

LEGO Star Wars Helmets Collection

March 9, 2021 By ausretrogamer

While enjoying some much needed time off during the summer break, we finally got around to completing a fun project that had been on our plate for months!

With the way 2020 turned out, we really had no excuse of procrastinating on our already lengthy to do list. So when the Festive Season rolled around, we unboxed and started to build our Lego Star Wars Helmets! The experience of building these Lego sets had a calming effect, which was a great and unexpected by-product! We didn’t build these in one sitting, we basically did about an hour each day for about a week. Oh yeah, the instruction were awesome and a breeze to follow!

As mentioned, the build didn’t take as long as we imagined, but that may have something to do with the excitement and fun we were experiencing while completing each Star Wars helmet. Once they were all done, we found the perfect home for them – right on top of our Star Wars Comic Art pinball machine!

We reckon this custom pinball topper compliments the pinball’s Star Wars villainous artwork just perfectly – but we are biased 😉

STAR WARS Comic Art Pinball: May The Force Be With You

May 12, 2020 By ausretrogamer

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far too close to home, I was excited when Stern Pinball announced their Star Wars pinball machine. I was so excited by this news, I almost bought one without playing it!

But there was a disturbance in the (pinball) FORCE in mid 2017! Bear with me here, as this story delves into the depths of the dark side before I see the light.

Cooler heads prevailed and I took Ms. ausretrogamer’s advice to play the pinball machine before making a decision to buy it or not. Well, on that fateful day in mid 2017, my initial impression of Stern’s Star Wars pinball wasn’t at all positive. I played the Pro model of the game, and let’s just say that it didn’t inspire me to press the start button to play it again. The FORCE just wasn’t strong enough to engage me. I was gutted! I felt that the machine did not capture the theme and universe of my all-time favourite movie franchise. I buried my disappointment and forgot about the machine. As the great Jedi Master, Yoda once said, “Disappointment is the path to the dark side. Disappointment leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Welllll, he didn’t say that exactly, but you get my drift.

Luckily I did not give in to the disappointment, no matter how tempting the dark side of the force was. At the time, I found solace in another pinball machine, Chicago Gaming Company’s Attack From Mars Remake. My pinball mojo was back to peak level and the disappointment of the Star Wars pinball machine was all but a distant memory.

source: Stern Pinball Inc.

Then in mid 2019, there was a flicker in the FORCE. My brother-in-law, who got the silverball bug after playing our machines, went hunting for his first pinball game and settled for a Stern Star Wars Premium pinball machine. I remember thinking to myself, I hope he loves the game. Well, to my surprise, he did. What surprised me even more was my reaction to the game – once I pressed the start button and started flipping, I was immediately grabbed by the FORCE, just like Darth Vader’s force choke. Taking Yoda’s advice to heart, we had to unlearn what we learned about this game.

Wow, what a difference two years had made! The updated code and of course, this being the Premium model of the game, it felt like I was in the middle of the (original) Star Wars universe! I found that my excitement for the machine was at the same level as when Stern first announced that they were making a Star Wars pinball game. I knew then that I had to hunt down a machine to fulfil my wish of owning my pinball dream theme.

Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum-te-dum, Dum-te-dum#StarWars #pinball #SternPinball pic.twitter.com/rqht7UaPKT

— ausretrogamer (@ausretrogamer) May 9, 2020

Just like all Star Wars stories, starting with a struggle and then ending on a positive note, so has this musing. I finally saw the light side of the FORCE and procured my pinball dream theme, a Stern Star Wars Comic Art Premium machine, beautifully presented by Star Wars comic artist, Randy Martinez – it’s so eye-poppingly beautiful. It was a long time coming to get to this point, but I am glad I went on this journey and reached my destination. The moral of my story is, never judge a book by its cover and always come back to a pinball game you haven’t played in a while, it may surprise you.

Thanks to the folks at Zax Amusements for fulfilling my wish – they made this Padawan very happy. May the FORCE be with you!

A lightsaber is required to bust open this beauty!

The Ausretrogamer Fun Factory is READY!

The machine is (almost) in its position – love the right side cabinet art!

Love the left side art cabinet too!

And we are upright!

We have the keys to the Millennium Falcon

Time to play and defeat the evil Empire!

Always Use The Force!

Love the LCD – it integrates the theme with visual Star Wars eye-candy

The comic art is eye-poppingly gorgeous on this machine

Taking in the comic art with the glass off!

Randy Martinez should be commended for his brilliant art work on this machine

Let’s blow up the Death Star

Making the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs

The magnets on this machine whiz the balls around on the hyperspace loop at breakneck speeds!

And we are on, like Donkey K… Ah, never mind!

Who doesn’t like seeing their name on the high score table

Just enjoying the view

A handsome threesome in the Fun Factory

Star Wars Premium Pinball You Are Like Cinnamon!

January 20, 2020 By ausretrogamer

Following on from the Diary Of A First Time Pinball Buyer feature, Nick has put pen to paper (Ed: shouldn’t that be fingers to keys?) to give us his take on owning Stern’s Star Wars Premium pinball machine.

We have now had our Stern Star Wars Premium pinball machine for 3 and a half months and have already clocked up playing over 6,400 balls or over 2100 total plays! The whole family has loved it, from my wife to our 11 and 7 year old sons. Although I still classify myself as a novice player, I have found it a really rewarding and enjoyable pin to play. Having the four different Star Wars characters and all the different missions, means it is an incredibly deep game to really engross yourself in, or just have a bash and see what happens!

As a huge fan of Star Wars, this is a very special pin to me. The artwork, playfield, excerpts from the films and the game itself, is just a terrific homage to the original Star Wars trilogy (which are arguably the best films of them all!). Stern have done a great job of making the playfield pop out and use of the screens without detracting from the mechanical elements of the game. I also love the ramps and the hyperdrive loop, they are so satisfying to hit again and again! While playing this machine over and over again, I find new details, scenes or features that I haven’t seen before.

I still haven’t managed to blow up the Death Star – through Death Star or Endor missions, but have been one shot away (hitting the hyperdrive loop) from doing so. I have adjusted the settings to easy, so as to encourage longer play and obviously some bigger scores. Also, playing the game at night with only the pinball lighting up is really cool – the Escape from Bobba Fett mission looks pulsating and amazing when you get to it.

Except for an occasional stuck ball, the machine has been trouble free. I have also bought a cover for the machine it doesn’t get affected by UV in our gaming shed. Since I do not have the official topper, I came up with one of my own – decorating it with Return Of The Jedi themed bobble-heads! It is an evolving collection!

Star Wars Premium Pinball, you are like cinnamon!

PS: For those that don’t get the you are like cinnamon reference, check this out 😉

Diary Of A First Time Pinball Buyer

December 9, 2019 By ausretrogamer

Ah life, it can be quite stressful and difficult at times, so it’s even more imperative to inject as much fun as you can for yourself and your family.

If there is one thing we know about pinball, it’s a lot of fun, no matter your age. The other thing about pinball, once you get bitten by the silverball bug, there is no shaking it off – it becomes part of your life.

This is exactly what happened to our brother-in-law, Nick. Once he (and his family) experienced pinball in the comfort of our Fun Factory, there was a twinkle in the eye that we had seen before – it happened to us years before, when we had been bitten by the same bug. Nick was hooked. He made it his mission to one day get a pinball machine for his family home.

Looking for your first pinball machine can be a daunting task. Which pinball machine do you choose? Will your family and friends enjoy your choice of pin? Do you go new or secondhand? What budget should you allocate? Once you answer these questions, you then have to decide, do you trawl the internet, forum or social media marketplaces to find your machine or do you go to a traditional bricks and mortar establishment to try before you buy?

Our advice to Nick was simple, when looking for your first home pinball machine, the most important aspect is to play and experience as many different machines as possible – this then determines the style of games, layouts and themes you (and your family) enjoy, which helps narrowing the choice of candidate machines. Once Nick got to play a myriad of machines at locations around Melbourne, he quickly had a number of candidates he wanted to check out and also have his family to play them to ensure they enjoyed them as much as he did.

After trying his hand at secondhand pinball machines, Nick found the process difficult and frustrating, as machines were either not as advertised, or worse, not in a working state. To help Nick, we told him about our dealings with Zax Amusements when we were buying our pinball machine, which made the whole process a breeze, with added peace of mind that we weren’t buying a lemon. This reassurance gave Nick the confidence to go to Zax with his family to play test the machines in their showroom and chat about his options to buy a new or secondhand pinball machine.

Before making his final decision, Nick checked out other Stern pinball machines at Zax Amusements

When purchasing a pinball machine, the family should be included in the decision making

With the family decision being made, Nick ordered a new Stern Pinball Star Wars Premium machine. He was kept informed of every step of the process, from when the machine would land in Australia, to his options in adding optional features and most importantly, delivery and setup. Once the machine arrived at Zax Amusements, Nick was invited to be present during the unboxing and setup of the machine. This level of customer service was the reason we recommended Zax Amusements to Nick.

Speaking to Nick about his overall experience in purchasing his first pinball machine, he informed us that he appreciated the peace of mind by dealing with a reputable distributor with great customer service. As for playing the machine, we are happy to report that it has been played every day since it was delivered, which is music to our ears. The Force is definitely strong in pinball.

All eyes are on Star Wars!

After playing many machines, it was settled – Stern’s Star Wars Premium was the chosen one!

Nick’s Star Wars Premium pinball machine on the line at the Stern Pinball factory in Chicago!

The machines are ready to travel across the globe from the US to Australia!

After a long ship ride, Nick’s machine lands in Australia!

Unboxing and going over the machine

The proud owner of their first pinball machine – it’s a beauty!

Play testing – it works flawlessly!

Playfield looks all good!

Getting the machine ready for delivery

Delivered safe and sound!

Final checks, adjustments and setup of the pinball machine

Family test – passed with flying colours!

One happy camper! May the Force Be with You.

Many thanks to Nick for allowing us to tell his story, Zax Amusements for allowing us to follow Nick in their showroom and prep area, and Zach Sharpe from Stern Pinball Inc. for providing photos of the Star Wars Premium machines rolling off the assembly line.

Stern Announce Star Wars and Jersey Jack Release A Flashy Trailer For Dialed In!

June 1, 2017 By ausretrogamer

Whoa, what a way to start June!

Stern Pinball finally announced their new machine, the Steve Ritchie designed Star Wars! Funnily enough, the announcement came via a brief spot on The Star Wars Show (see embedded video). Stern has promised that Star Wars Pinball will take players to a galaxy far, far away! More information, photos and pricing to come – we can’t wait!

Stern’s new STAR WARS pinball machine makes a cameo appearance on The Star Wars Show!

source: The Star Wars Show

Also going all out was Jersey Jack Pinball. With the announcement that their latest machine, Dialed In! was in production, the New Jersey-based factory went all Hollywood by producing a very flashy and cool promotional video to show off Pat Lawlor’s brilliant original concept game. Mark our words, Dialed In! is destined to be a top 10 pinball machine of all time!

Jersey Jack Pinball’s DIALED IN! official trailer!

source: Jersey Jack Pinball