The Avengers LE (Stern 2012)

TL;DR

Avengers LE gameplay stream with rule discovery and PINBURGH tournament discussion.

Summary

Key Claims

• Avengers came out in 2012 and received negative reception primarily due to a tight Black Widow ramp shot

  medium confidence · Host speculates on why Avengers 'got a lot of flack back in there the Larry Day when it came out. It came out in 2012. And I think that's because of the tight shot on the Black Widow ramp.'

• Since 2012, many pinball machines have featured tight shots, including Houdini and Deadpool

  high confidence · Host notes: 'Since 2012, there have been a lot of pinball machines that have tight shots now. I mean, Houdini Master of Mystery was like the King of all the tight shots. And think of Deadpool (Premium) now.'

• The Avengers LE features a custom Captain America shield plunger and a modified Tesseract mechanism

  high confidence · Host describes: 'The plunger is a Captain America shield... it's brilliant' and 'you can see the tesseract is Complete that's not stopped. That is a weird looking... That's awesome This James Camerons Avatar (Limited Edition) is also the one with the ramp that goes across.'

• PINBURGH tournament entry costs $150, with competition passes sold on a specific date (February 22nd) and general admission available anytime

  high confidence · Viewer asks 'How much is it to get into the tournament?' and host responds '$150? $150? $150 to get in his tournament? Jesus. What?' with subsequent clarification about February 22nd sales timing.

• The machine owner is keeping the Avengers LE at Free Gold Watch for only one month before moving it to his personal vault

  high confidence · Host states: 'Matt the owner he's actually gonna only keep this here for a month so if If you're watching now and you come down to Free Go Watch, you want to play soon because after a month this is going up to his house. It's going into the vault.'

Notable Quotes

• “George Gomez (legendary Stern designer), like, you say whatever you want about the man, but he's an innovator. Like, he really tries to innovate every game.”

  Host (Manu)@ 1:18 — Contextualizes George Gomez's design philosophy in relation to Avengers' tight shot design

• “This game is punishing me... This game is punishing me. What about this skill shot up here?”

  Host (Manu)@ 52:22 — Expresses frustration with Avengers' difficulty and shot complexity

• “I feel like there's too many shots... if you can repeatedly hit, you can repeatedly lift that left orbit, which I have not been able to do.”

  Host (Manu)@ 58:12 — Identifies core mechanical challenge of the Loki mode requiring repeated left orbit shots

• “$150 to get in the tournament... I guess I'll have to start saving up... I don't remember the last time I paid $150 to get into a tournament”

  Host (Manu)@ 19:00 — Expresses sticker shock at PINBURGH entry fee while considering participation

• “This game is just... Don't do that to me. Don't panic. This game is just...”

  Host (Manu)@ 47:25 — Continued expression of frustration and appreciation for the machine's challenging design

Entities

Signals

• ?

  event_signal: PINBURGH tournament is major regional pinball event with $150 entry fee, February 22 competition pass sale date, accommodations at Omni hotel, and group room coordination among players

  high · Multiple exchanges about tournament logistics: 'you buy your competition pass. And then you buy your general admission. Is that right? Competition pass first, this is Saturday. General admission later.' and pricing discussion

• ~

  sentiment_shift: Community perception of Avengers may be improving as host and others revisit the game; host suggests 'maybe it's not as bad as people think' and 'I think it's fun'

  medium · Host: 'it's funny Tee'd Off hate on Avengers so actually maybe it's not as bad as people think I think it's great'

• ?

  design_philosophy: Avengers' tight Black Widow ramp was primary reason for negative reception at 2012 launch; host reframes this as contextual given subsequent tight-shot trend in modern pinball (Houdini, Deadpool)

  medium · Host speculation: 'I think people hate that ramp because it's very tight. Now, since 2012, there have been a lot of pinball machines that have tight shots now.'

• ?

  community_signal: Host demonstrates learning curve on complex ruleset through trial-and-error gameplay, aided by owner Matt Henry's expertise and chat suggestions; identifies stress/nerves as limiting competitive performance

  high · Host: 'Half my game is gone because I just stress out... I need a break' and multiple requests for rule clarification and chat help

• $

  market_signal: Host expresses sticker shock at $150 PINBURGH tournament entry cost, noting it's higher than previous tournament entries they've paid ($50 at Cal Extreme)