Stern's Jaws Pinball was Leaked...

Cary Hardy·video·10m 20s·analyzed·Jan 3, 2024

Analysis

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TL;DR

Cary Hardy analyzes leaked Stern Jaws pinball, defending sparse aesthetics and defending $13k LE pricing strategy.

Summary

Cary Hardy discusses the leaked Stern Jaws pinball machine trailer, analyzing the LE artwork, playfield design, and tier differentiation strategy. He defends the seemingly sparse playfield aesthetics as thematic and contextualizes pricing relative to modding communities, while expressing cautious optimism about gameplay despite incomplete visibility. He emphasizes withholding deep analysis until official reveals and full details emerge.

Key Claims

Stern uses lighted speakers on Jaws, which Cary believes may be a first for Stern releases
medium confidence · Cary Hardy, discussing visual features visible in leaked trailer
Jaws LE will feature foil art package, white armor with shark bites, and movie poster homage on backglass
high confidence · Cary Hardy, from leaked LE trailer analysis
Premium and Pro tiers will have different art packages than LE, with Premium likely losing art blades and armor but keeping toys
medium confidence · Cary Hardy, speculation on tier differentiation based to leaked LE footage
Jaws will include movie assets, unlike Jurassic Park
high confidence · Cary Hardy, from leaked trailer visibility
Stern prioritizes modding community to handle 3D moldings and playfield customization rather than investing heavily in those features themselves
medium confidence · Cary Hardy, opinion on Stern's design and business philosophy

Notable Quotes

“I was honestly going to do a video about the LE trailer leak last night. I chose not to. I was like, oh, I could easily put this up, talk about it, give my two cents and everything. But I was like, I just know that if I do, Stern is not going to hesitate to shut me down.”
Cary Hardy@ 0:08 — Reveals content creator caution around Stern IP enforcement and cease-and-desist behavior; shows strategic decision-making in the community about leak content
“For you LE buyers out there, you're going to spend $13,000 on this machine and then eventually more than likely buy all these extra mods to go into it?”
Cary Hardy@ 3:18 — Direct challenge to Stern's pricing strategy and modding ecosystem; highlights tension between MSRP and collector expectations
“Why should they put the money, time, and effort into doing all that whenever the modding community is going to do it all for them?”
Cary Hardy@ 3:03 — Articulates Stern's cost-benefit calculus regarding modding communities; suggests intentional design philosophy rather than cost-cutting
“I think this game, of course, is going to shoot amazingly. I'm loving what I see on the layout so far.”
Cary Hardy@ 4:50 — Positive gameplay prediction despite sparse aesthetics; positions himself as experienced reader of playfield layouts
“The reason why it looks barren is because you're accustomed to art being a certain way with Stern games especially when it comes to Zombie Yeti and that's just something that looks barren in comparison.”
Cary Hardy@ 8:44 — Provides thematic defense of minimalist aesthetics; contextualizes visual comparison against recent Stern releases

Entities

Cary HardypersonStern PinballcompanyJawsgameRyan PolickypersonJurassic Parkgame Godzillagame Venomgame

Signals

?
leak_detection: Stern Jaws LE trailer leaked before official announcement; spread rapidly across Pinside, Facebook, and YouTube channels. Some channels uploaded full clip without fair use consideration.
high · Cary Hardy: 'I wake up this morning and see that it's all over Facebook, all over Pinside. A couple of channels have already got it up in their videos. There's also a couple of channels that have it uploaded in its entirety. The full one-minute clip, not even dabbling in the fair use.'
?
product_launch: Jaws will ship in LE, Premium, and Pro tiers with distinct feature sets. LE includes foil art, armor, art blades. Premium expected to match mechanically but lose cosmetic elements. Pro tier specifics uncertain but likely to lose upper playfield or major mech.
medium · Cary Hardy: 'Premium, we know that it's essentially the same as the LE. You're just probably not going to be getting Art Blades... the major question here is, what's the pro going to be like?'
?
design_innovation: Jaws appears to feature lighted speakers as a new visual element for Stern releases, marking potential first implementation of this feature on a Stern game.
medium · Cary Hardy: 'We're seeing lighted speakers, which I don't believe I've ever seen on a release of a Stern before. So I want to say this is a first.'
?
licensing_signal: Jaws will include movie assets from the Jaws film franchise, unlike recent Jurassic Park release. Scope of assets not yet fully revealed.
high · Cary Hardy: 'Also, along with what we're seeing so far is that there will be movie assets. And how much of that, we don't know just yet, but there's going to be movie assets. That's something that we did not have in Jurassic Park.'

Transcript

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0:00

I was honestly going to do a video about the LE trailer leak last night. I chose not to. I was like, oh, I could easily put this up, talk about it, give my two cents and everything. But I was like, I just know that if I do, Stern is not going to hesitate to shut me down.

0:30

And then I wake up this morning and see that it's all over Facebook, all over Pinside. A couple of channels have already got it up in their videos. There's also a couple of channels that have it uploaded in its entirety. The full one-minute clip, not even dabbling in the fair use policy on it, just here it is as if it's their own i know if i was to do that i would be contacted but okay it is what it is so uh since pretty much everybody's already seen it i'm just going to discuss it for a little bit and um i don't want to go too deep into this because we're going to get better images and better videos very soon and so there's no sense of me trying to dissect this and everything at least in this video so what we've seen so far is the le we've seen the foil art package the white armor with the shark bites out on it the basic it is it is like basically it is homage to Jaws the movie when it comes to the art package exterior wise for the LE. Now on the premium and pro, I believe we're going to get a whole new, much more custom type of art package. We just don't know what that is yet.

1:59

I can say that as of right now, if you are a fan of Jaws, then the LE more than likely interests you because it's paying homage to the movie poster when it comes to the back glass and stuff like that.

2:14

design_philosophy: Stern appears to deliberately limit investment in 3D moldings and playfield customization, relying on modding community to add custom elements post-purchase. This may be cost strategy or philosophical choice.

medium · Cary Hardy: 'They know damn well the modders out there are going to do it for them. So why should they put the money, time, and effort into doing all that whenever the modding community is going to do it all for them?'

gameplay_signal: Based on limited leaked footage, Cary Hardy assesses Jaws playfield layout as shooting well with good flow, despite sparse visual appearance. Layout suggests L1 title quality. Upper playfield presence critical to visual appeal.

medium · Cary Hardy: 'I think this game, of course, is going to shoot amazingly. I'm loving what I see on the layout so far... I think it's going to have great flow to it it's an L1 title there should be no question of that.'

market_signal: LE priced at $13,000; community and analysts questioning value proposition when modding community upgrades are expected post-purchase. Tension between MSRP and collector expectations.

high · Cary Hardy: 'For you LE buyers out there, you're going to spend $13,000 on this machine and then eventually more than likely buy all these extra mods to go into it?'

sentiment_shift: Initial community reaction to leaked Jaws playfield is negative due to sparse artwork compared to recent Stern releases (Godzilla, Venom). Cary Hardy provides thematic context explaining why ocean/water aesthetic appears minimalist relative to heavily-filled art style of recent titles.

high · Cary Hardy: 'The art on the play field in comparison to what you have seen recently makes the game look barren... when you compare the play field on Jaws to what you are used to seeing on like Godzilla and Venom... it's going to look a lot more empty.'

industry_signal: Content creators self-censor leak coverage due to fear of Stern IP enforcement action. Cary Hardy deliberately withheld coverage despite having access to leaked trailer, citing cease-and-desist risk.

high · Cary Hardy: 'I was like, I just know that if I do, Stern is not going to hesitate to shut me down.'

content_signal: Jaws leak generating immediate community discussion across streaming platforms (Flip N Out Pinball stream) and social media (Pinside, Facebook). Creator collaboration and real-time analysis expected.

high · Cary Hardy: 'I have been invited to the Flip N Out Pinball With Friends stream going on tonight... if you want to hear us go back and forth and discuss what's going on with what we can see so far with Jaws'

But I have to, like... There's a lot of things, obviously, that they could have done with this game, okay? I see that, and I'm not denying that, yes, they could have done more, and I believe that they wish they could have done more but there could have been license restrictions or it could be that Stern Pinball is a machine Now when I say machine I mean like they are there to print copy paste make a machine, get it out there, get it out there. This is going to work. This is going to shoot fine. There's no sense of putting all the efforts into 3D moldings and creating a world underneath glass when it comes to that, because they know damn well the modders out there are going to do it for them. So why should they put the money, time, and effort into doing all that whenever the modding community is going to do it all for them? So it kind of makes sense in a way.

3:12

But it's the price that they're charging along with that where it's kind of like, really? I mean, for you LE buyers out there, you're going to spend $13,000 on this machine and then eventually more than likely buy all these extra mods to go into it? We're seeing lighted speakers, which I don't believe I've ever seen on a release of a Stern before. So I want to say this is a first. If I'm wrong, I know I'm going to be corrected, but I just don't recall at the top of my head of this being done before. Also, along with what we're seeing so far is that there will be movie assets. And how much of that, we don't know just yet, but there's going to be movie assets. That's something that we did not have in Jurassic Park. Now, this is the typical response from the public and enthusiasts when it comes to every pinball machine that gets leaked before it's supposed to. We see images, and a majority of people think it's crap, it's going to be a horrible game, looks barren, nothing there, because all you're getting is some low-quality images and not good videography of how the game actually shoots. even though we have a leaked le trailer stern does very good on having at least 60 freaking cuts on this trailer did not give you an idea of how well the game actually shoots it's irritating almost to watch these damn trailers sometimes because you don't really get a good idea of how well it shoots but going over the layout like i have at least and seeing what little we can see in the trailer and going through, I think this game, of course, is going to shoot amazing. I'm loving what I see on the layout so far, and I know there's a lot of you out there that are like the game looks barren there nothing in it and that mainly because the art The art on the play field in comparison to what you have seen recently makes the game look barren There's a lot of blue, a lot of just ocean, underwater stuff going on there. Now, if you compare the play field on Jaws to what you are used to seeing on like Godzilla and Venom and basically any other zombie Yeti art package and stuff, that it's going to look a lot more empty because there's not a lot of art filling all the empty space. Instead, on Jaws, we have a lot of water. So, of course, when you first look at this, it's going to look empty, mainly because of the art package. but going by what I can see in the videos which we're still not able to see a lot of it yet and that includes the outlaying save that I'm seeing on the right side we don't really know how that's going to work just yet and of course once again this is the LE this has everything the art blades on the side all the mechs all the toys what are we going to be getting in the lower tiers So in Premium, we know that it's essentially the same as the LE. You're just probably not going to be getting Art Blades, and of course not the armor that's going to be powder-coated or anything like that. It's probably going to be your basic black, but you're going to get all the toys and everything inside. Now, the major question here is, what's the pro going to be like? Now, the pros, at least with Team Elwynn, have still shot very well, even though they have taken out some of the mechs and some of the little moving stuff or whatever they've always still been well received i was more than happy to to settle for my jurassic park pro because the game still shot just fine aiq the game shoots fine on pro and premium granted you've got a lot more in the premium the game shot fine it's just a lot of people didn't understand what the hell the code was all about but even then with like iron maiden i would happily take a pro um so with godzilla man the pro still shoots good but you really want that building mech going on so a premium in a way is the way to go even the pro still shoots great so it's what are they going to be taking out of the premium le for their pro i almost feel like if they took out the upper playfield man this game is going to be missing a lot so I feel like what we probably gonna be missing on the pro is the mech that goes up to show the shark and that's also a pretty big thing to be taken out of a game but it's a moving motor and all the parts that go along with that it's basically what was taken out of venom that i think that the pro on venom should have kept that centerpiece and taken out other stuff but whatever i think the pro would have sold better so as of right now let me put a freaking quick pin in this because like i said there's no need to dissect the hell out of this game when we're going to be getting all the information this week so as of right now i'm going to say the game is going to shoot amazingly i think it's going to have great flow to it it's an l1 title there should be no question of that the reason why it looks barren is because you're accustomed to art being a certain way with stern games especially when it comes to zombie yeti and that's just something that looks barren in comparison that's why you're feeling that way at this point but as i'm going across the play field in the video and the screenshots and everything, I can see where money has gone. Now, whether or not that adds up to the price of the machine, that's always debatable. So I think the big question is right now is what is the lower tiers? What is going to be stripped?

9:21

And I'm kind of curious of what it is. I would like to hope the upper play field is there. I think at least have that but man I think if you take out that upper play field it really is going to look very barren but guys if you want to hear a discussion and talk about what this game has got going on or thoughts and speculations and everything then I have been invited to the Flippin' Out With Friends stream going on tonight So by all means check that out. I'll put a link in the video description down below. So if you want to hear us go back and forth and discuss what's going on with what we can see so far with Jaws, then feel free to join in the chat. So as of right now, what are your thoughts and opinions on Jaws? Let me know in the comment section down below.