My First Impression of Avengers: Infinity Quest

The Hardy Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·7m 40s·analyzed·Sep 2, 2020

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.019

TL;DR

Host previews Avengers: Infinity Quest, recommends premium over pro despite initial skepticism about playfield design.

Summary

The host provides an early first-impression analysis of Stern's newly announced Avengers: Infinity Quest pinball machine based on teaser video and promotional images. Initially underwhelmed by the pro version's appearance, he warms to the design after closer inspection, particularly praising the premium edition's expanded playfield features including motorized pop-up discs, additional ramps, subway system with visible ball locks, and three-bank drop targets. He strongly recommends home buyers invest in the premium over pro variant and expresses confidence in designer Keith Elwin's track record, while speculating about potential co-op mode integration in future code updates.

Key Claims

Avengers: Infinity Quest premium has motorized pop-up discs, extra ramp, wire form, subway system with visible ball locks, and motorized disc that lifts from playfield
high confidence · Host describing official teaser video and promotional images provided by Stern
Premium version offers significantly more mechanical features compared to pro than TMNT's premium/pro variants did
medium confidence · Host comparing AIQ premium/pro split to TMNT premium/pro split
Limited Edition versions of Avengers: Infinity Quest are already sold out
high confidence · Host stating 'The LEs are gone. There's no way if you already put in for an LE you missed your chance.'
Keith Elwin is the designer of Avengers: Infinity Quest
high confidence · Host explicitly stating 'It's a Keith Elwin design'
Host has never disliked a Keith Elwin designed game
medium confidence · Host opinion: 'I have yet to not like his designs'
TMNT lacked visible ball lock/subway mechanics despite sewer theme
medium confidence · Host speculation/criticism about TMNT design choices
Stern is planning to stream the game in the near future (within 1-2 days of podcast recording)
medium confidence · Host prediction based on typical Stern announcement patterns
Avengers: Infinity Quest will feature a three-bank separated drop target system with bingo card mechanic
high confidence · Host describing visible design elements from promotional materials

Notable Quotes

“The premium is gonna be the way to go. The premium has got a lot more to offer than what like TMNT had to offer you when it comes to the mechs and stuff like that for premium versus pro.”
Host@ 0:51 — Sets primary recommendation for buyers; directly compares to recent major title
“I have yet to not like his designs. That's the benefit of having a tournament level or player designer games, guys, is that he is designing the games that he would love to play.”
Host@ 4:30 — Expresses confidence in Keith Elwin's design philosophy and track record
“We don't get Subway. So I'm hoping that we get more of this in the future.”
Host@ 3:57 — Highlights approval of subway mechanic return and signals player demand for this feature
“If I was to get an Avengers, I would save up the extra cash to get the premium. I would not settle for a pro. I feel like if you're a home buyer and you buy a pro for this title, you're going to be missing out.”
Host@ 6:06 — Strong recommendation against pro tier; positioning as distinct from TMNT positioning
“When it comes to code, I'm really hoping they integrate co-op into this. If they don't, it wouldn't make sense...They cooperatively do things together to take on enemies. So it only makes sense.”
Host@ 6:53 — Prediction about code features based on thematic expectations and TMNT co-op success

Entities

Avengers: Infinity QuestgameStern PinballcompanyKeith ElwinpersonYetipersonTMNTgame Star Trek: The Next Generationgame Circus VoltairegameThe Hardy Pinball Podcastorganization

Signals

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announcement: Stern Pinball has officially announced Avengers: Infinity Quest with teaser video and promotional imagery showing playfield design and mechanical features
high · Host references official teaser video and states 'Stern's next title is here guys, the Avengers Infinity Quest'
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product_strategy: Avengers: Infinity Quest premium variant positioned as significantly superior value to pro compared to TMNT, with host recommending premium over pro for home buyers
high · Host explicitly compares feature gaps between TMNT and AIQ premium/pro splits, recommending buyers stretch budget for premium
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design_innovation: Avengers: Infinity Quest features return of subway system with visible ball lock mechanism, motorized pop-up discs, and separated drop target bank—elements absent from recent Stern titles like TMNT
high · Host describes subway system with visible locks, motorized disc similar to Circus Voltaire ringmaster, three-bank drop targets with bingo card system
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collector_signal: Limited Edition versions of Avengers: Infinity Quest have sold out, with host recommending premium standard edition as alternative for home collectors
high · Host states 'The LEs are gone' and suggests premium powder coating as LE alternative
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design_philosophy: Keith Elwin's design approach emphasized as tournament-player-centric, creating smooth, accessible shot sequences that avoid difficulty clunkiness
medium · Host: 'He is designing the games that he would love to play...shots that are too difficult to make or kind of feel clunky...that's not fun for him either'

Topics

Avengers: Infinity Quest game design and mechanicsprimaryPremium vs Pro tier comparison and pricing strategyprimaryKeith Elwin design philosophy and track recordprimaryPlayfield mechanics: subway systems, ball locks, motorized elementsprimaryLimited Edition availability and secondary market implicationssecondaryCo-op code feature expectationssecondaryComparison to TMNT premium/pro differentiationsecondaryStern streaming announcements and gameplay revealsmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Host initially skeptical but warms significantly to the game after analysis. Strong approval of premium variant design and designer choice. Enthusiasm tempered by limited hands-on exposure (only teaser video and images). Confidence in final product based on designer track record rather than direct play experience.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.023

Stern's next title is here guys, the Avengers Infinity Quest. Let's talk about it. So I just recorded my YouTube content going over this machine visually and now I'm going to do it audibly for you podcast listeners out there. Here we go. When I first watched the trailer for this game, I honestly thought that I was looking at a home pin on the pro. just my initial first impressions of it because it looked bare at first I was like what the hell's going on here I was kind of a little underwhelmed and under further investigation later on I was like okay it just kind of looked that way at first it just gave me it it wasn't my first impression was not good I'll tell you that but after looking at it further and going over it I warmed up to it and I'm seeing that yeah that's there but the thing is guys the premium is gonna be the way to go. The premium has got a lot more in it to offer than what like TMNT had to offer you when it comes to the mechs and stuff like that for premium versus pro. I settled for a pro on my TMNT because the other features quote for the premium I didn't feel was worth the price. Whereas with the Avengers game it looks like you're going to be getting a lot more involvement here when it comes to mechs. You're going to be getting an extra ramp and wire form. You're getting a subway system with a VUC as well as a motorized disc that lifts up from the playfield. Very reminiscent to Circus Voltaire with the Ringmaster. If you set the playfield side by side, pro versus premium, the premium looks so convoluted with wire forms and it looks great. I say convoluted, I mean in a good way, because it makes the game look like there much more going on When it comes to playfield art Yeti once again has done an amazing job There no complaints with me on that I do mention in my video that the inserts the black ink is not opaque enough That's a nitpick on my end, guys. I don't expect all of you out there to even probably even notice that or find that being an issue. When it comes to the premium, I almost only want to talk about the premium because that is much more interesting. When it comes to the premium, how that's laid out, you're going to have like the motorized pop-up discs the right ramp loops back to the right flipper the lifting disc ball lock mech feeds to the fuck that also flees to the right flipper and the center ramp on the premium because there's only there's three ramps in the center and on the premium and there's only two ramps on the pro so the center ramp on both models is a looping system you're going to feed that big ramp in the center and it's going to loop around and drop down to feed your upper flipper and you can rinse and repeat that shot over and over again. That big center ramp looks like it's going to be backhandable as well as forehandable for everybody out there to enjoy. Doesn't matter which flipper you're on, you're going to be able to hit that center ramp. But I think one of the most exciting parts about this is that Stern, it seems as if they're giving Keith much more, you know, room to do what he wants to do on this when it comes to providing us with a subway. I know it seems so silly guys that were out here like oh come on put a subway system into a game again and they just haven't been doing it and now they finally have again we have a subway system nowhere near as intricate as like you know Star Trek Next Generation or anything but that's for many reasons it's a very simple subway system but you can also see the ball locks through the playfield which is pretty damn cool although I feel like that should have been in TMNT when it comes to like throwing balls into a manhole for the sewer and you being able to see what's going on underneath the play field, like the turtles are going through the sewer That should have been in that game but I digress We talking about Avengers right now So you have the ball locking system underneath the play field which is pretty damn cool We don't get that anymore. We don't get Subway. So I'm hoping that we get more of this in the future. It's a Keith Elwin design. So it's going to flow and just be nice and smooth going and hitting. I want to play it. And that's the thing. All I've got to go on right now is just pictures and the teaser video that was put out. Just kind of showing it. but you don't really get a good long view of how the game actually shoots. But I'm not going to deny that chances are I'm going to freaking love this game because it's Keith Elwin's design, and I have yet to not like his designs. That's the benefit of having a tournament rock star player design games, guys, is that he is designing the games that he would love to play. and chances are a lot of us out there like him because damn it this is a nice smooth game he's not gonna give us shots that are too difficult to make or kind of feel clunky or anything like that because that's not fun for him either they also incorporate a separated drop target system a three bank drop target system on this game so it's not going to have the big target that a lot of you do not like you're going to have separated drop targets and it's some sort of bingo card system We don't really know how that's going to work just yet. And that'll be in the future to come when they're talking about the code and what all you can do. We should be getting a stream for this game here in the next day or so. It wouldn't surprise me if they do it tonight, actually. As a matter of fact, let me look real quick. Chances are they've probably already updated and to let us know. So as of right now, I'm not seeing any kind of information on when they're going to stream it. That has not been announced yet. I willing to bet that going to be either today or tomorrow They not gonna wait too long until they gonna stream this thing But when it comes to this title guys the LEs are gone There no way if you haven already put in for an LE you missed your chance The LE looks beautiful. The artwork, the powder coating, all the things involved in it look pretty cool. But if you did not get an LE, get you a premium, and then you can powder coat it, and you'll be fine. This premium looks great. If I was to get an Avengers, I would save up the extra cash to get the premium. I would not settle for a pro. I feel like if you're a home buyer and you buy a pro for this title, you're going to be missing out. Do what you can to save up a little bit more money or sell another machine or something like that and go the extra mile for the premium. It's going to be a little while till you get it, but premium looks like it's going to be so much more fun. I'm excited to see what this game brings us. When it comes to what I could talk about in a podcast, I'm a little limited because all we've got is a teaser video and some pictures. And I'm more of a visual person. That's why I do mainly YouTube, guys. My video will be going up today as well to show you guys, you know, the game and what it looks like and my thoughts on it as I see them. But when it comes to code, I'm really hoping they integrate co-op into this. If they don't, it wouldn't make sense. I'm pretty sure they're going to because they have seen how well Turtles did due to incorporating co-op. Why not make it into this game? It's the Avengers. They cooperatively do things together to take on enemies. So it only makes sense. But that's going to wrap up this short podcast. I'm going to get this one out first and then I'm going to start working on the YouTube video. And that'll be up shortly as well, guys. Until next time, peace out.