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The Walking Dead Remastered by Stern: Bit by the rainbow, hard! Ranted from Raccoon City Arcade.

DRI374·video·48m 6s·held·Nov 5, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Walking The Walking Dead (Pro) art and lighting critique: great game, poor execution on visuals.

Summary

A detailed critique of Stern Pinball The Walking Dead (Pro), focusing on art direction, lighting design, mechanical changes, and cabinet aesthetics. The reviewer praises the game's underlying design but heavily criticizes the new art palette for lacking cohesion, the Expression Lighting implementation for appearing visually jarring, and design choices like the laser-cut bullet side armor for seeming lazy and poorly executed. The reviewer questions the decision to skip a Pro model and notes the 500-unit LE production limit.

Key Claims

  • The Walking Dead is undoubtedly one of the best games Stern has ever made

    high confidence · Reviewer opening statement establishing the game's quality baseline

  • The new art palette mixes too many different artistic styles, appearing as if different artists worked on different sections without cohesion

    high confidence · Extended analysis of playfield visuals showing photorealistic actor illustrations alongside clip-art style elements

  • The Expression Lighting system makes games look terrible both in person and on camera, appearing prickly due to individual visible LEDs

    high confidence · Direct comparison of lighting in game trailers and critique of LED spacing across multiple games

  • Star Wars (LE) production was 770 units, limited edition Walking The Walking Dead (Pro) is 500 units due to distributor storage constraints

    medium confidence · Reviewer reference to Star Wars production numbers and explicit statement about LE cap

  • The original Walking Dead crossbow is black/metallic but appears different in lighting contexts

    medium confidence · Reviewer examining crossbow appearance and noting it's usually hidden in apron on original

  • The game's new rollover buttons replace star rollovers, marking the first time Stern has used this type of interactive element

    medium confidence · Reviewer noting black dots visible in leaked pictures and expressing concern about reliability

  • The Well Walker now moves via solenoid in addition to ball contact, with an added coil underneath

    high confidence · John Borg feature video explicitly stating this mechanical enhancement

  • Bluetooth audio on Spike 3 games is unreliable and may become a tournament logistics problem

    medium confidence · Reviewer speculation about wireless audio implementation and tournament concerns

Notable Quotes

  • “I would have taken a vault with the same artwork, same everything, like put some DMD emulator on Spike 3 and call it a day, right?”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 4:08 — Establishes the core criticism: the remaster was unnecessary and the new art direction is unwanted

  • “it's a little bit lame that they call it remastered... I would have called it reanimated, because that would be a better subtitle”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 5:14 — Suggests Stern missed a thematic naming opportunity that would better fit The Walking Dead IP

  • “it just looks like 50 different different artists that work here, right? You first you have like the photographic kind of illustrations of the actors... and then you just have these kind of word clip art things slapped on the playfield”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 28:02 — Core criticism of visual inconsistency and lack of cohesive art direction

  • “I'm not quite sure if I'm a big fan of this expression lighting stuff at all... I've never understood the need for having speaker lights”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 23:47 — Positions the reviewer as skeptical of modern Spike 3 cabinet lighting trends

  • “The game looks so much better in this kind of sweeping shot... when you do video, like in a dark environment. But at the end of the day, it looks more representable. And now we're back to studio lighting... this is not what it's going to look like while you're playing at all”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 14:02 — Calls out Stern's marketing photography as misleading and taken out of context

Entities

Stern PinballcompanyThe Walking Dead RemasteredgameJohn BorgpersonLyman F. Sheets Jr.personGeorge GomezpersonRobert LaskeypersonThe Walking Deadgame

Signals

  • ?

    product_concern: Multiple distinct art styles visible on single playfield: photorealistic actor illustrations, clip-art style elements, inconsistent insert outlines, and decorative graphics appear to be created by different artists without unified design direction

    high · Extended analysis showing 'yellow orange to green to blue' spectrum around backboard, inconsistent insert styling for 'siege' vs 'prison' vs other modes, Word-style arrows and clip-art bullets mixed with professional illustrations

  • ?

    product_concern: Expression Lighting system creates visually jarring appearance with individual visible LEDs appearing 'prickly' both in person and on camera; cabinet appears over-lit in marketing photography and visually unnatural

    high · Reviewer shows comparison of game under overhead studio lights vs. dim environment, notes lights look 'washed out' in official photos but much better in darker contexts; extended critique of Expression Lighting across multiple recent Stern games

  • ?

    product_concern: Laser-cut bullet design on side armor lacks symmetry and coherent thematic integration; bullet cutouts appear misaligned and asymmetrical, with poor spatial planning relative to cabinet geometry

    high · Detailed comparison showing triangle wedge causing asymmetrical bullet placement, reviewer describes appearance as lacking intentional design and notes unfavorably against other games like John Wick and Mandalorian with more coherent side art

  • ?

    product_concern: Replacement of traditional star rollovers with new button-style rollover mechanics; reliability and long-term durability unknown as this is the first Stern implementation of this interaction type

    medium · Reviewer notes black dots visible in leaked images are 'little buttons' replacing star rollovers, expresses concern about reliability ('How reliable are these'), identifies this as first implementation of this type

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:05
All units pursuit in progress county request local assistance. Maybe we'll get on one of them video Maybe we'll get on one of them video shows, you know, like world's craziest police chases. What do you think?
0:24
[screaming] PUT IT DOWN. PUT no no no no no no. He's hurt. He's hurt. You get that ambulance down here. You You get that ambulance down here. You tell him there's an officer down. You do it now. [screaming]
1:00
Mister, do you even know what's going on? I woke up today in the hospital and I woke up today in the hospital and that's all I know. Things got crazy and you won't believe the panic. The streets weren't fit to be on. I know how it must sound. The dead I know how it must sound. The dead people, the walkers, don't you hear that? Wow. [screaming]
1:29
My wife and son, they're alive. We're in Atlanta. We're in Atlanta. Why there? Why there? Refugee center. Huge one. They said poor Refugee center. Huge one. They said poor broadcast stop military protection food shelter. Broadcasting on emergency channel. We'll Broadcasting on emergency channel. We'll be approaching Atlanta on Highway 85. Anybody out there? If anybody hears me, please respond. More than one thing, you might not seem More than one thing, you might not seem like much at a time in the group all riled up and hungry and you watch your ass. All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son.

“They don't dig making star rollovers anymore. So they kind of put in these like little buttons... this is the first time I've seen them kind of do something like this”

[name withheld pending review]@ 16:07 — Identifies a novel mechanical change with unknown reliability implications

  • “New generation of pinball players. This is how old this game is... that's like over 10 years old, right?”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 15:11 — Highlights that the original 2014 Walking Dead is being marketed to a new generation, raising questions about the remaster's audience

  • “These will sell out, no problem, right? And I guess they will be making the premium until everybody who wants a game got a game”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 35:19 — Predicts strong LE sales and extended Premium availability

  • “the bullets don't even look like they don't even look like symmetrical. They just look like little... they look like dicks if you ask me to be honest”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 38:23 — Harsh criticism of the laser-cut bullet design lacking proper alignment and symmetry

  • “If you're an OG owner today, I wouldn't be too kind of sad about it. There wouldn't be any there's no need to kind of do an upgrade”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 32:10 — Suggests the remaster doesn't cannibalize original ownership and offers minimal incentive to trade up

    • Spike 3
    product
    Expression Lightingproduct
    Metallicagame
    Star Warsgame
    Dunegame
    Pinball Brotherscompany
    Alien (LE)game
    John Wickgame
    Jersey Jackcompany
    Trongame
    Mandaloriangame
    Mandogame
    Star Trekgame
    [name withheld pending review]venue
    The Walking Dead (Pro)media
    Pin Soundcompany
  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern chose to produce only Premium and Limited Edition configurations, skipping Pro model; reviewer suggests Pro tier could have provided more affordable entry point and broader market appeal

    high · Reviewer explicitly questions 'why on earth did they do premium and limited edition? Why didn't they do a pro?' Notes Pro version would omit popup ramp and crossbow for simpler, cheaper game

  • ?

    product_strategy: Limited Edition capped at 500 units globally (vs. 770 for Star Wars LE), attributed to distributor storage constraints and potential oversupply of unsold Star Wars inventory

    medium · Reviewer states 'limited to 500 games globally' and speculates 'distributors are running out of storage space' after Star Wars production overstock

  • $

    market_signal: Reviewer predicts LE units will sell out quickly but original Walking Dead (2014) ownership value will not increase due to market flooding with remaster Premium units

    medium · Reviewer notes 'these will sell out, no problem' for LE, but 'now the market will be flooded by these' referring to Premium availability, suggesting no scarcity premium for originals

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Reviewer questions the necessity and business logic of the remaster, suggesting the original game is timeless and that a simple code emulation on Spike 3 would have been sufficient

    high · Opening assertion 'I would have taken a vault with the same artwork, same everything, like put some DMD emulator on Spike 3 and call it a day' and later 'there's no scarcity to get this game done, right?'

  • ?

    product_concern: Official product photography uses overhead studio lighting that makes playfield appear overly bright and visually distorted compared to how the game appears in actual venue lighting

    high · Extended comparison showing game looks 'so much better' in dim environment vs. 'super bright photos' in marketing; reviewer states 'you don't see it in proper context' and criticizes Stern for doing 'themselves a pretty big disservice'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Bluetooth audio feature on Spike 3 platform presents reliability issues and potential tournament logistics problems with multiple players syncing devices simultaneously

    medium · Reviewer characterizes Bluetooth as 'very unreliable,' expresses concern about tournament scenarios where 'all four players are going to stand there and sit fiddle with their Bluetooth' during setup

  • ?

    design_innovation: Well Walker zombie now includes solenoid activation to move independently of ball contact, plus additional coil underneath for enhanced mechanical behavior

    high · John Borg's feature video statement: 'While remastering The Walking Dead, we decided that we wanted to make the well zombie move with a solenoid instead of just it moving when you strike it with the ball. We added... additional RGB lighting'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Despite praising the underlying game design, reviewer expresses strong reservations about art direction, lighting implementation, design choices, and overall value proposition of the remaster

    high · Reviewer opens with praise but immediately pivots to 'I have so much to say about what we're looking at here' followed by extensive critiques; frames themselves as reluctant 'art critic' for negative commentary

    • 2:36
    How about that? The Rainbow Live. That's our new game from Stern Pinball. If you look at their website, uh it's a little bit uh colorful if you ask me, right? So, let's just uh dive into it. I'm sorry the intro didn't quite come out as powerful as as it uh was supposed to do, but uh like the Walking Dead remastered was sort of teased last week and it was sort of like a a darkish kind of, you know, tint to the intro there. There was kind of like the fire the extra ball uh animation I think uh in the um in the video, right? And there was sort of like u some and now we've learned that it was some something that transition from the DMD animation, right? Uh into the into the new machine, right? And and I'm not a little bit like I have so I have so much to say about what what what what we're looking at here, right? I mean, at the end of the day, The Walking Dead is like undoubtedly one of the best games Stern has ever made, right? And like what can they improve, right? Obviously, like these will sell like because it the game is what it is, right? But I would have taken a vault uh with the same artwork, same everything, like put some DMD emulator on Spike 3 and call it a day, right? There there was no like need to like come up with this like art palette, whatever, right? Uh and it's it there there's just no no need for it, right? And there there's like details in this we kind of need to kind of go through and and and look at as well, right? And at the end of the day is um I mean I'm not going to get any Walking Dead. I'm I don't own an OG. I'm I'm not like interested in Walking Dead as a as an IP or whatever, right? This is a great game and it's available everywhere, right? Because they sold loads of them, right? So I don't think there's scarcity to get this game done, right? And um and I don't know exactly like whose initiative this is kind of on if is if this is something that oh we need to do a new Walking Dead because everybody's kind of clamoring for one. Right. And I yeah I I don't know. I don't know the market dynamics here. Whatever. Right. It's a little bit lame that they call it remastered as well. is just like I kind of dig the thing that they did with Metallica because you know remastered it's something that you um label something that has been remastered in the music industry, right? And while we can kind of argue ourselves blue in the face that they've remastered a pinball machine here, but it would be much cooler to kind of like apply some kind of theme to how you resurrected this game like and it would be like reanimated for instance like that would be a better kind of subtitle to to add to it, right? like like the same thing I hope they will do with Tron like and they do a Tron reconfigured or like Tron dest whatever right then it's sort of the same kind of game but it's kind of stood up in a different kind of uh shroud so to speak right but let's uh let's look at it here what what we got here uh let's see if we can can crack up the quality here so I can [music]
    6:27
    Are we going to kill some walkers or what? [music] Uh, so mixed feelings here, right? Do it just looks like they have mixed so many different kind of kind of pallets and like almost looks like different artists have sort of come together here to do different things, right? And uh the thing is that the zombie scolds like the head and you can also see the walker later on. Uh they kind of like match the theme. It's sort of like kind of like looks like a dead corpse, right? And we want our we want our uh like you can see here. And you also uh like you can see here. And you also have the dead dead heads in the uh in the aquarium back there, whatever it is. I can't remember what what they put it in. And and then like there are so so many things like just from the from this perspective, it's just like like the the barn looks fine. Uh and the walker looks good, right? And and these heads they've put here as decoration sort of like that they look okay. They kind of fits the theme, right? And and then you have the bicycle girl plastic here, right? And that that is just like, yeah, let's put a plastic sheet there for for that and do it orange and blue. Uh, perfect. Right. And the same goes with this kind of plastic they put here. Uh, it doesn't quite fit the theme, right? Uh, yeah, I guess the prison tower. Oh, it is not a born, it's the prison. Whatever. Doesn't matter. Weapons. Weapons. Again, that skeleton in there looks Again, that skeleton in there looks great. Like the decal on the spinner fits the head perfect. And then all of a sudden you got like all colors of neon around it.
    8:13
    Seem like you're holding it wrong. And they apparently put a coil And they apparently put a coil underneath the well walker. It actually bounces by itself a little bit more. What? What is What is this? Is this metal piece on the old game as well? Like this metal piece here? Do you ding ball straight in there? That is look That looks really weird. I'm sure you do. I I I just don't know this game well enough.
    8:42
    And then we look at So, this is another kind of detail when I just glanced over it. Yes. Like the pop bumper area kind of looks more like the uh like like the retro OG game, right? You have the bar wire and kind of got the railroad tracks there and and it looks pretty decent, right? one berry here at Fish Landsville Heads.
    9:04
    That is so funny. Right. So, you see the heads are kind of green there, right? And like and then they have this movie clip and it's just like obviously it's not green, right? So, why why not make it true to the original?
    9:21
    Here's here's somewhere I lost a steak dinner, right? Because I thought they were going to take the crossbow out, right? And the crossbow is actually in the game. And they even added another coil for the well walker. Kudos to to Stern for that because I totally thought that that apron was just like, "Oh, that is just too much nonItalian bottom and they had to like make a new apron uh and and take out the for do the take out for the for the inside connected thing, right? Somebody jackpot. [music] out there. out there. So the thing is like if you if you look So the thing is like if you if you look at the games like like this, they kind of they kind of look okay, right? And the thing is I have such I have so many reservations these days for like what the games looks like look like on on the actual photos that we can look at the website and then you kind of put them in an environment where they sort of like where they're supposed to be in a way, right? And it's a completely different game, right? And and I don't know why why they do it like that. Why why do why do do you publish like pictures and media for a game that is just so taken out of context, right? We we're not interested what the game looks like under a surgical light, right? I'm sure they've hired like a super fancy photographer that does very well represent what the actual item is, but that's not what we're interested. Like this looks so much better. It's just is in a dim dark environment. We can see like we can see that like like if you look at the the the just the lights around the uh like the how how you see how the LEDs kind of react to the environment they're in, right? [clears throat] [clears throat] And it just looks so much more natural And it just looks so much more natural and and these like all new kind of expression lights that they put in the game like I mean and and now it kind of like oh it lights doublesided right it's just I I don't understand like what the point is and and I this is not like I don't I'm not taking dig at Stern specifically here but it I'm just taking dig at the ind industry in general right like is it so is it super hard to kind of just make these like more like so they're not like so distinguished as they are like every like you have need to have individual light spaced out like this and you can see every individual LED right can't you just diffuse them is is that is that absolutely impossible right Dune is another glowing example that looks absolutely terrible that the whole kind of playfield is just like it looks like a a salami sandwich when the lights go on there. It's just so prickly, right? And the same goes for some of those um pin stadiums. They they just turn the games into these like prickly things and it it and it looks terrible on camera. It looks terrible in person. Like all the wireforms just looks look like the like the like a pula kind of candy sticks, right? It's just I don't like it at all. And uh everybody is kind of subject to this. Pinball Brothers Aliens Lle, right? You have these individual LED lights you can see down the channel and it's just like get rid of that. How do I like diffuse them for for Yeah, I don't know. Do it.
    13:06
    So that was the game trailer. I think there's a bunch of assets at the bottom here. Game trailer features. Okay, so there's a features v video here as well. Let's look at that. [music] Hey everybody, it's George Gomez at Hey everybody, it's George Gomez at Stern Pinball. I'm excited to share with you today a technologically advanced version of one of the most beloved pinball games of all time, The Walking Dead. Again, the game looks so much better. Again, the game looks so much better. Like in this kind of sweeping shot, you can see that all right, it's saturated to the maximum, right? Because that's what the camera is going to do, like when you do video, like in a dark environment. But at the end of the day, it looks more representable. One of the most popular entertainment One of the most popular entertainment franchises in the world, AMC's The Walking Dead. Now, we're back to kind of studio Now, we're back to kind of studio lighting. And uh you know there is like a super bright light that's hangs overhead here uh to to kind of capture this like super bright playfield. And this is not what it's going to look like while you're playing at all has captivated global audiences since it has captivated global audiences since it television premiere in 2010. So I don't know what the one-sided like So I don't know what the one-sided like kind of pallet is about the side art on on these games, right? you have the the orange to blues sweep like on on all different kind of editions and I don't quite understand the point of it. The hit TV series, spin-off shows, video The hit TV series, spin-off shows, video games, merchandise, and more have reshaped the modern landscape of horror storytelling powered by [snorts]
    14:41
    horror storytelling. Yeah. Okay. All right. We got some headlines here. Next generation technology, new Spike 3 platform. Yeah, we knew that much, right? And somehow it looks like these lights have moved kind of tighter up to the uh to the actual uh glass there. I think that that that is probably an improvement. Stern's new Spike 3 technology platform. Stern's new Spike 3 technology platform. We're bringing back to life [music] The Walking Dead for a new generation of pinball players. Yeah, I mean that is just hilarious. New Yeah, I mean that is just hilarious. New generation of pinball players. This is how old this game is. I remember I I went to the launch party. I have a translate that I won at the launch party and that's like I'm dating myself now. But I mean that that's just like it's incredible how much time has passed since. So it's over 10 years old, right? And and and I understand that you can't like kind of resurrect like a what what they built on like Sam or whatever, right? But I it just would be so cool if they would have just used the original artwork and kind of just spiced that up a little bit. Yeah. I don't know. Players will experience an epic journey Players will experience an epic journey through the legendary moments from the series. And here's an interesting thing that I And here's an interesting thing that I noticed on the uh on the the the pictures that leaked uh this morning, right? These black dots here, right? So somehow they don't dig making uh star rollovers anymore. So they kind of put in these like little buttons. You can see it even more clear here. And uh this is the first time I've seen them kind of do something like this, right? So this will be interesting because this is basically a new kind of ball uh thing that a ball interacts with, right? How reliable are these and like all those good things, right? [snorts] [snorts] Hey, how are you doing in chat there? Hey, how are you doing in chat there? As they fight to survive the apocalypse. As they fight to survive the apocalypse. Yeah. So, this is extra care. Yeah. So, this is extra care. So, this is the animation that that was So, this is the animation that that was in the in the teaser trailer. Attention to detail have gone into every Attention to detail have gone into every facet of the Walking Dead remastered honoring the original. Yeah, there's like I mean this palette is just like right is it going from like yellow orange to green there and then to blue and like this like there's the whole kind of RGB spectrum in in just around the backboard and and the and the side art there. Masterpiece by John Borg and Lyman F Masterpiece by John Borg and Lyman F Sheets Jr. [music] The game includes an updated version of the revolutionary rule set that introduced a new mode structure. And so there are certain like graphic so there are certain like graphic elements on a playfield that are like super good and some are like just horrible. And yeah, let's look at the pictures later. But yeah, riskreward elements that have stood the riskreward elements that have stood the test of time. The Spike 3 technology platform includes a larger 18 in full H. I think this is actually this overlay I think this is actually this overlay looks very promising. I don't like that they they got red scores on on a dark gray background, but that they will have to fix that. But I kind of dig this that they've used the the the kind of DMD ratio. What what is that like 4x1 uh and uh [clears throat] and and and then have sort of like actually have an an interface, right, that that looks somewhat compelling, right? Uh versus what they did in Star Wars. That was pretty sh display with true color depth along with display with true color depth along with a more powerful processor and a new highfidelity immersive audio system. Players will experience completely over Yeah, I don't know how much of an Yeah, I don't know how much of an improvement this graphic is here. But uh it's Yeah, I mean at the end of the day it's it's not a Hollywood production. We know that. Uh so but uh I'm sort of like yeah the first one it's fine. Paul 3D rendered graphics and custom animations that pay homage to the dot matrix display from the original game. Spike 3 electronics features more efficient power handling, improved Wi-Fi support, and wireless headphone capabilities. This release will introduce a new modular cabinet lighting system designed to allow for internal and external expression lighting on all versions of the game. And now I'll hand it over to legendary game designer John Borg to give you an uplose look at the Look at this. Now they turn the lights Look at this. Now they turn the lights on on things here and it looks so much better all of a sudden, right? So I don't know why they showcase the game the way they do. It's just like you don't see it in in the in the proper context, right? It's just they're they're doing their themselves a pretty big disservice. modern interpretation of the original because now all of a sudden you can see because now all of a sudden you can see oh this kind of red ramp hair kind of goes into this red tower in the back and all of a sudden that makes sense right it it it just yeah I I don't I don't get it why they have those like all washed out uh super bright photos masterpiece masterpiece and now you can see the insert colors uh and now you can see the insert colors uh how that goes I mean it it looks great from this perspective right I mean I'm not complaining It's a little bit too much color, right? I I I I do want to emphasize that, but this looks so much better than the the the super bright light display that they've shown so far. [music] Yeah. So, this was in this dark room without an overhead light, right? It's just so much better. All right, we're back in sunlight again. All right, we're back in sunlight again. I'm John Borg, lead game designer, The I'm John Borg, lead game designer, The Walking Dead Remastered. [music] Immerse yourself in a completely redesigned universe of The Walking Dead with all new upgrades, visuals, sounds, and mechanical enhancements. The game features custom audio callouts The game features custom audio callouts from Merl and Michonne. You going to help me kill these things You going to help me kill these things or what? No one who comes here leaves. No one who comes here leaves. While remastering The Walking Dead, we While remastering The Walking Dead, we decided that we wanted to make the well zombie move with a solenoid instead of just it moving when you strike it with the ball. We added lit zombie heads to the slingshots and additional RGB lighting to several of the inserts on the playfield. [music]
    21:04
    We updated the functionality of the crossbow with an encoder. So, one thing that I wonder here that So, one thing that I wonder here that while I've been looking at these videos here is that the the the crossbow isn't that like isn't it black? like all painted black in on the the premium and Ellie OG because this is sort of like raw raw metallic, right? This polish metallic the crossbow
    21:36
    handsome devil ain't it? [music] We also updated and redesigned the We also updated and redesigned the rollover playfield buttons.
    21:45
    So you got you got an echo somewhere. Is there is there an echo?
    21:55
    Oh [ __ ] Yeah, the the browser is probably echoing.
    22:10
    Oh [ __ ] nobody says anything. [music] Ain't that special? We have updated the Ain't that special? We have updated the art package with handdrawn artwork by fantasy and horror illustrator Robert Lask. Yeah. Yeah. The LA features illustrated side armor The LA features illustrated side armor with laser cut bullets. We want our weapons. We want our weapons. Yeah. That didn't make things better, Yeah. That didn't make things better, did it? Uh
    23:01
    All right, you're going to have to kill [music] five at a time to get through this. We having fun yet? We having fun yet? Fight the dead. Fear the living. The Fight the dead. Fear the living. The Walking Dead remastered. Available at sternpinball.com. Your skills, a whole new beginning. Your skills, a whole new beginning. [music]
    23:23
    All right, there we have it. There's the trailers. Um, [clears throat]
    23:31
    at the uh end of the day, uh, we have a very colorful version of this game. Uh, let's look in to the picture. The thing is that you can't really go wrong with either of them. I guess the the premium is fine. The Ellie looks fine as well. I'm I'm not I'm not quite sure if I'm a big fan of this expression lighting stuff at all. And the same with the speakers. I I'm I'm I've I've never understood like the the need for having like like speaker lights, right? It it was kind of cool what they did on John Wick where they kind of integrated like the the the gunshots and kind of flashing the the speaker lights, but I've never ever been a speaker light guy and like I don't understand the fascination with it, right? It's just it's a speaker and there's a display and there's a as a back backlash of translite. That's fine. Right.
    24:30
    So wireless audio in a previous game. Yeah, there's supposed to be Bluetooth audio on on Star Wars, right? Uh but uh yeah, I don't know if it's implemented yet or whatever, right? Uh Bluetooth audio from from anything is just very unreliable and it's going to be very messy and probably never work for anyone. So, it is a Spike 3 thing. Yeah, you can probably buy uh one of those boards from uh Pin Sound and get Bluetooth audio if you if you really want to, but um yeah. Yeah. And and at the end of the day, I I kind of hope that they don't uh you know, you know, like say that they they bring like Bluetooth audio into a tournament, right? and all the four players are going to stand there and sit fiddle with their Bluetooth while they're kind of teeing up their game, right? And it's just that that is just going to be a a point of contention, right? For the homeowner, whatever that Yeah. I I don't I I don't I don't see the I don't see the fascination fascination in having Bluetooth audio at all or like whatever. Uh, it's it's never really worked and I don't I don't know who's asking for it, so to speak, right? Okay. So, let's bring up some uh playfield details here. Yeah, let's look at this.
    26:03
    So, the original crossbow is the same color. Yeah, I I somehow thought that that was just painted blackish, but that's probably just because it's usually hidden in the apron, right? So, and it's black there. So, the the well walker kind of looks better. Like I didn't like the kind of pink flesh thing. So, this mirror looks like a rotten corpse. And uh it kind of gets my approval on that. Yeah, the new sculs, the head scul is sort of like they look good, but it's just doesn't make or break the game, so to speak.
    26:45
    Oh, I hate this image browser. Uh, see here. So, this kind of like this view here, like that's what I'm talking about. The pop bumpers and the trails here that just looked like the uh like the regular kind of OG, right? Besides the button here. Oh, look. Look at that. There. actually little coloring around it. That's That's pretty neat. Yeah, because on the original you kind of needed skill shot. It's kind of it's a roving shot, right? So that makes sense.
    27:17
    So this this is a very strange design element. Uh, And now Yeah, now I get that one. That is perfect. Here we go. So, here's here's a very strange kind of element. Like, I don't understand these arrows, right? Like did somebody like load up the playfield in Word and did kind of cut in like a a a green and a white and a blue kind of straw to to make this arrow because you know you know it just looks like there's like 50 different different artists that work here, right? You first you have like the the kind of photographic kind of illustrations of the actors. They look great. Like the inserts CDC arena, they look great. Well, Walker looks great, right? And and and then you just have these kind of word clip art things slapped on the playfield. The same as the arrow head that goes into the insert there. It's the same thing, right?
    28:50
    Yeah, I don't know what I I didn't get too much into the Metallica stuff when that was released. I'm I'm not into that game. So, I don't know what is kind of revised here. I mean, is the play field shorter? What not? Like, I I don't know.
    29:16
    The Woodbury sign looks good. Kind of fits the theme. And another kind of element in the in the play field that it's kind of looks a little bit strange, right? It it's just it's just the outline of the certain lettering, right? So you have the siege here which has like white white filling, black outline and you have like a yellow kind of splat, right? And then there's no other kind of element besides some of the some of the inserts have that kind of coloring scheme and some have don't have that kind of color scheme and it it just looks a little bit uh it looks a little bit distorted, right? In in if you kind of put them next to each each other like this because the the the supply inserts here and blood bath inserts are just completely different. the targets are fine and kind of like the the the yellow dots, whatever. Uh but they did kind of like the siege and the prison. They it's one style. Uh and then the other ones I I don't know how many styles are there were four or five styles of outlines for for the inserts, right? I I don't I just don't quite I I don't dig it if you if you know what I'm saying.
    30:49
    All right. This is some cab art here. Okay. So, here's the actual play field
    30:58
    [snorts] from the top here. Oh, it's not a super high resolution. Um,
    31:09
    different art style on don't open, dead inside. It's just kind of like just plain black and red. doesn't go with the with the pallet that is kind of overlaying.
    31:20
    Yeah, I just feel like an art critic at this game because I I mean I can't critique the game, right? Because it's it's it's the world's one of the world's best games ever made, right? So, we already know that. But what I do want to comment on is that why why on earth did they do premium and limited edition? Why why didn't they do a pro, right? Because the pro is sort of like that is sort of like the more the the quick shooter that doesn't have like this weird popup ramp here and what else? The crossbow is not really that fun, right? And they could have made a like a more affordable version, right? Uh but I guess that's not going to happen with the with these kind of uh remastered games. They're just going to do the the the full uh the full kind of premium kind of experience, right? But at the end of the day, like if you're an OG owner today, I I wouldn't be too kind of sad about it. There wouldn't be any there's no need to kind of do an upgrade. So, I hope that this kind of [clears throat] this reaches the audience that they're trying to get like get a the new generation of players that can throw 13 grand on on a pinball machine and kind of and why they wouldn't buy the OG, I don't know. But uh
    32:41
    yeah, it it like here you can see it's it's not like super high resolution, you know, but you can kind of see the you have the yellow, black, white inserts here for the weapons, the last man standing and and the the the walker count here and hoorde and and then you have these inserts here. They're just their own their own thing. And the mode shots are also like its own kind of outline scheme. And bloodbath is just like what is bloodbath connected to these three here or is that a thing on its own? You know, it just doesn't make much sense, right?
    33:21
    Yeah. I don't know like why you would I mean you got a pro and it still plays and still got still got some gas in the tank, right? So, why would you I know it has some duct tape here and there, but uh there's no reason to buy a new game for that, right?
    33:43
    Yeah. Art critic. That's uh that's all I am today. So, but at the end of the day,
    33:58
    shouldn't be sad about this. I don't think their game is going to lose any value. It will be interesting to see this like this side armored stuff that they like Star Wars was the same thing. Oh, let's just do a little cutout there with a little cute thing in it. And it's just like it's just like like [laughter] why it looks so lame. [snorts] Yeah. All the owners games kind of I wouldn't say it would like go up but I mean because now now the game now the market will be flooded by these right. And another fun thing about like flooding, speaking of flooding, right? It says here in the text somewhere, I don't know if I'm looking at the limited edition now, they're only making 500 there. Yeah, limited to 500 games globally, right? So that means that the the distributors are running out of storage space, right? Because you know how many Star Wars did they make? Like 770, right? they won't sell. So, so obviously they had to like pull this number down even though this is a much better game and these these will sell out, right? No problem, right?
    35:19
    And I guess they will be making the premium until everybody who wants a game got a game. This kind of looks like they've redone some stuff here around it. I don't know this mech like, but this looks far more robust than the the original one on. Does it have all these blue rubbers all over the place? I don't I don't know.
    35:47
    That zombie got a little bib there. That's cute. the bullet light animation on the outside rails backward. Yeah, I I I don't Yeah, I I just like Yeah. What What should we have in the cutout on the rail? Yeah, that put Let's put a bullet, right? Uh or and not not put a bullet. Let Let's just stamp out a bunch of bullets. that that's basically what they done. It's not designed, right? Like I mean, if you look at Mando for instance, right? They had like a an idea, you know, where to where they had his kind of rifle along the whole thing, right? That that kind of like that make made sense and it was some, you know, Mandalorian kind of emblems and stuff like and and that kind of fits the theme and fits the franchise, fits the IP, right? Well, this is just like, oh [ __ ] we we need to we need [clears throat] to demonstrate that we can make [cough] side armor with the holes b and holes and lights both ways, right? And and yeah, let's uh punch out a a bunch of bullets there. and don't even try to kind of make it line up with like the the metal itself is sort of like Yeah. Let Let me see if we can pull up a cab here and I can show you what I'm saying because I'm I'm totally with you there. Right. You see here like there's no symmetry in like you see that you see them uh the triangle wedge goes right here. And in in in my mind, you would kind of start the first bullet here, not like inside a triangle, and make it all kind of weird and asymmetrical and then have this kind of zombie cut [clears throat] out uh by the button there. It's just Yeah, [snorts] I don't know. I mean, yeah, [clears throat] I should probably start my own pinball company with all the [ __ ] I'm throwing out here, but it's just like it could have been so much better.
    38:03
    since I really like the uh doing the swords on John Wick, right? Why why couldn't they just like kind of resurrected some of that and like have Sean's uh samurai sword or something like that? That would have been actually fitting, right? Uh for the for the franchise. But I mean, at the end of the day, the bullets don't even like look like they don't even look like symmetrical. They just look like little I don't know, little Yeah, they [ __ ] look like dicks if you ask me to be honest. But yeah.
    38:41
    Oh lord, it's a lazy gun. [clears throat] Yeah, the animation I saw that in the video as well, but I mean that was probably just a demo, right? But you know, they can do a lot of stuff with that. And if it's RGB, you can kind of do a bunch of cool things. But I [clears throat] guess they're just using this to kind of have the game stand out next to a Jersey Jack game or something that has kind of like have LEDs on every conceivable kind of angle you see the game, right? Uh which is obviously a choice. [clears throat]
    39:18
    I do like the trim though. I I I think this this red is really cool. It's kind of it kind of uh give me the the vibe of, you know, the the Star Trek Vengeance premium that that they had. Uh remember that when we got powdercoated premiums for less than seven grand? That those were the times. [clears throat]
    39:47
    Yeah, these expression lights. I'm I'm I'm not I'm not I'm not down with it. I am not down with it at all.
    40:17
    Yeah. this sheet, this plastic sheet here. I I don't understand why somebody's going to come up with something better to bolt on that there for sure.
    40:32
    And this is the weapon shot. Crossbow shot. [music] Yeah. Okay, makes sense.
    40:43
    Yeah, I guess that's this is as much as we can see here. The thing is, I I kind of been trying to look for them, but uh there's another kind of concern I have about this game, especially since it's a bore game like Metallica is the RGB lighting or what is it? It's is red, blue, and white, right? So the thing that they've done on so X-Men and Metallica and Star Wars they they have they don't have RGB GI instead they have red GI blue GI and white GI that sits underneath the uh uh sits underneath like plastics and and slingshots and stuff like that like that to kind of like give a certain type of effect, right? and and at the end of the day it I just think it looks pretty terrible. um instead of like why not just go all in here you have spike 3 now much powerful processor what what not right and it just put in RGB bulbs right we're we're we're paying good money for these things right and what what's what's the holdup right
    42:03
    yeah it's somehow like yeah you can see yeah that's a that's a red or is it an RGB I don't know they said that They had RGB inserts in the video, but I can't really see any of the other lights. That kind of looks like a white and a red. Yeah. So,
    42:42
    Yeah, I can't find any I can't find find any GI bulbs. They're kind of well hidden. Yeah, this is a dark game to to kind of off the bat, right? So, I guess having having the expression lights would kind of help um to kind of get some light on the playfield. Uh because having colored color GIS like blue and red that won't light up anything. It will just kind of wash out plastics and such. Right. Yeah. It's very difficult to see. We won't quite know until um uh until there's actually uh a game that we can play in in an arcade environment, right? But we could kind of see on the was it on the game play video. But there was some other fun things that uh somebody called out here almost that not not the flyer was in the matrix. Uh they had done like a copy paste on certain things here, right? Oh, they fixed it. Yeah. The first uh the first feature matrix had like Star Wars verbiage in some of the kind of generic game features here. Like the expression lightning had Star Wars themed [laughter] uh lights or something like that. But um yeah, there's not much to com to compare just artwork [music] and whatnot. It's pretty evident in the pictures what u uh what the LA has. Right. So, we got uh Okay, so you get the shaker. You don't get a shaker in the premium. Yeah, you get the HD glass, upgraded speaker, fresh lights, cab lights, back glass,
    44:47
    All right. So, they fixed the typo, but that was that was funny. I don't know who posted that, but uh it was fun to it was fun to see.
    45:03
    Yeah. Let's see if we can see some gameplay here. Yeah, if you look at the GI,
    45:14
    this is bright overhead lights, but still Yeah, the bullet animations they they go backwards all the time. That's really That's really strange. I'm sure they'll fix that.
    45:56
    All right. Here we see a lot of lights and and and you you see it's mainly red. It is mainly red.
    46:11
    So I wonder if it's just like red red gi period. Yeah, we'll see when it shows up here somewhere. I don't I don't I don't know who's uh getting one of these around here. Uh I'm definitely not getting one. And uh every respectable arcade around here have a Walking Dead already. So [laughter] this will be some pinball show uh at some random place at some some point. Uh all right. Uh thanks for hanging out. Uh I'm going to put this on YouTube and um shoot it off in the comments. um I might uh switch career and become a um art critic uh instead. [laughter] But um cheers to Stern for taking this on and um hopefully we'll see more remastered games or renewable games. It's I'm I'm sort of like we didn't get a Tron remake, right? because Tron came before The Walking Dead. And that just speaks to me that Stern is making something else with Tron. There's going to be a Tron Aries. That's what I'm hoping, right? With George Gomez behind the behind the wheel and just flooring it. do is something similar to, you know, what he did with his Batman 66, which is basically unrecognizable from the original uh Batman, right? And does a Tron Aries and just, you know, take it to town basically. All right. Uh that's all for me. Uh cheers.