Pinball

Stern is keeping pinball cool. Insider Connected is free and should become the dominate app on your phone.

CHICAGO, IL –August 3, 2022 – Stern Pinball, Inc. expands its award-winning Insider Connected platform with new features making it easier to access the service.  With Stern Insider Connected, over 43,000 users track their scores and earn achievements on our network of more than 11,000 connected machines.  New features launched today include an easier to use mobile ID card and Home Team system that will automatically log in home users.  Code updates are available today for all 18 Stern commercial LCD pinball machines that include Home Team and additional improvements across titles.

Insider Connected now offers our players the ability to save an ID card with their personal QR code in their mobile wallet.  It saves time previously spent retrieving a QR code by logging into the Insider Connected service on a phone or by finding a previous screenshot of your QR code saved somewhere in your photo library.  These mobile ID cards can be used on connected machines.

With Home Team, users’ home pinball machines will remember them.  Owners will be able to set standard home Insider Connected user profiles that are always available without needing a phone to scan in.  Guests won’t be left out either.  When guests scan into a Home Team enabled machine their profile will be temporarily remembered for rapid replays, until they log out or the machine is turned off.  Turning on Home Team can be done through the service menu on free play machines and accessed by pressing the flipper buttons before starting a game.

For more information on how to set up your own Mobile ID Card and Home Team, visit sternpinball.com/support/faq/ where you will find:

• Mobile ID Card Set-up Video
• Home Team Set-up Video
• PDF Mobile ID Card Set-up Guide
• PDF Home Team Set-up Guide

Stern Pinball takes the safety of our customer’s data seriously.  Stern works with both legal and security organizations to vet all aspects of Insider Connected for legal compliance and best practices worldwide.  As part of this effort, our new machine updates will notify users if any third party code modifications are identified that may put data at risk.

Insider Connected enables users to automatically download and update code across their machines.  All code updates and read me files are available at sternpinball.com/support/game-code/.  Every new machine produced by Stern Pinball comes from the factory Insider Connected-enabled.  Upgrade kits for earlier Stern Pinball LCD Machine are available through authorized dealers and distributors or at shop.sternpinball.com for both Pro and Premium/LE game editions.

About Insider Connected

Insider Connected is a comprehensive technology initiative to connect the universe of Stern pinball machines.  The platform is designed to enhance and extend player engagement with the games across both home and commercial environments.  It also presents professional operators of the pinball machines a robust set of tools to drive location play, build player loyalty, analyze performance, make adjustments remotely, and maintain the machines.

Registration for Insider Connected is available at insider.sternpinball.com/.  Players can also register at a connected game by scanning a registration QR code on the machine.  Once a player registers, they are issued a unique QR Code that can be used to identify that player at any connected Stern pinball machine anywhere in the world.  When a player scans into the machine, they can track progress, earn new game specific achievements, engage with the player community, and participate in promotions and Challenge Quests.

“Insider Connected is transforming how players interact with pinball machines.  Operators are benefiting from new tools that drive repeat play and help maintain games while players benefit from easier log-in access both on location and in their homes,” said Seth Davis, President of Stern Pinball, Inc.

About Stern Pinball, Inc.

Stern Pinball, Inc. is a global lifestyle brand based on the iconic and outrageously fun modern American game of pinball.  Headquartered minutes from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in the heart of North America, the company creates, designs, engineers, manufactures, markets, and distributes a full line of technologically advanced terrestrial and digital pinball games, parts, accessories, and merchandise.  Stern Pinball serves digital, consumer, commercial, and corporate markets around the globe.

Recent Stern Pinball titles include Rush, Godzilla, The Mandalorian, Led Zeppelin, Avengers: Infinity Quest, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stranger Things, Elvira’s House of Horrors, Jurassic Park, Black Knight: Sword of Rage, The Munsters, The Beatles, Deadpool, Iron Maiden, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, Aerosmith, Ghostbusters, KISS, Metallica, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Star Trek, AC/DC, Batman, and Spider-Man.  A broad range of players enjoy Stern Pinball’s games from professional pinball players who compete in high-stakes competitions around the globe to novice players who are discovering the allure of the silver ball for the first time.  To join the fun and learn more, please visit www.sternpinball.com.

If you want to impress your friends and play a better pinball, there are lots of tips and tricks you can use. Here’s just a few.

1. Read the rules of the games from the manufacturers.
   1. All of the games have something posted on the internet about the games rules and how to activate certain advanced features.
   2. The flashing lights and frantic sounds are trying to tell you something. Decoding the action will help you take those risky shots for high rewards.
2. Take tips from any of these YouTubers.
   1. Dead Flip
   2. Abe Flips is a good channel to watch. His videos help you understand the angles and how to use certain techniques to improve your score. For full clips, be sure to visit AbeFlips on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AbeFlips 
   3. Home Leisure Direct has a full channel of various games including pinball. Try this article to hit the pinball highlights.
3. Learn the game.
   1. Think one to two moves ahead.
   2. Never have both flippers up at the same time.
   3. Master the plunger.
4. Use the internet scoring apps to help you track the various games you are trying to master. This way you can determine what is working best for you and track your scoring. It also helps you set goals for improvement.
5. Each machine is different. Even the same exact game. The balance of each machine is unique as well as the amount of play its had. Plus each game is not maintained the same causing the gears and rubber pieces to perform differently.
6. Don’t freak out! Mastering pinball actually takes time and practice. Your hand-eye coordination will take a bit of time to connect with each flipper to maximize your score.
7. And, unless you really want to be a pinball pro, this is really about having a lot of fun!

And, if you want to talk with a pinball enthusiast about buying your own game – GAD knows Pinball.