Stern

STERN PRESS RELEASE – CHICAGO, IL – October 16, 2024 – Today, Stern Pinball, Inc., revealed Metallica Remastered – a technologically advanced version of one of Stern Pinball’s greatest hits. Metallica Pinball was originally released in 2013 and is one of the most successful and beloved pinball games ever. Metallica Remastered has elevated the game to the modern era with gameplay, electronics, and presentation improvements. Metallica Remastered pinball games are available now in Premium and Limited Edition (LE) models, along with a full line of accessories available soon.

Metallica Remastered is updated with a full-color LCD display featuring all-new animations and live concert video footage. Stern’s modern Spike 2 electronics will power the gameplay experience.  Fans will enjoy expanded gameplay and improved presentation with 22 songs (8 more than the original) and expanded gameplay rules. Cabinet improvements include an Expression Lighting system and 2 all-new art packages by Metallica artist Rhys Cooper.  Players will experience the same great flow from the original Metallica playfield layout with geometry and mechanical improvements, new versions of gameplay toys, updated mechanical devices, and new UV lighting effects.

Since forming in 1981, Metallica has become one of the most influential and popular bands in musical history. Through their groundbreaking music, electrifying live performances, and a cultural impact that has extended beyond music, Metallica has garnered a massive global following of dedicated fans. Their critical acclaim and influence match the Hall of Fame band’s commercial success in the world of rock music and pinball.

Stern Pinball has ensured that extra care and attention to detail has gone into every facet of Metallica Remastered while respecting the timeless classic game created by pinball legends John Borg and Lyman F. Sheats, Jr. The design team, led again by John Borg and software engineer Raymond Davidson, has created a modern version of the original masterpiece.

John Borg’s classic playfield architecture has been enhanced with three all-new sculptures: Sparky, the Hammer, new RGB-illuminated Skulls, and a new Metallica logo spell-out on the back panel. Dramatic UV lighting effects have been implemented throughout the playfield and on Sparky, and the game includes numerous quality and durability refinements.

The iconic Lyman Sheats rule set has been carefully enhanced to add two new game modes based on Metallica’s two most recent albums, last year’s Grammy-winning 72 Seasons and 2016’s Hardwired…to Self-Destruct, as well as a new “Blackened” Wizard Mode. The Metallica Remastered software also includes numerous refinements throughout and an enhanced illuminated insert array to support the new game rules while preserving the classic gameplay feel from the original.

Metallica Remastered features an entirely new suite of presentation elements, including all video content and animations, new sound effects, and over 1,000 new speech calls that include callouts by the band. Eight new Metallica songs have been seamlessly integrated into the game and include new supporting animations, movies, and HD-quality live concert footage selected by the band. The Expression Lighting system for the cabinet and speakers comes standard with the Limited Edition version and is available as an accessory upgrade for Premium models.

Limited to 500 games globally, the highly collectible Limited Edition model includes the Expression Lighting System™ and Speaker Expression Lighting. These integrated lighting systems are synchronized to custom light shows specifically designed for every song and dynamically responsive to game events. The LE version also includes a full-color Remastered mirrored backglass, full-color reflective high definition cabinet decals with hand-drawn artwork by Rhys Cooper, exclusive custom powder-coated pinball armor, a custom designer-autographed bottom arch, upgraded audio system, anti-reflection pinball playfield glass, shaker motor, a sequentially numbered plaque, and a signed Certificate of Authenticity.

Metallica Remastered includes Stern’s ever-expanding Insider Connected™ platform, which enables players to interact with the game and a global network of players in multiple ways, including ongoing code updates from Stern Pinball to extend and improve the experience over time. Through Insider Connected, players can track progress, earn new game-specific Achievements, and extend the fun with four “Crank it Up” modes and “End of Line” Wizard Mode as Challenge Modes only with Insider Connected. Registration for Insider Connected is available at insider.sternpinball.com/ or in the Insider Connected App. Download it today on iOS and Android.

“Metallica is one of the quintessential pinball games that has been treasured and respected for over a decade now,” said Seth Davis, President and CEO of Stern Pinball, Inc. “We’re incredibly proud of the entire Stern team in collaboration with Metallica for their thoughtful yet modern recreation of this beloved game, staying true to the design philosophies that have shaped pinball today and for years to come.”

Pricing and Availability: 

Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (“MSRP”)*:

 *MSRP for sales to USA end-users before any VAT, GST, Sales Tax, Duties, or other taxes.                                         

Premium Edition:                                                   $US 9,699

Limited Edition:                                                     $US 12,999

Metallica Remastered pinball games are now available through authorized Stern Pinball distributors and dealers worldwide. This game is available for commercial or residential purchase at GAD.

About Insider Connected

Insider Connected™ is Stern Pinball’s community network that allows players and owners to engage with pinball games in rapidly expanding ways. The platform unites pinball players around the world and enhances fun through a variety of helpful online features. Insider Connected is included with every new Stern product and is available as an add-on for existing games.

Registration for Insider Connected is available at insider.sternpinball.com or in the intuitive Insider Connected™ mobile app on iOS and Android. By tapping a device on any enabled machine, players can track and resume game progress wherever they play, earn new game-specific achievements, engage with the pinball community, and participate in promotions and Challenge Quests. In addition to offering benefits to players, Insider Connected allows Stern to serve its game owners worldwide by upgrading games, offering new features and quests, and extending the longevity of machines for years to come.

About Stern Pinball, Inc. 

Stern Pinball, Inc. creates compelling entertainment that inspires a lifetime love of games, sparks passion, forges friendships, and connects people everywhere through fun, innovative, technologically advanced pinball games and experiences.  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 Metallica Remastered, The Uncanny X-Men, John Wick, JAWS, Venom, Foo Fighters, James Bond, 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 competing in high-stakes global competitions to novice players discovering the allure of the silver ball for the first time.  To join the fun and learn more, please visit www.sternpinball.com.

About Metallica 

Formed in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich and including guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo, Metallica has become one of the most influential and successful rock bands in history, selling nearly 125 million albums worldwide and generating more than 17 billion streams while playing to millions of fans on all seven continents—more than 1.3 million of whom belong to the band’s fiercely loyal and consistently growing Fifth Member fan club. Metallica’s catalog of multi-platinum studio albums includes Kill ‘Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, …And Justice for All, Metallica (commonly referred to as The Black Album), Load, Reload, St. Anger, Death Magnetic, Hardwired…to Self-Destruct, and most recently the Grammy-winning 72 Seasons, released April 14, 2023 on the band’s own Blackened Recordings label. Metallica’s awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, a 2009 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and Sweden’s Polar Music Prize. In 2017, Metallica established the All Within My Hands Foundation to give back to communities that have supported the band. To date, All Within My Hands’ collective efforts have raised nearly $15 million – providing $8.2 million in grants to career and technical education programs, over $3.6 million to combat food insecurity, and more than $3.5 million to disaster relief efforts.

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All trademarks and product names are the property of their respective companies.

Based on the legendary X-Men “Days of Future Past” and “Mind out of Time” comic book stories originally from 1981, players will experience the X-Men franchise like never before.

CHICAGO, IL – September 4, 2024 – Today, Stern Pinball, Inc. announced its all-new line of pinball games, The Uncanny X-Men. The game features iconic Marvel characters including Wolverine, Professor X, and many more. Created in collaboration with Marvel Comics, players will step into the lives of their favorite X-Men. To save the world from a future ruled by Sentinels, they must first change the past! The Uncanny X-Men pinball games are available today in Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition (LE) models.

The X-Men is one of the highest-grossing superhero franchises of all time, with hundreds of millions of comics sold, over $6B in Box Office earnings from films to date, and the critically acclaimed X-Men ’97 series which extended the original X-Men animated series from the 1990s.  Multiple X-Men characters were featured in the new Deadpool & Wolverine movie which has grossed over $1BN making it the highest earning R-rated film of all time.

Stern’s new The Uncanny X-Men pinball games feature Wolverine, Professor X, Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Beast, Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, Bishop, Kitty Pryde, and Magneto, along with a supporting cast of allies and foes. The adventure takes players to familiar X-Men locations including the Danger Room, Beast’s Lab, the X-Mansion, and Genosha. Along the way players will interact with fabled X-Men devices like Cerebro and the X-Jet.

The Uncanny X-Men playfield is a unique pinball layout that features an array of new crossing shots and ramp designs with surprising ball trajectories to deliver kinetic satisfaction. The all-new Danger Room design, located to the left of the main flippers, offers a high-risk, high-reward experience that includes a mini-flipper and a novel outlane spinner. Premium and Limited Edition models also include an all-new elevated captive ball vari-target themed as Beast’s Lab.

The Uncanny X-Men pinball game features a mechanically articulated Sentinel for the player to battle. The Sentinel’s large robotic head changes its state based on the player’s actions. In the Premium and Limited Edition models, the Sentinel rises from underneath the playfield and fights back by destroying the player’s ramps or attacking the ball with its extended hands.

“X-Men is a time-honored franchise that Marvel and Stern fans love.  It’s the superhero franchise that I grew up with. We’re excited for fans to experience the fun of The Uncanny X-Men pinball,” said Seth Davis, President & CEO of Stern Pinball.

The Uncanny X-Men’s game experience is masterfully illustrated in comic book style art by renowned artist Jeremy Packer, aka Zombie Yeti. Each game also features a custom X-Men soundtrack with diverse musical styles designed to immerse the player into the game’s various time periods.  The soundtrack was composed by Charlie Benante of Anthrax and Pantera fame. The game’s video presentation makes the classic Days of Future Past story come to life in animated motion graphics style.

The Days of Future Past story takes place in Marvel’s Earth-811 timeline and as an homage, our numbered Limited Edition games will be limited to 811 games globally for The Uncanny X-Men.  The highly collectible Limited Edition model includes the new Speaker Expression Lighting System with X-Men-themed game effects, a “Danger Room” inspired mirrored backglass, reflective foil “Future vs. Past” high-definition cabinet decals with artwork by Zombie Yeti, exclusive “Sentinel Armor” powder-coated pinball armor, a custom designer-autographed bottom arch, upgraded audio system, anti-reflection pinball playfield glass, shaker motor, a sequentially numbered plaque, a signed Certificate of Authenticity, and a digital Insider Connected LE owner’s badge on registration.

The Uncanny X-Men pinball games include Stern’s ever-expanding Insider Connected™ platform, which enables players to interact with the game and a global network of players in multiple ways. Through Insider Connected, players can track progress, earn game-specific Achievements, and discover new mutants with Cerebro. Every player who logs in with Insider Connected will discover their own mutant power to aid them with online Quests. Original buyers of The Uncanny X-Men pinball will also receive new Uncanny X-Men themed Pro, Premium, and LE owner’s badges after initial registration of their game. Ongoing code updates from Stern Pinball will enhance and extend the player experience.

Registration for Insider Connected is available at insider.sternpinball.com/ or in the Insider Connected App. Download it today on iOS and Android.

Pricing and Availability: 

Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (“MSRP”)*:

*MSRP for sales to USA end-users before any VAT, GST, Sales Tax, Duties, or other taxes.                                         

Pro Edition:                                                            $US 6,999

Premium Edition:                                                   $US 9,699

Limited Edition:                                                    $US 12,999

The Uncanny X-Men pinball games are now available through authorized Stern Pinball distributors and dealers worldwide, which can be found here or via request for availability on the game information page here. Accessories will be available at a future date.

About Insider Connected

Insider Connected™ is Stern Pinball’s community network that allows players and owners to engage with pinball games in rapidly expanding ways. The platform unites pinball players worldwide and enhances fun through connected features such as achievements, leaderboards, and quests. Every new Stern Pinball product includes Insider Connected, and it is also available as an add-on for existing games.

Registration for Insider Connected is available at insider.sternpinball.com or in the intuitive Insider Connected™ mobile app on iOS and Android. By tapping a device on any enabled machine, players can track and resume game progress wherever they play, earn new game-specific achievements, engage with the pinball community, and participate in promotions and Challenge Quests. In addition to offering benefits to players, Insider Connected allows Stern to serve its game owners worldwide by upgrading games, offering new features and quests, and extending machines’ longevity for years to come.

About Stern Pinball, Inc. 

Stern Pinball, Inc. creates compelling entertainment that inspires a lifetime love of games, sparks passion, forges friendships, and connects people everywhere through fun, innovative, technologically advanced pinball games, and experiences.  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 John Wick, JAWS, Venom, Foo Fighters, James Bond, 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 competing in high-stakes global competitions to novice players discovering the allure of the silver ball for the first time.  To join the fun and learn more, please visit www.sternpinball.com.

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All trademarks and product names are the property of their respective companies.