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Stern has officially announced
what we've all thought for some time, that Lord Of The Rings is to be
their next game.
During our recent tour of
the Stern factory, there was no attempt to disguise the next game and
several clues were in plain view.
and it was obvious
that there were going to be a bunch of character toys on the playfield,
and indeed there
are twelve of them in all, but now they've released some real details
of the game.
Excitingly,
the game is supposed to have deep rules. That's certainly believable
as Keith Johnson is responsible for them. He created the wonderfully
complex rules for The Simpsons Pinball Party - widely praised amongst
pinball aficionados.
In a curious
split of responsibilities, the cabinet and backglass artwork is done
by Jerry Vanderstelt, a well known fantasy book cover artist, while
the playfield is by our old friend Kevin O'connor. Perhaps this division
of work was a condition of the licence?
Another safe
pair of hands is in charge of music and sound effects, that's Chris
Granner.
And get this
folks. It has a mini-playfield, at least four multiball modes and a
magnet. Plus there are the two towers, one of which can be destroyed.
But perhaps
most interesting of all is the one detail missing. Who's the designer?
It's been generally believed that George Gomez would be in charge on
this one, but there's no mention of the designer in the press release
at all. Hmmm.
Due to be released next month,
the game should be on test very soon now and rest assured we'll bring
you the pictures as soon as they're available.
Here's are all the key points
from Stern's full press release:
| October 20, 2003 - The
greatest adventure ever told is now Stern Pinball's epic pinball
machine for the ages. THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ pinball machine
features exciting elements from New Line Cinema's box office hits,
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING™ and THE TWO TOWERS, as well as
the most anticipated installment yet, THE RETURN OF THE KING™,
opening worldwide on December 17th.
Players of all levels
will love THE LORD OF THE RINGS™. For those truly familiar
with the movies and books, the pinball machine follows the story
perfectly.
"THE LORD OF THE
RINGS™ is the perfect title and theme for a pinball,"
Gary Stern said. "It lends itself to lots of Mechanical Action
Pinball shots and toys for casual players, yet the story cries
for deep rules to challenge the best players."
The goal of THE LORD
OF THE RINGS™ pinball machine is to collect the Elf Rings,
the Dwarf Rings, and the mortal men rings, thereby forming The
One Ring™. Then destroy The One Ring™ through collecting
all three movies. THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ pinball machine
offers non-stop action at its best in the form of the following
mechanisms:
" A Balrog toy that pivots when hit by the ball, revealing
the jump ramp that leads to The One Ring™;
" A magnet in the center of The One Ring™ which pulls
the ball in and then feeds another ramp shaped in the form of
Aragorn's legendary Narsil sword;
" Many multi-ball modes, including one for each movie, as
well as for Gollum;
" The Orthanc and Barad-dur Towers. Players can knock down
Barad-dur, which also features the eye of Sauron;
" A small playfield in the upper left hand corner represents
that of The Paths of the Dead;
" Twelve action figures from Play Along toys interspersed
throughout the playfield.
"All those involved
in the design of the pinball machine are true fans of THE LORD
OF THE RINGS™, with intimate knowledge of it," Stern
said. "That is why this game is so great - the designers
were into this title."
The pinball features
original speech from Elijah Wood (Frodo), as well as John Rhys-Davies
(Gimli the Dwarf). Backglass and cabinet artwork for THE LORD
OF THE RINGS™ was created by artist Jerry Vanderstelt, while
playfield art was designed by Kevin O'Connor. Sounds and special
effects were produced by Chris Granner. Rules are by Keith Johnson
on his first outing since The Simpsons Pinball Party™.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS™
movie trilogy is produced and directed by Peter Jackson. Gary
Stern concluded, "This pinball will have a great response
from the public worldwide. With its great playfield, art package
and theme, I expect THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ will have the
greatest resale value for the operator ever."
THE LORD OF THE RINGS™
pinball machine will begin shipping in November, 2003.
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Pinball News 2003
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