MMR Gameplay Video and Pics

[movingpictures]

Have they posted pics / vids of what the backbox illumination is going to look like?

I'd bet on the fluorescent tube approach. :?

 

[mwong168]

Have they posted pics / vids of what the backbox illumination is going to look like?

No pics or videos but Rick did comment on pinside it will be a white tub with LED's (strips/singles). The reason why it was not put in the video is because people would accuse them of playing on a original game.

 

[DRANO]

Have they posted pics / vids of what the backbox illumination is going to look like?

I'd bet on the fluorescent tube approach. :?

Nice signature

 

[movingpictures]

Nice signature

I figured you would get a kick out of that, ya big bully !

 

[necro_nemesis]

Hard to pick out discrepancies given the quality of video. If someone hadn't previously stated it was MMR I would say it's MM based on what can be ascertained from the low quality video and not looking at the head. Possibly the three trips of the towers vice holding the castle towers down at the end of the sequence was a conscious effort to reduce the amount of time the coil is held on over concerns for the longevity of the coil.

That's one big honkin' board with SMD's which may raise some concerns over repair/replacement costs. IMHO given the size they should have gone through hole for that particular one since replacement looks like she'd be costly. Some of those traces seem comparatively small when looking at the gauge of the wires they feed.

 

[Menace]

My guess is a lot of the parts they needed to use to pull this off are just not available in T/H. The other reason for going SMT on as much as possible is vibration. Where the majority of the PCB's are mounted to the underside of the PF, vibration is going to be THE biggest enemy this game faces... PERIOD. SMT parts have less mass than their T/H counterparts which is important when you're dealing with harsh (ie high vibration) environments. It's probably the same reason they are using smaller size and smaller pin count connectors throughout the game as well, but these connectors will ultimately be the weak point in the design when it comes to vibration.

I wouldn't be surprised one bit to see these MMR's having issues with broken / cracked solder joints throughout the game at some point.

D

 

[necro_nemesis]

I'm thinking the move to LED's has significant production cost savings. Lower power handling requirements, integration of lamp boards with the main board, no sockets required, less and lower gauge wires etc. The only thing though is I doubt you'd ever be able to build and MM clone from an MMR as incandescent lamps likely would require a major reworking of the game. I wonder if people with LED's in their MM's will revert back to incandescent lamps just to clearly demonstrate it's an original?

 

[websherpa]

SMDs are only as good as the soldering quality control of the board manufacture, and one can imagine that there hasn't been enough time to put these boards through stress tests like an Ikea style cushion compression test.

25 years from now when some of these semiconductors fail, it might not be quite as easy as it is now to socket in new chips.

The irony is that pinball unknowingly owes its resurgent longevity to being born BEFORE the age of budget saving obsolescence. Perhaps the century's drive to save pennies and make a more profitable product will in the end actually end up being its ultimate demise.

I was wondering whether, just like LEDs were originally a MOD, whether there will come a time to mod LED originating games to Incandescent bulbs just for a nostalgia mod?

Just some musings.

 

[necro_nemesis]

Although not having the intensity that gives a game the same level of flash, I've always preferred incandescent lamps. There's something organic about incandescent illumination that IMHO sets the right atmosphere for the generation of games I collect in an old Chicago appearance meets Silicon Valley underpinnings way.

Wave versus reflow manufacturing is likely going to play a part in longevity (pasting components) as will whiskery due to trace placement and RoHS compliance. The saving grace is all of these games will see home use but witnessing some of the abuses routed games have stood up to, I'm doubtful this approach would have been so readily taken for games going into service.

 

[Golden Graham]

I have no idea about boards, PCB's or the majority of what you guys are talking about!! I don't care about replica status, or LED's (I have actually started becoming a fan of them after METLE and ordering from Pinballbulbs). I understand the passion and preference for the nostalgic incandescent, but with the multitude of different LED options, I am really beginning to dig the look in my games.
Regardless, my boys and I are pretty stoked to be on board and confirmed for my MMRLE with JJP (unless Brock/Starburst has an opening soon - ). I'm hoping it will be ok.

 

[mwong168]

MMR Update 12/31/13:

One of the most important aspects of the game is that it plays ‘right’ - so we had the opportunity to have Josh Sharpe, one of the top ranked pinball players, as well as the President of the International Flipper Pinball Association come by and play and provide feedback for the game. It was an impromptu visit but we have a picture to verify his presence (not photoshopped!)

I touched base with Josh over the phone (as we are in CA and he is in Chicago), and the feedback was “It plays like a Medieval!” and “gotta say I was really impressed with where he’s (Doug Duba, Chicago Gaming) at with development” . In fact he seemed somewhat surprised that it played so well – he had made some suggestions as well as helped align the flippers perfectly, and saw no difference as to the original feel of playing the game with “a restored original”. So, this is great feedback, and another step to production in a few months. Josh knows this game intimately and as well has grown up from watching it on the WMS production line to playing it, to competing in tournaments on it.