STERN OF THE UNION ADDRESS – MARCH 2019
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03/05/19

STERN OF THE UNION ADDRESS – MARCH 2019

The Stern of the Union Address will be on the first Tuesday of every month (holiday and vacation excepted).  Without further ado my fellow pinheads:

Stern Pro Circuit Championship:

eBay presents the Stern Pro Circuit Championship at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago, Illinois this Saturday (March 9th)! Featuring 40 of the world’s best pinball players, this event will be hosted by Brian “Q” Quinn of Impractical Jokers, feature a live performance by Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies and live streaming by Jack Danger of Dead Flip.  The event is brought to you by PAPA, the IFPA and Stern Pinball. Be part of the premiere pinball event in the world and get your tickets before it’s too late!

Live stream coverage of this championship will be featured on the PAPA YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/PAPApinball) and Jack Danger’s Dead Flip Twitch channel (https://www.twitch.tv/deadflip).  Who do you think will take home the belt?  Meet some of your Stern Pro Circuit finalists on their journey to this year’s Stern Pro Circuit Championship presented by eBay.  See how Keith Elwin, Raymond Davidson, Zachary Parks, Zach Sharpe, Josh Sharpe, Escher Lefkoff and Adam Lefkoff did at the 2018 Pinball Expo Flip Out circuit tournament.

 

The Munsters at Texas Pinball Festival:

There will be quite the presence of The Munsters at this year’s Texas Pinball Festival so make sure to stop by the Marco/Stern/Fun Billiards booth to play our latest hit games and purchase a limited edition, one-of-a-kind Munsters Texas Pinball Festival t-shirt while you’re there!

 

The Munsters Rulesheet:

Need to polish your strategy heading into your next big tournament on The Munsters?  Look no further than the official The Munsters pinball rulesheet published on Stern’s website last month.

 

Stern Army Updates:

The Stern Army continues to grow with members spreading the gospel of pinball across the globe.  Here are our newest members and the pinball locations they support:

  • Private Jonathan Soon of California (Super Arcade)
  • Private Dickie Hornaman of Washington (Half Pint Pizza Pub)
  • Private CC Castaneda of California (Captain’s Arcade Showroom)
  • Private James Todd of Australia (The Basement)

Congratulations to the following Stern Army members on their promotion from Private to Private First Class:

  • Private First Class Dick Curtis of Texas (Pinballz Arcade and Buffalo Billiards)

Congratulations to the following Stern Army members on their promotion from Private First Class to Specialist:

  • Specialist Don Johnson of Ohio (Kidforce Collectibles, Full Blast Arcade, and Melt Bar and Grilled)
  • Specialist Jason Thomas of Colorado (J Bos Pizza and Ribs)
  • Specialist Tracy Lindbergh of Arizona (Tilt Studio and The Grid: Games and Growlers)
  • Specialist Marvin Ortscheid of Ohio (Stonehedge Family Fun Center)
  • Specialist Sean Spindler of Wisconsin (Schwoegler’s Entertainment Center, Pooley’s Sports Bar and Event Center, and I/O Arcade Bar)
  • Specialist Mark Schulz of California (Harbor Town Pub, Waterfront Bar & Grill, Home & Away)
  • Specialist Parker Thomas of Michigan (Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum)
  • Specialist Dan Gutchess of Colorado (The 1up Lodo and The 1up Colfax)
  • Specialist Shane Nazari of California (On Tilt @ AYCE Gogi)
  • Specialist Jason Wilson of Tennessee (Game Galaxy)
  • Specialist Nick Greenup of Missouri (403 Club)

For more information and to join the Stern Army, please reach out to SternArmy@sternpinball.com

 

Stern Insider Membership Program:

Registration is now open for the Stern Insider program.  The program provides exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the world of Stern Pinball. Membership perks include exclusive limited edition merchandise, special admission to Stern-sponsored events, and private access to exclusive webinars, videos and interviews with game designers, programmers, artists, and other Stern insiders.

Stern Insiders also receive exclusive access to product launch webinars, live streams of game rules and strategies with top players, service seminars conducted by Stern professionals, and advance sneak peeks at upcoming accessories, merchandise, and other new products.

In addition to exclusive access to behind-the-scenes experiences at Stern, for $29.99 a year, Stern Insiders also receive a membership kit that includes a one-of-a-kind Stern Insider t-shirt and other surprises.

To register and become a Stern Insider, please visit https://sternpinball.com/stern-insider/

 

Stern Pro Circuit:

For full details on the Stern Pro Circuit and to keep up with the current standings and schedule, please visit – https://sternpinball.com/stern-pro-circuit/

2019 Stern Pro Circuit Rankings – Top 10
1st  Colin Urban Portland, OR
2nd  Jim Belsito Murrieta, CA
3rd  Adam McKinnie Columbia, MO
4th  Dominic Kacich St. Louis, MO
5th  Adam Lefkoff Boulder, CO
6th  Eric Destasio  NJ
7th  Cayle George Seattle, WA
8th  Jason Werdrick Park Ridge, IL
9th  Steven Bowden San Antonio, TX
10th  Germain Mariolle Redmond, WA

Here are your upcoming Stern Pro Circuit Events:

Stern Pro Circuit Event Date Website
Texas Pinball Festival 3/22 – 3/24 https://texaspinball.com/tpf/tournaments/texas-wizards-tournament/
IFPA Pin-Masters 3/29 – 3/31 https://www.ifpapinball.com/tournaments/view.php?t=28931
Pinball at the ‘Zoo 4/25 – 4/27 https://www.ifpapinball.com/tournaments/view.php?t=29503#

 

Stern Pinball at Toy Fair:

Following pinball’s recent induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame (http://www.toyhalloffame.org/toys/pinball), Stern Pinball made its first appearance at Toy Fair last month.  It provided an opportunity to showcase the ultimate toy of pinball to over 30,000 global professionals from over 100 countries in attendance, representing the $27B U.S. domestic toy market.

 

The Beatles:

This one-of-kind pinball machine keeps making appearances all over the world!  Check out some pictures of The Beatles pinball being personally delivered by our distributor KMS Handel GmbH in Germany to The Beatles Museum in Halle.  The museum curates the world’s oldest and most extensive collection of Beatles items.  And in the band’s hometown of Liverpool, Pinball Heaven Ltd helped deliver and install The Beatles pinball machine into the famous Fab4 Café.

 

Status of Code:

We are continuously working to update and improve software for our machines.  There are always code updates and bug fixes in various stages of development; we will release them upon update completion.  Here are some of the latest updates and the status of things in the works.  As always, if you do encounter any bugs please feel free to provide information to bug.report@sternpinball.com:

  • The Munsters – The team continues to work on the next code release coming this month.
  • Deadpool – Make sure you’ve updated your Deadpool to the latest code (v0.99.0) released last month. The team is hard at work on the next update.
  • Batman ’66 – There is a new Batman update in the works.
  • Ghostbusters code update remains in our schedule.
  • Just because a game isn’t listed here doesn’t mean there can’t be surprises from time to time.
  • If you would like to join our mailing list for code updates, please send an e-mail to: Updates@sternpinball.com

 

Engineering Updates:

Stern Pinball’s website has been updated with a few items on our support page. You can download the SPIKE Electronics System schematics and supporting documents on our main support page. In addition, we have added an option for updating code on games that utilize the SPIKE system. This option enables game owners to create SD cards without assistance from dealers, distributors, or technical staff. Learn more about this time-saving option.

 

Accessories:

Check out our new Stern Shop for all accessories, collectibles, clothing and more including this month’s featured item, the Beatles topper!

All official Deadpool and Iron Maiden accessories are back in stock.

The physical model for the Star Wars topper has been approved.  We’ll make a formal announcement once it’s available for sale and add it to our Stern Shop.

All Stern Pinball accessories are also available to purchase from your local authorized dealer – https://sternpinball.com/find-a-dealer/

 

Stern Spotlight – Mike Vinikour:

“My name is Mike Vinikour (better known as MXV) and I am an Associate Game Developer here at Stern Pinball. I joined the Stern Pinball product development team at the beginning of 2017.

I’ve been working in the game industry for over 25 years now and got my start at Williams Bally/Midway in 1993. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with both pinball and video games throughout my career in various capacities, ranging from software QA to game design and many things in between.

Here at Stern I wear a lot of hats including, but not limited to, helping with rule design, overseeing all of our software testing, managing all our software updates, running the field test program, and representing the company at a variety of pinball enthusiast shows around the U.S.

My main objective is to help make every game we make be the most fun game it can be and something I would want to have in my own collection.

Many people tell me that I have my dream job and they are correct. I feel very fortunate that I was able to return to pinball, which was what made me fall in love with games when I was five years old, and work with such an amazing and talented group of people here at Stern to bring these games to life for the world to enjoy.”

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END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT (EULA)

STERN PINBALL

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

This limited software license Agreement (“Agreement”) applies to your use of Stern Pinball Software pre-installed on a Stern Pinball Machine and any Authorized Updates made available to you. BY USING YOUR STERN PINBALL MACHINE, YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. If you do not agree to the terms of this Agreement, do not use your Stern Pinball Machine or any Authorized Updates. Please read this entire Agreement, which governs your use of the Stern Pinball Machine, Stern Pinball Software and all Authorized Updates. ADULT CONSENT TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT, YOU MUST BE AN ADULT OF THE LEGAL AGE OF MAJORITY IN YOUR COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE. YOU ARE LEGALLY AND FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL ACTIONS USING YOUR STERN PINBALL MACHINE AND SOFTWARE AND ACCESSING OR USING ANY ONLINE GAMING PLATFORM, INCLUDING THE ACTIONS OF ANYONE YOU ALLOW TO USE AND ACCESS TO YOUR MACHINE AND ANY ASSOCIATED ACCOUNT. YOU AFFIRM THAT YOU HAVE REACHED THE LEGAL AGE OF MAJORITY, UNDERSTAND AND ACCEPT THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU ARE UNDER THE LEGAL AGE OF MAJORITY, YOUR PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN MUST CONSENT TO THIS AGREEMENT. DEFINITIONS.
  1. “Stern Pinball Machine” means a Stern Pinball arcade game machine.
  2. “Stern Pinball Software” means software (including but not limited to firmware) pre-installed in the Stern Pinball Machine, including all Authorized Content and any Authorized Updates that Stern Pinball may make available to You from time to time.
  3. “Authorized Content” means all Stern Pinball and third-party owned software and content incorporated into or used with the Stern Pinball Software or otherwise embedded in or utilized by a Stern Pinball Machine, including but not limited to graphics, images, music, vocals and voices.
  4. “Authorized Update” means an update to the Stern Pinball Software distributed by Stern Pinball or otherwise made available by Stern Pinball, including for download on its web site.
  5. “Unauthorized Content” means all content, including but not limited to limited to graphics, images, music, vocals and voices, that does not comprise Authorized Content or an Authorized Update.
  6. “Unauthorized Software” means any software (including but not limited to firmware) not pre-installed by Stern Pinball on a Stern Pinball Machine or that does not comprise Authorized Content or Authorized Update.
  7. “You” means the purchaser or current owner of a Stern Pinball Machine.
LICENSE. Stern Pinball hereby grants You a nonexclusive, non-transferable, limited, and revocable right and license to use one copy of the Stern Pinball Software and Authorized Content and any Authorized Update solely for your personal use, or that of your patrons and customers if you are a commercial entity, for playing a single Stern Pinball Machine. The Stern Pinball Software, Authorized Content and Authorized Updates are licensed, not sold, to You, and no ownership rights are transferred by this Agreement. The Stern Pinball Software Authorized Content and Authorized Updates are protected by U.S. and international copyright. All rights not explicitly granted to you in this Agreement are reserved by Stern Pinball.
  1. As a condition to this Stern Pinball Software license, You agree that:
    1. You will not copy, reproduce, alter, replace, distribute, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, display, perform, create derivative works based on, or otherwise modify the Stern Pinball hardware or Stern Pinball Software or any Authorized Update, in whole or in part; and will not commercially exploit any of the foregoing.
    2. You will not use or install any Unauthorized Content or Unauthorized Software. Use of Unauthorized Content or Unauthorized Software may result in your Stern Pinball Machine ceasing to work permanently and/or losing access to Stern Pinball’s online game network, either immediately or after a later installed Authorized Update.
    3. You will not create, develop, distribute or assist anyone else in creating, developing or distributing any Unauthorized Content or Unauthorized Software intended for use with a Stern Pinball Machine, whether to add to or modify the gameplay, any audio content (whether music, sound or voice), or any video content of any Stern Pinball Machine, or to gain advantage in any online or other game modes, or otherwise.
    4. You will not share any Stern Pinball Software, Authorized Content or Authorized Update with any other person or company and will not permit anyone else to access or copy any Stern Pinball Software or Authorized Content or Authorized Update installed on your Machine for any purpose.
    5. In view of the rights held by third-party owners of Authorized Content (e.g., music and video clips), Stern does not have the legal authority to give permission to stream the gameplay of Stern Pinball Machines.
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    7. Stern Pinball may update the Stern Pinball Software from time to time without further notice to You, for example, to update any anti-piracy, security, and technical measure.
PRIVACY POLICY Your use of the Stern Pinball Machine, Stern Pinball Software and any Authorized Updates are subject to Stern Pinball’s Privacy Policy which can be found at https://sternpinball.com/privacy-policy/   WARRANTY EXCEPT AS PROVIDED HEREIN, THE STERN PINBALL SOFTWARE, AUTHORIZED CONTENT AND AUTHORIZED UPDATES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT ALLOWABLE UNDER LAW, STERN PINBALL DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, STERN PINBALL DOES NOT WARRANT THAT OPERATION OF THE STERN PINBALL MACHINE OR ANY ONLINE OR CONNECTED GAME NETWORK WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES STERN PINBALL IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES; ANY LOSS OF DATA, PRIVACY, CONFIDENTIALITY, OR PROFITS; OR ANY INABILITY TO USE THE STERN PINBALL MACHINE, STERN PINBALL SOFTWARE OR ANY AUTHORIZED UPDATE. THESE EXCLUSIONS APPLY EVEN IF STERN PINBALL HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF THESE DAMAGES, AND EVEN IF ANY REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE. Some countries do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so this limitation or exclusion may not apply to You. These terms apply to the maximum extent permitted by law and unless prohibited by law. These terms do not change your rights under the laws of your country if those laws do not permit that change. TERRITORY AND CHOICE OF LAW This License is valid only in the country in which you purchased your Stern Pinball Machine. This License will be subject to and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois, U.S.A., regardless of conflict of laws principles. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in Cook County, Illinois, U.S.A. for the resolution of any dispute regarding this Agreement or the subject matter of this Agreement and to waive any jurisdictional, venue, or inconvenient forum objections to such courts. This Agreement may be updated by Stern Pinball from time to time with the current version posted at www.sternpinball.com/EULA. Your continued use of the Stern Pinball Software an Authorized Update after an updated Agreement has been posted constitutes your acceptance of all of its terms.
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