It failed then & it would fail today. The people have spoken.

Yeah it’s a dumb novelty.

Gets no love from me then or now or in the future.

Pinball people weren't wild about it. Non pinball people dumped money in it in my location.

P2K did better than expected, didn't matter. They were closing all divisions and going gambling. Goodbye Pinball, Touch Screens, Atari, Midway, etc.

LTG : )

I think it could be interesting to see what could be done with an update to the innards... (I don't necessarily think it would sell well, but it would be interesting to see.)

That being said, I feel like in that regard the P3 is already an extension of the direction P2K could have eventually headed, minus the Pepper's ghost.

Unless they could do a full featured layout and have some of this tech in it, I think it still flops. The layouts on the OG ones are so so bad.

Another problem had it continued they were only planning two a year.

It wasn't tied to one playfield level or anything. But I don't think you'd see the evolution like you did in Williams DMD era.

LTG : )

Linolium has been doing really great home brews with the concept for years. I love what he’s done, I think it shows that it can be good with the right themes and execution. Like Haunted Cruise makes sense because there’s ghosts and apparitions. Mass appeal, I don’t know, but I sure have fun playing his games. I think he started off using pinball 2000 hardware but gradually engineered his own custom system, down to designing and manufacturing the boards. Maybe if Lin sees this he’ll share some vids.

I personally love RFM - great game ! No , it’s not as complex as a “full” pin but has a place and I have fun on it . I would’ve like to see the completed Playboy they were gonna do . Some guys are too closed minded - “ either it’s a tournament game or it sucks “ . There’s plenty room for variety in this world and you do t like something just move on instead of crapping on it . Many classic video games would translate well - I really like the DK idea !

Well SWe1 was just a Popadyke abortion.
RFM was just a straight rip so it wasn't that bad.

I'm not so sure it wouldn't work today. New peeps, new likes, new being dazzled by lights etc.
The OG problem was it wasn't a variety; they were going to switch to Pin2k

Basically anything with ghosts would be cool. So any number of haunting movies, ghostbusters (the new movies are great), etc.

I thought RFM was a really good sequel to the great AFM, so I purchased RFM NIB in 1999. From what I saw back then, I was going to pass on SW:E1 (not the best game), purchase a P2K Playboy, pass on Wizard Blocks, and watch for whatever future P2K titles were released. But when WMS pulled the plug on pinball in late 1999 and we knew there wouldn't be any other B/W games made, I picked up SW:E1 NIB just to have one each of both P2Ks (RFM and SW:E1).

Gomez moved to Stern and finished Playboy in the normal DMD game format and I purchased it NIB in 2002. Even though I have since added a ColorDMD to it, every time I play it I think how much better P2K images would have been than dots on a DMD. But time passed and I stopped thinking about P2K versus DMD after Stern updated to the LCD format in response to JJP's WoZ.

nothing does !

Ghostbusters would be legit !

I liked Star Wars , but Revenge From Mars was much better. Too bad Wizard Blocks didn't see the light.

Because lcd’s are so thin could this be done under an upper playfield? Like in a cave or in a castle. I gotta think that without the bulk of a crt in the cabinet you could do some crafty things with it.

I was like "nice novelty, but can't wait until B/W releases more REAL pinball machines"

Still waiting...

Could you have a Battle the castle type game with the main playfield as the courtyard and the upper playfield as the top of the castle walls and run double holograms, above and below forcing the player to take out targets on two levels.

You can usually see his work at Pintastic New England. In 2023, he also showed the games at Pinball Expo.
.................David Marston

Isn't Multimorphic P3 the modern version of this, except executed way better? The whole point of Pin2000 was to have a cabinet with interchangeable games and an interactive screen on the playfield.

P3 has interchangeable/modular games and an interactive screen on the playfield, and they figured out how to do it without obscuring all your shots and ruining the game like SWE1 and RFM do.

So... to answer OP's question, it would look like the P3.

JJP used another screen in the backboard of GNR & we all know how that went

It's a weak comparison imo because the pin2k has the hologram effect, it was built around that.

Love Gomez's "Chris Cornell Grunge hairstyle" in those old documetaries.

It would work much better today with a projector in the head and a special glass over the playfield (more advanced then the one already on p2k). But the amount of money needed to develop and support something like p2k today just isn't really in the industry anymore. I'm surprised it even came out in the first place. The decision to shut the company down was made before the first RFM even rolled down the assembly line. I think it's sad, I have a feeling p2k really could have came into it's own if it was just allowed four or five machines to be developed completely. Would it have saved or stopped the decline of pinball in the early 00s. No, probably not. Would it have maybe softened the landing a little bit. Definitely.

Man… I always thought P2K was rad.

I think a Star Fox game would’ve been fun, or any other sort of “on rails” shooter. Graphically it would fit, and shooting the all “into” the game going after all sorts of creative things.

Wouldn't a modern day version just be AR?

My oldest son still talks about SWE1 8 years after playing. I have always considered getting one or a RFM because a shorter cab would allow me to fit two pins in my room. However, despite SWE1 being shit talked about all the time, the price is always really high.

I just want them to start what they did not finish. Bring on Monster Bask P2K....

pkture (resized).JPG

Better photo. Wonder what they had in mind for the playfield.

sure (resized).JPG

And Wizard Blocks and Playboy.

LTG : )

seriously cool post! wow..... what if, huh??

Two of the biggest what ifs. If P2k continued and evolved. And if Capcom lasted the three more years they were given.

LTG : (

Could you imagine P2K WOF?

The idea of Pin 2000 was neat. Maybe if we had got a few good games it would have more respect. Something we will never know. But its fun to think of the possibility what else would of come. Another different pinball is The Pinball Circus also not finished looks good. This makes me wonder if P2k were in the same thought during a idea session. The Revenge From Mars as simple it is a neat effect and fun game. Now for Star Wars Episode I Some liked the game. I had the opportunity to buy it some years ago and passed. I was asked why not quote (sorry the game is as bad as the movie) the person selling said the same thing.

My daughter ( 30’s ) is not a pinballer but when she comes over SW EP1 is her favorite game . It’s not the best but I still like it - you know - variety and all .

Pinball 2000 was definitely an interesting beast. I was drawn to it for the technology aspect, and I think RFMs gameplay is fine. I agree that its quite simplistic in terms of layout and play mechanic compared to even the DMD era stuff at the time. However now its even more jam packed with nostalgia with the Clinton callouts. A game like that does really well in a collection where "non-pinball people" visit.

When I built my Wizard Blocks, it was definitely a fun shooter compared to what was out. It was more akin to the "full featured layout with added P2K sparkle".
When I did the Demolition Man Pinball 2000 conversion, I was able to fix the lighting issues and capitalize on having a full-length playfield and playing experience. I will say, the use of the monitor as a "HUD" with minor video interjections when modes complete or whatever is quite nice. Now, it would be a terrible idea to do this commercially. The market indeed has spoken and manufacturers are more than happy to sell you a "traditional" game without the added risk.

Harry Potter would fit right in .So would Tron and 5th Element .

we would all be playing KINGPIN and not waiting for a failed remake !

capcom had some great innovations, sad they didn't carry on!

I think wizard blocks would have been fun, too bad it never went to completion.

I think with p2k a supernatural theme would have worked great such as Bettlejuice, nightmare Before Christmas or a horror theme would have been awesome with the hologram could have jumpscares

They were just a little late to the party that had already reached it's peak and was on the way down by then.

I'll repeat it though. Pinball 2000 just wasn't that impressive to seasoned players at the time. At least not to me. They did sell quite a few of them though and I did see casual players drop some coins in them.

What if Williams Electronics got PTCR for the P2K Platform?

I'm not sure it could be a commercial success, no matter what theme.

The playfield is small. It doesn't have ROOM for the gameplay we expect as pinball players.

This was the primary complaint with the Pinball 2000 machines... the shots were too easy to master, leaving all the heavy lifting of making an interesting game have to come from software and that video screen projected over the mechanisms.

Honestly, it would have made a great Elvira platform.

People complain a lot when the gameplay isn't challenging, and I'm not sure you can make the shots challenging with that sized space.

The increase of price of the PIN2K game to.