Dilly Dilly!

Cardini, the master of card manipulation also wore a top hat but it was part of his character as a drunken, rich aristocrat and not playing the character of a magician.

I'm not a pro full time magician but I do take paid gigs as a mentalist. I think the thing about top hats that many in the magic community find distasteful is that it has come to represent bad magicians and made fun of on TV, commercials and movies. Having the top hat associated with magic has not been good for our reputations.

This is all in good fun! There are stereotyped images for every profession.

Watched the last video yesterday and really liked what i was seeing. My only beef was with the instructions for the modes...they felt like a mouthful. shoot this, then shoot that, then shoot that followed by a shot here , here and here." For the sake of being constructive...wouldnt it be less annoying to point the player to the next shot upon completition of a shot if a player hasnt hit the shot after 10 seconds. That way players that know the rules dont have to sit through the lecture everytime and novice player get calloutl pl hints if they dont achieve the shot after x amount of time. Apart from that game looks really nice and polished.

Instead of a top hat, maybe a better representation of your profession would be something like this?

68AA0F59-E18C-4D3B-89B8-C3FFF0B963D8 (resized).jpeg

LTG : )

There are lots of settings to control the level of verbosity, see the snippets below from previous posts, also check out the image link which is a screen shot of some of the sound settings . . .

https://images.pinside.com/7/18/718abdf50f47ec898152d070a65f7973df7edcce/resized/large/718abdf50f47ec898152d070a65f7973df7edcce.png

Well would you look at that

Bravo, Josh! This level of customization is something that only a true pinball enthusiast would bring to the table.

That's a great level of granularity.

Can I suggest when you're putting video out or taking it to shows that you turn movie rules off?

Unless your in the US please as I and my family Appreciated knowing how to play the game and seeing the animation work. Home users can shut Everything they wish off when they get it home. Not everyone that looks a pinball machine is a natural Wizard!

My comment simply relates to keeping prospective buyers excited ... and since this is very unusual(ly verbose) in pinball, some might be deflated by it. Not everyone reads this thread, so they won't know you can turn it off.

So your saying it would be a Benefit for the company to Not show the How To play animations to prospective buyers especially those that don't read Pinside? Seems like the Opposite would be the smarter business decision to interest buyers. I for one hate walking up to a machine pinball or other and Not have a clue what to do. Hence the reason I could never get into dropping $2 into one of those awesome 3D video games.

People have limited concentration spans, is what I'm saying, and the vast majority of prospective buyers are already likely to be pretty familiar with pinball.

I totally disagree with that. Plus as a company and for the hobby as a whole I Hope they are trying to find business Outside of the current Underground hobby wizards! You must hang out with a much smaller crowd. I think I can count on 1 hand how many people I have met that said "hey I have pinball machines too!" None. Pinball is big to us. Pinball as a hobby is microscopic compared to most others. There are more pet rock collectors than pinball collectors.

I wonder how small is the group of people who are both pinball collectors and pet rock collectors? What about a pinball machine about pet rocks? I might be on to something. Rosh, I give permission to AP to use my idea for it's next release. Your welcome.

Amen! I've dropped a butt-load of money into GOT and still have no clue what I'm doing. I think the verbose explanations are a feature not a hindrance.

Setting aside all of the verbosity options, at the end of the day, if you know pinball, you should know how to flipper escape, and if you don't know how to flipper escape, you probably want/need more info.

When I did that video I deliberately did not flipper escape for obvious reasons

I just watched a YouTube video of game play for this machine. In my opinion, this looks like a beautiful machine with an awesome theme. I love the light show and all the playfield shots and toys.. The voice call outs sound great as well. This machine reminds me of something that Williams would of built in their heyday.. Like a Theatre of Magic or Circus Voltaire..

Does anyone know if/when its coming out? Where to get it? How much will it be?

Agreed on the Theater of Magic comparison. Very similar in creativity with a bit more video animation which really gives it a great flow. As for price, it looks like the US price is a lock (which is great) at 6999 for all US distributors. Sorry don't know about AU that you would have to search for. You could check out the American Pinball website they might have more details or order info. As for when... I want it Yesterday but based on the feedback they have generously shared they are pretty close to pushing the start button. My guess is January but fingers are always crossed for an Xmas Miracle!!

Contact them : http://american-pinball.com/

http://www.pinballstar.com/ Lists the game. Also posts here on Pinside as Pinballstar

LTG : )

Would probably be a good idea to put a list of both domestic and international distributors / resellers on the website. I know there are already UK (Pinball Heaven), French (Zpeabonk) and Dutch (Ministry of Pinball) distributors, on the international front.

After reading the interview that was released this morning by This Week In Pinball regarding the new pinball company “deeproot”, I sure hope the pending legal stuff doesn’t end up delaying this game from being launched. Seems like a big mess right now and it would really suck if American Pinball is forced to delay this wonderful game. Hope everything gets sorted out guys.

link?

http://thisweekinpinball.com/exclusive-interview-deeproot-next-misadventure-pinball-revolution/

Not sure how they could legal stop Houdini from be manufactured and shipped. The machine was redesigned from the the ground up on an public domain IP. Although there might be some legal rangling on who owes refunds on RAZA and AIW, I doubt that will affect Houdini. I'm not a legal expert but it's unlikely that you could legally stop a product from being produced unless you were clearly using Jpop's or DR's IP which I doubt has happened.

TWIP: Is it possible that deeproot could delay Houdini manufacturing?

dr: We wish American Pinball the best in their pinball efforts. However unresolved legal issues they helped create need to be addressed and resolved. Right now their arguments have no apparent contractual or legal basis. They put themselves in this position and have the power to take themselves out of it. There is little to nothing they can blame John for, though I’m sure they will try.

While I don't know all the details regarding John's agreements with AP, John and Deeproot have no claim on Houdini. Nothing of John's is in Houdini, and even if it was, he would still not have any rights to it.

From the day I started I have stayed as far away from all things zidware as I could, so I do not know if there are other legal issues between AP and John. I suspect John still owes AP money for the manufacture of MG, which would make them a creditor like others. This may be the 'unresolved legal issues', but I don't know. Obviously there could be other issues related to APs work on MG, I just don't know.

Regardless, no fear on Houdini, there is nothing to escape from. Now I need to get back to work, as we are putting a machine out on location shortly, and I have to test out the support for the swipe system the location uses.

Game looks really cool!
I didn't see a match feature at the end...!
Surely there has to be a match feature...? No?

Why did AP get involved with JP/ building MG in the first place?

Please please please ... Can we not derail this thread!

Please! +1

Yeah, let's talk about video games.

where's the video game?

kvan99, have you been peeping in my windows?

Not yet, but there will be one at some point. I have a few ideas, but I have not decided on one yet. Not my top priority at the moment.

_{(rosh now sits back and waits for suggestions to be thrown out)}

Magician pulling a rabbit out of the hat, rabbit goes "poof" and turns into match number.

LTG : )

ouija moving on the board giving you the match #.

flippin' cards coming out tof the deck giving you the match number and joker = free game.

opening truck.

Hmmm, will Houdini going on location be a location that is “at a higher level” soon?

This has all the makings of a smash hit game changing machine. Can't wait for it to come out so I can play one.

Too funny!

that comes right after bullwinkle says "watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat" and rocky replies "that trick never works"

Match Ideas:
1. As a handcuffed Houdini separates his arms (breaking the cuffs), a number dangles on each cuff.
2. "Metamorphosis" but instead of Bess, Houdini swaps places with a match number. I see Houdini jumping on the trunk, tossing the cloth into the air, cloth drops and number is on top of the trunk.

For the match: Houdini tied up and shackled while hanging upside down in a tank of water. While he struggles to get out he exhales air bubbles that evolve into match numbers once they rise above the water surface. As Houdini completes the escape act the final match number is displayed.

I like and second the ouija board idea! It also fits with the added piece inside the game!

A seance with Bess and others around the table as they try and communicate with Harry...maybe on the match have him appear above the table and a "poof" if he they don't reach him?

A lot of great suggestions.

I've considered this, well, maybe not the rabbit going poof, which I like. My concern is the use of the hat for the magic shop and was not anxious to re-use an element in this way, but certainly still a possibility.

This is a great idea given how match is supposed to work, however, since I use a spirit board (Ouija being a trademarked name) for high score entry, having it also for match, which occurs right after, may not be optimal. Maybe a crystal ball.

certainly has potential, of course we only need 1 digit, since Houdini does use the least significant digit.

Since metamorphosis is one of the modes . . .

might be a touch too complex/elaborate, and like some others, we do use the Chinese water torture as one of the stage modes. I do like the bubbles idea.

Houdini certainly belongs at a higher level, as it will be harder to get to the end than say, Pac Man. I'm sure the location will be found quickly after it arrives there and that info will make its way to pinside shortly there after. Our first location was chosen since it is convenient to our office (and to my home).

hmm, similar to some of the other ideas, but has potential.

What do you think about bells like the ones they use when somebody enters through the door of a magic shop instead of the giggles? Here is a link to a HP video I found when I googled sounds of magic. Near the very beginning he walks into the wand shop and the bells sound.

I think that would be a good sling sound. It reminds me of my TOTAN sling of swords clashing against each other which fits the theme perfectly as do the bells for a magic shop and Houdini.

Since your taking requests.... A play off one of his first tricks. A profile view of Houdini pulling the needles out of his mouth with the match number dangling mid pull. Maybe some applauds if a match?

Fan out cards with numbers. The matching number card pops up from the deck....