I think these companies (or in the case of Skit-B "people") go into pinball production with the best of intentions. They completely underestimate how difficult it is to mass produce a large scale electro-mechanical device. Building a one-off isn't easy ... building a couple hundred is a daunting task for a startup. Over 1,000 would be a nightmare w/o someone experienced in these matters.

I have a lot of experience developing and, to some extent, shipping fairly complex products ... even I'd get a bit queasy if I were tasked with the production of a pinball machine .

It only becomes a scandal when they handle their failure to produce using dubious methods and assorted nonsense.

Quite frankly, I'm kind of glad the down payment model is pretty much dead for now. If you have a game worthy of production, I am pretty confident investors would line up to help. Those investors would act as a check/balance against those people that design a one-off and think that manufacturing and shipping machines even on a small scale is easy.

The other sane approach is to do what Multimorphic is doing ... not asking for one red dime until their product is produced and self-funding. I'm really interested to see how their system turns out in the long run.

BTW, people should be commending Spooky Pinball for what they did ... it's impressive to say the least. I'm looking forward to their next game. I'd pre-order with them in a heartbeat if it's a theme I'd like .