Making a dig at the timelines of other botique pin makers >> at least that is how it reads. No need to even make reference to others IMHO.

What Ben and Spooky have done is flat out amazing and there is no need for them to even make the comparisons as their game and ability to produce speak for themselves.

It's something worth bragging about, but I'm sure that wasn't the intention.

Hmm.. Is that a challenge Ben? Let me see how I can work those into the game I'm working on.

It isn't a "dig". It's a fact.

I LOVE this so much!!!

Oh geeze... all these new games! I'm thinking it may be time to switch around the 300sq ft game room with the 600sq ft living room! LMAO

Agreed that Ben was justified in responding to apparent criticism of Spooky's build time by pointing out that they're moving faster than other boutique companies -- to me that's not meant to say that the others are going too slow, just that it takes a long time for any small operation to build pinball machines and that Spooky is doing it faster than most.

Having said that, does something have to be false to be a "dig"? I'm reminded of a day I spent in a first grade classroom where they'd been learning the difference between "opinions" and "facts." One little girl was lagging behind on a worksheet and her seatmate said "you are NEVER going to finish that." His teacher observed that that wasn't a very nice thing to say and he replied "but it's a FACT, I thought it was a FACT." I often think of that little exchange when someone says something dickish (but probably true).

[EDIT: I should clarify that I don't think Ben's statement was "dickish" or otherwise out of line in any way -- just that your distinction between "digs" and "facts" reminded me of that story]

_{Post edited by fosaisu: clarification}

Most people can't handle the facts. Ben, Spooky and Team knocked it out of the park with a unique theme people were screaming for. This thing is really cool. I was able to snag the proto PF and the art is awesome. This should be selling in the thousands by far

If you compare/contrast with bens first partnership, quite the difference. Not a dig, just can imagine the personality clashes between a "doer" and a perfectionist/artist.. Ying and yang I guess. Can see how both brings pros/con's and it plays out here.

Yin.

that too

Makes zero sense. Everyone will be compared against another. Ford, Chevy etc.., That's how economics work. I didn't take it as backhanded as more of an accomplishment. Spooky should feel great! They made a game and it is shipping. People are getting it and enjoying it while other aren't shipping anything.

Getting excited!

Yeah I really like the look & theme of AMH...can't wait to play it.

Elvira3!!!!

Maybe something that evokes old-tyme Americana... like the Tastee Freez or, you know, small town pop culture.

Sort of like a CFTBL feel, but less of an aggravating game.

Evil Dead / Army of Darkness

I am under the impression that almost all licensees are somewhat affordable for pinball?

I think I have heard $50 to $100 per game for many, especially if doing a limited run. I think the bigger issue is getting a company to give you artistic open range to make it cool.

Some licensed themes that would be great and sell well IMHO:

Goonies, Army of Darness, Spinal Tap, Fraggle ROCK, monty pyton, any hip-hop band from the 80s, Platoon, Beverly Hills Cop, Rodger Rabbit, A-team, Quantum Leap, Married w Children, Thundercats, Smurfs, Beetlejuice, Inspector Gadget, Captain Caveman, Heman, Cool Runnings, ANY 80s NES offshoot.

Basically, look at your market and the answer is dorks from the 1980s which have now become adult dorks with money. Now focus squarely on what we love... Cheese from the 80s!

You have shown that you can make a game that flips really well and is fun to play. That is the most important thing. Next step is to pick a theme that you are passionate about and go NERD out. You need to reabsorb all of it so you are able to incorporate all those nuances that will make the game really polished and make it a complete package.

Best idea is to pick something you really like already BUT it also needs to appeal to a slightly larger audience. Ben Heck super nerd needs to adapt to regular guy nerd level if you know what I mean.

Bonus if you can pick a theme which will allow you access to all the art and even better if the artist is now older and looking to be part of a fun project/ still has some passion about the theme.

Make it flip well and a good ruleset with the right risk/reward and it will work.

Unless there are plans to somehow ramp up production or farm out the work, I really do not see a need to make your focus any bigger that 250 machines per title.

IF you need to make more in order to get the profit margin you need then you are going to have to adapt your strategy and find out a way to make them quicker. (LIKE everyone but Stern who seems to have the speed thing figured out.)

***all just MHO***

Your best idea would be to just announce a limited run # from the beginning. Like it or not, people enjoy owning something special. By the sounds of it you guys are not selling as many AMH as you like.

If comparisons need to be made (OK for me, but still less than desirable for any desiner/manufacturer in a niche market IMHO)...

To Me (In general as I REALLY like both AMH and Predator):
AMH is the better shooting game, has a great ruleset, has BEN freaking HECK as a designer, has a fun non-liscensed theme, has OK art and cool toys with way better lighting combined with the backing of spooky.

Predator is the better overall ruleset with a more unique feel, captured the full immersion really well, has a relatively unknown designer and art guy, has great art, and the adult theme.

The main differences are theme (licensed vs non), cost (4750 vs 6k), the edition (250 vs as many as we can make in batches of 100).

Skit-B was able to sell out 250 and have a waiting list of another 150. Was it due to the theme? the cost difference? the limited edition vs open edition?

I can not speak for others but for me it was NOT the theme. I actually prefer AMH. Predator is cool but beyond the gore and adult nature it does nothing special for me as I am not really a movie guy.

Cost was definitely a factor but pretty minimal.

The biggest difference is that I had a 1 in 250 shot of getting predator and I can hypothetically get AMH at any point in the future.

Those are the main differences between AMH and Predator.

1 seems to be sold out and the other would like to generate more sales (for either this game or the next) presumably. Take it for what it is, but when I examine the market and pulse of the buyer, that is what I see.

Would you need to purchase a license if you just did knock-off of 80's horror movies? Just different types of horror characters on the play field. Not too obvious on who they may or may not represent.

5th Element would be very very cool - collect the 5 stones, Bruce Willis do a few call outs, sexy girl, futuristic gadgets with that Americana feel with the buildings and floating cars and I know you love it Ben......

Elvira 3 would be cool as well, or a Elvira / Haunted House mash combo

still waiting for Spooky to work out freighting overseas as keen for AMH

Another thread mentioned Planet of the Apes - POTA. The hardest part would be choosing the Era. Seems like pretty solid and accessible license.

Btw, my home run title would be The Beatles.

would be better as a John T game since that is his dream theme.

Let your inner child of the 80's roam free.

Licensed or original will be fine.

AMH is going to sell more than 250 once the games start getting to people's houses. I'm very interested in one, however, I'm not going to order one until I can play it (or get some feedback from someone I trust that the game is great longer term). There's no expo close to KC, so it could be years before I see one honestly...I doubt whether there is a single order to KC. Nobody around here orders NIB games. It's simply a case of exposure for me, I ordered Iron Man and AC/DC nib right after I played them for the first time years ago. The game looks great to me, for me personally the #1 thing is that I want to make sure that it's not a game that I'll be able to beat right away...but so far, there haven't been really any reports to the difficulty level of the game, so it's hard for me to form an opinion yet from that aspect.

That would be over the top awesome if you did that with custom Bruce speech. Nerdgasm. There are a lot of sets and ideas in that movie too that would lend themselves to modes and art etc, it's a natural fit.

IMHO what Spooky really needs to do is find some great artists, all the hype over Jpop is mostly over having some great art on a pin as far as I can tell. Because Jpop games aren't exactly known for incredible rules or anything, they're just beautiful.

Army of Darkness would be SWEET!!!

Loads of cheese in that one, "Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun"

I would be in for a 5th Element pin for sure!

I hate to say it, but licensed is probably the way to go. We all clamber for unlicensed games, but when they come out people have trouble actually getting behind them. No wonder Stern doesn't want to stray from that path.

IMHO great art is maybe at least twice as important with unlicensed themes. Sound too. You've just got to really nail everything to bring people into your world and idea.

Oh man, a Fifth Element pin has so many cool possibilities! That would be a real hard one for me to resist.

Please, make this happen!

I'm pretty sure my dream will never happen, but I still hope to see a 'Nightmare Before Christmas' pinball machine one day! That's an easy purchase for me; theme, artwork, music, quotes, etc.

I didn't even have to read all the suggestions before I knew this would be my top vote. This is a no brainer! If Spooky announces an Evil Dead / AoD game, I won't need to hear anything more to vote with my wallet.

Barring that, Friday the 13th would also be really freakin' cool.

Brian

Evil Dead/Army of Darkness - you could probably acquire Bruce for the project)
Logan's Run
The Time Machine (Imagine HG Wells with modern machine punk(see Rush Clockwork Angels art))
Godzilla
The Thing (either Carpenter or the source Campbell)

and the big one....

HP Lovercraft (Call of Cthulhu, Shadow over Innsmouth, Colour from Space, etc)

fifth element would be my preference as well

Army of Darkness all the way.

Get Nick Bradshaw to do the custom artwork, Bruce Campbell for custom speech, limit to 500-1000, sell out first day pre-order is announced.

AOD_SMALL.jpg

The only one I even know from that list if Army of Darkness

I still think AMH should get the ghostbusters retheme.

The obvious ones are:

Goonies
Ghostbusters
Scooby Doo

if you're looking for mass appeal somewhat 'spooky' games. If you get outside the spooky element, there are lots of 'niche' options:

Spaceballs (although I'm guessing this one is impossible to license)
National Lampoon vacation series
Ferris Bueller's Day off
The Matrix
Firefly

Some off the wall pc/video game options might be:

Heroes of Might and Magic/Might and Magic series...has everything, medieval castles, dragons, vampires, genies, halflings, etc. Obviously not everyone would know this one, but done right it would be phenomenal. Probably has the best art aspect. Would almost be a licensed theme with a lot of freedom.
Baldur's Gate series...also has about everything, including killer story
Diablo...pretty dark, big following
Warcraft...similar to might and magic and Bgate
Legend of Zelda

I have this limited edition Mondo print of AoD, I really need to get around to getting it framed.

army-of-darkness-by-randy-ortiz.jpg

Great idea there. I almost used this for my custom game. As far as I know, HP Lovecraft's work is royalty free, so you wouldn't even need to pay for a license.

Not exactly 'spooky', but this is an awesome idea too! Something similar to how AMH handles boss battles would work great here. You could maybe even innovate pinball by having xp and 'level ups' or equipment upgrades that give you some kind of advantage or scoring enhancement. Maybe even save your progress...

I still think Evil Dead / Army of Darkness is the obvious choice, though. This theme screams 'Spooky Pinball'!

So, you are that one in 100,000,000 people on Earth who has not heard of Godzilla?

EDIT: My vote would be Big Trouble in Little China.

A lot of really good ideas here, im a horror guy so soooo many of these sounds great. Campy horror is great and seems up your guys alley. Keep it spooky. But Evil Dead / Army of Darkness sounds like a very natural fit. Bruce is a pretty great dude and has done plenty of voice over work, I'm sure he wouldn't be to difficult to work something out with.

I was curious so I poked around. Turns out it's not actually all that clear what the copyright status of most of it is, it's not definitively public domain. I agree, cool theme, but given the murky waters (and Chaosism's copyright on some stuff like the phrase "Call of Cthulhu" for game products) it might be best to just skip that one, as cool as it might be.

Read this if you're curious too: http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Copyright_status_of_works_by_H._P._Lovecraft

That will be awesome! I'm in for the Army of Darkness pin

That will be a blast!...but if that happen a small run won't be enough to satisfy the demand, waiting list will be XXXXL

This is way too obscure - but would probably be dirt cheap to license, fit the Spooky genre, and be super funny. Has anyone else seen Freaked?

freaked.jpg

Seems kind of fun and "pulpy".

Also makes me think of a couple more things:

-The Krofft Superstars (HR Puf-n-Stuf, Sigmond the Seamonster, etc)
-The Banana Splits

Another vote for HP Lovecraft. Looks like a licensed theme with no royalties...

Fantastic possibilities for artwork, deep rules (remember the deep ones )

And the One that Should Not be Named could do the voices for
"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn"