New York, NY
It's a fine line between clever and stupid.
(Topic ID: 299576)
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This is Spinal Tap Pinball
Homepin, 2022
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All I know is SPINAL TAP has fewer letters than INTERNATIONAL RESCUE so the ruleset can't help but be slightly improved over the last Homepin offering.
Quoted from ForceFlow:"Contractually obligated to present"?
That makes it sound like they were forced to do something.
I think it's supposed to be a joke.
But it's not funny and It's certainly not a "spinal Tap" reference as I've seen that movie 50 times and it doesn't ring a bell.
Things are off to a banging start!
Quoted from RebelGuitars:Isn't is rumored that Joe Balcer recently designed a game for Homepin?
Edit: looks like not a rumor.[quoted image]
I think it was actually Joe “Mama” Besser.
Quoted from Sinistarrett:Has the MSRP been announced?
I wouldn't be too hopeful it's going to be cheap.
Do you have any idea what it will cost to outfit the entire band as animals?
Quoted from PismoArcade:I wonder if it'll have the Thunderbirds plastic lockdown bar and wonky flipper buttons?
No...I mean, if you look at Homepin, the rubbish they did early on, it was stupid.
I'm sure they are taking a more sophisticated view towards pinball now.
Quoted from RCA1:I love Spinal Tap. Have watched it many times and love the humor. At one time many years ago, I had the soundtrack on cassette. Not sure where that went.
However, Spinal Tap is not at all recent, and pretty niche in the US.
Is the movie well known in Europe or anywhere else?
I wouldn't worry much about Europe. It's not much of a college town.
Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:And putting it on a farm? If they’re serious about sophistication, they’ll be growing Electric Bananas.
Preserved moose under glass
Quoted from jardine:No one....and I mean NO ONE is talking about this down under (here in Australia).
On none of the forums, Facebook pages....anywhere!!
There's a reason for that.....no idea why you blokes are. Guy is a bigot and homophobe, will never support him or his products, no matter what.
I don’t get that at all. I mean, homepin is anything BUT racists.
They say “love thy brother.”
Well, they don’t literally say it; they don’t literally mean it, either. But they want that message to be clear.
Quoted from TheGiggler:Or a shit sandwich.
They can't print that can they?!
Quoted from insight75:I feel like people may be a tad bit negative in this thread....haha Come on fellas! Have some faith! I need a Spinal Tap pin!
And so say us, “Tap into America!”
Quoted from PinballAir:I am not a fan of spinal tap.
So, from the outside looking in, if lots of other bands are themes for jjp and stern, is it then an insult to have a game made by homepin for spinal tap?
Well not really. Spinal tap isn’t a real band and homepin isn’t a real pinball company so it kind of works.
Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:This thread sucks. I don’t know which day the lord created this thread, but I wish he had rested on that day too.
The musical growth rate of this thread can't even be charted. It's treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality.
I know some would say that's nitpicking but I have to be honest.
Quoted from Gribbs:Regarding this license being done by Homepin: I just hate it…it really, it does disturb me, but I’ll rise above it; I’M A PROFESSIONAL.
You can't let it affect your performance.
Quoted from medeski7:There's an appeal to Homepin if they can keep their price point below Stern Pros.
Nobody can do this.
That’s why everybody hates Stern for some reason.
Come on we know this game will be awful, but the theme is so good it still may have some appeal.
Let’s just say expectations should be extremely low, and not very difficult to exceed.
So….homepin…do a good show.
1 month later
Quoted from manadams:[quoted image]
Isn't that Peter "James" Bond?
I gotta say, it's a real shame how awful this game is bound to be. Tap deserves better!
Quoted from bigehrl:don't forget their 2nd drummer who died by choking on vomit. but not his own vomit. tough way to go...
Well there's no way really of knowing who's vomit it was.
You can't really dust for vomit.
Quoted from jcg9998:Not saying game won't be terrible... Homepin's first effort doesn't inspire confidence...
But keep in mind that sometimes people do learn from mistakes and experience. In addition, there are a lot of people on this site who criticize people who criticize games without playing them.
That said... I think we should at least wait until the game is revealed before firing away and show a little optimism even if it's just make believe...
All I know is SPINAL TAP is shorter than INTERNATIONAL RESCUE so as long as they don't use THIS GOES TO ELEVEN the ramp goal will be easier to achieve!
Quoted from P1nhead:like B movies and crappy acting, sometimes it is so bad it is good... I think this is the least we can hope for in this pin.
“So bad it’s bad” is also a thing, unfortunately.
Quoted from JackMorten:.
Anything else I don't care about, he is definitely not politically correct, I find that refreshing, some not.....
Oh yeah. It’s REALLY hard to find people brave enough to be “politically incorrect” these days.
Only like, half the planet, billions of people…
6 months later
Quoted from TreyBo69:Post 667. It’s one more demonic than 666
Why not just make 666 more demonic?
1 week later
Quoted from meSz:It doesn't look promising and this was a theme I would've loved to have but calling it "crap" before even seeing it is premature, in my opinion. Does it look like it lacks A LOT, yes! But lets face it, Homepins never claimed to be the Rolls Royce of pinball. He's more like the Ford Pinto where he's going for that market that can't afford a machine with all the bells and whistles.
I'll wait to see all of it but not holding out much hope for it.
Thank God you brought cars into the discussion so now we can comprehend what's going on here. It was impossible for me to understand what makes games different, but mentioning the automobile industry brought it all into real-world focus for me, and showed it all in a shockingly clear new light. Why hasn't anybody ever done this before?!?!
I used to think that Thunderbirds was the worst pinball machine ever designed, built, and sold. But now, I realize that it's actually exactly the same as an AMC Gremlin.
Thanks dude!
3 months later
Look, we all knew what to expect here.
This is a game designed by amateurs and built by Chinese minors.
Nobody should be surprised that it's an absolute heap. We've all played Thunderbirds and we know it's terrible, and know this is terrible.
If it were a "have no choice" theme like BTTF, they'd manage to sell a few. But it's Spinal Tap. yes, it's one of the best movies of all time, but it's appeal - especially for a $10,000 pinball machine - is extremely selective.
It is - as they say - what it is.
Quoted from Pinball_Syd:Apparently being built in Taiwan by Taiwanese, who have no allegiance and are at enmity with China.
Thanks for clearing that up!
Quoted from flynnibus:Homepin not doing any marketing is paying off in spades right now isn't it?
The less people know about this machine the better.
Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:One thing, and probably the only thing (If we’re being honest in a “middle truth” sort of way) that can save this game is theme integration, by way of how the best moments of the characters and movie interact with game play. That’s the secret ingredient for every game, and why some are beloved and others aren’t. This relates to rules and coding but it’s deeper than that. It’s dependent on both creativity as well as passion for theme by who’s designing and coding the game. And, of course, what can be done with the license.
Spinal Tap is filled with one liners, inside jokes, physical comedy, searing wit and just absurd dialogue and moments that reduce hardcore fans to hysterical laughter. Even decades later. That’s who this game is built for, right? Because if the theme had more mainstream appeal it probably would have been made by Stern before now (and screw you Stern for never making this). If this game can create a connection between the movie and pinball gameplay, it has a chance. If not…it DIES!
There are Spinal Tap “fans” that quote “these go to 11” ad nauseam and there are fans that riff on locating mandolin strings in the middle of Austin. When my wife and I really want to express displeasure with something, we lean a little forward and sidewise and extend one arm straight out with a “thumbs down”…which is how one fan expresses his feelings with Tap’s “Jazz Odyssey” set at Magic Mountain. And then we both crack up. The game needs this level of nuance, not an LCD that randomly plays the movie while the DMD weakly ties in to game objectives like “hit the spinner 50 times”.
There are levels to this shit, which is why I’m still considering buying this game. But if the “these go to 11” type of fan is coding this game there’s not much hope.
Here’s an off the top of my head example of what a real fan would do with the game: a “listen to the flower people” mini-mode, where everytime you hit the right shot the audio delivers the “ah-AHH-ah- ah-a” harmonies of the chorus and the LCD screen zeros in on Derek mouthing “we love you”. To me, it’s little things like that that make or break a game.
There’s a fine line between stupid and clever. Which side of the line will Homepin wind up on?
“The little things” isn’t what we’ve come to expect from these guys. I appreciate your impassioned plea, and it’s too bad you weren’t in charge of this project.
But we aren’t getting any of that - we are getting the trailer on loop and “shoot the spinner 50 times.”
6 months later
So they are really going to go through with producing these huh?
That trailer made GTF's look like it was directed by Scorcese.
And make no mistake about it GTF's trailer is an all-time pinball embarrassment.
Yeah the babe is cute but why was her sole direction instruction "Pretend you've had a lobotomy?"
Quoted from finnflash:Has the price been listed somewhere yet?
You know what they say
If you have to ask...
...You are possibly considering buying this thing and should probably be subjected to a conservatorship before you completely destroy yourself financially by making horrible decisions.
Quoted from Gunnut40:Anyone else think of Full Metal Jacket while watching the video?
Yes, it did make me think about shooting myself in the head while on the toilet.
Quoted from dudah:On the other side of the table, who are these licensors selling their IP to a company with a terrible track record and no market traction?
.
The Spinal Tap license is a weird one...It's been the subject of numerous legal battles and has always seemed to be kind of a shit show. I believe in the past the Spinal Tap guys are legally required to "do something" once every 8 years or so or they'll lose control of the license.
Doesn't surprise me that these amateurs were able to scoop it up for a pin. It's definitely a Bush League license. I doubt the current owners have much experience in licensing their product, or have much experience in vetting licensors.
As far as I can tell here's how it has been settled as of the last of many court cases...
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Marty DiBergi ever cause a meltdown before.
Relax guys! Let’s have a good time, all the time.
Quoted from punkin:All good guys and gals, didn't mean to bumble into a neticane.
It’s ok. It really is a fine line between clever and stupid.
2 weeks later
Quoted from punkin:Ran out of intelligent responses again and back to the prepubescent dick jokes eh?
Now that's just nitpicking, innit?
Quoted from punkin:Sorry, and dumb, contextless repetitions of lines
This is your last 50 posts.
Why are you letting the fact that this movie exists get under your skin so much?
Like...let it go. Watching you get angrier and angrier over This is Spinal Tap is really something. I've really never seen anything quite like it around here.
Quoted from Gribbs:You have definitely put this all into perspective.[quoted image]
I suppose he'd feel much worse if he weren't under such heavy sedation.
Quoted from Gribbs:I’m not a ‘troll’, but put fish in a barrel and hand me a loaded gun…this has simply been AMAZING.
We are lucky man. People should envy us.
I envy us!
Quoted from insight75:So....Punkin..... question for you. Are you in on Tap?
I think he's just here to hang around backstage. You know, like a real rock n roller.
Quoted from TreyBo69:Reading this thread… Well, I'm sure I'd feel much worse if I weren't under such heavy sedation.
Careful!
According to Punkin that line is "regressive" and a "personal attack" and is against the rules!!!
I prefer to think of this thread as more of a preserved moose.
This is without a doubt the least likely meltdown in recent Pinside history.
I did not see it coming!
And all over the funniest movie of all time!
It’s suppose to inspire joy, not confusion and hatred!
Quoted from TreyBo69:Dozens of people spontaneously combust each year. It's just not really widely reported
The same could be said for freak gardening accidents.
Quoted from P1nhead:punkin - some things written in response (most in fact) to some of your posts are quotes from the movie... not personal attacks on you.
Watch the movie. Fully develop your hate for the IP but then you can at least appreciate some of these "inside" jokes and see them as teasing versus attacking you personally.
Or he could just adopt whichever bits and pieces of eastern philosophies happen to drift through his transom.
It is hilarious to me that Punkin keeps not melting down with histrionic reactions to all these Spinal Tap quotes that literally have nothing to do with him.
You can tell he isn't melting down because he's told us several times!
Quoted from punkin:It's a start. Those who are not confident or capable of using words to express themselves are often encouraged to use pictures, analogy or fables to express their meanings.
Sage advice from someone who is DEFINITELY not melting down, nor posting pictures, analogy, or fables.
Quoted from TreyBo69:what's embarrassing is providing miniature sized bread with full sized deli cuts
what are you supposed to do with this?
Would you be eating this?
No.
But I know that you are a professional, and will rise above it.
Quoted from KJS:No, we do not.
He has burnt so many bridges here in a short time and is a mouth on a stick. And actually turns people away from the hobby. I specifically won't attend pinfest which I would like to with Max and Jaws but not with him involved or even there.
You mean he's not the same kind of charmer in person as he is here in the Spinal Tap thread?!?!
Can't wrap my head around that one.
1 month later
Quoted from Haymaker:Mike doesn't want experienced players playing his games, by his own admission. Its really weird. He thinks all the other games are only made for "tournament players" and they aren't fun for normal people to walk up and play, which is bafflingly false. His games are designed to just "knock the ball around and have a good time", which it pretty much fails at I guess unless maybe its your first and only time ever playing pinball
Whining about how "tournament players are ruining pinball" has always been the last refuge of a scoundrel!
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