I would have bought a Spongebob pinball machine. Like 10 years ago when my daughter was 11.

Now for her it seems to be all about Family Feud and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

No, I don't consider it to be a great game (though in fairness I only played it a couple of times). But that's my point, it didn't do well because it wasn't a great game (and also a lot of people just never saw/played it at all).

But it didn't fail because of the theme - it failed because so few got to play it, and those that did were not overly impressed.

So if AP can fix THOSE issues, then Hot Wheels (which is at least as good a theme as their previous ones) can do well.

Think that might be a bold speculation. Looking at the Pre-release posting of this theme Most were and would disagree with that assumption.

Theme went WAY down on my list of important things the last few years. Theme makes me look, but gameplay gets the money. When they announced Munsters I was thrilled... but then I played it, and just no. There is no theme that I’d buy on theme alone. I have to play it, and like it.

Actually they do.

Yeah, I never quite understand that attitude. Successful people...and...people that have money, seem to sometimes be as frugal and more obsessed with failure and the loss of it, than the common Joe.

Wealthy people don't become OR stay wealthy, due to being money ignorant. That's somethin' us poor dumb dumbs excel at.

I can tell you a beer theme will prevent a game from getting into FECs and movie theaters which is stills a good portion of the market.

American Pinball seems to be invested in the hobby, so I think they’ll be around. They make good games, themes be damned. And the themes aren’t even that bad!

Keep on truckin’ AP!

Hmm, a Crumb pinball might be epic.

I collect $2 comics and spongebob is a fav cartoon. Where could I buy a $10k pinball machine with one of those themes? Theme is nice but unless it is well executed, it means nothing. If done correctly, almost any theme pinball can sell. A good theme well executed will fly off the shelf.

R&M is a good theme and sold 750 units. That is less than the 1k sales threshold we’ve heard Balcer say is needed for a successful pin. So from American Pinball’s perspective they need to pick a great theme and execute well to sell 1k pins. Hot Wheels is not a great theme.

If HW is fun and up to the standards of AP, I’ll be happy playing it in location. So it could prove to to be a hit for AP and I wouldn’t need to own it.

I think (most) everyone is rooting for AP to land a theme that is popular and has mass appeal, both for homeowners and location play. I hope "Hot Wheels" is a code name for a much better theme. Spooky is showing that this is possible right now. I hope this next title allows AP to turn a corner.

Car-themed games generally don't sell well to begin with (nor do motorcycle themes). Why would a 'toy' car theme be considered good? What is the target demographic for this? Way too many other NIB choices these days to think a bad theme will succeed.

It’s not that crazy to think this theme is a joke codename, and someone fed it to Kaneda as a PR stunt.

Rick and Morty might have sold 1000s of units had they been available.

MOST wealthy people start wealthy. Them, and the few that break through keep the wealth the way you described.

Oktoberfest is a GREAT playfield layout, the mechs are cool, the ramps are really cool - the rules are really fun and extremely creative. It’s all the stuff people say they want. Maybe it should have been an easier game for casuals If they were going to sell to breweries. And too bad it couldn’t have been easily rethemed into “Root Beer Oktoberfest” for inclusion in places that look down on alcohol related themes.

Except for theme.

It's been a couple years but the last time I was at a Dave and Busters they have tons of coin pusher redemption games. Guess which one had a line the entire time... SPONGEBOB. Not gonna lie I played it.

Right - all the stuff people *say* they want. But I'd say the theme has to connect too.

Could have remade it into a carnival game easy enough IMO...

R&M sold 750 units because it was limited to that number - don’t forget that.

AP is capable of manufacturing at a much larger scale and would have been able to sell well over the 1000 mark if it was their game.

I am done with this until after the reveal. We are all justifying love or hate for a title that might be an if, so, or maybe. My thought that Hot Wheels is a great theme is no more right than those who say it is a terrible theme. Wait and see the game, then make a judgement.

I wonder if we can get to 1000 posts debating on whether or not this is a good theme. Christ...

Totally agree with this, it needs great integration to make this work, and not just pretty cars.

3353131 (resized).png5674403 (resized).pngAHI_434d50363631373432_3_LowRes_JPG (resized).jpeg659-chips (resized).jpg.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0534476/

But inherited wealth started somewhere....

Gates and Bezos started out as plebes.

Rockefeller and Carnegie were regular people as well.

Mustang is a decent Stern game, but the theme sucks. Seems like it could be comparable to Hot Wheels.

For you Hot Wheels fans. Maybe a shark or Trex mech.

Would have been way better if they had left it Fast n Furious.

Did the info ever get leaked why F&F didn’t happen? Vin Diesel is a fan of gaming and pushing F&F into every form of media/entertainment and merchandise as he can...

I'm assuming it came down to cost, but I have no actual inside knowledge of what happened.

Sure. Hence the "few that break through" that I mentioned. But that not even close to the majority

The exact opposite is true.

Roughly 20% of millionaires inherited 100K

Around 2% inherited 1 million or more

And that’s why a world class accountant is priceless!

I concede - this article is really interesting, especially the end:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/majority-of-the-worlds-richest-people-are-self-made-says-new-report.html

Ford was involved. That is why some dealers had the Mustang pinball in their showroom.

LTG : )

Ford was involved in torpedoing the Fast and Furious theming that became Mustang?

No one considers someone with a million dollars as wealthy. That's just rich. As Chris Rock used to say, Kobe is rich. The guy who signs Kobe's paycheck is wealthy.

This is a VERY BAD SIGN for the next AP game. ZERO answer on the subject of improved artwork/animation - the thing AP needs to address most critically:

TWIP: ...American Pinball had listened to feedback on the first two machines regarding shots, artwork, rule design, etc. Can you elaborate any more what people can expect in regards to changes in those areas?

Michael Grant: I think, and hope, that the entire pinball community will enjoy what the next game provides in terms of game layout and rules. There has been some wonderful feedback from so many folks, and the entire design team has taken that to heart for a game that is much more straightforward and intuitive, not only for rules– but also the overall playfield layout. The flow and geometry are really very special and I can’t wait for everyone to experience what has been created.

Overreacting much? Artwork and animations have been fine, besides gameplay is all that matters.

If gameplay is all that matters Oktoberfest would have been a smash. The art and animations (some say theme as well) made it a sales dud.

AP's on-screen art direction and animation is atrocious. It kind of worked for Houdini given the old-timey theme, but was glaringly bad on Oktoberfest. They need to fix it or they're going nowhere fast. For their official response to completely ignore the part of the TWIP question about fixing their art is a very bad sign.

And Hot Wheels it is.

It’s official: Hot Wheels

638E3446-C0F9-4E6B-BD51-FB1884F3B27B (resized).jpeg

Error in posting created duplicate post.

Duplicate post, sorry

That 11 second spiff should garner another thousand posts of speculation. lol

Make sure to stockpile cars now, you never know what the future may hold for cool mods...

Screen grab. That’s pretty much it.

8A98A463-0BE1-4060-8A17-DC31757672FC (resized).jpeg

No idea what became of Fast and Furious.

Ford was involved with Mustang from it's development. It was reported here on Pinside.

I don't recall anything about Fast and Furious becoming Mustang.

LTG : )

So that's what doomed Pabst Can Crusher!!