Why assume Popadiuk? Why not Nordman? -- he works with everybody.

Isn't homepin the guy who hates and doesn't want to sell to americans?

If I had a guy who stole a million dollars from pinheads, planned 3 new games and made zero, rushed a POS prototype, then tried to get people to convert their pre-order money into credit worth half as much for a stripped down model along with an agreement not to sue him... If that guy was designing my game I would pay him hush money to ensure that information never got out.

I would hire him. Even with his past if he just said "I'm making an iron Maiden Pin" everyone round here would still throw cash at him.

I would not bet on that.

If by cash, you mean rocks. Then yes.

Everyone is a strong word.

If it wasn't Jpop, he'd probably have said, "No, it's someone else but I won't say who", as you'd assume he'd want to distance himself from any mess if there isn't actually a connection.

Is the game delayed because Jpop is still doodlng, changing the design, and creating things that can't work?

I think the danger hiring him is that people wouldn't want to lay down any cash until it's shipping - and working!

why not hire him:

JPoP is a very good designer with some interesting ideas and vision.
He actually has no job and needs some bucks, i guess. ( So maybe he can pay his dues sometimes )
Maybe Homepin can get access to the 3 other JPop projects , that are also called "fraud" ....

we´ll see.

man, every time someone mentions homepin i cringe - regardless of whether jpop is onboard or not.

jpop and thunderturds sounds like a match made in heaven

At this point, attaching jpop's name to your game would be about the same as hiring Jared Fogle to be the spokesman of your sandwhich shop.

It has to be Nordman, he's known to be working on a top secret project. This photo was in Pinball News and we were told later it was NOT Alien.

2_(resized).jpg

After understanding what Mike has been through personally over the last 6 months, the delay of the game is completely understandable.

On the face value of Popadiuk's past game design and not his business sense, if he is the designer of Thunderbirds then I can't wait for this game.

Was there something I missed in Magic Girl? It looked like a bunch of rehashed old ideas... What exactly are you referring to?

Thanks for the article, it's good to see some reporting on this. I didn't realize that there were money issues involved in the delay, it sounds like the project is still at a much earlier stage than I would have expected with the design of the game still incomplete. Surprised to see the negativity about third flippers, I've always found them to be really fun. Sure you can't cradle with them but I don't think that means that they don't add to gameplay. I'm concerned that with the delays and the reluctance to accept new technology such as LCDs out of the gate that Homepin might be behind the 8 ball from the start when the game is finally available. By that time, there will be multiple companies using LCD technology and other innovations such as swappable systems, a game with a standard display (even if in full color) might look outdated. Nevertheless, will continue to follow with interest.

Reading the article, looks to be still 12+ months away

If it is JPOP, I do see a few parallels.

1)Standard hardware being redesigned from scratch.
2)Game 90% complete.
3)Thinking about next game.

Same could have been said about WoZ when Jack started taking TH deposits

If this rumor is true and Jpop is involved then it's a very easy one for me, I will never ever touch the thing let alone buy it.
I refuse to touch any of his games anymore, the guy is a crook and he belongs in jail.

Me either, Jpop and Mike, the guy that hates the USA, makes this a mortal LOCK against ever considering anything these guys are associated with.

Given Mike's attitude - abrasive, takes no prisoners and absolutely will not suffer (what he feels to be) shit from anyone - he's probably the perfect person to control Popadiuk and get something useful out of him. If it's true ... good luck to both.

"Next question. What will Thunderbirds be like? The most exciting piece of news to come out of the factory is that the machine will feature electroluminescent side panels in the backbox, driven by Homepin designed 140V AC power feeds."

http://www.homepin.com/tag/Thunderbirds_Side_Backbox.gif

This has JPop written all over it.

I would hire Poopadeuce just to fire him.

A lot of negativity and defensiveness in this thread but that's a good thing. They don't need a bunch of preorders when they haven't made any pins yet. Let them make it. Let us see and play it and then we'll be able to make a judgement on whether it's worth our money.

I may have been watching too much Walking Dead lately. That came out in Rick Grimes' voice.

There are preorders
If you signed up two and a half years ago, you got a discounted price

But remember, we are buying from Home pin, not Jpop

Poopadookie would be just the ticket for Mike.

His recent downfall does not negate the prior successes. My CV isn't going anywhere; it's a masterpiece.

He was surrounded by a team of professionals and had to answer to and follow his superiors. His true color and talent showed when he stood alone.

No need to shun the past works in my opinion, I attribute their success to the Williams machine. Although those Where's Jpoop easter eggs are particular distasteful. I'm afraid to look more carefully at my WCS backglass in case there's something in there!

Hence why this might actually work. He has someone to answer to, and someone who will likely give him extremely short shrift if he doesn't do what's asked of him.

Some of the attitude Mike's shown, I really don't like, but on the other hand I do see how he might feel he's been backed into a corner on some things, and therefore comes out swinging. He's definitely not a PR man, and giving people a savaging seems to come a little too easily to him.

What I do like is that he's established a production and design operation from scratch in China on a limited budget, which is delivering product and which aims to supply pinball and arcade machines at a price more affordable than the ludicrous sums that the industry has been heading towards for a while. I also think Thunderbirds is an interesting theme, and it's cool that the Hankin brand is being revived.

I don't think he's a fool, and he won't sink his business for the sake of JPop's vanity and shortcomings as a person or businessman. If he's had him on board since the start, and still does, that's probably because he's been able to get useful work out of him. If that's the case, then he should be congratulated for it, provided the game turns out well, not castigated for it.

But then you have to ask the question if Jpop was the mystery designer he then has been with Homepin for close to 2.5 years which means he would of been doing magic girl, the zombie theme, alice in wonderland, kiss and then homepin's thunderbirds and so was taking on way too much and no wonder his projects failed.

Then with this project hard to too see that it is 90% complete when he hasn't selected a dmd, rgb or lcd yet and once he selects one he still has to program to suit which ever screen so I think as for effort there is much more than 10% left to be completed with the game. You would think regardless of re-creating all the parts he could of had much of the game designed and test played with standard parts and raw basic code to prove the shots 1.5 to 2 years ago.

If John is the designer for Homepin, then why didn't Homepin bail out Zidware when things went bad?

was there anything for Mike to gain from such a bail out?

if the money was gone, the money was gone,
thus no money left to build the game

Fair enough and that is your choice, my choice is made too.

In the Pavlov Pinball article he says that the **playfield** is 90% done, not the whole machine. After delays and funds being frozen, it sounds like the stated timeline is rather more realistic now. Presumably the hope is for a publicly playable prototype at the Australian show in September, then launch some time next year. Main thing for them is surely that ITV were amenable to license extension, especially whilst his wife's estate is going through probate - you can never be sure how long it'll take.

Why would Homepin want to pour petrol on to a pile of money and flick a match on to it? What would they possibly gain? Regardless of whether they've employed him as a designer or creative director or whatever, I should think the last thing they want to do is have anything to do with his mess. I'm sure like many others they've looked at the assets, but given that apparently they're still being shopped around and no-one's picked them up, they must have come to the same conclusion as everyone else - starting over would be easier and cheaper. Indeed, now that ZombieYeti is working with Stern, the unique selling point is gone ... possibly the only valuable asset is the music, and that wouldn't fetch very much.

This stance makes no sense. You're arguing what? Games from williams that you previously liked that he was lead designer now suck because JPOP couldnt get it together 20 years *later*?

This.

Good news if jpop is working, means he will have some funds to pay out when he is sued.

A stance is a stance, it doesn't have to make sense to anyone but me.
Once something or someone is even remotely connected to shit I scratch it or them right away.
Some of his games suck big time anyway imo and some are good but the guy does suck big time so I will never look at anything he has done in the past the same way again.
Like I said, it's my stance and it's doesn't have to make sense to anyone but me.
I'm happy.

While it's fun to speculate, the article is off the mark and I can 1000% guarantee Jpop did not design the Thunderbirds playfield. Mike is just having a little fun with Pavlov and trying to drum up some interest in this moribund project.

lol, drum up interest or sink the ship

moribund - declining, in decline, on the decline, waning, dying, stagnating, stagnant, decaying, crumbling, atrophying, obsolescent, on its last legs

Would happily trust jpop's aesthetic sense.

But wouldn't trust him to manage two cents.

Whoever hires him would need to keep him on a short leash.

Sounds good to me. I'll buy up all those piece of shit TOTANs and CV's and store them away so you guys don't have to look at them. paying 4k flat rate. Better cash in before he does more stuff to lower the value of your games.

Not denying JPOP is involved is great, free publicity. The more people talk about whether JPOP is involved, the more people hear about Thunderbirds.

I think there are more people that'd let Jared Fogle babysit than do that.

I wonder if he got paid up front?

When do designers ever get paid up front in the real world (i.e. where your now boss retains your services)?

this tactic may have backfired

I am on the verge of pulling out, as are two others

Mike really needs to communicate with his paid up customers better

This right here is why Mike should have:
A - never hired jpoop (if this is actually true).
B - avoided using such a bone head and feeble move to try and attract attention and promote your product.

Maybe Mike needs to get back to Pinside and read the 20,000 posts in the jpoop thread. Maybe then he'll realize what kind of thief and liar jpoop is and the "hate" that surrounds this guy. Who would freely choose to associate with jpoop and why would you think that this idiot could help your company.

Totally mind boggling business tactic by Mike.

QSS