Boo

Spot on 100%

Stern cares about noone bu their bottom line. Many of the people in charge don't even care about pinball or the people.

I appreciate your passion, but at the end of the day Stern will do what they need to do to protect their company. I own titles form both companies and even though I hate that it was done to Charlie I hope he will see that sometimes it is best to leave your passion under your hat.

Can you provide more detail as to what went down for those of us that haven't listened to the podcast and don't plan to? (I'm far enough behind on "U Talkin' REM 2 Me" as it is without dabbling in other podcasts).

Can you bring us up to speed on what exactly Stern did? So they purchased a license to prevent Spooky from acquiring it? What license was it?

There is more to it, but the TLDR version is tha Stern bought godzilla licensewith no inten to make a game and just to prevent spooky from being able to make their dream theme.

Pretty sure pinball would have been just fine without stern. I think pinball stayed alive despite stern and i dispise how they run their business on the backs of the hard working poor. Go read some of the old eddit threads from previous stern employees if you want a eal look athow dark it ison the inside.

My question in this is why would TOHO not go with Spooky? I mean it takes two to tango. I think it is crappy on Stern's part, but yeah.

Like Lord of the Rings and Spiderman and Pirates? And what do you know about pinball factory wages? Can you spare us the baloney virtue signaling?

Stern as a company has always made me feel distain. Since bringing in 3 models of pins. Building cheaper made games. And cost-cutting every new game but charging more with every new pin. ReIeasing unfinished games. Lipservice about code. Batman 66 was my tipping point. IMHO the greatest theme, but the shittiest playing game. And the highest price. I can't see myself ever buying a new Stern again.

I hope spooky makes a game that blows any Stern out of the water in gameplay and pricing.

Throw it right back at them.

The tallest trees capture the most sun, but also catch the most wind. It's the double edge of being the big dog. You get to swing your market share around, but you will be hated for it. This bothers me very little, as it is common in business of any industry.

I also, like you, think that competition and having multiple pinball manufacturers in the game is good for the industry as well as us, the consumers. However, I think that in the long run this setback is good for Spooky. It will steel their reserve and push them to shed any lingering naivety they may have had, and instead focus themselves to start actually putting out great games. I like TNA, and have hopes that Alice Cooper will be great. However, they still haven't released anything great yet. No instant classic, undeniable pin. I hope this drives them. I want to see it. I know that we all do. It was nice being the cute little underdog that everyone rooted for, and appreciated just for showing up. Now it's time to see the little dog's teeth.

Welcome to the club....The other Stern Army.

It kind of reminds me of 13 years ago when EA bought the NFL license to prevent NFL2k from competing with them anymore. Well that worked for a while, then they devoted all those same people to NBA2k and crushed EA's basketball game and now outsell Madden with their basketball game, while EA still has to pay the high exclusive license cost, lol. Things that are done for anti-competitive reasons have a way of backfiring. EA lost the respect of all sports gamers with that move and it's reputation really hasn't recovered. That's not to say Spooky is going to outsell Stern anytime soon, but if Spooky ever puts out a superior product to Stern and can produce it in numbers, then things could shift quickly.

I thought Alice Cooper was their dream theme?

Good lord, its called business. It happens everyday, thankfully not in pinball or you would need to buy stock in Kleenex brand.

"Us"? That's a good one. How long have you been here?

To long?

What I'm trying to say is, dude, there's lots of opinions on here and you can only speak for yourself.

I personally own a small business in a very niche field. When I started there were only a few places like mine and now then there were dozens and dozens... Now only a few remain... I personally believe rising tide raises all ships. And that if a company offers a good product, then they will create new customers for our market. Some of those customers in time will find my business, because I have faith in my product, and the quality of it.... Now, you need to of course make a good product for that to be true... Now, I don't hate competitors I like them... So long as they offer good product and don't drive away people by offering inferior rip offs.
And it's not good business for stern to buy a license that they have no plans to develop.
Two major reasons. First you paid money for an asset you will never use. And the second reason this drives up the cost of licenses.
So in both the short and long term its a bad decision.

However, what if Stern does make a game from it. We all know pinball themes matter. There are themes that will never get my money, not even a quarter of it.
So lets wait and see what happens. I personally if I were stern. Would avoid bidding wars on themes in an attempt to drive the price down on them.
I refuse to believe that all the good ideas are gone... Also I think you could make a good non-license game and it be successful. Dialed in was just a horrible theme. Also I think no backglass hurt it. It's a cool looking pinball that I would totally play in the wild. Never going to buy. Its just ugly and dumb to look at.

Stern evil? Hmmm....naw they're a business and they are just as shady as anyone else. Now, you wanna talk aboot why shit is so crazy in price that's JJP right there...they boned all of us great games or not. Assholes with their "dream themes," jesus grow up.
Now if you'll excuse me I gotta grab another Captain(T) & Coke.
Or Pepsi whatever.

Might have been a decent topic if worded a bit different.
Instead it’s another agenda ridden Stern bash thread.

I'm sure this is all covered in the podcast, but how did Stern find out the meeting was happening at all, let alone the time and location, such that someone from Stern could bust in on it? Seems pretty melodramatic and not something TOHO would appreciate either. And did someone from Stern actually tell Spooky that they didn't plan to utilize the Godzilla license and were only buying it to jam Spooky up? Again, seems like kooky behavior, not what I'd call "just business."

or how aboot when it wasn;t coded with what happened in a goddamn podcast 80% of people didn't listen to.

Now if you'll excuse me I'll go back in my basement and complete my Bible Adventure Game.

Thumbs down for drinking Captain & Pepsi.

If I'm crusty it's because I'm running on tap water this evening, trust me.

naw, he's one of the good guys.

Whoa Whoa tight-tits simmer down. There's a diff'rence betwixt "dreaming" and "jerking off all over a dream theme." Dream themes are dumb...themes don't make games great as a player, gameplay does.

EDIT: Now if you'll excuse me my wife went to bed and I'm going in the basement to drink and listen to music and fumble around like I'm doing something for a couple hours. Don't try to aut Ann Arbor me...I'm a townie.

For those of us that did not listen to the podcast can someone fill in the grey area. Which license, what dud Stern do?

Would they pass the evil corporation test?

They took all your sticker mods. Those dirty dogs!

Post #9

I wish I could thumbs down this too but for some reason I've used up my quota on the rest of your crazy posts.