I don't see much of a struggle for AMH. They will sell out 150.

Pat Lawlor and JJP have a lot more clout than Spooky, so not really comparable IMO.

I agree, the whole "no unlicensed themes" thing is too heavily latched on to because of a few "profile" people making comments about how bad an idea it is. (Primarily Stern and Ben Heck). There are many reasons that AMH didn't fly off the shelves instantly. But it is still by far a better business venture than Predator at this point, whether or not Predator does eventually get finished.

It allowed Spooky to run their own project with no apologies, get a working pin out there and prove to everybody they could do it. And make money! Now they are working on a 2nd pin which is seemingly a licensed version of their zombie idea... but in my opinion with the lessons they learned from the unlicensed AMH, they could go unlicensed again and have game #2 fly off the shelves because people know they have learned from mistakes in AMH. (Better artwork, lighting, music, voice acting or what have you... i haven't seen AMH in person so these are just examples).

Given the production potential at Spooky (a few pins a week) I think it could actually be a better move to go unlicensed. Keep control of your project, and sell out 250 of an unlicensed theme. The pinball world trusts them now to have a quality product, if they can hit a good price point it's a match made in heaven. Especially with Stern Pro prices creeping up.

And I forgot to mention - People going for licensed themes are taking YEARS longer for a single project to get it out the door. Spooky doing 2 unlicensed themes in the same time frame as a single project like WoZ or Hobbit or Predator or any JPop game is a big deal.

Add 6 months to whatever you heard, then we can start talking about when it might be getting close to release.

Keeping in mind you can make an unlicensed theme that appeals to most people, but if you make a licensed theme you are trying to appeal to a limited fan base. There is a reason why Medieval Madness is #1 and 4 of the top 10 pins are unlicensed themes. It is a valid strategy to go for something that has universal appeal rather than being focused on selling to a particular fan base. I'd let Stern be the "easy way" manufacturing company. If I were Spooky I would stick to unlicensed.

It's as close as it gets. All age groups of men, women and children watch movies, read books and play games about knights, castles, dragons, wizards etc. all the time. Harry potter for example. I'd say your statement couldn't be more off the mark, and MM's reign at the top of the list proves it.

You are thinking about it wrong if you think I mean more people like it than aren't interested.

If 30% of all people enjoy a medieval theme and 10% enjoy a space theme, in both cases "most people don't like it." But they are universal themes in that they reach all ages and both genders. Compare that to KISS which might be a theme that 1-2% of all people like. Nowhere near a universal theme. Not a tough sell to KISS fans though. It's just a different marketing strategy.

Hand drawn art like Metallica's has a lot better quality. Feels original. People are blown away by it for a reason. Maybe you like photoshop and maybe it's not all crappy, but hand drawn art is better.