Quoted from Shapeshifter:

According to Kaneda, no licence to use Depp which would be a pretty big miss.

Quoted from TRAMD:

I think that out of everything I've seen mentioned in this or similar threads, Harry Potter would be an absolute smash hit mega seller.
I know I'm a broken record but I'd seriously buy two or three LEs/CEs of a JJP Man of Steel or even Justice League (in a few years after the movies are done) pin; or anything with Superman really.
Other themes that I would like: Guardians of the Galaxy, Princess Bride, Willow, Goonies, Neverending Story, Labyrinth, Predator, Doom (may be better without an LCD screen), Queen, Space Balls, Monty Python Holy Grail.
BTTF or POTC would be OK and I would probably consider them if the game play was good but not on theme alone.
The Beatles don't do a lot for me and good luck getting the license but I am sure it would be a huge hit.
I'm not sure I can imagine a 007 JJP pin. It seems difficult to mix all of the different eras and actors. Bond is great and I know this is one of the longest running franchises ever but I can't imagine it being a good pin, especially with video on a JJP pin.
Toy Story? Muppets? Heck no. No kid's cartoon or puppet themes, please.

Quoted from Pimp77:

Pretty crazy for an $8500/$9500/$12500 game. Can’t believe Disney let’s their actors rape them on movie contracts and Warner Bros is the smart one. Seriously, Depp says “I retain all rights of my characters voice and video” and Disney says ok??? All actors/actresses got that deal?? Ridiculous.

Quoted from Pinballomatic:

Stern went through the same deal with POTC they wrote their own script more or less and used fake voices and had a struggle with Disney all along the way. The stories are out there. David Thiel the audio genius has talked about it since he led the audio for both games then and now. Different studios like warner bros do things differently than Disney. That’s the deal.

Quoted from Yelobird:

One correction, the JJP POTC is 3-4 times Better in Every way than the Stern attempt! With or without voices!

Quoted from SwimLaw:

I really hate to say it, but I think I am passing on this machine. Without the original score and theme song and actor clips/callouts, this just is not Pirates of the Caribbean. I could understand if this were a $6,000 machine. But, this is $9,000-$13,000 pin depending on which edition you buy! For that kind of money, you would have thought custom shoutouts from Johnny Depp or at least Geoffrey Rush or Orlando Bloom. Mr. Gibbs? Yeah, not doing it at all for me.
To answer a lot of people's questions from a legal and licensing perspective, it all comes down to money. I am sure JJP could have got the licensing rights to more video and actor's faces and voices, but it would have cost them more money on a per unit sold basis. Was it worth it? Who knows. Really only those in the discussions and the negotiations would know. But, for my kids, an alleged "POTC-themed machine" with no Jack Sparrow, no Geoffrey Rush (Captain Barbosa), no Orlando Bloom (no Orlando Bloom)...just isn't a POTC machine at all.
In truth, the theme is nonexistent...it is just as bad if not much worse than the Stern machine if only for the fact that the Stern machine I can purchase on the secondary market for $3,000-$5,000 without having to pay $9,000-$13,000K.
Personally, I can't help but feel this was a major oversight on JJP. If they couldn't get the rights at a decent price point, they shouldn't have attempted the machine. This feels like price gouging for a POTC-themed machine that really is not POTC at all. The music appears to be horrible -- slow, dragging and no link to the POTC original score. And, a few shoutouts from Mr. Gibbs and cabinet/playfield art does not a POTC machine make...it just doesn't.
Hopefully, they have time to fix this before release? But, I am definitely passing until I see what the final product looks like.

Quoted from SwimLaw:

Yep. This is my thought exactly. With no call outs from the films, no clips showing actor's faces, and no theme songs from the films, my thought is there are going to be a LOT of disappointed original buyers of these machines come this time next year. Enough you might just get one for much cheaper in a year from now.
Personally, I still hope that POTC is only half-baked and that JJP will add additional call outs, clips, music and video prior to initial release.

Quoted from mtbpinball:

without the cast of actors voices and without video showing faces this would be a great disappointment to me..... why wouldn't that have been secured before making the game? that would definitely be a big plus feature in my opinion and also a big minus feature if it's missing. Could have been a great game with original cast voices music soundtracks and video showing faces

Quoted from gliebig:

Can't stand Depp. Never like the movies. More of a kick-ass generic pirate themed game is a win for me.</blockquot

True but that isnt what JJp designed, based on the 5 depp movies. Generic only works for an original make, especially at 10K plus.

Quoted from gliebig:

Ok then. Less Depp the better.

Quoted from Azmodeus:

» YouTube video
Pirates can be fun.

Quoted from Asael:

There is a video of a PotC in the UK. The left side of the moving ship looks unfinished but it's the first video I could hear more from the music and now I think JJP will do a good job even without the original score. Thiel will nail the Pirate theme.
» YouTube video

Quoted from pascal-pinball:

I think the pin looks fantastic !!
What a great payfield disign !! great toys, lots of diverters etc...
And very good rules: 5 multiballs for each movie and 5 modes must be played for each movie.
but... this pin is based on 5 movies, almost 10 hours of movies and not 1 second of movies footage !!! not 1 second of Original music !!! not 1 second of Original voice from the movies !!
Just 1 pictur from each person,the potc logo and that's it.
when you start a multiball, you see a self-made animation with the potc-logo.
when you make a shot in a mode (chapter) or you complete that chapter you see no animation.
when I look at the jjp potc pinball gameplay, I see an pirates pinball, not a POTC pinball.
This is a shame...

Quoted from Eskaybee:

I don’t know why so many people are hung up on video footage. Is it because of Hobbit? Cause that’s a totally different game in itself, support JJP and buy that if you want video footage in your collection. Me personally, video footage on the display is one of my least cares about assets. The display should thrive on scoring, progression and rules IMO.
If movie clips and stop n go Pinball really is your thing then I can respect that. But don’t get too tunnel vision on it. $8500 doesn’t buy you stop n go movie footage; it gets you a world of Pinball magic that Eric, Keefer, Joe, JP, and David bring to life.

Quoted from Raknitz:

two things pinch my nerves atm
is that me or the triple disks are very loud during a game ? watching lives and stdm videos, i cant help myself to hear them louder than the music or anything else during the game, and if you need to become deaf pump up the master volume to no hear them, well no that fancy
the second one is the inlane sound, to loud, loo long, covering anything else beside the running circles : /
well that wont stop me to play it or purchase one, but those two things are quit a little downside on my motivation

Quoted from Asael:

Then don't make a game themed after PotC. Cause PotC = Jack Sparrow. He drives these movies.
Star Wars and The Hobbit have the best interactive way of using video clips and tie them into the gameplay in my opinion.
The problem I have with the modes/chapters in the JJPPotC I have is that the chapters are generic. The only reference with the movie is that you have to shoot the shots associated with the persons that are in the chapter of the movie. You could make endless modes if you would just let the game choose shots randomly for the modes.
One mode in pinball I realy like is the martell mode in GoT you have to play the fight between the red viper and the mountain. In this fight in the TV show the red viper circles around the mountain with a spear. And so you have to make orbit shots to circle around in the game and you finish the mode with a furious attack to the middle. That's what I call a good, fun mode that translates a theme into gameplay. SW and Hobbit are packed with those modes.
It is not the question how many videos and if it's a dot animation or a lcd video clip. It's how and what is used and a dress tossed into the sea doesn't start my heart pumping.
So far PotC looks more like it has a fun strategy board game style. I am hoping the wizard modes will change that.
As it is for now I have to play PotC alot before deciding to buy it.

Quoted from pipes:

I guess my comment is based on the fact that half the people are complaining about seeing his face on the playfield and the other half are complaining that they can't watch the movie while they're playing.

Quoted from pipes:

What is shown on that LCD is not possible on a DMD. You look up and you have everything you need, all the info, displayed right in front of you at all times. I think it's great....with or without movie clips. I love DMD's but let's be serious.

Quoted from Asael:

If only my english would be better. You put in a few words what I wanted to write the whole time!

Quoted from ronaldvg:

Ok, I stand corrected, but IF they would do sound-alikes, there would again be others that would crap on that too. I am getting a little fed up with all the drama before even the software is finished.
The manufacturers just cannot win: hire all the official actors and the machine will be priced too high, get sound-alikes and get boooh'd for that, get one real main character and get crap for that too. Second example: Show the game early and get crapped on but get real life data on how to make the games better, or just show the machine very late and get crap.

Quoted from PanzerFreak:

Wow, great live stream. This game sure has a ton going on in it. I also noticed more video clips added to the game.

Quoted from pipes:

It says on the spec sheet that the LE’s are numbered. Just curious what the point is to numbering them if they are not limited in production. Seems weird to me.
It also says the LE comes with a laser cut topper...do we know anything about that yet?

Quoted from Frax:

Please say that I was #1.
Seriously, I BLEW UP one of the POTC that was at TPF on sunday morning. I think I played 7 or 8 multiballs. I know I had double stacks at least twice, and played all 5 of the main ones. I had to go out of my way to start the one that builds off that far left loop. It's another VERY long playing game by JJP...no shocks there! I felt bad for the people in the line behind me, but it was early on Sunday, and I hadn't occupied the line all weekend so...LET ER' RIP.
The hole under the upper flipper is BRILLIANT. I love that so much. I'm not sure what the hell it's actually used for in gameplay, but MAN why hasn't THAT been done before? It's an actual hole, not a lane like Spider Sense or Stern Star Trek going back to shooter lane!

Quoted from Yelobird:

Just a suggestion but instead of reading what the game can do watch a video or even go play one. Most of the read assumptions you made are incorrect. POTC is a masterpiece and only half way done. Video included. And yes I say this after playing it countless times. Love my Hobbit and my SW also but neither is close to depth or gameplay on POTC. Just a users view.

Quoted from PanzerFreak:

Agree. The current apron decal doesn't fit the the rest of the theme and lacks color compared to the playfield. Also Poseidon isn't even in any of the movies, yes his trident is but not Poseidon himself. It may not even be Poseidon on the apron as he's not holding a trident but what looks like a spear. Since the characters are already on the playfield and side art it would be cool to see a couple of the ships battling it out on the apron artwork. The apron artwork on POTC is the only ugly thing art wise I can think of on an otherwise beautiful game. I don't think this is the final apron artwork.
However, it's important to note that the games shown so far have been prototypes, things could change. We haven't seen the topper for the LE yet and in one of the Straight Down the Middle POTC videos one of the guys mentions that sails of some kind will be on the Black Pearl toy.

Quoted from Halfwasted:

Yea that Apron is weird, never noticed it before. Need some piratey things on the apron.

Quoted from PanzerFreak:

Here’s a “little” write up about POTC after I played 5 games on it today at Abel Electronics
***
The Toys!
I’m starting with the the toys as oh POTC has the toys! The rocking ship is one of the coolest pinball toys I’ve seen. While up on the mini playfield you have two mini orbit shots to hit, standups to light the canon and of course the canon shot itself. I also found it a welcoming challenge to gain access to the canon which I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to use during my gameplay (didn’t make the shot). The spinning map on the prototype I played didn’t appear to match the movement of the one shown in the latest JJP live streams and was likely an older hardware version. However, the map toy is pretty damn cool considering all of the combinations of awards and it being comprised of 3 spinning disks. The chest physical ball lock is cool and the Maelstrom ramp with the whirlpool hole is very fun to hit for starting one of the movie multiballs + jackpots (I think it was for “On Stranger Tides”). While the compass mini LCD isn't coded yet I can see it being a helpful feature to have on the game (plus it does show animated rule cards). Then there’s there’s the spinning pirate (Tortuga Tom!), multiple molded toys, etc. POTC may very well be the most loaded pin I’ve ever played.
***
Artwork
What a beautiful game, from the playfield to the side artwork to the backglass. The only complaint I have in terms of artwork is the apron artwork which does not go along well with the rest of the game. I think a scene featuring battling ships on the apron with colors more in line with the playfield / cabinet would complete the entire art package.
***
Gameplay
The design of POTC simply screams fun is is one of my new favorite layouts in pinball. The game has a great combination of flow and stop and go based gameplay with unique shots. POTC easily has the most variety of unique shots I’ve seen in a pin and like the designer Eric has mentioned there are multiple paths to many of the games shots. I was also surprised to see multiple ways to access the ship, from the main ramp, to a skill shot in the back right, to the left inner orbit.
***
Rules
I don’t believe the prototpye I played was running the latest code. Thanks to the Straight Down the Middle video with Eric and Keith I was at least somewhat familiar with the rules and how to start chapters and light several of the games multiball. I can report that to me the chapters all felt unique with their own unique music. The ability to choose from 22 different characters all with unique abilities really adds a new dimension to pinball rules as it opens up a lot of different strategies for such a deep game. POTC is a game that you can own for years and always have something new to see / reach for. Overall the ruleset, from the little I’ve played, comes across as an extremely deep objective based ruleset that tells the themes story through it code.
***
Callouts
I’ve knocked the game for not having the audio lines from the movies. However, I think that Kevin McNally did an excellent job with the games callouts. Kevin McNally is a skilled actor and it shows through with the voice work he did for POTC. The Gibbs callouts go with the game perfectly. I doubt all of the Gibbs callouts are in the game as I believe that over 1000 were recorded. If there's one area of concern, and maybe I just didn't notice, it would be that I hope callouts related to each of the games modes were recorded as with the lack of actor audio that would help set the scene for each mode (same with mulitballs, mini wizard modes).
***
Animations
J.P has knocked it out of the park in the animation department for POTC. The animated treasure map on the screen that changes as you progress through the game is one of the coolest things I’ve seen on a pinball LCD yet. I also liked how each section of the LCD corresponds to one of the five movies and matches up to the order of the movie inserts on the playfield. All of the animations created by JP help create the world of Pirates of the Caribbean. The match sequence with the characters rotating on the ship wheel is one of my favorite animations in the game so far as is the extra ball one. I do hope that more animations along with movie clips are added to each of the games 5 multiballs as besides the opening animation each of them currently feels the same visually.
***
Audio / Music
David Thiel has done an excellent job with creating music for POTC. I didn’t miss the traditional POTC movie or ride themes as neither have a pinball vibe to it. The music that David has come up with for POTC has that pinball touch and yet still feels like music from the Pirates of the Caribbean universe. As I mentioned in the rules section of this write up I did notice unique audio for each of the games modes that I played. I don't think there's 125 custom tracks for all 125 modes (that would be kinda insane and may take 20 years to create, haha) but there could very well be a unique audio track assigned to the 25 modes that get randomly chosen each game.
***
Other Notes: Just a note about the powder coat on the games armor. The powder coat has a nice textured feel to it. This is pretty cool as it kinda makes me think of what the texture on a canon would feel like.
***
Overall POTC by JJP is fun and engaging game and one that I look forward to getting into my home as soon as possible. $8500 - $9500 is a ton of money to spend on a pinball machine. In the high end end pinball market I honestly feel that JJP is offering the most value with POTC. The amount of work going into the games software, rules, animations and music is matched only by other games JJP has done in my opinion. The design alone and all of the games interactive toys add a lot of value to this game already but its the software that brings the design and toys to life. With this title I feel like I'm getting 3-5x the amount code compared to most non JJP games.

Quoted from Yelobird:

All of this is interesting to me. If they or Any company launches Bam same month Everyone lynches them for not play testing the game, not finishing the code or wizard finally, not identifying board or wear issues etc etc but if they Do all of those things everyone says they are making poor business decisions and they will fail and they will not wait. How can they win??? To early, to late. Umphh. To me the game looks Amazing and worth the wait if anything to save funds Without needing to liquidate my collection to make an Irrational buy now decision. Just don't understand lol.

Quoted from vicjw66:

I just don't see how anyone could possibly prefer jjp or Wpc to the current Stern flipper system (assuming they are working properly). For the longest time, I was a wpc fanboy and tried to fool myself into thinking everything Bally/Williams was way better than Stern. At some point, I just had to admit to myself that the Stern flipper system was superior. As for the Jjp flipper system being the same as Wpc, I can "feel" that it is inferior. Wpc flippers are definitely better.

Quoted from screaminr:

Lurch blues brothers is my dream pin. Avoiding the good ol boys, Nazis ,cops.getting the band back to gether. Raising the money for the orphanage would be sick!!! ¡

Quoted from OnTheSnap:

I will keep my LE order assuming all this backlash convinced them to put the innovative toys back in.
There is a careful balance of schedule and solving problems that cause delays. So far it seems guys rather wait for the original design. If that’s the case perhaps they will listen.
Hey JJP how about you use the single wheel and open chest on the standard. And just delay the LE and CE for the original design?
Actually not a bad distinction between standard and the upgraded variants.

Quoted from Ericpinballfan:

Not a joke. But Jack needs to make a statement on homepage soon, this is getting out of hand and everyone is storming the castle with pitch forks.
I count 7 different threads addressing this topic now.

Quoted from pipes:

JJP's thing is that all versions play exactly the same though. This would change that.

Quoted from KingBW:

There's a lot of angry people in Eric's update thread that I haven't caught up on yet, so I'll post a positive update here for those still interested in JJPOTC. I talked to Eric at the MGC show on Saturday and asked a few questions, so this info is as of then. Some of this may have been mentioned in some of the videos - I didn't watch all of those yet.
When I asked about production timing Eric told me that he will be going to NJ to help out with the production line changeover in May, hopefully shipping near the beginning of June. That is what he told me a few weeks ago too, so the estimated timing is still on track since then.
He told me the code would be version 1.0 at minimum (previously mentioned above). All of the modes and game progression will be there, all of the different character advantages will be complete. There would still be some enhancements to light shows, sounds, back box screed graphics/animations, etc that would follow. [I'm guessing it would be similar to where DI is now - just needs some animations, code tweaking, and adjustments here and there.]
Earlier in this thread there was some concern over the ball dropping down that far from the ship upper playfield. Eric said that thick Mylar would be in the drop zone on the playfield surface. There is a ledge under there on the right side where the ball starts to travel through the outer loop arc. The plastic piece on top of that ledge currently will be changed over to metal with a sticker on it.
I asked about the progressions of firing at the other ship on the playfield. There is a weighted value associated with it that is like a basketball 3 point shot. If you shoot into the ship to sink it, it is worth 3 units and multiball starts immediately. If you hit the side of the ship, it's worth 1 unit. After you get the first multiball, the next required units to start that multiball increases. Each time you achieve the ship multiball, the required units keep increasing and get harder to achieve.
I asked if the rocking ship ever changes rocking speeds. In production it will, currently in the prototypes it does not. Some modes will increase the rocking speed and make it even more challenging. The roll angle will increase and decrease with different modes or qualifiers also. The ship itself will have an adjustable linkage for the average tilt/roll angle in case there are variances in parts or builds so you can adjust it to your preference and dial it in. [or make it harder for those that think it is too easy - my input there]
For what it's worth to the angry people, Eric said that he is more disappointed than anyone about the discs. Like what he said in the video, he wanted to make sure that people would not get a pinball machine that had a part that had issues that would need to be replaced.
Anyway ... just some info for those interested.

A few weeks ago Ted said he was working on the next TH update. My personal unsubstantiated guess would be the update would be in June or maybe July while the JJPOTC starts up production - just a guess. Back then, Ted said the coders were waiting on some animations for DI. So who knows ... maybe the next DI update will be coming too.
My personal take on the discs is that I will wait and see how the production pins play. It would be cool if once they were spinning, an image would appear from the spinning motion. Anyway ... JJP did a great job on the pin ... bummer about the triple spinning discs. I liked those. The trunk at MGC was partially open and the physical ball lock was working just fine the 10+ times that I played it. A non issue for me - that was fine. As a matter of fact, I could see how many balls were locked in case I lost track. I'm not one of those angry people. Disappointed about the multiple discs, but not a show stopper yet. I hope JJP reduces the price to make it an easier decision at this point. Just my opinion.