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.

I truly hope you are right. However, I am more pessimistic on this.

I think the more likely scenario is that they are going to have tons of pre-orders for this thing based on the interesting looking playfield and the "Pirates" theme, only to find out after they set it up that it has no callouts, music or clips from the original score/films.

My guess? There are going to be dozens of these machines hitting the secondary market shortly after release regardless of how fun the gameplay actually is.

This.

And, to answer your question, no licensing itself was not any different. But, each licensing contract is going to be very unique -- and always has been. The question is, did JJP make the right call to develop a "POTC-themed" machine without the original theme song and callouts/clips from the most iconic actors in the franchise? Only time will tell. But, I for one am passing on this machine until I see a better effort and I can't imagine there are not more like me.

Really hard to justify spending $9K-$13K on a "fan" pin with no official IP other than cabinet/playfield art.

Oh, there is no question people will pay for it...at first. The question is how many of these original buyers actually recognize that there is no franchise IP in the machine other than cabinet art pictures?

And, to certain buyers, POTC is indeed just as big as the Star Wars franchise. To some die hard Disney and Johnny Depp fans, it is much bigger. And Dialed In (fun though it is), is JJP's lowest selling pin to date as I understand it. (Not that it is a bad game, just that there are a lot of buyers who purchase pins based on themes and not overall gameplay.)

To be honest, I think there are going to be a lot of original buyers of this machine (primarily POTC fans) who (once they recognize there is no more POTC theme in this machine than in the $5,000 Stern version), are going to unload it pretty quick. My guess is there are going to be quite a few people who buy this machine primarily if not exclusively for its theme who are going be disappointed -- especially if they are used to JJP integration on the level of the Hobbit or WOZ with respect to licensed materials. In many ways, this POTC seems several steps backwards.

From my part, I am waiting to see what the final product actually is before I buy. If they find a way to integrate the theme well, then I will probably buy it. If not, then I will certainly pass. (I am just one of those buyers who wants theme integration in addition to gameplay.)

I think there are plenty of buyers new to pinball ownership that would and, in fact, do entirely dismiss MM simply because of its lack of an easily recognizable theme. Yes.

And, this is going to be the problem. For a lot of people who think they are getting a POTC machine with no POTC music, no Johnny Depp, no Geoffrey Rush, this could be a real disappointment.

I spent days looking at this...wanting to buy it actually because my teenage daughter is a HUGE POTC fan. I even showed it to her to get her take. Needless to say, she wasn't excited at all. In fact, she is the one who pointed out to me it was pretty lame there were no callouts from Johnny Depp or Geoffrey Rush and the music was not the easily recognizable theme song.

So, yeah, I will take that as a pretty good barometer that JJP didn't do near good enough with the theme on this one. (Of course, still holding out hope that what was seen at the expo was still very premature.)

(And, to be fair, I not a big fan of the new Stern Star Wars either, but at least they had enough common sense to put in the original music and score from John Williams. To a lot of fan buyers, that is going to be critical and I can't help that -- unless JJP fixes this, they will miss the mark.)

Agreed. I am exaggerating a little.

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.

It is not just this, there is also no music from the original score of the films. I want to buy this game so badly, but I just can't do it. Maybe for a $7.5K game, but for a $9.5K game, there is just no way I could justify it. To be honest, I don't know how you have a pin based on all 5 films, but no callouts from anyone other than Mr. Gibbs, no video clips other than short bursts that do not show actor's faces, and no music from the original score.

Seems extremely odd to me. Either Disney truly is as difficult as people say in getting appropriate licensure, or JJP is looking to that as an excuse to cut corners where they shouldn't be cut.

(My money is on it being a little bit of both...)