... Huh. With it being that deep, that means with the backbox folded down (or does it simply get ... beheaded?) it may not fit in some people's cars...

Has to be to fit the LCD screen. Which apparently he's going to show "in a week" if you believe it. Which means there's been a whole other giant time sink working on the screen for this non-existant third game.

At this point all I can conclude is he's running out of money and is trying to attract new buyers for AIW, or set up a situation for someone to buy him out or something.

Putting this much effort into game 3 when game 1 hasn't even been shown working yet is psychotic.

Ah! I didn't realize he was putting his screen back there. (A la CV..) That makes sense then.

Yeah, I have nothing vested in any of these games(*) so I have nothing to say about what that bloke SHOULD be doing..

(*) However, I will say this.. with everything that's gone on.. if he had worried about MG and RAZA first... I would then be really interested in AIW. However, at this point, no way. So in theory, you could consider it a lost sale because of failure to deliver on earlier games.

--Mike

I've pondered the "buy out".... but he's on the hook with a bunch of owners. Someone would have to buy him out with $1 million+ of debt on the books.

If he designed for Stern or JJP, he'd be getting a mid 5 figure income for coming up with the same designs.

The only way out of this is to ship completed machines, that or complete failure and someone buys the pieces afterwards for cents on the dollar and all of us get screwed.

The only way a "buy out" makes sense is if someone plans on mass producing the games. Tell the original buyers "sorry, take it up with John" and just makes as many Magic Girls as the market will bear.

Because all the R&D and production costs for a handful of games is just insanity.

You'd be a moron to send John a single dime right now. So I think you're absolutely right, this isn't expanding the market, it's just adding to contracting it.

Sending John money at this stage in the game is beyond moronic. It's sub-moronic.

I believe he has video assets to show on that screen. From what others are saying I do not think any of that is integrated into any sort of game code at this time.

I believe that last paragraph is the part John is in denial about. He should be 100% focused on Magic Girl at this time. If his pinball isn't linear then show a working Magic Girl AND a working RAZA.

IF the Magic Girl group get their games, then MAYBE next steps could be considered. Hoping for a report of actual progress from the MG owners group. I'm not expecting to hear it from Jpop. Also wonder if John believes he can attract new money to the projects.

Wow...19 posts in the last 48 hours
Thanks I didn't hear you the other 200 times

Sounds like the voice of experience right there.

There's a handy ignore button above my post if you want to plug your ears.

Predator collapsing in such an ugly way has emphasized that being silent is dumb. John being silent is dumb, but the community being silent is just as bad. And it's the Predator cheerleaders shouting down skeptics and concerns that let things go on as long as they did.

People will visit the studio and get stars in their eyes. The art is pretty, the ideas are great, the machines are impressive.

We all get that.

But that doesn't address the fact that game one doesn't have final hardware, let alone programming, has never been shown flipping, and there's a tremendous amount of work left to finish it, not to mention all the steps beyond even a final prototype going to production.

And instead we get a circus on vaporware game three.

If people weren't talking about how close to being done MG and RAZA were there wouldn't be a need to beat the drum, but they are. And it's because they're being sucked into John's reality delusion field, distracted by the pretty colors just like he does.

So mock away. But if you're truly a supporter of John and his projects you'd be wise to help reality shine some sunlight in his direction, instead of worrying about detractors.

So, is John not going with Fast now?? I'm confused...

John and Fast are not going to work together.

So that pretty much puts the hardware platform back at square zero, correct? Who is left that will work on his proprietary platform? My guess is no one and that is why there is no flipping MG or RAZA and hence nothing he can do to move those projects along. So, instead he has thrown himself into AIW completely.

Has everyone given up on John now? It seems that the front line of the last push for positive momentum (Fast, Mission and Ice) have retreated (well maybe not Ice, but the others for sure). I think John is nearing the end of the road. Sadly, I don't think he sees it coming.

Nope, nor Mission. When he announced that in October it was a lie, and the attempts to try it again didn't go anywhere.

No idea who's going to program Magic Girl, or if the hardware in it is final.

There's no emperor inside the clothes.

He's got a working board design that runs his games just fine. There just won't be any shift to using FAST instead if Aaron is not involved.

For an extra $1k, John will come over to your house and manually move your flippers with his hands. No need for a driverboard.

Nutty, isn't it? John doesn't accept outside help, but yet can't come up with an internal solution to getting the first games made.

I think it would be a real shame if these games didn't get made. I'm not rooting for failure at all!

But I agree, the situation is pretty terrible. And IMHO the only chance things have to be better is for people to all admit that and get serious about last ditch efforts. Otherwise it's hard to see a positive outcome. John can't just keep f**king with these games for years and years more, that's not a viable model.

Is this the modified p-roc or his own homebrew platform?

Now I'm confused. I understand no Fast boards. What games are running?

Couldn't agree with you more. I want to see these games made as much as anybody. Failure is no good for anyone. I just can't see an endgame that is going to work out. I do not believe that John has a ton of the pre-order cash left and I don't see anyone sending him another dime until he can produce a large batch of completed games. I don't think there is money left in the coffers for that. I think he will continue to operate as he has until he completely runs out of cash and that is where this thing will sit. I don't believe there is any way to get through to him. Even in the end, he will still be as stubborn about it as he is now.

For the record, I would love nothing more than to be proven wrong on all of this!

I know I'm basically a nobody in the pinball world, but maybe should try and contact him and see if he would like a game programmer to help out. I mean, even if it takes another 3 years to manufacture the games, it'd be nice to at least be able to play prototype machines no?

... who has made the great Haunted cruise project

From what I've figured out, when we hear he's got lots of money left, that is calculating how much outstanding payments there are. But that money will be impossible to collect without completed work.

So there is a strong possibility of "running out of runway".

When Ice asked for him to treat him like an investor and show him the numbers, it didn't sound like those numbers were at the ready. So it sounds like John can't make any sort of REAL investment pitch, other than showing shiny lights and artwork to people. But that isn't going to get this done.

You had best read back through all of this before you decide to throw your hat into the ring.

Here are the basic things you'll need to know:

You won't get a prototype game in which to develop the software code on. John won't let anything out of his sight, even if it's stuff that will be "junked".

You will not be communicating with anyone else involved with Zidware, just John. So if someone else makes (or convinces John to make) changes that affect your work, don't expect to be able to bring up dialogue with the other parties to help support your ideas or ways of doing things.

Anything you send John to "test", you will likely not get any feedback or anything resembling "test results" or any valuable information in which to judge the success or failure of anything you are doing. You will also likely likely be asked to make a million revisions, even after he has signed off on your work.

You will likely be pushed very hard to "meet deadlines" that John will then blow off at the very last minute, causing you to need to wear a hat for subsequent weeks to cover the bruises you inflict on yourself from banging your head into the nearest brick wall.

You will likely come out of the scenario with a couple of neat t-shirts, possibly owed money, and a negative attitude towards doing any form of contract work for anyone else in the pinball business.

I think that about covers it.

Still want to give it a try?

the-burbs_dern.jpg
Red rover red rover send another free programmer on over.

It's a board Quetzal made for John, replaces the function of the PROC but is different in architecture.

MG has been 'running' software/driver wise for a long while now. With John's new control board. It's not a full game that you could start producing, but the CPU system and such are workable and have been.

And yet the owners have yet to see a video with a flipper moving a ball, let alone the game really shooting.

Although there are many, this is the main reason no one will touch this project.

He reportedly owes $7000 to Cointaker for LEDs, not to mention the many other people who have come and gone without being paid.

With all due respect, I truly hope this isn't going into Predator territory, but it's not looking good.

GLM's synopsis is dead on.

Because John is crrraaaaaaaaazzzzzyyyyyyyyy. Or something.

There's many things John "needs" right now, but cheerleading and shouting down critics isn't one of them.

Yup. I concur.

This sounds like a slow crash, where as Skit-B was a plane crash, Zidware sounds like an escaped hot air balloon.

I can understand Why Kevin is not posting any longer good lord could you imagine how that would go if Kevin was to pop on for a QA session. Not to mention he probably can not legally say anything.

However, John is being just as evasive, just posting on his blog, fairly sure he's ducking the heat as well. While John can legally still talk, I bet he's afraid to say anything.

The fact that we've seen no flipping protype all these months after he said he would show a Labowsky 'on the rug' type reveal is shocking.

I just want to make something clear. To all the people who are pissed at the Anonymous Group who didn't warn people about Predator fast enough:

GL Modular has been the canary in the coal mine on this project for months and hasn't been taken seriously enough. Consider yourself officially warned a la an AG type warning. This project is on life support and fading. Ice and some of the owners have gotten serious as of late, but they need everybody's help, and that help has to be serious. I.E. force John to open the doors wide open and let you into the chocolate factory now. Not in "2 weeks."

Do you imagine John reads these posts at all?

I know if it were me, I could not help to read what people are saying, and John is so full of himself I'm sure it goes double for him.

Agreed.... I feel for all of the vendors and past partners who have been blown off and especially stiffed as much as for the owners. I think CoinTaker is in a particularly precarious position concerning the RAZA special edition. I am not so sure that they could not become a target if John fails to deliver and has no means to refund pre-orders. They are a small business that may not be able to withstand a hit like that. Did they have any sort of agreement in place that will hold them harmless in the event of the worst case scenario? Hopefully it won't come to that.

Pretty certain he's read it in the past, if not continues to. I was hoping the "public shaming" would cause some change, but we're almost 6 months past expo, and nothing has changed. Literally not a thing, well other than the Alice art coming along.

It's been mentioned that he lurks on this thread without signing in....

What kind of vacation time does it offer?

Why did I post a thumbs down on that? Really?

How about...because the idea of Heighway getting involved with Kevin and Skit-B was ridiculous! If I could, I'd go back and give that post *another* thumbs down!

We are talking about Heighway doing Predator *on their own*.

Does anyone know who he was talking about in this post from Jan 10, 2015. Obviously another fart in the wind and this person ran for the hills.

Mystery Guest

In pinball there is a finite list of great artists, designers and software guru’s who have climbed the mountain of pinball making. Well I was able to spend time this afternoon with one of them, and will begin the process of paperwork and project spec. writing needed for them joining the software team. I will make the official announcement when I am able to properly. Jpop

No idea. Obviously someone he respects, so maybe he has worked with them before. Cameron Silver, maybe?

no one actually ever sent jpop money right?

Yeah, some people did think that JPop did his own artwork. But it doesn't really matter whether he did or not.

Like you said, he does have his own "aesthetic" or look that he goes for, so using an actual artist on his pins to get the look that he wants is no different than a film director who uses the DP (director of photography) to get the look he wants.

While many directors and DP's work together on film after film as a team, even when a different DP is used, you will still get the same look that the director is known for (assuming that they have a distinct style when it comes to cinematography).

Kubrick, Scorsese, Kurosawa, Hitchcock all had their signature look, even though they weren't the ones actually doing the shooting.

Weren't these videos from the private blog?

Just asking.

Chris

Easy there, Cowboy. Didn't you just get 86ed from the Skit-B thread? People are out thousands of dollars. No need to poke them.

I guess posting here is one way to get his attention..... from the blog:

"All,

I have had a bunch of folks message me about items from this blog appearing on public forums like “Pinside”. These items are not meant to be distributed but for the owners here only. The items / ideas / designs and illustrations on this blog are protected by United States ©Copyright and need to be kept as “trade secrets” until public viewing is ready.

If you are the person or know the person, please stop immediately as great harm is being done. Jpop"

So much for the "opening of the gates" policy.