http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/three-questions-with-john-popadiuk/

Jpop posted this link on facebook. An interview in three questions with jpop. In one of the questions, the interviewer says you have magic girl to be released in 2015 and retro zombie to be released in 2016.

Same concerns... He mentions the playfield which he may keep. That decision needs to be made to move forward.

So since no one follows the schedule for delays and what not magic girl will be the end of 2015 and raza will never get made cause he will have run out of money by then...

When u hear 2016 that doesn't mean 125 games appear in January, your basically two years away on raza that's crazy

In that interview he mentions a "MakerBot Pinball" as well. I wonder how many he has on the go now?

Well, this is exactly what I'm talking about... I've been asking what YEAR i might see my game and a timetable. Abd the reality of building 100+ machines outside of a factory environment. So, what, 2017 when I get my game then? It said Q4 2013 in my owner's package and never an update since then. This is shitty.

John has provided no other info or answers. I have to guess that this is the timeline then.

It is frustrating to see these release dates given to an interviewer and the casual mention of an additional project without any of this info going to owners.

Also, John goes and makes Kiss for no one and leaves the paying customers hanging in the wind, and I believe (likely) he used our money to finance Kiss.

John is making Kevin (Skit-B) look good and that takes a lot of doing.

what a complete nightmare...

I wouldn't read too much into those dates. I think the interviewer googled the games and came across the Pinside listings. Both of those dates appear in the Pinside game info:

https://pinside.com/pinball/archive/magic-girl
https://pinside.com/pinball/archive/ben-hecks-zombie-adventureland

What's interesting is that the 2016 quote, as you say, comes in the form of the question, not in JPop's response.

So where did the 2016 date come from?

Jpop didn't correct him though, so.....

I wouldn't go that far! At least we have an owners blog with info and pics.

Yep. Nothing like thinking you just sent someone $6500 with only a slim chance of not losing your money

I'm so frustrated with this whole situation. I have more of a stomach for pre-orders than almost anyone, but this situation is just starting to piss me off. 2016?

I'm at the point where I'm basically considering my payment lost money and if the game ever gets made, I'll consider it a windfall.

Between this and finding out BoP 2.0 is shipping with really incomplete code has been a double kick in the ass this week!

Well u can bet pats game will ship before raza

I know you're all frustrated and I hope things still all work out but I think it might be about time that you demand you money back. If you don't get it immediately it may be time to star liberally using the term "lawyer up".

QSS

Says the dude with 25 preorders.

Sorry Ice, couldn't resisit!!

Still keen on that Xmas 2015 bet?

rd.

Getting thirsty, Dave?

Reminds me of all the bitching I was doing yesterday after getting a speeding ticket.......self inflicted you say, dammit I hate it when you are right!

Oooooh yeah, Icemans beer tastes sweeeeeet.

rd.

Shit show!!!!

I think 2016 is a reasonable assumption for RAZA at this point. JPOP has said that his plan is to have "Lebowski" type reveal of MG in December 2014. Dutch Pinball revealed TBL 7-9 months ahead their self imposed production start (Q2 2015). Assuming JPOP can stick to the same schedule (highly unlikely given his current organization's size) he will not begin production on MG until Q4 of 2015. During ramp up to and actual production I am guessing that he he will have less than zero time to devote to RAZA and AIW; which will push their schedules even further out.

All of this could change if he is able to secure the hinted partnership with a third party that can provide the muscle to push production forward. Otherwise, I would say that the above schedule may even be a bit optimistic given JPOP's track record for wanting to achieve perfection at every level.

It has been said before (probably somewhere in this very thread) but John really needs an equal collaborator. Someone who is willing to say when something is good enough or that it is time to move on from an idea that is never going to come to fruition. I think having a team of designers and collaborators has helped DP get to where they are with TBL much faster than John has with any of his three projects. They have been willing to give up on certain design elements that they just could not make work and focus on the end goal much more efficiently.

I really hope that John can find a partner to help him become an efficient, productive visionary and not, instead, wind up a genius tinkerer who was never able to see his designs become a reality. He is one of only a handful of people in this business who wants to always look ahead and push the pinball envelope.

I dug up the timeline from the owner's package.

Basically, we're 50% done the process, as outlined by the milestones.

We're somewhere around:

Playfield Whitewood
Software Start

Whitewood / Software Start is on the schedule as Q4 2012. By this schedule, there is at least a year left if everything goes perfect and we ignore how slowly everything has gone so far.

I get that a lot of groundwork has been done. I also get that John created every part from scratch instead of using off-the-shelf. But all of that came at extreme cost, especially time.

The biggest crime is the lack of communication, the lack of posting updated timelines, the lack of answers. I think everyone is very understanding, hell, we collectively have allowed the project to slide as much as it has without saying too much about it, but at some point the rubber has to meet the road.

And just to think we all thought Jack was taking to long on WOZ.

Is this for MG? Just out of curiosity, what were the initial milestones and their respective projected completion dates? For AIW, there was no timeline provided to me, at all.

Right on, man!

This is for RAZA, I'm not a MG buyer so I don't know what timeline they have, but it was started before RAZA so it would be even longer ago.

I can recall a conversation with John around Christmas 2012 that he was working on the MG prototypes and would have them ready for Spring 2013. This information gave me confidence in my RAZA ownership, that everything was coming together. This December MG reveal seems to be what he was shooting for Spring 2013.

I also wonder what could have gone so wrong, that something he was working towards 3 months down the road becomes 2 years later.

The saddest thing about all this, is I'm so over it. There is no fun left. The arrival of my game will be "it's about goddam time".

You can call me a ballbreaker, but when you sign onto something with a dozen page contract and a schedule, the impression is that they have their shit together so waiting years past the delivery point, I think I can be excused for my attitude.

I think a lot of us got that feeling for WOZ. I dropped out relatively early, too - I can't imagine what it was like for those still waiting for their games to the bitter end - especially LE buyers who saw Standars shipping first and the Ruby Red reveal. The only pre-orders I'm on right now are MMr and BOP 2.0, and those have had their delays...but at least I know they're right around the corner. European customers are getting their BOP 2.0s & I've played MMr and have seen it at Stern.

It'll be interesting to see Jpop's "Lebowski-esque" reveal...perhaps the true make it or break it point for you guys with money on his projects.

EDIT: I forgot I also have Lebowski pre-ordered....thanks Aurich for catching me in a senile moment lol

Hard to find a partner to take on half the debt when there's no profit left. Unless he increase the build quantity.

So a reveal of a working but not completed code mg in December will pump people up... Still a long way to go and a lot of money to build them... Plus raza will get shelved while he over sees mg builds... Raza is so down the road it's sad...

Predator is also a couple years late iirc

Well as far as I can tell, all he has is art and gadgets. If he can actually show that he's capable of a game that flips the ball...that would go a long way. Sure, the game's still probably 10 years from completion, but I think that would calm the secret club at least.

Yes from what I have seen play field arts done, cabinets done, play field plastics done, ramps done... Proto boards done, I'm guessing code to make it a flipping game is issue? Will be beautiful when he gets there. At least there will be three proto done for real

May be we should create a support group (thread) uniting all that are waiting for games beyond expected announced release...

Basically everyone buying NIB pins from any company, besides Stern and Spooky. Right ?

I have a great idea... Give me $10k we'll go around back, ill kick u in the nuts and we can call it a day?

Fuck lol

So true. Increasing the build quantity may be the only play left here for acquiring a partner. And, let's face it, John cannot build the 200+ games he has committed to with his current staff level. I believe it was RD who speculated that he could only build 1 a week tops at current capacity. Hell, that is an entire year just for MG production alone and five more for RAZA and AIW.

When Zid's games finally release they are gonna be worth their weight in gold. If someone could honestly say that about WOZ I'll do a back flip~

The saddest thing about all this, is I'm so over it. There is no fun left. The arrival of my game will be "it's about goddam time".

This how I feel now too. When I got in, I thought that I was taking a risk so that a machine that would not otherwise exist would end up existing. Hopefully that machine would be followed by many more from the company I helped get off of the ground. Now I am in and don't have the option of getting out.

Given the lack of communication, I have no confidence that there will be good support for a machine for which I can not buy off the shelf parts.

The reveal of a flipping whitewood prototype of the machine that has to be made before the one I am waiting for is unlikely to re-kindle my excitement in this project.

Well, wish in one hand, shit in the other; see which one fills up first.

I have grave concerns about this as well. All these custom parts, how do they benefit us? And what happens when we need them? Is the pain-in-the-ass value of that to us worth it?

They don't! All it has done is push these games farther and farther from their original delivery date. Part of what makes this such a viable hobby is that standard parts for 20+ year old machines are still being produced and are readily available. What will happen 20 years after these machines are produced if the custom flipper assembly breaks. It is very frustrating to try and find the 5 -10 % of custom parts for older games now. I can only imagine what it will be like to have a game with 90+% custom parts. Let's hope the 3D printing revolution saves us by then.

Support worries me too. What will happen if these games have an issue like the light boards in WOZ. We could be waiting ages for that type of fix.

Yeah .. I don't want to be pessimistic but I am a realist.

It takes me a week to *shop* a game fully. And that's an RD week which is anywhere from 60-80 hours working time. Not 40 hours a week like a guy on a shop floor.

I honestly don't think that a really anal OCD guy could build a machine from scratch in a month, let alone a week.

The only way these machines are gonna happen ever is if the production gets sent out to someone.

rd.

This is where I'm at too. I've pretty much stopped checking the blog, especially once I learned it was a courtesy blog and not a owners forum like I thought. I'd say that I just don't care anymore, but that's not completely true I'm actually upset and bitter about the whole experience. I will NEVER do this again.

IF they finally release