He'd plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

Because he is a total space cadet nutjob.

Rest assured, in his bubble world he's the victim and places like Pinside are the reason he was "forced" to give up on Magic Girl. He is 100% completely convinced he is not to blame in any way for this outcome.

That's the infuriating part. He's not even sorry for wasting a million dollars of people's money.

Having talked in person to people who have lost thousands, I can tell you the remedies they were the most keen on didn't involve bankruptcy, they involved visits to the ER.

People are pissed.

I wouldn't put it past Popaduik to show up at a pinball show in the future though - he's clearly delusional and it might not even occur to him that he might face Great Harm™ showing up.

Maybe he started a Sole Proprietorship called "Zidware Inc". I wouldn't be surprised.

Hey Aurich, call your buddy at WIRED and have him do a Rise and Fall piece on this. They love stories like that.

"Popaduik, I served with Larry DeMar. I knew Larry DeMar. Larry DeMar was a friend of mine. Popaduik, you're no Larry DeMar."

Man, even mentioning those two in the same sentence is offensive, even before this shit show. Larry is a goddamn legend.

I think Popaduik turning down that job is more evidence of him being totally insane - the number of people designing pinball in the world can be counted on ONE HAND and he turned it down. Clearly it shows he's an egomaniac at the very least.

You should talk to the WOOLY guys about maybe getting that game into production. That one is at least 95% finished for sure.

I've talked to a bunch of people and I've shifted my opinion on Bill. He seems like the real deal. Maybe some good could come from all this if he's willing to front the production run on WOOLY. I bet people would buy it if it was ready and for sale rather than a pre-order.

If he fronts the money he deserves a cut. Seems fair.

Haven't heard from the Riot crew as to production yet, just offering up an easy scenario for two pinball junkies to help each other.

I heard a story that one of the volunteers, during the marathon session to get the game playing, asked John what was supposed to happen when a ball went in a specific spot. John's answer was to shrug and say "Not sure, it's MAGIC!". Like, he actually said that.

I'd guess it plays like crap based on that.

Doubtful. Most people aren't even that aware of designers, just us hard core weirdos.

Once again I'd like to reiterate that Popaduik is a dillhole.

Yeah, none of those millionaires is pre-ordering a painting.

This assumes Popaduik even has a lawyer, and isn't just standing up in court waving his hands around saying "It's Magic!".

What a Tool

Makes me wonder how much work he actually did at WMS - perhaps he stood around with his thumb up his butt there as well. His whole reputation is a lie.

Sounds like a guy delusional enough to show up at Expo this year, not realizing he'll probably get popped in the mouth.

Comments from Jersey Jack on this whole thing:

JPOP Thoughts

19 Jun

Jersey Jack

My personal opinions:

This is the JJP Forum but there is obvious spillover as it's all Pinball.

JJP was able to start because you, the loyal customer base of PBSC believed first in me and then in the Team and in what we were doing. You bought into a dream, an idea, a hope and ultimately a game(s).

The Pre-Pay crowd-funded model seemed good. Get money, build games. We all know that road was and is littered with land mines and huge chasms. Not everyone can navigate them and yes the Journey is The Reward and all that.
We have learned a lot and we have much to still learn. This is a marathon and not a sprint and it's not for everyone, obviously.

About six weeks ago at his invitation I visited JPOP at his studio. I don't know John. I've never said more than a few words at shows where I saw him. I like the games he has designed and like everything in this industry, it has many stories and many twists and turns.

When I was there I was impressed at what I saw. Though I felt a bit blinded by what appeared to be a "game" Magic Girl was to me, a "Box of Lights" and I mean that in a very respectful way. I myself had paraded a box of lights around in June of 2012 at E3 and NW Pinball but that was a different kinder and gentler time when hope sprung eternal.

Still John had MG in some place where it could be a game if the right amount of time, expertise, money and magic was applied, this could be a good game perhaps. But it was not ready to be played, shot on or shown as a near finished product.

My friend Bill called me to discuss his best efforts to revive or to save this dream that John had. Bill is a wonderfully hopeful guy that had every good intention. In the process he subjected himself to public ridicule, humiliation, scrutiny and all at the cost of over $100,000 to his wallet. His associate was likewise skewered in public by the angry mob and even the few hopeful, hapless know it all armchair experts that do nothing and have never done anything worthwhile.

It made for great drama and great reading on the forum. After all bad news sells newspapers and good news, well.... zzzzzzz. So, Bill went on his Mission which became Mission Impossible. Nobody can step into this fray or in front of a moving train and survive.

I read most of the posts and I spent some hours talking with John. Is he a genius or a moron? Is he a diabolical thief or a bad businessman? Did he intend to defraud or was it a bad plan of events? He knows and he must look himself in the mirror. I believe he is a good designer and a bad businessman. I do not believe his intent was ever anything other than to deliver the best most innovative game he could design. The guy redesigned leg bolts! I mean who makes PC boards Purple? Waste of money or Passion??

He got way ahead of himself. I asked him - John - If you had a house with ten rooms and enough paint to finish one room, why would you try and paint all ten rooms? He did Magic Girl, Zombie, Kiss, Alice...what else.....years of passion, blood, sweat and tears of his life to do this. Pinball is (or was) John's life. He did it for you, those who believed in him. He did not intend this to happen, it happened because of poor planning, because of negative posts cutting off and panicking his buyers. Because he was too secretive and not communicating in a broad sense....who knows - all of this is my guess...I don't have the facts of the financial or anything else. It's just what it appears to me personally and not commentary on behalf of JJP.

John is a mere Mortal like all of us. He is flesh and blood and has feelings. He has a wife and kids and they have feelings too. Those who "invested" in him - well - you got what you paid for. You got to be on the roller coaster ride of ups and downs. You got to be an insider and an outsider. You had the money to burn for a big toy that nobody needs and that money got burned alright. It was used to fund a startup, most all of which fail in the first formative years as perhaps John's may have.

You already have received your pound of flesh and if you truly cared about Pinball all of you would have rallied as a group to help the poor guy figure out what he has and what could be saved if it was possible. Instead, the lynch mob storms the castle with pitchforks and torches. Hang the guy, so what satisfaction is that. He did his best and maybe his best was not good enough but it was his best. Done.

Next, who knows what happens, that's a legal thing. Sue him or not. Forgive and forget or hold a grudge and let it consume you. Live and Let Live.

The guy and his family have suffered enough, really, he has. He is out of Pinball. Aside from his family that was the thing in life he loved most. Bigger things have failed and smarter better funded people have failed. John is not a failure, his company is a failure.

I feel bad for the people who lost money and I feel bad for John and especially feel bad for Pinball in general.

Ben Heck does a YouTube channel and works with Spooky, who produce games, and worked directly with Popaduik.

Jack is the CEO of the 2nd largest pinball manufacturer, doesn't actually know Popaduik at all, and in his comments blamed Pinside for Popaduik's trouble and tried to paint him as a sympathetic character.

Expo is only a few months away. Perhaps we can organize an involuntary tour.

But do it by email so Popaduik will just have to avoid his shop for the whole of Expo.

The problem now is, how do we stop new customers or old customers who aren't on Pinside from sending him more money?

He must be communicating with customers who are unaware he's a scammer.

And remember, the landlord can serve an eviction notice, but that takes months to execute. Popaduik can huddle in his rabbit hole playing flighty artist in the meantime.

The key, at this point, is to get three vendors to sue him into bankruptcy. Forcing him out is the only way, otherwise he's just going to keep pulling this nonsense and ripping people off.

He could start again with a new company but that'll be a lot harder for him.

Something I wrestle with here is that, regardless of his own delusions, reality is still wrapped around him in the fact that things like rent and heat have to be paid. At a certain point, no amount of delusion will protect him from reality.

So, when will reality force the situation?

I'm curious as to the details of these errors - what exactly happened?

Yes, someone from JJP forums re-posted it minus any "do not repost" language or context so I just forwarded it on to Pinside when I saw it.

In retrospect it was a bad idea since it's essentially just gossip-mongering and didn't really advance anything but the drama. That said, if it wasn't me it would have been someone else, and Jack needs to understand that once something is viewable via the internet, it's basically public knowledge. I don't say that as a defense, just as a fact of life online - never write anything down you wouldn't want the world to see and judge.

The fact that he's banned an actual customer of JJP from the forums over it is needlessly vindictive and ill-advised. I think that word-of-mouth in this industry has a bigger effect than, say, the auto industry, because we're talking about selling a few thousand units as being a massive success, so even ten lost sales has a visible impact on the bottom line.

So. Many. Typos.

The crazy is leaking.

Contact the links and ask them to post a notice on those pages.

Maybe someone could take the $500 they were going to use to add to the lawsuit and use it to pay some SEO experts to get that link at the top of the rankings.

It'd be nice if the pro-Popaduik people would at least come here and say a mea culpa.

How is he still going? I thought the money was gone?

That's the real question here - how are the bills getting paid?

I'm staying out of it.

Based on how no one said boo to Kevin at that auction, I think the same thing would happen with Popaduik at Expo.

There won't be an interview.

Probably 60% or so? A lot of it was roughed in but the mechs in question were missing on the whitewood so it couldn't be tested. Then he stopped paying the programmer.

2) how good is the design, is it possible to even make A good pinballmachine on the current design as it is?

The design itself is "complete" but a few of the mechs were missing and were only drawings. Some of them, upon inspection, turned out to be essentially impossible to implement in reality.

3) Since Bill analysed the whole thing , what was the total debt John has? I see A lot of people talking about developers and artists not being paid, but how much are we talking about? 10k, 100k...? Excluding the million he took with pre-sale.

There's no definitive answer. There are a half dozen contractors and suppliers owed for work done or parts supplied, but none of them have specified exact numbers other than Cointaker, who said about $6K worth of parts plus an unspecified amount for prototype work.

4) I see A lot of speculation on the worth of his IP if it would be auctioned off, Ben Heck said he only has old stuff and the one semi-working prototype is worth most. But i see he has his OWN board. He OWNs that IP, that must be worth af least A 100k for A company. Having your OWN mpu and not having to use a PROC would earn that money back in just one release.

Ben did not design the controller in Magic Girl. Popaduik contracted out for the boardset he has, which is basically a ripoff of a P-ROC, and I don't believe he paid that supplier either. I think you overestimate the potential market for a pinball controller, given the demand and the competition out there already.

I bet he shows up at Expo. He seems delusional enough to think that would be okay.

Tell you what. If I see him there, I promise I'll go up and ask him how he sleeps at night knowing he stole a million dollars from people. That's a promise.

I'll definitely do that instead.

That's how you collaborate, John!

According to Nick, who spent a fair amount of time during Expo talking to him, Popaduik claims the carry cost on the shop is $2,300/month.

That's not chump change but a two-income family could probably carry it for awhile.

Half the mechs wouldn't work as designed.

These games were never going to work, ever.

More like at the end of the universe.

"As a game designer, you are responsible for designing Pinball game and other amusement game."

That's not even English.

There's zero chance of him having anything to show, and even if he did, he wouldn't be welcome.

Isn't that worse? No way to make it up on volume. Unless he's totally redesigned the game to use standard parts.

I honestly don't know what to think of this nonsense. MG was *unplayable* and missing mechs a year ago, none of the people involved have been contacted, all this stuff is a huge surprise.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Art's clearly different. They appear more angled than a standard WMS cabinet, but perhaps they are modified to accept a standard piece of glass while still allowing room for the larger rear screen.

Corny has always seemed a bit of a delicate flower. He'll probably be back.

Honestly, JPop could have spent the last near making more cabinets and that's the photo of them. It's not like cabinets are crazy expensive.

Bill has been on Pinside since this happened but hasn't posted in this thread. Curious.

That thing is 100% pure JPOP.

Let me know when I can play it, otherwise it's complete and utter bullshit.

Trust, but Verify.

I bet there's no flipping AP games and no flipping Magic Girl at Expo.

Don't forget your pitchforks and torches, people.

Yeah, nothing in there about "playing" the game(s).

There's plenty of light-up boxes, there needs to be a playing game.

Then maybe stop being such a turd?

It's such a classic deflection - "it's not me, everyone else is wrong!"

Anyway, JPop should go into sales. He's got a natural talent.

Doesn't matter - the underlying control system is just a ripoff of the P-ROC, so the existing frameworks will work just fine with it, and I'd hope the custom community would step up to make the games truly playable.

However, on the flip side, there's so many people who got screwed by John - like applejuice and zombiyeti - that finishing it seems like a slap in the face to those guys.

You'd be surprised - the custom pinball community has proven to be very generous with their time to help out fellow pinheads, especially on the coding side of things. With a complete asset set (graphics and sound) it might prove to not be that difficult to finish. But then, how would all the unpaid vendors feel about that? All their hard work with no compensation and someone just swoops in and takes it all?

This whole thing is a giant mess.

We know the cabinet art is substantially different, so something happened there, but so far no one can find any information on the programming of the game at all. We know no one at AP worked on it.

JPop likes to silo everything so it's possible that he's suckered another programmer into working on it that isn't connected to pinball and isn't on pinside, but that seems absurdly unlikely. Common sense would say that it's still running the same unfinished code from the one public appearance.

I have first person confirmation that the games exist - the photo that's been passed around is the American Pinball facility and John has been there for awhile working on the machines. There is at least 19 cabinets ready to go.

What I don't have is any confirmation of those cabinets containing a working playfield or any software. So, the only hard truth right now is there are 19 boxes ready to go to people that contain pinball parts of some description that may or may not light up when plugged in and turned on.

There's a few Wizard Block whitewoods that would like to talk to you about that...

I don't get why there's so much misinformation and speculation going on here - a bunch of people have gotten the game. Yet none of them are on Pinside and willing to share?

Well, the sooner they speak up, the sooner the problems can be addressed.

From what thin gruel of info we've gotten so far, the game seems fixable.

From the close-ups, it looks about 300dpi (ie. you can see the jagged edges of the pixels since it's been converted from Illustrator to Photoshop I guess) and it also looks CMYK printed, instead of screen printed with spot colours. You can tell because you can see the CMYK dots used to mix to make the colours, which is especially noticable at 300dpi.

No kidding - I was at the same league night as Meegis and got to try it out. The backglass flexes when you press it and rattles around because it's not secured. The side rails flex because they're barely attached to the cabinet. That's just the tip of the iceburg on the poor construction. The thing is a joke.

But it's good looking and lights up. So there's that.

Magic Girl is basically the pinball equivalent of a movie set town - from one angle it looks real but then when you look closer it's just a facade being propped up to look like a pinball machine.

Don't look behind the curtain

More fake pinball.

Not sure what insane bubble universe you're living in - everyone I knew couldn't believe he'd make a working game out of the crapfest that they brought to that show. And that's exactly what people got. No one was surprised at all.

I think we need to remember that Pinside isn’t the entire hobby and there are tons of people who would jump at the chance to own a JPOP game who either have no idea about his past, or simply don’t care.

So the shitstorm might be less of a problem than we think, and deeproot is banking on that.

Maybe Jon Norris and JPop can team up to make the world’s worst game. Although it will be hard to top Magic Girl.

The accounting team is on the software so no doubt this will be a real winner.

But seriously, Oursler and Nordman know their shit, I wonder what convinced them to sign up for this shit show?

Pretty sure they are still cranking them out. No license to expire, so they could crank them out until the end of time.

Really, anything over 1,000 machines these days is a lot. Pinball is the most popular its been since the 90's but it's TINY compared to then.

Jim was approached by the current owners and was offered pay to complete the software but he demanded a game as well, then stopped responding. So, they have someone else working on it.

Keep Waiting