Alice in Wonderland
Gottlieb, 1948
Houdini
American Pinball, 2017
Magic Girl
Zidware Pinball USA, 2017
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland
Zidware Pinball USA, 2012You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider nintendo.
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Quoted from Rarehero:I don't advocate threatening visits either - but if you had thousands of dollars wrapped up in this project and the guy can't be bothered to respond, what would you do!? If I was local I probably would try to confront him in person...not in a violent way...but just in a "WTF, talk to me!" way.
So you're saying you don't advocate threatening visits but you would if there's thousands of dollars on the line? But now you probably WILL visit him in a non-violent way?
wtf.
Quoted from Rarehero:Let me clarify. I'm saying I sympathize with those who feel helpless and want to visit him for answers, as there seems to be no other way to get answers since John doesn't return calls or emails. I never condoned violence.
Lol, sorry dude, I was just being an ass. Just pulling your leg that's all 
. Definitely agree with the no violence. No room for that even if the guy took thousands from me. Better ways to handle the situation.
Quoted from GLModular:If John posted the number publicly on his own website, then he obviously wants us to use it.
True, but John posted his number on his site for business/customers. People on pinside are posting his number with bad intentions so it comes across as "threatening" even though they're saying "oh, I just want to ask him a question". 
Sh** hit's the fan 9/10 times when someone owes you money and you see them face-to-face. I think the mod's are 100% right taking down information given the type of situation he's in now. You might be normal, but the pinsider above your post your below might be a psychopath and do something bad with that information that was provided here. If the psychopath gets it off of John's website then it's John problem. I can just see on the news, "Crazy Pinside member goes to famous ex-Williams pinball creator JPOP and puts him in the hospital". I'll tell you now, if I posted info on the forum and that happened the next day I'd go into hiding.
Anyone that posts personal information on this site given the situation needs to check their moral compass. It's not only creepy/stalker-like but damn man, people carry guns in the states like it's nothing. Pretty sure John has a nice sawed off shotgun lying next to his Magic Girl prototype 
.
Violence is not the way.
Quoted from Roostking:Yea posting his number on inside when it's clearly listed on his website is a violation of the rules? So,no,posting jjps, or sterns? Or does he get a pass cause he's special?
I think there's a difference between:
"Hello kind sir, can I have the number to Stern's customer support? I have a question about a magnet that's failing in my TWD"
as opposed to:
"Yo dawg, give me JPOP motha f***** numba. B**** owe me money"
LOL
Quoted from Mr68:Please don't forget the code on CV was terrible in 1997 when the game first arrived at arcades. This was also a dying era of pinball prior to Williams closing this division a mere two years later. When Cirqus Voltaire was born, video was killing the pinball star.
Long after Williams ceased production of CV, some brilliant and generous person released the home roms and made this game a classic in my opinion.
The only thing I don't like is some of the video modes which I simply cancel out of by hitting both flipper buttons. I even like the artwork which many people call gay. Another reason to hate it which disturbs me on a different level.
Enough said.
Just curious, how bad was the CV code prior to the home rom? I own a CV and have the recent home rom which is great but never played one with the old code. What was missing or incomplete?
Very interesting stuff. Nice to get an idea of how much the coding by itself would cost. This is just on the dmd's ($20k+), must be double that for the new Jersey Jack machines no?
Quoted from Warbleboopie:Okay, I tried, you guys are on your own.
1) John has already lied to me.
2) John does not know what an IPO means. I do not know how to umm...explain...how bad this is...
3) John knows so little that he asked for an art sample from me. I offered to run product development for him without taking a salary or even asking for compensation. And he asked me for an art sample.
MIT, bunch of degrees, multiple startup successes, bunch of languages, currently employed with a badass employer, sick Python skills. But I am also a card player and can read people. The read is bad. The read is very bad. You guys all need to get what you can from him in terms of materials and partially finished game with or without software and finish it yourself. He has boards and translates or backglasses whatever he made you need to just take the raw materials and take over the project. Don't worry about his patents, they look like they're trash. If you aren't willing to take over the project yourselves you won't get anything.
Holy sh*t, if this is not a reality check then I don't know what is...
Quoted from zombieyeti:I hear you & in my case I don't want to disparage a guy I've worked with for years and have a ton of respect for without knowing everything. I'm not trying to be coy - just respectful - not just to John but to the buyers of his machines... I've spoken with a few of you and hopefully you know where I stand. I want to see these machines made and everyone made whole...
lt3n5n.jpgQuoted from Rarehero:Yes, everybody knows.
Are you able to let me know through PM?
Quoted from Wolfmarsh:You just have to view this all through your new set of zidware glasses.
Found exclusively at http://www.zidwareglasses.com
dude, you don't know how hard I laughed. Definitely some hot real estate with that name 
Quoted from jwilson:The difference was back then he had a boss.
Yup, things sure did look more organized back then.
Jpop top right.
Quoted from iceman44:but for CRYING OUT LOUD, please at least make an attempt to do what you say you are going to do. Give us a video of your dog if nothing,.
You are enticing john to pull out a video from his heyday
johnnyboy.jpgQuoted from retro_p:That's $17K that could have been spent on (several) Spooky or Heighway pins. It's not like that money is intractably glued together, and can't be split up : P
I can somewhat see your point, but Ben isn't exactly competing with Jpop since Jpop hasn't even produced one game; what's there to compete against? And Ben's giving his opinions based of everything we all know now. He certainly wasn't giving his opinion a year ago in this manner and no one else was. I think we're all on the same page now. What we see is what we know, and we haven't seen much :/.
Quoted from jwilson:If it was his plan to get bought out, that was a shitty plan because everyone in the pinball business who might do that is well versed in the JPOP effect and wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot pole.
It's not exactly a giant business and word gets around fast.
You know, it's not surprising that he wanted to build this sort of "prestigious pinball empire" to be bought out given his track record and the games he built. I've personally seen many digital marketing companies fail because they've entered the market with the goal of being "bought out". Definitely not the way to go and actually shocking for me to consider this could very well have been Jpop's goal :/
Quoted from NYP:In fact if anyone ever sends ANY pinball maker pre-order money again then they deserve what they get.
+1
That photo belongs to Ben Heck. Saw it here: https://twitter.com/benheck/status/325272771066212352
If Jpop's newly anticipated video has that coffee machine in it, I think we're in big trouble 
It's strange, John seemed like he was updating his Twitter page last year posting on a regular basis (https://twitter.com/johnpopadiuk). Updates stopped happening after he received his TOPPS Mars Attack book. I believe the last official update with regards to anything related to pinball was having his back door opened at his shop.
Quoted from Skins:No argument from me. There is however a contingent that feel all nib games have to go down since they are "used".
Everyone has their own perspective on pin values because of what they've read/saw/experienced. The games from Stern seem to go down in value with exception to a few machines (Tron, LOTR). Recent NIB pins from Stern now are being sold hundreds below what they were worth (ST, TWD). While old Williams/Bally games from the 90's continue to increase in value. There's really no concrete rule here and it really depends on the demand of a particular pin at any given time. Who knows, maybe ST and TWD will increase in value in the next 5 years? We'll never know with 100% certainty. But I think Ben's dead on:
Quoted from benheck:Pinball machines aren't "investments" in the traditional sense of the word, but their ability to hold value very well, and in some cases appreciate beyond the purchase price, has been a HUGE factor in the hobby's strength these last 5 years.
Quoted from Skins:No disagreements there. I'm not sure exactly how my comments are being misinterpreted but I agree with ben's assessment.
Oh I was just adding on top of your comment 
. I remember when I first got into the hobby around 3 years ago, the first thing that was pointed out to me was how pinball machines appreciate over time. I'm from Canada and the logic in pricing pins are a little different than in the states. Where I live pins typically go for higher, even $1000 more than in the US due to supply and demand. It kind of evened out now given the strong US dollar :/.
Quoted from vid1900:Very few machines have even kept up with inflation, so if you think about it, they have gone down in value, just like most Sterns.
The Shadow would have to sell for $5,200 to have kept up.
KISS would have to be $6,400
Very true, never thought about it in terms of inflation from original price tag, but present day transactions of old 90's pins can still yield great return (ex: the flippers out there ).
Quoted from Rarehero:Disagree - ToM, TOTAN, and CV's gameplay are fantastic. More than artwork and toys. Physically, they shoot beautifully. Smooth loops, interesting ramp designs. ToM is probably the fastest, smoothest, flowiest game out there. They have cool themes, great art, music and killer presentation. Some people seem to have issues with some of the rules (complaints I don't really understand)...but they're clearly the in the vocal minority. They're very satisfying games to shoot, and there's a reason they're in demand. If they truly played poorly, demand and satisfaction with those games would have waned already.
I agree as well. Love ToM (was my first pin!), TOTAN and CV. Never played WCS but always wanted to own one as I heard good things about the game. I know there's the side of pinball players who think JPOP's games are redundant or too easy, and then there's the collectors like us who love them game. I've come to terms that not everyone will fall in love with JPOP's games. I have and they'll never leave my collection.
Quoted from TigerLaw:John must emit some type of LSD or other mind altering substance to those he enters communications with, it appears to be possible to transmit it even through phone lines.
giphy.gif
I see a tiger, but I also see a bird and a voodoo witch
Quoted from RobT:I don't think you can apply a clear coat over a sticker.
Sure you can. Owned pins in the past that had clear coat over stickers. Let me tell ya, it doesn't look pretty 
Quoted from zr11990:Im a vindictive bastard when it comes to someone screwing me over. I want revenge as nasty as I can get it.
You damn Texans are all the same
Quoted from zr11990:Not really. I will help anyone I can. I tend to trust people when I shouldn't.
One of my favorite movie quotes of all time from The Thing:
MacReady: How you doin’, old boy?
Dr. Blair: I don’t know who to trust.
MacReady: I know what you mean, Blair. Trust’s a tough thing to come by these days. Tell you what. . .why don’t you just trust in the Lord?
the_thing.jpgQuoted from wcbrandes:Guys there are basically three parts to creating a great machine. when you take Jpops previous games all I look at is layout, original concept design and art and finish. Programming is a separate beast all together and we know the ones out there that have mastered this craft and seems there are more on the way. Building a pinball is hard
I'm sure everyone did their due diligence at the beginning, but there wasn't much in terms of negative findings :/. John just started his venture in what, 2011? Prior to that he was known to have his name on totan, tom, cv and wcs. So he was proven to have been involved in the creation of successful pins and everyone knew this which is why it was easy for jpop to get that preorder money. Sure there were a few red flags in the beginning but there's always going to be some red flags in any entrepreneurial endeavor. No one should blame themselves as it was pretty clear cut; you either take a leap or walk the other way. I'm still shocked about all of this, really. Jpop would have been the last guy on my list to be in this type of situation as one would think he had all the prior knowledge of manufacturing, purchasing and distribution.
Quoted from Ronnie1114:I am not physically involved, but I know one of the people making parts. Its only up from here.
Are you allowed to elaborate? Or we're sticking with PDXmonkey-style posts?
Quoted from wcbrandes:I see your points however not sure I agree with them all. I don't think I would put my faith or should I say hard earn money in any of the designers to go out and do the games from start to finish. They all worked at big companies that would hold fire to their feet and had resources galore to fall back on, and even in some cases get the design taken away and finished by others. To me there is a huge difference between artistic designing, programming great rule sets and manufacturing. Like I said if their is one individual that has all these qualities and can actually spend the time needed on each facet then whoa all the power to them. I however with 20/20 vision would think this is a long shot at best and I'm no gambler. I would look for the excellent design/art and table, however also do my due diligence on the person and or team to where their skills lie in programming and most of all manufacturing. If there is a huge hole somewhere in and amongst these count me out.
Although it's sad when you put it like that, it's the truth. I think we've all learnt so much from the whole jpop situation (I certainly did). I mean Kevin with Predator was really a giant leap of faith, but even with someone who was engraved in the industry like jpop it's never really a smoking gun.
Quoted from jwilson:More hand-wavy non-committal bullshit.
Why do the sycophants all use the same Popaduik non-speak?
It's the whole "golden rule" of paying for information. He teases and teases, then he sits and waits for someone to pm him with $20 offer to spill some info lol. Next he'll tell you to meet him in a dark alleyway with the goods...
Quoted from Rarehero:These complaints sound logical, but at the end of the day - most people just have fun playing Tom/TOTAN/CV and these complaints don't enter their minds while playing.
I think you nailed it with "most people just have fun playing Tom/TOTAN/CV and these complaints don't enter their minds while playing." I'm in love with those games. Just Totan, my god, it's so beautiful. The theme, the colors, the music, my cute custom genie lamp on top of the back box that I secretly rub and make wishes to. Just the music alone I can listen to all day; the giggles of the woman when you sneak into the tent for totan, or when you get the Highwire Multiball / Ringmaster Frenzie. I just enjoy the games too much to be picky about the rules.
Quoted from metallik:You just described myself in 2002 (minus the topper), a couple years after I'd gotten TOTAN and back when I still enjoyed playing it. As you said, beautiful light show and great music. For some people, simple games are all they need. 12 years ago, that was good enough for me. Since then, I've found so many more, better-playing machines, that I don't see the point in just banging the ball around and shooting shots just to see them whip back at me, so to speak.
Interesting, we all evolve in this hobby and who knows, I might have the same view as you in 5 years from now. Do you mind sharing which games do it for you now? Am curious to see if I played any of them.
Quoted from dgarrett:I've been onsite at Stern, JJP and Spooky - I'd like to see what John's shop looks like anyway.
I think this should help:
Quoted from rai:In fact Pinball is such a small market. I find it hard to believe anyone would go into it for the money. I can not believe JJP has made a dime on manufacturing side, Stern I'm sure makes money but with cost cutting, lack of PF supports, subtracting a spinner from a $4800 Metallica pro, plastic apron, skimpy voice actors and inadequate licenses and code etc..
I'm not saying all Stern games are inadequate as IM has full movie clips, Kiss and Metallica will have voices from the band members which is not cheap. But overall the trend at Stern has been to lower costs where possible. I can not help but think Stern could use a few more coders.
The total profit from selling 500 pins over 5 years (realistically can't see Zidware even doing that) is minuscule, just no meat on the bone.
Totally agree with this. The best case scenario would be a Disney one where the prince of Agrabah (Aladdin) has a secret pinball collection and would like to see more pins by the likes of jpop, thus throwing million dollar bills on the steps of Zidware's HQ.
Quoted from MiamiRedSkin:Has this video been posted? It seems like it's a snippet from the Adobe feature but I don't remember these scenes being included in the original video.
» Vimeo video
Thanks for the share! How did you find the video again? Not sure I understood what you mean by Adobe feature. An interesting view nonetheless.
What is this? Just an official complaint with Cook County? I see at the bottom that it says: "This data is not an official record of the Court or the Clerk and may not be represented as an official court record." So this is just a heads-up complaint and John needs to refund asap before sh*t hits the fan?
Oh, and Pdxmonkey, not sure why you're looking for attention. What do you have to gain from poking the bear? Thought you would have gotten the point from the last time you posted 
Quoted from applejuice:I hope all my other projects on pinside go someway to explain that i am a decent person and tried my best to help these projects succeed. Indeed, the journey almost brought me to my knees, as i relied on being payed in a timely manner, but wanted to keep the projects moving forward. I had to sell around 7 pinball games from my personal collection that i built up over 25 years to keep myself afloat. I was lucky i had them.
John actually sent me an email once telling me to stop sending invoice reminders as it was "annoying him" ...
I am lost for words, literally. I wish you only the best in your future endeavors. I'm truly sorry this had to happen to you. I understand you situation as a small business that you're willing to do anything in the beginning and be as flexible as you can just to make things work. Again applejuice, I truly wish you the best.
Quoted from BackFlipper:This is my favorite part - because I have created, purchased, and sold many businesses in the last 25 years. And, yes, I have been burned - particularly to the tune of $3 Million in "shareholder loans."
Let me translate how that works:
1) Invest $3 Million in a business with one owner who controls the cash.
2) Forget to include salary restrictions on that owner when you invest.
3) Owner "pays himself" a huge bonus one week, say $2.5 million.
4) A few days later, the owner deposits $2.4 Million back into the corporate account. This is a shareholder loan to the company.
5) Looking at the monthly numbers (just totals), things look in order. I never notice it.
6) Years go by.
7) You have a buyer for the company at $4.5 Million.
You are notified that there are $2.4 Million in outstanding shareholder loans that get paid before you.
9) You learn an expensive lesson.
John is no dummy. He had no restrictions on the money. He paid it all to himself first, and, out of the goodness of his heart, loaned it back to Zidware. That way, he is first in line as a creditor. That is why he is paying nobody! The language of "shareholder loans" was not included accidentally. By signing it, you are acknowledging that "John has outstanding loans and you were made aware of this."
Well said. I really, REALLY hope no one signed the new agreement. If they did, they certainly aren't part of pinside and are under Jpop's spell.
Whoever is the new licensee needs to revise the agreement. You can't possibly think you can outsmart Pinsiders with that nonsense. What's shocking is that the agreement must have been looked at, touched up, proofread, corrected, revised multiple times, put in the oven, cooled down and STILL came out the way it did. Disgusting.
Quoted from benheck:Is John in his shop at this very moment, tweaking code on Memorial Day like I am?
Quoted from benheck:Any real businessperson with about one month left to save their company would be working on Memorial Day. It isn't some stupid Disney movie where Tim Allen learns to be a good dad by making the baseball game. Going bankrupt and getting sued is a much worse fate for someone's family.
This is exactly why people admire you Ben. It's not just the expertise, knowledge and skills that you bring to the pinball world, it's also about your amazing work ethic. Remind me to buy you 6-pack of beer if I ever visit the shop. You're 110% right in what you said; is Jpop doing any kind of work on memorial day? Probably not otherwise we would have seen some sort of memorial day post on his blog showing some new lamp posts on the MG playfield
Quoted from applejuice:Almost going bankrupt in the process along with other things was not easy to get over
John Popaduik caused me and my family 'great harm' and still refuses to apologise
This is disgusting. Where's the human element in all of this? Is Jpop a robot or something? At least man up and apologize for your mistakes. Again applejuice, glad you were able to overcome this hard time and thanks for all your hard work.
Quoted from wcbrandes:I am one of those who lost his money as well. Does it mean its a big deal to me... seriously all money lost is, however I believe there are some out there that are perhaps even affected more than I. The items on the first letter are designed by everyone involved including the lawyers however there has only been one letter to come from Pintasia and that is the one that should define us because ultimately that is the one that is being followed and was what the intentions were from us all along. As soon as a "joint venture" can be announced it will. If it can't I will hang my head, take my loss and sleep at night knowing I did all I could with the skills I have. I will be the first to apologize for wasting everyone's time. There is no conspiracy theory here that I can promise.
Keep up the amazing work. Finally seeing "something" is better than nothing and I definitely appreciate the time and effort you're putting into this regardless of what happens in the end, although the path does look a little clearer now .
Quoted from applejuice:Here are a few more files i have found from the development archive.
First up is a dev video showing operation of the top rollover lanes. I took various videos to test out different features effects and sounds etc
» YouTube video
Next is a video i took for showing the testing of some motors on the aux coil tests in the service mode.
» YouTube video
Finally, some game play video that i shot some time before i got the ramps, install them and made updates for their inclusion. Its quite a short vid and i don't really shoot much, but please appreciate that this was just another dev video for testing out certain features.
» YouTube video
I will continue to look for other vids and pics to post on things that were developed during my time there.
Damn, I just fell in love with the little music I heard.... 
I know it goes without saying and the gesture will be greatly appreciated; whoever is going to the NW show from pinside please remember to take some recordings of Magic Girl in action and post it on here for us East side folks. I know our European and Asian pinside members are also dying to see the game in full light as well .
Quoted from s1500:I like zombiyeti's KISS backglass more than the new Stern one. No offense to Kevin, but zombie's has more character to it. Maybe there's an opportunity for zombie to team up with CPR for alternate translites.
100% agreed! More eye candy with Yeti's version.
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