(Topic ID: 208702)

Lame nostalgic themes

By Russell

6 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 128 posts
  • 61 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 years ago by _KIRK_
  • No one calls this topic a favorite

You

Linked Games

No games have been linked to this topic.

    Topic Gallery

    View topic image gallery

    TERRAHAWKS-poster-800px_grande (resized).jpg
    LANCELOTLINK2 (resized).jpg
    image (resized).jpeg
    phantasm3 (resized).jpg
    phantasm1 (resized).jpg
    24de0ea1_uELXo (resized).jpg
    Twb4gx81BJ-and-the-Bear21 (resized).jpg
    722B3313-63BF-4B20-B37E-EB0CCDE6A2BD (resized).jpeg
    teddyruxpin-e (resized).png
    zathura_by_joeyhellman-d4ayc5u1.jpg
    TheGooniesSlot.jpeg
    g (resized).jpg
    images (resized).jpg
    cebd8c1b5bbe20277a8583cdb979f5cc--gi-joe-gourmet.jpg

    There are 128 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 3.
    -19
    #1 6 years ago

    Here are some examples of themes that I’ve heard mentioned lately that I find terrible:

    He-Man
    GI Joe
    Big Trouble in Little China
    Goonies
    Gremlins
    ET
    Original Transformers
    Back to the Future
    And yes...Toy Story

    A few notable exceptions might be:
    Tron (prefer whole new game > VE)
    Original Blade Runner
    Jaws
    The Shining
    Alien (one that actually ships)
    Evil Dead

    #2 6 years ago
    Quoted from Russell:

    Here are some examples of themes that I’ve heard mentioned lately that I find terrible:
    He-Man
    GI Joe
    Big Trouble in Little China
    Goonies
    Gremlins
    ET
    Original Transformers
    Back to the Future
    And yes...Toy Story
    A few notable exceptions might be:
    Tron (prefer whole new game > VE)
    Original Blade Runner
    Jaws
    The Shining
    Alien (one that actually ships)
    Evil Dead

    Jaws, Big Trouble in little China, and Back to the Future all have good potential. The Shining possible.

    43
    #3 6 years ago

    These are things I don't like:
    (list of items)

    These are things I do like:
    (list of items)

    Worthwhile.

    -15
    #4 6 years ago
    Quoted from chad:

    Jaws, Big Trouble in little China, and Back to the Future all have good potential. The Shining possible.

    I like all of the movies that I listed when I saw them in the 80s. Many of them just have not maintained any cultural relevance.

    To me, Big Trouble in Little China was only mediocre even in the 80s, has no cult-classic qualities.

    -3
    #5 6 years ago
    Quoted from epthegeek:

    These are things I don't like:
    (list of items)
    These are things I do like:
    (list of items)
    Worthwhile.

    Feel free not to waste your time posting in threads you don’t approve of.

    #6 6 years ago

    "It's all in the reflexes." Drops the mic.

    #7 6 years ago

    I can't unread this post. Damnit.
    Thankfully "Epthegeek" restored some of my faith in humanity.

    #8 6 years ago

    I'm crossing my fingers for a non-lame pin themed after Vincent Van Gogh or the Avett Brothers

    #9 6 years ago

    Happy Clowns, and Cowboy anything.

    #10 6 years ago

    Everything you listed is lame to me. It's like people can't even imagine a pin that isn't a licensed theme from something already defined, dissected, and memorized. It's so boring. Nostalgic, new, I don't care, if it's not original I'm over it.

    #11 6 years ago
    Quoted from Aurich:

    Everything you listed is lame to me. It's like people can't even imagine a pin that isn't a licensed theme from something already defined, dissected, and memorized. It's so boring. Nostalgic, new, I don't care, if it's not original I'm over it.

    If it's "original" how can it possibly be nostalgic? Most of the pins I own (I know...not many) becasue they are great games AND nostalgic. I said most because IM is just a great game.

    For me the top two would be:
    The Matrix
    Blade Runner

    #12 6 years ago
    Quoted from epthegeek:

    These are things I don't like:
    (list of items)
    These are things I do like:
    (list of items)
    Worthwhile.

    Sounds like those great IMDB lists made by kids.

    #13 6 years ago

    He had me at "Lame nostalgic themes".

    #14 6 years ago
    Quoted from Aurich:

    Everything you listed is lame to me. It's like people can't even imagine a pin that isn't a licensed theme from something already defined, dissected, and memorized. It's so boring. Nostalgic, new, I don't care, if it's not original I'm over it.

    I understand the desire for new stuff, but you can still do creative and interesting things using a licensed theme. And a good thing too, because you'd have to be a little nuts to make a commercial pinball machine with an original theme. Nostalgia always sells, and pinball manufacturers seemingly have enough trouble turning a profit without dismissing an easy source of additional sales. It's cool that Spooky and JJP are willing to set business interests aside to make original themes with TNA and DI. But both of those games would of course have sold better with a popular licensed theme attached.

    So, while I'll applaud anyone willing to take the financial hit trying to create new IP in pinball form, I'm not flipping the bird to companies that decide to play it (moderately) safer. If it plays well and the theme is well integrated, I'm in.

    Quoted from o-din:

    He had me at "Lame nostalgic themes".

    I wondered when you'd pop in. Would you guys be in for a "Lame Nostalgic Theme" meta-themed pinball?

    #15 6 years ago

    I'm with Aurich licensed themes are starting to get old. With a few exceptions.

    Lately Stern seems to be "Trying to Hard" to make these themes to work out.
    I want to see more "Dialed In" type projects coming up in the future.

    #16 6 years ago

    okay, but what about jurassic world!

    got you exited huh

    13
    #17 6 years ago

    Blade Runner would be awesome. Not necessarily just the original either, 2049 was a beautiful movie.

    #18 6 years ago
    Quoted from fosaisu:

    Would you guys be in for a "Lame Nostalgic Theme" meta-themed pinball?

    Or even a Jethro Tull rock themed pinball machine?

    #19 6 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    Or even a Jethro Tull rock themed pinball machine?

    Expand it to “flute rock” and I’m in.

    #20 6 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    Or even a Jethro Tull rock themed pinball machine?

    Quoted from fosaisu:

    Expand it to “flute rock” and I’m in.

    Finally some Heavy Metal fans in here.

    #21 6 years ago

    ...this thread is the only thing that's lame and what a shame! lol

    cebd8c1b5bbe20277a8583cdb979f5cc--gi-joe-gourmet.jpgcebd8c1b5bbe20277a8583cdb979f5cc--gi-joe-gourmet.jpg

    #22 6 years ago

    I'm holding out for a Sally Jesse Rafael pinball

    #23 6 years ago

    Boondock Saints.

    #24 6 years ago
    Quoted from Astropin:

    If it's "original" how can it possibly be nostalgic?

    I think you maybe misread what I wrote, sorry if I wasn't clear. I'm saying I don't care if it's nostalgic (old band, movie whatever) or new (new band or movie) if it's Yet Another License™ then pass either way.

    Quoted from fosaisu:

    I understand the desire for new stuff, but you can still do creative and interesting things using an licensed theme.

    I think this is absolutely true. I'd rather see creative and interesting things using original ideas instead. That, to me, would be more interesting, and more creative.

    Quoted from fosaisu:

    you'd have to be a little nuts to make a commercial pinball machine with an original theme. Nostalgia always sells, and pinball manufacturers seemingly have enough trouble turning a profit without dismissing an easy source of additional sales.

    You might be right, I get where you're coming from. What that says to me is pinball is unhealthy and propped up by gimmicks, just like the movie industry is addicted to franchises and sequels and reboots.

    I like Marvel movies just fine, I thought Bladerunner 2049 was an excellent film, but I need a mix man, I can't just go watch retreads and familiar faces. In the 90s we had licensed games and original themes, and they went together just fine. No one was complaining that Medieval Madness needed a license to earn.

    I'm buying TNA, my money is where my mouth is, all I can do.

    #25 6 years ago

    You could easily mashup all of those lame themes into one super meta nostalgia and call it "Stranger Things"

    I love that show, but its unwatchable after the first watch. I guess that says something for its appeal.

    #26 6 years ago
    Quoted from Maken:

    Blade Runner would be awesome. Not necessarily just the original either, 2049 was a beautiful movie.

    I would be down for Bladerunner 2049. The new version is superior to the original in a lot of ways. I think people forget how much the original dragged.

    There is part of me that sometimes wonders if there would ever be a market for retheming. Like stern says, we have GoT but for $500 more you can have the same layout but different art.

    The programming part of a game kind of confuses me because it shouldn't be that hard to put together tools so that most of the code is kind of cookie cutter and follows easy to define paths. Sega's pinball machines never had code issues as far as I know and it seemed like they used a template or pattern for programming all their games.

    As for themes that I think are dead, clowns and dance parties are dead to me for new pins. Old pins, I can appreciate it for what it was when it came out.

    #27 6 years ago
    Quoted from Aurich:

    What that says to me is pinball is unhealthy and propped up by gimmicks, just like the movie industry is addicted to franchises and sequels and reboots. I like Marvel movies just fine, I thought Bladerunner 2049 was an excellent film, but I need a mix man, I can't just go watch retreads and familiar faces. In the 90s we had licensed games and original themes, and they went together just fine.

    I imagine that whatever you're selling, if you're selling to a graying audience then you're going to make more cash by leveraging nostalgia. If the majority of your audience is under 25, it's probably easier to rely on new original themes (or new licensed IP rather than stuff from the 80s, or new reboots of stuff from the 80s). The average pinball player hasn't been under 25 in decades, though, so we're probably stuck with our own collective nostalgia for those golden days of yesteryear.

    None of which means you shouldn't hold out for and support good new stuff when you see it! Hope you end up loving TNA, it seems to have generated a lot of good buzz and I'm looking forward to playing one on route some day soon.

    #28 6 years ago
    Quoted from fosaisu:

    if you're selling to a graying audience then you're going to make more cash by leveraging nostalgia.

    images (resized).jpgimages (resized).jpg

    g (resized).jpgg (resized).jpg

    -1
    #29 6 years ago
    Quoted from fosaisu:

    I imagine that whatever you're selling, if you're selling to a graying audience then you're going to make more cash by leveraging nostalgia.

    I disagree.

    In the CO pinball community, the typical player is their 30-40s. I don’t know anyone in that age group that sit around pining for the days of He-Man. Typical pinball players are very engaged in current movies, music, culture, etc.

    Let’s see a Greta Van Fleet pinball machine!

    #30 6 years ago

    The Goonies is a new hot slot machine in Vegas casinos. Too bad you're not hip with the trends.

    TheGooniesSlot.jpegTheGooniesSlot.jpeg

    #31 6 years ago
    Quoted from Russell:

    I disagree. In the CO pinball community, the typical player is their 30-40s. I don’t know anyone in that age group that sit around pining for the days of He-Man. Typical pinball players are very engaged in current movies, music, culture, etc. Let’s see a Greta Van Fleet pinball machine!

    Check your first post though -- you listed some 80s IP you consider lame, but then rattled off five 70s/80s themes that you'd be excited about. I imagine most of us in our 30s or 40s could do likewise. For better or worse we're a prime market for nostalgia marketing, a seemingly natural result of the aging process. There will be occasional hold-outs like @aurich, of course, but you can't blame pinball manufacturers for catering to the interests of their customer base.

    [EDIT: To the extent your point in the OP was that most people of all ages have terrible taste, though, I agree!]

    #32 6 years ago

    They've been using lame nostalgic themes in bulk for the last five years, why should they stop now?

    #33 6 years ago
    Quoted from fosaisu:

    There will be occasional hold-outs like aurich, of course, but you can't blame pinball manufacturers for catering to the interests of their customer base.

    I'm not even much of a hold out poster child, considering I helped make one of the themes he listed.

    #34 6 years ago
    Quoted from TheLaw:

    Finally some Heavy Metal fans in here.

    Metallica dislikes this. ...and so do I. LOL

    #35 6 years ago

    I would absolutely love to see a "The Sandlot" game. Wendy Peffercorn, Squints, Hercules, and the Great Bambino.... what more could you ask for?

    #36 6 years ago

    I'd easily pay up for a Big Trouble in Little China game!

    #37 6 years ago

    I want an awesome original theme with mechs or toys and a layout that has never been seen in a pinball machine before.

    #38 6 years ago

    I'm looking forward to an Osmonds and/or Sonny and Cher machine.

    #39 6 years ago

    We need a captain power pin!!!!! No, sorry. Just joking, we don’t need one.

    #40 6 years ago

    A non-goofy, non-party Universal Monsters theme. All in one with individual LEs like X-Men.

    #41 6 years ago

    I'd like to see:

    Jaws.
    Cannonball Run.
    Planet of the Apes (original movie).
    Vincent Price (various movie mash-up)
    The Omen.
    Alfred Hitchcock (various movie mash-up)
    20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (original movie)
    '30s gangster/noir movie (all black and white)
    Shogun Warriors
    Zoltan: Fortune Teller
    The Ramones
    Logan's Run (movie, not TV show)
    The Thing (Kurt Russel version)
    The Warriors (lots of great gang modes)
    Mad Max (original movie)
    Blues Brothers
    An American Werewolf in London (I didn't mean to call you meatloaf, Jack!)
    Lost Boys (vampires, not Peter Pan)

    #42 6 years ago
    Quoted from Russell:

    Here are some examples of themes that I’ve heard mentioned lately that I find terrible:
    He-Man
    GI Joe
    Big Trouble in Little China
    Goonies
    Gremlins
    ET
    Original Transformers
    Back to the Future
    And yes...Toy Story

    Yep, none of those would get my money. Toy Story is pretty much the only one that is confirmed at this point? How about Office Space?

    #43 6 years ago

    Mad Max Fury Road

    Odd ones that I think could make very interest unconventional themes:
    Glengary Glenn Ross - This one could work I think. "Coffee is for closers" would be one of the best pinball taunts
    Dr.Strangelove
    Naked Gun
    Spaceballs
    UHF
    Monty Python and the Holy Grail
    Inglorious Bastards
    Kill Bill
    Sin City
    300
    Watchmen
    Logan
    Deadpool

    #44 6 years ago

    even a lame theme can make a great game if it has elements that can be used within the machine

    #45 6 years ago

    You leave Jack Burton alone ! He showed great courage...

    #46 6 years ago

    Goonies? I love that movie.

    #47 6 years ago

    The art alone is awesome:

    zathura_by_joeyhellman-d4ayc5u1.jpgzathura_by_joeyhellman-d4ayc5u1.jpg

    #48 6 years ago
    Quoted from mrossman5:

    Goonies? I love that movie.

    Me, too. But, I’d rather have it as a nice childhood memory, rather than a pinball theme for 2018 and beyond.

    #49 6 years ago
    Quoted from erak:

    I want an awesome original theme with mechs or toys and a layout that has never been seen in a pinball machine before.

    Sounds like Dialed In, actually.

    #50 6 years ago

    Dialed In! is a pure show of guts by JJP, to put a loaded original theme out when the safe play in a home collector-oriented market is take a popular license, that is ideally still relevant. Basically a dare to Stern to do the same - and that's what Steve Ritchie is working on, so we hear. =

    DI's layout doesn't blaze all that much ground - it's vintage Lawlor, full of toys. It's like he took TZ, made it flow much better, didn't waste so much playfield and didn't have pops that drain right into the outlanes.

    I would hazard a guess the OP is not clamoring for a new Elvira pinball in 2018.

    There are 128 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 3.

    Reply

    Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

    Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

    Donate to Pinside

    Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


    This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/lame-nostalgic-themes?hl=dngrwillrobinson and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

    Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.