A Back to the Future remake would make so much sense.

The joke about "who's president in the future?" even still works. Maybe they could fix the bad science of a plutonium rod creating electricity.

True, movies have only gotten more realistic with time.

Read this with a sarcastic Neil Degrasse Tyson tone for extra entertainment value. --^

The world needs another rock n roll pin featuring the band as they look now. Old and wrinkly. Because we don't have enough of those.

Actually, my vote would be for Pink Floyd. You could focus on the imagery of The Wall alone and create a great theme without ever having to feature the band itself. I have my suspicions that Roger Waters would probably never agree to it though.

Titanic?
Jurassic world?
Stranger things?

Rick & Morty?

I mean I don't care about BTTF...

But Hollywood rebooting things is extremely common. Blockbusters are a huge gamble and most people are too chicken-shit to stick their necks out for original ideas. The video game industry is having the same sort of stagnation in the AAA space as well.

Honestly, these two Spiderman reboots are NOT memorable for me. Holland's good in the role but the scripts are just too corny and fluffy.

No I get it, the thing is the guys that control BTTF have literally said they are working on setting up ways it cannot be made even AFTER they are dead.

Meh. Money talks. It's not like it's untouchable. The musical version of BTTF premieres on the West End of London next winter.

No, for people who keep saying we want modern, hip, contemporary themes and then think a show set back over 30 years ago is a good idea.

I do feel a Pokemon theme would be a home run. Kids would love it and some young adults would also be on board. Not sure about private collectors but certainly if they have kids and can afford a new game.

Why does the time period of the show matter? What matters is the show is current and relevant.

It's like saying Happy Days wasn't relevant in the 70s because it took place in the 50s.

Nostalgia is always in style.

Rock n roll will never die and todays boring bands will never be remembered. Trendy alternative crap etc. Old school bands are the best long live rock n roll. Pink Floyd ok nothing special unless you keep smoking that crap as dead heads.

Are you saying you prefer a playfield to have pictures of (for example) The Rolling Stones in their 70s as opposed to in their prime? Maybe The Beatles pin should have had two skeletons standing next to old Ringo and Paul? Look at AC/DC. Those old farts dancing on the playfield and backglass are the best they could do? At least with Pink Floyd they have more interesting imagery to choose from besides a hooker in a devil costume. Better music in my opinion too, and it has absolutely nothing to do with drugs.

I don't know what it has to do with my Pink Floyd selection or my critique of using geriatric imagery on a pinball machine to represent a band, but "Today's bands" aren't the "alternative crap" you mentioned, old man. That genre (or more like a marketing term for just an evolution of Rock and Roll) was popular in the early to mid 90s. Almost 30 years ago. 30 years before THAT, The Beatles were just forming as a band. You sound like you're ranting at the MTV generation decades after they moved back to the suburbs to raise grandkids of their own.

Also, just throwing it out there, but Pearl Jam are still touring and selling out stadiums 29 years into their career.

There's too much variety and choice in modern music. Anyone can release a record which is why bands can't get to be as big as they did in the past when there was limited options and everyone listened to the same stuff. There's still great music today but you have to seek it out. But for this reason I don't think you can have a pin based on modern music.

But if we're going to pick something based on an older band or musician my top two choices would be Prince (the greatest musician of all time). Or David Bowie (The most innovative). The Bowie license would likely be tough to attain but the Prince estate seems willing to do anything for money right now.

Stranger Things just had BTTF movie playing in Season 3 at the theater in Starcourt Mall , It's weird I think the Mom is trying to bang her son.

Just toying with ya, not old in my forty’s. Never been a a big Floyd fan or grunge music alternative crap. Don’t like the artwork on the music pins above you mentioned but the bands will live forever and lasted longer than Floyd. Not against the pin being made unlike other worthless music selections people have suggested. Weird Al would work if you suggesting ideas in the pin and Jimmy Buffet so you don’t get your old guys on back glass, which should have not been plastered all over them to begin with, bad design and art but as long as games are fun. Pearl Jam are good and play long shows especially with Eddie V smashed out on wine all the time, not everything by them great not a top 25 band for me.

If someone could wrestle Queen from the ashes of Heighway, that would make a great music pin.

Otherwise, a few thoughts for good themes:
- Rick and Morty
- The Princess Bride
- The Neverending Story
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
- Legend of Zelda
- Spawn
- Dungeons and Dragons
- Fortnite

I think operators universally agree that games like Super Mario Bros And Street Fighter kill on location. A must have theme to make operators money would really help the hobby. Rather than games that appeal to the older generation or existing pinball players (like Iron Maiden and BKSOR).

I keep thinking Fortnite is just an ephemeral flavor of video game but it still tops the charts month after month.

D&D is experiencing a massive resurgence.

Princess Bride/Neverending story are just personal favorites

Imagine if the smooth shooting, approachable rules, and achievable goals of The Munsters was Super Mario Brothers?

Make Spot a piranha plant, Herman is a goomba, dragula is a green pipe mold, and play the underground music in the lower playfield.

Even if the code is shallow that game would sell a magnitude more than Munsters did. It’d kill on location.

That's a great idea Trey!

Yeah the fact a POS like Gottlieb SMB out-earns everything is a pretty clear sign of what actual location goers like.

I fear though that working with Nintendo would make Disney look like Sony.

If you thought episodes 1 and 2 are meh, you're really gonna hate episodes 4-5-6. Fortunately, it picks up again in episode 7. After episodes 1-2-3 I was of the opinion that S3 was much better than S2 (which was much worse than S1), but then episodes 4-5-6 happened and it slammed my opinion down to S3 being just a little better than S2. Hopefully it finishes strong.

I also don't like that the Duffers supposedly have it in their head that they want to do a "genre theme" for the seasons. S3 is horror and S4 is supposedly holiday themed. Bleaugh.

The duet was strong.

BEST...THEME...EVER!
MXC (resized).jpg

Fuck them. You guys man, young people do not buy pinball machines, and don't go to barcades so where is the need what so ever to appeal to young folk?

Families go to breweries all the time. This is the absolute worst attitude to have if you want pinball to survive. 99% of players started as a child because of that one machine at the pizza place or movie theater. Relating to the youth is important maybe not every game but at least 1 game a year!

You are currently aging and will die.

Getting closer. Probably at 30 days or so.. plus or minus. Sounding like most probable is Jurassic, but you never know I guess.

It will be interesting to see as the lid has stayed on pretty tight for the next game.

Its not going to survive, sorry to break it to ya but the resurgence is due to the OG arcade punks now having money to buy games. Nothing more. I appreciate the enthusiasm but it will go all virtual at some point and this next gen of humans will not buy pinball machines. Operators alone ain't gonna do it.

Unless ur a cyborg so r u, whats the point of letting me know this?

Don't be so sure. To me that is part of why pinball has come back so big. The more that world becomes computerized and virtualized, the more people are going to be fascinated by something real like pinball. Not everyone is a sheep.

Hazoff, You might say things in a brutal fashion sometimes, but you're not wrong. Make games for people who buy them. Most Kids today do not and will not ever give a damn about pinball as much as those of us who grew up with the arcades of the 80's and 90's do. They're not going to be shelling out thousands of dollars on new pins no matter what the theme of the game is, and in about 10 to 12 years this hobbie's large scale manufacturing will be toast.

Its almost like some of you guys think you're a better person because you "care" about the future of pinball for the next generation.
I got news for you do-gooders. The resurgence will be grinding to a halt sooner than later. There is no up and coming generation of pinball collectors, so enjoy it for what it is in the here and now.

Most likely within the next 10 years new tech like VR and AR will have matured enough to crush all other forms of entertainment. That will most likely kill pinball manufacturing among other things. On the plus side 3D printing technology should be good enough and cheap enough by then to print out your own game parts at home, assuming you're still in the hobby.

I know we'll have a few young people here and there get into pinball, but never in the numbers you see in those of us over 40. Its very generational and there's nothing anyone can do to change it.

Well brutal honesty is usually takin badly but someone has to be honest around here. Thanks

They're fighting a losing battle. Embrace the progress of technology because its not going to stop.

I’d like to see a ball grabber nip it style for jaws... something like that hasn’t been done in forever.

If you have a business, you generally are in it for the long term. Guys obsessed with 80’s metal won’t be around to buy pinball machines forever. Get it?

Pinball Manufacturers wont be around forever either. Get it???

Amazing. So, the thinking is that pinball is dead and might as well flame out on old guy themes? I bet Stern and several others have a different outlook. Seems like a defeatist attitude but who knows?

Young people don't go to barcades? Are you serious? They spend more money at bars than any generation before them! And they're going to bars more and later in life because they're not popping out kids at age 23 like Gen X and BB before them.

Guess what's in bars? PINBALL MACHINES! That's where they belong, that's the original purpose. I can't randomly walk into a rich dude's basement but I can randomly walk into a bar.

Signed, Someone Who Actually Interacts with Millenials on a Regular Basis, is Friends with a Lot of Them, and Even Knows Some who own Pinball Machines.

I think that is accurate. I've seen a resurgence at a lot of our locations of pinball play. Card systems are saying the users growing the most are under 25. Good sign imo

People still appreciate art, which pinball machines are.
It is a great thing if young people and women get more interested there will be more pinball for everyone.

The last Stranger Things episode was indeed a stronger finish, but it only made me wonder why literally half the season was wasted and wasn't even that good. Essentially, the good episodes are 1-2-3-8. And not a fan of the gooey, bloody blob bad guy made of zombies this season. They're going to turn off a segment of their fans with that choice. My wife wouldn't watch it. I'm not a fan of horror, but she's REALLY not a fan.

Neither will cars (as we know them) but thats a long time away still

Pinball has "died" at least 3-4 times in my lifetime. Some of you are just extremely negative people. Don't let your own fear of your creeping mortality translate to your outlook on everything else.

This weekend alone I've had the experience of seeing smaller children play or watch pinball for the first time in their lives. They were absolutely fascinated with the game. It was something that their iPhones and video games can never provide. Things work in circles: the TV generation abandoned pinball for simple video games because it allowed them to finally control televisions. Skip ahead several generations and those things are so commonplace that now young people are craving things that are real. Barcades are a huge part of the resurgence in pinball, and they aren't filled primarily with 50+ men in faded AC/DC shirts complaining about everything under the sun.

No, its not dead. Not yet. But you guys that think the younger generation is someday going to keep Stern and JJP or any other pinball manufacturers going on for decades to come are kidding yourselves. Idc who is playing what games wherever they may be located.

The notion that the 20 somethings of today are out in droves, drinking it up and playing pinball is pure fantasy. And any of your anecdotal evidence means zip compared to the reality. The fines and penalties for drinking and driving alone are too much for any of these "youth" to risk the financial hardship in this gig economy. Not to mention the risk of injury or death.

The town I grew up in had 32 bars in it when I was 21. Now 26 years later it s down to 12 bars while theres been an increase in the population of the county. That's not a coincidence or an outlier, that's reality in a lot of towns across the East coast of America. I travel a lot for work and whenever I'm in bars with pinball machines, NOBODY plays them. Except for me of course ,but that's exactly my point. Maybe other parts of the country or world are different, but I'd be very surprised.

You combine that with the VR/AR systems (5 to 10 years away) that will be far superior in every conceivable way to anything we have today and that spells the end of coin op. There are other cultural reasons I think pinball is in its final decade, but I think it's clear as day for anyone that wants to see it. Thats just my 2 cents. Btw that doesn't mean the hobby has to end for anyone that doesn't want it to.. It's just going to be a lot less relevant in The world than it already is.

I am kidding myself.

the kids these days tell be that uber(?) is like a faster taxi...uber here uber there...and if they live in any metro, there are freakin electric bikes and scooters everywhere...literally...there's one in front of my neighbor's house right now.....in short, I don't think DUI's are involved with pinball decisions. And, just because pinball is at a bar/eatery doesn't=get totally blotto and drive home to most people. AND, unless all of pinball is dying in next 10 years, you need to cater to "youth"-ish to some extent. Seems insane to think manufacturers haven't studied this.

I think Scooby Doo based on the 60's cartoon would be neat. Great call outs...lots of villans to chose from. Just my 2 cents.

Yeah Stranger Things 3 was kind of weak. The monster wasn't really well explained and the only one of the original team who really did anything was Dustin (the toothless goofball).

You are absolutely, 100% dead wrong. So many of us are out and about drinking and playing pinball, darts, pool and whatever else we can get our hands on.

It's more like a few dollars worth of opinions at this point...

Give me a Pokemon theme please! Give me a Rick and Morty theme please! Hell give me a generation one power ranger them. All are 100% winners.

Well thats just creepy.

Not really, but then again I don't care anymore. Good bye