Does it surprise anyone else that the Nintendo universe has not been explored again for pin themes? I am confident due to the world wide brand exposure, that a Nintendo themed(primarily super Mario)pin would shatter sales records.
Yes, I know there was a Mario. It’s a crap-tastic game. Regardless of being a turd from a depth perspective, it’s consistently my top earner on route.
Yeah, seems like there’s tons of material they could use. Maybe even start the player as 8-bit Mario, levelling up to current Mario standards/graphics. The playfield/toys could be a veritable “world under glass” with subways like the green tubes, warping players through worlds. Would love to see a toy like a giant plant, for example.
Would really need a high b.o.m. On a solid Mario game to do it justice!
Any Nintendo pin would be a dream theme for me. A Mario, Zelda, Pokemon ...etc pinball would be an instant purchase.
Unfortunately, the Nintendo license will be difficult to obtain.
Fingers crossed JJP is working on a Nintendo themed pin.
Quoted from Gamemodder:one word. Contra!
[quoted image]
Awesome game!! But is it owned by Nintendo?
My wife and I are playing Contra on our raspberry pi. Can't get past the third level. Lol
Nintendo is guarding their IP very closely,
It will be very difficult to get the license, and quite costly.
Contra is Konami brand
Quoted from ImNotNorm:Awesome game!! But is it owned by Nintendo?
My wife and I are playing Contra on our raspberry pi. Can't get past the third level. Lol
Ive beaten the whole game with the thirty life code and one player. Ive played it so much, without thinking I know where everyone spawns lol.
Quoted from Gamemodder:Ive beaten the whole game with the thirty life code and one player. Ive played it so much, without thinking I know where everyone spawns lol.
At this point I refuse to input the Konami code and want to finish the game pure and proper. But I'll probably crack soon.....
Anyways back to Nintendo talk.
We already had two Mario pins. Not great games, but I hear they slay on location with casuals. Legend of Zelda is pretty much a shoe-in for a great theme for a pin, IMO. Mega Man would work also, if coded like Deadpool where you battle different challengers.
Quoted from ImNotNorm:My wife and I are playing Contra on our raspberry pi. Can't get past the third level. Lol
UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A Start
Get yourself 30 lives and power through!
The perfect theme here is a Smash Bros pin. You could bring in so many characters with different abilities.
Quoted from Captain_Howdy:Nintendo is guarding their IP very closely,
It will be very difficult to get the license, and quite costly.
Contra is Konami brand
That was my first thought. They are VERY tight with their IP and have aggressively pursued the emulation community much more vigorously than any other company in recent years, resulting in numerous web sites being taken down or severely neutered of content.
I think securing a license would be an expensive exercise in frustration, and probably not worth the effort given all the other good properties out there which can be licensed much more reasonably.
Added over 3 years ago:Edit/addendum:
Just found this article on Ars: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/06/former-rom-site-owner-must-pay-2-1-million-to-nintendo/
That they would rather spend their resources suing their biggest fans (likely a largely "judgement proof" cohort) than figuring out a way to give them what they want by making the games available at reasonable cost and turning a little profit tells you all you need to know about their corporate philosophy, and as such it is probably a fool's errand to think that they would be anything less than absolute control-freaks in a collaboration on something as major as a pinball machine!
Did none of you learn from Premier? You need to build "Awesome Giuseppe Siblings" who defend Princess Banana from the evil lizard king, Bonser. 
Quoted from ThatOneDude:Did none of you learn from Premier? You need to build "Awesome Giuseppe Siblings" who defend Princess Banana from the evil lizard king, Bonser.
How about "Metrodroid"?
Play the role of the brave Sami as you dispatch the Space Buccaneers and thwart their attempts to usurp the power of the Metrodroids to seize power over the galaxy!
+1 Zelda dream theme. Metroid lends itself best given morph ball in the Prime series which is practically pinball. “Arrrcade” pinsider has a home brew Metroid, look it up on the forum.
Nintendo are more tight assed with their properties than most media companies. They don't even re-sell their old games anymore, the same games they've been re-selling for decades, but now lock them behind a subscription service. They don't license out their stuff to anyone and haven't in a while.
I think a Grand Theft Auto pin would be wild. Especially a Vice City theme.
Quoted from ImNotNorm:Awesome game!! But is it owned by Nintendo?
My wife and I are playing Contra on our raspberry pi. Can't get past the third level. Lol
Owned by Konami, cartridge based on the Konami arcade game.
Quoted from VALIS666:...I think a Grand Theft Auto pin would be wild. Especially a Vice City theme.
^^This^^
Quoted from Captain_Howdy:Nintendo is guarding their IP very closely,
It will be very difficult to get the license, and quite costly.
This speculation persists on pinside. Just because Nintendo pursues people illegally using their license, somehow that equates to "impossible"? Did Roger Sharpe say so in an interview?
The piles of Nintendo themed crap at Old Navy, Gamestop, WalMart and Target say otherwise.
Also - Universal has bulit one Nintendo theme park section in Japan. Another in Florida is coming in a few years.
Not untouchable. Reality is that Stern licensing has a very masculine "adult" bias. And I mean that in a 1990's playstation vs Nintendo fashion, not a 2020s political fashion. It's the same logic that kept them from securing Rick and Morty.
Quoted from girloveswaffles:Owned by Konami, cartridge based on the Konami arcade game.
But not based on the iran/contra affair, lol.
Here's a brief history of the game by my favorite gaming YouTuber, GamingHistorian.
Sorry...now back to Nintendo.
Quoted from HomerEBW:Any Nintendo pin would be a dream theme for me. A Mario, Zelda, Pokemon ...etc pinball would be an instant purchase.
1ABB3EAE-9A2D-4C06-8EF6-B9C2D6D85E6A (resized).jpegQuoted from Thermionic:That was my first thought. They are VERY tight with their IP and have aggressively pursued the emulation community much more vigorously than any other company in recent years, resulting in numerous web sites being taken down or severely neutered of content.
I think securing a license would be an expensive exercise in frustration, and probably not worth the effort given all the other good properties out there which can be licensed much more reasonably.
I was surprised when Ubisoft was able to license Mario and Company to mix them in with the Rabbids:
pasted_image (resized).png
Quoted from Pinrookie:[quoted image]
That would be a cool theme, but imagine licensing characters from Nintendo as well as Namco, SEGA, and Capcom (did I miss any other companies?).
Quoted from girloveswaffles:I was surprised when Ubisoft was able to license Mario and Company to mix them in with the Rabbids:
[quoted image]
Also Crypt of the Necrodancer: Cadence of Hyrule.
Nintendo has been pretty cool with collaborations lately, but they’re still very precious about being involved & having the final say on things. Not sure if Stern would have time for that amount of back & forth with their timeframes.
The other day I was trying to think about how many pinball games have Nintendo made? From the old crappy nes pinball to Pokémon pinball, to Metroid. There’s quite a bit of digital pinball games, I wonder how many?
Every time someone suggests a large well-known license like this, there's a group of people that say it'll be too difficult, or too expensive, or the company is too defensive of their properties.
Yet I can go into any supermarket or department store and find at least 30 pieces of trash (eg, really cheap/poor quality toys, drink cups, pyjamas, toothbrushes, gift cards, etc.) with Mario and other Nintendo properties on them.
Nintendo is defensive against people reproducing their IP without a license. Of course they're going to try to shut you down if you share/sell their software without a license. Likewise, of course they are going to put their old content behind a subscription service... as that is the preferred way for a business to sell this type of product these days. It's good business (whether the customers like it or not). They certainly don't have a problem putting their properties on an assortment of other random products IF they get paid for it.
As long as both parties see the value in the relationship, then I have no doubt a deal could be done. Eg, the pinball company needs to convince them that the sales or exposure is high enough to justify the effort/risk, and the price needs to be such that the pinball company can still make money off it otherwise they won't bother doing it. With pinballs current popularity (sales and/or exposure for Nintendo) and high prices (compared to how little Stern would put into it, leaving room for licensing costs) I have no doubt they could come to some sort of agreement, if they wanted to.
Zelda is my dream theme by a wide margin. I’m a lifelong fan & collector of Zelda stuff. Zelda as a theme offers a lot of what I feel is sorely needed in pinball: unlockables and exploration. For example: using keys or items to unlock treasure or new areas, epic boss battles, general exploration. Immersion, baby!
7B416311-7BD6-42C9-B57E-74814089C84F (resized).jpegAD96F16A-D410-483B-B59A-F425F0238B62 (resized).jpegD2A372FE-323F-4258-B01B-A8DF2BEC2510 (resized).jpegQuoted from Pinballlew:I would love Mike Tyson’s Punch Out as a pinball [quoted image]
Champion Pub is basically Punch-Out pinball.
Quoted from Thermionic:That was my first thought. They are VERY tight with their IP and have aggressively pursued the emulation community much more vigorously than any other company in recent years, resulting in numerous web sites being taken down or severely neutered of content.
I think securing a license would be an expensive exercise in frustration, and probably not worth the effort given all the other good properties out there which can be licensed much more reasonably.
Nintendo can be very difficult to work with. Their branding/IP team makes Disney look like a bunch of pushovers. I have done several deals with Disney.... and they can make you want to pull your hair out. I have only done 1 with Nintendo - and it was much more challenging.
Quoted from Rarehero:Champion Pub is basically Punch-Out pinball.
It really is... and the game wasn't super well received... and frankly, I am not sure how you could make it much better.
I believe the most expensive IP to obtain is/was the Beatles. I would be shocked if a Nintendo license couldn’t be had for less or equal. Even if it was more, with the current pin market, I’m am confident people wouldn’t think twice about a 10k starting point for a new Super Mario pin.
Regardless of if you think it’s a theme for you personally, I challenge everyone to name one, more universally beloved/known generational theme(besides Star Wars).
Go!
Quoted from PINQUEST:I believe the most expensive IP to obtain is/was the Beatles. I would be shocked if a Nintendo license couldn’t be had for less or equal. Even if it was more, with the current pin market, I’m am confident people wouldn’t think twice about a 10k starting point for a new Super Mario pin.
Regardless of if you think it’s a theme for you personally, I challenge everyone to name one, more universally beloved/known generational theme(besides Star Wars).
Go!
The price isn’t the issue. It’s how protective they are with their IP. They’d probably want to be involved in the game’s design & it would take much longer than most pins spend in development.
Quoted from Rarehero:The price isn’t the issue. It’s how protective they are with their IP. They’d probably want to be involved in the game’s design & it would take much longer than most pins spend in development.
I’d be ok with it! They could take their sweet time and be involved all they want. I’d prefer the Nintendo magic be in the game!
Quoted from PINQUEST:I’d be ok with it! They could take their sweet time and be involved all they want. I’d prefer the Nintendo magic be in the game!
Right, but when you take too much time & there’s a factory to run, you turn into Derp Root. Stern has strict schedules because they’re a manufacturing business.
Quoted from Rarehero:The price isn’t the issue. It’s how protective they are with their IP. They’d probably want to be involved in the game’s design & it would take much longer than most pins spend in development.
This is it 100% I doubt the license would too expensive, but their brand team will want a large amount of control over much of the game. I am not saying that its not doable, but pray for the designer who tries to do it.
Quoted from Rarehero:Champion Pub is basically Punch-Out pinball.
I have yet to play a Champion Pub... I will have to keep my eye out at a show to play one
Quoted from VALIS666:They don't even re-sell their old games anymore, the same games they've been re-selling for decades
Uh....since when? They've been whoring out their back catalog ever since the DS launched. What are you looking for, some obscure Japan-only NES game, or one that you'd like to pay 7.99 for to buy yet ANOTHER digital copy after the prior four you purchased on the DS, 3DS, Wii, and WiiU?
Quoted from VALIS666:now lock them behind a subscription service.
...you're bitching about Switch Online? The "subscription service" that costs all of 20 dollars....PER YEAR. Or the 8-account Family membership for .....35 dollars PER YEAR..? And it's not like Switch Online's collection is even really all that representative of their catalog anyways, so I'm not sure why this was even a point to start with.
This is all ludicrous in the age of digital licenses anyways. It's not like even if they "sell" you a game on the Switch digitally, that you actually own a copy of it. You just bought a time-indeterminate revoke-able license to use it.
I had a Nintendo back in the late 80s and throughout the 90s used to love renting Nintendo games for .99 on the weekends from the local video stores. Years later got a Super Nintendo for Christmas '92 and did the same thing almost every weekend.
Man those were some good times.
With that said, I have no desire now for a Nintendo pinball machine. The brand as a whole just doesn't hold up for me since the Super Nintendo years.
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