Quoted from GrandFireball1:
drfrightner Would you trade American doing a good licensed theme for the loss of money going into mechs and features?
I'm not sure I understand the question. But if you're saying would I trade them doing an original theme, with more bells and whistles than doing a license and spending less on bells and whistles. Is that what you mean?
Why does it have to be one or the other? I can tell you right now they could license Halloween for 50k, and I could design that blindfolded, and add features NO ONE has ever done or tried before. I design attractions for a living, and we do a lot of video FX, you could build Myers house and add small TV's in the windows and make it look like he's walking around the house. Wouldn't that be bad ass?
Anyway ... its not about dummy down the machine, its about upping the game. Octoberfest is just frankly an awful theme, it just is! I don't know who came up with that idea, but the owners of American Pinball need to see some outside guidance. Then they want to consider Robin Hood are you kidding me... every single Robin Hood movie BOMBS we don't need Robin Hood pinball.
If they made Halloween, and announce the following:
We licensed Halloween and there is only ONE model and each game is 7k and limited to the first 1000 orders. Overnight 1000 games are going to sell, because that franchise has more than 1000 fans let me tell you. So instead of messing around with Octoberfest and selling 300 games at a struggle... pre-sale 1000 Halloween games in 60 seconds. Then turn around and license Friday the 13th, or Three Stooges easy to obtain license and do it again.
You could do even more mechs because you're making MORE MONEY!
Its not an either or thing, its you're either ALL IN or you're NOT! Don't compete with Stern or JJP for the license to Matrix, go to Airplane, Ferris Bueller Day Off, Bill and Ted Excellent Adventure, Halloween, Army of Darkness, whatever... heck get the license to Def Leppard you could get that. Pour some Sugar on me baby...
If you do games like Octoberfest and Robin Hood you're just spinning your wheels in the mud!