Just wishing out loud!
I think a title like this hits soooo many checkmarks on something that can earn, attract, and grow the hobby.

So many great things can be put into a Pokémon game, has a history with pinball, and still very relevant.

Plus, with Pokémon GO still going strong, you could make each pin a GYM and give people rewards for POGO from playing the pin!

I did it this morning.
I’m usually the one making fake pinball announcements. Haha ❤️

I'd buy one in an instant.

Grew up with Pokemon (31 years old) and this theme would rival Harry Potter for me. Would be an immediate purchase

That's a great idea. Leveraging an existing proven technology, like Pokmemon Go, instead of trying to create a new pinball app that no one (especially younger demographic) would give a crap about.

I think it would do very well on location with the younger audience and most pinball players. Pokemon does offer a lot of material to work with if it played well I would buy one.

I see this game being fairly simple rules to suck kids in but could get more complex objectives to be able to catch more elusive/rare pokemon. A wild <insert random pokemon here> appears, shoot this shot for a hurry up, and to collect that pokemon. Collect enough pokemon from a certain category (fire, water, grass, electric, ground, ice, flying, rock, steel, normal, fighting, ghost, dark, psychic, poison, dragon, fairy, and bug) to open other modes up and eventually battle your way to the stronger pokémon. I have zero nostalgia for pokémon since that's a little younger crowd than me, but my kids are totally into this stuff, and it would be cool to see them combine something they like with something I like.

I thought there were only like 150'ish Pokémon, but after a quick google search it appears that there are now 807! Seems like a lot of content to pull from. Can you imagine a license for that IP would probably be nutso!

Picachu!!

I love the idea of Pokemon as a theme. Not only does it attract all of us millennials to the game, but there is huge potential in the code. Travel the world and collect 8 gym badges and face the elite four. Try to collect all 150 pokemon. Something like X number of pop bumper hits could make a wild pokemon show up for capture (think walking in the grass to randomly start a fight). Capture a full team of pokemon for a 6 ball-multiball. Swap pokemon in and out during battles for buffs and super efficient attacks, etc (think of the light shows)

It's a dream theme for me. In a similar vein, I think Dragon Ball Z has huge potential. It may be a bit more palatable for some collectors since it's basically all about kung-fu with ridiculous over the top wrestling style characters and storylines

I think a Nintendo pin would be great nostalgia. Maybe other properties like Super Mario Bros? Zelda? Mario Kart? Punch Out? Donkey Kong? I think they would be great location pins for Stern. So many possibilities. Of course this is more for kids, but I’m sure lots of guys born in the 80s like me grew up with Nintendo

There is a Pokemon VPX table JP Salas created with the stern kiss layout. It's really well done if you have a vpin cab check it out. If I recall its downloadable at vpforums or vpinball

Instant buy for me too. I've been saying I really want a pin where you quest to collect things so this would check that box too. Rules would write themselves

I think this would be a crazy popular title.

I legit drew up a rough playfield sketch for a game like this. As much as I'd love to build one, I know that Nintendo can be very possessive of their stuff and it tends to be rather hit-and-miss as to whether various fangames get C&D'd. Otherwise this would probably be my next homebrew pin.

(I already built the Undertale homebrew..... change my mind?)

i could see a pinball 2000 retheme into this and the pokémon appear on the glass and u shoot them to attack, capture, ect

mjr

Or maybe something like the Stern Star Wars LCD where a pokemon you’re trying to throw the ball at will bounce from left/center/right and you have to time hitting the standup. How many shots you hit before tossing the ball affects the odds of capturing it

I really hope someone from Stern reads this thread and actually considers making this a reality. Not only does the theme integrate perfectly with pinball, but the money making potential on route would be amazing. Lately the Pokémon games have been interconnected, how cool would it be if the Pokémon you caught during gameplay could automatically upload to your Pokémon go account or your Pokémon sword/shield game.

From my understanding, Super Mario Bros. is still a high earning pin today. Nintendo licenses literally print money. Pokemon is the second best selling video game franchise of all time, second only to Nintendo's own Mario series.

Personally, I'd sell a kidney for a properly done Zelda game, but for mass appeal, you absolutely cannot go wrong with pokemon.

Global revenue sales from video games exceeds both the film industry and the music industry combined. It's a huge market, and I'm honestly surprised that pinball manufacturers haven't capitalized on it yet. They really should.

Imagine a mechanical Pokeball that comes down and "captures" the ball for multiball like the T-rex in Jurassic Park. It's important for Stern to think about themes like this to start grooming the next generation of players. The only reason I started playing pinball was because I liked Star Trek and started playing ST pro on location. Now I've dropped thousands of dollars worth of quarters into Stern pinball machines over the last 5 years and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. In fact, I'm saving up for my first NIB purchase right now. I'm still relatively young (28) and couldn't give a rats ass about The Munsters as a theme, though I appreciate there are people that do. Pokemon would hit home with a lot of people my age and younger. I'm not personally a Pokemon fan, but this is a game I could easily enjoy because it's a universal, recognizable, and family-friendly theme. It would absolutely kill in home and location sales if done correctly.

They could probably do something like the 8-ball on Sharkey's Shootout. Shoot the ball up a ramp, it enters into a giant pokeball, it shakes a couple times, and either locks a ball or spits it out to return to the flipper.

Wow! Nice mock-up. I hope Stern see's this thread. My grail is CFTBL but a Pokemon pin like this would switch me over.

Pokemon is still hot as ever with the young crowd and because it has been around so long lots of draw from 20-40 age range and parents of those who have kids like mine that have grown up loving it. Would be a definite big seller and so much to do with all of the potential character unlocks. Is it opening a can of worms if I said JJ should do a Wide body version and cram as many pokemon characters in it as possible like they did with Pirates but to the nth degree. Such a world of possibilities...

Looks great. Nintendo C&D incoming in 3... 2...

It could have a video mode that is a level from pokemon pinball for gameboy. Then no one could complain about a shitty video mode, it'd just be more pinball.

Theme is far from the primary consideration in my purchases, but a Pokemon pin from any established manufacturer would be a day 1 top tier purchase for me. They'd do gangbusters on location as well!

This game looks really promising but I hope they use a more transparent style of playfield glass. Game looks like it will be impossible to play!!!

Sharkey's Shootout would make a great retheme. The 7 drop targets on the right could spell P-O-K-E-M-O-N.

Definitely a polar title. You either love it or no interest at all imo. It would be cool if the pin somehow integrated with an app game. Game could also dispense special Pokemon cards for achievements. Doubt Stern would take things that far, though. You probably just get a bunch of plastic Pokemon toys stuck on the pf.

As long as somebody is already airing an idea I had on my drawing, I might as well also bring up my concept of adding a "physical" Pokemon battle by way of two catapult mechanisms facing each other diagonally.

Wild Pokemon jumps out and you can either shoot the front catapult to fight back, or shoot the Pokeball lock to attempt a capture. 3 captures for multiball, I suppose.

playfields are now sold separately with all pros.

if their coders and designers dont have a passion for the pokemon theme, i expect it will get scrapped just like superman78 and beetlejuice.

We gotta start bugging Tim Sexton then. He's young enough to be down with the pokemon.

I think pokemon just offers so much potential from a coding perspective. Seems straightforward enough for an elevator pitch on travelling the world, collecting pokemon, collecting gym badges, and fight/trade pokemon.

So many potential light shows, audio callouts from the games, they made a buttload of anime to use as clips, The Pokemon Company licenses out a ton of stuff...

And come on, the theme song is godlike.

The original tunes are still catchy

One toy and mode I'd like to see would be very similar to pinball magic - have ash throw your ball, it travels along a magnetized metal track, and you have to drop it on the Pokemon to catch it.

O and 1 more thing, the track could rotate to an upper playfield where you're throwing out your PokeBall to battle for gym badges. Kind of like gray from Congo battle.

Pinstadiums bro

each model could be themed after the Gameboy games so pro would be the red version, premium would be blue, and LE would be yellow.

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Pokemon on the P3 would be cool too.

Pokemon appearing on the lcd, capturing, evolving, different gyms, etc... soooo much could be done.

That's the killer game they need.

Hoping the manufacturer stays true to the fonts.

Brilliant!

I know its silly to throw out ideas for a pin that will never be made but I have one last idea. When the game first starts out you should choose your first Pokémon from professor oak similar to the Gameboy games.

choosepoke (resized).png

To avoid excessive game delay, how about selecting with a plunger skill shot?

Well it would only be three choices. A fire/grass/water type. In the games, in particular Blue and Red, there are pros/cons to each. Grass makes the initial gyms easier, and fire the most difficult to start with. But towards the end of the game, the fire pokemon is generally much more powerful than a similarly leveled grass pokemon.

To put it in pinball terms, the different choices could relate to beginning bonuses for novice and advanced players. Something basic like grass gives longer ball saves, water makes multiball easier to start the first time, and fire could increase multiball jackpot values.

Would be dope if you could level the Pokemon you catch and eventually battle the elite four. Would need to be super long to achieve the levels and even a save feature (kind of like Initial D) could be implemented.

Don't get me wrong - I'd be happy for my friends, young and old, who enjoy Pokemon. I guess I'm just in the minority of millennials with old souls that prefer something...more gritty, perhaps?

*Charles Bronson/Death Wish pleeeeese*

Granted, maybe plunger skill shot is a bad idea (e.g. leaving the decision of a starter up to the somewhat random chance induced by the plunger spring). But it could probably be configured so that the easiest/novice option is the hard plunge.

Also IMHO extra balls should be awarded at a PokeCenter saucer.

I think there should be three scoops/saucers (I love the two scoops on Whirlwind/Jurassic Park with the shot through the pops between them). A mode start, a low grade reward, and then a third more difficult shot for high value rewards.

In town they could be the gym to start battles, a store to buy upgrades, and a pokecenter to get extra balls, heal the team, make trades, etc.

On the routes between towns they could be battle a trainer, find an item, and explore an area for a rare Pokémon.