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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

I doubt Pokemon is about to come out, but I like that there are Pokemon fans in there. Gives a glimmer of hope for a potential huge location theme.

“J.K. Rowling doesn’t want a pinball machine at the moment. The category is not one she wants to happen,” says Sharpe

http://pavlovpinball.com/pinball-licencing-101-how-much-why-and-harry-potter/

Pretty sure Roger Sharpe is extremely credible...

I think the main issue was always about the game ending up mostly in bars.

The games by Niantic are probably an easier sell because they're about walking around and visiting all sorts of places.

I think there will be a Harry Potter game someday, but likely when Rowling is even less involved with how the property is licensed. It would be interesting how they tackle the game. If they go pure books with all original assets, or if they would license the Warner Brothers movies and all of those actors/videos/audio/music. (I'd prefer books. I was young enough to enjoy the first few novels, but never saw more than the first movie)

Not to mention any parents that want to get their kids into pinball, here's the gateway theme. Pokemon is still wildly popular with young kids.