Hopefully the pinball machine wont play as bad as the commentary on the podcasts.
(Topic ID: 38417)
Madison, WI
Hotel Kelly - you can check in anytime you'd like, but you can never leave! (without heartburn)
Yes, my new game, called GHOST SQUAD, is a humorous title about paranormal ghost hunting TV shows. You must complete 6 investigations (modes) and defeat the GHOST BOSS in each of them.
One mode is a bar haunted by a deceased prostitute, or, in technical terminology, a "ghost whore"
Did someone say cheese pump?!
These games will be suitable for any use... home or commercial. Do I intend to push them towards operators? Not really. You guys are really the market we're focused on.
I can't do this without our buddy Ben Heck... or anyone else that's tied to all this. Not even remotely possible, and I owe them all big time. They can do things I can't... I can do things they can't. Together, we can do anything.
J Pop's zombie game is a whole other animal than ours... two totally different price points and approaches. He's in his shop, we're in ours. He's cool with our game, and I'm WAAAAY cool with his! And not just because our ego maniac buddy Ben is in it either. 
I Keeed I keeeed.
But to be clear... yeah... this will be a full sized commercial kick ass coin op piece of equipment that will look, play, and sound great in your home or a bar. Even better if you have a Bryan Kelly cheese pump next to the game.
Quoted from SpookyCharlie:But to be clear... yeah... this will be a full sized commercial kick ass coin op piece of equipment that will look, play, and sound great in your home or a bar
I was hoping you'd say that.
Quoted from SpookyCharlie:Hey guys... thanks for the positive comments! We've got a lot to do, and a lot to prove I know. And yes we'll hire that Bryan Kelly guy just as soon as he gets the guts to move to Wisconsin and work for $20 a week! Lol...
To answer a few questions... No, it's not a re-theme of BHZA or any other game. It's all original... J Pop and Dennis are just great guys who don't mind giving us a hand. In return, we'll help them every way we can from decals to full fledged mfg if they need it.
JJP printing is just fine. I'm proud as hell of what we developed there, and the company I worked at for 20 years is still running them on 2 shifts and they look incredible. I wish JJP and every other company out there NOTHING but the best.
We are NOT taking deposits... no kickstarter, no pre sales. We are funding this ourselves, and when I have a clear window to ship games, we'll gladly take your money! I'm planning on 1/2 down, and 1/2 the day it's on the loading dock... No more than 60 days at the max to get your games. We'll sell them in groups (thinking of 25) as needed. We're not going to bite off more than we can chew and keep it sane. We'll hire as much help as is needed to keep that schedule.
There will be no LCD... for now. The goal is to give you a fantastic ORIGINAL THEME (I freakin' miss those!) game, at a price that is more affordable. No LE's... new game every year... fairly deep rules, lots of fun stuff to do... all I'm saying for now.
There is soooooo much more to all this than I can tell you today. And honestly, I got a pile of work to do! All I ask is you see the game, play the game.... and if you like it enough to purchase one, then THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
This is a breath of f*cking fresh air!!!
Wishing you the very best of luck on this. Sounds fantastic!
This thread is such a tease.
THIS is a spooky pinball machine: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=3459
Quoted from RobT:This is a breath of f*cking fresh air!!!
Wishing you the very best of luck on this. Sounds fantastic!
Agreed. Love that it's not a "So uber limited that you should send us a buttload of cash now even though you have no idea what it is" situation ...to me that means it HAS to be a great game. It will sell on its own merits! Looking forward to seeing more, Charlie!
I know it's probably way early for this question but do you know what the price point is gonna be? Just looking to see if it will even be viable financially to have interest in your games when they come out.
Quoted from benheck:ne mode is a bar haunted by a deceased prostitute, or, in technical terminology, a "ghost whore"
I thought you were kidding about ghost whores. I hope i didn't ruin any surprises. 
mmmmmmmm.....Elvira and/or Zombies....where do I sign up!?
Maybe Elvira should model the cheese pump? 
I live in WI and am happy to help in anyway possible! My abilities are small compared to mr cheese pump but I learn quickly and work for free.
Very excited to here about this project.
A new horror title is way overdue. I can't imagine having a company today with a focus on spooky pinballs! Just release it long enough after Predator for me to recover and this sounds right up my alley.
Quoted from davewtf:I thought you were kidding about ghost whores. I hope i didn't ruin any surprises.
The ghost whore is very real. She even has dialogue! 
Great news! It is so good to have more choices in manufacturers, styles, and price points. It may not be 1992 all over again, but things are looking up for pinball. 
Probably getting way ahead of myself, but since you aren't doing pre-order or deposits until the pin is basically ready to go (which I *love*), how are these going to be sold, especially if you are doing small runs of 25 at a time? I'm sure people would love to be put on a "list", but that makes no sense since you aren't taking deposits.
Would it basically be a first come, first served type thing where people would just try to get in when you make the announcement that they are available for sale? It would be like winning the lottery!
Much like RobT, I'd really like to know how it's gonna work? Unless of course you're not quite sure yourself yet.
Quoted from benheck:One mode is a bar haunted by a deceased prostitute, or, in technical terminology, a "ghost whore"
Right there is a Pinball theme in and of itself. 
Charlie, I wanted to wish you the best on the startup of the new company. I know that you are going to produce some great pins. Wally
Quoted from RobT:Probably getting way ahead of myself, but since you aren't doing pre-order or deposits until the pin is basically ready to go (which I *love*), how are these going to be sold, especially if you are doing small runs of 25 at a time? I'm sure people would love to be put on a "list", but that makes no sense since you aren't taking deposits.
Would it basically be a first come, first served type thing where people would just try to get in when you make the announcement that they are available for sale? It would be like winning the lottery!
And if they are going to do it that way they really need to limit it to one machine per customer. Don't need some ""player"" buying all 25 at once and then jacking the price.
Wow this is really exiting news. I may need to add onto my house just to make room for some fresh games. Go team Charlie.
Quoted from Astropin:And if they are going to do it that way they really need to limit it to one machine per customer.
+1 I could totally see there being a problem if it's not done this way.
Quoted from RobT:Probably getting way ahead of myself, but since you aren't doing pre-order or deposits until the pin is basically ready to go (which I *love*), how are these going to be sold, especially if you are doing small runs of 25 at a time? I'm sure people would love to be put on a "list", but that makes no sense since you aren't taking deposits.
That's my plan for now... 25 games at a time. If orders are knocking our shop door down, we'll hire more assembly help and get done as many as we can.
Pinball always has ups & downs (duh right?). We're in a surge right now for sure... our goal is to be as big as we need to be, but not outgrow ourselves so we can get by in the lean times that are bound to come. Do I hope it stays this way for decades? Of course! But hey... history says the odds of that are slim. Either way... we're in this for the long haul.
People are privately asking me for the price point. I have a number in mind, but until Heather the Hot Accountant has tallied up every nut & bolt on the BOM I can't really give one. Having said that... I'm hoping to give a killer commercially ready game under the price of anything else you can buy. Period!
Thanks everyone! It's been quite a day to say the least. 
Quoted from SpookyCharlie:That's my plan for now... 25 games at a time. If orders are knocking our shop door down, we'll hire more assembly help and get done as many as we can.
Pinball always has ups & downs (duh right?). We're in a surge right now for sure... our goal is to be as big as we need to be, but not outgrow ourselves so we can get by in the lean times that are bound to come. Do I hope it stays this way for decades? Of course! But hey... history says the odds of that are slim. Either way... we're in this for the long haul.
People are privately asking me for the price point. I have a number in mind, but until Heather the Hot Accountant has tallied up every nut & bolt on the BOM I can't really give one. Having said that... I'm hoping to give a killer commercially ready game under the price of anything else you can buy. Period!
Thanks everyone! It's been quite a day to say the least.
I'll pay for mine with hot cheese....and maybe a beer or two.....or three....oh, all right. You can have as many as you want!!
Quoted from fattrain:Bryan's cheese pump aside, this is awesomeriffic news! Congrats Spooky & the team!
You laugh but Charlie's like putty in your hands when he's got a beer in one hand and standing in front of a cheese pump.
This is awesome Charlie and Crew, a big congrats
Will you be making it to suit export to Australia to suit our power.
and Ben
Do you have any more info on you home brew pin controller system as very interested in this as well.
I don't expect the code to be open for the zombie pin but it would be cool as hell to be able to add/mod user-generated IP on the machine. If that's doable this will open up pinball to an entirely different group of players/modders/hackers. Exciting stuff.
Quoted from SpookyCharlie:That's my plan for now... 25 games at a time. If orders are knocking our shop door down, we'll hire more assembly help and get done as many as we can.
Pinball always has ups & downs (duh right?). We're in a surge right now for sure... our goal is to be as big as we need to be, but not outgrow ourselves so we can get by in the lean times that are bound to come. Do I hope it stays this way for decades? Of course! But hey... history says the odds of that are slim. Either way... we're in this for the long haul.
People are privately asking me for the price point. I have a number in mind, but until Heather the Hot Accountant has tallied up every nut & bolt on the BOM I can't really give one. Having said that... I'm hoping to give a killer commercially ready game under the price of anything else you can buy. Period!
Thanks everyone! It's been quite a day to say the least.
Charlie, are you still going to do the printing for future JJP games such as Hobbit and games beyond that?
Quoted from DCFAN:Charlie, are you still going to do the printing for future JJP games such as Hobbit and games beyond that?
The company he used to work for is. ( listen to the podcast, good times )
LTG : )
This awesome! Charlie and the band of misfits congrats on taking on this endeavor. I wish you all the success and keep living the dream! Hope to meet you guys at MGC. Now with that said I have a question... You stated you that the games you are makeing are going back to the 80s style of pins which I am excited about. Does this mean original themes with alphanumaric or original themes with dmds? Just courious.
Quoted from txstargazer3:No price point? OK, we'll settle for pictures of Heather the Hot Accountant!
Picture a hot version of Maggie Gyllenhaal. That is Heather the Hot Accountant. Sadly, she isn't single...
Quoted from Bryan_Kelly:You better get here early. And I'm buying a second can of cheese this year.....just for you.
That cheese pump is the stuff of legend. I don't think two cans of cheese will be enough.
Heather the Hot Accountant (HHA) is aware of jar jar Jonesy's comments. Needless to say, he's gone up a couple notches on her pinball buddy list!
All shall be revealed (the game, not Heather) pinball people. I'd love to have it at MGC, but that would really be pushing it. I'd rather have you see it and play it than talk about it.
Elvira... anyone who has heard our show knows we are HUGE fans. Dennis wants to do the game... we'd love to build it with him. To me, gotta have our buddy Greg Freres involved or it just wouldn't be all it should be (or even slightly feel right). Time will tell, and stranger things have happened.
What a day... thanks everyone. We'll get there!
Quoted from SpookyCharlie:All shall be revealed (the game, not Heather)
Quoted from SpookyCharlie:Heather the Hot Accountant (HHA) is aware of jar jar Jonesy's comments. Needless to say, he's gone up a couple notches on her pinball buddy list!
All shall be revealed (the game, not Heather) pinball people. I'd love to have it at MGC, but that would really be pushing it. I'd rather have you see it and play it than talk about it.
Elvira... anyone who has heard our show knows we are HUGE fans. Dennis wants to do the game... we'd love to build it with him. To me, gotta have our buddy Greg Freres involved or it just wouldn't be all it should be (or even slightly feel right). Time will tell, and stranger things have happened.
What a day... thanks everyone. We'll get there!
Is this the (loosely based) Rob Zombie/Centaur cannibalized conversion game ?
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