I bet whatever they produce will sell out in under a week. If it’s Goonies or Beetlejuice it will sell out day one like RAM.

Goodies,beetljuice, or Christine....

Making a mainstream pinball with a hardcore horror film like Friday 13th, Halloween, Scream etc would be hard to pull off in my opinion. You couldn’t glorify the murderer (Mrs Voorhees, Michael, etc), couldn’t show any gore/killing, couldn’t show nudity, etc.

Alien walked the line pretty well - but in this case the antagonists are creatures, not a person. A lot of the game is based on escaping from very tense situations. It was a fun pin when I owned it, but it was intense and dark (not what I would consider mainstream).

As every Spooky pin (minus RZ) has been a light-hearted/comedic theme - Scooby, Beetleguise, Goonies or my personal favorite Nightmare Before Christmas would all be great choices in the same spirit as past titles.

Licensing nightmare. Could be fun, though.

AKA about 4-5 of the themes already mentioned in this thread.

I’d rather it be Sci-fi theme lots more good choices like Mad Max, Blade Runner, Predator etc.

Matrix.... so sad that none of these have been made and now the moment may have passed.

The original matrix is timeless. They're still making pins for 40-year-old and older properties, so there's still time for a Matrix pin.

But only if it's done right. Don't Led Zeppelin it.

Yessssss yesssss yessssssss

Gotta give a +1 to Christine too.. that would be a wild theme for sure.

Ive also recently been thinking about just how well a Twin Peaks pin would work also...at first the idea seemed a little cliche but man the more i sit with it.... the little gold beads look like pinballs... like a lower playfield with a red room... the black n white chevron flooring... the red curtians that a pinball could be shot through... oh man theres some very cool stuff that could be done with this. Its be a damn good cup of pin.

NON EXISTENCE!

Matrix, also #4 is on it's way...

lots of old property sequels coming..including another Halloween this year. What is funny is it is probably not a single theme that's been mentioned here.

If it’s not Friday the 13th I’ll settle for DR2000

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Likely bad for spooky if that's the case

Not necessarily..who was begging for a R&M before they announced it?

*raises hand*

I would love to see a Twin Peaks/ David Lynch pin. The only problem is the nonlinearity and abstract reality-frame point of view would mean the player or the objective could disappear at any time or seem to morph into another dream at any time... how does one create or follow an un-ruleset? Could be amazing.

Showed up on some lists. Not saying not possible, just less likely

Being right into horror, I'd love a SAW pinball. I think it would translate great into a pinball with all of the timed torture mechanisms...... Okay maybe a bit too extreme for some??

The latest instalment in the series was just released too.

I want to play a game!!

SAW would be one of my top choices as well, and perfect to inspire lots of fun mechs.

Let's just skip to the spiritual successor to the Rick and Morty pin - Letterkenny.

Tons of great scenarios and callouts. Adult Spelling Bee, Softest Birthday Party, Fartbook, Skid dance, Ginger Sick Ostrich Bang, Glen's sermons, there's massive content available that's potentially pintastic.

Wish you weren’t so awkward bud.

Spent the weekend at the state open annual tournament here. People from all over the country in attendance. Took R&M down to town for everyone to play. Top comment: "I would have bought one of these hands down if I knew it was being made." . 100 competitor event, I got this statement from around 20 people I talked to about the game (not because they played it, but just because they wanted the theme ie. love R&M).

The reason I highlight this, is the very short time between the announcing Rick and Morty and the machine going on sale. Even perhaps going on sale before anyone knew much about the game and the plans Spooky had, or the process for buying a game. For every buyer there must be half dozen whom missed out, people that would have been all in if they knew about it. They just sort of found out too late, and the line that came out was "sold out in 4 hours". Pre order spots for sale never hung around too long. I only really cottoned on due to blind luck myself.

This all goes to Friday the 13th of August I reckon. Slightly longer stretch between announcing and going on sale. Two months instead of a few weeks, and plenty to drip feed details as more people become aware it's a thing.

Announced in June, reveal in July, game on sale Friday The 13th!

Also Chuck clearly talks of the experience working with Warner Bros, the holders of the Friday the 13th assets.

I think they would have more prototypes built than they might have for R&M, iron every last mechanical bug out, thoroughly. More play testing by Everyone involved at Spooky, at the factory. All the more essential given how stacked and loaded the game sounds like it is going to be!. I'd also guess they would have the first batch or two of production games already built, tested, and boxed by the time the game goes on sale.

1000 will go like hotcakes!

If it’s Goonies, Beetlejuice, Big Trouble In Little China or Evil Dead, 1000 isn’t going to be nowhere near enough.
I think the demand would be high enough to sell 3x that.
I know Kaneda says 1000 but it’s just based on rumour not fact. Fact is they could have sold 3 or 4x the 750 RM they made.
I’m hopeful that with their new factory and line, they’ll be upping the production on this next game to at least 1500, twice that of RM.

There’s nudity in the RZ pin. Just saying.

If you have been watching Spooky, it's obvious the approach is to increase production slowly with each new title. 1,000 makes a lot of sense and if they are able to output 15 per week they would easily produce them all within an 18 month window.

Forget about the horror movies - give me stacked and loaded baby!

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This is the droid you have been looking for.

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So many good titles to choose from! I imagine Spooky had a tough time narrowing it down.

How cool would it be to incorporate the Beetlejuice carnival scene into the backbox and have a pinball or human fly up when you hit a target !?

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I miss interactive backboxes. I'm not sure we will ever see one again though.

2003 I believe to be the last one.

That gif reminded me of Time Bandits which I know will never be made but could have some really cool features like using the R&M portal shot (maybe adding more) to jump time instead of dimensions. Outrunning God, the Devil's game show, lots of great scenes.

Well Stern, take note. People really want Beetlejuice I guess...

Shaun of the Dead would have some hilarious call outs!

People want Beetlejuice, but people don't want Stern Beetlejuice, so there is that...

You beat me too it. It’s a dream theme for me but a guaranteed missed opportunity in sterns hands.
It’s the perfect theme for Spooky who would give it the love and magic it deserves.

This exactly.

Haha what do you mean? Stern would not be as good quality? Or the game play itself?

Word was when Franchi pitched (Beetlejuice) to Stern none of the designers gave a damn about the theme so DOA.

There either needs to be passion or stupid money. Nobody really pays stupid money anymore in this industry so no passion, no theme.

We’re they all just outside that “right age” in the 80s to get sucked into the Tim Burton vortex like the rest of us? Pee-Wee, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Nightmare Before Xmas...the combo of Burton’s visual style, weird characters & Danny Elfman’s music was magical, special, and iconic. Steve Ritchie famously hates Elfman, though - which led to the rock music in Spider-Man instead of movie score.

This is what I mean. Stern certainly makes fun games, and their quality is good enough. However, they obviously would not do the theme justice due to a lack of interest and passion. That's fine, that's their call. If their designers don't want it, I get it. But it doesn't mean it wouldn't do well, or that many don't want to see it done. I just don't want to see the theme phoned-in by Stern when it could get loved by Spooky.

I don't know if I can agree or disagree with the comments about popularity. My sample size is all my friends and co-workers, and they all love Beetlejuice and quote it. But that's likely just an echo chamber since we're all mid-40s to mid-50s Gen-X'ers. Regardless, at Spooky's manufacturing volume I think it would fly off the virtual shelves.

Cool!

That's especially the issue at hand. Not every designer is going to be passionate about every theme, and in some cases NO one on the employee list may care enough about a particular theme to make a good game, no matter how many people tell them it would sell.

That being said, bring on The Human Centipede the Pin! Who can't get behind that theme?! I know I'd want to be at the front of the line for this one!

Tim Burton directed 2 of my favorite movies (Batman 89 and Ed Wood) but even if Spooky asked me to make Beetlejuice I would be like "meh"

Saw it once on tape back in the day, it was fun. My sister and I used to watch the cartoon show (maybe that why she named her daughter Lydia?) I remember the soundtrack being really popular.

Honestly if Spooky said "Ben you can make any theme from that era you want" I'd probably say DUCK TALES. I'm telling ya, nice 2D Disney pin would make MAJOR BANK.

I personally think Nightmare Before Christmas is way more popular than Beetlejuice.

I would think at least three cubic acres of cash.

My daughters would beat me with sticks until I agreed to buy a Duck Tales pin. Hell, even the new Duck Tales would be awesome (David Tennant callouts? Yes!).

Yes if you HAD to make a Tim Burton pin that'd be the one to do (even though he didn't direct it)

What are the main goals people want in a Beetlejuice machine?

The most obvious would be saying Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse and "It's Showtime" as a 3-ball multiball. The Danesi Lock from TNA seems like it could work really well for that. The tombstone and sign would be a really cool toy inside the machine. The lighting could change and Betelgeuse could pop out of the machine like the Ringmaster from Cirqus Voltaire. During multiball you must haunt: Mrs. Deets, Mr. Deetz, Mrs. Dean, Mr. Dean, Beryl, and Ortho. If you successfully haunt them all then it's time for a 6-ball "Day-O" multiball.

The ramps seem like they have to be stripped like the sandworm or maybe the sandworm is another toy like the snake on Metallica. Actually, the hammer from Metallica would probably work for that carnival scene. Maybe I'm just retheming Metallica? I've already suggested in-line drop targets, bash target on a spring, hammer, and snake / worm. I do like Metallica.

I also like when games have some type of collectable feature on all the main shots: ghosts in Ghostbusters or diamonds in Congo. I think bugs would work quite well in Beetlejuice. One other idea would be to shrink Harry the Hunter's head as a video mode. Does anyone remember balloon game at the end of levels in The Simpson: Arcade Game. It would be like that, but in reverse. Bash the buttons to shrink his head as quickly as possible. It's also a bit like running in the arcade game Track & Field.

You obviously have to have the Lydia and the Maitland's in the game too. I'm just not quite sure how I'd incorporate them. Any ideas?

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thanks for letting me know i wanted Beetlejuice cause i didn't know it yet till now