From what I’ve heard, There are 2 things John Carpenter loves:
1. Cash (firm believer in capitalism)
2. John Carpenter

Kinda surprised they did licensee it out as well - hence why I jumped on it.

And B66 has the same insert quirk apparently.

It does?! I own one and never noticed.

I think it's part of the nature of supporting a bootique company. The most important thing to me is that almost everyone has said it's the best shooting Spooky pin to date. Code and animations can be added, see B66 or TWD. Correcting shot issues after the fact is much more difficult. Not impossible, but much more difficult.

I chuckled at that one. Lyman saved it, though. Phew lol.

And this is why I didn’t bother trying to grab a game at launch. I can wait and see the finished product and decide, also knowing there’s ALWAYS available spots to buy when people bail. It’s not shaping up to be a dynamic or interesting enough pin for me. But the good thing? I can still wait and see what pans out with no trepidation.

IF the panning and zooming artwork (real stretch to call what I’ve seen animation) remains as is, this game is a turkey.

. I don't expect to be told go watch the movie if that's what I wanted or expected as a buyer and supporter. Sorry if I'm expecting more but at 10,000 grand delivered I am EXPECTING MORE than what you just showed. ALOT MORE. Time to put down the booze and whatever your smoking and get to work. Your horror fest seems cool and all but I'm more concerned about the game I was sold!
This post is meant to light a fire under your ass, not to bash. I'll be the first to praise you and shout holy fn night mutilator from behind the bushes when you deliver. That's all I want to do! I want to love this game! I want to say thank you when the game is finished! You mentioned greatest game ever 10×. Time to deliver greatest graphic content of all time. Shut me the f@ck up with your awesomeness!
I'm in til the end, not selling my spot!

Amen. That comment REALLY made me PISSED OFF when he said that about putting it on the background. Literally was ready to immediately sell my spot with that type of attitude towards my dream theme.

Just watched it too. Oh my... I'm very, very concerned. In addition to his narrative, which confirms the approach is completely misaligned with what I expect from a $10K pinball (watch the movie BS comments), he played over 15 minutes and the screen never changed from 2 static panning imagines. Holy smokes. He did say he would fix that but... dam.

I also need to add that the word hedge is an ugly and boring sounding word that does not belong anywhere on the pinball machine or video game. Hedge hedge hedge hedge hedge. Say it out loud to yourself right now.

Oh boy I have hedge one and Hedge two locked! I just need to lock hedge three to start the exciting hedge multiba.

I’d expect the word hedge to be used in a Pinball themed, “weekend chores” or “landscaping simulator”. Not a serial killing murderer stabbing Pinball theme.

Actually don’t mind the hedge! It’s an iconic scene and I’m glad they are showcasing it. Cracked me up and I thought it was a fun novelty.

Biggest concern screenwise - static images. Boring beyond belief. Need to keep things moving. Needs real animation IMO - not stop animation w 3 or 4 frames - Michael in the background swaying while character has 2 or 3 frames moving their head around. Perhaps going for a comic style, but just needs more. A hell of a lot more.
Movie clips must be more than 3-6 seconds. I know limitations by the licensor are in place but push must come to shove.

I know it’s early, but if they are looking for feedback - they are getting it. I don’t favor any company but for 10K I want to be satisfied w my purchase. I’m rooting for them and am trying to maintain high hopes but the reality so far has me concerned. Hope I am proved wrong and I’ll eat crow. Fingers crossed.

If he doesn't. He single handedly killed all of our dream theme

Been 76 days since this thread started. Looks like 2 1/2 months according to my wvw math.

As for have we forgotten bm66? I'll be happy to wait a year or even 2 if we get a guarantee a complete video package such as bn66 will be delivered.
Which btw arrived at my door fully coded and 2k 3kcheaper nib when I ordered it.

Just watched a bit of the animator's gameplay video. Not liking what I saw. Looks pretty rough so far. Here's to hoping for some big improvements.

Damn, the market place is full of Michael Myers

I haven't watched, did he get into a mode or such with some P.J. Soles callouts?

I'm guessing people started actually receiving games middle to end of last month regardless of when the thread started. Seems like a pile on session on things that may change, maybe have a little patience but what the fuck do I care...I ordered an Ultraman so no dog in this fight for me.

If anyone is buying this game based on speculative value-then might as well get off the hype train now. I can tell those who are devoted and are digging what they see. Why are so many hitting the market in the last couple days? Probably Godzilla launching? Like a dog getting distracted by a squirrel-Hey look a squirrel! Maybe it's ignorant podcasters poking the bear talkin smack? Don't get distracted by all the fluff-make up your own mind. I recommend getting the game and getting a minimum of 200 games on it before coming to any conclusions. Too many times I have seen people dismiss games pre-maturely. I do not pay attention to the market-I make up my own mind.

I think you guys are getting nervous prematurely.

When I received ACNC #14, it was a shell of what it eventually became. They brought Bowen in and really made it into a great game.

If the animation guy isn’t working out, they will replace him. There should be no doubt that Spooky wants this to be the best it can possibly be. But Spooky isn’t Stern and things move at a slower pace than we would like sometimes.

I believe I’ve heard them say they have access to the whole movie - everything just has to be run through the license holder to make sure they stay true to the movie - ie no animations of Michael balancing on top of a pinball or something stupid.

It’s going to be awesome - just be patient. In my experience Spooky always comes through.

Well put .LZ wasn’t received well and I’m glad I jumped on one recently it will be here a long ass while .As for Halloween the whole point of me putting a deposit down was it’s unlike anything else .This game is second to none as far as eye candy .People all say it shoots great .The rest will come along actually we haven’t seen nearly anything that’s already in there .My advice would be to just relax .Hell i just seen someone put up a CE for 1800 ? That’s just nuts .Just look back to PotC lmao.

One night away from Pinside and this thread exploded and there is a mass sell off in the market place... Based on the comments here, I am not even going to watch the new stream. I knew buying this game was a big risk going in, but I had been waiting for a horror movie theme since I got into pinball. Otherwise, I would have waited on the sidelines. I hate having to impulse buy these games based on so little information. If I had to bet from the beginning, I would have predicted that this game would be a dud. You know why? Because it's a Spooky game and I got in on it! It's doomed from the start. Every NIB game I buy ends up being the latest game getting bashed by everyone around the pinball water cooler. I bought AMH and RZ and those games are worth less today than they sold for new and are pretty much universally panned. So I took a break from Spooky NIB and missed out on TNA and R&M which have both exploded in popularity. Now I've been lured back in by a killer theme and things are looking grim once again. So, sorry guys, my bad! Seriously though, I don't know how this game is going to ultimately turn out, but I am exhausted with the drama. I feel like it's off to a slippery start, whether it's deserved or not.

I’ll say it, it’s stupid how much control that one podcaster has over this hobby, I personally don’t want Kenada influencing anything ever (for Christ sake look at his hair) and to watch people crumble because he still doesn’t understand how coding and animations work at a boutique company is just plain stupid.

Spooky has been upfront about this, the games we are seeing went out to friends and family to work out hardware and build issues. Production is really just getting started.

There are clearly issues with the animations and movie clips I agree but there also haven’t been any real meaningful updates addressing it either and that will probably take time.

It’s probably time for papa Charlie to step in and do a little damage control.

Lotta bed shitting in here right now.

I'm gonna disagree on this one. Spooky prices (all-in, shipped) are now in the same ballpark as Stern and JJP.
They need to deliver a comparable experience at this price point to be competitive.

It’s the video guys stream that has everyone running to CVS for Depends lmfao

Also Guardians, Stranger Things, and even Elvira were far from great and with code updates the games then became great. Munsters is fun but that code has hardly any video assets at all and code so shallow it might as well be a kiddie pool.

I am a huge Godzilla fan and a new owner of AIQ pro. I love avengers and I am not a big marvel fan (DC fan), but Godzilla artwork is Avengers artwork and not a fan.

Game looks great but I am keeping my Halloween 481 spot and not going to pay near $9k for Godzilla. I decided to secure a JP3 premium instead for the December run. That game rocks, and the artwork is great. Godzilla should have had that artwork style over the comic one, or like Halloween.

FOMO almost got me for Godzilla, but in no hurry to buy let alone buy NIB. For what you get in the Halloween CE package over Godzilla can’t be beat.

You get art blades, shaker, plastic protectors, custom powder coating, side armor, speaker lights, custom speaker grills, blade handle shooter knob, and one really awesome thing, with any version you buy ***it’s the same game.***

Nothing is removed from gameplay or the playfield. Godzilla pro is pathetic compared to the premium/LE. So much was removed. To me looks like a home pin version.

I am not going to act like Halloween is the Titanic right now. Halloween has a unique layout to me and again it’s so early in code. Stern has also released pins with early crappy code. Spooky at least post on the forum and listens to their customers and does their best to address issues.

Does stern take the time to post and really listen to customers? Spooky does have boutique company issues compared to the big corporate monster Stern, but for me it seems spooky really cares about their customers and want to make them happy and give them the best game they can.

They are not the size of Stern and for me I hope they never get that big and forget their fans and not listen to them.

Halloween is my family’s first spooky pin and can’t wait to get it, and I can’t wait for JP3. I am keeping my spot and can’t wait to get it, even with some issues that I have faith in that spooky will address.

It’s not an easy process to develop, manufacture, and release a game. Don’t jump ship yet, it’s not sinking.

There not buddy .Spooky Top tier (CE) 9k.JJP now at 13.5? Stern 11.2? Not even close but they’re doing just fine .They’re playfields actually hold up

The thing is I have actually played the game and put some time on it.....and I flippin love it! That is all that matters, if you have a good layout and decent fun code-dialing in the little things is just icing on the cake. I was nervous because I do not care for mini playfields-and I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun the two uppers are. I also almost bailed on Mandalorian because of the mini upper. I bought a Pro and an LE just in case-and ended up getting rid of Pro. I kept the LE and the mini is epic and really fun to play-so there is that.

Wow ok first let's clarify:

"There" - A place
"Their" - Ownership
"They're" - They are.

So translating your sentence to English:

"They're not buddy. Spooky top tier (CE) 9K. JJP now at 13.5? Stern 11.2? Not even close but they're doing just fine. Their playfields actually hold up."

I will concede they make good playfields.

Lmao ,I type like a text .I’m a busy man ,I check in on the fly .

I have been fortunate enough to put about 10 games on this machine and I can say that it plays great and has great flow.

I just watched the notorious stream and I can see where people are kinda turned off a little (He seems about 8 beers and 2 bong hits deep for sure ) At the same time I cut him some slack because he seems like a fan of the game and just wanted to share his excitement. I really feel he will look back at the repetitive animations and lack of accessible movie assets and realize it can get way way better.

As far as backing out on buying the game......well you will be missing out on a great layout with great shots and a cool atmosphere. One of the best suggestions I have heard was from a fellow Pinsider to include the clown mask scene.....that was a really cool suggestion and I hope they can incorporate that somehow.

I for one am excited to have this in my collection but also agree that if they don't fix some obvious issues that have come up here lately and take the animations and film clips to a "wow" level they will have missed a great opportunity to make a complete homerun of a pinball machine!

You missed my point, stern has way more resources and time that they can devote to coding and animations before the game is announced whereas spooky is going to implement their changes at a much slower rate.

This is what? Spookys 5th production game, it’s ignorant to compare them to a company that makes 4 or 5 a year.

All I have to say guys is we're are barely even started on code and rules. I think there is alot of misinformation right now. We have so many major updates and things planned. This stuff all takes time. We only just started hitting full regular production numbers a few weeks ago. This project is another year long! We wish we could have these games with final code before they ever leave the shop but that is not something we have been able to accomplish yet. We are working as quickly as we can for ya.

It is and it was his frustrations with kenada that made it get weird.

Thank you for updating luke. We know you guys can do it right but with night mutilators comments of just put the movie on in the background is what caused all of this madness. Literally people are selling at a loss bc they feel the game will just have no fully immersive feeling to it with split second clips very randomly. Such a shame as I know you all are working your butts off and one comment literally overshadows everything.

Dude is baked.
Folks complained about the sound, its b/c he is playing with the glass off.

Good to be excited. The speed at which things escalate on Pinside always makes me shake my head.

It's only pinball.

All good man! I think that most people playing the game are really enjoying it. Watching people's eyes light up at shows I know we are on the right path! I think as more people get the game home and can really enjoy it and get farther into the game they will be very impressed. I don't think I have seen anybody touch sub wizard or wizard yet!

Hey Luke, can comment on Ultraman/Halloween code - will they both have basically the same rules, modes, multiballs, etc? Or will they be completely different?

Love the dedication Luke and appreciate you chiming in. I’ll keep the faith that this will develop nicely over time.

Sounds great but as long as it has video assets longer than a few seconds. Truly love the idea of showing the child Michael myers scene with seeing through the eyes of the mask. I 1000% believe in you and spooky and know if he doesn't get it right ,you or Charlie will step in and get someone else to fully immerse the game as you all are die hard Halloween fans as all of us are.

When you ask compass pictures for longer clips please show them all our comments bc we know that all of you are working so hard and they are the stranglehold in your creativity. And they need too give the fans of this beloved franchise what we want

You think so? I think they should, but it seems unlikely to me. I just assumed the animations would be awesome on this. Spooky killed the animations on Alice Cooper. A+. This is looking like a D- so far. It's like night and day.

Ofcourse they will if he doesn't do what they ask. And I couldn't agree more. Alice cooper is top notch where these are MEH. Spooky is the 1 pinball company that truly cares about its customers and that why I will never back out on them as they will get it right no matter what.

I readjusted the baseline of the data estimator adding 3 weeks as nobody has reported receiving a build notice yet.
This shifts all the dates to the right. (which actually works for me [UM #56] having broken my shoulder over Labor Day weekend)

If things ramp up I can shift it back to left for a true up.
For now we are all still a little in the dark as to the build/release schedule.

Here is the link again:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jt4M6GTDQVdQ4uxgR5mvglB1n-1K0KOkGfWCBuT91vY/edit#gid=271091716

Open to feedback.

I’d like to point out that the reason the animators stream is getting such negative attention is the quality of the stream and the quality of his playing. It looks bad and is low quality, the game looks dark (it is not) also…he barely even got to a single mode and out of the house animation. Every pin sucks when you suck. You don’t get to see all the cool things if your unable to progress. Anyway, I’m not worried about the game OR the animations and I’m keeping my CE spot. ITS EARLY COOOODE!!!! It’ll take a year before the game is fleshed out. Everyone knows this yet….panic!!! Also, Kaneda is just propping up his UM by talking HWN down…he’ll sell his game for a profit in under 6 months of ownership.

I’m not really sure what Godzilla, slamming Stern or a Tit for Tat listing of what you get in the package with one game versus the other (speaker lights, armor ect) has anything to do with any of this. As an outsider popping in to check on progress of this game my main issue would be not a lack of confidence in Spooky (I have full confidence!) or the fact that Halloween is a great theme, it is! My issue it is that “Night mutilator“ appears to have been intoxicated when he made the video. If I was a buyer of the game that would not inspire confidence in me! The guy who is in charge of the weakest part of this game at this point (the animations) is posting stuff like this when we need him to be all hands on deck figuring this shit out! I think it would be cool if he made a more serious follow up video talking about some of his upcoming ideas and showing a more serious (sober?) side, it would definitely inspire more confidence from all of the buyers here IMHO.

To night mutilator, if you were not intoxicated on the video my apologies, that was just how it appeared to me on the video, no disrespect intended.

Ya, I thought the Alice Cooper animations were excellent. It had sorta a modern revamped dmd feel with great hand drawn art. I'll take that any day
over the typical lcd pinball display where looks like a z grade video game from the early 2000s.

That said this does look pretty rough currently, but that is what I expected getting in early on a pinball machine. The shots and flow are looking great and the layout is unique. Those are the things that have little room for refinement or change at this point, and those elements are looking good on that front.

The animator seems really passionate about his work and the IP, and I have faith that Spooky will keep enhancing code and theme integration on the video as things proceed.

I do understand why that stream gave people concerns though and it probably wasn't a good idea to show in that context. It was very dark for most of the stream, no game audio, and abrupt very brief videos. In the manner that it was shown it looked closer to a fan homebrew than a nearly 10k machine in production.

I'm holding onto my preorder and I agree with some of the comments that the stream didn't do the game any favors, but I also think people are overreacting a good deal. While I agree with the philosophy that it would be silly to just run the movie in its entirety in screen, there is a middle ground, and the current state of the film integration looks quite poor.

Looking forward to receiving my game hopefully in the next month and watching the code and hopefully the film integration and animations mature.

Some of y’all need to sack up. Jesus.

ACNC did set a pretty high mark