1) . A whole lot is riding on whether or not DR pinball can deliver on its goal of making great pinball machines for less than the cost of a Stern pro. I think Stern is concerned about it, however, despite all the $$$ and talent DR has I don't believe they are going to be able to actually efficiently manufacture the game they are spending all that $$$ on creating. It's one thing to Noodle and Doodle, its a whole different thing to actually produce 12,000 pinball machines per year.
Stern has 300+ employees, not "temp workers". Look at the problems JJP has pumping out consistent quality in quantity. There seem to be a slew of minor JJP issues with POTC production. I would assume most of the "line workers" are not permanent JJP employees and thus quality suffers.
2). I think JJP is about to hit a couple of grand slams with Willy Wonka and Toy Story, especially Wonka. They need it badly to get over the hump. Gotta sell more pins to spread that fixed overhead out over much higher volume. And to NOT keep raising prices that are already too high.
Jack used to say, "WOZ will be our weakest effort, we look forward to getting better and better each game". Thus far, that hasn't happened.
2019 is the year that JJP finally puts it all together.
JJP will ditch the absolutely F ing ridiculous current SE, LE, CE makeup. Take a cue from what works elsewhere. Differentiate and get real with actual LE numbers. There is no desire or hype associated with any of these "models" other than a CE that has been fumbled and bumbled thus far.
3). Stern is going to keep crushing it 2019 despite the same old complaints, high prices and low quality. Yet they will still sell the shit out of games because they make GREAT THEMES, WITH GREAT ARTWORK and mostly KICKASS CODE. Simple as that.
Munsters and Jaws will be HUGE and Steve Ritchie will be looking to redeem himself as the "King" with his original theme.
4). Spooky Pinball will announce their next game at TPF again because they need the lead time on the $1k deposits to get the ball rolling on the next title.
I don't think it's going to work quite as well this time regardless of the title. We already know that Spooky is fully committed for 2019 to building ALL of the ACNC games. And then there is Scott Danesi's game to mix in there.
How is Spooky going to actually make a new game along with Danesi's? 2020 is a long ways away.
5). The Secondary market is going to continue to get better and better for Buyers with all the new titles coming out in 2019. The "Supply" of $8k plus pins is growing faster and faster. That will lead to bigger drops on the secondary market. Thus, CHOOSE WISELY on your Nib purchases, plan on holding and playing them for a long time. You should anyhow.
6). AP pinball. I'm impressed thus far with the first couple of efforts. Despite its faults, Houdini is a good theme and excellent first go. Despite the theme, I'm a fan of Oktoberfest. I will own one down the road once they get all the kinks worked out. I'm looking forward to #3
7). CGC. Man they keep getting better and better with production, quality, etc. and the pricing is right. How many more remakes can and will they do that people will want to buy? They have done the top 3 now and it goes downhill BIG time from there from a mass appeal standpoint. There are a ton of other games that can be remade that I'd like and so would others, but i don't think they can get close to the same number of sales as the Big 3.
CGC announces an original title at this years Expo.
8). 2019 is the time to "plant your flag firmly" and solidify your foundation if you are anybody other than Stern. When will the recession hit? 2020? Europe is already in a big economic slowdown.
9). Elwin is going to find it harder to capture the magic on Game #2, pretty tough to top IMDN. Whatever game Stern makes that Lyman is coding I will buy, regardless of theme.
10). Top 3 games of 2019
-Wonka
-Danesi #2
-Ritchie's Original theme