Baltimore, MD
Quoted from knockerlover:Everyone but jpop got applause after they introduced themselves and shared their story.. that’s gotta hurt..
Good that's how it should be 
(Topic ID: 203700)
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Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland
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Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (Xtra Edition)
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Quoted from Magicchiz:All of us listening to Deep root and John popaduk!
[quoted image]
Now,that’s funny
Düsseldorf
Quoted from jellikit:Expo deeproot.
[quoted image]
Is that backhead on the left George Gomez?
So At the beginning of the presentation JPop was the only one who agreed pinball was simple, perhaps looking for laughter but the room was silent.
I DID laugh a few minutes in when my spouse sent me this but from his Wikipedia page, which she swears was written by someone within 40 feet of us.
In all quite interesting.
C2D9A14C-AA03-44C2-ACA6-AA57648D17DF (resized).pngQuoted from knockerlover:Everyone but jpop got applause after they introduced themselves and shared their story.. that’s gotta hurt..
Has anyone taken a picture of his back yet? 
I’m really disappointed in this expo talk.
I have a lot of respect for Steve Bowden, Barry Ousler, and Dennis Nordman. I don’t know the other artists.. So I mean no disrespect to them..
There has been no substance.. Robert is asking questions to the team that’s mostly about their approach to pinball, design etc. JPop rambles on for way too long and says things that directly conflict with how he has executed in the past. I love these designers, but have heard their stories a thousand times at these panels..
This seemed woefully unprepared and last minute. No slides/video or even a static image projected and seemingly loose agenda/message. I would expect with such a powerhouse team and seemingly infinite budget, that at least some slides could be put together. David Thiels presentation that he did himself on Q*Berts audio blew this entire presentation out of the water.
It seems that the company’s plan is to hire big name talent, give them complete freedom, promise everyone the world and hope it all works out. (My opinion). I think this is reflected in the presentation today.
Roberts Main message - We are working hard behind the scenes .. ahead on some things behind on others.. we set a deadline for ourselves, and coming at TPF in March “some amazing things”.
Other main points and “big” promises - Magic girls shipped without the floating ball trick working, it’s never been done and hard to do, but deeproot has solved that problem.
They are going with a one tiered model and one tiered price. Would love to get prices lower than any pinball company has ever been done, with more toys than other games. They will be working on higher end games and will have something for all price ranges.
“Will release more than any manufacturer in history, and more titles that has ever been released in one year”
I don’t want to throw shade on anyone working to expand pinball and bring new technology and games to the market. But my “spidey-sense” is off the charts.. they aren’t taking preorders or money so, no harm in it.. but I can’t put my finger on the gameplan.
Quoted from jellikit:Expo deeproot.
[quoted image]
It may be just me, but they ALL look positively depressed.
Thanks, knockerlover.
I'm having deja vu all over again.
New pinball startups talking a good game is so 2014.
I mean, I know they have a ton of talent, and I know that talent is excited. But we've seen this movie before.
Even when they show up with a game, it doesn't mean anything until customers start receiving good quality machines in a timely fashion.
Quoted from knockerlover:“Will release more than any manufacturer in history, and more titles that has ever been released in one year”
And sell those to whom, exactly?
I swore after jpop I'd never go against my business sense again. This makes no sense. The only different variable this time is where the money came from, but that doesn't change who the buyers are and how they get manufactured.
Quoted from Zavadoza:Steve Ritchie just crashed the Q and A and it was epic.
oh man, please fill us in.
Quoted from frolic:oh man, please fill us in.
“Dennis, what are you making red water, blue water?” Dennis said “dish water” but Ritchie didn’t hear him.
“Barry what are you making another comet game?” (Edited: he said “comet” Not “copy”)
“Hi John”
“That’s it, thanks bye!”
The hint at the end was
“Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland”
Heard Robert say to someone that he recently played the “release candidate” for RAZA and loves it. Someone else guessed “Cosmic Chaos” and Robert conformed it was one of those. So.. probably RAZA at TPF
pinballnews.com has been updated including the deeproot seminar and photos. I won't repost here but the link is:
https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2018/10/19/pinball-expo-2018-friday/
May have been posted before but my guess: Five days of root will be five titles released at once. Granted I would not put money down unless there were boxes ready to ship. I think we have heard 4 of the five titles floated already.
Quoted from HOOKED:Five days of root will be five titles released at once
That seems like a sure way to sell fewer of each title. 
Quoted from RCA1:That seems like a sure way to sell fewer of each title.
I think your right and that it's an opportunity to show off some deep pockets. Just think how it could effect the current sales and resale market.
Quoted from knockerlover:This seemed woefully unprepared and last minute. No slides/video or even a static image projected and seemingly loose agenda/message. I would expect with such a powerhouse team and seemingly infinite budget, that at least some slides could be put together. David Thiels presentation that he did himself on Q*Berts audio blew this entire presentation out of the water.
It's pinball, its horrific marketing, messaging and presentation. What do you expect.
That looks like a F ing criminal lineup, especially Jpop!
Are those his big balls laying on the floor? My god it takes some major stones to sit up there and "tell your story". 
Quoted from knockerlover:Everyone but jpop got applause after they introduced themselves and shared their story.. that’s gotta hurt..
Would have been even better if some people stood up and turned their backs to him or walked out during his intro!
Quoted from c508:Would have been even better if some people stood up and turned their backs to him or walked out during his intro!
Then why go in there in the first place if you intend to leave?
That's not showing anything in the leaving persons favor, to say it very mildly.
Quoted from o-din:I'm must say I'm impressed with the presentation! I want one of each.
Where do I send my money?
LOL. Send your Deposits to the Russian conspiracy campaign. You get a free pinball machine
Quoted from o-din:I'm must say I'm impressed with the presentation! I want one of each.
Where do I send my money?
PMd you!!!
Quoted from DS_Nadine:Then why go in there in the first place if you intend to leave?
That's not showing anything in the leaving persons favor, to say it very mildly.
The point would be to publicly insult and shame him (if J-Pop had any shame).
Maybe “turning your back on a speaker” or “leaving the room” isn’t a thing that is done in Germany?
If anyone knows about the game Dennis Nordman was working on in his workshop a few years back, with a sci-fi theme, that poster speaks way more to that than RAZA to me. Won't be surprised to find out he sold it to Deep Root. Hope he gets paid better than he did from Woah Nellie out of all this!
London
Quoted from Aurich:If anyone knows about the game Dennis Nordman was working on in his workshop a few years back, with a sci-fi theme, that poster speaks way more to that than RAZA to me. Won't be surprised to find out he sold it to Deep Root. Hope he gets paid better than he did from Woah Nellie out of all this!
Agree. I don’t see resemblance to RAZA in that poster.
Didn’t Dennis mention the opportunity to do his dream game?
Quoted from knockerlover:“Dennis, what are you making red water, blue water?” Dennis said “dish water” but Ritchie didn’t hear him.
“Barry what are you making another copy game?”
“Hi John”
“That’s it, thanks bye!”
Pretty sure he asked Barry if he was making another Comet game. Just clarifying in case yours was a typo or anything.
Quoted from knockerlover:“Dennis, what are you making red water, blue water?” Dennis said “dish water” but Ritchie didn’t hear him.
“Barry what are you making another copy game?”
“Hi John”
“That’s it, thanks bye!”
If that's what happened, Steve was acting very unprofessionally.
Considering the fact that Steve is also rehashing his own designs it's pretty embarassing actually.
Melbourne
Quoted from fishbone:If that's what happened, Steve was acting very unprofessionally.
Considering the fact that Steve is also rehashing his own designs it's pretty embarassing actually.
I think he actually said 'comic game'. Not copy game
Quoted from c508:The point would be to publicly insult and shame him (if J-Pop had any shame).
Maybe “turning your back on a speaker” or “leaving the room” isn’t a thing that is done in Germany?
As I said there's a difference when you intentionally go there... just to leave.
That's just plain childish.
If you come by by accident that's completely diffent.
That just noone applauded is the right thing to do.
Quoted from DS_Nadine:As I said there's a difference when you intentionally go there... just to leave.
That's just plain childish.
I don’t think it’s any different than students protesting a controversial speaker at a university (like Mumia Abu Jamal or Charles Murray) or constituents calling out a politician on his/her bs at a “town hall” event.
Well, Mueller claims they're going to release more machines in 2019 than any manufacturer has in a year, in the history of the industry. He didn't say Stern era, or even solid state or DMD era.
That's got to be hyperbole, and probably refers to DMD era. What was the max for BW? 5? 6?
Even assuming they can get all these games out, they're great to play, reliable, well built, more affordable, look good, the software's excellent, and that they can manufacture more machines than the rest of the industry combined (as was implied previously) .... where is the demand?
More importantly, even if there were potentially enough buyers (globally) to support this level of production, where is the distribution network and where are the retailers? A big enough one for arcade and pinball machines hasn't existed since the 90s. He obviously wants to do direct sales, but that's probably only going to work in the US (& maybe Canada), and then, he better have planned for millions in marketing budgets (net, print, TV), else who's going to know about them, much less buy them?
From talk I've heard, and what has been implied by Robert, a modular software framework that allows very quick implementation of rules and getting machines playable very swiftly seems to be their ace as far as development is concerned. This is great, and long overdue - more so if the end user has access to an API. Manufacturing, and BOM costs, well I guess we'll see about that.
But why release everything en masse on your *debut* ????? Just why.
You flood the market, almost ensuring lower sales for not just the industry, but your titles too, and placing a huge amount of pressure on keeping the pipeline going.
This seems mad, given that interest rates in the US are expected to continue quickly upwards in 2019, public and private debt will snowball, Trump shows no sign of backing down on his global trade war, major economies are looking either very shaky or potentially entering crises (Turkey, Italy, UK etc), China is cooling off a little and debt levels are getting a bit dangerous there. 2020 *could* be a cataclysmic year, and if there hasn't been a major shock and economic consequences by the middle of 2021, I'd be really surprised.
Why blow your load like this, given the way the wind is blowing? Pinball market is already a bit overheated, and in danger of market saturation even before they launch.
Maybe they want to be the #1 right away, but even if that happens they risk catalysing a crash in the industry, which will screw them as much as anyone else given their apparently very large investments. Unless this is all just a tax write off, so the cost of cornering the market is immaterial?
In reality, they’ve spent quite a lot of money and haven’t asked the pinball community for a dime. I’ll reserve judgement, sit back and watch the explosion. The question is will the explosion be celebratory fireworks or will it be a bomb in the deeproot factory. In either case, a small bit of flak hitting jpop enough to cause a bit of pain would probably be applauded by all.
I actually enjoyed the seminar. It was well structured and they talked about as much as they could without revealing too much and it was interesting hearing the veteran designers approach to game design during the 80's/90's vs. now.
There was some kool aid drinking going on with the loaded questions of "what new opportunities has deeproot given you" and "how does deeproot allow you design differently" which got tiring because we haven't seen anything from them yet. That aside, it's worth a watch.
-Doug
Toronto, ON
JPOP is totally happy. He’s around a group of people who think he’s a bumbling genius again. A bad business man, but a revolutionary pinball designer... despite all evidence to the contrary.
Nobody is going to give him any shit in person, because they’re too busy trying to get their TOTAN back Tattoo signed by the guy who had nothing to do with the art.
I REALLY hope the Derproot story has a happy ending. Unfortunately, Robert has talked a lot of gobbledygook, and corporate nonsense that simply doesn’t fly when it comes to hard manufacturing. As frolic said... we’ve seen this movie before. Dutch were going to do it better. Heighway were going to do it better. Everybody said Stern was a dinosaur that didn’t understand the market... hows that working out for them?!
I don’t know Robert, and I wish him zero ill will... but he sounds like a wealthy Foodie that has decided to buy prime real estate and open the City’s “hottest new Eatery” while knowing nothing about running a restaurant. It’s not just money.
Yes, that’s a restaurantgument!
He was a new collector, and drank the JPOP Koolade. He has thrown money hand over fist at the newest attempt to make pinball. I hope it works out. I really do. There are a lot of good people involved.
IF it works out, and we get new and fun pinball, all this nonsense will fade. I just wish they had delivered something... anything... before talking about how revolutionary they were.
But I’m just an idiot on a Pinball Forum!
Also, Ritchie definitely asked Barry Oursler if he could make another Comet. Nothing to do with copying.
Quoted from rubberducks:Also, Ritchie definitely asked Barry Oursler if he could make another Comet. Nothing to do with copying.
Thanks I corrected this.
For the others that were there, what were the guesses at the end for what the game to be released at TPF would be? I heard.. RAZA, Kosmic Khaos (the Mark Ritchie concept idea), but there were 1-2 others. Robert confirmed that one of those guessed was correct.
You may be right that it isn’t RAZA, Ed from TPF was in front of us and said to his wife “what’s RAZA?” I assume he would know the next game to be released there.
Quoted from halflip87:I actually enjoyed the seminar. It was well structured and they talked about as much as they could without revealing too much
We must have been in different talks, they didn’t reveal anything.. and the whole thing was ad libbed.
It's likely still RAZA. If I remember, the premise was aliens invading, and creating zombies. In some of the original art I remember some guys with antennas. Some of it looked like Mars Attacks as well with the glass domes over their heads. So the art was redone, but some of the imagery is still similar.
It used to be Ben Heck creating zombies.
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