Thought of a tag line for TWIP. Get your news here, before you know you need it!

That was a good interview. Interesting.

What the heck, Stern!?! Spooky has shown nothing but respect for you. Then you go and steal Charlie's dream license away from them? Not cool.

It's just business, that's the way it goes sometimes. It will only be not cool if stern never makes the game and just bought the license to block Spooky. I'd love for Spooky to get a chance at it but a stern Godzilla sounds pretty awesome to me. Please make it based on the old movies with tons of black and grey film clips with mouths not matching the words being said. That could be pretty awesome!!

I get you @jgentry, but I have had one of those "just business" moments in my career...and it sucked. What is usually business for one side is personal for the other. But, I guess that is life.

I'd have to agree with the notion that business is business, and Stern is in business for Stern, not to prop up competitors, or do nice things for them like walk away from a license just because someone else really likes it.

I'm not sure what all transpired, but like most things its a learning experience for Spooky, and they'll be that much more battle hardened the next time around.

Hell, I mentor business owners and the first question I ask of them before they even get to talk to me is "Tell me about a hard lesson you learned", because its such an important part of growing and I want to hear about it.

Sorry, but this is NOT just business for business.

It is lame and shows the companies true colors yet again.

I get Spooky is competition, but really? Why does Stern bully Spooky like they do? Stern had to know that Charlie and fam love Godzilla. Heck when they bought their first pinball machine (Firepower 2), they played it so much that the artwork rubbed off the playfield. So they got the bright idea to retheme Firepower 2 as a Godzilla theme.

The 8 years Spooky has been a podcast, they have talked about Godzilla in almost every podcast. Oh and this isn't the first time either. As soon as Stern heard Spooky was making a Zombie theme pinball machine, Stern ran out, got rights to the Walking Dead, and built it so that it would come out the same time as Spooky's zombie themed pinball machine.

Did you know Spooky and co are big Munsters fans? Guess who bought the rights to Munsters shortly after Spooky attempted to get them? If you said Stern, you'd be right.

Stern, stop bullying Spooky!

Anybody else notice that Beatles is going to be a "classic pinball" design. Surprising?

Its is just business, emotional responses and attachments to these type of things serve no real purpose. In the end you have to have a number that fits the machines budget and if the license goes over that it's in Spooky's best interest to walk away anyway. There's tons of license options that can work for almost any pin.

Yet someone close to the project was saying how revolutionary and amazing this layout was going to be. Hypesters are worse than politicians these days.

Sounds like Spooky needs to keep their mouths shut more before they announce their next licensed theme they want to do. It sucks, but there is a reason companies like to keep things a secret for as long as possible.

Godzilla is a perfectly viable license. There is a second movie coming out later this year and then a Kong vs Godzilla movie coming in a couple years. Why wouldn’t Stern grab it and see how the movies perform? They aren’t in the business of wasting money. This whole story is far too personal and short sighted. Just b/c TWIP doesn’t like the theme doesn’t mean it isn’t a good theme.

You know who doesn't talk about themes they really like on countless pinball podcasts?

Stern. There's a lesson to be learned there perhaps?

It's pretty clear major licenses will almost always go through Stern, mainly because they can deliver the quantity required for both the operator and collectors. However, I have a real problem with this title. I'm pretty sure it wasn't even on the radar until the rumors started about Spooky working on this license. Even if Toho approached Stern directly to counter, I think its pretty low for Stern to take this license knowing Charlie's passion for Godzilla. In the end, I sure Stern will make a 'decent' Godzilla, and Spooky will continue finding cool concepts... There are a lot of great horror properties out there that would make great boutique pinball (Phantasm, Lost Boys, Creepshow, Leprechaun, Evil Dead, etc)...

How can you say Godzilla is not on their radar, they already made a Godzilla machine. I would bet that the Godzilla people, knowing Stern's history with the franchise, spoke with Spooky and then went straight to Stern for a counter offer. What is Stern supposed to do?

Stern has a known history of buying licenses just to stop others from making them.

This was a dick move, plain and simple.

Agreed, there is all kinds of stuff that us Pinsiders are not privy to that may have gone into these discussions. To put Stern in a bad light here without knowing the details, which we may never really know, really isn't fair. What we do know is that Stern has had this franchise before and that Stern also has some economies of scale in being the largest volume pin manufacturer. I want all pin manufacturers to thrive, but to start conjecturing and making accusations pitting one versus the other really isn't helping any of them....

Yeah, I'm just not buying it. They already made a Godzilla machine once. They have a relationship with Toho. Godzilla is a huge license. There are movies in the making, toys in production. Stern has every right to grab that license.

There's no crying in pinball or business. THe idea that this is personal or any of us should be offended by it is ridiculous.

Spooky isn't doing any favors to Stern by siphoning off hundreds of thousands of dollars in pinball sales with TNA, why is Stern supposed to make any silly accommodations to their competitors?

I don't get this at all. You don't want anybody chasing your possible licenses stop flapping your gums about them. This is business folks.

Someone just get to making Sons of Anarchy.

That was Tri-Star... not TOHO. Same as the current films (WB / Legendary)... not TOHO.

TOHO is much smaller. Shin Godzilla only played independent and small theaters last year everywhere but Japan, while "King of the Monsters" will play every theater on the planet next year when WB releases it.

While it's impossible to want that title more than we did, they are the big fish and will get whatever they go after in most cases. We were "flapping our gums" about Godzilla LONG before we were a company, so kinda hard to hide our love for that title now.

If that's "just business", then I guess we just learned a lesson. I have literally pushed titles that came here, back to Stern because it was the right thing to do... but hey, that's "just business" at Spooky.

Such is life... and Spooky is fine. Disappointments are going to happen. We move on.

straight from the source. Rub it off and on to the next thing.

the sad part is how many great licenses are "locked up" by Stern that they will never make.

I have to wonder if it eventually catches up to them when companies realized they potential lost revenue and brand recognition from allowing them to pay the small fee to hold but not execute?

If anything Stern just graduated Spooky to a threat/serious business competitor.

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This made me giggle

Are you accusing Stern of “catch and kill?!”

Ok. Point clarified. But, in your opinion, did the fact that SEGA/Stern had produced the 1998 version play into the decision by TOHO? Honestly. I'm curious. Obviously you can't unload and be unprofessional, but do you honestly think that Stern just threw a block on you? If that's the case, then I think it's bullshit - and I'm a known apologist for almost everything Stern has ever done. But if there is some chance that they intend to make a Kong vs Godzilla machine.....

I kind of think Stern did Spooky a favor from a sales standpoint. I don't think Godzilla will sell well at all, nobody cares about the last one either.

Toho Godzilla theme will sell very well, current movie would be pretty meh-

Man, that's crazy talk. Godzilla is a huge license and a universally adored icon.

Stern tried to buy out the Alien license from under Heighway, this is how they do business. These companies aren't your friends, they aren't sports teams, they're not "in it for the love", they're trying to make money. Stern would happily crush every other company, they liked being the "only" pinball company out there.

Classic monsters with Franchi art: take my money.

True, we get that, but it's not just crushing companies it's hurting consumers by denying them themes they might be interested in. It would be different if they planned to make the machine, but to buy "popular" themes to bury them is a dick move. Of course Alien might not be the best example of this . . .

Still, pinball fans have a right to be pissed if a company buys a theme they like just to prevent it from being made. Part of doing business is not pissing off your potential customer base too.

Please educate me on this. I thought if you acquired a license you were obligated to produce something within a certain time frame. If that's the case, how could you "shelve" it?

all the more reason to vote with dollars.

I do agree that Stern pulling this move is the equivalent to them finally admitting Spooky is impacting their sales and wanting to sting back. Luckily Spooky gets the last laugh with an original theme that is killing it a nearly sold out licences ACNC, and of course Danessi #2 around the corner.

The next form of flattery will be when they do a non-licensed theme or traditional style game to copy the moves of Spooky.

This all legitimizes the impact Spooky has had on pinball and it is a great thing!

Spooky should just start talking up as many lame themes as possible so Stern will blow money locking up the licence...hey Spooky weren't you going after the Nickeback licence

Or Co-Op mode...

Sometimes you just acquire the rights for a specific time period or for up to a certain number of produced units. And yes, if you don't use the license, often times it reverts back to the licencor to offer back up for use again. Stern may have actual interest in producing a Godzilla game, but even if they don't, nobody else can do anything until the license expires.

greatness is often emulated

Damnit give Rob Zombie Co-op so I can achieve hell bound

You have no clue if stern is going to make a Godzilla game or not. If them having the Godzilla license pisses you off then you need to get pissed off at JJP and everyone else that currently holds the rights to numerous licenses.

Stern needs several licenses to pick from so that their designers and artist can work on games that interest them and also they are trying to predict what will be in most demand in the future. They are not buying licenses just to not make games, they may never end up as a game but that's just life. What do you think makes a better game? Them going to Borg and saying here's your license, have fun and it better sell. Or here's what we have to pick from, which one can you knock out of the park? Each license will come with it's own headaches and some designers and artist are much better at dealing with them then others so options are really needed if you expect to get the best games.

an officially licensed toho godzilla pinball has the potential of actually making a dent in the japanese market. it's a shame that charlie wasn't able to secure his grail theme

hopefully, stern, if they choose to go after it, will do the license justice. if they choose to just sit on it, maybe they could work something out and work with spooky to design it and produce it like woah nellie! big juicy melons from mr. nordman and mr. freres

Oh, what could have been.