I know this topic has been brought up many times. However,it seems to me that pinball manufacturer x could save quite a bit on development of a game by not having to shell out big money for licencing rights and voice over work etc. everyone always says that the ops aren't buying unlicensed themes. that's because no one is making them.add to that most new pins are purchased by private collectors any way.if you look at the a list of 90's games. all but Adams family,twilight zone, are original themes. just my own thoughts on the subject.
add to the list Indiana Jones and sttng of licenced titles.

yes,that's true.de did have some original themes when they 1st started. my point is that some of the most sought after pins today are original themes. i.e., afm,cv,mm,ngg,cc,bbb,fh,hs2,wh2o. some of these titles did not sel that well when released but have become very sought after for their game play and theme. with pin prices on the rise it is my thought that the makers of pins might be able to save some money by not having to pay licensing fees and create some great original themes while passing the savings on to the customer=us.although i like many de games and have owned 2.very few of the de games are in the a list and none of the sega games have that status. not that i personally care. one of my all time favorite games is lw3 which many pin heads will tell you is a c list game. again,my point is,Someone grow a f_cking sac! build a kick ass original theme and wake the sleeping giant of pinball again!if you build it,people will play it.

sorry if i sounded angry on that last post. im not. and i have great respect for gary stern for keeping pinball alive for the past 12 years.non pin heads are not playing pinball now. at our company christmas party we all went to a local watering hole after dinner. they had 1 pin wcs 94. my wife and i played it while i watched my co workers and many others pump well over 200 dollars into 2 of those punch the speed bag games. after we got done playing wcs no one touched it the rest of the night. 2 weeks ago,my wife and i had a date night.after dinner we were going to catch a movie. nothing looked good so we went to a local pool room. they have 2 pins there and i know the op who owns them so we went to play some pool. after 2 hours or so of pool we played the pins. the whole time we were there we were the only ones who touched the pins.the pins at the pool room are dr.who and road show.anyway,i know its a tired argument.i believe that since pinball is a now home market why not build to that market.

seems like we all agree that we want an original theme pin but it most likely will not happen.

i hear what everyone is saying and i have to agree. what got me thinking about the topic was the thread on king pin. i have not played it but would love to. i see ops buying old pins and sticking them on route because they cant make back their money on a new pin at 6-7 grand. like everyone else here i just want to see pinball thrive and survive. i also follow the mantra of no guts no glory.i would love to see someone take a chance and put out a kick ass pin that everyone would have to play.

i concur.i rarely go to the movies any more.