I vote none. There are better Williams/Bally games to remake like CC, MB, TAF, TZ, IJ.
I'd rather see BBB than anything from JPOP. His games are pretty but the rules are shallow and not fun.

Post a poll.

Personally, I would love to see Theatre of Magic. It's a beautiful game and a blast to play.

Let's have them finish Magic Girl first.

I've owned every popadiuk game except ToM and none of 'em are worth reproducing.

WCS is fun, if basic, but they made plenty of 'em
ToM is OK, if exploitable, and they made plenty of 'em.
ToTAN is a beginner level game and gets real boring real fast - no legs at all.
CV is a 3 shot game (left orbit, RM, ramp), and a PITA to keep running on location.
SWep1 was an appropriately bad game for a pretty bad movie.

CGC is gonna do what CGC is gonna do, but IMHO any of these is a waste of time and resources.

Just curious did you beat the wizard mode on Totan?

Polls are stupid. The discussion is where the meat is.

This is true. The only good one in the bunch is WCS and no point in reproing a lower value game. And even that gets old.

JPop is the most overrated pinball designer in history. Most of his games are gimmick-laden and look cool, but play poorly, or at the very least get old quickly due to repetition of dull tasks and poorly balanced scoring.

Never in history has a designer got so much mileage out of such a weak track record. He parlayed 1 decent game and a bunch of average-playing eye candy into the greatest scam in pinball history and beyond.

I don’t think IJ will ever get re-made.

I think it comes down to what one likes in pinball. I personally do not feel Popadiuk's games play very well aside from World Cup Soccer. I think the three big ones noted in the original post stand out to some for two reasons:
1) art (they all have arguably some of the best art packages ever in pinball, at least from the 90s)
2) toys (each one has notable gimmicks)

Art isn't really important to me, and I'd take good rules and shots over toys, so for me he just isn't a designer of note. Those who value different factors will have a different result.

All that said, back to the original questions:

JPop's greatest game: World Cup Soccer (if I have to vote "big 3" then TOTAN)
The game CGC should remake: Cirqus Voltaire (rarest of the "big 3" and tied with TOTAN at the top of average pricing for JPop games)

How much of any of those games did he actually design? I like TOM the best and I use to love CV on location, but then I owned one and it just didn't hold my interest at home. Ultimately , I agree there are better options than jpop pins. I should note as others have mentioned, that they are absolutely beautiful games. The problem (IMO) is they just aren't as fun as most of the pins produced in that era.

EXACTLY. Theatre of Magic is probably his best, but it's too easy (a common theme with his pins) and the wizard mode is disappointing. Cirqus and Tales are both great to look at but are just not great pins. The pins you listed should ALL be higher priority than any of his.

I've owned all of his games except WCS which I shopped/played a ton of. All of his games are absolutely beautiful to look at and fun to play. They have incredible flow, music and gimmicks using magnets. ALL are extremely easy to complete. After a while they become boring and repetitive to play. Some of the callouts on his games get annoying really fast. None of his games were real keepers for me. JPOP's games can still be had for about or lower than it would be to reproduce and there are other gems out there which are better candidates.

I would agree but you never know.

Seems to me they'd burn through all the narrow body games before reproing a widebody even came into the discussion, so even that discussion is many years away.

False.

True.

You have both to cater to all members. Not everyone posts in a discussion. However, many more will vote.

Nice try though...
-mof

To sell really well as a remake, the originals have to be in the $8000-$10000+ range on the used market. Theatre of Magic is usually in the $6s for a nice one. TOTAN BARELY makes it in the high 7s and low 8s. Cirqus doesn't make it, stuck in the mid 6s and low 7s. I just can't see CGC giving priority to ANY of these for a long time.

Sure thing. Go to the top of your post. Look wide right at the "three dots" icon, and click that -- you can enter a poll there.

It appears Robin has effectively hidden polls from new users by using the "three dots" -- so it's not like you could have "searched" the page for "poll"...

Good luck,
-mof

3 dots (resized).png

Nobody really takes those ratings seriously. They are a novelty and most importantly an effective and free Search Optimization Tool for pinside. I mean, isn't Maiden #1 right now? It's 2 weeks old.

Obviously, plenty of people like the JPop games. They are GREAT for newbies and for drawing people in with their gimmicks, presentation, and novelty appeal. I'm not sure if that's enough to get them remade. Seems like there would be many safer bets for the remake guys, but if their research makes them think there's money to be made, it could surely happen eventually.

I've owned CV and ToM and played the rest. ToM to me is the most fun to play, but a very easy game. Would I pay 6k+ for a ToM? Most likely not with the code it has. CV was the fastest turn around on a game I've ever owned. I sold it after having it only a few months. I got to wizard mode every other game I played. They are beautiful games and I enjoyed playing them, but owning them for me was another story.

I use to think that would be the case, but you can't disregard the thrill someone might get for that NIB feeling and being the first to play a game. I know unboxing a game is a one time thrill, but I think some people would take a remake over an original for that very reason.

Plus the fact that hopefully, it should be years before you have any major issues.

Unfortunately with JPop's designs the thrill is gone real fast because they're just too easy for even middling players. I can't see someone being thrilled spending $9000 for a JPOP LE remake for very long. I really can't see CGC doing any of them. The economics just won't work out for a long time, especially if another pin bust is coming (as it likely has to).

None. They are all average or below average pins.

The "wheelhouse" is $8k-$10k for CGC historically. Depending on machine, they are either not in the wheelhouse at all, or just barely in it, holding on by their fingernails. Do not see it happening. And if it does, do not see them selling well at CGC prices.

I am currently wondering if I'm going to see my Alien money again. I'm not sure JPop is the holder of the "Greatest Scam" title at the moment.

Sorry, I haven't yet washed away the bitter taste.

Beat it every time I got to it, which was pretty often. No-brainer mode, just plunge balls and hit switches. Actually, you can make it a challenge if you deliberately try to not win, and instead stretch it out for more points.... but not really worth the time. Correction, the entire game isn't worth the time

Pinside top 100 is voted on by collectors, not players. Here's a question for you: how often do you see ANY Popadiuk game used in competition? WCS94 is pretty popular, but that's it - the rest are turds and suck for competitive play.

I've owned my AFM and TZ since 1999. I've bought and sold Popadiuk's entire resume during that period. Yea, all games get old after a while, but some have *very* short shelf lives.

I can not wait to buy a remake ToM. This has always been one of my favorite games since it came out and a lot on location are beat, don't work exactly right, or have the trunk disabled (the one at Free Gold Watch last week fit into the last). ToM is a great game but if the example is not good, it plays poorly.

Regardless of the ratings and thoughts of pinsiders, Jpop games have much more visual interest than most games out there. CGC will easily remake these games because they will sell. If you know nothing about pinball, you will buy based upon the looks and the feeling it evolves. If they do any modest updates similar to AFMr, pinsiders will buy to get the upgrade.

If I was 63 I would grab what is available now and enjoy it. I don't think I would want to be in my 70's waiting for a remake of CV or TOTAN.

WCS is my favorite one. Pinside ratings aren't a perfect measure of how good the game is. I blasted WCS for its cartoon dog and sports theme but gave it great marks for the gameplay. All of JPOPs other games have much better looks and themes.

Obviously WCS '94 would be dumb to remake. Let's see TOTAN, that's a spectacle that would look the prettiest all lit up I think.

I was expecting to find 43 responses of 'Magic Girl'.

If they got it working I would probably be in. It looks amazing.

The collectors who buy JPOP games are not interchangeable with "impassioned players." The latter favor exciting games with good rulesets, which is exactly the opposite of what JPOP produced. There is a market for JPOP games among newer players and those who favor art more than anything else, but I don't think that market is big enough for a repro. OTOH it seems that "pinside-top-100" folks like you tend to have deep pockets, so perhaps you'll get your CVR after all.

One year PAPA had a WCS in every division, A, B, C. It's a great game in competition.

I put my TotAN in the MAGFest (was a PAPA circuit event this past year) bank two years ago and it kicked everyone's ass. I don't think anyone even put up a high score. If you think it's "too easy" then you don't have it set up correctly.

I've played ToM and CV in competition as well and it's way different than just grinding away at it in your home. Once I cleared the wizard mode in ToM I ditched it due to the massive letdown but it was always fun to play. I ditched WCS94 because we had it in league. I still have CV & TotAN and neither one is leaving. Haven't made the wizard mode in either one yet either.

TotAN is most likely remake IMHO due to the lack of complex mechs aside from the multiball start.

I didn't "downgrade" your post, I simply disagreed completely with your opinion. I also never mentioned Jersey (Jack) Pinball. Please pay attention if you want to carry on a civil discussion.

Not sure how you haven't made wiz mode in TOTAN yet, but if it challenges you, that's all that matters. The modes are extremely low scoring, so wishing away two at once with a ruby+bazaar a couple times makes for a quick trip to the end.