It can be done , Stern got all the assets they wanted for Godzilla , Elvira and Star Wars .
JJP got the assets for all three Hobbit movies .
Spooky had access to everything for Rick and Morty .

Ah, right. Forgot about Star Wars.

Everything from any license is up for grabs, if you spend enough cash. Reason Sigourney Weaver isn't in Alien pinball? We didn't offer her enough.

Lego get everything they want because they have all the money in the world. Licensing is all about making money. No one turns down money for doing nothing.

I agree that BTTF needs absolutely everything from all the movies to be the stella pinball experience you all want. Sadly, it will never be. My original BTTF game is the biggest and best BTTF pinball experience that will ever exist. In the digital world, we don't need no stinking permission, we take what we want (but we don't make a dime).

I’ve owned The Hobbit and the theme integration on that thing is off the scale, I mean crazy good!
Undoubtedly due to the fact that they had carte blanche with the assets for the entire trilogy.

I don't know but I assume the only issue with getting the licence would be money .
They said The Beatles was the most expensive licence at a million dollars .
I can't see how it would be more expensive than Star Wars but let's just say it did cost 1 mil , if done right they could easily sell twice as many as GNR which would equal only $100 extra per game .

Flyer sent to Lego to make a "Lego Gary"

BacktotheFuturePinballFlyer_2432x.jpg

I say the same thing about chicks for free.

Unfortunately for us Lego might just pay all Stern’s license fees for BTTF just to get their stuff made into a pinball machine.

The James Bond pinball machine covers 6 movies.

Lego sux.....also why would we want all the bttf movies? 2 and 3 werent that good. focus on the first movie and make it great.

It seems like Stern is willing to hitch a ride on other licenses to save monies. Kapow with all the slot licenses comes to mind(Beatles,BM66,007). Ford actually paying Stern. Lego BTTF would be another way to do the game with a cheaper piggy back license. Please Stern-no Lego BTTF combo(Batman lego is better anyway)

Also I prefer Hot and Sour soup over Egg Drop

Wonton Soup FTW!

Also, I know I’m in the minority, but I wouldn’t mind Lego BTTF. It would be better than getting half the assets and making it feel like something is missing. That’s how I felt with JP only having Nedry and that damn truck instead of a Jeep haha

Half the assets missing would be better than none of the assets being there . A LEGO pin would mean you have no assets and everything was missing .

Yeah, I guess I can see that way of thinking too. Idk. My 8 year old daughter would love the Lego portion too, so maybe that’s why I wouldn’t be too upset about Lego. To be clear, I would prefer the movies for sure but I wouldn’t mind Lego either. Just give me BTTF in some capacity! Haha

We've already had one half baked BTTF pinball, with the DE version. Forget a LEGO variant. If BTTF is going to be made, do it right, include assets from all 3 movies, or if it has to be one, make it the first. Otherwise leave it alone.

That's what I get for trying to put together a thesis in my head at 2am.

Lol. That would be like TS4..

Now you've crossed the line . . .

I know

BTW Anyone have a BKSOR they want to sell me for a good price?

Amber Heard edition of potc? Brilliant.

Good price for me, or for you?

Its always a buyers market.

I knew it!

Then we can finally stop getting a flood of rock band pins and have more with real themes?

Yeah, if I had a Hot Wheels I'd totally want to convert it to Gaslands. But the theme is too obscure for most - I think you'd have better luck licensing the Twisted Metal name. Put that Sweet Tooth truck in the game as a toy and people would love it!

A Battletech/Mechwarrior pinball would rock too, and the toys are already pretty much already designed for you - mechs EVERYWHERE on the playfield like a battlefield diorama. Pick what house you want to play for, each one having different bonuses and maybe swap video and text assets to the common mechs used by each house.

https://www.facebook.com/sternpinball/videos/657302232690032/

Cool that Seth is acknowledging vidya games. He's only been at Stern a year, so everything we're seeing was in the can before he arrived. It's plausible we'll start seeing a skew towards a younger demographic soon. Gary seems genuinely on board with him. Excited to see how he steers the ship.

I think the first pin company to land a solid video game license will be ahead of the game.

There are definitely video games that would lend well to pinball game format.

It's also part of changing times. There are young people who are way more attached to video game properties and don't know/care about a lot of movies/bands. And when home buyers like nostalgic themes that make them feel like a kid again, video game themed pins are inevitable....

I'll take a Mortal Kombat, a Super Mario, and a Pokemon. Please and thank you.

Where the heck is Sonic?!

It really is the closest 1 : 1 transition to pinball there is, no matter how you feel about the franchise. And Sega is generous with licensing. But Sonic isn't really A-list these days. Slight risk there.

I thought the Sonic movies with Jim Carrey would be crap, but I caved and watched them with my kids and they were surprisingly good. Add a pinch of nostalgia and the catchy OG video game theme music scores and you have a smash pinball hit.

Sonic is inter-generationally known now and generally well-regarded, even though many of the later titles suck. People love the characters and world. But even if that wasn't true, Sonic isn't just about games anymore.

The first Sonic movie did $320 million gross (#6 for 2020). Second Sonic movie did even better at $402 Million. Sonic 3 movie is coming.

So, not that big of a risk.

Video game music could be like a dad rock game for millennials

All of the Genesis Sonic music is amazing. The music and sound effects alone does a lot of the theme integration and gives those nostalgic warm feels.

If boomers just want to pay a dollar to listen to AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, Millenials will pay a dollar to hear Sonic and Mario music.

Also got to thinking whomever has the rights to Top Gun, had a long time to develop the game since the movie was delayed multiple times. Nobody knew the second film would turn out as popular as it has but that would give the license holder even more incentive to release a pin. One that has been worked on and maybe finished awhile ago expecting its release to coincide with the movie. Why haven’t we seen it yet?

I'm all for a Lego theme, and I guess it makes more sense to do a BTTF Lego pin than just a Lego City game. Having said that, when I think of franchises that go hand in hand with Lego, I'm not even aware of any BTTF sets. I'm sure they exist, just would be a perplexing combo.

Would love another Mario Pin.

You havnt seen it yet because it’s not being made. It will never be made. You can’t really license AV assets from a film that was subsidized by the US military. That’s why any previous Top Gun video games were completely devoid of any reference to the actual film and only the logo is used.

Everyone is going to downvote this. Thumbs down away I guess, everyone hates facts.

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/23141487/top-gun-maverick-us-military-hollywood

75E7C240-FBF0-41FB-A9AF-9C11456370C7 (resized).jpeg

I think if Stern teamed up with Nintendo they could make a pretty cool machine

Mario could be such a great theme for pinball. There is so many directions you could go in. But if you could incorporate an overworld element into the game, maybe something like Paddocks/Dinos in Jurassic Park but more varied paths to take and power-ups to earn. The game could revolve around playing levels in a few worlds, each world's boss battle would be a mini-wizard mode and then battle Bowser as the wizard mode. The levels could be a mix of simple and more complex with some freedom and reasons to aim for certain ones or avoid them. The LCD could go from overworld to levels and back.

Sorry Mario, your princess is in another castle.

Already been made. Play it all the time when I’m in Tokyo. An arcade in Odaiba has one amongst many other machines.
6EB0E35C-DE09-4207-A8CB-617BEB519126 (resized).jpeg

In fact two Mario pins have been made. Here is the other one, which is in a much shorter cabinet and quite different. Play this one too at the same arcade.

3E1A0239-AAF8-4FD0-8D49-DE4FECE82F1B (resized).jpeg

So why wouldnt you just play the game then? The other titles dont have games associated with them.

Because the point of the theme is to get a person to play/buy a particular pinball machine. Certain video game themes would sell to home collectors and attract coin drop.

People want to experience the intellectual property they love in multiple mediums

Like Pokémon is so much more than a video game. It’s a juggernaut of TV, film, toys, card games, collectible merch, clothing, etc.

The next Indiana Jones film is scheduled for release this summer. If stern releases a new machine , I hope they don’t F it up. Lots of potential for a great machine. I read the plot centers around a castle being stormed by Nazis in 1944.

I disagree. Its too much of the same thing. Will saturate the market. How many mario games are there? 100? Also, intellectual property.?

I think it’s as important to use licenses that give full assets and a degree of flexibility as it is to get “dream theme” licenses. No one actually wants their dream theme made without the associated music, voices, art they expect (tailored to a modern pinball machine).

As much as I like the Mario games, I think the music/sound would grate on me in a modern pinball machine making it sound like an older pin. If they were looking at video games I would hope for something more like Warcraft (maybe old at this point), Fallout, Red Dead Redemption, etc.

And your point? Stern has been recycling themes for years. I would like a Elwin super Mario bros pin or any decent designer.

First two are really fringe. Anyone really care that much about Clint anymore? We have Dirty Harry already and I don't see much clamor to redo it. Gaslands could be cool as a non-licensed title and same for bar games (kind of like October Fest). I thought October Fest was a good idea, just not executed well.

I hope they don't F up the new Indiana Jones Movie. I'm still recovering from what they did to Indy last time (find the South Park episode if you need a reference). And yup, it would be very hard for me to pass up a new IJ pin especially if Elwin was on it.