Quoted from taylor34:It's ironic that most video games are unlicensed and almost all pinball machines are. Kind of proves that although licenses are powerful, that if you come up with good original IP it will do better than a license.
It's interesting isn't it. The license provides the initial money making draw, immediate attention, etc... yet at the same time I can't help but feel it dooms the pinball platform to irrelevance. The way I see it, the license by definition is always burdened by judgement. Yes, a license may be favorably judged and be a draw, but it's a short lived high with higher ultimate cost. A license, unlike an unread book, is saddled with constant expectation and judgement... they should have done this... why didn't they include this... this actress is annoying.... this actor groped a woman... And in most cases (save LOTR and maybe a few others) the license, like a movie following a good book, ultimately serves up disappointment- a failure to meet expectation- or the license itself is fatally flawed (I think Munsters is terribly annoying and old, but I guess us old guys are buying the machines...) An original piece of art and story on the other hand stands alone on its own merits. I think that is why the top of the list are endearing, unique themes that stand alone (Granted, MB has its influences (arguably Munsters) and you can't deny the Monty Python influence of Medieval Madness. Funhouse.... fantastic. I would even argue that TZ is a hybrid form of license- an interesting hybrid of Golden Earring music mixed with TZ strangeness and voiceover.)
But with the current heavy bias towards licensing, the problem as I see it is that pinball is at risk of being permanently, and unfavorably judged as a marketing tool to the primary license, and at risk of never being able to stand alone as the art form and experiential achievement that it is. The "brand" of pinball if you will, is subservient to the license it represents. "Oh, that thing was so big and cool they made a pinball machine out of it... big whoop." Old news by the time it hits the street.
Gawd the lack of creativity is appalling. I don't know why I have such a bad reaction to licenses...
Yes there is no turning back the clock to the 90s. I think we would all agree that a great pinball experience impacts how a person feels. Delivering a sense of satisfaction. A sense of unpredictable wonder. But a license means expectation and judgement... and most likely disappointment. Now of course, there is only so much you can do with metal balls, pop bumpers, flipper bats, targets, ramps, etc... so maybe copycat licenses and subservience to a primary brand is the final destination and pinball wasn't intended to be its own art form.
But like the author I quote... I think the data indicates there is better way. And one more thing about DI... I think the concept of Pinball as a development platform is intriguing. I get the sense that the way that Lawlor and co are thinking about the architecture, it's possible for users like us to "dial in" our own experiences into the machines themselves (musical scores, voices, photos, modes, rules, etc)....