Unless it became a staple in church youth groups. It could happen...

Is that possible?

License restrictions seemed to have limited Jetsons, and BIBLE wouldn’t have that.

I know the poll is against it, but I bet if it was built as Ben envisions, that would change. Everyone says they don’t want another music pin, and boom look what Sterns next game is gonna be.

Mel Gibsons Christ movie was huge. A lot of naysayers said it would fail. There is a big demand for things like this when it stays true to the word, unlike the fantastical nonsense like the movie Noah.

Haha I forgot about Noah, holy shit that was bad

I agree. The market for a Bible Adventures or Fire and Fury themed pinball really isn't Pinside or the typical arcade locations. If the source material is followed closely (unlike the movie Noah as others have pointed out), I could see a lot of these selling to Jewish and Christian congregations for their youth communities. Heck, Ben could even play upon the violence or add some humor to it and the game would still be viable as long as the material isn't reimagined.

I really can’t see that happening. Wouldn’t most house of worship executive boards have a problem with a $7,000 pinball machine, religion-themed or not? Seems like it would be an incredibly hard sell.

Look at the poll here. Not exactly an overwhelming response. Could be your average pinhead would be happy keeping his religion and Pinball separate. Pretty big gamble counting on the “church gameroom” market to make this project work.

Straighten up that tie, get back on that bike, and ring some more doorbells soldier.

Religious or not, it is stories almost every single person in the world knows, and it could have an interesting playfield, great mechs, and hilarious rules. I know I wanna get to pearly gates multi-ball, destroy the devil, obtain God's approval, and ascent into Wizard mode.

Yeah, that's going to happen...

Even though I despise organized religion I believe this has the potential to be the best selling pin of all time. It's all a numbers game.
Youth groups would eat this up. Price it at 4k and take that tax free money all day.

I only buy finished products, so no; that model is not for me.

Our home school group rents space to meet every Tuesday from a local church. I'm not sure what brand name but Christian they sure as 30 silver sparkles are. This is not a wealthy congregation keep in mind, and we're out in basically the middle of fucking no where, but they've put together the scratch for a full size gym, in a building big enough to fit six modest class rooms, an office and gathering space, in ADDITION to their chapel or whatever and its attendant host of rooms, kitchen, and so on.

They have a fairly decent billiards table, a Warrior Foosball table, a beat up but functional commercial quality air hockey table, big screen, pop corn machine, a stage for traveling acts (complete with HILARIOUS posters around the property), etc... They're pretty well set up. I'm not saying this exact place would drop $8k on a pinball machine (that they may very well never know exists) but keep in mind that in the scheme of things, this po dunk, ultra rural parish (is that what they're called or is that just for us Catholics?) is obviously heavily invested in recruiting, retaining and entertaining their youth and is willing to spend a very large portion of their budget to do so.

I don't think it's impossible there's a market in there somewhere.

No. Lol

I don't.

Actually Im completely wrong up there. Since that church dough is tax free pimp em out Jersey Jack style and take all ya can get....$6660 how many would you like sir?

I'm not a marketing person, but I think this would be such a unique game and without a lot of similar-themed commercial competition for youth group entertainment, that it would sell well. I read that there are about 350,000 congregations of various sizes and denominations in the US. I think at least a few thousand would entertain the idea of a Bible Adventures pin. Some of these organizations send missionaries all over the world and even have their own private school systems.

As far as pinheads keeping their religion and pinball separate, I agree. That's why Pinside and collectors would probably only be a small percentage of potential sales. It also probably wouldn't be a good arcade game for routes. Still, if some of the ideas put forth in this thread are included in game play and there's a mode where Samson slays thousands with the jawbone of an ass, I'd probably buy one.

I would be more into storming hell, kicking the crap out of all deitys, and reigning supreme with a bitching rock and roll sound track with hot demon babes worshipping me. Sympathy for the Devil multiball, anyone?

No...I'd fund a dedicated MINI PINBALL!

I don’t think so, churches usually have big budgets.

Anyway I’m sure Ben knows it’s a polarizing “theme” but if the game rocks it will sell, so hopefully it gets made by Ben.

Which they are hopefully spending on something a little more meaningful, like clean water projects, feeding the hungry, the obvious stuff.

Of all the churches out there, how many happen to be building or expanding some kind of youth center any given year? Of those, how many would choose a pinball machine over a couple of used billiards, ping-pong, foosball or air hockey tables, none of which require specialized maintenance, and none of which need cost more than a few hundreds?

The number of small churches that would be able to get a brand-new pinball? None.

What mid-level church would be willing to put a pinball ahead of HVAC repair, roof patching, a new sound board, or the latest insurance cost rise? Approximately none.

How many super-wealthy churches, who feel some kind of market pressure to outdo one another in attracting families, might choose to blow thousands on a single game? Maybe a hundred?

Don't get me wrong, I think a respectful game could be a desirable addition to a church. I just don't think they are prepared for it. It's far more likely a Bible-themed game will be brought in on loan by a church member who knows how to maintain it.

If you really want to attract the religious crowd into pinball, why not just pay Stern to rebrand Spider-Man home again and "create" Bible Adventures?

Most of the time I spent at church in my life was a megachurch called saddleback. There is an Indiana jones pinball adventure floating around inside there.

Has been there for atleast fifteen years I that I attended. In a youth section.

They are different than most churches financially. But people spend money on things they like. There are churches everywhere filled with fans of all walks of life.

The bible theme could be both fun clever and potentially dark. Appealing to both atheists and Christians. Or basically. Both.

Just my opinion. I seem to have one.

At this point, the poll results clearly show a Bible theme is a bad idea. Shut this thread down. I pray that the Bible theme was not the reason he left Spooky because if it was, it was a bad idea in the first place and Spooky did the right thing. The secret to a successful pinball theme is mass appeal, not selfish appeal. Even when you have the right theme, you still have to deliver a decent game, which is not always easy.......When you have the wrong theme, you are doomed no matter what. Spooky has made some bad business choices in the past and thankfully it appears they have learned from them.

About 9 years ago, I bought a broken and neglected Gottlieb, The Amazing Spider-Man from a church in Denver. Someone must of thought it a good idea in the past but they had no interest now and just wanted it out of its youth gameroom.
I don't discriminate so I beat them up on price like I would any ungrateful seller.

No, the poll results show that a majority have gotten wiser with our money since the days of Predator and Zidware.

Over 70% of Americans self-identify as Christians. That's a pretty big market.

I'm not sure what the benchmark for success would be with Ben and Spooky in the future.

AMH was successful for them at the time and sold out at at 150. RZ sold out at 300. AC will be 500? I'm not sure where they're at with TNA, but I hear it's well over 300 and counting.

I have no idea how many of these they would sell. If Ben developed a game he thought was good, I think it would sell well enough for them to justify doing it. You would certainly have a large market of potential buyers in churches, but actually getting the word out to them would be an interesting job. If there was a pinball guy in the church, that would certainly help.

You have billions familiar with the source material. Almost everyone has heard of David vs Goliath, Noah's Ark, Moses parting the Red Sea, Jonah and the Whale, the Ten Commandments, Sampson, Armageddon (If they use some Revelation material), etc.. I have no clue how that would translate to pinball sales, the theme would turn some people off, but it would have the opposite effect on others. It would be interesting to see it come to fruition.

I hope it sells 500 for their sake, but I think maybe half of that if they are lucky.

I personally think people are overestimating the sales to church groups for bible adventures. Unless you are in a very rural area with a small group of youth, most larger churches these days have hundreds, if not more, of youth. 1 pinball machine isn't toward their mission.

Rob zombie sold out solely to a gold rush by speculators, most of whom ended up eating the game or selling for less than they bought it for.

That’s not gonna happen again.

The church thing? Like I said I’ll believe it when I see it. Lots of better ways to spend such a huge chunk of cash.

Has there ever been a previous example of a title making a significant dent "outside pinball"? Fine, there seems to be stories of the occasional game found somewhere you wouldn't expect it, but that doesn't make a market.

In the end, pinball sells to pinball buyers. Who are buyers? Existing operators, and now pinball owner/hobbyists. I can't think of a single time a title sold outside those 2 groups in any meaningful way, even when there was an attempt at it (KISS, Mustang).

It just might work ... especially if they don’t look into pinball demographics. Or if they’re looking to bring 40-somethings back into the fold.

One thing is for sure, this thread shows people want to talk about it. Bible stuff. Or atleast many are interested. One way or the other.

Belief or non belief. is interesting regardless of what you believe.

I know a Pin like this might catch my eye. I would drop a quarter in for sure.

I wouldn't.

The poll results show most people say it's not a theme they're interested in by well over a 2-1 margin of all other poll answers. Very few of the people (70ish of almost 400 votes) say they wouldn't spend money before the pin was ready for sale.

You've misread the poll results.

How cool would a stained glass backglass be though?

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The question is "Would you fund Ben Heck Bible Adventures?" My answer is "no". But I would buy it. There's no option for "no, but I am interested in buying the machine" so I didn't vote. I'm not saying you'd get a different answer, but the OP asked the wrong question.

The most relevant answer:

No, not a title I'm interested in : (240 votes)

The answer that would have fit you best:

No, that route is just not viable : (57 votes)

I'd still hesitate to draw any conclusions. I mean, if I came on Pinside 2 years ago and did a poll asking how many people would prepay for a game about a cell phone, I bet you'd have gotten at least 240 "no's". And yet here we are today with a game at number 8 on the Top 100 list that's a game about a cell phone with 300 Pinside owners (myself included). Yes, unlicensed themes have an uphill climb by their very nature, but that doesn't mean that people won't buy it if it's done well.

It's possible, but without a built-in "take my money" base, you'd have to do the thing Ben doesn't want to do, which is take the game to shows for a year.

Ben could drop flyers at the major national religious group meetings and probably make enough sales to make the game worthwhile. The Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting (about 46,000 congregations) would be a great place to drop game flyers and it’s just one of many. So, it wouldn’t be necessary to go door to door, other than maybe some of the mega Churches.

Most medium and larger congregations have several big money donors. The wealthy take a hit as greedy and selfish, but a few of them donate generously. I think that idiot Olsteen in Texas brought in enough to have a private plane.

Point is, don’t automatically dismiss the possibility that there might be a non-pinhead market for this specific game. Didn’t a bunch of Metallica LEs get sucked up by their club members? I seem to recall a big kerfuffle about that. You never know.

My leaving Spooky had nothing to do with Bible Adventures.

I know it would make a great pinball because it's filled with familiar stories that all revolve around numbers and repetition. The rules write themselves and there's great potential for depth. For instance 10 shots to start Exodus MB, then Red Sea escape, then collecting 10 commandments, then wandering for 40 years (seconds?) - see how deep it could be? And that's just one story.

People need to stop thinking about Veggie Tales Sunday School type stuff - this would be "God of War in the Old Testament".

But then "would it sell?" I really think it would. A lot of you are bringing up "Southern Mega Churches" but I actually think the home market is where it's at. Most pinheads are older, ie probably taken to church as kids, so they're familiar with the material. Religion is practically nostalgia at this point. As long as you make something "cool" and not "preachy" I think it would have wider appeal than you think.

I'm a godless heathen but I like the way this sounds.

Ben

Add voice recognition so if someone were to cuss on a cheap drain, the shaker motor goes off.

No, have it send a bump of 50v to the rails and lockdown bar for retribution.

True story: I came this close to designing a Russell Crowe's Noah game.

Please say it isn't so. .

That Noah movie was way far out there.

I would love to see that director do a movie on Scientology. Bizarre.

Actually I would like to see these two directors do thier next movie on Scientology.

Holy moly.
The Soska sisters.

They directed American Mary. You should see that.

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