How much would an Addams Family pinball kickstarter be?

[norbert26]

I would imagine SW to be a complete no-go. Whatever contract Zen has with Disney probably grants exclusive rights to virtual pinball (though in terms of real pinball a Stern Ep7 table is a no-brainer). Even if not, I'd imagine Disney wouldn't want two separate SW pinball games as it would cause quite a lot of confusion. I'd say the same applies to Marvel tables, too. Am I wrong?

This partnership could cause issues for IJ, too. Zen have mentioned they'd like a shot at the licence. But I wouldn't think it's completely out of the question for TPA, like SW.

im not sure if this is important or not but pointing it out. In the case of the ZEN 3 SW tables they are not recreations of real tables. In the case of FS it would be a recreation of a real table in the virtual world. Zen just basically gets a license to use the name(s) and characters but creates their own table virtual product. Does this make it different ???

 

[Pinballfan69]

I'd like to add to Shutyertrap's history lesson. Adams Family is popular enough to make a mildly successful Musical too. Even so, I'm not big fan of the table. Not sure why but Much Like TZ I think it's a bit over hyped. I'm sure players would say the same thing about LOTR which is my all time favorite table. People's tastes vary. I would easily give to the kickstarter for LOTR, Indiana Jones pinball adventure but not so for Adams family.

 

[the ajp]

Played hundreds of pinball tables over the years and TAF is and always has my favorite pinball table ... When the table is getting ready to fire off multiball and everything builds up to IT's Showtime it is quite a spectacle ..
In it's time it had people playing it who didn't even like pinball and always had a big crowd around it . the theme,the brilliant music and effects just pulled you in ..
Just a pity most i have seen recently have been in such a bad state of repair .. virtually unplayable

 

[brakel]

im not sure if this is important or not but pointing it out. In the case of the ZEN 3 SW tables they are not recreations of real tables. In the case of FS it would be a recreation of a real table in the virtual world. Zen just basically gets a license to use the name(s) and characters but creates their own table virtual product. Does this make it different ???

It makes a difference in that Zen CAN'T make recreations of real tables because FS has an exclusive license for the real tables (well most of the real tables anyway). When FS makes a new recreation all they need is the Bally, Williams, Stern, etc. license and they are good to go as long as the table was an original work by the original pinball company. When the original pinball company had to license aspects of the machine (voice, likenesses, theme, name, etc.) then FS has to obtain those same licenses. The reason for this is because the pinball machine manufacturers were not obtaining licenses for derivative uses (and there was no reason why they would). So that's the difference.

 

[brakel]

Well, no matter what Zen wants to do, they can't do any table that was a Williams/Bally/Data East/Sega/Stern/Gottlieb property. So there's that.

The reason Disney is tricky to work with is that they will only license if you can guarantee a certain amount of sales. In other words, they work on volume. Know why there were never any Nightmare Before Xmas items back when the movie first came out? Because they didn't think it'd sell enough. The other thing that makes Disney difficult is that they want a HUGE percentage of the revenue back. To them, by slapping the Disney logo on something, there is a built in marketing cache that will sell regardless of what it's being slapped on.

Zen made their deal with Marvel and with Lucasfilm BEFORE Disney acquired those properties. The deal with Stern is just looked at as one more way to advertise a film, a small billboard if you will. They don't need the advertising for old releases, so not much need to grant licensing to old properties. Disney could care less about the 'confusion' of having 2 SW pinball games out. The question is could FarSight generate the volume of sales that Disney would require to grant the license. Add to that Disney wanting quality control.

I honestly think its a matter of economics and whether FarSight could eek out any sort of profit from a table with a license that Disney now holds. It's not whether or not they could get the license, but how big a slice of the pie they'd have to give up.

That should be "Disney couldn't care less..."

I'm sure you threw that in there just for me!

 

[Jutter]

I've never played the table but if you told me it was a very popular tale before the pinball arcade, i wouldn't have believed. That show is ancient and doesn't have a large fan base. How much do you think that license would be valued at?

For a version shorter than Shutyertrap's

The table is NOT based on the B/W tv-show. It's based on the nineties boxoffice hit. Since, in this movie that you simply must check out come halloween, and it's excellent sequell, Mr Adams was played by an actor who didn't want his image exploited after his death, and died, it's hard to tell what the pricetag would be. Maybe even higher than previous kickstarters.

 

[lettuce]

Guess we'll find out come xmas time

 

[Espy]

It makes a difference in that Zen CAN'T make recreations of real tables because FS has an exclusive license for the real tables (well most of the real tables anyway). When FS makes a new recreation all they need is the Bally, Williams, Stern, etc. license and they are good to go as long as the table was an original work by the original pinball company. When the original pinball company had to license aspects of the machine (voice, likenesses, theme, name, etc.) then FS has to obtain those same licenses. The reason for this is because the pinball machine manufacturers were not obtaining licenses for derivative uses (and there was no reason why they would). So that's the difference.

Zen has the rights to make digital Star Wars pinball machines (I assume exclusively).

Farsight have the rights to reproduce classic pinball machines digitally.

Both companies have 1/2 of the license, and are basically rivals, if friendly.

Deadlock!

Personally I would see it as a bit cheeky for Farsight to do SW even if they ever did somehow get the rights. It's Zen's turf, and would cause confusion with more casual fans. It could be seen as riding on the success of Zen's product. Though I think if Farsight went to Disney and said "We want to make Star Wars pinball", their response would be "We already have Star Wars pinball, there's the door."

There is of course the fact that the SW license would be astronomical too, very difficult to kickstart, and unfeasible to justify for a single £4 table.

 

[Rafie]

It makes a difference in that Zen CAN'T make recreations of real tables because FS has an exclusive license for the real tables (well most of the real tables anyway). When FS makes a new recreation all they need is the Bally, Williams, Stern, etc. license and they are good to go as long as the table was an original work by the original pinball company. When the original pinball company had to license aspects of the machine (voice, likenesses, theme, name, etc.) then FS has to obtain those same licenses. The reason for this is because the pinball machine manufacturers were not obtaining licenses for derivative uses (and there was no reason why they would). So that's the difference.

Just to note that Zen doesn't recreate tables anyway. They like to make their tables from scratch. It's been said over and over again by the Zen staff that they will NEVER recreate a table. Ever! They'll make their own tables with music and dot matrix displays that hasn't been seen in any pinball table.

Now the whole TAF thing is probably one of the most talked about tables in recent time. There will be a celebration if that table gets made. I have no doubt that it will probably be FS's most expensive license and at the same time, it's most rewarding table! The sales will go through the roof!

 

[David Pannozzo]

Speaking of liscencing, eventually I heard that the S.A.M. System will get emulated, probably on the PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4. I want Family Guy very badly, it is one of my all-time favorite pinball games. My question is how do you think that would do for a Kickstarter, meaning how do you guys think Fox would be on liscencing pinball games. I also would like to know what you all think Wheel of Fortune would cost, also Big Buck Hunter Pro just curious. Please don't destroy Wheel of Fortune, at first I wasn't sure I would like it but it grew on me quickly. It may not feel totally finished, but it just needs to be on The Pinball Arcade just like Monopoly, and Rollercoaster Tycoon. The 2 I mentioned don't seem like the licenses would be really hard to get, so what's everybody's feeling on it. Father Time I have to say The Addam's Family is the reason I love Pinball so much today, if Pat Lawlor hadn't made that pinball machine I might not be playing Pinball today who knows. Thanks for any replys.

 

[maestroreese]

I believe there's a second-quoted byte from Bobby King where some brief initial research was done...

 

[Mick Morry]

Just to note that Zen doesn't recreate tables anyway. They like to make their tables from scratch. It's been said over and over again by the Zen staff that they will NEVER recreate a table. Ever! They'll make their own tables with music and dot matrix displays that hasn't been seen in any pinball table.

Now the whole TAF thing is probably one of the most talked about tables in recent time. There will be a celebration if that table gets made. I have no doubt that it will probably be FS's most expensive license and at the same time, it's most rewarding table! The sales will go through the roof!

That's right. In fact Barbie Bob-omd...one of Zen Studios developers that is moderating the Steam forums... has told us quite a bit. One thing she mentioned recently is that there will be 10 or 11 Star Wars tables. We are not sure if she meant 10 new ones or 10 in total, including the 3 that already Exist.. We asked her and she did not clarify it. So we are thinking 10 or 11 more are coming. Zen is doing their own thing and will be creating their own original tables. Barbie told us all outright that they are not going to do anything but their original tables. They know that is what they do best and most importantly they know that is what their fans want the most.

 

[Pinballfan69]

That's right. In fact Barbie Bob-omd...one of Zen Studios developers that is moderating the Steam forums... has told us quite a bit. One thing she mentioned recently is that there will be 10 or 11 Star Wars tables. We are not sure if she meant 10 new ones or 10 in total, including the 3 that already Exist.. We asked her and she did not clarify it. So we are thinking 10 or 11 more are coming. Zen is doing their own thing and will be creating their own original tables. Barbie told us all outright that they are not going to do anything but their original tables. They know that is what they do best and most importantly they know that is what their fans want the most.

Just to clarify Barbie and Zen said that there were contracted for 10 tables total. 3 were released in February. There's supposed to be a pack announced very soon which could be 2-3 tables. In any event like many have Zen is doing their own thing and have their own original tables. It's what makes them so unique.

 

[brakel]

So, are you guys saying that Zen is only doing their own original tables?

By the way the three Zen Star Wars tables are available free for PS3 Plus subscribers.

 

[Rafie]

That's right. In fact Barbie Bob-omd...one of Zen Studios developers that is moderating the Steam forums... has told us quite a bit. One thing she mentioned recently is that there will be 10 or 11 Star Wars tables. We are not sure if she meant 10 new ones or 10 in total, including the 3 that already Exist.. We asked her and she did not clarify it. So we are thinking 10 or 11 more are coming. Zen is doing their own thing and will be creating their own original tables. Barbie told us all outright that they are not going to do anything but their original tables. They know that is what they do best and most importantly they know that is what their fans want the most.

Well technically it will be 7 more tables coming in the Star Wars franchise because 3 has already been released. Barbie and Solitude both have stated that numerous of times. The next 3 tables are suppose to be dropping sometime in the fall. Barbie told us that we will hear something VERY soon, with a smiley face. So you know that means the news will drop any time now. I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to TZ and hopefully TAF in the future. Things look grim on the Raul Julia side though.

 

[DaPinballWizard]

So, are you guys saying that Zen is only doing their own original tables?

By the way the three Zen Star Wars tables are available free for PS3 Plus subscribers.

One was free for IOS the other day too. I picked it up, tried it, probably will never go back to it. Just can't get into it. I hate Zen tables. If they closed up shop tomorrow I would not care t all.

 

[shutyertrap]

Zen has the rights to make digital Star Wars pinball machines (I assume exclusively).

Farsight have the rights to reproduce classic pinball machines digitally.

Though I think if Farsight went to Disney and said "We want to make Star Wars pinball", their response would be "We already have Star Wars pinball, there's the door."

Zen has the rights for ORIGINAL creations using the Star Wars license. There is no conflict with FS if they were to do recreations of existing real tables.

And again, Disney did NOT make the deal with Zen, Lucasfilm did. I'm sure they collect the check now since they bought Lucasfilm, but they'd probably make a more lucrative deal for themselves if they licensed out to FS.

 

[shutyertrap]

One was free for IOS the other day too. I picked it up, tried it, probably will never go back to it. Just can't get into it. I hate Zen tables. If they closed up shop tomorrow I would not care t all.

I find most Zen tables not appealing at first, but once you put some time into them they can become incredibly addicting. Empire is straight up awesome, you just have to learn its nuances.

 

[Pete]

im going to go ahead and say Addams family the pinball table will cost approximately 157,000. that's 48,000 for the name 40,000 for paramount and 69,000 divided between actors. The simpsons has a much cheaper deal when it comes to getting their name on your product, somewhere at about 30,000 and then whatever the voice actors will settle for.

 

[Mick Morry]

Just to clarify Barbie and Zen said that there were contracted for 10 tables total. 3 were released in February. There's supposed to be a pack announced very soon which could be 2-3 tables. In any event like many have Zen is doing their own thing and have their own original tables. It's what makes them so unique.

Cool. Thanks for clarifying that. I have not checked in on that thread in a while. Nice to hear the final tally. 10 Star Wars themed tables is more than enough. I really like the 3 we have on PC Steam right now.