Is there or is there not a reasonable chance to get The Addams Family?

[DokkenRokken]

We're not getting TAF this season. lol

At best, the last table will be something slightly less bigger, like BSD, or maybe TFTC.

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

the adam family started whaen uncle festa farted he farted through the key hole and peralised the cat miaw the cat got over excited and shouted man united and man united shouted the adam family

 

[jaredmorgs]

the adam family started whaen uncle festa farted he farted through the key hole and peralised the cat miaw the cat got over excited and shouted man united and man united shouted the adam family

This flatulence should now be /thread.

 

[kinggo]

To kinggo's point, it is not necessary to like the movie in order to like the pinball machine but it helps if you don't hate the movie because the machine has audio and visual references to the movie.

I agree. But yesterday I watched a lot of videos where people playing TAF and I don't see what's so special about it. It looks OK but IMO, not worth all this licencing issues and the money that goes with it. I can live without it. Sure, if it comes I'll play it like every other table. But there are still enough good tables that doesn't require licence or some that does but are cheaper than TAF.
Again, I never played one in any form, so my opinion is based on what I've seen on the net. And that can be very wrong. I expected so much from FT based on what I've seen but at the end I was and still am dissapointed with that one.

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

The Addams Family is a historically important machine, not only because it's the best-selling pinball machine of all time, but because its progressing rule structure vastly influenced all other pinball machines made after it. There was nothing nearly as complex, yet easy to understand, that came before it. That's why I feel it should be on The Pinball Arcade. (As well as its sheer recognizability. Ask someone on the street to name a pinball machine, and chances are they will answer with The Addams Family.)

It's the same deal as how Super Mario Bros. isn't really that great nowadays, as better-designed platforming games had come out since, but it's undeniable the impact it had on the genre and on video games as a whole, and anyone who seriously thinking about preserving notable video games MUST include Super Mario Bros.

 

[Fungi]

It's the same deal as how Super Mario Bros. isn't really that great nowadays, as better-designed platforming games had come out since, but it's undeniable the impact it had on the genre and on video games as a whole, and anyone who seriously thinking about preserving notable video games MUST include Super Mario Bros.

I'm glad you're here Zombie. That was well put.

 

[superballs]

the adam family started whaen uncle festa farted he farted through the key hole and peralised the cat miaw the cat got over excited and shouted man united and man united shouted the adam family

Wow. The version of that we used to sing in early grade school would probably get one banned these days

 

[kinggo]

@ Zombie Aladdin
I understand that. But I don't see the point in having something just for historical reasons. If it is cheap and easily to obtain, than yes. But as it seems now, it is neither.
From historical reasons, I would much rather see The Pinball Circus. Or at least FS attempt to recreate something like that. I really wonder how doable it actually is. TAF brought a lot of new stuff in, but TZ took all that to new level. And after that we had a bunch of games with more tricks and deeper rules than TAF.

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

The Addams Family may be common because of its quantity, but it is NOT cheap (averages at $5,425, which costs more than most modern Sterns) and that makes it more difficult to obtain. It's the one pinball machine that's sought after simultaneously by pinball fans, fans of the franchise, and just random everyday people who otherwise have no interest in pinball or the franchise, which is what drives the price up and keeps it up.

The Pinball Circus would be completely out of the question, as it's both super-expensive and super-hard-to-get. I'm kind of surprised Farsight managed to get Goin' Nuts, as that never went into production (they got a prototype). I would like to see The Pinball Circus included, but The Addams Family will be far cheaper. And far more recognizable.

And I believe it was part of the mssion for The Pinball Arcade to preserve pinball in a digital form, particularly historically important ones. Essentially, it's like a digital museum.

 

[kinggo]

but it is NOT cheap (averages at $5,425, which costs more than most modern Sterns) and that makes it more difficult to obtain.

I ment on the licences, not the actual machine. I'm sure that the pin itself is not an issue here.

The Pinball Circus would be completely out of the question, as it's both super-expensive and super-hard-to-get.

To buy one (out of two (?) ever made), sure. But maybe they could borrow it for game creation an then return it later. Anyway, we'll never now how much would that cost or how much they need for TAF.

And I believe it was part of the mssion for The Pinball Arcade to preserve pinball in a digital form, particularly historically important ones. Essentially, it's like a digital museum.

And there's plenty more room in the museum, it's not like we are talking about one last final table before closure.

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

But it IS an important and flagship one, and I feel that should be a priority. Certainly, when I first saw the list of machines in The Pinball Arcade, I was astonished that The Addams Family was not on there, and I figured there must be some kind of licensing hangup going on with it. The Internet Pinball Database also always has The Addams Family somewhere in its top 10, so it is certainly a well-liked table too. (Everyone dislikes something a lot of other people like, so it's no big deal.)

Licensing for The Addams Family, I would say, wouldn't be cheap either. Unlike Demolition Man or The Shadow, The Addams Family is still very familiar to most people, and MGM is working on a CGI Addams Family movie right now. The development time for this movie suggests they intend it to be a tentpole movie, meaning MGM will likely ask for a lot. This is, of course, not considering if Farsight is able to get the rights to use Raul Julia's likeness.

As for borrowing machines, I don't know if it's ever been done before. I don't think any owner of Pinball Circus would allow them to borrow one though, as they're so rare. The game is incomplete anyway.

 

[lettuce]

The movies have not made it to Blu Ray. Whether that's because of the Julia estate or lack of interest I don't know.
However they have been released on DVD. In 2000. Raul passed in 1995.

So my question is. Wouldn't rereleasing the pin be the same kind of thing?

Unfortunately I don't know the answers and only Farsight does, but they're very quiet on the whole matter.

At this point. If the answer is no, it's not going to happen, they should openly let all the Kickstarters and community know. Make a public statement and say "Knowing that we can't do it, do you guys want to and would you support another Kickstarter like say Lord of the Rings or Simpsons". To which I think people would say "YES" (my opinion anyway) and we can just move on to other things, with the hopes the licensees change thier mind in the future.

Street Fighter was release on Blu ray in 2009...

So they didnt mind that being released!?

 

[Mark W**a]

Street Fighter was release on Blu ray in 2009...

So they didnt mind that being released!?

Thank you for pointing this out.

See this is what I'm not understanding. Re-releasing BAD movies featuring Raul, oh no issue with his will! But re-releasing GOOD Pinball game he did voice acting for, NOPE. Really weird, right?

 

[brakel]

Thank you for pointing this out.

See this is what I'm not understanding. Re-releasing BAD movies featuring Raul, oh no issue with his will! But re-releasing GOOD Pinball game he did voice acting for, NOPE. Really weird, right?

And that is the proof that Raul's death is not the reason that this has not been done yet.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

But it IS an important and flagship one, and I feel that should be a priority. Certainly, when I first saw the list of machines in The Pinball Arcade, I was astonished that The Addams Family was not on there, and I figured there must be some kind of licensing hangup going on with it. The Internet Pinball Database also always has The Addams Family somewhere in its top 10, so it is certainly a well-liked table too. (Everyone dislikes something a lot of other people like, so it's no big deal.)

Licensing for The Addams Family, I would say, wouldn't be cheap either. Unlike Demolition Man or The Shadow, The Addams Family is still very familiar to most people, and MGM is working on a CGI Addams Family movie right now. The development time for this movie suggests they intend it to be a tentpole movie, meaning MGM will likely ask for a lot. This is, of course, not considering if Farsight is able to get the rights to use Raul Julia's likeness.

As for borrowing machines, I don't know if it's ever been done before. I don't think any owner of Pinball Circus would allow them to borrow one though, as they're so rare. The game is incomplete anyway.

I believe they've done it for Goin' Nuts, since there are only 10 available and that there was one over at the Pinball Hall of Fame.

 

[brakel]

Pinball Circus would be a disaster if included in TPA. It is unfinished. Once you've reached the top you've done everything that can be done. That took me two balls. I'm glad I got to play it for the historical value but a pinball machine needs to have some replay value to be included in a video game.

 

[shutyertrap]

FarSight has said many times (and we've since repeated it many times in numerous threads) that the biggest issue with Addams Family that they are having is getting the various license owners to even pick up the phone. When FS says they've made progress, I believe that to mean someone finally answered! I doubt Paramount is the issue, and I actually think the Addams estate is the one being more difficult than Raul's.

As for the question of "what's the big deal with...", that can be said about any table someone has never seen nor played in person. Talk to anybody that was around the pinball scene in the 90's, they'll say TAF should be in TPA. I doubt there is any other table yet to be released that would get such a universal answer. So just trust those that know. It's not the second coming, and there are probably going to be other tables you actually like better, but it is a table that stands the test of time and is in an over abundantly large amount of collector's homes.

 

[shogun00]

See this is what I'm not understanding. Re-releasing BAD movies featuring Raul, oh no issue with his will! But re-releasing GOOD Pinball game he did voice acting for, NOPE. Really weird, right?

Movie contracts that he personally signed and using his voice/likeness are two different things. The estate only has control over using his voice and likeness outside the movies and shows that he's been in.

 

[superballs]

Thank you for pointing this out.

See this is what I'm not understanding. Re-releasing BAD movies featuring Raul, oh no issue with his will! But re-releasing GOOD Pinball game he did voice acting for, NOPE. Really weird, right?

Movie contracts that he personally signed and using his voice/likeness are two different things. The estate only has control over using his voice and likeness outside the movies and shows that he's been in.

I think it's along the lines of say if some company purchased the rights to Bally/Midway (like premier did Gottlieb) and all their assets, they might not have a problem re-releasing the table as it's already been agreed that Bally/Midway could create pinball tables with his likeness, and that he himself had no issue with said pins being made (or it was part of his contract when making the movie or something).

TPA, even though it's a recreation, it's a derivative work based on the pinball table. And that is where it gets dodgy. They aren't reproducing the actual table but making a digital version of it. The transition from celluloid to blu-ray, is a conversion of the movie, but not an alteration. It's taking the original print and the original movie, and not changing things. If someone (else since it was actually already done, but with different actors) were to create a new movie using say digitally edited footage (like they did with Brandon Lee with the Crow), assuming they have it, it would be an entirely different ball-game, unless of course, they got Raul Julia to sign off on it beforehand.

Whether it is his estate or not that is the hold-up is all speculation as it is, and we will probably not hear a word from FS as to what the hold-up is either so as not to sour any potential negotiations.

 

[mmmagnetic]

The Addams Family is a historically important machine, not only because it's the best-selling pinball machine of all time, but because its progressing rule structure vastly influenced all other pinball machines made after it. There was nothing nearly as complex, yet easy to understand, that came before it. That's why I feel it should be on The Pinball Arcade. (As well as its sheer recognizability. Ask someone on the street to name a pinball machine, and chances are they will answer with The Addams Family.)

It's the same deal as how Super Mario Bros. isn't really that great nowadays, as better-designed platforming games had come out since, but it's undeniable the impact it had on the genre and on video games as a whole, and anyone who seriously thinking about preserving notable video games MUST include Super Mario Bros.

Great post, you´re spot on. The Mario comparison especially!