Lord of the Rings Kickstarter [Speculation]

[rehtroboi40]

that would be the Wizard goal to end all Wizard goals

I dunno-we've already had some doozies.

 

[rehtroboi40]

LOTR is great but Simpsons will be next.

The only way I'd support a Simpsons kickstarter would be if it included both the 1990 Data East and the 2003 Stern tables.

 

[Espy]

The only way I'd support a Simpsons kickstarter would be if it included both the 1990 Data East and the 2003 Stern tables.

You may be lucky in that respect as it's one of the only examples of two licensed tables where you'd only need to obtain one license for both. And Farsight have emulated the platform for both.

 

[Nightwing]

As I have said elsewhere,I'd prefer a LOTR KS next over TSPP. But in all likelihood Simpsons is next on the KS target.

 

[mpad]

Indiana Jones KS.
Actually Disney should pay farsight a decent sum to do a cool indy table recreation which may be able to compensate the image loss caused by the super ****ing ridiculous last movie and restore some faith for the francise.

Yes and I would prefer LOTR over TSPP.

 

[TNT]

Indiana Jones KS.
Actually Disney should pay farsight a decent sum to do a cool indy table recreation which may be able to compensate the image loss caused by the super ****ing ridiculous last movie and restore some faith for the francise.

Whoa. There was another Indy film?

 

[rehtroboi40]

The only way I'd support a Simpsons kickstarter would be if it included both the 1990 Data East and the 2003 Stern tables.

Just to clarify, they don't have to be released both at once (though that would be great too). TSPP first, then down the road, the 1990 Simpsons.

The Xbox live version of the Konami Simpsons arcade game cost $10. (Also for PS3) I got the 360 version back in 2012. Sure it's no longer in the marketplace, but a Fox license has to be somewhat doable.

But this was Konami's original license. I wonder what Rupert wants for the rights to TSPP?

 

[rehtroboi40]

Whoa. There was another Indy film?

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Released in 2008, 6 years BD (before Disney).

 

[TNT]

Sorry. Just being sarcastic.

Maybe I need to watch it again but I remember thinking at the time it was a dumpster fire. Hoping to forget it.

 

[David T. Melnick]

Considered that 1 as a sad joke eh.

 

[Slam23]

Well, with the Stern app anounced, it could very well be that no Kickstarter is needed. It's not yet clear if the app covers the back-catalog of Stern tables and if so, if all tables are automatically covered. I'm not very knowledgeable about license stuff, but Stern may have to renegotiate older licenses and that could be very costly. I would still like to see all tables in one app though, but if the choice is between no LOTR or LOTR in another app, the choice is quite simple

 

[Michael DiFilippo]

To put an end to this speculation and any wild Stern table, we must ask ourselves,

Does Stern, now Stern + Farsight, (Sternsight) ~ still hold their licenses from their backlog? Do they expire, meaning they can't reproduce their own tables? Can anyone actually confirm this?

What good would a, just announced, Stern app be if Stern and Farsight had to renegotiate licensing (from scratch) with older tables Stern already made? Again, now that FS and Stern are partners, they share assets, resources, etc...

How much do people really care about only future/current production tables - with digital versions paired to them vs. their entire backlog not in production?

Is Stern Pinball Arcade another attempt to recreate the "best-of" based on reviews on what's currently and still is a "hit"?

 

[Slam23]

Those are good questions, but I haven't seen any definitive answers yet, just a lot of speculation.
I do believe that licenses expire after a while and have to be renegotiated. In other threads there was concern that Farsight would have to pull tables from earlier seasons if their licenses would expire. This didn't happen (yet) because they managed to renegotiate (as far as I understood that situation). I think if Stern decided to put out another batch of real LOTR machines, they probably don't have the rights anymore back from when they made the first run in 2003 and also would have to make a new deal. The best example of that scenario would be the recent re-run of Medieval Madness, only that does not concern an IP license.
I agree that Farstern's app would be a whole lot better with their back catalog in place, but there'll probably also be interest in the app if only current/new tables would be included. They would have problems with their output though, they couldn't release frequently if we have to wait on new tables.
I still look at this as "more pinball=better", especially now Farsight is doing them instead of Zen (which was a big rumor a while back). We dodged one there.... Not to take anything away from the fun that can be had with Zen, but I don't like their physics in general and would dread having to play conversions of real tables.

 

[invitro]

Those are good questions, but I haven't seen any definitive answers yet, just a lot of speculation.
I do believe that licenses expire after a while and have to be renegotiated. In other threads there was concern that Farsight would have to pull tables from earlier seasons if their licenses would expire. This didn't happen (yet) because they managed to renegotiate (as far as I understood that situation). I think if Stern decided to put out another batch of real LOTR machines, they probably don't have the rights anymore back from when they made the first run in 2003 and also would have to make a new deal. The best example of that scenario would be the recent re-run of Medieval Madness, only that does not concern an IP license.

Are these two different types of licenses? The Farsight talk was about the Williams/Bally license, while the Stern talk is about the non-pinball license?

I have a memory of reading something about the non-pinball licenses held by Stern in relation to the Iron Man Vault Edition (if I have that name correct). So maybe google "pinball license iron man vault" ...

I agree that Farstern's app would be a whole lot better with their back catalog in place,

You should call it SPA or Stern Pinball Arcade instead of "Farstern's app", since that's one of the few official things we know.

 

[invitro]

What good would a, just announced, Stern app be if Stern and Farsight had to renegotiate licensing (from scratch) with older tables Stern already made? Again, now that FS and Stern are partners, they share assets, resources, etc...

Well, I believe that Stern will have much better luck getting licenses for its tables than Farsight has been on its own. That should be a substantial amount of good. I also think Farsight will have an easier time simulating SAM and/or Spike if Stern is helping them.

It seems that not many PAF people think SPA will have anything older than about 2012, while I think it will have as much from 2003-2012 as 2012-present. Hmm, maybe another prediction contest to settle the issue?

 

[vikingerik]

It seems that not many PAF people think SPA will have anything older than about 2012, while I think it will have as much from 2003-2012 as 2012-present.

What we don't know is where "SPA" fits into Stern's business model. Is it for extra exposure to sell the new real machines? Or is it to pick up a few bucks from digital releases of their back catalogue?

I honestly don't know which (if either or both) approach would work. Stern themselves probably do have some decent idea, though.

 

[TNT]

Well, I believe that Stern will have much better luck getting licenses for its tables than Farsight has been on its own. That should be a substantial amount of good. I also think Farsight will have an easier time simulating SAM and/or Spike if Stern is helping them.

It seems that not many PAF people think SPA will have anything older than about 2012, while I think it will have as much from 2003-2012 as 2012-present. Hmm, maybe another prediction contest to settle the issue?

The only thing that makes me wonder about Farsight doing pre-2013 tables is the schedule. It seems like things are in place for SPA to have releases 2-3 times a year. As they keep coming out with tables regularly how would Farsight also be able to do Stern backlog tables? Not saying it won't happen it's mainly the logistics. Of course it sounds like Farsight is hiring more staff so who knows.

 

[Slam23]

Are these two different types of licenses? The Farsight talk was about the Williams/Bally license, while the Stern talk is about the non-pinball license?

I have a memory of reading something about the non-pinball licenses held by Stern in relation to the Iron Man Vault Edition (if I have that name correct). So maybe google "pinball license iron man vault" ...



You should call it SPA or Stern Pinball Arcade instead of "Farstern's app", since that's one of the few official things we know.

I was just kidding The name still feels Frankensteiny to me in any case.

 

[Slam23]

What we don't know is where "SPA" fits into Stern's business model. Is it for extra exposure to sell the new real machines? Or is it to pick up a few bucks from digital releases of their back catalogue?

I honestly don't know which (if either or both) approach would work. Stern themselves probably do have some decent idea, though.

Devil's advocate: Is there something to gain for Stern to do back catalog games digitally? They won't sell those real tables, so brand exposure is the best they get out of it (and maybe a few bucks as you said). On the other hand, people probably will stay interested in the app depending on frequency of releasing tables (especially with those montly releases we get from TPA), and that's where the back catalog could help. It all depends on what Stern saw in the deal and what they hope to achieve with it. I hope that Jersey Jack will follow

 

[invitro]

Devil's advocate: Is there something to gain for Stern to do back catalog games digitally? They won't sell those real tables, so brand exposure is the best they get out of it (and maybe a few bucks as you said).

The few bucks would be more than what they've gotten for what they've already done, which is sell Farsight the license to make their tables. Or, they have already allowed digital representations of their back catalog games for less than a few bucks, so certainly they would do so for a few bucks.