Table Pack #17 - Terminator 2 : Judgment Day Confirmed!

[WFurman]

Being a $400.00 Backer of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day Kickstarter, I just received a Kickstarter e-mail from Farsight Studios. Without giving much away, it is likely that the featured table will be T2.

 

[Mark W**a]

Wait, so the T2 is just gonna get pulled from The Pinball Arcade after two years on sale? That would seriously blow. What if I decide to upgrade to a new TPA platform? Will I be screwed?

Ok you've posted this in practically 5 different threads so I guess I'll take this one:

ALL the licensed stuff is going to be gone in 3-5 years INCLUDING the game itself: These licenses don't last forever.

That's the reality of digital publishing.

However the game will ALWAYS be around on PC, even if not officially. But other platforms yes by late 2015 they will stop selling T2 and by 2016 other licenses will probably expire and by 2017 the game itself (all tables) will probably be history.

Once you own it you own if forever. No one is going to take it away from you.

However yes once it's gone it's no longer available to purchase "officially".

 

[Tom]

Ok you've posted this in practically 5 different threads so I guess I'll take this one:

ALL the licensed stuff is going to be gone in 3-5 years INCLUDING the game itself: These licenses don't last forever.

That's the reality of digital publishing.

However the game will ALWAYS be around on PC, even if not officially. But other platforms yes by late 2015 they will stop selling T2 and by 2016 other licenses will probably expire and by 2017 the game itself (all tables) will probably be history.

Once you own it you own if forever. No one is going to take it away from you.

However yes once it's gone it's no longer available to purchase "officially".

Are you sure about this? It sounds really weird imo, i always tought that they couldnt release anything new after the licenses expires but anything thats already released they can keep selling.

 

[grashopper]

Are you sure about this? It sounds really weird imo, i always tought that they couldnt release anything new after the licenses expires but anything thats already released they can keep selling.

With songs on Rock Band they needed to renew the license after a few years. On a few songs they couldn't they removed them from the store so no new purchases could be made.
If FarSight doesn't renew they can't sell.

 

[Sumez]

That's the reality of digital publishing.

And one of the biggest reasons to wish for a physical release.

I really, really, really dislike digital distribution...

 

[karl]

The contract FS has with all the pinball companies (at least Williams and Bally) are for 3 years, but of course they can extend that contract for another 3 years if both parties find it wise to to so. The kickstarter tables are probably gone after 3 years (2 years for T2) because doing another kickstarter just to extend the licenses would be a bit strange ;-)

But look on the bright side. In to years the game will already be on a lot of platforms and of course you can keep things you still got. PC and MAC = A lot of years, Xbox one and Playstation 4 = A lot of years, IOS and Android = probably still a few years before those change so much that you can not play them and of course if you are the kind of person who likes to hold on to old devices you are pretty much safe until you die or until the the world stops using electric power ;-)

EDIT: Sorry! I see this has already been debated in another tread. Hard to keep up with this forum ;-)

 

[Lucipher28]

And one of the biggest reasons to wish for a physical release.

I really, really, really dislike digital distribution...

Yup.

 

[mrtangerineman]

Being a $400.00 Backer of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day Kickstarter, I just received a Kickstarter e-mail from Farsight Studios. Without giving much away, it is likely that the featured table will be T2.

No need to worry about giving too much away - another member has posted the email in full on the T2 Kickstarter thread!
I don't think there's much need for speculation about what table pack 17 will be.

 

[Sumez]

The contract FS has with all the pinball companies (at least Williams and Bally) are for 3 years, but of course they can extend that contract for another 3 years if both parties find it wise to to so.

Which they will only do as long as they expect to sell their old table packs.
I want to play TPA for many, many years to come.

 

[Bowflex]

Which they will only do as long as they expect to sell their old table packs.
I want to play TPA for many, many years to come.

They've actually had a pretty long relationship with Gottlieb and WMS. At this point I can't imagine that either of those companies would part ways as the game keeps improving and showing their table designs in a good light. Not to mention many of the glowing comments Mr. Stern has said about TPA.

 

[Sumez]

Well, if they reach the point where they have so many tables in TPA that they don't feel a need to create more, at some point the sales will drop and there will be no business in renewing their contract.

 

[StarDust4Ever]

Yup.

And I might add that since the 8th generation consoles will be the last to use physical media (dics), eventually everything 9th generation and up will become vaporware (including 7th and 8th gen digital downloads, and even 8th gen game discs which enable online DRM - don't kid yourself, as both Sony and MS are currently denying online DRM at launch, but both consoles will come with the technology built in and it can and will be activated at some point for future releases). Stuff has already disappeared from stores; just look at the Xbox360 TPA/Crave debacle.

My local Game-X-Change still sells most major cart- and disc-based systems. And a lot of those companies are gone now or in copyright limbo, and outside of used game sales would be unobtainable through legal means. Sure the companies behind them don't care as they have made their fortunes and either moved on to newer systems or gone bankrupt. But as someone who plays both modern and retro consoles, this fact has me worried that I may have no means to play my favorite current generation games ten or twenty years from now. Cart based systems almost last forever, but disc drives and hard drives do break down and flash memory will eventually get corrupted. Suppose the Ouya store goes bankrupt and closes shop in 2015, then in 2020 my Ouya fails; what am I to do?

And no, illegally downloading and installing pirated TPA ROMs on an iPad or Android emulator in the year 2020 just to get some Pinball fix, is not an ideal solution; neither is paying in the multiple thousands for real vintage pinball tables when you don't have the space, time, or money, which will only get more expensive as old tables break down and repair parts become harder to find.

 

[Richard B]

Are you sure about this? It sounds really weird imo, i always tought that they couldnt release anything new after the licenses expires but anything thats already released they can keep selling.

No, a few games on XBox Live Arcade, such as Double Dragon, Smash TV, and TMNT Turtles in Time Reshelled all had their licenses expire (or other issues) and have since been removed. However, anyone who purchased them while they were available can still re-download them if necessary. Of course, once the plug is pulled on Live Arcade 360 itself, you will likely be SOL, unless your platform is PS3. Sony is giving TPA owners a discount on the PS4 version.

 

[canuck]

And I might add that since the 8th generation consoles will be the last to use physical media (dics), eventually everything 9th generation and up will become vaporware (including 7th and 8th gen digital downloads, and even 8th gen game discs which enable online DRM - don't kid yourself, as both Sony and MS are currently denying online DRM at launch, but both consoles will come with the technology built in and it can and will be activated at some point for future releases). Stuff has already disappeared from stores; just look at the Xbox360 TPA/Crave debacle.

My local Game-X-Change still sells most major cart- and disc-based systems. And a lot of those companies are gone now or in copyright limbo, and outside of used game sales would be unobtainable through legal means. Sure the companies behind them don't care as they have made their fortunes and either moved on to newer systems or gone bankrupt. But as someone who plays both modern and retro consoles, this fact has me worried that I may have no means to play my favorite current generation games ten or twenty years from now. Cart based systems almost last forever, but disc drives and hard drives do break down and flash memory will eventually get corrupted. Suppose the Ouya store goes bankrupt and closes shop in 2015, then in 2020 my Ouya fails; what am I to do?

And no, illegally downloading and installing pirated TPA ROMs on an iPad or Android emulator in the year 2020 just to get some Pinball fix, is not an ideal solution; neither is paying in the multiple thousands for real vintage pinball tables when you don't have the space, time, or money, which will only get more expensive as old tables break down and repair parts become harder to find.

One must really account for the pace of technological advancement. We play games on our ipads that would have taken a top of the line computer ten years ago. Similarly, storage technology will see VAST advancements in tens years time. On a single chip you'll be able to store twenty years of games. Combine vast local storage, with the internet, and then the cloud, no data will ever be lost again.

 

[StarDust4Ever]

One must really account for the pace of technological advancement. We play games on our ipads that would have taken a top of the line computer ten years ago. Similarly, storage technology will see VAST advancements in tens years time. On a single chip you'll be able to store twenty years of games. Combine vast local storage, with the internet, and then the cloud, no data will ever be lost again.

Yes, but the only means to access such data will be illegal ROM sharing sites, unless you meticulously thought to root your device and back it up yourself before the device's End of Life (EOL). And somehow I doubt iPads will last 30+ years like Atari and others. Flash memory goes bad over time; mask ROMs do not. Discs haven't been around long enough to tell but they should last provided they were high quality pressings. You really believe the "cloud" is permanent? The very definition of "cloud" is that the data contained in it is like a fine vapor, er a mist of tiny particles. Those particles are the files and packets of data that have been uploaded. Sure it is accessible from anywhere, without wires, at least until someone decides to pull the plug on the server. Megaupload was kind of like a "cloud" for pirates, and we all know what happened to them. And don't get me started on bit torrent. That is just a court subpena waiting to happen. Also, backups of games uploaded to public servers violate copyright, but picking up a used game cart isn't. So, 10, 20 years from now, it will not be possible to just waltz into a used game store (if they still exist by then) and pick up secondhand DLC. Not gonna happen.

 

[Munky]

What I purchase I will back up, legality be damned.

 

[lettuce]

Are you sure about this? It sounds really weird imo, i always tought that they couldnt release anything new after the licenses expires but anything thats already released they can keep selling.

Yeah his right, its the same with Outrun and Double Dragon on XBLA, due to the company that released the game on xbla not holding the license for the game anymore its not longer available on XBLA, BUT i can still download it as i purchased it when it was available

 

[sotie]

So, 10, 20 years from now, it will not be possible to just waltz into a used game store (if they still exist by then) and pick up secondhand DLC. Not gonna happen.

Somehow we went way off track from Pack #17 speculation.

 

[jhamdotme]

So get this: there are problems with downloadable content, apparently. Maybe we should spin that conversation off into a separate thread, because that's something that I’d very much not like to subscribe to.

 

[StarDust4Ever]

Somehow we went way off track from Pack #17 speculation.

Sorry guys, that's my bad.....

I don't like it, but it's the future and I gotta live with it.