Terminator 2 Kickstarter BEGINNING NOW!!!

[Palmer Eldritch]

I'd hope if there was another kickstarter (that's not TAF) that Farsight holds a poll of a few selections to gauge interest before starting up... would help to know where people's hearts and minds are.

 

[spindown]

If they need money that badly, can't FarSight Studios sell off some of their pinball machines? They seem to keep a collection of all the machines that they have digitized, which must be worth a fortune. Their Medieval Madness + Attack from Mars alone could be worth maybe $15,000. Sure, they may have to take another look at one of their older tables every once in a while for bug fixes etc., but there should be other ways...

 

[Father Time]

I've been saying Kickstarter is a fad that's going to wear off quick for a while. I hate to say that because I really want Pinball Arcade kickstarters to succeed. But yeah, when it first came out or whatever it was crazy, you could kickstart anything. I mean just look at the Ouya lol sorry Ouya fans. Just saying. There was also something called "girls vs. tropes in gaming" that got kickstarted, as well as a millionaire who raised money to send his girl to RPG camp or something. Both on Gaf I remember. Doubt those would be successful if done today.

Also I'm happy to say that noone uses the word "trope" anymore. And thank god.

I take it you don't know of TT, the biggest time sink in the entire internet.

 

[netizen]

I take it you don't know of TT, the biggest time sink in the entire internet.

www.tvtropes.org for the brave

 

[Father Time]

I just googled a couple of terminator fanpages / communities. We have to contact all them.
Also if you know a rich dude, maybe a celebrity who likes pinball, contact him / her.

Serious question, why don't you contact them?

 

[Father Time]

www.tvtropes.org for the brave

If you've never been before it's guaranteed to take up the rest of your free time for today.

So don't go.

 

[Jeff Strong]

This is a table that isn't very good according to a lot of people

It's #56 in Pinside's Top 100, and #33 at IPDB...not too shabby.

 

[Mark W**a]

I clicked it. I'm not interested in cliches, how they came about, or there use in popular culture though I guess it could be an interesting read, the sight layout is very 90s Internet godawful.

 

[Rudy Yagov]

If you've never been before it's guaranteed to take up the rest of your free time for today.

So don't go.

I've been there a few times, but I don't really get why it's made out to be such an addicting website.

 

[shutyertrap]

If they need money that badly, can't FarSight Studios sell off some of their pinball machines? They seem to keep a collection of all the machines that they have digitized, which must be worth a fortune. Their Medieval Madness + Attack from Mars alone could be worth maybe $15,000. Sure, they may have to take another look at one of their older tables every once in a while for bug fixes etc., but there should be other ways...

They keep the tables because as they improve physics or gameplay, revisiting the real thing is important for comparisons sake. Those are assets that continue to be used. I'm sure with the next gen consoles and PC right around the corner, they'll need to consult once more with the tables.

This isn't FarSight trying to scrape together dough. It's FarSight trying to make economic sense of doing a licensed table and seeing no way they can turn a profit should they take it all on themselves. Reminds me of the vinyl 12" single for 'Blue Monday' by New Order. It was an insanely intricate sleeve design at the time, and for every single sold, the label lost money. It's one of the best selling singles of all time and nearly ruined Factory Records. Eventually they made some subtle changes to the design so that it wouldn't sell at a loss.

So if you took JUST the licensing cost of 66,000 and figure FarSight would only collect half the cost to us (I'm keeping the math real simple here), they'd need to sell 26,500 copies of the T2 just to break even. Now throw in the development cost and all that, you're looking at needing to move well over 30-35 thousand downloads.

 

[Tabe]

I applaud you good sir.

Thank you. That means a lot.

 

[Worf]

If they need money that badly, can't FarSight Studios sell off some of their pinball machines? They seem to keep a collection of all the machines that they have digitized, which must be worth a fortune. Their Medieval Madness + Attack from Mars alone could be worth maybe $15,000. Sure, they may have to take another look at one of their older tables every once in a while for bug fixes etc., but there should be other ways...

FarSight doesn't need the money. It's the license holders that do.

Basically, the owners of the T2 license demand that Farsight ante up some money up front to show that they're serious about entering into license negotiations. This money HAS to be paid before you can even enter into discussions. It's common on many popular properties to screen out the wannabes from the serious.

Now, FarSight can basically break even, but even then the initial fee is a huge business risk - it ties up so much money that if FarSight should make a mis-step, it's doors closed.

The Kickstarter is a good way to do it because it lets you gauge interest. Should FarSight do T2? Well, if the kickstarter fails, it means that the answer was likely "no" and it means all the time and effort that went into obtaining the license was for naught and they're out that money. If it succeeds, it means there's a good chance that others are interested in the table as well and it's worth doing.

 

[xAzatothx]

I'm one of the most partisan defenders of the faith here, but I do not understand: Why would T2 not succeeding automatically imply that no future kickstarters would succeed either?

All T2 failing would logically imply is that people were not sufficiently interested in T2, or that many people are disgruntled over the 360/PC/fulfillment situations, which are/were temporary. Neither scenario leads to the conclusion that all future kickstarters must go down in flames. So why all the doom and gloom?

+1

 

[Ark Malmeida]

Got a nice little bump overnight. I'm thinking it might have something to do with the Terminator 2 button they have in the intro splash for the Android version. From what I understand the iOS version doesn't have this currently?

Now they need to get some constant updates going on the Kickstarter. They can't just rely on the KS comments (some of which are bad) to get them going.

 

[sharkbear]

I'm one of the most partisan defenders of the faith here, but I do not understand: Why would T2 not succeeding automatically imply that no future kickstarters would succeed either?

All T2 failing would logically imply is that people were not sufficiently interested in T2, or that many people are disgruntled over the 360/PC/fulfillment situations, which are/were temporary. Neither scenario leads to the conclusion that all future kickstarters must go down in flames. So why all the doom and gloom?

You don't think a failed T2 kickstarter would influence Farsight's decision on when to do another one and what table to do it for? It is possible that they would continue to throw Kickstarters at the wall and see what sticks, but I don't think that would be a smart business decision. The Kickstarter process requires time and effort, it introduces an element of uncertainty into the production schedule and risks embarrassment when it doesn't succeed. It may be free but those are the real costs, and I think a business as small as Farsight would be foolish to ignore the results of one campaign when determining when to use them.

Take Family Guy as an example. Good license, A-List designer, great table (No. 40 on pinside). If you can't get close to funding T2 (Great license, A-List designer, No. 56 on pinside), why would you even consider trying this one? Do you really want to devote limited resources to negotiate for a license that will ultimately be determined by an online crapshoot?

Farsight doesn't need to do any more kickstarters; the 30-table polls show they have a wealth of material to draw from for years. There is only one table people are clamoring for -- outside of Addams Family, I think it's rational to predict that a failed Kickstarter will make Farsight more hesitant to do another one. At any rate, it is a question I would love for Jeff to ask Bobby in the next interview, b/c I'd love to be wrong.

 

[gooche77]

The original mission of TPA is to preserve pinball history. T2 is an important contributor to that ideal with the popularity and innovations of that table.

 

[sotie]

Here is the updated trending.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

You don't think a failed T2 kickstarter would influence Farsight's decision on when to do another one and what table to do it for?

Not to the extent some people seem to believe. Would it have a negative impact? Sure. But they've also had two kickstarters that succeeded.

I just think this particular kickstarter is laboring under the weight of bad (although perhaps unavoidable) timing with the 360/PC crowd still waiting for satisfaction, past kickstarter mismanagement, a table that is not in the same league as TZ and ST:TNG, and a license that doesn't inspire irrational behavior in people (you have Trekkies and to a lesser extent TZ fanatics; I've never heard of rabid Terminator fans).

 

[Nightwing]

Not to the extent some people seem to believe. Would it have a negative impact? Sure. But they've also had two kickstarters that succeeded.

I just think this particular kickstarter is laboring under the weight of bad (although perhaps unavoidable) timing with the 360/PC crowd still waiting for satisfaction, past kickstarter mismanagement, a table that is not in the same league as TZ and ST:TNG, and a license that doesn't inspire irrational behavior in people (you have Trekkies and to a lesser extent TZ fanatics; I've never heard of rabid Terminator fans).

Well said. If you think of all the many licensed tables that you could KS, T2 wouldn't be in the top five - probably even the top ten. Star Wars would be at the top of that list,I'd think.

I also think FS waited as long as they possibly could with T2 - hence the 18 tables comment during the KS video. Regardless of how I personally feel about the T2 table - the fact is I love TPA enough to get all the tables on my console of choice (Xbox 360,of which I'm patiently waiting for) and the ones I really like on my iPad. So I'm not giving up hope just yet on T2...

 

[xAzatothx]

still think if FS took a few days out of their schedule to actively promote this KS - then we might stand a chance. More updates on Facebook, more updates on the KS page, media communications.....etc. They just don't seem that bothered - expecting the name T2 and the fans to do all the work.