The Best of Remaining Unlicensed Tables

[PinballLizard (Mark Wyda)]

Got to thinking what future seasons might look like ; Basically If next month is indeed EarthShaker, then it would seem to me that Season 3 is going to follow our Pinball Arcade Fan polls right down to the wire. In case you're wondering, here's the poll, with current releases highlighted:

Poll #2 : Williams

1) Fish Tales (1992)
2) The Getaway : High Speed II (1992)
3) Red & Ted’s Road Show (1994)
4) Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1993)
5) Black Knight 2000 (1989)
6) Earthshaker (1989)
7) Diner (1990)
8) Junk Yard (1996)
9) F-14 Tomcat (1987)
10) Cyclone (1988)

Poll #3 : Bally

1) Black Rose (1992)
2) World Cup Soccer (1994)
3) Judge Dredd (1993)
4) WHO dunnit (1995)
5) Safe Cracker (1996)
6) Xenon (1980)
7) The Party Zone (1991)
8) Corvette (1994)
9) Eight Ball Deluxe (1981)
10) Indianapolis 500 (1995)

If Farsight choses to do Xenon, then only 8-Ball Deluxe and Cyclone will remain as Corvette, F-14 Tomcat, and Indy 500 all have licenses attatched.

So my guess for Season 4, if unlicensed tables are indeed off the table (pun intended), would look something like this:

High Speed
8-Ball Deluxe
Cyclone
Hurricane
Jack*Bot
Banzai Run
Swords of Fury
High Roller Casino (non-licensed Stern)
Sorcerer
Lord of the rings (Kickstarter)

I think Sorcerer will be the first table, actually, because it's close enough to a Haloween theme as one can get without doing a license, such as Tales from the Crypt, or Dracula.

It's really soon to be even thinking about a Season 5... that wouldn't be until nearly 2016, almost 2 years from now... by then, Capcom emulation might be a thing, by then Stern SAM emulation might be a thing, and by then perhaps Farsight will be making enough money (say if Xbox 360 was released by this time...) to possibly start doing licensed tables again. However without digging into licensed stuff, would a season 5 even be possible? I'm asking because I can't think of much remaning unlicensed material out there. In the realm of electromechanical and early solid state stuff, sure it's possible, but I highly doubt Farsight would do an entire season without any System 11 or DMD machines (though personally I think it would be awesome!.. just unlikely

I think that whether there is or isn't a Season 5 will be determined by the sales performance of Season 3 and 4. Right now, according to Farsight's Websight: http://www.pinballarcade.com/Leaderboards/ Season 3 tables have sold between 5-7,000 units each. Keep in mind PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 have not been released yet (which will undoubtedly put these into the 10-15,000 range of sales). Sales of Season 2 that is also released on PlayStation is around 15,000-20,000 units depending on table and these haven't been released on PS4 or Xbox 360 yet so Indeed they could go much higher.

If Farsight does decide on a Season 5 that includes licensed tables, then the floodgates are open: Getaway High Speed 2, Road Show, Tales from the Crypt, Dracula, Judge Dredd, Indy 500, F-14 Tomcat, Monopoly, Rollercoaster Tycoon, to name a few, would be possible. But I'm wondering, based simply on what's left of unreleased material, if a Season 5 could even be a thing, so that's why I'm asking you guys to help fill in the blanks with some tables I may be missing.

Thanks guys. Input welcomed!

 

[DanBradford]

er .... i like pinball

 

[Espy]

I would hope for some oddball choices. It will make this season more surprising and maybe unearth some hidden gems.

 

[PinballLizard (Mark Wyda)]

er .... i like pinball

3 paragraph's and 2 lists. yeah, about what I expected as a response really.

 

[canuck]

This is like reading tea leaves.

 

[kinggo]

I think that everyone has some favourites that are not listed. Bally poll for me is missing Radical and Special Force. And from those 10 listed, 2 are already present in TPA and the only one left that I would like to see is TPZ and TWC is the one that I don't want to see ever. Apart from the two already mentioned I would like to see Party Animal, The Shadow and Blackwater 100.

 

[WesReviews]

Special Force is soooooooo fun. Highly underrated table. If more people had played this one in person, it would be higher up on the lists for sure.

Played it at the Louisville Arcade Expo and it came away as my favorite of the day, easily.

 

[DanBradford]

3 paragraph's and 2 lists

exactly dude

we all love the pin here, but too much info is too much info

 

[Naildriver74]

exactly dude

we all love the pin here, but too much info is too much info

Especially on a Friday
I just read it today

 

[DrainoBraino]

3 paragraph's and 2 lists. yeah, about what I expected as a response really.

Hey the guy likes pinball, whatcha gonna do...

I appreciate your list here so don't worry about it. Would love to see Xenon and Sorcerer. And hey don't forget Jive Time. Yes I said it.

 

[kinggo]

Special Force is soooooooo fun. Highly underrated table. If more people had played this one in person, it would be higher up on the lists for sure.

Played it at the Louisville Arcade Expo and it came away as my favorite of the day, easily.

probably because it was made less than 3k machines and yet I was lucky enough to play one in Croatia at the begining of 90's

 

[ER777]

Better move HS up to season 3..

Anyone else think a Swords of Fury - Sorcerer dual pack would be a great ending to season 3 or beginning to season 4?

 

[Kratos3]

Better move HS up to season 3..

Anyone else think a Swords of Fury - Sorcerer dual pack would be a great ending to season 3 or beginning to season 4?

Does anyone think they'll give us a 2-pack ever again?

 

[Kratos3]

That would be a very good season 4, Lizard.

 

[ER777]

Does anyone think they'll give us a 2-pack ever again?

Do I think its likely? No. Do I think its possible? Yes. Plus its the only possible way I ever see us getting Sorcerer at this point since it would be a tough sell as a stand-alone re-release. I'm still holding out hope for that. I think it could be used as a tool to make a table like Swords of Fury that might have a tough time on its own sell better. I think it would be a good way to still occasionally get us some early solid state games in the mix.

 

[Crawley]

Yeah, I doubt we would see a 2 pack. Financially I doubt it makes sense and likely don't have the manpower to pull it off while still supporting all the other platforms and enhancements to the product. But perhaps Pinball After Dark could be a possibility for two tables on the initial release - 1 free to get people interested and one paid to make money. There's no announcement date for it yet so could plan resources around that goal still.