virtuapin on shark tank CNBC tonight.

[shadowjuggalo]

Just thought I would tell you all virtuapin will be on shark tank tonight with their cabinets. I wonder if they will be showcasing TPA? That would be awesome publicity.

Vpcabs not virtuapin*

 

[DaPinballWizard]

They won't showcase TPA. TPA gave up on cabinet support a long time ago. Hope they don't even mention them, and why should they?

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Just thought I would tell you all virtuapin will be on shark tank tonight with their cabinets. I wonder if they will be showcasing TPA? That would be awesome publicity.

I wonder how they're going to get around the inevitable legal issues. Technically to legally use PinMAME or any other VP software in a cab you need to physically own the real ROM of the table you're playing (the same as with MAME). And FS doesn't officially have cabinet support, so can't officially go on TV as a supporter/partner of the project.

So, I'm guessing they're only going to showcase Zen tables, because only Zen has official cabinet support.

 

[shadowjuggalo]

Propinball perhaps?

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

I doubt it, they haven't got cab mode even remotely close to working yet, and I doubt they will have anything ready for several months given their painstakingly slow pace of development.

 

[shadowjuggalo]

Would they be able to use future pinball, or VP, if they are original tables?

 

[Jeff Strong]

Interesting. Most businesses that go on Shark Tank see a big rise in sales even if they don't get a deal, so this is good for them.

 

[SilverBalls]

I don't know the programme but I read about this and am pretty sure it was VPCabs and not Virtuapin.

Virtuapin however were recently on TV

http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=34689

I bought all my pinball hardware from Paul at Virtuapin back in 2011 and I have got to say he is the nicest guy, extremely helpful, passionate about pinball, and I think that comes over in the video above.

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For the Sharktank thing will be interested to hear what they (VPCabs?) show as we won't get that here.

 

[MontanaFrank]

Isn't tonight's Shark Tank episode on ABC? That is what my cable guide says and it is on at 9pm PST and probably EST.

Here is the description for the show.

"Adult Sleep-Away Camp; Protecting Car from Extreme Weather; Lacrosse Equipment; Video Game Version of Classic Pinball; Update on Misto Box New"

It's says classic pinball video game version. That shouldn't mean Zen Pinball

 

[shadowjuggalo]

I don't know the programme but I read about this and am pretty sure it was VPCabs and not Virtuapin.

Virtuapin however were recently on TV

http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=34689

I bought all my pinball hardware from Paul at Virtuapin back in 2011 and I have got to say he is the nicest guy, extremely helpful, passionate about pinball, and I think that comes over in the video above.

-------

For the Sharktank thing will be interested to hear what they (VPCabs?) show as we won't get that here.

It might be, I only saw a 5 second view of the cab on the commercial. But they were playing, and looked like they were having fun.

 

[shadowjuggalo]

Yep its VPcabs, and they will be shown with zen. This might take the visual pinball to the next level.

 

[Fungi]

Isn't tonight's Shark Tank episode on ABC? That is what my cable guide says and it is on at 9pm PST and probably EST.

You are correct sir.

 

[shadowjuggalo]

Its on now I almost missed it ABC.

 

[jrolson]

So he gives Zen $1000 for each cab he builds to use the software... Wonder how much Farsight would charge?

 

[shadowjuggalo]

Crap that's a lot of money he is losing to zen. But as he said he wants to write his own program. He would be smart to use some of that $200,000.00 to hire a programmer. He seemed like a good guy, I'm glad he got a offer.

 

[invitro]

I watched it... thanks a bunch @shadowjuggalo for bringing this to our attention! I haven't seen this show before but it looks neat, if I can stomach the raw naked capitalism I think I will watch it more. Well I took some notes, I hope I took them correctly:

- the segment ran from about 9:45 until the end, in case anyone is reading this in the future, and want to find it quickly in some youtube video .
- the company is VP Cabs, their website is https://virtualpinball.com/ -- I'm going to check it out later.
- the table shown was FX2 - I think Rome, I'm not very familiar with FX2 crap.- the guy wanted $200k for a 10% stake in his company.
- the guy was ultra-nervous.
- he said he'd sold 200 machines so far, this is in 1.5 years, and made $750,000 gross.
- a machine costs $3000 to ~$9500.
- the machine shown in the segment retails for $7995, and has a bill of materials of $2686.
- he said his profit was $12,000 for 2014, with a gross profit of ~$40,000 I think?
- he said the license is 15% of sale price (which is $1200 for a $7995 machine, wow).
- one of the sharks owns 10 pinball machines.
- the sharks didn't want him to sell to kids, only old guys would be interested, lol.
- the shark named Daymond (not the guy who owns 10 pinballs) offered $200k for 30% of the company, and he and the guy agreed to $200k for 25%!

My question would've been: can you sell it with real pinball tables on it, and not that Zen crap?

 

[Kolchak357]

All the ones I've seen advertised say that it doesn't come with all the pins. Says you can download them on your own.
But it looks like these come with the Zen pins already on them.

These are very cool, but that is darn expensive IMO.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

So, I'm guessing they're only going to showcase Zen tables, because only Zen has official cabinet support.

I like it when I win the internet

 

[Jeff Strong]

Just caught the very end of it. Glad he got a deal! Hopefully this is a succes.

 

[SilverBalls]

It might be, I only saw a 5 second view of the cab on the commercial. But they were playing, and looked like they were having fun.

Sorry didn't mean to sound negative about your original post if it sounded that way - I just wanted to mention the actual company.

It is good news to see any kind of Virtual Pinballing making mainstream TV - can only help promote the hobby for sure.