What do you think the next kick starter will be?

[Terminator]

I think Addams Family may be the next KS project, i was reading this on the T2 KS page "if we raise more then the goal we’ll be able to digitize other licensed tables as well, including the next table we'd really like to pursue- Bally's incredible classic The Addams Family!"

What do you think.. there's a glimmer of hope right ?

 

[danivempire]

I have this dream since I discovered tpa...

 

[WesReviews]

The real question... when will the next Kickstarter take place?

 

[Mick Morry]

More so...will they even need to do kick starters? The number of people buying TPA on all the various platforms is growing exponentially. We may be entering territory where they could cover the cost of heavily licensed tables and just charge us more for them. It's real simple. Just make those tables more expensive to purchase. Say $10 each for those select tables, and not include them in seasons pass. They would make their initial investment back and would have tables most of us would pay more for to avoid the time and money needed to do KS events. Rather than bleed us KS supporters have every person who buys and enjoys TPA to kick in to the cost of those heavily licensed tables. You want the table...you pay that extra money for a Premium table. This would drastically speed up how fast and how often those special tables could or would be released.

 

[Kratos3]

I would pay more for premium licensed tables.

 

[Mick Morry]

I personally think this is the route for them to go. Charge more for the tables we MUST have, and that have multiple licensing deals to be worked out. Far Sight would front the money to buy the license's needed and charge each and every customer that wants that table later on for them. A few dollars more = faster epic tables coming to TPA, and at a price we all would be willing to pay to see our dream tables brought to fruition, and in our lifetime.

I have been running my own business at a world level for 30 years and this is what I would do. Those licensed tables are gaming crack to us pinheads. Far Sight needs to realize this and take that leap/risk. The money would be absolutely ginormous for TPA if they did it right and provided us fans backed such a move. I think very few would argue about a higher price for a "Premium" table. Imagine being able to have a premium table every second or 3rd month, due to the new pricing process allows such a move? Instead of one mega table a year we could see perhaps 4 or 5 of the tables we are begging for. Zen is sort of doing this already with their releasing of packs of 1, 2, and 4 tables. The pricing varies a bit between the various different pinball packs you buy.

If I was Far Sight Studios I would strike while the iron is hot. The Pinball videogame market has never been more supportive and hungry. You cash in on such trends before they possibly disappear.

 

[Bowflex]

I personally think this is the route for them to go. Charge more for the tables we MUST have, and that have multiple licensing deals to be worked out. Far Sight would front the money to buy the license's needed and charge each and every customer that wants that table later on for them. A few dollars more = faster epic tables coming to TPA, and at a price we all would be willing to pay to see our dream tables brought to fruition, and in our lifetime.

I have been running my own business at a world level for 30 years and this is what I would do. Those licensed tables are gaming crack to us pinheads. Far Sight needs to realize this and take that leap/risk. The money would be absolutely ginormous for TPA if they did it right and provided us fans backed such a move. I think very few would argue about a higher price for a "Premium" table. Imagine being able to have a premium table every second or 3rd month, due to the new pricing process allows such a move? Instead of one mega table a year we could see perhaps 4 or 5 of the tables we are begging for. Zen is sort of doing this already with their releasing of packs of 1, 2, and 4 tables. The pricing varies a bit between the various different pinball packs you buy.

If I was Far Sight Studios I would strike while the iron is hot. The Pinball videogame market has never been more supportive and hungry. You cash in on such trends before they possibly disappear.

You bring up some great points. I know that licensing fees can be brutal and it is a lot of cash to pony up. However if they could lock down Addams Family, or anything in the top 10 and promote the fact that it is being offered WITHOUT a kickstarter, I think it would actually go over really well. Lord knows they could use some positive publicity with the recent missteps and the lead balloons that have been happening since Season 3 announced its first table officially. I believe that the reaction would be that they are really getting their act together, making a sound business decision and giving the consumers what they desire without the need for a kickstarter which not only welcomes negative criticism for having the campaign at all but also all the issues that arise in fulfillment of rewards for pledging.

 

[danivempire]

Now that we'll probably have to pay each table instead of a season pack, I would be totally ok to have a nominal price for regular tables and a higher price for premium table (addams family first huh), would be totally cool!!!

 

[jbejarano]

I personally think this is the route for them to go. Charge more for the tables we MUST have, and that have multiple licensing deals to be worked out. Far Sight would front the money to buy the license's needed and charge each and every customer that wants that table later on for them. A few dollars more = faster epic tables coming to TPA, and at a price we all would be willing to pay to see our dream tables brought to fruition, and in our lifetime.

I have been running my own business at a world level for 30 years and this is what I would do. Those licensed tables are gaming crack to us pinheads. Far Sight needs to realize this and take that leap/risk. The money would be absolutely ginormous for TPA if they did it right and provided us fans backed such a move. I think very few would argue about a higher price for a "Premium" table. Imagine being able to have a premium table every second or 3rd month, due to the new pricing process allows such a move? Instead of one mega table a year we could see perhaps 4 or 5 of the tables we are begging for. Zen is sort of doing this already with their releasing of packs of 1, 2, and 4 tables. The pricing varies a bit between the various different pinball packs you buy.

If I was Far Sight Studios I would strike while the iron is hot. The Pinball videogame market has never been more supportive and hungry. You cash in on such trends before they possibly disappear.

That might work. However, FarSight does have to think about the mass consumer market as well, not just pinheads. If a table is too expensive, sure, every devotee will gladly pay a lot for an ultra-premium table, but it may scare off the scads of casual players, and the drop off in total volume might swallow any additional revenue from the high price. KickStarter, while a mild pain in the ass as a transactional cost, does in fact provide a decent mechanism for salutary price discrimination. Ardent fans end up paying more than casual fans (and generally get some low-cost but high-value perq in return). Meanwhile, once the table is developed, it's still priced in such a way that the casual fan shouldn't be too put off.

 

[netizen]

More so...will they even need to do kick starters? The number of people buying TPA on all the various platforms is growing exponentially. We may be entering territory where they could cover the cost of heavily licensed tables and just charge us more for them. It's real simple. Just make those tables more expensive to purchase. Say $10 each for those select tables, and not include them in seasons pass. They would make their initial investment back and would have tables most of us would pay more for to avoid the time and money needed to do KS events. Rather than bleed us KS supporters have every person who buys and enjoys TPA to kick in to the cost of those heavily licensed tables. You want the table...you pay that extra money for a Premium table. This would drastically speed up how fast and how often those special tables could or would be released.

This is a combination of suggestions that have been kicked around for a while and assumptions that have been around since the first kickstarters were being funded.

Unfortunately, the kickstarted tables have never been called or referred to as "Premium" tables by anyone except us forum members who has these assumptive expectations. I don't think that FS could possibly sell a single table pack for more than they are, especially now that they are selling singles. With the amount of displeasure and pushback happening already over $4.99 the number of projected sales over a pack at 8/12 for regular/pro the number of tables that could even be considered for those proces would be extremely limited compared to the number of tables that would require potential license or kickstarters.


I honestly don't know IF FS will be able to do another KS if they can;t get the licensing deal worked out for TAF due to their pseudo-promise during the campaign for T2. if they tried for any other license there may still be enough bad feelings still to sink the campaign and that would be worse than not doing one for a year or more.

 

[soundwave106]

You bring up some great points. I know that licensing fees can be brutal and it is a lot of cash to pony up. However if they could lock down Addams Family, or anything in the top 10 and promote the fact that it is being offered WITHOUT a kickstarter, I think it would actually go over really well.

The only Top 10 (IPDB) pins left needing licensing *is* Indy or Addams Family; both sound probably too expensive to do without a Kickstarter.

Some "premium" tables may not need an expensive license, though: Judge Dredd, for instance, needs a license for the theme, but I don't think it has any "name" voiceovers if I recall. It's probably the top IPDB "premium" pinball where you wouldn't need that expensive of a license (due to no voice over or music).

The reason why Kickstarters and stuff are needed is, of course, these licensed tables are not being made anymore and the licenses need to be re-negotiated. If the Sterns (or other new pinball manufacturer) get new licenses with a digital option in mind ala Farsight, and an emulation of the new pinball systems could be sufficiently scaled down to mobile (actually even if you just scale it down to iPad scale, I think you'd be okay)... it could end up being a win win situation. You wouldn't need a Kickstarter for that. The hardware could sink the majority of the cost of the licenses (playing the role the Kickstarter does for older pins), where the digital version adds a little icing on the cake by drastically increasing exposure (nobody thinks a digital pin is a substitute for the real thing).

 

[WesReviews]

I don't understand why FarSight balks at the notion of doing a Kickstarter for Dr. Who.

Surely Who has a very similar fanbase to Star Trek, that spends a good chunk of change year in and year out on Who merchandise. I think a Kickstarter would be a fairly easy sell to the Who fanbase. Not only would they get to play the table, but they would be reassured that the table would be preserved digitally for generations to come.

And as far as likenesses and such... yes a number of Doctors are depicted on the table but how is that any different than the cast of Star Trek: TNG?

I don't see how Doctor Who actors/BBC are any more daunting of a task than licensing Star Trek actors/Paramount.

 

[Drathro]

I don't understand why FarSight balks at the notion of doing a Kickstarter for Dr. Who.

Surely Who has a very similar fanbase to Star Trek, that spends a good chunk of change year in and year out on Who merchandise. I think a Kickstarter would be a fairly easy sell to the Who fanbase. Not only would they get to play the table, but they would be reassured that the table would be preserved digitally for generations to come.

And as far as likenesses and such... yes a number of Doctors are depicted on the table but how is that any different than the cast of Star Trek: TNG?

I don't see how Doctor Who actors/BBC are any more daunting of a task than licensing Star Trek actors/Paramount.

I have the same opinion, and as I've said before, my friend at BBC licensing didn't think it would be all that expensive either.

Doctor Who fans are fanatical, it would bag Pinball Arcade a swarm of new players.

 

[Bowflex]

I have the same opinion, and as I've said before, my friend at BBC licensing didn't think it would be all that expensive either.

Doctor Who fans are fanatical, it would bag Pinball Arcade a swarm of new players.

Maybe they wish to focus on Addams Family or bust as far as kickstarters go? They don't seem to really be very enthusiastic about any premium licensed games not named Addam's Family.

 

[WesReviews]

Which makes no sense because they've already bagged some pretty hefty licenses. Harley Davidson... Ripley's... Universal Monsters... Star Trek... Terminator... Twilight Zone...

 

[Bowflex]

Which makes no sense because they've already bagged some pretty hefty licenses. Harley Davidson... Ripley's... Universal Monsters... Star Trek... Terminator... Twilight Zone...

True but they've kind of shot themselves in the foot. They've talked it up big since before the game even released. They also mentioned that they would use any overage in future funding during the T2 Kickstart for future licenses, ideally Addams Family. While it was generalized, the fact they even name dropped at that point could welcome criticism later if they don't get Addams going. Plus there are no games left that they could realistically get a kickstarter happening that has even 5% of the popularity of Addams. MAYBE Simpson's Pinball Party as it is popular and a good table but they've made it clear Disney won't even speak to them so no Indy, Spider-Man, etc. I wish they would just go for Simpson's or Dracula at this point.

 

[WesReviews]

I still think Freddy is a very realistic get, if they wanted to go that route. Warner Bros. has been licensing Freddy out pretty heavily to toy and other companies in the last few years.

There's even a Freddy grilling apron, for goodness sakes. And Freddy even showed up as DLC in a recent Mortal Kombat game.

Approach them, FarSight!

 

[ryzombie619]

Hey what are the chances of TMNT, Batman, or South Park?

 

[Kolchak357]

Hey what are the chances of TMNT, Batman, or South Park?

Just because of licensing I would say the chances are pretty slim. South Park probably has the best chance of the three.

 

[QuiGonJ]

I have the same opinion, and as I've said before, my friend at BBC licensing didn't think it would be all that expensive either.

Doctor Who fans are fanatical, it would bag Pinball Arcade a swarm of new players.

I'm as fanatical as it gets, since I edit a Who newsletter monthly for the Time Meddlers of Los Angeles, and have a complete archive of the DVDs sitting five feet from me.

I talked to them at the Comikaze Expo last year, and Norman said they would have get a British lawyer to approach all seven Doctors plus the companions on the table and probably Kit Pedler and the notorious Terry Nation estate for the Daleks, and it would be a very complicated table to license.