Why is Zen so much Better than TPA at Acquiring Licenses?

[WhiteChocolate]

"name a kind of newtonian-physics game that..." (interrupted by contestants - BOWLING? EIIH NO! BILLIARDS? EIIH! ... MARBLES?? mmm okay well maybe that... ;0)

"now name another kind of fast, newtonian-physics and responsive game that can take place entirely within an armslength of your torso." (ummm... "walking dead lawn-jarts"?? ;0)

"NOoooo... i knnnooooww you knoooww... now name a computer virtualized simulator of such a game..." (??? ;0)

"mcdonald's vs. steakhouse??" all just kindergarten, generalistic marketing terms... maybe just as controversially though, try "kid's hotrod vs. dad's homebuilt cessna"... different markets, but just as much room for everyone as can be!

p.s. that being said, i can't help but be a sucker for these kewl new zen southpark tables... the demos were fun; i may have to buy in on em next few hours or so... been on my mind! the fact that butters got 'is own very own pb is just too awesome! too much fun. is there a scene in the sp pin where they have the scene from mr. mackey's "happy place"? that bit was so funny; almost like my own "happy place"...

i'd be remiss to not relate that i've also too found recently that zen pb is pretty darn awesome in terms of p1/p2 setup; had a friend over and wanted to try playing head-to-head style, and found the plethora of options for that in zen - their tables in general appeal to any casual player, fer sure! it's vid-game generation style stuff. no prob with that... it just takes a little special extra care to translate some of that love across the 'teh' platform, lol...

 

[WhiteChocolate]

are those kneepads? ( kiddin' zenfolks!!

 

[wolfson]

what`s all the fuss ,nearly 100 tables between ZEN and FARSIGHT,on one side we have fantasy pinball on the other real pinball.who could ask for more ? consider ourselves lucky bastards !!!!!

 

[dave950lam]

Zen is owned by sony which already has a plethora of licenses to work with as well as partnerships with other large companies that make it a whole lot easier to acquire other licenses. these big companies buddy up on allot of things like soundtracks for their movies and having been already setup to buy things from each other on a regular basis it makes the wheels so much easier to squeak. My question is, with all those great licenses why can't zen make a pinball game I actually like playing?

Also add in that MS is the publisher on Xbox and you've got two heavy-hitters backing them up....Instant clout.

Farsight has no such luxury, which makes their accomplishments (in the video pinball game) more impressive.

 

[Rich Lehmann]

Better? Licenses aren't hidden, they are easily available to anyone that wants to pay for them.

 

[MarkItZeroSmoky]

Zen is owned by sony which already has a plethora of licenses to work with as well as partnerships with other large companies that make it a whole lot easier to acquire other licenses. these big companies buddy up on allot of things like soundtracks for their movies and having been already setup to buy things from each other on a regular basis it makes the wheels so much easier to squeak. My question is, with all those great licenses why can't zen make a pinball game I actually like playing?

Also add in that MS is the publisher on Xbox and you've got two heavy-hitters backing them up....Instant clout.

Farsight has no such luxury, which makes their accomplishments (in the video pinball game) more impressive.

That is not entirely correct. They are not owned by Sony. The 360 version is published by microsoft games. They self publish on Xbone. They get these licenses on their own.

Whaaaaat? Sorry, but Zen is a completely separate company, just as FarSight is. The popular term these days is "indie." They aren't owned by any larger company.

 

[Krooze L-Roy]

The two companies are clearly competing for gamers' pinball dollars, but Farsight was never really in a position to compete for that Disney money. Zen's approach and platform are clearly better suited for their needs. I mean, if you were an ambitious young marketing exec for a media powerhouse, would you go for the shiny, brand new product, or a simulation of past products?

I think with this new Ghostbuster pin, FS is positioning itself to be more competitive with Zen the next time a huge company decides it wants a digital pinball game.

 

[shogun00]

TPA has to do a KS for TZ, STTNG, T2, and TAF, but Zen is able to score dream licenses like Marvel, Star Wars, The Walking Dead, and now South Park, no KS, seemingly no effort, just "hey, here's our next table!" Imagine how awesome it would be if TPA had that kind of clout (a whole Season of new Sterns?) but . . . they don't. Will TPA ever reach that point? Is Zen really that much more successful, or are they better schmoozers, or what else is going on?

The biggest factor you got to keep in mind is that one is making new content, while the other one is emulating real pinball machines.

When it comes to Zen, they are not acquiring a license to make just one machine. They acquire a license (usually 10x greater than the average Farsight Kickstarter) and is able make several tables out of the license. According to Zen, the Star Wars license was the most expensive license they have acquired so far. The deal was made with George Lucas before Disney acquired Lucas Studios and the license allowed them to make 10 tables. Even if the license costs $1 million. Being able to make 10 tables is the real the game changer here and it's all for original content. Stuff that people have never played before and is more likely to be advertised by the game press.

Farsight on the other hand faces quite a few hurdles. For one, they are acquiring a major license to make just one table. That alone is a challenge, because most movie/TV studios prefer to make package deals. Second, they also have to acquire rights for likenesses and voices of real actors. This can be a tedious task, since you have to deal with agents and estates. (Note: The license from the pinball manufacturer isn't a big deal. Farsight even stated [on the TAF Kickstarter] that it costs $10,000 to make a table for TPA. This includes both the production costs and the pinball manufacturer license.) Third and for most, Farsight is recreating an existing product. Many people have already played the table before and that means the potential number of customers is going to be reduced to the newcomers and the nostalgia crowd.

Some interesting facts that I've read on Zen's site and forums over the years.

- Zen is actually a rather small company with less than 30 employees. They are independently owned with no direct connections with Sony, Microsoft, Valve, Google, Apple, or Nintendo. Just your basic partnerships with them.

- Zen has two locations, their parent location in Hungary and a small branch in the US (California). The US branch contains roughly 3 people (might have increased recently) and are only responsible for marketing. The Hungary branch is their development house.

- It takes roughly 8-12 months to make a table. That's much much longer than Farsight's average time to make a table for TPA.

- Zen has a contract with New Generation Pictures for their voice work. New Generation Pictures is actually one of the more expensive dubbing houses in the US, since they have access to international voice talent and some celebrities.

- Most of the voices in the Marvel Pinball tables are coming from the same people that voice the Marvel games and even some of the Marvel Animations. Same for the Star Wars tables.