I can see Scooby Doo as a workable pin theme.. i dont like it ( apart from Daphne.. i fancied her at a very young age) but i can see it working.
Bottom line is that its all business... Stern have what i consider to be a guaranteed return from licenced themes and i cant see them breaking away from that, i figure that gary Stern counts himselk lucky if he can squeeze another 5 - 10 years from pinball... i also figure that he would like to think that pinball died with his demise.. when he carks it so does pinball. What a great epitaph!
Along comes Jack and puts a spanner in the works for Gary... problem is that Jack has taken onboard a bit of gary's modem operandus and is straight into the licenced theme thing... it all adds up to itchy feet in an uncertain market.
WE, as pinball enthusiasts know that unless some imagination kicks in, it will die unless when gary kicks the bucket, Jack ( who is considerably younger) picks up where he left off.. more licenced themes.. guaranteed return.
What both manufacturers are forgetting is that throughout its history, most of the biggest selling pins have been unlicenced themes... Firepower... Flash..BK etc.
it takes guts and imagination to come up with a winning unlicenced theme and thats what is lacking here.
OK.... so we ask ourselves whats made a pin a good seller without a licence?
Answer has always been whats current in the field of science and technology...its what hot in space etc. Plus monsters and space have always been a good seller.
Anti matter has just been proven to exist as has the God particle... what a fantastic theme for a GREAT pin.. start from scratch.. build artwork and theme.. blackholes.. time warps... ANYTHING is possible with this.. it is the basis of creation!... you thought Black Hole was cool... check out God Particle... build DNA.. the interactive LCD screen builds a lifeform based on targets hit.. go wrong and all implodes and another type of lifeform begins. It could be incredible.
Would they do it? cors not... gamble is too big and licenced themes have a somewhat guarantee on return.
I often think that the VERY best selling pins are also the absolute demise of pinball because it dictated what would happen until it all petered out.. im naming TAF and TZ as the culprits
