The Hobbit Jersey Jack Pinball

[Retropin]

There was a rumour that Jack had bought a Black Hole to have it reversed engineered for the Hobbit .

Do not believe rumours, because in actual fact it's heading to my place LOL.

No mate... yours is the Operation Thunder next to it

[Ant68]

 

[Caveoftreasures]

I would have thought JJP would have tried to do something Very different to LOTR just to make it really really stand out from Sterns previous pinball game, but the movie licencing people run the show as i said before, so what chance did JJP have of doing something colour wise that was very very different....

Larger detail, larger monsters, larger pictures would have been better IMO. But licencing dictates everything so predictable is what u are going to get.
Still looks good, but not GREAT yet... Lets see how much it changes between now and delivery. It wouldnt surprise me if JJP (Jack) has thrown a red herring out there and he might have a few different versions, and this one might be just out there so far to throw Stern off the scent....time will tell.

[GORGAR 1]

What has surprised me is that the local distributor has not gotten a list of  Australian WoZ buyers from Jack and gotten out there and be promoting this machine

Not surprising at all. There has been ZERO promotion of WOZ or Hobbit. No one in Australia outside of forums knows anything about these games.

I like the artwork - it is consistent with LOTR as the theme is basically the same. So no surprises there. The more I see that big ugly LCD, the less interest I have in buying a JJP. They need to revert back to a smaller screen. If I want to watch cut scenes, I'll watch the movie. It is a pinball that should not have distractions away from the playfield except to check your scores or play the "video mode".

Early pictures (lower cabinet) look great.

+1 Nino
Not surprising at all. There has been ZERO promotion of WOZ or Hobbit. No one in Australia outside of forums knows anything about these games.

Why wouldn't they promote Jacks titles? More money for the distributor!!

Peter

[Caveoftreasures]

Why doesnt anyone else promote brand new pinballs in Australia ??  Stern or JJP etc....

AMD has a good website, and Bruce has a large mailing list for monthly specials and he is great at keeping in contact with forum members etc, but maybe there isnt the coin in it for larger scale promotion. So far, the best advertisement for BNIB pinball machines in Australia is the forums and word of mouth.

Someone needs to win Lotto and start up a Pinball World which can become the mecca for all things brand new pinball. OR marry someone related to Mr Bunnings or Mr Harvey Norman........

[Strangeways]

I would have thought JJP would have tried to do something Very different to LOTR just to make it really really stand out from Sterns previous pinball game, but the movie licencing people run the show as i said before, so what chance did JJP have of doing something colour wise that was very very different....

Larger detail, larger monsters, larger pictures would have been better IMO. But licencing dictates everything so predictable is what u are going to get.
Still looks good, but not GREAT yet... Lets see how much it changes between now and delivery. It wouldnt surprise me if JJP (Jack) has thrown a red herring out there and he might have a few different versions, and this one might be just out there so far to throw Stern off the scent....time will tell.

Terminator 2 - Bally / Williams
Terminator 3 - Stern

But Stern DID change a lot for T3. I much prefer T3.

So I expect the same for "The Hobbit". It would be a much better machine, I think. Early days, and the cabinet presentation is MILES better than LOTR.

What has surprised me is that the local distributor has not gotten a list of  Australian WoZ buyers from Jack and gotten out there and be promoting this machine

Not surprising at all. There has been ZERO promotion of WOZ or Hobbit. No one in Australia outside of forums knows anything about these games.

I like the artwork - it is consistent with LOTR as the theme is basically the same. So no surprises there. The more I see that big ugly LCD, the less interest I have in buying a JJP. They need to revert back to a smaller screen. If I want to watch cut scenes, I'll watch the movie. It is a pinball that should not have distractions away from the playfield except to check your scores or play the "video mode".

Early pictures (lower cabinet) look great.

+1 Nino
Not surprising at all. There has been ZERO promotion of WOZ or Hobbit. No one in Australia outside of forums knows anything about these games.

Why wouldn't they promote Jacks titles? More money for the distributor!!

Peter

Laziness.

Marketing, promotion and sales requires hard work and a strong business plan. Expecting the profits to "fall in their laps" is not working. JJP need to remedy this situation immediately, as there is absolutely no promotion of his product line in this country. Pathetic really. Distribution and marketing should be privilege. Promoting pinball involves some sort of passion.

Why doesnt anyone else promote brand new pinballs in Australia ??  Stern or JJP etc....

AMD has a good website, and Bruce has a large mailing list for monthly specials and he is great at keeping in contact with forum members etc, but maybe there isnt the coin in it for larger scale promotion. So far, the best advertisement for BNIB pinball machines in Australia is the forums and word of mouth.

Someone needs to win Lotto and start up a Pinball World which can become the mecca for all things brand new pinball. OR marry someone related to Mr Bunnings or Mr Harvey Norman........

I answered the JJP above - and it boils down to laziness and a lack of passion.

Stern can be summed up at the Victorian AC/DC "Competition" - No promotion whatsoever. An absolute disaster. I was told be organizers that the comp was "heavily promoted on MMM radio station". So Stern / AMD PAID for marketing and promotion - but I assured Norbert that NOT ONE promotional second was spent on the comp. I've been to dozens of promotional events with MMM involved, and there was always VERY good looking women walking around handing out T-Shirts, hats and bumper stickers. AMD have an email distribution, and this is one good way of reaching their client base.

I think not enough time and passion goes into promoting pinballs. I know I can talk for hours with other pinheads, and that time could be spent making money - but I prefer talking to people - it IS promotion. I think the current distributors need to engage the public more. This should be governed by the passion for the game, and not profits.

[pinball god]

Catching the discussion a bit late here but I do agree with Nino about the lcd. If you want to watch film clips go to the theatre and watch the movie. If it doesn't play an integral part of the game play, don't make it so big. I'm still from the dark ages where if you want to put video in pinball, make it part of the game via animated targets or whatever is better that I'm not capable of foreseeing. If not maybe the new boys should be looking a re-releasing modern versions of granny and the gators or baby Pac pin.

Sorry but don't give me something that I can't readily use on a pinball.....like tits on a bull

[Pop Bumper Pete]

AMD have an email distribution, and this is one good way of reaching their client base.

They do?
I have bought 3 games over the years from cashbox
I have never recieved an e-mail about upcoming releases

I did get on somebody elses mailing list after an auction, got sent viruses

[robm]

For those that were around (i was too young sorry) when we went from alpha numeric displays to DMD's, did many people have the similar sentiments to those expressed by some in this thread, that it was probably a bit 'over the top' and unnecessary and that pinball was about the game and not the display?

I reckon its a great idea and just another move forward.  While DMDs are an integral part of the pinball experience and appreciate that the technology was limited at the time of their introduction, in todays terms they are woeful.  What i mean by this is that people today (referring to recent releases) say the animations are excellent on xyz machnine.  Sure, they might be good on something with such a terrible resolution such as a DMD, but colour and higher resolutions have been around for decades, think how much more awesome things could be with the addition of those things. 

[Pop Bumper Pete]

Robm, that would have been 1992, the internet did exist back then but it was not as mainstream

I wonder how gar back does RGP go?

[pinnies4me]

Robm, that would have been 1992, the internet did exist back then but it was not as mainstream

I wonder how gar back does RGP go?

RGP was created 20 November 1990 as a USENET newsgroup. So it was pretty much only tech savvy people then, and even 1992 not mainstream as Pete said.

[swinks]

I have to agree with Nino and a few others that the pinball distributors like AMD really should up their game in promoting games, yes it takes money to do it but maybe in Bumpers defence they are waiting for JJP to have a steady flow of machines and it's hard to promote a second machine when the first machine hasn't turned up yet.

Andrew (Heighway Pinball) and I emailed each other a few times about various things but one topic was promoting and I think the theme will determine alot of where you can promote a machine: his motorbike themed pinball can be placed down at a stall at the Summer Nats, and other car and bike shows, or at each of the States capital cities drag ways, speedways, then large motor bike shops = so many avenues for promotion. The movie themed pins would be good if they could be released at the same time as the movie at every cinema while the movie is hot and sure alot more games would be sold but after the fact once the movie is out of the cinema - it will only be noticed / discovered by the die hard movie fans or the comic fans or pinball heads or the odd average promoted radio show comp. If there was a surfing pin - could hit the various large pro surf comps (Surfest in Newcastle at the moment), wine and coffee festivals along the beachside like here in Manly in Sydney and big surf shops, water parks. Horror pins could be staged at places like Draculas and the like

I went to my local new Timezone and asked if they were going to get a X-men and a Avengers pinnie and they look dumb struck - "they still make them", obviously the kids working but even the manager was not interested.

AMD and Bumper need a salesman to hit the roads and hit every well known cafe, cinema, arcade, pizza joint in their state and maybe even gear up a special commodore ute with a canopy (Sandman van like) with a partial slide out past the tail gate so the owners of these establishments can play a game there and then - sell it - they are too lazy these days. Look at claw machines they are everywhere. I use to do custom fitouts in the motorhome industry so a custom vehicle is not that hard nor expensive with a self levelling device so many more potential sales could be achieved even if it was just in every major city in each state.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

And DMD would have been seen as another step in the evolution of machines
Sys 11 did have some anmation  across the displays

[Pop Bumper Pete]

Sinks, I do not expect anything so elaborate
But I cannot see why they canno email those who did not buy a woz though them an say something like;

We are bumper action
We are awesome
We are the JJP distributor for Australia
See have a demo woz that you can play
Our techs are very smart
We have lots of really cool stuff for your man-cave
We also sell Billy Bob Teeth
Cone in and talk to us about JJP next game The Hobbit
We will not ask you for a payment before you receive your Woz



Simple

[swinks]

Sinks ??? here lol

I wasn't saying that in regards to any of your comments, but agree with you - a simple email to those that have already purchased a WOZ should be notified without saying

my comment was more a observation and amazement of the lack of promotion and then we wonder why pinballs are dying out as no new fresh blood is being actively searched out, thats all