You do realize they need to license something before they can sell it? They are raising money for the licensing of the table, not the development costs.
The game is substantially more expensive to produce than an unlicensed theme game and that means there's more risk in producing it. They could make unlicensed games instead and not take on that additional risk, which is what they were doing before. The kickstarter allows them to eliminate that additional risk.
No matter what the fiscal realities are, I probably wouldn't have made that announcement until after the kickstarter campaign was over.
Yes, of cause, but on the other hand they can expect much more sales on a well known game like "Twilight Zone", number one on the IPD.
We don't even know how many DLC tables those 3 million people buy. The base game is 99 cents which is right in the wheelhouse of most iOS gamers. Actually there is a free version too with no games, and I'm sure some have downloaded that since it's free, then promptly deleted it, or just play the game of the month. The DLC costs significantly more than 99 cents, and TZ will cost the most yet. The average gamer isn't going to see the value in that (and probably doesn't even know what the IPD is, let alone rate any pinball machines listed there).
No, but if the Kickstarter is any indication, it could be as much as $10 since that's the entry level that gets you the game. Which, if you love arcade pinball, is still pretty damn cheap as compared to buying a real TZ, especially a good condition one (not that that wouldn't be vastly superior), but the 99 cent/free gamers aren't going to see it that way. I think it's quite possible they'll price it lower than that, but you can be pretty sure it will be past the current high end. If they do price it lower than $10, I hope they'll toss some freebie bonuses to the $10 level supporters, but I'm not going to fret it either way. I put in $25 so I'd get that nifty TZ ball to use in all the games anyway.
Sometimes I wish they'd behave just a teeny bit more like a professional company. Like when they test their releases, for example.
I thought the whole point of the kickstarter funding was that it would cost the same as all the other tables. This may all be moot. Did they even crack $1000 today? I'm not sure they're going to make it now....
I don't think you quite understand how businesses work. Well-run businesses evaluate each project to determine whether it's viable. They determined that under their model, TZ wouldnt be viable due to the high licensing costs. If a theater chain is making 200% margins off a theater in NYC, they aren't okay with losing 50% in Ohio - they want both theaters to make money, and the one in Ohio isn't viable.
Normal funding way... it's slowing down in the middle and will increase like crazy in the end. They will reach their goal easily. Sure bet.
GordLacey said it best, but I'll reiterate a bit... Assuming they (FarSight) are trustworthy, and I have no reason to doubt them since everything they've ever said that was verifiable was true... they already ran the numbers and deemed TZ as non-viable. However, they realize that TZ is literally the # 1 most-loved table by pinball fans everywhere. So they calculated that if they had $55,000 of free money for the licensing, they could still profit from TZ. They are a business, so projecting profit is REQUIRED before they can commit to a project. That is love for their craft, and love for their fans. It gives us the opportunity to still get this even though they could make money better with easy-to-license tables. My prediction is that TZ will cost the same to us as the other DLC tables. However, they do have to pay (IN ADDITION TO the upfront initial licensing costs) royalties to the license holders for every copy sold. So my guess is they will actually make less per unit for TZ than the others... so unless it sells many times more than the others, it's still likely to be less profitable. Realistically, pinball fanatics make up a pretty small segment of their audience, so TZ may be amazing, but that doesn't mean it will automatically outsell all the others by much. Here is a link that allows you to see trending (and projections if you click the Pi symbol at the bottom): http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/1067367405/pinball-arcade-the-twilight-zone/ It looks good for the $55,000 goal, but pretty grim for the $110,000 stretch-goal that would also get us Star Trek:The Next Generation. My #1 table is The Addams Family. It's an even bigger licensing challenge... but my fingers are crossed, and I'll contribute big to that one.
I would be happy to know, which are the next two tables, that will be released. Tomorrow is the first of june and they didn´t even announce, which tables will be the next ones. Wé know, how long it takes, until the announced tables will really be released. Seems, they are playing their new Twilight Zone Table all day, instead of working.
Come on, Rudi. Maybe they want to announce the tables just before they hit instead of having a long gap. Or maybe they're hoping the first DLC tables hit the consoles before they announce the third DLC tables for iOS/Android. Why are you such a negative-nancy? Announcing the new tables now won't bring them out any faster.
Now that they have worked it out with Microsoft and the Xbox 360 version is a Kickstarter option, hopefully we'll get an uptick in pledges that will at least get us over the initial goal. I'll actually be taking the 360 version now, as that's mainly where I like to play the game. But I'll be buying the iOS version once it's out. However if they add a new level where you get your choice of 2 versions, I'll do that.
I'm the reverse - I only have it for IOS, but I'll probably buy it for Xbox now, since I pledged $100 so I'll get it for all platforms.
If you pledged $100 you get it on all platforms including 360, so you don't need to buy it on there. Or am I not understanding? EDIT: Oooh, you mean you haven't bought the game itself. Ah, yes, buy it for 360. It's better (mainly due to physical controls) aside from not currently having all the DLC yet. I have both the iOS and 360 versions.
Yeah for Monster Bash! Another great one. If you don't like the repeats you don't need to buy them. I'll be buying them, though. I don't mind and they've been improved over PHoF.
