Welcome to Game #2 board on the PPS forum

[PPS]

Well, not alot to say yet, but it will be a shift in how we did things with MMR ... first change is we are tightening up best we can so announcement is a short time before production - can we be certain of this, no, but we certainly know what things need to happen that did not to at least bring the distance between the announcement and orders to shipment WAY down.


I can say that parts pre-production parts have all been ordered and are being checked out as they come in. There is at least one fully running proto with almost all new production parts. The electronics are multiple revs in and the game is playing with sounds and lights and has been for some time.


There will be a different approach to how the versions of the game are structured, a bit different for MMR which will be obvious once you see the game.


More as we have more to say ...

[Lloyd Olson]

Exciting times for pinball ! Thanks Rick and CGC.

LTG : )

[PPS]

The reveal of Game #2 is not going to happen at TPF, unfortunately. Slight delay due to engineering and parts ordering process. The goal is to keep distance and confidence between announcing and availability reasonably low - so we will put this off only for a short while until things are where they need to be.


rick

[flisflos]

Rick,

Can't you give us just the first lettre of game 2 ? 

[frolic]

The goal is to keep distance and confidence between announcing and availability reasonably low

I think this is paramount. Yeah it's great to bring games to shows to show them off and get people excited, but if there isn't product ready to be delivered (soon), then the whole clusterF starts all over again.

[PPS]

That's exactly why it's not at TPF, as we did not feel comfortable that we would not end up with this increase between showing and getting everyone riled up and delivering.

[Viper001]

but we certainly know what things need to happen that did not to at least bring the distance between the announcement and orders to shipment WAY down.

Rick, respectfully asking. But I thought this time there was going to be zero distance between ordering and shipping the games? As in "no more pre-orders taken on subsequent titles". I think from many of your past statements there was a clear assumption that the games would be built and then sold, in that order.

Clearly there is plenty of demand for whatever you are building, assuming it isn't Popeye. 

[PPS]

Well, it's not smart (pinball) business to have product and then tell the market about it, especially when there are millions of $ in cost of goods.


What is better is to give enough time for customers to place orders with resellers, and then the resellers will indicate their demand.


Without a decent measure of the demand it's a little difficult to invest in X quantity of games - we expect there to be demand, but you don't stall everything waiting for resellers to collect money, etc.


Chicago Gaming is not going a warehousing (which costs money), and neither Stern nor CGC really wants to hold games.


So, if people are uncomfortable with paying ahead for a game, then they should wait until some reseller has them at their place and they can pick it up (and pay sales tax usually). They do it all the time with Sterns, so not sure the model would be any different here.


Rick

[Viper001]

Chicago Gaming is not going a warehousing (which costs money), and neither Stern nor CGC really wants to hold games.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. But isn't knowing demand and storing games until they are sold kind of the definition of a distributor? Respectfully, I am only parroting what you promised about this time last year. Going forward there would be no more pre-orders on games.

In any case I'm looking forward to other titles you are doing. Maybe the rumors will be false and you are tooling up to build me a Funhouse right now. 

[PPS]

This is not a pre-order, it's an order. We do not need pre-orders to figure out how many we are building as parts have already been ordered for a first batch.


It is typical to get the channel started before building product - this is not the same, no business would run building parts, putting them in a warehouse and then telling people to order them from stock - that is never been done with any pinball machine I've ever seen, including stern.


Again, if people are uncomfortable, then they have do not have to buy, no problem, no one is making them. I think the only advise I would have is to choose carefully who they buy from, as we have all seen people/businesses who were reputable then become unstable for various personal or business reasons and then strange things happen.


Rick

[frolic]

I posted this somewhere else, but I'm going to make the same point here:

The colorizing should be part of the r&d budget for each game, and be rolled out included with each remake, ideally on release.

It would throw fuel on the sales, and immediately make the remakes more coveted than originals.

The argument about whether a remake should include improved things not original is already moot, because the machines are shipping with leds instead of incandescent, new boards, etc.

Also solves the piracy issues, since every remake owner then is entitled to the color dots and keeps life simple for everyone.

[PPS]

The current plan is that full color will be integrated into at least one of the models of the game from the start.

[BenetBoy78]

Hi Rick,
Happy Easter to you and your family and all at PPS.
Easter reminds me of my loving Granny.  She always said, "Patience is a virtue young man".  I think that holds true in these days, especially when it comes to Game #2.
If you allow it, anticipation can be relished as much as the actuality of reality.
All the best, Mike V

[PPS]

Thank you for the kind words.

[hocuslocus]

I'd honestly rather pre-order. if you think about it your going to be waiting about the same amount of time regardless (from now till you get your order). the difference is you kick back and wait knowing you have a secure spot and you find out what the title is to game #2 faster

I was lucky though, I only waited 7 months. Honestly wouldn't of bothered me to wait longer, but I'm happy it came when it did. anybody who has done any kind of project, which should be everyone. Should realize things usually take longer then expected almost everytime. The more variables involved the higher the chance. the funny thing is people understand this ( I think anyway). one of the biggest things about most people is if they can complain they will, to anyone listening.