Star Tech Journal

1,....""rAR TECH JouRNAL
February 1994
PRINcE·s CORNER
Donald B. Prince
D & R Music
Bozeman, Montana
MOVIE THEME PINBALL GAMES
RECOGNIZABLE THEME
Movie theme pinball games are
nothing new. With big-name titles
like Jurassic Park, Terminator,
Back to the Future and the latest,
Last Action Hero by Data East,
every marketer knows that this
meld of action movie and pinball
is a great money-making idea.
TIMING
It's been proven by such hit's as
the Addams Family and Jurassic
Park. The key to this meld is tim-
ing. Timing of the movie's appear-
ance at the box office and the re-
lease of the new pinball game.
In the past this didn't pose much
of a problem, since the playfields
were simple with not as much
going on, unlike the playfields of
today. Stuff like: 6-Ball multi-ball
play, ball-eating T-Rex's and op-
erating cranes were not common
features on pinball games of yes-
teryear. These are current items,
however, that require mechanical
accuracy and good engineering.
important than the good engi-
neering of the past. Or, maybe
there just isn't time to work the
bugs out of the pinball games
before the release of the movie.
After all, the movie must be com-
pleted or nearly completed, be-
fore the pinball can be com-
pleted, engineered, or even
thought out into a concept. Then
"This one was
probably released
too soon or
needed more
engineering ti me.
11
I suppose the mad rush is on to
finish the pinball, so it's release
is about the same time as the
movie's release.
sometime after it's release. This
one was probably released too
soon or needed more engineer-
ing time. Not to say it's mechani-
cally inept, or it's a service night-
mare ( though there was some
problems with it) but it makes the
buyer nervous.
No one wants to get stuck with a
service problem machine after
the big money is spent. This tends
to make the buyer nervous and
want to sell the machine as soon
as the money slips a little.
TURNAROUND
Quick resale is one way to keep
you in new machines and avoid
service intensive machines. On-
the-o th er-hand we have had
steady money-making pinball
games that have lasted years but,
they are the low-service-problem
type pinball games. The key for
the steady money-making pinball
is low maintenance, low service
calls and confidence in the ma-
chine.
Too SooN
LATELY
But, lately it seems that the re-
lease of the pinball game is more
Pinball games like Jurassic Park
that had some 50 updates from
the time it was engineered until
Most new pinball games don't
give you that confidence any-
more, not after the 50th update.
------------------17------------------