Request The Addams Family (videos)

[PiN WiZ]

That's cool. I have seen two of them in the last few years, but both were too broken to relive the "magic". I still played them of course.

I live in San Antonio, TX.

Have you been to Pinballz Arcade here in Austin, Tx? You're only an hour and a half away and they've got 125+ pinball tables in great condition including The Addam's Family.

 

[Mega]

Have you been to Pinballz Arcade here in Austin, Tx? You're only an hour and a half away and they've got 125+ pinball tables in great condition including The Addam's Family.

Never even heard of it... but I'm already intrigued.

Holy Cow!!! That place looks awesome!!

http://www.pinballzarcade.com/

Addams Family right there on the top photo!

Next time I'm in Austin, I'm there!

 

[PiN WiZ]

Never even heard of it... but I'm already intrigued.

Holy Cow!!! That place looks awesome!!

http://www.pinballzarcade.com/

Addams Family right there on the top photo!

Next time I'm in Austin, I'm there!

By the way, those photos on their website are kind of old and the layout is totally different now...the place is jam packed with rows of pinball machines and other arcade games as well. Just thought I'd point that out.

 

[Pin Dad]

I live on long Island and I wish we had a good arcade or pinball hall with well kept machines the few i find all are shells of their former selvs. If i had the money to invest i would do it myself. The operators neglect at keeping functioning machines is the reason pinball is dying. Oddly I remember seeing Addams Family at the arcade but at the time they had like 15 different pinsand i was hooked on Jurassic Park and Star Trek Next Gen so I never really played it Same for Twilight Zone. It's amazing how we took it all for granted that we would always get to play them. Which is why im so excited they are doing this. Plus its great to see my son eager to play them, Hes 8!

 

[Josh Blazer]

I'll throw in my 2 cents and say that most people interested in pinball would easily be willing to shell out $10-$20 for a decent reproduction of an Addam's family table on PA, even when most tables are likely to be in the $3-$5 range. I'd still love to own the real thing one of these days, and after owning a real pin this last year feel confident in my electronics skill to maintain one. Addams Family was the pinnacle of pinball in my opinion - great layout, challenging goals, great theme. Looking forward to playing it again this month at the pinball museum in Las Vegas...

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

(holds up his Devil's Advocate sign for a moment)
I know most of us would be willing to pay a large premium if necessary to play Addams Family on TPA, and I think most people with a semi-serious or better interest in pinball would recognize the significance of TAF and be willing to pay a little extra. I'm not at all sure the masses, who outnumber us by hundreds-to-one and upon whom FarSight has to depend for the bulk of their revenue, would understand (or even care) why TAF is important or would buy it if it were priced higher than a "normal" licensed table.

(puts down sign)
That being said, a neglected and battered TAF at the campus bar was my introduction to real pinball. It was significantly less neglected (and in a better state of repair) by the time I graduated.

TAF would be the Holy Grail of tables to play on TPA, at least for me. And while I'm out in left field daydreaming, if it were set up so that finishing the Wizard Goals on TAF unlocked the gold edition...

 

[Patrick]

Are there any news from the Adam's family license???
Any price?

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

They're probably still negotiating licenses. That table's jam-packed with actor likenesses, sound clips (including some custom ones recorded for the table), the theme song, and of course Paramount Studio's and the Charles Addams estate's interest in the movie and the original concept, respectively.

Given that, and given that FarSight can't do Kickstarters in rapid succession (people don't like being asked for money repeatedly), and given that ST:TNG seems to be the second "premium" table slated if the TZ project succeeds; I don't think we'll see TAF for at least a year, maybe longer.

 

[Dumahim]

I thought all the voices were recorded for the table. I seem to recall Farsight mentioning it in their TPA announcement video way back when and used it as the example of how difficult it can be to obtain licenses, which I think also included MC Hammer for his music.

If they do somehow manage to pull it off (and with how quickly the TZ kickstarter is growing, maybe there's a chance), I'd hope they can also get the original recordings and improve the sound as it was pretty choppy originally. The sound will really need some work because the thunder better be shaking my house when it goes off.

 

[Patrick]

Other solution : a gift from Farsight to us. If it is free, licensing is easier ;-)

 

[RetroDude]

Other solution : a gift from Farsight to us. If it is free, licensing is easier ;-)

Are you saying that you would like FarSight to license, develop, test and release the Addams Family pinball machine for free?

Wow.
Words fail.

And besides that madness... what possibly makes you think that licensing would be any easier to obtain if they gave the game away free?

 

[dtown8532]

Other solution : a gift from Farsight to us. If it is free, licensing is easier ;-)

Wait! What?
That's a nice thought but I don't think Farsight would do that.
Just how much has Farsight actually talked about TAF other than the usual "we would love to do it" impressions? I would imagine that there are so many licenses involved in this table that, if it happens, it's at least a year off. My basis for this. The simple mention of ST:TNG as a good possibility for the next "tough to get" licensed table in their TZ announcement. Thoughts?

 

[Mega]

A Word from FarSight

I made a contribution to the Twilight Zone kickstarter, and also sent a question about The Addams Family directly to the developers. They were kind enough to reply directly to me about it, so here is the latest status directly form them... I hope they don't mind me sharing:

First, here is my exact message to them:

Is there any chance of a kickstarter for The Addams Family? I haven't seen any serious mention of the table, and I am just curious if there have already been any show-stoppers or if the possibility of seeing that table on Pinball Arcade still exists?

By the way, I just contributed $100 to The Twilight Zone (and hopefully STTNG too).

And their reply:

Thanks for the support, Dean! The Addams Family is an even bigger licensing challenge, but we've been working on it. If we succeed with the Twilight Zone and STTNG, there's a good chance we could do it.

So while certainly not a commitment, I am once again hopeful. Especially with the current progress of the TZ Kickstarter.

 

[PiN WiZ]

I made a contribution to the Twilight Zone kickstarter, and also sent a question about The Addams Family directly to the developers. They were kind enough to reply directly to me about it, so here is the latest status directly form them... I hope they don't mind me sharing:

First, here is my exact message to them: And their reply: So while certainly not a commitment, I am once again hopeful. Especially with the current progress of the TZ Kickstarter.

If we knock out The Twilight Zone and Star Trek : The Next Generation by pledging over $110,000 with this initial kickstarter, I'm sure we'll see The Addams Family sooner rather than later.

 

[Jeff Strong]

They added this to the FAQ on the TZ Kickstarter:

The Addams Family pinball table is my all-time favorite! Can we digitize that one as well?
We love the Addams Family table, and we would be very excited to digitize and preserve it! However this table is an even bigger licensing challenge than the Twilight Zone or Star Trek: The Next Generation. We are working on identifying all the required licenses. We won't ask for money for it until we're sure we can secure all of the licenses we'd need to do it..

 

[Bowflex]

They can't rely solely on kick starters for that amount of dough repeatedly. There are plenty of high profit margin things they could sell like swag, designer balls, access to operator menus, etc. or maybe just forego some of their profit margin. Eventually they will be taking money in so these up front licensing costs should not keep being so high either.

 

[Bowflex]

By up front I mean the amount they are passing on via kick starter.

 

[Jeff Strong]

They can't rely solely on kick starters for that amount of dough repeatedly. There are plenty of high profit margin things they could sell like swag, designer balls, access to operator menus, etc. or maybe just forego some of their profit margin. Eventually they will be taking money in so these up front licensing costs should not keep being so high either.

Yeah, I agree. Seems like the profits should get to the point where they won't need to rely on Kickstarter campaigns for every "premium" table, at least not for such a high amount anyway. Maybe for the next big license they would only need to raise a portion of the licensing costs through Kickstarter, and then it would decrease even more for the next. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

 

[Bowflex]

Yeah, I agree. Seems like the profits should get to the point where they won't need to rely on Kickstarter campaigns for every "premium" table, at least not for such a high amount anyway. Maybe for the next big license they would only need to raise a portion of the licensing costs through Kickstarter, and then it would decrease even more for the next. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Exactly, so long as the sell rate is strong and hopefully has an effect that pours over to other tables. Hopefully fence sitters or people that would only buy a pinball game for Twilight Zone will try other tables and help pinball increase its resurgence in popularity while supporting Farsight's efforts. Plus they will have to pay the 99 cents minimum for most devices or the 10 bucks on consoles for the app itself. Even without the kickstarter covering the up front licensing, a "premium" table must come with a "premium" cost. Obviously those that contribute will mostly get the table for one device but selling it to the non-contributors and multi-platform buyers will yield much more money so I don't see how they can't end up with huge revenue. I'd love for them to commit some portion of the flowthrough towards future premium licensing. Besides, they will have a stream of revenue from previous tables as not everyone buys them instantly.

 

[Dumahim]

Great news. It is surprising that Addams is a bigger challenge than Star Trek. I do recall there being a video somewhere with someone from Farsight explaining all the different rights they would need for it, just can't seem to find it. I can't remember them all though. Whoever owns rights to Addams Family, Paramount Pictures, Angelica Houston, estate of Raul Julia, MC Hammer, and I'm sure some more I'm missing.