One More Time?

Pinball News Website·article·analyzed·Mar 5, 2006

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.017

TL;DR

The Pinball Factory plans Medieval Madness remanufacture, 1,000 units, $5,000 max, 2006.

Summary

The Pinball Factory announced plans in March 2006 to remanufacture two classic Williams/Bally dot-matrix games: Medieval Madness and Cactus Canyon. Medieval Madness won a community vote to be manufactured first, with a maximum price of US$5,000 and a target production run of 1,000 units. The company planned to use newly-manufactured WPC boards with original software, with production expected to take about six months.

Key Claims

Medieval Madness and Cactus Canyon were selected for remanufacturing by The Pinball Factory
high confidence · Official announcement dated March 5, 2006
Medieval Madness won a community vote to determine which game would be manufactured first
high confidence · Decision made after 'neck-and-neck race' on the company's web forum
Maximum price for remanufactured games was US$5,000 each plus shipping
high confidence · Official pricing announced by The Pinball Factory
Initial deposit requirement was 50% of game price, though Pinball Heaven distributor accepted £200 (US$375) deposits
high confidence · Payment structure outlined in announcement
Medieval Madness remanufacture would require branding as 'Medieval Madness Gold' or use Bally brand due to Williams licensing restrictions
high confidence · Licensing constraint explained: 'Medieval Madness was a Williams-branded game and so would have to be made without the Williams logo'
Games would use newly-manufactured WPC boards with original software, with no hardware design updates planned
high confidence · Technical specifications stated in announcement
Production was expected to take approximately six months if sufficient orders were received
high confidence · Timeline provided in announcement
The Crocodile Hunter - Outback Adventure was nearing completion and expected to release in June or July 2006
high confidence · Status update included in announcement

Notable Quotes

“Medieval Madness was declared the winner”
The Pinball Factory (via news article) @ March 5, 2006 — Official confirmation of community voting outcome selecting Medieval Madness as the first remanufactured title
“Medieval Madness was a Williams-branded game and so would have to be made without the Williams logo”
The Pinball Factory (via news article) @ March 5, 2006 — Explains licensing constraint that would impact branding strategy for the remanufactured game
“Illinois Pin Ball Inc's patent on the 7-opto ball trough may prompt a redesign of that part and provide the opportunity to address the problems with broken components and trough divots”
The Pinball Factory (via news article) @ March 5, 2006 — Indicates potential design improvements to address known reliability issues in the original design

Entities

The Pinball Factorycompany Medieval Madnessgame Cactus CanyongamePinball HeavencompanyThe Crocodile Hunter - Outback AdventuregameWilliamscompany BallycompanyIllinois Pin Ball Inccompany

Signals

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business_signal: The Pinball Factory business model involves pre-orders with significant deposits to fund manufacturing, indicating capital structure challenges
high · 50% deposit required up-front; distributor Pinball Heaven offered alternative £200 deposit due to buyer resistance to US$2,500 upfront costs
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community_signal: Community voting mechanism used to determine manufacturing priority between two classic games, indicating manufacturer engagement with collector base
high · Medieval Madness declared winner after 'neck-and-neck race' on company web forum
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announcement: The Pinball Factory officially announces remanufacturing plans for Medieval Madness and Cactus Canyon with specific production targets and pricing
high · Official announcement with detailed specifications, timeline, and order window (March 1-April 30, 2006)
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product_strategy: Planned design improvements to address reliability issues including potential trough redesign to address 'broken components and trough divots'
medium · Illinois Pin Ball Inc patent may prompt redesign to address known problems with original design
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licensing_signal: Licensing constraints from Williams on Medieval Madness requiring alternative branding strategy ('Medieval Madness Gold' or Bally brand) for remanufactured version
high · Article explicitly states Medieval Madness was Williams-branded and would require alternative branding due to licensing restrictions

Topics

Game RemanufacturingprimaryCommunity Voting / Fan EngagementprimaryLicensing and Intellectual PropertyprimaryPricing and Production ModelsprimaryHardware and Technical SpecificationssecondaryDistribution Partnershipssecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.75)— Article presents an optimistic industry development with community enthusiasm evident through voting participation. However, conditional language about order requirements and project cancellation creates some uncertainty. Tone is professional and informative.

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

Story dated March 5, 2006 . Melbourne-based The Pinball Factory has announced plans to remanufacture two classic Williams/Bally dot-matrix games. The games in question are Medieval Madness and Cactus Canyon and the decision on which to make first was put to the vote recently on the company's web forum. After a neck-and-neck race, Medieval Madness was declared the winner. The intention is to make 1,000 games at a maximum price of US$5000 each plus shipping from Australia. Buyers need to make an initial deposit of 50% of the game's price either directly with The Pinball Factory or through one of the company's distributors around the world. The balance would then be payable just prior to shipping. With some potential buyers baulking at paying US$2500 up front, TPF distributor Pinball Heaven have started taking orders for the games with a deposit of only £200 (US$375), having pre-ordered a container of the games. The Pinball Factory has the rights to remanufacture Bally games using the Bally name but Medieval Madness was a Williams-branded game and so would have to be made without the Williams logo. An alternative possibility is to produce it as a different model such as "Medieval Madness Gold" and use the Bally brand instead. If insufficient orders are received, the project may be cancelled and all money paid would then be returned but if enough buyers are forthcoming - and at the time of writing , attention will then move on to the second proposed game, Cactus Canyon. There is no intention to update the hardware design of the games, so they would be built using newly-manufactured WPC boards and would use the original software. Cactus Canyon may include a number of minor fixes to make the game code more complete but that aside both games are intended to be as close to the originals as possible. Changes to legislation since the originals were made may require the use of lead-free parts for games exported to EU countries and Illinois Pin Ball Inc's patent on the 7-opto ball trough may prompt a redesign of that part and provide the opportunity to address the problems with broken components and trough divots. If buyers wish, they can specify their own modifications at build time and substitute the original stainless steel side rails and lock down bar for black versions for no cost, or gold for a US$200 premium. The plans come as work on The Crocodile Hunter - Outback Adventure is almost complete, pending artwork approval. The game is expected to be released in June or July this year. The base cabinet design for Crocodile Hunter is identical to the Williams and Bally games with the exception of the extra surround sound speaker cutouts at the front of Crocodile Hunter. The backboxes are very different though. The Pinball Factory are accepting orders for Medieval Madness from 1st March through to 30th April 2006 and we'll keep you updated on the project's progress. If it does go ahead, production is expected to take about six months. Back to the news index Back to the front page