Homepin Working on New Sub-$5,000 Licensed Game Based on "Extremely Famous" Movie

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·Jun 14, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

Homepin developing sub-$5k licensed pinball based on 'extremely famous' movie.

Summary

Homepin's Mike Kalinowski revealed in a podcast interview that the manufacturer is developing a third pinball machine based on an "extremely famous" movie with a sub-$5,000 retail target. The machine will be a stripped-down design without DMD or monitor, designed to circumvent IP licensing restrictions (no video/audio allowed) that involve multiple rights holders. Homepin plans to debut the game at Pinball Expo Chicago next year.

Key Claims

Homepin's third pinball machine will be based on an 'extremely famous' movie with a retail price target of $4,999 USD
high confidence · Mike Kalinowski statement in The Aussie Pinball Podcast Ep 16
The movie IP is owned by approximately six different parties, many of whom don't get along, and only allows licensing without video or audio clips
high confidence · Mike Kalinowski explanation of licensing constraints
Homepin's design response will be a 'cut-down' machine without DMD or monitor, reminiscent of Bally Solid State games
high confidence · Mike Kalinowski design decision statement
Homepin is one to two months away from completing the first container of Spinal Tap games for shipment to Europe
high confidence · Mike Kalinowski production timeline
Haggis Pinball copied Homepin's playfield art sandwich design between levels
medium confidence · Mike Kalinowski claim about competitor's design practices

Notable Quotes

“the license that Homepin has secured for Game Three is for an 'extremely famous' movie, but it comes with a lot of problems because it is 'owned by about six different players' many of which don't get along”
Mike Kalinowski (via Dr. John Cosson summary) @ N/A — Key detail explaining licensing complexity driving design decisions
“Homepin has decided to create a 'cut-down' machine that doesn't have a DMD or a monitor, reminiscent of Bally Solid State games”
Article (summarizing Mike Kalinowski) @ N/A — Reveals Homepin's strategic response to licensing restrictions
“The Company's goal is to have the new game retail for $4,999 USD”
Article (summarizing Mike Kalinowski) @ N/A — Establishes aggressive sub-$5k pricing positioning against competitors

Entities

HomepincompanyMike KalinowskipersonDr. John CossonpersonThe Aussie Pinball PodcasteventThunderbirdsgameThis is Spinal TapgameHomepin's third game (untitled)gamePinball Expo ChicagoeventHaggis Pinballcompany

Signals

?
business_signal: Homepin's Taiwan operations now stabilized enough to support concurrent development of multiple games; moving from crisis management to production scaling
high · Mike Kalinowski states production is 'a lot less hectic' in Taiwan; company securing new licenses while manufacturing existing games; 1-2 months to first Spinal Tap container completion
?
event_signal: Pinball Expo Chicago 2026 positioned as venue for debut announcement of Homepin's third game; Mike Kalinowski's first trip to America
high · Commitment made to IP owners to reveal game at Pinball Expo; confirmed as Mike's first American visit
?
design_philosophy: Homepin adopting retro Bally Solid State aesthetic as licensing workaround rather than licensing accommodation—strategic design choice responding to multi-party IP restrictions
high · Decision to create 'cut-down' machine without DMD/monitor directly attributed to licensing limitations on video/audio content
?
leak_detection: Unannounced third pinball game by Homepin revealed through podcast interview; IP identity deliberately obscured but details sufficient for community speculation
high · Mike Kalinowski disclosed game existence, licensing constraints, design approach, and retail target on The Aussie Pinball Podcast; article author explicitly invites community to guess the IP
?
licensing_signal: Complex multi-party IP ownership creating unusual licensing constraints (no video/audio allowed); Homepin securing only partial rights from main players

Topics

Homepin's third game development and licensing strategyprimarySub-$5,000 pinball pricing strategy and market positioningprimaryComplex multi-party IP licensing and design constraintsprimaryHomepin's Spinal Tap production status and timelinesecondaryHomepin's manufacturing challenges and relocation from China to TaiwansecondarySolid State pinball design aesthetics as modern design strategysecondary

Sentiment

neutral(0.5)— Article presents factual information from podcast with neutral tone. Some sympathy for Homepin's historical challenges (engineer death, employee issues), but primary focus is on upcoming product announcement. Slight positive undertone regarding Homepin's problem-solving approach to licensing constraints.

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

This morning Dr. John Cosson released a new episode of his show, The Aussie Pinball Podcast on The Pinball Network. This episode he welcomed Mike Kalinowski of Homepin as a guest. Homepin is the manufacturer of various replacement parts for arcade machines as well as the Thunderbirds and most recently This is Spinal Tap pinball machines. Mike told the story of why the release of Homepin's initial pinball machine Thunderbirds was so significantly delayed. Thunderbirds was the company's first game, so every design and part, even the Company's factory itself had to be started from scratch. Also, at the time one of Homepin's engineers passed away in Mike's Chinese apartment, causing a police inquiry, his only English speaking employee to become fed up and leave on maternity leave and ultimately the payment of a large cash settlement. All of these issues were time-consuming and kept Homepin from having another pinball machine in the pipeline. Homepin's second game, This is Spinal Tap Pinball wasn't started until after Thunderbirds was complete. Spinal Tap was delayed by Homepin's move from China to Taiwan after China's business climate became less friendly towards foreign businesses and owners, his partner's brother having a stroke and other reasons. So far only sample Spinal Tap machines have been released around the world, two or three machines to Australia, one to Canada and one to the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. Homepin has a container load of cabinets and backboxes in hand, waiting for finished playfields to be inserted. The factory is putting two playfields per day together. These playfields do not use clearcoat, but rather have art sandwiched between levels. Mike claims that Haggis Pinball copied his playfield design. In response to feedback on the released sample games, Homepin has made some changes to its flippers, specifically the link assembly, that it will implement on production games. Homepin is one to two months away from completing the first container of games, which will be shipped to Europe. While the license for Thunderbirds pinball has expired, Homepin's license for This is Spinal Tap enables it to produce machines for at least another year. Now that things are up and running and a lot less hectic at Homepin in Taiwan, Mike has been able to secure a third license for a pinball machine that it is working on while it manufactures game number two, Spinal Tap. According to Mike, the license that Homepin has secured for Game Three is for an "extremely famous" movie, but it comes with a lot of problems because it is "owned by about six different players" many of which don't get along. The license that Homepin has secured is only with the main players and it doesn't allow any video or audio clips. Homepin has decided to create a "cut-down" machine that doesn't have a DMD or a monitor, reminiscent of Bally Solid State games. It has made a commitment to the owners of the game's IP that he will show the game at next year's Pinball Expo in Chicago. The visit to the show and the reveal will be Mike's first trip to America. The Company's goal is to have the new game retail for $4,999 USD. That's actually pretty descriptive. I bet that we can narrow down a list of possible themes if we put our heads together. Any guesses? Kudos to Dr. John for the great interview. Below is a link to the episode for anyone interested in checking it out: The Aussie Pinball Podcast Ep 16: Mike From Homepin https://thepinballnetwork.podbean.com/e/the-aussie-pinball-podcast-ep-16-mike-from-homepin/