Price will be EXTREMELY important for Cuphead, especially if they can announce it in the small gap between D&D and Harry Potter.

I talked to the owner of an arcade near me who has seen it. Said it will be a "home run" and he ordered three of them for his arcade and other locations.

I'm very excited.

How accurate is it that they have no one working? If that is the case, how exactly are they going to move forward? I don't see them pricing it low enough no matter what. It will be just like every other not popular release from a pinball company. They will release it, it will have lackluster sales and they'll stop making them to make the next (or in this case) close up shop. This seems to be the standard attitude of pinball manufacturing, which is strange when you've already spent all your money on the development and everything else related to it.

Are they still making and selling BBQ? What about GTF? Last I heard you couldn't even get a new one (and that was early last year).

Pinball is weird.

ALso, there is ZERO information out there about this...so there is no 'hype'. There are a handful of people who claim to have seen it and 'it's amazing' which is exactly what we hear with EVERY unreleased game from people on the inside. It means nothing.

It's not accurate. I've been to their factory multiple times recently and they are building games. Hot Wheels is their #1 seller and they are out the door the second they are built.

Hopefully they mix in some licensed games with original themes moving forward.

Blues Brothers?

Who knows? They were supposedly trying to go back and re-hire key employees canned unceremoniously in the Fix administration, but I cannot imagine that being successful after the way they were treated/not paid. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, for sure.

Weird that their #1 seller is the one with the most widely recognized license despite the game having barely anything in it (I'd bet their second lowest BOM after BBQ). Its ok though, Cuphead will be so loaded up that it'll be a new successful chapter for AP!

I don't think machines have to be loaded to be fun. Look at TNA. Very minimalist approach, but a great game that kicks your butt every time. Sword of Rage Pro had a spinning mace and a shield that goes up and down. Great game.

Hopefully Cuphead has a good mix of mechs and shots, plus theme integration on the screen as well.

I kinda want a hot wheels still.

Sorry, let me clarify because re-reading what I wrote I see how its easily confusing. I 100% believe that Hot Wheels is their best seller and its probably not even close. I guess my point is that people keep saying that cuphead will wow people so much with how crazy loaded and cool it is, and therefore will open a new era of success for AP. I think it'll be a fairly lukewarm response at best and a game with name recognition similar to Hot Wheels would have been a much better idea, regardless of how much is in the game.

I can't believe Hot Wheels sold more than Houdini, which was getting close to 1000 units. More than the other AP pins? Sure.

Thats probably fair, I always forget Houdini did relatively well for a first game. I think I heard around 800 units. It wouldn't shock me to learn HW has outsold it though, but when I said Hot wheels was the best seller and probably not even close, that is certainly not true if you account for Houdini. Not even close BESIDES Houdini, hows that?

I bought Houdini, Hot Wheels and Oktoberfest. Houdini and Hot Wheels were very good and performed very well. I enjoyed them. I even bought another Houdini after I sold my first one. Oktoberfest was ok but I much preferred Houdini and Hot Wheels.

Oktoberfest I picked up from the factory. They were out of NIB at the time. I wound up with an early game that was apparently used in development. I had several issues with Oktoberfest but Michael Grant and Dave Brennan got me parts and Dave worked with me over the phone to eventually get it playing with all the parts installed. Good Guys that left around the time the Fix era began... All down hill from there.

What the company has become and what they have done to employees, contract people, some vendors etc is really poor. I have no trust in anything from them going forward - if they in fact get another title out the door. They may have trouble building games in any quantity . Probably one, two, three at a time if they attempt. It is very telling that the designer and engineer were let go at years end. Is this something you do if you really plan on running production on a new game.

I think that will be our next game. My son lives the toys and it's a great shooter.

I would totally have Houdini in again at the right price. Love that card tossing minigame. Really inventive use of the buttons. There are a lot of cool little things in the game...and actual nekkid ladies on the PF!

Some of the recent ones were laid off, not canned. Maybe they'll be back.

LTG : )

Yes, I'm sure people are dying to get back to a place that was toxic as hell to work at and did them dirty. I mean, sure, I guess anything is possible lol. You're a funny guy Lloyd.

Yup - that's pretty much unicorns and rainbows.

Good to know!

GTF was actually the first modern game that I considered getting. Their marketing definitely was attractive to someone new to the hobby.

I asked Google Gemini what could be in it.
Boss Battle Modes:

Cuphead vs. The Devil: This mode would feature a back-and-forth battle between Cuphead and the Devil, with each player controlling a flipper.
Mugman vs. King Dice: This mode would be a fast-paced race to collect dice and defeat King Dice.
Dr. Kahl's Robot Factory: This mode would be a challenging maze-like level with obstacles and traps.
Mini-Game Modes:

Plane Shoot-Out: This mode would be a fast-paced shooting gallery where players would try to hit targets with the ball.
Run and Gun: This mode would be a side-scrolling adventure where players would control Cuphead and Mugman to collect coins and defeat enemies.
Parachute Pursuit: This mode would be a top-down chase where players would try to catch the Devil's parachute.
Challenge Modes:

Boss Rush: This mode would be a gauntlet of boss battles, with each one getting progressively more difficult.
Time Trial: This mode would be a race against the clock to score as many points as possible.
Endless Mode: This mode would be a never-ending challenge where players would try to survive as long as possible.

A Cuphead pinball machine would be packed with whimsical and challenging features, drawing heavily from the game's unique art style and boss battles. Here are a few ideas:

Toys:

Cuphead and Mugman: Miniature figurines of the brothers, perhaps with spring-loaded arms for shooting.
The Devil: A larger-than-life figure with glowing red eyes and a menacing grin.
King Dice: A spinning top toy, maybe with dice-shaped ramps for the ball to navigate.
Dr. Kahl's Robot: A robotic arm that could swing down and block the ball's path.
The Train Conductor: A miniature train engine that could move along a track, triggering special effects.
Mechs:

Plane: A miniature plane that could fly across the playfield, launching the ball in different directions.
Tank: A small tank that could fire projectiles at the ball, adding an element of surprise.
Submarine: A submarine that could submerge and resurface, creating moving obstacles.
Robot Boss: A multi-jointed robot arm with spinning gears and flashing lights.
Other Features:

Animated backglass: A vibrant, hand-drawn backglass depicting iconic scenes from the game.
Custom sound effects: Authentic sound effects from the game, including boss battle music and character voices.
Special ramps and lanes: Ramps shaped like devil horns, lanes with spinning gears, and obstacles inspired by the game's unique environments.
This is just a starting point, of course. The possibilities for a Cuphead pinball machine are truly endless!

cup (resized).png

I am most excited about the "hopefully" handdrawn art and the theme integration. I am pretty sure not many consider the music of Elton John as a good theme for a pinball machine, but looking at this from JJP makes me maybe buy one used in the future. It looks amazing...

So i think Cuphead has some cool things, it's appealing to kids and adults. It has this cartoon style full of humor, that makes me smile just watching it and the music is brilliant.

10 times better then the next marvel themed pin or the next old rockband... It gets boring.

So why not making a cartoon pin based on a video game. For me it's a perfect theme...

Enough to be creative and make a cool pin.

They were a HUGE loss. And great GREAT pick up for who hired them after.

Hey, If anyone can get this to LTG, he blocked me and I cannot reach him. Please explain this was a grammatical error my end. I did not call LTG a liar, I meant "lays"! This is where LTG's confindence lays! Not lies! I was saying Lloyd's confindence is based on the distributors reactions of confidence when seeing and playing Cuphead and I am not sure what to make of it. Still not because who knows how this will sell.

I don't want Lloyd thinking I called him a liar

Please excuse my ignorance, but what IS Cuphead? Is it a new or old cartoon or something completely made up from AP?

Originally a beautiful (too hard, not fun, IMO) video game series. Only 21% have finished it. 2% of people completed all achievements.

Netflix made a cartoon series of it.

It is a "hardcore" sidescroll shooter with hand drawn art in the style of the 60's.
The hero is Cuphead, a hero with a cup as a head. His buddy is mugman, head is a mug.

The are hunted by the devil that want to eat their souls.

You can do this yourself. There is a quirk of pinside that even if you block or are blocked, if you make a thread, post one of that thread is still visible to all because pinside can't easily block the OP of a new thread from people who have them blocked. So they just allow post one to ignore the rules. Therefore, you could make a post laying out your case and then tag LTG and that post will still be visible.

Dunno if it will help your situation with LTG, but that's how to have it seen by your own hand.

Man, watching this trailer again sure does remind me of how awesome they made the game look like it was going to be, and then remembering how disappointing it was when it finally came out

that's how it looks and plays..it's just haaaard like japanese bullet hells. I had a lot of fun with it.

And again for those who aren't aware, I get no one can be aware of everything, but Netflix also did release a cartoon based on it. So it is hardly an unknown IP.

It's just your standard bullet hell, memorize the pattern game. Not everyone's cup of tea. There have been a ton of them, this one is just quirky enough to have been a meme for awhile that a lot of people played for a spell on youtube and twitch.

The main reason I actually am semi-excited for this pin are that the designers of Cuphead are actually creating a original story for this game and the art. They are literally working for AP.

Let’s play co-op. I will carry you. You will love the game!

Hey, If anyone can get this to LTG, he blocked me and I cannot reach him. Please explain this was a grammatical error my end. I did not call LTG a liar, I meant "lays"! This is where LTG's confindence lays! Not lies! I was saying Lloyd's confindence is based on the distributors reactions of confidence when seeing and playing Cuphead and I am not sure what to make of it. Still not because who knows how this will sell.
I don't want Lloyd thinking I called him a liar</blockquote

Let it go. move on. Lloyd blocked me for one (1) Downvote not agreeing with him on this thread. Never have I posted anything over the years to (or) about Lloyd,but I will say this,,my fingers have been sore during this time with UP votes on his comments. Life goes on. He has changed, and not for the better it appears.I can no longer upvote him, so at least my thumb is happy and getting much needed rest

I doubt that will help. LTG blocked me a few months ago for giving a thumbs down to his post that said American Pinball was a mess before Fix got there and that he has them on the right track.

The game is amazing though, its just intentionally VERY hard. Its basically a side scrolling bullet hell shooter made in the vein of the Dark Souls series. It's supposed to be a very hard, pattern based game where you have to figure out attack patterns in order to beat mostly just boss fights. I honestly think its a good theme for pinball and if any other manufacturer was doing it, we'd be excited. For that reason, AP deserves the same excitement on theme.

It will come down to the execution for sure though, as we all know. Art-wise, its one of the best art styles of any video game in the last 10-15 years. They use chromatic aberration to give a very distinct hue and look to the animation that makes it look like old-time animation from the 1930s cartoons. For that alone, in pinball I think a lot of old(er) timer pinheads will be really surprised by the art when this game is eventually released.

So let me get this straight. If I enjoy a game - I'm therefore REQUIRED to buy it?

As far as the rest of the post goes. I'm pretty sure that isn't directed at me, because to my knowledge I haven't done that. Feel free to correct me, though.

I’m out of the loop, have you had a chance to see/play Cuphead? Would love to know any thoughts if so

I planned on doing a video about this, but yes, I have played AP's next game. It's Cuphead. I think Ryan did great. I wanted to play it more, but we were on a schedule. I literally only played 1.5 balls of a 3 ball game. The tour/playing of Cuphead was unexpected. I wish we would have gotten their soon so I could get more time on it. Even if Cuphead isn't "your jam". You will appreciate AP's efforts on the game. It has some nifty shots and a mech that should have gone into DnD. I don't want to give away too much, because I would really like Ryan to present his baby to the public. Hopefully they can bring him back (if he is even willing to come back).

My question to all of you is this. I think the number one concern is AP's community confidence. What do YOU think they could do moving forward to change that?

the its a shame the guy they contracted to do the sound took his ball and went home since they allegedly stopped paying him.

Probably won't make a difference with Cuphead unfortunately, but #1 is support and customer service. No one wants to spend 8-10k+ on a unsupported/unfinished brick.

We've seen it, but didn't get a chance to play it yet.

What was the code like? I know Casey is working on it and they want to fine tune it before we stop in to give it a spin.

Did you happen to see the game they have up next by chance?

It is a very hard game. I’m horrible at it. It has potential to be a beautiful game. I hope they follow the video game and make it brutal.

If anyone here feels like sharing a couple spy shots from their potatocam of the new cuphead I'd love to see it. PM of course.

I'm cautiously excited for it, I had no idea what Cuphead was until I googled it 6 mos or more ago, hand drawn cartoon art made into a super hard game? Caught my attention for sure.

Code is the only thing they are waiting on for Cuphead. They also want to have a lot of them in boxes ready to ship before they even reveal the game. I know what their next title is, but I have not seen anything for it. The focus is on Cuphead right now. I would lean towards April as being when they will reveal (that is literally a guess). I asked if it would be at TPF, they would like it to be there, but (this is speculation) it seems like there is a lot 'in the air' right now. Nothing is set in stone.

I wanna play!

I would want the company to bring in respected pinball people (business professional with background in the pinball industry, established pinball game designer, and engineer) and perhaps just as importantly, put them front-and-center and do PR work to change the public perception that they do not, in fact, have one foot out the door …

There shouldn't be any. They were told not to have cell phones out there. All in good time.

Anything seen, may or may not be next. They can shift gears and bring out a different game instead. Timing and theme can be everything.

LTG : )

There is one for sale on Pinside for <$6k with 450 plays.

nevermind

Have you actually played it? I have. Meh.

Good of you to report your look and quick play of Cuphead and preliminary experience of a couple minutes with the game.

However - one Robin never made a Spring. Especially after the approximately 3 year long crappy business winter of their own making.

In response to your question - my confidence with them is extremely low. No trust now. They are done for any of my own future considerations and that of one of my distributors. They will have a tough time selling more than a handful of games.

They can't undo past performance the last few years. Besides games chosen and poor execution there were problems not honoring contracts, losing or disposing of employees, lack of product support and a myriad of other issues. A leopard does not change its spots. And they would have to be able to build the games... and that's a real question. Can they get any industry talent for engineering, quality control and supervision to check and assure quality for any games being built going forward. Do they even have parts ? Could they have had irregularities with vendors too ?

They have done so much harm unto themselves. Community confidence in general has to be very low.