67 replies to this topic

[allknowing2012]

Can I/we start a side business of supporting these folks? Seriously now...

[hauntfreaks]

why couldn't ya?... you contact them, tell them you will make the tables with your own content so it will be for them with content you built for them

only problem is you will have to have live with the fact they will be using software never meant for this purpose and will be targeted as profiting off something that uses intellectual  properties (roms)

we all make content that uses this same intellectual property, but for non-profit 

my personal opinion on intellectual property differs from profit/non-profit.... most of these are defunct pin companies so in reality its back to ethics... again IMO

Edited by hauntfreaks, 30 May 2016 - 10:02 PM.

[GSGregg]

hey I''m selling a 2x4  for $3000 dollars here is a pic 
https://upload.wikim..._Clue_Stick.jpg
 
it comes with a dvd of every wheel ,dB2s, table and video I every made.

It looks exactly like my $2,699 model, but apparently yours has the hidden USB 5.1 ports.....

[DDH69]

Hmm, not sure Mr Pinball knows what he's got into.  I've bought a bit of stuff over time from this business, they have always been great.

 

I contacted them and asked, what games, what OS, what software - response was, no details available at this time.

[jukedock]

Shouldnt it be Bally - Williams - Stern - Midway - Data East - Gottlieb - premier etc getting moody.

Yes - I realise how hard everyone works on tables, but they are being copied.  The ROMs are being 'stolen' by all of us, as we do not own the real pins we do not have the right to grab those. It is something that (like MAME ROMS) is just accepted and nobody troubles anyone.  Despite real roms being used on pirated games all over the globe.

If too much noise is made, then the larger companies (dont forget Bally/WIlliams are still going in a different form) may just make things very difficult for this hobby to continue.  What if they make everyone remove ROMS or images.  

Will for instance 'Star Trek' or another company take action against cab art designers for using logos.....

Sadly everything available for free on the internet will get pillaged.  I do not agree with the practise - I am just pointing out hard facts.

If someone wants to spend $1000s for a crap bit of Chinese technology with no warranty then let them.  I wont be loosing sleep over them.  I would loose sleep if people like Gary Stern saw this hobby as a threat to his business and stopped us sharing his tables. 

 

Like I have always said - I have much respect for the programmers of VP games. People should not make money out of these guys.
 

[hauntfreaks]

here are my opinions on your question:

 

Shouldnt it be Bally - Williams - Stern - Midway - Data East - Gottlieb - premier etc getting moody.

they could but as defunct pin companies, why would they get involved in a losing battle... where only they would be putting out money for a worthless endeavor

Yes - I realise how hard everyone works on tables, but they are being copied.  The ROMs are being 'stolen' by all of us, as we do not own the real pins we do not have the right to grab those. It is something that (like MAME ROMS) is just accepted and nobody troubles anyone.  Despite real roms being used on pirated games all over the globe.
refer to first answer

If too much noise is made, then the larger companies (dont forget Bally/WIlliams are still going in a different form) may just make things very difficult for this hobby to continue.  What if they make everyone remove ROMS or images.  

lol... what world of hobbies have you been involved with?? obviously not many... in the hobbyists mind its "if there is a will there is a way" the harder something is to do or find the harder a true hobbyist will pursue that endeavor 100 fold.... cant stop will never stop it

Will for instance 'Star Trek' or another company take action against cab art designers for using logos.....

lol...oh stop it... anyone has the right to illustrate/paint/draw any images they desire (and certainly when its not the same medium, no one is taking this art and having it printed on whitewood as a reproduction) and never intended for resale... also if this wasnt true there would be no etsy 

Sadly everything available for free on the internet will get pillaged.  I do not agree with the practise - I am just pointing out hard facts.
very much true... but its when the pillaging turns to profiting .... I expect this from the chinese (from china) but when it come from within the community itself with the attitude "F**k'em"

thats where the people that really care wont turn a blind eye... sad people doing sad stuff

 

If someone wants to spend $1000s for a crap bit of Chinese technology with no warranty then let them.  I wont be loosing sleep over them. 

i think no matter where ya get it, its all the same crap

as for a warrenty i know of an american business that didnt honor their so called "warranty"

 

I would loose sleep if people like Gary Stern saw this hobby as a threat to his business and stopped us sharing his tables. 
wait what??... who? huh? share what?... who the F**k is gary stern sharing stuff with??.... please let me know how so we get on that list.... he's a business dude making real pinball for dudes that want real pinball... gary stern has NEVER EVER lost a sale because of a video pinball machine... real pin dudes want real pinball machines, end of story... NOTHING will ever replace that in a real pin dudes head.... this goes for every machine ever recreated, if a dude wants the machine, he's going to buy that machine.... I've seen this comment before and it might be the silliest statement that gets said.

 

Like I have always said - I have much respect for the programmers of VP games. People should not make money out of these guys.

lol.... ok I agree....lol

Edited by hauntfreaks, 31 May 2016 - 10:37 PM.

[hauntfreaks]

Can I/we start a side business of supporting these folks? Seriously now...

 

the more i think about this the more I think there are tons of "guns for hire" out there

if these companies really want to these tables find dudes to hire to make them for your machines

personally, I wouldnt be for hire, not out of ethics... but more because of laziness, lack of motivation and drive

but i'm sure there a plenty of other folks that have these qualities...

[freneticamnesic]

Yea stern et al would be the ones pursuing action, but realize the minute they do we're all toast. This needs to be policed before it gets to that point and if it comes to that, they need to know which side we're on. I know I don't own what I recreate and I'm a huge advocate against the whole "ask for permission to mod" thing but that doesn't mean I can't call bullshit what it is, and theft of IP, etc etc. I want this hobby to survive and thrive. ChinaPin doesn't give a fuck as long as they make a few bucks.

[htamas]

I think the difference what some people don't realize is all the amount of work that goes into a recreation.

Yes, the ROMs and images, plastic scans etc. are used but ultimately these wouldn't matter and would be useless for a company like this if not for the many dedicated and skillful people who take a lot of their own time to build the amazing recreations we have, let alone developing the software that enables running them.

A big part of the reason why these Chinese bastards may be able to make a sale is the fact that they are touting it as a strong selling point that their cabinets come with "hundreds of games" installed. So essentially the work of others is used to generate profit for them, be it the recreation or the cabinet art which may not even rely on copyrighted images. And then we didn't even talk about originals where there is no ROM involved.

Edited by htamas, 01 June 2016 - 12:35 AM.

[viktory2k1]

These chinese companies gotta be selling a lot more then these things to stay in business, I bet some of those sellers are members on this very site. I have noticed these on ebay for quite a while. Does anybody know someone who bought one of these? I remember Target was selling MAME cabs fully loaded, I saw in in their weekly ads in the paper so I had to go there to see it, OMG! I swear it was made from 1/4" MDF and the screen was like 15 inch and if you moved the joystick too hard, you almost flip the machine over. LOL! The ad showed a really nice looking cab but it sure didn't look like that in person. I don't think these things will affect this hobby, It may actually boost interest in this hobby. I would love to see one of these in person!

[hauntfreaks]

the sellers of this stuff on Ebay arent warehousing products.... there kinda like mail order businesses, you pay the guy on ebay... its shipped from some unknown warehouse, and this warehouse isnt just video pinball its all the crap you see these types of sellers selling.... all the electronics, LEDs, blah blah blah

so to tell you the truth the guys selling these mass produced chinese VP cabs, dont have a clue where the content comes from, and don't really care since its been preloaded way before it gets on that slow boat from china...  

Edited by hauntfreaks, 19 July 2016 - 11:52 PM.

[viktory2k1]

Do you think some of the ppl who program these things are downloading content from this site? Maybe the are, we don't know who everyone really is. Maybe the other sites, they got it from somewhere.mYeah, I get what you mean with these chinese sellers and I actually bought stuff from them on ebay, not a cab though, LOL! I would really like to see one of those cabs though, not the pic but the actual cab. I bet it comes with pre-rusted legs from the ocean salt! LOL. Hell, mine is in the garage and the legs are starting to get a little surface rust just from the humidity and we have an excessive heat watch for the end of the week with dew points in the mid 70's, that is going to ruin that thing but thats another story. Well, not much we can do about it I guess, gonna go order some china made tools now, LOL NOT, even though I bought a exhaust pipe expander from OTC tools and it says made in China!

[Replay]

Guaranteed to be like buying pressboard furniture from Wal-Mart. Hopefully people are smart enough to steer clear of this garbage.

 

Imagine trying to call in for tech support and you get someone on the phone you can't even understand LOL

[russdx]

Worst part is they dint use a real pinball dmd!

[BigBoss]

Worst part is they dint use a real pinball dmd!

Disagree. I wouldn't even want that. I have a bunch of real pinballs and DMDs have bee removed out of those in place of color LCD monitors. I can't see why anyone would want to go backwards and get a real DMD in something to limit their options.

[xenonph]

We're all working for the Japanese, building cars and color TV's, all our money goes to overseas, to the Eastern Sphere.

One day we're gonna lose our roots, wear oriental jeans and boots, and drink nothing but Kawasaki saki homemade wine and Mitsubishi Light beer.

 

Crazy world.

[bpjacobsen]

Just saw this forum. Wow! the balls of these people. (pun intended) I'm just glad I have had the pleasure (and frustration) of putting my own cab together. But man oh man, are these suckas in for a ride if they have to do any updating or adding tables etc etc. They have no clue what they are getting themselves into. lol. And I am most certain that the hardware inside those cabs is crap. Unreal. I agree with HF, this hobby is here to stay. China or no China.

[hauntfreaks]

We're all working for the Japanese, building cars and color TV's, all our money goes to overseas, to the Eastern Sphere.

One day we're gonna lose our roots, wear oriental jeans and boots, and drink nothing but Kawasaki saki homemade wine and Mitsubishi Light beer.

 

Crazy world.

  

hold on there partner...

these are from china, if they were made in Japan I might even buy one.... 

there is a Huge difference when it comes to even the ethical code in the two countries....

china is the #1 cloner of all technologies, and manufacturing, they dont have an original bone in their bodies

and I'm not talking about the Chinese common working people... most most products that are cloned,... are cloned, outside of china itself
I personally know this because of friend of mine dates a Chinese broad... she's a chemist, that reverse engineers american engineered compounds like lubricants

and has admitted to him that no matter what we or anyone in the world makes, and if its profitable... China will put people on copying it... so again,

products from Japan are some of the best things you can buy.... 

Edited by hauntfreaks, 30 July 2016 - 02:42 AM.

[xenonph]

It was a song from the Dr. Demento Show. A radio show that played on the weekends with crazy corny songs. It seemed to fit the situation.

 

I am actually thinking of making a Dr Demento Pinball Table.

 

It will play all the top songs including...Dead Puppies arent much fun, and Grandma got ran over by a Reindeer, and maybe some Weird Al songs.

Edited by xenonph, 30 July 2016 - 02:48 AM.

[hauntfreaks]

dude, growing up i was obsessed with Dr. Demento

this was the first kinda music i remember being exposed to

now that i think about it, I think its why i'm nuts now....

"there come to take me away haha heehee, to the funny farm"

 

https://www.youtube....E4A45DAB1254CC5