First Look: JJP's "The Hobbit"!

[REVOLUTION]

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/-Fir ... K0Tcto60OI

Check it out! Doesn't look too bad from a side-art perspective, anyway.. will look good next to LOTR

Funny thing is, I've already started working on a shooter for it.

 

[Vengeance]

Lol, they need to get WOZ out the door before they worry about side art for the hobbit.

 

[REVOLUTION]

That's the thing.. the WoZ games are essentially done, they're just waiting on Keith's code to be up to snuff.

 

[frolic]

I think the business model of hyping up release 2, when they still need to sell a shit ton of WOZs is flawed.

He's got to keep his factory buzzing for the next year+ with nothing but WOZ being pumped out. the only way that happens is if tons more people buy into it.

Now we're all looking at (and pre-ordering) Hobbit.

Stern has it right to work in secrecy and only talk about the machines you have FOR SALE TODAY. If Star Trek was confirmed, it would eat into Avengers. Right now Hobbit is eating Dorothy's lunch.

 

[Chris Bardon]

Is that actually final artwork? Could just be a mockup to sell the last few LE deposits. Still, if they want to release next spring, they need to get things moving. Turnaround should be a LOT faster this time. Looking forward to seeing how this one shapes up, and the opportunity to actually get to play the damn thing before buying one. This buying games before they're released model everyone is moving towards is nuts!

 

[REVOLUTION]

I think the business model of hyping up release 2, when they still need to sell a shit ton of WOZs is flawed.

Rumour has it they need the cash injection..

 

[frolic]

He built a factory, that factory has to be staffed, powered, parts bought and manufactured, for MONTHS to get the pre-orders for woz done (ie: no more cash coming in). so... yeah, dicey.

 

[SquidVicious]

He built a factory, that factory has to be staffed, powered, parts bought and manufactured, for MONTHS to get the pre-orders for woz done (ie: no more cash coming in). so... yeah, dicey.

Just to get things straight .. he leased the factory from Lawlor but he did have to outfit it, with the distributor model a large portion of the pre-pays are gone (pretty much everyone I know of that did a pre-order on the Hobbit put a 1,000 down and that is it until the machine shows up next summer not spring (ie payment due when the machine is in hand)) .. movie is being released in July of 2014. They've hired additonal programmers to get the code done quicker Ted Estes being the 'name' among those hires. Could they need cash .. sure ... even probably but I wouldn't consider rumors from Stern folk to be a good source for that.

July 2014 is 15 months from now so while I agree that putting the Hobbit out there will effect (and affect in a negative way) the sales of WoZ I don't really see how else you do it.. Jack has made a number of mistakes in dates and estimates etc... but he is also the largest reason that Stern isn't making BBH NBA etc ... anymore otherwise that would be what is up for offer.

TH will be what truly shows if his model works or doesn't ... it should be an interesting ride.

 

[frolic]

I want him to succeed, just concerned is all. I'll be a buyer of Hobbit if it is a good game. But I won't be pre-ordering.

 

[Sunfox]

Just to get things straight .. he leased the factory from Lawlor but he did have to outfit it

Why would Lawlor own an empty factory in Lakewood, New Jersey next door to Jack?

No.

Jack leased the "Midwest Campus" in the Chicago area from Lawlor for use by their Chicago-based design staff. The actual factory in New Jersey has nothing to do with Lawlor.

 

[SquidVicious]

Just to get things straight .. he leased the factory from Lawlor but he did have to outfit it

Why would Lawlor own an empty factory in Lakewood, New Jersey next door to Jack?

No.

Jack leased the "Midwest Campus" in the Chicago area from Lawlor for use by their Chicago-based design staff. The actual factory in New Jersey has nothing to do with Lawlor.

Fair enough that makes better sense

 

[McMean]

The other thing to remember here is that Jack owns a tonne of shit... and as I understand it, it's successful shit. When you're a successful business and you look to expand, you can easily balance the cost of expansion against the current profit of the business.

I don't for a second think he's "run out of cash" and is looking for the grand on the Hobbit to float his end of WOZ. He's probably floating the whole of WOZ on his overall business success.

My humble 2 cents.... but now I guess it to be a nickel or zero cents eh?

Daniel

 

[frolic]

I think the whole thing of money came out because of how Hobbit was played out. Jack went against what he has said in the past, which was that order forms would be sent out to WOZ customers with their games.

The story about how he HAD to have Hobbit announced for the movie is dubious, and even if true, an announcement was all that was necessary, not to take pre-order money in time with the first movie. I'm sure over the next year or 2, we will see other Hobbit game titles, like for computers, consoles, phones, announced at their normal venues (E3) etc, there wasn't a whole slew of announcements around the movie on that timeline. The whole thing didn't sound right.

So, then we're left with why it played out as it did, and all we're left with is that it generates cash. The WOZ pre-order numbers have been pretty much the same since I've heard them for over the last year (1000 LEs, few hundred regulars). So there doesn't seem to be a lot of continued interest in ordering WOZ, and cash is not being generated by it. But beyond all the immense start-up costs of design, plus the factory, he now has to make those units and deliver them with no cash coming in.

Anyhow, those are the dots I'm connecting.

 

[REVOLUTION]

My best guess is that Jack is simply diverting attention away from the WoZ delays.