Capcom Coin Op, Closed
William Pfutzenreuter
It is official. at 9AM Dec 9,1996 I was informed in a large meeting.
From: Those 3 guys.
(March of '93)
To: Those 57 people
To: Gamestar Inc
(ribbon cutting cermony March 15,1994)
To: Capcom Coin-Op
To: The closing of Arlington Heights Plant
(December 9,1996)
It's been an experience of a lifetime........
Scott Piehler
pf...@wwa.com (William Pfutzenreuter) wrote:
Hey Pfutz, thanks for the note. Sorry for the message.
Is this the whole shooting match, video & pin? Or just the
pin-division?
1996. A pretty bleak year, all things pin-sidered.
Scott
Scott Piehler (RSP)- Atlanta, GA
A list of newer pins in the Atlanta area can be found at
http://www.mindspring.com/~rosco29/pinball.htm
Robert McCann
In article <32ac5408.505565@news>, pf...@wwa.com says...
>
>It is official. at 9AM Dec 9,1996 I was informed in a large meeting.
Hmmm.. Apparantly the merger (or buyout or whatever it was) with Sega never
went through. That's too bad. I was just getting to like Capcom games.
Guess it wasn't the right time to get into the market being in the downturn
that it is/was in.
And then there were two.
Dangerous Dann
In article <32ac5408.505565@news> pf...@wwa.com (William Pfutzenreuter) writes:
>From: pf...@wwa.com (William Pfutzenreuter)
>Subject: Capcom Coin Op, Closed
>Date: Mon, 09 Dec 1996 18:10:25 GMT
>It is official. at 9AM Dec 9,1996 I was informed in a large meeting.
>From: Those 3 guys.
>(March of '93)
>To: Those 57 people
>To: Gamestar Inc
>(ribbon cutting cermony March 15,1994)
>To: Capcom Coin-Op
>To: The closing of Arlington Heights Plant
>(December 9,1996)
>It's been an experience of a lifetime........
Anyone who played the game "Big Bang Bar" at Expo last month saw a truly
great game that apparently now will *not* be made. I was hoping to buy at
least one for my Route and I know many others would have as well. I really
was hoping that sales of Big Bang and Flipper Football would help hold the
company together until this industry slump swings back to the good times (it
always does). Instead, it's another Black Day for Pinball...
For all my friends at Capcom I offer my sincere condolences and hope that
the new year finds you other opportunities within our struggling field. We
hate to lose your creative talents and energies!
D. Frank
Frank Panzek
William Pfutzenreuter wrote:
>
> It is official. at 9AM Dec 9,1996 I was informed in a large meeting.
>
> From: Those 3 guys.
> (March of '93)
> To: Those 57 people
> To: Gamestar Inc
> (ribbon cutting cermony March 15,1994)
> To: Capcom Coin-Op
> To: The closing of Arlington Heights Plant
> (December 9,1996)
>
> It's been an experience of a lifetime........
I agree pfutz. It was a fun run while it lasted. I will miss all of my
friends, but I will not miss the team that made the descision not to let
me stay on until the doors closed. I busted my ass (with an awfull
lot of unpaid overtime) and they thank me by kicking me out the door just
before Christmas. O.K. so i'm a little bitter.
If anybody knows of an openning for an ex Assistant Field Service Manager
drop me an E-Mail about it.
Jonathan N. Deitch
In article <32ac5408.505565@news>,
pf...@wwa.com (William Pfutzenreuter) writes:
> It is official. at 9AM Dec 9,1996 I was informed in a large meeting.
Oh shit. No other way to describe it.
Any news on a buyout by, let's say, Sega ? There is a LOT of very, very
good talent (ie: Big Bang Bar) there that could be VERY beneficial to
another company ... Both in games AND in talent.
This is BAD BAD BAD BAD new.
- Jonathan
--
Back to Back * 95/96 NL Champs * Go Braves !! | "I Hate it when I can't trust
jde...@gsu.edu \ Play Pinball !! | my own technology!" - LaForge
jde...@worldnet.att.net |-------------------------------------------------
http://www.gsu.edu/~musjnd / "Thrills! Chills! Magic! Prizes!" -- Hurricane
Roddenberry, Asimov, Henson, Dr. Seuss, Mel Blanc, Friz Freleng ... Sigh ...
William Pfutzenreuter
ros...@atl.mindspring.com (Scott Piehler) wrote:
>Is this the whole shooting match, video & pin? Or just the
>pin-division?
>
As far as I understand, Just the pin. It was announced that video
would be moving back to CA. & that the Arlington Heights facility
would be shut down.
Michael Burke
pf...@wwa.com (William Pfutzenreuter) wrote:
>It is official. at 9AM Dec 9,1996 I was informed in a large meeting.
>From: Those 3 guys.
>(March of '93)
>To: Those 57 people
>To: Gamestar Inc
>(ribbon cutting cermony March 15,1994)
>To: Capcom Coin-Op
>To: The closing of Arlington Heights Plant
>(December 9,1996)
>It's been an experience of a lifetime........
My commiserations to all the people at Capcom. I really liked Big Bang
Bar & Breakshot which I was lucky enough tp play at this years Expo.
It has not been a good year for pinball companies.
:(
Hang in there Wms & Sega.
Mikey
+ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - +
| mbu...@voyager.co.nz | Wellington, | 1946 - 1996. 50 years |
| http://www.voyager.co.nz/~mburke/ | New Zealand | of Williams pinball |
+ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - +
For an extensive list of pinballs located in Wellington, have a look at:
http://www.voyager.co.nz/~mburke/pinlist.htm
Joshua Lehan
mus...@gsu.edu (Jonathan N. Deitch) wrote:
> Any news on a buyout by, let's say, Sega ? There is a LOT of very, very
> good talent (ie: Big Bang Bar) there that could be VERY beneficial to
> another company ... Both in games AND in talent.
> This is BAD BAD BAD BAD new.
"This is not good!"
With BBB almost ready to go into production, looks like it will never be
made, now...
Guess I'll get to play Big Bang Bar at a pinball show, sometime, right
next to Loch Ness Monster (Game Plan), Road Runner (Atari), and Krull
(Gottlieb/Columbia)!
Why is it that the companies always decide to close *RIGHT* before
releasing the best game they ever [would have] made?
JoSH
______
\Josh/ Lehan
\ / mailto:kre...@netgate.net
\/ http://www.netgate.net/~krellan/
Joshua Lehan
mbu...@voyager.co.nz (Michael Burke) wrote:
> My commiserations to all the people at Capcom. I really liked Big Bang
> Bar & Breakshot which I was lucky enough tp play at this years Expo.
I can't help but think how much Capcom reminds me of Atari... they hit
it big with a string of successful videogames, decided to open a pinball
buisness, but (much to the detriment of us pin-heads) closed it a few
years later because it was losing money.
Does anyone know if the Capcom pinball factory will be bought out by
anyone? It'd be a shame to have to liquidate out a brand-new pinball
factory with better quality control than just about any pinball
manufacturer remaining on the market!
Capcom, with their "Street Fighter" movie which bombed, and the start-up
costs of their pinball division, must have been looking to cut expenses,
and out went pinball. Hopefully they can put some of the pinball
programmers to work with Street Fighter 3! It's been far too long
delayed already...
Erik Mooney
>Guess I'll get to play Big Bang Bar at a pinball show, sometime, right
>next to Loch Ness Monster (Game Plan), Road Runner (Atari), and Krull
>(Gottlieb/Columbia)!
>
>Why is it that the companies always decide to close *RIGHT* before
>releasing the best game they ever [would have] made?
Every time I see something on here about Capcom or BBB, I feel guilty
for only playing it once when both the game and I were at Broadway
(before Expo.) Ah well..
Dino
In article <32ac5408.505565@news>, pf...@wwa.com (William Pfutzenreuter) wrote:
> It is official. at 9AM Dec 9,1996 I was informed in a large meeting.
>
> From: Those 3 guys.
> (March of '93)
> To: Those 57 people
> To: Gamestar Inc
> (ribbon cutting cermony March 15,1994)
> To: Capcom Coin-Op
> To: The closing of Arlington Heights Plant
> (December 9,1996)
>
> It's been an experience of a lifetime.
So is there any slim possibility that someone other company will buy and
release Big Bang Bar? BTW, thanks guys for the good games while they
lasted.
John Robertson
To: All
Couldn't resist this...
JL> From: kre...@netgate.net (Joshua Lehan)
JL> Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1996 09:10:12 GMT
JL> Organization: Pinball Anonymous
JL> Message-ID: <58jc0k$q...@ss.netgate.net>
JL> Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
JL> mus...@gsu.edu (Jonathan N. Deitch) wrote:
> Any news on a buyout by, let's say, Sega ? There is
> a LOT of very, very
> good talent (ie: Big Bang Bar) there that could be VERY beneficial to
> another company ... Both in games AND in talent.
...
> This is BAD BAD BAD BAD new.
JL> "This is not good!"
...
JL> Guess I'll get to play Big Bang Bar at a pinball show, sometime, right
JL> next to Loch Ness Monster (Game Plan), Road Runner (Atari), and Krull
JL> (Gottlieb/Columbia)!
Well, I saw the "Loch Ness Monster" when I was in Game PLan's shop just when
they were dying (they were producing wiring cables for a few folks by then),
I really wasn't impressed by the game, the monster was a blury thing under
a small plexiglass windo on the playfield. I thought the game Archimemdes(?)
the one with the multieyes girl showed more interesting design. Oh, speaking
of Game Plan, did you know that Roger C. Sharpe is in the backglass of
Sharpshooter? And that's his wife , the one with her hand furhter up his leg.
He's not sure who the other lady is...
:-#)#
--
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E-Mail to: j...@flippers.com
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2343 Main St. | Wurlitzer Jukebox factory distributor
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"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."
Jim Strompolis
Hey Pfutz!
Heard the bad news from the "3rd guy". Hope you got a good deal going
away. I wish I could say I'm surprised but honestly only surprised it
lasted this long. Take care. Let me know what you do next.
- Jim
William Pfutzenreuter <pf...@wwa.com> wrote in article
<32acf073.2533375@news>...
Jim Strompolis
Pinball design staff out on the street. No jobs for them with Capcom.
Only skeleton crew remaining at Arlington Hts. facility. Not engineers or
production.
- Jim
Eugene Gershtein
j...@flippers.com (John Robertson) wrote:
>Well, I saw the "Loch Ness Monster" when I was in Game PLan's shop just when
>they were dying (they were producing wiring cables for a few folks by then),
>I really wasn't impressed by the game, the monster was a blury thing under
I played this game at Pinball Fantasy '96, and couldn't stand it
because of one quote that was repeated over and over. I thankfully no
longer remember what it was, but the annoyance level was right up
there with "everybody underground now!".
Eug
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| Eugene Gershtein |
| e...@citenet.net |
| |
| http://www.citenet.net/users/eug (home of the Toronto Area Pinball List) |
| http://www.flight642.com (The World's Aviation Connection) |
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Samuel Zehr
> In article <32ac5408.505565@news>, pf...@wwa.com (William Pfutzenreuter)
wrote:
> >It is official. at 9AM Dec 9,1996 I was informed in a large meeting.
> >
> >From: Those 3 guys.
> >(March of '93)
> >To: Those 57 people
> >To: Gamestar Inc
> >(ribbon cutting cermony March 15,1994)
> >To: Capcom Coin-Op
> >To: The closing of Arlington Heights Plant
> >(December 9,1996)
> >
> >It's been an experience of a lifetime........
>
> As a former employee of Capcom, I am sorry to hear they are no longer in
> business. I know I did what I could to make a contribution to make it work.
>
> I am surprised though that it lasted as long as it did with the market
the way
> it was. I know first hand that they did produce quality products.
>
> I wish good luck to all the former employees of Capcom in their future
> endeavors.
>
> Steve Milewski
> s...@i1.net
As another former Capcom employee, I'd like to echo Steve's thoughts.
Capcom had a lot of brilliant people, especially in the R&D side. I wish
them the best of luck in finding new opportunities, and hopefully many of
them will find a way to stay in the industry, so that we may still see
their future games.
Sammy Z
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Samuel Zehr "We see you again, we're gonna rip out your bike
slam...@mcs.com spokes and stick them down your throat till they
Game Programmer bust out your gut THEN we'll thread them back
Midway through your skull by your stupid eye sockets!"
Steve Milewski
Anthony P. DeFeo
Samuel Zehr (slam...@mcs.com) wrote:
: As another former Capcom employee, I'd like to echo Steve's thoughts.
: Capcom had a lot of brilliant people, especially in the R&D side. I wish
: them the best of luck in finding new opportunities, and hopefully many of
: them will find a way to stay in the industry, so that we may still see
: their future games.
: Sammy Z
Same here, after working there a year and a half, I can honestly say there
were a lot of very talented people there. It was quite an experience
working there, with plenty of ups and downs, and I wouldn't have traded a
minute of it. It was a lot of fun & I got to meet & work alongside some
truely talented people.
To my former co-workers, I wish you all the best of luck!
Tony D.