Sorry, but I had a perfectly working Batman in the mall arcade. It made NOTHING.
The No Fear was trouncing it in earnings. Twilight Zone and Whirlwind even did better than the batman pin.
Its one thing to walk up to a game and play it once as a test. Its quite another to actually get hooked and play it several times a month.
And its quite another, to invest in a very expensive machine for the home... on a game merely based on generic theme.
The days of highly successful generica are over. Internet word of mouth can kill a lame game in mere minutes.
Edit:
And BTW - check up on the Opps machines. I pretty much guarantee that the TOM has some sort of issue. Unlike with my games, I knew that both worked 100% perfectly, because I cared enough to keep them in excellent shape. Not just in mechanical functionality, but weekly cleaning, proper 'hearable' volume, non-glare lighting, and proper leveling. Being at a mall location, on-premises over 45 hrs a week enabled me the ability that no typical Opp had.
It also proved itself on replay value.. because a mall has repeat regulars, who return often... rather than trying to gauge a game by mere passerby traffic in some airport niche. Theres a HUGE difference.
Anyways, go look over the games. Photograph them. Play them.
Stern games are newer, so theres less chance of damage and malfunctions on them. They also might look nicer merely out of a shine and 'clean' that will soon fade due to lack of time and effort. If the TOM was brand new, and the Batman looked and played like a +20yr beat to hell pin, you can bet the stats would be opposite.
A license never did anything for me when I was growing up playing machines. I saw one look at Johnny Numonic, Judge Dredd, Dracula, and countless others, and walked right past them. Starwars PB2K? Once for a test, and never again.
I remember playing Funhouse, cause I liked the idea of a Ferris Wheel ball lifter. Pinbot, cause it seemed interesting. Jokers for the cool card theme and ramps, BK2K for the Awesome knight theme and kick butt soundtrack, Haunted House... cause of the great music, theme, and 3 levels.
Remember, Batman or Harry Potter were not known in mass when they first came out. It was the desire and interest in people that lead to their popularity. And samely, someday, there might actually be some more excellent Original material produced that people will fall in love with. Till then, we have to suffer thru craptastic remakes of previously Original material.
The Irony of Circular Logic... Ugg.