Dirty Pool Podcast - Ep35 - Mike Vinikour | Designing Modern Pinball Rules
Dirty Pool Podcast - Ep35 - Mike Vinikour | Designing Modern Pinball Rules
▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist Mike Vinikour (MXV) has had one of the more unusual careers in pinball. From testing games at Williams/Bally Midway during the arcade era, to competitive Mortal Kombat, to helping shape modern Stern Pinball software and rules, he's been involved with games from several different angles. In Episode 35 of the Dirty Pool Podcast, we'll be talking about Mike's path through the game industry, how rule design has evolved, balancing depth with accessibility, software testing, field testing, working with designers, the realities of developing modern Stern machines, and plenty of stories from both the arcade and pinball worlds. We'll also get into his photography, massive vinyl collection, and whatever unexpected rabbit holes the conversation decides to find. 📡 Twitch 📺 YouTube 📷 Instagram 📘 Facebook 👕 Apparel
Kineticist’s take
Mike Vinikour shares his unconventional path from arcade player to Midway QA tester to pinball rules designer.
Synopsis
Mike Vinikour (MXV), a legendary pinball rules designer, discusses his personal history including 16,000+ vinyl records collected over 44 years, his early career as a professional Mortal Kombat player and arcade champion, and his work as a video game QA tester at Midway Games (1994-2001) where he helped establish the company's QA department. The conversation spans his transitions from punk rock fandom to music photography to his current role designing pinball rules, emphasizing how passion, mentorship, and community encouragement shaped his trajectory.
Highlights
- MXV owns approximately 16,000 vinyl records, 60-65% of which are punk rock, collected seriously for 44 years since age 12
- It would take over a year of continuous listening (awake to sleep) to get through MXV's entire record collection
- MXV was one of the best Mortal Kombat 2 players in Chicago/North America, racking up 105 consecutive wins in a single session before willingly losing to go home
- MXV met Bill Davstein (Bill Dozer from Midway Games) at a Bowel Prophets punk show in 1994 and secured a game QA testing position at Midway Games as a result
- MXV helped establish the QA department at Midway Games, which did not exist before his hiring; prior to that, developers tested their own games
- MXV worked at Midway Games from 1994 to 2001 and tested Mortal Kombat 1, 2, 3, and Revolution X
- The original Mortal Kombat development team consisted of fewer than 10 people; modern console MK games have 400-500 person development teams plus outsourcers
- MXV has shot Skinny Puppy (his favorite band) in concert 6-7 times out of 24 total times he's seen them live
Entities
- Midway Games· company
- Dirty Pool Podcast· content
- Punk Vault· content
- Mortal Kombat· game
- Revolution X· game
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day· game
- Boards of Canada· organization
- Bowel Prophets· organization
- Marilyn Manson· organization
- Skinny Puppy· organization
- The Beatles· organization
- Mike Vinikour· person
- Just Games· venue