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Ep 122: The Jack is Back! With Jack Guarnieri
PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago1 hr 6 min listen
"Jersey" Jack joins us to talk about JJP's latest release, Elton John!
Highlights
- Jack Guarnieri was inspired to create the Elton John pinball machine after attending an Elton John concert in January/February 2019, where he photographed glasses reflecting a keyboard and recognized market potential across demographics.
- Steve Ritchie joined Jersey Jack Pinball on August 2nd (of 2023), following his departure from Stern approximately one week prior.
- The Elton John game contains 12-14 separate licenses beyond the main artist license, including music rights, concert footage, Tommy film licensing, and Gottlieb pinball machine imagery.
- Jersey Jack's early games (Wizard of Oz) sold for $6,500–$7,500, while more recent premium editions (Ruby Red 75th Anniversary) sold for $9,000–$9,500, reflecting cumulative cost increases driven by economy, asset development, and licensing.
- The Elton John game pricing was intentionally reduced compared to prior Jersey Jack releases as a strategic market decision.
- Steve Richie initially reacted skeptically ('Really?') when offered the Elton John license, preferring high-power themes like cars or jets, but came to love the project.
- Jack has customers with sealed Collector's Edition Pirates of the Caribbean machines and new Emerald City Limited Edition Wizard of Oz games still in boxes, treating pinball as collectible/investment rather than operational machines.
- David Furnish (Elton John's husband) provided positive feedback on the game promo video, stating 'You guys really nailed it. You got Elton's DNA.'
- Guns N' Roses is Jersey Jack's best-selling game to date and features the most immersive concert-simulation experience in the company's catalog.
- Jersey Jack negotiated full-length, worldwide music licensing for all 16 songs in Elton John, rather than 15–30 second clips, to prevent loop fatigue during gameplay.
Notable quotes
“You know, this could be a great pinball machine if it's done the right way... if I could get this license, I think we could make a great game, and I think we did.”
“I don't think you can have a vegan in the kitchen of a steakhouse making steaks. I don't think the steaks will come out right. So you have to have the people that are on the team doing something that they really love to do.”
“I'd love to buy a Lamborghini for $20,000, but it's just not going to happen. There's a reason.”
“Nobody builds a game like Jersey Jack Pinball. Nobody. You know, the level and the degree of detail, the effort, the energy, the time, the passion.”
“I think a lot of us got spoiled. You know, I think a lot of us – what happened when things were go, go, go, and there was not much supply and there was a lot of demand – people were buying two games instead of one game.”
“We're building a game that's not your grandfather's pinball machine. And it's just a different kind of game for today.”
“When I licensed Wizard of Oz, everybody in the universe told me it was a terrible theme. I'd never sell any. Nobody would want to buy it.”
“I don't want somebody telling me what I'm supposed to buy or what I'm supposed to eat or what movie I'm supposed to see... If I want to buy a pinball machine, I'm going to buy a pinball machine.”
Entities
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Black Knight· game
- Captain Fantastic· game
- Elton John· game
- Emerald City Limited Edition· game
- Godfather· game
- Guns N' Roses· game
- Pirates of the Caribbean· game
- Tommy· game
- Toy Story· game
- Wizard of Oz· game
- Chris· person
- David Furnish· person
- Elton John (artist)· person
- Franchi· person
- Jack Guarnieri· person
- John Yossi· person
- Josh Roop· person
- Nicole Mandy· person
- Pete Townshend· person
- Scott Larson· person
- Slash· person
- Steve Ritchie· person
- Zach Sharpe· person
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