Ep 14: The Larry Bird of Pinball, Bowen Kerins
Sitting down with a pinball legend, Bowen talks about Pinburgh, Jurassic Park leaks, and Star Wars home edition among other things!
Kineticist’s take
Bowen Kerins on pinball's comeback, boutique design philosophy, and why leaks ruin the magic.
Synopsis
Bowen Kerins, legendary pinball player and Spooky Pinball rules director, discusses pinball's second renaissance versus the 1990s golden age, his evolution from competitor to video educator and industry figure, game design philosophy at boutique vs. large manufacturers, and the challenge of maintaining secrecy while developing new machines. He reflects on pinball's 90-year history, argues that gameplay innovation is exhausted but cohesion matters more, and expresses frustration with pre-release leaks and rumor mills that diminish the joy of discovering new games.
Entities
- American Pinball· company
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Spooky Pinball· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Williams· company
- IFPA Championship· event
- Four Seasons· game
- Iron Maiden· game
- Jurassic Park· game
- The Shadow· game
- Alice Cooper· game|person
- Papa (Pinball at Papa) / Replay Foundation· organization
- Pittsburgh public schools· organization
- Pop It (venue)· organization
- Bowen Kerins· person
- Josh Roop & Scott Larson· person
- Keith Elwin· person
- Scott Dinesi· person
- Patreon (Bowen's tutorial series)· product
- Pinside· product