Skip to content
Pinball News and Pinball Magazine Podcast
Pinball News and Pinball Magazine Podcast
112 episodes tracked since 2018 about →
Copied!

Pinball Magazine & Pinball News PINcast January 2025 recap

PodcastAnalysis updated 6d ago3 hr 27 min listenBy Martin Ayub, Jonathan Joosten
From the creator

2025 really started with a bang with a new game reveal by one company and big changes at another, while the show season got off to a flying start in both the US and the UK. So, Jonathan from...

Listen on Pinball News and Pinball Magazine Podcast

Highlights

  • Dungeons & Dragons LE units are being produced first on the line, a change from Stern's typical strategy of producing pros first, suggesting the game may be aimed more at collectors than operators
  • D&D's show build featured extremely easy multiball access (within 30 seconds of play with endless ball saver), likely representing early code optimized for operators/distributors at trade shows
  • D&D experienced mechanical issues at EAG Expo: dragon head jamming (Premium model), balls getting stuck behind dragon, sensor detection failures
  • Stern reports approximately 25% of D&D Limited Edition sales are from D&D IP enthusiasts (not traditional pinball collectors)
  • Stern's dealer network reports approximately 40-50% of first-time pinball buyers purchase a second machine
  • D&D code was version 0.80 or 0.81 at EAG Expo (early January), representing very preliminary build
  • Stern Pinball Cup online tournament appeared to 'fizzle out' with no public announcement of results, winners, or scores
  • D&D features weekly randomized dungeon modes that will change the game constantly

Notable quotes

“If it's that easy, it's completely devaluated. Everybody gets it. So there's no advantage for you because the leveling playfield is completely even for everybody because everybody gets the multi-ball. It takes away the fun for me.”
Jonathan Houston
“the only way you could ever free the balls was to turn the game off and take the glass off”
Martin Eyre
“It's a bit weird, isn't it? It's almost like one of those special gameplay modes where you just play the multi-ball and that's it. It was so simple to start and it went on for so long.”
Martin Eyre
“Maybe 25% of the LEs were purchased by, are being purchased by Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts... people who wouldn't otherwise buy pinball... they may become part of our pinball community”
Gary Stern
“The dragon itself is probably the most... we're filing some patents on the dragon... it moves every way, it does everything, and so it's very, very cool”
Gary Stern
“You just walked up to it as an original theme... And that's what I was trying to say. You just said that much better than I did.”
Gary Stern
“I think you need seven... I just put a Kenny Exman in my apartment in Vail... the second bedroom... now is... the pinball machine”
Gary Stern
“There is this video in which they discuss the making of Metallica Remastered. In the video, they clearly say, oh, we wanted to stay close to Lyman's code, and oh, it was so great and fantastic, and now we've changed quite a few of the rules.”
Martin Eyre

Entities

  • Electrocoin· company
  • Stern Pinball· company
  • Wizard of the Coast / Hasbro· company
  • CES Show· event
  • EAG Expo· event
  • Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant's Eye· game
  • Metallica Remastered· game
  • Brian Eddy· person
  • Doug Skor· person
  • Dwight Sullivan· person
  • Gary Stern· person
  • Greg Mott· person
  • Jerry Thompson· person
  • Joe Kamenka· person
  • John Buscaglia· person
  • John Greskelia· person
  • Jonathan Houston· person
  • Lloyd Dorton· person
  • Lyman Sheets· person
  • Martin Eyre· person

More from Pinball News and Pinball Magazine Podcast

→ All content from Pinball News and Pinball Magazine Podcast
Contact us about this coverage