Episode 268: Heist! Multimorphic does it again
Multimorphic discusses Heist P3 game, platform modularity, pricing, free updates, and competitive acceptance.
Gerry Stellenberg and Stephen Silver talk about the new their new P3 game, the fun gameplay, features, and the great value, plus so much more.
Synopsis
Jeff Lee interviews Jerry Stellenberg and Steven Silver from Multimorphic about Heist, their latest P3 modular pinball game featuring an innovative three-axis crane toy and enhanced lower playfield interaction. The discussion covers the P3 platform's design philosophy emphasizing accessibility through on-screen instructional graphics, modularity benefits, pricing model ($2,750 for Heist vs. $10k+ for traditional machines), recent free updates including internet-connected Cosmic Cart Racing and Bluetooth/USB headset support, and competitive pinball viability. Topics include the platform's open ecosystem enabling third-party game development, career mode and profile system for cooperative play, and strategies to overcome misconceptions about P3 games being 'video games' rather than physical pinball.
Highlights
- Heist costs $2,750 as a playfield module; full P3 cabinet costs ~$10,000 initially but subsequent games cost $1,500–$2,750
- P3 Rock boards have sold thousands of units to homebrewers, rethemers, and commercial manufacturers over the years
- Heist playfield weighs approximately 35 pounds; other modules weigh 20–24 pounds, designed for single-person swaps in ~60 seconds
- Cosmic Cart Racing 2.0, internet head-to-head gameplay, and USB/Bluetooth headset support were released as free updates over 2–3 months
- P3 games feature on-screen dynamic instructional arrows and graphics positioned at player eye-level to improve newcomer comprehension without looking up
- Heist includes a three-axis crane toy engineered by T.J. Weaver that can hold, move, and drop the ball, plus a third upper flipper
- P3 profile system enables multi-player co-op modes, difficulty scaling per player, and game state save/restore functionality across Lexi, Heist, and Cosmic Cart Racing
- Third-party developers have created games for P3 including Grand Slam Rally, Quest for Glory, and Hoopin' It Up (basketball) as free software downloads
- Jeff Lee selected Lexy Lightspeed Escape From Earth in tournament play at Bat City Open (2017) despite never playing it before, making it his first pick
- P3 games designed as traditional-style pinball with competitive tournament viability; Heist and Cosmic Cart Racing 2.0 are tournament candidates
Notable quotes
“I knew exactly what to do because I saw the instructions pop up right where I was looking.”
“Without the way that the P3 system is designed, I couldn't have made Heist the way we did... There's so much about that screen that enables different ideas and different ways of playing.”
“You're not buying a whole new cabinet, a whole new back box control system, video screen, flippers... You're just building up a game library.”
“When's the last time you heard of anybody bringing home three new unboxed games from a show? And I get to do that right now with this system. And they all fit in the back of my Honda Element.”
“This is the purest form of competition. You're playing directly against someone. What you're doing is affecting them on their game as they play it at the exact same time.”
“A lot of people walk up to it and say, oh, a video screen, that means it's a video game. And we've been trying to fight that battle since the day we released it.”
“It is absolutely nothing related to a video game. It's got physical balls, physical flippers, physical bumpers... the amazing crane toy... all that stuff. The P3 games are very much physical pinball games.”
“Every single P3 owner gets to benefit from that... Every single new game that's released on this system increases the value for all the owners out there.”
Entities
- Haggis Pinball· company
- Multimorphic· company
- Bat City Open· event
- Cannon Lagoon· game
- Cosmic Kart Racing (CCR)· game
- Grand Slam Rally· game
- Heads Up!· game
- Heist· game
- Lexy Lightspeed Escape From Earth· game
- IFPA· organization
- Ian Harrower· person
- Jeff Lee· person
- Jerry Stellenberg· person
- Keith Elwin· person
- Steven Silver· person
- T.J. Weaver· person
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