049: Special Guests and a Lil Roadtrip for Transformers!

Punk Rock Pinball crew visits Stern, evaluates Transformers game's shot layout and deep code despite underwhelming toy sculpts.

The Punk Rock Pinball Podcast hosts Joe and Shelley Sharp discuss their field trip to Stern Pinball to play the newly released Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye pinball machine. The group emphasizes that they prioritize shot layout and gameplay code over aesthetics, noting that while the toy sculpts are underwhelming compared to original Transformers figures, the game has deep, complex code that will take many plays to master. They also discuss Stern's production capacity, the Pokemon pinball game's strong sales, and licensing dynamics with Hasbro and The Pokémon Company.

Highlights

• Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye has deeper, more complex code than Pokemon, requiring hundreds to thousands of plays to master
• The Pro version of Transformers contains every shot that exists in the Premium version; the only difference is a virtual vs. physical ball lock
• Stern is currently running one shift per day at its manufacturing facility and has capacity to scale to multiple shifts
• Stern employed approximately 200 people at the manufacturing facility on the day of the visit
• Stern plans to continue evolving Pokemon pinball for years based on strong sales and positive operator feedback
• The Pokémon Company approval process for code updates takes longer than Stern's development because Pokemon is the most valuable IP in history
• Transformers is a $30 billion total franchise, larger than DC, TMNT, G.I. Joe, and He-Man
• Hasbro has been easy to work with as a licensing partner for Transformers
• Hundreds of Pokemon pinball machines were in production on the day of the Stern tour visit
• Mike Vinikour is the only person in the pinball or video game industry who creates rule sets without being a coder