7 episodes tracked since 2025 about →
The Complicated Legacy of John Trudeau
Podcast1 hr 47 min listen
Highlights
- Only 377 Caribbean Cruise machines were manufactured
- International Concepts in Missouri commissioned Gottlieb to design two cocktail table pinball games (Night Moves and Caribbean Cruise) as part of a franchise business model
- Gottlieb cocktail machines cost approximately $1,800-1,900 to manufacture but were retailed through franchises for about $4,000 per unit
- Cocktail table pinball machines failed commercially because bars had vendor contracts prohibiting placement of non-licensed machines, and the gameplay format (players taking turns) was unsuitable for bar environments
- Caribbean Cruise uses System 3 boards with superior sound, larger displays, and innovative flash lamp effects using pop bumpers
- Gottlieb was the first manufacturer to use lithium batteries in pinball machines
- Gottlieb System 3 optics require reflow soldering to prevent failure due to ice formation
- A franchise operator placed two machines in a bar and grossed only $60 in the first week, declining to $20/week within months, eventually losing one machine entirely to the bar owner
Notable quotes
“cocktail table pinball machines make no money... player one sits down shoots the ball plays for 30 seconds his ball goes down to the drain he has to get up and player two sits down nobody wants to do that not in a bar”
“they actually were selling people extra parts... several of the people bought these extra parts... I was getting a lot of these traded in... people had them in their garage they never put them in location”
“he drove all the way down there to get the ball out from wherever it landed... all this for his big $20 a week that he was making”
“you only had one here”
“if you have a night moves or a Caribbean Cruise you have to take this cover off and Reflow solder on the Optics and the connectors because they they become ice cold... you do that you Bulletproof the game forever”
Entities
- Allied Leisure· company
- Gottlieb· company
- International Concepts· company
- Midway· company
- TNT Amusements· company
- Caribbean Cruise· game
- Disco Fever· game
- Night Moves· game
- Rotation 4· game
- Frank· person
- John Trudeau· person
- Louis· person
- Pam· person
