Episode 42: Inside Stern’s New Star Wars Pinball + SPIKE 3 Secrets!
Hey everyone, welcome back to the show! Today we’re covering Stern Pinball’s brand‑new Star Wars: Fall of the Empire, the company’s first cornerstone release on the next‑generation SPIKE 3 platform. I was lucky enough to visit Stern’s headquarters for launch day, so I’m going to tell you all about my hands‑on impressions, the game’s artwork and layout, what’s under the hood with Spike 3, and even drop some exclusive news on what the platform means for the future. Let’s dive in.
Kineticist’s take
Retro Ralph details Star Wars preview and SPIKE 3 hardware roadmap from Stern visit.
Synopsis
Retro Ralph recounts his experience visiting Stern Pinball for a hands-on preview of Star Wars: Fall of the Empire and detailed conversation with George Gomez about SPIKE 3 platform features. He discusses licensing constraints on video assets, upcoming hardware improvements (new cabinet design, speaker enclosures, expression lighting in future releases), and gameplay observations from his limited 30-minute playtime focusing on shot layout, multiball mechanics, and the Jedi saver feature across different machine tiers.
Highlights
- Star Wars licensing requires video clips to not cover UI elements; clips are boxed in the center of the 18.5-inch screen with user interface assets on the sides
- SPIKE 3 includes new power supply with sleep mode for home users to reduce power consumption when machines are idle
- New cabinet design coming (possibly with Walking Dead or next cornerstone) that allows expression light kit installation without removing entire playfield
- Star Wars was designed by John Borg with Ray Day as lead coder; features nine core shots in a fan layout with two flippers
- SPIKE 3 uses better video codecs and higher resolution monitor enabling crisp video output without artifacting issues seen on SPIKE 2
- Star Wars code is version 0.87 or 0.88, indicating game is well into development
- Jedi ball saver mechanics differ by tier: Pro uses life ring model (returns ball to flipper), Premium/LE uses magnet beyond flippers requiring timing
- SPIKE 3 cabinet expression lights kit will be offered but not available at launch; coming in next game release
Entities
- Flip N Out Pinball· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Black Knight Sword of Rage· game
- Metallica Remastered (Premium/LE)· game
- Star Wars: Fall of the Empire· game
- Stern Enthusiast Group· organization
- The Flipside Pinball Podcast· organization
- George Gomez· person
- John Borg· person
- Kyle· person
- Mason· person
- Ray Day (Raymond Davidson)· person
- Retro Ralph· person
- Seth Davis· person
- Zach Sharpe· person
- Death Star· product
- PinSound· product
- Pinwoofer· product
- SPIKE 3· product