The Great British Pinball Podcas Episode 25 - Is pinball in a panic?

Pinball industry struggles with launch execution quality across recent major releases despite strong game design.

Synopsis

Neil McCrae and Scott Rundell discuss whether the pinball industry is in panic mode following recent major game releases (Evil Dead, Kong, Dune, Harry Potter, Predator, I Ain't Got Time to Bleed). They analyze launch execution quality, licensing complications, marketing failures, and code issues, crediting Spooky for a flawless Evil Dead launch while criticizing other manufacturers for poor planning, leaked assets, and complacency in product release strategies.

Highlights

• Evil Dead by Spooky Pinball launched with no drama, no reliability issues, and no AI art
• Predator gameplay video was leaked by a distributor and was never meant to be publicly released at that stage
• Pinball Brothers marketing person responsible for initial video leak (uploaded then unlisted instead of private) has faced backlash from the community
• Predator stand-up targets are improved over Alien's problematic versions which had metal that bent easily and snapped after hits
• Harry Potter artwork still has problems and did not come with proper film assets at launch
• Evil Dead experienced a coil failure and blown MOSFET after heavy play but Spooky sent replacement parts within 48 hours
• Stern's decision to use unlicensed Kong IP was driven by licensing difficulties with major licensors becoming increasingly difficult to work with
• X-Men playfield design by Jack Danger will be considered an all-time classic
• Stern code quality on Kong/X-Men is difficult to defend currently and Jack Danger has publicly criticized it
• Stern relies on the same voice actor for call-outs across multiple games since at least Jurassic Park, limiting variation

Entities

• Barrels of Fun· company
• Chicago Gaming Company· company
• Disney/20th Century· company
• Jersey Jack Pinball· company
• Lionsgate· company
• Pinball Brothers· company
• Spooky Pinball· company
• Stern Pinball· company
• Dune· game
• Evil Dead· game
• Harry Potter· game
• I Ain't Got Time to Bleed· game
• Kong· game
• Predator· game
• Uncanny X-Men· game
• Pinball Map· organization
• Aaron· person
• Daniel· person
• Enzo· person
• Jack Danger· person
• Keith Elwin· person
• Neil McCrae· person
• Scott Rundell· person