The Pinball Show Ep 109: Mom’s Spaghetti
The Pinball Show Episode 109: Mom's Spaghetti Hosts: Dennis Kriesel & Zach Meny - Broken Backs & Broken Drop Targets - Stern Pinball Updates & Opening A December Portal - Triple Combo: Monopoly...
Highlights
- Stern announced Last Call for TMNT mid-September, bumped up from December, following Guardians Pro last call and preceding Led Zeppelin Pro/Premium last call
- Typical Stern production run involves 800-1,000 Pros, 1,000 LEs, then Premium/Pro runs based on Gary Stern interview
- Spooky Pinball announced Ben Heckendorn and Eric Pripke are rejoining the team to assist with coding on next games
- The pinball coder is more important and impactful in 2022 than the designer
- Halloween's left-side three-scoop design is the primary layout flaw; rest of design is sound
- Rick and Morty code quality was the primary appeal of that game despite animation/presentation concerns
- Spooky has sold units at significant losses since Halloween release due to quality/design concerns
- September represents a clearing-out period for Stern's current SKUs, suggesting preparation for new announcement
Notable quotes
“September is where games go to die, it sounds like.”
“I think that the pinball coder is more important and impactful in 2022 than the designer.”
“Poor rules can essentially sabotage any game to make it unfun... if you have rules that don't shoot the left side of the playfield, why does it exist?”
“I think we're right at the bottom of where Halloween, price-wise, will be. Once they stop making them, it's going to go up.”
“Don't sleep on Spooky Pinball. Don't count them out yet... they are super passionate about making pinball machines.”
“I think that Ben Heck is quirky as shit... but I think he has a brilliant mechanical and coding mind.”
“People see Spooky as a legitimate manufacturing business now. I think they've lost a lot of that rooting for the underdog thing.”
“Everything about it seemed like, let's get rid of all the experts and let's design everything by committee.”
Entities
- Spooky Pinball· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle· game
- Gangbusters· game
- Guardians of the Galaxy· game
- Halloween· game
- Led Zeppelin· game
- Monopoly· game
- Rick and Morty· game
- Rob Zombie· game
- Star Wars· game
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles· game
- Ultraman· game
- Ben Heckendorff (Ben Heck)· person
- Bowen Kerins· person
- Bruce Nightingale· person
- Dennis· person
- Dwight Sullivan· person
- Eric Pripke· person
- Gary Stern· person
- John Borg· person
- Lyman Sheets· person
- Pat Lawlor· person
- Zach· person
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