Episode 265 – Rush Job

Pokémon Pinball released at $13k LE; American Pinball hires controversial Melvin Williams as creative director.

Synopsis

Ron Hallett and Bruce Nightingale discuss Stern's newly released Pokémon pinball machine ($7k–$13k across tiers, 750 LE units sold out immediately) and debate its accessibility-focused fan layout design versus Jack Danger typical cross-playfield complexity. They also cover American Pinball surprising hiring of Melvin Williams (former DPX/Dutch Pinball) as creative director to oversee Bally Williams remakes, questioning the decision's logic given Williams' Netherlands-based remote work arrangement and the perceived curse associated with Papa Duke licensing.

Entities

• American Pinball· company
• Cointaker· company
• Dutch Pinball· company
• Planetary Pinball· company
• Project Pinball· company
• Rochester Pinball Collective· company
• Stern Pinball· company
• Back to the Future· game
• Beetlejuice· game
• Dungeons & Dragons· game
• Harry Potter· game
• Jaws· game
• King Kong· game
• Pokémon· game
• Raza· game
• Star Wars· game
• X-Men· game
• Bruce Nightingale· person
• Gary Stern· person
• George Gomez· person
• Jack Danger· person
• Melvin Williams· person
• Ron Hallett· person
• Tim Kittsrow· person