Episode 17 - Extra Button Gimmicks

Wedgehead explores pinball's extra button gimmicks and their impact on gameplay.

Synopsis

Wedgehead A Pinball Podcast discusses extra button gimmicks in pinball machines with guest Jess DiNardo, a pinball technician who recently joined Barrels of Fun. The hosts and guest explore action buttons, magna saves, ball kickers, diverters, shifter mechanisms, and flex saves, emphasizing that the best gimmicks give players manual control and maintain game flow rather than interrupting play.

Highlights

• Every modern Stern game now comes standard with an action button on the lockdown bar
• Jess DiNardo moved to Houston to work in quality control and assembly at Barrels of Fun after meeting them at Expo
• The original Black Knight magna save button placement (side of cabinet) makes more intuitive sense than the lockdown bar placement on Black Knight Rage
• Getaway High Speed's shifter knob is arguably the best interactive alternate launch mechanism
• Action buttons on Star Wars interrupt game flow by forcing players to pause play and navigate menus to move multipliers

Entities

• Barrels of Fun· company
• Soft Blunch· company
• Stern Pinball· company
• Black Knight 2000· game
• Black Knight Rage· game
• Dungeons and Dragons Pinball· game
• Fireball 2· game
• Getaway High Speed II· game
• Gottley Volcano· game
• Hardbody· game
• Indiana Jones· game
• Jungle Lord· game
• Medusa· game
• Nip It· game
• Rick and Morty Pinball· game
• Star Wars Pinball· game
• Tales from the Crypt· game
• The Shadow· game
• World Cup Soccer / Doggy Soccer· game
• Portland Bells and Chimes· organization
• The Pinball Podcast· organization
• Wedgehead· organization
• Alan· person
• Alex the Waterboy· person
• Jess DiNardo· person