Don’s New Game!! Monopoly, Ripleys, RCT? Rudy!
Don's been on the hunt for a new pinball machine, and started his search with some early 2000's Sterns including Monopoly, Ripley's Believe it or Not, and Rollercoaster Tycoon. We also talk about...
Highlights
- Monopoly uses a very similar ramp layout to Gophers, with three of the ramps in basically the same positions and upper right flipper mechanics nearly identical
- Williams closed in 2000; Star Wars Episode I and Revenge of Mars were the last two Williams pinball releases and part of the Pinball 2000 system launched in 1999
- Early 2000s Stern games are significantly more feature-rich and loaded with mechanical toys compared to modern Stern games
- Pat Lawlor designed Monopoly, Rollercoaster Tycoon, and Ripley's Believe It or Not: all three games Don was considering
- Lord of the Rings is Don's favorite pinball game, prized for its multiball stacking mechanics and ring shot
- Early 2000s Stern games represent better value than current expensive licensed games; Lord of the Rings ($11,000) is not '$7,500 better' than Rollercoaster Tycoon ($3,500)
- Stern shifted design philosophy after acquiring dominance in the market; games became less thoughtfully designed as competition disappeared
- Funhouse is getting a full remake from Pedretti Gaming
Notable quotes
“A man cannot live on hook alone. Eventually, Don did get a new game and we will be talking about that in a future episode.”
“it feels exciting and kind of rewarding to figure it out on your own and then when that multiball happens and you're hitting all these jackpots”
“early 2000s Sterns look like Jersey Jacks compared to the modern Stern games”
“modern games are expensive and they want to give you the most value for your money so they make them as complicated as you can reasonably make them”
“if i found out one game felt just like another one...ruined”
“I think i'm finding a nice middle ground. I think I'm there. I think I'm at the point where I feel I can learn a little more, but I don't want to learn that much more.”
“There's one element that doesn't sound quite right. That's all you're going to focus on for the whole song.”
“pinball designers, great as they were, sometimes they kind of phoned it in”
Entities
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Pedretti Gaming· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Williams· company
- Pinfest· event
- Funhouse· game
- Gophers· game
- Hook· game
- Lord of the Rings· game
- Monopoly· game
- Revenge From Mars· game
- Ripley's Believe It or Not!· game
- Rollercoaster Tycoon· game
- Star Wars Episode I· game
- Bash Pinball Podcast· organization
- Don· person
- Pat Lawlor· person
- Rudy· person
- VPX· product
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