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LoserKid Pinball Podcast
LoserKid Pinball Podcast
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Ep 34: The Zack of All Trade with Zach Sharpe

PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago1 hr 23 min listen
From the creator

Last but not least in this Sharpe Trifecta we interview Mr Stern Marketing himself, Zach Sharpe! We see if we can break his number one response of, "I can neither confirm or deny". Hint, it's not as...

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Highlights

  • Zach Sharpe has been at Stern for approximately three years (as of summer 2021 timeframe of interview)
  • Zach Sharpe owns eight pinball machines: Jumping Jack, Taxi, Walking Dead, Iron Maiden, Frontier, Cyclops, Sharpshooter, and Jurassic Park
  • Stern is privately owned while Williams was publicly traded, which affected business decisions differently
  • Roger Sharpe was listed in NBA Jam Tournament Edition and NFL Blitz under his initials and birthday as a playable character
  • Zach and Josh Sharp first competed in pinball tournaments at ages 11-12 and 13-14 respectively
  • Stern holds tech service schools for operators at trade shows to teach maintenance and repair best practices
  • Roger Sharpe and Josh Sharp initially prevented young Zach and Josh from competing at Pinball Expo, viewing competition as forbidden fruit
  • Zach and Josh served as contributing writers for Play Meter magazine reviewing coin-operated equipment before their current roles

Notable quotes

“My father and Josh, they speak a lot, and I let them have their space. I think we're going to take the same approach. We're going to start referring people to better podcasts when they ask us for interviews, and then we'll come back.”
Zach Sharpe
“I would say the best or biggest memory was having the best birthday parties. Because while most kids, you know, might go to Enchanted Castle or Chuck E. Cheese, I would take my friends to the Williams factory and we'd play games in the lunchroom”
Zach Sharpe
“I was more of a video game fan growing up. Josh gravitated more towards pinball than I did...It wasn't until I got into the competitive realm that pinball really kind of hooked me.”
Zach Sharpe
“pinball is to Chicago as automobiles are to Detroit...There's just some inherent tribal knowledge that has just been passed generation to generation.”
Zach Sharpe
“I love the landscape of pinball today versus back then, because not only was it a different model...games were designed to produce. And essentially that was it...we're able to refine and revisit and sometimes even redesign a current game's rule set.”
Zach Sharpe
“Jurassic Park and Cyclops are perfect games. And then, you know, there's a lot of others that can come close. But I mean, I mean, truly, I mean, a perfect game. I don't know if there's ever a 100 percent perfect game because I feel like everything can always be improved or modified”
Zach Sharpe
“It's kind of like deep dish pizza and thin crust. I mean, I love them both...Lord of the Rings and Jurassic Park are two games that I love them both.”
Zach Sharpe
“I can neither confirm nor deny my approval or disapproval of that comment.”
Zach Sharpe

Entities

  • Iris Worldwide· company
  • Play Meter Magazine· company
  • Raw Thrills· company
  • Stern Pinball· company
  • Williams Valley Midway· company
  • AMOA show· event
  • Amusement Expo· event
  • Pinball Expo· event
  • Cyclops· game
  • Iron Maiden· game
  • Jurassic Park· game
  • Lord of the Rings· game
  • Taxi· game
  • Walking Dead· game
  • Chicago Art Institute· organization
  • IFPA· organization
  • Lou Malnati's· organization
  • John Buscaglia· person
  • Josh Sharp· person
  • Keith Elwin· person
  • Roger Sharpe· person
  • Scott Danesi· person
  • Scott Larson· person
  • Tim Sexton· person
  • Zach Sharpe· person

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