112 episodes tracked since 2018 about →
Bonus Podcast: Flip Expo 2019 Willy Wonka Interview with Jack Guarnieri
PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago1 hr 17 min listenBy Martin Ayub, Jonathan Joosten
Jack Guarnieri, the founder of Jersey Jack Pinball discusses the company's latest game, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, at its reveal at Flip Expo 2019 in France.
Highlights
- No pinball machine has ever debuted or been revealed in France before Willy Wonka
- Willy Wonka license negotiation began around 2011 after Wizard of Oz success
- Original 1971 film actor rights were not secured, delaying license availability until 2014-2016
- Pat Lawlor was asked to design Willy Wonka, then picked it based on preference for primary colors and cute themes
- Game developed on aggressive schedule (approximately one year or slightly more) due to prior license delay
- Code is approximately 60% complete at reveal, will ship at 1.0 complete
- Four songs were licensed from the original film
- Game features seven magnets used in innovative ways with LEDs
- Three-tier pricing: SE at $7,500 (down $1,000 from previous gen), CE at $8,500, LE at $9,500+
- Production timeline targets early summer 2019
Notable quotes
“there's a lot of games. There's just not a lot of good games.”
“It's like laying on a couch that you always took a nap on... It's just like that old pair of jeans that you put on that really feels comfortable.”
“as a player one of the players who played it for the first time it certainly seemed that you could very easily get into the everlasting multi-ball feature”
“Easy to understand and hard to master”
“selling your equipment, it doesn't matter what the game costs, it matters what the game makes.”
“We don't need to get our customers to sign an agreement saying they won't sell it for 18 months... They love their games. They don't want to sell it for 1,800 years.”
“I was calling a JJP5. Exactly. In front of you, who signed an NDA and I was still calling a JJP5. Right. I didn't break. Neither did I.”
Entities
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Warner Brothers· company
- Flip Expo· event
- Midwest Gaming Classic· event
- Addams Family· game
- Pirates of the Caribbean· game
- The Hobbit· game
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory· game
- Wizard of Oz· game
- Christoph Lienar· person
- Jack Guarnieri· person
- Jean-Paul DeWin· person
- Joe Katz· person
- Jonathan Houston· person
- Martin Eyre· person
- Pat Lawlor· person
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