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Episode 39: Is there a lack on Innovation in modern pinball?
PodcastAnalysis updated yesterday49 min listen
In Episode 39 of The FlipSide Pinball Podcast, we dive deep into the hot topic of pinball innovation. Is modern pinball starting to feel stagnant? Could today’s machines take better advantage of new...
Highlights
- Turner originally designed Ninja Eclipse with a lighter, condensed cabinet and innovative features like integrated lighting in the cover, but community feedback was so strong he redesigned it into a standard-size cabinet with a coin door, removing some innovations.
- Jurassic Park home run at Costco performed very well commercially, and Stern designed it with the ability to add balls without removing the glass.
- Insider Connected has been available since 2021 and has evolved to include achievements, trinkets (e.g., in Dungeons & Dragons), and character progression (e.g., in Venom).
- P3 Multimorphic machines with their dynamic LCD system appear to have limited mainstream adoption and are rarely seen on location.
- Jersey Jack Pinball light rail systems are more sophisticated than Stern's, though Stern has recently begun to follow suit but not on every game.
- Flipper return springs break frequently and pinball hasn't innovated a replacement mechanism in decades, creating unnecessary maintenance burden.
- Turner implemented 'finesse flippers' in Merlin's Arcade to allow more precise control of game elements, but this feature 'got totally shot down' by the community.
- Barrels of Fun's sandworm mechanism in Dune has had some technical issues but represents genuine mechanical innovation.
Notable quotes
“Do you think sometimes that pinball companies don't want to take, don't want to deviate too far from what's normal, like what we view a standard cabinet and the things that should be in it because they think it's too risky and the community could go against it or not adopt it?”
“I can't believe that that spring even exists. Like we haven't figured out another way to return a flipper to its starting location.”
“If you're not going to give us innovation with mechanisms, then do cooler stuff with the lighting. Do cooler choreography between the lighting and the sound.”
“I think when it first came out, it seemed like you were scanning it and there wasn't a whole lot to do. But now there's achievements, you got trinkets now on Dungeons & Dragons, you got the ability to level up your character in certain games like Venom.”
“I would sure as shit want to try it. Like, what would hold people back from implementing some augmented reality into pinball?”
“If someone did this, I would sure as shit want to try it... The other thing I thought of is the hologram topper and the UV reactive armor, that kind of stuff, like that's kind of cool on Avatar.”
“Make it better. Like, make it better. That's what we do in technology in our job. And that also then puts pressure on Jersey Jack because imagine if they came out with something that made Jersey Jack Pinball look antiquated.”
“I truly believe if it never changes and the answer is always just learn the basics, learn how to fix it. We're not going to change any of these things to make it more easier to service at home or for the newbie coming in.”
Entities
- American Pinball· company
- Barrels of Fun· company
- Buffalo Pinball· company
- Flip N Out Pinball· company
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Merlin's Arcade· company
- Multimorphic· company
- Spooky Pinball· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Pinball Expo· event
- The Flipside Pinball Podcast· event
- Brian Eddy· person
- Jamie Burchell· person
- Jerry· person
- Retro Ralph· person
- Todd Tuckney· person
- Turner· person
- Zach Sharpe· person
- Insider Connected· product
- P3 (Multimorphic)· product
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