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Episode 42: Inside Stern’s New Star Wars Pinball + SPIKE 3 Secrets!
PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago1 hr 7 min listen
Hey everyone, welcome back to the show! Today we’re covering Stern Pinball’s brand‑new Star Wars: Fall of the Empire, the company’s first cornerstone release on the next‑generation SPIKE 3 platform....
Highlights
- Star Wars licensing requires video clips to not cover UI elements; clips are boxed in the center of the 18.5-inch screen with user interface assets on the sides
- SPIKE 3 includes new power supply with sleep mode for home users to reduce power consumption when machines are idle
- New cabinet design coming (possibly with Walking Dead or next cornerstone) that allows expression light kit installation without removing entire playfield
- Star Wars was designed by John Borg with Ray Day as lead coder; features nine core shots in a fan layout with two flippers
- SPIKE 3 uses better video codecs and higher resolution monitor enabling crisp video output without artifacting issues seen on SPIKE 2
- Star Wars code is version 0.87 or 0.88, indicating game is well into development
- Jedi ball saver mechanics differ by tier: Pro uses life ring model (returns ball to flipper), Premium/LE uses magnet beyond flippers requiring timing
- SPIKE 3 cabinet expression lights kit will be offered but not available at launch; coming in next game release
Notable quotes
“with the IP this big, no one wants to see like people want to see the original movies, the original clips. And so even though they tossed that idea around, they squashed that idea really quick because they were like, we got to make this the original trilogy and stick to that.”
“the license holder doesn't want things over there, the video, the original video clips. Now, keep in mind, this is going to be license specific. Some licenses might not care if they do that, right? And some might.”
“Ralph you know you have relationships here you can call us or text us or whatever when you're doing a podcast you don't say incorrect information”
“I always upgrade the speakers in my system, but then I upgrade the amplifier too. I prefer pinwoofer over pin sound for that for modern games”
“if you own a Metallica remastered and you went and bought the premium and you were going to add expression lights to it, you have to take the entire play field out”
“the Death Star shot is a tighter shot. I was actually struggling with that shot...I think I backhanded it once, but it's not easily backhandable from the left flipper”
“if you're not, like, a giant fan of fan layouts, then you know, this game might be less interesting to you. I think fan layouts are really good for someone that is newer”
Entities
- Flip N Out Pinball· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Black Knight Sword of Rage· game
- Metallica Remastered (Premium/LE)· game
- Star Wars: Fall of the Empire· game
- Stern Enthusiast Group· organization
- The Flipside Pinball Podcast· organization
- George Gomez· person
- John Borg· person
- Kyle· person
- Mason· person
- Ray Day (Raymond Davidson)· person
- Retro Ralph· person
- Seth Davis· person
- Zach Sharpe· person
- Death Star· product
- PinSound· product
- Pinwoofer· product
- SPIKE 3· product
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