Skip to content
The Great British Pinball Podcast
The Great British Pinball Podcast
37 episodes tracked since 2023 about →
Copied!

The Great British Pinball Podcast Episode 15 - Pinfest 24 aftermath

PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago1 hr 8 min listen
From the creator

Send us Fan Mail Scott and Neil talk Pinfest, cameragate, APgate and the glorious news of Pinball Republic reopening!

Listen on The Great British Pinball Podcast

Highlights

  • David Fix let slip that another manufacturer will be doing a Harry Potter pinball machine
  • American Pinball became profitable starting with Galactic Tank Force after years in the red
  • Pinball Heaven resigned as American Pinball distributor after learning about competing distributor David Retro Arcade through social media
  • Stern is now the cheapest option in the UK market to buy a new game, which is unusual historically
  • Labyrinth (Barrels of Fun) didn't break down once during entire Pinfest weekend despite heavy use
  • American Pinball manufactures only approximately one game per year
  • Harry Potter licensing will likely be expensive, potentially millions, given IP scope and rights complexity
  • Spooky games had reliability issues at Pinfest with Looney Tunes and TCM breaking down more than staying playable
  • American Pinball created custom manufacturing parts (special legs) for Galactic Tank Force that reduce margins without clear benefit
  • CGC's Cactus Canyon Remake required three iterations of drop target redesign for location reliability

Notable quotes

“It's Harry Potter. It's the worst game secret in pinball, mate.”
Scott Rundell
“I pity the guy that's working on that because I mean my hope is is that the game is so great that anything around the theme or the music or any of the assets no one's worried about because the game's so good”
Neil McCray
“If you're only selling one game a year, how can you have two distributors?”
Phil from Pinball Heaven (quoted)
“Stern is now the cheapest option in the market to buy a new game: that feels weird”
Scott Rundell
“Why do you need that screen in the playfield? That's adding unnecessary bill of materials to me. It's not needed given how simplistic it is.”
Scott Rundell
“We want these games to be able to go out on location and survive.”
Butch Peel (cited)
“Do you know, when I heard that, I literally pissed myself in the show. I was like, okay, you've got this machine that makes posts: how are you going to differentiate your games with posts?”
Scott Rundell
“It's the mechs that no one gives a crap about how a target's made.”
Scott Rundell
“I honestly feel like, given the right theme, that layout would be much better in another theme.”
Scott Rundell
“The Godfather that was at Pinfest broke down...and you know, it's Elton John actually made it through the whole weekend which was great to see.”
Neil McCray

Entities

  • American Pinball· company
  • Barrels of Fun· company
  • CGC (Chicago Gaming Company)· company
  • Heighway Pinball· company
  • Jersey Jack Pinball· company
  • Pinball Heaven· company
  • Spooky Pinball· company
  • Pinfest 24· event
  • Barrios (or Barry's Barbecue Challenge)· game
  • Cactus Canyon Remake· game
  • Elton John· game
  • Galactic Tank Force· game
  • Harry Potter· game
  • Labyrinth· game
  • Legends of Valhalla· game
  • Looney Tunes· game
  • Medieval Madness· game
  • TCM (The Cabinet of Mysterious Wonders or similar)· game
  • Alan O'Grady· person
  • Butch Peel· person
  • David Fix· person
  • Kerry Hardy· person
  • Neil McCray· person
  • Phil (Pinball Heaven)· person
  • Scott Rundell· person

More from The Great British Pinball Podcast

→ All content from The Great British Pinball Podcast
Contact us about this coverage