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The Spinner is Lit - Episode 8: The Lady Has Skills
PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago56 min listen
Juniper Neff joins us to share her journey into pinball from her perspective as a teenager. We discuss Star Wars game play and get to know Spencer a little bit more!
Highlights
- Juniper has been seriously playing pinball for approximately 5 years, starting when she joined her local league
- Juniper bought/was given a Stern Stingray for repair as a birthday present around age 15
- Juniper shadowed a pin medic at Pinagogo and worked on a Northstar (early EM machine)
- Juniper presented her school final project featuring a functioning Stingray pinball machine, complete with a PowerPoint, manual, and hands-on play opportunity
- Whirlwind (Williams System 11, 1990) had approximately 7,300 units manufactured
- The three-way combo shot on Whirlwind (outer orbit, inner orbit, left ramp sequence) is regarded as one of the top 10 hardest shots in pinball
- Stern's Star Wars machine features a new LCD monitor (described as Stern's third game using this technology)
- A Deadflip gameplay video of Stern Star Wars was streamed from the factory and watched by the hosts
- Star Wars was designed by Steve Ritchie
Notable quotes
“I really like the satisfaction of looking back and being like, hey, I did that.”
“I remember the first time I heard the little startup chimes on Stingray, and I was like, that will forever be in my memory. Because that was so pretty, hearing something like, hey, I made that happen.”
“I had people coming up to me and being like, whoa, you repaired a pinball machine. Must have been so complicated. I'm shocked they knew what a pinball machine was.”
“I didn't know there were modern pinball machines. I thought they were all for old people.”
“you have that special kind of crazy where it'll allow people to listen to a 15-year-old girl when she gives her opinions... And with you guys, I'm completely at home.”
“that's the magic of pinball. that your opinion is just as valid as anybody else because you're a pinhead.”
“I think ultimately when I had it, I wasn't playing it as much. I think there's a couple things that hold me back on this game... there's just something about the overall theme that doesn't speak to me at a deeper level.”
“he came over and within 10 to 15 minutes, he hit that freaking three-way combo. And I have never been able to hit it on that machine... at that point, I was just like, I'm done.”
“I really think they that stern has found the balance where the casual player that oh cool pill machine oh cool star wars i go up they throw a couple bucks in it and they play it and they have a good time”
“the new LCD monitor, I mean, this is only, you know, Stern's third game on this. And just like if we go back to the early DMD games... the dot matrix display really grew and progressed, and so did the rule sets along with it over time.”
Entities
- Stern Pinball· company
- Williams Manufacturing· company
- Pinagogo· event
- Black Hole· game
- Ghostbusters· game
- Grand Lizard· game
- High Speed· game
- Northstar· game
- Pinbot· game
- Stern Star Wars· game
- Stern Stingray· game
- Swords of Fury· game
- Theater of Magic· game
- Whirlwind· game
- Charlie· person
- Chris· person
- Deadflip· person
- Josh Sharp· person
- Juniper Neff· person
- Juniper's Dad· person
- Mo· person
- Practical Steve· person
- Seth Holder· person
- Spencer Klingin· person
- Steve Ritchie· person
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