121 episodes tracked since 2023 about →
Episode 105 - Pinball Hindsight Awards 1991
PodcastAnalysis updated yesterday48 min listen
Highlights
- Checkpoint was the first pinball machine with a DMD (dot matrix display), though a smaller version; Gilligan's Island was the first with a full-size DMD
- Checkpoint was also the first game with an automatic ball launcher
- Terminator 2 was the first fan layout game in pinball
- Williams sued Data East over Lethal Weapon 3 for being too similar to Terminator 2's design
- Terminator 2 has a quirk where a ball sitting in the shooter lane produces repetitive bleeping that detracts from the sound design
- 1991 saw a shift toward more family-friendly pinball themes compared to the 1980s bar-oriented focus
- Bride of Pinbot's designer is John Trudeau, not Barry Oursler (who designed the original Pinbot)
- Terminator 2 sold over 15,000 units
Notable quotes
“the only award show that actually attempts to get all the awards correct, using the mighty telescope of time past to clarify and distinguish what games have actually stood the test of time”
“Bride of Pinbot might be one of python's best art packages and because that game is so iconic and so well known... it had to go to that game”
“It's hard to imagine games without it now because they all have them... it is a very critically important thing... it's used now interestingly as like a way to save money”
“even when you look at the rest of the games on the list, it does feel modern in a way that the other games feel just slightly older... T2 feels like kind of the crossover”
“You get out of it pretty fast, which is all I hope for in a video mode. It's my favorite kind of video mode where it's not too long.”
“You see the bride of pinbot on t-shirts on posters you know people... that character is like the hack brian allen has probably sold more shit with the bride you know his rendition of the bride on it then they actually sold units of this game at this point”
“I want you to come in the Discord and argue with us about it”
“It's just very, it's just very fun. It's like a multi-ball and then there's like the slam dunk combo. And that's sort of like the main bones of the game, but it's a super fun time.”
Entities
- Bride of Pinbot· game
- Checkpoint· game
- Gilligan's Island· game
- Hoops· game
- Party Zone· game
- Star Trek· game
- Surf 'n Safari· game
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles· game
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day· game
- Barry Oursler· person
- Chris Granner· person
- Craig Beerwaltz· person
- Dan Forden· person
- Dwight Sullivan· person
- Harry Williams· person
- Joe Kaminkow· person
- John Crutch· person
- John Norris· person
- John Trudeau· person
- Kevin O'Connor· person
- Lyman F. Sheets· person
- Paul Ferris· person
- Python Angelo· person
- Steve Ritchie· person
