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Episode 38 - Die on this Hill: Orbitor 1
PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago38 min listen
Highlights
- Orbiter One is about to double in price
- The designers (Al Gross and Dixie Reinhardt) were NASA aerospace engineers who developed the space toilet and a space glove with haptic feedback
- Orbiter One was the first game to have ball save that stops timers when the ball is trapped
- The game has no kickers, slings, bumpers, or pops: only spinning rubber discs and drop targets
- The bonus multiplier on Orbiter One goes up to 15x
- Orbiter One has floating flippers that can catch the ball due to the parabolic playfield shape, providing full control
- Al Gross and Dixie Reinhardt designed rubber soles for Nike
- Steve Young was approached to remake Orbiter One motors but declined because only 15 orders existed
Notable quotes
“I was telling Alan and Alex that Orbiter One is about to double in price. All right, I'm rich!”
“They figured out how astronauts can shit in space. They came up with the space toilet.”
“The point is because you can grab the ball, dude. I'm telling you, it's the most controllable game.”
“If you look at it as a game, which most people don't, Alex included. They look at it as some weirdo art project.”
“Watching the ball orbit around my flippers and drain is the most fun I've ever had losing an American pinball game.”
“Orbiter's worth about three minutes of novelty... this is just one of the worst pins ever to get the green light for production.”
“You owe some respect. I know what they're doing with that plunger. I fucking love it.”
“I've offered to trade you Whodunit and three ice-cold beers with the broken spitter motor that you cannot get anymore that Steve Young will rebuild.”
Entities
- Stern Electronics· company
- Charlie's Angels· game
- Gottlieb Black Hole· game
- Orbiter One· game
- Popeye· game
- Pulp Fiction· game
- Whodunit· game
- Wedgehead Pinball Podcast· organization
- Al Gross· person
- Alan· person
- Alex (Alex the Waterboy)· person
- Blueberry Jeff Johnson· person
- Caucasian_Two_Step· person
- Dixie Reinhardt· person
- Gary Stern· person
- Joe Juice Jr.· person
- Johnny Pinball· person
- Rodesy· person
- Steve Young· person
- Pinside Top 100· product
- Next Level· venue
- Walt's Bar· venue
