121 episodes tracked since 2023 about →
Episode 62 - Fan Layouts
PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago43 min listen
Highlights
- Steve Ritchie's Terminator 2 (1991) is the first universally acknowledged fan layout that inspired copycats
- Fan layouts became the backbone of modern pinball design and represent the transition point where pinball started feeling 'modern'
- The term 'fan layout' is used dismissively on Pinside and other forums by home collectors to reject new games they won't buy
- Many highly regarded, sought-after, and popular games from the 90s and early Stern era are straightforward fan layouts
- A true fan layout requires an orbit that goes all the way around the playfield
- George Gomez does 'straightforward fan' layouts and 'does good shit with it'
- Steve Ritchie invented the fan layout, and even his non-fan games get called fans by the online community
- Games like Deadpool and Ghostbusters are contested: Alex says Ghostbusters is 'not a fan,' Alan says both are fans
Notable quotes
“The fan layout is kind of the backbone of modern pinball. That is what. When they became fans, that's when people start. That's why we discuss how like you have solid states and EMs and then the later solid states, the System 11, and we're like, they're not quite like the 90s games yet.”
“It's just a way for people to immediately dismiss a new game on an online forum dominated by home collectors a game that they're not gonna buy and are maybe salty about so they just go, it actually probably sucks because it's just a fan layout and we've seen it a million times.”
“If you're aiming for a lane and you miss it instead of hitting like a bank of drops that's gonna fuck you like you would on a classic game or something you're now gonna hit another lane that's probably another safe feed. They're beginner friendly in that regard and they make you feel better than you are.”
“What isn't a fan? I mean because that's that's I think why it's funny to me is because it's like there's so many ways and it's like what everybody kind of defines their own like what makes a fan layout a fan layout but by like the loosest definitions almost every game starts fitting.”
“Yeah. It's just a way for people to immediately dismiss a new game on an online forum dominated by home collectors.”
“When Bond, like Gomez's most recent 007 or whatever came out people are like just kind of a straightforward fan and you're like, what. You're like it's got like three upper flipper shots. It's got like a bank of targets in the middle.”
“There's a severe lack of modern games that don't just hand the ball back to the flipper every time you make a shot.”
“People will be like Spider-Man or Star Trek or those games and they're like well these are fans and you're like no they have upper flippers dude.”
“I fucking hated him when I first got into it because he makes challenging games. The Munsters just kicked the shit out of me, but now I love that game.”
“Jesus Christ, that's not a fan. Why not? The Scoleri Brothers. It's just too much goofy shit, man.”
Entities
- 007 (James Bond)· game
- AC/DC· game
- Attack from Mars· game
- Batman 66· game
- Cactus Canyon· game
- Deadpool· game
- Ghostbusters· game
- House of Horrors (Elvira)· game
- John Wick· game
- Lord of the Rings· game
- Medieval Madness· game
- Metallica· game
- Monster Bash· game
- Scared Stiff (Elvira)· game
- Terminator 2· game
- Theater of Magic· game
- Venom· game
- Pinside· organization
- Wedgehead Pinball Podcast· organization
- Alan· person
- Alex· person
- Brian Eddy· person
- George Gomez· person
- John Borg· person
- Steve Ritchie· person
