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Episode 69 - Die on this Hill: High Roller Casino
PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago49 min listen
Support the show: ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast This episode our special guest Glenn Waechter (of the Saw Homebrew machine) joins us on the show, to Die on the Hill for Stern's 2001 game, High Roller...
Highlights
- High Roller Casino (2001) was Stern's fourth game and one of only two unlicensed games they ever made
- John Norris left Stern because the company allowed smoking in offices and wouldn't change the policy
- High Roller Casino's release was essential to Stern's survival and enabled future hits like Simpsons Pinball Party and Lord of the Rings
- Only about 1,000 High Roller Casino machines were made, making them rarely available on the used market
- High Roller Casino features three distinct wizard modes: Casino Frenzy Multiball, Break the Bank (at 100 chips), and a third difficult-to-reach mode
- Keith Johnson's code work on High Roller Casino is being unfairly criticized despite Johnson being 'revered' for his later work on Lord of the Rings and Simpsons
- The game features an 'almost unattainable' Super Duper Mega Extreme Jackpot worth 50x in slot machine multiball
- High Roller Casino is currently ranked #262 out of 306 on the Pinside Top 100 list
Notable quotes
“High Roller Casino in 2001, it almost saved the industry because nobody would have been able to buy any amazing games in the 2000s like Simpsons Pinball Party or Lord of the Rings if this game didn't come out because this game paved the way.”
“The software was programmed by a golden retriever... it's one of the worst games ever.”
“You got a super duper jackpot. Oh, it gets better... If you get four shots to triple jackpots you get a super duper mega extreme jackpot... It's worth 50x.”
“It's kind of got the bill of material of a loaded Bally Williams game. It's like Safecracker times one and a half. It's got Game of Thrones logic in there.”
“This game has so many amazing mechs and it's amazing... Looking at it, it's loaded.”
“I wonder when this review was written... I don't think the programming is something to point to as a problem on it.”
“If you don't know what you're doing on any game, none of them are very good.”
“Go talk to the guy that set the game up and ask him to take the training wheels off and let you play this game with a challenge.”
Entities
- Gottlieb· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- High Roller Casino· game
- Lord of the Rings· game
- Safecracker· game
- Saw· game
- Simpsons Pinball Party· game
- Next Level· location
- Pinball Hall of Fame· location
- Alan· person
- Alex the Waterboy· person
- Glenn· person
- John Norris· person
- Keith Elwin· person
- Keith Johnson· person
