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Episode 87 - Pinball is Supposed to be HARD!
PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago58 min listen
Highlights
- Gottlieb released Humpty Dumpty in 1947 as the first pinball machine with flippers (six of them, reverse orientation)
- Steve Kordek is credited with introducing facing flippers at the bottom of the playfield, which became the standard layout
- Stern sells approximately 70% of their games to the home market; boutique manufacturers (JJP, Spooky) likely sell 90%+ to home collectors
- Modern Stern games average approximately four minutes of play time based on operator audits
- Boutique games (especially Jersey Jack) play significantly longer than Stern games, sometimes 10+ times longer
- Hard games receive initially negative player reactions at shows because modern players lack experience with genuinely difficult pinball
- Chicago Gaming's throwback games (Pulp Fiction) successfully filled a niche for shorter, harder games
Notable quotes
“the ball is wild... pinball's hard fun pinball's hard it's supposed to be it's an arcade game”
“I'm of the mindset that pinball should be enjoyed at the length of a song. I think I've said that on the show three minutes or less.”
“It's very bizarre how it just feeds like that... there's such a drastic difference between a good game and a great game that it feels unjust”
“a hard game is more fun... it sharpens your senses. And when you overcome the odds, it's satisfying because you know that what you did was actually challenging.”
“if you play a really friendly copy of a really already friendly game i'll play one game on that thing... whereas if i go play something and it kicks my ass i'm immediately i can do better than that”
“When you put out a difficult game, it usually gets a really negative initial response because people aren't used to a modern game kicking their ass.”
“I will remember that forever [Flight 2000 game costing $20+ and failing multiball shots]... that hard games are much more addicting than games that are easy”
Entities
- Chicago Gaming Company· company
- Gottlieb· company
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Spooky Pinball· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Williams· company
- Big Game· game
- Creature· game
- Dracula· game
- F-14 Tomcat· game
- Firepower· game
- Flight 2000· game
- Godzilla· game
- Humpty Dumpty· game
- John Wick· game
- Pulp Fiction· game
- Rick and Morty· game
- Wedgehead Pinball Podcast· organization
- Harry Williams· person
- Jack Danger· person
- Pat Lawlor· person
- Scott Denisi· person
- Steve Kordek· person
