# Gotta guess 'em all! #pokemon #pinball

**Source:** DRI374  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2026-02-10  
**Duration:** 6m 7s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyIQaF160Sc

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## Analysis

Michael from Raccoon City Pinball conducts a detailed playfield layout analysis comparing the unreleased Pokémon pinball machine to George Gomez's Transformers Pro, identifying nearly identical shot placement patterns and concluding that George Gomez likely designed the Pokémon game. He notes the absence of signature Jack Danger design elements and speculates this may be a Premium model based on artwork and apron graphics.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] The Pokémon pinball playfield layout mirrors Transformers Pro with identical shot alignments (scoops, ramps, spinners, standup targets) — _Detailed visual overlay comparisons showing perfectly aligned shots across both playfields_
- [HIGH] George Gomez likely designed the new Pokémon game for Stern — _Michael's conclusion based on playfield layout analysis and absence of Jack Danger signature shots_
- [MEDIUM] The Pokémon pinball machine appears to be a Premium model, not Pro — _Apron graphics visible (vs. plain black on Pro aprons), decorative artwork suggesting Premium tier_
- [HIGH] No signature Jack Danger shots are present on the Pokémon playfield — _Direct observation comparing known Jack Danger design patterns to visible Pokémon layout_
- [HIGH] Pokémon pinball announcement is pending and may occur this week following a distributor call and media day — _Speaker references 'Monday before the big distributor call tomorrow and like media day,' indicating imminent official announcement_

### Notable Quotes

> "There's no question about it who designed Pokémon... there's no signature kind of Jack Danger shots on this game whatsoever."
> — **Michael, Raccoon City Pinball**, ~2:45
> _Core conclusion identifying George Gomez as designer by elimination and layout analysis_

> "You can see the uh the Autobot ramp here is just like it's lines up perfectly, right? Same with the orbit. Absolutely perfectly, right?"
> — **Michael, Raccoon City Pinball**, ~0:45
> _Evidence presentation showing exact layout correspondence between Transformers and Pokémon playfields_

> "And obviously nothing has been announced yet and all that jazz. This is Monday before uh uh the big distributor call tomorrow and like media day and all that, right?"
> — **Michael, Raccoon City Pinball**, ~0:10
> _Indicates unreleased/unannounced status and signals imminent official revelation_

> "I'm going to kind of take a guess at who's been designing the new Pokémon game from Stern, right?"
> — **Michael, Raccoon City Pinball**, ~0:05
> _Sets up the analysis purpose: designer identification through playfield comparison methodology_

> "the apron is kind of giving it away. It doesn't look like a pro apron to me. Uh, because pro aprons are just plain black. Uh, this has some graphics on it"
> — **Michael, Raccoon City Pinball**, ~4:20
> _Tier differentiation analysis identifying Premium vs. Pro based on visual details_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Michael | person | Host/analyst from Raccoon City Pinball performing playfield comparison and designer analysis |
| George Gomez | person | Legendary Stern pinball designer; subject of designer identification claim based on Transformers and Pokémon layout comparison |
| Jack Danger | person | Pinball designer; used as comparison point—signature shot styles absent from Pokémon playfield, supporting Gomez attribution |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of unreleased Pokémon pinball machine being analyzed |
| Pokémon Pinball | game | Unreleased Stern pinball game; subject of playfield analysis and designer identification |
| Transformers Pro | game | George Gomez-designed Stern pinball game used as layout reference for Pokémon comparison; described as one of Gomez's favorite games |
| Raccoon City Pinball | organization | Media/content channel operated by Michael conducting the analysis |
| Elliot Eisman | person | Stern designer; mentioned in context of first game work (implied wrestling game) featuring similar arena mechanics |
| All-Spark | game_mechanic | Central cube element in Transformers pinball; perfectly aligns with scoops in both Transformers and Pokémon layouts |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Designer attribution and identification methodology, Pokémon pinball machine announcement and release timeline, Playfield layout design patterns and similarities
- **Secondary:** Pro vs. Premium tier differentiation, George Gomez design signature elements, Jack Danger design signature elements, Unreleased/unannounced game analysis and speculation

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0.55) — Michael approaches analysis objectively and methodically, emphasizing he is 'not dogging on this new design' while conducting detailed visual comparison. Tone is analytical and respectful toward the designer and game, with appreciation for Gomez's work evident ('one of my absolute favorite George Gomez games'). No negative criticism of Pokémon game itself, only design attribution analysis.

### Signals

- **[design_philosophy]** George Gomez demonstrates consistent playfield layout pattern reuse across games (Transformers to Pokémon), suggesting design methodology prioritizing proven shot geometry (confidence: medium) — Michael observes 'it's just funny how you kind of rehash some of the patterns that you have' and catalogs nearly identical shot placements across two distinct IP themes
- **[leak_detection]** Unreleased Pokémon pinball playfield images circulating prior to official announcement; detailed visual information available for public analysis (confidence: high) — Michael has access to two distinct playfield versions (mirrored and non-mirrored) with enough detail to conduct shot-by-shot layout comparison before any official reveal
- **[personnel_signal]** George Gomez confirmed/strongly indicated as designer of unreleased Pokémon pinball based on playfield layout analysis (confidence: high) — Detailed playfield overlay comparison shows Pokémon layout mirrors Transformers Pro dimensions and shot placements; absence of Jack Danger signature elements supports Gomez attribution
- **[announcement]** Pokémon pinball official announcement anticipated imminently following distributor call and media day (confidence: high) — Speaker states 'This is Monday before uh uh the big distributor call tomorrow and like media day and all that' and 'We'll uh see what uh uh what what they'll announce here hopefully this week'
- **[product_strategy]** Pokémon pinball appears designed in tiered versions (Pro/Premium at minimum) with visible graphic differentiation in apron artwork (confidence: medium) — Speaker observes decorative apron graphics inconsistent with standard Pro black aprons, suggesting Premium tier model visible in promotional materials

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## Transcript

All right, time to flip them all. Uh, Michael with Raccoon City Pinball here. Uh, I'm going to kind of take a take a guess at who's been designing the new Pokemon game from Stern, right? And obviously nothing has been announced yet and all that jazz. This is Monday before uh uh the big distributor call tomorrow and like media day and all that, right? So, what I have here is basically I have two playfields and one is mirrored and one is not mirrored. And in the middle here, I got uh Transformers Pro. Uh it's a George Gomez game for the folks who don't know that. One of my absolute favorite George Gomez games, right? So, what I'm when I'm doing this comparison, it's not like I'm not dogging on this new design, but this is just funny how you kind of rehash some of the patterns that you have, right? So, if we look at the uh the So, this is uh the um uh the regular uh the non-flipped version of the uh Pokemon Playfield, right? And I put it over here. Uh and I kind of use the flippers to align it here. And you can see the uh the autobot ramp here is just like it's lines up perfectly, right? Same with the orbit. Absolute perfectly, right? Uh but then you see um uh let me just remove here. Then you see there there there's a standup bank there on that side and there's um uh there's a scoop or saucer or something on the left side, right? And that's kind of where we need to uh take in the flip version to look at the shots, right? Uh because then you take the flipped version here. And you can see here that the scoop lines up absolutely perfectly with the uh uh with the with the cube. What is it called? Oh, completely lost it now. But the there's a cube in Transformers. They all spark, right? That's what that scoop is called. Transformers lines up perfectly. Right. And then we take the other the other shot here, right? Uh the um uh the regular here and no wait no we're going to look at the yeah no stand we're going to look at the standup bank here like it does not line up perfectly uh on the uh where's the flippers oh it's really difficult to see here's the flippers lined up and this standup bank here you can see on the transformers is a little bit angled and that's evil and this is and and on on uh on Pokemon it's it's basically straight. And uh other things of interest here uh is the uh let me bring out the regular one again. Um line up the flippers there. And we can see the right ramp here also lines up perfectly. Uh we can see the captive ball here. The you can see that on the on the bumblebee shot and the right ramp. Uh while the right ramp on Transformers is like super narrow, super tight but super backhandable, uh the uh uh the Pokemon ramp looks a little bit wider, but you can still kind of line up. You see that you see the stand up there and the stand up here, right? And you can just peg that in perfectly and you can see how how this how the u uh captive ball lines up absolutely perfectly, right? And besides that, uh you can also see the uh there I try to kind of get the bumpers to line up here with the uh with the top lane rollovers in this particular section here. Uh it's a little bit jumbled there because it kind of made room for the for the rocket arena in the middle there, but it's it's the exact same principle, right? You have the rollovers there, you have the pop bumpers, and then you dribble out in the in the orbit. Uh, another kind of detail that also lines up perfectly is the spinner. Uh, there's a Yeah, there's a spinner on Transformers on the right there. And you can also see that the spinner hangs exactly in the same position on Pokemon, right? Uh, so there's that, right? Um, there's no question about it who designed Pokemon. Uh, and there's no signature kind of Jack Danger shots on this game. Uh, whatsoever. Uh, I can't see any of it. Uh, there's like, uh, if we just, uh, turn off turn up the turn up up the opacity on, uh, no, remove those. Uh, there we go. So, there's no signature jack danger shots on this playfield whatsoever. like the center arena here just give me a reminder of um WWE or Wrestlemania. What is it called? The wrestling game. Anyway, uh that was Elliot Elliot Eismin's first game that he worked on at Stern, right? Uh and that I'm not suggesting that that was his idea or anything like that, but that had that kind of angle to it. So, uh, the the the ring upstairs, right? And I don't know if we're looking at like the the premium or the pro. I'm assuming there's some toys here. There's a big ball. There's a Pikachu there. And this might be the premium. And also, the uh the apron is kind of giving it away. It doesn't look like a pro apron to me. Uh, because pro aprons are just plain black. Uh, this has some graphics on it and and so forth, right? But anyhow, a little bit of a pre Pokemon kind of analysis. We'll uh see what uh uh what what they'll announce here hopefully this week. Uh there's pending licenser approval and all that good stuff. We never know. All right, take care. Cheers.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 1f764b37-b73d-45fa-8042-6320c620ae7f*