# steve ritchie fav game

**Source:** Stern Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2011-04-18  
**Duration:** 0m 59s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA-T6LrwfkU

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## Analysis

Steve Ritchie, now working at Stern Pinball, identifies Flight 2000 as his favorite Stern game of the last 25 years. He praises the 1980 widebody designed by Harry Williams, emphasizing his admiration for Williams' creative resilience and productivity at an advanced age (72-73), and expresses hope to maintain similar creative longevity.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Steve Ritchie is currently working at Stern Pinball — _Direct statement: 'I'm working at Stern now'_
- [HIGH] Flight 2000 was designed by Harry Williams — _Direct statement: 'Harry Williams made the game'_
- [HIGH] Flight 2000 came out during a widebody manufacturing era when all major companies were making widebodies — _Ritchie states: 'It came out at a time when all the companies were making widebodies'_
- [HIGH] Harry Williams was 72-73 years old when Flight 2000 was released — _Ritchie's direct estimate: 'he must have been what, 72, 73 years old at the time'_
- [HIGH] Flight 2000 was a commercial hit — _Ritchie states: 'it was a very, very good game. It was a hit game'_

### Notable Quotes

> "I really admire the game. It came out at a time when all the companies were making widebodies, but the coolest thing about the game is that Harry Williams made the game, and it was a very, very good game."
> — **Steve Ritchie**
> _Establishes Ritchie's admiration for Flight 2000 and the competitive context of its release_

> "And it just amazed me—the resilience of this guy and the power that he had always to create, even in old age. And I hope I can do that too."
> — **Steve Ritchie**
> _Reveals Ritchie's personal aspiration to maintain creative capacity throughout his career, using Harry Williams as his model_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Steve Ritchie | person | Legendary pinball designer now working at Stern Pinball; speaking about his favorite games |
| Flight 2000 | game | Classic 1980 Stern widebody pinball machine designed by Harry Williams; Ritchie's stated favorite Stern game of the past 25 years |
| Harry Williams | person | Designer of Flight 2000; created the game at age 72-73, which Ritchie cites as exemplary creative longevity |
| Stern Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer where Steve Ritchie currently works |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Game design philosophy and admiration, Creative longevity and aging in the pinball industry, Classic pinball game legacy (Flight 2000, Harry Williams)
- **Secondary:** Widebody era pinball manufacturing

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.92) — Ritchie expresses strong admiration for Flight 2000 and Harry Williams, with reflective and aspirational tone about his own career trajectory

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Stern Pinball leveraging Steve Ritchie's authority and legendary status as designer to validate classic game legacy and connect contemporary work to pinball history (confidence: high) — Official Stern Pinball video featuring Ritchie discussing his favorite game and personal reflections on design excellence
- **[design_philosophy]** Steve Ritchie explicitly identifies Flight 2000 as exemplary game design and uses Harry Williams' creative resilience at advanced age as a personal career model (confidence: high) — Direct statement of admiration for the game's quality and Williams' ability to create 'even in old age'

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## Transcript

hey I'm uh Steve Ritchie and I'm going to talk about my uh the well my favorite game of the last 25 years um done by Stern I'm working at Stern now and uh so I'm thinking about all the games that uh that we've done in the past uh I would say my favorite is probably uh flight 2000 I I really uh admire the game it came out at a time when we uh when all the companies were making wide bodies but the coolest thing about the game is that Harry Williams made the game and it was a very very good game it was a hit game and and he must have been what 72 73 years old at the time and it just amazed me the resilience of this guy and the uh you know the power that he had always to create e even in old age and I U I hope I can do that too

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 3aacd314-8192-4f29-af3e-ceed71a1f169*