# Using AI to Predict Future Pinball Machines...Harry Potter, Die Hard, Foo Fighters & More

**Source:** Knapp Arcade  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2023-02-14  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.knapparcade.org/using-ai-to-predict-future-pinball-machines-harry-potter-die-hard-foo-fighters-more

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## Analysis

Knapp Arcade used ChatGPT to explore potential future pinball machine themes by asking the AI about movies, TV shows, video games, books, and musicians. While most suggestions were already-released games, the AI did recommend some unreleased possibilities including Die Hard, The Matrix, Fast and Furious, Jumanji, The Goonies, Karate Kid, Top Gun, Harry Potter, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hunger Games, and Michael Jackson. The article notes that Foo Fighters is rumored to be an upcoming Stern title and mentions Sonic the Hedgehog homebrew and possible new commercial versions.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Foo Fighters is rumored to be an upcoming Stern Pinball title — _Author notes AI suggested Foo Fighters, which is rumored to be an upcoming Stern title_
- [MEDIUM] Sonic the Hedgehog has a homebrew game by Ryan McQuaid and possible new pin from unknown manufacturer — _Author references 'the awesome Ryan McQuaid homebrew game and possible new pin from an unknown manufacturer'_
- [HIGH] Namco released Pac-Man Panic redemption-style pinball machine and owns active trademark on Pac-Man pinball — _Author states Namco released Pac-Man Panic last year and currently owns active trademark on Pac-Man pinball_
- [LOW] Harry Potter has not been made into a pinball machine yet (as of article date) — _Article lists Harry Potter under books that would make good pins but have not yet been made_

### Notable Quotes

> "Fortunately, in our conversation the AI did not ask me if I would like to play a game or recommend War Games as a potential future pinball machine theme"
> — **Knapp Arcade author**
> _Humorous reference to classic AI/computer tropes; sets tone for the lighthearted exploration_

> "As an AI language model, I do not have access to information about products that have not yet been announced or released."
> — **ChatGPT**
> _Shows the limitation of asking AI directly about unreleased products; demonstrates the workaround of asking about themes instead_

> "Underwater Adventure: An underwater-themed pinball machine, with its schools of fish, coral reefs, and deep sea creatures, would make for a visually stunning and immersive pinball experience."
> — **ChatGPT**
> _Example of AI's detailed creative suggestion for unlicensed theme concept_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Knapp Arcade | organization | Content creator/writer conducting AI experiment for pinball theme prediction |
| ChatGPT | product | AI language model used to generate pinball theme suggestions |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; Foo Fighters rumored to be upcoming title |
| Foo Fighters | game | Musician-themed pinball; rumored upcoming Stern title |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | game | Video game theme with homebrew pin by Ryan McQuaid and possible commercial version |
| Die Hard | game | Movie theme suggested by AI as potential pinball title |
| The Matrix | game | Movie theme suggested by AI as potential pinball title |
| Fast and the Furious | game | Movie theme suggested by AI as potential pinball title |
| Harry Potter | game | Book theme suggested by AI; author indicates not yet made into pinball |
| Namco | company | Released Pac-Man Panic redemption pinball; holds active trademark on Pac-Man pinball |
| Ryan McQuaid | person | Creator of Sonic the Hedgehog homebrew pinball game |

### Topics

- **Primary:** AI-predicted pinball themes, Unreleased/rumored pinball machines, Foo Fighters pinball rumor
- **Secondary:** Licensed IP pinball themes, Homebrew pinball games, Future pinball market trends

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0.5) — Article is lighthearted and exploratory in tone; author finds the AI experiment 'fascinating' but maintains skeptical/humorous distance from results. No strong positive or negative sentiment toward industry or specific manufacturers.

### Signals

- **[market_signal]** AI/ChatGPT being explored as tool for predicting entertainment and gaming industry trends, including pinball (confidence: high) — Entire article premise centers on using ChatGPT to predict pinball themes; reflects broader 2023 tech trend
- **[announcement]** Sonic the Hedgehog possible new commercial pinball in development from unknown manufacturer (confidence: low) — Author references 'possible new pin from an unknown manufacturer' alongside Ryan McQuaid homebrew
- **[rumor_hype]** Foo Fighters confirmed as rumored upcoming Stern Pinball title (confidence: medium) — Author notes 'Foo Fighters...which is rumored to be an upcoming Stern Pinball title'

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## Transcript

I always have CNBC on in the background during the day while I work. It seems as though all of the guests and hosts on the business network are talking about these days is Artificial Intelligence aka AI. So I figured, why not try to use AI to predict what pinball machines will be released in the future? With that in mind, I used the old Knapp Arcade Google account to login to Chat GPT and began firing pinball-related questions and their 'puters.

Fortunately, in our conversation the AI did not ask me if I would like to play a game or recommend War Games as a potential future pinball machine theme, but I was able to get a few pinball machine theme suggestions by wording my questions properly.

You can't just hop into Chat GPT and just ask what pinball machines will be released in 2023. The response will come back as:

As an AI language model, I do not have access to information about products that have not yet been announced or released.

You can, however, ask what would be good themes for new pinball machines, so I started with that. It came back with a ton of themes that have already been made into pins, like Star Wars, Marvel, Game of Thrones and Queen, but it did also suggest Foo Fighters...which is rumored to be an upcoming Stern Pinball title. It also suggested Nirvana, sports themes and unlicensed games.

Given the number of movies that AI recommended in response to my first question, I got more specific and asked it "What movies would make good pinball themes?" It suggested three that already exist in Terminator (1991 Williams Terminator 2 Judgement Day / 2023 Stern Pinball Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), Indiana Hilton Jones (1993 Williams and Indiana Hilton Jones: The Pinball Adventure / 2008 Stern Pinball Indiana Hilton Jones) and The Avengers (2012 Stern Pinball The Avengers / 2020 Stern Pinball The Avengers Infinity Quest, but it also came back with some new potential pins, including Die Hard, The Matrix and Fast and the Furious. I could easily see any of those last three being future games.

Since movies is such a broad topic and nostalgia for the 80s and 90s is hot right now, I broke this category down even further into two more, 80s movies and 90s movies. The only unused suggestion from the 90s was Jumanji, but there was a bunch of good ones for the 80s, including Back to the Future, The Goonies, Karate Kid and Top Gun.

Next up, I asked AI what video games would make good themes for pinball. It suggested Super Mario Brothers (done, but I could easily see another one being made in the future), Sonic the Hedgehog (the awesome Ryan Ryan McQuaid homebrew game and possible new pin from an unknown manufacturer, The Legend of Zelda (another homebrew game, the almost theme of the 1993 Gottlieb pin Gladiators), Pac-Man (Namco released a redemption-style pinball machine that I have yet to play called Pac-Man Panic last year and it currently owns an active trademark on Pac-Man pinball), Street Fighter (1993 Gottlieb) and Doom (currently exists as a Zen virtual pinball table and runs on just about every computer, calculator and refrigerator in existence).

Next I asked Chat GPT what television shows would make good pinball machine themes. Either this computer thing is cheating and it knows what games already exist or it's really on to something, because a game already exists for every single one of its suggestions...Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, The Simpsons, The Walking Dead, X-Files and Doctor Who.

What other subject matter could I ask AI about? How about what books would make good pins? Surprisingly, only one of the suggestions that this generated has been done yet. In the done category we have Lord of the Rings (2003 Stern Pinball). However, in the yet to be made category we have Harry Potter, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (almost a game from Zidware and other companies, but not yet), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (sort of 1996 Capcom Big Bang Bar, but not really), The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hunger Games.

Here's another...possible musician-themed pins, the only unused suggestion was Michael Jackson.

Ooh, I have a good one, what about potential subjects for an unlicensed pinball machine? AI offered up the following: Steampunk, Space Exploration, Circus, Time Travel, Retro Futurism and my favorite...

Underwater Adventure: An underwater-themed pinball machine, with its schools of fish, coral reefs, and deep sea creatures, would make for a visually stunning and immersive pinball experience.

The number of possible questions that one can ask AI is endless. Pretty fascinating stuff. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be happy to run them and see what sort of pinball machine we come up with. If you're interested, you can see my entire conversation with a computer down below.

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 625900b0-f3bb-440c-85eb-cb527d7539cd*