# Stern Pinball: Making of Kiss Pinball 2015

**Source:** Stern Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2015-06-26  
**Duration:** 11m 7s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qKSKwHqZ_w

---

## Analysis

Stern Pinball's documentary-style video showcases the design and development of the 2015 KISS pinball machine, led by legendary designer John Borg. The team discusses the creative vision of translating the iconic rock band's theatrics, music, and visual identity into pinball mechanics, featuring innovative playfield toys like Gene Simmons' interactive head, Paul Stanley's floating ball effect, and extensive use of digitized concert footage. The video emphasizes how the game bridges nostalgia with the original 1979 Bally KISS machine while leveraging modern technology, custom voiceover from Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, and deep licensing collaboration.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Bally produced a KISS pinball machine in 1979, and this Stern version is a spiritual successor with modern technology and gameplay depth. — _John Borg explicitly states this while discussing the design philosophy of updating the classic._
- [HIGH] Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley recorded 600+ lines of dialogue across approximately 45 pages for the game. — _Team member states: 'We wrote probably 600 lines. I want to say 45 pages.'_
- [HIGH] The game features 10 KISS songs selected from the band's catalog. — _Designer states: 'We have 10 songs that are going to be featured on the game. 10 awesome Kiss songs.'_
- [HIGH] Gene Simmons' head is a major interactive playfield feature that spits balls like a pitching machine. — _Multiple team members describe the mechanical design: 'The most awesome feature of the game is Gene Simmons' big head on the play field. That's going to be something that's very interactive.'_
- [HIGH] The game uses a digitized display with concert footage rather than hand-drawn art, representing a technical shift from the 1979 original. — _Team member explains: 'For this game, we are still using the DMV display, but we are using all digitized footage. No hand art stuff. It'll have actual concert footage.'_
- [HIGH] Paul Stanley has a special stage area in the game where players can activate his character and see custom animations synchronized to music. — _Designer describes: 'If you play Paul Stanley's little stage area, you get Love Gun. Gene's head, Dr. Love.' And mentions Paul 'moves back and forth, and dances to the music.'_
- [HIGH] The floating ball effect under Paul Stanley's section uses a magnetized ball on a pulley system with a DC motor, inspired by Paul's stage performances. — _Mike (designer) explains: 'Similar to what Paul does at concerts, cable with a ring comes to him, it picks him up and it carries him over the crowd.'_
- [HIGH] Kevin O'Connor, who created artwork for the original 1979 Bally KISS machine, is returning as the artist for the Stern version, hand-drawing all new artwork. — _John Borg states: 'Kevin is going to be the artist on the game and he's hand-drawing everything and it's just looking fantastic.'_
- [HIGH] The game includes a spinning disc underneath Gene's head that functions as a ball launcher/pitching machine. — _Multiple references to the mechanical design: 'There's a spinning disc underneath Gene's head that just chucks the ball back out at you like a pitching machine.'_
- [HIGH] Players can select which KISS songs to feature at the start of gameplay. — _Designer explains: 'You can pick the music. You get to pick the songs right when you start the game.'_

### Notable Quotes

> "It's an all-out, no-expense-spared rock and roll show. Kiss is a perfect pinball machine because they are the epitome of rock icons."
> — **John Borg**, early in video
> _Establishes the design philosophy and licensing strategy for the game._

> "The coolest, biggest feature in the game may not be the obvious. There are mechanical features on the game that will interact with the ball. But the coolest feature on the game is the music."
> — **John Borg / team member**, mid-video
> _Reveals that music integration is the core design priority, not just toys or mechanics._

> "I've been in the game industry for like 27 years, and I can tell you hands down, I've never met bigger fanatics about pinball and also the license."
> — **Chuck Ernst (animation lead)**, team introduction section
> _Highlights the passion and expertise of the Stern design team for this specific license._

> "The initial feel of the game is being able to put the player in a concert. So when you're in a concert, you have all of those sights and sounds."
> — **Designer**, design philosophy section
> _Articulates the overarching design goal: recreating the concert experience through pinball._

> "You walk up to a pinball machine that has KISS music. You are hearing music that's drawing back experiences that you had when you were in junior high, in high school, and in college. And so before you even flipped one ball, you're like, this game is awesome."
> — **John Borg**, opening monologue
> _Explains the emotional and nostalgia-driven appeal of licensing rock music in pinball._

> "We're basically taking a game that people love from yesteryear, and we are supersizing and making it a modern-day cool rock and roll theme."
> — **John Borg / team member**, design evolution section
> _Describes the strategy of honoring the 1979 original while using contemporary technology and scale._

> "A lot of people collect Kiss Memorabilia, and I think this is just going to be the one toy that you're just going to have to have."
> — **Designer**, collectibility discussion
> _Identifies the game as a must-have collectible for KISS fans and pinball enthusiasts._

> "Bally produced a Kiss Pinball machine in 1979... When we decided we were going to do Kiss a second time, I talked to Kevin and he was like, Kiss, oh, awesome, you know, I'm ready."
> — **John Borg**, historical context section
> _Confirms the 1979 Bally original and establishes the continuity with artist Kevin O'Connor._

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| John Borg | person | Legendary Stern Pinball game designer leading the KISS project; known for Metallica, Aerosmith, and other iconic titles. |
| Kevin O'Connor | person | Artist who created artwork for the original 1979 Bally KISS machine and is returning to create hand-drawn artwork for the Stern version. |
| Gene Simmons | person | KISS band member (bass, vocals) providing custom voiceover and face modeling for the game; his head is a major interactive playfield feature. |
| Paul Stanley | person | KISS band member (guitar, vocals) providing custom voiceover; featured as an interactive character with a special stage area and floating ball effect inspired by his concert performances. |
| Chuck Ernst | person | Lead animator on the KISS project with 27 years in the game industry; noted for passion about both pinball and the KISS license. |
| Tanya Kleiss | person | Programmer at Stern Pinball working on system programming and music-sync-to-light programming; identified as the KISS expert on the team. |
| Ronnie Roth | person | Programmer at Stern who has worked on multiple titles including Guns N' Roses; contributing to KISS pinball development. |
| Mike Redobel | person | Team member working on mechanical design elements of the KISS machine, including the floating ball pulley system for Paul Stanley's section. |
| Rob Blakeman | person | Team member contributing to KISS pinball design. |
| Lonnie Roth | person | Programming team member on KISS pinball. |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer producing the 2015 KISS pinball machine; leading modern pinball manufacturer. |
| Bally | company | Historical pinball manufacturer that created the original KISS machine in 1979. |
| KISS | game | 2015 Stern Pinball machine themed after the rock band KISS, featuring extensive licensing, custom voiceover, and innovative playfield toys. |
| KISS (band) | organization | Iconic American rock band that licensed their music, likenesses, and stage presence for the pinball machine. |
| Detroit Rock City | product | KISS song featured in the pinball machine; specifically mentioned as a favorite among team members. |
| Love Gun | product | KISS song that activates when players shoot Paul Stanley's stage area in the game. |
| Dr. Love | product | KISS song that activates when players shoot Gene Simmons' head in the game. |
| Beth | product | KISS soft rock song mentioned as a favorite by one team member, representing the softer side of the band. |
| Deuce | product | KISS song mentioned as a favorite among team members. |
| Guns N' Roses | game | Previous Jersey Jack Pinball title that team member Ronnie Roth worked on before KISS. |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Game design philosophy and creative vision, Playfield mechanical innovation and toy design, Music licensing and integration in pinball, Character animation and digitized video in pinball displays, Relationship between the 1979 Bally original and the 2015 Stern remake
- **Secondary:** Team composition and expertise at Stern Pinball, Voice acting and voiceover recording with band members, Collectibility and appeal to KISS fans

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.92) — The entire video radiates enthusiasm and pride from the design team about the KISS project. Team members consistently express excitement about the license, the innovative mechanics, and the opportunity to remake a classic. There is no criticism or negativity expressed; all discussion centers on the game's strengths, innovation, and appeal to both KISS fans and pinball enthusiasts.

### Signals

- **[product_launch]** Stern Pinball officially showcasing the 2015 KISS machine with detailed behind-the-scenes production video featuring team introductions, design philosophy, mechanical features, and software integration. (confidence: high) — Full production documentary released by Stern featuring John Borg and the complete design team discussing finalized game features.
- **[design_philosophy]** Design strategy explicitly balances homage to the 1979 Bally original (artist Kevin O'Connor, pop-up caps, drop targets, band member grid) with contemporary technology (digitized displays, advanced animation, complex mechanical toys). (confidence: high) — John Borg: 'We're basically taking a game that people love from yesteryear, and we are supersizing and making it a modern-day cool rock and roll theme.'
- **[design_innovation]** Multiple innovative playfield toys: Gene Simmons' interactive head with ball-spitting mechanism, Paul Stanley's floating ball on pulley system (rare retro feature), diverter-driven ramp shots, and animated character figures synchronized to music. (confidence: high) — Detailed technical descriptions of Gene's head spitting mechanism, Paul's magnetized floating ball, and the back-panel diverter system with ball walks.
- **[licensing_signal]** Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley recorded 600+ lines of dialogue and contributed to 3D face modeling for in-game animation, representing deep licensing engagement. (confidence: high) — Team member states: 'Gene and Paul are both going to record speech for the game. The Demon and the Star Child. We wrote probably 600 lines.'
- **[design_innovation]** Music is positioned as the core feature, not merely thematic backdrop. Custom voiceover, song selection at game start, music-synced lighting and animation, and concert atmosphere are central design pillars. (confidence: high) — Designer: 'The coolest, biggest feature on the game is the music. Rock and roll, I guess, is the greatest feature of this game.' Tanya Kleiss doing 'music sync to light programming.'
- **[personnel_signal]** Stern assembled a deep team: John Borg (legendary designer), Kevin O'Connor (original Bally artist), Chuck Ernst (27-year veteran), Tanya Kleiss (expert programmer), Ronnie Roth (Guns N' Roses veteran), indicating high resource commitment. (confidence: high) — Team introductions and credentials throughout the video; Kevin O'Connor's return from the 1979 original is explicitly noted as continuity.
- **[product_strategy]** Video references distinct LE features (Paul's section with floating ball, neck-diverter, back-panel mechanics) suggesting multiple game tiers (Pro/Premium/LE) with differentiated playfield toys. (confidence: medium) — Designer mentions 'a feature that's specifically for the LE game' regarding Paul's ramp and floating ball section.
- **[collector_signal]** Game positioned as must-have collectible for both KISS fans and pinball enthusiasts; Gene Simmons' head and interactive features described as iconic collectible artifacts. (confidence: high) — Designer: 'A lot of people collect Kiss Memorabilia, and I think this is just going to be the one toy that you're just going to have to have.'
- **[industry_signal]** Stern's strategic decision to remake the 1979 Bally original rather than create a new IP signals confidence in established rock band licenses and nostalgia-driven collector demand. (confidence: high) — John Borg: 'There's already been a Kiss pinball machine, and it was a successful pinball machine. It would be nice to bring it up to the next century, do a Kiss pinball right.'
- **[technology_signal]** Shift from hand-drawn artwork to digitized concert footage and 3D-modeled/animated band member faces using modern display technology, representing technical evolution since 1979 Bally original. (confidence: high) — Designer: 'For this game, we are still using the DMV display, but we are using all digitized footage. No hand art stuff. It'll have actual concert footage.'
- **[gameplay_signal]** Players can select KISS songs at game start, with different band member characters (Gene, Paul, Demon, Starchild) triggering different songs and modes, providing gameplay depth and replayability. (confidence: high) — Designer: 'You can pick the music. You get to pick the songs right when you start the game. If you play Paul Stanley's little stage area, you get Love Gun. Gene's head, Dr. Love.'

---

## Transcript

 So we start our game, we pick a right or left flipper button. Detroit Rocks! Pinball and music, and rock and roll music in particular, it's a great marriage because when you're younger and become interested in music and it starts affecting your life, You're usually listening to music that is not the music of your mom and dad. It is that music of the next generation, that new group, that new thing, that new sound that's out there. You became an adult and you acquired some different tastes. You still have that music vibe in your head. It's in your personality. It's in your bones. You walk up to a pinball machine that has KISS music. You are hearing music that's drawing back experiences that you had when you were in junior high, in high school, and in college. And so before you even flipped one ball, you're like, this game is awesome. My name is John Borg, and I'm a game designer at Stern Pinball. I'm currently working on the KISS project. It's an all-out, no-expense-spared rock and roll show. Kiss is a perfect pinball machine because they are the epitome of rock icons. The best theme in the world for pinball. Their shows are huge and flashy and spectacular, so that translates really well to pinball. Awesome characters, awesome effects. Kiss is not one of those bands that's been around a long time. Everybody knows who they are, whether you like them or not. You have to respect what they've done all these years. We're talking 40 years of music. Kiss. Who doesn't like Kiss? Great theatrics, great stage presence, and they spit blood. They were superheroes. They have a place in my childhood memories of just epic proportions. There's already been a Kiss pinball machine, and it was a successful pinball machine. It would be nice to bring it up to the next century, do a Kiss pinball right. Today, we've got better resources and better technology. Obviously, there's been a Kiss pinball game before, and that's a little bit of what we're looking at as kind of a throwback to that game. It's very much pain au mode, but at the same time, we want something modern. Bally produced a Kiss Pinball machine in 1979. Kevin O'Connor did all the artwork for that project. When we decided we were going to do Kiss a second time, I talked to Kevin and he was like, Kiss, oh, awesome, you know, I'm ready. Kevin is going to be the artist on the game and he's hand-drawing everything and it's just looking fantastic. The Kiss Pinball machine was one of the coolest pinball machines I'd ever seen. The art on that ultimate artifact from the 70s. But the machine itself, like it's not my favorite playing machine, having the opportunity to take that game and do another version that has everything we learned about pinball add rules and toys and things to make it the ultimate game It a great opportunity and challenge and we gonna You know kick its ass We've got a whole bunch of people I'm working with Elliot and Mike Redobel Robert Blakeman and Lonnie Roth our programming Hi, I'm Ronnie Roth. We are just cranking away right now. I've worked with John on many titles in the past We had an opportunity to work on Guns N' Roses and many games since then. The vibe's really good on the team. Tonya Kleiss. We got me. I'm working on the team. I'm doing a lot of system programming and some cool music, sync to light programming. He is our KISS expert, has really been influenced by them. I'm a big KISS fan, yeah. All of the nuances and the little subtle things, he is the one who's helping identify those and making sure that they get put into the game. We've got a new person, Chuck Ernst, who is leading the animation. I've been in the game industry for like 27 years, and I can tell you hands down, I've I've never met bigger fanatics about pinball and also the license. It's funny pulling into the parking lot and listening to these guys cranking Kiss. They're like, yeah, you know, Kiss. I'm super stoked about it, too. It's a great team to work with. We got this rock band called Kiss. He's providing music and doing custom voiceover. Gene and Paul are both going to record speech for the game. The Demon and the Star Child. We wrote probably 600 lines. I want to say 45 pages. We have 10 songs that are going to be featured on the game. 10 awesome Kiss songs. Had they picked half a dozen other songs than the ones that we'll be using in the game, it would have been fine because it's all good. My favorite Kiss song, it's difficult to choose between Detroit Rock City and Deuce. Got a Thunder. A lot of guys are like, you know, shout it out loud, they go for the hard rock and kind of stuff. I'm more of a Beth fan. There's a soft Kiss side that I think is in all of us. But if I'm driving and I don't need to worry about getting stopped by the cops, then Detroit Rock City is a really good driving song. You can pick the music. You get to pick the songs right when you start the game. If you play Paul Stanley's little stage area, you get Love Gun. Gene's head, Dr. Love. So there will be some features in the game that will use certain songs, but some of those songs you can actually pick at the beginning of the play. This machine is going to be an experience. We're going to make our Kiss Rock concert, and we're going to put that in a pinball machine. You need music, which we got. You need lights. We're going to have lights, and we're going to have like... You got Gene Simmons' head. Large molded Gene head, which is sitting right next to me here. The most awesome feature of the game is Gene Simmons' big head on the play field. That's going to be something that's very interactive. You can see we have a mock-up here, a giant Gene Simmons head that spits balls. You can't go wrong with that. There's a shot underneath Gene, so when you shoot the ball under Gene's head, it goes under and it kind of disappears for a couple seconds, and then it kind of comes out like a pitching machine and it shoots the ball right, left. You never know where it's going. There's a trough that goes up into the back of Gene's head where you can store three balls. You going to get a chance to see something shooting off this giant tongue There another one that going to be featured in the LE game that specifically for Paul You shoot a ball through a ramp The right ramp is also going to have a shot that goes to the back panel It got this big diverter that will divert the ball around When the shot is lit, it will go down and then hit the back panel. And then there's this neck that Mike designed which slides the ball over. It's going to drop it off. It was kind of challenging because of its interface here. We had to have something that went up, diverted the ball, and then fall down so the ball wouldn't get stuck. There's a diverter here where the slot is. Normally the ball is going to pass around the radius of the ramp and feed into the wire and come back to your flipper. But when it's time, this diverter will drop down and the ball is going to go up the ramp to the back panel. And it's going to stick to the back panel. And then the ball is going to come out and it's going to walk across the back panel. And it's going to fall off and it's going to roll down into Paul's special play area. This is the floating ball. What we have here is basically a magnetized ball on a pulley system. We have a DC motor here on an XL.2 pitch pulley. Basically being slowly brought across. Similar to what Paul does at concerts, cable with a ring comes to him, it picks him up and it carries him over the crowd. So I wanted to kind of recreate that in pinball. That's something that hasn't been done in a long time on a pinball machine. That's kind of a retro thing with a little bit of a modern take. Pinball nuts will really dig it. One of the things I'm doing right now is kind of prototyping some of the gameplay features. So if you look in here, the ball goes off the ramp, hits the magnetic pickup on the back, gets picked up, does its thing, gets dropped off on a ramp, drops back into gameplay. And then that starts a multiball sequence. Now this is just early masked out stuff for the low res screen. But this will be Starchild asking people, taunting them, going, Do you want me to come out there? And that's when he does his skywalk. The coolest, biggest feature in the game may not be the obvious. There are mechanical features on the game that will interact with the ball. But the coolest feature on the game is the music. The music is so integrated. Rock and roll, I guess, is the greatest feature of this game. The initial feel of the game is being able to put the player in a concert. So when you're in a concert, you have all of those sights and sounds. But we wanted to also bring out the personality of Gene and Paul. For this game, we are still using the DMV display, but we are using all digitized footage. No hand art stuff. It'll have actual concert footage. Right now I'm working on a generic crowd audience. Possibly background for a mode. This is Starman's rocket. He likes to shoot rockets off with his guitar occasionally. The red background kind of works like a green screen, so that when the programmers use this on the actual marquee, They can just place it wherever they want and it won't affect anything behind it. So he just fires off a rocket and goes back to his resting post. I can turn demon on if I want. So now it's demon shooting off the rocket. Everything has to be real exaggerated so that it shows up. The shoes here, they might be too small. If it were reality, they're probably a good 10 inches tall. Also, they're spikes, 10 times bigger than they are. It's been fun seeing it come together like this. This is where you get a match at the end of the game Usually the match involves revealing a number If the number matches the last two digits on your score you get a free game The fire reveals the number and the number shows up like right there Gene Simmons has this fire breathing thing and we had to figure out some way to get it in there. I mean that's iconic. So this is actually a CG model. This is a video footage of him. We actually modeled him in 3D and then animated him and then bonded it in some fire. We have a full Gene Simmons And he has a face rig. Eyelids. He's got like eyebrows. He's got full function left, right. A lot of people collect Kiss Memovelia, and I think this is just going to be the one toy that you're just going to have to have. The pinball community, they're just going to love the way the game shoots. There's a lot of flow in the game. There's a lot of toys on it. There's a spinning disc underneath Gene's head that just chucks the ball back out at you like a pitching machine. There's a scoop in the game where you can start wizard mode. There's a lot of targets in the game. Paul is in the game as a stand-up figure. He's standing next to a little amplifier, and he actually moves back and forth, and he dances to the music. There's just a lot for everybody. We try to draw elements. In the previous game, not just art elements, but also mechanical elements. So those pop-upper caps that you see, those drop targets that you see, the band members, the grid of inserts at the bottom. We're basically taking a game that people love from yesteryear, and we are supersizing and making it a modern-day cool rock and roll theme. It is like going to a concert. I think it's just going to be a thing of beauty and everybody's going to have to have one. The question is, who do I associate with most? I would be the demon. My personality fits his and his boots just rock. Well, I would have to be Star Child. Hanging from cords and flying around the stage. I don't think I could do the whole puking up blood. Probably primarily, most of the time, I relate to the spaceman the most. The fact that he is from outer space is pretty cool. I think I could relate to that. I'm probably the techie guy that's in the back running the boards for all the pyrotechnics that are happening at a concert. Uh, songwaves. I think when the Kiss band approached the aliens, Gene would walk up and start shaking his head in blood and start spilling out of his mouth. I think it's going to be a real team effort. The demons, the star child, they're just going to do everything. They're obviously going to lead the charge with their superpowers. I think they just have to play loud enough and they'll all leave. They'll stomp on them with their big platform shoes. Having them like kind of the Mecca Gene Simmons flying around, being able to spit fire out. Or just scaring them away. I mean, we're going to need some government funding probably to help enhance their powers. I don't know how they'd save it. Probably Earth is going to be destroyed. Stern's next lineup is...

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 8257a023-a504-43af-b5fd-69a4b298de5e*