# Deep Dive: Lord of the Rings PREVIEW

**Source:** Pinball Party Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-08-05  
**Duration:** 6m 13s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://pinballparty.podbean.com/e/deep-dive-lord-of-the-rings-preview/

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## Analysis

Zach Sharpe and Jason host a deep dive preview of Lord of the Rings (2003), a landmark Stern Pinball game released during the company's post-Bally/Williams transition period. They discuss the design team (George Gomez, Dwight Sullivan, Kevin O'Connor, Chris Granner) and establish the game's historical significance as potentially crucial to Stern's survival, while providing context on Stern's early use of independent contractors rather than full-time designers.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Lord of the Rings (2003) came out at a time when Stern was really struggling after the demise of Bally/Williams — _Zach Sharpe discussing the historical context of 2003 Stern Pinball_
- [HIGH] Stern was doing everything with independent contractors and collaborators in 2003, not full-time employees — _Zach Sharpe explaining Stern's early business model: 'They're basically doing everything with independent contractors and collaborators'_
- [MEDIUM] Lord of the Rings is one of the games that kept Stern afloat — _Jason's incomplete statement at episode end: 'I think The Lord of the Rings is one of the games that kept Stern afloat'_
- [HIGH] Chris Granner, the sound designer for Lord of the Rings, also did sound for Twilight Zone and Addams Family — _Zach Sharpe: 'And then Kevin O'Connor did the artwork... Chris Granner did the sound... because the sound on The Lord of the Rings is amazing. And that guy did Twilight Zone, Addams Family.'_
- [HIGH] The Lord of the Rings sound design is amazing — _Zach Sharpe: 'the sound on The Lord of the Rings is amazing'_

### Notable Quotes

> "I probably know more dumb shit about this game that one shouldn't know."
> — **Zach Sharpe**, ~03:00
> _Self-deprecating acknowledgment of deep expertise in Lord of the Rings, positioning himself as an obsessive fan of the game_

> "This is 2003, and this is after the demise of Bally/Williams. Stern just starts up. They're basically doing everything with independent contractors and collaborators."
> — **Zach Sharpe**, ~04:30
> _Key historical framing of the context in which Lord of the Rings was created, explaining Stern's precarious position_

> "I think The Lord of the Rings is one of the games that kept Stern afloat"
> — **Jason**, ~end
> _Core thesis about Lord of the Rings' commercial and business importance to Stern's survival_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Zach Sharpe | person | Co-host of Pinball Party Podcast, deep Lord of the Rings enthusiast who has owned the game multiple times |
| Jason | person | Co-host of Pinball Party Podcast, played pinball in early 2000s, co-analyzing Lord of the Rings |
| Lord of the Rings | game | 2003 Stern Pinball machine based on Lord of the Rings license, subject of deep dive discussion |
| George Gomez | person | Legendary Stern designer, credited as part of Lord of the Rings design team alongside Dwight Sullivan, Jim Sullivan, Keith P., Jeff Johnson |
| Dwight Sullivan | person | Designer credited on Lord of the Rings (2003) |
| Jim Sullivan | person | Designer credited on Lord of the Rings (2003) |
| Kevin O'Connor | person | Artwork designer for Lord of the Rings (2003) |
| Chris Granner | person | Sound designer for Lord of the Rings, Twilight Zone, and Addams Family; described as 'an all-timer' |
| Jeff Johnson | person | Designer on Lord of the Rings, later worked on Sharky Shootout, Striker Extreme, and Jersey Jack Pinball titles |
| Pat Lawlor | person | Legendary pinball designer mentioned in context of early 2000s Stern games like Monopoly, NFL, Rollercoaster Tycoon Arcade |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Produced Lord of the Rings (2003); worked as independent contractor for Stern during this period |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Lord of the Rings (2003), recovering post-Bally/Williams demise, used independent contractors in early 2000s |
| Bally/Williams | company | Defunct pinball manufacturer; demise set context for Stern's 2003 period |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Modern manufacturer where designers like Jeff Johnson have worked on recent titles |
| Twilight Zone | game | Classic 1993 Williams game with sound design by Chris Granner, mentioned as reference point |
| Addams Family | game | Classic 1992 Williams game with sound design by Chris Granner, mentioned as reference point |
| Pinball Party Podcast | organization | Podcast hosting this Lord of the Rings deep dive episode |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Lord of the Rings game design and production team, Stern Pinball's history and recovery post-Bally/Williams, Game design credits and contractor vs. employee models in pinball manufacturing
- **Secondary:** Sound design and audio quality in pinball, Lord of the Rings IP licensing and thematic integration, Early 2000s pinball manufacturing challenges
- **Mentioned:** Podcast meta-commentary and show logistics

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.78) — Hosts express admiration for Lord of the Rings' design and sound work, with Zach describing the sound as 'amazing' and attributing the game significant historical importance. Casual, appreciative tone throughout. The opening tangent about bad TV shows is humorous and self-aware rather than critical of the podcast itself.

### Signals

- **[historical_signal]** Lord of the Rings positioned as a critical game for Stern's survival post-Bally/Williams demise in 2003 (confidence: medium) — Jason: 'I think The Lord of the Rings is one of the games that kept Stern afloat'
- **[design_philosophy]** Stern relied on independent contractors and collaborators rather than full-time employees in early 2003, including Pat Lawlor and Steve Ritchie (confidence: high) — Zach: 'They're basically doing everything with independent contractors and collaborators' and 'If you've never noticed on those games, it's because they weren't employees of Stern'
- **[design_innovation]** Lord of the Rings praised for exceptional sound design by Chris Granner, who also designed audio for Twilight Zone and Addams Family (confidence: high) — Zach: 'the sound on The Lord of the Rings is amazing. And that guy did Twilight Zone, Addams Family... Chris Granner... is an all-timer'
- **[industry_signal]** Cross-pollination of designers between Stern, Jersey Jack Pinball, and other manufacturers (Jeff Johnson worked on Stern games, then Jersey Jack titles) (confidence: high) — Zach: 'Jeff Johnson... Sharky Shootout... Striker Extreme... the good stuff. And lately on Jersey Jack Pinball stuff'
- **[product_strategy]** Lord of the Rings IP significance acknowledged; Lord of the Rings franchise itself has complex history affecting the pinball game (confidence: high) — Zach: 'the theme alone, the IP of The Lord of the Rings has its own history. So that's like, you know, water equals wet'

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## Transcript

 Sup? Hello everyone, welcome back to another Pinball Party Deep Dive. This week we talk about the one game to fool them all. Oh yeah. Okay, the recording has begun. Zach, welcome back. Yes, well it's good to be back. I, like everyone else, I didn't know what we were doing anymore, so I thought we were just talking about The Acolyte. Is this a podcast? Deep dive The Acolyte where, oh man, I want to- Dude, in pop culture, I still haven't- Real heads up. I haven't finished the last episode yet. So you've seen both flashback episodes though, right? I think I've seen the first flashback episode. Maybe I haven't seen the second one. Oh God, some of the worst television of all time. Not that it can be ruined at this point. It's so bad. I think in general everybody has said it's so bad that it in some way has lowered the bar where I was behind. Everyone told me it finishes horrible. So then my desire to finish it has gone down. I a glutton for punishment The Rebel Moon director cut came out today Stop it Dude All I saying is is I fucking know it gonna be bad You fucking know it gonna be bad I clown on that shit in our texting all the time But at the same time, I gotta know. Yeah, that's the difference. I won't watch it. You will. I won't. Well, yes, I like bad things, but I like bad things that are good. You know, like Canon films. Well, it's like this podcast, Bad Things That Are Good. I'm going to talk about Lord of the Rings, which was, uh, I don't even need to really look up notes for this game. I will. Yeah. But this is, it's funny. I think that you, this is one of those games I'm always interested in I think you probably know more than me in like a overall sense. You've owned it multiple times. I've owned it for a couple of years and love the game and played it when it was close to new, but like, uh, and I know lots of little tidbits, but I think you might know more about like ownership and, and the different versions and, and those kinds of things. I probably know more dumb shit about this game that one shouldn't know. aside from maybe You know well we'll get into it, but being a fan of Lord of the Rings in general this was Man we got to go through the actual categories here I can just start talking about this game I forgot we have an actual order I think it be like let just start with who made it and set a time period right Cuz this is a really fascinating time period in Stern's history. This is 2003, and this is after Stern, the demise of Bally Williams. Stern just starts up. They're basically do everything with independent contractors and collaborators and you see a lot of everything before this is like Monopoly, NFL, Rollercoaster Tycoon. Yeah. You know, not good games, right? Like Sharky Shootout. And not only that, they're, you know, Pat Lawler Design, Steve Ritchie Productions. If you've never noticed on those games, it's because they weren't employees of Stern. So this game came out at a time where they were, you know, really struggling and just it's George Gomez, Dwight Sullivan, Keith P. Johnson, uh, who you might know, uh, of, um, you know, Sharky shootout programming fame, maybe striker extreme, you know, the good stuff. And lately on JJP stuff. Oh, all the JJP stuff. And then Kevin O'Connor did the Photoshop. I'm talking a lot of shit right out of the gate. But like Chris Chris Granner did the sound and that guy we have spoken about previously and he isn he is an all timer because the sound on Lord of the Rings is amazing And that guy done Twilight Zone Adam family Um geez missionary decoration Thus spoke in thisinarium leeg minute generates a The CC I will at The Critical reception, this game has like a history. I mean, we're what, 21 years later. I mean, the theme alone, the IP of Lord of the Rings has its own history. So that's like, you know, water equals wet. But I was not playing pinball in 2003, aside from once in a while picking up a Twilight Zone or Adam's Family out at the bar or something and playing it and whatever, because I was, what, 20, I was like, yeah, 21. So I was probably just drunk around some sort of substance. I'm young Jason. Yeah. Like to meet that guy. Ah, meh. Was, was young Zack around pinball at that time? Yeah, I actually was still playing quite a bit of pinball and I had figured out, you know, one of our previous podcasts, this is not that long after I figured out you could own pinball machines. Sure. And I think Lord of the Rings is one of the games that kept Stern afloat because I think To hear the rest of this episode and more exclusive deep dives, join the Pinball Party You can find the link in the show notes below.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: cf7a1be9-a4b6-4fc9-90c2-0f07cca86cb2*