Keith Elwin is a legendary pinball designer and seven-time world champion who transitioned from elite competitive play to become the lead/senior game designer at Stern Pinball, joining in 2016. He is responsible for designing some of modern pinball's most acclaimed titles including Iron Maiden, Jurassic Park, Godzilla, Jaws, James Bond 007 60th Anniversary, Avengers: Infinity Quest, King Kong, X-Men, and Fallout, establishing himself as one of the industry's most bankable and influential designers. Known for his pressure-driven design philosophy, innovative shot design, complex rule pathways, and superior playfield layouts, Elwin's games consistently retain secondary market value and represent approximately 40% of Stern Pinball's manufacturer sales, making him considered an existential asset to the company.
Keith Elwin was crowned 2006 WPPR champion
Keith Elwin holds the all-time record with 11 Major Championship victories
Keith Elwin successfully designed Iron Maiden despite it not being a demanded IP from the player base.
Keith Elwin designed Iron Maiden without community requesting the theme, but made it a quality game
Designer of Fallout pinball for Stern; described as 'the greatest designer in modern pinball' by Kaneda; expected to deliver Stern's redemption title for 2026
Renowned Stern Pinball designer known for complete package (layout + rules harmony); designing Fallout with lower playfield
Holds record for most Major Championship victories (11); also holds most top 4 finishes in Major Championships (19).
Designer of Fallout for Stern; Kaneda questions theme choice and notes his misses (King Kong, Avengers)
Modern pinball designer whose style is recognizable through recurring design elements (U-turn ramps, Gottlieb references). Falls between extremes of Ritchie/Lawlor spectrum.
Competitive pinball player; played against Zack Sharp at Museum of Pinball in match observed by Emoto
[Triage: Keith Elwin's contract expiration at Stern represents a time-bound employment end, after which he became available for and received interest from other companies like Jersey Jack Pinball.]
[Triage: Keith Elwin's Pokemon work represents a past collaboration phase before he shifted to focusing exclusively on his own projects, reflecting an evolution in professional priorities and portfolio focus.]
No linked glossary terms
Keith Elwin is designing Stern's Fallout pinball
Keith Elwin's Fallout game will be game of the year but the theme will be polarizing unlike Godzilla's universal appeal
Keith Elwin is designing Ozzy Osbourne, Star Trek, and Fallout pinball machines
Keith Elwin was the best player in the world for a long time, possibly still is
Keith Elwin was the best player in the world and may still be
Keith Elwin uses intentional dual-feed mechanics on upper flippers with variable speed depending on shot source
Keith Elwin is the superior designer; would purchase any game he designs regardless of theme
Keith Elwin's next game is scheduled for March 2027, not sooner
Keith Elwin next Stern game will not release until 2026
Keith Elwin's next Stern game will not release until 2026
Keith Elwin's games consistently come out with crisp, clear code and engaging gameplay moments, unlike other Stern designers.
Keith Elwin next game after Fallout is Star Trek
Godzilla was not a particularly huge fan base IP when made but Elwin made it into Stern's best-selling title
Keith Elwin's next game after Fallout is Star Trek based on the original series crew
Keith Elwin finished Fallout six months ago and has been working on Star Trek for six months
The playfield layout appears similar to designs by Keith Elwin based on cross-playfield ramp elements
Keith Elwin is working on a fourth version of James Bond (prior prediction Kaneda made)
Keith Elwin games are known for decision-making depth
Keith Elwin designed Fallout for Stern and it will be impactful despite King Kong's underperformance
Jurassic Park is the one Keith Elwin game Dennis does not own but wishes to own
Keith Elwin's Jurassic Park is the one Elwin game Tony doesn't own but would like to
King Kong is an Elwin game that Dennis ranks above Avengers Infinity Quest but below Godzilla, Jaws, and Iron Maiden
Keith Elwin's Avengers Infinity Quest is Tony's least favorite Elwin game
Keith Elwin is the greatest pinball player of all time based on Pin-Masters victory
Keith Elwin incorporated the 'Jaws trap' mechanic from Jolly Park into the modern Stern Jaws machine
Keith Elwin adapted a 180-degree ramp shot from Jolly Park for use in Avengers
Keith Elwin won the 2026 IFPA Pin-Masters pin-golf tournament with a clutch NBA Fastbreak final shot
Pinball 101 by Keith Elwin and Randy was the primary significant pinball tutorial content before Mastering Pinball
Keith Elwin holds the all-time record with 19 Major Championship top-4 finishes
Keith Elwin is designing Fallout pinball
Playfield design is the 'easy part' and the bulk of pinball development is 'a year of grinding development' after the initial design phase
King Kong's playfield benefited from six or seven months of refinement due to lack of licensor mandates from the public domain 1932 source material
Playfield design is 'the easy part' of pinball development; the grinding development work happens after initial design
Keith Elwin's games are known for fair, lengthy ball times, with the exception of his single-level Bond game which is very brutal
King Kong has a superior layout compared to Godzilla and will likely dethrone it as the top-ranked Stern game once code matures.
Keith Elwin would have been a better designer choice for Star Wars than Boydston, particularly for accessibility to non-enthusiast players encountering the IP in casual venues.
Keith Elwin has won the World's Greatest Pinball Player award 7 times, more than any other player
Keith Elwin is one of the best pinball designers in the industry
Jaws is the speaker's favorite Keith Elwin design
Keith Elwin considers wire form dwell time when designing shots
Jaws 8-bit mode took approximately 3 months for Rick Nagel to implement
Elwin regrets leaving California for Stern (joking tone)
George Gomez had Elwin trash his initial Solid Works Iron Maiden layout and start over
The Archer playfield was originally 1 inch longer than standard Stern cabinet width
George Gomez recruited Elwin to Stern after learning about his Archer homebrew game
Keith Elwin has been playing pinball since age 7-8
The gong on King Kong was intentionally designed to scare players into buying the Pro model
Modern players have shorter engagement windows compared to classic era, with some players unable to complete modern games
Manual plunge with auto-launch option is preferable to launch-only design for operator reliability
Stern's accessory design is now handled by dedicated engineers rather than game designers
The magnetic Newton ball feature was originally planned for Avengers but geometry constraints forced abandonment
Jaws uses approximately 45 minutes of movie footage, integrated during bonus counting sequences
The O shot in Jurassic Park was made intentionally difficult to prevent Spelling Chaos from being too easy
King Kong's punchback shot was the starting point and key design constraint that forced all three ramps into tight spacing on the left side
Keith Elwin's team tested Godzilla building mechanism continuously for 6 months without failure.
The biplane ramp is the tallest ramp Stern has ever produced
Keith Elwin's design philosophy prioritizes games being fun to play, and his career success depends on this
The back glass contains more Easter eggs than any previous Stern back glass
Kong mech was originally designed to be much larger, with only the left arm visible through the back panel
Keith Elwin designed an Archer homebrew machine around 2016-17 that impressed Stern, leading to his hiring and the game being modified into Iron Maiden
King Kong has mechanics that reward sweeping drop targets as intended design feature
Keith Elwin was not initially planning to work in the pinball industry before creating Archer
Keith Elwin's operator and technician experience maintaining machines across San Diego and Los Angeles was formative to his understanding of mechanical design
Keith Elwin has never won an IFPA world championship
Keith Elwin is a six-time PAPA World Champion
Keith Elwin was assigned IFPA player #1 based on his #1 ranking when IFPA first implemented player numbering
Keith Elwin created instructional pinball videos (Pinball 101 and 102) with animation work he performed himself
Keith Elwin is the current juggernaut designer at Stern Pinball
Keith Elwin designed a rumored Fallout pinball game for Stern, likely based on the Fallout TV show
Keith Elwin added river plastic to King Kong during design to slow ball speed and improve controllability
Keith Elwin's game design has progressively improved with each title released
Keith Elwin is not finishing the Pokemon pinball project
Keith Elwin is unhappy at Stern Pinball
Keith Elwin is one of the best designers because he actually plays and masters his own games, unlike designers who don't play their creations
Keith Elwin is the best designer in pinball
Keith Elwin is a favorite designer due to Godzilla and Iron Maiden quality
Keith Elwin revitalized Hoops' multiball concept in James Bond 007 60th Anniversary.
Keith Elwin's contract with Stern might be coming up and he might be looking to go elsewhere, possibly Jersey Jack
Keith Elwin code team could work with Spooky on a hypothetical Fallout pinball game
Keith Elwin and Randy Elwin set up Bowen Kerins' streaming rig 12 years ago, making them early streaming pioneers
Keith Elwin is producing 'probably the best layouts of all pinball right now' and represents 'Pat Lawlor of the 21st century'
Jaws is the most universally loved Keith Elwin game
Keith Elwin designed Kong with rotating shot mechanics as a signature element
Iron Maiden is Keith Elwin's second game design
Keith Elwin designed six additional game designs after completing Iron Maiden's initial design
Elwin repeatedly exploited safe bonus collection on Cheetah in previous tournaments
Keith Elwin has never incorporated cabinet expression lights on a game he designed
Keith Elwin also designed Iron Maiden, Jurassic Park, and Godzilla
Keith Elwin designed Stern Jaws
Keith Elwin's games represent approximately 50% of Stern Pinball sales
Keith Elwin removed an extra ball from the Marvel ramp because Raymond Davidson was receiving too many
Keith Elwin created comprehensive rules documentation for Avengers: Infinity Quest before coding began
Jurassic Park (Stern) uses only the name, logo, John Williams song, and Nedry character without major actor likenesses
Iron Maiden pinball game is based on the mobile video game 'Legacy of the Beast' rather than direct band history
Keith Elwin intentionally preserved the log diverter, biplane ramp, and other key features on the King Kong Pro tier
The back left orbit shot on King Kong is one of the widest shots on the game, contrary to initial perception that it was challenging
The log diverter on King Kong was added late in design because the upper left flipper wasn't being fed enough balls initially
Keith Elwin is the dominant designer among Stern's top-tier machines in the modern era, appearing three times in a top-5 list
King Kong log diverter issue is fixed by adjusting the diverter coil hold power setting in the menu
Keith Elwin has not delivered a bad game to date
Keith Elwin has yet to deliver a bad game
Keith Elwin fanbase prevents constructive criticism of his designs
King Kong Premium features a magnet-activated spider shot that slows the ball rather than a coil-based mechanism
Keith Elwin's design strength is creating long ball paths that are connected, high-velocity, and accessible to entry-level players while rewarding tournament expertise
King Kong is based on the 1933 public domain film, not licensed from Legendary Pictures
The 1932 King Kong novelization never had its copyright renewed, giving Stern free creative reign
Kevin O'Connor (original Data East Kong designer) was brought in to contribute to modern Kong's artwork
Transitioning from hobbyist player to professional designer diminished Keith Elwin enjoyment of playing pinball casually
Kong lacks pop bumpers by intentional design, replaced with magnet pit and other chaos elements
Jack Danger's Danger Room used significantly offset flippers, informing Kong's design approach
Kong features offset flippers to enable Fathom-style reverse in-lane design
Godzilla's positive reception surprised Keith Elwin because of concerns about intersecting ball guides creating chatter
Pop bumpers destroy game flow and should be avoided in modern pinball design
George Gomez personally recruited Keith Elwin after seeing his Archer homebrew
Keith Elwin began Kong's design approximately 2.5 years ago
King Kong is technically a never-before-successfully-done pinball theme (aside from failed Data East prototypes)
Keith Elwin has not played most recent pinball arcade games because playtesting his own designs prevents feeling the freshness of new games
King Kong's biplane ramp was originally designed to feed the left flipper but was changed to feed the right flipper during development
Keith Elwin was uncertain about whether Godzilla's complex ball routing would be well-received by players
Kevin O'Connor's Data East King Kong design is considered unsuccessful by those who played it
Keith Elwin was originally designing a different game concept before George Gomez suggested King Kong
Pat Lawler is Keith Elwin's favorite pinball designer
George Gomez specifically requested Keith Elwin design a King Kong game
Keith Elwin began designing King Kong approximately two and a half years ago
James Bond 60th Anniversary LE has depreciated approximately $12,000 from day-one MSRP
King Kong shot layout is Elwin's best shooter design to date
Keith Elwin is the greatest pinball designer currently, almost objectively when you take into consideration sales and everything else
Keith Elwin is currently in his prime creative period
King Kong is the first four-flipper game Keith Elwin has designed in a while
Keith Elwin designed King Kong prioritizing maximum flow and maximum speed
Keith Elwin is currently working on his next game layout after Kong, with additional layouts already completed
King Kong's layout was designed and completed approximately one year before release by Keith Elwin
Keith Elwin designs layouts while simultaneously having coding and art teams working on the previous game, enabling parallel production pipelines
King Kong layout was completed approximately one year ago and has been extensively fine-tuned
The upper right flipper U-turn shot was the hardest shot on the entire Kong playfield to dial in
King Kong units will start shipping on Monday from the production line
A drop target in front of the cave was removed to free up a coil for the gong mechanism
The center post on Kong was always planned; George Gomez initially opposed it
Kong's center post was always part of the design plan, though George Gomez initially opposed it
The gong mech uses a coil that pre-winds a spring, then disengages to fire the ball back at the player
The punchback/kickback shot to upper right flipper required no tweaking and worked first try
The gong mechanic uses a coil that pre-winds a spring, and when disengaged, ignores the spring entirely
King Kong production is starting Monday and rolling down the line
The punchback/kickback return to upper flipper worked on first try
George Gomez wanted a three-ball dump multiball style on Kong inspired by Godzilla
The upper right flipper return shot was nearly cut from the game because it was too clunky initially
Lowering the side ramp down a little bit was the solution that made the U-turn shot work
Joshua Henderson is a world-class player working on Kong's software team
Jack Danger adopted center post design for X-Men after seeing Keith's Kong approach
Kong is the most ambitious playfield layout of any Keith Elwin design
Kong ranks as Manu's second-favorite Keith Elwin design, with Godzilla being first
Captain Englehorn is voiced by Rick Zeef in King Kong
King Kong is based on the 1932 novel rather than movie adaptations
King Kong's left arm thumps the glass during play
Kong's hands can hit the glass and will potentially be used for high-score knocker animations
Kong's hands can hit the glass and may be coded for future high score callouts
Keith Elwin's wire form design creates optimal ball pacing and return-to-flipper timing
King Kong features sweepable drop targets as a mini-playfield area with a mini flipper
Kong rule set includes planned future updates with multiple selectable New York City event modes beyond the currently included 'Stage Bright' mode
Keith Elwin is responsible for designing more monster-themed pinball machines and selling more monster games than any other designer in pinball history
Banana flippers were used only once previously in AC/DC tournament at Keith's house before being included on Kong Pro
King Kong movie primarily takes place in jungle settings with very limited New York content in original book
Kong's unlicensed status allows creative freedom but requires strict adherence to public domain book material to avoid infringing on licensed movie versions
Kong's animated mouth feature was originally designed to eat balls on playfield but was removed due to insufficient coil drive capacity
Wire forms are preferred over plastic ramps because they allow more complex routing, better visibility, and cost-effectiveness without obstructing playfield view
King Kong: Myth of Terror Island is Keith Elwin's first design release since Jaws
Kong is the most loaded Keith Elwin game to date in terms of mechanical density
Keith Elwin designed King Kong: Myth of Terror Island
King Kong is a four-flipper adventure game
The game includes art collaboration from Kevin O'Connor, Greg Frares, and Jeremy Packer (Zombie Yeti)
The game features new animation software allowing King Kong to react to player action
Brian Q. Quinn from Impractical Jokers provided custom speech for King Kong
King Kong features Insider Connected integration for a treasure hunt experience
Keith Elwin makes great games with lots of flow because his code developers are really solid
Keith Elwin is the designer of King Kong
Keith Elwin games are revenue drivers at tournament-focused operator locations regardless of cost or tariff
Keith Elwin games generate significantly more location revenue than other pinball machines
Keith Elwin is the lead designer and programmer on Cornerstone
Releasing a game at the same time as a Keith Elwin title will damage its sales significantly
Keith Elwin games are superior in both design and code quality compared to all current competitors
King Kong is designed by Keith Elwin
Keith Elwin next game for Stern is King Kong based on NAP Arcades confirmation and trademark information
Keith Elwin changed what people think about pinball layouts through comprehensive design innovation
Keith Elwin games are criticized privately for being too difficult, though public criticism is rare
Keith Elwin games are too hard for most casual players
Keith Elwin's designer reputation is strong enough that a pinball game bearing only his name (without IP theme) would sell well.
Keith Elwin has sufficient designer brand recognition that Stern could sell unnamed games bearing his name at $13,000 LE pricing without IP theme
Keith Elwin's code and software team is the best in pinball history.
Keith Elwin's games generally feature excellent shot feel except Godzilla and King Kong
Keith Elwin designed Jurassic Park and previously created Iron Maiden
Keith Elwin's design philosophy favors giving casual players basic multiballs and easy-to-reach features to encourage play
Avengers is Keith Elwin best shooting game due to layout quality and combo-driven ruleset.
Keith Elwin designed The Hobbit pinball machine
Keith Elwin's design success stems from viewing himself as a conductor orchestrating team execution, not just a playfield designer
Keith Elwin designs account for 40% of Stern Pinball's total machine sales
Keith Elwin designs account for approximately 40% of Stern Pinball total machine sales
Keith Elwin recently saw D&D prototype and said 'I can't believe we're doing that. That's insane' about a mechanism in it.
Keith Elwin's designs represent approximately 40% of Stern Pinball's sales, making Stern overly dependent on a single designer.
Keith Elwin at Stern really wants to make Back to the Future
Keith Elwin is designing King Kong as a Stern Pinball Spike 3 title
Keith Elwin design process involves comprehensive involvement in mechanical, code, art, and sound direction
Keith Elwin spends significant time managing entire design teams including mechanical engineers, coders, and artists rather than just designing mechanics
Keith Elwin's role as lead designer is primarily team management and coordination, not pure design work
Keith Elwin upcoming non-Elwin game featuring mech mechanic is 'unlike anything he has ever seen in pinball'
Keith Elwin design team managing suppliers and coordinating animation/engineering comprises majority of lead designer role
Keith Elwin teased an upcoming mech design from an unspecified team unlike anything he's seen in pinball
The left spinner (harpoon) shot uses the largest ball guide radius Elwin has ever used on a Stern game to maintain speed and impact.
The fin mech on Jaws originated from George Gomez's suggestion during early design meetings.
Jaws layout was finalized before Elwin started work on Bond 60th, though the Grand Wizard mode was completed just weeks before this interview.
The upper Orca playfield geometry remained unchanged from whitewood 1 through final production because 'it was just right.'
The horizontal fishing reel spinners were suggested by a team member to reference Quint's character from Jaws.
There is a spin cap of approximately 12 spins on the reel shot regardless of lubrication or weight modifications.
Elwin had to fight to include even one pop bumper on Godzilla, but management (Gary) has now loosened restrictions.
The next unannounced Stern game will feature six pop bumpers.
Keith Elwin was given multiple licensing options by Stern and chose Jaws
Carl D'Python has already progressed deep into Fourth of July mode despite it being designed as artificially difficult
Quint boss encounter difficulty will be reduced from current beta state when officially released
One-handed mode provides 5X scoring multiplier and requires holding action button to flip
The Contra 3 intro music 'Let's attack aggressively' was directly sampled/referenced in Jaws the Revenge's shark intro music
Jaws is the only shark-related pinball machine ever made
Jaws is the first shark-themed pinball machine ever made
The Jaws the Revenge 8-bit mode was inspired by Keith Elwin's childhood experiences playing Mike Tyson's Punch-Out at Circuit City
Elizabeth Gieske designed the Shark is Broken mode based on production troubles from the original Jaws film
Fourth of July wizard mode with Quint as final boss is still in development and not yet released
Shark Teeth cost was reduced from 20 to 10 to compensate for the delayed Jaws Revenge mode release
There are very few water-themed pinball games in the history of the medium
Shark assets for Jaws were provided late in development, forcing more modes to be created to use them
The Contra 3 intro 'let's attack aggressively' was directly adapted for Jaws Revenge music/theme
Jaws Revenge was inspired by NES games like Mike Tyson's Punch-Out and Contra 3 from Elwin's childhood
Jaws the Revenge 8-bit mode was developed in reverse order: assets first, then UI and animations, then rules implementation
The Jaws the Revenge mode was 'awful' until two weeks before the official livestream release
Quint boss fight will be added to Jaws the Revenge in a future code update
The one-handed mode in Jaws the Revenge provides 5X scoring multiplier
Michael Bernard intentionally designed Jaws playfield artwork to balance fullness and ocean theme aesthetic
Keith Elwin designed the shark mechanism in Jaws where the ball gets eaten
Keith Elwin designed Godzilla pinball
Keith Elwin participated in a tournament where he played Godzilla against top players and performed poorly on the right scoop shot
Iron Maiden Pinball is Keith Elwin's first game at Stern
Keith Elwin is skilled at designing games that make progression feel possible while keeping players engaged across multiple objectives
Elwyn has completed code for Jaws, Bond 60th, and another unrevealed game in succession
Keith Elwin designed 007 and explicitly stated no lane switching will ever be added, even in future code updates
Keith Elwin transformed Archer into Iron Maiden through design and coding work
Godzilla is Keith Elwin's best game, surpassing Jaws
Keith Elwin designed Godzilla pinball machine
Keith Elwin has an exceptional track record of successful game designs
Keith Elwin's design approach mapped the narrative structure of Jaws film (anticipation phase, then confrontation phase) onto the pinball playfield progression
Keith Elwin is the greatest designer in pinball right now and it's not close
Keith Elwin is one of only two contemporary designers (alongside Lyman Sheats historically) who can sell games based on name alone
Keith Elwin takes risks with ball paths and design elements that other designers execute poorly; he iteratively removes imperfect elements
Keith Elwin podcast episode will soon eclipse Harlem as the #1 episode
Recent Keith Elwin-designed Stern games are starting to feel similar to each other
Keith Elwin is the only pinball designer whose name demonstrably moves sales volume in the current market.
Keith Elwin games 'always shoot well' in terms of playfield layout
Keith Elwin designed games before Iron Maiden, contrary to common belief that it was his first design
Keith Elwin chose not to implement shark-eating-ball mechanic because it would compromise shooting quality.
People buy Keith Elwin games more than other designers in the entire industry
Keith Elwin's Jaws design feels distinctly different from traditional Stern designs
Keith Elwin designed Jaws with a very different shot layout compared to his other work
Jaws is designed by Keith Elwin with mechanics by Harrison Drake and software by Rick Nagel
Keith Elwin's recent games with Michael Bernard and Zombie Yeti represent a mix-up from typical Elwin/Zombie Yeti pairing
The next Keith Elwin cornerstone game will feature four flippers
Jaws development timeline was extended from typical 12-13 months to over 2.5 years due to Stern cutting back to two cornerstones
The shark does not eat the ball due to licenser parameters requiring the shark to pop up and scare
Flip lock allows holding right flipper to lock upper flipper for ~15 seconds default, usable once per ball with perks extending uses
Play the Shark mode will be connected to Insider Connected and expected spring 2025
The shark fin mech underneath the playfield is 'gigantic' in footprint and forced redesign of entire middle-right playfield
Jaws is Keith Elwin's first game to feature an upper playfield
Brody character's estate did not respond to licensing requests for playfield artwork on Jaws
Keith Elwin added two up posts to Jaws to make up for the lack of one in Godzilla
Keith Elwin dislikes scoops as game mechanics
Keith Elwin is incapable of designing a bad pinball game
Keith Elwin is not an entertainer but a skilled designer and player; his job in the reveal stream was to show gameplay and code mechanics, not entertainment
Keith Elwin conducted gameplay reveal of Jaws on January 7, 2024 (evening)
Keith Elwin is designing Jaws as his third pinball machine
Keith Elwin games typically include signature mechanical innovations (smart missiles, captive ball magnets, lock-up flippers)
Rescue multiball is the designer's favorite multiball in the game
There are three different Jaws multiball variants
Speed Frenzy value accumulates across the entire game and carries over between balls
Jaws pinball comes with 3D glasses for the video mode
Quint's Challenge involves approximately 12 different combo sequences
Beach Closed mode provides a percentage bonus to subsequent shots at the same location
Bounty Hunt modes include five shark types: mako, hammerhead, tiger, thresher, and Great White
Beach Panic mode is optimal for stacking with Jaws multiball because every shot is lit
Keith Elwin confirmed the original shark ball-eating mechanism design was abandoned because it was not fun and disrupted gameplay
Keith Elwin is given more creative budget and autonomy by Stern compared to historical designer Steve Ritchie
Keith Elwin was wearing a Jaws hat at Pinburgh in 2018, six years before the game's release
Keith Elwin finished Jaws several months before the January 2025 reveal and is already nearly finished with his next project after Jaws
Keith Elwin rejected the original shark-vuck mechanic where the ball enters the shark's mouth
Keith Elwin designed Jaws pinball
Stern has not released a Keith Elwin cornerstone title since Godzilla
Keith Elwin is 'a little bit vulnerable' with Jaws and competitors have an open window
Jaws Pinball will be Keith Elwin's best shooting game to date.
The game features three multiball modes allowing progression through the full story of Quint versus the shark
The Chum Bucket is a kinetic sculpted toy where players bash a captive ball to simulate chumming the water
Premium and LE versions feature an upper playfield themed as the Orca, accessed via a Wave Ramp
Keith Elwin at top of his design game with most experience and stellar track record of successful Stern games
Jaws is Keith Elwin's first major cornerstone title in several years
Keith Elwin's team has had a flawless track record with recent releases (Godzilla, Jurassic Park)
Keith Elwin has won high stakes almost every year
Jaws is Keith Elwin's fifth Cornerstone game with three years since Godzilla (2021)
Keith Elwin insisted on bilingual Japanese/English dialogue to authentically reflect how audiences remember the original films
Keith Elwin is the designer of the next major Stern Pinball release rumored to be Jaws
Keith Elwin is a former #1 player in the world and has won 11 major championships
Keith Elwin has not released a Cornerstone game since Godzilla, which is an unusually long gap
Keith Elwin's Jaws is Stern's masterpiece after two years of mediocre games.
Keith Elwin is the winningest player of all time in pinball
Keith Elwin's control of the ball during Eight Ball Deluxe play represents 'control chaos'—precise skill masquerading as disorder
Keith Elwin is worth approximately $1 million per year to Stern Pinball based on his design contribution to game sales
Keith Elwin should be compensated at approximately $1 million per year based on game sales revenue he generates
Keith Elwin is consulting on Jack Danger's Stern game designs
Keith Elwin is living in Chicago and works as a Stern designer
Keith Elwin did not have a qualifying ticket submitted for Frontier, suggesting he may not have played it during qualifying rounds
Carl D'Angelo's discovery of Jurassic Park 'system boot' exploit prompted code update
Stern designs games without tournament play as primary consideration
Single tilt-warning tournament format effectively narrows skill gap between expert and novice players
Elizabeth Gieske is Stern's new programmer hired from District 82 tournament community
Stern typically announces new games in late December/early January timeframe
Stern does not design games specifically for tournament play, but for general audiences
Keith monitors tournament streams to identify exploits and balance issues in his games
Stern will announce a new game around late December or early January
Young players like eer, zMAX, and Jared Augustus dominate modern Stern machines in tournaments
Maximum pitch on tournament games actually makes them easier for casual players, not harder
Elizabeth Gesci is a new programmer at Stern who attends District 82 tournaments and plays competitively
Keith Elwin has been playing pinball tournaments since 1993
Jaws will feature an upper playfield (unconfirmed but likely)
Keith Elwin is designing an upper playfield feature for Jaws Pinball, possibly a sinking Orca ship mechanic
James Bond 60th Anniversary has lost more value than any other recent premium pinball game
Keith Elwin's Jaws will be transformative and reset the pinball market in 2024
Keith Elwin is responsible for three games in Electric Bat's top five earnings
Keith Elwin designed a full feature game like Avengers in less than a year.
Keith Elwin designed two of the games in the championship and declined to select either for this match
Keith Elwin struggled early in the tournament, failing to light multiball on ball one
Keith Elwin has built such dominance that people will buy his next game unconditionally while all other designers face conditional purchase interest
Keith Elwin's games have spoiled the market and raised expectations to unrealistic levels for other Stern games
Keith Elwin has designed approximately 75 percent of Stern's games
Keith Elwin's Jaws will create a market buying freeze and pull capital from competing releases in fall 2023
Keith Elwin may have more than two games coming out in the next 12 months.
Godzilla Pinball was released in 2021 and designed by Keith Elwin
Keith Elwin is the only Stern designer currently delivering magical mechanical innovations to games
Avengers Infinity Quest was designed by Keith Elwin and released in 2020
Keith Elwin is rumored to be designing two games for 2024, likely Jaws and another title, possibly John Wick
Keith Elwin stated that seven-strike tournaments are excessive and need to be eliminated.
Keith Elwin is designing Jaws pinball
Keith Elwin designed Rush before Jaws
Keith Elwin has multiple upcoming premium games (Jaws, Back to the Future, The Matrix) with pricing in the $15,000-$20,000 range
Keith Elwin has a next game in development with likely release by end of 2023 or 2024
Keith Elwin's next game (Jaws) design and layout are complete and in rules/decoding phase
Keith Elwin is in CAD phase on the game following Jaws
The upcoming game features an asymmetrical bottom playfield
Elwin is already in the design phase for his game after the next one
Keith Elwin's next pinball game design has been complete for over a year
Godzilla topper was designed in 2020, before the game launched and before sales projections were known; affordability was not a design consideration
Initial Stern topper reveal video failed to clearly communicate the King of Monsters mode's features and choreography
Rick Nagel coded King of Monsters challenge mode in approximately two weeks on a compressed timeline
Godzilla was deliberately released with unfinished code to enable iterative development based on player feedback rather than shipping feature-complete at 0.85+ version maturity
Toho licensor approved creative departures from original Godzilla movie voice acting and characterization for the pinball game
Bond 60th was intentionally designed as a two-flipper, drop-target-heavy game to force the ball into danger and increase game-over frequency for social play
Godzilla's King of Monsters challenge mode will not be released on the IC app despite Godzilla shipping with IC support
Modern pinball games' universal safe-shot-return design makes games boring compared to arcade-era pinball where ball control was constantly challenged
Flexible IP licensing (like Godzilla's Toho) is a major advantage compared to restrictive licensors that inhibit designer creativity
Keith Elwin is working on a King Kong pinball machine
Avengers Infinity Quest was released in 2020 and designed by Keith Elwin
Keith Elwin's next game is complete and he is already working on the game after that
Keith Elwin's games have generated significant revenue for Stern Pinball
Keith Elwin is attending IFPA 18 in Germany primarily because his girlfriend wanted to visit Europe
Godzilla's Destruction Jackpot loop strategy combined with magna grab creates 5X loop value multipliers on subsequent shots
Keith Elwin's cornerstone game (next major title after Godzilla) has been completed in design/code and is awaiting production line availability at Stern
Keith Elwin withdrew from Game 9 at IFPA 17 Dialed In finals against Escher without playing ball 3
Destruction Jackpot was deliberately placed on Godzilla's upper loop to force players to use that risky shot
Keith Elwin has only reached the Bond 60th wizard mode twice despite extensive play testing
Keith Elwin operated pinball machines at The High Dive (San Diego) and 82 (LA), with 82 becoming highly profitable enough to cause him to stop full-time repair work.
Keith Elwin's first competitive tournament was in 1993 in Arizona with friends Jim Belcedo and Neil Schatz.
Papa and Pinburgh tournaments closing around 2016 was the primary reason Keith Elwin reduced his competitive tournament participation.
Keith Elwin worked for Area Amusements (a large San Diego operator) and learned electromechanical repair across a wide variety of amusement equipment.
Keith Elwin started playing pinball at age 8, introduced by his 10-years-older brother who used it as babysitting.
Keith Elwin no longer actively learns new rule sets for modern Stern games due to cognitive saturation from decades of rule learning.
Early 1990s tournament formats were simple high-score-on-one-game competitions, while modern formats are complex multi-stage processes.
Keith Elwin now collaborates with classic game artist Greg Ferris to understand design decisions on early 1980s games like Frontier.
Modern competitive pinball players have significant advantage in learning rule sets through YouTube tutorials compared to 1990s players who learned on-the-fly.
Keith Elwin designed Bond 60th to be hard and challenging with fast multiplayer gameplay
Keith Elwin confirmed he will not release any pinball machines for the remainder of the year
Keith Elwin designed Bond 60th Anniversary as a deliberately fast and flowy game, avoiding the slow, floaty mechanics of 1980s pinball games
James Bond 60th Anniversary ships with code version 1.03, which is essentially code-complete
Keith Elwin designed the James Bond 60th Anniversary Limited Edition
Keith Elwin has not had a failed or poorly-received game design in his first five projects (four completed plus Bond 60th).
Keith Elwin's four completed games and Bond 60th project demonstrate he's working faster than Stern's two-games-per-year release pace with four designers.
Keith Elwin is the designer of the James Bond 60th Anniversary pinball machine
Keith Elwin showed more engagement and effort at INDISC than at typical tournaments
Keith Elwin's next Stern cornerstone game will have four flippers total with three on the same side
Godzilla will receive hold-in-flipper mode to go directly to Mechagodzilla multiball as first code update, with second mode planned for later in year
Next Keith Elwin game will feature more than two flippers including three on one side of the playfield
Keith Elwin's next game will launch with mature code (version 1.0) due to extended development schedule
Keith Elwin's next cornerstone game will not release in 2023, with 2024 being the soonest possible date
Keith Elwin would not have accepted the Bond 60th project if he knew the $20,000 price tag from the beginning
James Bond license holder initiated request for special throwback pinball machine encompassing all Bond actors approximately one year before the interview
Elwin's 2024 cornerstone will launch with more complete and mature code than Godzilla and Avengers Infinity Quest
Elwin redesigned two or three shots on his upcoming 2024 game due to extra development time
Godzilla will receive a special hold-button mode enabling direct entry to Terror of Mecha Godzilla flip-counting multiball
A second special mode for Godzilla has been planned since game design inception but will not be implemented until later in 2023
Keith Elwin's next Stern Pinball cornerstone will arrive in 2024
Elwin's 2024 game features four total flippers with three positioned on the same side
Keith does not want to play his own games recreationally for extended periods (approximately one year) after release
Bond 60 has no random awards and no lock stealing, making it suitable for tournament play
Godzilla will receive a side mode update featuring Terror of Mechagodzilla, with additional content planned for later in 2023
Bond 60 is limited to 500 production units
Bond 60 features four spinners, possibly the first pinball game ever with four spinners
Bond 60's drop targets are trippable inline drop targets, which has never been done before
This is the first time Stern has designed two games on the same license simultaneously
Keith Elwin was approached to design Bond 60's playfield approximately one year ago when George Gomez took full-time oversight of the Bond license
Dean Grover passed away and received a tribute in the latest Godzilla code update
Young competitive players have improved dramatically due to access to YouTube streaming tutorials and content
Keith Elwin games reward mode stacking and simultaneous multiball/mode play over linear paddock progression
Keith Elwin won INDISC 2024 finals, defeating Escher Lefkoff by 6,000 points on a 1.5 million point game in ball three bonus
The spinning disc in Bond 60th has a designated home position at 3-4 o'clock to purposefully block drop targets.
Keith Elwin voluntarily stepped up to design Bond 60th Anniversary due to an unusually large gap between his cornerstone assignments.
Bond 60th Anniversary has identical playfield-to-glass clearance as The Beatles and uses the same shorter cabinet stature.
Keith Elwin's personal high score on Bond 60th is 18,000 points, and nobody will be able to completely roll the game.
Keith Elwin volunteered to design Bond 60th after requesting a 4-spinner game
Keith Elwin may not truly support the $20,000 pricing of James Bond 60th but cannot speak freely about it due to Stern management pressure
Keith Elwin may privately disagree with the James Bond 60th pricing but cannot voice concerns due to employment constraints
Keith Elwin's design philosophy emphasizes shot satisfaction and non-punishing miss-feel as benchmarks for pinball quality
James Bond 60th Anniversary pinball has real mechanical score reels, not LCD video simulation
Keith Elwin James Bond 007 LE 60th anniversary single-level edition was revealed January 3rd, 2023
The game is completely new design by Keith Elwin taking a retro approach with mechanical score reels
Keith Elwin designed James Bond 60th Anniversary single-level variant
Keith Elwin isn't doing cornerstones anymore
Back to the Future by Keith Elwin is a rumored upcoming pinball machine
Keith Elwin has alluded to unlocking or additional content coming to Godzilla
Keith Elwin's James Bond machine may be priced at $25,000
Keith Elwin's upcoming game has no real mechs or toys, just spinners
Keith Elwin confirmed the leaked James Bond mockup image is not 100% accurate, pointing out blank start and coin buttons
James Bond 60th Anniversary will feature mechanical score reels in the backbox
Keith Elwin is Stern's best current designer with a track record of 'four for four' massive hits
James Bond cabinet mockup image that leaked is not accurate; blankness of start/coin buttons indicates mock-up status
Keith Elwin confirmed James Bond will have mechanical score reels in the backbox
Toho approved humorous voice work and callouts after initial caution about tone
There is a hidden combo involving the slingshot that players have discovered unintentionally
Keith Elwin typically plays his own games for bug-testing rather than enjoyment, making this 1.0 celebration one of the rare times he plays for fun
Extended development period before 1.0 allows for substantial rules refinement based on playfield interaction feedback
Wallop shot emerged as playfield feature due to captive ball diameter engineering change
Godzilla's destruction jackpot calculation is tied to cumulative points from various mode types and achievements
Keith Elwin's Bond game will incorporate all James Bond films
Keith Elwin is four for four on successful games
Keith Elwin is designing an additional fully-featured game in parallel with the James Bond Limited Edition
Keith Elwin is designing a separate 60th Anniversary Bond edition with mechanical scoring reels, limited to 500 units, at unset retail price
Keith Elwin did not state he was 'not doing a James Bond pin' despite rumors; statement was fabricated by Pinside users
Keith Elwin is designing a fourth James Bond pinball edition limited to 500 units with dealer-set pricing
Keith Elwin is designing a separate street-level James Bond 60th anniversary edition different from Gomez's three cornerstone games
A 60th Anniversary Edition of James Bond would be a single-level EM-inspired game redesigned by Keith Elwin
Keith Elwin is designing a fourth James Bond game as a street-level variant
The Keith Elwin James Bond 60th anniversary game will be unveiled at the British Film Institute's celebration September 30-October 2
The only machines with meaningful secondary market flip potential are Keith Elwin-designed games and exceptional titles like Godzilla
Keith Elwin's Jaws is coming from Stern and will be a major commercial hit
Keith Elwin walked away from the final game in a best-of-nine tiebreaker instead of continuing to play
Keith Elwin gracefully conceded to Escher in game nine of their best-of-nine match at IFPA 17 Worlds after Escher scored over a million on Dialed In
Keith Elwin conceded during the IFPA world championship finals on Dialed In when trailing by approximately 800,000 points
Keith Elwin walked off/conceded during World Championships tournament semifinal without completing third ball
Keith Elwin deliberately drained ball 3 without attempting comeback at World Tournament
Keith Elwin conceded ball three of Dialed In to Escher Lefkoff during IFPA 17 tournament
Keith Elwin drained on third ball and conceded a championship tournament match instead of competing
Conceding a championship tournament match sets bad example for competitive sports standards
Keith Elwin has responsibility to engage with fan base and accept awards given fan support
Elite players like Keith Elwin will beat average competitors on EM 'luckbox' games the majority of the time through superior skill, not luck
Keith Elwin has won more major tournaments than any other active player but has not recently played in the World Championship
Godzilla won essentially all major Twippy Award categories at Texas Pinball Festival
Keith Elwin started at Stern Pinball on February 28, 2017
Keith Elwin worked as an arcade operator for Area Amusements in San Marcos before joining Stern
Keith Elwin has been ranked as the world's best pinball player more than once during his lifetime
Keith Elwin is currently referred to as the GOAT (greatest of all time) in the pinball community
Keith Elwin learned from Avengers that casual players were confused by complex gem systems, leading him to bury advanced mechanics deeper in Godzilla's design
Keith Elwin prefers Attack from Mars' center shot mechanics over Medieval Madness because he dislikes waiting for the ball to dribble back
Keith Elwin's next Stern project is rumored to be Jaws.
Keith Elwin next game is very likely to be Jaws in an all-new adventure format
Keith Elwin games consistently outsell regardless of IP quality or popularity
Iron Maiden was originally designed as Archer theme before being repurposed as Iron Maiden
Keith Elwin responded to the sarcophagus mod with 'damn that's creepy' as feedback
Keith Elwin has been wearing a beard for years
Keith Elwin's next game will be Jaws, not Back to the Future
Keith Elwin designed the game rules for Jurassic Park
Keith Elwin qualified first overall with best qualifying card
Keith Elwin has been involved with INDISC since its origins as 54-person bar tournament
Keith Elwin has won INDISC three times
Keith Elwin designed Godzilla
Keith Elwin's games don't have identifiable designer signatures the way other designers do
Keith Elwin is the Michael Jordan of pinball design
Keith Elwin is the greatest designer currently making pinball games
Keith Elwin is 'like the Tom Brady right now of pinball'
Harrison Drake (engineer) is responsible for balancing budget and mechanic complexity on Godzilla, not the designer
Godzilla's floating flipper design took the most time to develop compared to other mechanical elements
Godzilla currently has three skill shots with four more in development
Godzilla has seven battles, four city modes (not yet fully implemented), and multiple wizard modes planned
Keith Elwin's Godzilla design represents among his best work with superior layout flow
Keith Elwin watched each Showa-era Godzilla film 4-5 times during development, about 50-50 English/Japanese language versions
Supply chain disruptions during COVID made Godzilla BOM costs fluctuate $100-$200 within the same project
Original Godzilla design had two lower bumpers with no scoop, changed to one bumper plus scoop due to insufficient action
Stern's Godzilla machine surpassed Sega's arcade Godzilla sales in three days
Pinball designer who created Iron Maiden despite lack of community demand for the theme
Pinball designer; designed Iron Maiden (Stern); used as precedent for designing successful games with unconventional IP; name-dropped in context of Barrels of Fun's Bon Jovi rumor.
Designer referenced in comparison for Jaws machine's souvenir trading mechanic to Nightmare on Elm Street's Krueger rands trading system
Stern Pinball designer; designed Godzilla and upcoming Fallout; noted as superior designer choice that Stern did not select for Star Wars
Pinball designer; designed Godzilla; discussed as one of Stern's top designers
Legendary Stern Pinball designer; won IFPA Pin-Masters tournament in 2026 per Stern Pro Circuit results
Referenced as designer; Corey mistakenly attributes sweep-able drop targets to him circa 1992, though Keith was ~10 years old at the time.
Tournament player; appeared on H2H Podcast; wore H2H t-shirt at Pinberg tournament
Pinball designer at Stern credited with Iron Maiden; described by Packer as 'very thoughtful designer' and 'high-level player' with meticulous planning; known for collaborative approach with artists
Designer of Iron Maiden for Stern Pinball; demonstrated gameplay mechanics; referenced for adjusting shot difficulty due to custom cabinet size (per George Gomez)
Pinball designer/personality; appeared in Twippies promotional video with professional Stern microphone
Modern pinball designer, part of next generation of mentors following Kordick era
Legendary pinball designer and former #1 ranked player; now ranks much lower (25-50) due to reduced tournament participation while designing machines full-time
Pinball designer; guest on Loser Kid Pinball Podcast; wore Head2Head Pinball t-shirt and Loser Kid cap at event, photo noted by hosts.
Pinball designer; referenced in context of Godfather interview and ruleset discussion; multiple modes mentioned in reveal content
Legendary pinball designer, credited as teacher of 'pinball pacing' concept to Gieske, design philosophy cited on complexity/cost justification
Stern Pinball designer; Stephanie lists King Kong (by Elwin) as top priority acquisition; hosts note interest in other Keith Elwin titles beyond Avengers Infinity Quest
Legendary Stern Pinball designer referenced as comparison point for Transformers design philosophy
Pinball designer rumored to be designing Stern's Fallout game
Article attributes The Hobbit design to Keith Elwin, described as 'known for his fast-paced designs' and incorporating 'flow-based gameplay.' NOTE: Conflicts with KB indicating Joe Bousler as designer.
Pinball designer for Stern's Fallout game
Legendary Stern Pinball designer; benchmark for excellence in design flow, rules depth, and shot layout; referenced throughout discussion as gold standard.
Mentioned by Don in reference to design philosophy quote about keeping ball visible ('Keith, I think it's really important')
Stern designer working on Fallout; expected to redeem Stern after King Kong issues; predicted to have 'game of the year' status
Referenced as designer who did Loser Kids podcast interview about Sonic the Hedgehog
Pinball designer; Iron Maiden designer mentioned as competition for Martin's collection space vs Houdini
Elite competitive pinball player; one of only three players to consistently qualify in A division at Pinburgh annually
Stern Pinball designer; Kaneda hints at upcoming Keith Elwin game rumored to be historically significant, though he dismisses industry hype claims as unreliable
Veteran pinball designer; referenced by Elizabeth as a mentor/teacher figure in game design methodology
Mentioned as designer of upcoming Fallout title that Kaneda cites as competitive threat to Sonic sales; referenced as legendary designer
Designing Star Trek for Stern (next year); referenced as 'new king over at Stern'
Renowned Stern pinball designer known for deep involvement in rules design and code balancing; compared favorably to other designers by Orbital Albert
Stern Pinball's lead designer; described by Kaneda as 'the greatest pinball designer in the world' but given weak themes like Fallout
Game designer at Stern known for excellent code design; Walt praises his games (King Kong, Jaws, Godzilla, Avengers, Iron Maiden) for engaging gameplay
Stern designer; rumored by Kaneda to potentially design Ozzy Osbourne, Star Trek, and Fallout pinball machines (low confidence)
Stern designer; created Godzilla (best-selling Stern machine ever with 27,000+ units)
Referenced in discussion of Stern design; associated with acclaimed shot layouts and game design
Mentioned as designer with credit for Jaws and its successful code development and theme integration
Implied modern Stern designer whose work Rhodes respects (Star Trek Stern design mentioned)
Stern code designer; host fantasizes about his coding team working with Spooky on future game like Fallout
Designer at Stern Pinball responsible for multiple games discussed in add-a-ball chart (Jaws, King Kong, Iron Maiden, 2017 Star Wars)
Stern pinball designer referenced for design work and innovations
Top-ranked competitive player at Rocky Mountain Showdown; hundreds of points ahead in standings
Legendary Stern designer, referenced regarding past design work though not directly quoted in this episode
Stern designer; 'usually lurking around' at Media Day events
Stern pinball designer; mentioned in context of Jurassic Park's challenge mode design philosophy
Stern designer; Kaneda cites his game geometry and design principles as a model that other designers should study and emulate
Stern Pinball lead designer; designed Jaws machine; cited by Joe as making design decision not to implement ball-eating shark mechanic
Stern designer; his game design style discussed as becoming repetitive and less novel
Legendary pinball designer; referenced as designer of X-Men, Godzilla, Avatar (time machine mechanic origin); Rush compared to his prior work
Stern designer; completed Godzilla; Kaneda notes he's been working on next title since
Stern Pinball designer; identified as part of industry's greatest talent
Pinball designer; rumored to be designing Stern's Jaws; known for high-quality game design
Senior game designer at Stern Pinball, mentioned in context of tutorial for Ripley's Believe It or Not on PAPA system
Stern Pinball designer; represents modern design excellence referenced in comparative analysis
Legendary Stern Pinball designer; mentioned in context of game design philosophy
Stern game designer; designed Jurassic Park and Iron Maiden; both games featured toppers with interactive/coded elements
Legendary pinball designer at Stern; not explicitly mentioned in episode but relevant to design vs. code discussion
Mentioned indirectly as designer of Godzilla (referenced in comparison for Grand Staircase toy mechanics—'Godzilla building on steroids').
Elite pinball player whom Zoller studied via Papa and Pinburgh videos; known for comprehensive game knowledge
Stern designer of Jaws; previously designed Godzilla; expected to deliver innovative mechanics for premium Jaws
Stern staff; pizza preference anecdote; prefers Genovese-style over deep dish
Pinball designer mentioned by Jared as appreciator; 'Keith McTeeth makes it for me' comment regarding Game Show design
Designer of Stern Jurassic Park (referenced implicitly through machine design credits and pinball designer context)
Referenced in context of physical pinball design as comparison for digital table design philosophy
Referenced indirectly in discussion of Batman 66 designer (not explicitly named in episode)
Legendary pinball designer referenced in context of skilled real machine play
Designer; his Iron Maiden artwork praised in comparison to Rush; represents standard for modern artistic execution
Pinball designer of Stern's Jaws machine
Top competitive pinball player known for high scores on Kiss (billions range); described as enigmatic
Stern Pinball designer (mentioned in broader industry context)
Referenced multiple times in transcript (appears to be data corruption/repetition artifact); legendary pinball designer at Stern Pinball
Designer of Stern's Jurassic Park; recognized as emerging talent by Roger Sharp for rules depth and playfield geometry
Stern Pinball game designer, referenced as example of quality-focused professional approach
Pinball designer mentioned in context of Stern's game design capabilities
Designer of Led Zeppelin pinball machine for Stern
Stern Pinball senior designer presenting Game of Thrones code update; legendary pinball designer and seven-time world champion
Competitive player; achieved second billion-point score on Black Knight after Nick Waina
Designer of Jurassic Park mentioned in discussion of mechanical toys/mechs in games
Professional competitive pinball player referenced as benchmark for skill; Zach humorously claims not to be at his level
Legendary pinball designer; designed Godzilla (mentioned in context of host selling their machine)
Lead designer at Stern; designed Jurassic Park and Avengers Infinity Quest; known for complex shot design and player engagement
Lead Stern designer; Godzilla game rumored for fall release before Rush title
Associated with rumored Godzilla pinball game
Designer of Jurassic Park and Guardians of the Galaxy; referenced as current trending game designer at Stern Pinball
Lead designer at Stern Pinball; designer of Godzilla pinball and multiple recent successful titles
Implied designer of Jurassic Park based on KB context (legendary Stern designer known for excellent shot layouts)
Stern Pinball designer; mentioned in context of HUD design preferences (likes duplicated middle score); competitive pinball background
Stern Pinball lead designer; designed Rush and rumored to be designing Back to the Future Super L.E. (vault title).
Pinball designer; references mention of his achievements (implied from context)
Designer referenced for introducing new style to Stern games; credited with games that look different from typical Stern
Pinburgh champion in multiple years (2011, 2012, noted as 'OG goat'); legacy figure in tournament history.
Legendary designer mentioned in discussion about color DMD video mode timing issues on Fishtails
Pinball game designer; Eric mentions 'Keith' as the person developing driver software for the spinning disc mechanism at JJP
Legendary pinball designer referenced as archetype of future talent emerging from homebrew community
Mentioned in context of modern Stern designer; designed Jurassic Park; potential code updater for AC/DC remaster
Legendary Stern designer; designed Godzilla, Jaws, Avengers, Jurassic Park; known for excellent shot layouts and games that hold value
Referenced as designer of Archer whitewood prototype; mentioned in comparison to Iron Maiden playfield layout
Stern Pinball designer; designed Godzilla (best-selling Stern title with 27,000+ units sold)
Stern designer transitioning from extended Archer/Iron Maiden development to accelerated second-game design schedule
Mentioned as legendary designer whose games (referenced as 'Keith P. Johnson games') are easier for some players to learn
Designer referenced in Metallica machine praise ('Ray Day' callout)
Professional pinball player mentioned in casual conversation about calf development from tournament play
Designer/player referenced; Kaneda notes one great Keith Elwin game per year insufficient to restore collector confidence
Designer (referenced in KB context for Godzilla); context suggests prominent pinball designer
Noted for appreciating roller games; mentioned by Bruce in context of game design philosophy
Top-ranked competitive pinball player (#4 WPPR at time of discussion), newly hired as designer at Stern Pinball starting March 1, formerly worked on unreleased Archer game concept
Professional pinball player, met by Orbital Albert
Referenced in context of legendary pinball designers; mentioned alongside John Borg as respected designer.
Legendary Stern designer; designed Jurassic Park and other notable Stern titles
Stern Pinball designer of Avengers; hosts praise his shot layout and design authority
Senior designer at Stern Pinball; cited for Godzilla launch as example of 'wow' moment; known for excellent design philosophy
Legendary Stern Pinball designer; referenced as exemplar of complex shot design and cross-field flow in comparison to Star Wars simplicity
Referenced as designer of Godzilla and Rick and Morty in pop-bumper design discussion; mentioned in context of comparative design approaches
Stern Pinball designer. Host mentions Keith Elwin signed a James Bond LE machine, and notes Stern misrepresented 'exclusive' topper availability to buyers.
Designer of Godzilla pinball, criticized for scoop design and other mechanical choices
Industry figure to whom Hardy sent King Kong merchandise t-shirt
Stern pinball designer; mentioned in context of game design quality
Competitive player; won Pinmasters/Nationals; described as 75 years old and GOAT-level player; seven-time world champion
Legendary pinball designer; reference point for game quality; designed Foo Fighters, Elton John, and other high-quality shooters
Lead designer at Stern Pinball; designed Jurassic Park, James Bond, King Kong, Fallout; known for dual-feed upper flipper mechanics and dynamic layouts; repeatedly cited as host/guest's favorite designer
Legendary pinball designer at Stern, referenced as potentially still the best player in the world
Stern designer working on Fallout; Kaneda questions why he wasn't assigned Star Wars instead
Named as example of pinball designer who originated from homebrew community; referenced as future talent pipeline for OEMs.
Renowned Stern designer; next game scheduled for March 2027 per Kaneda; Kaneda claims to be friends with
Legendary designer at Stern Pinball; next game delayed to 2026
Stern pinball designer; Fallout game pushed from 2026 to March 2027 per Kaneda
Top pinball designer cited as influenced by Highspeed legacy
Legendary pinball designer credited with inventing the King Kong outlanes mechanic used in Skateball; modern designer associated with innovative shot layouts
Legendary competitive pinball player; referenced as collector benchmark for Ryan's Jack Danger game collecting
Legendary Stern Pinball designer known for crisp code, clear game mechanics, and memorable gameplay moments; met Walt at 2014 IFPA Nationals in Colorado
Referenced as historically strong game designer example for comparison to Elizabeth Geeski's emerging reputation
Stern designer; praised for cool mech design; allegedly teased upcoming transforming mech (Optimus Prime) on podcast before Transformers release
Legendary pinball designer; praised as only designer capable of creating successful original-themed game in modern era
Legendary pinball designer and player participating in IFPA PinMasters 2026 qualifying as a competitor
Elite competitive player present at PinMasters 2026
Legendary Stern designer; Star Trek confirmed as next game after Fallout
Stern Pinball designer, designing Star Trek (next game after Fallout)
Stern Pinball designer; rumored to be designing original Star Trek series game after Fallout; information sourced from Kaneda's Pinball Podcast with low confidence
Stern Pinball designer, confirmed to be designing Star Trek game following Fallout
Pinball designer credited with designing Jaws and other modern Stern games; referenced as designer of games in tournament.
Legendary Stern designer; hosts discuss favorite Elwin games including Iron Maiden, Jaws, King Kong
Stern designer; influenced Eismin's design approach; worked on King Kong
Legendary Stern designer whose Jaws influenced Elizabeth Gieski's programming approach
Legendary pinball designer at Stern known for excellent shot layouts; claimed to be designing Star Trek next after Fallout; Kaneda suggests he's been working on Star Trek for six months
Pinball designer/media personality; referenced for poor voiceover delivery; known for disliking scoops in designs
Stern Pinball designer; completed Fallout; working on unannounced next title (revealed via Kaneda's Patreon fundraiser)
Designer of Jurassic Park; Transformers playfield layout compared to Jurassic Park by Dirtypool
Stern designer; Fallout game expected before Expo; mentioned in context of industry launch congestion
Artist hired to work on Deadpool after Jeremy moved to Iron Maiden
Stern Pinball designer; mentioned as designing Fallout game in the rumored pipeline
Legendary Stern designer; used as benchmark for quality and design philosophy; Orbeez aspires to own every Elwin game.
Lead designer at Stern Pinball; Kaneda speculates his Fallout game will launch in 2024. Recent designs include King Kong (before Star Wars). Referenced for superior shot design and game complexity.
Stern Pinball designer known for cross-playfield mechanics; Transformers layout compared to his style
Designer of Stern's Fallout pinball; described as making 'crazy bonkers' game
Competitive pinball player; quoted as saying Transformers has 'most amazing mech ever in a Stern machine.'
Legendary Stern designer; designer of Jaws and upcoming Fallout; referenced as 'arguably the best designer in Pinball'
Legendary pinball designer; designer of Stern's Godzilla; referenced as benchmark for gameplay quality comparison
Designer of Jaws 50th Anniversary pinball machine (mentioned in knowledge base as creating the game)
Legendary Stern Pinball designer; known for King Kong and Godzilla; discussed as consistently hitting game designs
Stern designer working on Fallout (upcoming game); mentioned as legendary designer; called out for investing talent in Star Wars
Pinball designer referenced for decision-making depth in game design
Stern Pinball designer; led team that filed patent for magnetic Newton ball mech from Godzilla
Stern Pinball designer; designed Jaws machine; recognized as excellent shot layout designer
Legendary pinball designer at Stern; designed Fallout; designed King Kong which underperformed
Pinball designer; credited with King Kong's playfield layout
Stern Pinball designer, designed Godzilla; referenced in context of layout comparison
Professional pinball player; designer of Iron Maiden pinball machine
Pinball designer; created Kong; confirmed designer of Fallout for Stern Pinball based on Amazon series.
Pinball designer; designed Jurassic Park for Stern (mentioned in Project Pinball charity context)
Stern designer; recent games include Jurassic Park, King Kong, Jaws; referred to as having 'Elwin cycles' in production schedule (April production run)
Professional pinball player who faced Drew Sitch in 2019/2020 NACS, won Game 7 with Magna Save button save
Pinball designer; makes balanced games according to discussion
Designer of Stern's rumored Fallout pinball
Pinball designer with four games in Pinside Top 10 (Jaws, Harry Potter, Evil Dead, Metallica Remastered)
Legendary pinball designer; referenced in context of 'Elwin flow' as design philosophy standard
Legendary Stern designer; designing upcoming Fallout; known for excellence in shot mechanics (referenced via Godzilla, Jurassic Park, etc.)
Legendary Stern Pinball designer; Tony extensively discusses his game designs (Godzilla, Jaws, Iron Maiden, Avengers Infinity Quest, King Kong, Jurassic Park)
Pinball designer at Stern; praised by Walt Wood for Godzilla's immersive design and mode depth compared to other modern games
Legendary Stern Pinball designer known for shot layouts and modern game quality
Professional pinball player, Pin-Masters winner, referred to as GOAT
Legendary pinball designer; Iron Maiden attributed to him, though hosts note it was not his first design as commonly believed
Pinball designer credited with designing Jaws (Stern) and Avengers (Stern); host suggests he drew mechanical inspiration from Jolly Park
Designer of King Kong pinball; praised for shot layout despite artistic direction criticism
Pinball designer, created Jurassic Park, expected to return with 'banger' game with Jeremy Yeti after King Kong commercial disappointment
Pinball designer; designed King Kong for Stern, received mixed-to-negative feedback from hosts.
Tournament player; won Pin-Masters at ORD Pinball; clinched victory on NBA Fastbreak
Stern pinball designer; created Godzilla, Jaws, and King Kong; discussed as catalog to evaluate
Designer with Fallout game upcoming after Stern's Transformers G1
Stern designer of Godzilla and King Kong; discussed for design track record and market impact
Pinball designer mentioned as hypothetical designer for Stern Back to the Future remake
Legendary pinball competitor and designer, won 2026 IFPA Pin-Masters, from Carlsbad, CA
Designer of King Kong: The Myth of Terror Island; considered one of best pinball designers in industry
Stern Pinball designer; accepted Best Playfield Layout for King Kong; discussed public domain advantage for design freedom
Stern designer; mentioned as designer of Godzilla and Laser War
Undisputed GOAT pinball player, over 50 years old, recent Pinmasters winner, top machine designer known for games like Jurassic Park, Jaws, Godzilla, Iron Maiden
Stern designer; worked with Davidson on Avengers Infinity Quest; known for detailed design documentation
Stern Pinball designer; consistently paired with Rick Nagel; designed Avengers Infinity Quest; known for detailed design documentation
Legendary pinball designer and seven-time world champion; credited with educating Tim Sexton about Frontier's design depth; referenced as designer of Iron Maiden; cited for competitive Flash Gordon play
Renowned pinball designer; hosts speculate about possible future Stern project; mentioned in context of Pokemon/D&D development
Tournament organizer who gave Jeff a trophy in 2015 at Banzai 2 tournament
Designer at Stern Pinball known for elevating lesser-known themes; designed Godzilla, Iron Maiden, Jaws, Elton John
Designer of upcoming Stern Fallout pinball game
Competitive pinball player; played in INDISC tournament that Emoto witnessed at Arcade Expo, which introduced her to tournament-level gameplay skill
Referenced as example of Stern's strategic talent acquisition model; precedent for how manufacturers hire industry talent
Creator of Pinball 101 tutorial video (2008-2009) with brother Randy; seminal pinball educational content
Pinball game designer credited as designer of Jaws; Gonzo describes Jaws as Elwin's best game.
Professional pinball player; agreed with Tim Balls' assessment that Attack from Mars flipper play differs from original
Legendary pinball designer at Stern Pinball, currently ranked 4th in IFPA, known for exceptional shot design and competitive dominance, recently relocated from California to Illinois
Designer of Iron Maiden ruleset; publicly confirmed song-mode mechanic on Facebook; praised for well-balanced, complex rule design
Stern designer whose unsigned translite was mentioned; hosts worry he may be upset with Triple Drain based on recent episode drama.
Legendary Stern designer; designed Jurassic Park, King Kong, Godzilla, Jaws, Iron Maiden; hosts discuss layout quality and callbacks to classic games
Legendary Stern designer; referenced for Star Wars game design legacy
Mentioned as legendary pinball designer (appears in corrupted transcript sections, may be ASR artifact)
Legendary Stern designer referenced for Jurassic Park and other acclaimed designs
Legendary pinball designer; mentioned in comparison context regarding design approach
Legendary Stern Pinball designer; creator of Jaws, Godzilla, Kong, and other games discussed throughout stream.
Mentioned as legendary Stern designer; context suggests he may have designed this machine or another discussed game
Stern designer; referenced in context of game design quality comparisons
Legendary Stern designer; indirectly referenced in discussion of desired game depth
Professional pinball designer; created homebrew; known for kinetic satisfaction and game feel expertise; transitioned to commercial manufacturing
Legendary Stern pinball designer; rumored designer of upcoming Kong game
Lead designer of King Kong and previous hit D&D at Stern; referred to as 'the king' in the pinball industry
Pinball designer; his next game is reportedly complete and ready, with him working on the game after that
Pinball designer; designed Godzilla for Stern; upcoming Jaws pinball expected to deliver high mechanical creativity
Elite pinball player referenced as comparison for championship-level expectations and pressure
Legendary competitive pinball player; faced Escher at IFPA 17 Worlds in game nine match; conceded gracefully; described as one of the two greatest living players alongside Daniele
Jaws pinball machine designer at Stern Pinball
Designer with two upcoming 'cornerstone machines' mentioned by Kaneda as reason players are waiting rather than buying current inventory; future releases generating significant FOMO suppression
Stern Pinball designer; speculated as next game designer to release; expected next title (Jaws) likely held until end of 2022 to avoid overwhelming backlog
Professional pinball player; played Hockey Champ at Golden State 2025; intuitively understood timing mechanics without explanation
Professional pinball player; speaker at Flipping the Script charity event; owns Deadpool LE machine
Game designer; designing 60th-anniversary James Bond game featuring all Bond films on single-level playfield; track record of four successful games
Elite pinball player known for staying calm and composed under tournament pressure
Pinball designer and player discussed regarding tournament participation, design philosophy, and engagement level at INDISC
Stern Pinball game designer; designer of Iron Maiden, Avengers, and Jurassic Park; former competitive player; tournament attendee; expert on playfield design and rule development
Designer/developer of Jaws pinball; Kaneda characterizes upcoming game as 'masterpiece' expected to sell out 1,000 Limited Edition units on day one.
Professional pinball designer, referenced as example of designer discovered via homebrew showcase
Designer of Jaws game for Stern; known for strong mechanical designs and playfield layouts
Referenced as designer of mode-based Stern games (Jaws, Pulp Fiction); hosts praise Elwynn code quality and mode randomization
Multi-time world champion pinball player who joined Stern Pinball as designer in 2017
Pinball designer mentioned in context of game sequencing; designed Jaws and Rush
Top contemporary pinball designer; Kaneda argues should have been assigned to Star Wars; assigned to design Fallout
Designer of upcoming premium games including Jaws, Back to the Future, and The Matrix; Kaneda suggests these are drawing demand away from Venom
Stern Pinball designer with dominant market presence; won INDISC finals; appears in 6 months of Stern's 2024 schedule
Stern game designer and elite competitive player; won Classics 1 tournament, competed against Eric Stone in Round of 16 on Jurassic Park and Black Knight; designer of Jurassic Park
World champion pinball designer, designed Avengers comic-book version, Iron Maiden, Jurassic Park
Mentioned as legendary Stern designer (referenced in chat/context, not directly discussed)
Pinball designer/personality, previously guest on Slam Tilt Podcast discussing Pinball 102
Pinball designer; appeared on Slam Tilt Podcast for interview; has unrevealed new game in development
Pinball designer/expert; appeared on Head2Head Pinball Podcast discussing Jurassic Park game development
Stern game designer; designer of Avengers Infinity Quest, Jurassic Park; uses classic Stern design influences
Pinball designer; referenced in context of high-priced machines (Bond 60th mentioned at $30,000 CAD)
Competitive pinball player; game designer with upcoming release featuring spinners and no traditional mechs; appeared on Flippin' the Script
Elite competitive pinball player; appeared in Avengers livestream demonstrating game mastery; ranked among world's best players
Designer of Iron Maiden and Jurassic Park; Eric Stone contrasts his work between the two games
Competitive pinball player; recently played Avatar at Pinball at the Beach; mentioned for validating shot quality praise
Expected designer of next Stern Cornerstone game (per host speculation); to release January/February timeframe
Game designer for Stern's Jaws; host notes 'He's proved himself time and time again. Except for Avengers because... I'm not sure about that game'
Professional pinball player; Kaneda criticizes community for not pushing back on exclusive James Bond topper deal he signed (Sharpie signature)
Pinball designer credited with exceptional Godzilla machine layout and mechanics
Pinball designer, less than 10 years in industry but described as 'best pinball designer on the planet'
Legendary Stern Pinball designer; designed Jaws, King Kong, Godzilla, Iron Maiden discussed as hosts' favorite games
Pinball designer credited with Jaws game
Stern designer; Kaneda advocates strongly for him to design Back to the Future; cited as superior to JJP designers
Designer referenced implicitly in discussion of Elwin games competing against each other (King Kong, Jaws 50th)
Stern Pinball designer responsible for King Kong, Jaws, Godzilla, and Jurassic Park; repeatedly referenced as benchmark for shot design and code depth; Kaneda compares Kong unfavorably to Elwin's prior live-action titles.
Mentioned as reference for understanding collector burnout from repeated secondary market losses ('the great Keith Elwin')
Pinball designer for Stern Kong; mentioned throughout as influential contemporary designer
Legendary Stern designer; used as hypothetical example for high-profile title (Star Wars) to illustrate designer value
Top qualifier at NYC Pinball Championships who selected games for semifinal round
Designer of King Kong LE; rumored to design Pokemon for Stern; Kaneda skeptical of Pokemon commercial viability
Competitive pinball player who competed against Raymond on Flight 2000 during the Open tournament
Competitive pinball player ranked #2 in IFPA World Rankings
Legendary Stern Pinball designer; Doc is excited for his upcoming designs
Jaws designer; conducted gameplay reveal; host acknowledges respect for him despite game concerns
Pinball designer; designer of Stern's Jaws machine; noted for creating well-regarded games across multiple manufacturers
Pinball designer; Jason's preferred choice to design dream theme Star Wars for Stern
Stern designer; designed Iron Maiden, Godzilla (referenced in conversation)
Legendary Stern designer; known for excellent shot layouts; designed Iron Maiden and Godzilla
Pinball designer/industry figure mentioned by Franchi as 'rock star'
Pinball designer; noted as among the best in the industry
Pinball designer who recently joined Stern, removed Archer gameplay videos from YouTube
Pinball designer and player; frequent Loser Kid guest; designed recent Stern title (likely Godzilla or earlier); called 'GOAT' of pinball design
Legendary pinball designer at Stern Pinball; designer of Jaws, Jurassic Park, Iron Maiden; subject of running joke about being 'seasoned veteran'
Pinball designer, appeared on Coast to Coast interview about Iron Maiden, designer at Stern
Designer known for minimal scoop usage; design philosophy compared favorably to Beetlejuice
Pinball designer; Kaneda speculates he may be involved in Jaws layout; implies his recent layouts lack creativity/assets
Legendary pinball player; walked away from final game against Eric Stone in World Championship; George and Dave debate whether this was classy or unsportsmanlike
Pinball designer at Stern working on Jaws; track record of successful game designs despite minimal assets or artwork quality
Stern pinball designer; rumored to be working on King Kong; previously designed Godzilla and Jaws
Prolific Stern designer; recent Jaws release; potential designer for John Wick per Kaneda's speculation
Pinball designer credited with Jurassic Park game; praised by host for epic design
Designer of Jaws pinball machine; referenced for layout and shot design quality
Designer referenced as creator of upcoming title that will compete for collector interest; next project after Godzilla
Top pinball designer at Stern; designing Jaws; described as 'new king of pinball' with highest resources and delivery quality
Competitive player who almost got knocked out by Saskatchewan winner at Nationals; finished second in Pinmasters tiebreaker to Raymond
Designer; next game at Stern after D&D is Keith Elwin's King Kong. Host cites his positive reaction to D&D prototype.
Pinball designer; pop bumper placement in Godzilla cited as reference point for Godfather's pop bumper design
Stern Pinball designer; speculated to be developing Jaws for 2023 release
Reference point in discussion of aftermarket mod market; noted that some accessory makers earn more than competitive player earnings
Pinball designer; referenced as example of designer whose name carries weight with enthusiasts
Designer of Jaws; benchmark reference for theme-gameplay integration excellence
Signed Nicole's Iron Maiden prize machine
Modern pinball player/designer; met DeMar at Pinball Expo on Godzilla game floor; creator of Masterpiece Godzilla
Stern Pinball designer, referenced as part of elite design team
Mentioned as NOT the designer of John Wick; established Stern designer
Stern Pinball designer; rumored to be designer of King Kong cornerstone game coming to CES
Pinball designer; designing James Bond 60th Anniversary machine
Legendary Stern designer; referenced as productivity benchmark (could design 5 games in 2 years vs. Ryan McQuade's 1)
Pinball designer; designed Iron Maiden; described as best pinball player; first game made a strong impression
Pinball designer at Stern; worked closely with Bergeron on Jurassic Park, answering design questions and reviewing artwork integration
Designer credited with King Kong; same-week launch conflicts with Barrels of Fun
Elite A Division pinball tournament player; opposed PAPA 20 format change; mentioned as influential player voice
Designer at Stern Pinball; Beatles layout directly copied from Keith's office machine; referenced regarding shot design
Lead designer at Stern Pinball; described as 'greatest pinball designer of all time'; reportedly interested in designing Back to the Future
Designer referenced as benchmark for quality (Iron Maiden comparison); potentially ruled out for Back to the Future design
Reportedly working on Stern's Pokemon pinball game; described as passionate Pokemon fan
Won the NYC Pinball Championships main finals; Stern pinball designer; has Quicksilver machine in office that was recently replaced with Beat the Clock; sent message to Ron about machine change
Competitive pinball player; featured in Star Wars video premiere; only player shown to successfully blow up Death Star mode in 2.5-hour stream
Pinball designer/player; has a new machine launching; George Gomez indicated removal of odd job hat spinning feature
Stern Pinball game designer; referenced in context of Zach Sharp's new marketing role and the irony of marketing Keith's designs
Modern designer transitioning from homebrew to commercial pinball (example of pattern repeating from Pat Lawlor era)
Playing Metallica pinball with Jack Danger at Stern
Designer of Stern Jurassic Park; scheduled to participate in stream chat for new code debut
Stern Pinball designer; created Iron Maiden and Jurassic Park; revealed details about his third game (Winston cat-themed) during interview
Stern Pinball designer; designed Jurassic Park (sophomore effort) and Iron Maiden; won Twippy awards for Best Pinball Design/Layout.
Competitive pinball player (5x Pinberg champion); Stern Pinball designer; designed Iron Maiden and Jurassic Park
Lead game designer on Stern's Jurassic Park; featured in making-of video discussing T-Rex mechanism origins
Guest on Stern Insiders Pinball Podcast; competitive player/Stern personality
Legendary Stern designer of Jurassic Park (second game); won Twippies Game of the Year last year for Iron Maiden
Pinball personality; killed by Marty in 'Who Will Marty Kill' segment
Stern designer; expected to design King Kong for 2025 release
Renowned game designer credited with Godzilla, Jurassic Park, Avengers, and Iron Maiden; described as 'arguably the greatest competitive pinball player of all time' whose design philosophy balances games for competitive play
Game designer associated with James Bond Collector's Edition
Renowned pinball designer; rumored creator of King Kong; confirmed creator of Iron Maiden (Vault game)
Game designer; referenced regarding unreleased ROM testing at tournaments
Pinball personality/designer; mentioned as competitive factor when Barrels planned Dune launch timing against King Kong momentum
Designer of Jaws pinball machine; credited as designer of acclaimed base game
Pinball designer rumored to be working on Jaws remake for Stern Pinball
Referenced as legendary pinball designer; Mad Ben Hand compared to him as 'Keith Elwin of virtual pinball'
Stern designer/programmer; referenced in context of competitive players who also design games; designer of Godzilla
Rumored designer of Stern's Fallout pinball machine.
Professional pinball player; wears Electric Bat merchandise; community visibility amplifies Electric Bat brand
Stern Pinball designer known for Jaws and other recent titles with strong code updates
Pinball rules designer; collaborated with Eric on GNR rules; designer of Lord of the Rings; highly respected by Eric for rules philosophy
Modern pinball designer whose name recognition allegedly drives game sales; all games rank in top 20 on Pinside; LE versions sell out before arrival.
Designer of Godzilla; known for shot layout design philosophy emphasizing risk/reward and player choice
Competitive pinball player; reportedly expressed frustration about excessive seven-strike tournament format
Tournament qualifier who played every mode on NASCAR during qualifying
Pinball designer; mentioned that it was his birthday during stream; designer of Mystery Castle's rules/software
Likely a Stern designer/developer; visits Ace Goggi regularly to check on Godzilla; handle animations and game design
Stern pinball designer; three of Dennis's top 5 Stern games (Godzilla, Jaws, Jurassic Park) were designed by him
Pinball designer credited with Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary LE, described as one of greatest games of all time
Pinball designer at Stern; Craig ranks him as the greatest designer in the hobby; associated with Godzilla and James Bond games; expected to release new game in 2024
Pinball designer; three of his games appear in top 5 of Pinside Top 100 (Godzilla #1, Jurassic Park #3, Iron Maiden #5)
Elite competitive pinball player; mentioned as attending District 82 tournaments
Legendary Stern Pinball designer, seven-time world champion, discussing King Kong design and career
Designer associated with Fallout (Stern); discussed as established, seasoned designer potentially in demand by American Pinball.
Competitive player cited as having praised Dungeons & Dragons mechanism
Stern game designer; designed Iron Maiden, Jurassic Park, and other major titles; Jeff notes he likely prefers Jurassic Park despite Iron Maiden's poll victory
Elite pinball player in INDISC 2020 High Stakes finals, competed on Grand Lizard
Competitive pinball player; participated in Mystic group, earning 1 point in quarterfinals
Pinball designer; primary designer of Back to the Future; associated with Stern partnership discussions
Game designer; Kaneda notes his releases overshadow concurrent titles due to market dominance
Designer of King Kong, described as reliably delivering great games; Kaneda expresses confidence in his design capabilities
Legendary pinball designer; designed James Bond 60th Anniversary and Iron Maiden; discussed for mastering the craft
Pinball machine designer at Stern, designer of Godzilla and other recent titles (Avengers, etc.), considered by Sharp to be potentially the greatest pinball designer of all time
Legendary pinball designer, former professional competitive player (7-time world champion reference implied), and now senior designer at Stern Pinball. Central subject of this interview discussing his life path from age 8 through early 2000s and beyond.
Mentioned as strategic influence; Raymond references 'Keith Elwin strategy' of picking a game opponents might pick against you later.
Legendary pinball designer; featured guest on Final Round Podcast; subject of humorous rumors about family legacy and Thunderbirds play
Designer; working on 'Jaws' (design complete, in rules/decoding phase) and next game after that (CAD phase); subject of Joel Engelberth interview
Designer of Iron Maiden pinball machine (mentioned as comparison point for deep code and gameplay)
Pinball designer, rumored to no longer be working on Cornerstone, rumored to be designing Back to the Future machine
Called Dragon Fist 'Seafist' due to rule similarities with Sea Witch
Iron Maiden pinball designer; streaming rules walkthrough on Deadflip with Tim Balls
Won High Stakes tournament at INDISC 2023
Tournament player; only player to beat Alexander on Beatles; executed 300 million catapult super strategy
Designer of Avengers Infinity Quest (referenced in prior KB context)
Designer of Godzilla pinball machine (referenced in player commentary: 'Thanks Keith')
Stern pinball designer; credited as designer of Godzilla with innovative shot layout and design philosophy
Pinball designer at Stern; designer of Jaws; currently the marquee designer driving new machine anticipation
Legendary pinball designer at Stern, won Cleveland Pinball Show finals.
World-class competitive player, mentioned as potential participant in informal Star Wars tournament during filming
Competitive pinball player at INDISC 2019 Classics; finished second in one semifinal group with 2 points
Stern designer and top-ranked player; fourth on waiting list for tournament entry
Legendary pinball designer at Stern; designed Jaws and Jurassic Park; host notes difficulty selling Jaws Premium despite Elwin's reputation
Stern Pinball designer; designer of King Kong; mentioned as competitive pinball era founder
Elite competitive pinball player referenced as potential solo-game completionist on D&D: The Tyrant's Eye. Contrasted with 'mortal' players by Brian Eddy.
Tournament player referenced in context of Game of Thrones scoring (6-12 billion)
James Bond designer; tournament player; Kaneda notes pricing locks out many of his fans
Pinball designer identified by Kaneda as one of only two essential designers for Stern (alongside Jack Danger)
Designer at Stern; Kaneda characterizes as outperforming Steve Ritchie in recent Stern releases
Designer of Godzilla for Stern; mentioned as precedent for successful license execution despite prior competitor (Spooky) licensing interest
Pinball game designer at Stern; creator of Godzilla, Iron Maiden, Jurassic Park, Rush, and Avengers; known for integrating meaningful mechs into designs
Designer of Bond 60th; designed for challenging, fast multiplayer experience; Monica's favorite designer per Joel's constraints
Designer of James Bond 007 pinball, confirmed mechanical score reels, appeared in Pinball Network stream to indicate mockup inaccuracy
Designer; appeared on Triple Drain episode with Tom Graf; signature was supposed to be on Iron Maiden translite but was missing
Pinball designer credited with Avengers Infinity Quest; referenced as prolific Stern designer (Godzilla, etc.)
Designer of the unreleased 60th Anniversary James Bond redesign, described as 'greatest of all time'
Pinball designer of Jaws, Godzilla, and other modern Stern releases. Known for prioritizing shooting quality and game flow. Multiple hosts praise his work while debating his design choices on Jaws.
Designer of James Bond 60th Anniversary Edition pinball; designed single-level super high-end game for Stern
Designer/personality at Stern; provided beta code for Godzilla topper exclusive mode
Legendary Stern Pinball designer; recently appeared on Classic Pinball Podcast discussing classic games; designed a $18,000 single-level pinball machine
Pinball designer; predicted to design separate Keith Elwin street-level/fourth version James Bond game for 60th anniversary
Stern Pinball designer; game suspected to be Jaws; release timing imminent (any day according to Kaneda)
Stern Pinball designer; mentioned as unable to 'save' Stern despite his talent
Designer of James Bond 60th Anniversary Limited Edition
Legendary Stern Pinball designer, referenced in Back to the Future SLE speculation
Mentioned in music context (Foo Fighters composer Jerry Thompson reference)
Credited with dragon mechanism design/execution at Stern; praised for mechanical innovation
Designer of Jaws pinball for Stern; known for creative shot geometry, hidden ramps, and innovative playfield layouts; last Cornerstone was Godzilla
Stern designer; created Bond 60th Anniversary; confirmed to have reached wizard mode only twice despite extensive play testing
Lead designer at Stern Pinball, guest on episode 45, competitive tournament player since 1993, designer of Godzilla, James Bond 60th, Jurassic Park, and other Stern titles
Designer of Jaws; referenced for creative shot design decisions and playfield layout choices
Top-tier competitive player, frequently cited as benchmark for skill level
Legendary pinball tournament player, designer of Jurassic Park and Godzilla, won Classics II at INDISC, known for dominance across all game types including classics
Elite pinball player known for exceptional ball control and adaptive strategy
Pinball designer for Jaws, Jurassic Park, Godzilla, Avengers, Iron Maiden; lead designer/engineer who explicitly decided against shark-eating mechanic
Competitive pinball player; drained ball 3 without comeback attempt at World Tournament, sparking debate about sportsmanship
Designer of Godzilla and Jurassic Park for Stern; designs discussed positively throughout episode
Stern designer referenced as prolific and potential designer for Back to the Future if Stern acquired IP; King Kong game noted as completed
Top pinball player and designer; rumored to be designing King Kong for Stern; praised by Kaneda as explanation for quality play mechanics of his games
Designer of Godzilla and Jaws; cited as exemplar of mechanical and shooting design; host laments industry's difficulty replicating his approach despite available reference designs
Designer of King Kong LE; failed to achieve sellout status
World-renowned competitive pinball player; designer of Iron Maiden pinball machine (his first game design).
Referenced as hypothetical designer if Back to the Future had been licensed to Jersey Jack; Kaneda suggests JJP designers 'Richie and Eric' as alternatives
Competitive pinball player; participated in tournament at Electric Bat Arcade holiday event.
Pinball designer credited for Jaws game; subject of speculation about whether his layout can overcome other deficiencies
Game designer credited for Jurassic Park pinball machine
Pinball designer referenced for preference for state-change components in games like Iron Maiden
Pinball designer mentioned as relocating from Carlsbad to Chicago; appears to be context for snow shovel joke
Top seed in Open; exercised seed privilege to add Wizard and remove Viking from tournament set
Pinball personality referenced via TPM podcast discussing childhood pinball exposure and skill development
Pinball designer; designer of Godzilla (described as his best game); potential designer of King Kong
Competitive pinball player; reportedly viewed D&D prototypes and praised mechanical ambition
Lead designer of Godzilla Pinball; head of Team Elwin at Stern; known for destruction-themed games and ramp innovation
Designer of Jurassic Park pinball at Stern
Pinball player, subject of upcoming Classic Pinball Podcast episode predicted to become most popular
Pinball designer with upcoming two games; stated next artist will be someone previously worked with on prior game
Stern designer; designed King Kong; Kaneda notes no rumors about his next game, solicits tips
Legendary Stern pinball designer; designing King Kong (upcoming major release); historically associated with excellent shot layouts and game quality
Designer; identified as unique exception whose Stern LEs hold value above $10K depreciation floor; also designed Jaws
Stern designer; mentioned in context of Deadpool and game design comparisons
Legendary pinball designer referenced in context of game quality comparisons
Designer of Avengers Infinity Quest pinball machine
Pinball game designer for Kong, known for great flow and solid code development teams
Developer of Archer machine using P-Rock; homebrewer who transitioned to commercial manufacturing
Designer associated with upcoming King Kong pinball game mentioned as future market competitor
Pinburgh champion; half-Canadian (father from Windsor, Ontario area)
Pinball tournament champion, won Pinburgh 2019 back-to-back (implying 2018 and 2019 wins); characterized as 'greatest of all time'
Legendary competitive pinball player, known as the GOAT; eliminated in quarterfinals by Snow Galvin; 30+ year career in competitive pinball
Pinball designer expected to design Spike 3 game; team assessed as superior to Brian Eddy's
Designer of Jaws 50th Anniversary game for Stern Pinball
Encountered at Expo, played with Jeff on various machines
Referenced in beard kit joke; described as having worn a beard for years
Champion pinball player; won A division finals at Pinburg (inferred from context)
Legendary pinball designer, recent interview on Loser Kid Pinball Podcast discussing Jurassic Park wizard mode design
Pinball designer at Stern; designer of Iron Maiden, Jurassic Park, and Avengers Infinity Quest
Professional pinball player; won Pinburgh 2018 tournament; former world champion mentioned in context of Cromwell's competitive play
Legendary Stern Pinball designer; rumored to be designing X-Men 97; has designed Jaws and Godzilla
Pinball designer; used as hypothetical example of design theft when Kaneda critiques AI artwork methodology
Pinball designer, fourth major title is Godzilla; previous titles include Jurassic Park, Iron Maiden, The Avengers; known for designing complex rules and skill-based gameplay
Modern pinball designer/manufacturer (Elwin); described as disruptive force in pinball design; designed Godzilla, Avengers, and others
Legendary pinball designer; created King Kong and Jaws; Pokemon anticipated as next Stern title
Designer of upcoming Pokémon pinball game, expected January-February release
Legendary designer whose games (e.g., Elton John) succeed because he collaborates with software teams unified around a clear design mission; contrasted favorably against Jersey Jack's fragmented approach
Designer at Stern Pinball; leading team on upcoming games including Kong.
Notable designer who advocates for playfield-based information design requiring players to maintain head-down gameplay
Top 20 WPPR-ranked player, attended UK Open, game designer, signed Translates, known as quiet/introverted
Renowned pinball designer; created James Bond fourth edition for Stern; games valued at significant loss historically
Stern Pinball designer; represents creative ambition side of Stern's internal design-vs-profit tension
Legendary designer; upcoming Jaws game expected fall 2023; Kaneda predicts his release will create market buying freeze
Pinball designer at Stern; designed Jaws, Jurassic Park, Bond, and other titles; competitive player; discussed in terms of design philosophy and industry status
Stern pinball designer mentioned positively; Alan defends anticipation for his upcoming Jaws machine against skeptics
Pinball designer; designed Iron Maiden
Renowned pinball designer; designed Avengers; praised for ball flow mechanics and rule complexity
Noted competitive pinball player; defeated George in Black Knight competition at California Extreme 2003.
Pinball designer, favorite game is Skateball, designing upcoming game with novel flipper mechanism.
Pinball designer/industry figure mentioned as discussing Nine Ball spinner mechanics and their incorporation into Jurassic Park design
Pinball designer of upcoming Jaws game. Kaneda predicts it will be a week-one sellout due to designer reputation and content drought.
Legendary pinball designer working on Stern Jaws
Pinball designer; designing Jaws for Stern; characterized as control-focused player, not a 'magna flip guy'
Pinball industry figure; observed examining Pokemon homebrew machine at Expo
Game designer with upcoming title; Kaneda predicts his game will dominate market and overshadow all competing releases; generates significant anticipation in community.
Game designer credited with James Bond 60th; criticized by Kaneda for allowing his name to be associated with the overpriced machine; dismissed as capable of designing it 'in his sleep.'
Pinball designer; only designer whose machines are predicted to maintain secondary market scalping value
Legendary Stern pinball designer, reportedly designing the mystery fourth James Bond variant according to this rumor
Prominent Stern designer; designed James Bond (currently underperforming); rumored to design Jaws (2024); signing 500 toppers for Bond 60th Anniversary edition
Jersey Jack Pinball code designer; praised for Godfather code quality; rumored next game is Jaws
Legendary pinball designer; rumored to be designing a fourth James Bond variant as street-level game per Kaneda's prediction.
Pinball designer; rumored by Kaneda to be designing James Bond #4 as street-level game
Designer of James Bond 60th Anniversary pinball machine for Stern
Associated with Stern Pinball's James Bond project; described as 'cash grab'