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NEW @sternpinballinc Star Wars Fall of the Empire! WAIT - I've seen this playfield before, Austin!

Walt Wood Pinball·video·58m 17s·analyzed·Sep 20, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Walt Wood analyzes Star Wars Fall of the Empire playfield design, criticizing mechanical execution and cosmetic quality choices.

Summary

Walt Wood reviews the newly announced Stern Pinball Star Wars: Fall of the Empire game, providing detailed playfield analysis and criticizing specific design choices. He compares the game to Borg's earlier Star Wars design, identifies mechanical similarities to GoldenEye and other Borg games, and expresses concerns about feature prioritization (video screen over playfield), missing mechanical impact (undersized spiral wire form), and cosmetic quality (side armor compared unfavorably to recent LE releases like Dungeons & Dragons and King Kong).

Key Claims

  • Star Wars is John Borg's first design

    medium confidence · Walt states he looked this up while researching the game and believes this based on design similarities, but says 'Don't quote me on that'

  • The spiral wire form in Star Wars is a nod to Borg's original Star Wars design

    medium confidence · Walt identifies the feature as referencing the original game but acknowledges he's 'been going down the rabbit hole' on this research

  • The spiral wire form on the new Star Wars game isn't big enough to make proper contact with the character's legs

    high confidence · Walt provides detailed visual analysis: 'the ball spins around over its head and then it just falls down... They didn't make it big enough. It's going around its back'

  • Stellar Wars comparison is inaccurate because Stellar Wars lacks the protective rubber guards on pop bumpers that the new Star Wars has

    high confidence · Walt explains the mechanical difference: 'Stellar Wars has that unexposed and much more dangerous... because of that rubber, it's physically impossible for the pop to sling towards the out lane'

  • The magna-save mechanic shown with a visible pinball is a spoiler that diminishes surprise

    medium confidence · Walt criticizes: 'don't show me like that's like a spoiler... I don't want that. Get that out of there cuz that way I can be surprised'

  • The emphasis on a larger video screen is not a positive feature for competitive/serious players

    medium confidence · Walt's opinion: 'I don't play pinball to look at the video screen, man... the more you look at that video screen, the more you're going to get caught with a quick drain'

  • Star Wars LE side armor lacks the detailed custom work of recent releases like Dungeons & Dragons LE

    high confidence · Walt compares directly: D&D has detailed flame artwork while Star Wars appears to be a basic cross cut with minimal detailing

  • Spike 3 rollout features were vague and without concrete timeline

Notable Quotes

  • “It's got like the two posts right here and the rubber to prevent that kind of... So, you're not going to get angles towards that way. You're only going to get angles this way over.”

    Walt Wood @ ~30:00 — Detailed mechanical analysis distinguishing Star Wars from Stellar Wars design

  • “They didn't make it big enough. It's going around its back... The thing isn't big enough.”

    Walt Wood @ ~15:00 — Core criticism of the spiral wire form mechanic not achieving intended design goal

  • “I don't play pinball to look at the video screen, man. You know, and dude, the better you guys get at pinball, you're you're going to realize, dude, you got to keep your eyes down.”

    Walt Wood @ ~45:00 — Expresses player perspective that larger screens distract from competitive gameplay

  • “Like, get that out of there. I don't want that there because now I like I like you're I'm assuming what it's going to do. The ball's going to levitate there. I want to be surprised by the Force.”

    Walt Wood @ ~42:00 — Criticizes visible pinball placement as telegraphing the magna-save mechanic

  • “What happened there? You know what about uh King Kong? Does King Kong have one? Let me see. King Kong LE... Dude, what happened there?”

    Walt Wood @ ~35:00 — Expresses disappointment in Star Wars LE cosmetic quality compared to other recent releases

  • “Dude, Borg's been doing that for a minute... Rush pretty much the same shot on Rush on Metallica on even Guardians. It might be. It's his world famous right ramp.”

    Walt Wood @ ~25:00 — Recognizes recurring design signature across multiple Borg games

Entities

Walt WoodpersonJohn BorgpersonGeorge GomezpersonStern PinballcompanyStar Wars: Fall of the EmpiregameSpike 3productMetallicagame

Signals

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Community comparison of Star Wars to Stellar Wars (different era/designer game) suggests players actively benchmarking against classic designs; pop bumper configuration differences noted as mechanically significant

    medium · Walt notes: 'some people are saying it looks like Stellar Wars... the pop bumpers here, they they don't have these on Stellar Wars'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Spiral wire form mechanic undersized, failing to achieve intended contact with character legs; ball spins around back instead of making proper leg interaction

    high · Walt provides detailed visual analysis: 'They didn't make it big enough. It's going around its back... The thing isn't big enough.'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Visible pinball placement in magna-save mechanic telegraphs feature, reducing gameplay surprise and player discovery element

    medium · Walt criticizes visible pinball as 'spoiler alert' that prevents surprise discovery of Force mechanic

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Star Wars mechanically references GoldenEye magna-save design; feature previously criticized as novelty, now marketed as new innovation

    medium · Walt notes: 'They're getting that from GoldenEye... I grew up playing GoldenEye... I played that when I was a kid... everybody's like It's amazing... I'm like Dude, I played that when I was a kid'

  • $

    market_signal: Emphasis on larger video screen as selling point contradicts competitive player priorities; feature positioning suggests disconnect between designer/marketing priorities and player expectations

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:02
Oh god. Oh, here we go. Once I see the camera sitting there, the TV back there, the POV, it all. Here we go. This dude's making another video. Oh god. Look out. Oh god. Oh god. How's it going everybody? I hope you guys have been doing good. Uh, I'm doing I'm doing good. doing uh doing better. Had a kind of a rough week there if I'm being honest with you, man. Uh kind of a rough week for our country.
0:46
I'm not going to get into the whole politics of the whole thing, but uh Charlie Charlie Kirk was an amazing human being. He really was. Politics aside, politics aside, man, I really admired that dude because he's so young and he just debate anybody on anything and he had the balls to go into the lion's den into these colleges where half these kids are drinking the Kool-Aid, man. You see it in their eyes like they're just they've been they've been had they've been brainwashed, indoctrinated, whatever the [ __ ] word is. And he'd go in there. One of my favorite things Charlie would do is he'd go in and he would he'd be like, "College is a scam. Prove me wrong." You know, and then he would debate. And half the time, half the time, like halfway through their debate, you would realize that, wow, he's this person is totally proving Charlie's point that college is a scam. Like, I don't know what the hell this person has been doing. Like, I'm an English major. Oh, yeah. Then who's George Orwell? And they're like, they don't even know, you know? Like, they don't even know. Like, man, he was so good. And he wasn't even radical, man. He was just moderate. A good Christian man, you know, with a wife and kids, man. They did not deserve to see this to see him go out like that. He should have died old in his bed, you know, like all rose bud or whatever. Not like not like he went out, man. That was pretty rough. And uh you haven't seen it already, don't don't look at it. Um, and it was just kind of, you know, it for me personally, it was kind of rough, man. I feel like I lost a brother. I never met Charlie. I didn't know him personally. I just, you know, I feel like I lost a brother. And it was, it was really hard to make a video. I just was not feeling I know Star Wars came out two days after that. It's a rough week for a pinball launch. I'll be honest with you. 911 and you had an assassination of a political figure. all in the same week. Like this is our generation's Martin Luther King getting shot. Same thing. One's black, one's white, no different. Same [ __ ] thing. And Stern's like, "Full steam ahead. We're still going to launch this [ __ ] game. You got to commend him on that." So I I didn't I didn't make a video. I saw it when it came out, man. I didn't make a video right when it came out. I just wasn't feeling myself. Wasn't feeling like my normal self, man. So, I was just feeling kind of down. I'm feeling better now because Charlie is with us. He's in all of us now. You will never stop this [ __ ] Cuz now I feel that [ __ ] in me. So, free speech will never die, [ __ ] That's the thing he was fighting for. Free speech, whether you believe in what he's saying or not. the right the right for me to make this stupid ass video and nobody's knocking on my door. Walt, what are you talking about in there? We told you about this. Keep your voice down. That's my point. That's what he was out there doing. He just happened to be political. So, I just want to say, God bless you, Charlie Kirk. God [ __ ] bless you. And you'll always be in my prayers, brother. Always be in my prayers. I got the Kirk family in my thoughts and prayers and we're going to push it on full steam ahead cuz I know that's what he want us to do. I'm feeling better this week. Let's roll. Let's roll. We got new pinball day has come and I missed it. Hooray. But you know what? We're back at it. We're going to go back at it. I'm feeling better. I got the love of the community, you know. It was so great. That Lyman tournament was awesome, man. I want to say it is just bad timing that this whole thing happened right when I got back. But the Lyman tournament was awesome. Hundreds of people there. Crowds were going ESPN reporters running around [ __ ] going nuts. No, I'm just [ __ ] cocaine eightballs all over the place. I'm just kidding. Hopefully my [ __ ] uh watch this will get like pulled or red flagged because I'm [ __ ] being a dumb [ __ ] There was no cocaine. Okay, kids.

high confidence · George Gomez states features will come 'over the course of the next year' but Walt notes: 'He's being so vague, too. He's not even telling me like what it's going to what's going to happen'

Rush
game
Guardiansgame
GoldenEyegame
Stellar Warsgame
Corvettegame
Dungeons & Dragonsgame
King Konggame
Lyman Tournamentevent
Kaleperson
Ralphperson
Chicago Expoevent

high · George Gomez highlights 'larger full HD display' prominently; Walt critiques: 'I don't care if you make the video screen bigger, but that's not a selling point for me, dude. I'm all about gameplay.'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: John Borg appears to be lead designer for Star Wars despite tight timeline constraints; design shows recurring signature patterns (right ramp) from previous titles (Rush, Metallica, Guardians)

    medium · Borg introduced as 'lead game designer'; Walt identifies 'world famous right ramp' recurring across multiple Borg games

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Experienced competitive player expresses frustration with feature prioritization (video screen over playfield mechanics) that contradicts serious player needs

    high · Walt (tournament player): 'I don't play pinball to look at the video screen... the more you look at that video screen, the more you're going to get caught with a quick drain'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Star Wars LE cosmetic quality (side armor) noticeably inferior to recent releases (Dungeons & Dragons, King Kong) suggesting cost-cutting or production prioritization differences

    high · Direct visual comparison between detailed D&D flame artwork and basic cross-cut Star Wars design; Walt asks 'Are they trying to save money?'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Vague Spike 3 rollout timeline ('over the course of the next year') with no concrete feature specifications; players required to purchase now for promised future enhancements

    high · Gomez states features 'will continue to enhance performance and usability' without specifics; Walt: 'He's being so vague, too. He's not even telling me what's going to happen'

    • 5:48
    I'm sure I'm sure there was a fuckload of Addderall getting consumed like crazy. I can't prove it, but I'm I guarantee you that half these kids are on aderall. these [ __ ] top players, bro. I can't prove it, but godamn like they can go all day like a goddamn machine all day long. And to the point where I'm like, bro, I'm hitting a wall. It's like the fourth day in, you know, because the finals is Sunday, Thursday. So, you got what? Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Wednesday you're in practicing, getting warmed up. Thursday is first day of qualifying. Friday you got qualifying. Saturday's end of qualified and then Sunday you're in if you make it. And dude, I got, you know, I don't know. I don't know if I've talked about this a lot on this channel, but I have a fake hip. I have a metal plate in my hip because I was run over. You can see it. The scar. Let me get in there. Right here. There's a scar right there where they put a metal plate in your boy. And if if you guys knew that already, sorry. But yeah, man. So, I'm lucky I can walk. I'm lucky to be alive. I got hit and run over. I got hit by the car, knocked down, and then run over. The wheels went across my chest is what I'm trying to tell you. So, I God God has a plan for me. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. God has a plan for me that I'm still here talking to you guys, let alone playing pinball. God damn. At the level I'm at, I'm my my mind mind blows half the time. Like I'm I'm lucky I could walk up and down the [ __ ] steps, dude. Let alone being able to play. I'm I'm happy. So it was a great time. Great [ __ ] time, man. Got to see Penny. I [ __ ] love Penny, man. Penny Penny is the [ __ ] Saw Bagwell, Andy. [ __ ] miss him. Lasalos. Lasalos. Let's see. Esher's out there. Jared August. Slovishek. [ __ ] list goes on, bro. I mean, count them off your fantasy if they were on there. I guess I was on the list going off at 69 bucks, bro. [ __ ] yeah, you baby boy. $69. Make you holla. There was a bunch of people that came up to me like, I have you on my fantasy list. It was a fantasy for Papa 22. So, you could pick players uh from $20 to and Jason Zer was the top one at uh 120 or whatever the [ __ ] he was at. Man, Zer is focused. When you see Jason, he don't really He is so laser focused, bro. Like, he is just thinking about the game. Bam. And then I saw him out of the corner of my eye. He came over. But god damn, that kid is so focused in the game constantly, man. It is amazing to watch these the level of focus that these kids have. Going back to my point, maybe half of them are on aderall because I remember I took the [ __ ] out of Aderall in my 20s. And you know what? The first thing, the very first time I took Aderal, what I wanted to do, play pinball. It was literally the first thing that I thought of in my mind. And I'm like, "Dude, we should go to the arcade." Holy [ __ ] We should go to the arcade. Oh my god.
    9:23
    So, we all go through our Adderall days. If that's what it is, then go for it, man. I don't give a [ __ ] But it was a fun time, man. I think I finished 13th. I played my played my ass off, man. I played as hard as I could, dude. And then until I was just limping around [ __ ] trying as hard as I could. But it was a great time. great [ __ ] time. Um, we're going back be back at Expo whenever the when is that? Middle of October. So, that should be a good time. And, uh, yeah, man. I'm looking forward to it. Really just traveling, playing pen. Making a few bucks when we can is a good thing. being able to pay for food and it's money that you made playing pinball or pay some, you know, like I have the ability to pay some rent with money that I made playing pinball, man. It's a cool [ __ ] feeling. I'm going to tell you right now. It's like like I could slave away in the dish pit, but I'm getting paid or, you know, like work on a building or whatever, dig a sewage ditch or whatever the [ __ ] you want me to do. Or I'm getting I'm getting paid by this this talent. Luckily, I was blessed by God to have, man, it's a [ __ ] beautiful thing when you stop and look at it. And I'm not trying to I've been thinking a lot about God, man. Ever since [ __ ] I mean I I the my relationship with God is my strongest relationship on this earth. My relationship with God is absolute. Every other person comes secondary to that. As long as I'm looking good in the eyes of God, I feel good. I'm not trying to go Sunday sermon on you here. But ever since Charlie got taken out, man, we've been really thinking about it. You know, it's really and I I want to move on from this point, but there's one thing someone said I want to relay to you guys, and maybe this will stick in your head, too, because it's sticking in my [ __ ] head, and I can't get it out. This is what someone said. I don't remember who it was. They they said this. When when George Floyd got murdered, what happened? We had what, the summer of love, they call it, with the riots. It it was the start of the BLM movement, right? Or it gave it full full steam ahead, you know? It I think honestly it made us talk about racism more, which is a bad thing, man. Like, dude, like there's not racism in the country. That's the thing. But they want you to think that we live in a racist racist country, you know? But this anyway, this this dude said this when George Yeah. When George Floyd like he got murdered, remember there was there was all these riots, protests in the street, things were on fire, right? Remember the summer of love? All that [ __ ] What happened when Charlie Kirk got murdered? People started going to church. Something to think about. I'm not saying left or right, which way do you lead? I'm just saying that's a fact and it's something to think about. That's all I want to say about that. So, I heard that and I can't get it out of my head because man, I've been thinking about it a lot. It's true. How many riots have you seen since Charlie Kirk got murdered? Zero. I think the number is zero.
    13:03
    I remember seeing whole cities, whole sections of cities occupied and on fire after that after George Floyd was was uh was murdered. That's just something to think about, man. Let's move on. Let's move on to some pinball. I just this is on my mind, you know, and I want to express what's on my mind. Like I don't feel like my normal self, man. So I want to explain why this is what's going on in my mind, in my heart, you know, and I I I believe in being real on this [ __ ] channel, you know? I don't believe in censoring myself. I believe in free speech, right? the ability to say [ __ ] right in the camera if I want to. Do I have to? No, I don't. And trust me, I have a bunch of people whose ears bleed every time I say [ __ ] right in the camera or whatever it is. Deal with it. You know why? Cuz I got free speech. Tough [ __ ] And dude, like why are you running around trying to get people to say whatever? Let's move on. Star Wars. Let's talk about it. So, let's go through it. Let's watch the trailer and just get our [ __ ] blown off, right? Let's go. Let's Let's start with that. We'll start from the trailer and we'll see what happens after that. Sound good? Thanks for uh sticking with me. Thanks for hanging with me, man. I I love you all and everybody I had a chance to talk to when I was out there in Schnozberg. Shamberg, whatever the [ __ ] it's called, a couple weeks ago. I love you all, man. And God, I hope I see some of them pictures I took with some of you folks. God damn, that's that [ __ ] was fun. I had a bunch of people coming up to me, can we get a picture? Let me get a picture of your videos. This and that. And it's it's it's humbling for me, you know? All All I'm doing is just setting up my camera and setting up with the camera on my phone and pointing it towards here and and let's see what happens. We're live. We're going. So, thank you all for your support and your kind words, man. And your unkind words. If you think I'm an [ __ ] drop it in the comments. I don't give a [ __ ] Go for it. I think I'm an [ __ ] half the time, too. At least we can agree on that. So, let's go. Let's start with uh Star Wars Pinball. Let's see the trailer. I'm in a memory hole like I've never seen it.
    15:52
    Where am I? Who are you? What the [ __ ] is going on here? Am I a basement?
    16:07
    This dude Ralph seems like a nice guy. I don't know. I've never met him before, but I I think I think Kale Kale kicks it with this dude. So, Kale from Electric Bat, he's one of my brothers, bro. You're watching this, bro. I love you. Love you, brother. Uh Kale from Electric Bat. I've seen him uh hang kicking it with this dude. Uh talking about talk about some [ __ ] with this guy. All right, let's see what's going on here. Here we go. Bam. Let's see what we got. Here's the trailer. [Music]
    16:49
    Hey everybody, it's George Gomez at Stern Pimal and we're here today in a galaxy not far away to launch you into the legendary Gomez in the morning. Talking about Gomez in the morning. Talking about Gomez in the evening. Why do I always have to sing a [ __ ] dome song when this guy comes up? I love Gomez. I don't know what it is. You know what? I [ __ ] uh I was looking this up because I did I did a few things before this video because I was there's a few things I want to talk about when we're going to just go through this. There's a few things I want to talk about after we watch trailer. But Gomez, one of his first designs was uh Corvette. Yeah, Corvette. That's a fun game, dude. And it's probably got one of the coolest [ __ ] ramps in all of pinball. I guess I can bring it up real quick. Why not? I'll give you a frame of reference. Let's see. Corvette
    17:46
    pinball in the house in the morning in the evening. Come on. Let's see what we got. I want to see the playfield. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cuz I want I want you to see this ramp so you can see what I'm talking about. Come on, man. No. No. No. No. There we go. Let me see it. Let me see it. Let me see it. Open. Open it up. Come on, bro. Oh my god. What the [ __ ] is it, dude? Come on now. Give me a [ __ ] better picture. All right. Here we go. Hold on. Iv standby. We're going live. There's only a few things I have prepped. I don't have this prepped. What the [ __ ] is this? IP DB in Internet Pinball database, right? There we go. The [ __ ] is this, dude? What are we doing? Oh, we're hitting a wall, guys. We're hitting a wall already. Look at this. We're already hitting a wall. There we go. We got it. Got it. Let's go. Okay, here we go. We're already hitting a wall, gang. All right, here we go. SOS, save our stream. It's not a stream, but whatever.
    18:59
    Let's see. Uh, yeah, here we go. What I want you to see in detail is this right ramp. Um, here we go. Yeah, here we go. Here we go. Give me a give me give me something. Give me a Give me that a little bigger. Yeah, here we go. Right there. Work. So this ramp, this right ramp comes up and comes down like that and it can open up in the back to go back here and kick up here. Bro, that's Gomez's first design. I'm pretty sure. Don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure cuz I was looking up a lot of like designs to see similarities and what have you. I think this is his first design. Kudos, brother. And you can see, look how like experimental there's a dude. There's a right ramp that leads to over there. And the Oh, dude. It's [ __ ] Let me Let me find Let me Let me go back so you can see just because we're here. I'd like you to see the whole playfield. Hopefully this doesn't look doesn't look like [ __ ] Okay, here we go. Open new tab. Let's see what we got. So, you can see Yeah, that's not bad. You can kind of see this ramp goes over there and then clicks to there. This side ramp goes over there. Really smooth ramps. This is his first design. And then this thing opens up and goes it can go back. Oh, Gomez, I knew there's a reason. I love you. All right, here we go. So, I just want, you know, I like to give credit when it's due, man. That's his first game. Let's go. Yeah. Yeah. Star Wars universe. Star Wars universe. My first game ain't probably going to My first game ain't probably going to look like that with our latest game, Star Wars Fall of with our latest game, Star Wars Fall of the Empire. All right, Borg. Borg, what do you got All right, Borg. Borg, what do you got for me? With its debut in 1977, Star Wars With its debut in 1977, Star Wars redefined pop culture and remains one of the most iconic and There you go.
    21:12
    fan layout like we all thought it would be fan layout with the two pop bumpers with the two pop bumpers Star Wars redefined pop right here Star Wars redefined pop right here and remains one of the most iconic and remains one of the most iconic um some people are saying it looks like um some people are saying it looks like Stellar Wars I've heard that. Um, the only thing is Stellar Wars, um, that's a Steve Richie game, pretty sure. And, uh, Stellar Wars, um, the pop bumpers here, they they they don't have these on Stellar Wars. They don't have the the rubber and the the posts to block an unfavorable pop to go that way. Um, Stellar Wars has that [ __ ] so you can catch like a backwards pop right to the out lane. This one looks like it h has been guarded. So, it's got like the two posts right here and the rubber to prevent that kind of [ __ ] So, you're not going to get angles towards that way. You're only going to get angles this way over. And if I can go back, I'll sh I'll show you what I'm talking about. 77 Star Wars redefined pop culture. 77 Star Wars redefined pop culture. Yeah. See, Yeah. See, right there. Right there. Here we go. right there. Right there. Here we go. So, it's kind of hard to see. There's these things right here. So, the only angles you're going to get from the pop are like this. Because of that rubber, it's physically impossible for the pop to sling towards the out lane. So, people are running around comparing that to Stellar Wars, bro. No, you got to No, it's it's kind it's loosely based because they're in the same position, but Stellar Wars has that unexposed and much more dangerous. I've played Stellar Wars is fun, dude. That's a fun [ __ ] game. All those late 70s, early 80s Williams games are so [ __ ] fun. So fun. They like Pokerino. If you get a hold of a pokerino, um, oh my god, they play it's so fun. So that's not too as scary. I've just heard that Stellar that being compared to Stellar Wars. Again, this isn't my first reveal. I've had a week on this one, so I'm not going to be like, it's not my exactly my first impression, I guess you could say. Iconic and influential. Iconic and influential. And then we're moving up. We got a All And then we're moving up. We got a All right, we got a fan layout here. Uh, spinner shot orbit that'll lead all the way around to the other orbit. Uh, we got an inlane here that'll kick up to your spiral wire form that goes over there, which you might recognize. Anybody recognize that? Yeah. Stand up target that just is there to light locks. Light locks there. Um, and then you got your Death Star. You knock at the door, it opens up, shoot it in. And then moving on, you got the middle shot. going to through the back box to this wire form over there. And next up, you got the world famous toilet bowl, Job's toilet. It's a It's a clear ramp with a swirling thing in the back.
    24:32
    I don't think it makes that sound. It should. And Jabba sits on top of it like he's [ __ ] pooping. That's what it looks like to me. And then there's a ramp pretty much like your Metallica ramp. It's Borg's famous right ramp. Uh Rush pretty much the same shot on Rush on Metallica on even Guardians. It might be. It's his world famous right ramp. Dude Borg's been doing that for a minute. And then the other orbit which will lead to the other side. Pretty basic. Pretty basic. You got a Stewart's target. Maybe that's a nod to Gomez for uh old Sopranos there.
    25:22
    I But seeing this game, something stuck in my head, man, and I couldn't get it out. I couldn't get it out of my head. Let's watch the Let's watch the whole trailer, though. of all time. We're excited to bring Star Wars. Here's the LE.
    25:41
    One thing I'm going to say, and I don't usually like care about like this side armor [ __ ] dude. You guys kind of like really went half ass here. Like, isn't this [ __ ] usually like custom cut and [ __ ] like Hold on. Let me see the LE for Dungeons and Dragons. Hold on a second. Ellie Dungeons and Dragons images.
    26:13
    Yeah. Yeah. Look at this. It looks like fire. Look it. Look it. Look it. Open image and new tab. Oh god. Dude, you [ __ ] killing me, bro. Give me something bigger. Yeah. Here we go. Look at that. Yeah. Look, that's perfect. Look, look at the side armor or whatever the [ __ ] that's called. Isn't that called side armor? That [ __ ] It looks like flames. Look. Look at that. Oh, bug. Get out of here. Look at that, dude. It looks like fire. Like whether you like the game or not. That's pretty cool.
    26:58
    I think that's pretty cool. Look at that. And then look at this one. You know, look, it's just a cross cut right up with a little at in there. Dude, what happened there? You know what about uh King Kong? Does King Kong have one? Let me see. Ellie King Kong. Let's see. Images. Is this it?
    27:36
    Let me see. The fire one looks dope. Like that might even pull me back around from to uh Dungeons and Dragons. Like maybe the game's not so boring after all because I get to stare at the [ __ ] side armor. No, I can't sell myself. Dungeons and Dragons is boring, dude. And it's clunky. It doesn't feel good. I'm not going down this road with you again. We're not going down it. I refuse. Look at the side armor here. It's got like It's kind of hard to see here. Oh, yeah. That's really hard to see. But it's got like hieroglyphics or something in it. Let me zoom in. There you go. Oh, come on, [ __ ] There you go. Yeah. Look at that. It's got like little patterns in it. Like even like a little something, dude. give me something on my LA, you know, if I'm going to get one. But look at, dude, look at this Star War. And look, go back to that one. Looks awesome, dude. And then go back to And now let's go back to Star Wars, the brand new one. What happened? What the [ __ ] happened? Are they trying to Are they trying to save money? Maybe. Let's Let's keep going. to a new generation of pinball players, taking them on an epic adventure to relive key parts of the Skywalker saga. Save the Gen epic adventure to relive key parts of the Skywalker saga. Okay, hold on. Okay, hold on. Epic adventure to relive key. Epic adventure to relive key. There's a problem here with this. There's a problem here with this. There's a problem. So, of pinball players, taking them on an of pinball players, taking them on an epic adventure to relive key. Yeah, there's a problem with that. So, I Yeah, there's a problem with that. So, I get what they're trying to do. Like, it's clever idea on paper, but not in execution. Like, they have the spiral wire form, which is an it's a nod to Borg's original design, which Star Wars was his first design. I just know cuz I've been going down the rabbit hole. That's Star Wars was his first design with the spiral wire form. So, that's a that's a nod to his original Star Wars, that spiral wire form. They're working it in to the at tying it around the legs so it falls down like it is in the picture. But the problem is it's not big enough. Generation of players taking them on an Generation of players taking them on an epic adventure. Like look, the ball spins around over Like look, the ball spins around over its head and then it just falls down. Like you need they need to make that [ __ ] thing bigger so that way the wire form goes around its legs and then it falls down, dude. Yeah, dude. They didn't make it big enough. It's going around its back. Look. And then it falls down, but it Look. And then it falls down, but it didn't make it make contact with its legs. You see what I'm saying? Skywalker saga. Save the galaxy. Skywalker saga. Save the galaxy. The thing isn't big enough. The thing isn't big enough. For all fueled by our brand new Spike 3 For all fueled by our brand new Spike 3 technology, Stern Pinball Star Wars: Fall of the Empire will have players returning to the story that started it all. players will experience timeless. That's another thing that bugs me, man. That's another thing that bugs me, man. I gota I gotta talk about it because it's right there. Experience, Experience, dude. The [ __ ] Hold on. dude. The [ __ ] Hold on. Timeless. Timeless. Can I get this? Are we just going in Can I get this? Are we just going in there? Hold on. Players returning to the story that Players returning to the story that started it all. Players will the [ __ ] pinball right there. I don't the [ __ ] pinball right there. I don't like it. this pinball. It's hard to see because I got the bar right there. There's a pinball right here where the force thing does its thing. Like, get that out of there. I don't want that there because now I like I I like you're I'm I'm assuming what it's going to do. The ball's going to levitate there. I want to be surprised by the force. So, don't show me like that's like a spoiler. The pinball's like a spoiler alert. Hey, spoiler alert. Your ball's going to float here like this. You know what I mean? Like, I don't want that. Get that out of there cuz that way I can be surprised. Like, dude, they're getting that from Golden Eye. They got that from Golden Eye. I am invincible. I grew up playing Golden Eye. 1996 Sega. I don't think that's a board game. I think that might be Joey B. Joey Balsler, maybe. Maybe Cam Cow. I don't think that's a Borg. He might have had a hand on it, but I'm sure he was inspired because that's from Golden Eye. And I love how they're putting it out now and everybody's like, "It's amazing. The Jedi. The Jedi Magnus save. Oh my god, it's amazing. You guys are going to love it and your dicks are going to be blown off into oblivion." I'm like, "Dude, I played that [ __ ] when I was a kid on Golden Eye, bro. I thought it was cool how it [ __ ] kicked it up. This one's going to be so you can do it on the fly and it can hook it in there. Timeless Star Wars moments. Timeless Star Wars moments. Um, I'm sure they'll have some video of Um, I'm sure they'll have some video of that at some point. But dude, when I was a kid at Golden, I was like playing Golden Eye. I'm like, "Okay, this is cool ball." But they didn't have a pinball in the middle. So I was surprised when I saw it in the beginning. You're like, "Oh, look at that. It holds it right there." and then chucks it up. That's kind of cool. But now that there's a pinball sitting there, I I'm I'm expecting it to do that. It's a small thing, but I don't know. It's just like you're telling me like what's going to happen next. I want to be surprised. Okay, let's keep going. Pinball adventure like none other. This Pinball adventure like none other. This next generation of Spike 3 technology features a robust enhanced CPU, allowing us to seamlessly integrate highquality film assets and custom animations that really highlight our new larger full HD display. Whoa. So, I get to spend more time looking at the video screen instead of the [ __ ] play field. I don't want that, dude. I want like I don't care if you make the video screen bigger, but that's not a selling point for me, dude. I'm all about gameplay. I would rather you have a smaller video screen and have more [ __ ] in the game. You know, I don't play pinball to look at the [ __ ] video screen, man. You know, and dude, the better you guys get at pinball, you're you're going to realize, dude, you got to keep your eyes down. Keep your eyes down. The more you look at that video screen, the more you're going to get caught with a quick and your ball's gone. Why? Because you were looking at the bigger enhanced video screen. Game assets, including John Williams iconic Star Wars score, sound amazing on our allnew audio system. And this is just the beginning of the Spike 3 platform. Over the course of the next year, you'll see an array of additional Spike 3 platform features that will continue to enhance performance and usability over the next year. over the next year. So, wait, I got to buy the game now and wait a year for you to like put the cool [ __ ] in the Spike 3? Yeah, that's it. if he's even going to happen. He's being so vague, too. He's not even telling me like what it's going to what's going to happen. Is the pinball going to grow movable legs so it could walk around? What's going to happen with Spike 3? I don't know. Tell me that will continue to enhance performance and usability. That's so vague. Continue to enhance That's so vague. Continue to enhance performance and usability in addition to the new in addition to the new I don't know what that means, man. I don't know what that means, man. Technology the game. Technology the game. Is it going to be fun or not? That's all Is it going to be fun or not? That's all I want to know. Highlights handdrawn artwork. And now Highlights handdrawn artwork. And now I'll hand it over to legendary handdrawn art. I don't I don't mind the art. Honestly, I don't I don't mind the art. Honestly, the art's not bad.
    35:50
    I'll hand it over to legendary game designer John Bourne to take you through all of the exciting features in Star Wars Fall of the Empire. Mr. Bug. Mr. Bug. Mr. Jonathan Bog Esquire.
    36:08
    Jonathan Bog. Hi everybody. I'm lead game designer Hi everybody. I'm lead game designer John Borg here to show you everything in our latest I salute you about the empire. I salute you about the empire. Players can take down the AT-AT by Players can take down the AT-AT by attaching their snow speededer's toe cable and shooting the spiral ramp to send it crashing down. Yeah, it's too high though. Yeah, it's too high though. Mirroring the breathtaking scene from Mirroring the breathtaking scene from the Empire Strikes Back. Destroy the rebuilt Death Star 2 by lowering that opens up. You shoot him battle that opens up. You shoot him battle station multiball in order to save the galaxy. And then it fires out like Teenage And then it fires out like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
    36:45
    Escape from Cloud City aboard the Millennium Falcon's Hyperdrive by hitting the center jump ramp to escape. See the [ __ ] things like all the all See the [ __ ] things like all the all the things are like out of proportion. Like all the toys like the Jaba is the same size as the [ __ ] Death Star. So Jabba could sit on the Death Star if he wanted to. The Millennium Falcon is the same size as the Death Star. Didn't they fly that thing right next to it and like fly it inside of it? You could Couldn't you like fit that thing inside the cracks of the Death Star? Like, dude, that's just taking me out of it. And you got the Pez dispenser head space. Like, yeah, the Pez dispenser heads. Like, yeah, the Pez dispenser heads. Dude, take down the salacious chrome drop take down the salacious chrome drop target to access the sway p
    37:32
    defeat tie fighters. Is there Is that the stuck pinball? Is there Is that the stuck pinball? Why is there a pinball there? I bet there was a pinball getting stuck there in play testing, so they just put a ball there.
    37:48
    They should have put that [ __ ] bowl that Jabba smokes out of. Doesn't he smoke out of like a bowl? Like a [ __ ] with a stick and a stroll. They should have put that there. A bowl, dude. [ __ ] Yeah. Doesn't he smoke out of some bowl? Tie fighters.
    38:11
    Battle storm troopers and play through your favorite character modes. and okay. okay. [Music] Use the Jedi ball face to save on your Use the Jedi ball face to save on your journey to defeat. I am invincible. I am invincible. If you played Golden Eye, you'll know If you played Golden Eye, you'll know what I'm talking about. The Force is with us after all. The Force is with us after all. Oh dear, pinballs are everywhere. Oh dear, pinballs are everywhere. Through the power of insider. Through the power of insider. Oh dear. Oh dear. The Force is with us after all. Oh dear, The Force is with us after all. Oh dear, pinballs are everywhere. Dude, I I give it 10 minutes before I Dude, I I give it 10 minutes before I get so sick of that [ __ ] Whoever's doing the C3PO, dude, C3PO was not the guy to go for with the call outs. I'm going to tell you right now, wrong choice. They should have had Chewbacca do it.
    39:05
    Whatever the [ __ ] it is, I can't do it. Like every shot, like you can't tell anything you say and everything you hit.
    39:15
    Have [ __ ] Han do it. Have Mark Hamill do it. Have Luke or Han. Why do they have C3PO? Bro, his voice is annoying. I'm telling you. I'm telling you right now. Through the power of Insider Connect, players can explore and connect to the galaxy on a pinball adventure of a lifetime. Whether you're a Padawan or a Jedi Master, Star Wars: Fall of the Empire is available in pro, premium, unlimited visions. Relive the legend, rewrite the fate of Relive the legend, rewrite the fate of the galaxy. Yeah, they all kind of look the same. Yeah, they all kind of look the same. This is more than pinball. This is Star This is more than pinball. This is Star Wars. And we'll dig deep in that after this.com.
    40:01
    Well, there it is. Is your [Music] Is your dick is your dick blown off?
    40:18
    Honestly, my first reaction eh there's something in there that I've seen before or played before. See, this is the problem. See, I don't think Stern made this game for me, for people like me. If you guys are like me, you've been playing pinball for a long time. You're obsessed with it. You love it. You [ __ ] can't get enough. You know, people think you're on drugs when you talk about it all the time because you're just you you're so obsessed with it. By the way, go [ __ ] yourself if you think I'm on drugs. I How many times I got to tell you I'm sober? I love these [ __ ] people. Sober three years, [ __ ] Um, yeah. You know, I just I didn't feel I didn't feel blown away by that one. You know, there's something about it like I've been I've I've I've experienced before, you know,
    41:25
    and I I couldn't put my finger on it until I started going down the rabbit hole and like just thinking about it, wondering why. Why do I think I've seen this game before? What the [ __ ] is going on with me? Am I going crazy? Am I already crazy? Probably a little both.
    41:47
    And uh all I could end up on, all I could find out, I kept thinking about Austin Powers. Austin Powers. So, I made this picture of these two playfields side by side. Wonder if you can have a have a look here. I'll zoom in a little bit because all the business really is at is at the top third.
    42:20
    And unfortunately, we're going to be breaking a couple hearts here tonight. But this is what we do here. I expose the truth.
    42:32
    I'm sorry. I love Borg. Borg, I love you, but we got to be honest, man. We've seen this design before. And it took me a little bit to figure it out. It took me a little researching and I remembered Austin Powers. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Austin Powers 2.0. Austin Powers 2.0.
    43:02
    You might say, "Why? Well, how could you get to this conclusion? You think you're a smart guy.
    43:12
    First of all, you're goddamn right I do. And we're going to explain why. Okay. First of all, we'll go from left to right. So, there's two games that I see in this Star Wars. Austin Powers and Metallica. This is where Borg and I don't know Borg personally. I just I feel like we are one in the same brain right now, me and Borg. Because I think that this is where he started from was Austin Powers to come up with this playfield. And I'm going to tell you why. I think Stern had a talk with Borg and said, "Yo, Rush was a little too crazy." Because I remember him telling me a lot of things he wanted to put in that couldn't go. So he probably had a reputation. This guy might get nuts. Might be putting the kitchen sink in. So they probably talked to him about it. Maybe a little part of him got offended a little. Who knows? Like his creative or his artistic integrity. You're stepping on that. So you know what? I'll give you a basic fan layout then. [ __ ] you. Did he say that? I don't know. Probably not. I'm just speculating, okay? That's because that this is my channel and that's what I do on my channel. If you want to start your own [ __ ] channel and go on there and talk about the different colors of dog [ __ ] then go ahead. I might even subscribe. That actually sounds like a fun video. Like, wow, I didn't realize there was five hues of dog [ __ ] This is amazing.
    45:00
    Does that channel exist? No, I just made it up. Okay, let's keep going. Now, I get distracted. Now, the left orbit on Austin Powers. So, we'll start with Austin Powers, right? And we'll go we'll jump back and forth. What Austin Powers doesn't have, Metallica has. So, the left orbit has the mini me spinner. And then we jump over to Star Wars, which has the left orbit with just a regular spinner. And then over here, you got the world famous fat bastards toilet, which they just moved. Borg just moved that over to here. That's what the clear ramp is. Jab. It turned into Jabba's toilet. Now it looks like a toilet bowl under Jabba.
    45:57
    What else did he do? This shot right here on Austin Powers, it's this little tiny shot that goes behind the back box right down here. Sometimes it goes to the freaking laser beam attached to their freaking heads and some or it can feed the left inlane. Right. On Star Wars, he turned it into the Death Star.
    46:29
    and he made the shot that goes through the backbox, the center shot on Star Wars. So, all he did was move this shot right there over a little bit. And now that's the shot that goes through the back box. So, the shot is still there. There's the shot from Austin Powers going through the back box. Now, he just moved it over one. Now, the center ramp goes through the back box. Going back to Austin Powers. Now in the middle we have the world famous time machine. Right. Time machine. It looks like a half ramp going into into the spiral. Two standup targets in front of it going over to Star Star Wars. You got the half ramp going through the back box. Two standup targets in front of it. Looks pretty similar, doesn't it? Going back to Austin Powers, we have two pops. two lanes at the tops with a feed that would feed right through here. Right on on Star Wars, he closed that off and brought that that's that's where he brought that shot. He moved the scoop over there and brought this shot over to there, closing off that area, thus making the game easier because this feed from Austin Powers is really difficult to to navigate. It's really difficult to handle is a better word. When it comes through the center, you don't know where it's going to go. It could come screaming out that way, right down the middle. So, he closed that off to give you the feed on the orbits, which is easier because you can just live catch when the ball's coming to you. See, I see I'm starting to pick up with this mother where this motherfucker's at. Is it step by step what he did? I don't know. I don't think so. But I think we're pretty in sync in our minds right now. Or I'm just crazy. Either one could be true. So now moving on to the right ramp. Austin Powers. Here's your plastic ramp going through the backbox with a uh feeding the uh right in lane. Moving over to Star Wars. Literally the almost the same exact ramp only it's stainless steel and it goes it's just a different feed. It doesn't go through the back box. It goes It's pretty much a mirror image of like Metallica ramp or uh Rush ramp pretty much when you have it diverted to the right on Rush. It looks exactly like that. And then we end with another right orbit going all the way around which is identical to Star Wars. There you have it folks. This is Austin Powers 2.0 right here. This is exactly all he did was move the scoop over to here. You notice the scoop on awesome powers there. He moved his scoop here to make it easier again to make it more accessible, familyfriendly, kid-friendly.
    49:34
    He moved What else did he do? And he he has one standup target there, one standup target there, and that's pretty much it. Looks pretty similar. The one thing that's different is the inlanes. On Star Wars or on uh Austin Powers, there's the toilet, right? Fought Bastards to it. On Star Wars, there's an inlane. That is the Metallica uh grave marker multiball in lane drops. Only he took the drops out and added a vertical upkicker that goes through a half spiral. They didn't even put the whole spiral in. There's two spirals in Star Wars. They just put a half a spiral. So, they're tickling you a little bit. Remember that a little bit? It's like a chick giving you a back rub for like two seconds. Oh, it feels good. And then she's done. It's over. That's what that's like to me. I'd rather go play Star Wars, the original one, and shoot the middle rant for a thousand times because it's way more fun. It's the same game. I mean, dude, that's that's why that is the reason you're not excited about it right there. And here here's another picture I got. This is the Pro and the pre the Pro and the LE right next to each other. And honestly, I can't tell the difference. What the [ __ ] is the difference? You didn't give me the PEZ dispensers on this one? Like what is the difference? Borg signature. You're going to tell me Borg Signature is worth four grand or whatever the price difference says there. Borg, I love you, but bro, I'm not paying four grand for your [ __ ] signature. Like, what's what is Tell me what the difference is. You literally just added the heads. They added the heads and the proportion of all the toys is off, dude. It's I'm telling you, Java should not be the same [ __ ] size as a Death Star. Okay.
    51:42
    Yeah, dude. That's literally the only difference is there's toys there. You got more toys on the LE and the expression lighting on the sides and the art blades, but nothing different in the way the games plays. It's all cosmetic.
    52:04
    Man, I don't know if that's a good thing or not. All right. Well, well, well, there you go. So, that's my the couple things I noticed there. I noticed really no differences between the Pro and the LA, which dude, you got Spooky on your heels, you got JJP on your heels. You got to make your LE like [ __ ] like I look in it, I got to change my pants. You know what I'm saying? Like you got to make your Ellies banging stern. Bro, you're about to get you're getting to get caught by Spooky. Spooky and Jersey Jack are putting out better games than you right now. I got news for you [ __ ] Spooky is killing it right now. Evil Dead is fun. That's a fun [ __ ] game. Know what it is about it. It's just it's it's it's like a perfect world under glass, dude. It's so fun. And that shotgun multiball. I mean, the one thing I'll say, and I didn't even think about it, but the one thing they did drop the ball on, you should have put the shotgun handle in there from the jump, dude. And the one thing I'll say about Evil Dead, it would be cool if there was more of a moment with that topper. That topper is so [ __ ] cool. It would be cool if like the lights died and the thing just went like out of the top of it. Create a moment with that topper, bro. That topper is so get us to stop playing and look up at the [ __ ] thing like, "Oh my god, you know, that's what I want." But, you know, Spooky is killing it. Jersey Jack Harry Potter is [ __ ] beautiful, man. And I like the fact there's no ball guides ball returns to the flippers. It makes the game a lot harder, you know? I kind of like that. In the beginning, I didn't, but I'm kind of coming around to it now. But, man, Stern, you got to step it up. I mean, you gotta step it up, dude. I mean, dude,
    54:11
    you got Elwin. Elwin is your saving grace. If you guys didn't have Elwin, you guys would be [ __ ] Elwin is the only one giving you bangers right now. Jack Danger. But you guys, whether it was his decision to step down or your Stern's decision to have him step down, either way, we we're [ __ ] because now we don't get another Jack Danger game. So either way, we lose, you know? It's like flip a coin, tails, I win, heads, you lose, whatever the [ __ ] Yeah. Either way, I lose, you know, cuz I'm not going to get another Jack Danger game, but I'm going to get another Brian Eddie game when I'm sick of Dungeons and Dragons. I [ __ ] hate it. It's boring. Like, dude, it's just it's boring. Like, I can't get the ball in the left [ __ ] flipper to shoot shots. Half the time I can't get the ball in the flipper. Like, it's just annoying. I got to shoot the This thing is the middleman. I talked about it in a previous video. I don't want to talk about again. I gotta shoot this to shoot the middleman for that. It's just it's a boring game, dude. It's not fun. The dragon multiball. It's like it's it's cumbersome now. Like it's like it dragon multiball. I'm like, h here's the part where I get 50 mult pinballs and it's unlimited and okay, cool. The first few times it was cool. Now I'm bored. You know what I'm saying? I'm [ __ ] bored. So Stern needs to step it up, man. They need to They need We need more Elwin games and more Jack Danger games. Borg. Borg was a swing and a miss here, dude. I love you, Borg, but god damn, this is boring. I'm already bored looking at it. I was going to go through gameplay video, but honestly, we're almost at an hour now, and I don't want to take up much more of your time than I already have, guys. I didn't want this to run as long as it had, but it it it has, so we'll just keep it. This is the problem with doing a live video. Sometimes I don't know if it's going to go 10 minutes or 55 minutes, like we're at right now. So, you got to bear with me. Um, but like I said, I just want, you know, thank you those of you along for the ride watching this with me. Thank you guys. I just want to say thank you everybody I talked to in Illinois, you know, every feel always feel free. You can always come hit me up if you see me at a tournament, all that [ __ ] man. Please reach out to me, dude. Anytime, man. We're all in this together. We're all fans and we all love pinball, dude. We're all in this together. You know, there's times when I'm in beast mode. I'm focused and you're not going to be able to get a hold of my ass cuz I'm I got the thousand yard stare. But that's just tournament day. You know, any other day, man, you hit me up. And even on tournament day, like I had a guy at Expo last year or it was the year before and he tried to come up to me, but I was right getting ready to play and I kind of was like, but I came up to him after the game and I was like, "Hey man, I didn't mean to blow you off, but I was focused. I was in the game. I think I was actually playing Zack McCarthy at the time and he he understood. He was like, "Oh, man. I get it. You're playing you're in the moment. You're playing it. It's great." You know, so I'm intense. But I I love, you know, always come up to me, say, "What's up?" I love it all. I might be at the showdown tomorrow. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see what happens. Uh I got another video to make about that. We'll get uh we'll get into that in a later time. Okay. But it's pretty much the reason why all the big players don't come to Colorado anymore. And we're gonna talk about it. That's on my next video. So stay tuned. On that note, God bless you all. Find some time to love your family, love yourself, and love who you are, man. Life's too [ __ ] short. Life is too short. You never know when it's the last time you're going to hit that stop button.
    58:05
    and say goodbye to these fine folks for the last time. So, with that said, I love you all and I'll see you on the next one. Much love and peace, everybody.