Drinks with Jack Featuring George Gomez (Part 1)

Stern Pinball·video·7m 1s·analyzed·Jan 7, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

George Gomez reflects on his 45-year career from Midway arcade games to leading Stern's product development.

Summary

George Gomez discusses his 45+ year career in game design, starting at Midway Games in 1978 with arcade games (Tron, Spy Hunter), transitioning through toy design and various game genres, and eventually joining Williams Electronics for pinball before returning to Stern Pinball in 2008 to lead product development. He recalls early Stern operations with only 9 core developers and describes the company's near-collapse during the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recovery.

Key Claims

George Gomez started at Midway Games on October 16th, 1978, his first job out of college
high confidence · Gomez states this directly as the anniversary he's celebrating
Gomez designed video games Tron and Spy Hunter at Midway before transitioning to pinball
high confidence · Gomez explicitly names these two games as part of his Midway portfolio
Gomez worked as a toy inventor at a consulting firm in downtown Chicago, licensing toys to major toy companies
high confidence · Direct statement by Gomez about his career transition
Gomez designed pinball machines for Stern initially as a contractor while working at Midway, including Lord of the Rings, The Sopranos, and The Dark Knight
high confidence · Gomez describes working on these games on the side before joining Stern full-time
When Gomez joined Stern in 2008 as Head of Product Development, the company had only 9 core developers
high confidence · Gomez states: 'When I walked in the door, the company was literally on the ropes and I had nine.'
By the time of this interview, Stern has grown to 55 game developers with another 30 external consultants
high confidence · Gomez directly compares current state to 2008: 'I think I have 55 uh developers, game developers in the in the development studio. I have probably another 30 consultants on the outside.'
Gary Stern called Gomez in 2008 after securing funding and partnerships to return to pinball full-time
high confidence · Gomez describes the phone call: 'He called me up one day. He said, We're getting the band back together. Come and run product development.'
Gomez's first game as a contractor for Stern was Playboy, worked on with Dwight Sullivan under Ray Tanzer's leadership
high confidence · Gomez identifies Playboy as his first Stern contractor work: 'I I think it was Playboy and it was and it was me and Dwight.'

Notable Quotes

“I thought I was going to do this game thing for a couple of years and then I was going to get a real design job. And lo and behold, you're still here.”
George Gomez @ Early in interview — Reflects on his unexpected 45-year career in game design rather than transitioning to conventional work
“I looked at a pinball machine. I said, 'This looks like a giant toy.' And I didn't know how to play pinball. I didn't know anything about pinball, but I thought, 'This would be so awesome to design.'”
George Gomez @ Mid-interview — Explains his entry into pinball design despite having no prior pinball experience
“When I walked in the door, the company was literally on the ropes and I had nine.”
George Gomez @ Later in interview — Describes the stark reality of Stern's staff size when Gomez joined as Head of Product Development in 2008
“The Stern Pinball of those days is not the Stern Pinball you will see tomorrow.”
George Gomez @ Mid-interview — Emphasizes the dramatic transformation of Stern Pinball from the struggling 2008-2009 period to present day
“Don't shoot the diver. Hit the sharks.”
Jack Danger @ Early in interview — Humorous commentary on the gameplay mechanics of Blue Shark arcade game

Entities

George Gomezperson Jack Dangerperson Midway GamescompanyWilliams ElectronicscompanyStern PinballcompanyGary Sternperson Ray Tanzerperson

Signals

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business_signal: Dramatic organizational expansion: Stern Pinball grew from 9 core developers in 2008 to 55 full-time developers plus 30 external consultants
high · Gomez directly compares staffing levels between 2008 and present: 'When I walked in the door, the company was literally on the ropes and I had nine... I think I have 55 uh developers, game developers in the in the development studio. I have probably another 30 consultants on the outside.'
?
business_signal: Stern Pinball nearly collapsed during 2008 financial crisis; Gary Stern secured funding and partnerships to rebuild the company
high · Gomez states: 'In 2008, um, Midway blew up with the economy and Stern almost ceased to exist, right? It took Gary a year and a half or something to find his partner and get some funding.'
?
personnel_signal: Early Stern team included John Borg (initial lead designer), Steve Ritchie (brought on by Gomez), and mechanical engineers John Rothermell and Rob Blakeman who remain with company as of interview
high · Gomez identifies core team members: 'Initially it was Borg, and then I brought on uh Steve Ritchie... John Rothermell, uh Rob Blakeman and so um and Gabby was there.'
?
personnel_signal: George Gomez confirmed as Chief Creative Officer and Head of Product Development at Stern Pinball with 45+ year career; provides authoritative perspective on company's organizational transformation from 2008 to present
high · Gomez discusses joining Stern in 2008 with 9 developers, scaling to 55 developers and 30 consultants; direct account from senior leadership

Topics

George Gomez's career history and progressionprimaryStern Pinball's recovery and organizational growth from 2008 onwardsprimaryEarly Stern Pinball team composition and leadership structuresecondaryGomez's transition from video games to pinball designsecondaryToy design and licensing industry experiencementioned2008 financial crisis impact on Stern Pinballsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Gomez reflects fondly on his long career, expresses genuine enthusiasm about his trajectory in game design, and demonstrates pride in Stern's transformation. The tone is celebratory (marking his 45-year anniversary) and appreciative of the opportunity to remain in the industry. No criticism or negative sentiment detected.

Transcript

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What's up, Pinball Expo? Jack Danger here, back on the Expo stage where we're going to be interviewing a very storied young man who has a a very interesting and long career in pinball. And today marks a very special day for Mr. George Gomez. Today is the day that I started working in the business right out of college. Midway Games October 16th, 1978. That's it. Bonkers. And I will tell you that I thought I was going to be doing this, you know, I was going to do this game thing for a couple of years and then I was going to get a real design job. And lo and behold, you're still here. I love that. So, um, your first job out of college, uh, what, like what were you doing when you first stepped into those doors? Right. So, thanks to the internet, you can look up my work. Midway was had licensed a black and white um, video game called Blue Shark. Black and white game called Blue Shark. Yeah. And Blue Blue Shark looks a lot like Shark Hunter in uh, in Jaws, right? Yeah. And And my job was my boss came to me and he said, 'I want you to design the spear gun. This thing had, you know, it's black and white and you had a spear gun and you shot a physical spear gun. Physical spear gun. Yeah. So, look it up. Blue shark. Do you think there's one of those out here somewhere or like have you seen one? I doubt it. I doubt it. You know, don't don't hit the diver. Don't shoot the diver. Don't shoot the diver. Hit the sharks. Right. I'm glad you stuck with it. Uh, so you were have actually been in and out of pinball, right? As far as like toy design and then coming back to games and then Yeah. Well, I still, you know, my career I I started out doing coin operated upright video games at Midway. I had a little I had a couple of games that you might know in that time. Little game called Tron, little game called Spy Hunter. Yeah. And I was there about seven years. And um and then I left. I was a toy inventor at a consulting firm uh in downtown Chicago for a while. I invented toys that were licensed to all the major toy companies and that was a lot of fun. There were there was actually a gentleman here last year that brought one of these like crashing car toys at least. Yeah, Crash and Bash. Crash and Bash by Galoop. Batteries not included. Jeez Louise. Yeah. After After toys, I went through a period of time there where I was working on all kinds of things. novelty games, uh, you know, uh, Japanese sitdown driving games, all kinds of things. So, I, uh, eventually found my way to pinball. I looked at a pinball machine. I said, "This looks like a giant toy." Yeah. And I, I didn't, I didn't know how to play pinball. I didn't know anything about pinball, but I thought, "This would be so awesome to design." So, um, I managed to talk my way into Williams Electronics, and, um, I think you I think you all know my games from that era. After Williams got out of the pinball business, the fellas across the street, Midway Games, reached out to me and said, you know, come on over and get a Midway business card again. So, I I think uh I don't know, I spent some large number of years of my career with a Midway business card. So, um I worked on uh Xbox and PlayStation stuff. Worked on a um a game called NBA Ballers, an NBA licensed one-on-one basketball game. Yeah. And you know in in the 2000s, right, we we sold a million copies of that thing, right? So dang, that's like that was big time back then. Nowadays, you know, that's nothing. You know, they do that right out of the box. So, um, yeah, I did that. While I was doing that, uh, Gary Stern reached out through Ray Tanzer. Ray Tanzer called me up and said, um, you know, would you like to design pinball machines for us? And so I went to see my bosses at Midway and I said, "If you guys don't have an issue, I'd like to do this on the side." Told G. I said, "Don't put me in any schedules because, you know, I got a real job." You know, that that business is a two-year cycle. And I would always try to do my stern work in that middle year so that I didn't have to worry about launching the game, you know, shipping the game, right? And it was during that time that I did games like Lord of the Rings and Sopranos and The Dark Knight. In 2008, um, Midway blew up with the economy and Stern almost ceased to exist, right? It took Gary a year and a half or something to find his partner and get some funding. And he called me up one day. He said, "We're getting the band back together. Come and run product development." The stern pinball of those days is not the stern pinball you will see tomorrow. There was like I I think I have 55 uh developers, game developers in the in the development studio. I have probably another 30 consultants on the outside. When I walked in the door, the company was literally on the ropes and I had nine. Yeah. Who Who was the lead designer? Like were there multiple lead designers at the time or? Initially it was it was Borgi and then I brought on uh Steve Ritchie and um and so we started out with uh and it was Lyman Lonnie Steve um a couple of the mechanical engineers that are still with us. John Rothermell uh Robert Blakeman and so um and Gabby was there. Oh yeah. So, you know, we were a really small group and those early games were very unfinished as you know when we shipped them, but you know, we had to do what we had to do to get get product out the door and survive and it it is those times that sort of have allowed this shaped all this. So, when you were a contractor and you were working on those games, what was the first game that you worked on you think as a contractor for Stern? I I think it was Playboy and it was and it was me and Dwight. Ray Tanzer was in my job, right? Yeah. He was leading the Yeah, that's right. He was leading product development. I did I did get a trip to the mansion out of it. Uh I I got invited to I think it was like the Midsummer Nights Dream Party or something. One of the thousands of themed parties I'm sure they have. Right. It was very corporate. It did. You know, it was not what you imagined.