RUMOR: Stern Pinball Wants to Vault Ghostbusters

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·Jun 22, 2023

Analysis

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TL;DR

Stern allegedly eyeing Ghostbusters vault; flipper gap and Trudeau association cited as barriers.

Summary

Knapp Arcade reports a rumor that Stern Pinball is considering vaulting Ghostbusters, citing strong theme and Zombie Yeti artwork as assets, but identifying the massive flipper gap and designer John Trudeau's disgraced reputation as obstacles. The author speculates George Gomez could redesign the playfield to fix both issues, drawing parallel to Gomez's Deadpool redesign, though questions whether Gomez would undertake the work given his current CCO responsibilities.

Key Claims

Stern wants to Vault Ghostbusters most among potential vault candidates
low confidence · Unconfirmed rumor from unnamed sources; author labels this explicitly as 'rumor part'
Ghostbusters has a massive flipper gap that players hate
high confidence · Stated as established community complaint; corroborated by author's characterization
John Trudeau is associated with Ghostbusters and is disgraced
high confidence · Described as 'disgraced designer' with unspecified issues; Ghostbusters credit confirmed in KB
George Gomez redesigned Deadpool after John Trudeau started it
medium confidence · Author states this as precedent but notes uncertainty ('I think that was a complete redesign from scratch though')
Stern has precedent for vaulting DMD games (Iron Man after LCD switch)
high confidence · Stated as historical fact about Stern's vaulting practices
Ghostbusters was Stern's final DMD game
medium confidence · Author's assertion; verifiable against Stern release timeline
Brian Eddy's Venom design 'plays the best of his Stern games thus far'
low confidence · Unconfirmed report ('I've heard'); subjective gameplay assessment
John Borg is definitely not designing Indiana Jones pinball
medium confidence · Reported as known fact from industry sources; specific denial suggests some verification

Notable Quotes

“Stern could fix both problems with Ghostbusters with one genius move...have their legendary designer and Chief Creative Officer George Gomez redesign the Ghostbusters layout”
Author (Knapp Arcade) — Core speculation proposing a solution to address both the flipper gap and Trudeau association
“The theme is amazing, more Ghostbusters movies are coming out and Zombie Yeti's art on the game is incredible.”
Author citing community consensus — Identifies strengths supporting a potential Ghostbusters vault
“There's two problems with Ghostbusters though - the playfield's massive flipper gap and the game's association with the disgraced designer John Trudeau”
Author — Frames the primary obstacles to a Ghostbusters vault

Entities

Stern PinballcompanyGhostbustersgame George Gomezperson John Trudeauperson Zombie Yetiperson Deadpoolgame Brian Eddyperson

Signals

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community_signal: John Trudeau's reputation and continued royalty liability creates reputational obstacle for Ghostbusters vault
medium · Author identifies 'disgraced designer' association as major problem; acknowledges uncertainty about royalty structure
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personnel_signal: Speculation that George Gomez could be reassigned to Ghostbusters playfield redesign
low · Author notes this is speculation and questions whether Gomez would undertake the work given current CCO role
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market_signal: Ghostbusters vault would 'sell like hotcakes' suggesting strong secondary market demand
medium · Author's prediction based on theme strength and Zombie Yeti artwork appeal
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product_strategy: Ghostbusters' massive flipper gap identified as design flaw that players dislike
high · Described as established player complaint; author identifies as primary barrier to vault success
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product_strategy: Stern's vault strategy includes consideration of Ghostbusters, TRON, and Lord of the Rings
medium · Community consensus cited for wishlist; Ghostbusters specifically rumored as Stern's priority
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rumor_hype: Stern Pinball allegedly prioritizing Ghostbusters as vault candidate
low · Author explicitly labels as 'rumor part' with unattributed sources; speculates feasibility but provides no definitive confirmation

Topics

Vault strategy and precedentprimaryGhostbusters pinball design flaws (flipper gap)primaryJohn Trudeau and designer reputationprimaryGeorge Gomez redesign speculationprimaryStern's upcoming releases and designer assignmentssecondaryCommunity vault wishlist (TRON, LOTR)secondaryLicensing considerations for vaultssecondary

Sentiment

mixed(0.55)— Author is enthusiastic about the vault concept and George Gomez redesign speculation but expresses skepticism ('seems like kind of a stretch to me'). Tone is speculative and playful rather than accusatory, though discussion of John Trudeau's status is serious. Overall positive toward Ghostbusters vault possibility but uncertain about execution.

Transcript

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Pinball rumor week continues here at Knapp Arcade. When looking at Stern's Production schedule earlier here this week, we got into a brief discussion about potential Stern Pinball Vault games. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term "Vault," in pinball it means to bring back a game that production has stopped on, often a while ago, and often with slight improvements. Stern has "Vaulted" Spider-Man with the Comic version of the game, vaulted Iron Man and Vaulted AC/DC with new Luci's and Pros without the horrendous playfield face in the past. The consensus amongst those who commented on the posts was that people want to see vaults for three specific games, TRON, Lord of the Rings and Ghostbusters. There has been some mentions about a potential Spider-Man Vault (again) as well. I'm hearing that the machine that Stern wants to Vault the most is...Ghostbusters. The theme is amazing, more Ghostbusters movies are coming out and Zombie Yeti's art on the game is incredible. There's two problems with Ghostbusters though - the playfield's massive flipper gap and the game's association with the disgraced designer John Trudeau, particularly if selling Ghostbusters again would lead to Stern having to pay royalties to him (I don't personally know how that part of Stern's pact with designers works). That's the rumor part. Now here's the speculation part. Stern could fix both problems with Ghostbusters with one genius move...have their legendary designer and Chief Creative Officer George Gomez redesign the Ghostbusters layout, or at least improve it so that darn flipper game is narrower. A Gomez redesign of Ghostbusters with basically the same art, code, etc... would eliminate the tainted association with its former designer and fix the aspect of the game that players hate the most. Stern already established somewhat of a precedent for this happening when George Gomez redesigned Deadpool, which Trudeau had initially started for Stern (I think that was a complete redesign from scratch though). Will this happen? It seems like kind of a stretch to me, but it sure is fun to talk about. The move makes a lot of sense. The question is would George Gomez want to undertake another design when he's perfectly happy overseeing everything, particularly after putting in so much work on his recent James Bond pinball machine (speaking of which, I'm hearing that Code version 1.0 is going to be fantastic)? Stern did Vault Iron Man after it had already switched to LCD displays, so the vaulting a DMD game in this era has been done before. Ghostbusters actually was Sterns' final DMD game so it would be easier to redo than an older DMD game. Would you be interested in buying a Ghostbusters Vault? I personally would be more interested in a TRON or LOTR Vault, but that opinion might be in the minority. A Ghostbusters Vault probably would sell like hotcakes (why do people say that, do hotcakes really sell that well?). Other Stern Odds and ends: - I've heard that the Brian Eddy design for Venom is fantastic and plays the best of his Stern games thus far. - John Borg definitely is definitely not designing the Indiana Hilton Jones pinball machine that Stern was working on.