Drinks with Jack Featuring George Gomez (Part 3)

Stern Pinball·video·6m 57s·analyzed·Jan 12, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

Gomez shares design philosophy, career reflections, and hints at upcoming Stern projects including Golden Girls.

Summary

George Gomez discusses his design philosophy, career trajectory from Corvette through Deadpool, and the importance of focusing on five great features rather than mediocre ones. He highlights the Batman 66 turntable mechanism and Geneva drive as engineering achievements, reveals an upcoming collaboration with Jack Danger on an unannounced project (with Golden Girls mentioned in conversation), and confirms Stern has three exciting games in development.

Key Claims

Terminator 2 was the first game Gomez bought with his own money and inspired his design ethos
high confidence · Direct personal statement about formative influence on his design career
Gomez cannot physically play his own games for a long time after finishing them, with Deadpool as the exception
high confidence · Gomez states this as his consistent pattern, noting Deadpool as rare exception
Deadpool was developed on a short cycle that forced focus on game experience over toys/devices
high confidence · Gomez explicitly contrasts Deadpool's constraint-driven design with typical feature-heavy approach
The Batman 66 turntable uses a Geneva mechanism, described as the only one in a pinball machine
high confidence · Gomez credits Rob Blakeman for developing this solution after DC motor variance made switch-based approach unfeasible
Stern has three upcoming games in development that Gomez is excited about
high confidence · Direct statement: 'You're going to see the next three games. I'm very excited about.'
Jack Danger is transitioning to head of community role, reducing his design time
high confidence · Danger states: 'as I venture off into becoming the head of community, I'm going to be creating a lot more content. Um, obviously my time is going to be split.'
Johnny Mnemonic was poorly received when released but is now viewed favorably
high confidence · Gomez: 'back in the day, no one liked Johnny Mnemonic, and now you all think it's some kind of Marvel'

Notable Quotes

“Give me five great things, not 18 mediocre ones, right? So focus on that five great things.”
George Gomez — Core design philosophy statement that defines Gomez's approach and contrasts with feature-heavy competition
“You're going to finish this game and you're not going to want to look at it for an entire year, and then magically you're going to rediscover it and go, 'Oh, this game's actually kind of fun.'”
Keith Elwin — Insight from legendary designer Keith Elwin about designer burnout and the design-to-play gap
“I have played my Deadpool continuously.”
George Gomez — Exception to his own rule; suggests Deadpool represents his most satisfied design work
“If you've ever opened the, you know, lifted the board on a Batman 66, it'll blow your mind. It looks like a time travel device.”
Jack Danger — Visceral description of the engineering complexity hidden beneath Batman 66's playfield
“It's like a buddy movie. It's like one of us is perfect. One guy drives, the other guy shoots.”
George Gomez — Playful description of his collaboration with Jack Danger on upcoming project

Entities

George Gomezperson Jack Dangerperson Keith Elwinperson Rob Blakemanperson Dwight Sullivanperson Steve Ritchieperson Jeremy PackerpersonStern Pinball

Signals

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design_philosophy: Gomez articulates 'five great things, not 18 mediocre ones' as core principle, contrasting focused design against feature bloat
high · Direct quote and repeated theme throughout career discussion; applied specifically to Deadpool's development
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design_philosophy: Deadpool represents exceptional satisfaction for designer; only game Gomez plays continuously after completion, breaking his typical pattern
high · Gomez: 'I have played my Deadpool continuously' as exception to rule that designers cannot play their own games for a year
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design_innovation: Batman 66 turntable mechanism uses rare/unique Geneva drive solution developed to overcome DC motor variance issues
high · Gomez describes Rob Blakeman's Geneva mechanism as 'The only Geneva mechanism in a pinball machine' and explains technical constraints that led to this solution
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personnel_signal: Jack Danger transitioning from design-focused role to head of community, reducing design bandwidth
high · Danger: 'as I venture off into becoming the head of community, I'm going to be creating a lot more content. Um, obviously my time is going to be split.'
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product_strategy: Stern has three upcoming games in development with Gomez leading or involved; at least one is Gomez-Danger collaboration
high · Gomez: 'You're going to see the next three games. I'm very excited about.' Danger collaborating on unannounced project described as 'buddy movie' approach

Topics

Design PhilosophyprimaryCareer History and InfluencesprimaryUpcoming GamesprimaryMechanical EngineeringsecondaryDesigner Burnout and Game AppreciationsecondaryStern Organizational ChangessecondaryCollaboration and Team Dynamicsmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Gomez expresses pride in his work, particularly Deadpool; warmth toward colleagues and collaborators; enthusiasm about future projects. Some mild self-deprecation about early work (Corvette). Overall tone is reflective, generous in crediting others, and optimistic about Stern's direction.

Transcript

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I wanted to talk a little bit cuz when the other designers were up here, uh, I wanted like a take on, you know, what inspired you as a designer, you know, when when you start to look at games. You obviously look at other pinball machines and go like that's cool they did that or I love this or I had a conversation with this guy and it like really helped drive sort of my ethos into moving forward. The very first game I bought with my own money uh was a Williams Terminator 2 and and so you know the flow of that game and the presentation and you know I mean Dwight and Steve right and and you know Dwight with Payback Time and I mean they the game just had an energy that like you know really spoke to me. So, um, my my freshman effort was Corvette, and I tried to emulate that. I didn't quite get there. I did a little better with the next one with Johnny Demonic. And um, which was interesting cuz back in the day, no one liked Johnny Demonic, and now you all think it's some kind of Marvel. Funny how that works, right? It's like, wait long enough and all your stuff will be amazing, right? Um, so I is there a a mechanism that you're the most proud of in uh that you've put in a pinball machine? You know, that's really hard to say. I'll tell you that I can't even tell you that there's a game, you know, they it's like an era in time in your life. And so you can say, you know, what music was I listening to or who were the people in my life and what was my job or whatever, what car was I driving, all that kind of stuff, right? And And so it's the games are like that. I'll tell you some standouts. Usually when I when I'm done with my games, I cannot physically play them for a long time. So when I first started at Stern, Keith Elwin, that's the first thing Elwin said. He's like, "You're going to finish this game and you're not going to want to look at it for an entire year until and and then magically you're going to rediscover it and go, "Oh, this game's actually kind of fun." Exactly. But you did not want to see cuz when you're on the line, there's one exception. I have played my Deadpool continuously. Oh, dude. I yeah I mean you guys took my Deadpool away which I'm sad about but I would also be playing that game today. It's such an incredible game. The team really came together. And if you look at Deadpool, you know, you asked me about like toys or features and stuff. It really doesn't have anything amazing, right? I mean like if I said to you I like like look at a Batman 66, right? We got that rotating turntable. Um and we got the crane. And the crane for a long time was my favorite Mac, right? Because it was just so much fun to shoot it. It had a great satisfying feel when you whacked into it. Like fights back a little bit. Yeah. And so it was a randomizer that did not make you feel like the game had screwed you, right? It's like, you know, that when to glance the the ball off that off the the ball because it's springloaded. It's more more often than not it's not going to kill you. So I really like that. You know, when you talk about Deadpool, the I think you've heard me say this many times. You know, it's like give me five great things, not 18 mediocre ones, right? So, f focus on that five great things. And it's that kind of game, right? Where we we by because we were on a short cycle, we had to focus on the game itself, not the devices or the toys and make the shots fun, make the callouts fun, the music, all that stuff. And we actually did a video recently where we like did Yeah. If you haven't seen the video, it's a lot of fun. It's a good watch. Um I think it's on our socials, right? If you got some time to kill, turn that on. We had a great time making that game. It's a lot of It's a lot of Jeremy Kraken wise. Uh the the mech that I think is probably the most impressive I've seen you put in a pinball machine is that turntable from Batman 66. Yeah. The only Geneva mechanism and a pinball machine. Robert Blakeman gets a lot of the credit for that, right? I wanted to do it with uh switches that basically told the motor to stop. And the problem was that, you know, it it had a lot of variety game to game. The speed of a DC motor, even a g even a gear DC motor has some variance. So, we couldn't do it. And one day I I went to Rob's cube and he's got a Geneva Mac underneath this thing. It was like snapping around. I'm like, what? You know, if you've ever opened the, you know, lifted the board on a Batman 66, it'll blow your mind. It looks like a time travel device. It's humongous. There's just like parts and wires everywhere. There's a thing in there called the bat tube. Oh yeah, you have a sticker on it, too, that houses all the wires that are traveling along the bottom of the camera. Yeah, cuz this thing moves. So, the wires have to move. So, yeah. Well, George, do you have anything to uh tell the audience about like the future of string pinball? Like what where are we going? What are we doing? Yeah, the the future is bright. Uh you're going to see the next three games. I'm very excited about. I think that you you know um there's one of yours in there. Yeah. Well, I'm I'm graciously uh being tag teamed on the next one and I think it's going to be uh pretty rad when you guys see what's going on there. Should we tell the people what the title is? No. Oh. Um yeah, I I think that sounds great. Uh so the Golden Girls pinball machine. Um I Yeah. Um yeah. So I I began a project at Stern and then the opportunity to like help become uh a more forward- facing entity in the company. I thought you were going to talk about the title. Oh shoot. It's called Jack Danger and it's great. Um so like as I venture off into becoming like the the head of community, I'm going to be creating a lot more content. Um obviously my time is going to be split. So, uh, another designer was graciously able to step in to help take over the project to work with us to like bring this thing to fruition. Yeah. So, you know, all you people that have been asking me, am I you going to see another design where you'll see bits and pieces of me? It's a nice balance of uh some Gomez and Danger in there. So, I think you guys are going to like what you see. That's like double billing. Like, it's like a like a buddy movie, right? It's like a buddy movie. It's like one of us perfect. One guy drives, the other guy shoots. Lucky and Wild. Gomez in danger. Well, George, thank you so much for joining me. Cheers, my guy. I appreciate you. I came for the drinks. Yeah, exactly. The best part of the drinks with Jack. Only the drink. Thank you, brother.