Drinks with Jack - John Borg EP5

Stern Pinball·video·7m 6s·analyzed·Feb 25, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

John Borg reflects on 37-year pinball design career, iconic games, and signature layout innovations.

Summary

Jack Danger interviews legendary Stern Pinball mechanical designer John Borg on his 37+ year career, starting at Gottlieb in 1987 through work at Data East and Stern. Borg discusses his transition from hydraulics engineer to designer, notable projects including Robocop, Jurassic Park, Data East Star Wars, Guns N' Roses, and Metallica, celebrity encounters, and his signature playfield design philosophy around lane protection and player engagement.

Key Claims

John Borg started at Gottlieb Pinball in 1987 after finding a 'mechanical engineer needed' job posting in Chicago Tribune
high confidence · Borg directly stated his start date and job search method in opening narrative
Borg got his first patent in 1988 (his second year at Gottlieb), which excited him about mechanical design
high confidence · Direct quote from Borg: 'my second year in 1988, I got my first patent, which kind of started it'
Borg worked on Robocop at Data East as his first lead mechanical engineering position
high confidence · Direct statement: 'my first lead mechanical engineering position working on Robocop with Tim Seckel'
Joe Kaminkow asked Borg to lay out Jurassic Park, then later changed the request to Star Wars mid-project
high confidence · Borg's detailed account: 'Kaminkow asked me to lay out a pinball machine. He asked me to lay out Jurassic Park... And then he decided that he wanted to make the Jurassic Park game and told me to change my Jurassic Park game into Star Wars'
The R2-D2 on Data East Star Wars was made from a whiffle ball and broke from play at Rock and Roll McDonald's in downtown Chicago
high confidence · Borg's anecdote: 'I took a whiffle ball and I made Artoo's head and we painted it... we went to Rock and Roll McDonald's in downtown Chicago and this thing got played so much the whiffle ball actually broke'
Borg visited Slash's house (post-1993 earthquake) where Slash had a six-month-old cougar named Curtis
high confidence · Detailed personal anecdote from Borg about the Guns N' Roses project work
James Hetfield recorded speech for Metallica pinball before the rest of Metallica knew about it; he created 400-500 lines of speech
high confidence · Borg: 'He recorded everything... I just thought of everything I could possibly think of that James Hetfield would say... It must have been four or five hundred lines'
Borg's signature double/single inline lane design is intentional to prevent 'boards' (boring play on outlanes) and give players a sporting chance

Notable Quotes

“I took the job at pinball for less money because I thought it would be more fun and it's been fun for many, many years.”
John Borg @ Early in interview — Captures Borg's passion-driven career decision and long-term commitment to the industry
“I took a whiffle ball and I made Artoo's head and we painted it and just chopped it. Yeah, and just put it on and we decorated it, looked really nice.”
John Borg @ Star Wars anecdote — Illustrates Borg's hands-on, creative problem-solving approach to mechanical design
“Curtis comes walking out of a room and I'm just like, 'Wow, holy moly, that's a whole cougar.' And then when I opened up my eyes again, Curtis had his mouth around my neck.”
John Borg @ Guns N' Roses story — Memorable celebrity encounter illustrating the unconventional experiences in pinball industry work
“I just thought of everything I could possibly think of that James Hetfield would say in a pinball machine and made a speech list. It must have been four or five hundred lines.”
John Borg @ Metallica discussion — Demonstrates Borg's creative process for capturing band voice and character
“I didn't picture going the cartoony route like that with that character, right? And it just turned out great. And Donny's art was just fabulous. I think the cartoony nature of that helps that story.”
John Borg @ Metallica Sparky character — Shows Borg's collaborative design approach and willingness to embrace artist vision
“When the ball gets on that side where I've got the double lane, it's like a catcher's net. The ball comes over that side, I feel safe. Although I know I can get boards, I love it, man.”
John Borg @ Playfield design philosophy — Articulates the emotional/gameplay reasoning behind his signature design elements

Entities

John Borgperson Jack DangerpersonGottlieb PinballcompanyPremier TechnologycompanyData EastcompanyJoe Kaminkowperson Gary Sternperson Tim Seckelperson

Signals

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community_signal: Stern Pinball invests in content creation and industry visibility through high-profile designer interviews and 'Drinks with Jack' series
high · Professional production quality of interview, positioning of legendary designer in accessible format
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design_philosophy: John Borg's signature double/single inline lane design is deliberate anti-boredom strategy to keep play engaging and give players outlet for shaking recovery
high · Borg directly explained: 'when I leave just a wire form and one rubber on the outlane, people get what they call a board... So now I have rubber on both sides to prevent that problem and it gives you a sporting chance'
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community_signal: Borg demonstrates collaborative, pragmatic design approach—receptive to artist vision (Sparky character) and willing to pivot on design direction when needed
high · Borg's account of Metallica Sparky design: 'I didn't picture going the cartoony route... And it just turned out great... I think the cartoony nature of that helps'

Topics

Career trajectory and industry historyprimaryMechanical design philosophy and innovationprimaryCelebrity collaboration and IP managementsecondaryIconic game design projects (Robocop, Star Wars, Metallica, Guns N' Roses)primaryPlayfield layout strategy and player psychologysecondaryEarly industry entry points and job searchmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Borg expresses consistent enthusiasm, passion, and satisfaction with his career choices. Anecdotes are presented with humor and warmth. Discussion of collaborative relationships (band members, artists, colleagues) is uniformly positive. No criticism or negativity present.

Transcript

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jack danger here back again on stage this time joined by the working man himself john borg from stern pinball famed pinball designer john how you doing great um so john i wanted to talk a little bit about like your your involvement in pinball your history in pinball you've been doing this for a while yeah i started working with uh gotley pinball in 1987. i was looking for a drafting job and i picked up a chicago tribune newspaper and there was a small ad that was about this big it was microscopic and it said mechanical engineer needed and there was a phone number underneath it had no description of the company or what it was about so i walk into premier technology and i'm sitting in the front lobby waiting for my interview and there are pinball back glasses surrounding the perimeter of the lobby and i'm like wow this is a pinball company how cool so i get offered a job as a an engineer uh hydraulics engineer what does hydraulics have to do with pinball it doesn't i've had two jobs at the same time offered a job in a hydraulics company and i was offered the job in pinball and i took the job at pinball for less money because i thought it would be more fun and it's been fun for many many years of course itself so uh he started at gottlieb as an engineer how did you cross that step to become a designer um i worked at i worked at gottlieb as a mechanical engineer for a few years and my second year in in 1988 i got my first patent that kind of started it and then i got really really excited about it i was there for three years and then i went over and i started to work for data east i was hired by joe camaco and gary stern then i got my first uh lead mechanical engineering position working on book with Tim Seckel oh wow so that was the first game that i really got to just completely take in canola mechanically and then after that kamiko asked me to lay out a pinball machine and he asked me to lay out jurassic park and so i started working on the dinosaur the beta pinball and moved back and forth and then he decided that he wanted to make the jurassic park game and told me to change my jurassic park game into star wars oh whoa so then he came to 80 star wars i took the dinosaur out and i put the death star there and i'm like it needs something on the other side and then i did a little model of rgb too i took a whiffle ball and i made archer dj's head and we painted it and just chopped it yeah and just put it on and we decorated it looked really nice and we went to rock and roll mcdonald's in downtown chicago and this thing got played so much the whiffle ball actually broke on the top of the head just kind of bouncing up and down yeah so it's uh it's been very interesting and a lot of fun and i've met a lot of great people along the way you have a lot of stories from being in the industry for a long time from like working out a lot of games you actually got to meet with a lot of celebrities who are part of those ips do you have any like interesting stories about that oh yeah i um when i when i worked on the guns and roses project i went to uh i went to Slash house and it was right after the earthquake in 93. so i walk into his house and there was still a lot of cracks in the walls he's got pinball machines here and there and then all of a sudden this uh he has a six-month-old cougar named curtis and curtis comes walking out of a room and i'm just like i'm like wow holy moly that's a whole cougar it's a young one it's six months old it's about the size of a german shepherd so it walks up to me and it starts brushing against me like a house cat so i reach down and very cautiously pet curtis and he's really cool and he's hanging around me and following me around so then he he lays down next to me so i squat down and i started to rub his belly right and then the paw comes up and just went wham and hit me knocked me down on the ground and then when i opened up my eyes again curtis had his mouth around my neck he was just playing with him a six-month-old cougar almost a year metallica is considered probably a lot of people's favorite pinball machines which you designed did they have any involvement in like sort of what was going on there i remember when uh i got the metallica project jody danker came to me a couple weeks in and said hey guess what and i'm like what he goes we're gonna record james hetfield on thursday and i was like i hadn't even really started on the game yet so i just thought of everything i could possibly think of that james hadfield would say in a pinball machine and and made a speech list it must have been four or 500 lines so he recorded everything and then later on lars and the rest of the band members found out that he had recorded speech for the game so they wanted to do it too it was great to have all those guys voices in the game and then working with Donny Gillies (Dirty Donny) was just was awesome too i wanted to do an electric chair in the game and i was picturing a like a sin city character like a convict you know just sort of like a female experience and then donnie sends me this picture of sparky it was just a an ink drawing and i look at it and i go his name is sparky and i and i called donnie i'm like dude this is awesome i go this is i didn't picture going the cartoony route like that with that character right um and uh it just turned out great and donny's art was just fabulous i i think the cartoony nature of that helps that story it keeps it light-hearted and fun yes versus being too you know in the game was kind of light-hearted yeah so uh something i personally wanted to know for a long time is how did you get to settle on the like one in lane two in lane like that's a very unique board thing that no one else is doing well i've been hearing a lot of people saying that like when i leave just a wire form and one rubber on the outlane people get what they call a board yeah they get bored kind of like bothered me a little bit so now i have rubber on both sides to prevent that problem and it gives you a sporting chance of shaking the ball off what was the inspiration for that because it's k it's an idea that's carried over through a lot of your games is like the double inline single in line like when was the first time you did that how did you know that i kind of like it because when i play a four-lane bottom game i know when the ball gets on that side where i've got the double lane it's like a catcher's net the ball comes over that side i feel safe although i know i can get boards i love it man well john uh do you have anything else you want to ask me before we bounce out of here um i got a bottle of tequila here and i figured maybe we would do it like a little like a little cake yeah i'm ready