Pinball Omnibus: Episode 3

Cary Hardy·video·9m 50s·analyzed·May 4, 2021

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

Pinball industry roundup: Stern confirms Mandalorian, Spooky teases next game, Ritchie discusses Led Zeppelin dreams and licensing struggles.

Summary

Cary Hardy's Pinball Omnibus episode 3 covers multiple industry updates: Steve Ritchie revealed Led Zeppelin as his dream theme and discussed licensing challenges with previous games; drama erupted on The The The Pinball Show between Zach and Dealt; Haggis released Reflecto Cab artwork and a Fathom trailer; TPS interviewed John Rotharmel about mechanical engineering; Spooky announced their next game before August as their most loaded to date; and Stern officially confirmed Mandalorian as their next title. Hardy also provides a personal update on his Johnny Mnemonic restoration project.

Key Claims

Steve Ritchie said Led Zeppelin was his dream theme
high confidence · Cary Hardy citing Steve Ritchie appearance on Kevin Loza Kid Pinball Podcast
Steve Ritchie was relieved to do Black Knight Sword of Rage because it gave him more freedom from the licensor
high confidence · Cary Hardy citing Kevin Loza Kid Pinball Podcast interview
The two previous titles with difficult licensors were Star Wars and Game of Thrones (implied)
medium confidence · Cary Hardy speculating based on Ritchie's comments about previous licensors
Haggis has released videos showing Reflecto Cab artwork and a Fathom trailer
high confidence · Cary Hardy directly observing Haggis YouTube channel releases
Spooky's next game will be revealed before August and will be their most stacked and loaded game to date
high confidence · Cary Hardy citing Spooky Pinball official YouTube video
Stern has officially confirmed Mandalorian as their next title
high confidence · Cary Hardy citing official Stern announcement with 'May the Star Wars The Mandalorian (Pro)' stream
John Rotharmel states designers come up with mech ideas and engineers implement them, constrained by cost
high confidence · Cary Hardy citing TPS interview with John Rotharmel
Metal ramps are durable but limit design options, while plastic ramps offer more freedom
high confidence · Cary Hardy citing John Rotharmel comments in TPS interview

Notable Quotes

“You have no fucking evidence. Here's what I get soft about. I get soft about bullshit fucking people who state shit that's not facts.”
Zach (from The Pinball Show debate with Dealt)@ 1:47 — Highlights a contentious debate about verifiable facts vs. unfounded claims in the pinball community; reflects broader community tension about accountability
“It's not what you know, it's what you can prove.”
Zach (from The Pinball Show)@ 2:16 — Central principle raised during controversy; emphasizes need for evidence-based discussion in community discourse
“He really wanted to do Black Knight because the previous two licensors in a row were very hard to work with.”
Cary Hardy@ 1:02 — Reveals licensing tension and designer relief at working with less restrictive partners; context for understanding game design constraints
“Haggis has, in the past, been very transparent in what they are doing and what they are working on while they are working on it.”
Cary Hardy@ 3:03 — Reflects community perception of Haggis's communication strategy and manufacturing transparency
“Spooky's next game...will be their most stacked and loaded game to date.”
Cary Hardy (citing Spooky official statement)@ 5:50 — Industry positioning signal; Spooky raising stakes for upcoming release

Entities

Cary Hardyperson Steve RitchiepersonKevin LozapersonZachpersonDealtpersonJohn RotharmelpersonHaggiscompanySpooky PinballcompanySterncompany

Signals

?
announcement: Stern officially confirmed Mandalorian as their next pinball title via 'May the Force Be With You' promotional stream
high · Cary Hardy states 'Stern has officially given us the coming soon for their next title...it is now in stone that it is Mandalorian'
?
product_launch: Spooky Pinball announced next game will be revealed before August, described as their most loaded/stacked game to date
high · Official Spooky YouTube video stating reveal timeline and feature positioning
?
design_philosophy: John Rothermel revealed design vs. engineering trade-offs: designers propose mechs, engineers implement constrained by cost; metal ramps are durable but limiting, plastic ramps offer more freedom
high · TPS interview quotes showing cost-driven decisions and material choice implications for game design
?
licensing_signal: Steve Ritchie found previous two licensors (implied to be Star Wars and Game of Thrones) very restrictive; Black Knight Sword of Rage gave him much more freedom
medium · Ritchie stated relief at doing Black Knight; Cary Hardy infers previous licensors based on Ritchie's timeline
?
content_signal: Haggis releasing production videos showing Reflecto Cab artwork and Fathom trailer, demonstrating transparent communication strategy
high · Cary Hardy notes Haggis history of transparency in showing playfield, protection layers, and production progress

Transcript

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0:00

Well, it's official that this is the way. What's up guys, welcome back to my channel where I talk and do everything pinball. So, if that sounds interesting to you, then hit that subscribe button down below. Welcome to Pinball Omnibus episode 3, where I talk about a lot of things going on in this hobby in a short amount of time. So let's get started. As per usual, all sources to this information will be linked in the description down below. First up I have Steve Ritchie was on Loser Kid Pinball Podcast. They talked for a good hour I want to say. But a couple of notes that I just want to mention to head you over there in case you want to hear the entire thing. Is that he said that Led Zeppelin was his dream theme.

0:51

Okay. He also talks about Black Knight Sword of Rage and how he was relieved to do that game because that gave him much more freedom from a licensor. He said that he really wanted to do Black Knight because the previous two licensors in a row were very hard to work with. he didn't state their names but it leans towards the two previous titles being star wars and game of thrones next up on the list is pinball drama and believe me if you want to hear some drama then by all means head over to the pinball show the previous episode with zach and dealt was a little bit of a showdown it got pretty interesting in certain spots i was driving and there was a certain moment that happened where I was like, whoa. My point is... You have no fucking evidence. Here's what I get soft about. I get soft about bullshit fucking people who state shit that's not facts. It's not facts. I don't know why you got to do it in front of the kid with the effing. Why do you say earmuffs to him? Earmuffs. Then you can say fuck, shit, bitch, whatever you want. Things are getting a little emotional here. Definitely many times through this discussion I'm going to call it, I felt like Zack needed to say this. It's not what you know, it's what you can prove. And evidently many times throughout this discussion at that And Haggis has released a couple of videos since our last omnibus and one of them is showing off the Reflecto Cab artwork or the decals whether it's paint, I don't know, I'm going to assume it's decals, but it's basically showing off how luminescent it is and reactive to light.

2:44

And they also released a trailer for their Fathom, like an actual video going over the game, which I feel should have been released on their reveal day, but, oh well, it is what it is. But I honestly feel that throughout this entire process of them doing Fathom and everything, Haggis has, in the past, been very transparent in what they are doing and what they are working on while they are working on it. Showing off all the things that they are working on when it comes to the playfield, protection layer, and stuff like that. I feel that they don't have a reason to hide anything. I would agree so what is it going to hurt to show everyone out there hey just so you know this is what the game is going to look like hey just so you know this is what we are working on putting in the games right now so I feel like you're definitely going to get consistent updates with them showing off what the game is looking like in production and stuff like that so if you want more updates from them directly at a timely manner instead of getting it from me then by all means head to their YouTube channel down below and subscribe that way you will get updates and next on the list we have tps interviews they interviewed john rothermel that's gonna say his name right i must hope i didn't mess it up john rothermel he is the director of mechanical engineering and honestly i really enjoyed this interview because they were interviewing somebody that is in my field so it really like i was hanging on every word of what they were talking about so it was very interesting to hear him speak about a lot of things when it comes to designing mechs and things that he worked on in previous games and also something to note on a game that's coming up he states their next impressive mech is in an upcoming game now i don't think that's going to be in their next title which was actually just revealed today i'm thinking it's probably going to be the game after this title if it's in this next game then great by all means i hope it is impressive but chances are it's not going to be in this next game that we are going to go over here just a little bit And he also states that designers are the ones that come up with a lot of these mech ideas and things that they want to put into their game And the engineers will begin doing it and as they get further into it it turns into like well we can because of cost It's like not that they just can't do it, it's just the price it's going to cost to go on to putting it into the game. He also states that metal ramps, although are durable, they also limit them to what they can put into a game, whereas plastic ramps gives them much more freedom to do whatever. Spooky Pinball has put up a video on their YouTube channel talking about a number of things, but a couple of things to take note of is that they said that their next game, which also noted in their video, will be revealed before August. So we're looking at, you know, July is where I think they were already kind of saying summertime. So, but from what they say in the video, it looks like we're going to be getting it at least before August. And this upcoming game will be their most stacked and loaded game to date. So that's good to hear. And as of today, Stern has officially given us the coming soon for their next title, which can no longer be a rumor. it is now in stone that it is Mandalorian. So Stern just started up a May the Force Be With You stream.