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A New Pinball Hope? Are Stern Pinball Really Making a New Star Wars Pinball Machine?

Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama·video·19m 39s·analyzed·May 13, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Stern rumored developing new original-trilogy Star Wars machine; Pedretti remaking Arabian Nights; Jersey Jack Harry Potter delayed

Summary

Gonzo discusses three major pinball announcements sourced from Knapp Arcade: Pedretti Gaming's remake of Tales of the Arabian Nights with classic and limited editions, Jersey Jack Pinball's Harry Potter facing potential licensing delays, and most significantly, rumors of Stern producing a new Star Wars machine based on the original trilogy designed by John Borg. Gonzo reflects on his experience with the original Stern Star Wars, criticizing its geometry issues while remaining enthusiastic about a potential new iteration.

Key Claims

  • Pedretti Gaming's next remake will be Tales of the Arabian Nights (1996 Williams John Papaduke design)

    high confidence · Gonzo citing Knapp Arcade article; described as confirmation, with planned classic and limited editions

  • Jersey Jack Pinball's Harry Potter release may be delayed due to licensing issues potentially involving JK Rowling

    medium confidence · Gonzo citing speculation from Knapp Arcade article; explicitly noting uncertainty ('I don't know how true that is')

  • Stern is developing a new Star Wars pinball machine based on the original trilogy designed by John Borg

    low confidence · Gonzo reporting rumor from Knapp Arcade; explicitly framed as speculation with multiple conflicting rumors preceding it

  • Stern's vault edition re-release of original Star Wars lends credence to rumors of a new Star Wars game

    medium confidence · Gonzo citing logic from Knapp Arcade article regarding vault releases indicating demand

  • The original Stern Star Wars has persistent geometry/plunge issues causing repeated auto-plunge drains

    high confidence · Gonzo describing personal experience with the machine and corroboration from another player (Spencer)

Notable Quotes

  • “I've heard this as a rumour, but I've heard lots of things as a rumour. I think maybe this is the first time I've seen it put in print.”

    Gonzo@ 1:29 — Distinguishes rumor from official confirmation; Tales of the Arabian Nights remake moving from hearsay to published claim

  • “What a time to be in Pinball. What a time.”

    Gonzo@ 8:30 — Expression of excitement about multiple major announcements; captures community sentiment about product pipeline

  • “It wasn't just the force ones maybe it was the ones at the top but anyway if you go back and watch the video you'll see the video on this channel it would often drain from plunge and then so you used to have to plunge it you used to have to hit the banker targets”

    Gonzo@ 11:51 — Technical criticism of original Stern Star Wars design; documents specific playfield geometry problem

  • “I wasn't even entirely sure how this thing even made it out of the design phase like that”

    Gonzo@ 13:17 — Harsh criticism of original Star Wars design; questions how quality control allowed geometric flaw to ship

  • “To me it seems very strange that Stern would redo its Steve Ritchie designed original Star Wars pinball machine with another one by John Borg using the exact same theme.”

    Gonzo@ 17:25 — Expresses skepticism about the premise of new original-trilogy Star Wars; notes unusual decision to iterate on same theme

  • “I think there's almost an endless market for Star Wars because it's a dream thing.”

    Gonzo — Assessment of Star Wars' appeal and market viability in pinball; reflects on licensing strength

Entities

Knapp ArcadeorganizationPedretti GamingcompanyTales of the Arabian NightsgameJersey Jack PinballcompanyHarry PottergameStern PinballcompanyStar Wars (Stern original)gameJohn Borg

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball founder Jack bringing Harry Potter machine to UK for first time in July via Pinball Heaven event, enabling community access and media coverage

    high · Gonzo announcing confirmed event; notes plans for video coverage and interview with Jack

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Original Stern Star Wars designer Steve Ritchie reportedly wanted magnetic 'Force' save mechanic but Stern cost/BOM concerns prevented implementation

    medium · Gonzo reporting on designer intent vs. manufacturing constraints; acknowledges uncertainty about source of this information

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Harry Potter licensing complexity potentially involving original author JK Rowling in approval process

    low · Speculation in Knapp Arcade article; no official confirmation from Jersey Jack Pinball

  • $

    market_signal: Stern vault re-release of original Star Wars machine indicates sufficient demand to justify new Star Wars production, per Knapp Arcade analysis

    medium · Knapp Arcade using vault release as evidence lending credence to new game rumors; logical inference but not confirmed by Stern

  • ?

    personnel_signal: John Borg positioned as designer of rumored new Stern Star Wars original-trilogy machine, representing continued designer assignment at Stern

    low · Unconfirmed rumor from Knapp Arcade; alternative designers (Brian Eddy) also mentioned speculatively

  • ?

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.059

0:00
Pimble.com ordinarily i wouldn't do this type of video well not on my pinball channel anyway and it's based off of something that i read last night on a website called nap arcade now you you guys are all going to be familiar with nap arcade you live and breathe pinball you know this it's a famous website it's an excellent website and every so often i'll get a little notification and i'll open up that notification i'll think no this this sounds interesting i got hit with well i thought really intriguing and excited you it's not just once it was a bit of a triple whammy um three for the price of one in this article on nap arcade now i understand that some of this might not come as a surprise to some of you i don't i play a lot of pinball in fact i play pinball every day what i don't do is I don't fully immerse myself in every bit of news and every stream. So I miss a lot of the information that comes out, which is quite good from my point of view, because it means I'm constantly surprised. And this is no exception on here. I'm going to start off with the first part of the article, which is talking about a Pedretti remake. And now you may well know that They remade Funhouse. And it seems to be that what NAP Arcade are suggesting is the next one will be Tales of the Arabian Nights. Now, I've heard this as a rumour, but I've heard lots of things as a rumour. I think maybe this is the first time I've seen it put in print. I find this very, very exciting. Very exciting indeed. I'll tell you why in a second. Before I do, I'd just like to announce that in the summer, UK Pinfest is on. UK Pinfest is amazing. It's really the highlight, certainly the highlight of my pinball year. But I only want to highlight it now just because the event really succeeds or fails on the basis of its machine donations.
2:06
So just if anybody is wondering whether they should or they possibly can donate a pinball machine, it's there for the whole pinball community as a time to enjoy, to get together. Yes, there are competitions there. Yeah, there's lots of fun stuff going on. But I do believe that the event lives or dies based on the donations from people. So I just really want to on Phil's behalf, the guy who runs it is called Phil. He's a lovely, lovely guy. And I know he'd really appreciate your donations. He's not asked me to say this, by the way. He'll be surprised if he watches this video and hears me saying it.
@ 19:05

  • “Moreover, if it is the original trilogy, if it is going to be made by Stern, if it is John Borg or Brian Eddy or anyone else, I'm in.”

    Gonzo@ 19:15 — Clear statement of purchase intent despite reservations; summarizes conditions that would satisfy him

    • person
    Steve Ritchieperson
    Eric Meunierperson
    Brian Eddyperson
    John Papadukeperson
    Pinball Heavenorganization
    UK Pinfestevent
    Gonzoperson
    Spencerperson
    Philperson
    John Craigperson
    JK Rowlingperson
    Pinball Brotherscompany
    Chicago Gaming Companycompany
    Predatorgame

    announcement: Official confirmation of Pedretti Gaming's Tales of the Arabian Nights remake with both classic and limited edition versions

    high · Gonzo describes Knapp Arcade reporting as 'confirmation'; game has been previously rumored but this marks first print publication

  • ?

    product_strategy: Jersey Jack Pinball Harry Potter experiencing rumored licensing delays, possibly related to JK Rowling involvement

    low · Knapp Arcade speculation; Gonzo explicitly notes uncertainty ('I don't know how true that is')

  • ?

    product_concern: Original Stern Star Wars has documented playfield geometry flaws causing auto-plunge drain loops from launch, making game essentially unplayable on affected units

    high · Gonzo's direct experience with machine and corroboration from another player (Spencer); Gonzo questions how design passed quality control

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Multiple conflicting rumors about new Stern Star Wars machine theme: Skeleton Crew, second trilogy/Darth Maul, Darth Vader-specific game, or new John Borg design based on original trilogy

    medium · Knapp Arcade article tracking evolution of rumors; Gonzo notes multiple competing theories with low certainty on actual theme

  • ?

    technology_signal: Pinball Brothers/Pedretti Gaming machines (co-manufactured at same factory) perceived as having 'floaty' feel compared to Stern and Jersey Jack precision

    medium · Gonzo's subjective experience with Alien (Pinball Brothers); concern about how Pedretti's Arabian Nights will play given Bally Williams parts specification

    • 2:38
    But the link is in the description below to Pinball Info, which is the forum in the UK, basically the UK's version of Pinside. there is a thread on there where you can donate pinball machines i know it'd mean an awful lot to feel it'd mean an awful lot to the uh uk pinball community as a whole uh so go and check it out and if you can go and look at the rules but basically if you donate pinball machines then you can get a ticket for free as well so hey look it's win-win all round and then everybody gets to enjoy your pinball machine as well i'm definitely taking pulp fiction i think i'm taking dolly parton um and and i'm and hopefully i might take jaws as well there um but i need a bit of help with transport but phil will help with that that stuff as well so i might even take one more there you go you never know anyway let's get on to uh the information at hand because to start this video in many respects a little bit of tease a bit of a teaser because the the thing i really want to get to is the stuff about star wars but what nap arcade says is another game that will be on the line in the not so distant future is the next pedretti gaming remake of a bally williams title I have heard confirmation, as many have expected, the next Pedretti remake will be based on the 1996 Williams John Papaduke design game, Tales of the Arabian Nights. Incredible. Incredible. I've been wanting the Tales of the Arabian Nights for quite some time. There is something beautiful about that game. Well, it is. The whole game itself is beautiful. the cage bit that traps the ball that's cool the magnet and the magnet that drops down as well, that's cool as hell that game is cool as hell I love a Papa Duke game we love theatre of magic, love World Cup soccer that's on the board there I've not done theatre of magic on the board I need to do that on the top 50 I've got to say I would be in for this the one thing that makes me a little bit nervous on it is so we and I know I I think Padretti and the Pimble brothers have basically made in the same factory I found when I had alien it felt a little bit floaty I think that aliens a packed game that another one I got upon the top 50 that that will do all right on there I a really packed game and I really enjoyed it It felt a little bit floaty and the flippers didn quite feel right But what I hear from Prodretti is they got to use Bally Williams part So is it going to feel the same? If it feels and shoots like the original Williams, I mean, I'm in. Well, I say I'm in because there's something else. The Star Wars has made it a difficult decision, really.
    5:23
    It says, the article says, word is that much like Progetti's first full remake of Funhaus, the Tales of the Arabian Nights remake will have both a classic edition and a limited edition with new art. This is some games that don't need extra stuff. Tales of the Arabian Nights is one of them. Don't get me wrong. If it's Art Blades and stuff like that, it's fine. Do we want new art? I don't know. Do you know what? It doesn't matter if you don't. You can just go for the Classic Edition.
    5:52
    This seems like a win-win. If this shoots properly and doesn't feel floaty and the flippers feel good,
    5:59
    I think this is magnificent news. Absolutely magnificent news. I certainly think it is anyway. You get the idea. I love this game. This is a great game. Some people just get lost in the shots, the music, the call-outs. are honestly i might as well be aladdin on a flying carpet when i'm playing that game that draws me in i'm very much in the moment with that one so anyway that's that's that caught my attention as you can see lovely picture of a tells the arabian nights on there um there's a little bit on jersey jack okay it says on jersey jack pinball where is harry potter now there is some speculation on here that there is a hold up on Jersey Jack's next release which Jack has announced himself is Harry Potter um that the hold up is because of some licensing which may be down to JK Rowling who of course is the author of the Harry Potter novels and I don't know how true that is it's just really really interested I'm very excited for this game as well now we're really lucky because i've been lucky enough to interview jack on this channel great guy uh he's coming over again he's coming over to the uk courtesy of channel sponsor pinball heaven can you say again there's the badge up there sorry this camera's in reverse um he's coming over we're having an event a pinball heaven event which is in june sorry did i say july is in june is at the end of june he's bringing harry potter over here not the wizard the game has been flown over here And we'll all get to see it for the first time in the UK. So I'll be doing some videos on that. So stay tuned. If you're not subscribed to the channel, subscribe already. But already lots of you have. And I'm very, very grateful. So thank you very much for everybody that watches.
    7:49
    Harry Potter, very, very keen to see what Jersey Jack are going to do with that one. Eric Meunier, as I understand it, is the designer on that. But, I mean, we spoke about flippers earlier, just when I was talking about the Pimble Brothers, Alien.
    8:07
    Certainly, the Jersey Jack games have got a real precise feel to them. They just feel right. It's the same with the CGC remakes. Obviously, Stern just feel brilliant, don't they? Every time they just shoot so well, Sterns.
    8:21
    I just wish everything could sort of shoot like those games, really. And I certainly think that the Jersey Jacks do now. This is tough stuff. It's tough to what a time to be in Pimble. What a time. Tell the Arabian Nights or Harry Potter or this is really the next bit of news is what's prompted me to do this video. Now, I can't quite believe what I'm reading here. when we talk about dream themes in pinball i don't know about you but i have a tendency to imagine dream themes as being things that haven't been made yet so well funny enough i the pinball brothers bringing out predator is that right i've got that right that's a rumor certainly that would be a dream thing but it hasn't been made yet i know there was a homebrew one or something happened i don't really understand too much of it but i'm talking about mass-produced pinball machines did any of the big manufacturers produce that no we've discussed it before i think the lost boys would be a bit of a dream theme for me i would like to funny enough more boys the boys you know the superhero thing with a homelander and all that i would like to see that that would be cool that's a dream thing we often talk about dream themes as i say as games or themes that haven been done yet there can you see the sun coming through the window i know some of you over in the States you think there no sunshine in the UK There proof That is proof.
    9:58
    But there are some dream themes that have already been made. Terminator 2. That's a dream theme. It's just already been done.
    10:06
    Which brings us to Star Wars, which is absolutely a dream theme, which has already been done a few times, actually isn't it you had the pinball 2000d um which was the whatever star wars episode one wasn't it was darth maul and that's that's the the tune that's that i'm sure you knew that already uh the we've had the data east one with the r2d2 in it i played one at electric circus once I played in a tournament, believe it or not, and I played, I think it was Sega, and I think it was Star Wars Trilogy. Someone can correct me if I've got that wrong in the comments.
    10:52
    That was really good. I enjoyed that. It had some cool toys on it, actually. So there's been some good games. Now, actually, on my list, on my top 50 there, we have Stern Star Wars, because I've played Sterns. I've had Stern Star Wars here. It qualifies for the list.
    11:08
    Because I've had it in the house. One of the accusations of stern Star Wars, it doesn't feel like Star Wars, I don't believe that. That's not it for me. It had Luke Skywalker, R2-D2, Darth Vader, everything you want. It had the theme tune. It felt like Star Wars to me. The one I had, the one I borrowed, had a R2-D2 topper as well. It was really cool. Really cool. that wasn't my problem with it my problem was it was there's something wrong with the geometry it was weird so you'd have a plunge and then so you used to have to plunge it you used to have to hit the banker targets it wasn't just the force ones maybe it was the ones at the top but anyway if you go back and watch the video you'll see the video on this channel it would often drain from plunge and then what would happen is the ball save it would auto plunge and it would auto plunge and drain again now i know not all of these games did that but it made it virtually unplayable and i had games and i know spencer hasn't featured on the channel for for some time but i remember spencer coming around and me telling him about this and he actually had a game where he didn't where he played a game and he didn't get to play a shot. So ball one, he plunged. Ball save, auto plunge, it drained. Same happened with ball two, same happened with ball three. He said, I've not hit a shot. I've not been able to hit a shot.
    12:42
    And so I think there's some geometry issues on there. So that was really the main reason. It was quite a brutal game anyway. And you had this plunge issue. and I tried everything I tried altering the you know the power of the plunge I tried moving the like the plunger lane as a little guide I tried moving that I tried everything nothing was working it was it was awful the truth be known it was awful I wasn't even I wasn't even sure how that and I played another one that was like that but some people used to say to me oh mine doesn't do that well that's that's nice um I wasn't even entirely sure how this thing even got out of the design phase like that and um far be it from me to question steve richie of course who was who is such an excellent designer but yeah i thought it was a i thought it was a mistake i thought it had geometry issues i really did um i believe steve actually initially wanted to put some magnets on there which would be the force that would that would be the force so you know when And the magnet grabs your ball like in World Cup soccer or whatever. Any game with a magnet in it, really. That was the force. That was a force controlling the ball. So I don't know whether I'm going to actually have to get rid of that. I feel like a vampire there.
    14:07
    I don't know if I heard that it was the Bill of Materials. Stern wouldn't allow that to happen. More's the shame. But anyway, my problem with Star Wars, Stern Star Wars, wasn't that it didn't feel like Star Wars. My problem with Stern Star Wars was that I didn't think the game worked very well.
    14:24
    Geometrically. It had some good shots on it. I like that little inner loop. I thought that was good. I like the multipliers. That was really addictive. Really addictive, the multipliers. We've got a great Star Wars tutorial on this channel. If you don know how to play Star Wars search on this channel And my mate Craig is doing a really really good tutorial on it brilliant honestly it gets to um we get to yeah it gets to wizard mode it get pretty damn close something like that anyway it's good it's good tutorial if you want to learn it it's all explained in there great game anyway it appears that stern are now going to according to nap Arcade, make a new Star Wars. Now, to be fair to Nap Arcade, I don't want to stitch them up here. They're not saying it's definitely going to happen. I'm going to read what they said, just so I'm not paraphrasing them. Said, last up, we have the never-ending saga of the upcoming Star Wars cornerstone pinball machine from Stern. A cornerstone pinball machine from Stern, Star Wars. He said, if you're keeping score at home, first I heard it was Skeleton Crew. Have you seen that from Star Wars.
    15:30
    It's something for the kids, really. I highly doubt that it's that specific theme. Next, I heard it might be based on Star Wars Second Trilogy, done with Darth Maul and all the rest of it. Jar Jar Binks? Boo. No, not for me. I've got to say, is anyone else watching Andor at the moment? Anyone else watching Andor? It's good. I think it's the best one. I didn't like what they did with Obi-Wan Kenobi. They made Obi-Wan Kenobi into a wimp, right? Come on. I didn't, I didn't, Bubba Fett, Bubba Fett, did you ever watch Bubba Fett when they did that spin-off series?
    16:06
    And I remember when they did the trailer for it, and they said, sorry, I know I'm digressing, they said, so it was a guy that played Bubba Fett, and in it they said,
    16:16
    Jabba ruled with violence and oppression, but Bubba Fett will rule with peace and reason. And I thought, I don't want my bounty hunter to do that. and he was a little bit incompetent as well in that truth be known i think andor for me is is probably my favorite of the um of the more recent things i loved rogue one as well i don't know if you liked rogue one that was that was brilliant so that sort of ties into andor doesn't it anyway um he said next i heard that it might be based on star wars second trilogy which we've gone through episode one through three i also mentioned the rumor that it might be a darth vader game that would work that would work i'd take that he said well if it was none of those teams i laugh out loud uh some people are saying that stern pimble are going back to the well with a john borg designed pimble machine based upon the original star wars trilogy again that works that works for me now i'm excited okay i mean john borg has done some decent games he has there's no doubt about that at all. To me it seems very strange that Stern would redo its Steve Ritchie designed original Star Wars pinball machine with another one by John Borg using the exact same theme. But that's what some people are saying. They say the fact that Stern vaulted, you know they released the vault editions, the original Star Wars pin when distributed to a demand for it lends credence to the rumour. Well written.
    17:53
    At this point, I'm sure you, like myself, are getting sick of trying to guess the exact Star Wars theme for Stern's next game. I'm not sick of this. I could do this all day. I'm not sick of this at all. But as I say, I'm very new to this. But I'm definitely not getting sick of it.
    18:11
    Anyway, he's joking. He says, ha ha, I promise to try not to talk about it anymore until we get closer to the reveal. I'm talking about it.
    18:19
    I am sorry if you've watched this video and you're thinking, why am I watch this? There is a button on your phone that makes this video go away. So you don't you don't have to watch it. I like hearing this. So let me get this right, if I've understood this correctly. a Star Wars pinball machine made by Stern based on the original trilogy, New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of Jedi with a John Borg design I think there's a market for that.
    19:03
    I do. I think there's almost an endless market for Star Wars because it's a dream thing. And I'll tell you this, mate. May moreover, if it is the original trilogy, if it is going to be made by Stern,
    19:23
    if it is John Borg or Brian Eddy or anyone else, I'm in. you