New Tour de France Pinball Design from Jon Norris

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·Jun 6, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.013

TL;DR

Jon Norris pitches new Tour de France pinball design 'Champs Elysees' to manufacturers

Summary

Jon Norris, a legendary pinball designer with a history at Gottlieb and Stern, has unveiled a new street-level pinball design called 'Champs Elysees' with a generic Tour de France bicycle race theme. The unlicensed game is designed to be manufacturable using off-the-shelf assemblies and is being pitched to potential manufacturers. Norris is currently independent after his most recent work with Deeproot Pinball.

Key Claims

Jon Norris designed prolific games for Gottlieb in the 1990s
high confidence · Article states Norris 'churned out game after game for Gottlieb back in the 90s'
Jon Norris designed High Roller Casino for Stern
high confidence · Article identifies High Roller Casino as 'one of my favorite older Sterns' designed by Norris
Norris previously designed a Tour de France-themed pinball in the mid-1980s
medium confidence · Article cites Internet Pinball Database: 'he played with a design for a pin based on this theme back in the mid-80s'
Norris most recently worked with Deeproot Pinball
high confidence · Article states 'Jon was most recently a designer with Deeproot Pinball, but he is not currently with any company'
Champs Elysees uses off-the-shelf assemblies and is designed for easy manufacturing
high confidence · Norris's quoted statement: 'uses generic "Off-The-Shelf" assemblies and would be easy to manufacture'

Notable Quotes

“I'm happy to announce that I have completed a new street-level pinball design. This is an unlicensed 'Tour De France' theme that would be a perfect first game for any new pinball start-up.”
Jon Norris — Official announcement of the Champs Elysees design and its positioning as an entry-level manufacturing opportunity
“It uses generic 'Off-The-Shelf' assemblies and would be easy to manufacture. I've completed both the playfield design and rule set.”
Jon Norris — Norris emphasizes manufacturing feasibility and completeness of the design

Entities

Jon NorrispersonChamps ElyseesgameHigh Roller Casinogame GottliebcompanySterncompanyDeeproot PinballcompanyInternet Pinball DatabaseorganizationStreet Levelproduct

Signals

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design_philosophy: Norris emphasizes manufacturing accessibility and use of off-the-shelf components as deliberate design strategy for entry-level manufacturers
high · Norris states design 'would be a perfect first game for any new pinball start-up' and uses 'generic Off-The-Shelf assemblies'
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market_signal: Norris's recurring interest in Tour de France pinball theme across decades (mid-1980s concept vs. current Champs Elysees design)
medium · Internet Pinball Database reference to mid-80s Tour de France design, now revisited in more refined form
?
personnel_signal: Jon Norris transitioned from Deeproot Pinball to independent status, now pitching designs to potential manufacturers
high · 'Jon was most recently a designer with Deeproot Pinball, but he is not currently with any company in the industry'
?
announcement: Jon Norris unveils Champs Elysees, a new street-level pinball design based on Tour de France theme
high · Article headline and Norris's social media announcement quoted in full

Topics

New game design announcementprimaryIndependent designer pitching to manufacturersprimaryManufacturing accessibility and design philosophyprimaryJon Norris design historysecondaryUnlicensed vs licensed themessecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.75)— Enthusiastic coverage of Norris's design credentials and the new machine concept; author expresses genuine interest ('The layout looks really cool to me') and encourages manufacturers to review the design

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

The well-known pinball designer Jon Norris, who was a designing machine who churned out game after game for Gottlieb back in the 90s (and one of my favorite older Sterns, High Roller Casino - if you have one that you'd sell, hit me up), recently shared the design for a new Street Level pinball machine that he has been working on on social media. Titled "CHAMPS ELYSEES" the game is intended to have a generic bicycle race theme, loosely based upon the famous Tour de France race. This isn't the first time that Jon has toyed with the idea of producing a Tour de France-esque game. According to The Internet Pinball Database, he played with a design for a pin based on this theme back in the mid-80s, though that design looks very different and much less refined than his current one. Jon was most recently a designer with Deeproot Pinball, but he is not currently with any company in the industry. He seems to be interested in pitching the game to potential manufacturers. The layout looks really cool to me, so if you have the capability to build pinball machines, give it a look! In the coming weeks Jon will share more information about the design. Here's what he has said about it so far: CHAMPS ELYSEES I’m happy to announce that I have completed a new street-level pinball design. This is an unlicensed “Tour De France” theme that would be a perfect first game for any new pinball start-up. It uses generic “Off-The-Shelf” assemblies and would be easy to manufacture. I’ve completed both the playfield design and rule set. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting about some great features on this game.