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The Walking Dead Remastered Pinball Machine | A Missed Opportunity From Stern?

Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama·video·21m 57s·analyzed·Nov 4, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Gonzo critiques Walking Dead Remaster as colorful but underutilizing Spike 3's TV clip potential.

Summary

Gonzo provides a critical initial reaction to Stern's Walking Dead Remastered, acknowledging his long-standing dislike of the original game while attempting balanced analysis. He praises the new artwork quality but criticizes the overly colorful aesthetic, lack of TV show clips despite the Spike 3 platform capabilities, and questions whether the remaster justifies the premium pricing. He contrasts the missed opportunity with Star Wars' use of movie clips and suggests Lord of the Rings could suffer similar omissions.

Key Claims

  • The Walking Dead original is a very difficult pinball machine that Gonzo has owned twice and borrowed once, finding it frustrating rather than enjoyable

    high confidence · Personal experience stated directly; established fact about game difficulty

  • Walking Dead Remastered appears to have fixed the one thing Gonzo liked about the original game (the dark artwork aesthetic)

    high confidence · Direct statement: 'the one thing they appear to have think they fixed is probably the one thing that I liked about the game'

  • The Remastered version lacks TV show clips despite being on Spike 3 platform, which Star Wars successfully implemented

    high confidence · Direct observation: 'No TV clips on here' and comparison: 'Star Wars has got the movie clips on it'

  • The new artwork is stylistically different from 'Zombie Yeti stuff' and represents a nice change

    high confidence · Direct statement about artist quality and Zombie Yeti comparison

  • Walking Dead Remastered uses only Premium and LE tiers (no Pro model)

    medium confidence · Gonzo states: 'There's only a Premium and an LE here, I'm guessing'

  • Star Wars Pinball by John Borg includes movie clips, representing better use of Spike 3 platform

    high confidence · Direct statement and contrast with Walking Dead Remaster's approach

  • The original Walking Dead had a red dot-matrix display that Gonzo preferred over the new LCD screen

    high confidence · Personal opinion from owning the original: 'I prefer the red display. I preferred the original red display.'

  • Gonzo will not purchase the Walking Dead Remastered and considers this a relief

    high confidence · Direct statement: 'I won't be getting this Walking Dead pinball machine. So I feel I've been saved.'

Notable Quotes

  • “I didn't think that The Walking Dead had that one more game factor. I thought it had that one game less factor... there's probably anything you could do with your time which would be better than playing The Walking Dead. Read a book, go for a walk, take the dog out, take your wife out.”

    Gonzo @ ~0:00-1:00 — Establishes Gonzo's fundamental dislike of the original game and sets context for his bias toward the Remaster

  • “Remastered is a funny term, isn't it really? Because if you remaster something, you think it improves. It's a big claim. It's a big name, isn't it?”

    Gonzo @ ~4:30 — Frames the central criticism: the term 'remastered' implies comprehensive improvement, but the Remaster may not deliver

  • “This is far too colorful. This is far too bright. I don't want a Walking Dead to look like this. I want it to be mostly red... embrace the ugliness.”

    Gonzo @ ~8:00 — Core aesthetic criticism of the Remaster's color palette and art direction

  • “If you're going to remaster it, don't just remaster the DMD because the DMD was pretty cool... You've got to go whole hog. Get the movie clips in it. There's no point just having animations on there.”

    Gonzo @ ~14:00 — Key complaint: underutilization of Spike 3 platform by omitting TV show clips

  • “It's a bit like having a Ferrari and just driving it to the shop to get some milk... you want to drive that at 200 mph. I think it's an underuse of the platform.”

    Gonzo @ ~15:00 — Metaphor expressing frustration with Spike 3 hardware not being fully leveraged

  • “Star Wars has got the movie clips on it... Fantastic. No problem. Wonderful. No TV clips on here.”

    Gonzo @ ~16:30 — Direct comparison highlighting Walking Dead Remaster's missed opportunity relative to Star Wars

  • “I don't feel so entitled that I feel I've got to like or love every single game. But when I looked at this game, I was very intrigued... it wasn't like a massive relief.”

    Gonzo — Clarifies his initial interest was genuine, but the Remaster disappointed that potential

Entities

GonzopersonJohn BorgpersonLyman SheetspersonGeorge GomezpersonZombie YetipersonWalking Dead RemasteredgameThe Walking Dead (original)gameStar Wars Pinballgame

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Star Wars pinball successfully leverages Spike 3 capabilities with movie clips, establishing competitive standard for future remasters

    high · Gonzo's emphasis on Star Wars as 'fantastic' use of platform contrasted with Walking Dead's 'missed opportunity'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Walking Dead Remaster's art direction fundamentally misaligned with zombie theme; excessive colorization and brightening contradicts original dark aesthetic that suited the IP

    high · Gonzo repeatedly emphasizes 'far too colorful', 'far too bright' vs original's red-dominated palette; suggests Elvira Blood Red Edition as more appropriate aesthetic choice

  • $

    market_signal: Concern about whether future Stern remasters (Lord of the Rings) will repeat Walking Dead's pattern of underutilizing platform capabilities; pattern emerging across product line

    medium · Gonzo explicitly extends criticism to hypothetical Lord of the Rings remaster: 'if they do Lord of the Rings like this, I think it would be an opportunity missed'

  • $

    market_signal: Premium-tier remaster pricing ($12,999 LE based on KB context) with questionable value proposition may face secondary market weakness; Gonzo represents informed collector skepticism

    medium · Gonzo's refusal to acquire despite owning original twice suggests collector sentiment; no mention of price but implicit value assessment

  • ?

    community_signal: Walking Dead Remaster represents artist change or stylistic direction shift away from established Zombie Yeti aesthetic; Gonzo notes new artist brought horror-comic illustration background

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:12
Good morning, good afternoon, and of course, good evening. An evening when probably the original owners of The Walking Dead, that dot matrix John Bore lime and sheets masterpiece of a very very difficult pinball machine are breathing a heavy sigh of relief I would imagine. Before I I start what is an initial reaction to Stern Pinball's review of The Walking Dead Remastered, I've just got to hold my hands up here. For those of you that that maybe have not watched the channel before and have not seen my my car crash video of The Walking Dead when I I got I think it's fair to say angry. Uh the first time I've ever really got angry with the pinball machine was on The Walking Dead. I've I've owned The Walking Dead twice, so I've given it a go. I've tried. I think I've owned it twice and borrowed it once. I feel like I've given it a good go. I famously said, well, not so famously, a few few hundred people would have noticed me saying, I didn't think that The Walking Dead had that one more game factor. I thought it had that one game less factor. That one game less factor. Uh, I said there's probably anything you could do with your time which would be better than playing The Walking Dead. Read a book, go for a walk, take the dog out, take your wife out, um, watch Netflix, do anything aside from The Walking Dead. I don't like The Walking Dead as a game. It's too hard for me. It's brutal. Some people say, "Yeah, but when you get it right, when you get to hoarde mode, when you get to hoorde, it's so satisfying." Never mind the 19 games where the ball's just drained. When you get to hoorde mode, nothing feels quite like it. Uh, having got to hoorde mode, I can name quite a number of things that feel better in life than getting to horde mode on The Walking Dead, but we won't discuss those now. Suffice to say, it's it's not a I I didn't find it an enjoyable game. Far too tough. Um, but I do appreciate the code on it, and I would certainly admit that there's a couple of the shots in there which certainly give you a lot of satisfaction when you hit them. But as a game, it's a miss. What I should say is I quite enjoy playing it when when it's somebody else's game. I think when I've not had to pay for it, and I mean in any way, shape, or form, when I haven't had to pay, not only to own it, but I haven't even had to put two pounds in the co in a coin slot. Speaking of which, little coin slot there. When I haven't had to put any money in a coin slot, it's it's fine. If I'm play if I'm playing it at somebody else's expense, I'm not offended by the game. I only bring you this information to demonstrate that I am not unbiased. This is not going to be an unbiased review of The Walking Dead because I didn't like the game to start with, but I love the TV show. Well, I loved the TV show up until the point they brought Negan. And is that a spoiler? If you haven't watched The Walking Dead yet, you're very, very late. I don't know. I think I thought the first the first couple of Walking Deads were good. Then they had a crap one and then there were three or four which two or three I quite enjoyed. Anyway, it was good. I liked it. I like the premise of it. Quite like apocalyp post-apocalyptic zombie stuff. 20 28 Weeks Later. It was good. Enjoyed that. Anyway, you get the idea. One thing I never had a problem with was the artwork on it. When people said it was too grim, it was too gory. I think at the point where you're going to purchase a zombie based pinball machine, I think you should embrace that. I I I I'm fine. But blood and guts and make it red and and do all that stuff. Not a problem at all. I actually thought the one of them was was it might have been the Ellie, I don't know, but it was very nice. It was sort of done in the cabinet. artwork was done as a crate. Um, I actually like the back glass on the Pro. I thought that was pretty good. I didn't mind. It was zombies and people with ripped heads and limbs limbs hanging off. That was a zombie impression. No problem. No, no problem. I embrace it. Brilliant. I have no problem with the artwork, with the look. That's great. I If I'm playing a zombie pinball game, right? No problem. So actually what it would appear to be in the new version, the one thing they appear to have think they fixed is probably the one thing that I liked about the game. So, let me just [clears throat] say from this point of view, from this point onwards in this video, this is possibly not going to be [snorts] [snorts] uh the most flattering video, but I I am uh the most flattering video, but I I am going to try and make it as balanced as I can without betraying my own feelings of it, which is I mean I I can I thought I could I was 90% certain I should give this one a miss. And I'd like to always try and be as honest as I can with you when I make this statement. If I really like a game on this channel, you'll know I really like a game because I'll go and get it. I'll sacrifice something from my collection to go and get a pinball machine that I really, really want. Um, June would be a great example. Big Labowski had to go for me to bring June in. June was so good. So good. I thought I've got to have it. I've got to have June. So, if I really like a game, I will get it in. Same with Jaws. The same with Pulp Fiction. I've got to have them. So, that's that's how you know if I really really like one. So, I I don't want to sit here and pretend I'm going to buy games that I'm not going to buy, which is why when I did my Dungeons and Dragons review, I said, "Yeah, I can appreciate the game. Happy to have it for a little while, but I'll never buy one. I'll never get one." I'm certainly feel that way with most most pinball machines. So, I I don't ever feel that I was on the cusp of getting The Walking Dead, but had this as a remastered been really good, I might have been tempted to get it for a while and then move it on as my transitional pinball machine, if you like. I was um watched uh one of Car's videos uh I think I think he might have been talking about when he sold Kong and he spoke about getting a a transitional pinball machine one that he he turns over and he keeps going. He keeps the majority. He's got some beautiful games behind him, hasn't he? And he's going to keep those and then it'll swap one game in and out. So maybe maybe I might have been convinced. I I needn't worry. I won't be uh I won't be getting this um walking dead pinball machine. So I I I feel I've been saved. I've got the jo the joy of missing out. So that's that's absolutely fine. I don't mind missing out at all. Um I mean remastered a funny term, isn't it really? Because if you remastered you think improves improves and I'm sure in some aspects they may well have improved on this game st. Uh, I've got a um it might be a Blu-ray. I've got a a Blu-ray. I've got a 4K DVD thing of Alien. When did Alien come out? 1979.
@ ~18:00

  • “If they did Lord of the Rings like this, I think it would be an opportunity missed if they didn't have the movie clips put in.”

    Gonzo @ ~25:00 — Extends criticism to potential future remasters, suggesting pattern of concern about platform underutilization

    • Stern Pinball
    company
    Spike 3product
    Lord of the Ringsgame
    Neil McCraeperson
    Beetlejuicegame
    Dunegame
    Deadpoolgame
    The Walking Dead (TV series)media
    Elvira Blood Red Editiongame

    medium · Observation of stylistic difference from 'lots of Zombie Yeti stuff'; mention of artist background in horror/comic art; implicit suggestion of creative decision by Stern leadership

  • ?

    product_strategy: Walking Dead Remaster may lack Pro tier model, offering only Premium and LE configurations

    medium · Gonzo states: 'There's only a Premium and an LE here, I'm guessing' (speculative but informed)

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Gonzo's initial intrigue about potential Remaster features was replaced by disappointment upon seeing actual design choices; represents letdown from potential interest to definite non-purchase

    high · Quote: 'I was very intrigued... it wasn't like a massive relief' implies potential interest was genuine; contrasts with final position: 'I won't be getting this'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Spike 3 platform underutilized in Walking Dead Remaster; lacks TV show clips despite successful implementation in Star Wars, representing missed opportunity for major differentiator

    high · Direct comparison: 'Star Wars has got the movie clips on it... No TV clips on here'; Ferrari metaphor about underutilizing platform capability

    • 7:45
    Ridley Scott's Alien. And it's it's remastered. Alien Remastered, a director's cut. It's better. The picture's better. Pictures in 4K. I think they've meticulously gone and improved every frame. The sound's better. The whole thing is better. as a word remastered. Yeah. Well done. You've done it. [gasps] So, it's a big claim. It's a big name, isn't it? When you say, "I've remastered." So, I've remastered the cyine chapon. That's going to be quite difficult. Now, whilst I don't like The Walking Dead, I would absolutely understand that it's a lot of people's favorite game. And I I know I think if I was a better player, I'd probably really like it as well. So, if you're going to remaster something that's a favorite for people, I think if there was room in my collection for a Walking Dead, I wouldn't have been remotely tempted having seen the trailer, which we're going to have a little look at today. Um, there's George. Nothing against George Gomez. Love George Gomez. Um, uh, it's, and by the way, I should probably say, cuz I'm probably going to say some quite negative things about this game. I think the actual drawing, let me start by playing this uh, video now. The actual drawing or the actual skill of the artist on the back glass and on the cabinet artwork, I think it's really good. I actually think it's a nice change stylistically and artistically from a lot of the Zombie Yeti stuff. I've got no problem with Zombie Yeti artwork, but there's lots of it. And this is this is different. I I like the way they've they've drawn the characters. I think it's good. Um, apparently having watched I've watched this uh this teaser trailer and and I think during that George Gomez mentioned that the person that had done the artwork is is well known for uh depicting horror scenes and drawing sort of horror I it's horror comics or something like that. Um so I think they've done a good job. What instantly strikes me about this for me is this is far too colorful. This is far too bright. I don't want a Walking Dead to look like this. I I I want it to be mostly red. In many respects, I'd have gone, if I was doing this and I'd have made a decision, I'd have gone with you like the Elvivara Blood Red Edition. I think I'd have done something like that with this game, which I know some of it is is very understated like that. Anyway, I sort of liked the understated
    10:30
    lighting on the inserts of the original game. I'm sort of doubting myself now, but I don't remember there being lots and lots of different colors on the inserts. I was fine with that. I I thought it actually suited the theme.
    10:46
    This I I don't know why they've necessarily done this with the color. I I've always thought anybody, as I mentioned at the start of the video, anybody buying this game is probably into the zombie genre anyway. I don't think you're going to attract any new people to the game by making the colors a little bit more child friendly or whatever because you've still Well, you've got the Well Walker there with his [snorts] and and Marlon Brando there on the on the slingshot. Um looking um well, they look like zombies. It's not a pretty game. It's ugly and I have no problem with that. It's meant to be ugly, but I think embrace the ugliness. I like that. I've always liked I've always liked that. Uh the fish tank. Uh I'm glad the fish tank's on it. I guess they're going to do that. There's only a premium and an LE here, I'm guessing. So, yeah, the colors are a bit garish. Um the playfield's too much color on the playfield for me. Too much color on the inserts. Too much color on the cabinets. Too much color. You get what I'm saying? Um, obviously the Insider connected. Of course, they're going to do Insider connected. So, I I think that's the first thing for me. Look at that. That's a nice drawing. That's there. Very nice. They've got these um expression lighting, the the bullets there on the armor. That's cool. Um probably would have gone for a sword, actually. The uh the samurai sword she has, but of course, we've done samurai swords already, haven't we? In um in in pinball. Got a lovely couple of samurai swords on the side of my uh my Deadpool. Um, right. Let's let's uh let's get rid of that. Thank you very much. Uh, George, is that is that it? I think that might be the um the end of it there. You've Anyway, you probably probably seen enough footage there. So, the sound is going to be upgraded on it because it's a Spike 3 and a Spike 3 has better mid-range. It's got some tweeters on it as I understand it. I'm not somebody that knows an awful lot about sound, but I mean, you're going to have to do something with the sound if you're going to remaster it. despite the skill of the artwork. And I and I I appreciate I think this the the same skilled artist could have probably done those same drawings. They didn't need to be as fleshed out, for one of a better phrase, fleshed out with color. Um but I don't look at the game and think, well, that's remastered in terms of an artistic point of view. I think it's gone they've just blasted up the um the hue and the um and the vibrance and the saturation in their color settings on there really.
    13:18
    Um, the sound, well, I'd have to hear it in person. What you do have are call outs from uh two of the cast. I don't want to say too much about them because I haven't heard enough of it, but I didn't feel upon hearing them that I particularly liked it.
    13:42
    the TV show doesn't appear to be on the screen. And that's for me would possibly be the biggest reason to remodel or remaster this game. If you're going to remaster this game, don't just remaster the DMD because the DMD was pretty cool. One of the better DMDs, I would say. In fact, I've got to say probably even though I I the second time I had the Walking Dead only had it for a short period of time. I think I even though I had the color DMD and it was the LED color DMD which I prefer to the LCD because it's got the true dots on it and I love that. I love that screen on pretty much everything. I've actually got one in a box in there which I'm saving for the for the right game. Um it's not Star Trek Next Generation. I'm selling that next week probably. But when I had The Walking Dead, I thought actually I prefer the red display. I preferred the original red display. I just like it. So I think if you're going to remaster it, you got to go to whole hog. So just don't even try and imitate that original dot matrix display. And I've seen the animations and I think they look cool. Whoever's done those animations done a really good job. I just don't think it was necessary. I think it's a I think it's if you're not going to if you're going to have a big LED screen, a big TV screen, which they've got on there, then use it. Get the movie clips in it. There's no point just having animations on there. Just having an updated remastered dot matrix animation. It's a bit like having a Ferrari and just driving it to the shop to get some milk. Isn't it what I'm doing? Hey, you want to drive that at 200 mph, you get arrested. But you know what I'm saying? I think it's an underuse of of the platform. And it's certainly I've not played Star Wars, another John B game, the new the newer Star Wars. Nor am I likely. Oh, no. I am. I am. I've got to give a big shout out to Neil McCrae, who is going to love this game, and he's going to be all over this game because he loves it. He loves The Walking Dead. He's invited me over to do a video on Star Wars. So, we are going to get a Star Wars um game on this channel. So, thank you, Neil. But I think Star Wars has got the movie clips on it. Well, that's great. What a great use of the Spike 3. Brilliant. We're going to get the the better sound. We're going to get the movie clips. Fantastic. No problem. Wonderful.
    16:19
    No, no TV clips on here. I want to see that. I want to see um Oh, I want to see Who doesn't want to see Negan on a screen? Of course you do. The governor, it's Neil, isn't that Neil Moresy? I think that's that's the guy's name. Uh yeah, I think it's Neil Morrisy was the was the actor that played. Andrew Lincoln, of course, played um the main character. There's some Hey, there's some there's some good actors. Uh I think it's a good show. Really really good show. I'd quite like to have seen it, but it doesn't matter because I don't Would that have been enough for me to buy the game? Um I'm not so sure. I'm still not so sure I would have bought it. So, you've basically got a guy sat on a video unimpressed with a game that I wasn't going to get anyway. And I just want to make this point. I I I don't feel so entitled that I feel I've got to like or love every single game. And I certainly don't have to love every single thing about every single game. June might be the best overall package I've ever seen in pinball yet. I I mean, I I love it to such an extent. I've got to have one. But when I saw the alternate back glass, I thought it looked like a bum hole. So I thought, I don't I don't want I don't want that. And I actually asked my girlfriend, I said, "What does now?" She actually No, I did. I took her to watch June 2 in a cinema and she fell asleep. She fell asleep. Each to their own, right? Each to their own. And uh anyway, I showed her this alternate back glass, a picture of it. And obviously it's a sand worm. And I thought, "Oh, that that that just looks like it just looks like an asshole." Um, I said to her, "What does that look like?" And she said, "It looks like a cat's ass." She said, "Something like that. Looks like a cat's bum hole." And I love that game. So listen, you don't have to like love everything about every game. So, I'm not going to get the I'm not going to get the bum hole back glass. Um, so you don't like everything, right? That's fine. I don't expect to like every game. I really don't. Um, but when I looked at this game, when I looked at this, The Walking Dead, I was very intrigued. Very intrigued. And so, I was it wasn't like a massive relief. Phew. I don't have to get that one. And and I I must admit I have spent the last two weeks really looking at the possibility of Beetlejuice, which which ironically is the other way round. I I hadn't watched Beetlejuice until very recently. I didn't I didn't watch it escaped me. I didn't watch Beetlejuice when I probably should have done. And I watched it. I thought, well, that's not a very good film actually. I didn't think it was very good at all. Um but I think there's a bit of FOMO there. So, I've been exploring, you know, possibly, but I must, you know, you've got to see it, right? That's at 10 days. 10 days that's going uh there's going to be um previews. We might get to have a look at that. But yeah, ultimately, what can you say? I'll be I'll be interested to This is the thing, I guess, with the remastered, isn't it? I was just about to say I'd be interested to play one. Well, I have. just haven't played one with the bright colors and the um the animations and the the armor that lights up. But a sound I'm I'm sure in fact one I think one of the games I did have had a big extra subwoofer in there. So yeah, I I don't I don't know. I don't know. There's an extra solenoid in the well walker, so he bounces around a bit more. And the slingshots, as you say, got Yeah, it's okay. It's okay. It's not doing any It's not It's not doing anything for me. I'm I'm far more interested to see what Stern will do next. Um I think if there's one thing that has And I was worried about this anyway. I don't know if they will remaster Lord of the Rings. And if they do, I will get it irrespective. In the same way that if this is your favorite game, The Walking Dead, and you love it and you play Walking Dead all the time, you probably are going to get this remastered one. If you just think, "Yeah, I quite like Walking Dead," you're probably going to be happy with the one you got. But with Lord of the Rings, if they did this with Lord of the Rings, I think the artwork does need to be redone on that on the on the playfield certainly. I've got a nice back glass anyway for that. But then you get to the movie clips. That would be a missed opportunity. I would think that. And I would certainly think if all they did with Lord of the Rings and got the Lord of the Rings license was to take the DMD and the DMD is excellent on that, by the way, really good. That that one is worth having the color version on. And they just upgraded and had animations of Lord of the Rings. I got to say, I do think that would be an opportunity missed.
    21:33
    And I do also think that it would be an opportunity missed if they didn't have all of that extra stuff in there. And if I think it's an opportunity missed on Lord of the Rings, then it probably stands to reason that it's also an opportunity missed not to have the TV show clips put in their remastered version of The Walking Dead.