Drinks with Jack - George Gomez EP2

Stern Pinball·video·7m 20s·analyzed·Feb 4, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.017

TL;DR

George Gomez explains Insider Connected's gamification strategy and teases 2022 game release.

Summary

George Gomez discusses Insider Connected's design philosophy, features, and implementation at Stern Pinball. He explains how the platform gamifies pinball through achievements, quests, and experience points while preserving core gameplay. Gomez also hints at his own upcoming game design for 2022 and reflects on working with Jack Danger on a collaborative project.

Key Claims

Insider Connected is influenced by Xbox Live and PlayStation Network's gamification approach from Gomez's previous dev team work
high confidence · George Gomez discusses his past running Xbox and PlayStation dev teams and applying those lessons to pinball
All new games coming out of Stern factory will have Insider Connected pre-installed; existing games require optional retrofit kit
high confidence · George states '100 percent of the games are coming out of the factory ready to go' for new titles; kits only needed for existing machines
George Gomez will release a game in 2022
high confidence · George confirms 'you're gonna see a game from me in 2022' during the interview
Insider Connected will not feature intrusive pop-up ads on machine screens
high confidence · George addresses concerns directly: 'I think a lot of people were concerned that we're going to have like pop-up ads show up on our screens and no'
Insider Connected achievements extend the game rule set for machines like Guardians of the Galaxy, providing fresh gameplay post-installation
high confidence · George explains achievements as 'an extension of the game rule set' and gives Guardians of the Galaxy as example of 'fresh rule set'

Notable Quotes

“The single biggest thing about Insider Connected is it's about a new way to play with the pinball machines that you know and love”
George Gomez @ early — Core mission statement for Insider Connected platform
“I ran an Xbox and PlayStation dev team and really honestly what I was influenced by was how those products transformed the way you interact with the game”
George Gomez @ mid-early — Reveals the philosophical foundation for Insider Connected's design
“The flippers and the ball and the bat the fact that the game is under the glass that's sacred that's sacred we won't jack with it”
George Gomez @ mid — Directly addresses community concerns about Insider Connected compromising core pinball gameplay
“You're gonna see a game from me in 2022”
George Gomez @ mid-late — Official announcement of upcoming Gomez-designed title
“Game designers generate some portion of the vision and he's got to drive the guys on the team to bring all of their creative energy to the product and then you know reality intrudes”
George Gomez @ late — Candid reflection on design management challenges and the balance between vision and practical constraints

Entities

George Gomezperson Jack Dangerperson Insider ConnectedproductStern PinballcompanyGuardians of the GalaxygameXbox LiveproductPlayStation NetworkproductPinball Expo

Signals

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business_signal: Insider Connected monetization model is optional/donation-based; free tier with optional pro tier; explicit rejection of in-app purchase model
high · George: 'if you want to give me five bucks it's fine but it is free' and 'I guarantee you it's not coming after you with in-app purchases'
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community_signal: Stern Pinball positioning Insider Connected as a community-driven platform with operator quests, location-based challenges, and player engagement features
high · Discussion of quest system, location dashboards, zip code search functionality, and operator pro accounts enabling community events
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community_signal: Stern leadership emphasizing commitment to preserving core pinball mechanics and player experience while integrating digital features
high · George: 'The flippers and the ball and the bat the fact that the game is under the glass that's sacred that's sacred we won't jack with it'
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announcement: George Gomez officially announces he is designing a pinball game for release in 2022
high · Direct statement: 'you're gonna see a game from me in 2022 which is outstanding'
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product_strategy: Insider Connected designed to extend existing game rule sets and provide fresh content for already-owned machines without altering core gameplay mechanics
high · George: 'when you install Insider Connected it's like you got a fresh rule set because there's all kinds of new stuff that you're going to get to do' and 'achievements are an extension of the game rule set'

Topics

Insider Connected platform architecture and featuresprimaryGamification strategy (achievements, quests, experience points)primaryCommunity concerns about core gameplay preservationprimaryGeorge Gomez's upcoming 2022 game designsecondaryJack Danger's collaboration with Stern PinballsecondaryGame design process and management challengessecondaryInsider Connected retrofit kits vs. factory-installed versionsmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— George Gomez is enthusiastic about Insider Connected's direction and design philosophy. He addresses community concerns proactively and reassuringly. Jack Danger expresses excitement about his collaboration with Stern. Tone is candid, friendly, and community-focused with no defensive posturing.

Transcript

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what's up pinball expo We Are Pinball sitting here with the microphone feeding back at me george George Gomez (legendary Stern designer) of stern pinball hello everybody george how you doing tonight i'm good dangerous jack i'm good i think everyone here wants to hear a little bit More Brewing Company about insider connected how we got to this point where we're going um what everyone can do right now to participate in that and i know that seems like a very broad question the single biggest thing about insider connected is it's about a new way to play with the with the pinball machines that you know and love you know a long long time ago i ran an xbox and playstation dev team and when i did that i had no idea that's why yeah it was the dawn of xbox live and playstation network yeah and and really honestly what i was influenced by was how those products transformed uh you know you the way you interact with the game the idea was take the best gamification aspects you know achievements profile badges treasure chests uh pro you know promotions quests and bring them to pinball right what i like about it also is it incentivizes playing the game again but not necessarily just playing a normal game of pinball but like i beat sabertooth in 30 seconds now i got to do it in 15. yeah the you know the really cool thing about the achievement system is that they're they are an extension of the game rule set so if you think about it if you've owned a guardians of the galaxy for a long time when you install insider connected it's like you got a fresh rule set because there's all kinds of new stuff that you're going to get to do people that like to brag about the way they play oh yeah you can put proof to the pudding like i actually did this we decided we were going to create this you know experience points right which basically you get for playing and and uh experience points are are tied to the achievement system and you can get experience points at home you can complete achievements at home the very same achievement when you play it on the street with the glass on becomes a verified achievement and it gives you More Brewing Company points More Brewing Company experience points it's going to drive play because people are going to have to have maximum achievements you mentioned the quests and like how we had one here we had one at Logan Arcade um is that something that like a location or an operator can just make on the fly or do they have to go through an approval oh so so there's um so there's three Levels Arcade of insider membership the free account which everybody should get because it's free gives you so much so the pro accounts allow people to set up a route and with all their locations and that has a dashboard which not only has all kinds of you know like your games will report out when they're broken uh you can look at the status of a game you get notifications right to your phone and but it also has a dashboard that allows you to present quests to your community so players will be able to see okay hey what's going on in my area you put in your zip code you look for quests oh you can you can search yeah you can search for them and then and then you go okay i'm going to joe's bars giving away uh whatever you know you can buy the kit now for games that already exist in the wild but i heard that every new game coming out of stern will you have this installed yeah so the only time you have to buy a kit is if you already have a game you know in your house you've taken possession of the game but everything moving forward whether it's a new build of an old title or a new title 100 of the games are coming out of the coming out of the factory ready to go i think a lot of people were concerned that we're going to have like pop-up ads show up on our screens and no you know it's like you got to understand we you know we play the game yeah i buy stone pinball machines with my own mate/man i pay a little less than you do but i still buy them but but so it's like you know i mean i want i want the same thing you guys want i want the game to be what it is i'm just trying to i'm trying to move it into the 21st century without breaking what's there but the Flippers Arcade and the ball and the bat the fact that the game is under the glass that's sacred that's sacred we won't jack with it that's awesome now you've been very very busy with all this insider stuff and uh i heard a rumor that there's something coming from you Papa Duke soon in the next year or so yeah you're gonna see a game from me in 22 which is outstanding outstanding now how do we uh how do i get to take your job so you can just focus on making a whole bunch of George Gomez (legendary Stern designer) games you know i think i think you have your hands full i think we're going to see a new game from you what ladies and gentlemen i think we're going to see a jack danger game okay well thank that's amazing uh well real talk like how has it been working with me because i'll tell you i've been over the moon excited to work with everyone at stern uh how's it been working with you well it was it was interesting watching you solder yeah oh yeah i'm terrible i've hurt myself too many times it was uh you know to figure out if it was hot it was interesting teaching you how to cut metal also yes you know a lot of people on the uh are always coming up to me in shows and saying you know i want to design a game and the magic is make me a game bring me a game yup right and so that's a good portfolio yeah so that's how he got his gig my experience with building that game was um it was a lot it it's a the fun part of like drawing is like the fun part but then outside of that there's like managerial duties there's uh working with a team yeah i mean game designers uh generate some portion of the vision and he's got to drive the guys on the team to bring all of their creative energy to the product and then you know reality intrudes right i mean your stuff's got to work stuff's got to cost the right amount of mate/man it's got to be done on time and somebody you got to make it so that someone can actually assemble it and and so somebody can service it and you know that's the stuff nobody ever thinks about right but that's real yeah well george thank you so much for joining me up here yeah um if you haven't signed up for insider get your phone out sign up for it yes turn back dot incomplete word/cut-off transcript ending forward slash insider i guarantee you it's free we're not coming after you with in-app purchases if you want to give me five bucks it's fine but it is free thanks brother