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John Borg discusses designing two games back-to-back with Stern's new platform.
Metallica Remastered released in October, with Borg finding out about Star Wars license in December and Walking Dead remaster assignment in early January
high confidence · John Borg directly stated timeline of events during interview
Star Wars: Fall of the Empire negotiations expanded from single movie to full Original Trilogy license during development
high confidence · John Borg explained license scope expansion during interview
Death Star ball lock rejection issue has been resolved with a bracket kit that increases opening size
high confidence · John Borg described fix and confirmed recent production batch tested successfully
Spike 3 platform enables significantly improved sound system with four speakers in LE vs. two in standard, and improved display capabilities
high confidence · John Borg praised sound system and display as biggest improvements with new platform
Walking Dead Remastered will include code enhancements over several months, including intermediate milestones during the 115 zombie kills wizard mode progression
high confidence · John Borg committed to ongoing code work during interview
Pro version of Star Wars removes ADAT motor, leaving it static instead of motorized
high confidence · John Borg explained Pro vs. Premium/LE feature differences
Star Wars game (1992) was John Borg first game as a designer for Data East
high confidence · John Borg confirmed full-circle moment designing Star Wars 30 years later
Walking Dead Remastered replaces DMD with LCD display while maintaining aesthetic approval from licensers
high confidence · John Borg discussed LCD upgrade effort and licensing approval process
Jedi magnet save mechanic in Star Wars was inspired by GoldenEye James Bond pinball's bottom layout innovation
“I am uh I'm out of game jail now. I'm off the line with the startup for Walking Dead”
John Borg@ 2:07 — Indicates Borg just finished post-launch support for Walking Dead after intensive development period
“Everything I did I did twice. Um you know I built two sets of prototypes uh you know two sets of licensing issues you know all the way through from the beginning to the end.”
John Borg@ 3:36 — Describes the scope of managing two games in parallel
“This is the first game I think I've ever made where I could plunge the ball and I could probably hit every shot within the first 30 seconds.”
John Borg@ 7:04 — Shows design philosophy prioritizing accessibility for casual players in Star Wars
“I was told once a long time ago, it's better to make a good game that works great than a great game that works good.”
John Borg@ 23:38 — Core design philosophy explaining decisions like ADAT head protection over vulnerability
“If you buy one of these, I go, you you know, you set the the volume level at 32 and it sounds great. And I go, if you put it up to 55, all your neighbors are going to know you have one.”
John Borg@ 14:45 — Highlights Spike 3 sound system improvement as major feature
“I didn't even vacation last summer... Everybody last summer told me that they were that by the time I got on vacation, I was going to be sitting in my backyard with my shorts and a t-shirt and sitting in a lawn chair with a drink with an umbrella with 4 inches of snow on top of it. We got our snow. We got 10 inches of snow.”
product_launch: John Borg recently completed intensive post-launch support for Walking Dead Remastered and Star Wars: Fall of the Empire, with both games released within approximately two months of each other
high · Borg stated 'I am uh I'm out of game jail now' and described being on the line with Walking Dead startup before attending Expo
design_philosophy: John Borg prioritizes designing games accessible to casual players while maintaining deep rules for competitive play, exemplified in Star Wars: Fall of the Empire being the first he designed where plunging allows hitting most shots within 30 seconds
high · Borg explicitly stated this design goal and credited Ray/Andrew for delivering rules depth underneath accessible surface
technology_signal: Spike 3 platform delivers significant improvements in sound system (4-speaker LE vs 2-speaker standard) and display quality, enabling new visual and audio effects
high · Borg praised sound as biggest improvement, describing volume level 32 as great and 55 as alerting neighbors; noted larger display enabling new effects
product_concern: Star Wars Death Star ball lock experienced rejection issues; resolved with bracket kit featuring larger opening, recently tested in production batch with improved results
high · Borg described bracket solution, noted recent batch production tested 'shot like butter', and confirmed kit will be available within days
design_innovation: Jedi magnet save mechanic in Star Wars uses offset 5-lane flipper layout inspired by GoldenEye James Bond to enable skillful drain saves, differentiating from standard 4-lane design
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high confidence · John Borg credited Mike Vinikour for the GoldenEye inspiration during explanation of save mechanic
Walking Dead original game was known for brutal layout and favoring high-end tournament players, which remaster aims to correct
medium confidence · Josh RP introduced the topic; John Borg confirmed design approach to make it friendlier
John Borg@ 4:08 — Emphasizes the grueling workload and timeline compression managing two major projects
“Plastic ramps get scratched and and uh they look dull after a while. Um, I like the wire ramp look and you can see through and you can see all the artwork behind it.”
John Borg@ 24:19 — Explains aesthetic and functional rationale for wire form design choice
“If you play an old Metallica and then you play a new Metallica, you can definitely tell that the new Metallica is a lot friendlier.”
John Borg@ 26:25 — Sets up the design philosophy for Walking Dead Remastered as making original game more approachable
high · Borg detailed timing-dependent magnet activation for left vs right drain scenarios; credited Mike Vinikour for GoldenEye inspiration
licensing_signal: Star Wars license initially negotiated for single movie expanded to full Original Trilogy during early development, enabling comprehensive thematic content
high · Borg stated 'turned out that uh they negotiated uh the whole trilogy. So I was able to, you know, use anything I I I wanted from all, you know, all three movies'
personnel_signal: Star Wars and Walking Dead Remastered feature new or returning artists: Vince Pro (previously worked on Dungeons and Dragons) and Robert Lassi (new to Stern, illustrator), enhancing cabinet artwork quality
high · Borg identified both artists, praised their work ('really did a really nice job', 'fabulous'), and described specific artwork achievements (Rick likeness, Michonne character)
product_strategy: Pro version of Star Wars removes ADAT motor and other features to achieve cost targets for location/operator market, while maintaining gameplay accessibility
high · Borg explained Pro ADAT as 'upright and it stays that way' vs motorized in Premium/LE; noted having to 'look at the numbers and figure out what I'm going to have to do to make it a pro'
code_update: Walking Dead Remastered will receive multiple months of code enhancements including intermediate milestone rewards during the 115 zombie kills progression to make extreme wizard mode more accessible
high · Borg committed: 'we'll be working on the code, you know, for another few months yet' and described adding intermediate achievements at 30 and 60 kills
community_signal: Community enthusiasm for John Borg as designer evidenced by dedicated fan (Tim Lee) owning both recently released games and requesting design tips
high · Josh RP mentioned Tim Lee as 'Borg fan' who 'turned to him' for detailed game knowledge; Tim owns both Walking Dead and Star Wars
design_philosophy: Walking Dead Remastered applies lessons from Metallica Remastered, making notoriously difficult original game more approachable through ball saves, feature changes, and difficulty reduction while maintaining competitive depth
high · Borg explained ball save changes in outlanes, multiball extensions, pop bumper behavior, and plan to make zombie kill progression less brutal than original's 115-kill requirement
manufacturing_signal: Stern managed concurrent production of Walking Dead Remastered and Star Wars: Fall of the Empire while managing post-launch issues, with Death Star bracket fix applied to recent batch
high · Borg noted 'we made uh we made a bunch of Star Wars games uh last week or the week before' during Walking Dead launch phase, and personally tested recent production batch