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Sonic the Hedgehog by Jersey Jack Pinball | Reveal Podcast

LoserKid YouTube·video·38m 23s·analyzed·Jun 23, 2026
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

Sonic the Hedgehog by Steve Ritchie officially revealed with dual playfield, dynamic Eggman toy, and imminent launch.

Summary

Jersey Jack Pinball officially reveals Sonic the Hedgehog, designed by legendary pinball designer Steve Ritchie. The game features a dual-playfield layout with an upper playfield housing 18+ shots, a moving Dr. Eggman bash toy, magnetic loop-de-loop mechanics with spin-bash functionality, seven Sonic levels with boss battles, Chaos Emerald multiball, original voice acting from Sonic actors (6,000 recordings), and music contributions from Slash. The game will ship in multiple tiers (Arcade/Pro, Premium, Collector's Edition) with identical playfield/rules but different cosmetic upgrades, launching within weeks with no artificial CE quantity limits.

Key Claims

  • Sonic will ship within a few weeks with finished games already on the production line

    high confidence · Steve Ritchie, discussing production timeline: 'There are finished games on the line right now. So I'm not going to talk about when, but not long. Within a few weeks.'

  • All three editions (Arcade, Premium, Collector's) share identical playfield, rules, and video artwork with no modifications between tiers

    high confidence · Steve Ritchie clarifying tier differences: 'There are no modifications. There is one play set, one play field, one set of rules, one set of video artwork. It plays exactly the same between all three models.'

  • Dr. Eggman bash toy swings approximately two-thirds the width of the playfield and can move vertically to dodge shots

    high confidence · Steve Ritchie describing Eggman mechanics: 'He swings back and forth almost, I don't know, two-thirds the width of the game, maybe more, left and right. He also has the ability to go up and down, and so he can dodge your shots.'

  • The game has 6,000 original voice recordings from Sonic actors recorded in a single session without opportunity for re-records

    high confidence · Steve Ritchie on voice acting: 'There's 6,000 recordings. Damn. And we had to do them all at once without a chance of, you know, a redo.'

  • Sega did not permit the classic Sega startup sound or retro pixel-art assets, mandating the modern 3D Sonic Generations aesthetic instead

    high confidence · Steve Ritchie on licensing constraints: 'Sadly, no, they wouldn't let us [use the Sega startup]. They didn't want us to put that in there... It's 3D. It's beautiful. It looks spectacular... No, it's not a look that Sega wanted us to present.'

  • Sonic has seven distinct levels (called ACTS in Sonic games) that players can start from any difficulty level, not just Green Hill

    high confidence · Steve Ritchie on level structure: 'There's seven different levels... You don't have to start in Green Hill. You can start at the toughest level if you want the game from the very beginning.'

  • The game uses a color-coded rule system: blue for checkpoints, gold/yellow for rings, green for Master Emerald, red for jackpots/bonuses

Notable Quotes

  • “The flow between the lower play field and the upper play field is the best, my best effort of all time. It flows on the upper play field and it flows when it comes back down. There is no interruption in play and it is fast.”

    Steve Ritchie@ 16:10 — Ritchie expressing pride in core design achievement—smooth flow between playfields, his signature design philosophy.

  • “I think it's the best pinball theme ever, maybe. I don't know. It might not be the best ever, but it's up there. It's pretty great.”

    Steve Ritchie@ 15:32 — Designer's confidence in theme quality; suggests Sonic is exceptionally well-suited to pinball mechanics.

  • “Hi, Steve Ritchie, and I sell pinball machines. I try to do my best on every game, and so I can say that I want to sell pinballs.”

    Steve Ritchie@ 29:47 — Ritchie's philosophy and self-description: emphasis on sales and commercial viability alongside design quality.

  • “I have a great team. I mean, these people are awesome. A new guy, Cam Astoris, he's a mechanical engineer, young, into robotics and stuff. It was my concept to make it, but he just did a bang-up job on making it happen and making it durable.”

    Steve Ritchie@ 7:20 — Recognition of younger team members and collaborative design process; Cam Astoris credited for Eggman toy durability.

  • “Why would any company limit? I don't understand that part of it. If you can sell a pinball machine in the world, you sell it.”

    Steve Ritchie@ 28:26 — Direct critique of limited edition FOMO strategies in pinball; signals JJP's business philosophy prioritizes growth over artificial scarcity.

Entities

Steve RitchiepersonJersey Jack PinballcompanyJosh RooppersonScott LarsonpersonSonic the HedgehoggameTaylor SnyderpersonCam Astorisperson

Signals

  • ?

    announcement: Jersey Jack Pinball officially reveals Sonic the Hedgehog pinball machine with full design details, production timeline, and tier pricing strategy.

    high · Steve Ritchie and Josh Roop conduct comprehensive design walkthrough covering playfield layout, mechanics, code, art assets, audio, licensing terms, and production status.

  • ?

    product_launch: Sonic the Hedgehog will ship to customers within weeks; finished games are already on the production line.

    high · Steve Ritchie: 'There are finished games on the line right now... not long. Within a few weeks.'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Ritchie emphasizes seamless flow between upper and lower playfields as his 'best effort of all time' with no interruption in play and fast transitions.

    high · Quote: 'The flow between the lower play field and the upper play field is the best, my best effort of all time. It flows... and it is fast.'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Dr. Eggman bash toy moves horizontally (2/3 playfield width), vertically, and receives programmed dodge behaviors to create competitive difficulty scaling.

    high · Steve Ritchie describing Eggman: 'He swings back and forth... He also has the ability to go up and down... Bill Grop and the guys have written programs to raise and lower him... gets more difficult the further you get into the game.'

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Sega prohibited use of classic Sega startup sound and mandated modern 3D Sonic Generations aesthetic; did not permit retro pixel-art visual style.

    high · Steve Ritchie: 'Sadly, no, they wouldn't let us [use startup sound]... It's not a look that Sega wanted us to present... It's 3D. It's beautiful.'

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.115

0:00
Thanks for tuning in to the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast. I am Josh Roop. I'm excited for today. New Pinball Reveal Day is always fantastic. If you're looking for Sonic the Hedgehog, it doesn't matter if it's Arcade Edition all the way up to Collector's Edition. Flippin' Out is your people to go to. Zach and Nicole Mini provide excellent customer service. Greg and Ken will take care of you on the customer service side of things along with tech support, and they are going to take care of you from the second you email them to that pinball machines in through your front door and even afterwards. If you want Sonic the Hedgehog pinball, hit up Zach and Nicole many at flipping out pinball dot com. I have a living legend today. The man created such iconic games that were pivotal to the pinball industry as High Speed, Black Knight, Getaway 2. The list goes on and on and on. Steve has been doing pinball for over 50 years now, and this is another crown jewel in all the games that he the 60 plus games he's created. So thank you, Steve, for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us today. Hey, glad to be here. I'm looking forward to what you're going to ask me.
1:16
I'm looking forward to this too. Wait, wait, wait a second. Should I drink this or the big one? Probably the big one. I hear you're all booked out today. Yeah, you need some energy for today.
1:29
So, no, it's awesome having you on. I'm excited for this game. Okay, first off, Sonic the Hedgehog. Did the script kind of write itself once you got this theme? You knew you got to do speed and you are the king of flow? The script didn't write itself. You know, I played Sonic with my son a long, long time ago. I kind of lost touch with it. But we hired this new young programmer, Taylor Snyder, and he's been our Sonic guru. And since then, I learned a lot about Sonic. And we applied, you know, everything we could in the game, not going too far away from pinball rules. I don't know. It embodies the whole Sonic experience pretty well. Is it hard to find that balance? Because this was a video game, so you've got to balance the video game with pinball, which can and can't. They might push against each other. They don't really at all. We found solutions for any place there was a problem with a difference in the format of physical pinball versus video. It isn't a problem. It really never was. So one of the most iconic things to Sonic is the fact that it's Sega. One of the questions I've been dying to ask is when you turn on this machine, does it do the classic Sega?

high confidence · Steve Ritchie explaining rule simplicity: 'The rules on the way there are really simple. It's based on color. Blue, blue arrows, blue LEDs... Gold or yellow LEDs... green, and that deals with the Master Emerald, and red, when you're upstairs dealing with Dr. Eggman.'

  • The magnetic ramp accelerates the ball through three magnets and feeds it into a loop-de-loop shot with a spin-bash hold mechanic

    high confidence · Steve Ritchie on loop mechanics: 'There is a magnetic ramp with three magnets. The acceleration is tremendous... there is a spin bash. After you've made that shot a few times, spin bash becomes available. You shoot the ball up there and the ball stops dead on the magnet.'

  • Slash performed lead guitar work on multiple songs for the soundtrack

    high confidence · Steve Ritchie on music: 'He [Slash] did some lead guitar work on a couple of songs, and the guy's awesome.'

  • JJP will not artificially limit Collector's Edition sales beyond a time window, matching the Harry Potter model to maximize sales and support pinball industry growth

    high confidence · Steve Ritchie on CE limits: 'Yeah. I mean, why would any company limit? I don't understand that part of it... It's going to work exactly like Harry Potter. That's actually something I've been a big proponent of because I would rather have the best version of a game available to everybody who wants to buy it.'

  • “They're smart. It's very nice. The lockup has three single stand up targets in front of it. It's like an inline three bank, but it's smart... It returns the targets to whatever condition you left them in on your previous ball.”

    Steve Ritchie@ 10:24 — Innovation highlight: smart target memory system for multiball that respects individual player state—design complexity.

  • “There are finished games on the line right now. So I'm not going to talk about when, but not long. Within a few weeks.”

    Steve Ritchie@ 28:00 — Immediate production confirmation; games shipping within weeks—major timeline announcement.

  • “Sadly, no, they wouldn't let us [use the Sega startup sound]. They didn't want us to put that in there.”

    Steve Ritchie@ 2:56 — Reveals licensing constraints from Sega; indicates negotiation around iconic brand elements.

    • Bill Gruppperson
    Slashperson
    [name withheld pending review]product
    Segacompany
    [name withheld pending review]game
    Harry Pottergame
    Flip N Out Pinballcompany
    Spider-Mangame
    Zachperson
    Nicoleperson
  • ?

    product_strategy: JJP adopts Harry Potter model: three identical-gameplay tiers with cosmetic upgrades; Collector's Edition limited by time window only, not quantity, to maximize sales.

    high · Steve Ritchie: 'Why would any company limit? If you can sell a pinball machine in the world, you sell it... It's going to work exactly like Harry Potter.'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Game uses color-coded LED system (blue=checkpoints, gold=rings, green=Master Emerald, red=jackpots) to simplify navigation despite underlying rule depth.

    high · Steve Ritchie: 'The rules on the way there are really simple. It's based on color... Very easy. Just like it's easy to play Sonic.'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Three-magnet acceleration ramp feeds ball into loop-de-loop with spin-bash hold mechanic where player flippers button-mash to charge and release through loop.

    high · Steve Ritchie: 'There is a magnetic ramp with three magnets. The acceleration is tremendous... spin bash... ball stops dead on the magnet... pounding the flipper buttons.'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: JJP team includes young talent: Taylor Snyder (programmer/Sonic expert), Cam Astoris (mechanical engineer/roboticist), and Bill Grop (programmer). Ritchie credits collaborative approach.

    high · Steve Ritchie: 'we hired this new young programmer, Taylor... Cam Astoris, he's a mechanical engineer, young, into robotics... Bill Grop and the guys have written programs...'

  • ?

    content_signal: LoserKid Pinball Podcast hosts official reveal interview with Steve Ritchie; extensive design walkthrough available to community.

    high · Josh Roop and Scott Larson conduct multi-hour interview covering playfield, mechanics, art, audio, production timeline, and business strategy.

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Ritchie prioritizes fast, smooth ball flow and visibility over feature novelty; deliberately excludes pop bumpers and jets to maintain pace.

    high · Steve Ritchie: 'People need to see the ball as much as possible... I didn't want jets. I wanted that kind of action... They slow everything down... I'll go back to using them again. I'm just this design.'

  • ?

    product_concern: Sega licensing restrictions prevented use of iconic brand elements (startup sound, retro art) in favor of modern 3D aesthetic, potentially limiting nostalgia appeal for legacy Sonic fans.

    medium · Steve Ritchie discussing licensing constraints: 'Sadly, no, they wouldn't let us... I could understand why some people want to see them, but as a presentation, no way. This is clean and bitchin'.'

    • 2:54
    Is it starting up? Sadly, no, they wouldn't let us. They didn't want us to put that in there. And I don't know why. I mean, it's like they've been very reasonable about things they have. I noticed that you guys kind of based this off of the Sonic Generations game. So it kind of melts the old and the new together. I noticed the art assets are mostly new generation Sonic. Is there any way that you've been able to tie in the old assets and kind of the old Sonic to this pinball machine? No, it's not a look that Sega wanted us to present. It's 3D. It's beautiful. It looks spectacular, you know, on the big 27-inch monitor. And it's what they chose. And so, and I'm very happy with it. I had pixelated characters.
    3:51
    I mean, I could understand why some people want to see them, but as a presentation, no way. This is clean and bitchin'. It's just beautiful. I love it. I love it. So speaking of video assets, so is this just all kind of from that video game of Sonic Generations? Is there any TV assets that were integrated? What did you work with there? But yeah, I think it's based on Generations pretty much. Just because that is the, you know, it's great video. It just looks nice. It's one of the more recent properties in my memory. I remember the game originally came out in 2011, but they remade it for 2024 and added a bunch of stuff. So my understanding is this is the newer remake that has got Shadow and all that stuff. So on the flyer, it says that you had original Sonic audio actors. I assume that's from the same video game as well. Yeah, all of them. There's 6,000 recordings. Damn. And we had to do them all at once without a chance of, you know, a redo. We couldn't go back and get more. So we threw everything in, including the kitchen sink, and just made this giant list. And they did it all, and it's all very nice. I mean, I don't know. Speech calls are great. They're great, and they're authentic. It's all the original actors. Well, let's talk about one thing that you do know. So Black Knight was the first game to have an upper play field and it's kind of your signature on some of your games and this game is no different. It has that upper play field that just looks fantastic. What made you decide to put an upper play field in this game? The chance to have 18 shots, 19 real shots, not including targets, and it's a clear plastic thing. You lose nothing on the lower play field.
    5:44
    Visibility is really important to me. Successful pinball games are mostly, you know, the ball has to be visible to the player as it approaches you. It just has to be. If it isn't, you know, people don't even know what they're missing, but they'll just, they won't be happy with the game. There'll be something, you know, maybe they won't say that out loud or understand it, but it's true. People need to see the ball as much as possible. Well, one of the things that caught my eye on this upper play field was the Dr. Eggman Robotnik moving, it's like a moving bash toy. Tell me how that works. Yeah, he's great. Well, you, first of all, you have to complete a level to do a boss battle with Dr. Eggman. And we can't say Robotnik. In the United States, they said Eggman. That's it, Dr. Eggman. Anyway, he hides in a garage, that's what we call it, and after you make it to the end of a level, he comes out, you have to battle him. He swings back and forth almost, I don't know, two-thirds the width of the game, maybe more, left and right. He also has the ability to go up and down, and so he can dodge your shots. He can, he can, it's a lot of fun. That's the whole thing. And it's, it's been very well tested and it's like, it's durable. And it's probably one of the most fun targets on a pinball machine ever. And it's, I'm not patting myself on the back. I have a great team. I mean, these people are awesome.
    7:23
    A new guy, Cam Astoris, he's a mechanical engineer, young, into robotics and stuff. It was my concept to make it, but he just did a bang-up job on making it happen and making it durable. And it lights up so cool, too. I mean, it's awesome. It's a great toy. It's a great bash toy. It sounds like it. So it is a physical bash toy, because my understanding was there's a sensor underneath it that kind of tracks the ball, or is that not right?
    7:56
    No, that's not correct. It doesn't track the ball, but he has, you know, Bill Grop and the guys have written programs to raise and lower him at times. It gets more difficult the further you get into the game. He'll dodge the ball. I mean, just randomly, it's very competitive, you know, to beat him in later levels, no doubt. It's fun. So you said that you have to complete a level to bring him out. Yeah, like Green Hill, you know, got to complete one. They call them ACTS, A-C-T-S in the, you know, in the Sonic games. But, you know, it's a level. There's seven different levels. And here's the cool part. You don't have to start in Green Hill. You can start at the toughest level if you want the game from the very beginning. It's a nice freedom. If you're bored, you're not going to get bored. I mean, there's a lot to do and a lot to choose from. Awesome. So those levels are all one mode, right? Because you're talking about Axe as well. They're not a mode. Oh, gotcha. So they're not a mode at all. So the levels... No, they're levels. I mean, they're just levels. Like in the Sonic video game, you have to, you know, hit a bunch of checkpoints and try to gather as many rings as you can. Yes. You know, you try to avoid all these bad things that try to hurt you. And after you've completed it, you know, you have to do a boss battle. Soterios Johnson CMO at Sperry Pins Sperry Pins Sperry Pins Sperry Pins Sperry Pins Sperry Pins Sperry Pins Incorporated them into this pinball machine We incorporated them through multiball Chaos Emerald Multiball is where you start your quest to collect emeralds So the first thing you do is you start two ball multiball. The first one is very easy.
    9:53
    All you have to do is go back into the shop where the balls came out of, where they were locked, and you'll collect the first emerald. There's some like a hint on the play field that tells you where to shoot during multiball to collect another emerald. It's a lamp that flashes, shows the color, and you have to hit that shot and then go back in the hole where multiballs come out of. We call it the lockup. Lockup has three single stand up targets in front of it. It's like an inline three bank, but it's smart. Okay. It returns the targets to whatever condition you left them in on your previous ball.
    10:36
    You know, it's going to be all different. You have a four-player game. Everybody's going to have a different situation. That situation will be returned to them as they play their next ball.
    10:46
    And like I said, they're smart. It's very nice. That's way cool. Is there at the back of the three-target bank, is it just hold the ball back there or is there an actual kicker that's back there? There's actually a shot that curves around and it rests against an up post and the post comes down when it's time to release the balls. I know in the games, once you collect all the emeralds, you get supersonic mode, which I saw was on this play field. How are you tying that into the gameplay? I'm not telling. None of your beeswax. Now, just for the moment, it's under development, and it's like I don't want to talk about it. I heard, because I saw this loop-de-loop on the right side. That's one of the most iconic things in Sonic, right? Because going through the loop-de-loop. There's a magnet that feeds this. If I understand this correctly, does the ball catch, or the magnet catch the ball, and you charge up like you would in Sonic, and then release the charge so you can go through the loop-de-loop? Actually, you're talking about two different features we have on the pinball machine. Oh, yes. Yes, there is a magnetic ramp with three magnets. The acceleration is tremendous. Okay. It goes through there and it's a right ramp shot. And the ball flies through there and it's, you know, it's sped up very quickly, fed into the loop and thrown to your right flipper like a flash of lightning.
    12:13
    It's pretty fun. And the other thing you talked about, which is a spin bash. After you've made that shot a few times, spin bash becomes available. You shoot the ball up there and the ball stops dead on the magnet. You see a bar in the display and you start pounding the flipper buttons. There's a little bar that you can move. When that bar hits the first bar, you score. The ball retracts a little and comes flying out again through the loop. That's fun. It sounds like it. I'm excited to play this. I grew up on the 90s Sonic, so a lot of this just resonates. I'm excited to see, especially with The King of Flow and Spieve, playing F-14 Tomcat and those classic 80s Bally Williams games that you were involved in in the 90s as well. I mean, Getaway is so iconic, right? And when you talk about the three magnets, my mind automatically gravitates there. So I just I'm excited to play this game because it seems like there is a lot that you've put from your years of experience into this game to make it just the best that it can be. There is. And it's really exciting. Music is good, too. I mean, speaking of music, I noticed on the sheet that Slash has done some music for this as well. Yeah, he has. He did some lead guitar work on a couple of songs, and the guy's awesome. He's just a great guitar player and a good guy. No, and it's great to have someone as cool as Slash willing to rip and shred on a guitar.
    13:46
    Sonic is known for rock music, and so to have him bring his signature style of rock to this, love it. Yeah, it worked out great. It really did. We've kind of alluded to this with the rules and the code a little bit. JJP is known for its complex, deep rule set. But with some of that complexity, it's kind of hard to convey what's going on. How are you guys working on to help simplify the message to the player of what to do in this game? Sonic has pretty simple rules until you start getting into the... There's one mode that's a wizard mode, but the other three modes are pretty tough. Some of the stuff you have to figure out, no question.
    14:30
    The rules on the way there are really simple. It's based on color. Blue, blue arrows, blue LEDs, just single LEDs on the upper play field, all score checkpoints.
    14:44
    Gold or yellow LEDs. And we can change, you know, the color of any insert. So we can put that goal anywhere we want. We can put a ring here or, you know, a checkpoint, you know, anywhere we want. So, and then there's green, and that deals with the Master Emerald, and red, when you're upstairs dealing with Dr. Eggman. Okay, those are all jackpots, bonus, that kind of stuff. Very easy. Just like it's easy to play Sonic. Get the rings, stay alive, you know, bash some stuff, beat Dr. Eggman. I mean, that's pretty much it. It sounds like it lends great to pinball. It's great for pinball. It's one of the best. I think it's the best pinball theme ever, maybe. I don't know. It might not be the best ever, but it's up there. It's pretty great. And the nice part, too, is the foundations are been laid because they made a Sonic pinball game for the original sake of Genesis. Sure. Spinball. Yeah, spinball. Did you take any inspiration from that as well? Not for the playfield design because, you know, the video one is very basic and I can't do that.
    16:07
    That's not that I can't do it. I want flow. I want things to happen. And I will say this too, the flow between the lower play field and the upper play field is the best, my best effort of all time. It flows on the upper play field and it flows when it comes back down. There is no interruption in play and it is fast.
    16:33
    That's what I was hearing. If you're not paying attention, you hit that left ramp, it's a 180 ramp that feeds right to that left flipper. And it comes screaming at you. It does. There's that and there, well, you know, you get a little bit of time if it goes in through the back of the back panel from the lower play field into a buck to be kicked up to the upper play field. You get a break because the ball's out of sight and I don't like that. When it's out of sight, I'm going to let you know, here it comes. And we do. We warn you very well. The left ramp, nope. You don't get a warning. Sperling
    17:38
    Like this has been incorporated that it's just, it's part of the game. The upper playfield does not encroach the lower playfield at all. I had to think about things hanging down from the bottom of the upper playfield. And there isn't anything except for, you know, nuts to hold mini posts and ball guides on and wiring. Okay. But I wanted a target up there, a linear target where you strike it and it, you know, it goes forward. It's been tried many times in the business. I mean, I had this thought a while back a couple years ago, but I didn't do anything with it because I didn't need it. Well, now I needed it. And this target, it's really hard to get good rebound off of any other design that's ever been done. I mean, a long time ago, they tried flipper buttons. It would hit it. It was clicky. You'd hear the click, and there would be almost no rebound. And it's like, no, I don't want that. So we built this little, you know, this little target with a like silicone rubber, but stronger urethane. OK, and it's real bouncy. And we've got springs behind it, not the kind like you would get in a stand up target where they do this, you know, smacking into each other. Sperry B Do you know what I mean You don stack wire And we found the right ones and they play great and I love them I love it They throw it right back at the flipper. They're nice. I mean, it's cool. It's really good. The upper play field is super busy. It is total chaos playing the game. I mean, it really is. The slingshots, there's four of them. There's two up in the upper third of the game just before you get to the bad neck targets and the hole in the back to go up and stand up.
    19:40
    There's a single drop target up there. And those slingshots are sort of pointed at each other and they get the ball just hauling ass. Is it okay to say hauling ass? Yeah. Okay.
    19:54
    So the ball is really moving fast. The fastest I've ever seen a ball move between two slingshots, okay? And it's like, I wonder how long it's going to stay adjusted like that. They stay. I don't know why. Don't know how. They just stay adjusted. It's never been a problem. So it's amazing J.J.P. mechanical engineers, right?
    20:16
    It's placement. Placement of rubber and where they are and the angles that they're on. And also there's a big magnet under there. I mean, having a straight shot up the middle invites straight down the middle drains. So we put a magnet underneath the playfield up in the upper area, and that magnet always, I mean, it affects the ball. Sometimes it'll throw it right back up back into the upper playfield. Sometimes it'll throw it back at you, but not down the middle.
    20:49
    I got a real fast one today. I don't know. It makes it very random and fun. That's it. And protects somewhat from center drains. Yes, I love it. All of them are going to be saved. They're not. Not all of them are, but my motto is play better.
    21:08
    I love it. Hey, I want to introduce our co-host, Scott Larson. Thanks for coming in and joining us. He ran from work today to get in and he left a person on the operating table to be like, I am doing this for JJP. Randy, you don't sweat much, Scott. I drive fast. So Steve, with Harry Potter, you guys brought back the arcade version. You also have the mid-tier and the collector's edition. And so can you tell me about the divisions? Is it going to be a similar approach like you did with Harry Potter to make sure you have the same play field and the same feel for all the different versions? Or are you modifying it depending on the level?
    21:49
    There are no modifications. There is one play set, one play field, one set of rules, one set of video artwork. Okay. It plays exactly the same between all three models. Oh, okay. So we're not changing anything, but you do have different things that reward people for upgrading to the different levels. So can you talk about what the rewards are for, hey, spending a little bit extra money, getting more eye candy and getting more chips? No problem, I understand what you want to say. The collector's edition has a very special topper that's mechanical. It's also electronic. It's got a Sonic toy and a Dr. Eggman toy. And it's the full width of the back box. They move back and forth. They can turn and face you. They can face away from each other. They can face each other. They can chase each other back and forth. Behind them is a long and thin display. It's awesome. And we're putting things like smoke behind the Eggmobile, okay? When Sonic starts running, it's dust coming up off the ground. And when you smack into him, parts fall off of the Eggmobile. Or Sonic, you know, it can be like birds going around his head like he's knocked out or at least dazed. Sperry Pinnacle, Jocelyn B. Gaines, and J.J. Gomes. That has animations. Yeah, a big one. I mean, it's the full width of the back box. And yes, that's it. It animates behind the toys, which when you go into, you know, boss battle, they fight, they move against each other. You see, you know, explosions, stuff like that. Oh, okay. So now let's talk about mid-level. So there's a top- No, no, no, no, no. Oh, we're not done. Okay, we're not done. We're not done. So the CE has a beautiful sparkle Radcals, and the sparkle glitter is, wait till you see it. It's not like Elton John. Elton John was nice, but this is like, I mean, stuff is moving when you walk by. All you have to do is move your head or just walk by. The glitter is animated. That's the best word I could use. The artwork is beautiful. You know, it comes with a shaker motor. It comes with the camera. It comes with the CE. It comes with a gold ring shooter knob. It's outstanding. And one thing I love is the lower arch decal, also with glitter. It's like sparkly. I don't know. It's beautiful. And so, yeah, it seems like regardless of which version of this game, you're going to be getting a similar playing experience between all the levels. And there are just ways of making it brighter, more interactive, more eye candy as you're willing to step up for the different levels.
    25:24
    Yeah, that's true. So one of the things I was noticing, we talked about the Dr. Eggman bash toy up top, but below him on the lower play field is a battle zone that looks kind of similar to maybe like the Sandman area on Spider-Man. Is that incorporated with the boss battle or is it its own separate thing? Well, Dr. Eggman has his badniks, little robots that try to attack Sonic and other characters. And so the battle zone, that's the beginning of the area. The actual place where you battle Eggman is on the upper playfield. But we call it the battle zone and we call the upper area where he is his laboratory. It seems like the upper playfield is pretty jam-packed and it seems like it's covering, wow, it's like it's almost coming about a third of the way down, maybe even slightly past a third of the way down. Yeah, and it's like there's eight shots up there. And there's two flippers. I mean, this is packed. And that's going to be a really fast in-your-face experience when you're shooting two flippers. It totally is. And it's like kind of like new skill developing because the flippers are not at the same angle. They're optimized for the shots they face. And because the shots are so widespread, they don't have an angle like this. They have more of a downward angle to make sure that you can make all the shots, and you can. And there's no loss of flow between the upper and lower play fields. It just, well, you'll see what happens. It takes a lot of skill to keep the ball up there. It takes a lot of skill to understand what you're going to get. I mean, but it's very clear as soon as you learn the color code what you're going to get. Okay, one thing that I did notice, though, is you have wire forms that bring it all down to the left flipper when you drain. So, okay, so is there in other games, like you're in danger when it falls off the upper playfield because it can go anywhere and a lot of times it goes down the middle, but this seems a little more controlled than some of the other upper playfields in the past. That's because the upper playfield is uncontrolled. Oh, okay. I mean, that's enough risk. I mean, you know, it takes a while to master staying up there. I'll just say that. So one question I have, Harry Potter has been a grand slam. Are you guys going to still be building those while you make Sonic? And how soon can we see Sonics out in the wild? There are finished games on the line right now. So I'm not going to talk about when, but not long. Within a few weeks. One thing they did with Harry Potter, though, is they didn't really limit. It was a time window of when you could buy the CE, not necessarily a limited number. And I'm assuming that window's coming to a close for Harry Potter. Are you going to do this? Is Jersley Jack going to do the same thing for the CEO on Sonic? Yeah. I mean, why would any company limit? I don't understand that part of it. If you can sell a pinball machine in the world, you sell it. I know that's – I mean, I'm a game designer. I like fun but I seen the pinball business do this You know I don want that anymore I want the pinball business to thrive So do you because you not going to get games if it doesn okay We got to sell games. And, yeah, there's not going to be a limit beyond a time. It's going to work exactly like Harry Potter. That's actually something I've been a big proponent of because I would rather have the best version of a game available to everybody who wants to buy it. Yes, there's no reason not to give that to them. None at all. We're leaving money on the table also. Money, powers, pinball, development. Yep. No, I absolutely. Well, Steve, the first time I actually went to one of your seminars, this is probably roughly 10 years ago when you signed my Spider-Man. Wait, wait, wait. I remember that. You were annoying. Yeah, it's true. No, you weren't annoying. I'm just kidding. I had you sign my Spider-Man translate. And the first thing you did is when you got up, you introduced yourself this way. Hi, I'm Steve Ritchie, and I sell pinball machines.
    29:52
    Okay. I try to do my best on every game, and so I can say that I want to sell pinballs. I do. One thing I saw in this that I really, really love that I want to talk about is you have the little rings all over the play field from the Sonic game. And they have displays in the middle of them. Can you tell me more about those? Yeah, there's like five displays that are electronic. They have the same kind of, actually, it might be a little bit smaller LED than the piano display in Elton John. But it's that same kind of high-intensity brightness. And, you know, it's kind of low-res, but there's your low-res. I mean, if you want to see low-res characters, look at the little displays. They're full of information. They tell you where to shoot and what you're going to get. You see a blue arrow pointing this way on the upper play field. It's between two shots. Shoot there, and you're going to get a checkpoint. If you see a ring spinning and it's pointing there, you get a ring or several. And there's a lot of information there. There really is. Spooky Pinball Inc. is another thing. It's like we have Sonic Hero Multiball. You have to collect three members of a team, and there are four different teams with different characters on them, and they have names.
    31:45
    When you get a team of three, you spell out hero in the lanes down below with lane change or whatever, and that'll light the hero. There's a shot to start Multiball, and there's an up post in there. It holds the ball for a minute and lets you know that you're going to go into multiball. If you want to, if you don't want to, you hit the center action button and you can, you know, risk gathering another team before you play that multiball. And it stacks all the way to all four teams, which is 12 characters. And they've come up with a really cool display feature on the back glass that shows your characters in black and white that you need as soon as you acquire one team member. So they're sort of black and white and they fill in with color as you collect them.
    32:43
    You can collect, like I said, up to four teams and the bonuses and jackpots are huge if you can do it. I never have. The most I've ever gotten is two teams. But also, when you shoot in that shot, it gives you a letter. It's like scoring a letter in one of the lanes. So it's definitely, you know, it helps you complete hero often. It sounds like if you're familiar with the, I guess, the classic era of the Sonic games from the Genesis that you will be familiar with all the background sounds, with the music, with the effects, with everything. Do you lose rings in this game? That was a feature of the video games when you were spinning around and you would actually collect rings and then you'd hit a spike and all the rings would go flying. Yeah, that's a subject of an internal battle we've been having. That's not a serious battle. We're still thinking about it. But right now, a tilt warning is making you lose rings. I'm not sure I like that because on a tilt warning, why should you lose anything? It's bad enough. Okay, I've moved it too much. I don't want to move it again like that. I don't want to shake the game. It's probably enough. Uh, you definitely lose a lot if you tilt the game. If you tilt it, you're going to lose a lot of rings. Maybe not all of them, but a lot, a big percentage. Now, getting back to the little displays, you were talking about them guiding your path. This seems a little bit of a callback to Jersey Jack's Pirates of the Caribbean, where it had the compass down below and it would say, hey, shoot this shot for the most points. Is there a similar approach to this game? Yeah, there is, but it's not going to be as verbose, okay, because it's tiny. I think there's like 65 elements in each ring. So it's like, it produces nice looking pixelated, you know, vintage sonic look. It does that. It does tell you information, but you kind of look at all of them and you see bonus at times in big letters broken up between the five displays. But for some reason, your brain reads it as bonus. So that's a good thing. You know, boss battle, same thing. Things are going on. They're always animated. It's very entertaining. You know, Steve, you've been doing this for over 50 years, like I said at the very beginning. How much gas do you have left in the tank? I'd love to do a few more games. Okay, working here with all these younger people makes me younger. I can't help it. You know, one thing that I did not see in Sonic that is kind of iconic to the games is pop bumpers are actually in the Sonic games. They're these little red, blue with stars on them. They're not. They're trampoline things. You jump on the top of them. I didn't want jets. I wanted that kind of action. And you get it on those upper slingshots and their side-to-side motion. Jets are not missed. I just don't miss them. They take up a lot of room on this play field and I'll go back to using them again. I'm just this design. They slow everything down to where do you see and play your favorite shot and your favorite mode.
    36:15
    My favorite shot is right up the center. It's just it's not as easy as it looks. Got to have good huevos on the ball. And upper play, well, there's a series of fun combos when you can nail them. I love, you know. I think Sonic would not be thematically consistent if it were a safe game. That's right.
    36:42
    I can't do that. I can't make, you know, like an easy game. Somewhere in the middle. Well, I don't want to, I want to be good to the guys that are, you know, like me, not that good. I'm not that good of a player. I'm around here and some of these guys are incredible. Eric is an incredible player. Joe Katz is an incredible player. Those guys, Keith Johnson.
    37:08
    I'm just not that good. So I kind of like, I try to be a champion for average players. Well, Steve, we appreciate you coming on. It's been wonderful having you talk about Sonic, about your career, working at Jersey Jack Pinball. If someone wants to get a hold of you, what is the best way they can get a hold of you? Call Jersey Jack. Are you going to broadcast my phone number? No, no, no. We won't do that. No. Okay. Go see the shows, I guess. That's the best way. Okay. You can do this. S. Ritchie at Jersey Jack Pinball. And if you want to get a hold of us, we are Loser Kid Pinball Podcast at gmail.com. We're on all the socials at Loser Kid Pinball. And if you like the swag, if you want to get your 8-bit stuff to celebrate Sonic, silverballswag.com slash loser kid. Scott, why don't you give us our last words? Okay, and I'll just go with Sonic. Sonic's the name speeds my game.
    38:14
    Thank you.