American Pinball to Produce Barry Oursler’s Last Game, Adds New Artist & More

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·Mar 26, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.019

TL;DR

American Pinball announces Franchi as artist, production roadmap, and Barry Oursler final game project.

Summary

American Pinball announced at Texas Pinball Festival that Chris Franchi will be the artist for its next game, revealed production timelines for multiple titles through 2023, and announced plans to manufacture Barry Oursler's final pinball game in collaboration with Steve Bowden. The company also provided detailed transparency on production numbers, line allocations, and upcoming features like free inner art side blades for Legends of Valhalla owners.

Key Claims

Chris Franchi will be the artist for American Pinball's next game
high confidence · Official announcement by David Fix at Texas Pinball Festival seminar
American Pinball will produce Barry Oursler's last game, developed with Steve Bowden on rules
high confidence · Official announcement at Texas Pinball Festival seminar, expected completion/reveal by next year's TPF
American Pinball is running two production lines currently, with plans to start a third line 'shortly'
high confidence · Production update provided at TPF seminar
Production schedule: Legends of Valhalla Deluxe through early phase, then Classics; Hot Wheels completion, then Oktoberfest (May, 200 Deluxe), then Houdini (July/August, 200 units), then 500 Hot Wheels; Legends of Valhalla continues through all 2022 and most 2023
high confidence · Detailed production update at TPF seminar
Hot Wheels was originally going to be 'Poker Run' before acquiring the Hot Wheels license
high confidence · Trivia shared during seminar presentation
Houdini upgrades include subwoofer, coil system, and power system improvements from original; gameplay remains the same except code improvements like team play
high confidence · Company statement at TPF seminar
Steve Bowden is a new American Pinball employee who contributed to March code update for Legends of Valhalla
high confidence · Stated in seminar presentation
Free inner art side blades will be shipped to all Legends of Valhalla Deluxe Edition owners who registered their machines
high confidence · Official announcement at TPF seminar

Notable Quotes

“That certainly is a tremendous amount of transparency. Kudos to AP for that. I've always wondered why production numbers were considered by some manufacturers to be such a proprietary trade secret.”
Knapp Arcade (article author) @ end of production update discussion — Commentary on American Pinball's unusual willingness to share detailed production numbers and timelines, praising transparency as uncommon in the industry
“In my opinion, the company made a fantastic decision to switch the pin to the Hot Wheels license.”
Knapp Arcade (article author) @ Hot Wheels/Poker Run discussion — Positive assessment of American Pinball's licensing choice
“There was buzz at Deeproot that it was actually a pretty good game before the company fell apart. We'll see…”
Knapp Arcade (article author) @ closing section on Barry Oursler game — Speculation about Barry Oursler's final game quality, possibly 'Food Truck', mentions Deep Root context

Entities

American PinballcompanyChris FranchipersonDavid Fixperson Barry OurslerpersonSteve BowdenpersonFrank GigliottipersonTexas Pinball Festivalevent Legends of Valhallagame

Signals

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business_signal: American Pinball expanding production capacity with third production line 'shortly' and detailed multi-year production roadmap through 2023
high · Company stated it is going to start up a third production line 'shortly' and provided explicit production schedule through 2023
?
community_signal: American Pinball providing unprecedented transparency on production numbers and timelines, contrasting with industry norm of treating such data as proprietary
high · Article commentary: 'That certainly is a tremendous amount of transparency. Kudos to AP for that. I've always wondered why production numbers were considered by some manufacturers to be such a proprietary trade secret.'
?
personnel_signal: Steve Bowden, new American Pinball employee, contributing to rules design and code updates for multiple titles
high · Steve Bowden is new employee who contributed to newest version of Legends of Valhalla code and developed rules for Barry Oursler's final game
?
personnel_signal: Christopher Franchi announced as artist for American Pinball's next game, representing talent acquisition from broader pinball design community
high · Official announcement at Texas Pinball Festival seminar: 'art on the company's next pinball machine will be done by the well-known pinball artist Chris Franchi'
$
market_signal: American Pinball considering stripped-down Houdini version at lower price point for operators and consumers, with certain mechs like ball-launching Milk Can removed
medium · There was talk about potentially selling a stripped down version of Houdini for operators and consumers who want one at a lower price point

Topics

American Pinball production roadmap and transparencyprimaryChris Franchi joining American Pinball as artistprimaryBarry Oursler final game project acquisitionprimaryCode updates and feature additions (team play, mechanics improvements)secondaryProduction line expansion and operational scalingsecondaryHot Wheels licensing decision and original conceptsecondaryCustomer service and free upgrade programsmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Article author expresses strong approval of American Pinball's transparency, praises decision-making on Hot Wheels license, and shows enthusiasm for Barry Oursler project. Some curiosity/uncertainty about final game identity tempers enthusiasm slightly.

Transcript

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On Saturday afternoon, American Pinball hosted a seminar at the Texas Pinball Festival. During the presentation David Fix announced that the art on the company‘s next pinball machine will be done by the well-known pinball artist Christopher Franchi. The company also announced that it has created official inner art side blades for its latest game, Legends of Valhalla. All owners who purchased a Legends of Valhalla Deluxe Edition and registered it with the Company will be shipped the new blades for free. They will be available as an optional purchase on the Classic Edition. American is currently Beta testing a new March code update for The Legends of Valhalla at its booth at the Texas Pinball Festival. The company’s new employee, Steven Bowden, contributed to the newest version of the game’s great Frank Gigliotti code. American Pinball provided a production update. It is currently running two lines. On its main line it is committed to finishing up its entire run of Deluxe Legend of Valhalla machines before it begins to run Classics. Pricing has not yet been determined for the lower-end version. On its other line it is finishing up its current run of Hot Wheels. When the Hot Wheels are complete, the company is switching that line over to produce Oktoberfest, probably in May. It will produce 200 of the Deluxe model. After Oktoberfest they will run 200 Houdinis Probably in July / August. When the Houdini run is complete it will make another 500 Hot Wheels on that line. Legends of Valhalla will continue on the line through all of 2022 and most of 2023. American stated that is is going to start up a third production line “shortly.”This leaves open the possibility for a new title to be announced. Whew. Got all that? That certainly is a tremendous amount of transparency. Kudos to AP for that. I’ve always wondered why production numbers were considered by some manufacturers to be such a proprietary trade secret. The company stated that it has upgraded the subwoofer, coil system and power system in Houdini from the original games, but the gameplay itself is exactly the same other than code improvements, such as team play. Team Play has been added to Hot Wheels as well right now. It will be added to the code for Oktoberfest shortly. There was talk about potentially selling a stripped down version of Houdini for operators and consumers who want one at a lower price point. This version would have certain mechs, such as the ball-launching Milk Can removed. Another interesting bit of trivia that came out of the seminar is that prior to getting the Hot Wheels license that game was going to be “Poker Run.” In my opinion, the company made a fantastic decision to switch the pin to the Hot Wheels license. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, American Pinball is planning to manufacture Barry Oursler’s last game, which was developed in conjunction with Steven Bowden on rules. AP hopes to have the game complete and ready to show by next year’s Texas Pinball Festival. I wonder what game that will be? Food Truck perhaps? There was buzz at Deeproot that it was actually a pretty good game before the company fell apart. We’ll see…