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Steve Ritchie - Pinball Expo 2018 - Pinball News

Pinball News (Pinball Expo 2018)·video·29m 39s·analyzed·Oct 23, 2018
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.022

TL;DR

Steve Ritchie's Pinball Expo 2018 confessional comedy featuring industry legends.

Summary

Steve Ritchie hosts a humorous confessional-style Q&A at Pinball Expo 2018, featuring prominent pinball figures (Eugene Jarvis, Greg Fraris, Dwight Sullivan, Pat McMahon, and others) sharing playful "confessions" about pinball. The event blends comedy with brief personal anecdotes and industry relationships, culminating in a group rendition of "Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum." While primarily entertainment, it provides informal insights into the community and personalities shaping pinball history.

Key Claims

  • Atari pinball machines 'never worked' but generated significant revenue

    high confidence · Howie Rubin confesses to being one of two people who sold non-functional Atari pinball machines while making substantial profits

  • Steve Ritchie and Dwight Sullivan collaborated on approximately 50,000 games together

    medium confidence · Steve Ritchie introduces Dwight Sullivan as someone with whom he made 'about 50,000 games together'

  • Tim Sexton is a new programmer on Stern's projects

    high confidence · Steve Ritchie introduces Tim Sexton as 'a new program at Stern. He's on my project' and describes him as 'an amazing young man'

  • Deadpool boxes were delivered to Pinball Expo 2018 from Stern

    high confidence · Steve Ritchie mentions scrounging up 'a couple of pinball boxes that were supposed to be delivered here from Stern' and later confirms 'They are Deadpool'

  • Pat Lawlor is preferred as a pinball designer by Dwight Sullivan

    medium confidence · Dwight Sullivan confesses 'My favorite pinball designer is Pat Lawler' (pronounced Lawlor), to which Steve assigns heavy penance for being 'a traitor'

Notable Quotes

  • “We didn't know how to build pinball machines, did we? No, we certainly did not. But we really did know how to tell the people the new kind of gameplay and what you could do with imagination.”

    Howie Rubin@ 2:20 — Candid admission about Atari's pinball venture being driven by marketing vision rather than engineering competence

  • “My favorite pinball designer is Pat Lawler.”

    Dwight Sullivan@ 9:09 — Public preference stated for a designer other than Steve Ritchie, humorously treated as a major sin

  • “It's been easier to avoid the emotional conflicts than to address them. There aren't any emotional conflicts in pinball. There is if you don't play pinball.”

    Jim Patla@ 7:44 — Reflection on emotional connection to pinball and why absence from the hobby affects people

  • “I told my wife, since there's at least three, four weeks, and that all my siblings were late, we had time to fill up the nursery with more pinball machines.”

    Mark Harper@ 10:32 — Humorous confession about prioritizing pinball machine collection over preparing for imminent childbirth

  • “The problem is I hate people. I mean, sometimes there's people that like people and there's people that hate people. And it's like, I don't know. It's just the way I am.”

    Eugene Jarvis@ 20:45 — Candid self-assessment from legendary designer about interpersonal challenges

  • “I pulled it out of their basement. And when I got it home and drilled the lock, there was a bag of weed in the pinball machine.”

    Tom Taylor — Unexpected confession involving illicit substance discovery in a purchased machine

Entities

Steve RitchiepersonHowie RubinpersonEugene JarvispersonDwight SullivanpersonGreg FrarispersonPat LawlorpersonTim Sextonperson

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: Pinball Expo 2018 featured formal confessional-style Q&A event with legendary designers

    high · Event structure, attendee participation, and setup described throughout

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Tim Sexton introduced as new programmer at Stern working on Steve Ritchie projects

    high · Steve Ritchie explicitly introduces him: 'Ladies and gentlemen, this is a new program at Stern. He's on my project, Mr. Tim Sexton... He's an amazing young man, and we're going to make the pinball business rock'

  • ?

    announcement: Deadpool pinball machines confirmed for Stern production and delivery to Pinball Expo 2018

    high · Steve Ritchie mentions scrounging up pinball boxes from Stern and confirms 'They are Deadpool' boxes

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.089

0:00
First thing I'm going to do, it's the only serious thing I'm going to do tonight, I'm going to say a prayer. God, please bless all these good people that came to Pinball Expo.
0:17
Please don't strike me down with a bolt of lightning. We're just having fun. Thank you. Amen. All right, you guys. have you ever sold a game that you know it wasn't quite right you don't have to stick your hand up you have to get up here but I'm not done yet have you ever bought a game and hidden it somewhere else away from your spouse have you ever penny bounced pinball machines to cheat and get credits who would like to confess first come on up and take a seat in the confessional
1:20
okay friends this is my old friend from Atari Howie Dillman. No, no. Howie Rubin. How can I make that mistake? You look the same. You look exactly like Howie Rubin. May I just have one confession? No, sit down. We're going to talk.
1:39
Nothing is quite that easy. I know you're Jewish, but we'll go ahead with the sermon. Say it. Bless me, Father, for the sins. For my sins. For my sense, okay.
1:52
@ 22:25
Pat McMahon
person
David Fixperson
Jim Patlaperson
Mark Harperperson
Tom Taylorperson
Sterncompany
Ataricompany
Pinball Expo 2018event
Star Trek The Next Generationgame
Deadpoolgame
Mata Harigame
When was the last time you were in confession, Howie? Never. Probably last night to my wife. Okay. So, what would you like to confess, Howie? I would like to confess to the fact that I was one of two people who sold the Atari pinball machines that never worked.
2:12
There it is. But earned a heck of a lot of money. Yeah. Made a lot of money, but we didn't know how to build pinball machines, did we? No, we certainly did not. But we really did know how to tell the people the new kind of gameplay and what you could do with imagination.
2:29
We tried. It was just incredible. And I would also like to confess to all the poor distributors who I used to have to go out to collect money for the mobile machines. That didn't work.
2:40
Well, all right, here's what I think you should do. Say, like, five Hail Marys and go out there and clean somebody's dirty game. No, I'm not going to. That's it. That's all you've got to do. I'm not going to confess to that because I think it was just a great game. It's a confession or it's not a confession? I confess to my sin. Okay. Thanks a lot. Steve, it was really great. How are you, Ruben? We worked together at Atari from, I'm thinking, 1974 to 78, something like that. Yeah, that's in 84. Yeah. Thanks for coming up. Come on, people. You know you have something to confess. There we go.
3:20
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I know. I've heard about them. What have you heard? When was the last time you had confession?
3:46
When was the last time I said that? The 35th day of Kunigonda. Say it. 35th day of Kunigunde. That was too long ago. All right, ladies and gentlemen, this is a new program at Stern. He's on my project, Mr. Tim Sexton. Hands, right now!
4:02
He's an amazing young man, and we're going to make the pinball business rock because we have to. That's right. So, what is your confession? Steve, Father Steve, I've invented a pinball technique that involves kicking the leg. Are you French?
4:22
No. Okay, you're sure? Yes. Okay. So how does it work? Ball's hanging on the in-lane, out-lane post. Yeah. Give it a little kick in the opposite direction. Saves it every time. But that is a form of pinball abuse. It is.
4:37
Well, say three Hail Marys and mow Lyman's lawn. All right. We're good. Thank you. Thanks for coming up.
4:50
David Fix, would you mind coming up here, please? Please. Bless me. You need to spell that right. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.
5:16
It's totally correct. Totally. I can't read. I know. I play pinball. You're kind of blind. Well, I have to be. I love your games. Okay. Hey, that was an underhanded comment. Okay, so would you like to confess something? Yes. What is it? I buy a lot of machines and I hide them from my wife. Oh. I have just about every Steve Ritchie game except two Atari ones. Wow. if you give me one of them, I won't tell her.
5:46
That's a pretty good deal. You can tell her. All right, I'll tell her. David Fix helped me set this up today, and I'm grateful to him for doing that.
5:58
We had to go scrounge up a couple of pinball boxes that were supposed to be delivered here from Stern.
6:04
Isn't that your sin? You stole somebody else's boxes? Yeah, they're Deadpool boxes, I think. Oh, then that's okay. Okay. They are Deadpool. Okay, so folks, this is the company that I work for right here. It's sort of like the, I don't know, I'll just say that we make a lot of games. As much as I like to make games, it's really important to make money too. I'm in the business of making pinballs too seldom. I also enjoy playing them. Jim Palladus walked in and thumbed his nose at me. I think he should be next. Yeah. Anyway, thanks for coming up, David. Thank you. And the next guy up here is Jim Patla. Uh-huh.
6:52
Jim Patla, a great designer from Valley Friends. He made one of the coolest games. I loved it. I love Mata Hari. There was like two in the hall, I think maybe three. Awesome game. Easy does it.
7:04
I have a chair. You know this stuff. You're a Catholic. There we go. Please, breast be found. I have sinned. I know you have. It's all over the place. I played last night.
7:17
Okay so when the last time you had confession It been a long time It been a long time Yeah yeah yeah Okay So what do you have to confess Ah that I miss pinball You miss pinball? I miss pinball.
7:35
I haven't been involved in a very long time. How come? Why not? Oh, I don't know. You've been working other jobs, haven't you? It's been easier to avoid the emotional conflicts than to address them. There aren't any emotional conflicts in pinball. There is if you don't play pinball. Yeah, if you don't play, I guess. I don't know.
7:59
Is that your only sin? Yes. Well, you don't have to say Hail Marys or anything else. No, I just... But I will say... Play multiple. Say it again. Play multiple. Playing multiple? Instead of Hail Mary. I don't hear this. Instead of Hail Mary, I just have to play multi-ball? Yeah, play pinball. That's a good idea. Okay. All right, man. Thanks for coming up. All right. Thank you.
8:26
I'm looking. Dwight Sullivan. I know you've got confessions to make. Dwight Sullivan is a programmer. I think we've made 50,000 games together or so. a true game maker a friend someone to argue with alright bless me father for I have sinned how long was it since your last confession about 75 years ok so Dwight what would you like to confess I have something very heavy on my heart that's been weighing me down for a long long time My confession is my favorite pinball designer is Pat Lawler.
9:21
Save 100 Hail Marys and clean every game in the display area. It's a traitor in every group. It just is. Let's see now. Come on. I want one of you guys to get up here and confess. You need it. You'll feel so much better.
9:47
None. No takers. Okay. Come on up. I think this is going to be a real actual pinball confession where something terrible happened. Maybe a murder. This one is for real. Wait, wait, wait. You've got to do this right. Hello, Father Steve.
10:06
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. When was the last time you had a confession? 35th day I've gone to God. I'm ashamed. That's sad. Yes. Longer. What would you like to confess? What's your name? Mark Harper. Yes, Father. My wife is eight months pregnant right now. Whoa. Yes.
10:26
Congratulations. Thank you. With our first child, a boy. Yeah. And I told my wife, since there's at least three, four weeks, and that all my siblings were late, we had time to fill up the nursery with more pinball machines. That's great. And we did.
10:45
And I feel very ashamed about that, Father. It's not so bad of a sin. So I would say three Hail Marys and then sell them as soon as the baby's born. Got to get rid of those pins. Thank you, Father. I have one more sin to confess. This one has really weighed heavily on me. I need some kind of absolution for this. I traded a very, very heavily, heavily customized Lord of the Rings for Ripley's Believe It or Not.
11:12
I don't think that was such a good game, you know. I'm sorry. I've tried to undo it for months and months, but there's no way to cleanse my soul for that. Right. So save five Hail Marys and, I don't know, walk a couple miles. Perfect. Thank you very much, Father Steve. I appreciate it. Thanks for coming up, Mark. I need a confessor.
11:39
Duck. It's Phoebe. Careful. Will you please use the stairs from now on? Thank you. I hate to see you get hurt.
11:59
On the mic. Bless me, Father Fredson. I know. Now, when was your last confession? Never. Never? Me too. So I have a lot. Okay.
12:14
The one that's really weighing heavy on me, though, is this past summer I was at a pinball tournament, and there was a very well-known pinball designer that was there, and I think I corrupted him. I was giving him shots of bourbon. I had the whole bottle. You weren't giving me anything.
12:36
This was at Trent and Augustine's place. I tried to get him to give me a shot of bourbon, and he wouldn't share. Say it again. See, I've got to be able to see what you say because I'm almost deaf. I know. I said I was trying to get you to share a shot of bourbon, and you wouldn't share. That's how it is.
12:56
No, there's a bunch of kinds of bourbon in there in that little freezer you had. Oh, yeah. You're right. So, I didn't give you any? Good. Is there anything else you'd like to share?
13:08
No. Great. Thank you for coming up, Phoebe. Thanks a lot. Her machines are gorgeous. No other volunteers, really. Okay, we'll get to you next.
13:30
What's your name? Neil. J-O? Neil. Just Neil. Got it. Bless me, Father, if I have sinned. How long has it been since your last confession? Since the 80s. Cool. That's cool. So what would you like to confess? I'd like to confess I built a big pinball arcade at home in my house with the notion of an element of it being a gym for my wife where there was absolutely no way in hell it was going to be a gym for my wife. In fact, right now, Iron Maiden sits where my wife's gym might have been. So is this like in the basement? It's, yeah, no, it's in the kind of garden. It's like a log cabin. Okay. And where do you live, sir? I live in London. I thought so. Come a long way to confess. It was on my heart, Steve. I thought I had to get out of here. OK. Say 10 Hail Marys and take an Uber home. Thank you.
14:49
Where the beer There he is Yeah, use the stairs. We saw what can happen when you don't. don't let your camera ruin my show that's good thank you bless me father for i have sinned please lose the camera for the moment it'll be um somebody will have recorded it okay i have sinned by recording that's a little distracting okay so what would you like to confess i have to confess that on On the weekends, I work my regular full-time job. You work your what? Full-time job. Which is what? Working in a hotel similar to this. Working in what? A hotel similar to this. All right, I'm going to start talking like you. If you don't become more clear right now, you will peel my blade.
15:58
I don't know what to say to that. Okay. On the weekends that I work my full-time job. What is your full-time job? I work at a hotel like this. Okay, that's cool.
16:09
I may or may not go home to my family immediately. I may leave work early to go play pinball. Nothing wrong with that. But I don't tell them. I tell them I'm still at work. I don't hear a sin. I don't see anything.
16:25
Yeehaw! Say your name again. Dave. Let's hear it. Dave. Dave what? Dave's not here. Thanks for coming up. Ah, you got me. Thank you, Father.
16:39
Pat McMahon, you need to come up here. Use the stairs. Someone say something? Whiteboard. Bless me, Satan, for I have sinned. I'm not Satan.
17:12
It's been a long time since my last confession, but that was coerced. How long has it been? It was in the 80s. In the 80s? That was the last time? That was the last time I was accused. Okay. So what would you like to confess? How do you like this lean-in thing with the elbow? It's casual. It's very casual. It's also relaxing. It makes you feel more comfortable, doesn't it? It could be darker in here. Okay. A little mood lighting? Mood lighting, we don't have any in here. There's no mood lighting.
17:46
Well, Father, it's been a long time. I've been remiss in a lot of things. I haven't given the proper amount of attention to some of the people I used to work with. And I feel kind of bad about that. They're starting to feel good about themselves, and I've dropped the ball.
18:06
So I'm here for some advice, some counseling, some guidance. I would say get yourself a bottle of bourbon. I don't like bourbon. You don't like bourbon? It's beer, I know. It's beer. How about we get a bottle? A keg of beer might work. Do you still have tequila over on that side? Excuse me? Do you still have any tequila on your side of the confessional? No, there's no tequila over there. Okay, just checking. All right. Well, I just want to say thank you for coming up. Unless you have more sins you'd like to confess.
18:41
No, there's nothing more I'd like to confess to. Okay. I appreciate the offer. Do you guys know who this is? The absolution.
18:49
Hmm? I said, do I get absolution? Yeah, okay. One Hail Mary. Your sin wasn't cool enough. Sorry. Sorry, Satan. No, that's okay. It worked out. Thanks for coming up. Pat McMahon, famous pinball artist. Famous pinball artist.
19:15
So who's the next confessor? I believe I see a friend of mine in the back there. I have lots of friends, but I'd like to call up Eugene Jarvis.
19:28
Use the stairs, please. Thank you very much. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. No kidding.
19:54
When's the last confession? I think I was in high school. Okay. You're not even a Catholic. I know you.
20:04
So, what is your confession? You know, I stole your balls, man, a long time ago. You stole balls? I stole your balls. Oh.
20:24
They feel like they're stolen. No, they are. Okay. So what do you want to do over there? community sins over there at Rothwells? Have you been treating everybody nice?
20:38
No. No? Tell us about it. The problem is I hate people. I mean, sometimes there's people that like people and there's people that hate people. And it's like, I don't know. It's just the way I am.
20:56
Can I have your horns? No, you can't have my horns. were not available. I would say five Hail Marys and help mow Lyman's lawn.
21:12
He needs it. It's a big lawn. How does a Hail Mary go? What's that? Is that a football pass? It's not that big.
21:26
Hail Mary? No, no, no. So it was kind of stolen from the Catholic religion. Okay, gotcha, gotcha. Anyway, thanks for coming up, Doctor. Thanks, Steve. Awesome. Also, see Greg. I'll say, let me see. Okay.
21:49
I'm looking at every one of you. You. Use the stairs. Smart man. Bless me Father for I have sinned Have you I have When was your last confession 1984 Okay And I held this inside ever since then What would you like to confess? I bought a pinball machine. I pulled it out of their basement. And when I got it home and drilled the lock, there was a bag of weed in the pinball machine. All right. And I didn't flush all of it. down the toilet. So now I can never be a Supreme Court Justice. Oh, no.
22:45
Oh, no. That's too bad. Who wants that job anyway? Tell the people what your name is, would you? My name is Tom Taylor. Awesome, yeah.
23:01
Do you have anything else you'd like to confess? Well, actually, I do. It's a pinball show. and there's a lot of men here.
23:11
And we all tend to do... It's a great business to meet men. And we all tend to do something in big crowds called crop dusting.
23:21
That's nasty. Now you've got to say 200 Hail Marys for that one. And at Pinball Expo 26, I did that. You do? Yes, I did.
23:34
You know, I think this is what I think. No, I know it. I like rum. Nice. Thanks for having me come up. You bet.
23:43
Forgot his name already. The guy. Now I would like to call up Greg Fraris. He is a good Catholic boy. He never sinned. Well, maybe once.
24:01
Greg's an artist. We've worked together a lot. if you don't know who Greg Ferris is, he did Star Trek The Next Generation. This is just the stuff with me. He's done a lot of games with a lot of people, and I'm glad to call him my friend.
24:16
Come on over here, would you? Greg, can you sit down in here for a minute, please? Thank you. You didn't steal my sheet, did you?
24:24
Okay, good. Good. bless me father for i have sinned when was your last confession i can't remember what would you like to confess great i got two uh confessions if you don't mind you got time all right the first confession is i'm sorry that i'm participating in this bit Hey, it's going to go fine. Don't worry. I'm more sorry for them. All right.
25:00
Secondly, remember we did a game together. The first game we ever worked on together was Star Trek The Next Generation. I just talked about it. Correct.
25:13
At that moment, you asked me, Greg, you're a Star Trek fan, correct? and my answer was, oh hell yeah. I wasn't. At all. It's okay. Not everyone is perfect. And uh, it's like, we wouldn't even call it a sin. There's no penance. I got off. You know what, I like rum yeah I like rum I like rum rum a lot wait we need more we need more people up yeah all right whoever whoever was up here why don't you come up and help us
26:13
Well, almost. Rum. I want to join my pinball brothers here on stage. We're going to sing a little tune for you. Rum, rum, rum, rum, rum, rum, rum, rum. Fifteen men on the dead man's chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum, drinkin' the devil had done for the rest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Fifteen men of the whole ship's list, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum, they damned and the rest gone with. Yes, ho, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum, rum, rum, rum. No, rum, rum, rum. Okay, so these are my friends up here. This is Greg Frost, Eugene Jarvis. You got a mic? Rum, rum, rum, rum. Thank you. Rum, rum, rum, rum. I still need lines. Thank you very much, guys. Rum, rum, rum, rum, rum, rum, rum. Fifteen men of them stiff and stark Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum Thanks for helping. Rum, rum Ten of the men had the murder mark Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum Fifteen men of them good and true Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum Every man Jack could have sailed on the blue Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Rum, rum, rum, rum, rum.
28:26
I know it's sick. I had to be a pirate at least once. Thank you very much. Thanks for coming up. That's it? Thank you, Father Steve. Thank you.
28:52
Okay, now on a serious side. I'm ready to take some questions if you guys want to ask anything about our work in pinball, what's going on. If you have a question, let me know. Does anyone have a question? All right, I'm going to say thank you and goodbye. Thanks for coming.
29:31
you