Stern Media Day - King Kong The Myth of Terror island

Mystery Pinball Theater 3000·video·7m 31s·analyzed·Apr 19, 2025

Analysis

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TL;DR

MPT3K tours Stern factory, praises Kong's layout and code, ranks it second to Godzilla.

Summary

Manu from Mystery Pinball Theater 3000 attended Stern Pinball's media day for King Kong: Myth of Terror Island in Chicago. He toured the factory with Kyle (technical engineer), visited the demo room with designer Keith Elwin, and played both Pro and Premium versions. Manu praised the ambitious playfield layout and solid code, ranking it his second-favorite Elwin design after Godzilla, while noting Pro version quality despite missing some toys.

Key Claims

Kong playfield art was primarily Greg Ferris's work, not Jeremy 'Zombie Yeti' Packard as blamed by critics; Packard focused on cabinet art while the collaboration included Zombie Yeti, Greg Ferris, and Kevin O'Connor
high confidence · Manu explicitly corrects the record at Stern's media day, having spoken with designers
Stern's new settings menu system on Kong is brand new and will be rolled out to older Spike 2 games in the future
high confidence · Kyle demonstrated the menu system during factory tour; Manu notes it replaces 'awkward DMD style settings'
Kong is Elwin's most ambitious playfield layout to date
medium confidence · Manu's direct statement based on hands-on play and visual inspection
Pro version lacks the moving Kong model, train locks, custom biplane, and spider mechanism compared to Premium/LE
high confidence · Manu detailed comparison after playing Pro version; confirmed visual differences
Pro version is missing the gong that appears on Premium/LE versions
high confidence · Manu explicitly noted this omission and expressed frustration about it
Stern's factory is almost three times larger than Jersey Jack's factory floor
medium confidence · Manu's comparative observation from touring both facilities
King Kong code is 'still pretty new, but it's solid' with multiple modes and depth available
high confidence · Manu's hands-on assessment after ~20 minutes of play on Premium version

Notable Quotes

“getting to spend the day at Stern Pinball's fancy new digs in their extremely large manufacturing building feels like getting a golden ticket”
Manu (MPT3K) @ ~1:30 — Sets tone for the media day experience; expresses genuine enthusiasm for Stern's facilities
“Not to stir up controversy, but I wanted to make sure that was out in the open.”
Manu (MPT3K) @ ~4:00 — Manu explicitly corrects the artist attribution issue, defending Packard while crediting Ferris
“This has to be the most ambitious playfield layout of any Elwin design.”
Manu (MPT3K) @ ~7:30 — Strong design praise; positions Kong as exceeding Elwin's previous work in layout complexity
“Kong is a fun game that could go deeper for the seasoned player. Now, it may not hit as hard as Godzilla did, but it's got everything you need for a fun, solid adventure with King Kong.”
Manu (MPT3K) @ ~9:15 — Final verdict balances accessibility with competitive depth; positions Kong as solid but not groundbreaking relative to Godzilla
“this sits with me as probably my second favorite Elwin design with Godzilla being the first”
Manu (MPT3K) @ ~8:45 — Clear ranking of Kong within Elwin's design portfolio; positive reception despite not reaching Godzilla's level
“The Pro replaces the moving Kong model with a static one, but it's still a custom-built model... is pretty damn impressive and looks really good.”
Manu (MPT3K) @ ~7:50 — Acknowledges Pro version trade-offs while affirming quality; suggests Pro tier is viable for budget-conscious buyers

Entities

Manu (MPT3K)personKyleperson Keith Elwinperson George GomezpersonJeremy 'Zombie Yeti' PackardpersonGreg Ferrisperson Kevin O'ConnorpersonDoug (Cool Toy)person

Signals

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business_signal: Stern's new Chicago manufacturing facility is substantially larger than competitor Jersey Jack's factory (roughly 3x), indicating significant production capacity expansion
medium · Manu states: 'this factory was large, almost three times larger than the Jersey Jack factory floor that I also got to tour a few months back'
?
community_signal: Stern hosted dedicated media day with multiple content creators, individual gameplay sessions for video content, live podcast recording opportunities, and full-day facility access to Pinball Alley showcase
high · Manu describes being granted 20 minutes of solo Premium time for 'vanity shots and gameplay videos,' live podcasting, and extended play time with curated game lineup
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community_signal: Manu publicly corrects widespread community blame of Zombie Yeti for Kong playfield art, clarifying his role was cabinet art; primary artist was Greg Ferris. Indicates Stern is addressing artist attribution confusion.
high · Manu states: 'Not to stir up controversy, but I wanted to make sure that was out in the open' after explaining Ferris's primary role and Packard's cabinet focus
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design_philosophy: Kong represents Keith Elwin's most ambitious playfield layout to date with shots distributed across four beautifully connected sections, exceeding complexity of previous Elwin designs
medium · Manu: 'This has to be the most ambitious playfield layout of any Elwin design... The game seems like it has four sections that are beautifully connected to each other'
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product_strategy: Kong's Pro tier strategic feature reduction includes: static instead of moving Kong model, plastic train locks instead of custom locks, interlocking plastics instead of custom biplane, no spider mechanism, and missing gong feature

Topics

King Kong playfield design and layoutprimaryPro vs Premium tier feature differentiationprimaryArtist attribution and playfield art criticismprimaryKeith Elwin design legacy and comparative rankingsecondaryStern Pinball settings menu system upgradesecondaryFactory tour and manufacturing scalesecondaryGame code quality and rule set depthsecondaryStern media relations and content creator engagementmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Manu is genuinely enthusiastic about Kong's design, playfield layout, and code quality. He praises the Stern experience, factory, and staff. However, he acknowledges it falls short of Godzilla and notes some missing Pro features (gong, spider). Overall assessment is favorable but tempered by the comparison to his top-ranked Elwin title.

Transcript

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King Kong Myth of Terror Island brought to you by Stern [Music] Pinball. Hey guys, what's up? Manu MPT3K here and I'm at Stern here in Chicago and today is the media day for the release of well not that one that one already released but it's King Kong the brand new game out of Stern. I'm here to check it out and let you guys know what my first thoughts are. Hi Gary. Come on. Let's go check it out. Let's go find out. My day started with a quick meet and greet with some of my favorite content creators and streamers while we waited for our tour guide to take us into the land of chocolate and candy. Seriously, getting to spend the day at Stern Pinball's fancy new digs in their extremely large manufacturing building feels like getting a golden ticket. Except you don't have Uncle Charlie tagging along trying to tell you that it's okay to steal fizzy lifting drink. You get nothing. But I digress. We started with a tour of the factory by the extremely talented and hospitable Kyle, a technical engineer at Stern, as he took us through the production line. The factory was busy making King Kong pinball machines. And it really shows you how much work goes into these machines, especially since every play consists of a steel ball trying to break every dang object it comes in contact with during a typical game. I mean, this factory was large, almost three times larger than the Jersey Jack factory floor that I also got to tour a few months back. [Music] But let's cut to the chase. King Kong. It's off to Stern's Pinball Alley. Now, this is sort of a showcase demo room at Stern. George Gomez told me that it was designed to simulate multiple environments where the games can shine, including an arcade and a living room in a home. It's also a chill spot for staff and visitors to play some of the latest titles. We got a quick session with the game designers, including the one and only Keith Elwin. Folks were able to ask questions and get up close and personal with both the pro and premium versions of the game. Now, one thing Stern took notice of is all the criticism of the playfield art on Kong. A lot of it is focused at Jeremy Zombie Yeti Packard, which is funny because Jeremy didn't work on the playfield art. He mostly did the cabinet art. The art packages was indeed a collaboration between Zombie Yeti, Greg Freres, and Kevin O' Conor, but the pallet and playfield majority was Ferris. Not to stir up controversy, but I wanted to make sure that was out in the open. Okay, internet, carry on. After that session, each content creator could have some sexy alone time with a premium version of King Kong for about 20 minutes to do some vanity shots and gameplay videos. Now, this was a nice touch. I didn't need my time, so I decided to bug Doug aka Cool Toy while he tried to get his footage. Oh, get that video, Dud. [Music] Yeah, I'm sure he didn't mind. The rest of the day, Stern let the inmates take over the asylum. There was plenty of time to record video, do live podcasts, or just play, play, freaking play. I've never seen such an impressive lineup of some of my favorite Stern pinball machines. Since I'm what I would call an assistant operator of games at Free Watch in San Francisco, California, I really geeked out on the tour that Kyle gave us through some of the new game settings menus. Gone are the awkward DMD style settings Kong will release with a brand new menu system complete with example presets, diagrams of the game, explanations, etc. Now, this is new with Kong and said to be rolled out over older Spike 2 games in the future. So, what do I think of the game? Well, I dig the layout. This has to be the most ambitious playfield layout of any Lwin design. Their shots are everywhere. The game seems like it has four sections that are beautifully connected to each other. Just figuring out what goes where will be a challenge, but a fun one. Now, that being said, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Pro version of the game shoots. Yes, it lacks the toys that bring more Kong story alive, but everything is pretty much still there. The Pro replaces the moving Kong model with a static one, but it's still a customuilt model. Uh, instead of the train locks, it's a plastic model. Instead of the custom sculpted biplane over the left wire form, it's an interlocking group of plastics that, as far as I'm concerned, is pretty damn impressive and looks really good. The spider is nowhere to be seen on the Pro, but the magnet still will murder you. The only thing I really wish was present on the Pro is the gong. Why Stern? Why the gong? Dang it. I mean, that hurt as much as removing the dead post from the pro version of Foo Fighters. Oh well. So, bottom line, it shoots really fun. The code's still pretty new, but it's solid. There are lots of things to do right out of the gate, including like movie modes, building, climbing, two upfront multiballs, river crossing, and diverting from the upper flipper, king combos, and a few other things I just wasn't good enough to reach. As of right now, this sits with me as probably my second favorite Elwin design with Godzilla being the first. Kong is a fun game that could go deeper for the seasoned player. Now, it may not hit as hard as Godzilla did, but it's got everything you need for a fun, solid adventure with King Kong. And like I mentioned, if you want to test the waters with the Pro Edition, I don't think you'll be disappointed, unless you really got to have the toys. I want to say thank you to Stern and all the great staff who let us play and explore the new game and the offices for a full day. These are passionate, hardworking people with decades of experience doing pinball, and that shouldn't be overlooked. As for me, I'm looking forward to having another shot at playing King Kong, The Myth of Terror Island. I finally said the full title in this [Music] video. Thanks for watching my video. Make sure to check me out at twitch.tv/mppt3k for some streaming goodness. Later. [Music]