Making of WWE Wrestlemania Pinball from Stern Pinball

Stern Pinball·video·9m 49s·analyzed·Feb 9, 2015

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.023

TL;DR

Stern team walks through WWE WrestleMania pinball design, mechanics, and Pro/LE differentiation.

Summary

Stern Pinball's development team discusses the creation of WWE WrestleMania Pinball, highlighting the collaborative process with WWE, innovative mechanical features like the ramp flipper and spinning disc ring mechanic, and the strategic differentiation between Pro and LE models. The team emphasizes WWE's theatricality and over-the-top personality as a natural fit for pinball, sharing personal wrestling fandom and detailing how narrative, mechanics, and sound design create an immersive wrestling experience.

Key Claims

The ramp flipper is a new mechanical feature that has never been done before in pinball
high confidence · Mechanical engineer discussing LE-exclusive features: 'Being able to flip a ball off the ramp intentionally has never been done before.'
WWE provided excellent licensing support and assets for the game
high confidence · Team member states: 'They've been a great licenser. Whatever we needed, it's been really easy.'
Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler recorded custom play-by-play commentary for the game
high confidence · Developer confirms: 'we did work with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler doing their play-by-play back and forth'
LE model features a spinning disc mechanic in the wrestling ring; Pro model does not
high confidence · Design discussion: 'The difference from the LE to the Pro: there's no screen, obviously that's a big one. There's no spinning disc.'
The LE model has bidirectional ramp loops while Pro has single-direction ramps
high confidence · Engineer explains: 'In the Pro, the ramps have the potential to circle around left to right, and in LE they can loop around both ways.'
WWE art team created the backslash and cabinet artwork for the game
high confidence · Art director states: 'we actually had WWE art team do the backslash and cabinet artwork'
The main objective is to progress through championship matches and defeat opponents at WrestleMania
high confidence · Game designer: 'In order to do that you have to progress all the way to Wrestlemania and defeat the final opponent.'
LE features Legends wrestlers while Pro focuses on modern wrestlers (Daniel Bryan, Rock, Cena, Triple H)
high confidence · Engineer: 'we're going to primarily focus on Legends on the LE package...On the Pro model we have Daniel Bryan, The Rock, John Cena, and Triple H available for the player to select from.'

Notable Quotes

“Being able to flip a ball off the ramp intentionally has never been done before. It's kind of like taking a guy off the top rope.”
Elliot Eiseman (Mechanical Engineer) @ ~12:30 — Highlights the ramp flipper as a novel mechanical innovation exclusive to LE model
“They've been a great licenser. Whatever we needed, it's been really easy.”
Team member (licensing discussion) @ ~6:45 — Indicates excellent collaboration with WWE and smooth IP licensing process
“WWE is this exciting entertainment industry that has so much character, so much personality.”
John Trudeau (Pinball Designer) @ ~23:00 — Articulates the core appeal of WWE as a pinball theme
“Apparently it was like a laugh a minute in the recording.”
Developer discussing Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler recording session @ ~8:15 — Indicates successful creative collaboration and energetic commentary recording
“The ring is controllable with the flipper button and you can slam the ball into targets to try to defeat opponents.”
Game Designer @ ~15:45 — Describes core gameplay mechanic with player-controlled ring ropes
“I think the hardest thing about this game is to learn to use the slingshot.”
Game Designer @ ~14:30 — Identifies skill curve and learning challenge for players
“It's a nice easy game to play. There's a lot of depth to it for the real pinball fan, but it doesn't hurt you to not know how to play it.”
Team member @ ~24:15 — Indicates design successfully balances casual accessibility with competitive depth
“There's a spinning disc in the wrestling ring...you'll get to be able to put a bunch of balls in there, spin them around and hit targets.”
Mechanical Engineer @ ~13:00 — Describes innovative spinning disc mechanic in LE model's ring

Entities

Lonnie RobpersonMike RpersonElliot EisemanpersonGreg Freresperson Jack BensonpersonWaisonpersonMark Alvesperson John Trudeauperson Michael Coleperson

Signals

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business_signal: Stern Pinball secured major entertainment IP license (WWE) with collaborative development approach, suggesting robust business relationships and licensing capacity
high · Licensing discussion and WWE art team involvement indicating substantive partnership
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community_signal: Behind-the-scenes documentary-style video content showcasing development team, mechanics, and design philosophy demonstrates commitment to community education and transparency
high · Entire video structure as development team walk-through with technical and creative detail
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design_philosophy: Game designed to incorporate multiple wrestling match elements (signature moves, pin mechanics, ring control) to create narrative flow and thematic immersion
high · Designer: 'We try to create a narrative and a story that we weave through mechanics and light shows and speech and sound and dot matrix events'
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design_philosophy: WWE WrestleMania designed with dual audience appeal: accessible entry point for casual players combined with significant depth for competitive players
high · Quote: 'It's a nice easy game to play. There's a lot of depth to it for the real pinball fan, but it doesn't hurt you to not know how to play it.'
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licensing_signal: WWE provided exceptional licensing support with art team involvement and asset access, indicating strong IP partnership quality
high · Statement: 'They've been a great licenser. Whatever we needed, it's been really easy' and 'we actually had WWE art team do the backslash and cabinet artwork'

Topics

Mechanical InnovationprimaryPro vs LE Model DifferentiationprimaryWWE Licensing and CollaborationprimaryGame Design PhilosophyprimaryPlayfield Layout and MechanicsprimaryCommentary and Audio ProductionsecondaryTeam Member Backgrounds and Passion for WrestlingsecondaryGameplay Objectives and Progressionprimary

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Team expresses enthusiasm and satisfaction with the project. Multiple references to enjoyment of collaboration, excitement about mechanics, and confidence in final product. No critical complaints or concerns raised. The lighthearted ending with wrestling hypotheticals maintains upbeat tone throughout.

Transcript

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hi there my name is Lonnie Rob one of the software Engineers my name is Mike R I'm project engineer for th and pinball Elliot Eiseman mechanical engineer Greg FES art director Jack Benson programmer here at Stern I'm Wason I'm a game designer software engineer hi my name is Mark Alves and I am a DD animat I'm John Trudeau and I design pinball games WWE is a great pinball title you've got dudes you've got strength it's like explosions flashy got a lot of action very very bombastic got a lot of big moves excitement a lot of fireworks Pinball's got a lot of big noises big shows I don't think we have fireworks in the machine yet might be a fire hazard I think WWE makes a good title for timball for its theatrics and over the top personality it's really the personali atmosphere that wrestling creates all in good fun wrestling is just fun to watch I think that translates very well on WrestleMania got a beautiful franchise here very exciting in your face over the toop action constant storyline Ean Flo we try to create a narrative and a story that we weave through mechanics and light shows and speech and sound and Dot events that just take you through flow of emotions what's cool about this project is we have wrestlers that everybody has grown up with you try to get as much representation throughout the WrestleMania era as we could people who are young are familiar with Triple H and sheas John Cena The Rock I'm more familiar with like the rock eras some of those old school guys are into Andre the Hulk Hulk Hogan we're going to have Hulk Mania Hulk Hogan and even older it's really cool to have a project that allows you to touch base with all of these wrestlers it was really great working with the WWE team because they were totally into the product when they heard they were working on a pinball machine they couldn't be more excited working with the WWE has been really good in terms of getting assets being able to use those assets they've been a great licenser whatever we needed it's been really easy it really helps to build characters that are being represented in the narrative in the story line the Champion Triple H the T to the Rock and what a suplex by the champion I don't like the son of a gun but he's a hell of an athlete then we have custom speech to get the script and to get the speech for the game we did work with Michael Cole and Jerry line Waller doing their play-by-play back and forth and doing things that we did not right they did a lot of funny stuff they're playing the pinball game and they're announcing pinball apparently it was like a laugh a minute in the recording it's been nothing but a blast it's a real treat getting to see all these people and speak to them I'm very familiar with WWE throughout his history he has a passion for the WWE which is a good thing funny how even after all this time the names and faces has changed but the excitement level is the same I used to wrestle in high school and stuff you know so we used to mimic the moves jumping off of tables jumping off chairs my brother and I were huge wrestling fans when we were kids I distinctly remember WrestleMania 3 Randy Macho Man versus Ricky the Dragon steambow I loved Ricky The Dragon steo cuz you know he's Asian my favorite all-time wrestler has got to be Hulk Hogan probably the Hulk I would say the rock I really like the rock just the way he's always kind of goating his opponents it's hard not to say Hulk Hogan because he's just so classic he was the big name wrestler when I first got into wrestling ladies and gentlemen Paul Hogan my favorite all-time wrestler would have to be Andre the Giant when I was a kid I remember going to the drugstore there're the wrestling magazines and there is no internet you see wrestling on TV once a week maybe he would come through the region he was he was a giant he literally was a giant how could he be defeated Andre the Giant is the is the man we actually had WWE art team do the backlash and cabinet artwork the difference between the Le and the pro package we're going to primarily focus on Legends on the Le package all the superstars that WWE have had since the dawn of WrestleMania on the pro model we have Daniel Bryan the rock John Cena and Triple H available for the player to select from mechanically you'll see some changes in the Ellie there's going to be more shots available we've got new features I don't know if they've been seen before if they have it's been quite a while a ramp flipper which is something new I think one of the cool features for the Le is definitely this flipper being able to flip a ball off the ramp intentionally has never been done before it's kind of like taking a guy off the top rope kind of like that yeah there's a spinning disc in the wrestling ring there's my Mech which is a spinning disc and you'll get to be able to put a bunch of balls in there spin them around and hit targets so this is the layout this is the spinning disc for the ring the spinning disc will allow us to show opponent's wrestling the player back essentially this is the underside of the ring you see it's pretty tightly packed here's the big spinning disc and its motor here's the bottom orbit what's kind of unique about this is it's an all metal orbit there's a nice little U-turn Lane underneath the ring that will bring you back to your flipper so fast you might not expect it that quick this is going to be the cutout for the screen this is the new skill shot with four switches there's two wire exits for the LA and then the filter Mac around here that knocks it off that's the pinning mechanism allow you to feat your opponents you have to pin them in the hole this is the eject so you can see it drains from the ring and then it has a chance to actually kick it from the flip the difference is from the L to the pro there's no screen obviously that's a big one there's no spinning disc but kind of a cool feature is the two ring exits are different so this one drains you straight back down to the flippers down here and then this one trickles back down here through the ladder and there's no third flipper there's no third flipper but you do get another shot through here into the pop pum which you don't get on the Le so there's definitely going to be some new features on the LA that's going to make it play a lot different the game is quite unusual one look at it you can just tell the main feature of the game is the ring the main feature on this game is the wrestling ring the ring itself that's on both Pro and L the ring is partially targets and partially what we call Slammers the ropes are controlled by the players we're calling them Slammers they're not flippers I think the hardest thing about this game is to learn to use the slingshot the r is controllable with The Flipper button and you can slam the ball into targets to try to defeat opponents it's accessible off the plunge and Via both ramps in the Pro the ramps have the potential to circle around left to right and in Le they can loop around both ways the ramps also dump the ball into the ring on the other side of the Ring are targets and a hole there's three different attacks that you can use slam attacks rope attacks and turnbuckle attacks it's fun to play in there you can actually learn to kick around it's a it's a new skill you learn the objective is to get into the ring and pin your opponent to do that you hit the targets which lights the eject you can either throw the other superstars out of the ring via the side exits or get thrown out yourself down the main exit you might get thrown out of the ring by your opponent this is a non-standard popup per set what we're trying to do is create the feeling of Chaos in and out of the ring so when you get thrown out you don't know what's going to happen after the ball exits the ring the ball kind of pinkos its way down either to one of these wire ramps or into the pop bumpers themselves and that's controllable by the player depending how much you want to shake the machine you have to get fall back into the ring for a 1 two three you pend your opponent kind of incorporates a lot of different parts of the wrestling match it enables itself to develop features from it the main goal is to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion in order to do that you have to regress all the way to WrestleMania and defeat the final opponent we have the United States Champion the tag team champion the Intercontinental Champion and the World Heavyweight Champion you want to win a bunch of matches you want to perform your signature moves after you've proved your worth in the ring then you're going to be able to go under WrestleMania I think people will instantly be reminded of the over the- top personalities people my age will be more nostalgic and remember the hul against the Macha man and the Ultimate Warriors WWE is this exciting entertainment industry that has so much character so much personality I'm real happy with the game I got into it real easily it's a nice easy game to play there's a lot of depth to it for the real pinball fan but it doesn't hurt you to not know how to play it came out good every time you go to one of your events everything every aspect of it comes alive you're going to try to jam as much WWE lore into that game WrestleMania it's great it's happening welcome to WrestleMania you have to pick one person here at Stern who do you think you could beat in a wrestling match and why or who would you want to beat in a wrestling match and why who's the smallest if I had to wrestle one of the team members here at Stern Pinball obviously be Mark galz the reason why is because I am so much larger than Mark I think it would have to be Lonnie Rob is he's my supervisor he is large and I could probably be quick like R Mysterio let's see who could I beat definitely not mro he's a ninja pretty much I think I could take on trell I guess I'd pick Steve Ritchie to be in a wrestling match with I'd want to kick his ass I'll take Gary that would be Jody danenberg can I wrestle Jody just because he deserves it wow signature move probably you know get him like this right in his mouth so I wouldn't have to hear him the slam i' probably to do a pile driver followed by a body Splash oh it's hard not to love the iron claw I wouldn't mind trying to do any of the the stuff that radi Mysterio does high acrobatics probably the needed a grin the sule the sule can we see it oh okay basically what it is I come behind his what you call his waist and then flip him over I think it would be something like pinball related I think it' be like the big slipper maybe like a top rope attack that be like the ball plunging out on the play field and like curl up in the ball and land on the guy that would be my my pinball