Ask Jack Anything: Episode 2

Stern Pinball·video·10m 57s·analyzed·Oct 16, 2025

Analysis

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TL;DR

Jack Danger answers community questions on co-op design, internships, home leaderboards, and playfield care.

Summary

Jack Danger hosts Ask Jack Anything Episode 2, fielding community questions about Stern Pinball operations, game design decisions, career development, and personal experiences. Key topics include co-op feature prioritization, creator event access, internship opportunities, software development career paths, home leaderboards (coming 'sooner than you think'), playfield protectors (which Jack dislikes), and various personal anecdotes about Stern staff and players.

Key Claims

Stern does offer internships, primarily in software and marketing/sales, but not specifically for game design
high confidence · Jack states he 'talked to a few people at Stern about this' and confirms internships exist for 'software related things and/or I believe marketing and sales. Um specifically design. There is no internship structure.'
Home leaderboards are coming 'sooner than you think'
high confidence · Jack responds to Josh's question: 'it is coming a lot sooner than you think. It's coming, A, and it's coming a heck of a lot sooner than you think, B.'
Stern uses C++ for pinball software development
high confidence · Jack tells Pete: 'Stern, we program in C++. So, if you know that language, you've got a leg up.'
Co-op features are decided game-by-game based on team preference and time constraints
high confidence · Jack explains: 'that is completely contingent on what the game team wants...we are also limited on time and there's other probably more important features to put in a machine before co-op is integrated.'
Jack Danger is not among Stern's elite competitive pinball players
high confidence · Jack responds to Foo Bear: 'I would say I'm a pretty good player, but I'm not a Keith Elwin. I'm not a Raymond Davidson. I'm not a Josh Henderson. I'm not a Nick Wena.'

Notable Quotes

“You're programming for chaos. I still don't know how our software folks do it. It's bonkers.”
Jack Danger — Jack's characterization of pinball software development as uniquely challenging due to unpredictable ball physics
“The way the ball travels on wood that has been clear-coated is the ball is gripping and rolling. How a ball travels on a playfield protector is the ball is sliding and that movement is very apparent”
Jack Danger — Jack's technical explanation for why he opposes playfield protectors, citing mechanical differences in ball behavior
“It's coming, A, and it's coming a heck of a lot sooner than you think, B.”
Jack Danger — Jack's emphatic confirmation that home leaderboards are imminent, though he cannot provide specifics
“Designing a pinball machine is a trade skill essentially. You have to learn from somebody that knows how to do it already. There's no manual for it.”
Jack Danger — Jack's explanation of why Stern lacks a formal design internship program—pinball design is learned through mentorship
“Punk rock is uh just being kind to one another, keeping an eye out for one another, sticking up for each other, and just being awesome.”
Jack Danger — Jack's philosophy on community values, offered as a personal interpretation in response to a closing question

Entities

Jack DangerpersonZach SharppersonKyle Spatiperson Keith Elwinperson Raymond DavidsonpersonJosh HendersonpersonNick Wenaperson Gary Stern

Signals

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business_signal: Stern has active internship programs but lacks formal design apprenticeship structure; identifies this as potential gap
high · Jack notes internships exist for software/marketing but 'specifically design. There is no internship structure' and acknowledges it 'would be an incredible addition'
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community_signal: Stern is actively engaging with content creators through structured outreach programs; Zach Sharp coordinates media/creator event invitations
high · Jack provides direct contact email (zach.sharp@sternpinball.com) for creator event inquiries and states 'we try to reach out to folks that we know are making content that we follow'
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community_signal: Stern Pinball continues investing in educational tech school content and operator/owner support through Kyle Spati's tutorials
high · Jack references Kyle Spati producing tech school content and immediately commits to creating new playfield cleaning tutorial if one doesn't exist
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design_philosophy: Jack Danger opposes playfield protectors on mechanical and aesthetic grounds; prefers games played on original clear-coated wood
high · Jack states 'I can't stand playfield protectors' and explains technical differences in ball physics (sliding vs. rolling behavior) on protected vs. bare playfields
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product_strategy: Home leaderboards feature on Insider Connected app is in advanced development stage with imminent release
high · Jack states 'it is coming a lot sooner than you think' and emphasizes the timeline twice in response to most common question

Transcript

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0:02

Hey internet, Jack Danger here with another Ask Jack followup. You sent a lot of questions about communitydriven stuff and I'm going to try to address everything. Also, shout out to everyone sending sending stickers. Uh I don't know why I lock this. It's it's a fun gimmick. Um I had to represent on here. Anyway, let's get to the questions, shall we? Um, I think one of these questions

0:33

I got to watch what I say. Anyway, Brandon asks, and I got this question a lot. I think I get it every time I do one of these. Uh, why do some games have co-op and others don't? Right? So, that is completely contingent on what the game team wants. They decide whether or not a game needs co-op. Um, and really it's just the the vibe of the game and the vibe of the team if they think that needs to be a thing. I know a lot of you want co-op for like every game. And while that would be awesome, we are also limited on time and there's other probably more important features to put in a machine before co-op is integrated. And it also requires a great amount of attention to detail on how to make sure uh because you're changing how the game plays, right? So, it's just extra work and uh if the team didn't want it off the rip, it's probably going to be put off to the wayside, if even put in at all. So, uh I know a lot of folks were like, I want co-op on FU. I want co-op on like just it it's up to the game team. So, that hopefully that answers your question. Nicholas asks, "How do you get invited to those creator events and product reveals?" Uh we try to reach out to folks that we know are making content that we follow. Uh a lot of us at Stern digest a lot of what the content creators are making. A content creator myself. I also follow as many people as I can. But if you're interested in being part of that, you just got to reach out to I believe Zack Sharp uh zack.sharpernpinball.com. Send him a message and let him know that you're interested in attending something like that in the future. And um if a list exists to get your name put on it, he would be the guy to do that for you. Well, get it. Sawyer asks, "Would you guys ever do internships or a summer camp thing for teenagers like me that want to get into designing pinball machines, maybe even for Stern?" So, I talked to a few people at Stern about this. We do internships. We absolutely do. Uh, primarily for software related things andor I believe marketing and sales. um specifically design. There is no internship structure. I think that would be an incredible thing to do because designing a pinball machine is a trade skill essentially. You have to learn from somebody that knows how to do it already. There's no manual for it. Um a lot of it is just feel and you got to know what you're trying to feel. So, um while that doesn't exist, I think that would be an incredible addition to the Stern Pinball roster of things that we offer. So, who knows what the future holds, but I think it's an incredible idea. Pete asks, "What's the best way to start learning to become a pinball?" Sorry, there's a weird bug. What's the best way to start learning to become a pinball dev? Um, more notably about software. So, Stern, we program in C++. So, if you know that language, you've got a leg up. But knowing how to program for pinball is uh its own basket to weave, right? Um you're programming for chaos. I still don't know how our software folks do it. It's bonkers. Shout out to anyone that programs for pinball machines because you have to program for every eventuality. You know, you want the ball to do, but the ball isn't probably going to do that. So, you have to program around the idea that you're trying to get it to do something, but it might do something else. Um, the the thing I would recommend you do is if you know C++ um or if you know any language really, just look at a game and record with your brain, diagnose, strip down like rules that you really love from pinball machines and try to replicate those. Um, if you have a friend building a homebrew, working with them to program it also goes a long way because that's real world experience. And if you're trying to get a job in pinball, real world experience goes a very, very long way. So, good luck to you. America guy, I'm sure that's your real legal name, asks, "Does Stern have a goal of having a pinball machine on every continent?" I don't know that it's a goal of Stern pinballs to have a game on every continent. Um, but I would also be flabbergasted if we didn't have a pinball machine on every continent. Um, is there anyone in Antarctica? uh that knows of a pinball machine nearby. Actually, I could just bust open just open the pinball map and then you'll see if like the the the North Pole has a a freaking Ripley's Believe It or Not. I I don't know. I I don't know, but I'm sure we have to. So, all right. Josh H says, "Perhaps a video on how to clean your pinball machine. I'm new to pinball and I'm intimidated by cleaning the playfield." I also, when I was brand new, was very afraid of getting under the glass. I thought I was gonna a break something or b completely hurt myself. And neither one of those things is really going to happen. So, a video about cleaning a playfield. I'm sure we can uh holler at our boy Kyle Spati, who's been doing our tech school stuff, um can do a little something on how to like take a little novice, too, and like clean off certain areas. Games get dirty just like your car, just like anything. Uh, and they need a little TLC. So, I think that's a wonderful idea. And if we don't already have a video about that, which I feel like we should, um, we could probably get on that pretty quick. So, good recommendation. All right, Caleb. Oh, this is controversial. Okay, just so you know, this is going to be controversial. Caleb says, "Do you like or recommend playfield protectors over the playfield? I'm getting my first new inbox game and I wanted to know from a professional their thoughts. Does it really play that different to you? So, I can't stand playfield protectors. And I I know some people like to put them down to keep their games fresh and clean and new, but here's why I don't like them, right? First off, you got to tear a bunch of stuff off the game, and you're you're you're you're modifying the game from how it was designed to play. Two, the way the ball travels on wood that has been clear coated is the ball is gripping and rolling. How a ball travels on a playfield protector is the ball is sliding and that movement is very apparent and it is very different on how the ball interacts with mechs, ball guides, ramps. Things are just sliding all over the place instead of actually rolling and spinning how they're typically supposed to move. and I can see it and I I really just don't enjoy playing a game with a playfield protector on it. But to each their own, you want to keep your games looking brand spanking new, you know, slap the thing down. But for me, it's all just put the ball on the wood. All right. Josh asks, oh, this is the one. Josh asks, "When are we getting home leaderboards?" That is a message I get constantly. And internet, I'm here to tell you that it is coming a lot sooner than you think. It's coming, A, and it's coming a heck of a lot sooner than you think, B. Um, I can't give any more specifics beyond that, but if you're seeing this video now, you don't have to wait too long. Okay, that's all I got to say uh to learn about it. I I don't know. You'll learn more soon. All right. Mason asks, "Did you really hurt your shoulder doing a death save?"