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Stern’s New Walking Dead Pinball: Better Than the Original?

Erika's Pinball Journey·video·24m 46s·analyzed·Nov 8, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.024

TL;DR

Erika reviews Stern's Walking Dead Remastered: updated mechanics, art, and Spike 3 tech with 500 LE units at $12,999.

Summary

Erika provides first impressions and analysis of Stern's Walking Dead Remastered pinball machine, released on the Spike 3 platform with updated graphics, mechanics, and audio featuring character callouts from the show. She discusses the visual design changes from the original 2014 version, the new mechanical features including an improved well zombie and crossbow mechanism, and the limited production of 500 LE units at $12,999 MSRP. While critical of the game's zombie aesthetic, Erika acknowledges the quality of hand-drawn artwork, the appeal to franchise fans, and positive reception of the ruleset.

Key Claims

  • Walking Dead Remastered is limited to 500 LE units

    high confidence · Erika citing Stern website information shown in video

  • Stern releases approximately four games per year at current rate

    medium confidence · Erika's statement based on recent release pace

  • The game features custom audio callouts from Merle and Michonne characters

    high confidence · John Borg's explanation in official Stern trailer

  • The well zombie now moves via solenoid instead of only on ball strike

    high confidence · John Borg explaining mechanical improvements

  • Artwork is hand-drawn by Robert Laskey rather than AI-generated

    high confidence · John Borg's statement in official trailer

  • John Borg is designing multiple games in 2025 (Star Wars and Walking Dead Remastered)

    high confidence · Erika's observation at Star Wars event and video production date

  • Premium edition MSRP is $9,699, LE pricing is around $12,999-$13,000

    high confidence · Erika reading Stern website pricing during video

Notable Quotes

  • “That is the ugliest thing in pinball.”

    Erika @ early in video — Erika's recurring critique of zombie character design aesthetic; sets comedic tone

  • “Yeah, you know, maybe I'll even have another one.”

    John Borg @ referenced by Erika — John Borg's casual reference to designing multiple games; confirms his involvement with Star Wars and Walking Dead projects

  • “I think that's what's great about it is that not every game has to appeal to you. There are so many games out there.”

    Erika @ mid-video — Reflects community philosophy on design diversity and market segmentation

  • “We decided that we wanted to make the well zombie move with a solenoid instead of just it moving when you strike it with the ball.”

    John Borg @ trailer segment — Key mechanical improvement highlighting design philosophy for remaster

  • “I think it's pretty apparent to me that they got some zombies in this game.”

    Erika @ late in video — Comedic observation; underscores her detachment from zombie theme

Entities

ErikapersonJohn BorgpersonStern PinballcompanyWalking Dead RemasteredgameSpike 3productRewind PinballcompanyRobert LaskeypersonLyman SheetspersonStar Wars

Signals

  • ?

    product_launch: Walking Dead Remastered released on Spike 3 platform with 500 LE units at $12,999 MSRP

    high · Erika citing Stern website and official trailer detailing MSRP and production numbers

  • ?

    design_innovation: Well zombie now driven by solenoid for consistent animation, crossbow redesigned with encoder, RGB lighting additions, expression lighting system

    high · John Borg's detailed explanation in official Stern trailer of mechanical enhancements

  • ?

    technology_signal: Spike 3 platform features 18-inch full HD display, improved processor, Wi-Fi support, wireless headphone capabilities, expression lighting system

    high · Official Stern trailer narration describing Spike 3 technical specifications

  • $

    market_signal: 500 LE unit production limit positions scarcity as collector incentive; contrasted with 1000 units for other recent releases

    medium · Erika noting 500 units creates excitement and drives collector demand; stated as deliberate production constraint

  • ?

    personnel_signal: John Borg simultaneously designing/overseeing Star Wars (released Sep 2025) and Walking Dead Remastered in 2025

    high · Erika's interaction with John Borg at Star Wars event and his casual comment about multiple games in one year

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Deliberate choice to use hand-drawn artwork by Robert Laskey rather than AI-generated content, framed as supporting traditional artists

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:02
What's up, pinball fans? My name's Erica and welcome to my pinball journey. In this episode, I'll be sharing with you guys my first impressions of Stern's newest release of The Walking Dead Remastered. So, they released this game in 2014, and now they've added a little bit of spice to it. Um, so I want to give a shout out to my sponsor for this video, Rewind Pinball. If you want to go ahead and pre-order one of those pinball machines today, you totally can with Rewind Pinball. and I'll be sure to share all the links and stuff for them below. And let's cut to the video. Now, I have not yet watched this video. I I've just I've just missed it. I've missed it. I've missed the bus. That's okay. No, it's fine. All right. Well, we're going to get diving in here. So,
0:56
um, personally, I've I've played Walking Dead before, the original back, the 2014 version. Um, it is is one of the ugliest. It's got one of the ugliest guys in there. And now he's on the front page. I'm about to show y'all. Yuck. Um, I've played this game before. Um, it's really hard. Um, I know a lot of people really like it because of the challenges and the shots. Um, some people like the pro version versus the premium. Now, for those of you newer to pinball, like they actually kind of come in different uh builds. So, there's the pro, premium, and the limited edition. And so, um, it just you got your basic model, the little fancy, and very fancy. I'm pretty excited because um either you love or you hate it. Um it seems to be in pinball. So uh yeah, let's go ahead and run this pinball game trailer.
2:06
That is like the ugliest guy. That is the ugliest thing in pinball. [music] Are we going to kill some walkers or Are we going to kill some walkers or what? Yeah, our weapons.
game
King Konggame
John Wickgame
Metallica Remasteredgame
Lord of the Ringsgame

high · John Borg explicitly crediting hand-drawn artwork; Erika appreciating artist support in context of AI prevalence

  • ?

    collector_signal: Walking Dead Remastered targets franchise fans with character audio callouts and visual updates; limited to 500 units to maintain collector appeal

    high · Erika's analysis of who the game targets and marketing focus on franchise content

  • $

    market_signal: Stern releasing approximately 4 games per year at current rate, indicating sustained manufacturing capacity

    medium · Erika's statement: 'Stern releases plenty of games. They have about four games releasing a year at at this current rate.'

  • ?

    product_concern: Zombie character artwork receives negative reception from reviewer for visual design and ugliness; repeated criticism throughout video

    medium · Erika's recurring commentary: 'That is the ugliest thing in pinball' and 'They made him more ugly'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Community speculation about potential future remasters including Tron, Lord of the Rings, and Ghostbusters

    low · Erika: 'I hear a lot of rumblings... games that I hear that people would like are like Tron, me personally, Lord of the Rings. Um, some people are even saying Ghostbusters.'

    • 2:19
    seem like you're holding your Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that feels that's a satisfying Yeah, that feels that's a satisfying shot there. Woodberry here at fish tanks full of Woodberry here at fish tanks full of heads.
    2:33
    Oh man. Oh. Yeah, the frost shot. A lot of gameplay footage. was a good one. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. That's it. Um. Whoa. That's wild. Um, I do know, you know, you have to get different licenses for showing footage because I was like, whoa, that was just gameplay. Um, wow. There's a lot to take in here. This This is like like blue and and orange and red. Um I've I've never watched Walking Dead. I uh I've seen Bits and Pieces, but I've never really watched it. I'm not really into the show. I If you know anything about me, I'm not super into zombies or anything like that. Um and uh but I have played this game again, [clears throat] like I said. Uh, and it is fun. It is challenging. It's hard. It's got the ugliest dude ever. God. Godamn. Is it the ugliest guy? Um, in pinball. And they made him uglier. Can you believe this? Let's They made him even uglier. Oh, this is cool. I like this like blue red to yellow. That's such a retro colors, but it's very interesting because the original Walking Dead was very much like gray and black and red. And so the idea that this is like this um I I thought that this was like uh I pulled it up here, this picture on the side, it made me think of Bladeunner 2049. It was just giving me those vibes. I saw it and I was like, "Oh, Bladeunner." But, um, that's just me because I don't watch Walking Dead. Uh, there's a lot of really great stuff about it on IMDb. Um, but like you see Walking Dead, I I see this colors like I see these grays and browns, but as people know, super brownie brown type uh uh games maybe aren't the aren't the best for pinball. Um, but um, you need to have color. Uh, some people are very much going to argue this is too much color. I think this is enough color. I think there's a lot going on here. I like it. So, hot take. I think it looks great. Um, [snorts] super fun cuz like when you're in an arcade, you know, like it's on the side, you see it splash. It's the first thing you see. Um, but I get it, you know, as a pinball person with all the other games that are out with all the other colors and things, it does maybe feel a little bit like overkill, but to each their own, you know. I think pinball, that's what's great about it is that not every game has to appeal to you. Um, there are so many games out there. Stern releases plenty of games. They have about four games releasing a year at at this current rate. So, you have the option to choose uh from their newest release as well. They just released Star Wars. They have um they have King Kong that released John Wick, Deadpool, Stranger Things. There's something I think a little bit for everybody. Um does this um give more Walking Dead fans a chance to get more Walking Dead? Yeah, absolutely. And people really love the rule set from this game. Um from what I hear, I'm not like super into rules. So, uh, yeah, but it looks I think it looks super fun. I'm just going to watch this one more time.
    6:39
    Got to log into that insider connected. Got to get those points.
    6:46
    Whoa. Um, [snorts] that from the first game, I'm pretty sure it didn't have these two heads here. Ah, yeah. Again, I'm not super into zombies, so this is not my style. Oh, but whoa, look at this, man. They just have like all the hands going. Wow, that's intense. Look at that orange and blues. Ah, here's our ugly guy. I don't like Ah, here's our ugly guy. I don't like him. He's very ugly. No. And they made him more ugly. Yuck. No.
    7:32
    seem like you're holding. This shot is fun to hit. This shot's fun This shot is fun to hit. This shot's fun to hit, but if you don't play the game properly, if you're not tilting or not tilting, you don't want to tilt. Tilting loses. If you're not nudging properly, this ball, this game can be very frustrating because this ball will go straight down the middle and then you'll be like, "What the heck? I just got the multiball thingy and my ball just went straight down the middle. Um hello. Uh that sucks. Uh but nonetheless, um just play better. Play better.
    8:25
    just connects to this like magnet kind of looks like a belly button. [laughter]
    8:32
    This crossbow thing is super cool though. Like that's a really cool mech. You guys don't you guys aren't you guys are ready for it. Oh, can you see the camera guy in that ball? I love that stuff.
    8:56
    That was a good one. That there was a good one. Um, and I That there was a good one. Um, and I hear that from this one, from the first one, people didn't get the shout outs and the call outs from the actual characters. And this one, I hear they've done it. They've they've got it. So, um, yay for the people. They get what they want from this. All right, so after checking my footage and all my stuff, I saw that my freaking screen recording did not fall through from my first run through. Um, but that's okay because it's been less than 24 hours and I'm still going to give you my opinions and my impressions of this next video that I was going to show cuz they had the trailer and now we're going to watch like more of a detailed video about the game. So yeah, I'm going to click play.
    9:49
    Hey everybody, it's George Gomez. He makes such great games. I have his Deadpool. I have his Lord of the Rings games of I have his Lord of the Rings games of all time, The Walking Dead, one of the most popular entertainment franchises in the world. AMC's The Walking Dead has captivated global audiences since it television premiere in 2010. The hit TV series, spin-off shows, video games, merchandise, and more have reshaped the modern land. I didn't realize how much they did for I didn't realize how much they did for Walking Dead. Stern's new Spike 3 technology platform. Stern's new Spike 3 technology platform. The Walking Dead for a new generation of pinball players. Players will experience an epic journey through the legendary moments from the series as they fight to survive the apocalypse. Extra care and attention to detail have gone into every facet of the Walking Dead remastered honoring the original masterpiece by John Borg and Lyman Fet. That's got to be kind of fun to like revisit one of your designs. Like knowing that people loved these games so much they wanted they're like do it again, you know? Like um I mean it was really cool when I found out that they did that for Beatles and Sea Witch. Sew Witch is like a super great pinball machine as well. And then to like take that design and put it in Sea Witch. I mean like and like they slightly slight improvements. That's got to be really fun. Um and John Bour still getting to head it which this was his game before as well. I I think that's that's sick. Negusta. The game includes an updated version of The game includes an updated version of the revolutionary rule set that introduced a new mode structure and riskreward elements that have stood the test of time. I don't know much about rules like I've maybe stated before, but I do know people really love the rules for this game and people talk about it and they're like, "Oh yeah, you just got to you do the thing and you got the stuff and I'm like, "Yeah, let's let's get hype about it." I I don't retain it. So, I need to retain it. I think it's because I'm just um like I'm just looking at this this guy in there. I I I could do like an ugly count for how many times I have said that that zombie guy is ugly. All right. Technology platform includes a larger 18 Technology platform includes a larger 18 in full HD display with true a bigger screen a bigger screen along with a more powerful processor and along with a more powerful processor and a new highfidelity immersive audio system. Players will experience completely Players will experience completely overhauled rendered [sighs] graphics and custom. I love seeing this side by side. That's so cool. Like what? So yeah, like the original game came out with the dot matrix display and then now they [sighs] reanimated it. It's interesting cuz like you know Metallica, so they remastered another game, Metallica, that was their first remastered. Um and Metallica got like a whole new revamp and this one it's got a revamp but this is cool that it still kind of keeps that pay homage to the entrance display from the original game. Spike 3 electronics features more efficient power handling, improved Wi-Fi support, and wireless headphone capabilities. This release will introduce a new modular cabinet lighting system designed to allow for internal expression lights are pretty cool. expression lights are pretty cool. Expression lights on the outside. That's also very cool. Uh, that's very fitting for this game to have the bullets like I wonder what like could are they going to do that for other games that have already come out like King Kong or like freaking Star Wars. Could you imagine lightsabers on the side? Hello. Sorry, my brain now. That's going That's So, that's cool. Yeah, I'm I'm digging this expression lighting on the side. Do I have expression lights myself? No. Do I want them? Yeah, but I don't have the games. I just play them on other people's games, which is just as fine. People get them. And now I'll hand it over to legendary And now I'll hand it over to legendary game designer John Borg to give you an uplo look at the modern interpretation of the original masterpiece.
    14:22
    I'm John. John is is a fun guy. So, I got to see John is is a fun guy. So, I got to see him just recently at the Star Wars release. I was there for their Star Wars game. He's a fun guy and he was a little cheeky cuz he was saying like, you know, yeah. I was like, "Congrats on your new game." He's like, "Yeah, you know, maybe I'll even have another one." And I kind of just was like, "Cool, cool." Yeah. This year, dude, two games in one year, bro. Congrats. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work. Um, I don't know how much it work it takes to like really make a pinball machine. I mean, I want to make one. I I'll be working on a homebrew soon. Uh, stay tuned for that. But super cool designer of The Walking Dead remaster. designer of The Walking Dead remaster. Immerse yourself in a completely redesigned universe of The Walking Dead with all new upgrades, visuals, sounds, and mechanical enhancements. The game features custom audio call outs from Merl and Michonne. You got to help me kill these. You got to help me kill these. Giving the people what they want. Giving the people what they want. No one who comes here leaves. While No one who comes here leaves. While remastering The Walking Dead, we decided that we wanted to make the well zombie move with a solenoid instead of just it moving when you strike it with the ball. We added lint zombie heads to the slingshots and additional RGB lighting to several of the inserts on the playfield.
    15:41
    He's not getting up after that shot. He fish full of hits. He fish full of hits. We updated the functionality of the We updated the functionality of the crossbow with an encoder. Shoot the crossbow.
    15:57
    That crossbow mech is pretty cool. I haven't really I I think I've seen it on one Walking Dead, but I've mainly played the pros. Handsome devil, ain't it? Handsome devil, ain't it? We also updated and redesigned the We also updated and redesigned the rollover playfield. It's a cool mech. It's a cool mech. Oh, ain't that special? Oh, ain't that special? We have updated the art package with We have updated the art package with handdrawn artwork by Fantasy and
    16:21
    or illustrator Robert handdrawn. handdrawn. Yeah. Yeah. [laughter] Uh there's like uh there's some some Uh there's like uh there's some some spice in the pinball world. There's some uh you know AI is everywhere. Um it's uh being implemented into so many places. So it is nice that um they mention that it is handdrawn artwork that they still got artists making art. Appreciate you Stern for support in that. Um it's hard it's hard these days to to avoid AI anything. So uh but it's always kind of been around machine learning they just change they change the buzzwords. Anyway, I don't want I'm not going to get too much into that. The art's cool. Thank you so much. um what's his name? Robert Laski. You did a great job in my opinion. Illustrated side armor with laser cut Illustrated side armor with laser cut bullets. Yeah, like the detail.
    17:28
    We having fun yet? Fight the dead. Fear the living. The Fight the dead. Fear the living. The Walking Dead remastered available at Stern Pinball. I think I like the premium that like I think I like that premium back glass a little bit. Okay. Okay. Your skills a whole new beginning.
    17:52
    And they're only making 500 limited editions. I'm unsure if I mentioned that before, but 500 of those. I think that's a pretty good number for a remastered. I think that like helps to keep the like excitement of like there's only so many. I think a thousand I mean knowing like the pinball community and from what I've seen so far like 500 definitely gets people on their toes um of wanting the want. I'm going to go ahead and just go to the Stern website where you can Oh, whatever. Save my preferences. Thank you, Stern. Yeah. So, I'm already here on the Stern website and they've got all sorts of stuff here. You can find out about their games. Um, I already went and pulled up the premiums page. And then what we just watched is right here as well. Um, it's on Spike 3. Only 500 of the all this. You can go ahead and check it out on here. Like all of the things that they've they've put on here. The MSRP $9,699.
    19:11
    So like 10 grand for the premium. I think it's 13 for the limited edition. Pinball's expensive. You know, pinball is made by hand. Um there's just all these parts and I know people are getting hit with all these tariffs and things that are happening. Like stuff's expensive. Um I think what's cool here is I want to like, you know, I think they did take a lot of stuff from the past um playfield from what I saw uh and they just kind of revamped some things. These buttons are cool cuz they're instead of the star rollovers. That's really That's really fun. Oh, man. Congratulations, Stern, on another release. Um, wow. Yeah. Zomb, there are zombies in this game. Did I Did you know? Did you know? I think it's pretty [laughter] apparent to me that they got some zombies in this game. And I just I really like these colors. Last night standing open s
    20:28
    Yeah. If you're into zombies, this is your game. Wow. Yeah. I just I'm digging this like blue, red, orange thing. We got shoot again. Horde is spelled a little differently. I did pull up some pictures. um of the old playfield. And I do see there's some similarities of like the arrows and the um what I don't know what that thing is, but that's like out here.
    21:06
    And you got hoorde as like a as like a whole square. Don't open dead inside. Does it say the same? I can't read it on this. Oh, no. It doesn't have that on the slingshots there. But you have the horde like coming at you while the this new one is more like they're coming at them on the inside of the games. But you also cuz like I think on the old game you didn't really get Yeah, you didn't really get the faces of the you got them here on the apron but you didn't get anybody on the playfield. So, I mean, again, I I don't know much about this show, but I think that if I were a fan of it, I'd want to see the people that I'm fans of, right? Like I love on my Lord of the Rings. That art, that art is so good. You got all these zombies.
    22:00
    You can learn how to play it from Kineticist. Uh, super fun. And just giving another little shout out here. If you're interested in a game, Rewind Pinball. They are my sponsor. I'm super grateful for them. If you want to buy a game, uh you can pre-order a Walking Dead with them. If not interested in a Walking Dead, they have plenty of other games. They got the Star Wars, they got King Kong, they got John Wick. Um give them a call, let them know I sent you. That really helps me out. Um, and yeah, uh, this was really fun getting to like review this game and, uh, talk about it. Uh, I'm excited to play it. Um, cuz I I know the feel will be different, right? Just kind of like I got a chance to play Stern's revamped um, Metallica. Yeah, the remastered Metallica. And that just felt like a lot snappier. And oh man, this is a really great game. This game Yeah, for sure. Like night and day the art packages from each other from what they had first until what they have now. Um, it's really cool with remastering these games. I'm excited to see what's next. I hear a lot of rumblings. I'm not really like a rumors channel. Um, but games that I hear that people would like are like Tron, me personally, Lord of the Rings. Um, some people are even saying Ghostbusters. I I've Ghostbusters is hard. Ghostbusters is a hard game. Um, and but I do understand there's some things attached to that game that would be great if they weren't attached to it. But um that is for another day. Uh yeah. Well, thanks again for watching. I hope that you guys get a chance to play this game soon. Let me know in the comments down below what you thought of the game. If you're going to buy one, are you going to play one? Do you think it's horrendous? Do you think it's the best thing ever? Um that's what's really fun about pinball is that we all have some different opinions and different things that we like to talk about with it. And uh yeah, do you think this was the right move from Stern to remaster Walking Dead? I think I think so. I think that that's pretty cool. Uh but yeah, thanks again, guys. And I will catch you on the flip side. Let's get this started. Is this water? Yeah. No, it's soup. Yeah. [laughter] Here we go. My favorite
    24:43
    almost. I I've never really watched this show.