Making of Walking Dead Pinball from Stern Pinball

Stern Pinball·video·9m 52s·analyzed·Dec 18, 2014

Analysis

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TL;DR

John Borg discusses The Walking Dead pinball design, mechanics, and art package.

Summary

Official Stern Pinball video featuring designer John Borg discussing the development of The Walking Dead pinball machine (2014). Borg explains the game's design philosophy centered on zombie-killing gameplay, details key mechanical features (Well Zombie toy, Prison Zombie, Bicycle Girl ramp, Daryl's crossbow ball shooter), and discusses the art package by Stefan Johnson. The video includes gameplay demonstrations and behind-the-scenes commentary on design challenges and licensing advantages.

Key Claims

The Walking Dead may be the first zombie-themed pinball machine ever made
medium confidence · Borg: 'I don't think there's been a zombie pinball. I think this may be a first.'
The game is intended to be 'the goriest pinball machine in existence'
high confidence · Borg: 'This game is going to stand out in pinball history as the goriest pinball machine in existence.'
Stefan Johnson did the predominant art package work (cabinet design, backglass)
high confidence · Borg: 'The art package was predominantly done by Stefan Johnson. He did the cabinet design, backglass.'
The Limited Edition includes RGB LED star rollovers with multiple color options
high confidence · Borg: 'On our LE we've got RGB LED star rollovers so we can light them up all different colors.'
Borg is a significant fan of The Walking Dead TV show and comic
high confidence · Borg: 'I actually planted myself in front of the television set about a half an hour before it started' and 'I've now gone back and started reading the comic book.'

Notable Quotes

“People have been waiting a long time for a zombie-related pinball game. I think The Walking Dead is just perfect.”
John Borg — Establishes market demand and thematic fit for zombie pinball.
“This game is going to stand out in pinball history as the goriest pinball machine in existence. Hopefully that's a good thing.”
John Borg — Defines the game's positioning as intentionally brutal and adult-oriented, departing from typical Stern fare.
“It's all good. The toys were made by the artist who does the makeup, so I mean, it looks just like them.”
John Borg — Indicates close collaboration with show's makeup/effects team for toy authenticity.
“I love the Well Zombie scene. So they pulled the Well Zombie out of the well and he split in half. His lower torso went spilling back into the water supply. So I really wanted to do that in the game.”
John Borg — Shows source material fandom driving specific mechanical feature design.
“The Walking Dead has such a huge following, it'll probably even bring some new people into pinball, which will be really great.”
John Borg — Expresses confidence in licensing's potential to expand the player base beyond existing pinball enthusiasts.

Entities

John Borgperson Stefan Johnsonperson Stern Pinball Inc.company The Walking DeadgameThe Walking Dead (TV series)productWell ZombieproductPrison ZombieproductBicycle GirlproductDaryl's Crossbowproduct

Signals

?
community_signal: Designer expresses confidence that existing pinball enthusiasts who are Walking Dead fans will drive adoption, and that game may attract new players from broader fanbase
medium · Borg: 'I think a lot of the pinball heads are The Walking Dead fans' and 'it'll probably even bring some new people into pinball.'
?
design_philosophy: Game intentionally positioned as adult-oriented, violent, and gory—departure from typical Stern game direction; zombie-killing as core mechanical/thematic loop
high · Borg: 'It's a little more adult and gory than what we've done in the past' and 'This game is going to be the goriest pinball machine in existence.'
?
licensing_signal: Stern secured exclusive license for The Walking Dead pinball during high popularity of TV series (Season 1-4 during development); IP authenticity emphasized through makeup artist involvement in toy design
high · Borg: 'The toys were made by the artist who does the makeup, so I mean, it looks just like them.' Also references direct source material fandom driving specific features.
?
community_signal: John Borg personally invested in source material (watched entire series, reading comics, favorite characters); fandom directly informed design decisions
high · Multiple statements: 'I actually planted myself in front of the television set' and extensive discussion of favorite characters (Rick, Michonne, Daryl)
?
announcement: Official Stern behind-the-scenes video confirming Walking Dead pinball details and feature set

Transcript

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0:05

All right. So, make sure you talk to your boys so they don't lose their minds. 36 bucks. Yeah. And then and then you got [Music] I'd lived and breathed the series when season 1, episode 1 started. I actually planted myself in front of the television set about a half an hour before it started. Usually I'll just record a show and watch it later. This show was like really interesting to me and I was really really happy to get the license for it. My name is John Borg and I'm a game designer at Stern Pinball Inc. I'm working on The Walking Dead. People have been waiting a long time for a zombie related pinball game. I think The Walking Dead is just perfect. People can't get enough of zombies. No pun intended. It's a no-brainer. It's a great show and you just want to see it live in another form. Pinball is what we do and you know to see it come to life at a pinball game is just wonderful. It's an action-packed show set in a crazy crazy world. It's really good metaphor for pinball. Pinball is it's crazy. Killing zombies. There's a lot of action, a story line, four seasons worth of material, lots of plot twists in the story and stuff. So, it creates interesting little aspects for rules. We can do a lot with zombie killing. It's got a lot of the elements that pinball needs. Exciting things happening, lots of danger and lots of reward, which is what the kids like. It's one of the biggest things that's going on in pop culture today. Definitely a departure, too, from most STEM games. It's a little more adult and gory than what we've done in the past. Has there ever been a zombie pinball machine? I don't think there's been a zombie pinball. I think this may be a first. What sets this game apart? Zombies. It's a little more violent. This game is going to stand out in pinball history as the goriest pinball machine in existence. Hopefully, that's a good thing. I I like that kind of stuff. You've got a constant barrage of zombies. You're always killing zombies, which is like the show. Scary and it's fantastic. If you like to kill walkers, I think you're going to have a good time with this one. The objective of the game is fairly simple. The objective is just to stay alive. You are playing as yourself, trying to survive in an apocalyptic world. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill walkers. Kill as many as you can. There's a walker bonus count. Every shot you make, you're you're killing zombies. You'll start a wizard mode called killing spree, which is going to be the main wizard mode. You start modes that relate to different showcase zombies, I guess you'd say. There's different weapons you kind of are showcased in this killing fest. Make sure you got enough supplies to last through the next wave. It's all good. The toys were made by the artist who does the makeup, so I mean, it looks just like them. The cool pinball toys include the well zombie. I love the well zombie scene. So they pulled the well zombie out of the well and he split in half. His lower torso went spilling back into the water supply. So I really wanted to do that in the game and he was a very interesting looking character. It's a pretty cool toy. He's got this cool action. He kind of comes back. This is the well zombie. They were looking for drinking water and they found this guy. This is one of the first Whitewood games. Our well zombie is going to sit and when you hit him with the ball, it's going to cause the well to move back and score. And then the well zombie will lift up and tilt back and then he'll come back down and the unit straightens itself out. The other bash toy is the prison. Prison. That's like the big one. Zombie inside a prison. The cell block sea building. It has a magnet out in front of it and it has mechanical doors that open and close and there's a big zombie head inside that you get to smash with the ball. This is prison zombie. When the doors open, it'll expose this guy and you've got to hit him some number of times to start multiball. This is just a white solid molded model right now. This is the decorated version that I just received. So, this guy's going to be inside of here. We were intending on this being the barn, but that was from season 2 and the prison was in season 3 and four. So, we went with the prison instead. We actually have decorated it to look just like Cell Block Sea. You can see these little zombies, little silhouettes that are behind these windows. You won't see these until the prison lights up from the inside. What we got here is walking dead playfield. Over here, we got the prison zombie. That's the zombie. If you're bowing, you're heading into the door. It's basically a couple doors that are run by a couple solenoids underneath. This is a new feature. is we uh put a steel ring around the magnet so we can center the ball. This new steel ring, what it does is it protects the playfield. This is what the magnet will look like underneath. The next feature, Bicycle Girl, as some of you remember from the first episode of Walking Dead, Rick comes upon this zombie, which is an iconic symbol for the TV show. In a limited edition game, the left ramp lifts up and exposes Bicycle Girl, the first zombie that Rick came across. And this whole floor of the ramp is going to lift up, which will expose this character, which is going to be underneath it. I think your big money item is going to be that crossbow. Daryl's crossbow. crossbow. That's Yeah, that's pretty good. The limited edition game has a ball shooter that is going to represent Daryl's crossbow. That's actually going to be the favorite of all of the toys. And I think that you preserved it. So Mark preserved it. I should say Mark's safety crossbow. So I said, "Get that thing out of there." The ball actually feeds into it and it pans over. You can actually shoot any shot on the playfield with it. The plastic comes all the way to the return lane and feeds your left flipper. And then there's going to be a small magnet here that'll divert the ball over into another trough that'll bring the ball into the arch where it's going to feed Daryl's crossbow. And then Daryl's crossbow will pan out and go across the playfield and you'll be able to shoot any shot. There's a lamp that says crossbow and it's got a little icon up on top. When you see that lit, you know that the ball's going to divert. We're going to shoot well zombie with our crossbow.

5:24

There's a nice variety of toys in this game. This is kind of cool. Here you knock down the drop target. Then you go in here and what you're going to want to do is you're going to want to skillfully plunge one of the lit star rollovers and hit the one that is flashing. On our LE we've got RGB LED star rollover so we can light them up all different color. If you plunge too hard and you go up into the top lanes, you don't get the award. If you plunge too light, the ball goes into the popovers. I just went all the way through into the top lanes. Make sure that you plunge just right and hit that lift button like that. That's a hard shot. It is. Oh, the music is great. a lot of the music from the show and we've written some of our own pieces. It's going to keep you on the edge of your seat. I think the art package is going to look really good, too. The back glass, the playfield looks really nice. You can see like landmarks and things like that. The cabinet and back glasses have a graphic approach. The LE package is stunning. It's a great looking package. The art package was predominantly done by Stefan Johnson. He did the cabinet design, back glass. The challenges were pretty light on this project because zombies, walkers, it all works. The layout was a big challenge cuz it's a little different than some of the recent games I've made. The whole project was really a lot of work, but awesome. This game is going to be the biggest blood fest that's ever been seen in pinball. I was really, really stoked to get this title. It's a great show. I mean, I've never seen anything like this on TV. Watched every single episode. I'm a huge fan of the show. I love the show. It's a great show. I actually had known about the comic before they made the show. I just didn't for some reason getting into it, but I've now gone back and started reading the comic book. Rick is definitely my favorite character cuz he's the staple that holds it all together. He drives the show. He's the main character. I really like Daryl a lot, but Rick is by far my favorite character. Either Michonne or uh Daryl. It's probably Michonne cuz she's just a badass. She's a badass. She just gets the job done. Walks up. That's it. I think a lot of the pinball heads are Walking Dead fans. I think they'll just flock to it because it's just so cool. People are going to eat this up, man. Like they eat a good barbecue pork rib. Walking Dead has such a huge following, it'll probably even bring some new people into pinball, which will be really great. And the Walking Dead fans, if they're big collectors of Walking Dead and zombie paraphernalia, this is the ultimate zombie toy. It's just, it's amazing. My strength in a zombie apocalypse would probably be, wow, a zombie apocalypse. My strength, well, definitely not running. I could run. My strength would be that everyone else could run past me and I could barricade doors pretty easily. Setting traps, wits, maybe using my tactical prowess. I mean, I'm not a fast runner, not the best shooter. Never really used a sword. I'm not a fighter, so well, I'd probably head up north into Wisconsin. I have a place up there. If a bunch of zombies come and raid my place, I'll just go out in the water cuz they can't swim. And I do a lot of fishing, so that would, you know, keep me fed. Even my pen is a fish. Actually, I would be perfect for it. I've practiced a couple martial arts, one of which is weapons, knives, and swords. Yeah, I would be okay. My weapon of choice, oh jeez, there's so many. I would like the gun, but that it just tracks more something long range. If it's not the gun, the shown's uh katana. That thing is just probably either be a trench knife or maybe one of those demo hammers. It's a hammer with like a crowbar at the bottom. I'm really grossed out by the hammer. That That's a nasty, brutal instrument. I think the crossbow. I mean, everybody loves the crossbow. I like Daryl's crossbow. I also like Merl's attachment. I'd probably go with both of those. If I could get access to gas, a chainsaw would be a very compelling weapon for me. Like a chainsaw on a on a stick that you kind of like sort of like a knife and a sword. Two things that I could use professionally. I'm chopping, stabbing, deflecting, stabbing. You want me to show you later? I could show you later. I didn't get his head.