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Episode 101 – CSI: Special Pinball Unit

Head2Head Pinball·podcast_episode·1h 42m·analyzed·Jul 22, 2019
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.018

TL;DR

Head2Head Pinball demos CSI by Pat Lawlor, rates it solid between Indiana Jones and Batman tier.

Summary

Head2Head Pinball presents gameplay footage and commentary on Stern Pinball's CSI machine, designed by Pat Lawlor. The host provides a walkthrough of key features including three multiball modes (centrifuge, skull lock, microscope), evidence collection mechanics, and licensed character callouts. The game is positioned as solid but not exceptional—better than Indiana Jones but not as good as Batman.

Key Claims

  • CSI was designed by Pat Lawlor, who also designed The Addams Family and Twilight Zone

    high confidence · Host states this directly during gameplay commentary

  • The CSI show's creator requested a skull lock feature because he is a big fan of pinball

    medium confidence · Host mentions this twice but does not cite specific source; plausible as licensing detail

  • CSI has three multiballs (centrifuge, skull lock, microscope) and three drop targets

    high confidence · Host observes and plays through these mechanics on video

  • CSI is better than Indiana Jones but not as good as Batman

    high confidence · Host's direct comparative assessment based on gameplay experience

  • Stern's next game is 24

    medium confidence · Host states 'Should be interesting to see their next game is 24' but phrasing is unclear; could be speculation or confirmation

Notable Quotes

  • “This game was designed by Pat Lawlor who also did um The Addams Family and of course Twilight Zone. This is his newest one.”

    Head2Head Pinball host @ Early gameplay segment — Establishes designer credentials and positions CSI as capstone of Lawlor's legendary portfolio

  • “Overall, it's a pretty good game. I wouldn't say as good as Batman, but definitely better than Indiana Jones.”

    Head2Head Pinball host @ Mid-gameplay assessment — Provides clear tier ranking within Stern's recent catalog

  • “The creator actually asked if they could put something like a skull in the game because um he is a big fan of pinball.”

    Head2Head Pinball host @ Gameplay commentary — Highlights IP holder engagement and pinball fandom at show creator level

  • “The game really shakes when that centrifuge is on.”

    Head2Head Pinball host @ Centrifuge multiball section — Notes tactile/physical feedback quality of signature multiball mode

Entities

CSI (Stern Pinball)gamePat LawlorpersonStern PinballcompanyGary SternpersonHead2Head PinballorganizationIndiana Jones (Stern Pinball)gameBatman (Stern Pinball)gamePirates of the Caribbean (Stern Pinball)game24 (Stern Pinball)gameTwilight Zone (Pinball)

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Head2Head Pinball producing detailed gameplay walkthrough and reviews as part of wider content strategy including Arcade Hunters partnership

    high · Host mentions upcoming full review of 'Castle Video' for Arcade Hunters; indicates ongoing content pipeline and cross-platform distribution

  • ?

    design_philosophy: CSI design incorporates show creator's specific request for skull lock mechanic, indicating licensed IP holder engagement in game design process

    medium · Host states CSI show creator 'is a big fan of pinball' and requested skull feature in game

  • ?

    announcement: Potential confirmation or speculation that Stern's next game following CSI is '24'

    low · Host says 'Should be interesting to see their next game is 24' but phrasing ambiguous—could be speculation or leak

Transcript

youtube_mirror_subs · $0.000

0:02
DNA will tell us if this is your kid, but it does look like your killer came to Vegas. [Music]
0:30
D [Music] do Heat. Heat. N. [Music] doo doo doo doo doo doo. [Music] All right. Now that 2600 has shown you the ins and outs of the machine, I'm going to go give it a play. I've actually played this before. It's pretty good. And um you're going to see all the different toys. Still waters run deep. It's got some of the uh actors from the shows with some uh custom sound clips. I'm sorry. Don't know the paparazz names of all the characters and all this stuff cuz I haven't watched CSI in a couple years.
2:05
But it's pretty good. It's got the cold climb. Centro played um Stern's other game to the Caribbean. Imagine the Tortuga lock on steroids. Blue evidence is lit. Now that's the uh evidence thing. I can start collecting evidence that's in the middle to complete the crime. There's also the uh skull lock and u this game was designed by Pat Lawler who also did um the Adams family and of course Twilight Zone. This is his newest one. I got the
2:51
see. Going to try to get the skull on, which is um hate to say it, don't know the creator of the show, but um the creator actually asked if they could put something like a skull in the game because um he is a big fan of pinball. So, let's see if I can get that skull lock and show some more of the game. Otherwise, it's going to be a very boring
3:23
video. No music, but you know, we got we got the who's Six entry wounds, five shellcas. My math says that doesn't add up.
game
The Addams Family (Pinball)game
3:55
Yeah, one of the other quotes is those a lot of threes, three balls and three multiballs and three of the drop targets. So, uh that's what you get. You have the uh centrifuge multiball, skull lock multiball, and the microscope multiball after you collect all of the um all the
4:15
evuge completed. Good. I can shoot that again and then another time and I can uh start a centrafuse multiball which is a two ball
4:26
multiball. All right, here comes the skull. Take that noise to the AB geeks. Centrauge multiball is lit. All right, so now I got the multiball and I got a lock on that skull so I can uh get it lit for you and show you how it works. But first they want me to do the centrifuge. So, I'm not going to be uh showing off the uh ball anytime
4:52
soon. The game really shakes when that centrifuge is on. Centrifuge multiball. Here we go. See if I can get it in
5:05
there. Overall, it's a pretty good game. I wouldn't say as good as Batman, but definitely better than Indiana Jones. So, still a really good game and I just drowned on it. So, obviously you're not seeing a lot of what uh you can do in this game. Jackpot. Damn it. Get this body out of here now. We got cross contamination. [Music]
6:36
real skulls coming back up so I can try to lock the skull. Once you get all two balls in the skull, that's the skull multi wall. That was requested by the show's creator as I said before, but that's a luck for ball
6:52
one. Actually got the skill shot, but it didn't. Last stop more. So, pretty good game for Should be interesting to see their next game is 24. But we're going to see how good that
7:24
Get the mic. I get the two of the three uh multi balls on video. Here we go.
7:41
I guess it's we have this many live pictures taken [Applause] jackpot pretty good. I'm actually uh doing good this time compared the last times I've been playing. Now that you have the others, take it to the lab.
8:04
I got shoe prints. Keep going for the last ball. I want to see if I can get the uh case of wrong place, wrong time. See if I can get microscope
8:27
multiball. According to the video logs, the victim was brought into seclusion at 5:03 p.m. Extra ball is lit.
8:44
Microscope [Music] multiball. See the extra. It's funny because the whole game says there's a law of crazy yet. Every multiball known is too long. So I don't get
9:10
ball can really feel the whole tongue shake when you get that center. Go.
9:25
I get the microscope multiball and I don't shoot the microscope at all and I dream.
9:38
Joe Gerson. Shoot again. All right. So, uh that's pretty much CSI. pretty good game from uh Gary Gary Stern and all the other guys at um Stern Pinball that you know are keeping pinball alive. So hopefully uh you guys enjoyed this video. Um check out more from us at pressstarcomic.com and we will have a whole review of Castle Video very soon for Arcade Hunters. So stay tuned for that and I'm going to play more CSI. Thanks for watching.