Stern Pinball: Making of Guardians of the Galaxy Pinball

Stern Pinball·video·5m 29s·analyzed·Mar 22, 2018

Analysis

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TL;DR

Stern's Guardians of the Galaxy design journey from concept through manufacturing and global shipping.

Summary

Stern Pinball's behind-the-scenes documentary on the design and manufacturing of Guardians of the Galaxy pinball. John Borg discusses the creative vision—eight character-themed modes with integrated storytelling via LCD screens and custom voice acting from nine actors. The video showcases mechanical innovations (Groot toy with motorized jaw, optical kickback sensor), manufacturing processes (CAD to production line), and global distribution, positioning the game as a major success.

Key Claims

John Borg designed Guardians with eight character-specific modes, each with unique rules and shots tied to story progression.
high confidence · John Borg, game designer, speaking directly about design approach
Stern recorded custom voice acting with nine actors from the Guardians film cast.
high confidence · Stern employee in manufacturing/design segment describing voice recording sessions
The Groot toy mechanism uses a motorized jaw to grab, affect ball direction, and shoot balls back into play.
high confidence · Technical walkthrough by Stern engineer describing mechanical components
The kickback feature uses two optical sensors (transmitter/receiver) to detect ball interruption and fire a coil response.
high confidence · Technical walkthrough of kickback mechanism in Guardians Pro
Limited Edition Guardians units feature unique art packages, motorized Groot arms, moving orb, and are individually signed by John Borg.
high confidence · Product showcase segment showing LE unit with signed designer nameplate
Guardians is being shipped globally to markets including France, Australia, and Poland.
high confidence · Manufacturing/logistics segment showing machines on shipping pallets
The design integrates storytelling through LCD screens, music, sound effects, speech events, and display choreography.
high confidence · John Borg and Stern designer discussing design philosophy and technical integration

Notable Quotes

“In the beginning, they had asked me if I wanted to do a game about intergalactic criminals fighting a crazed warrior along with a gun-toting raccoon and a muscle-bound tree. And I'm like, yeah, I'm in for that.”
John Borg@ 0:00 — Establishes Borg's initial pitch and enthusiasm; shows his casual, accessible design philosophy
“I wanted to make Groot eat balls and shoot them out and back down the play field.”
John Borg@ 0:49 — Core mechanical vision—the Groot toy became iconic; reveals how character IP inspired physical game features
“When you pick one of these modes it begets the rules. It begets the shots that are happening in the playfield. You controlling the character and you really feel like you in that pod chase.”
John Borg@ 1:16 — Describes player immersion strategy—modes as character vehicles tied to specific shots and rules
“Lonnie really wanted to try to tell each little segment of the story. Like, you gotta make that shot, or you don't see the story progress. And it's kind of like you're interacting with the movie.”
Stern designer@ 1:36 — Reveals design constraint: shot completion gates story advancement—novel narrative approach for pinball
“The other thing that's cool is we've had custom speech sessions with nine actors. Alright listen up mouth breathers!”
Stern designer@ 1:57 — Confirms nine cast members recorded original dialogue; Rocket voice acting example
“This is a home run. I mean, this is a grand slam. This is like, oh, oh, ho, ho, ho.”

Entities

John BorgpersonStern PinballcompanyGuardians of the GalaxygameGrootproductLonnieperson RocketproductStar-LordproductThe OrbproductPod Chaseproduct

Signals

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design_philosophy: Novel approach where eight character modes each define unique rules and shots; story progression gated by shot completion rather than typical mode flow
high · John Borg: 'When you pick one of these modes it begets the rules. It begets the shots that are happening in the playfield.' Lonnie's vision to 'tell each little segment of the story' through shot requirements.
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design_innovation: Groot toy mechanism uses motorized jaw to grab, affect ball trajectory, and shoot balls back—core mechanical innovation beyond standard ramps/bumpers
high · Technical walkthrough: 'This is the motor that drives the jaw up and down on Groot.' Borg: 'I wanted to make Groot eat balls and shoot them out.'
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design_innovation: Kickback feature uses transmitter/receiver optical sensors to detect ball and trigger coil response—technical enhancement for reliability
high · Engineer: 'There are two optical sensors, transmitter and receiver. The ball interrupts that path, the kickback coil fires the ball back at you.'
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content_signal: Nine custom voice recording sessions with cast members; specific comedic lines recorded (Rocket emphasis); integrated into rule announcement and event triggering
high · Designer: 'We've had custom speech sessions with nine actors.' Examples: 'Don't eat the pinball!' (Rocket); 'I love when a plan comes together.'
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manufacturing_signal: Documented workflow: CAD design → string layout for obstacle avoidance → schematic creation → board CAD import → production line assembly

Topics

Game Design PhilosophyprimaryCharacter-Driven Storytelling IntegrationprimaryMechanical Innovation (Toys, Kickbacks, Sensors)primaryManufacturing Process (CAD to Production)primaryVoice Acting and Audio DesignsecondaryGlobal Distribution and LogisticssecondaryLimited Edition Product DifferentiationsecondaryIP Licensing and Character Integrationmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.92)— Uniformly promotional tone from Stern employees; genuine enthusiasm for design execution and manufacturing quality; no criticism or negative feedback present; closing 'grand slam' comment confirms internal satisfaction

Transcript

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In the beginning, they had asked me if I wanted to do a game about intergalactic criminals fighting a crazed warrior along with a gun-toting raccoon and a muscle-bound tree. And I'm like, yeah, I'm in for that. Guardians for the movie itself, it's awesome on so many levels. The characters, the story that's written, just the ebb and flow. I've seen the movie 20 times. When I got the title, the first thing I thought of was Groot, Rocket, and the Orb. And those are the three toys. I wanted to make Groot eat balls and shoot them out and back down the play field. I just loved it. I am Groot! When you start your game, you're going to have a series of eight modes to pick from. Each one of those modes pertains to a specific character on the game. Star-Lord, man. And Legendary Outlaw. I said to myself okay let the game tell the story When you pick one of these modes it begets the rules It begets the shots that are happening in the playfield You controlling the character and you really feel like you in that pod chase Lonnie really wanted to try to tell each little segment of the story. Like, you gotta make that shot, or you don't see the story progress. And it's kind of like you're interacting with the movie. It's keeping you in the moment. That's the new thing that we haven't done before. It's definitely something we haven't tried before and obviously now with LCD screen we're experimenting with a lot of different things. The other thing that's cool is we've had custom speech sessions with nine actors. Alright listen up mouth breathers! There were so many funny events in the movie. I had a lot of fun with the custom speech for Rocket. You idiot! Don't eat the pinball! I love when a plan comes together. together. When we start doing the development of a game from the electronic side of things, we'll get a CAD drawing from the game designer and mechanical person. We'll start going through those and determining where particular lights are located. And we'll just take a string and we'll start going around the board Then we realize that we have an obstacle that we have to avoid and end up with a shape on the play field We draw out the schematic and we take that board shape and we import that into our CAD package to create the actual physical board that will eventually be put into the game on the production line. What you're looking at is the guts of a Guardians Pro. This is the lamp board, and then you've got the electromagnet here. Lonnie and John came up with a really cool thing that this does. They grab the ball, they affect the direction of the ball. And then of course the mech. This is the motor that drives the jaw up and down on Groot. And this is the trough that fire holds the balls to create the multiball and then fires them out. One of the fun things in this game is this kickback. Now when you shoot the ball in here, there are two optical sensors, transmitter and receiver. The ball interrupts that path, the kickback coil fires the ball back at you, what seems like 600 miles an hour. This is our little toy. There's a huge amount of satisfaction seeing our products come out of our heads and eventually rolling down an assembly line. Let's see if we can find some more Guardian stuff. There's a box full of orbs. All the power in the universe right here. All right so here a pair of Groot hands Makes a good back scratcher too Really works So you looking at a Guardians of the Galaxy Limited Edition It got a unique art package It got the arms and the orb opens and closes. Every one of these is signed by the game designer John Borg. Really a beautiful game. One of the things that we're very proud of here at Stern is that we're an American manufacturer and we're shipping product all over the world. Here's the Guardians going to France and a Guardians premium going to Australia. This entire row of Guardians is going to Poland. There's music, video, there's sound effect, there's display effect, there's speech events, and when you choreograph all of that together, that single thing is bigger than the individual parts. This is a home run. I mean, this is a grand slam. This is like, oh, oh, ho, ho, ho. Give me a second. I got to go inside and see if you guys can see this, and we'll see. Nope, sorry, can't show you today. Too much of the next game in there.