Underneath the Playfield of Rick and Morty Pinball

Cary Hardy·video·11m 26s·analyzed·Dec 13, 2019

Analysis

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TL;DR

Cary Hardy analyzes Rick and Morty playfield leak, identifying unique pop-up slingshot and portal multiball lock.

Summary

Cary Hardy analyzes leaked underside playfield images of Rick and Morty pinball by Spooky Pinball, discussing community mock-ups from Pinside users Proko and Matt Canaan. He identifies key features including an auto-launch mechanism, a pop-up slingshot (unusual for major manufacturers), magnetic save, portal shot feeding into a trough for multiball locking, and various ramps and targets. Hardy expresses cautious optimism about the game while acknowledging speculation due to image quality limitations.

Key Claims

Rick and Morty will feature an auto-launch mechanism rather than manual plunger adjustment
high confidence · Cary Hardy analyzing leaked underside image, describing ball launcher as 'auto launch' with no manual pull strength adjustment
The left slingshot is actually a pop-up, which is unique and not seen in Stern, JJP, Chicago Gaming, or American Pinball games
high confidence · Hardy explicitly states 'This is something that you're never going to see in a Stern game. you're not going to see it. You're not going to see it in a JJP game' and describes it as 'something that is very unique'
Rick and Morty will feature a three-flipper button configuration with a MagnaSave
medium confidence · Hardy: 'there's going to be at least three flipper buttons and there's two on the right side of the machine. So chances are it's only going to be a three flipper button game with a MagnaSafe'
The portal shot feeds into a trough rather than a VUK, indicating a multiball lock system with 3-4 ball capacity
medium confidence · Hardy: 'it would be different if it fed into a vuck and then it would eject out but it's another trough so this shows me right here that this is going to be probably our multi-ball lock'
Scott Denise is the designer of Rick and Morty pinball
high confidence · Hardy: 'I'm excited because it's a Denise game' (referring to Scott Denise, confirmed designer by context of Spooky games)

Notable Quotes

“This is something that you're never going to see in a Stern game. you're not going to see it. You're not going to see it in a JJP game. You're not going to see it in a Chicago gaming game. You're not going to see it in an American pinball game. This is something that is very unique”
Cary Hardy@ 2:30 — Emphasizes the uniqueness of the pop-up slingshot mechanic as a Spooky Pinball design choice
“I'm willing to bet that's how it's going to work. You're going to launch your ball, it's going to shoot across the playfield, and go into a portal, and down the subway into your VUK. that's going to probably initiate a mode of some sort or adventure”
Cary Hardy@ 5:54 — Hardy theorizes that the game's opening sequence thematically mirrors Rick and Morty's portal mechanic
“The joy of this hobby... is theorizing and speculation”
Cary Hardy@ 9:21 — Acknowledges the speculative nature of analyzing leaked playfield images
“I'm hyped. This is building the hype train. They are doing a very good job of hyping up this game. But will it live up to the hype? That is yet to be seen.”
Cary Hardy@ 9:50 — Expresses cautious enthusiasm about Spooky's marketing strategy while tempering expectations

Entities

Cary HardypersonProkopersonMatt CanaanpersonScott DenisepersonSpooky PinballcompanyRick and Morty PinballgamePinsideorganizationStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack Pinballcompany

Signals

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community_signal: Spooky Pinball generating hype through strategic image leaks and community speculation on design features
medium · Hardy notes 'They are doing a very good job of hyping up this game' and community members actively engaged in mock-ups and analysis
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design_innovation: Rick and Morty features thematic integration of portal mechanic into gameplay opening sequence
medium · Hardy speculates that auto-launch feeds directly into portal shot, mirroring how 'Rick and Morty start their adventures is by going through a portal'
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design_philosophy: Spooky Pinball implementing unique pop-up slingshot mechanic not seen in Stern, JJP, Chicago Gaming, or American Pinball games
high · Hardy explicitly confirms this is 'something that is very unique' and 'something out of the normal' not found in major manufacturers
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leak_detection: Underside playfield image of Rick and Morty pinball circulating on Pinside forum prior to official reveal
high · Hardy analyzes 'leaked image' and multiple community members created mock-ups on Photoshop based on underside photo
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announcement: Rick and Morty pinball officially in development by Spooky Pinball, designed by Scott Denise
high · Hardy references Scott Denise as designer and discusses game features based on leaked playfield image

Transcript

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0:00

Oh man, time to crack a beer. Doesn't really crack. And hop on this hot train. All aboard! So I have got my plate of food and I've got my beer. I had so many plans today on what I was gonna do with this I'm not even gonna call it a leaked image but with this image of the underside of Rick and Morty's pinball playfield.

0:43

And then I was like, oh yeah, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, and then I'm going to highlight this and go over this, and then I get here, I get home, and it's been hours. I've worked all day. I'm actually very exhausted. So I'm actually glad that there are those of you out there that have done the heavy work and have already done some mock-up jobs in Photoshop or whatever program you use to give us an idea of what this playfield is going to look like. up top. So let's go over these images. So the first two images are from an individual on Pennside named Proko. So Proko, props to you for doing the mock-up job that you did. You did specify it was a quick, so this is not a masterpiece, everybody, but I just wanted to make sure that any kind of credit is due where it is. So Proko, this is your image. I mean, let's go over it. But something else I was thinking about was I wonder how many of these people are going to notice certain little things.

1:46

And surprisingly enough, a lot of you guys pinpointed a lot of these things out. So this is what the play field will start from the bottom.

1:53

2:01

So it's going to launch automatically and it looks like it launches from here. and it's going to shoot out from underneath this upper right flipper and feed across the playfield. So something that a lot of people did notice, but some people still, in this photo he does miss it, but I think he's got another one that it pointed out. But there is not a left slingshot. The left slingshot is actually a pop-up. This is something that you're never going to see in a Stern game. you're not going to see it. You're not going to see it in a JJP game. You're not going to see it in a Chicago gaming game. You're not going to see it in an American pinball game. This is something that is very unique Now whether or not it going to be something that we praise that is yet to be seen but it is something out of the normal Also we have got what looks to be a magnet above the right in lane and we know that there's going to be at least three flipper buttons and there's two on the right side of the machine. So chances are it's only going to be a three flipper button game with a MagnaSafe. I'm actually going to switch over now to Proko's other image that he did because this one looks a little bit more streamlined so even on this image he does have it to where it's a slingshot but it's actually supposed to be a pop bumper but he does have the magnet highlighted here the rollovers for your in lane and out lanes and it looks like he does highlight that we have a target right here looks like a stand up target and let's see here so this is something that everyone's pointing out more than likely this is going to be a portal shot of some sort so this portal shot looks like it's going to fall into a giant you know portal hole and it's going to subway straight down into another trough now this is something that's a little interesting and i'm not sure if anybody else has pointed this out is that it would be different if it fed into a vuck and then it would eject out but it's another trough so this shows me right here that this is going to be probably our multi-ball lock this is going to lock i don't know how many balls but it looks like it should hold a good amount so i'm going to say at least a three or four ball multi-ball lock system that we have here and the vuck looks like it's going to fire directly into your left in lane and the thing is i'm willing to bet that the image that we have that we've already seen of a pop bumper and a little bit of the plate field is actually this pop-up well obviously because there's only one pop bumper in the game but the pop bumper right here that has a little bit of the display down there so and we're going to go up a little bit on these there's a lot of lights we got a three bank stand up target system right here a single target here i like how he's speculating that there's a ramp right here i'm hoping that there is i think there should be because we have a lot of what looks to be dead space right here so i'm thinking that's going to be a ramp as well oh oh okay on what if when we launch the ball it actually feeds directly into the portal It kind of makes sense in a way because that usually how Rick and Morty start their adventures is by going through a portal So naturally, whenever you start your game, you should go through a portal.

7:27

Then he's saying, look from the portal, stand up targets. You've got that correct. path of shot for middle flipper because you got your flipper that's right about where's that oh yeah right here so yeah and let's see here what are these things he says right here what are these things um that's a good question it looks like they've got lights going to it Rick and Morty stand-up targets. I would say yes, these are stand-up targets. Chances are it's going to be a Rick and Morty one. So, yeah. He questions if this is a Vuck. I want to agree with you on this, Matt. I want to say that this is actually a scoop that is above this area right here. I think we're going to have a center scoop that I wonder how that's going to work. I thinking that you have to drop down these targets and then get behind here and then i think it falls into a scoop but ah down here in the lower end of the play field it difficult to see what going on because of the angle of the play field so there's a a lot of speculation down here in this area right here i'm thinking this is going to be something that we probably have never seen before i'm hoping So we're going to see how that goes He points out a flipper for Portal Shot is right here I don't know I don't think that's a flipper I think that's actually probably going to be a diverter Because it doesn't look like a flipper coil A typical flipper coil at least This looks like more of a size of a solenoid for a diverter Of course, this is the joy of this hobby And what we got going on here is theorizing and speculation So that's what we're doing But that's pretty much it I mean that I wanted to go over and highlight So thank you to you two gentlemen For doing the heavy lifting for me on this That saved me some time and effort That I had to put into something That I really don't have the energy for tonight How do I feel about this play field so far? I'm hyped. This is building the hype train. They are doing a very good job of hyping up this game. But will it live up to the hype? That is yet to be seen.