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Join us as we discuss with frequent guest on the show Greg Dunlap to discuss the important role that programmers play in the design and development of pinball machines as we talk about all the many different ways that programmers can influence a player's perception positively or negatively through their work.

But there's some tasteful swearing present throughout.

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This episode features former guest on the show, and dot matrix pinball programmer Greg Dunlap to discuss how Gary Stern ends up surviving TWO pinball extinction events at the turn of the millennium, and then another one at the end of the decade.

This is the only era in pinball's long history where there was only a single manufacturer in business.  Gary made a lot of tough calls and hard decisions to keep pinball alive during this dark age, and contrary to some popular belief, actually made quite a few awesome games during this period as well.

So sit back and listen up as we discuss and give our flowers to Gary Stern, the man who saved pinball in this episode.

Although we do cuss a little bit...

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This is the first ever award show that attempts to get the calls right, all with the power of HINDSIGHT.  So, for this first Pinball Hindsight Awards Episode, we chose the year 1990, and are giving out the test of time awards to games like Dr. Dude, Funhouse, Whirlwind, Rollergames and many more.

Warning: adult language and no-no words are used for effect.

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This episode Alan & Alex are joined on the show to discuss the short-lived Pinball 2000 platform, and Ian defends SWE1, the last game that Williams pinball ever made against a flood of bad reviews.

I mention in this episode a fantastic documentary that you should check out, called TILT: The Battle to Save Pinball check it out to learn more about this incredible project.

As always though: this is an adult show with adult language.

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This episode is all about why pinball's natural habitat is on location, and why location pinball still matters (and matters much more than private collections) in the year 2025 and beyond.  Our whole podcast is basically centered around the importance of pinball being put on location, but this episode in particular is a love letter to on location pinball ...with swearing.

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This episode is all about the joys and fun that a hard game of pinball brings.  For whatever reason this seems to be a minority opinion in the modern era, even though we set out to prove that pinball was always supposed to be hard, and that challenging games are way more fun in the long run.

Obligatory naughty language warning. 

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This episode has been teased multiple times over the run of the show, and is a solo episode based upon what I started out writing as a short article about the business of location pinball, the economics of it, and the feasibility of pinball earning money on location.  What started out as a short article quickly grew wider in scope, and eventually I just felt like it would make a better podcast episode rather than an article.

If you like this episode and want to hear Pinball Econ 102, 103, or 104 in the future, reach out to me on the discord channel and let me know.  There's definitely a lot more to cover if y'all are interested.

As always though: I did swear while recording this episode. No surprise there.

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Good friend of the show and all-around expert solid state assassin, Ty Palmer joins us on the show once again for his SIXTH appearance to defend his DOTH game, 1979's Future Spa.

Designed by George Christian and released by Bally in their golden era, this game is a super wide body with a very weird and very horny art package, but it's also a game that is widely mocked. At least it was, until this episode where Ty sets the record straight.

Oh yeah, we are a pack of swearwolves though, so this is your explicit content warning.

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This episode is all about the mystery and mystique surrounding Bally's best game designer from their early solid state golden era, previously covered in our Susan B. Anthony Years episode.

And just like last time, we are joined by local Solid-State assassin and good friend Ty Palmer to discuss what is all of our favorite designer from this era.  For a guy that designed some of the best-selling games of all time, during the pinball's peak era you would think that there would be a lot more known about this legendary pinball designer, but sadly there isn't.

On this episode of the show, we try to piece together all the little arcane bits of data and information that we have collected over the last 18 months, to try and shine some light onto this unsung hero of the industry.

Warning: Adult language is used by adults in this episode.

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This episode we discuss Stern pinball's interesting way of approaching certain licensed games that they make, including their recent games Dungeons & Dragons and King Kong, before we dive into the differences with their earlier Marvel games like Spider Man, Iron Man, or Avengers to what they make nowadays with Deadpool, X-Men, Venom or Avengers (the second time).

Roger Sharpe used a phrase called a "Soft License" to denote a licensed game in which the licensor gives a ton of freedom with how the license is used in a game (like Elvira), but we have expanded that definition to include games like D&D, Kong, and even Jurassic Park as games with minimal assets, but recognizable names.

As always, we swear on the show. This is your warning.

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