Episode Summary

Join David and Ron this week as they ride on a dirt bike made of quarters and fueled with pinball players’ tears with Steve Ritchie. Through this awesome time in pinball, the bestselling designer ever, continued to build his legacy and as you’ll see in this episode, redefined pinball as the industry struggled to survive.

Come listen about Steve’s iconic Williams System 11 and WPC machines. There is high praise for Larry DeMar, the alternate theme for Rollergames, Dave and Ron fan boying about T2 and Star Trek: TNG, and Steve Richie being cooler than Dave.

Episode Summary

David and Ron are here again this month to use an audio medium to talk about   visual art… will it work?

Art sells Pinball machines. There was no better team ever in pinball as the Art Team at Bally. From 1975 until Bally was sold to Midway in 1983 an eclectic, creative and dedicated team of artists made some of the best art pinball had ever seen.

Come listen to Ron and Dave chat about Dave Christensen, his strange art choices, why was it so cold at Bally in the 1970s, hear Dave consistently miss pronounce more names, the amazing Paul Faris Bally art team, orbit spinners and Gene Simmons’s package.

Episode Summary

David and Ron are going to finish what they started last month. As mentioned in the previous podcast, from 1975 to 1980 Bally were breaking sales records. It seemed that Paul Faris’s art team could do no wrong but by 1981 the gaming industry’s footing was feeling shaky.

In an effort to hold ground and boost sales Bally push out some of their most creative works ever. The Class of 1981 was, and still is, the pinnacle of pinball art.

Join us as we talk about Xenon’s tube shot and sound package, polaroid pictures, Kevin O’Connor’s jeep,  Claude Fernandez stealing design ideas from Steve Ritchie, Margaret Hudson being a trail blazer for woman in pinball, annoying in lane/out lane designs and the peak of Bally’s stunning art design. Also, did you know Kevin O’Conner had a jeep?

Episode Summary

John Borg or as he’s affectionately known as ‘Borgie’, entered the industry as a mechanical engineer building ramps and ended up being a designer on some of the fondest remember nostalgia pins of the 1990’s.

Join Ron and Dave as they chat about Borgie got to hang out with movie stars, review some cool mechs, discuss Bill Paxton and Bill Pullman, designers getting scripts to some of the biggest 90’s blockbusters in advance of the film, chat about a cougar attack (like the animal) and watch as the industry flamed out.

Episode Summary

Pat Lawlor is a pinball statesman. He has a long lumbering and detailed way of explaining himself. This deep and controlled thought process is why Pat’s pinball designs and mechanical toys are so detailed and dedicated to being exciting. Some would call Pat a pinball academic, others say he’s a prickly fella.

Join us this month where we talk ramps, ramps, Dave talks about his Tron a bunch… in a Pat Lawlor episode (?), more cool ramps, Stern’s 2000s, Pat’s move to Jersey Jack and the strange Shrek/Family guy pin!

Episode Summary

Dwight is one of pinball programming’s most important figures. Throughout the 1990’s Dwight worked on some of the best-selling games of all time, added a level of polish not seen before, brought a new level of fun and uniqueness that continue to influence programmers today.

Have fun this month where we chat ‘Dwight Speak’, Riverboat Gambler, taking pride in your work, the Star Trek Door, the final years of Williams and Dwight’s transition to Stern Pinball.

Episode Summary
By the Early 1980’s Pinball was dying. Sales in Pinball fell from peaks of 9-10,000 units to 900 units in 2 years. Video was on an upward trend and that is where the coin op industry began to focus. Only 1 full time designer remained at Williams by 1982, Barry Oursler. To help fill in the production line some of the designers from the late 70’s reappeared.

Join us this month as we discuss Barry Oursler, Paul Dassault, the battle of the Bi-Levels, the ‘Gar Family, Tony Kraemer, hidden back glass art and whatever the heck Time Fantasy was!

Episode Summary
Pat Lawlor has a demeanor which has rubbed some the wrong way over the years. Let’s face it, as a designer you need to get strong personalities in line, meet corporate deadlines, push your creative vision to the edge and have the confidence in yourself that your product design will sell. Maybe part of that reputation was created in his early career in the Williams Pinball Shark Tank.

Join us this month as we discuss Pat Lawlor joining William Pinball, Larry DeMar’s double dippin’, fun child-like pinball designs, Whirlwind, that creepy shutter mech, what Python Anghelo thinks of Pat, proving the naysayers wrong, and yes, the record breaking Addams Family.

Episode Summary
George Gomez has created some of the most well received pinball machines our hobby has ever seen. He got his big break with Williams Pinball, but the current Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of Stern Pinball had a big career before the silverball. His mixture of experience prior to pinball built his unique style of pinball creativity. In fact, one of the toughest critics around, Python Anghelo called George a “good guy and very passionate,” Woah!

Join Ron and Dave this month as they follow George Gomez from the Cuban Revolution to Midway making games like Satan’s Hollow, Tron, and Spy Hunter. Then in a shift to toy company Marvin Glass and eventually Bally-Williams where he made a splash right away in the shark pool! Look out, this episode has an hour of arcade talk…    

Episode Summary

Barry Oursler is a William institution. As a designer he kept the line going at Williams during the massive decline that the coin op industry experienced in the early 1980s. He designed 35 games including Space Shuttle, which ‘saved pinball.’ During the decade after Space Shuttle, Barry continued to design and collectively sold over 135,000 pinball games for Williams during his tenure. Barry WAS Williams in this era.

Join Ron and Dave as they talk about Barry saving pinball… or did he? Hit pins such as Space Station, FIRE!, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Dirty Harry, Junkyard, amazing mechanical wonders, the controversies around Popeye Saves the Earth and Jack*Bot, and Barry’s legacy to the hobby we all love.