Stern Announces Star Wars Comic Art Edition Pinball Machines
Yesterday, Stern caused a disturbance in the Force by announcing a new edition of the Star Wars pinball design that they released back in 2017. While there are no changes to the layout, and no new code to accompany this (yet), the hubbub came from the new art package that these are sporting, called “Comic Art Edition.” The artwork was done by professional artist Randy Martinez, best known for his Star Wars artwork. The general consensus I’m seeing about this announcement is that fans are very pleased with the change, since the look of the machines is more vibrant and heroic than before. What do you think?
Stern also put this interview onto YouTube to give more insight
Game Design Suggestion: Enhancing The “Knocker” Sound On Pinball
As I was curating the content for today’s post, I had something happen at my arcade that happens somewhat often. A mom was playing pinball (Ghostbusters) with her two young kids. They got a match, it played the knocker, then they started to walk away. Since I noticed it, I ran over and let them know that they won a free game, something I’ve done quite a few times.
That’s when I realized – why do pinball games still do this, when it would be easy to enhance that for today’s audience? Sure, pinball wizards know what a match is, the knocker acting as the bell to Pavlov’s dogs. But large numbers of casual players don’t have a clue. Why not enhance that with a voice over that says something like “YOU WON A FREE GAME!” in addition to the knocker, and make that a standard on all games? It wouldn’t hurt to have an “Extra Game” or “Free game” animation on the screen when that happens either. That’s
