THIS WEEK IN PINBALL – 8/28/23: Podcasting Milestones, Don Gets Spooky, Best 2010s Pins, Tanner Petch Interview & MORE

Eclectic Gamers Podcast Hits #200

Congratulations to the Eclectic Gamers Podcast on reaching the episode 200 milestone! We listen to a lot of pinball podcasts at TWIP, but consistently make time for the Dennis Kriesel & Tony Kurkowski helmed project, as we find the mix of content (pinball + video games) appealing and the chemistry between the hosts is top-notch.

In this episode, we particularly enjoyed the discussion on ethics in pinball content creation and the state of pinball media outlets.

Listen to the milestone episode here

TWIP Mood Music

Here’s Time Rift by Dan Forden for Star Trek: The Next Generation (Williams, 1993)

Don’s Pinball Podcast Teams up with Spooky

The Don has a visit with the Spooky Pinball team and has a sweeping conversation with the team about all kinds of subjects. Of note…

• Spooky is up to producing ~28 games a week and is more than halfway through their Scooby Doo run, and feels they are hitting their stride with production.

• We enjoyed the conversations on playtesting games, licensing adventures, and what it means to build pinball production infrastructure outside the pinball production capital of Chicago.

• The Spooky team says they have 3 games in various stages of production, and if the opportunity ever came about, would totally hire Keith Elwin .

Listen here

Top 10 Pinball Machines of the 2010s

The Kineticist team takes a look at some of the best pinball machines released in the 2010s, which turned out to be a banner decade for modern pinball. Games like The Walking Dead and Total Nuclear Annihilation top the list, but check out the full piece for a complete breakdown!

Read here: Best Pinball Machines of the 2010s

Tanner Petch Gets Artistic on Pinball Innovators & Makers

Fantastic conversation with homebrew pinball designer Tanner Petch on the Pinball Innovators & Makers podcast (probably most famous for this Trashland game, pictured above). Enjoyed hearing about Petch’s approach to building homebrew games, and how he mostly views them as art projects, meant to be played and experienced a single time by the player, versus commercial games meant to be played repeatedly.

Listen here

Odds & Evens

• Zen Studios releases Star Trek TNG (Williams) table (Bleeding Cool News)

• Stern hires Kevin Payne as Director of Mechanical Engineering (Vending Times)

• The Pinball Shoppe in North Olmstead, OH, suffers a tragic roof collapse – they have a Gofundme set up to help (Cleveland.com)

Meme of the Week

Make sure to check out the Latest Games and Rumors page.

Disclaimer: Any articles, interviews, or mentions of pinball manufacturers or pinball products is NOT an endorsement.