The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => General Discussion => General Pinball Discussion => Topic started by: Caveoftreasures on February 06, 2016, 03:11:55 AM
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........WHO IS YOUR alltime favourite pinball designer & which game made you feel that way or represents the best of that designers attributes ?
Do u collect that designers titles or is there a special game you are still hoping to get one day that your favourite designer did. (there are of course no right or wrong answers cause we all like different styles of pins).
Would anyone like to pay homage to their favourite pinball designer or pin designers ?
If you had to chose one to reign supreme who would it be ?
.......MY ANSWERS -
FAVOURITE DESIGNER -
* John Borg aka "The Genius" - I have prob about 15 of his titles.
The pin that best features the designers style to me -
* X Men Pro (which plays so much better than the LE (IMHO)
(Surprisingly cause the flow is amazing & it's super fast with a great layout & the pop bumpers are uniquely placed down low & this game has the best use of wild fast magnets I have ever had on any pinny ever & artwork beats all others of Borgys because of Cabinet art & Translite Art being so very cool) Top playfield flipper placement and shots u can get & fastest round the world shot plus amazing Playfield toys on this 2013 game keep bringing me back to play it.
WHY IS THAT DESIGNER YOUR PICK -
* Johns flow & use of Pop bumpers & his use of magnets on all games he designs.
Johns ability to design so many good pins per year one after the other, year after year.
The only games I didn't like we're Sterns cost cutting Avatar & Transformers but he had to work to a no frills budget probably against his wishes.
I feel for my tastes, Borgy beats The King Steve Ritchie out for Number 1 spot by 10 points to 9 so to speak.
WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE DESIGNER etc ? ? ? Keep it fun.
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Although we don't really have a fav, it appears as though our collection does :)
A few Gomez and Jpop designs.
Again not sure if some underlying reason, probably more so coincidence :)
Good topic Brett
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Steve Richie for sure-my favourite modern game is ACDC just love the speed and flow. Also enjoy some of his older games to-he's been around for ever but the mans still pumping out great games. Hope to meet him in October :)
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John Borg as well - X-Men LE is my favourite game that I own. Transformers was designed by George Gomez, not John Borg.
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Steve Ritchie for sure.
He did inovative stuff in the early 1980s which kept pinball alive.
His games are challenging and frustrating to make you come back over and over again.
The flow is smooth and seamless to make the game enjoyable.
He lives and breathes punball. The SUPERMAN of pinball.
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I didn't know Mr Richie was a New Zealander designing punball machines. You learn something every day. %.%
I don't have a fav designer or should I saw I don't go out of my way to seek out a designers game. I buy games that I think I'd like. Richie I suppose stands out but I like aspects of Gomez, jpop, lawler etc
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When I look back I have always enjoyed Trudeau and Nordman games, and don't mind Borg as well.
Really enjoy most Trudeau games and respect that he likes to mix it up a little with his designs - some aren't always great but and I like how he does slightly wider spaced flippers to nearly all other designers.
Love my creech, looking forward to Ghostbusters, miss the whitewater and ironman and I really liked gomez's Monsterbash
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Modern designer don't hold a candle to the forefathers of pinball design. My favorite designers all worked during a period where there was tough competition amongst manufacturers and in any given year, 20 titles would be the norm.
These are my favorite designers ;
Ed Krynski (Gottlieb) is the greatest pinball designer of all time. He designed well over 200 titles across 20 years at Gottlieb. Here's just some of the legendary tables - Spirit of 76, Jacks Open, Bronco, Surf Chanp Buccaneer, Royal Flush. Ed Dorado, Sky Jump, Flying Carpet, Pop-a-card, Snow Queen, King of Diamonds, Dancing Lady, Crosstown. SYS80 - Joker Poker, Countdown, Genie...
Wayne Neyens (Gottlieb) - Ed Krynski's partner in crime at Gottlieb. 37 years as a designer across 150 games - Spirit of 76, Mermaid, Mystic Marvel, Southern Belle, World Champ, Rocket Ship, Dancing Doll, Fashion Show, World Fair, Gigi, North Star, Buccaroo
Greg Kmiec (Bally) - Designed my favorite game - Paragon, and designed other games in the "Golden Era" - Wizard, Old Chicago, Alladin's Castle, Captain Fantastic, Night Rider, Power Play, $6 Man, Xenon,
Jim Patla (Bally) - El Toro, Hi-Lo Ace, Twin Win, Sky Kings, Boomerang, Air Aces, Mata Hari, Playboy, KISS, Space Invaders, Viking, Centaur, truck stop, EATPM
Steve Kordek - (Williams) - His career spanned 30 years - Space Ship, Big Deal, Beat Time, Shangri La, Zodiac, Honey, Winner, Space Mission
John Trudeau (Gottlieb) - Learnt from the masters at Gottlieb - Rocky, Spirit, Genesis, Robo Wars, Black Rose, CFTBL
Steve Richie - (Williams) - Flash, Superman, Firepower, Black Knight, T2, ST TNG, T3
Most of my collection is based from late 70's to mid 80's. Ed Kynski Gottliebs and Greg Kmiec and Jim Patla Ballys and John Trudeau Gottliebs.
No modern designer (except Trudeau and Steve Ritchie) are even in the same galaxy as the old timers. Trudeau is my favorite modern day designer as a lot of his designs use the same principle as he used to do at Gottlieb - at least attempt to innovate or bring something new to the table. When I see how brilliant Rocky or Spirit is, you can see that kind of influence on CFTBL, WWE and now Ghostbusters.
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Don't have a favourite designer, they have all made good and bad games.
I find the code is just as important as the design and in many ways it is more important than the design.
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Trudeau is my favorite modern day designer as a lot of his designs use the same principle as he used to do at Gottlieb - at least attempt to innovate or bring something new to the table. When I see how brilliant Rocky or Spirit is, you can see that kind of influence on CFTBL, WWE and now Ghostbusters.
Always fun watching people play Rocky for the first time. With the 4 flippers down the bottom and three flipper buttons, you can see it confuses them no end. Incorporating the slings as a boxing ring was very clever as well.
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Don't have a favourite designer, they have all made good and bad games.
I find the code is just as important as the design and in many ways it is more important than the design.
+1. Design is worthless without completed code. Any machine is little more than a colourful paperweight/jukebox without it.
Everyone gets so hung up on this obsession with who is designing ("oooh its a Borgy pin definately buying now,lolololol") rather than assessing the design itself on its own merits.
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!*!y
John Borg as well - X-Men LE is my favourite game that I own. Transformers was designed by George Gomez, not John Borg.
Yes, my mistake. You are correct.
I thought they worked on it together but Borgy didn't do this one.
Gomez has a unusual style to his games.
Regarding Borgy for me, I didn't realise I had so many of his designs until one day I just thought I would do a list of the games I have, and group the titles by the designer.
It was then I realised Borgys name kept appearing again & again.
So I then printed off a list of every game he has ever designed & thought I would investigate & study those games to see what they are like & if I like that title & what sort of money etc etc.
To put it in perspective, if you had a collection of just Steve Ritchies pins or Borgys stuff just for arguments sake, I don't think anyone playing all of them would have anything but a great time.
Another interesting thing is if you like pins like Nino does prior to DMD, it opens up a whole new world to designers I haven't really learnt much about.
I wionder who would reign supreme if u added up all the titles ever produced and then sold , as to who would win by that designer over their career.
Say one winner for 1950 to 1970.
Say one winner for 1970 to 1990.
Say one winner for 1990 to 2015.
I would like to know who is the winner for any game with a DMD display onwards.
Data Easts TMNT had the first very thin DMD with animations etc for them from memory so I mention this title to include any size of DMD with graphics plus alpha numerical etc, not just the DMD style and size we see today.
Might sit down & study IPDB for the DMD stuff but it gets hard & goes nowhere fast when Stern stopped listing total sales numbers so the DMD category might run from apx 1990 to 2004 or something and not include anything in the last ten years.
I am thinking Borgy would win the DMD sales race so to speak on sheer numbers of titles designed. ? ?
It is great to see so many people have different designers as their favourite.
One name you barely ever see is a guy called Ward Pemberton who designed Gilligans Island for Bally.
I like watching that factory promo video he did for Gilligans.
I enjoy playing it & it's a really straight forward fun design but had some great thinking for easy service in its design.
After Gilligans, I have not seen or heard of designer Ward Pemberton again.
Are there any one hit wonders who came into the industry, did one or two great titles, then dissapeared off to who knows ?
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To be honest I've never taken much notice of who's been responsible for the rules on games but as far as pinball art design goes then by far and away my favourite designer is Gordon Morison. Gordon was responsible for the art packages on over 150 Gottlieb machines mainly though the 70' but also into the 80's If you are unfamiliar with his work then look him up, it's well worth it. Centigrade 37, Asteroid Annie, Genie. Count-down, Gemini and Neptune are just some of my favourites.
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Ward Pemberton died of complications attributed to AIDS. This is undocumented and I enquiried about him to a family connection in my research. He made some innovative and quirky designs - Dungeons and Dragons, Mousin Around and Gilligans was unique - Goldeneye, his last was very well incorporated with the movie.
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To be honest I've never taken much notice of who's been responsible for the rules on games but as far as pinball art design goes then by far and away my favourite designer is Gordon Morison. Gordon was responsible for the art packages on over 150 Gottlieb machines mainly though the 70' but also into the 80's If you are unfamiliar with his work then look him up, it's well worth it. Centigrade 37, Asteroid Annie, Genie. Count-down, Gemini and Neptune are just some of my favourites.
After Gordon passed his family discovered he had a NOS backglass of every backglass he did art for - some doubles. Having little respect for his talents and lack of clue about value and provenance, what did they do with them all? - threw em all away in the skip.
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Pat Lawlor designs are so creative that if I had to pick one, he would be it. Although he isn't an outright winner for me, he really does some amazing things in a limited amount of space.
RBION is an absolute ball tearer of a game that I just love to bits.
I also think Steve Ritchie designs are waaaaaay over rated and does not deserve the accolades he gets.
All the forefather designers deserve a big round of applause too as I loooove simple, easy to understand, geometry designed games from the electromechanical era.
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Sad to hear about Ward Pemberton.
Gilligans is a great straight forward really fun game so Ward definately had talent & it shows in this game.
That's the great thing about pinball. The machines almost last forever.
I know most of the designers thought that their pinball designs would be a hit on route for a year or three when the games were first released till the next big popular game came out but these pinball machines still live on some 10, 20 and up to 50 plus years later in people's homes still giving people a lot of enjoyment which I am sure a lot of these designers are totally surprised about.
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Ward Pemberton died of complications attributed to AIDS. This is undocumented and I enquiried about him to a family connection in my research. He made some innovative and quirky designs - Dungeons and Dragons, Mousin Around and Gilligans was unique - Goldeneye, his last was very well incorporated with the movie.
Ward also designed Fathom. Although the art package of Fathom is arguably the best artwork on any pinball (from any period), the game itself is brilliant. He also designed Hardbody (the worst artwork on any pinball) and the exact same layout - BMX - which is a very rare and desirable game. As mentioned - Dungeons and Dragons. Even if the designer comes up with a great layout, the artists are the dudes responsible for presenting the artwork that goes on top of the layout. Many games are judged on artwork alone. Hardbody VS BMX is a great example
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From my collection;
4 for Ed Krynski
4 for Pat Lawlor
4 for Steve Ritchie
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Ward also designed Fathom. Although the art package of Fathom is arguably the best artwork on any pinball (from any period), the game itself is brilliant. He also designed Hardbody (the worst artwork on any pinball) and the exact same layout - BMX - which is a very rare and desirable game. As mentioned - Dungeons and Dragons. Even if the designer comes up with a great layout, the artists are the dudes responsible for presenting the artwork that goes on top of the layout. Many games are judged on artwork alone. Hardbody VS BMX is a great example
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It seems he liked to carry over playfield design elements from game to game such as his inline drops. Who can forget about the 'flex save' in Hardbody, brilliant thinking. The innovative selection process on Riverboat. Reusing the old fashioned saucer at the top of gilligan's. He seemed to really think outside the box, particularly on mechanical features. Looking over the dates of all his designs, there isn't much flow to the notion of him being a full time designer. Health issues in 91' didn't help with the Gilligan's design but would be interesting to find out the reasons for inconsistencies of his time in the industry and the swaps between companies.
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Sorry I got mixed up, Ward is alive and well - last checked he was now a fire fighter in Chicago.
Dan Langlois was the one who passed. Ward took over the Gilligan's design during his illness. Dan had some crazy fun designs working for Bally from the mid 80's - Escape From Lost World, Radical, Strange Science. All these games had good innovations also. Really liked how they screened the underside of the playfield glass in Escape. Real neon for the topper in Strange. Utilising the space to fill it with ramps in Radical.
Whilst heading for the acquisition by Williams in 88', Bally did have some interesting concepts during this time - just a shame about the 6803 sound board quality.
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Gilligans is simple & fun and a great example as to how sometimes straight forward & simple can work so well.
The talking Kona Lava Volcano is a classic. Can't beat the Gilligans music either.
Ward did a great job here.
I wonder how many great designers left pinball & never wanted to ever go back to it.
One person who interests me in this regard is Pat Lawlor.
He did a interview & he basically said he was so glad Williams came to an end cause he was sick to death of designing pinball. He is now working on that next "lightning in a bottle" for JJP.
Let's see if Pat Lawlor has got some of that old enthusiasm back.
I have a feeling that if the JJP 3rd title isn't a commercial success, he might pack it in forever ?
What happened to the young guy who designed Medievil Madness ?
Where is he these days ?
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In the slot machine biz like most of the other top ex pinball designers from Williams. Crossing over into the WMS gaming division, eventually branching off into their own companies. Brian owns a large stake in Spooky Cool Labs who along with Joe Kaminkow designs and produces real money gambling interfaces. Seems to be where the money is these days. Larry DeMar is another who comes to mind who has done very well post pinball. So they all should, they are talented at what they do.
Yep, can't wait to see what Pat pulls out. Shame we have to wait so long to see it though. Pinball and waiting seem to go hand in hand.
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It's a big risk doing a non licenced theme cause people always say non licenced games don't sell as well ?
I wish someone did a new Twilight Zone or Addams Family remake.
It seems no one has any clue what Pat Lawlor is up to subject wise on his JJP game ?
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Ed Krynski. So much variety over so many tables with so few available features to choose from
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Lyman Sheets. His rulesets are the best games of the modern era.