George Gomez talks about Avengers at the Texas Pinball Festival > info below >
George Gomez
He began by talking about his childhood experiences getting acquainted with Marvel comics and how he liked the real-world references. Then, turning to The Avengers, he said his role at the company puts him in a different position where he is not supposed to be designing games, and maybe The Avengers is his last design.
He said he really wanted to get the model out in time for Christmas, but that proved to be very difficult and resulted in a number of issues with those games, which are being addressed through updates and service packs.
George spoke about some of the design changes which were made to The Avengers, such as an original underground Loki lock, the H-U-L-K targets were originally standups which were attached to, and lifted with, the Black Widow ramp. There was also a kickout below the Nick Fury target which fired the ball at the Tesseract spinner, but was taken out as it slowed the game down too much.
George points out the elements removed from The Avengers
He said with The Avengers he wanted to break out of his 'signature' design elements, such as the 'fan' design for which he is known, something he thinks he achieved. He addressed criticisms about the inability to see the inlane inserts and apologised for it, saying he didn't personally find it a problem, but appreciates others do. He also talked about the ramp construction method he prefers, saying it isn't done because it is cheaper, but because it allows much more precise control over the thickness and the artwork on them.
George then turned to the game's speech, saying they didn't have the money to get the movie's actors record samples, but they also didn't want to be restricted by the movie's storyline so could make the characters talk about the game's plot rather than the movie's. He also showed a number of alternate backglass/translite designs which never made it to production, although he said the company might make them available as after-sales mods.
Talking about the game development, he said at Stern they use a high-speed camera to record the gameplay to see what the ball is doing if there are any problem areas. That was, he said, how they diagnosed the problem some people were having shooting the Black Widow ramp.
George shows how The Hulk was created
The Pin - the consumer version of their full-size games - was George's next topic. He described taking the games to the CES show and how the company's stand was mobbed eight hours a day, and the dozens of interviews he and Gary Stern had gave to the world's media.
Asked about technological developments in Stern games, George said soon we will see new board sets, new displays and new cabinet construction, with the new boardset will be the most powerful pinball control system by far. Even so, he said they are committed to mechanical action pinball with the focus on what happens under the glass.>>>>>>>
**Thats made me want to wait for my Avengers Pro or Avengers Premium longer than the container coming in May.
I really want a machine with "those games, which are being addressed through updates and service packs".
Before I take delivery, I will be getting 100 percent confirmation of what exactly comes with a service pack.....it would be good if they redesigned those plastics for the inlane areas.
Anyway, more news to come on Avengers I reckon from Stern perhaps.......
