OK, so we all know that Steve Ritchie is 100 percent doing Star Trek in 2013, and Borgy is doing Metallica.
At the start of the thread, I thought it was the other way around, but surprise surprise, Steve is doing trek, and its Borgys turn to do a music pinny.
I wanted to copy some info from Steve Ritchies latest talk at his Texas Pinball seminar.
By all accounts, this Star Trek pinball will be using the new boardsets, and will be using alot more computing power than Stern has ever used according to Steve. From what he says about this pinball machine, Steve believes this title will be his most advanced and best machine he has ever built. That says alot, cause he has built some special titles before. Thats great news to huge Star Trek, and Pinball fans like me.
There doesnt seem to be many blatant trekkies on here, and I seem to be relatively alone in this endeavour, but it seems that this pinball machine is going to be Steves finest of alltime. That means trekky pinball peoples are in for a super dooper treat.
It wont be out to December 2013 or later from what I understand, but it will be worth the wait.
Info below that got me excited >
Steve's presentation began with a slideshow of images from his many years designing pinballs for Atari, Williams and Stern, and traveling the world meeting pinball enthusiasts.
He spoke about steps Stern Pinball are taking to try to improve the quality and reliability of their games and the component parts.
He then talked about working with Lyman Sheats, describing his skills in both playing and designing rules, along with his input and collaboration on the design of the games.
Steve then gave a photographic tour of the Stern Pinball factory and the people working there. He said they are expanding the offices (something seen in our Pinball Expo report), creating more space for Engineering and moving the back office staff into the new accommodation. He also introduced the recent additions to the team, including Tom Kopera and Greg Freres. He said Tom is working on mechanical devices for Steve's next game.
Steve said his next game is the most ambitious game he's ever designed for Stern, and he will be working flat out on it for the rest of the year. He said it will probably use Stern's new control system - he needs the system's capabilities and will be in trouble if the game doesn't use it.
In reply to a question about whether he would ever make another widebody, Steve said absolutely not. He said the geometry of a widebody doesn't suit his design style and the additional cost isn't reflected in the earnings.
Steve was also asked about the new code for AC/DC. He said the new Radio mode is awesome, and there will probably be two more updates, but Lyman is writing it in his spare time since he's working on a different game now. But the first update shouldn't be too far away.
Steve revealed his voice will appear in his next game, but only in a minor role and he wants to move away from the Devil voice he used in AC/DC and the focus of the vocal work should be elsewhere.
Asked if the new control system will lead to an increase in price, Steve replied he didn't see why. The price of all pinball parts increase constantly he said, but that shouldn't be related to the new system.
Talking about the new companies making pinball, Steve said he thought competition is good and has caused Stern Pinball to raise their game.
Exciting times ahead.....espescially for trekkies !
