This Week in Pinball has been busy. Stern teases Transformers, then leaks it themselves (code name: Cheddar). Plus, new teases from Pedretti and World Pinball, and Paul Melio's debut feature on Pinforge.
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Song of the Week
I've been vibing on a few different tracks from Brighton's Lime Garden. First, it was 23, a song I found hilarious for being all about the timeless feeling of losing your edge as you get older. Now it's Cross My Heart, a hooky pop song about breakups. Both come from Lime Garden's second full-length album, Maybe Not Tonight, which was released a little over a month ago (April 10). Catch them on tour stateside in late 2026.
Pinball News of the Week
Stern Teases (and Promptly Leaks) Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye
On Wednesday, Stern officially confirmed the heavily rumored Transformers pinball machine with a (mostly) standard teaser trailer. Like typical Stern teasers, we don't learn a whole lot beyond the theme and a few nuggets — in this case, that the game is based on the early Transformers cartoon (I'm gonna say G1, though I'm admittedly not up to snuff on my Transformers lore), and that Peter Cullen seems to be attached.
Separately, the "Buy for your Home" and "Play on Location" calls to action at the end of the clip caught my eye. They appear to be new for Stern.
Then, photos of the game promptly leaked. Unlike past Stern leaks, this wasn't sourced back to a loose-lipped distributor or employee. No, this was 100% a Stern goof. Not even an hour after the trailer dropped, people noticed playfield and translite photos were live on the Insider Connected app. Oops.
It's kind of easy from where I sit to speculate on how this probably happened. Last time I looked into it, Stern was updating web content across no fewer than four different platforms (yikes): SternPinball.com (Wordpress), shop.sternpinball.com (Shopify), Insider Connected (custom app), and a new landing page system (Webflow, which we used to use!). I'm sure there's other stuff too, like whatever CMS powers their email list. That's a lot of spinning plates, and when you're updating all of them multiple times (teaser, then full reveal) with the need to preview staged assets before flipping the switch… it's kind of amazing this hasn't happened before.
A few things we know post-leak:
Soundwave physical ball lock — balls launch from his cassette door for multiball
Optical "Energon" spinner
Megatron cannon that shoots balls into the catch basin on the left side of the playfield
Optimus Prime, despite looking like it could/should transform, apparently does not
Design: Elliot Eisman
Lead Programmer: Elizabeth Gieske (her first as lead coder)
Lead Mechanical: Rob Blakeman
Audio: Jerry Thompson
Code: Mike Kyzivat
Lead LCD Artist: Tom Kyzivat
Producer: John Blakely
Code name: Cheddar
Expect to see more next week. Dealers and distributors head to Stern on the 19th, media on the 20th. We'll have our own coverage from Media Day.
We Rebuilt Kineticist — And Paid TWIP Members Get Ad-Free Browsing
The new Kineticist has been live for a few weeks, and one of the features we shipped in the rebuild is ad-free browsing for paid TWIP subscribers. Every article, every page, no ads.
If you've been paying for TWIP, you already earned this. Here's how to turn it on:
Create a free account on kineticist.com
Link it to your TWIP subscription from your profile
Browse ad-free for as long as your subscription is active
Not a paid member yet? TWIP is free to read but not free to write — a paid subscription starts at $25/year, unlocks ad-free Kineticist, exclusive content, our Discord, and helps keep an independent pinball publication running. Most people join at $60/year.
More Details Surface on World Pinball’s Resident Evil
Since sharing a new teaser for the upcoming Resident Evil game from upstart Swiss manufacturer World Pinball, we've learned a few new details.
The big one is pricing. A 100-unit Collector's Edition clocks in at $22,353.64 USD (or 17,475 CHF), and the 400-unit Limited Edition runs $21,164.12 (or 16,545 CHF). Both prices exclude Swiss VAT and add-ons.
Speaking of add-ons, we also got a few tidbits about the planned features and upgrades.
For example, take this.
What is it, you may ask? A platform that players stand on. And not just any old platform. This one hooks up to the machine and vibrates at key moments, like a triggered explosion or something similar.
The game will also have an option for what I'm dubbing haptic-feedback flipper buttons, where the flipper controls vibrate for things like left- or right-side zombie bites. All together, it’s supposed to simulate a 3D vibration effect.
Finally, it sounds like there will be a mini-playfield (reading between the translated lines, probably a lower playfield) with a special video mode that involves an on-playfield camera.
So while the game is quite expensive (and it's always risky taking a chance on an unproven pinball manufacturer), World Pinball does seem to be taking some interesting swings with this title. I'm keeping an open mind, at least.
Pedretti Teases Rumored Tales of the Arabian Nights Remake Following Dust-up with Team Pinball
Boy, it feels good to be talking about new games! On Tuesday, Pedretti officially confirmed their long-rumored Tales of the Arabian Nights remake. We have all the details in our write-up, but expect to see the game in two trim levels and priced around $10,000–$11,000. There are also rumors of one or more copies showing up at the Golden State Pinball Festival this weekend.
An Update on Team Pinball v. Pedretti
Speaking of Pedretti, last week we briefly mentioned the public spat between Pedretti and their former software/engineering vendors, Team Pinball. I was hoping to have a more detailed article this week following conversations with representatives from both companies. After those conversations, though, I really don't have enough concrete information for a full piece — both parties mostly declined to elaborate further. All told, it sounds like a fairly routine business dispute (and, currently, a one-sided account at that).
Homebrew and You
Excited to welcome Paul Melio to the Kineticist team with his first piece — a banger of a feature on the homebrew collective Pinforge and how it ties into the broader homebrew-to-pro pipeline in pinball. Paul talks with the Pinforge crew, plus Aaron Davis (FAST Pinball), J Bryan Vincent (American Pinball), and Mark Seiden (Jersey Jack Pinball).
Links of the Week
Mystery Pinball Theater 3000 Needs Our Help — Following an unfortunate hack of their YouTube channel, MPT3k lost all of their followers and some archived content. If you've enjoyed Manu's content over the years, be sure to re-subscribe (or subscribe for the first time if you didn't previously).
First Look at Bootleggers Playfield Art — Speaking of Pinforge, the homebrew collective just shared the first renderings of playfield artwork for the game.
Poll of the Week
If Optimus Prime does not transform in Transformers, is that a dealbreaker?
Last Week’s Poll Results
“They're rarely intuitive, and they're a shift in energy”
“if they're good! My fav is torpedoing waterskiers in fishtales”
“What’s there not to like. It adds a whole new side to the game play.”
“I generally suck at video games. If I wanted to play one, I would choosen a video game. Pinball should be pinball IMHO.”
“If i wanted a video mode I’d have played a video game. I chose pinball, so stop forcing me into that lame bs and give me pinball. That’s what i like. That’s what i want. That’s what I’m good at.”
“If i wanted to play a video game, i'd sit in front of my TV.”
“I [like] the Star wars asteroid one the best ”
“The video modes tend to disrupt my rhythm and don’t seem to have a lot To offer.”
“While it does not necessarily add to the players experience as they are focused on game play it is necessary for pinball to include video to ensure it is seen as modern. Plus, it definitely grabs attention of the onlookers.”
“I said yes because it is not a problem the "competition" between two games that born at the 90's to keep/capture players in the pinball. Sometimes sounds good like Junkyard, Lethal Weapon etc.”
“I think video modes are extremely Cool! Anytime you get a game within a game it’s pretty damn exciting. Did I mention it’s awesome and quite tantalizing. Jaws is a prime example of the possibilities of video modes. New programming talent could bring some really cool video modes to the future of pinball.”
“It gives my palms and elbows a little break, without releasing the tension”
“It is often a welcome pause from the action and forces you to put on your video game brain. The key is to have them turn up only once-in-a-while so that it doesn’t get annoying or old.”
“As a general rule, not really. They often add little, if anything, to the game for my money. One of the better ones is Move Your Car, from Creature from the Black Lagoon, but there are some terrible ones, such as The Amazing Rooney, from Cirqus Voltaire, which are plain irritating.”
“That's not pinball. and it interferes with the flow of the game.”
“Usually, by the time I realize it's happening, I fail. It's just distracting.”
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