THIS WEEK IN PINBALL – 3/6/23: Foo Fighters Gameplay Reveals, The Godfather Pinball Confirmed, Galactic Tank Force Teaser 2, and MORE

Foo Fighters Gameplay Reveals!

Jack Danger, of Dead Flip, hosted both the LE and Pro reveal streams for Foo Fighters Pinball by Stern. We learned the following from both streams:

• Tanio Klyce, Raymond Davidson, Mike Kyzivat on software; Tom Kyzivat, Phil Gullett on animations; Zombie Yeti on art; Eddy Hicks on mech engineer; Nick Waner(sp?) on play testing

• No callouts from the band members.  Instead there is a roadie as the announcer, several TV broadcasters, and the Overlord callouts.  Jack explains on the Pro Stream that because Taylor passed during the build of the game that they wanted to give the band some space while they grieved.

• Combotron is a visual representation of the combos you have made

• There are multiple skill shots including a combo skill shot

• Ray Gun Targets in the inlanes multiply your next shot

• There is an adult callouts setting

• Code is at version 0.80 and much of the modes and mini-wizard modes are done.  More expression light coding, radio mode, and final battle to still be finished up.

• Foobot explained

• Animations have a TV cartoon feel; i.e. like Scooby-Dooish

• Action button is for Booms like in Deadpool to spot shots

• Zombie Yeti mentions that there are several easter eggs in the artwork including something hiding under the upper right flipper

• CO-OP play will be added

• Dave Grohl already has his game

• DJ Mixer mode will be available

Jersey Jack Pinball Announces The Godfather Pinball Reveal – Tues 3/7

Galactic Tank Force Video Teaser 2 by American Pinball

American Pinball teases more animations about their upcoming title Galactic Tank Force.

Stern Insider Podcast – Foo Fighters Panel

The Stern Insider Connected podcast had on a lot Stern folks to talk about Foo Fighters. We learned the following things:

• Panel: Jack Danger, lead software engineer Tanio Klyce, lead mechanical engineer Eddy Hicks, artist extraordinaire Jeremy “Zombie Yeti” Packer, a plethora of lead artists and animators including Zac Stark, Phil Gullett, Tom and Mike Kyzivat, Marc Raneses, not to mention software engineer Raymond Davidson

• The Foo Fighters were open to weird, cool things

• Jack tried to put some weird design stuff in there and he was surprised he was allowed to keep it in

• Jack describes the difficulty and challenges of moving from creating a homebrew to a cornerstone

• Zombie Yeti talks about his work with Foo Fighters in the past

• Zombie Yeti helped quite a bit with the concepts and storyline that he had dreamed up from his previous work with the Foo Fighters

• Discussion around the Foobot in the game; where the band’s van transforms into a robot

• There is going to be a toy line along with the game that can be attached and interacts with the topper

• Tanio Klyce discusses the backstory theme of the alien crashing on Earth and becoming the Overlord

• Discussion of the storyboarding process for the game

• A lot of references to Voltron and Scooby-Doo and other 80’s style

• Getting the Deadpost to work was a bit of a challenge

• Jack designs in markers and magic and he learned a lot in the process

• Raymond Davidson helped with rules and software and describes some of his work on the game

• You can pick from 8 different songs when you start the game; then modes have their own songs integrated.

• Expression lighting integrated with the songs; only available on Premium and LE models

• They altered some of the Foo Fighters music and the band approved pretty much everything the design team wanted

• Jack and Zombie Yeti discussed the death of the drummer, Taylor Hawkins

• Jack talks about the differences in the Premium/LE vs Pro

• NO pop-bumpers on the game

• Discusses the kicker target and how it acts like a directed pop-bumper

• Targets in the inlanes and similarity with Heavy Metal Meltdown

• “Breaks through to the 5th Dimension” – Tanio Klyce

Check out the full episode

Hoops Pinball Tutorial by PAPApinball

No Good Gophers 2.0 Available

Cardona Pinball announces No Good Gophers 2.0 for sale on Planetary Pinball.

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.