"The biggest change in pinball machines involves taking more advantage of the latest software development techniques. Having a platform that facilitates quick iterations while incorporating the latest technologies can greatly improve the development process."

I think that is a key point, and one that may not get enough attention when everyone complains about how long code updates take, or bugs in code.

I don't know much about what it's like to actually work on software on something like WhiteStar or SAM (I'd be interested in any articles/interviews on the subject if you know of any). But my guess is it's absolutely nothing like what most modern software developers (myself included) are used to from working on web sites, PC applications, mobile apps, etc. Nice IDE, unit testing frameworks, automated memory management, debugging and performance profiling tools, etc.

I think some stuff in the '90s may still have been done in assembly. I can't even imagine

Hopefully Spike will help them use modern software development tools and techniques to improve development speed and code reliability.