Great video. I watched the 99 Expo presentation George did a little earlier, and the vibe he puts off is amazing after watching him fight off his emotions in 99. He is a very technical person who is also great interacting with people. Their factory looks awesome and I'd love to be a part of that design group.

Anyone else get a huge kick out of the Steve Ritchie fly-by at ~1:07:30? Super casual, super cool. "Hey guys."

steve.jpg

Love to watch pinball Porn. thanks for the video

That was a great way to kill some time here at work. Thanks for posting the vid~!

Sunking, don't turn around now, your boss is standing behind you. LOL.

This video was fantastic! What an excellent view of the factory.

My big takeaway was that the only way you can build pinball machines is if you really know what you are doing and can setup an infrastructure to support it. That is how they are still putting out Pro games at less than 5k, they know what they are doing.

John's Arcade has great videos. I love the theme music. Same with Arcade Impossible. Great quality entertainment on Youtube. (Who needs television?)

Great tour. Watched the entire video. Gomez is a professional. I wonder what percentage of the factory workers play pinball for fun? Are there tournaments for employees? Purchase discounts? It seems like there are more women in assembly and more men in testing?

Video was great.

I doubt many of the factory workers can afford the product that they build for a living.

That's the way to make games. This hi res film elevated my opinion of Stern and their level of professionalism.

Well done John. I follow many of your videos and this is my favorite. George was great and really took the time which shows his passion. Keep up the videos!

What a great video.

I can't wait to visit the factory.

People were ready to bet their left nut that Star Trek was going to have LCD, and that is so long ago now, and even heavily rumored for Avengers because of comments Gomez had made before then. Complete development cycles of games have come and gone since then.

I'm willing to bet the sticking point is the Pro line of machines.... keeping development costs to keep that price point is probably why we're still with dmd. And I know we're not talking about the LCD cost.

I couldn't find a Ghostbusters prototype in there anywhere! Awesome video.

Who the hell needs to after that awesome video? The only way I'd be satisfied with a Stern tour at this point is if George gave me a one-on-one tour himself.

Wow, George Gomez sure looks great for his age. Would anybody guess that he is now 60 years old? The man looks like he is still in his late 30's. Awesome video, by the way!

Wow really? Wld never guessed that

At my work (which has a factory), it's the same thing (we actually have 3 cafeterias). Lots and lots of microwaves, and a row of vending machines. It's really hard to take breaks in shifts, the factory typically all depends on each other to build product.

Makes a lot of sense.

Yup. Obviously it's coming, but I'm tired of the "it's the next title for sure!" game.

So far everything on Ghostbusters indicates it's not, for what it's worth, but who the hell knows.

I was thinking the same thing... I feel like I've been there now... video done right!.

Watched the video today on my second screen while I was messing with other stuff. Really nicely done. Great tour by George Gomez. Really, the amount of amazing history and talent and incredible games that were made by people who work at Stern is pretty staggering.

Nice video from John.I've seen some of his other one's too.An unassuming guy who is his own man. . it seems to me.

Got some interesting tid-bits from the clip.Such as the impression I got from George, that the Australian demand was bigger than the Canadian demand.Similar population and exchange rate,but Canada is a lot closer to the US.

Aurich shouldn't you be a bit more discreet as an employee/contractor of Heighway Pinball? It's not a good look you running a commentary on every other pinball manufacturers processes.

Edit: you guys can down vote me if you want but I wasn't criticising Aurichs freedom to say what he wants, just giving him a heads up that people he might want to work with, or for one day, read this stuff and it can be harmful to those prospects if they take offence.

Awesome video can't wait for a Stern tour next year nice wrap from George about Australia and AMD to

No. It's all good. This was already discussed and decided weeks and months ago on pinside.

He's a pinball fan first and foremost, and the Heighway gig isn't even his primary job. Let the guy say what he wants.

Awesome video!! Can't wait to watch it again on my larger smart tv. Thanks a lot for sharing!

My guess is that Australians just can't drive over and pick up a used one, like us Canadians, is the reason that their demand seems bigger from a Stern point of view. Not much choice but to buy NIB...

Great tour and information. Extremely nice and passionate guy George seems to be from video. I enjoyed. Now for the parts I picked and Up and most curious about for discussion. Towards the end George was asked about future down the road cabinet changes and for the most part it will stay the same (except LCD display) due to the fact this size fits in storage containers, etc. and most games go over seas to keep business successful in a sense. At the end of the day I too understand it's a business and he indicated and that the changes are made without us knowing or being able to tell which means they are being made to save money as technology advances. In the beginning he indicated each game or maybe the end inside is different and designer has right to reuse certain things within a certain cost or create new as its mostly about the game being fun between the flippers on play field, However, as this is not a knock on them do I feel and some others that each Stern game feels the same to me. I guess in theory as if the new Spike system is an advance to them and did not raise costs of games what extra dollar amount could be added to each game to have free run which would create new toys or added features in games to make them feel different. Let's say for an example it's an extra $1000 and we would get more in game which would feel different. Would there be a demand for a super upgraded expanded LE if this is what it would be called down the road. I know a lot complain about cost already but I know some would still pay for them regardless. In the end we have other companies but I really would like to see Stern do a different great game with everything in it. I guess they kind of are doing this with there mod section (toppers, etc.) direct to end user which we can purchase and add to games as plug n play additions. Also liked how George commented at end about his passion is in every game whether is a success or not big hit, enjoyed hearing some of the past game talks as well and open to other remakes. Oh well just some quick thoughts and hope you understand what I am trying to say but probably not the best in words to describe just wanted to get out for opinions.

I suspect your right. There is likely a disconnect between Stern's sales and general pinball activity.

There was a pinsider from Australia on business in Toronto who came out to one of our league nights, and visited a couple of other collector's homes and he could not believe how much bigger our pinball scene was compared to his back home. Having dozens of players at a league night, and seeing multiple huge home collections. He left inspired, but saw a challenge with trying to recreate what he saw because of the general lack of machines around by comparison.

So I would agree that they might be buying more nibs, but there are more machines around in Canada because of easily driving them in them from the States.

Great video John. But I found it here on Pinside. I normally get emailed a notice from his YouTube channel.

Def a great video. Love the channel - love the ethusiam. Only suggestion is to change the logo so the extra AND is removed.

Suggest - Arcade, Pinball reviews and Tech

Also - I like how video of him traveling to the place is included. don't know why but it works. And this guy TRAVELS (driving and flying) just for the games!

This is me being more discreet.

Point taken though.

I hear that everyone at the Ferrari factory can afford one

In all honesty, most factory workers are not buying luxury items like pinball machines. They are buying food and a roof over their heads.

Some are also buying their own health insurance because factories in general won't hire them fulltime, IE don't have to pay out benefits.

Oh boy. A good thank you thread going down quick. Please take the "Workers' Party" talk to the basement.

What year do you think this is? 1995? Everyone in the U.S. has free ObamaCare now!

Several of the Stern line workers have a bunch of pinball machines in their homes.

Not to get to side tracked, think of the importance of said jobs. The person in charge of putting together a transmission at the car factory will always make more than the person who is soldering at the pinball factory.

I knew how to solder when I was 10.

No worries. Not wanting to censure your comments - I just know "people" are watching and reading these forums and never comment or post, but they do form strong opinions which can impact many things. The saying "What goes online, stays online" is a good one to live by and I wouldn't want you to do yourself an injustice when pinball keeps growing and the opportunities for you out there might right now be a fantasy but in future a dream come true. I guess if you're comfortable and Mr Heighway is comfortable then I wish you all the best.

I can't believe how many women work there. I would have thought for sure that a factory of this nature would be a male magnet!

True enough. I post under my real first name though, so I'm not thinking about anonymity.

Stern freely admits (in this video even) that they need to move to LCD. The dots era is over. I don't have an issue with saying that, but I could probably leave out the dark ages color commentary.

what is the employee discount?

I might have to move

What was that weird bash-spinner thing in the test room? Looked like a piece of bait on a hook.

He's a pinhead, short little attention spans have we! That's why we love pinball, and can't stand long ball times either!

Free parts

Awesome video - thanks!

This is an AWESOME video tour. Loved every minute of it.

I would have asked Gomez if we would put all remaining Ironhide Mini Playfields in those microwaves, however.

"I built it one piece at a time..."