I love Python, I hope he's involved somehow...

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pythons-back-

Who is this guy and why should we be excited about a relatively unheard of guy making the next game?

LOL, that's good material!

I love his pins! One of my first pins was Comet.

JIC:

http://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=python&sortby=name&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick

Unheard of? He's been involved in a lot of games. Listen to some of his interviews/videos/etc. He's one of, if not the most interesting person ever involved with pinball...

Is this sarcasm?

Let's see.......

He designed Pin-Bot, Popeye, Comet, Taxi, BOP, Big Guns, and worked with Mark Ritchie on FT.

Find his topcast interview, great stuff...

So from ipdb, the games he is listed on he did art on most. There are none where he is the designer. He co-designed a couple but those titles like fish tales, taxi, Pinbot are generally attributed to Oursler or Mark Ritchie. Most the games on that ipdb list are ancient and generally not highly regarded. I mean comet, hurricane, flipper football?? What the hell is everyone so excited about here?

He gives JJP and WOZ big props around the 58 minute mark. Very interesting!

PINBALL!!

He is different, eccentric, you never know what to expect. He does awesome artwork too, that's why I said I hope he's involved "somehow", even just as an artist...he bucks the trend, he does things his way..not cookie cutter shit...

Pinbot - Oursler
Popeye - Oursler and sucks
Comet - Oursler and sucks and Anghelo did art not design
Taxi - Mark Ritchie
BOP - Oursler
Big Guns - Mark Ritchie
Fish Tales - Mark Ritchie.

Yea he seems to have been a helper in some of these games and a talented art guy. But I would not be excited about him being a lead designer. And of the games listed above, I don't really like any of them. The Pinbot series is horrible and it's all very old. We are seriously excited about someone that has done only helper work on old classics many of which are considered sort of turd titles doing lead design work 25 years later?

No brainer on those two. I should have been more detailed on the design.

Python is a genious that needs a good filter to make those ideas work in a commercial industry, hopefully If it true jjp can be that filter and some amazing things could happen.

"The Pinbot series is horrible"
Ummmm no.

Python is overrated and I cannot imagine anyone giving him a job now, after all the bridge burning he has done.

...and JJP's mystery table was a garage built Nordman design that went with him when he quit.....err.....his contract ran out....errr.......

He did just say that, didn't he. Wow. Not a widely shared opinion.

Is he related to Monty Python?

The names i want to hear in descending order: Eddy, Oursler, Lawlor. None will come to fruition.

No kidding! Definitely one of the more colorful interviews...

Are you going solely on IPDB? From what I understand Python had a much more instrumental role in most of those games than he is given credit for. You just have to listen to interviews and generally dig a little deeper to pick up on those sorts of details. You're right that it's not worth getting super excited about him actually laying out a playfield, but it's very exciting that he's possibly involved in pinball again somehow. Also, whatever you think of those games (you have said all pre-DMD games are horrible numerous times, so this is not surprising), a few of them were huge sellers.. That's gotta be worth something.

LOL. Classic.

Proves Mark isn't kidding when he says that he was completely new to this hobby as of a couple years ago and never played pinball back in the day.

Jack read The Fountainhead and he likes it.

You nailed it lol.

I can see the attraction "back in the day" when video game speech was barely invented. Maybe the Microsoft SAM voice was neat then but now that game is super dated. I mean what does it really offer to shoot at? One ramp and a few targets? That just can't hold up to modern designs. Imagine the outrage if stern put something like that out. Jackbot was my favorite of the series. But I got bored of that after a couple weeks.

I am going mainly off ipdb. And you're right. I do think most pre-Dmd games suck. Except maybe Earthshaker. I realize those games may have been extremely popular. But they don't hold up to today's offerings. Good in the 80's does not mean still good today. So based on that, I don't consider it great news that this designer would be making cutting edge games today. What we need is new blood.

Python is a genius. I can name plenty of 80's games that are more fun than what has been released in the past 12 years. If that's not your taste in pinball, that's fine. Still there are more people enjoying those games than the current ones.

Since you don't know who Python is: why don't you do some homework and find out? When I announced the first issue of Pinball Magazine was on Roger Sharpe I got some comments from people who did not understand who he was and why he was in every pinball documentary. Then they read the magazine and the admitted they had no idea this man was so influential and they looked at him with a whole different view. The same goes for Python.

The same probably goes for you as well. If I would judge you on your posts in this topic, I could draw a simple conclusion. Yet there is probably more to you than I know right now. Python returning to pinball will take it to levels you probably never even dreamed about. If you like todays games, wait till you get to play what Python has in store for you.

That game looks awesome and creative. No joke. If that's what Python is offering to bring to the table, then yea, I'd be excited.

You have to love a guy who called out Michael Stroll for wrecking Williams.

I can't believe that Python's Pinball Circus is finally going to happen! Jersey Jack's philosophy of "letting the designer do whatever he wants" is perfect for Python. It'd be a good match. image-32.jpg

If it does happen as a JJP pin, expect it to be in the form of a pinball machine, not some quasi-arcade/pinball gimmick/art.

Are you sure? He is deep into redemption. I could see that merge fairly well and still look like pinball.

He is only one of the most creative minds in all of pinball that's all. LOL

Brilliant creative mind. All the other personal stuff is a different story. But I have never heard any pin designer question Pythons great creative potential.

Has anybody ever heard his Top Cast episode? One of the most entertaining pinball interviews EVER!
His past Expo speeches are great too. Listen up, read up, then come back and talk.

Pappy

While Oursler is credited with basically making it all work together, Python is pretty much credited for the idea and most if not all of the layout. At least that is what I have gathered from talking with both Python and others about it.

The Pinbot series is horrible and it's all very old.

Uhm... no? I don't care for BOP and I don't know what to think about Jackbot, but the original Pinbot is one of the most amazing games ever created.

Here is a link to listen to Python's Top Cast episode (for anyone that hasn't heard it):
http://www.pinrepair.com/topcast/topcast_42.mp3

Guess I should scrap out my '64 1/2 Stang, because it can't hold up to modern sport cars.

It is no fun to drive at all, knowing that higher performance models are out there.

Sheesh................................

Heh, missed this. I have, got to the top, wouldn't drop a quarter in it again if I found it on route. Creative? Yes. Cool looking? Yes. Fun? No.

I will throw my 68 convertible Firebird in that deal. Wait!?! I thought the new Camaro, Mustang, and Challenger were all designed with styling cues from the late 60's early 70's generation. They were because some things can be remade with current technology to make it much better. With that in mind it does not seem like a bad idea.

Before everybody even starts, no I do not think all the pins should be remade, I am responding to the ability of his ideas to work in todays market, not remake all the pins he has made.

From what I heard him say on the audio, the game would not look like the pinball circus that we have seen and would be a more traditional pinball machine.

I don't know - it was put out to see earnings potential, and it sucked at doing that which is why they weren't made from what I understand... You'd think the software would be more finished if that was the issue.

I didn't like the fact they were essentially three or four mini-playfields, and nothing whole, and that once you got to the top it was over. I played the one at Expo in like 2002, made it to the top on my second ball, again on my third and felt like I never needed to play it again. If the software was better, it might have gotten the second and / or third quarter... and maybe it would have actually been produced.

I agree, just thinking JJP could do something very interesting with it.

From what I've gathered from Python and listening to his interviews....I think he sees a "designer" like a director would be on a movie. Someone that oversees almost every aspect on a game. I think the most accepted definition of the title "pinball designer" is the person that actually lays out the playfield and shots.

I think he personally took on the tasks of art and concept on most of the games he was involved in. I also know he worked closely with the mechanical engineers to design things on different machines he was involved with. My guess is that in some areas he was probably much more involved and hands on than other designers, but in other aspects he was more hands off and was just guiding the others on the design team in the direction he was wanting them to go with the game.

He also seemed to be quite a workhorse at Williams if you look at how close his releases were to one another. It seemed like one of his games would be released...then designer B...then another of his....then designer C...then another one of his...then back to designer B. It reminds me very much the way Borg was / is at Stern. If you need a game and are short on time....give it to the workhorse. They will do their best to get something put out in a hurry.

Python is incredibly talented, creative and passionate about pinball...and not afraid to show it.

Your credibility, or lack thereof is now firmly established. Thank you.

Unfortunately, this is a horrible comparison. Not much has changed in the arena of driving. And that older car runs on the same roads as current cars. Modern pinball games are quite different than their 25 year old counterparts.

Hardly. The games are EXACLTY the same, except for more rules and more toys (sometimes). I mean the DMD hasn't even advanced past when it first came out in 1992.

O.K. This is a parody right?

Fuel injection, anti-lock brakes, traction control, emission controls, etc.
Include power steering and brakes and radial tires if you want.