Dead Pixel Interview with Mr. Bobby King

[neilpinbot]

Never got to play Cactus Canyon sounds good if it's gunslinger theme. Would love to get the Stern Elvis table, played this a few times and the MRS is a big Elvis fan so might finally get her playing on TPA

 

[shutyertrap]

Sigh. This interview and the Spooky Pinball one, man these guys need to work on their interview skills! I mean, for people that actually know pinball, they sure do stumble over themselves over pinball info. Then add in that Bobby rambles... I guess it just makes me appreciate the radio interviews I'm used to hearing.

Anyways...

Did Bobby actually not know what table Banzai Run was? Or was he trying to figure out if he could say anything about it? Also thought that was interesting that FS only has a set number of Williams tables before they have to renew the license. I'm all for TPA: After Dark. Think we'd wind up having to pay for Scared Stiff all over again? I think that's cool that they've got a solid enough relationship with Stern that TPA might be included in future licensing that Stern does.

Finally, I don't buy for a minute that Pinball 2000 rom emulation is too much for a PS3 or Xbox to handle. The way certain games on those platforms push those machine's outer limits, there is no way TPA is even coming close to breaking the systems. Maybe the way they have their rom emulation set up it can't, but that to me tells me its just not running efficiently. My two cents, cause my BS meter pinged when I heard that.

So here's hoping an interviewer in the future can conduct one in a much shorter time frame, as all the actual info Bobby gave could have easily been conducted in 15 minutes!

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Finally, I don't buy for a minute that Pinball 2000 rom emulation is too much for a PS3 or Xbox to handle. The way certain games on those platforms push those machine's outer limits, there is no way TPA is even coming close to breaking the systems. Maybe the way they have their rom emulation set up it can't, but that to me tells me its just not running efficiently. My two cents, cause my BS meter pinged when I heard that.

Possible, or there could be weirdness in the ROM's video handling that makes efficient emulation difficult, instruction sets that don't translate well to current CPU architecture, or any of a hundred other issues. Consoles are optimized to spit out lots of fancy eye candy quickly; their main processors (which is what runs the emulation and at least some of the physics) are often quite a bit slower.

Even given that, it does seem odd that a PS3/360 wouldn't have the horsepower for it. I could easily see iOS/Android having problems, but plenty of 360 games do intensive physics and video sequences (Skyrim, for one) and seem to be fine. So while I don't think what Bobby said is necessarily BS, I am confused by it.

So here's hoping an interviewer in the future can conduct one in a much shorter time frame, as all the actual info Bobby gave could have easily been conducted in 15 minutes!

I don't think the interviewer was prepared; his questions jumped all over the place and Bobby at several points had to ask for clarification as to what he was actually being asked. But at least Bobby is being interviewed; otherwise we'd have no new information at all.

 

[Heretic]

Ill start a pdocast and gord and jeff are my first star interviews 60 minutes of me harssing them whos in?

As afaik hardware goes even an ioad one cluld be hard coded to display pinball 2000 but the egeine is generic so while it has various ptionazarions to say themleast for most platforms it has a very large overhead in some respects ....im drunk

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Heh heh heh...stay classy, Heretic!

 

[Jeff Strong]

....im drunk

Maybe just put that in your sig?

 

[Heretic]

You guys are just rude

 

[karl]

OK. Trying to be serious here (in a drunken sort of way) Forget about pinball 2000! To much hassle for 1 good table, and about the interviewers: Yes, they ramble on like a drunken college (or president) debate, but that is the nature of Internet indie game blogs, shows etc. It is a lot better than many other interviews I have been listening to. At least they know something about pinball. It is hard to know as much as those who follow this forum (and then all the questions would be about bugs ) Some interesting facts came out of it at least. Now if anyone disagrees with me I will see You at High Noon and blow your fedora into a million grand pieces into the canyon of pinball hell (ughh! back to my Heineken)

 

[shutyertrap]

It is a lot better than many other interviews I have been listening to. At least they know something about pinball. It is hard to know as much as those who follow this forum

But that's just it. Both this interview and the Spooky Podcast interview were done by people that are such pinheads, they have audio blogs! Now maybe we know more about video pinball, but still. I know I could conduct a better interview, one that would hit all the major points and be done in 15 minutes. First step is to be prepared. Its not enough to write down questions, you actually have to know something about who you are interviewing. You have to guide the interviewee, shape the conversation. Instead we get dead air, people talking over each other, questions that let the guest ramble aimlessly, lousy follow up to answers, the list goes on and on.

I used to perform in an improv comedy troupe, and one of the things we'd do is pull and audience member and then interview them so we could act out moments of their life. So I'd have to ask questions of a total stranger, dig quickly for information that my fellow actors could use for comedy, and keep the rest of the audience entertained. Its not an easy task, as others in my troupe would try it and sound like these interviews did. Part of that was because they'd let the person do all the talking, which changes the dynamic of who's in control. Watch any late night host, they do most of the talking, letting the guest get a punchline of info in here and there.

So in the case of Bobby, rather than let him tell the whole story of FarSight's origins and the sports games he created, which took a good 5 minutes, I'd give the history myself. Easily done in 30 seconds or less, Bobby can feel comfortable in knowing I've got my **** together, that its not him that needs to do the entertaining. Take the Banzai Run question. They asked when or if it'd be coming out. Bobby starts sounding like he has never heard of this 'banzai run' table and is obviously searching IPDB for info. Poor question as it was, it was asked, so now help the guy out! Yeah, Banzai Run, the motorcycle table with the vertical play field. Instead they left him dangling in the wind, and then followed up with someone just shouting Terminator 2! I almost expected to hear the Chris Farley character where he'd be all, "you remember that game Whirlwind? Yeah that was a cool one. You should do that some time."

Look, I'm not saying good info didn't come out of the interview. I'm just saying it took an hour to get 15 minutes worth of info out of Bobby. Yes, I could do a better job, if given the chance. Is there any reason I'd ever get that chance? No, cause I don't have a forum (other than here) to promote TPA. Now if for some reason the fan forum here got the opportunity to conduct an interview with Bobby, I'd happily volunteer my services to go up to Big Bear and do just that. And you better believe I'd be prepared, professional, and able to utilize my given time much better than in the interviews I've heard to date.

*toot*

Hey did you hear that? Its my own horn!!

 

[Jeff Strong]

Look, I'm not saying good info didn't come out of the interview. I'm just saying it took an hour to get 15 minutes worth of info out of Bobby. Yes, I could do a better job, if given the chance. Is there any reason I'd ever get that chance? No, cause I don't have a forum (other than here) to promote TPA. Now if for some reason the fan forum here got the opportunity to conduct an interview with Bobby, I'd happily volunteer my services to go up to Big Bear and do just that. And you better believe I'd be prepared, professional, and able to utilize my given time much better than in the interviews I've heard to date.

*toot*

Hey did you hear that? Its my own horn!!

 

[Bonzo]

Um... every other month or so? Please?

 

[Heretic]

Ill call in as the token drunk, gotta work on my radio voice and curse bleeper

 

[Kaoru]

Did Bobby actually not know what table Banzai Run was? Or was he trying to figure out if he could say anything about it?

That moment made me actually chuckle a bit. Or the one or two similar moments later on. Every time a certain type of question got asked Bobby bought himself some ti... errr... sorry, I mean he couldn't hear what they were saying.

 

[HOW]

'One of our programmers is familiar with how PinMAME is coded'....LOL

 

[bavelb]

I was wondering where the interview was that confirmed Cactus Canyon in the newsthread?

Very awesome news indeed as I know this table by reputation only (as do most here I assume).

 

[shutyertrap]

Jeff, does that mean you're sending me on assignment?! Cool beans!

 

[silverjaguar7]

From the sound of it, other than Star Trek and Twilight Zone, most the other tables released in the next 6months will be titles already released via Farsights pinball series since they already have those rights.

Here's the list compiled.

Ace High (1957)
Central Park (1966)
Genie (1979)
Victory (1987)
Tee'd Off (1993)
Play-Boy (1932) - though not sure they'd put this out bc who'd pay?
Goin' Nuts (1983)
El Dorado City of Gold (1984)
Strikes n' Spares (1995)
Firepower
Pin*Bot
Space Shuttle
Whirlwind
Jive Time
Sorcerer

These have also been mentioned for release
Attack from Mars
Cactus Canyon
Dr. Dude

Not a bad list eh? Would like to see Cyclone come out before 6months, still have nostalgic memories of that creepy clown and the peeps rollacoastin in space. creepers.

 

[francis247uk]

It's great their actively pursuing the Adams Family and I wonder when they'll do the t2 kick starter they mentioned? Would LOVE to see Arnie do a promo video for this in the same vein that Cassandra did for her Elvira tables, Arnie and Farsights paths must cross at a convention somewhere in the next year...

 

[Jeff Strong]

Jeff, does that mean you're sending me on assignment?! Cool beans!

Godspeed, my son....and don't get too distracted by all the pins!

 

[Mark W**a]

Sigh. This interview and the Spooky Pinball one, man these guys need to work on their interview skills! I mean, for people that actually know pinball, they sure do stumble over themselves over pinball info. Then add in that Bobby rambles... I guess it just makes me appreciate the radio interviews I'm used to hearing.

Anyways...

Did Bobby actually not know what table Banzai Run was? Or was he trying to figure out if he could say anything about it? Also thought that was interesting that FS only has a set number of Williams tables before they have to renew the license. I'm all for TPA: After Dark. Think we'd wind up having to pay for Scared Stiff all over again? I think that's cool that they've got a solid enough relationship with Stern that TPA might be included in future licensing that Stern does.

Finally, I don't buy for a minute that Pinball 2000 rom emulation is too much for a PS3 or Xbox to handle. The way certain games on those platforms push those machine's outer limits, there is no way TPA is even coming close to breaking the systems. Maybe the way they have their rom emulation set up it can't, but that to me tells me its just not running efficiently. My two cents, cause my BS meter pinged when I heard that.

So here's hoping an interviewer in the future can conduct one in a much shorter time frame, as all the actual info Bobby gave could have easily been conducted in 15 minutes!

I caught that too. I don't think he knew about Banzai but it's definitely a weird table to say the least, so it's understandable he wasn't familiar with it. I thought it was kinda funny, I almost got the sense Bobby was looking it up on his computer during the interview, but played it off like he knew what table they were talking about lol.

And you are right Shutyertrap, PS360WiiUPC can all easily handle Pin 2K emulation. But where does that leave other platforms like iOS, Ouya, and Android? Also consider the size of Farsight, and the fact their are only 2 pin2K machines, one of which sucks and would need a kickstarter. No one is going to kickstart Episode One, it's really disliked in pinball circles. That leaves Revenge from Mars. So that would mean that they'd have to work out the emulation, which will be the hardest emulation to date, all for one game, and it's easy to see why they are passing. I like Revenge from Mars, and I would love to see it, but I can understand why they aren't doing it, the whole "too hard to emulate" is a cop out, easier to say that than just come out and say "it's not worth doing". Because of course RfM fans will just get that much louder if they said that.

But that's just it. Both this interview and the Spooky Podcast interview were done by people that are such pinheads, they have audio blogs! Now maybe we know more about video pinball, but still. I know I could conduct a better interview, one that would hit all the major points and be done in 15 minutes. First step is to be prepared. Its not enough to write down questions, you actually have to know something about who you are interviewing. You have to guide the interviewee, shape the conversation. Instead we get dead air, people talking over each other, questions that let the guest ramble aimlessly, lousy follow up to answers, the list goes on and on.

I used to perform in an improv comedy troupe, and one of the things we'd do is pull and audience member and then interview them so we could act out moments of their life. So I'd have to ask questions of a total stranger, dig quickly for information that my fellow actors could use for comedy, and keep the rest of the audience entertained. Its not an easy task, as others in my troupe would try it and sound like these interviews did. Part of that was because they'd let the person do all the talking, which changes the dynamic of who's in control. Watch any late night host, they do most of the talking, letting the guest get a punchline of info in here and there.

So in the case of Bobby, rather than let him tell the whole story of FarSight's origins and the sports games he created, which took a good 5 minutes, I'd give the history myself. Easily done in 30 seconds or less, Bobby can feel comfortable in knowing I've got my **** together, that its not him that needs to do the entertaining. Take the Banzai Run question. They asked when or if it'd be coming out. Bobby starts sounding like he has never heard of this 'banzai run' table and is obviously searching IPDB for info. Poor question as it was, it was asked, so now help the guy out! Yeah, Banzai Run, the motorcycle table with the vertical play field. Instead they left him dangling in the wind, and then followed up with someone just shouting Terminator 2! I almost expected to hear the Chris Farley character where he'd be all, "you remember that game Whirlwind? Yeah that was a cool one. You should do that some time."

Look, I'm not saying good info didn't come out of the interview. I'm just saying it took an hour to get 15 minutes worth of info out of Bobby. Yes, I could do a better job, if given the chance. Is there any reason I'd ever get that chance? No, cause I don't have a forum (other than here) to promote TPA. Now if for some reason the fan forum here got the opportunity to conduct an interview with Bobby, I'd happily volunteer my services to go up to Big Bear and do just that. And you better believe I'd be prepared, professional, and able to utilize my given time much better than in the interviews I've heard to date.

*toot*

Hey did you hear that? Its my own horn!!

Wow.

If this forum ever gets a chance to interview Bobby, it's gotta be you. Bravo.

And Jeff's got your back too. Jeff do you think this would be possible to get him an interview with Bobby?