Documentary on Licensing Seeks Questions on Star Trek: TNG and Terminator 2

[Jeff Kleist]

Hey guys

I'm interviewing Mr. Steve Richie next week for a documentary I'm doing on licensing, specifically focusing on the ST:TNG pinball table, it's birth, and rebirth in the digital medium, and I'm looking for questions from the audience to add into my pool. We'll also be talking to him about Terminator 2, so please include those as well

Please remember the focus is on the franchises as much as the pinball so "Why did you design a shot with such a long ramp" is less important than "how does the long ramp help the user experience warp speed" Questions like "Why did you choose to use the Borg Ship from the end of Season 6 instead of a cube" is perfectly OK, just trying to lay the guiderails of what I'm going for

We'll be at the Texas Pinball Festival, so if you're attending, please give me a holler via private messaging, we'll be shooting some on-camera stuff with users as well, so if you're going to be at the show, love Trek and pinball please shoot me a PM and I'll let you know when that particular shoot is going to be.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

85 views and no one has anything?

What I had up there are guidelines, as long as it covers those tables, please ask away, and I'll do my best to work it in

 

[fenderbendr]

How did you decide the shots for the "Picard Maneuver?"

 

[Jeff Kleist]

That's great, thanks!

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Its not out on PS3 yet or I might have 1 question.

 

[Fungi]

With STTNG already as challenging as it is, did the outlanes really need help? The shapes of the slingshots created big funnels that lead out.

 

[Pop Sergeant]

Okay. I'm not taking myself or these questions too seriously, and neither should anyone else; they just happen to seem interesting to me late on a Sunday evening after having worked 7 straight 12 hour shifts ... sitting down to contemplate my mundane present while wishing I had a replicator, a carafe of Romulan Ale and a Starship to carry them.


1. How much time and effort did you personally invest in episode viewing and/or familiarization with this particular incarnation of the franchise?

2. Were you given a list or expectations of "must haves" or "must not haves" prior to starting your design efforts?

3. Is there anything you wanted to include in the table, whether physically or within the rule sets, that just didn't work out for one reason or another?

4. What inspired the implementation of the "Thank You, Mr. Data" and Riker's Poker Easter eggs?

5. Have any of the cast members ever commented to you personally on their likes/dislikes of the machine?

6. If you had to evaluate your own work in terms of playing your own tables just for the enjoyment; where would STTNG fall into the queue?

7. Hypothetically, if you were to find yourself in the Star Trek universe; what would you want to be or who would you most want to be like when you grew up?

8. Any wild or crazy thoughts on a unique design, function, or engineering feature for a table based on the current Star Trek reboot?

9. Would you consider participating in an AMA (ask-me-anything) thread on The Pinball Arcade Fan forum?

10. The obligatory Star Trek gauntlet: do you consider yourself a Trekker or a Trekkie; pick wisely.

Cheers.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

I think I read they all got thier own machine and the dude who played worf had his signed by the cast and had it up for a kickstarter reward for a film he's trying to make. GOLD!

 

[netizen]

Why Break Out, but no Wesely?

With the Ferengi playing such a one dimensional, comedic relief role in STTNG series, was their inclusion more of a contractual obligation?

What does warp factor 5 represent to the series that gives it the Hold Bonus multiplier in game play?

If you could design STTNG today with all that is available, would you make it any different?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Thanks guys, I'm working on the list through tonight, so please keep them coming

How about some T2 questions as well?

 

[karl]

Did you get to talk with the cast when they were doing voice-overs and if so, any good stories?
How is the work coming along on the new Star Trek Table for Stern

 

[BJ Wanlund]

I actually have a couple of general T2 questions:

What was it like working with Arnold Schwarzenegger?
What was the process of getting the T2 license for a pinball table? How easy/hard was it to get that license compared to similar licensed pinball tables?

 

[ClaudeHenrySmoot]

If your time is limited (and you're simply looking for raw data) you should reference the interview he did with TopCast I believe. He went in depth re: T2 and somewhat with STTNG. I recall his story about sitting down with James Cameron (SP?) and really getting to talk about how the pin would work. Then again I could be getting my TopCasts confused. I'll try and find a link.

 

[ClaudeHenrySmoot]

http://www.pinrepair.com/topcast/showget.php?id=32

 

[ClaudeHenrySmoot]

BTW, is this documentry for some sort of coursework or will this be something available for purchase?

 

[Gord Lacey]

I'll speak for Jeff (since I know what it's for) - it'll be available for the public to watch.

Interesting bit of trivia - Jeff was the 2nd member of the site, and has been a friend of mine for years. Google his name to see some of the other projects he's been involved in.

 

[shutyertrap]

Man, I don't have any specific questions related to either of those tables as I haven't really played them in a very long time. Now in a few weeks when Trek comes out for PS3...

Still, I am curious about this; Steve is known for how incredibly fast his tables are. The fact that Trek has that preloaded ball eject so you don't wait for the ball to travel in the under field subway attests to that. So with T2 and Trek specifically, did he try and pace the speed of play specific to the license? How much of the layout design was already an idea in his head before the license was even attached to it?

 

[angrytilter]

I'll watch it when it's released... Because I'm really interested in seeing why licensing even matters for TPA, seeing that nobody cares anymore about retro reproductions and emulators and whatnot. (I say anymore, because 10-20 years ago, console companies actively went after ROM websites screaming copyright infringement)

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

I'll watch it when it's released... Because I'm really interested in seeing why licensing even matters for TPA, seeing that nobody cares anymore about retro reproductions and emulators and whatnot. (I say anymore, because 10-20 years ago, console companies actively went after ROM websites screaming copyright infringement)

One of the big differences is that The Pinball Arcade is a for-profit product and so FarSight is making money off of other people's IP. Even though you don't have to make money to infringe on copyright (as some users of Napster and all the other P2P services found out the hard way), as a practical matter once money is being made, companies with IP get far more interested in protecting it and/or getting their cut through licensing, even if they no longer intend on using it themselves (like with pinball).

 

[Shaneus]

Damnit, I'm guessing I missed out on this? My question would've been: "Most of the games you've worked on (and others you haven't!) feature your voice. Did you do any voice work for either Star Trek TNG or Terminator 2? Any other tables, licensed or otherwise, that you featured in?"

But yeah, guess I missed the boat on this one