What I'm Hearing About Pokémon Pinball
By knapparcade
Stern hasn't even held its main conference call with distributors yet and pictures of its next cornerstone game Pokémon pinball have already begun to leak. An image of the game is floating around out there. Apparently it is from some meeting that Stern had with the large amusement dealer Betson. Prior to this picture being leaked, I heard that the Premium trim of the game was the way to go, but now I'm not sure. To me, the layout of the image that is floating around out there is very reminiscent of the 1996 Williams pinball machine Junkyard. All versions of the game are loaded with video and audio from the Pokémon animated series, which ran from 1997 through 2023 - a whopping 28 seasons. Callouts for the game are voice actors for Pikachu and Giovanni. As of this morning, the game still has not been officially approved by the licensor. Apparently there has been a lot of back and forth with Stern on it. Timing of the public reveal of the game will depend upon when approval is received. Hopefully it will be this week. Stern is hosting dealers at its factory tomorrow and it is hosting members of the media on Wednesday. Thursday or Friday seem possible for the public reveal, unless approval isn't received in time and it is pushed to next week. Stern has talked with the licensors about including an exclusive Pokémon card with its pinball machines....however as of today that is NOT happening. This is a GREAT time for Stern to launch a Pokémon-related product. This is a big year for the brand, its 30th anniversary. There will be lots of hype and promotion surrounding the IP all year, perfect for Stern to piggyback on and sell lots of games. Yesterday, in honor of this anniversary, Pokémon spent the big bucks and aired a celebrity-filled commercial. I've included it below for anyone who wants to check it out. Rumor is that distributors already have lots of LE orders.