The Patron Saint of Pinball
Brian Eddy is your entire family’s favorite pinball designer. The problem is they don’t know it.
Pinball designers are artists.
I’ll say it again. Pinball designers are artists. That sounds pretentious, but they fuckin’ are. Deal with it. They conceptualize an entire playfield and fill it with mechs, ramps, and integrate a fun theme so that yahoos like us can escape reality for a precious few moments. They do all that and then let you attach a drink holder to it so you can have a beer at the same time. I’m not exaggerating when I say that’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. I love pinball designers.
When you ask a pinballer who their favorite designer is you’re gonna get a few common responses. If they’re a young, poor, sloppy hipster or tournament player they’re gonna say Elwin or Danesi. If they’re a 52-year-old Republican with an unnaturally thick head of hair and a dope-ass pinball basement, they’re gonna say Ritchie or Lawlor. If they’re just a complete and total nerd they’ll say George Gomez (just kidding, George. Luh you!) and if they’re a weird European guy or a sex addict they’ll say Borg. But I’d argue that for the money, Brian Eddy has given more people more good pinball moments than any of those yahoos.
What the hell is a Brian Eddy?
Brian Eddy designed great games right before the death of pinball. It wasn’t his fault. Hired as a programmer for Williams at the age of 21, he programmed some of their most memorable games of that era (Bride of Pinbot, Black Rose, Indiana Jones). He quickly rose through the ranks to become one of their stud pinball designers. He had a string of 90s smash hits. The Shadow, Attack From Mars, Medieval Madness -- then a hard out of the industry right before Williams shuttered their pinball division FOREVER. His only crime? Creating huge hits right as an entire industry was dying. Boy, that probably felt totally fucked up. Sorry Brian!
Brian Eddy went away, made video games, and then, like a prophet back from his spirit walk, he returned. These days he’s had back-to-back hits with Stranger Things and The Mandalorian, he’s selling thousands of new games WHILE HIS OLD GAMES ARE BEING REMADE AS HITS (without him getting paid, or you know, having input)-- and you know what? He STILL doesn’t get the respect he deserves. Why? Stop talking and I’ll tell ya, ya little dorkus malorkus.
Brain Eddy is the pinball GOAT. Deal wid it.
If you’re reading this magazine (or website) it means two things.
You have a problem. A big, disgusting pinball problem.
You know that pinball is, at its foundation, a social game.
There’s a reason we call ourselves a lifestyle magazine. Pinball IS a lifestyle. Chilling w homies. Drinking. Being an idiot. Wasting some time. Believe that there’s no one who loves a solo pin sesh more than me, but let’s be real: pinball is better when you’re getting blitzed together.
Brian Eddy understands that better than anyone. How do I know? Ask any casual what their favorite pinball game is, and what are they going to say? Medieval Madness. Hands down. I hear that so much. When you run a pinball magazine, people love to tell you their fave game -- 9/10 it’s gonna be MM. Why? Because it’s fun, it’s fast, it’s easy, and it’s full of way-fun pinball moments -- like the first time you see the penis castle flop around after sneaking one past that open gate. Or the trolls. But mostly the penis castle.
Brian Eddy started programming pinball machines at age 18. He was employed as a programmer at Williams by 21. Think about that. What were you doing at 18 and 21? I could tell you what I was doing, but it’d just make you grossed out and sad. Point being: this dude is like some idealized lab construct of what a pinball designer should be. He is absolutely made for pinball. I mean, the way Brian Eddy tells his biography it sounds like a superhero origin story. Seeing an ad in Chicago that just says “Games! Games! Games” as some hayseed goofball on vacation, then ending up as one of the most celebrated Williams designers of all time? Get the fuck outta here.
Swiss Army Man
Eddy’s ability to switch back and forth between programmer and designer worked well on the Shadow, and that sort of multifacetedness continues to serve him well. His newer games have deep code and gameplay sets that keep experienced players hooked, but still play with the big fun mechs for the dopey high guys like me who just wanna bash shit all day long. That’s a big deal. Brian Eddy makes his games more fun because he understands how to make art that is both high and low. Smart and stupid. Hard and easy. You get it. That’s the kind of all-encompassing brain I want making my pins. He gets it.
Original themes that don’t suck
Eddy’s two biggest hits are tables whose themes HE CREATED FROM SCRATCH. While it’s popularly thought that Attack From Mars was based on the Topps trading cards of the same name, it was actually a theme created by Eddy after watching a metric ton of terrible 1950s UFO movies. Imagine those weekends. I mean, replace the “pinball research” part with “smoking a joint and eating an entire jar of peanut butter with your finger” and you’ve got me. Stars — they’re just like us!
I was obviously drunk when I took this Medieval Madness pic, and honestly, that’s exactly how it should be.
He followed that up with Medieval Madness, one of the funniest games of all time. Sure, you knew that Tina Fey did a voice in it before she was famous, but did you know that she (and the other Second City castmembers) wrote lines for it too? I always kinda wonder who wrote what. I like to think that the Ghost of John Belushi wrote, “TROLLS!!!!” Brian Eddy made cool, funny themes that stood on their own — not because they were part of a blockbuster movie franchise, but because they were good and engaging. That’s exactly the vibe. Plus martians and whatnot.
Look at this lil goofenbacher
He’s (kinda) funny!
From the cows on AFM, to the uh, cows on Medieval Madness, Brian Eddy doesn’t seem like he takes himself too seriously. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that he’s kind of a big ole goof. That’s good. That’s the guy you want to hang with at the party. They’re not burning too bright, they’re just cracking some jokes, puttin’ back a couple cold ones, and leaving before it gets lame. Brian Eddy has that self-effacing, dad humor that I just find really endearing. Take his answer to the question about how it was to do design AND program for The Shadow on the Special When Lit Podcast “I’m a complete bastard to work for, so it was hell every day.” How can you not love a guy like that?
Our model demonstrates PERFECT technique
So he leaves pinball with two stone-cold hits (Also, if you’re looking for a great deep dive on this, check out this interview with Special When Lit to hear more about the Early Eddy days). He’s out of the game for twenty years. What does he do when he comes back? Just creates a pinball game that somehow manages to ace being an homage to his blockbuster hits, while also innovating in some really fun and meaningful ways.
Stranger Things is the first commercially made game to integrate a frickin’ projector onto the playfield. That alone is just such a dope move — but to have it just be one aspect of a pretty flawless flowy fan-style machine is just, well, chef’s kiss.
No teaser, all pleaser.
Love them or hate them, Eddy machines got some frickin’ tooooooyyysss, bruhhhhh. He loads his machines up with fun stuff that integrates perfectly into the table. It’s why his tables are bangers EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. People love the castle and the trolls in Medieval Madness. They love the UFO in Attack From Mars. They love the demogorgon on Stranger Things. Maybe love is strong. I’ve seen people break down and cry from not being able to hit that ugly mug. Anyway, people love the other ones!
If this was a human sexuality paper from my sophomore year of college, we’d prob delve a little deeper into the meaning behind the quaking phalluses (or the truck nuts on mando) that Brian Eddy puts into every single one of his games -- but good thing I buried that pretentious doof a long time ago.
A Brian Eddy game is like a Tame Impala songs. The casuals like it cuz of the hooks, the nerds like it because it’s obviously the product of someone who really cares about making something good. I better stop, or my phallus may start to quake.
He’s a mediocre pinball player
This is gonna come off as a diss, but I promise you it’s not. It was a relief to me that when I watched Brian Eddy play pinball he wasn’t very good. I mean, you watch Elwin and you’re just like what the fuck. The guy is a machine. When you watch Brian Eddy, you’re like, oh yeah -- I could prob beat that guy here and there.
I grew up in Wisconsin as a Green Bay Packers fan. I always said that while Aaron Rodgers is the best QB we ever had, Brett Favre was my favorite because Favre was relatable. Aaron Rodgers made the impossible look easy. Favre made things look, well, hard. That’s awesome. That’s who I can emulate and empathize with! That’s the Eddy way. It’s probably what makes his games fun for everyone (YES, KEITH ELWIN ALSO MAKES FUN GAMES FOR EVERYONE). I’m just saying that I appreciate the regular dudeness of Brian Eddy. As a regular dude.
Go play a Brian Eddy joint right now
Y’all should stop reading this and go find a Brian Eddy machine. It won’t be hard. They’re everywhere. Take out your significant other and have a sexy night. You deserve it. Go.
And I’ll just say this to Brian Eddy, if he’s reading this: Brian, baby. You’re our guy. Already. That’s a done deal. You’re perfect. Nothing is gonna take that away from you. But like, hypothetically if you DO happen to find a way to get Nudge The Shadow for our world HQ, then we’ll build a bust of you for our office. 100%. I’ll rub your magnificent head of hair every single day. Because you deserve it. Because of your contributions to pinball, all around good times, and my general happiness. But also because in this hypothetical world, you’ve also just sent us The Shadow right to our office. Seriously. Let me know if you need our address. Drop us a line. OK bye everyone.
The article is over. Stop reading.
OK. One more thing. Keep scrolling.
FUN BRIAN EDDY FACTS
Look, some of you aren’t here for my wonderful prose. We’ll distill some shit down for you if you’re just looking to get your hot and heavy Brian Eddy facts without all the chit-chat. We respect it. Do we like it? God damn it no, but we DO respect it.
BRIAN EDDY started as a programmer at Williams at age 21. He worked on several huge titles, including Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure. which coincidently was also going to be the title of my autobiography. Back to the drawing board, I guess
BRIAN EDDY was lead designer for The Shadow at 26. 26! Think of what you were doing at 26 and be shamed.
BRIAN EDDY’S biggest hits as a designer were Attack From Mars and Medieval Madness. He also created The Shadow, the greatest pinball game of all time.
BRIAN EDDY has perfect teeth and a head of hair that most men would die for.
After leaving pinball, BRIAN EDDY worked on a video game with perhaps the most unintentionally comedic title of all time: Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
BRIAN EDDY returned to pinball with two absolutely BANGER titles: Stranger Things and The Mandalorian
BRIAN EDDY seems like a Fun Guy™
