Zach is the son of industry legend Roger Sharpe, aka “the man who saved pinball.” While his pedigree may have initially defined him, Zach has made a name for himself by becoming the “World’s Greatest Pinball Player”, finishing number one on the World Pinball Player Rankings. He shared a column in Play Meter Magazine for years and is currently the Vice-President for two pinball organizations as well as the Director of Marketing for Stern Pinball.
Michael Thomasson (MT): Tell us about the “Stern Army”. How many operators and locations exist worldwide?
Zach Sharpe (ZS): The Stern Army is the official street team and brand ambassadors of Stern Pinball, working in partnership with the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA) to help create more tournaments and leagues at public locations. The mission of the Stern Army is: 1) Expand the player community through events and leagues at public locations that include Stern pinball machines. 2) Get more Stern games into more locations. 3) Get more people playing in tournaments and leagues at these locations….
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Michael Thomasson is one of the most widely respected videogame historians in the field today. He currently teaches college level videogame history, design, and graphics courses. For television, Michael conducted research for MTV's videogame related program Video MODS. In print, he authored Downright Bizarre Games, and has contributed to nearly a dozen gaming texts. Michael’s historical columns have been distributed in newspapers and magazines worldwide. He has written business plans for several vendors and managed a dozen game-related retail stores spanning three decades. Michael consults for multiple video game and computer museums and has worked on nearly a hundred game titles on Atari, Coleco, Sega and other console platforms. In 2014, The Guinness Book of World Records declared that Thomasson had “The Largest Videogame Collection” in the world. His businesses sponsor gaming tradeshows and expos across the US and Canada. Visit www.GoodDealGames.com.
