# SDTM: a pinball show Episode 22: This or That

**Source:** Straight Down the Middle  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2017-06-16  
**Duration:** 16m 30s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h0EKD9e35U

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## Analysis

Zach Sharpe and Greg from Straight Down the Middle conduct a casual 'This or That' episode where they debate pairs of pinball machines to help viewers decide between purchasing options. Topics include Metallica vs Attack from Mars remake, Dialed In! vs Stern AC/DC Premium, Spider-Man vs Lord of the Rings, Medieval Madness remake vs used Stern Premium games, and Jurassic Park vs The Lost World, with discussion of game quality, themes, playability, and condition concerns.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Zach sold his The Walking Dead (Pro) thinking Star Wars was going to come out soon — _Zach Sharpe at start of episode, personal anecdote_
- [MEDIUM] Attack from Mars remake is equivalent in price to Metallica Premium Edition — _Greg and Zach discussing first 'This or That' question, assumes price parity for comparison_
- [MEDIUM] Medieval Madness Remake is priced over $8,000 — _Zach Sharpe, stating price range during MM Remake vs Walking Dead/Metallica comparison_
- [MEDIUM] Pinball was dying at the time Jurassic Park and The Lost World came out — _Zach Sharpe, historical observation about late 1990s pinball market_
- [LOW] The Lost World is rarer than Jurassic Park to find — _Zach suggests this, then both hosts debate rarity, no definitive conclusion_
- [MEDIUM] Jurassic Park is like 'the poor man's AI' with a complex ruleset similar to modern Stern games — _Zach Sharpe making thematic/design comparison_
- [MEDIUM] The Lost World plays smoother and faster than Jurassic Park — _Zach Sharpe expressing personal gameplay preference_
- [MEDIUM] Jurassic Park has better toys and theme music/backglass art than The Lost World — _Greg acknowledging Jurassic Park's superior theme execution_

### Notable Quotes

> "I sold my The Walking Dead (Pro) thinking that Star Wars was going to come out. You talked about that. And now I don't know if that was a good idea."
> — **Zach Sharpe**, early in episode
> _Sets up core tension about his recent machine sale decision; hints at Star Wars timing uncertainty_

> "Dialed In! is great. Done. One roll, baby."
> — **Greg**, Dialed In vs AC/DC segment
> _Strong endorsement of Dialed In! over Stern AC/DC Premium_

> "I'm not much on Stern AC/DC (Premium). The Stern AC/DC (Pro Vault Edition), I think, is a turd of a machine."
> — **Greg**, AC/DC comparison
> _Explicit negative assessment of AC/DC variants despite it being his favorite band_

> "The Lord of the Rings is going to take it. Modes. Easily."
> — **Zach Sharpe**, Spider-Man vs LOTR segment
> _Acknowledges LOTR's superior wizard mode complexity despite preferring Spider-Man overall_

> "Spider-Man. I'm not getting rid of the Metallica (Premium). The number one ranked game of all time, brand new."
> — **Zach Sharpe**, Medieval Madness Remake comparison
> _Strong preference for keeping existing premium machines over new remakes_

> "If they're my only pins I'll go two any other reason I'll go I'll take Medieval Madness Remake obviously if I had like a freaking 10-12 pin collection"
> — **Greg**, Medieval Madness discussion
> _Demonstrates collection size affects machine value assessment_

> "I'd go with The Lost World. I've played Jurassic Park quite a bit, and I want a Jurassic Park. It'll be a keeper just because of the theme. But, man, I just don't like the modes."
> — **Zach Sharpe**, Jurassic Park vs Lost World
> _Shows tension between theme appeal and actual gameplay preference_

> "I think that The Lost World is a better game. I think it's a smoother, faster game. I enjoy it."
> — **Zach Sharpe**, Jurassic Park comparison
> _Clear gameplay preference for The Lost World over Jurassic Park despite recognizing its rarity_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Zach Sharpe | person | Co-host of Straight Down the Middle podcast, pinball content creator, machine collector, recently sold The Walking Dead Pro |
| Greg | person | Co-host of Straight Down the Middle podcast, pinball enthusiast, collector |
| Barnyard Slash5 | person | Pinside user who submitted 'This or That' question about Metallica vs Attack from Mars |
| Dopes 214X | person | Pinside user who submitted question about three machines vs Attack from Mars remake |
| Radrog | person | Pinside user who submitted question about Dialed In vs Stern AC/DC Premium |
| The Walking Dead (Pro) | product | Stern Pinball machine, Zach's recently sold game |
| Star Wars Pinball | product | Upcoming Stern title that Zach was anticipating before selling The Walking Dead |
| Aerosmith | product | Stern Pinball machine, Greg recently purchased/owns |
| Metallica (Premium Edition) | product | Stern Pinball machine, described as #1 ranked game of all time by Zach |
| Attack from Mars (Remake) | product | Remake of classic Williams game, priced equivalently to Metallica Premium for comparison |
| Dialed In! | product | Jersey Jack Pinball game, praised for shooting feel and gameplay |
| Stern AC/DC (Premium) | product | Stern Pinball machine, criticized by Greg despite AC/DC being his favorite band |
| Spider-Man | product | Stern Pinball machine, criticized as repetitive but with satisfying shots |
| The Lord of the Rings | product | Stern Pinball machine, praised for wizard mode complexity and smoother gameplay flow |
| Medieval Madness (Remake) | product | Stern Pinball remake, priced over $8,000, compared against used premium machines |
| Jurassic Park | product | Data East Pinball machine with T-Rex toy and complex ruleset |
| The Lost World | product | Sega Pinball machine, sequel to Jurassic Park, praised as faster and smoother-playing |
| Sega Black Hole | product | Vintage Sega machine owned by Dopes 214X, compared as part of three-machine collection |
| Judge Dredd | product | Wide-body pinball machine owned by Dopes 214X |
| The Incredible Hulk | product | Pinball machine owned by Dopes 214X, assessed as 'not a great game' |
| Straight Down the Middle | organization | Pinball podcast and YouTube channel hosted by Zach Sharpe and Greg |
| Pinside | organization | Online pinball community forum where viewers submitted 'This or That' questions |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Machine purchase decision framework, Game price comparisons and value assessment, Gameplay quality and theme appeal tension, Comparative game design and mechanical features
- **Secondary:** Machine condition and routing effects on playability, Collection size strategy (single vs multiple machines), Data East and Sega vintage pinball comparisons

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.75) — Hosts are enthusiastic and genuinely engaged with the format. Debate is collegial with good-natured disagreement. Some mild criticism of specific games (AC/DC, Jurassic Park art) but overall tone is constructive and playful. Zach shows some frustration about his The Walking Dead sale but frames it as learning experience.

### Signals

- **[sentiment_shift]** Stern AC/DC Premium has poor reception despite AC/DC being popular theme (noted as 'turd') (confidence: medium) — Greg's explicit statement: 'The Stern AC/DC (Pro Vault Edition), I think, is a turd of a machine' and 'I'm not much on Stern AC/DC (Premium)'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Strong mixed sentiment on Spider-Man: repetitive gameplay vs satisfying theme and shots (confidence: medium) — Hosts acknowledge Spider-Man has vocal critics but still defend its merits; hosts expect community pushback on LOTR choice
- **[design_philosophy]** Data East Jurassic Park designed as complex ruleset game with deep modes (compared to modern Stern complexity) (confidence: medium) — Zach describes JP as 'like the poor man's AI or similar complex modern pinball machine game with deep ruleset'
- **[historical_signal]** Pinball market was in decline during late 1990s when Jurassic Park and The Lost World were released (confidence: medium) — Zach observes: 'Pinball was dying at that point' referring to the era these games were released
- **[machine_intel]** Star Wars Pinball timeline remains uncertain; Zach sold The Walking Dead anticipating Star Wars launch (confidence: high) — Zach's opening admission: 'I sold my The Walking Dead (Pro) thinking that Star Wars was going to come out'
- **[market_signal]** Used premium machines (routed Walking Dead/Metallica) maintain significant value even with routing damage (confidence: medium) — Discussion about routed machines being harder to value; hosts debate equivalent pricing scenarios for used vs new machines
- **[product_strategy]** Medieval Madness Remake confirmed priced over $8,000; LA version at $9,000+ (confidence: medium) — Zach states 'Over 8. Over 8? Yeah, okay. LA is 9.'
- **[product_concern]** Jurassic Park playfield and backglass art quality criticized as rough, hand-drawn, and poor compared to The Lost World (confidence: medium) — Greg: 'It's rough hand-drawn art on the play field. It is bad. Yeah, it's not great stuff.' Zach calls backglass 'like a Photoshop shitty'

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## Transcript

 You hit it off with a bumper now you're straight down the middle again, middle again. You had a fling with a fling shot, you're rolling out the alley dog again. And right at the cradle you're... What's up guys, this is Zach and Greg from Straight Down the Middle, a funky little pinball show. Do do do do do. Yeah, we're going to do this or that this week, Greg. Yes. You ready? Yeah. I always like doing this. It's popular, I like it. This is fun. I like it too. Yeah, this or that. Because it's important. You always say it's important. It is important. This is important. Because it's just what drives you. I mean, it's just what it is. Yeah, what do we do? Do we sell this? Yeah. Do we buy this? I'm really wanting this, but when do I give up to get this? I made a mistake on this or that, I believe. What? I sold my Walking Dead thinking that Star Wars was going to come out. You talked about that. And now I don't know if that was a good idea. Should I have sold Walking Dead? Or should I have sold Aerosmith? What would you have done? This or that? I just sold Aerosmith. Ooh. Yeah. Walking Dead's still a good game, man. Aerosmith's good. Don't get me wrong. People are like, you're crazy. So The Walking Dead's like one of your favorite, if not your favorite games, Zach. Yeah. But you just sold it. Yeah. Would that explain that? And I'm like, I can't. I can't really. But it's hard when you've owned Walking Dead for so long and an Aerosmith's still fairly fresh for you. So I understand your problem with it, but I'd still go over to Aerosmith. So let's jump into this or that. So we're trying to take some feedback or some questions from people online, whether it's Pinside or YouTube. Yes. So the first one that we have, Greg, is by Slash5 on Pinside. He's trying to figure out, do I want a Metallica or an Attack from Mars remake? And for these purposeless, let's say it's a Metallica Premium so that they're equivalent price-wise. Metallica Premium or Attack from Mars remake that's actually really tough that's a tough one if you were going to say Metallica Pro I would have went with Metallica Pro it's a great game taking your extra $1000 or $1500 bought a Lethal Weapon 3 yeah for sure vacation in America but man two equivalently priced games what is the price on Attack 6 65 6 I don't know there's 3 damn levels I don't know I mean I honestly go with Tech for Mars I don't know what the hell I'd go because I don't want either machine this or that that's the point of the show I'm just being a dick I'm so sorry it loves itself Oh, um... It's hard. That's one of the hardest ones I've seen. You kind of threw that on me, and I wasn't expecting it. I don't even know either. I guess Attack from Mars. I love Attack from Mars. Yeah, Attack from Mars. I love Metallica, but I just have to go with Attack from Mars. I'm not crazy about either one of them, but I'll go with Attack from Mars. Oh, I like both a lot. It's new. It's upgraded. Yeah. And it's classic. It is. Metallica, I just like the music. Yeah, I agree. And it's flow. Yeah. That's it. So there you go. Back from ours. Back from ours. All right. So on, let's see. This is on Pinside as well, I think. This is Dopes 214X. When you were sitting at home thinking of your Pinside ID, were you thinking, let's go with Dopes, but let's add a little 214. Let's add an X on there. Mine's pretty lame. So I would go with it. Z-mini. Yeah. It's my name. Boom. It's just, yeah. Dopes 214X. Dopes, reach out to us if you are watching this for some rare occurrence. Let us know where in the hell that Pinsod name comes from. But super good question. He was like, I want an attack from Mars. I have a black hole a Judge Drain an incredible Hulk a funky little action movie It is And he said or she said do I sell all three to get an Attack from Mars remake or do I keep my three machines Again, that is Black Panther, Dread, Incredible Hulk, or Attack from Mars remake. Man, I don't know. That's a toss. I would. I'm going three machines all day long. I'd go three machines, too. I like quantity over quality sometimes. Especially three machines to one machine. I usually don't, but I'll tell you what. Now, if it was a two-machine to one, it'd be different. I think those are enough variation in games. I mean, they are totally different. Yeah. Those are thrown in Hulk. That's right. So you've got the Hulk, which is not a great game. Dredd's a wide body. None of them are great, fun-playing games. I think Dredd is. We'll have to review that game. But Black Hole, I love that. Yeah. It just looks really cool. Yeah. I don't know. That stuff. Because I'm sitting here thinking I'd rather have three machines and I'm not going to play as much as Attack from Mars. Yeah. I'll still go with three machines. I'd go three machines. They're pretty. I agree. Keep your three machines, man. If they're in nice condition. Yeah, yeah. If they're not good machines, yeah, sell them, get you a new game. If you've got any play fieldware, sell them. Sell the turds and get you a new one. They're good games. Deal three games. I agree. We're two for two in a great game. Yeah, that don't happen very often. All right. We've got Radrog. Radrog on Pennside. He said, it seems like a Harley driver. Yeah. RadRogue. All right. It's probably like an IT consultant or something. Who are you, RadRogue? Oh, you've got to love this. Okay. DialedIn versus ACDC Vault Premium. I love ACDC. It's my favorite band. That's your favorite band. Favorite band. You're going to turn on them for a... I love DialedIn, man. I love DialedIn. I love the way that game shoots. I love DialedIn. For the record, I'm not much on ACDC. The Pro, I think, is a turd of a machine. and the premium, I just don't like very much. So, I'd be easily dialed in. Dialed in. Done. I think dialed in is great. Done. Three for three. Go with it. Yeah. One roll, baby. All right. I've heard some people talk about this, and they're totally different machines, but around the same era-ish. Okay. Spider-Man by Stern or Lord of the Rings. Spider-Man. Why? It's repetitive. I understand that. The shots, everything's repetitive. It gets old quick if you play the shit out of it, but... Oh, yeah, you're right on all of them. I'm right on every one of them. But at the same time, I love the theme. I think the shots are satisfying. Who's your vault? I haven't played a vault. Well, it's the same game. Yeah. But I guess the sounds are different. Art panning is different. Yeah, yeah. You're talking about the original. Let's go with the original, yeah. But I think the shots are satisfying, Zach. I don't think it does. But I think Doc Ock is satisfying. I love the ramps. I like it all. I enjoy it. I even enjoy hitting Sandman. It's a very innovative game. It is. I absolutely love it. Lord of the Rings has got some cool stuff going for it, too, but I like the flow of Spider-Man better. And the theme adds it to me. There's a lot of Lord of the Rings fans, so I know you're going to get a lot of kickback on that. Yeah, Lord of the Rings is actually a good game. Yeah, it is. Spider-Man is a fair game. Yeah, I'd still pick Spider-Man. I'm going to tell you one of the largest things is I think the art is better. I think it's just a prettier game. I hate the art. I hate the dullness that is. Yeah, but that's not really fair. You're not fighting a fair fight. But that's like people who hate Dialed In because it's Dialed In. You can't hate it. It's still a damn good game. Wizard mode. You can't hate it. Oh, wizard mode. Oh, yeah. Lord of the Rings is going to take it. Modes. Easily. I still enjoy Spider-Man. Oh, stop. My pick would be Spider-Man. We're done with that. I've got to stick with Spider-Man. Modes. As boring as it gets and as old as it gets, I love Spider-Man. Jackpot 1 Jackpot 2 So you honestly I guess go with Lord of the Rings Hell yeah That's a great Great game I miss mine Write us on that one Because I want I want to see What kind of votes I want to see What kind of comments We get on that Yeah So let us know Spider or Lord of the Rings I have no intention of getting a Spider at all Yeah no you don I love one I got to find one Oh that side ramp that goes to the Venom It's not bad. He's all about the clunkiness. I hate that shit. But I can't say anything because Lord of the Rings has got one of the nastiest clunk rates. That's what I was going to say. That's a little. That bends. I would say the gameplay is probably better on Spider-Man. I like Spider-Man. I'll give you that. I'm arguing. I'm whittling him down. I just every time I play Spider-Man, I'm like, okay, so we're 15 minutes in here. I'm still playing. It gets kind of old. Like I said, I agree. You know what? I can play Spider-Man longer than I can play Lord of the Rings. Lord of the Rings kind of kicks my ass sometimes. I know. People talk about, now all the Lord of the Rings I've had have upgraded flippers. If Spider-Man was my only game, I probably wouldn't own it because I know I'd get rid of it really quick. But if I could throw it in a two or three game lineup, I'd definitely get Spider-Man. That was a good comparison, long ball. I agree. I like it. All right. So, Spider-Man. Spider-Man. Spider-Man. Medieval Madness Remake. Or, two stern pros, like a Walking Dead Metallica. So you've got a Walking Dead or Metallica. I put a Walking Dead Metallica. Keeping them. I'm not getting rid of the Metallica. The number one ranked game of all time, brand new. Nope. I'm still keeping my two used pros. Over a brand new MMR. Over a brand new MMR. Gold trim. Yeah. Colored package. Honestly, I think that if I had to buy those pros, what's an MMR price? Over 8. Over 8? Yeah, okay. LA is 9. I'm going to tell you right now, I would spend the extra coinage, and if I had to buy Walking Dead and I had to buy Metallica brand new, I'd still buy them brand new over MMR for those two games. What if they were used routed? If routed? Oh, but the price would be down even more. That's my bread and butter. No. Put them dollars low. No, no, no. No extra money. No extra money. Well, if it's routed, I'm getting ripped on it. So I'm not going to pay for you. No, no. We're giving you machines. Do you want a brand new MMR? Or do you want a routed walking dead? Oh, if you're just handing them to me and I don't have to pay, I'll take MMR. That's unfair. That's unfair. Why? No one's going to give me a machine. Well, let's say you paid for them the same price. I don't care what you pay. Okay, same price. I'm getting my two machines. Routed. They're the same price as a brand new MMR in the box. Yeah, but if I'm paying the same price, then I'm getting ripped on those routed machines. I don't care, Greg. If I'm picking those two machines up routed for like $3,500 because they're routed. You ain't going to find a $3,500. Well, maybe. I'm buying those two. No, I don't know, man, though. Because that's not good shape. MMR LE has dropped, too. Yeah. Let's say they're, for all intents and purposes, they're equal. Do you want two routed Pros or a brand new, fresh out of the box MMR? Brand new, fresh out of the box MMR if they're routed. If they're just normal games used. H-U-O snob. H-U-O snob. I'm taking those two games. Homey's only snob. That could be lightly routed. I'll take it lightly routed. I think in a video before you were like, I don't care if it's homey's only. It's condition, condition. No, I was going to say, lightly routed, I'll take. No, you won't. You'd freak out. You'd freak out. Look at the shooter lane. You'd be sweating. Oh, God. I do get scared of shooter lanes. Oh, God. It's really bad. Look at that damage. I would take. damn I'm just not big on Metallica so I'm looking at a Walking Dead Pro or an MMR answer this riddle me this are these my only pins or do I have more pins oh there you go only pins I think you can go with two pins you definitely want two pins over one if they're my only pins I'll go two any other reason I'll go I'll take MMR obviously if I had like a freaking 10-12 pin collection and I'd play Matana. No, you know what? I'd get a new MMR. You know what? I wouldn't. I'd take it back. Walking Dead Pro, I think, is a better game than MMR. So you're going to go with it? Yeah, I will go with it. Yeah, see? So are we in agreeance on that one? We are. So we only disagree. What was that five We got one more Oh we got one more Then we will probably disagree on this one Okay So let go Let get into the bargain bin We looking in the clearance aisle and we got a machine that sitting behind you I'll pose this one to you. You don't know about this one. Jurassic Park Lost World. Yeah. By what? Sega. Yeah. Right? I feel like that backbox is almost hitting me. It's coming out somewhere. No, it's beautiful. Or. Beautiful. Data East. Data East. Jurassic Park. I wonder what Greg Joel went. I'm pretty solid on this one. Why would you be solid on it? Because I'd go with Lost World. And I'm going to tell you, I've played Jurassic Park quite a bit, and I want a Jurassic Park. It'll be a keeper just because of the theme. Yeah. But, man, I just don't like the modes are pretty good. It's a deep, good game. It's a hard one. It's a hard game. It's kind of hard to start modes sometimes, I feel like. That game is hard. The ramps are awesome. Yeah, it's not bad. But I think that Lost World is a better game. I think that it's... I think it's rarer, too. They're hard to find. I don't... Yeah, they are, I guess. Jurassic Park's rarer. Maybe because of the time frame they came out. Pinball was dying at that point. But I think it's a smoother shooting game. It's a hell of a lot faster than what Jurassic Park is. Okay. I think that it shoots more like a modern-day game, modern-day Stern. Now, when I say that, I'm not saying, oh, flippers are smooth, everything's smooth. This has got the clunkiness of a Sega back in the day a little bit. You're going Lost World. I go Lost World, man. I just think that it's a smoother, faster game. I enjoy it. I'm okay with you picking Lost World. I'm still going to go Jurassic Park. Why? The toys are better. No, I think the Snagger is somewhat equivalent to the dinosaur T-Rex. But only the dinosaur is actually good. Picking it up. What else? You've got an egg on this. It opens up. You've got a baby T-Rex. Roars in it. What else you got on Jurassic Park? You've got the T-Rex. no you got the the raptor kickback that's awesome that is cool that is really cool you shoot up there and it shoots it right back yeah but you got a nice scoop on here it's pretty powerful it shoots it at you good the Jurassic Park is like the poor man's Addams Family or Whirlwind the layouts are basically yeah very I can give it that very kind of I like Jurassic Park but it honestly every time I play Jurassic Park I'm not as overwhelmed by it and fun as when I am Lost World like I said it's just because I think this is faster I like a faster game. Yeah. Now, theme, music is a lot better. Yeah. Obviously, everything is more fantastic in that aspect on Jurassic Park. Backglass is better on Jurassic Park. I don't know. Jurassic Park. It's like a Photoshop shitty. No, it's rough. It's rough hand-drawn art on the play field. It is bad. Yeah, it's not great stuff. I think play field art on this is better. I'll go Jurassic Park. You go Lost World. Yeah. So we disagreed on two on this. Okay. Give Lost World a chance. But let me talk about this. I think I said this in one video. I played a rough, routed Lost World. It does not play anything like mine. So I can see where some of these people are maybe as hated about it. This side arc is better on Jurassic Park 2. Oh, you think? I don't know what the hell this is. What is this shit? It's like a bone. It's a fossil dig. It's a fossil dig. I didn't know what you were saying. I thought you said something. Like fossil dig? This is better than just the Jurassic Park logo. No, it's not. Oh, I think so. It looks like puke. It looks like army camouflage. It's beautiful. Jurassic Park is black. It's just like that poster. I thought about putting that on the outside because I like my artwork on this better than the side art on Ghostbusters. Until next week. This is ridiculous. Have a good one, guys. I'm putting in effort. I don't know when you're going to start, so I have to be camera ready at all times. Camera ready at all times. Because I could be like this. I hear like, and you're like, hey, welcome to Straight Outta Middle. I'm like, oh, shit. So, you know, any time that you start to become son, I'm going to be like. Anticipation.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 1d3c1c7e-6cfc-4c38-9f3a-ed83080a856d*