# WBPP ACTION NEWS | Elwin, Avatar, Goonies, & more!!

**Source:** Bash Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-10-16  
**Duration:** 46m 40s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.bashpinball.com/2024/10/16/johnny-mnemonic-with-special-guest-h4ck3r-j-2-2/

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## Analysis

WBPP Action News is a satirical pinball news show featuring fake announcements (Euphoria, Matlock), a real reaction to Jersey Jack's Avatar pinball, and rumors about Spooky Pinball's upcoming pipeline (Beetlejuice, Futurama, Evil Dead, Gremlins, Goonies). Hosts Matt and Don express cautious optimism about Avatar's lighting and code innovations while questioning its mass appeal, and discuss speculative rumors about Jersey Jack's next release being either Harry Potter or a Hogwarts-themed game arriving in March-June 2025.

### Key Claims

- [LOW] Jersey Jack's next game is rumored to release in 6 months (March-June 2025) and may be Harry Potter or Hogwarts-themed — _Don references 'top secret sources, nap arcade' but immediately acknowledges these are rumors with no documentation—just 'grapevine.' No official confirmation._
- [MEDIUM] Spooky Pinball is working on at least four new games, with rumored titles including Beetlejuice, Futurama, Evil Dead, Gremlins, and Goonies — _Don cites Christopher Franchi, Spooky's new artist, as the source. Five titles are mentioned but hosts acknowledge only four are confirmed in development, suggesting at least one rumor is unverified._
- [HIGH] Avatar features six flippers (four on playfield, two underneath) and a mini playfield with a mini ball — _Hosts report observations from the 18-minute Avatar documentary video they watched; they describe specific mechanical features including eclipse mode, UV lighting, and combo-based gameplay._
- [HIGH] Avatar's distinctive features include UV under-playfield lighting, eclipse mode, and a left-flipper-only challenge mode — _Direct observation from Avatar's official release video. Matt and Don specifically praise the lighting innovation and describe eclipse gameplay._
- [LOW] The Hogwarts license may be cheaper than the full Harry Potter license (estimated $1M vs $3M respectively) — _Don speculates about licensing cost differences during rumor discussion; no sources cited, presented as inference rather than fact._

### Notable Quotes

> "Keith Elwin was spotted at the Treasure Island grocery store yesterday in Chicago. This has led to much speculation that he's working on a pirate-themed game."
> — **Diane (host/satirical newscast)**, N/A
> _Opening of the satirical 'WBPP Action News' segment; establishes the show's comedic tone with obvious parody._

> "Pleasantly surprised. Yeah. What was your first impression? What was your first take? I like the colors. Colors, okay. But the big thing with this game seems to be the lighting."
> — **Matt and Don**, N/A
> _First genuine reactions to Avatar after watching the official release video; establishes lighting as Avatar's marquee feature._

> "There was nothing that I felt missing or lacking. Because when we saw the 32nd one with the little mini play field underneath, it's so tiny, it's not going to be fun. But then, it's the little ball."
> — **Matt**, N/A
> _Articulates Avatar's strength: comprehensive feature set and attention to detail despite initial skepticism about mini playfield utility._

> "I wish I could afford it. Yeah, well, I mean, the cool thing is we will get to play it. The downside is that we're going to be playing it probably in an arcade where we're not going to appreciate most of the lighting stuff because it's just going to be too bright in there."
> — **Matt and Don**, N/A
> _Highlights the tension between Avatar's premium home-game pricing ($10k+) and practical access through location play; also questions whether lighting innovations translate to arcade environments._

> "Do you remember when you when you said we had to watch this I'm not sure the thing that he thought was so surprising was actually so surprising what did we watch?"
> — **Matt**, N/A
> _Running joke about Ian Jacoby's vague recommendation; hosts express frustration with lack of clear direction from content source._

> "I don't know one person I've ever met that's like, ooh, Avatar is my favorite movie. Yeah. Well, but obviously it's popular cause they keep making them and it's made like billions of dollars."
> — **Don**, N/A
> _Captures community skepticism about Avatar IP's consumer appeal despite commercial success; central tension in game licensing strategy._

> "For Jersey Jack games in general. For the average home person, they almost have to have even crazier themes because their prices are higher that people really die hard about."
> — **Matt**, N/A
> _Industry insight: JJP's premium pricing ($10k+) strategy requires themes with dedicated fan bases to justify cost; Avatar's middling fan passion creates sales risk._

> "Notably nat barcade has a lot of supporting documentation. No, they don't at all. They have nothing. Just a grapevine. It's like, here's what I think and period."
> — **Don (self-correction)**, N/A
> _Host explicitly discredits his own source (Nap Arcade) for Harry Potter rumor, admitting no documentation exists—entirely speculative._

> "So, yeah, like all those themes are kind of – Kind of cool. Okay, yeah, exciting. Like Evil Dead is like the one I'm like, eh."
> — **Matt and Don**, N/A
> _Mixed reception to Spooky's rumored game portfolio; hosts express fatigue with horror theme saturation after Texas Chainsaw Mastery._

> "I would say that's probably the one I'm most excited about out of this rumored list. Yeah. Yeah. I rewatched that not that long ago, like a few months ago. And actually, as I was watching it, I was thinking how cool of a pinball game it could be."
> — **Don (re: Goonies)**, N/A
> _Highest enthusiasm for Goonies among all rumored Spooky titles; Don describes organic realization of game potential while watching the film._

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Keith Elwin | person | Legendary Stern Pinball designer; subject of satirical opening joke about grocery store sighting and pirate-themed game speculation. |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Premium pinball manufacturer; released Avatar; rumored to be working on Harry Potter or Hogwarts-themed game for March-June 2025 release. |
| Avatar | game | Jersey Jack Pinball's James Cameron Avatar-themed machine; features UV lighting, eclipse mode, mini playfield, four playfield flippers + two underneath, combo-based gameplay, and bow-and-arrow plunger. Praised for innovation and feature completeness but questioned for theme appeal. |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer rumored to be developing at least four new games, with five speculative titles: Beetlejuice, Futurama, Evil Dead, Gremlins, and Goonies. |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Artist now working exclusively for Spooky Pinball; cited by Don as source for Spooky game pipeline rumors. Hosts note he 'says a lot' and may face consequences for disclosing information. |
| Matt | person | Co-host of WBPP Action News segment; provides technical analysis of Avatar's flipper setup and gameplay innovations; expresses skepticism about Avatar's mass appeal. |
| Don | person | Co-host of WBPP Action News segment; sources rumors from Nap Arcade; invites Matt to play basketball; expresses highest enthusiasm for Goonies among Spooky rumors. |
| Diane | person | Producer and satirical newscast anchor for WBPP Action News segment; reads fake game announcements (Euphoria, Matlock); subject of subplot about space lounge access. |
| Ian Jacoby | person | Contributor to Nudge magazine; recommended Avatar video for reaction segment but recommendation was vague and unhelpful; hosts jokingly question his judgment. |
| Nap Arcade | organization | Pinball content/arcade venue; cited by Don as 'top secret source' for Harry Potter/Hogwarts rumor; Don admits they have 'nothing' and source is just 'grapevine.' |
| Mark Seiden | person | Designer of the original 2009 Stern Avatar pinball machine; hosts note this game was underwhelming visually with 'G.I. Joe quality toys' and general aesthetic disappointment. |
| Harry Potter | game | Rumored Jersey Jack Pinball title (or Hogwarts variant) for March-June 2025 release; speculation that Hogwarts license ($1M estimated) may be cheaper than full Harry Potter license ($3M estimated). |
| Hogwarts | game | Alternative rumor to Harry Potter; may reference the Hogwarts video game RPG; rumored as next Jersey Jack Pinball release due to potentially lower licensing costs. |
| Beetlejuice | game | Rumored Spooky Pinball title; hosts discuss the original 1988 film and new 2024 sequel as thematic basis; praised for iconic imagery and practical effects approach. |
| Goonies | game | Rumored Spooky Pinball title; hosts express highest enthusiasm for this title among five rumors; Don rewatched the film and envisioned strong game potential. |
| Gremlins | game | Rumored Spooky Pinball title; hosts speculate about potential 'midnight madness' mode and practical gremlin toy implementations. |
| Evil Dead | game | Rumored Spooky Pinball title; hosts express skepticism and 'horror fatigue' after recent Texas Chainsaw Mastery release. |
| Futurama | game | Rumored Spooky Pinball title; minimal discussion during episode; mentioned only in list of speculative games. |
| HBO | company | Referenced in satirical 'Euphoria' Stern game announcement; also mentioned as producer of new Harry Potter reboot series. |
| Michael Keaton | person | Actor in new Beetlejuice sequel (2024); hosts note his unchanged appearance despite 30+ year gap, noting character's eternal nature justifies re-casting. |
| Danny Elfman | person | Composer for Tim Burton films and Simpsons theme; hosts praise his work as asset to potential Beetlejuice pinball game licensing. |
| Stern Pinball | company | Referenced in satirical Euphoria announcement; mentioned contextually regarding game design style (flow-oriented vs. Williams' stop-and-go balance). |
| Zen Studios | company | Implied reference through Pinball FX context; Mel Kramer mentioned as design partner for potential game mechanics discussion. |
| Texas Chainsaw Mastery | game | Recently released Spooky Pinball title; hosts cite it as reason for horror theme fatigue regarding Evil Dead rumor. |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Jersey Jack Avatar release and reception, Spooky Pinball upcoming game pipeline (rumors), Jersey Jack's next release (Harry Potter/Hogwarts rumor)
- **Secondary:** Pinball game licensing and IP strategy, Premium game pricing and market appeal, Pinball game design innovation (lighting, code, mechanics), Theme viability and consumer passion
- **Mentioned:** Content creator transparency and industry gossip

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.58) — Hosts express cautious optimism about Avatar (7/7 rating with 1 pinky pending), praising its innovation and feature set, but express skepticism about Avatar IP's consumer appeal. Excitement about Spooky rumors (especially Goonies and Beetlejuice) is tempered by horror theme fatigue. Overall tone is enthusiastic about industry activity but realistic about market challenges.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Hosts actively seek Avatar fan feedback via podcast email (pod@BashPinball.com); community sentiment measurement strategy. (confidence: medium) — Matt: 'If you like Avatar send us an email Todd at BashPinball' and later 'Send us a message if you're going to buy this game... Tell us why.'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Mixed Avatar reception: feature-rich and innovative (7/7 thumbs up) but theme appeal questioned; hosts praise mechanical comprehensiveness but lack personal connection to IP. (confidence: high) — Don: 'There was nothing that I felt missing or lacking' but also 'does anybody actually care about Avatar?' Matt: 'I like the colors... I like the eclipse gimmick.'
- **[competitive_signal]** Spooky Pinball diversifying license portfolio across horror (Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw), comedy (Beetlejuice, Gremlins), and adventure (Goonies); hosts note horror saturation. (confidence: medium) — Matt: 'I've had enough of like the hard horror... because they just came out with Texas Chainsaw Mastery... I don't feel like they're going to follow that up with Evil Dead.'
- **[design_philosophy]** Avatar implements left-flipper-only challenge mode and combo-based gameplay as code-driven innovation; hosts frame this as 'Keith Elwin-ish' design philosophy emphasizing player control. (confidence: medium) — Matt: 'there's like a left flipper only mode where you can get bonus points for only using the left flipper' and 'that's kind of like a Keith Elwin-ish... count your flips type of thing.'
- **[market_signal]** Theme licensing strategy divergence: Harry Potter full license estimated $3M vs Hogwarts-only license $1M, making Hogwarts more viable during HBO reboot production. (confidence: low) — Don speculates: 'you can pay three million for the harry potter license you can pay one million dollars for the hogwarts license' as rationale for rumor; no sources cited.
- **[community_signal]** Christopher Franchi transitioned to Spooky Pinball as exclusive artist; community perception that he discloses pipeline information, risking manufacturer relationship. (confidence: medium) — Don: 'Christopher Franchi, the artist who's now exclusively artisting for them... He says a lot... If I was Mr. Spooky, I may not be happy about the rumors.'
- **[market_signal]** Avatar's premium pricing ($10k+) requires dedicated fanbase justification; hosts note location arcade play will not showcase lighting innovations due to ambient brightness. (confidence: high) — Matt: 'I wish I could afford it... we're going to play it probably in an arcade where we're not going to appreciate most of the lighting stuff.'
- **[announcement]** Jersey Jack Pinball's Avatar officially released with full video documentation; hosts report comprehensive feature set including UV lighting, eclipse mode, mini playfield with mini ball, and advanced code mechanics. (confidence: high) — Hosts watched 18-minute official Avatar documentary and provide detailed technical descriptions of confirmed features.
- **[rumor_hype]** Spooky Pinball working on at least four new games with five rumored titles: Beetlejuice, Futurama, Evil Dead, Gremlins, Goonies. (confidence: medium) — Christopher Franchi (Spooky's new exclusive artist) cited as source; hosts acknowledge five titles but only four confirmed in development; Franchi 'says a lot' and may face consequences.
- **[rumor_hype]** Jersey Jack Pinball's next game rumored to be either Harry Potter or Hogwarts-themed, arriving March-June 2025. (confidence: low) — Don cites 'top secret sources, nap arcade' but immediately admits 'they have nothing. Just a grapevine.' No documentation or official confirmation.
- **[sentiment_shift]** Community skepticism about Avatar IP's consumer appeal despite commercial film success; tension between critical/collector appreciation and mass-market viability. (confidence: high) — Don explicitly states: 'I can't tell you one person I've ever met that's like, ooh, Avatar is my favorite movie.' Matt reinforces: JJP needs 'crazier themes because their prices are higher.'
- **[technology_signal]** Avatar highlights pinball lighting innovation as competitive differentiator: UV under-playfield, eclipse mode, expression lighting positioned as JJP's pushing boundaries. (confidence: high) — Matt: 'Jersey Jack is like pushing the boundaries of lighting.' Hosts extensively discuss UV, eclipse, and lighting as marquee features.

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## Transcript

 Hi, Diane here. For the full experience, check this episode out on YouTube at Bash Pinball. Okay, bye-bye-byee. Tonight on WBPP Action News, Keith Elwin's shocking appearance creates a whirlwind of new rumors. Then, Matt and Don visit the WBPP satellite office for a more casual chat in the Space Lounge. Plus, their first reaction to Jersey Jack's latest release, Avatar. And finally, will Matt accept Don's invitation to play basketball later? All this and more coming up next on WBPP Action News. Keith Elwin was spotted at the Treasure Island grocery store yesterday in Chicago. This has led to much speculation that he's working on a pirate-themed game. In the paparazzi photo obtained by WBPP, Elwin appears to be taking the pirate life to heart. He's definitely giving Jack Sparrow with a six-pack. Nice abs, Keith. More on this story as it breaks. In other news, Stern has acquired a license to HBO's Euphoria. It's a modern re-theme of Taxi and is apparently more true to Python Anghelo's original vision for that game. Now, this is a world under glass where you play as Zendaya, visiting various California locations at night. Very purple and blue, especially with the expression lighting. And just like Taxi, the game features left and right ramps. The CVS ramp on the left where you collect pills. Nice cross promotion there. And the Candyman ramp on the right where you collect more illicit substances. Oh, and one of my favorite elements, in the middle you have the revenge porn drop targets. That's right, and the stand-ups on the right have been replaced with a new sculpt of a hotel. They're calling it the Smash Target. Great name. Every element from Taxi Transfer is seamlessly. You got the spiraling out skill shot. Yep, and in the back left corner, the booty call hole shot. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, one of the coolest features of the game is the toxic masculinity multiball. Where Zendaya is driving around, collecting bros in her car. So once you collect the first bro, you start two-ball multiball. Right, and then for every additional bro that you collect, you get two more balls up to four bros in the car. Four bros, eight balls. Nice. In other news, to celebrate the reboot of an old classic we all know and love, Jersey Jack has acquired the license to Matlock. It's a murder mystery theme. You can play as Kathy Bates, Madeline Matlock in modern mode. or as old Ben Matlock in vintage mode. So this is a world under glass. The play field looks like a courtroom. This game is loaded with stuff. You've got an approach the bench center shot with a gavel that comes down and blocks the ball. And then you've also got an objection bash target on the right side. Or you can play in PI mode where you collect evidence and get some clues. And collect jurors at the left ramp. And for the most diehard Matlock fans, the collector's edition includes a mini walk-in courtroom as pictured here. This next segment is brought to you by Ian Jacoby from Nudge magazine. I think it's Nudge. Oh, okay. Nudge. Nudge. Gotcha. WBPP Action News Reaction Avatar Edition. Sponsored by Nudge magazine. the only pinball magazine you can feel so we don't know what we're gonna see here but we haven't watched this video yet we're expecting some surprises i have no clue matt no idea here we go let's watch it let's watch it so we got some blue people running very purple and blue and pink um there's a little under the playfield thing some joke i like actually i want my house to look like that there's a ramp it's moving too fast there's another ramp die live uh the tiniest play field it was that sebastian the crab at the top of that laugh love avatar is that it what are you are we sure that was the thing it was that was that the one what dude this is typical iron this is typical Ian he said we should watch this I'm not sure the thing that he thought was so surprising was actually so surprising what did we watch? call Ian Jacoby hey man sir how's it going? I got a question for you are you busy? wait you didn't even let me answer it's going good you can ask your question this is very important Ian very important i am i'm listening what am i looking for what are we looking for on the avatar trailer the 30 second trailer what why do we care why do you care about the 30 second trailer yeah do you remember when you when you said we had to watch it and do like a live react oh well i think it's the i think it's the uh well it's been a while since i watched it i mean i isn't there stuff about uh like the the lighting stuff is is pretty cool in it like the um does it have the eclipse stuff showing in there and all that i don't know we're wondering if we're watching the wrong video well there's one that's like eight there are there are two Yeah, there's a super duper long one. Yeah, it's like a documentary. That's true. I think maybe even I had been thinking, like, I may have been confusing the two. Oh, oh. I really hope I'm not, like, yeah, I hope I didn't waste your 30 seconds. Oh, man, I'm never going to get that bad. You need to get some content out of that. Tough, tough. All right, guys, well, good luck with this. Sorry, you know. I got nothing. All right. All right. Thanks. You'll figure out something even better. No, we got it. We got it. Yeah. Thanks, Ryan. Yeah. Talk to you later. Bye. All right. Good luck with Nuge. Thanks. Bye. Thank you. Bye. This jacket is super hot. It's 100% wool. Oh, you warm? I'm a little warm. Yeah. Yeah. I'm getting pretty warm too. Do you want to get a little cozier? Yeah. Yeah. Let's do it. We're in the beautiful Bash Pinball Space Lounge, home of our future arcade. Yeah. How did we get here again? A spaceship? Yeah. Yeah. A space... I mean, with a spaceship. Well, I guess we shouldn't tell them how we got here because then everybody would want to come up here. Yeah, yeah. It's our private... Yeah, never mind. Disregard that. But I'm excited to be here. Yeah. And I'm excited to talk about Avatar. Yeah. Yeah. So we just watched the mini documentary. Mini documentary. Slash trailer slash 18 minutes. Very well produced video. Very well. Obviously, we watched the 30 second trailer and learned nothing. Nothing. So now that we've both seen the long one. Yeah. So yeah, what are your impressions? What are your first thoughts about Avatar? First impression right away. Pleasantly surprised. Yeah. What was your first impression? What was your first take? I like the colors. Colors, okay. But the big thing with this game seems to be the lighting. Yeah, that was cool. And that seems to be kind of a trend with Jersey Jack is like pushing the boundaries of lighting. Yeah. But, I mean, it's a little hard to get as excited about lighting as other things. I'm excited about lighting. But I mean they really kind of pulled out all the stops It seems like with the UV lighting Under play field UV lighting Yeah The eclipse mode So all those things Are right up my alley But you know I'm big on visuals and aesthetic And the lighting was great I like the eclipse gimmick Like I want to play it just to Live through the eclipse You know And then shoot that little mini ramp with the spinner yeah yeah this is a special spinner this is not a normal spinner it's a special spinner yeah I'm going to hit it anyways but yeah I want to see what happens I want to see what it does so in that way I think that this is pinball toys, innovative I guess lighting in this case but innovation toys, innovation cool flowy shots wire forms, ramps loops, combos indicated that it's not a strictly flowy game and it's not a strictly stop and go game it's kind of a balance which i like i like that that's those are my favorite games yeah as we've covered before but and that's that's pretty williams you know williams style you know stern stuff tends to be more flow oriented and speed oriented yeah so i'm actually yeah i'm pleasantly surprised and excited about this game i think i was kind of i was kind of meh about the theme because you know Avatar. Have you seen the new movie? I have not seen the new movie. Aren't they on the fourth movie or something? It's confusing because all the news stories are always about the next three Avatar movies that they're working on. So the next three haven't even been made yet. I think they made the second. I think they're filming the third and fourth ones concurrently or something like that. They're doing some... So one and two are out. So there's a Stern game that correlates with the first movie. Yep, John Borg, Stern Game. Kind of like in that Photoshop-y artwork period. It's actually a really fun game. It's not terrible. We played that over in Martinsville, Uptown, Pinball. That was my first time playing it. That was awesome. I actually really liked that game. Yeah. Aesthetically, I feel like this new one is going to give me what that one did not. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. visually like Avatar is such a visual sort of franchise and everything that it's that first game is definitely underwhelming visually and it has kind of some like clearly like G.I. Joe like but worse level quality toys in it and it yeah that game's cool it shoots fun it has some cool like mechs and stuff but it's doesn't look Avatar it's pretty average as stern games go I feel like it was the beginning of Stern games getting better. Like Tron came after that and Guardians came after that and there was like a bunch of games that kind of came after that but it was still a little like pre Stern renaissance. Maybe that was the tail end of like those 2000s, 2010 ish Sterns that were kind of like weird graphics and like text and... Yeah, a little phoned in some of them because they didn't have any competition. As a theme though, like man, does anybody actually care about Avatar? That's what I want to know, is there anyone who's like, ooh, Avatar. I thought it'd be like 50-year-olds. Is it 50-year-olds? I'm not sure. I don know who likes this If you like Avatar send us an email Todd at BashPinball My kids like it just fine No not The Last Airbender Well they like that even better Right so that would have been a different Avatar I could understand the Avatar Last Airbender theme better because I know a ton of people who love Avatar The Last Airbender. Yeah, same. And I know a ton of people who have seen the Avatar movies, but I can't tell you one person I've ever met that's like, ooh, Avatar is my favorite movie. Yeah. Well, but obviously it's popular cause they keep making them and it's made like billions of dollars. I think the first avatar is still the number one, maybe still the number one box office. Well, it was innovative at the time, right? With terms of like the graphics and like the 3d stuff was huge when that came out. Yeah. Um, I mean at this point though, you know, 2024, I feel like I kind of, I kind of forgot about it. You know, I don't, I don't, yeah, to me it kind of represents like the worst things about big budget movies and how like yeah now today yeah trying to make a write a script in a movie that appeals to a worldwide audience sure too much appeal yeah yeah you you kind of shave off all the edges and all the corners and you kind of massage it into this little neutral neutral you know spiritless with a vague environmental message okay yeah i mean it's like people in china and japan and And, you know, other large markets enjoy these movies. And I think that's why they're successful. But they're not. They just don't. I'm picking up what you're putting down. I don't know. I'm picking up what you're putting down. I'm neutered. Yeah. But the game does look like it's pretty loaded with stuff and lots of shots and like at least, I don't know, six flippers or something. I was impressed, actually. And I think it had four flippers on the playfield and then two under. And the mini playfield has a mini ball. Mini ball. Family guy style. They did. They did pull out all the stops. They kind of pull out little tricks and stuff, like weird little modes. What was the left flipper thing, like combo? You can combo from the left flipper. Yeah, there's like a left flipper only mode where you can get bonus points for only using the left flipper. Don't touch the right flipper. Put that hand behind your back. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of like a Keith Elwin-ish, like stern, count your flips type of thing. But it's cool. I love that stuff. That could be fun. Yeah, it kind of takes it to a more three-dimensional level. especially it's innovating with code and you know like yeah more control over the the game you know yeah and that's the kind of stuff too right that for example if you are a diehard avatar fan yeah right when who are you please let us know pod at bash pinball.com we want to know who you are and why you like these i i will give you a dollar pod at i'll venmo you cash app yeah any other skeezy money transfer. Send us a message if you're a hardcore avatar fan. Send us a message if you're going to buy this game. Yeah. Pod at BashPinball.com. Tell us why. That's the thing with Jersey Jack games in general. For the average home person, they almost have to have even crazier themes because their prices are higher that people really die hard about. Which, by the way, I will say that in my personal opinion, Jersey Jack games are the perfect home games because they are kind of pieces of art slash it has more of like a boutique feel right and this game in particular yeah you know i think it has that like kind of next level i mean little like bow and arrow plunger thing was cool just like those little things that i i like that stuff there's really nothing that you could legitimately complain about as far as like just the stuff in the game the artwork the cut like all the different code stuff they were talking about There was nothing that I felt missing or lacking. Because when we saw the 32nd one with the little mini play field underneath, it's so tiny, it's not going to be fun. But then, it's the little ball. It's the little ball. Plus, the crab suit. The crab suit, yeah. The guy in the video called it the crab suit. It made me want clam chowder. Crab suit. It just made me think of Sebastian from Little Mermaid. The little crab looks kind of like Sebastian. Yeah. say crapsuit three times fast crapsuit, crapsuit, crapsuit crapsuit crapsuit, crapsuit, crapsuit it's impossible the yeah I guess there was like one kind of underwhelming thing like the, and maybe I'm missing something, but the little the little mech suit guy whose arm, moose whatever he was doing it was kind of like it hits a slingshot that's there and then that makes the... Inconclusive, yeah. I don't know. That seemed like more of an afterthought, but maybe there's more to it than I realized. But I will say this, not to be the optimist, I will take at least the moving arm over no movement. Exactly, yeah. I like anything that does anything. Do something. It's like the little guy on Labyrinth that just pops out of there for no reason just to tease you. Stuff like that is great. I retract complaining about it in the least. Because more is better. Yeah. Kind of with pinball. Nice job, Mr. Jack. Mr. Jack. Jersey Jack. Yeah. And everybody. Yeah. I'm pretty into it. Which, by the way, this is the first time that I've seen anyone representing Jersey Jack in this little short documentary for this game. And it was pretty cool to see the different people. You can tell the team really likes pinball, and they're passionate about the design of this game. So that was pretty cool. Yeah, yeah. I wish I could afford it. Yeah, well, I mean, the cool thing is we will get to play it. The downside is that we're going to be playing it probably in an arcade where we're not going to appreciate most of the lighting stuff because it's just going to be too bright in there. Are we popular enough yet to ask them for a game? To send us one? Dear Mr. Jersey. Dear Jersey Jack. Dear Jersey, Mr. Mr. Jack can you send us a game? pod at bashpinball.com we promise to send it back when we're done with it from what I can tell so far I think I'm going to like this game a lot yeah I think the game looks really fun I think with this theme you couldn't really ask for much more probably cool agreed are we giving it how many thumbs up? 7 7 thumbs up wait can we get 2 more thumbs? so that's six thumbs up yeah with one pending which out of six out of seven thumbs and one pinky six thumbs one pinky there you go jersey jack nice job sweet awesome thanks thanks diane so speaking of jersey jack wait how did how did diane get to the space lounge she doesn't know the access code i mean she has to because she's our producer did you give her the codes what was i not supposed to last time she let her brother up here and he trashed the whole place yeah i don't don't trust any of the Kroger's. They're a sketchy bunch. They're sketchy. They'll come in. They'll eat all your food, drink all your drinks, leave the trash everywhere. Obviously, it's hard to use the bathroom, get fresh water. Recycling up here is a nightmare. I think they're a special type of Canadian. I don't think they're the average Canadian. I thought they were all like that. Anyways, we should retract her access because I don't feel comfortable with her. I mean she's right here I come here to She's right here You can tell her to her face I can't look at her This is where I come meditate This is where I come get my personal It feels so passive aggressive That she's in the room And you're not You're just telling me to tell her I'm mad at her She has not apologized for her brother trashing The space lounge Maybe we should talk about this privately when we're not recording in the same room with her. So, speaking of Jersey Jack, there's some rumors about the next Jersey Jack game. Right, right. Which is supposedly coming out in the next six-ish months, like maybe March to June of 2025. Okay. And according to our top secret sources, nap arcade um we still think it's harry harry potter hp or or maybe not harry potter but maybe the wizards of whatever the hell it is okay okay so in the in the harry potter world yeah i want to say waverly place but i know that's selena gomez dude that's the wrong way that is are you sure it's not the wizards because that could be it could be a good thing wizards the wizards of waverly place isn't that a basketball team uh maybe anyway so harry potter what hogwarts hogwarts that's that's it okay okay so it's more about the school yeah yeah so the rumor was that the actual harry potter license was too expensive but the hogwarts license because there is like a hogwarts video game like rpg kind of hogwarts video game and it's like well you can pay three million for the harry potter license you can pay one million dollars for the hogwarts license i have problems with this anyways but the thing is they're they're rebooting they're like casting the new harry potter reboot right now that's going to be on hbo like they're reboot rebooting the whole thing into a show like all the books are going to be a show now hogwarts hot no i mean it's going to be harry potter harry potter all harry potter all new cast rebooted so it makes sense with that in production for there to be an actual Harry Potter license. I don't know. I guess we'll see. Harry Potter is cool. Theater magic, pinball, the magic wand element could be really cool in a pinball game. I think it could be really cool. Magic in general I think is an awesome concept that works really well with fantasy themes and games and also magnets. personally I feel like it's a little late for Harry Potter maybe because I'm too old now well but they're rebooting it so you know I guess I don't know I'm not sure how I feel about it I don't have a huge love for the movies I've seen them all because I've watched them all with my kids but apart from that I would have been a little too old to care when they came out see I was the ripe age for those books Yeah. Did you read them? I did. Okay. So you've read all of them? Not all of them. I stopped at The Goblet of Fire. Okay. So I'm not a true fan, but I did. Those are thick books. That's like the fourth one or something. I hate reading. That was really hard for me, but I enjoyed it. Yeah. I think it was the fourth one. Not enough to power through the rest. I think the movie is the one that had, what's his name? Edward Cullen. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Robert Pattinson. Yeah. Robert Pattinson. There you go. I think the movie. He's in one or two of them. I think that was the last book that I got too. Yeah I mean much to choose from it uh it almost too much yeah but also like i can see how they might have a branding problem if they trying to work on this game right before the new one is coming out and they've already got like all their licenses for the old stuff yeah so it does make you wonder how legit this room how are they going to do this yeah notably nat barcade has a lot of supporting documentation. No, they don't at all. They have nothing. Just a grapevine. It's like, here's what I think and period. Let me call Miss JK and see JK. Yeah, you don't have Miss Rally. I know, but I like to scare you. Like, make you think I'm going to call someone. IRL. Yeah, don't do that. Don't do that to me. And now for a word from our sponsor. Matt, I'm kind of thirsty. are you yeah me too i'm parched oh look what's this oh we got some glasses is that sprite chill is it back it's back sprite chill is back it was supposed to be a limited run that was only going through like july but they brought it back and now you can get it at all of your local shops and stores i am so ready to chill with sprite chill me too thanks diane thanks diane shall we yeah Cheers to Sprite Chill and Coke products. Remember, you've got to drink it all at once to get the full cooling effect of the cooling agents. Let's do it. It's so cold. It's so cold. Oh, my God. It's so hard. Oh, my eyes are watering so bad. It's so cold. Oh, my God. Oh, did you finish it off? Yeah, I did. I feel refreshed. Oh, my gosh. Brand new. I'm not a good slammer of sodas. That was just like making my eyes water. That is good. Sprite chill. So good. Thanks, I am feeling refreshed. Yeah, me too. I have like a newfound invigoration. Hey, you want to go play some basketball later? No, I'm pretty busy. And now, back to the show. So, in the rumor mill, we have... What's he say? We have some spooky rumors coming up. Ooh. Is it October yet? Tomorrow. Oh. When this episode comes out, it'll be October. It will be October. And that's the month of Halloween. Yeah, it took... We're getting there, we're getting there. It took you a second, okay. Okay. So, yeah. So, Spooky. Spooky's got a bunch of rumored new games. Supposedly, they're working on four new games. That's what I hear. I think the, you know, the rumored games being thrown out there is, what was it? Beetlejuice. Futurama. Okay, okay. Evil Dead. Gremlins. Gremlins. And Goonies. Goonies. Wait, that's like five games. I know, right? Well, I mean, if they're working on four games, maybe four of those five are real. I don't know. Oh, right. These are rumors. Yeah, these are the rumored games they're working on. But they are known to be working on at least four. At least four games. According to Christopher Franchi, the artist who's now exclusively artisting for them. Oh. Yeah. Is he going to get in trouble for saying too much? Well, you know, I don't know. Maybe. He says a lot. But... I don't know. If I was Mr. Spooky, I may not be happy about the rumors. I don't know. Any news is good news, right? Yeah, I guess. But so, yeah, like all those themes are kind of – Kind of cool. Okay, yeah, exciting. Like Evil Dead is like the one I'm like, eh. I actually do like Evil Dead, yeah. I mean, I like it, but like, I don't know. It's just kind of enough. I've had enough of like the hard horror. Okay. Because they just came out with Texas Chainsaw Mastery. I don't feel like they're going to follow that up with Evil Dead. Maybe they will. Yeah, yeah. maybe something in between you know because they've done like the big R-rated stuff the big super gory stuff but like Gremlins Gremlins would be cool especially if there was like an actual Gremlin in there like a real one Gremlin yeah I mean I'm not like you know a huge Gremlins fan but like that could be cool it's fun it's vibey it's 80s that's a good one that's a good movie to watch with your friends you know like for Halloween like spooky season put gremlins on like snack after midnight etc etc yeah maybe they'd have a crazy midnight madness mode midnight madness that'd be awesome what does that game do when you hit midnight man yeah what if like a bunch of what if a bunch of just balls popped out right and just like flying around i mean that'd be awesome yeah little gremlins yeah little gremlins i don't know that'd be cool i'd be all right with that yeah beetlejuice i just re-watched the original one kind of kind of great like yeah i mean it's so iconic colorful you know the black and white stuff the gothic stuff there's a core memory that i have from that movie when i was a kid yeah it terrified me but i loved it was it the the sandworm things no because those were the things that scared me when i was a kid because that movie came out in like 80 88 or something i think i was like seven i came out in 88 the original one yeah i was born in 88 i must have watched like a rerun or something yeah yeah but no this well the scene that i recall so i was my biggest fear was beetlejuice himself okay he's terrifying he's pretty scary he's terrifying yeah but uh the my core memory was the the um harry bill fonte song which song the uh the banana boat like oh right in the in the dinner scene oh yeah yeah yeah yeah man i don't know why that scene like has stuck with me since I watched that when I was a kid. It's like the scene where they were possessed. Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis' ghost characters are controlling the dinner party. Dancing around. It was a cool scene. I love that song. I haven't seen the new movie yet, but apparently it's good. It kind of makes sense to have a Beetlejuice themed game with the new movie. I'm afraid to watch the new movie for other reasons. Because you think it won't be good. It'll ruin your... Correct. I heard that they stuck with a lot of the practical effects and didn't go ham with the CG stuff. Positive. That would be the big killer. I mean, I will say this, though. Michael Keaton did look pretty freaking cool. Yeah, he kind of looks exactly the same. Considering he's kind of old. Yeah. I guess that's the upside of having a heavily made-up character is you can play him again 30 years later without... Well, I guess Beetlejuice is supposed to be eternal. Right, right. So it kind of works. Right, right, right. Okay, well, fine. I'll take the theme. You sold me. I'll take it. I'll play it. At least I'll play it. Yeah, and Danny Danny Elfman, who composes for every Tim Burton movie and also the Simpsons theme song. Okay. Yeah, I forgot about that. His music is always great. It's got all the elements of a license that it could be great. To be a great game. Yeah, to be a great game, for sure. But then the other one, the one that Nap Arcade is unsubstantiatedly I'm dedicatedly suggesting it is the next game. Yeah. Is it what I think you're going to say? Yes. Start with a G? Starts with a G and it ends in a Goonies. Goonies. Yeah. Are you more into Goonies as a theme than Beetlejuice? Yeah. I would say that's probably the one I'm most excited about out of this rumored list. Yeah. Yeah. I rewatched that not that long ago, like a few months ago. And actually, as I was watching it, I was thinking how cool of a pinball game it could be. Heck yeah. I got to watch it again. I mean, I say that it's exciting, not because I'm a huge Goonies fan, but because it does have huge nostalgic value for me. Yeah, even though you were not alive when it was made. Right, right. But you were lagging behind in Panama. Again, in Panama, we're like 10 years behind. Yeah. So I was watching cartoons from the 80s, translated into Spanish or overdubbed into Spanish. So Goonies was like an early 90s movie for you. Yeah, yeah. But, you know, what's funny is I had the Goonies Nintendo game. Oh, okay. Like the original Nintendo. Yeah, yeah. Did you ever play that? Did you have that? I remember playing it, but I barely remember the game. So I got that game somehow. Yeah. And that's actually how I discovered the movie, believe it or not. Oh, okay. Playing the game first. Yeah, Johnny Mnemonic style. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I think my mom was like, oh, that's a movie, you know, do you want me to try to find it so we can watch it? And I was like, oh, yeah, cool, right? So then I let my friend borrow it, the game. Borrow the game, yeah. Right? And he lost it. Right? And then... Never loan out your Nintendo games. Yeah, but, you know, I was kind of like a dumb kid. Yeah. I was kind of being too nice. I still haven't got my final fight back from Nick Goble. So, wait, what? Final fight? Nick... My friend Nick Goble, he has my final fight from, like, elementary school. Do we need to call him? I mean, I don't know if I have his number anymore. Nick Goble, pod at Bash Pinball, please return I need my final fight back, please For Super Nintendo So check this out, right? My friend Manuel I let him borrow the game Somehow, this new kid that moved into the block named Carlos acquired the game Ah, okay Well, Manuel is a very good friend of mine So presumably, Carlos stole it from Manuel, right? So you loaned it to someone My good friend You loaned it to your good friend And then it was taken from him But I think he said it was lost Because he didn't want to like Are you sure he didn't just sell it No no no listen I told my mom And she went down the street And she talked to Carlos' mom And she beat his ass Wait who did your mom or Carlos' mom Carlos' mom beat Carlos' ass Right He then proceeds to go to his front yard And he dug it up What? And my game was buried in his front yard Goonie style. What? Like a piece of treasure. And it never played again. It didn't work after that. It never worked. Oh my God. Because it's humid and wet and tropical. Yeah. So that was my Goonie's experience. Why did he bury it in the first place? Because he's Carlos. Why did he steal it? He stole it so that he could bury it? Well, I think he thought he was going to get in trouble. Yeah. So he was like, I got to get rid of the evidence that I have this game. But he gave it up anyways after he got his ass beat by his mom. So then I got my ass beat For letting kids steal my games Yeah It was a different time back then Yeah A lot of ass beatings And now for a word from our sponsor Steven Spielberg presents The Goonies A Richard Donner film Join Mikey Brand Andy Mouth Jerk the world Chunk. Stephanie. Chunk, I hope that was your stomach. The feet. And data. Wow! It's coming! You can hear me! Run! The Goonies rated BG. Special advance preview Saturday, June 1st. And now back to the show because we just had the X-Men announcement. Right. And then December is another one. So the rumored game is another Brian Eddy game. You know, his last one was Venom, so he's kind of due. Okay. And so the rumor is Dungeons & Dragons. Oh, yeah, you did mention that. Dungeon D&D. D&D. You a big D&D player, Don? No. Have you ever played D&D? No. Do you think people who play D&D are... I think dorks. I think Diane plays D&D. Oh, really? Yeah, I think she does. But no, no hate. Like, I actually, I have played other games that I just never had anyone to show me how to play D&D. Yeah. Like, I used to play this game called Munchkin. Munchkin? Yeah, it's like a card base. I've played Munchkin. Yeah, it was... Munchkin's fun. I'm a nerd. So, no hate. Yeah, I never played it growing up. Video games were one level of nerdiness. Yeah. And it kind of felt bad to even be into video games in the 80s because you're kind of a nerd. Nerd kid. Nerd, just play video games then. It's going to rot your brain, kid. And then the next escalation of nerdiness was Dungeons and Dragons. Right. Satanic Panic style. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And that was also... Rock and roll, drugs, D&D. Duh. Obviously. Makes no sense in retrospect. But I think the closest thing I ever played to D&D was Shadowrun. Shadowrun. Which was like another RPG, but it was more of like a sci-fi cyberpunk game that my friend's older brother had. And we played it once. And I was like, I'm having to use my imagination way too much here. I need to just be playing a video game where it gives me all of the information and I don't have to invent it all. So question, how much of our imagination do you think we'll have to use for this pinball game? Right, exactly. How does that work? I mean, there's a ton of official D&D art and like assets. Like monsters, right? Yeah, like known monsters, like in Stranger Things, right? There were actual creatures or monsters. The Demogorgon. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, if you showed me a picture of any official D&D creature or character, I probably wouldn't know it from any other RPG or fantasy anything. Yeah, same. But I mean, there was a D&D Bally game in the late 80s. That's right. They had that at the Rock Hill Arcade where they had all the other games like that. I forgot about that game. Yeah, I barely played it. I've never played it, no. It looks aight for a late 80s game. But I don't know. Just the thought of a D&D game doesn't get me super excited. But I know a lot of people would be into it. And like fantasy theme. I mean, there's tons of precedent for great fantasy themed games. Maybe it could be like a pleasant surprise. Maybe that'll get people into D&D. Can you predict what the multiball will be? In D&D multiball? Multiball. Um, something to do with probably, I'm going to guess, some dungeons and possibly a dragon. More than one dragon. Yeah. Okay. What about a troll? Do you think there'll be a troll somewhere in there? Oh, yeah. There's got to be some trolls. All right. Well. So tentatively, we're down with dungeons and dragons. I'm down. I'm down with the D&D. The other big stern rumored game is, well, I don't even think this one's rumored. I think this is pretty much fact confirmed as much as it can be, is Metallica Remastered. Because Stern announced, I think earlier this year, that they were going to start doing some... I don't know what they said specifically, but they talked about re-releasing some of their older catalog games. Okay. And so you wonder, well, how do they do that? Because those games ran on different hardware. and now they're going to have to obviously rejigger some stuff. So I think while they're doing it, they're making some other changes as well. And so the rumor with Metallica is that it's going to be new, basically the same play field, like the John Borg play field, which is a really fun layout, I thought. That's a great, I think, yeah. It's a fun game, yeah. But new artwork, a new art package from a guy named Urban Aztec. And if you look him up on Instagram, he's a cool artist. He's done some designs for Stern before, like some different Stern artwork stuff that wasn't necessarily in a game. Cool. For merch and stuff like that. But I don't know. It could be really cool. The original one was a DMD. So this is going to have like a new, you know, display. Oh, do you think it'll have a new LCD? Maybe a smaller LCD. Interesting. I'm curious to see that, actually, how they're going to transition from like a DMD game, almost a DND. Yeah, DND. a DMD display into a newer game obviously you probably wouldn't go back yeah, will they update the code to take advantage of the new it's going to have Insider connected that'll be cool are there other games from I don't know, because that game was like 2013 so it's a little over 10 years old it's pretty new to me they didn't start doing the big color displays until 2017 around Star Wars came out. There are a bunch of games, the first, the Stern Star Trek game has the DMD. There's a bunch of games from that era that are pretty well liked. They could probably get the 2.0 treatment. I'd be happy about that. A lot of those older games too are hard to find and they're expensive. That'd be cool. Any other games you can think of from that period that you would want to see in a 2.0? Like a new... Remade. Or really any Stern game, like 2000 and newer. Roller Coaster Tycoon, is that what you want? That's the one I thought I wanted. What I would want to complete, not even 2.0, just Control-Z. Right? Just redo the whole thing. Yeah. Game of Thrones. Please, just fix it. Fix it. Give us what we want. Yeah, that game is kind of a lowdown. D&D scratch that make a Game of Thrones all I can think about it's like Game of Thrones has kind of usurped any D&D anything in my brain if you say dragons I think a Game of Thrones you say castle I think a Game of Thrones it kind of has let's be fair I'll take that back D&D has a huge legacy and it's a whole different thing so go ahead and make that too but then make Game of Thrones I think a 2.0 Game of Thrones better yeah if they could rethink the whole thing put some like White Walkers that you got to hit or something put like a big like the big wall like the wall like let me see the wall somewhere in there like yeah I don't know that big play field don't need it just I don't know man like I was very disappointed with that game that's what I would pick I actually really enjoyed you know talking about the rumor mill Yeah, no, it's your thing. You love it. I don't typically hang out near there. The rumor mill? Yeah, it's not really the kind of place that I go to, but... Ladies and gentlemen, we have some local breaking news. The next episode of the Bash Pinball Podcast will be the epic season finale. So, Don, after this episode, we are going to be going to Expo. And we are going to be looking forward to meeting all these people that we've kind of virtually gotten to know. IRL. Yeah, IRL. Yeah, we got Glenn is going to be there. We got Mr. Glenn. Mr. Glenn. We got Mr. Ian. Jacobi. Jacobi. We've got Clark and Laura and Gorgar. And Gorgar. They're bringing Gorgar. We're going to meet up with Robbie. Zenmaster Robbie. We got Jamie and the Wormholers are going to be there. Shout out. I think we might meet Kale and Rachel there. Kale and Rachel. Electric Bat. And maybe even... Senor Danger. Yeah, we'll see. Hola. If you're going to be at Expo, you can most likely find us chugging some Sprite chills underneath the bleachers. Chilling. Maybe hanging with some of the skater kids Shredding Or by the pinball machines Ballin' Yeah Thank you. Faded and we can't pretend. We can't pretend. Carelessly speaking, you were in over your head. Far just like your love. Faded and we can't pretend. We can't pretend. Faded and we can't pretend Thank you.

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 27067a4a-71ae-4e36-bdd2-6ffcd80bb34f*