# Episode 1031: "Crazy Kaneda Rumors!"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-12-07  
**Duration:** 18m 40s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-1031-117472555

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## Analysis

Kaneda discusses Twippies Awards voting, Christopher Franchi's departure from Stern and move to Spooky, Chicago Gaming Company's quality/operational issues with Pulp Fiction delays, and presents two major rumors sourced from an unnamed insider: Spooky Pinball developing The Goonies with a large pirate ship feature, and Jersey Jack Pinball developing The Matrix as a widebody with Steve Ritchie as designer, featuring gun-based slingshot mechanics.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Kaneda's Pinball Podcast lost several Patreon members; current membership around 724 — _Kaneda, opening segment_
- [HIGH] Twippies Awards voting opens January 3rd and runs through the 20th; ceremony will be at Wormhole Pinball with 40-person max attendance — _Kaneda, referencing official Twippies details_
- [HIGH] George Gomez and Christopher Franchi will do an interview to clarify why Franchi left Stern Pinball — _Kaneda, announcing upcoming content_
- [HIGH] Chicago Gaming Company shipped Pulp Fiction games stacked despite 'do not stack' labels on boxes — _Kaneda, describing observed photo from Chicago Gaming Company social media_
- [MEDIUM] Stern will release King Kong before Dungeons & Dragons (order was recently flipped) — _Kaneda, citing unnamed source_
- [MEDIUM] Modern Stern Limited Editions not designed by Keith Elwin lose $3,000-$4,000 in value within a year — _Kaneda's observation on secondary market trends_
- [MEDIUM] Spooky Pinball is developing The Goonies with a large widebody pirate ship feature with firing cannons — _Kaneda, citing unnamed eyewitness source_
- [MEDIUM] Jersey Jack Pinball is developing The Matrix as a widebody designed by Steve Ritchie with gun mechanics on slingshots — _Kaneda, citing unnamed eyewitness source and design inference_
- [MEDIUM] Warner Brothers does not allow exclusive licensing deals, enabling multiple pinball manufacturers to license The Goonies — _Kaneda, citing research from sources in industry_
- [LOW] Jersey Jack Pinball will release Harry Potter in February and The Matrix by end of year — _Kaneda's prediction based on production timeline speculation_

### Notable Quotes

> "The reason why nobody wants you to know this stuff is because I know most of you would rather have the Goonies over Evil Dead."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-show
> _Reveals the FOMO and competitive positioning dynamics between upcoming Spooky titles_

> "I want my pinball company to just make pinball machines. I don't want them to have ancillary revenue streams."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-show
> _Core criticism of Chicago Gaming Company's business model and operational priorities_

> "Anyone who unboxes a modern Stern LE that's not made by Keith Elwin is gonna lose $3,000 or more. It's just that simple."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-show
> _Strong claim about secondary market depreciation and incomplete code at launch_

> "I'm almost ready to say I'm here to confirm Spooky Pinball the Goonies huge pirate ship."
> — **Kaneda**, late-show
> _Confirms confidence in The Goonies rumor based on eyewitness account_

> "I think Steve Ritchie is making the Matrix. We know Steve Ritchie loves to recycle his old ideas."
> — **Kaneda**, late-show
> _Design inference based on mechanical similarities to Star Trek: The Next Generation_

> "If they nail Harry Potter and the Matrix, I mean this, if they nail both games and do them justice, they'll sell those games for the next few years, just like they sold Guns N' Roses for three years."
> — **Kaneda**, closing
> _JJP market potential and long-term sales runway for successful licensed games_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Kaneda | person | Podcast host, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; industry insider with sources; hungover during recording |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Pinball artist; recently left Stern Pinball for Spooky Pinball; subject of upcoming clarification interview with George Gomez |
| George Gomez | person | Stern Pinball CCO; will interview Christopher Franchi about his departure from Stern |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Jersey Jack Pinball designer; rumored to be designing The Matrix; known for recycling design elements |
| Eric Minear | person | Jersey Jack Pinball designer; confirmed designing Harry Potter for JJP |
| Keith Elwin | person | Stern Pinball designer; his Limited Edition games reportedly retain value better than non-Keith Elwin LEs |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer; releasing King Kong and Dungeons & Dragons; criticized for incomplete code at launch and LE depreciation |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer; recently hired Christopher Franchi; rumored to be developing The Goonies widebody |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Manufacturer; developing Harry Potter (Eric Minear) and rumored The Matrix (Steve Ritchie); planning widebody return |
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Remake specialist; shipping Pulp Fiction with delays; criticized for operational incompetence and long reveal-to-release timelines |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Boutique manufacturer; rumored to possibly be developing The Goonies; next game coming spring |
| This Week in Pinball | media | Industry newsletter; organizing Twippies Awards; awards ceremony venue selection discussed |
| Twippies Awards | event | Annual pinball industry awards; voting opens January 3rd; ceremony at Wormhole Pinball with 40-person max; categories include best podcast, content creator, streamer |
| Wormhole Pinball | venue | Host venue for 2026 Twippies Awards ceremony |
| Spooky Pinball The Goonies | game | Rumored widebody with large pirate ship feature; firing cannons; source claims eyewitness observation |
| Jersey Jack Pinball The Matrix | game | Rumored widebody designed by Steve Ritchie; features gun mechanics on slingshots; predicted release by end of 2026 |
| Jersey Jack Pinball Harry Potter | game | Confirmed in development by Eric Minear; predicted February 2026 release |
| Stern King Kong | game | Upcoming Stern release; order recently changed to release before Dungeons & Dragons |
| Stern Dungeons & Dragons | game | Upcoming Stern release; originally planned before King Kong but order flipped |
| Chicago Gaming Company Pulp Fiction | game | Delayed remake; experiencing December domestic delays; shipping/handling issues documented in social media |
| Evil Dead | game | Recent Spooky Pinball release; Kaneda notes less popular than anticipated Goonies; production ongoing |
| James Cameron's Avatar (Limited Edition) | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; market viability questioned given upcoming Harry Potter and Matrix announcements |
| Star Trek The Next Generation | game | Historical reference for gun-slingshot mechanics; designed by Steve Ritchie |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Rumored game announcements and leaks, Jersey Jack Pinball product pipeline and market strategy, Christopher Franchi departure from Stern and move to Spooky, Chicago Gaming Company operational and quality issues
- **Secondary:** Stern Pinball incomplete code at launch and secondary market depreciation, Twippies Awards 2026 logistics and voting, Theme licensing strategy and IP availability
- **Mentioned:** Collector FOMO dynamics and Limited Edition valuation

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.35) — Positive about upcoming rumored games (Goonies, Matrix, Harry Potter) and industry excitement, but highly critical of Chicago Gaming Company's operational failures, Stern's quality/code issues, and secondary market depreciation trends. Supportive of Christopher Franchi. Overall tone is gossipy and speculative but grounded in frustration with manufacturer execution.

### Signals

- **[machine_intel]** Unnamed eyewitness claims to have seen The Goonies widebody from Spooky Pinball with large pirate ship feature and firing cannons (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'the game is huge. He said it is a wide body and he says it has a humongous pirate ship on it where the cannons fire pinballs'
- **[machine_intel]** Unnamed eyewitness claims to have seen The Matrix widebody from Jersey Jack Pinball designed by Steve Ritchie with gun mechanics on slingshots (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'he has seen with his own eyes the Matrix from Jersey Jack Pinball' with 'those guns are featured on the on the slingshots'
- **[rumor_hype]** Speculation that both Spooky Pinball and Barrels of Fun may be developing The Goonies due to non-exclusive Warner Bros licensing (confidence: low) — Kaneda: 'ostensibly, two pinball companies could actually apply to make the Goonies...imagine a world in which Barrels of Fun is also making The Goonies'
- **[product_concern]** Chicago Gaming Company shipped Pulp Fiction games stacked in violation of 'do not stack' labeling, suggesting operational carelessness (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'on the box of each game it says do not stack and this side up...And in the photo, they've stacked the games on top of each other'
- **[market_signal]** Stern Limited Editions (non-Keith Elwin) consistently lose $3,000-$4,000 in secondary market value within one year of purchase (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'Anyone who unboxes a modern Stern LE that's not made by Keith Elwin is gonna lose $3,000 or more...Every single one'
- **[product_concern]** Stern Pinball releases games with incomplete code, forcing buyers to accept 30-40% value loss during post-launch development (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'you going to buy a game and you going to lose 30 to 40 of its value by the time the code is complete'
- **[business_signal]** Chicago Gaming Company's reveal-to-release timeline for Pulp Fiction exceeded 2+ years with no production urgency, suggesting non-pinball-dependent revenue model (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'You clearly don't need to make pinball machines to make money...You reveal a game and you have nothing on the line for two years?'
- **[personnel_signal]** Christopher Franchi transitioned from Stern Pinball to Spooky Pinball; George Gomez will interview him about circumstances of departure (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'Mr George Gomez is gonna sit down with Mr Franchi and they gonna clarify the entire thing'
- **[licensing_signal]** Warner Brothers does not enforce exclusive licensing in pinball, allowing multiple manufacturers to develop games using same IP (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'Warner Brothers does not allow you to have an exclusive deal on a license...two pinball companies could actually apply to make the Goonies'
- **[design_philosophy]** Steve Ritchie at Jersey Jack Pinball reuses and adapts design elements from historical games (e.g., gun-slingshot mechanics from Star Trek: The Next Generation in rumored Matrix) (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'We know Steve Ritchie loves to recycle his old ideas...Elton John is a full recycling of old ideas...Matrix might be very derivative of Star Trek The Next Generation'
- **[community_signal]** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast lost several Patreon members; membership declined from ~730 to ~724 recently (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'We've lost a few members. I'm not gonna lie. We lost a few members. We're down like 724'
- **[event_signal]** 2026 Twippies Awards will be held at Wormhole Pinball with 40-person maximum attendance; voting opens January 3rd through 20th (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'It is going to be at Wormhole Pinball with a maximum attendance of 40 people...voting opens up January I think third and goes through like the 20th'

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## Transcript

 You don't have to answer Leave them hanging on the line Calling Gloria Gloria Oh my apology everybody for the delay getting this show up on a Friday. Gotta be honest, massively hungover. Massively. I feel like I woke up and I still was buzzed. Then I felt terrible. Then I recovered, had a little Gatorade, some electrolytes, but I'm gonna make this show worth your weight. Thank you so much for being a member of the Kaneda Club. We've lost a few members. I'm not gonna lie. We lost a few members. We're down to like 724 and now Now that the Twippies are back, the Twippies are back and best podcast is a category, best content creator, best streamer. So get ready to vote people. The voting opens up January I think third and goes through like the 20th and it's going to be this year not a Texas Pinball Festival. It is going to be at Wormhole Pinball with a maximum attendance of 40 people. Now the thing I don't know what they're going to do is are they going to The Week in Pinball, Johnny Pneumonic, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteelectronic In the 1950 The Week in Pinball, Johnny Pneumonic, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteregonartwork panel in backbox that is backlit during playelectronic Game of Thrones unint The individual has claimed to have seen stuff with his own eyes and he's given me some Information that I'm gonna give to you and what's interesting about this is I think it's gonna cause a lot of fun Speculation I think it's also gonna make people realize why waiting and seeing is still always the way to go Just seems like over the last three to four years Tana costumbules are originally am rate while Android X I don't think great themes are out yet. I wouldn't say Evil Dead is a great theme. Avatar is not a great theme. X-Men were tired of all the Marvel stuff. It just hasn't been like Back to the Future, Karate Kid, Die Hard, Total Recall. Like I wish I was ringing off a lot better themes in pinball. Conan, Rambo. You know you could just keep going on stuff I'd rather have. The companies just went down the list of the movies that came out in 1985. This hobby would be amazing. It would be 10 times better because one of the games that year is Back to the Future. One of them would be Rocky IV. One of them would also be The Goonies. One of them would be Breakfast Club. One of them would be Rambo Part II. So a lot of awesome stuff would be out in the pinball world. I think Commando by Schwarzenegger. So we're going to talk about what this person has told me. I gonna let you guys know on this show exclusively What we also gonna get exclusively real soon in the world of pinball is some clarity around why Mr Christopher Franchi does not work at Sternpinball anymore There been a lot of rumors A lot of people are saying it me Some people say it my fault Some people say it because he was selling Beatles artwork And so who better to go to than Mr George Gomez is gonna sit down with Mr Franchi and they gonna clarify the entire thing Interesting I mean I don think I ever seen anybody ever do this really ever I don even mean just in the pinball world Interviewing the company you no longer with about why you no longer with said company And I'm just happy we're gonna get clarity on all of it. Hopefully it's not my fault. So we shall see soon. And Chris and I are back on speaking terms which is good. If I could give Christopher Franchi any advice right now, I think you're in a good place. I think you're gonna crush it over at Spooky Pinball and I think sometimes you just gotta let the past be the past as well. I mean it. I mean it. But I also appreciate his passion and his his inability sometimes to let stuff go I know he cares a lot and I would much rather have people who care and are willing to engage And also willing to fight back and they get tired of people saying stupid stuff. That's not correct And that's why he's doing it I wish I was surrounded by people at work that have that level of like urgency to set the record straight and also to deliver great work time and time again, which is what he does. Alright, so that's going on in pinball. Okay, so before we get to the rumor, it's gonna be a little bit of a shorter show. I just want to get right to it. I also want to talk about this photo from Chicago Gaming Company. I don't think there's been a moment this year that has made me go, huh, what the heck are they even thinking? Did they not even look at their own image of what they're sharing with the pinball community? It is a photo of them shipping some Pulp Fiction games, maybe their LEs going overseas, and on the box of each game it says do not stack and this side up. Right? You're supposed to have the bottom on the bottom and don't stack a game on top of a game. And in the photo, they've stacked games on top of each other. The Game of Thrones Is The Top Is Not The Top And I Saw That And Then Inside The Copy Of The Post They Also Said That They Are Now Experiencing Some Delays And Nobody Is Gonna Get Their Pulp Fiction LE Domestically Any Time In December Really You Think You Are Experiencing Delays Now Has It Been Two Years This Spring Or Three I've Lost Track Of How Long I Know It's Been At Least Two Years I Am So Happy That I don't like this company. I don't like how they operate. The fact that nobody even looked at that photo and said, what are we doing? We can't put this photo out there. This makes us look like we're incompetent. And yet they did. And so shame on you, Chicago Gaminging Company. Shame on you for revealing a game so many years ago. There was a game that was There's absolutely no reason why you should have revealed Pulp Fiction when you did. You clearly don't need to make pinball machines to make money. Seriously, like think about it. They reveal a game and they have nothing on the line for two years? That doesn't make any sense. So you're not a pinball company. You're a wood making cabinet company, whatever Churchill cabinets are, and you do pinball on the side. I'm tired of pinball companies on the side. I want my pinball company to just make pinball machines. I don't want them to have ancillary revenue streams. And when we look at the pinball companies that are successful, it's always the pinball companies where they need to make pinball to be successful. It's really that simple. Stern Pinball, Spooky Pinball, Barrels of Fun, they don't have any extra annuity coming in from anywhere else. I'll throw Dutch Pinball in there. I'll throw Multimorphic in there. I mean, I think Jerry makes money off of like licensing P-Rock, but still he needs to make money off of his pinball stuff. When we look at the companies that have been The Week in Pinball, Johnny Pneumonic, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteelectronic panel in backbox that is backlit during playelectronic Game of Thrones unint Sturn Pinball a real knucklehead move to put that photo out on the internet Alright so here what I hearing people I hearing yes Dungeons and Dragons and King Kong are the next two games from Stern Pinball We recently flipped the order of those games It was supposed to be D and then King Kong I now hearing it is going to be King Kong and then Dungeons and Dragons but that not the juicy rumor I think both of those games are right around the corner I think they both ready to go And we know CERN will release games now that are not nearly finished They back to those old bad habits where the code not complete and you going to buy a game and you going to lose 30 to 40 of its value by the time the code is complete And anyone who unboxes a modern SternLE that's not made by Keith Elwin is gonna lose $3,000 or more. It's just that simple. Every single one. You can't name me one $13,000 SternLE that is not a Keith Elwin game that has not lost $3,000 to $4,000 in just a year. That is a very sobering thing to think about. If I'm Seth and I'm George, you gotta be staring down that bullet. You gotta make it 500 LEs. It's so stupid they went to a thousand on every LE. The only time you should make a thousand LEs is if it's Keith Elwin. Alright, so here's what I'm hearing now. I am also hearing that the Goonies, this is what my source has told me, that there is a Goonies pinball machine that is The game is huge. He said it is a wide body and he says it has a humongous pirate ship on it where the cannons fire pinballs. He said it is absolutely amazing looking. and it is one of the coolest world under glasses he's ever seen. So one-eyed Willy's pirate ship humongously tucked under the glass, the Goonies from Spooky Pinball. Now here's what gets interesting. I thought that the Goonies was being made by barrels of fun. And I thought Spooky had gremlins. Maybe it's reverse. I also was asking around and I found out something very interesting that Warner Brothers does not allow you to have an exclusive deal on a license. So, ostensibly, two pinball companies could actually apply to make the Goonies. So, this is crazy. I don't know if this is happening, but imagine a world in which Barrels of Fun is also making The Goonies and two Goonies machines get developed. Now Spooky Pinball is making the Goonies and so is Barrels of Fun. I'm not saying that's going to happen, but it is possible. Then Barrels of Fun would actually beat Spooky to market with their Goonies machine because their next machine is coming out this spring and Spooky Pinball is not going to unveil its next game then. They've got to make all these evil deads over the next year or So that is very interesting. I'm almost ready to say I'm here to confirm Spooky Pinball the Goonies huge pirate ship. Hey you guys, that's why you should wait and see. See the reason why nobody wants you to know this stuff is because I know most of you would rather have the Goonies over Evil Dead. It doesn't take anything away from Evil Dead. It's a really cool game. I think they did it a lot of justice. I think it's a great theme integration. It's just not nearly as popular as the Goonies. So we shall see. Now, Kaneda's not done, right? Kaneda's hung over. He's got another bit of information for you. So the second thing or second game that my source says he has seen is going to make things very interesting. It's not a theme we haven't heard about. He says he has seen with his own eyes the Matrix from Jersey Jack Pinball. He also has told me that the game will be Jersey Jack's return to wide body machines. Now what was interesting when I asked him about this, I said, wait a minute, is it Eric? Is Eric making the Matrix? I thought Eric was making Harry Potter. Now I still think Eric is making Harry Potter. He then went on to describe for me something he saw on the Matrix You hearing it here first When you watch the Matrix movies the third movie when the Sentinels are attacking Zion and one of the characters right is in that like exoskeleton suit and he firing the machine guns with each hand the big exoskeleton guns attached to his hands it kind of like the suit in Avatar he firing those guns What I hearing is that those guns are featured on the On the slingshots, really big on the slingshots of this wide body game in exactly the same location where there's the proton beam cannon shots in Star Trek the Next Generation Pinball Machine. Go look at a Star Trek Next Generation. It's got those two guns by the slingshots. Guess who made Star Trek the Next Generation? Guess who made that wide body game? A guy who's now over at Jersey Jack Pinball by the name of Steve Ritchie. So all of a sudden, I don't think that's just coincidence. I think Steve Ritchie is making the Matrix. We know Steve Ritchie loves to recycle his old ideas. I mean, Elton John is a full recycling of old ideas. Heck, I feel like Matrix might be very derivative of Star Trek The Next Generation. But here's the good news. Is it starting to feel like Jersey Jack's going to go back to loading up their games? Easy for you to clean your table at home syntax baptisma-a 5127-49 Mega 잘 exhibited lecture of Primesteen and說 9 dashboardynic, contenido uus Baller and Color Testлинco &˒6��를 playing. A benchmark for Playbook. Also, there are few game CDsультrage, audio機 evenly. The Matrix, and I think we're going to see both of those games next year. I think we're going to see Potter in February, March, and then I think we're going to see Matrix by the end of the year. I think that's going to be how Jersey Jack does it. Now look, if they nail Harry Potter and the Matrix, I mean this, if they nail both games and do them justice, they'll sell those games for the next few years, just like they sold Guns and Roses for three years. The only one game at a time right they really only make one game at a time and they put everything into it They need it to be a banger and now the problem is who's gonna buy avatar now Who's gonna go buy an avatar now who's gonna put? $15,000 on an avatar see when you've got Harry Potter from Eric Meunier and Steve Ritchie is the matrix coming I Wouldn't I know you probably want to get your money back The A V A V A V A V A V A V A The Week in Pinball, John Papadiuk, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteregonartwork panel in backbox that is backlit during playelectronic Game of Thrones unint Roll Kolick Pro secreter Holy nel says�리 Chiri bla...'ari wh.?Oesран psic? whoOnェa? sna Trinity on fish Loop tampa contractor shaung Fin GT for more 튀mä I can't wait to see what we get this year in pinball. I love covering this hobby and I love that each and every one of you tune in every week to check out Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. Take us away, Gloria. Head of the

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 45ad2ae5-0849-48d6-aaf0-2755002b4768*