# Episode 1132: "Why The Star Wars Launch Kills Me Inside"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-09-05  
**Duration:** 28m 14s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-1132-why-138202007

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## Analysis

Kaneda criticizes Stern's Star Wars Pinball launch strategy as rushed, poorly marketed, and lacking clear communication with dealers and distributors. He expresses frustration with the absence of hype, questions whether Spike 3 capabilities are being properly showcased, and argues that Stern's marketing approach (focusing on streamers, lacking creative promotion) fundamentally misunderstands what drives pinball purchases. He also discusses industry challenges including tariffs impacting European manufacturers, production/sales transparency issues among smaller manufacturers, and predicts Star Wars will be mediocre while Beetlejuice will sell out quickly.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Dealers and distributors have received no communication about Star Wars release details or date as of Friday, September 5th, despite typically receiving such information well in advance — _Kaneda noting 'dealers and distros have no idea when they're going to see this game' and 'usually by now there's an email to them' but 'They know nothing.'_
- [HIGH] George Gomez and Jack Danger's recent promotional content shows lack of enthusiasm and energy compared to what would be expected for a major franchise launch — _Kaneda observing their demeanor and statements like 'it's pretty cool' lack hyperbole and genuine excitement, contrasting with how Gomez emphasized Spike 3 capabilities_
- [HIGH] Star Wars marketing has been constrained by licensing approval delays requiring submission of assets close to release date — _George Gomez stated 'we're waiting on licensing approval for the assets' which Kaneda interprets as indicating everything is 'rushed' and 'not really figured out'_
- [MEDIUM] Pinball Brothers' Predator machine failed commercially, selling significantly fewer units than publicly claimed production numbers — _Kaneda noting they claimed 800 units but now say 150 spots left, questioning 'What did you really sell?' and suggesting it's an 'absolute failure'_
- [MEDIUM] Multimorphic's sales numbers remain undisclosed and likely do not exceed Kaneda's subscriber base of 663 — _Kaneda stating 'I also don't think he sold more Multimorphics than Kaneda subscribers. I'm just gonna say it because he won't tell us the number'_
- [MEDIUM] European manufacturers absorbing tariff costs has made games cost $12,000+ and made the business unsustainable for some companies — _Kaneda noting 'European companies, the games now are like twelve thousand dollars, and that's with them eating the tariffs. It's over.'_
- [MEDIUM] John Borg is conspicuously absent from Star Wars promotional efforts despite being the lead designer — _Kaneda asking 'Where is he? Where is he?' and noting 'He's worked so hard on this game. How come he's not out there getting us excited?'_
- [LOW] Stern is deliberately constraining Metallica LE production to restore FOMO narrative after John Wick/Venom LE demand failures (implied through production scarcity strategy) — _Indirect inference from Kaneda's discussion of Stern's overall strategy, not directly stated in this content_

### Notable Quotes

> "Nobody knows when the Stern Pinball Star Wars launch continues to be a mystery to everybody. It is Friday, September 5th. The damn dealers and distros have no idea when they're going to see this game."
> — **Kaneda**, early segment
> _Core complaint: fundamental communication breakdown between Stern and distribution channels_

> "It's pretty cool isn't like OMG I can't wait till you see it. Everyone who's been doubting whether or not Stern Pinball is going to do Star Wars justice, we can't wait till you see the game. Where is the hyperbole?"
> — **Kaneda (paraphrasing George Gomez)**, mid segment
> _Analyzes lack of genuine enthusiasm in official promotional messaging_

> "Even when George says we're waiting on licensing approval for the assets for what you're at, all that should be confirmed before you even started to tease this thing. What do you mean? Like they're working right up until the day the game comes out on submitting stuff. That makes me feel like everything is rushed."
> — **Kaneda**, mid segment
> _Identifies licensing delays as evidence of poor project management and rushed launch_

> "How awesome would it have been if they just dropped a gameplay trailer at like two in the morning yesterday? Just drop it at two in the morning... everybody in the pinball universe that is waiting to see this game, their phones would have been blowing up."
> — **Kaneda**, marketing strategy section
> _Demonstrates creative marketing alternatives Stern could have employed_

> "The number one piece of content is that they should be capturing more frequently... the only good thread in all of Pinside... It is looking into people's game rooms. That is what people want to see."
> — **Kaneda**, late segment
> _Core thesis about what actually drives pinball purchases vs. what manufacturers focus on_

> "I think Star Wars is gonna be mediocre. I think Beetlejuice is going to be sold out in nine minutes. And then I think it's going to be like Walking Dead Remastered is going to actually have more Spike 3 in it than Star Wars."
> — **Kaneda**, near end
> _Explicit predictions about game reception and market performance_

> "If you make a pinball machine that can't sell as many as Kaneda has of subscribers, you failed. You should stop making games."
> — **Kaneda**, mid segment
> _Establishes 663-unit threshold as minimum viability for new pinball ventures_

> "I really, really, really can't wait because we're just like four days away. There's zero hype. There is zero enthusiasm. I really do question what the CMO is doing over there."
> — **Kaneda**, final segment
> _Summary of core frustration with Stern's launch execution and leadership_

> "Ninety-eight percent of pinball marketing absolutely sucks. They have no idea what they're doing. And I would love to help them out... they just can't get over the fact that I'm really, really good at what I do because they're nervous about my personality."
> — **Kaneda**, closing
> _Self-positioning as marketing expert and characterization of industry-Kaneda relationship_

> "I also don't think he sold more Multimorphics than Kaneda subscribers. I'm just gonna say it because he won't tell us the number. So I'm here to tell you, I think that Jerry hasn't sold six hundred sixty-two units."
> — **Kaneda**, Multimorphic section
> _Directly challenges Multimorphic's commercial success and calls for sales transparency_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Stern Pinball | company | Primary subject of criticism for Star Wars launch execution, marketing strategy, and lack of dealer communication |
| Star Wars Pinball | game | Newly launched Stern machine being criticized for rushed development, poor marketing rollout, licensing approval delays, and predicted mediocre reception |
| Spike 3 | product | Stern's new hardware platform (18.5-inch LCD, improved audio, Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4); Kaneda questions whether Star Wars showcases its capabilities |
| George Gomez | person | Stern designer/executive; Kaneda criticizes his lack of enthusiasm in promotional content and cites his statement about licensing approval delays |
| Jack Danger | person | Stern designer/streamer; Kaneda criticizes his involvement in promotional strategy and lack of visible excitement |
| John Borg | person | Star Wars Pinball lead designer; Kaneda notes his conspicuous absence from promotional efforts despite designing the game |
| Kaneda | person | Host/speaker; media personality with 1,132 podcast episodes; critical industry commentator; 663 Patreon subscribers; notes he's been blocked from attending Pinball Expo |
| Pinball Expo | event | Major industry event in Chicago/Schaumburg; Kaneda claims he was being blocked from attending but plans to attend anyway |
| Beetlejuice Pinball | game | Predicted by Kaneda to sell out in 9 minutes; unclear if Stern or other manufacturer; licensing scope uncertain |
| Walking Dead Remastered | game | Potential upcoming Stern Spike 3 game; Kaneda predicts it will have more Spike 3 features than Star Wars |
| Tron | game | Kaneda criticizes Stern for not announcing Tron pinball despite Tron franchise resurgence in popular culture; suggests it's being overlooked for Walking Dead instead |
| Predator Pinball | game | Pinball Brothers licensed game; claimed 800-unit production run but now only 150 spots remain; Kaneda calls it an absolute failure |
| Pinball Brothers | company | Manufacturer of Predator; criticized for absorbing tariff costs, reducing price to $12,000, and still failing commercially |
| Dune Pinball | game | Barrels of Fun game; mentioned as not having sold many units; Kaneda questions commercial viability |
| Alice Pinball | game | Dutch Pinball game; noted for toppers finally being made by original vendor; Kaneda references it as success example with limited units |
| Dutch Pinball / Raza | company/game | Melvin-led manufacturer; Kaneda predicts Raza announcement by end of year; describes it as 'Deep Root game on crack'; limited production planned |
| Multimorphic | company | Manufacturer led by Jerry (Stellenberg); Kaneda criticizes for lack of sales transparency and challenges claim of innovative approach |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Praised by Kaneda for transparent sales data; used as positive industry example for honesty |
| Rob Burt | person | Pinball Expo organizer; Kaneda claims Rob is trying to keep him out of Expo but mediating between him and unnamed person who objected |
| Melvin (Melvin Williams) | person | Dutch Pinball developer; described as 'badass' and lead on Raza game; refused to compromise on game quality/delays |
| Zombie Yeti | person | Head of Stern Pinball art department; Kaneda satirizes his tendency to blame poor artwork perception on photo saturation issues |
| Gary Stern | person | Stern ownership; Kaneda claims to have told him Stern needs to reset marketing focus |
| CMO at Stern | person | Recent hire; Kaneda questions what they're actually doing and suggests they should have launched Star Wars differently |
| Colin / Kineticist | person/organization | Pinball news/media outlet; Kaneda received email from Colin requesting Patreon support; criticizes him for calling himself 'good journalist' |
| Pedretti Gaming / Big Bang Bar | company/game | Announced as Expo showcase; Kaneda dismisses it as 'snooze fest' and predicts poor quality; Rick (owner) reportedly upset with Kaneda's criticism |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Star Wars Pinball launch execution and marketing, Stern Pinball's communication breakdown with dealers/distributors, Spike 3 hardware platform capabilities and showcase strategy, Pinball industry marketing ineffectiveness and best practices
- **Secondary:** Tariffs impact on European pinball manufacturers, Sales transparency and accountability in boutique pinball manufacturers, Commercial viability of smaller pinball companies (Pinball Brothers, Multimorphic)
- **Mentioned:** Kaneda's attendance at Pinball Expo

### Sentiment

**Negative** (-0.78) — Kaneda is highly critical and frustrated with Stern's Star Wars launch, marketing strategy, and broader industry practices. However, he expresses genuine affection for pinball as a hobby and desire for games to succeed, tempered by cynicism about industry execution. His tone is sarcastic, confrontational, and dismissive toward specific companies (Multimorphic, Pinball Brothers, Pedretti) but supportive of select manufacturers (Dutch Pinball, Spooky) and personalities (Melvin). Strong personal grievance element regarding Pinball Expo exclusion attempt.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Pinball Brothers Predator machine failed to achieve claimed production numbers; production scaled from 800 to 150 units, signaling commercial failure (confidence: medium) — 'They said they were making eight hundred Predators... now only one hundred fifty spots left... Absolute failure... I think they're done.'
- **[community_signal]** Dealers and distributors have zero advance communication about Star Wars release details as of September 5th, violating standard industry protocol (confidence: high) — 'Usually by now there's an email to them explaining to them the details of the new and next Stern machine. Nope. They know nothing.'
- **[community_signal]** Kaneda claims he was blocked from attending Pinball Expo by unknown organizer; confrontation with Rob Burt (organizer) to mediate; plans to attend anyway (confidence: medium) — 'I know there was a rumor... that Kaneda is trying to be kept from Pinball Expo. It's true... I literally have been going back and forth with Rob Burt... I'm a forty-eight-year-old man who's made one thousand one hundred thirty-two podcasts about pinball. I think I've earned the right to go to your pinball show.'
- **[design_philosophy]** Star Wars Spike 3 game criticized as failing to showcase hardware platform capabilities; George Gomez statement 'we're just scratching the surface' interpreted as admission Star Wars isn't leveraging Spike 3 features (confidence: medium) — 'What Star Wars? Your new platform is not going to showcase all of the power of Spike 3. You're just scratching the surface.'
- **[licensing_signal]** Tron IP opportunity being missed by Stern despite major Tron franchise cultural resurgence (new movie); suggests poor market awareness (confidence: low) — 'Tron is blowing up again in culture. Tron is back. The new movie. And you're going to wheel out the Walking Dead. If Stern makes that move again, it just keeps telegraphing that they're like building their plans in a vacuum.'
- **[market_signal]** Stern's focus on streamer community identified as misaligned with actual pinball buyer demographics; Kaneda argues 0.1% of buyers are interested in streaming content (confidence: medium) — 'If you're talking to pinball streamers, you're talking to zero point one percent of people who buy these games. It's not what you wanna highlight.'
- **[personnel_signal]** John Borg (Star Wars designer) conspicuously absent from promotional efforts, suggesting possible design constraints or personal/professional distance from launch strategy (confidence: medium) — 'Where is he? Where is he? Is he just waiting? Is he like on vacation? He's worked so hard on this game. How come he's not out there getting us excited?'
- **[product_strategy]** Star Wars Pinball launch marketing still pending licensing approvals days before official reveal, indicating rushed final production stages (confidence: high) — George Gomez statement: 'we're waiting on licensing approval for the assets' interpreted by Kaneda as last-minute submissions causing rushed execution
- **[product_strategy]** Walking Dead Remastered predicted as upcoming Stern Spike 3 release; potential strategic move to capitalize on classic IP nostalgia (confidence: low) — 'I think Walking Dead Remastered is going to actually have more Spike 3 in it than Star Wars... I think Walking Dead might be a smokescreen.'
- **[market_signal]** Major pinball manufacturers refusing to disclose sales data; Kaneda challenges Multimorphic to publish actual unit sales numbers (confidence: medium) — 'How sad is it in this entire hobby that nobody will tell us their sales data other than companies like Spooky... Jerry hasn't sold six hundred sixty-two units. Now, I want him, if he disagrees, give us the actual number.'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Dramatic loss of hype and enthusiasm for Star Wars Pinball compared to historical Stern launch patterns; zero community excitement (confidence: high) — 'There is absolutely zero hype for this game... There is zero enthusiasm... The silence is speaking volumes'
- **[supply_chain_signal]** European pinball manufacturers absorbing tariff costs has made games unaffordable ($12,000+) and business model unsustainable (confidence: medium) — 'With tariffs for these European companies, the games now are like twelve thousand dollars, and that's with them eating the tariffs. It's over.'

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## Transcript

 Also, you're going to be seeing the real deal here very soon. Real deal here any minute. Yeah. Any minute. Yeah. I think just waiting for approvals on all the marketing stuff. You know, everything we write, everything we show has got to get blessed. And so I think that's all the people are waiting for. So you're going to see it soon. I had a grand idea of showing off all these toys and mechs and stuff from the game. But as I was thinking about it more, I'm just going to let you guys experience it when that thing drops. Because it's a total package. You guys are going to like it. And Spike 3. Spike 3. And streamers. Or freaking anybody, actually. All you need is an HDMI app. Honestly, it's just the beginning of Spike 3. Oh, heck yeah. Scratching the surface. Are we coming out with an expose or something about that to explain what Spike 3 is? We are going to spend a bunch of time talking about all the features in Spike 3. Beyond the features in the game. we're going to outline here's all the cool stuff you get there's a lot of it and for you folks that have invested in things like our headphone jack and stuff, those items still do work on Spike 3, I am in fact using it now, but I wired it wrong so it was causing a weird delay you'll get lots and lots of it's what you'd imagine, it's a new hardware set in 2025 it's beautiful, love it All right, Internet. Well, thanks for jamming with us. Let me click this button here so I can get a full-size view. We'll see you. See you soon. I almost gave it away. We'll see you soon. Have a good one. All right. See you soon. Nobody knows when the Stern Pinball Star Wars launch continues to be a mystery to everybody. It is Friday, September 5th. The damn dealers and distros have no idea when they're going to see this game, when it's going to be discussed with them. Usually by now there's an email to them explaining to them the details of the new and next Stern machine. And when you hear George Gomez and Jack Danger, we almost gave it away. I mean, freaking media are coming over next Wednesday. We know the dealer call is like on a freaking Tuesday, but distros usually get in front of all of that. And if you think about the reason why a distro wants to know, it's very simply this. They want to be able to go to their customers and say, hey, I'm going to get this new Stern Star Wars game. And this is the date I'm going to have information on it. Nope. They know nothing. There is absolutely zero hype for this game. Watching Gomez and Jack Danger play the Costco game as the lead up to this new Star Wars extravaganza. it's just really not doing it for me maybe it is for you and even when George said something there it was very subtle but you had to listen to what he said he said Spike 3 we're just scratching the surface what Star Wars your new platform is not going to showcase all of the power of Spike 3 you're just scratching the surface and when he says it's pretty cool i don't know people it's pretty cool isn't like omg i can't wait till you see it everyone who's been doubting whether or not stern pinball is going to do star wars justice we can't wait till you see the game where is the hyperbole? I can almost see it in their body language. Like they know, nobody knows more than Jack and George that this is not going to be received as the second coming of Godzilla, as the next chapter in Stern Pinball. Maybe it is. And I've been saying this for like a week now because we have nothing else to chew on. I just hope I'm wrong. Everybody, all of you out there, Fizzy, Bond, Dave Frazier, Frank, Eric Mitchell, Kim Mitchell, who's Eric Mitchell, Eric Kaden, you know, Ed Ed Robertson, all you guys, Robert Mooney, Rodney C, all you guys, Scott, all you guys out there, you all want Star Wars to be great. Even Bond wants it to be great. We don't want these things to be bad. If we're in this hobby rooting for these companies to fail, then you're really on the wrong road right now. I want games to be great. I want themes that are awesome executed right. And so, yeah, Friday, September 5th, are we going to get anything today? I mean, seriously, if Star Wars, and we know it's next week, if Stern Pinball gives us nothing to chew on, on this Friday. So we're all huddled around our hype this weekend. What are they doing? Even when George says we're waiting on licensure approval for the assets for what you're at, all that should be confirmed before you even started to tease this thing. You should work back from all that. All that should be approved. What do you mean? Like they're working right up until the day the game comes out on submitting stuff. That makes me feel like everything is rushed. Everything is like not really figured out. Like you don't have a plan. The game should be done. It should be done for this much money. How many of you out there, why do we keep buying these products that aren't complete? The marketing is half-assed and like the companies are like just making it up as they go around Star Wars. You think with the new CMO over at Stern, this would have been a different launch. They would have done something different. They would have surprised us in a unique way. Like I was just thinking about it. How awesome would it have been if they just dropped a gameplay trailer at like two in the morning yesterday? Just drop it at two in the morning. You know what that would have done? People in Europe who can't get the game, it would have and extra salt on those wounds. But what would have happened is everybody in the pinball universe that is waiting to see this game, their phones would have been blowing up. And you actually could have done a teaser where you make fun of that Like we just with the Death Star blew up all of your sleep We feel a great disturbance in the force late at night And they could have done something unique, something different. Instead, it's going to be the same old thing. It's going to be here. We're going to do a call and have a webinar. And then everyone's going to take photos of the game with their cell phone. and that's the first way we're going to see the game. You know what's going to happen. You know the first thing we're going to get is crappy cell phone photos of the game. Then people are going to complain about the art because they're seeing it in the wrong way. Then Zombie Eddie is going to tell us that like, you know, the saturation levels aren't right because of what people are sharing. I don't know. You know, it's always like the same thing. But what I'm not feeling is I'm not feeling anything from John Boer. Where is he? Where is he? Is he just waiting? Is he like on vacation? He's worked so hard on this game. How come he's not out there getting us excited? What is this? Is this all they got? Is this all they got? And I mean it. Like, I think all of us, we just want more. Now, in the end, you just want the game to be great. I mean, I feel the same way. If the game's a banger and the game's amazing and the game has all this incredible stuff and Spike 3 is bringing a whole new sort of like period or chapter in Stern pinball history that's going to be amazing. You know, Spike 3 should make Spike 2 feel a little bit obsolete. I think Stern's nervous about that. What I think Stern's going to do, and I just, I feel like they're going to make Spike 3 upgradable for some of the older machines. So if you want to get the bigger screen and the speakers, they're going to sell that as a kid. I think they're going to do that. They know they've got tens of thousands, if not a few hundred thousand games out there that potentially, if you want to make them look unison in a lineup, they're going to want to sell you the upgrade. Is it easy to do? I don't know. It doesn't seem too hard. I mean, how many of us like built gateway computers when we were kids or, you know, put stuff and components into like PCs? It's not going to be that hard, would it be to like unscrew this and screw that in? I think a lot of it is backwards compatible. And, you know, I love how they're like, oh, yeah, for streamers out there, we don't want gives a S.H.I.T. except for a handful of people that your spike three system is going to make it easier to stream because the boring thing to do in the world in the short time we have on planet Earth is to watch people stream pinball. If you're one of those, I guess I let's just jump on and spend three hours of the short amount of time we have on planet earth watching me play this game and explain it to you and ruin all the excitement you're going to feel when you get the game. I don't know. I'm just not one of these people that wants to watch people stream video games or pinball machines. I don't. Maybe the only thing I like to do is watch professional drivers take a nice car around a track. Like I'll watch that. Like that's exciting because if I try to do that in that car, I'm going to kill myself. But I really don't get excited watching like, you know, Bone Cairns blow up a machine or IE Pinball take us all the way through Toy Story in 20 minutes. Not my cup of tea, ladies and gentlemen. All right. So just a few days out. The hype is non-existent. I think the silence is speaking volumes. What else is going on in Pinball on this Friday? First and foremost, thank you, everybody, for being a member of the Kaneda Club. up. I got a long email. I unsubscribed from Colin at Kineticist, like basically begging for money. He's like, oh man, we're journalists now. And to keep this livelihood going, I need your help. And he was like this long speech. And then he's like, if we can just get 10 more subscribers. Oh man, it's so funny. I wish I could share with all of them how you do it. You actually make good content. Once you start calling yourself good, nah, man, I do it all the time. You love Kaneda. I love Kaneda. Who is Kaneda these days? Hi to Mahan the paywall. Want to give a shout out to Kale at Electric Bat. Shout out to Rachel. Shout out to all you mofos who tune in every week for Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. Now, look, I know there was a rumor. This is not even a rumor that Kaneda is trying to be kept from Pinball Expo. It's true. It's true. Like, I literally have been going back and forth with Rob Burt. Who, by the way, I said this to Rob, because Rob's a nice guy. And he's like, Chris, I need you to hit up this dude who doesn't want you there. And I'm like, all right, well, cool. I emailed him. I texted him. I called him. Nothing. I'm like, Rob, look, here's the deal. I'm a 48-year-old man who's made 1,132 podcasts about pinball. I think I've earned the right to go to your pinball show. I'm not going to cause any drama. I'm not going to get in a fight with anybody. My days of throwing drinks in faces of people are over. I now consume the drinks, all of them. I don't want to waste any bit of vodka as a daddy with no sleep on someone's face. I'm not going to give Tim Sexton a porcelain face with my vodka. It's going to be consumed by me. When I went to Expo last year, it was a lot of fun. And what Rob doesn't get is this. And this is a point about a lot of these Canadian haters. I always ask them one question. Do you even listen to the show? Have you heard what Canada's Pinball Podcast has been doing for the last 12 years? And the answer by all of the haters is always, no, I don't listen. I just hate him. And I hate what he stands for. And he's toxic. And you're like, well, how can you call somebody toxic that you don't even listen to? And so I will be at Expo. Nobody's going to keep me from the show. And the part that Rob also doesn't get is I have a lot of fans. I have a lot more fans than the people that are saying he shouldn't be allowed to come here. He's like a problem for this community and for this hobby. I'm going to be there. I might have to bring the houndstooth jacket. I'm going to be rolling through Expo. We're all going to be rolling through there together like Death Row Records, Kale and me. We're going to get Retro Ralph in there. Jamie's going to be there. You know, like, look, you're going to watch the way Kaneda rolls through a show is nothing but good vibes. It's nothing but good times. And we're going to figure this out. We're going to get some dinners going. We're going to get some like omakase going. I was telling Melvin we not going to waste our time like every minute in Schlumberg or wherever the heck it is We going to go find a really nice omakase restaurant in Chicago I rather take a 40 minute Uber and have an epic meal with some of you guys out there. So let's plan this. Let's do it right. And then we'll go back to the show. You know, think about like at the show, we're going to see what Star Wars. Yeah, but we're all going to have played it before Expo. What else is going to happen at at Expo? Right. We're going to see uh pedretti gaming is probably going to show you big bang bar wow snooze fest already know about it know the quality ain't gonna be there i know rick is mad he sent a text messages they're trying to come at me they're like how does he know how does he know and melvin's like whatever i told him i don't care f off f off i love melvin melvin is the biggest badass we need more badasses like Melvin Williams over there in the Netherlands. He's like, dude, I do all the work. I did all the work on this. And now you want to tell me to pounce it? Nah, nah, nah, nah. Melvin, Kale, and Kaneda. The fact is all of these grown men that are holding on to these pinball secrets. Like if the world knows Big Bang Ball, what's going to happen, Rick? What's going to happen, Pedretti Gaming? There's not a single person on planet Earth that wakes up and says, I hope the next pinball machine I buy is from Pedretti Gaming. Who said? Nobody says that. Nobody. I just said it. And this is why they call me toxic. You're not allowed, Kaneda, to have favorites. You're not allowed to give credit for the companies that deserve it. You've got to celebrate and champion everybody's pinball effort. And I'm here to tell you, no, I don't. I don't like every movie I go see. I don't like every restaurant I eat at. And so when I see Predator from Pinball Brothers and I get it, they put a lot into it. I get it. They're passionate about it. I get it. It was a lot more hard work to make that game than it is for me to make this podcast. But in the end, this is the saddest and most pathetic thing you could ever say about a pinball venture is that Canada's pinball podcast has more subscribers than you could even sell of your pinball machine. 663 subscribers. They can't even sell that many predators. They haven't even sold that many dune machines. So I'm just going to say this on my Friday. I'm juiced up, baby. I'm juiced up. I've been eating healthy, going to gym, taking my vitamins, saying my prayers, looking at my beautiful family. I'm just going to say this right now. If you make a pinball machine that can't sell as many as Canada has of subscribers, you failed. You should stop making games. You don't know what you're doing. You don't know how to pick the theme. The only exception to this is simply this. If you're making a limited number of games that's below my subscriber base, then that's fine. If you're going to make 500 Alice's and they sell out, I can't indict you, right? You were never trying to make 662. Raza's coming next. It's going to be much less units than freaking Alice and it's going to sell out instantly. And I know what you're saying. Why are you Win Schilling Raza again? I'll tell you what, because Win Schilling Raza is just fun. You have to look at this game. Viva La Raza, baby. You have to remember the context. This title has been hanging over the pinball world for like over a decade. And the fact that it's finally going to come out, the fact that Melvin's jamming it with like magnets and he's fixed the geometry and the ramp looks great. And where do you see, where do you see what Lior did to this game. I'm just telling you, it's freaking cool. And look, it's not for everybody. And I'm going to shill it because he's my boy. And we're having fun. And I'm not getting any kickbacks. And I'm just telling you this. If you're a collector and you're saying to yourself, well, I want to have stuff that not everybody has. Yeah, cool. Go buy Harry Potter CE and everybody has it. Go buy every Stern, everybody has it. If you buy a Raza, I'm not going to say it's going to make your ding dong bigger or you're going to be cooler or people are going to want it and it's going to go up in value. But at least you'll have something different. And I will say this, having seen the game and seeing the changes in it, it's just like the deep root game on crack. And that's the best way to describe it. All right. And look, it's not even that far away. I think we might see Raza announced by the end of the year. And they need it because once they stop making the Alice's, they're going to move on to this. Good news for everyone who's waiting on your Alice topper. You're going to get them real soon. I'm hearing the original vendor is back making them. So if you're worried about not getting the right quality topper, you're going to get it. And everyone's going to be made whole. This is Dutch's new thing. They'll make you wait. But in the end, like a loaf of bread, they're going to make you whole. Canada, what are you on this morning? I don't know. It's Friday. The kids are all right. I mean, isn't that all that really matters? I'm watching my little ones. They take a little power wheels around the block. It's the most adorable thing. They both get in it and it makes me happy. You know, it's never gonna make me that happy, a $13,000 pinball machine. You know, it's never gonna make me that happy, a $15,000 pinball machine. I love pinball. I think all these games have their work cut out, but my overall feeling lately, I think Star Wars is gonna be mediocre. I think Beetlejuice is going to be sold out in nine minutes. And then I think it's going to be like Walking Dead Remastered is going to actually have more Spike 3 in it than Star Wars. I also I'm just going to say this. I think Walking Dead might be a smokescreen. How do they not make Tron? Tron is blowing up again in culture. Tron is back. The new movie. And you're going to wheel out the Walking Dead. If Stern makes that move again, it just keeps telegraphing that they're like building their plans in a vacuum and they're missing the forest for the trees. I read a long thing from Gerry Stellenberg about tariffs. I mean, Jerry wrote this really long explanation about what tariffs do to small businesses. And, you know, is interesting. I don't disagree with him. It's making it more expensive for all of these companies to source their parts from China. The U.S. sort of vendors out there charge a lot more for the products than overseas. Like that was never a mystery to anybody. But I think the part that's going to really happen is like this could just put people out of business. It absolutely could put people out of business Like if the margins aren there then how are you going to pay people How are you going to make enough money to invest in the next title with multi Jerry, Jerry listed out like six different options we could do based on this. And I'm just a cynic. I'm a little sarcastic. And I was like, Jerry just keeps forgetting option number seven. option number seven has been staring him in the face now for 15 years just make a normal pinball machine that's it let's just make a normal pinball machine this whole thing like when you read the way they talk about multimorphic we've revolutionized we did like no no no no no you haven't you haven't and i'm just gonna say this i also don't think he sold more multimorphics than canada subscribers i'm just gonna say it because he won't tell us the number so i'm here to tell you, I think that Jerry hasn't sold 662 units. Now, I want him, if he disagrees, give us the actual number. How sad is it in this entire hobby that nobody will tell us their sales data other than companies like Spooky, where it is transparent because they're only making this many? Like, look at the Pinball Brothers and all of their shenanigans around, well, we only have 150 spots left. All right. That's after they said they were making 800 predators. Okay. So what is it guys? What is it? Come on. Like just amongst friends amongst thieves. What did you really sell? Did you sell a hundred and you've got one 50 left? Did you sell one 50? You've got one 50 left. What is it? Obviously this isn't the plan. Nobody, nobody would go down a road to get that license without Arnold, do all the work, and all we can sell this 300. Absolute failure. I think they're done. I do. I think they're done. And also with tariffs for these European companies that the games now are like $12,000, and that's with them eating the tariffs. It's over. It's game, set, match. It's a whole new world. Europe can't even get their hands on Star Wars. My poor European friends. They can't get their hands on the Star Wars game. The good news is you might not even want to get your hands on it. If you're reading the room, gang, it doesn't seem like this is going to be the game you absolutely need to sort of import, if you will. Look, gang, happy Friday. I really, really, really can't wait because we're just like four days away. There's zero hype. There is zero enthusiasm. I really do question what the CMO is doing over there. I really do question how out of touch Stern has really become with the community. And I think they need to like reset it all. I do. It's what I told George. It's what I told Seth. It's what I told Gary. I don't think they're focused on the right aspect of the community. When you start highlighting for you streamers out there. No one gives, no. If you're talking to pinball streamers, you're talking to 0.1% of people who buy these games. It's not what you wanna highlight. And I know Jack's a streamer, but is that what we need? Do you actually think pinball streaming equals any more sales? I think it turns people off. I gotta be honest. When you watch a pinball stream for an hour, the last thing I wanna do is go buy one. Like literally, it's the last thing I wanna do. What makes pinball, and I'm telling you, This is the one thing they all get wrong. You know what the number one piece of content is that they should be capturing more frequently? I'm going to tell you this right now. It's also the only, and I mean this, the only good thread in all of Pinside or on all of Pinside. It is what you want to communicate. It is what you want to show. It is the best pinball content that is in the world, is looking into people's game rooms. That is what people want to see. I remember watching, I think it was like, I think it was Christina Aguilera had like two pinball machines in this epic living room. That is what I would want to showcase. That is cool. When people see how cool pinball looks in their home, that is the number one thing that would drive people to purchase. It's not your stupid explanation of the rule set. It's not me hearing about how I need to adjust the Vuck with my finger. It's not watching Dwight walk over the machine and hit every switch with his finger and spoil all of the code that's supposed to be serendipitous when you unbox it. No, the number one thing would be showcasing how when you get a pinball machine, it will transform your home like nothing else you buy. And I believe that. And that's why when you're going to bring Star Wars out into the world, do you want to see it in Stern's little dungeon-y room with 30 guys that haven't hit the gym in a year and see like all these guys that you know are Win Schilling for Stern, you know, in this loud room. I don't want to see Star Wars like that for the first time. How about you go and you unveil it somewhere special? How about you bring it down to Disney? How about you have the door to the Millennium Falcon open up and there's the game? How about you put the first Star Wars pinball machine. How about you put it in the cantina in Disney World and you announce that and the first person to go see it will share it with the pinball world. My point is this. Whenever I see how they bring these games out, it crushes my soul as a marketer because they have so much opportunity to do something that will leave an indelible impression on us and they do nothing. It's lazy and then they want us to spend $7,000 to $13,000. I'm over it. I'm over it. And I'm just going to say this. 98% of pinball marketing absolutely sucks. They have no idea what they're doing. And I would love to help them out. I went there and they just can't get over the fact that I'm really, really good at what I do because they're nervous about my personality. And all I would do is help them sell more games, everybody. Kaneda out. Happy Friday. Can't wait to see it. Later.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 4ce5923b-698d-488c-9f71-d54ee0bda629*