# Episode 999: "Kaneda's Trip to JJP"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-09-14  
**Duration:** 49m 1s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-999-trip-112065882

---

## Analysis

Kaneda visited Jersey Jack Pinball's Chicago facility for an exclusive hands-on preview of Avatar, Jersey Jack's first major release in years. He spent ~40 minutes playing the game, toured the factory, and met the design team including designer Mark Seiden. Kaneda provides detailed technical and aesthetic feedback, praising the presentation and lighting effects but criticizing the lack of a central toy mechanic and noting the lower playfields as polarizing design choices. He also briefly visited Stern to see X-Men and emphasizes that both games deserve hands-on evaluation before purchase.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Avatar CE playfield is being manufactured by Bader, not Mirko — _Kaneda stated this directly after saying he didn't get to see the CE playfield in person_
- [HIGH] Avatar CE will feature three types of UV ink (blue, green, red) while LE only has blue UV ink — _Tom Capera from JJP showed Kaneda the difference; Kaneda confirmed seeing the LE playfield with single-color UV_
- [HIGH] Jersey Jack Avatar CE production doesn't begin until November — _Kaneda stated this directly when discussing ordering timelines_
- [HIGH] Avatar lacks a major central toy mechanic compared to recent Stern releases — _Kaneda played the game for 40+ minutes and made this a central criticism, contrasting with X-Men's Sentinel toy_
- [MEDIUM] Jack Danger scored approximately 1.4 billion points on Avatar at Interium — _Kaneda reported watching Jack play later in the evening and heard the score secondhand_
- [MEDIUM] The Avatar hologram topper is approximately 4 inches taller than the Guns N' Roses topper — _Kaneda made a visual comparison by looking at his GNR topper while recording_
- [HIGH] Lightstorm Production Company refused approval for a tree sculpt in a certain area of Avatar — _Mark Seiden explained this licensing constraint to Kaneda during the tour_
- [HIGH] Jersey Jack had approximately 15 media personalities visit for the Avatar premiere — _Kaneda stated this directly when discussing the exclusive media event_

### Notable Quotes

> "In the 10 years I've done this pinball podcast, I have never really been invited to a pinball company to check out what went into making their brand new game."
> — **Kaneda**, early segment
> _Establishes the unprecedented nature of this factory tour access_

> "It reminded me why we all love this hobby. And you know the answer. It's the people, right?"
> — **Kaneda**, opening philosophy
> _Frames the episode's central theme about community over online discourse_

> "There is just nothing like walking up to a JJP game for the first time. It is absolutely stunning."
> — **Kaneda**, product presentation discussion
> _High praise for JJP's overall aesthetic and polish_

> "Jersey Jack has a polish and a presentation to their games that are unrivaled by anybody else in pinball."
> — **Kaneda**, product presentation discussion
> _Positions JJP as the aesthetic leader in the industry_

> "You would not say Avatar is loaded. I wouldn't. In fact, it's just not loaded."
> — **Kaneda**, toy mechanic criticism
> _Direct, repeated criticism of the game lacking content density relative to price_

> "Avatar doesn't have that kind of thing in it. And that will lead to a lot of people debating why isn't something like that in the game if these games are so much money."
> — **Kaneda**, value assessment
> _Connects missing toy to pricing concerns and justification challenges_

> "Mark Seiden is one of the nicest and coolest and friendly people I have met in pinball. He is impossible not to like."
> — **Kaneda**, designer assessment
> _Establishes warm relationship with first-time game designer and its influence on reception_

> "Jersey Jack, you invited us to play Avatar for the first time ever, 15 or so media personalities, the major real feature of this game, and you know it, it's all about that transformation, right? You don't show the game to us in a pitch black room."
> — **Kaneda**, presentation criticism
> _Critical feedback on missed opportunity to showcase the game's primary feature_

> "This game is a Pandora attraction."
> — **Kaneda**, theme assessment
> _Describes Avatar's design philosophy and target audience appeal_

> "If Stern is doing what they're doing with X-Men and it's loaded with toys and magnets and all this fun stuff, you're gonna have a hard time justifying the prices at Jersey Jack if your games aren't equally loaded."
> — **Kaneda**, competitive analysis
> _Direct comparison of JJP vs Stern value propositions at equivalent price points_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Premium boutique pinball manufacturer; Avatar is their major new release |
| Stern Pinball | company | Competing major pinball manufacturer; X-Men is their recent release with advanced toy mechanics |
| Avatar | game | Jersey Jack Pinball's new game based on the Avatar films; designed by Mark Seiden; features dual lower playfields, UV lighting effects, and a hologram topper |
| X-Men | game | Stern Pinball's competing release featuring advanced toys including a Sentinel toy; Kaneda visited Stern to preview it |
| Mark Seiden | person | Designer of Avatar at Jersey Jack Pinball; first major commercial game; described as personable and passionate; Jersey Jack homebrew builder |
| Eric Minier | person | Jersey Jack Pinball designer/engineer; led the factory tour for Kaneda's visit; known for attention to design detail |
| Tom Capera | person | Former Stern Pinball employee now at Jersey Jack Pinball; showed Kaneda the UV ink differences and production details |
| Ken Cromwell | person | Jersey Jack Pinball marketing lead; orchestrated the media event; Kaneda praised his willingness to try new marketing approaches |
| Brett Abbas | person | Jersey Jack Pinball executive/owner; visited the event; discussed company vision and capital availability with Kaneda |
| Jack Danger | person | Pinball designer/player at Stern; played Avatar at Interium after Kaneda; scored ~1.4 billion; expressed enthusiasm for the game |
| Kaneda | person | Podcast host and content creator; visited JJP factory for exclusive Avatar preview; 10+ years running pinball podcast |
| Jason Knapp | person | Attended the Avatar preview event at Jersey Jack Pinball |
| Vic | person | Attended the Avatar preview event at Jersey Jack Pinball (full name not provided) |
| Scott | person | From Loser Kid; attended the Avatar preview event |
| Keith | person | Coder on Avatar at Jersey Jack Pinball; met by Kaneda during factory tour |
| Bader | company | Manufacturing partner making Avatar CE playfield; also manufactures Spooky Pinball playfields; known for premium quality |
| Lightstorm Production | company | Production company for Avatar films; licensor for Avatar pinball game; made final approval decisions on game elements like tree sculpts |
| Pinside | organization | Pinball enthusiast forum where community discusses games; Kaneda references reading negative opinions there |
| Interium | venue | Pinball venue where Kaneda watched Jack Danger play Avatar later in the evening |
| Guns N' Roses | game | Previous Jersey Jack Pinball release; Kaneda references its topper size and overall design philosophy for comparison |
| Dialed In | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game that Kaneda references as being heavily loaded with toys and interactive elements |
| Elton John | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; Kaneda mentions Avatar has significantly more content underneath the playfield than Elton John |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Factory tour and behind-the-scenes access, Avatar game design, mechanics, and presentation, Jersey Jack Pinball production and manufacturing standards, Toy mechanics and mechanical depth in modern pinball, UV lighting effects and CE vs LE differentiation, Community sentiment vs hands-on experience (online discourse impact)
- **Secondary:** Stern X-Men comparison and competitive landscape, Price justification at premium price point ($12,000+), Mark Seiden as first-time designer and community ambassador, Lower playfields as design choice and player reception

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.55) — Kaneda is clearly impressed by the presentation, polish, and people at Jersey Jack, but balances this with substantive criticisms about missing toy mechanics, lower playfield design choices, and the disconnect between hype and actual mechanical depth. He defends the game against online cynicism while still maintaining critical perspective. Positive about company leadership and vision; critical about specific game design decisions.

### Signals

- **[product_launch]** Jersey Jack held an exclusive factory tour and hands-on preview for approximately 15 media personalities; first time JJP has invited media to preview a game during development/production phase (confidence: high) — Kaneda states: 'Jersey Jack, you invited us to play Avatar for the first time ever, 15 or so media personalities'
- **[design_innovation]** Avatar features UV ink technology with three-color gradient on CE (blue/green/red) vs single blue on LE; hologram topper that reacts to game state; emphasis on lighting as primary gameplay atmosphere (confidence: high) — Tom Capera demonstrated the UV differences; Kaneda confirmed seeing both LE and CE playfield specifications
- **[product_concern]** Avatar lacks a central toy mechanic in traditional sense (bashing/interactive toy); uses ramps, diverters, and flippers but no iconic mechanical object to repeatedly engage with (confidence: high) — Kaneda explicitly critiqued this multiple times: 'Avatar doesn't have that kind of thing in it' and 'You would not say Avatar is loaded'
- **[design_philosophy]** Avatar's design prioritizes creating an immersive Pandora atmosphere through lighting, animations, and multi-layered playfield architecture rather than traditional toy-focused playfield (confidence: high) — Kaneda notes: 'The entire machine itself is designed to sort of create the vibe of Pandora and transform the pinball machine into this like unique experience'
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Avatar CE playfield manufactured by Bader (premium supplier also used by Spooky Pinball) rather than Mirko; represents significant quality commitment for top-tier edition (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'the CE Playfield...it is being made by Bader...Bader is who makes the best playfields in the world...that is the greatest news maybe in the history of Jersey Jack pinball'
- **[product_strategy]** Jersey Jack using UV ink color variation and premium playfield manufacturer as primary CE differentiator; LE uses same cabinet/topper but reduced visual effects and standard playfield (confidence: high) — Three types of UV ink on CE, blue only on LE; different playfield manufacturers; CE encased hologram topper vs LE equivalent
- **[licensing_signal]** Lightstorm Production Company (Avatar film licensors) imposed approval constraints on game elements; refused approval for tree sculpt in certain playfield area, limiting designer freedom (confidence: high) — Kaneda reported Mark Seiden explained: 'Because Lightstorm, the production company, didn't want to approve a sculpt for that area'
- **[market_signal]** At premium price point ($12k+), players increasingly expect mechanical depth comparable to Stern's offerings; Avatar's lack of toys creates value justification challenge vs X-Men (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'If Stern is doing what they're doing with X-Men and it's loaded with toys...you're gonna have a hard time justifying the prices at Jersey Jack if your games aren't equally loaded'
- **[content_signal]** Jersey Jack's 18-minute sizzle video successfully shifted community sentiment from positive X-Men reception to Avatar excitement; demonstrates effectiveness of visual presentation in marketing (confidence: high) — Kaneda observed: 'got a beautiful 18-minute video about the making of Avatar...all of the vibes went from being pro-X-Men to sort of like, oh, screw X-Men, Avatar is amazing'
- **[event_signal]** Jersey Jack implemented new media access strategy with exclusive factory tours and designer introductions; marketing team actively trying new approaches to engagement (confidence: high) — Kaneda praised Ken Cromwell: 'Ken tried something new with this...that is how marketing should be. You got to keep trying some different stuff until you get it right'
- **[community_signal]** Significant gap between negative online discourse (Pinside) and positive hands-on experience; community benefits from in-person connection with designers and company leadership (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'Then you go and you read on Pinside all these opinions about something people have never seen...it really did remind me that all of us fall victim to this, where we get overly negative'
- **[personnel_signal]** Mark Seiden's first commercial game and personable nature creating strong community ambassador effect; designer visibility increases emotional connection to game (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'Mark is one of the nicest and coolest and friendly people I have met in pinball...it's impossible when you meet the designer to then separate the people who make this game from the game itself'

---

## Transcript

 Excuse me, you look like you love me. You look like you want me to want you to come on home. Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up. Welcome everybody to Canada's Pinball Podcast. I am in such a good mood. Do you ever have that day after feeling? You know, the day after a great concert or a vacation or you fall in love for the first time. No, I'm not saying I'm falling in love for the first time, but what I'm saying is this. In the 10 years I've done this pinball podcast, I have never really been invited to a pinball company to check out what went into making their brand new game. And I really, really, really had an amazing time in Chicago, not just visiting Jersey Jack Pinball, not just hanging out with pinball personalities, because what yesterday did in just a small sliver of time, it reminded me why we all love this hobby. And you know the answer. It's the people, right? It is the reason why we love pinball. You get together with some cool people, you have a good time and you play a toy and you enjoy life in the short amount of time we have. And what's interesting about going there and seeing the game and seeing the people and seeing the response and seeing the workers, seeing the factory, seeing everything, is then you go and you read on Pinside all these opinions about something people have never seen. They've never played. And it really did remind me that all of us fall victim to this, where we get overly negative, overly angry, and overly triggered around pinball. And maybe if we all just took a trip and hung out with our pinball friends more and got together and had some whiskeys and beers and put a few games on these machines, we wouldn't be arguing about them the way we do on the internet. And I know, and I lead a lot of this discussion on a weekly basis, right? These games are expensive. We want to look at them with discerning eyes. And I am going to look at not just Avatar with discerning eyes. I'm also going to give you a little bit of feedback on X-Men because I was able to sneak over to Stern Pinball for a little bit. There was a two-hour gap in the day with JJP, and they're literally right down the street. And I will say this, they're totally different companies. I've been thinking a lot about how I want to do this show because there are some people out there that are like, you're going to go, and you're going to become a shill for Jersey Jack Pinball. That's not what you're going to hear on this show. And look, it's not lost on me that I read Pinside, and a few things have happened over the last few days. When X-Men got revealed, everybody was saying it was great, and then they did a stream which didn't show the game in the best possible light, and then everybody turned on X-Men, got a beautiful 18-minute video about the making of Avatar, which was really well done by Jersey Jack Pinball, and then all of the vibes went from being pro-X-Men to sort of like, oh, screw X-Men, Avatar is amazing because of the sizzle video. and I'm just here to tell you, these are two games where you really need to jump on both of them. You need to play them and make up your mind. I don't think you're really going to have to order either one before Pinball Expo if you really want to get like a CE or an LE. If there's any game you have to order sooner than later, it would be the LE of X-Men because they're making it now. They're not going to make the Jersey Jack Avatar CE until November. But both games are different. And I'm going to explain my feelings on both of them. Obviously, I spent a lot more time on Avatar. But before I do that, I want to talk about how I wanted to structure this show. I wanted to talk about some of these things before I go into the games themselves. And I broke it down. I don't know why I did this, but I broke it down with words that all start with the letter P. And one of them is not podcasting. I want to talk about the people. I want to talk about the product. I want to talk about the passion. I want to talk about the pride these people have. I want to talk about the pathway of these companies. I want to talk about play. How do these games play? Ultimately, that's a really important thing. And then also talk about the price because you can't avoid it and you have to look at all these things. Are we getting what these companies are charging us for these machines? So when we start with the people, and I'm going to weave these things into everything as I talk about today. So I get to Jersey Jack pinball. Jason Knapp is there. Vic is there. Ken Cromwell is there. I walk into the room. There's Scott from Loser Kid. We all shook hands and had a good time, except for one person. And look, that's on them. You know, I had a great time. I wasn't going to let anybody spoil the mood. And so we all had a really, really amazing walkthrough of the Jersey Jack facility by Eric Minier. Really great guy. Eric is awesome. He gave a great tour. And Tom Capera, who came from Stern Pinball and is now over at Jersey Jack Pinball, did an absolutely phenomenal job walking us through not just the new game, what goes into making the new game, all the different ways they have to approach a brand new product and bring it to market. You know, it's really easy, right? At the end of the journey, for us to just critique the final product, and we still should, but when you do get to see behind the curtain and what goes into making these games, some of the obstacles they might have had with Lightstorm Production, the production company for Avatar. I met mechanical engineers. We met Keith, the coder. We met a really large portion of the Jersey Jack design team that has worked on Avatar. and so that was really awesome to sort of hear in their voices their enthusiasm and their pride and their passion for making this game. I will say this, nobody is making pinball between Stern and Jersey Jack when you go into these companies. Nobody's going into this who's not really enthusiastic about what they're doing and I think again it's really easy for the internet to just tear everything down and say everything sucks and these companies are destroying pinball and they're ripping us off. I get it. I get it. I hear it all. Also heard and he was in town from Brett Abbas was there. Really awesome guy. I talked to Brett for a while, you know, and his vision for the company and his pathway forward for Jersey Jack pinball. And what was exciting about talking to Brett, this is a company that is full steam ahead. They've got the capital. We know they got the capital. It's weird for me to talk to a guy like Brett because I'm like, this dude could just like pay off my house and he wouldn't even feel it tomorrow. It's like, but he's such an awesome guy. And we talked about the pathway forward and the vision for Jersey Jack pinball. And I was very honest with Brett. I was very honest with Brett. I mean, I told him like, look, man, you got to get the CEs out first. They're working on that. I don't know why that is hard work. I don't get it. You know, if you're going to make one game first, you got to make the CEs first. More to come on that with Avatar, why I think the CE is really the only version to get. And we had a good conversation. Ken Cromwell, amazing guy over there at Jersey Jack, their marketing guy. And Ken tried something new with this. You know, we talked about marketing. We talked about the launch of this game. We talked about whether or not teasers worked. Are we going out too early? Should we have waited a little bit? But I really, really, really do give Ken a lot of credit for trying something new. And that is how marketing should be. You got to keep trying some different stuff until you get it right. And the one thing they really nailed was that 18 minute sizzle video. It was great. It was a great, it was a great way to see the product for the first time. Now that being said, it is still a pinball machine and you can't just go off of a sizzle video. And I know people are going to watch it and it's meant to make you want to buy a game. I mean, remember this is marketing. They want to sell you a game. Everything they're doing is to create a little bit of FOMO and a little bit of urgency and get you to order one. And I get it. That's the job of marketing. So yes, I do think when Jersey Jack talks a little bit about their product, you got to take some of it with a grain of salt because they do in a very like animated hyperbolic way, they're selling the sizzle of what they created. It's always funny to me when pinball companies talk because they could say stuff like, we couldn't get anything more into this game, right? I mean, I've heard people say this, there's nothing more that could go into this game. And we know that's not true, but it sounds good. It's like if I told Brenda, I couldn't love you any more than I do. I probably could. I probably could. It just sounds really good to make a very dramatic proclamation. I saw in their press release when they talk about the collector's edition, it is labeled as the highly sought after collector's edition. It's like, really guys, you can get one. So the people are there. They're great. We do the factory tour with Eric. The avatars are there. We didn't jump on them right away. We did about an hour factory tour. then they brought out lunch. They asked us if we had any questions and then we played the game and they had four avatars set up. They were all using LE playfields. Two of them were inside CE cabinets and I'm just going to say this. Yes, it is beautiful. When you walk up to this game, it is stunning and Jersey Jack has a polish and a presentation to their games that are unrivaled by anybody else in pinball. There is just nothing like walking up to a JJP game for the first time. It is absolutely stunning. The CE armor, they do this thing where they dip it in two different color blues to simulate the Navi skin color. It is stunning in person. I have never seen any armor like this. And when they talk about how it's made, this is not something that anybody could go do. You're not gonna be able to have like the mod community recreate what you're going to get with that CE armor. I'm going to get to the game, but I just want to talk about walking up to the machine for the first time. The topper is not repurposed screens from Toy Story 4. It is a hologram topper and it is absolutely stunning. It is huge. I'm looking at my GNR topper right now. It is a good like four inches taller than the GNR topper. It's encased in this box and it's absolutely stunning and it actually communicates what's going on in the game it was cool like people were tilting the machine and the topper would say tilt on it and shake and what you're seeing is like this heads-up display that the characters see in the movie and it's exactly from those heads-up displays from the movie and then you get to the game we saw the game on the line. Games are being made. We saw all the sub-assemblies. We saw all the parts. And then you walk up to the game and there's Avatar. And it's interesting walking up to a pinball machine for the first time. We've seen photos of it. We've seen the video. And when you're standing over Avatar, it is a really pretty machine. It really is. Like there's no denying the fact. I think the artwork is perfect for it. I didn't have any complaints about the way the game looks aesthetically. those two lower playfields, you know, when you're standing over it, that first one that's closest to the major flippers at the bottom of the game is a really big window. And then there's one above it. And then you've got most of the action in the game. Like most of what your eye is going to be drawn to are the wire forms and the ramps. And a lot of that is happening sort of further back in the game. I think a lot of the action in Avatar, when you play it, is going to be happening at the top of the game. Oh, I forgot to mention, the CE Translight is absolutely stunning. Here's the thing, I'm gonna talk about gameplay, I'm gonna talk about the UV effect, I'm gonna talk about a lot in this game. We did not get to see the CE play field, which by the way ladies and gentlemen is not being made by Mirko it is being made by Bader And Bader is who makes the best playfields in the world They make spooky pinballs playfields And that is the greatest news maybe in the history of Jersey Jack pinball. That their top of the line game is going to get a top of the line playfield. Just on that alone, I don't know how you buy anything other than the CE. making the CE even better is the fact that they are using three different types of UV ink on the CE play field and Tom showed us what that looks like in the LE you're just going to get blue UV ink so that means that only the color blue is really going to light up when the UV hits that game. In the CE, you're going to get blue, green, and red. And trust me, it is insanely cooler when all three are lit up. And here's the thing, and it's a little strange. I'm going to talk about why. Again, I think the CE is the only way to go in this game because the lighting effects in Avatar is the most, I think, impressive wow thing happening in the game. I don't think that's a negative, but if you're going to want the most impressive wow, like as that solar eclipse is happening, you want that bioluminescent world of Pandora to come to life, you're going to want the full effect. And I am a little bit surprised that they took the full effect out of the LE of the game because man, how could you spend 12 grand and know that you're not getting the full effect? So there's that. The other thing is this. There are no additional, I've seen this on Pinside and people are wrong. There's no additional UV lighting in the CE over the LE. So you are going to get the same amount of UV hitting that game, but you're not going to get the same amount of colors that are going to pop. All right. So then you get to the game and this is Mark Seiden's first game. And I want to stop before I get to the game. I want to talk about Mark for a minute. Mark is one of the nicest and coolest and friendly people I have met in pinball. He is impossible not to like the moment you start talking to him, the moment he starts talking about his game. And if you haven't met Mark, I can't wait till you meet him because he is a great ambassador for pinball. And when you meet the designer and when you get in front of them and you're hearing their passion, it's impossible when that happens to then separate the people who make this game from the game itself. And when you then start to play it, you actually play the game differently because you're playing it understanding why they made the game the way they made it. And I think that's a really important thing. And I think every pinball company should take a note on this. this helps people connect more with your product if you just walk up to the game this is a little bit of a mistake with x-men right if you just walk up to the game and you just start playing it and you're not really letting us in on why the game is this way like why is this over here why is that over there how did i engineer this sort of ramp that can also flip up and turn into the dive so you go under the ocean. It can also propel you up the ramp into a wire form. Why is the tree over here? Why isn't there a tree sculpt? Because Lightstorm, the production company, didn't want to approve a sculpt for that area. We maybe could have done it. Hey, the mod community is probably going to make that. We know that. You hear about how he watched the movie and how he got inspired by it and why he put this into it and that into it. And then, you know, you can never unlearn that And you can never erase that connection you have between the designer, his intentions, and the game itself. Now, look, all that being said, like, let's be honest, people. You know, Kaneda is still going to be Kaneda. I mean, all that being said, does it work out? Does the game deliver on what they're excited about? That's my main struggle over the last 24 hours is I've heard a lot. I've heard a lot of hyperbole from a lot of people. I talked to a lot of people that worked on the game and, you know, Brett's enthusiasm, Ken's enthusiasm, Jack came on camera. Everyone's very enthusiastic telling me that they've created, you know, in their minds, a masterpiece, a modern Marvel in pinball that has stuff in it that's never been done before in pinball. And all of that hyperbole is subjective. And that's the thing about pinball. And that is why I want to be fair. I want to tell you what I like about the game. I want to tell you what I like about how it shoots. I want to tell you what I like about the moments that really impressed me. I want to talk about a few things that I think Jersey Jack needs to continue to work on. And there's some things now that I've seen over the past few games that I think they need to address. Let me start with what I think is going to be the most important thing you need to think about whether or not you want to own this game. And that is the theme. Because there's just no way around it. I mean, they made Avatar based on the first two movies and this is Avatar. And so are you a fan of Avatar? And that is something you really need to think about because there's moments in this game and I was thinking about it where like if it was another movie where a major battle is happening, like the battle for Helm's Deep, when you hear that, it instantly like teleports you to like that moment in Lord of the Rings. The horse and the rider ride out with me for Rohan. You know, all that stuff, all those moments in the battle for Helm's Deep that you remember. And then when you hear the battle of Awa Atlu, you know, you're like, huh? You know, and that's it. And look, just to be fair, I mean, look, they put all of the major moments of the first two films into this game. But that's the thing. It's like the Avatar stuff. You need to ask yourself, do I want to have Avatar? Because this is such a polarizing theme for a lot of people. I think it's perfect for families who love the films. I mean, this is definitely a theme that I think a lot of people who are not on Pinside, are not cranky men drinking whiskey, are going to keep an open mind about because there's millions and millions and millions of people who love the world of Pandora, who love the movies, who love the rides, who love the attractions. So this game is a Pandora attraction. And this is why I do think you need to jump on this game and see if going through the world of Pandora sort of gets you going emotionally and gets you excited. I think everybody needs to start there with Avatar. It's not a home run theme for a lot of people that I've been talking to in the world of pinball. All right. So then you get over the game and how does the game play? Right. Because that's the other thing. People are always like, well, I didn't love Iron Maiden music, but I played Iron Maiden as a game, and that's what won me over. I played this game a lot. I played this game for at least, I want to say, 40 minutes. Lots of games. I put up the grand champion score of 200 million because I was the first one on that game. I watched Jack Danger later in the night at Interium. I think he put up like 1.4 billion. He just destroyed the game. And talking to Jack at Interium, who's a really good player, he loves Mark's game. He's like, I love this game. So I just wanted to report that too. There's a lot of mutual love and mutual respect between these companies, between the designers. And even though they might have different strategies, and even though they might have different philosophies on how to make pinball, and they do people, and they are radically different. Variety is the spice of life. But when you remove all the division that happens on the internet and on pin side, Mark Seiden and Jack Danger are two amazing men. And if you're hanging out with them and you're having some drinks and you're playing pinball with them and they're standing over their own creations, I don't think you could have a better night in pinball than I had last night. And I mean that like I'll remember that for a really long time. And I think it's important that we all realize we need to get out more, hang out with our friends. If you hit up Jersey Jack and say you want a tour, they'll give you one. If you hit up Stern and say you want to go see every, they'll give you one. Like you can get the access to these companies that we had yesterday. Well, maybe not as much as Canada, because I'll go into that later. All right. So how does the game shoot? The game is pretty wide open. It's pretty wide open. And I want to talk about the second thing that I've heard from everybody. And I want to confirm for everybody, When we saw the game on the line, the game has a lot in it. Like there's a lot more in this game than is in Elton John. Just from underneath the play field, Marcus put a lot of stuff in this game. But then when you look at the other side, right, when you're standing over the game and you ask, where is the major toy in Avatar? I'm going to tell you right now, it does not have a major toy in the game. And what I mean by major toy in the traditional sense of pinball is a mechanical thing that the ball interacts with that is not a ramp. It's not a diverter. It's not something that flips up. A toy is a toy. The genie that you bash is a toy in Totem. That's a toy. The T-Rex that eats the ball is a toy. The building that goes up and down in Godzilla is a toy. Heck, even the boat that you bash with the captive ball where you then hit the shark, Brucie and Jaws is a toy to me. Avatar doesn't have that. Even the things that you do semi-bash, you're not really bashing. You don't bash the marine robot in the game. You hit the sling underneath them. You don't bash the crab in the lower play field. you hit the target underneath them that is an area at jersey jack pinball where i do think they need to work on that i do think in any game you make i don't care what game it is i don't care what the theme is there needs to be a central toy that everyone can walk up to and really get excited about when you go see x-men and i'm going to talk a little bit about it later this sentinel toy is insane. It is awesome. And it is everything we love about pinball. Avatar doesn't have that kind of thing in it. And that will lead to a lot of people debating why isn't something like that in the game if these games are so much money. And when we were at Interium, I couldn't help but look down the row of Jersey Jack games. And when you look at dialed in was there, right? And it was like, man, it was glaringly obvious that Dialed In is loaded with toys. Loaded. Like there's so much in Dialed In where you interact with the ball, you hit stuff, you bash stuff. The big female mechanic comes down with the wrench as a diverter. All those are toys. Even the theater with the holographic display, all that's a toy. A scoop is not a toy, but that other stuff, man, it's toys. Slimer in Ghostbusters, the crane in Batman. And I do think that almost every single pinball machine is just more fun when you have at least one amazing toy that is super fun to hit time and time again. So I think, you know, as I look at Avatar and I think about the game and I think about the world of Pandora, I do think there was a missed opportunity to have a toy in there, whether it was like a bow and arrow that fires. We saw one in Walking Dead. the Banshee right flying around like you had a flying monkey in Wizard of Oz grab the ball and bring it up to the upper play field was there an opportunity to have a Banshee magnetize and carry the ball up to the Hallelujah Mountains? I mean, it was right there, right? You know, so I think that is something that people will point out. They will not be wrong when they say that. And I do think, you know, as Mark makes another game at JJP and JJP sort of finds its way again, because remember, they got really empty with some of their games recently. I think they need to continue to put more in. And especially at these prices, the customers and the fans of pinball are going to demand it. And if Stern is doing what they're doing with X-Men and it's loaded with toys and magnets and all this fun stuff, you're gonna have a hard time justifying the prices at Jersey Jack if your games aren't equally loaded. And here's the thing, you can't hide from the word loaded. When you say your game is loaded, people are either going to believe you or they're not. And so I would not say Avatar is loaded. I wouldn't. In fact, it's just not loaded. You might have taken up a lot of real estate with those lower playfields, but it is definitely not loaded. Now, look, much like Guns N' Roses, though, and I will say this, I don't even think GNR has many toys, if any. The main thing happening in Avatar is the atmosphere. And it's one of these games, again, where the entire machine itself is designed to sort of create the vibe of Pandora and transform the pinball machine into this like unique experience unlike anything else. And a lot of that has to do with the lighting. Before I talk about the lighting, I wanna get to the shots. A lot of the shots are more up the middle. There's a really challenging shot. It's a fun shot, but it's hard. It's the upper right ramp. It is the eclipse spinner shot. You need to hit that shot to cash out your eclipse jackpot. It is not easy. And I know Mark was even wondering, did I make it too hard? And I don't think he did. I think it is perfect the way it is because you want that risk reward moment to happen. And what's really cool about this game is like when the eclipse starts to happen and when the lighting switches over, it is really, really cool. And as you're hitting the shots and you're building up your jackpot, there's this great sense of urgency as the eclipse starts to fade away. And you realize like you got to hit that spinner jackpot and cash it out before the game goes back to full daylight. It is awesome. Like I really love that. Now, I have a gripe. You wouldn't be Kaneda without a gripe. Jersey Jack, you invited us to play Avatar. for the first time ever, 15 or so media personalities, the major real feature of this game, and you know it, it's all about that transformation, right? The twilight, the daylight, the twilight, the eclipse, the UV, that is the main thing in the game. You don't show the game to us in a pitch black room where we can get the full effect of the lighting in the game. I was like, what, how did they miss that opportunity? I told it to Ken. I told them at Expo, I think they're going to do this. They need to pipe and drape. That's all you need. Even if you couldn't find a pitch black room, just pipe and drape it. So we're walking into a completely dark environment to experience the game. They didn't do it. It was a missed opportunity because I wish I could tell you how bright the UV works in the game. Part of me is like, is Kerry Hardy right? Are they manipulating it in the video? Maybe. Because even when Tom showed us the CE, he was using a handheld black light to show us how much it lit up. But I don't know. I can tell you the UV in the game is not going to be as strong as holding a handheld black light at the playfield. So at Expo, I hope they display the game that way. But otherwise, like the game was fun to shoot. Like I had a good time shooting the game. I think there's a lot of really interesting shots off those upper flippers that send the ball into unique directions. I was still learning the shots when it comes to flow. There were some times, and this is what happens when you don't have like a major toy to keep hitting or bashing. There were some times where, you know, you're not really quite sure what you should be shooting at. I was still learning the rule sets when I was playing the game. What else do I want to talk about? I want to talk about the animations. They're stunning. they got so many assets from the production company they're absolutely amazing it might be jersey jack's prettiest work as far as animations go in a game the music is great they nailed it and you gotta remember avatar is a tricky one music wise for pinball because you can have like very slow almost to like an aura happening with the music that really makes that bioluminescent sort of vibe come to life. You got to go from that to like more energetic music when you get to some of the multi-balls in the game. Good news is you're not going to be bombarded with multi-balls the way you are in some other Kiefer games. This is not a one switch multiball game. So you're going to have to work to start your multi-balls, which is good. The flippers feel great. Flippers feel absolutely fine. I didn't feel any flipper fade. It wasn't hard getting the ball up any of those ramps. The lower playfields, people are going to talk about them. They're going to wonder whether it was worth it. You know, lower playfields are very polarizing in pinball. I didn't love them. I didn't hate them. I actually found the upper lower play field to be more satisfying, which is the smaller window. I think the flipper buttons are actually activating. I think it's a pop bumper down there. When you press the button, it's activating it and knocking the ball into the targets. I actually found that one to be more rewarding than the one below it, which is a mini playfield down there where there's two flippers. It's not using a full size pinball down there. It is a smaller pinball. And I never really loved those kinds of lower playfields because the kinetic satisfaction in shooting one of those like non-steel balls is never that rewarding. It's not bad. It's just not like, oh, I can't wait to get back down there. And I think most lower playfields are like that for people, which is why not having an upper playfield in Avatar with the Hallelujah Mountains, like it was right there, guys. Like I'm a little surprised that Jersey Jack didn't do anything upward. I really would have liked to have seen that. I think there was a missed opportunity to have a Hallelujah Mountain upper playfield that just sent the ball up there in a magical way. Waz has got two upper playfields. We've got Guns N' Roses upper playfield, the Pirates of the Caribbean upper playfield. This game's not one-dimensional because of the lower playfields, but I do think it's easier to make upper playfields more satisfying than it is to make a lower playfield satisfying. When it comes to the lower playfields, I also would have liked there to have been, and I don't know how to do this per se, but just some sort of effect that made it look like you were looking underwater. I didn't feel that. You know, how could we do something really unique there that looked like the ocean waving back and forth and you're seeing down underneath. Again, I'm not an engineer. I'm not a designer. But if you're gonna do something to bring Pandora to life, how can we simulate the ocean a little bit more in a wow way? Okay, so two more things. And I'm sorry this is a long show, but I'm excited and I wanna talk about a lot of this. Keith is putting a lot in this game. It's almost done. I think we're waiting on the final wizard mode and I made a joke to him about it. I'm like, really? Here we are again, Keith. Final wizard mode not done. There's so much in this game. Like, it's almost like no one can ever get to his final wizard modes. So that's what buys him time, maybe to never finish them. But it's coming, he said. There's 22 modes and there's a lot. And again, this gets back to theme. When Keith started talking about Avatar and how you play the game and what the objectives are, it's another moment where like your head starts to spin a little bit because who amongst us like really knows the avatar universe very well collecting sound cords or arrows or beads for necklaces like all this stuff is like it's not stuff we remember really it's not stuff that i don't know if it's exciting to do that stuff and that's why again you're gonna need to make sure that avatar is a theme for you the call outs they got the actor from the movie They've got some call-outs from other actors in the movie as well. There's still moments. I'm just going to say this. There's still moments. And I think Jersey Jack needs to work on this a little bit. There were still moments like when a multiball was about to start. And I'll use like the battle for Hallelujah Mountains, right? When they articulate that that multiball is about to start, It's sometimes delivered in a voice that's not as animated and not as excited as I think it needs to be to really get you going in the mode. It's spoken in the Navi sort of the way they talk in the movie. But I think you need to do it in like more of like a rally cry moment to get people going. Like it's like showtime's about to start. Are you ready for the battle for Hallelujah Mountains, people? You don't have to add the people in there, but I just think some of the call outs can come across as pretty monotone. And I think they need to work on that a little bit. The music is phenomenal. Great music in the game. My final feelings on this game is also something that I've been feeling on quite a few recent Jersey Jack games. And this is the one thing I think they need to work on because I was talking to the code team. Here's the problem I'm noticing with Jersey Jack games. And I've seen it in Toy Story. I'm seeing it again in Avatar. I think they fixed it in Godfather. They keep saying they have all the assets. They have voices synced up with the actors. And I'm watching the game. I'm watching people play. I'm watching multi-balls. I'm watching sequences unfold in the game. And I'm not seeing when the clips from the movie are playing and characters are, mouths are open. They're saying stuff. They're either cheering or they're talking to each other. you don't hear them. And I think Jersey Jack needs to work on this. I just don't like muted clips. I think they need to, if they really want to bring the movies to life, we don't watch a movie scene if actors are talking or screaming or yelling or crying or singing. We don't want those scenes brought to us when we play the pinball mode of that moment with muted dialogue. I think it has something to do with how they layer the sound over the call outs, over the clips. They need to figure this out because I think it's the one thing that is hamstringing them truly integrating these themes to the best of their ability. I mean that. And I also think it removes a lot of the energy from those moments in the movie because like you've got these epic battles and I'm looking at the screen and stuff's happening. People are firing guns and arrows. There's like helicopters and exoskeleton fights and you don't hear them. You don't hear those characters. And I think they need to work on that. Does it ruin the game? No, but I think it's what's keeping these games from really elevating and connecting with you, the player. Because the thing is, is when you remove that and all you have is like orchestra and call outs where the energy isn't always there. There's moments you can be playing a Jersey Jack game, and this is not just Avatar. There moments you can be playing a Jersey Jack game and even though it beautiful even though everything is coming at you in such a visceral way it can still leave you feeling somewhat numb and it can still come at you in a somewhat sterile way I think it's a fair assessment and I think they need to work on that because I think if there's one thing missing from a lot of these beautiful Jersey Jack games, they need more soul and personality. I think that goes all the way back to a game like Dialed In. Dialed In should have been one of the biggest hits ever. And the reason it's not, it just lacked personality and soul. Like it just didn't come at you right. And so that's the thing. I think Jersey Jack needs to think about that. It's not just clips. It's not just orchestration. It's also like, how do I feel when I'm playing this moment? I think there's work at JJP to be done by Kiefer in that aspect too, because I do get the sense that he codes a game where he's like mapped it all out, but I'm not sure he's mapping it out in a way that's like, how is the player going to feel versus like, this is the rules and this is how the game unfolds. And I heard that Joe Katz does it differently. And that is why Joe Katz's games are really starting to get a lot of appreciation because I think Joe codes it more like in real time, like they play the game and they figure out what would be most fun. And And that's what becomes the code. So maybe it's different approaches. Maybe it's different strokes the way they do it. But that's just what I think, you know, as Brett and Jack continue to drive Jersey Jack pinball into the future, I think they need to work on some of those things. And I think what would help them is maybe bringing in some outside people to give feedback. And this is what's hard with all these companies, right? If their marketing strategy is secrecy and FOMO, I'm not sure who's giving them feedback. And you can see when you go over there, it's hard not to get stuck in a bubble, like staring at your product and you're not getting like a fresh perspective. Okay. So that was a lot. That was a lot. But in the end, should you buy an avatar? Is avatar going to blow you away? Is avatar going to be competitive? Is it worth the money, right? Is it worth the money? And I just have to say, you know, I think you need to play it. Do I see $15,000 in a game next to a game like Dialed In, which looks like it's got twice as much stuff? I don't, I don't, you know, I can see where the money went with Avatar, but I'm not sure it's translating for me. And I see that much money in the game. But this is pinball now, right? You do get a lot for your money. I mean, trust me, you do get a lot when you buy that CE that is absolutely stunning. So it's really going to come down to whether or not it's for you. Now, I keep seeing people on Pinside saying, I ordered one. I'm buying one. I think you need to jump on this game. What I worry about with Jersey Jack is this, because I do worry that the LE is kind of pointless in this game because there's just so many more reasons to get the CE. And if you have 12, you have 15. Let's be honest. I worry that they're making the LEs first, which is a mistake. They're going to make the CEs in November, which is not that long to wait, but it's still a wait. Stern will have made every X-Men LE by then, by next week probably, by today probably. And I don't want to see this happen to people. I don't want to see people continue to buy these $15,000 games and lose a lot of money because they bought it not knowing they enjoyed the game, not knowing they liked the shots, not knowing it's for them. And anyone who's ordered this game already has never played it. And I don't think anyone is really like die, die, die hard Avatar fan where you're just going to order it like that. And so I just encourage each and every one of you to jump on Mark's game, to play it, make sure it's the game for you. When you go to Expo, bring headphones, plug into the game, hear the sound. Don't play it in a bad environment. you won't have a hard time getting one. And I think that's a good thing. I think this is a really fair review of the game. I think the game does stuff really well. I think it presents very, very nicely. I think they need to get some more toys into these games and they need to figure out how to get those clips to be more integrated with the moments we remember from those clips in the films and movies they're bringing at us. Because they got this beautiful screen but it's just feeling a little disconnected. And again, if you watch even the greatest action movie of all time, if that scene becomes muted, you lose everything. And I think Jersey Jack needs to make that a focus moving forward. We can't have these muted clips anymore. It's just not working, at least not to Canada. Okay. So I spent most of my time at JJP. I had a little bit of time. George Gomez says, let me pick you up. Picks me up in his 911 Porsche. Him and Jack Danger gave me the most VIP tour of Stern Pinball. I'm going to give you a little something special from George. You'll see soon. And I just have to say like Stern's facility is insane. It is insane. Like it is humongous. It is so clean. It looks like you could eat off the floor. They have so much going on and talking to George and talking to Jack and talking about their strategy for pinball, hearing true stories about the Costco games. You know, Costco went to them and said, hey, we want to sell pinball in Costco and the games are selling really well. They're going to sell out by the holiday. And then here we are on the internet slamming Stern Pinball for selling in Costco, insulting them. Gang, I mean this. When I hung out with the JJP people and I hung out with Gomez and I hung out with Jack and I hung out with Mark and Jack together. All of you angry people on the internet, you need help. Like you really need some help. If your life has distilled down to a place where you can't even enjoy the very thing that you're here for, you know, maybe it's time for a new hobby. You could say, Kaneda, you're being a hypocrite. You critique these companies. Yeah, I do. What I just did with Avatar is, you know, kind of how I want to look at these games. You know, I want to give you a balance and fair opinion about the game. And look, there's moments gang where I might just flat out, I don't want to meet the creative team behind, you know, company. I will not mentions new game. I don't want to meet the, I don't care because I can see what is there is not good. It's not creative. It's not worth buying. And I don't see any passion in that game whatsoever, But I respect Jersey Jack Pinball and so should you. And I respect Stern Pinball and so should you. These are the top two companies in pinball. They're making the two best products in all of pinball. And so to have the privilege, and it was a privilege, to be invited after all of the stuff I've said, to have the privilege to see both of those operations, people at both organizations jump on their two latest creations was amazing. It was amazing. And it meant a lot to me because remember, I've done a lot of work, 10 years of this. I've never had that experience. I haven't seen either company's Chicago facilities. And so going to Stern, getting the VIP tour with George and Jack was awesome. And then I jumped on X-Men. And I just want to say this. I'm not going to go into it in a lot of detail. X-Men is epic. It's absolutely epic. They should change the name from the Uncanny X-Men to the Epic X-Men. It shoots. It is maybe one of the best shooting Stern pinball machines ever. And after playing Avatar all day long, you know, Stern still has the edge. They still have the edge with the flipper field. But my gosh, the ball pathways in X-Men are so amazing. They are so rewarding to hit. The way the ball like flies around that game is so much fun. The lower left play field is awesome. The Danger Room is incredible. And then the Sentinel up the middle, I love it. And when you see this game and you stand over it, Zombie Yeti's artwork is incredible. The Ellie art package is incredible. I love how like one side of the cabinet is present day. And then the other side is the future where like all the nightmare is happening. It is so good. And you know, and reading on Pinside, and you know what was sad to me as I walk up and Jack is deflated because he's been reading all of your negativity on pin side. All of you like slamming him and the stream and I get it. It wasn't the best stream. It didn't present the game the best and they have some work to do there. But my gosh, this game is so much better than Foo Fighters. It is awesome. He has no reason to hold his head lower than it should be and his head is a lot higher than mine. He has created, I think, one of the best shooting stern machines ever and I think you're going to feel the same way. Now, is the code going to be the best ever? And that is a big question mark. I don't know, but I am going to tell you, even without code, you're going to love this damn game. You're going to love this damn game. And Zombie Yeti's art package, I love it. It's so different. It's so unique, everything about it. So I just want to say, I've been reading this weird vibe of like, well, X-Men's dead now. And because there was an Avatar video for 18 minutes, that's now the new King and X-Men's over and it's all, everyone's going to go buy Avatar. You guys, honestly, everyone needs to just like chill out. Like go make love to your wives. You know, go buy your kids some toys. Go drink a beer. But just relax. Like these are pinball machines meant to bring people together. I mean, I was hanging out with Colin. Remember Colin and I arguing, fighting, destroying the Twippies? We're hanging out, having a beer, having a good time. Scott from Loser Kid, hanging out, having a good time. Real men know how to walk across the aisle, shake hands, and bury hatchets. And one person wouldn't do that. And that is the sign of a very small man. Everybody, everybody, an awesome time to be in pinball. You got to play both of these machines. Yes, the prices are crazy, but you're going to have to make up your minds on your own. And the good news is, go to the shows, play these games. And I'm just going to tell you this right now. The one thing, the other thing that's not going to help Avatar right now, Harry Potter is coming out in six months. It is ready. It is coming out in February. And I'm going to tell you this. He didn't tell me the title. He didn't confirm it, but that's my rumor. Eric Minier, admittedly, has made some games that haven't been themes that he personally loves. This is the time where we're going to get what he personally loves with something he can professionally make. And I think it's going to be awesome. Needs to have toys, though. It needs to have toys. and it better sync up those clips. Everybody, thank you for being a Kaneda Club member. I haven't done an hour-long show in forever, but I think this trip warranted that. I think this trip was special. I just wanted to give you a little bit of a special show. For episode 999, Kaneda has something special planned for you kids for episode 1,000. Just wait and see. Excuse me, you look like you love me. You look like you want me to want you to come on home. And baby, I don't blame you for looking me up and down across this room. I'm drunk and I'm ready to leave. And you look like you love me I'm drunk and I'm ready to leave And you look like you love me

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 60beaf33-325a-42b2-913d-8c6d35bbe903*