# The Great British Pinball Podcast Episode 28

**Source:** The Great British Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-09-01  
**Duration:** 43m 24s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** Buzzsprout-17767850

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## Analysis

Neil McRae hosts solo episode 28 of Great British Pinball Podcast covering Pinfest UK tournament event, Stern's new Star Wars: Fall of the Empire game and Spike 3 platform reveal, and Disney EMEA licensing issues blocking European availability. McRae criticizes tournament formats and Best in Show voting at Pinfest, discusses code quality improvements across recent Stern releases, and warns that Disney's regional licensing refusal could devastate European pinball industry by blocking access to all Disney IPs.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Stern could not secure Disney EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) licensing for Star Wars: Fall of the Empire; Disney considers European pinball market too small to justify deal — _Neil McRae discussing licensing negotiations and feedback from Disney EMEA_
- [MEDIUM] Star Wars is the best-selling Stern game after Godzilla; second best-seller is Data East's 1990s Star Wars designed by John Borg — _Neil McRae comparing sales figures and game performance_
- [HIGH] Spike 3 features improved amplifier, dual HDMI outputs, on-board Wi-Fi, Raspberry Pi 4 CPU, enhanced memory, and silent power supply — _Neil McRae analyzing leaked Spike 3 MPU board specifications_
- [MEDIUM] Pinfest 2025 drew fewer attendees than previous years despite improved logistics — _Neil McRae observation comparing crowd density and spacing this year vs. prior events_
- [MEDIUM] John Borg designed Star Wars: Fall of the Empire; Ray Day is on code (rumored) — _Neil McRae citing designer credits and rumored code involvement_
- [HIGH] Star Wars: Fall of the Empire is based on episodes 4-6, announced 4 months prior on this podcast — _Neil McRae's prior announcement and current episode discussion_
- [HIGH] Stern's recent code updates (John Wick, X-Men, Kong, Jaws) have been exceptionally strong — _Neil McRae describing update quality and player reception_
- [HIGH] Disney now owns at least half of all major IPs including Avengers, Star Wars, Predator, Alien, Tron following Fox acquisition — _Neil McRae discussing Disney portfolio expansion and consolidation_

### Notable Quotes

> "You can't have a game that isn't working. And again, I don't think it was the best modern game that was there. I would argue that Galactic Tank Force was significantly better."
> — **Neil McRae**, Early Pinfest section
> _Criticism of Best in Show voting integrity; non-working Godzilla should not have won_

> "This is Europe saying they're not interested in pinball... not Star Wars pinball not Tron pinball but pinball... the market for pinball just shrunk in Europe. That is not good."
> — **Neil McRae**, Star Wars licensing discussion
> _Key warning about systemic impact of Disney EMEA licensing refusal on entire European industry_

> "Star Wars simply sells. No matter what, it's a game that sells. I personally think that game's terrible. It's Steve's worst game."
> — **Neil McRae**, Star Wars context section
> _Acknowledges Star Wars IP dominance while expressing personal design criticism of Ritchie's version_

> "They could literally have a three foot monkey flipping flippers in a box, put Star Wars on it and it'll sell."
> — **Neil McRae**, Star Wars market analysis
> _Hyperbolic acknowledgment of Star Wars IP strength in pinball market_

> "Look, I'm not trying to be anti-dog. But it was a real problem for me... thinking of the old peanut allergy analogy..."
> — **Neil McRae**, Post-Pinfest reflection section
> _Personal anecdote about dog allergy flare-up and venue policy concerns_

> "Spike 2 has been fantastic... I probably own more spike 2 games than anyone else in the UK and it's bulletproof. It's just been solid."
> — **Neil McRae**, Spike 3 platform discussion
> _Industry perspective on Spike 2 reliability and location operator adoption_

> "This is the kind of funny thing. In theory, it should keep prices down because Stern uses a system now that to manufacture probably is more expensive because it's using older technology."
> — **Neil McRae**, Spike 3 analysis
> _Economic analysis of platform upgrade impact on manufacturing costs and pricing_

> "Evil Dead was rammed all weekend. It's probably the busiest game there. So that's two for two. Last year was Pulp Fiction. It was rammed all weekend. And this year, Evil Dead. Both games ran beautifully."
> — **Neil McRae**, Pinfest tournament report
> _Observation on successful game placement and venue draw at major UK event_

> "If you've got any location pinball, unless it's an arcade by the seaside, but if it's like a pub or anywhere else, guaranteed every single game is a Stern Spike 2 game... It's never a JGP game. It's never a spooky game."
> — **Neil McRae**, Location operator reliability section
> _Industry reality about operator platform dominance in UK venues_

> "I'm thinking of taking my Mandalorian up in a van to the HQ in Soho for Disney. Getting a big battery and doing guerrilla pinball... It kind of feels like that's the level of emergency for this."
> — **Neil McRae**, Disney licensing protest section
> _Extreme frustration about Disney EMEA decision; indicates severity of perceived industry threat_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Neil McRae | person | Co-host of Great British Pinball Podcast, UK tournament organizer (UK Open, Pinball Republic), vocal industry advocate |
| Scott Rundell | person | Co-host of Great British Pinball Podcast; new father (son Max Rundle born during episode recording) |
| Max Rundle | person | Newborn son of Scott Rundell and Holly; celebrated at start of episode 28 |
| John Borg | person | Pinball designer; designed Star Wars: Fall of the Empire for Stern; also designed Data East Star Wars (1990s) |
| Ray Day | person | Pinball code programmer rumored to be handling Star Wars: Fall of the Empire code; praised for Metallica Remastered work |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer releasing Star Wars: Fall of the Empire and new Spike 3 platform |
| Disney | company | IP licensor; EMEA division blocking Star Wars: Fall of the Empire European release; owns Avengers, Star Wars, Predator, Alien, Tron, Deadpool, X-Men |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Competitor manufacturer; associated with location reliability concerns vs Stern dominance |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Competitor manufacturer; not dominant in UK location market per industry analysis |
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Referenced as location pinball manufacturer; subject of market dominance discussion |
| Great British Pinball Podcast | organization | Show hosted by Neil McRae and Scott Rundell; this is episode 28 |
| Pinfest | event | Major UK pinball tournament and showcase event; held recently; featured games, tournaments, and challenges with venue management |
| UK Open | event | Major international pinball tournament in London; 180 players registered; Neil McRae organizing; sold out; upcoming major event |
| Star Wars: Fall of the Empire | game | Upcoming Stern pinball machine launching on Spike 3 platform; based on Episodes 4-6; featuring Death Star, Jabba the Hutt, Millennium Falcon; designer John Borg; unavailable in European market due to Disney EMEA licensing refusal |
| Spike 3 | product | Stern's next-generation pinball platform/CPU system; successor to Spike 2; features enhanced amplifier, dual HDMI outputs, on-board Wi-Fi, Raspberry Pi 4, silent power supply |
| Spike 2 | product | Current Stern pinball platform; dominant in UK location venues; proven reliable platform; being succeeded by Spike 3 |
| Evil Dead | game | Recent Stern release; extremely busy at Pinfest; second year in a row (previous: Pulp Fiction) that this game was draw |
| Metallica Remastered | game | Stern remaster with code by Ray Day; praised as outstanding; referenced as example of code quality work |
| John Wick | game | Stern game; received strong code update this week per Neil McRae |
| X-Men | game | Stern game (X-Men 2); some players selling but upcoming code update expected to be strong |
| Kong | game | Stern game; Neil McRae brought Premium version to Pinfest; received code updates |
| Jaws | game | Stern game; received major code update for 50th anniversary release |
| Godzilla | game | Best-selling Stern game; won Best Modern Game at Pinfest despite technical failure (node board failure) and inferior play vs competitors like Galactic Tank Force |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Legendary Stern pinball designer; designed previous Star Wars pinball (vaulted); Neil McRae critical of that design despite its commercial success |
| Alan Adair | person | UK pinball community member; beneficiary of Pinfest charity fundraising (Sarcoma UK); notably absent from event despite raising funds in his honor |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Star Wars: Fall of the Empire game announcement and Spike 3 platform reveal, Disney EMEA licensing refusal and European pinball market impact, Pinfest 2025 UK tournament event review and critique
- **Secondary:** Stern code quality and recent updates (John Wick, X-Men, Kong, Jaws), Spike 3 hardware specifications and technical improvements, Tournament format and Best in Show voting integrity, UK Open 2025 preparation and logistics
- **Mentioned:** Location operator market dominance of Stern Spike 2 platform

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.35) — Positive about Pinfest improvements, Stern code quality, and Star Wars game potential. Negative about Disney licensing decision, tournament formats, Best in Show voting, and product (specifically Blues Brothers and Best in Show selections). Frustrated about personal dog allergy impact and broader industry implications of Disney EMEA refusal.

### Signals

- **[announcement]** Star Wars: Fall of the Empire officially announced as next Stern game; launching on Spike 3 platform; based on Episodes 4-6 (confidence: high) — Neil McRae discussing official Stern teaser and game details confirmed for launch event attendance
- **[announcement]** Stern Spike 3 next-generation platform officially revealed with technical specifications (confidence: high) — Neil McRae analyzing leaked MPU board details including amplifier, HDMI, Wi-Fi, CPU specifications
- **[licensing_signal]** Disney EMEA region blocking Star Wars: Fall of the Empire European availability; regional licensing strategy shift post-Fox acquisition (confidence: high) — Neil McRae providing direct feedback from Stern European distributors and Disney licensing negotiations; CEO-level escalation planned
- **[market_signal]** Disney EMEA decision potentially blocks all future Disney IP pinball licensing in Europe (Tron Remastered, Deadpool 2, Pirates of Caribbean sequels, etc.) (confidence: high) — Neil McRae's analysis of consolidated Disney IP portfolio and regional licensing constraints affecting future games
- **[code_update]** Multiple Stern titles receiving strong code updates: John Wick (major update this week), X-Men 2 (update expected next week), Kong (big update), Jaws (50th anniversary update) (confidence: high) — Neil McRae praising code quality across multiple Stern releases and encouraging players to revisit games with updates
- **[event_signal]** Pinfest 2025 venue improvements: tournament moved to separate area reducing crowding; hotel management change (new company ownership) bringing professionalism and stricter policies (confidence: high) — Neil McRae detailed event observations about layout changes, attendance patterns, and hotel operational improvements
- **[sentiment_shift]** Ongoing criticism of UK tournament format selection; Head2Head format and Classics tournament not utilizing optimal competitive formats despite being major UK events (confidence: high) — Neil McRae critique of Head2Head (not using PAPA format) and Classics tournament design choices; frustration about WPPR point scoring
- **[product_concern]** Best in Show award voting lacks integrity; public voting influenced by player friend groups rather than objective game quality assessment (confidence: high) — Neil McRae criticizing specific Best in Show winners (Godzilla with broken node board, non-functional features; World Cup Soccer being superior to Addams Family; Galactic Tank Force better than Godzilla)
- **[design_philosophy]** Evil Dead game demonstrated strong venue draw at Pinfest (busiest game); consistent with prior year where Pulp Fiction was most popular; suggests theme/IP appeal and code quality drive venue traffic (confidence: high) — Neil McRae noting Evil Dead remained busy all weekend and comparing to Pulp Fiction success from prior year
- **[operational_signal]** Pinfest hotel staff enforcement of pet policy inconsistent; dogs appearing in restricted areas (function rooms, restaurant) despite policy limiting to guest rooms and reception only (confidence: medium) — Neil McRae personal experience with dog allergy triggered by policy violation; allergen exposure in restricted areas of venue
- **[business_signal]** Spike 3 hardware improvements potentially neutral or positive for pricing; newer platform may allow cost efficiencies but Stern likely to add more features rather than reduce prices (confidence: medium) — Neil McRae speculation that hardware cost savings may be offset by feature additions rather than price reductions
- **[industry_signal]** Disney's regional licensing consolidation and scale post-Fox acquisition creating barriers to European pinball licensing; perceived as systemic threat to industry rather than Stern-specific issue (confidence: high) — Neil McRae positioning Disney EMEA decision as warning to entire industry about future JJP and other manufacturers' ability to license Disney content in Europe

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## Transcript

 Welcome to the Great British Pinball Podcast, and here are your hosts Scott Rundell and Neil McRae. Welcome everybody, it's the Great British Pinball Podcast, episode 28, the happy birthday edition happy birthday to max rondo um born earlier today um i think around lunchtime although scott admitted that he wasn't quite sure what time it was but uh max just over seven pounds mother and baby doing great um and there's a beautiful picture on scott's facebook if you want to have a look um and great to see i'm very happy for them and uh i thought it was only only right to wish them well in their next four months of not being able to sleep. Holly looks pretty tired. I think she said a long weekend. But I'm really pleased that it all went well. And Max Rundle is there, so video game people will no doubt figure out the video game link, given Holly and Scott's love of video games. Anyway, Scott, my friend, really happy for you. and wish you and your new family all the very best, as I'm sure all of our listeners do. Right, so I'm going to do a bit of a podcast on my own, and I'll try and, if Scott's busy, which I'm sure he will be, I'll probably find a guest to fill in for him next, at the end of September. But I wanted to cover three things today. First of all, Pinfest. Second of all The new Star Wars game From Stern And there was a third topic But it's gone in my head, I'm sure it'll come back to me But it's episode 28 And first of all, Pinfest Pinfest was great No question about it The event was way better The big change that they made Was to move the tournament into another area Which worked better for the main tournament and a hell of a lot better for the main gig, if you like. And because of that, it just felt more spacious. It felt like there was a lot more games to play for those that weren't in the tournament. Retro Arcade Specialist filled up the area that normally has the tournament in it. And, I mean, he brought tons of stuff, loads of games, including Dune, which was fantastic, ABBA, which is awful, Blues Buzz, which is awful. And, yeah, not much more I can say. But massive difference. There's two things about Pinfest that are going to be negative for just, like, one or two minutes, folks. Fast forward, you know, five minutes from now to – I promise my rant is no more than five minutes. the first thing and it's not a surprise because I've said it before but the tournaments are just not where they need to be for the two kind of second and third biggest tournaments in the UK for them to score not the maximum world championship points is staggering the main tournament's got a lot better for sure going five car but head to head I don't know why why do head to head where you could do Papa format get double for each Game doesn't make any sense to me And it's just as competitive If not more competitive certainly better for the Viewer in my view People are probably debating about that The classics I just don't get that tournament at all I'm just Going to leave it like that The second thing I wanted to kind of be a little Bit negative about Is the best In show Because it's not The And the reason I'm saying this is because there's a few people I know that really used to enjoy the Best in Show when it was done kind of a bit more professionally. I don't know what's changed or if it's just that more people have started to want to win this just by getting their buddies to vote for them. But a public vote kind of controlling what the outcome is is just not great. First of all, Ramones was the best remake and best game of the show. No argument with that But the best The best EM was good It was the Wizard Sorry, Wizard! The best kind of SS classic Absolutely Should not have won Game was awful, looked awful, played awful Just not fit For anything close to best Game and there was so many other Better games in the hall Same is true for Best DMD And Adam's Family Not even close to the Best DMD The World Cup Soccer opposite Was significantly better And then finally Godzilla Now Godzilla looked okay except There's one big problem with it It's node board Had gone which meant The tower And other stuff wasn't working That's an instant zero in my book of best game. You can't have a game that isn't working. And again, I don't think it was the best modern game that was there. I would argue that Galactic Tank Force was significantly better. And that, you know, if there was a game that probably should have won it, it should have been that. Yeah, it just leaves a bad taste. And lots of friends that have won before and entered before basically said, what's the point in doing this because it's just not taken seriously enough either by those voting or those running it. So those are my kind of two kind of pet peeves around Pinfest, but substantially better. Josh won the classics. Mike Christensen won the main tournament. Alice won the ladies tournament. And I can't remember who, sorry, Andy won the NBA tournament with both Lucy and Daniel Vince winning the juniors. And I can't remember who won the, there was another one, another group, but they won that. And then, actually, it was a Scotsman whose name escapes me, which is Bad Karma, who won the league finals. Actually, the league finals looked like they were really well organized. It felt more like how the league finals should be. I don't think it's there yet. For me, the league finals probably got the most players in the UK, and it should be a major event. It's certainly better. Ian from Preston Pinball, actually, he streamed all weekend, not just the league finals, but a lot of other stuff. And I think Paul did a great job on trying to make those finals worthy. Let me just find out, or just quickly, I know Martin on Pinball News, but we're going to see a lot of detail about Pinfest. Go take a look at Pinball News. Martin's done his usual massive write-up with lots of photos and videos. Let me just find who won the league Because I'll Well it was the Mierdela game That was great, there was a game called Cyber Race I think Which was a homebrew Looked pretty good, seemed to play pretty well And actually the other thing was The other thing that was very different The hotel has been bought out By another company So they actually had staff in the hotel Now, the upside of that was you got served well. But the other side is because they're now running a professional setup, there was very – in the past, you've been able to get away with certain things. So, like, we were unloading through the staff entrance. No, you can't do that anymore. So it's give and take. But I think overall, the hotel for me was the best it's ever been, which was great. And you know It's It's great to see the hotel getting invested In I mean it's still A long way to go so yeah Alice McKenna won The ladies and The league finals was won By Steve Close into the not real Pinball hall of fame was Greg and Ilsa both worthy winners But the hall of fame is a bit of a I don't know it just It doesn't feel like it's the Hall of Fame to me. But anyway, we shall move on. So some really great games brought. I mentioned going to the Tampa Force. Rob also brought his TNA. There was a June there. Actually, June I played. I played about five or six weeks ago at Pinburgh, and I thought it was awful. In fact, I kind of walked away from it after ball three. I didn't enjoy it at all. It's significantly better. So they've obviously been working aggressively on the code. Definitely played a lot better. The flippers on it, though, just, I don't know what it is. They just don't feel right to me. Same on Labyrinth. I think it's how they're using it. But they just don't feel as good as they should be or as good as they could be. So that's kind of that. and didn't feel as crowded. I think partly because of the change of where the tournament was, but also I said this in the build-up, I just don't think as many people were there this year. In fact, I'm pretty sure about it. I mean, at one point in last year and the year before, you could not move around the thing without getting in the way. but Phil, great job I took Kong and Evil Dead actually it was going to be for a private tournament I ran a tournament last year a few years ago and got into trouble for it So I was going to run it in my room called Fight Club Basically winner takes all We did it in disc. We did it at Expo. And we're going to do it at Pinfest. And Phil was keen, as was I, to play the two games I took, which was Kong, Premium, and The Evil Dead. Evil Dead was rammed all weekend. It's probably the busiest game there. So that's two for two. Last year was Pulp Fiction. It was rammed all weekend. And this year, Evil Dead. Both games ran beautifully. June was very busy as well, no question about it. Rob made some story up about Galactic Tank being busy. I mean, I like the game, but it wasn't busy, mate. But, yeah, a lot of, I mean, and also poor retro arcade specialist brought a Blues Brothers. and I spent the weekend taking photos with no one playing it. I mean a great thing about that is more people came to my point of view as to why that game is so freaking awful. It is bad and please for the love of God HomePin stop making pinball machines. Actually the tournament I ran and there was ElectroCard and RetroArcade brought three games for the charity which was Venom Uncanny X-Men LE and Led Zep Premium probably not the kind of line up you want to maximise cash but with the tournament that I ran the Fight Club half the money went to the charity and actually I won the tournament by total chance so I donated the winnings so it was like winner takes all half the pot Going to the charity half pot Going to the winner I basically donated the whole thing to the pot Which I think was about 300 quid I think they raised a grand overall Something like that But yeah, great weekend It was great to see so many people there And you know A couple of minute moments Where Alan Adair Who they were raising the charity money for For Sarcoma Him not being there was definitely It was noticeable We missed him For sure, I missed him. And his brother Alfie was there, which was great to see him. And great to see a lot of people that you probably see once a year. So thank you for that. Everyone who was involved in running it, great. One, actually, I did – I'm going to break my promise about being negative. Actually, maybe it's negative is the right word. But there's one other issue that caused me great pain. No one will care. In fact, this is only going to re-emphasize my position as the most hated person in pinball in the UK. But the hotel advertises itself as dog-friendly. Now, in the past, I don't think I've ever seen a dog at pin fest. Never, ever. it was basically like Battersea Dogs Home at the hotel. And I have a dog allergy. Some of you know about this because the last time I had a big flare-up was at the club when someone came in with a dog. And normally one dog, I'm fine. But if the space is too enclosed, it just bungs me up. And I get, I've got this, I don't know if you can see it, but I basically came out in this kind of rash, which was awful. It made me look like I had a really bad cold. I couldn't breathe and I kept sneezing. It was pretty tough. In fact, the day after driving home, it got so bad, I actually had to pull over for half an hour whilst I got my shit together. So, and I kind of, when I got back, I kind of looked at, well, the first thing was to look at the UK Open Hotel. And thank God there's no dogs allowed in it. So that's what up. Because I was thinking, I'm not going through that again and trying to run the UK Open. And it's not that I don't like dogs. Dogs are fine. It's just, they just do something to me that's, you know, is pretty horrible. And I've still got it. That is not a cold. It is this allergy that's just finally coming down off of it. I've been on antihistamines all week. I actually had to go to work and present. And I was like, the great thing, I was in the U.S. The great thing about U.S. is you can buy pretty potent drugs over the counter. So I managed to get through what I had to do just. But on bank holiday Monday, I was literally laid up all day. And so the hotel is friendly for animals, But they're only supposed to be in one area Sorry, two areas, either your room Or the kind of main reception area They're not allowed in the restaurant, they're not allowed in any of the function rooms But continually there was folks With dogs in the function rooms And In the restaurant And honestly I didn't notice it Because if I had noticed it, I probably would have been A dick and complained And again, I'm not trying to be anti-dog But It was a real problem for me You know thinking of the old peanut allergy if someone had you know if we're all throwing peanuts around everywhere and there's someone with a peanut allergy you kind of think differently right anyway that's something I think needs to be looked at and again it's not I don't I think having dogs around in your room or in the big public area at reception is fine but the other areas it's just no frankly for a variety of reasons not just because of my allergy but a variety of other health and safety reasons too. So now that I've totally cemented the hate of the pinball community, let's move on to Star Wars Fall of the Empire. So last week Stern released a teaser on Thursday, I think it was, or was it earlier? I can't remember. The teaser was actually awful. I mean, I don't know what Stern were thinking. I love you guys, but that teaser was awful. It basically had the logo, a little bit of some weird music no one's heard of, and then it mentioned Spike 3. What was kind of funny is from a few dealers, apparently customers were asking if Spike 3 was a new droid. So as in pinball, know that Spike 3 is Stern's next generation pinball system because the current one is Spike 2. The one before it was Spike 1. The one before that was called Sam. And Stern had been talking about, you know, doing an upgrade to Spike 2. Actually, do they need it? maybe a little bit I'd say I'm a bit of a what's the word I'm not look I think the system's important right but for me pinball's about the ball and flippers so look I'm going to do a great job of this absolutely because spike 2 has been fantastic I know a lot of people say Neil what are you talking about but I probably own more spike 2 games than anyone else in the UK and it's bulletproof It's just been solid. Yeah, I've had a couple of no-board failures, a couple hundred bucks. You swap them and get them fixed. But in the U.K., if you've got any location pinball, unless it's an arcade by the seaside, but if it's like a pub or anywhere else, guaranteed every single game is a Stern Spike 2 game or CGC game in some cases. It's never a JGP game. It's never a spooky game. It's 100% not an American pinball game. It's not your Bally Williams classics. They just don't survive in a way that makes money. That's what having a pinball on location is all about. So Spike 3, there's some pictures of what is believed to be the new MPU, the new CPU board. On that board, there's some notable things. The amplifier is beefed up considerably. You can see a whole bunch of Amper-related Accoutrements I think is the word I'll use That means you're going to get Much better sound Neil McRae's take on sound Folks, if you've got a Spike 2 game Here's my advice to you Put the Kenwood speakers in the backbox That come with the LE And unplug The subwoofer in the bass Now, all you're going to nail, you're absolutely freaking mental. But I'm one of those sound freaks that will pay ridiculous amounts of money for audio gear. And I can tell when audio is good and bad. Let me tell you, trust me on this. Then adjust all the settings so you've got bass playing through the front of the speakers. It is a million times better. Why is that? Well, maybe the cabinets at Stern and actually every pinball manufacturer make. they're not really designed to be kind of high-end speakers like like a b&w or like the speakers i've got nautilus um no they're not they're not designed like that they're not made by hand with the most precision so when you just stick this car woofer that costs three pound fifty from aliexpress in the bottom of it and expect it to sound good it ain't gonna happen um so trust me Just try it. Anyway, Spike 3, better amp, better sound, hopefully more memory so they don't have to compress the sound so much because the Spike 2 sound is very compressed. And that's why when people put amps on Spike 2, it makes my hair stand on end and my ears bleed because you amplify such not the best signal in the world. Actually, the mix that Stern does is outstanding. Jerry and the sound guys there, they do an amazing job on the sound itself, the content. But the electronics that drive it is just not as good as it could be, especially if you run that subwoofer in the bass. What else is it? So the board apparently has got two HDMI outs. One, I think, will be for peripherals on the play field, you know, little screens like on Star Wars, for example. The other appears to mirror the screen output. output so hooray for streamers we'll be able to push out HDMI without having to build some wacky boards to extract I think that great news Hopefully there audio on that HDMI signal too Actually, in the electronics, there is LVDS for the same display that's there. And currently there's also what appears to be an EDP port, Enhanced Display Port, which is the kind of port that more and more modern laptops are using for high-resolution screens, especially stuff above 1080p. So good news is, and also those screens are more and more screens of that format as opposed to LVDS. So it makes sense for them to put that on it. On board Wi-Fi, you can see an antenna port. So you'll be able to plug an antenna in, dangle it out the back and get some decent signal. Also looks like there's more memory on the board. It's using Raspberry Pi 4 for CPU. And everyone's like, oh, that means we'll be able to do this. And that's like, it's just a CPU, folks. You know, they've been running Linux on the Spike 2 board, in fact, Spike 1 board forever. So I pretty much expect the builds to be relatively similar, maybe a little bit different, but all based kind of on Linux. And better power supply that's quiet. So actually that power supply is in this game and this game over here. And it's silent out of the box. You don't need to phone Pin Monk and get one of his fans anymore. It's silent out of the box. Trying to think what else is there that could be of interest. Nothing. Actually, I can't think of anything else. But it's good that this is coming. It should. I mean, this is the kind of funny thing. In theory, it should keep prices down because Stern uses a system now that to manufacture that system probably is more expensive because it's using older technology. Whether it will be, you know, look, if they're putting more stuff into the game because of it, then they're probably going to charge more. But hardware, like for like, shouldn't be significantly different. So let's come back to Star Wars. And apart from Spike 3, there is some drama, unfortunately, with this game. Stern sent to their European distributors that the game would not be available in Europe. And I was like, what? And actually my first my brain jumped to, the first thing it jumped to was, oh Stern, for Spike 3 they haven't got CE certification. But then, the game's on sale in Canada and Australia. If you've got certification for those regions, you've probably got 90% of what you need for CE in the UK. so I thought it can't really be that anyway I find out that basically Disney have moved to a region by region engagement for licensing IP I think this is new since they acquired Fox and just the scale of what they've got so big now and Stern could not get what is known as Disney EMEA, Europe and Middle East and Africa. So that kind of slice that goes from Finland all the way down to South Africa. They couldn't get them on board. The feedback was it's not a big enough deal for them. All the other Disney regions are signed up, every single one of them, except EMEA. And I personally think that's bullshit. So I happen to have met the current CEO of Disney in Europe a few years ago in a previous life. He wasn't the CEO of EMEA then. But I sent him a note saying, hey, this is bullshit. Please fix it. And kind of why it was important. and this week I'm hopefully meeting with them tomorrow to kind of reinvigorate the pinball story and you know what's funny is people saying oh on the UK forum here there's some bozo saying like you know and it just shows the fact that they don't get either pinball at all, the buyers at all, the players at all, and most importantly, what this means for pinball in an ongoing basis. So the European market at most is 20% for pinball. So 20%, whether it's Stern, whether it's JGP, doesn't really matter, right? And that's not big enough for Disney Europe. And Star Wars, right, is the biggest IP by a freaking mile, right? The best-selling game after Godzilla is Star Wars. And the best-selling game after Star Wars, believe it or not, is Data East Star Wars back from the 90s that John Borg designed. Shoot the Death Star, that one. Star Wars simply sells. And actually, when Stern vaulted Steve Ritchie's Star Wars, it pissed off all the dealers around the world because it's a game that sells. No matter what, it's a game that sells. I personally think that game's terrible. It's Steve's worst game. I just don't enjoy it at all. And I've tried it and tried it and tried it. I just cannot get to grips with it. It doesn't feel to me like to be Star Wars. I know some people love it, but I just could never get on with it. So the thought that that's the second best selling game You know I think what But it's Star Wars They could literally have You know A kind of a Three foot monkey flipping flippers In a box Put Star Wars on it and it'll sell And so Star Wars Clearly two things One they need a Star Wars title And two they want to make their dealers happy So they're working on fall of the Empire and what better way to launch in Spike 3 than the biggest IP in the world and Star Wars just is the biggest IP in the world there's no question about that I think so Star Wars thought right well we're going to build this game anyway and we hope that when Europe sees the game they'll fall into it now before I go into that here's the thing that a lot of people I don't think are getting disney own i don't know at least half if not more of all the big ips out there in the world um they obviously own all the disney cartoons mickey mouse etc they own avengers they own star wars they now own things like um predator uh alien they own all of this stuff now right and they also own Tron. And basically, for Europe, what this now means is that the pinball market in Europe isn't big enough for Disney Europe to want to be a part of it. Forget Star Wars. Forget every other game. Right now, no matter what the game is, no matter how good it is, whether it's made by Keith Elwin or Eric or Fred or I'm not together with three bits of wood and a mail, it creates pinball parlor. If I want to license Disney in Europe, they're not interested. Yeah, it's big, isn't it? It is significantly big. That is why I sent an email to the CEO of Disney. That is why I'm going to meet them, because as a pinball lover, to miss out on the biggest IPs, in fact, I've got one here, Deadpool, X-Men, Venom, They are all Disney IPs, and I can't get them anymore. Cannot get them anymore. Now, obviously, I can get those games because they're already licensed. But suppose they do Deadpool 2 or another X-Men game or Tron Remastered. Now you're paying attention, folks. Now you're paying attention. Tron Remastered. Oh, my God. Oh, my freaking God. I can't get it in Europe. No. That is what this potentially means. So it's a call to arms, folk. Send Disney an email. Phone them, call them, text them. If your name's Arv, send them a fax. Minus one version, remember. Contact them and make it be known that you are part of the pinball community and you're a buyer and that you're not happy with this decision because the only way that it's going to be changed is if Disney believe this is something more important than they currently think. Disney EMEA, that is. Now, if a game's good and I want it, will I get one? Of course I'll get one. So will probably most people. But this will have an overwhelmingly negative impact on the pinball industry in Europe, in my view, which, frankly, has already been struggling, at least definitely in the UK, but I also see it in other parts of Europe based on just chatting to a few folks. So go and be on Disney. Now, some of you might say, well, Sternstein have known better, and it's their fault that they did this, and it was a risky play, and it didn't pay off. You don't get it, do you? You just don't get it. This is Europe saying they're not interested in pinball. not Star Wars pinball not Tron pinball but pinball and the biggest game you know the biggest IP for pinball that sold the most probably after Godzilla maybe after Adam's Family is now no longer a pinball thing which means sales are less automatically the market for pinball just shrunk in Europe. That is not good. So, call to arms folks. Don't, you know, look, is there more that Stern could do I sure there is and I sure they trying it You know everyone got this kind of evil approach to Stern They great guys I've been there and talked to them, worked with them, spoke to them so many times. Why anyone has a negative connotation about Stern and the people there, I just don't get it. It does not make any sense. Now And as I said This probably just This will affect pinball As a whole So when JGP come to do You know the next Pirates of the Caribbean Not in Europe, not available in Europe That's another Disney IP right So please You know Go and have a think about what you can do I'm thinking of Taking my Mandalorian up In a van To the HQ in Soho For Disney Getting a big kind of battery And doing guerrilla pinball Get some banners And kind of just do a Guerrilla pinball I don't know if I will but It kind of feels like that's the level of emergency for this So yeah It's challenging Now the game is We'll find out more about the game this week, and I will be at a launch event of the game, so there will be more information coming out. Here's what we do know about the game. It's based on episodes four and six. Again, here on the Great British Pinball Podcast, we announced that four months ago. That bozo Canadian is saying, it's 23, and it's like, nope, it's four to six. And the simple reality is it's set when people love the most out of Star Wars. 1 to 3, there's no love for 1 to 3. 7 to 9, there's no real love for 7 to 9. The money is 4 or 6, and probably Andor now too. I think an Andor Star Wars would do massive. Mandalorian did pretty well. So you know But the real money for Star Wars is 46 And clearly this is going to have Death Star in it It's going to have Jabba the Hutt in it It's going to have the Millennium Falcon in it It's going to have Some cool stuff I'm sure John Borg is the designer Rumour has it Ray Day's on code Which after the masterpiece that Ray did On Metallica makes me super excited If you haven't played Metallica Remastered go find one. It is outstanding. I think there's one in Finland in London. So, yeah, look, I think the game's going to... I have a very positive vibe about the game. It's about the time we had a Star Wars everybody loved, although, again, I said this during Harry Potter, you know, right now, developing a game of Harry Potter that everybody loves is going to be really difficult, and actually I know a couple of big Harry Potter Fans that have skipped the game because they just Didn't think it was what it should be in it And the same Could happen with Star Wars I'm a big Star Wars nut You can see Mandalorian In the background there And I Didn't buy the Steve Ritchie Star Wars game I just didn't enjoy it I've got one I've got a pro but it's more For kind of tournament in the club So that's that One other kind of final point about Stern A couple of things that they've been doing They're really cranking out the code right now John Wick got an update this week It's just amazing I don't know If you've got hate for John Wick Play the code now It's absolutely amazing X-Men 2 I saw a lot of people selling their X-Men Boy, you're going to regret that They are absolutely smashing it on the code I think there's an X-Men update due next week and they're really kicking the doors off in it rather and more code for Kong there was a big update for Jaws that was just outstanding as the 50th came out and actually the 50th is a bit annoying I was a bit frustrated by that because for me it's devalued the whole notion of limited edition which I've kind of mentioned before so Looking ahead, there's the Papago Championship this weekend. And then there's Pinball at the Lab. And then it's the UK Open. We have about 180 players here in London from all over the world that are coming. The event is completely sold out. And we're getting ready for that. Big shout out to the UK Open team that are helping me. Without you guys, it would not be possible. If you want to help us Thursday and Monday, the 24th and the 29th, those are the days we need the most help moving games, either at the club or at the hotel. If you've got any questions on that, please feel free to contact me. And I think that's it So In summary We've got Max Rundell Welcome to the world Max Happy birthday Pinfest was awesome With a couple of little tweaks That could make it even more stupendous And crucially Attract more International people to come To Pinfest Even if the hotel is filled There's enough other hotels nearby that people will come for it. Star Wars, The Fall of the Empire, really bad news about Disney Europe, and we need to push them because this could have, I think, a bigger impact on pinball than most people realize. That's it, really. Nothing much more to say or to cover. Actually, let me just cover Dune I really enjoyed Playing that at Pinfest The game has got a great Rule set and the shots Are great, the mechs on it are beautiful The sand thing is stunning Actually I think it uses the same components As the hammer on Metallica But it's such a Great pinball moment They've added voices and callouts And I've just seen more atmosphere around it So you know I was surprised when I played it a few weeks ago and thought this is awful but they've turned that around and actually it's looking like a real winner to me there wasn't a Harry Potter at the event there wasn't a load of other games at the event Kong wouldn't have been there but I brought it, there was no Dungeons and Dragons there was no Metallica remastered so it was kind of a bit down on modern games, but that's just the market we're in, unfortunately, and this Disney thing doesn't help us. So we'll be back probably, at least I'll be back, probably just before the UK open. The week of the 24th of September we'll do something then. Or if anything kind of dramatic comes out of the Star Wars thing, I might do a short podcast next week. In the meantime, everyone enjoy playing pinball. Pinball Republic is doing great. We've had a really brilliant August, a very strong August. We've got a lot of new games down there. We've got 76 games in total at the club right now, so please go down and have a look. And then we've got the UK Open, and the games will probably change post-UK Open as we juggle things around. With that, again, all the best to Scott and Holly. and Max and hopefully we'll have Scott on the next podcast in the meantime play pinball turn extra balls off jack up the back, take the rubber posts out this message is for Ed particularly, Ed such a great player but he's been to fun land and in fun land, it's fun the pinball machines are set up easy, anyone Can get a GC Anyone can get a free game But then you turn up At a tournament And you play Like it's Funland And you don't win a trophy That is why we set our games To be tough So that we can win When we need to win And on that bombshell I'll wish you all a goodbye Farewell And actually as I said If you want to know more about Pinfest Go to Martin's site Pinballnews.com He's done the full beans on Everything that was there And well done to Spooky Evil Dead I took it there, everyone loved it And it played solid Actually, Spooky, I was about to end there But I'm going to do a bit more Spooky put out some amazing New releases for Evil Dead I hadn't updated the code since I got the game Back in March And oh my god have they added so much more cool stuff. There's a couple more wizard modes. They've added these other modes and the way the modes are structured is so much better. So check that out. They've got a bunch of videos on YouTube that Bug and others have done. Absolutely fantastic. And also you've got this new shooter rod that's not a rod, it's like a gun. It looks like the wrong end of a Sonoff shotgun And it looks absolutely amazing It's pricey but it looks stunning So I'm hopefully going to pick one of them up at Expo Later on in October Right and with that Have a great pinball week And good luck to Stern And them launching Star Wars And good luck to everyone playing In the World Championships Papa this weekend Adios amigos

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 65f21363-c6a2-41c1-85ef-c7cfc7c5f23c*