# Magic Girl Pinball Levitation Chamber Works (sort of)

**Source:** Kaneda Pinball Podcast YouTube (main)  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2017-04-02  
**Duration:** 5m 13s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dN06KHDMfo

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## Analysis

Kaneda demonstrates the Magic Girl levitation chamber mechanic, which technically works but fails to function reliably during actual gameplay. The ball can levitate when manually assisted, but the magnetic chamber doesn't consistently capture it without a push. Kaneda identifies design compromises made by American Pinball from John Papa Duke's original prototype and discusses potential modifications to improve functionality.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Kaneda replaced the owl toy with a magic post to get the ball into the levitator on his machine — _Direct demonstration and explanation of his specific modification_
- [HIGH] John Papa Duke's original prototype had the magic spot positioned higher on the ramp and included two holes with a guide ramp — _Kaneda references prototype playfield documentation and explains geometric changes made by American Pinball_
- [HIGH] The levitation chamber requires the ball to be manually shoved into it to function; it won't grab the ball from a standard switch hit — _Live demonstration showing the ball levitates when pushed but doesn't auto-capture_
- [HIGH] The ball needs approximately another half-inch of height to reliably enter the levitation chamber during gameplay — _Technical observation during demonstration and analysis of chamber positioning_
- [HIGH] Magic Girl owners discuss the game primarily on a dedicated Facebook forum rather than Pinside — _Kaneda explicitly states this and credits Chris Wright for the forum community_

### Notable Quotes

> "That's what $23,000 down the drain sounds like. No, no, no. I love it. This machine's great. It's actually pretty awesome."
> — **Kaneda**, ~9:00
> _Self-aware humor about Magic Girl's price and functionality issues while expressing genuine affection for the machine despite its flaws_

> "Clearly, clearly, they changed things geometrically at American Pinball to get it to work."
> — **Kaneda**, ~1:45
> _Acknowledges that American Pinball had to alter John Papa Duke's original prototype design to achieve any functionality_

> "The good news is it levitated. Like we saw it. It just doesn't happen in gameplay, which is the problem with everything with Magic Girl right now."
> — **Kaneda**, ~7:30
> _Encapsulates the core issue: Magic Girl's features work in isolation but fail during actual game play_

> "You have to kind of shove it up there."
> — **Kaneda**, ~6:15
> _Describes the workaround needed to make the levitation chamber function at all_

> "How beautiful is the magic spot? Look. This is the magic spot. You can't tell what's going to happen."
> — **Kaneda**, ~8:45
> _Appreciates the aesthetics and mystery of the magic post mechanic despite gameplay issues_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Magic Girl | game | Pinball machine with contested development history; features a levitation chamber mechanic that works in demonstration but not reliably in gameplay |
| Kaneda | person | Content creator and Magic Girl owner demonstrating the levitation chamber; modifying machine with aesthetic and functional improvements |
| John Papa Duke | person | Original Magic Girl designer; created prototype with different geometric layout including higher magic post positioning and guide ramp system |
| American Pinball | company | One of the manufacturers that attempted to produce Magic Girl; made geometric design changes to John Papa Duke's prototype |
| Chris Wright | person | Moderator of Magic Girl Facebook owner forum where community discussion occurs |
| Brenda | person | Assistant/camera operator helping Kaneda during the demonstration |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Magic Girl levitation chamber mechanics and functionality, Design compromises from prototype to production, Playfield modification and troubleshooting
- **Secondary:** Magic Girl community organization on Facebook, Aesthetic customization (LED colors, artwork)
- **Mentioned:** Machine pricing and owner investment

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.55) — Kaneda is technically critical of Magic Girl's design failures and gameplay reliability issues but expresses genuine affection for the machine and appreciation for its aesthetic qualities. The tone is self-aware and humorous about the $23k investment despite persistent problems.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Magic Girl owners have organized a dedicated Facebook forum as their primary discussion space rather than using Pinside forums (confidence: high) — Kaneda states 'There's a Magic Girl Facebook forum where all the owners are talking, so that's why there's not much going on on Pinside' and credits Chris Wright as forum moderator
- **[design_philosophy]** Magic Girl's levitation chamber mechanic functions in isolation but fails to work reliably during actual gameplay, requiring manual assistance to operate (confidence: high) — Live demonstration showing ball levitates when pushed but won't auto-capture from switch hits; Kaneda states 'it just doesn't happen in gameplay'
- **[product_strategy]** Kaneda is implementing cosmetic and functional modifications to his Magic Girl including LED button color changes and artwork adjustments (confidence: high) — Kaneda describes changing red buttons to green, replacing red artwork with purple, and modifying the owl/magic post placement
- **[product_concern]** American Pinball's production version required significant geometric changes from John Papa Duke's original prototype to achieve even partial functionality (confidence: high) — Kaneda compares prototype layout (higher magic post, two holes with guide ramp) to current production design and notes 'they changed things geometrically at American Pinball to get it to work'

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## Transcript

Alright, here we are, Magic Girl. We finally figured out how to get some magic working on this machine. And I want to give a big shout out to Chris Wright. There's a Magic Girl Facebook forum where all the owners are talking, so that's why there's not much going on on Pinside. But here's what we found out. We found out how to make the ball levitate, so we're going to show you how that works. But first, I think I realized how I got the ball of the levitator in mine is I switched out the owl for the magic spot. Let me show you guys what I did. So this used to be over here on this ramp. See that? Get that, Brenda? And I replaced it with the magic spot. I feel like that, that is why all, you're leaning on the button, Brenda. You're leaning on the flipper button. This is how John had it originally. If you guys go back and look at the prototype, the ramp looped all the way around up to here. Like the magic spot was up there. Clearly, clearly, they changed things geometrically at American Pinball to get it to work. But I'm not gonna go over any other details other than the magic spot, and we're gonna show you guys how this guy works. This is the levitating ball All right Now before I show you guys how it works I want to explain Well you know what Let me show you first then I explain to you what John had on the prototype, which I think you're gonna need on this one if you want to actually get the ball to levitate during gameplay. But let me start her up. I'm sure I'll move a little bit. Alright, ready? Sorry. You guys, let me know when you're in there. You want to get like... Watch it levitate. Alright let me just put it back That good Meeews Wow See it levitate My balls are making it Meeews! So it works! So it works. Now the problem is, it won't grab off if you just hit the switch. I'm gonna hit the switch. You have to kind of shove it up. What are you going to do, Chris? You've got to shove it up there. J-Pop comes and shoves it up with his little finger. All right, so another thing that I found funny was this, like, this push you can't hit gives you, like, five million points. Let me shut her off because we're making a lot of funny noise. Alright so the last point I want to make is when John designed this on the prototype there was two holes here you can actually see it on the prototype playfield and there was a ramp that goes up in there So it almost like a guide that maybe made it go higher Because that ball definitely needs another half an inch to get up inside that chamber. So I don't know if the magnetic force of that chamber can be increased. Or maybe if we drop the chamber down a little bit, it looks like there's a lot of room. If it sits a little bit lower, it'll grab that ball up. But it works, which is good news because we can always add maybe a ramp. We can add some stuff to make that stuff more functional. The good news is it levitated. Like we saw it. It just doesn't happen in gameplay, which is the problem with everything with Magigore right now. But how beautiful is the magic spot? Look. This is the magic spot. You can't tell what's going to happen. I'm going to fall down. That's it. That's what $23,000 down the drain sounds like. No, no, no. I love it. This machine's great. It's actually pretty awesome. Something else we're changing is we're adding green. We're going to light it green buttons here. So it'll light up green. And then we're going to change this red out for purple. Because red is ugly. There's no red on this entire machine. I don't know why this is red. That's it. We saw some levitation. Enjoy your Sunday. We'll see you guys when we figure something else out. Later.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 67896a0e-e28e-44a3-9fd8-5387f18fc286*