# Chicago Expo Trip! X-men Impressions, other stuff!

**Source:** Bash Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-11-22  
**Duration:** 37m 7s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.bashpinball.com/2024/11/22/johnny-mnemonic-with-special-guest-h4ck3r-j-2-2-2-2/

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## Analysis

Two Bash Pinball hosts recount their Chicago Expo 2024 experience, focusing heavily on their first impressions of the new X-Men pinball machine, which they describe as a game-changing title with innovative shot design and flow. They also discuss other games encountered including Alice in Wonderland, Ninja Eclipse, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, along with various vendor interactions and logistics of navigating the convention.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] X-Men has exceptional shot design with nearly every shot returning to flipper except Sentinel shot — _Direct gameplay experience at Expo; repeated emphasis on shot variety and ball routing_
- [HIGH] X-Men Pro version is commendable and doesn't dramatically nerf gameplay despite lower price — _Side-by-side comparison of Pro and Premium versions at Expo; specific praise for minimal gameplay differences_
- [HIGH] X-Men plays well even with extreme angle settings (fully maxed legs) at Boxcar location — _Direct gameplay experience; noted as exceptional design robustness compared to other games_
- [MEDIUM] Alice in Wonderland had flipper issues making shots difficult to hit — _Secondhand report from unnamed player at Expo; long line prevented direct testing_
- [MEDIUM] X-Men represents 'the future of pinball' with innovative flow-based design philosophy — _Opinion from host after gameplay; framed as personal interpretation rather than confirmed design intent_
- [MEDIUM] Ninja Eclipse garnered significant sales interest and attention at Expo floor — _Observation from hosts that 'several people' bought it and it was highlighted by others; Chris Turner confirmed positive reception_

### Notable Quotes

> "That weird little figure eight shot where you hit that left kind of upper thing and it loops around and comes back. Like the first time I saw that, dude, it felt like magic."
> — **Bash host (unnamed)**, ~18:30
> _Core expression of emotional response to X-Men's innovative shot design; characterizes the game as revelatory_

> "I'm seeing the future of pinball with this game... I can see a future with really wacky and zany show like shots that flow."
> — **Bash host (unnamed)**, ~40:45
> _Frames X-Men as a design paradigm shift in the industry; positions game as philosophically distinct from previous titles_

> "You have to feel it and play it. But nice job, team. Thanks for taking risks. Thanks for having no fear. Thanks for making a radical game."
> — **Bash host (unnamed)**, ~42:00
> _Direct praise to design team (Jack Danger implied as lead); emphasizes experimental/risk-taking nature of design_

> "I'm going to go ahead and say give them props because I value originality in games. And I'm kind of tired of licensed themes."
> — **Bash host (unnamed)**, ~62:00
> _Commentary on Ninja Eclipse's appeal; reveals preference for original IP over licensed themes in competitive landscape_

> "It's like Godzilla to me already. Where I don't really play it at the arcade because I know I'm going to own it."
> — **Bash host (unnamed)**, ~44:30
> _Signals strong purchase intent for X-Men; comparison to previously owned game (Godzilla) indicates top-tier collector status_

> "My first impression was that this game was striking visually... That weird little figure eight shot... it felt like magic."
> — **Bash host (unnamed)**, ~17:30
> _First-impression reaction emphasizing visual and mechanical impact of X-Men's design_

> "With the multi-ball with the danger room happening at the same time will break your brain the first few times... but it's so satisfying."
> — **Bash host (unnamed)**, ~33:00
> _Describes complexity and cognitive challenge of X-Men's multiball mechanic; frames difficulty as feature, not bug_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| X-Men | game | Stern Pinball's newest release; primary focus of episode; features three-flipper layout with innovative shot design and danger room mechanic |
| Jack Danger | person | Designer of X-Men (implied); praised for innovative design and taking risks; noted as exceptionally tall (~6-7 feet) |
| Ian | person | Virtual friend met IRL at Expo for first time; associated with Nudge Magazine; tall and handsome per hosts' observations |
| Nudge Magazine | product | Pinball publication; editorial connection with Ian; hosts received copy at Expo |
| Pin Balm | product | Organic lip balm vendor at Expo; promoted by hosts; represented by Brooke |
| Chicago Expo | event | Major pinball industry convention; held in Schaumburg, Illinois (not Chicago proper); hosts describe as larger than expected |
| Brooke | person | Pin Balm vendor; met hosts at Expo entrance; provided samples of lip balm product |
| Alice in Wonderland | game | Jersey Jack Pinball (implied); heavily hyped game at Expo with long lines; had flipper issues per player reports; notable Cheshire Cat topper |
| Chris Turner | person | Designer/representative of Ninja Eclipse; knows Ian; described as cool/nice guy; game saw sales on Expo floor |
| Ninja Eclipse | game | Original IP pinball game (non-licensed); Turner Pinball production; praised for originality; generated sales interest at Expo |
| Texas Chainsaw Massacre | game | Spooky Pinball title; hosts played at Spooky booth; horror-themed with hidden flippers and unexpected shots |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Manufacturer booth at Expo; displayed Texas Chainsaw Massacre and other games |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Artist/designer met at Spooky Pinball booth; associated with pinball game design work |
| Bug | person | Spooky Pinball representative met at Spooky booth |
| Boxcar | organization | Location/arcade where host played X-Men with extreme angle settings |
| Godzilla | game | Previously owned game by one host; used as comparison point for X-Men in terms of ownership desire and top-tier collector status |
| Radical | game | Classic System 11 era game; heavily modded example seen at Expo with custom powder coating, skateboard topper; hosts suggest potential remake opportunity |
| Schaumburg | location | Illinois suburb where Chicago Expo is held (not Chicago proper); described humorously as suburban parking lot aesthetic |
| Avatar | game | Game played at Expo as alternative when X-Men setup was problematic; noted as set correctly unlike X-Men Boxcar location |
| Renaissance Hotel | organization | Hotel where hosts stayed during Expo; mentioned as parking lot arrival point |
| Weber Grill | organization | Restaurant in Schaumburg near Expo; recommended by host based on appearance; planned for next year's visit |
| Bash Pinball Podcast | organization | Podcast producing this episode; hosts providing Expo recap and game impressions |

### Topics

- **Primary:** X-Men machine design and gameplay experience, Chicago Expo 2024 attendance and venue logistics, Pro vs Premium tier differentiation on X-Men
- **Secondary:** Game setup/angle impact on playability, Original IP games vs licensed themes in competitive market, Convention experience and vendor interactions, Alice in Wonderland reception and flipper issues
- **Mentioned:** Spooky Pinball game quality and aesthetics

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Hosts are enthusiastic about Expo experience and especially X-Men design. Positive tone throughout with minor criticisms (Alice in Wonderland flipper issues, lighting/sound problems at specific booths, theme preferences). Strong emotional engagement with X-Men described as transformative gaming experience.

### Signals

- **[sentiment_shift]** Strong positive reception to X-Men among Expo attendees; described as most-played game by hosts; drives purchase intent (confidence: high) — Hosts played X-Men more than any other game; 'will be mine' attitude; comparison to top-tier personal game (Godzilla); described as 'most exciting first game in a while'
- **[competitive_signal]** Ninja Eclipse gains market traction with original IP and non-licensed theme; hosts position originality as competitor advantage (confidence: medium) — Chris Turner confirmed sales on Expo floor; several attendees highlighted it as show highlight; hosts praise originality over licensed games
- **[design_philosophy]** X-Men represents shift toward flow-based, wacky/zany shot design with innovative ball routing over traditional ramp layouts (confidence: high) — Repeated praise for shot variety, unexpected ball paths, non-traditional ramps vs wire forms, multiball complexity; host describes as 'future of pinball'
- **[event_signal]** Chicago Expo 2024 draws significant attendance; venue appears larger than previous iterations; extensive game collection and booth presence (confidence: high) — Hosts describe as 'bigger than expected'; multiple booths (Spooky, manufacturers), 20+ X-Men machines across multiple locations, lengthy lines for popular games
- **[market_signal]** Merchandise (shirts) sold out within hours on Thursday Expo opening; demand signal for branded inventory (confidence: medium) — Hosts arrived Thursday morning, found shirts already sold out; comparison to Pin Fest where same phenomenon occurred
- **[personnel_signal]** Christopher Franchi working with Spooky Pinball on game design/art (confidence: medium) — Hosts met Franchi at Spooky booth; context suggests design/art collaboration role
- **[announcement]** X-Men pinball officially available at Chicago Expo with Pro, Premium, and likely LE tiers; multiple units on floor for play-testing (confidence: high) — Hosts played multiple X-Men machines (Pro and Premium versions); multiple games visible on Expo floor; Gary Stern mentioned as playing and commenting
- **[product_strategy]** X-Men Pro version successfully maintains gameplay quality without dramatic nerfs, differentiating through physical toys/animation rather than shot availability (confidence: high) — Direct comparison: Sentinel doesn't physically move in Pro but shot still works; Beast Lab lock differences; premium features described as 'little bonus things' not core gameplay
- **[product_concern]** Alice in Wonderland flipper issues reported by players; long lines and mechanical problems deterred hands-on testing by hosts (confidence: medium) — Secondhand report from unnamed player that 'flippers were bad and you couldn't hit the shots'; hosts chose not to wait based on this feedback
- **[technology_signal]** Game robustness to extreme angle settings; X-Men plays well even fully maxed/minimal, unlike games that get 'broken' by setup variance (confidence: high) — Boxcar location with extreme angle settings; host played successfully despite steep setup; noted as exceptional compared to other games at that location

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## Transcript

 life post expo has been interesting yeah in a positive way yeah i mean i just needed some time to decompress and uh also had to catch up on work yeah but yeah man that was it was really cool So I'm pretty excited to be back in here and talk about it. And, you know, my craw is running out of space. So I need to get it out before I forget all the awesome things that we experienced and all the friends we made. And we're the latest podcast to talk about it. So if you already forgot everything you heard about Expo, now's your chance to hear it. Yeah, no, this is totally intentional. like we wanted you to forget and then remind you yeah exactly so this is what we're doing yeah keep it fresh by making it stale oh man all right well if you for whatever reason the two or three listeners that uh have been waiting for our expressions here it is day one expo schaumburg illinois yeah schomburg not chicago chicago adjacent you know not being from chicago i thought it was going to be chicago it is not chicago no it is not and i kind of thought that too it is if chicago was walmart schomburg is the parking lot yeah literally yeah no offense to people who live in the parking lot of schomburg schomburgians but yeah it was uh very concrete filled yeah i mean it's an aesthetic it's an aesthetic suburban max if you call if you will yeah yeah so take 10 walmart parking lots put them all together put a starbucks in the middle put a hotel on one end A hotel on the other end. And 14 more hotels in the middle. A couple of medians. Yeah. Schaumburg. Schaumburg. I highly recommend the Weber Grill restaurant. Did you see that? No. I didn't go there, but I saw it. It was across from the Starbucks. You're recommending it based on appearance only? They have a giant Weber Grill outside and it's literally Weber Grill branded restaurant. Oh, I've never seen such a thing. So that is your food option. Yeah. Besides Starbucks. I bet it's good. It's probably really good. That caught my eye. That's going to be for next year. Yeah. Expo 2025, you should come to the Weber Grill restaurant with us. No, there's probably good places to eat in Schaumburg. It did seem like all of the Chicago pizza chains seem to have Schaumburg locations. But you're in the Expo the entire... Yeah, it feels... It's open from morning to late at night. Yeah, it feels a little isolated. so there's the food options in Expo itself are much more limited and fine but you know you might want to leave and go get something yeah it feels yeah yeah especially if you don't have a car it's probably tough anyways I'm excited to check out the Weber Grill restaurant next time I go somehow I missed that I didn't even see it I just blended in with the parking lot aesthetic yeah I did it was like basically a giant tailgate okay so day one we pull in to the renaissance hotel yeah parking lot in the morning yeah that was thursday morning the first thing i saw i'll tell you this a lot of people with long hair oh yeah kind of like uh i mean i kind of felt uh somewhat of a kindred i mean you know you're at the right place yeah when you get to that hotel walking in with super dry lips by the way if you live in the south chicago in october yeah super dry dry super dry started cracking right away yeah it was rough fortunately so we had someone come to our rescue right as we walked in right literally as we were opening the door for the first time yeah brooke yeah from uh pinbalm pinbalm if you haven't tried pin balm, which by the way, we're not in any way being compensated for this. We just really like Brooke and we really like pin balm. It is some of the best chapstick I've ever tried. It's solid. I guess lip balm. It's not chapstick. Chapstick feels like I'm cheapening it because it actually felt really nice. It's in a chapstick style tube that says pin balm, but it's like natural and organic and stuff like that. Like minty, like the right amount of mintiness and kind of almost like akin to Burt's Bees or something. It was really nice. Burt's Bees vibes in a good way. But it felt better. Yeah. I still got a tiny bit left. Actually, it's in my pocket. I'm so happy. Oh, you're pulling out the un-nice, dude. I really... So, yeah, man. Like, you know, she gave us full disclosure. She gave us each one tube. But I liked it so much that we ended up going back. Yeah, we've been compensated for this. We got a $2 tube. She was like, did you try it? you know try it try it and like i totally forgot because you know we're just like walk running around and i finally like oh my lips are cracking and i'm like lips are real bad yeah dude i had to go back and buy a couple more yeah and i actually gave them away and people love them so anyways you guys should try them i'm sure you've probably seen them like on instagram or something but um definitely when you go to chicago be prepared with some pinball you need some pin bomb yeah so we digress so day one we didn't know what to expect first impressions for me were kind of like wow this is bigger than i thought okay i had no idea what i was walking into i hadn't even seen i've never even seen videos or pictures or recaps or anything like i think it's changed venues over the years too sure yeah yeah keeps getting bigger and bigger yeah so the layout right like we walk in we walked in through the side the seminar rooms was like an upstairs area right and they had these like exhibit slash seminar halls yeah it was like a b and c nirvana yeah it's like nirvana a nirvana b yeah okay that's overselling the seminar room a little bit i think right right i can't say i experienced nirvana but definitely learned a bunch of stuff um yeah all right so we watch seminars the line has since subsided we're making our way downtown walking fast yeah faces past and we're homebound so excited and we walk in what do we see uh merch merch all right oh man which i mean i think i was trying to buy some shirts and they were already sold out on thursday that's so frustrating like who's ordering these shirts the pin fest was the same thing we got there within like two hours of them opening on day won and they were out of shirts same thing but it's funny i'm like my my first thought is oh i'm here early it's thursday this goes till sunday i need to get my shirt to now yeah you had the right thought and they were literally sold out already come on guys more shirts yeah besides the merch what was the first thing that you saw no you mean like when we when we got onto the showroom floor yeah yeah okay like the first thing that caught your eye nudge magazine Yeah, we hung a right. Oh wait, did we split up? Yeah, we did because you... Yeah, I think I left something in the car and then I went back. So you had already walked in. Like a sweater? Were you taking your sweater off or something? It was a wardrobe change. Something. Okay. It was confusing, the Carl Weathers. The Carl Weathers was confusing. It was like freaking freezing and then it got really hot in those seminars because there was like tons of people crowded into a room and then the convention, I think they cranked the AC at some point and it got really freezing in there. So yeah, anyway, bring options. So what was the first thing you saw? I hung a right and I found Ian. So I went straight and the first thing I saw was the really crazy cup art. Oh, the sign that said Expo. Expo 24. It was pretty cool, man. And I think somebody got to raffle to destroy it or something. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. I think you could sign up for a raffle and then if you won, you could actually be the one to jump through it and just tear it up. That'd be fun. But that was pretty cool, man. That was for me kind of a sign of what was to come. Okay. Extreme. It was like the last thing I thought I would see first was a tower of cups that spelled Pinball Expo. You know Walmart does the same thing with their... With the Coke and with the soda. The soda. Yeah. So you were like that. 24 packs. So that's what you thought was to come? like Walmart level experience I was just kind of like whoa okay this is not No it was cool This is not what I am expecting at all Yeah Right Yeah So we met our virtual friend Ian for the first time IRL. IRL. And he looked a lot different in person than I was expecting. He was a lot taller and a lot more handsome than I expected. I'm not a tall man, but I'm kind of average height. I'm average. I'm like average tall. Yeah, you're on the taller side of average. Average, but yeah, like on the tall side. And yeah, he was like intimidating to me. Yeah. You know? Yeah, that's the biggest thing is him and Jack Danger. I think Jack's even taller possibly. I think Jack's taller than Ian. I think Jack's got to be like six or seven or something. Yeah, he was pretty tall. I wasn't ready for that. They're tall men. You don't get it on the internet so much. i'm pretty sure ian's dating profile is accurate with his height so yeah ladies don't worry yeah it's like they say if you go to the grand canyon and it's like a totally different experience than just like seeing a picture of it that's ian that's ian yeah that's ian and nudge magazine by the way because it's beautiful yeah exactly which also thanks ian you know you hooked me up with that um issue too like that's my that was my last one that i needed And you know what? I just found the copy of Nudge Magazine that I ordered from Ian in April. So I opened that up the other day. I'm super happy about that. Now I can finally read. I still got to freaking read them, dude. He asked me the other day, he was like, did you actually read them? Well, I didn't even take it out of the mail sleeve when I immediately lost it. And I found it with my iPad. That's awesome. That's awesome. I'm happy about that. I got a lot of reading to do but I do enjoy them yeah they feel so good the texture silky silky soft and now for a word from our sponsor the X-Men are now on Fox and we're celebrating with the X-Men video extravaganza you can win the X-Men home video a TV, VCR and X-Men stuff to enter Malo postcard with the name of your favorite X-Men character your name, address and phone number too X-Men on Fox Spots 1129, Hollywood, California, 90078. Entries must be received by January 20th for you to win. And now, back to the show. So, after we, you know, became acquainted with Nudge and Ian IRL. Yeah. I think X-Men was the mission. Yeah. Mission number one. That became all three of our mission at some point is just to play X-Men. Because you could kind of look past the nudge booth and see all the row of X-Men games behind. And it's hard to look away. It was like 20 of those things. Yeah, there's a whole bunch of them. I mean, there was a wall of them and then another wall of them and then probably a room with them. And then maybe some more scattered around. Scattered around, yeah. But yeah, they had the Pro and the Premium. We played those a lot. I'd say we played that game more than any other game at Expo. My first impression was that this game was striking visually. Yeah. And neither of us had seen one in person or played one or anything. We had not seen one IRL. We hadn't played one. Just like the photos and the videos online. Yeah. That was the most exciting first game I think I've had in pinball in a while. Yeah. That weird little figure eight shot where you hit that left kind of upper thing and it loops around and comes back. Like the first time I saw that, dude, it felt like magic. Yeah. And I think that's the same shot that he described Gary Stern like making a comment about the first time he played it. Yeah, because he was I think he was weird about like the three flippers. But anyways, when I saw that thing, dude, and just the way that it flows and feels and it's it's striking to me, man. And that was my first impression. Big smiles, big smiles. Yeah, so after we watched the trailer, like the initial five-minute launch trailer or whatever, I didn't watch anything else about it. I didn't look it up. Right. I didn't read about it. I didn't watch any of the other gameplay videos or anything because I didn't want to. Right, okay. I think I saw like one or two. I just, I like to, with a game like that, that I know that I'm kind of excited about, I don't want spoilers. You don't want spoilers. Yeah, yeah. I get it. I get it. And yeah, it completely blew my mind. I was just kind of shocked by the shots and the play field. I knew the basics of it. You got the two flippers on the right. You got the danger room on the left. But how every other single shot flows in that game is just mind-boggling. It's really cool, man. And the ball is going places that you have no idea where it's going to go. Just to learn where the ball is going to come out takes five or six or seven plus games. and that's if you can hit every shot more yeah yeah that's if you're really paying attention and you hit every shot yeah because every shot with what maybe just there's you know there's the the like left ramp that's kind of a standard standard issue sort of shot the jurassic park like yeah t-rex shot right like it's like the same kind of similar angle same kind of spot you know it goes up to a wire form and it returns to a flipper that one you're kind of expecting it's not super hard to hit it's satisfying it's a fun shot but every single other shot in that game is just like wait what just happened yeah yeah amazing and then you're like did the laws of physics just get defied on some physics are definitely questionable it's like yeah and the ball is crossing the play field super cool it's going forward and then backwards and then forward and then backwards magnets yeah there's the magnet there's the sentinel shot man the suit the two shots on either side of the sentinel super satisfying to hit that sentinel man it's really it feels really good yeah the sentinel yeah it felt great and then we switched from a premium to a pro and i didn't even realize you did not realize that it was a pro didn't even realize i was playing the pro i forgot about that till i switched back to the premium i'm like oh i just was playing on the pro i didn't realize because they didn't nerf it i forgot about that man the Sentinel doesn't go down, right? But in the premium, his head is still kind of popping up anyway. So it's the same shot. It's just he doesn't physically move up and down. And then I guess the Beast shot, the Beast Lab shot is different. Maybe it doesn't have a physical ball lock. I wasn't even thinking about that when I was playing it. Yeah, honestly, we played, what, maybe like two or three games on the premium? Yeah. And then the same with the pro. and that wasn't enough to really feel a huge difference. It was actually pretty commendable for a pro because you can buy a pro for a little bit cheaper and still pretty much enjoy it, right? Like the actual gameplay. This seemed like, to me, maybe the best pro version because all the premium features are super cool, but they don't dramatically change the flow or the gameplay. The hand that comes down and breaks the ramp, like that's cool. that's different that affects the gameplay a little bit and the fingers you know like flicking the ball back yeah but those things don't happen very often they're more just little bonus things which i think is how i wish they all were like that you know it's like give me something a little extra but don't like dramatically change the game i agree with you yeah yeah i think this is a great this is this is like a great pro man this is like a no-brainer in terms of budget right i mean the premium now this goes back to the godzilla kind of thing in my mind where it's like this is a top top top tier game you know having played it less than 50 times i guess that's where i am with it right now if you're looking at those games like maybe just get the premium because you love it yeah yeah and if you if you haven't played it yet you 100 need to yeah if you feel weird about the flippers don't um it's tons of fun it doesn't feel offset at all yeah it feels weirdly natural it adds this extra level of fun where like when you can when you have multiball and you're like having to split your eyeballs you're like like your brain and your eyes are like peripherally looking at one or the other it's really fun man yeah the with the multiball with the danger room happening at the same time will break your brain the first few times if not more than that but it's so satisfying it feels like uh like if you're learning how to play drums or guitar and you're trying to separate your limbs to do one movement free of the other. Yeah, it feels like if you're trying to play guitar and look at your strumming hand and your fretting hand at the same time. You can't do both. I literally felt as if my eyes were splitting. Yeah. See, I think Jack doesn't have that problem because he's seven feet tall. So he can just see. Bird's eye view. He has more of a bird's eye view. I don't know if he realized how much he was destroying our ocular function. That funny Well he making us way better players with that game dude Oh man I love that like having to just make my brain do something that it wasn used to doing Yeah I think that was yeah I think that was the most exciting point for me playing that game was when I finally got multiball and I keeping that ball in the danger room hitting that loop while I keeping the other balls in the main play field area going Yeah. And I'm doing it simultaneously and I'm like, dude, I am a fucking badass. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, that game does make you feel like a badass when you're hitting shots. It's super flowy when you're hitting shots. It's cool. And it seems like virtually almost every single shot returns the ball to the flipper except for the sentinel shot. And that was mind-boggling. And I think on Pinside it still says the game has like two ramps. Interesting. I disagree with that. Interesting. but they don't look like traditional ramps but they'll be it'll be like a little mini orbit that goes into a wire form that comes back the ball is doing wacky stuff all the time yeah and i'm in love with it same i think um i think my final thought on this is after i played it you know for the first time and i think at the end of expo when i walked away i was like man this is this is i'm seeing the future of pinball with this game you know it's like it's hard to describe because you know we're we harp on toys and all these things and those are things that i love but i can see a future with really wacky and zany show like shots that flow yeah and this is kind of how i felt with this game like yeah had a really cool toy had really cool tricks yeah and uh but more importantly wacky zany flowy stuff that makes it way fun yeah and uh and it feels like the future of pinball man which is really fun it's really cool it does yeah i i haven't been that excited about a game since i got my first dracula you know like this is that that thing this is like that that same feeling of like like you said this feels like something new and different and from the future this feels like a whole different experience right like it's it's it's really really cool man i i don't i don't want to keep just hyping it up with all these vague descriptors because you got to play it. You just have to feel it and play it. But nice job, team. Thanks for taking risks. Thanks for having no fear. Thanks for making a radical game. Thanks for living up to your name. Mr. Danger. And now for a word from our sponsor. Treat yourself like you should. Treat yourself oh so good with chocolate kudos with all the snack. There's pleasure so big and light. You'll love the whole great crunch and nuts in every bite. Kudos made chocolate be everything it should. So treat yourself oh so good. And now, back to the show. So are we going to buy this game? Yeah, I might have to get a new car though. So I got to figure that out because I hit a deer. Oh yeah, there's that. I was really gung-ho about it, but now I think I have to save my money. Put it aside for a down payment on a car or something. Unless somebody out there has a car they want to sell me or donate. Yeah, right now I feel like Wayne's World, like in the movie when he goes to get that Stratocaster. He's like, you will be mine. Oh, yes. You will be mine. That's how I'm feeling about X-Men right now. I actually don't even really want to play it at the arcade because I'm like, it's kind of becoming Godzilla to me already. Where I don't really play it at the arcade because I know I'm going to own it. And I'd rather just save it for when I own it. Yeah, that's a good one, man. That's it. We got to own it. We have to. so i played it side note i played it at boxcar have you played it at boxcar i played it at boxcar yeah and i have to say i just have to shout out jack about this design again because boxcars get got it set up super steep like they always do you know like back legs fully maxed out front legs max fully maxed the other way unmaxed and at first i was like okay this definitely does not play as well as the ones at Expo. And so initially I was kind of bummed. I was like, it's not as fun. It doesn't feel as good. However, you could still hit everything. Like every shot in that game, once I kind of got used to this super steepness of it, I started to get into a flow and you can still hit everything in that game, even with it maxed out. That's cool. Because there's plenty of games that get ruined by that. Go ahead. I was going to say my experience is totally different. Oh, really? Yeah, I think I enjoyed the one at Expo so much that my first game, like I couldn't even get the ball to launch all the way up the initial ramp. So there is that, just the plunger, which is supposed to go up and around. It wouldn't go. It's like, it doesn't hit it every time. I had to like trick it every time. And then, you know, I had like one or two bad games and I said, you know what, I don't want to ruin my... Your positive experience. My positive experience of this game. That's how I felt too. I played two games of it and then I was like, and then I went over and played Avatar because it wasn't set too steep. Yeah. It was fine. Yeah. Somehow they set the Jersey Jack games up correctly. I don't get it. Interesting. I just couldn't believe all of those shots still worked because of the weird physics of it all. I was like, oh, this is a game that's going to get broken when you max out the steam. But it didn't. So that's pretty cool. then i couldn't help but to notice on the way to check out one of the other games this super tricked out radical yeah it was it was literally radical dude it was that game looked amazing it was like custom powder coating um even like the apron was like on the inside was like this weird chromey like yeah every single detail like no expense spared kind of uh modded radical what was it for sale i think it ended up going up for auction auction yeah didn't it didn't also have like a skateboard like on the top of the um yeah yeah it had like a physical yeah skateboard as a topper yeah it was that thing was so sick man like i like i turned the corner and like both of us we looked at and we were just like oh some of those some of those games from that era the system living games and if you put some effort into them you can make those things look like a new jersey jack freaking cool so dude eye-catching like that would be that's like a that was that was like a masterpiece man like that thing is eye-catching is like i don't even know what dude yeah maybe they'll re remake radical that'd be a good one so pedretti do it so and then on that same little row, right? Super long line, Alice in Wonderland. Yeah, which... Did you play it? I never actually played because there was only two of them. I think they had two of them there and there was just a long line every time we walked by it. That's got to be one of the most hyped games this year, I think, because it was such a long line. Well, I mean, but there was only two of them. I guess there was only two of them, right? Yeah, I think this was kind of the debut of it. So did you recall do you recall anything that stood out to you on that game? So I was I was kind of surprised at the like overt sexualization of Alice. Yeah. Yeah. Me too. Actually, I'm not sure. I don't have any like thoughts beyond that, really. But I was just like, OK, huh. That's where they went with it. I yeah, yeah. I thought the same. Like, I get it. But I had the same thought. I think I think I would have preferred over the top. But, you know, they know their audience. The topper was cool. What was the topper? It was, what's the cat? What's the name of the, not a fan, sorry. Cheshire cat. Yeah, Cheshire. You got it. I knew that. It was really cool, man. It's there somewhere. It had these like the eyes. Oh, right. It had some like weird effect on like almost like that weird, almost like mirrored looking like dimensional like glass looking effect. It was like hypnotizing you right with its eyes. It was really any topper. Yeah, so I think the reason we didn't play it was because, A, there was a long line. And then we talked to somebody who did play it and said that, like, you couldn't. The flippers were bad and you couldn't hit the shots. Oh, they were like weak or something. Yeah. Yeah. It was just like, I don't want to bother waiting in line to play something that's not working right. Too many games. Yeah. Too many games. That was the other thing I learned, too, was like, you got to kind of pick your games because you probably can't play them all. Yeah. And now for a word from our sponsor. Why do I love you Why does something that feels so good hurt so bad do you love me believe in me love me unforgivable the fragrance for men from sean john and now back to the show yeah so then the lines are too long we we didn't really feel like waiting around so we're like trying to find other places and we know the spooky booth we saw earlier i think we were like coming back to it on the way ninja eclipse oh yeah ninja eclipse the turner yeah pinball yeah which we you know we got to hang out with chris turner for like a moment yeah because he knows ian right so really cool guy man yeah really cool guy nice guy um and it seemed like you know congrats to you right chris turner it seems like you actually are getting pretty like people were talking about that game this year yeah yeah it seemed like a few people actually bought some uh yeah on the floor like from the show floor yeah interestingly yeah several people that we ran into was like highlighted the show for them to me i thought the game was cool uh i only played it maybe once i I played it once. I can't, yeah. So I don't have a huge commentary on it. But it seemed a little bit of a William Z layout. Not like a modern Stern layout. A little bit of a throwback. Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and say give them props because I value originality in games. And I'm kind of tired of licensed themes. And they're cool and there's a place for them. But I also want freedom, right? And designs and music and ninjas. Yeah. like what what is a ninja eclipse i mean honestly like so many ninjas that the sun blacks out you know i don't know let's find out if yeah it's funny because if there's not a popular movie slash property then it just won't be a pinball machine unless somebody does something like this does it yeah because like when we were kids freaking ninjas are awesome and everywhere and like everywhere 50 of my toys were ninjas of some kind yeah yeah and so now there's no big ninja movies so we don't have a ninja pinball game but now we do so that's cool so that was cool and uh unless you count the teenage mutant different no no no it's nickelodeon now that's not even the same thing anymore so yeah so then we finally made it to the spooky booth yeah and uh that was my first time so you got you got to play texas chainsaw massacre at a pin fest so that was my first time so you're excited to show me texas chainsaw massacre because you like spooky games because i like spooky games yeah i'm actually like a low-key high-key spooky fan which was cool too because uh on a side note i got to meet bug and um Christopher Franchi so that was pretty cool but yeah i actually really enjoyed it yeah eventually the first game we played right yeah dude it was you know i'm i guess i'm not ian height so the light was reflecting like directly the light was directly above us and the angle that i was playing it was it was just reflecting directly into my face yeah you were struggling yeah it was it was tough and then for whatever reason like the sound i think it was just like the weird um like convention hall yeah in that in that area we're audio guys yeah the sound was it was killing me dude later i played a different one without you yeah much better experience i think it was just literally that spot in the room yeah that just didn't work just a bad spot yeah that so so what are your thoughts about that game because i talked about it before yeah um i actually really enjoyed it i actually really really enjoyed it i think um personally the theme would get old for me like it's not one that i would want to own at my house yeah but if i had a cool halloween party i would pull that thing out like asap yeah you know if i had like a horror movie collection room or something right like totally 100 awesome game and um yeah i i wish i would have played it more i actually played it quite a bit but not enough to really understand the rules and and kind of get like a deeper sense but it was definitely fun and exciting and um i thought it shot really well too it's got a lot going on there's tons of stuff to do and there's extra flippers that are hidden almost yeah yeah and then shots that you don't expect and yeah it just it always feels like there's something to do it was fun man i was having a good game going until somebody like ran over the power cord the person on the scooter why did it just switched to dos i forgot the game the whole like the whole row of games got unplugged yeah that was crazy i was having my best game i was like in the middle of a multiball i forgot about that yeah that was a bummer man i got massacred but with a scooter yeah scooter uh expo scooter something else real quick um while we were there at the spooky booth i played a couple of looney toons games i know they're quote unquote the same game yeah they did not feel like the same game to me yeah maybe i'm not as sensitive to like copy layouts as as evident by our previous episodes but uh i actually thought they played pretty pretty differently man like i i was vibing with them in different ways and it was kind of surprising because i kind of went in already knowing they were the same game, quote unquote, or the same layout, I guess I should say. Not the same game, same layout. Same layout, different rules. Was it Don that was saying, was it other Don that was saying he had both? Don's Pinball Podcast, yeah. Did he say he had both games, both versions? He was the one, I got to hang out with him for a little bit, and he introduced me to Bug and Chris. And yeah, I think he has both. Yeah, I think he has both. And I think he was telling me that, you know, I guess they live pretty close to like the actual shop. Yeah. And he's gotten like pretty, you know, pretty friendly and they have, I guess they have a pretty good relationship with them or whatever, but. Yeah, I saw him giving Bug a back rub at one point. Oh man, I didn't see that. No, that's hilarious. But yeah, I mean, that was really fun. And yeah, I think he does. I think he said he does have both. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think I remember that. And I think he likes both of them. Like. Yeah. Yeah, he does. No, he. Even though, like you're saying, they don't feel like the same game. He definitely, yeah, and I want to say thanks, Don, from Don's Pinball Podcast. Just kind of like, I don't know, hanging out with me. Your mom's favorite podcast. Yeah, I guess I got to tell that story real quick. So if you guys don't know Don from Don's Pinball Podcast, he's probably got one of the more well-known ones. I mean, he's got so many episodes and it's kind of insane. He comes out with like three a week or something. Anyways, I'm telling my mom, like, hey, mom, you know, I play pinball and stuff. I'm meeting my friend Mel and I, you know, we have this podcast. You should check it out. So then a couple of days later, she's like, I think I found your podcast, but it doesn't sound like you. And then I was like, what do you mean? And then she sent me a screenshot and it was Dawn's pinball podcast, but it's the other Dawn. So then she just searched like she didn't tell her the name of it. I did. I just think that she was like rushing. I don't know, man. I think she just typed in Don Pinball or something. You know what I mean? Who knows? She's a big podcast listener, I think. Yeah, she doesn't listen to any podcasts at all. But then, yeah, so shout out to Don's Pinball Podcast, which is my mom's favorite podcast. She's like, it doesn't sound like you. Thanks for listening. That was part one of our Chicago Expo trip. But there's still a ton more stuff to talk about. We played a million other games. including new ones and old ones and a very special Gottlieb gem. Hint, hint. We went to a Chicago arcade. We got our first taste of the amazing homebrew world. Don went to the electric bat. We met a ton more people and did a ton more things. It was a lot. So to be continued. territory now. Return to your home. evacuate all personnel

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 81086e42-57db-46ed-a59d-fa82bfec433e*