# Pinball Omnibus Episode 12

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2024-09-17  
**Duration:** 18m 19s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPk5bMTOeJI

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy reviews recent pinball developments, with primary focus on X-Men's disappointing music and suspected AI-generated callouts, Avatar's UV/lighting design compromises and low personal excitement, smaller manufacturer progress (Home Pin Blues Brothers, Dutch Pinball Alice in Wonderland), and anticipation for Cactus Canyon remake code updates at Expo.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] X-Men's main music doesn't match the theme and sounds completely out of place, described as 'chill' rather than energetic — _Cary Hardy explicitly stated this is his primary complaint and played audio examples; personally demonstrated the music during the video_
- [MEDIUM] Stern is likely using AI for Gambit callouts to cut costs and maintain pricing — _Speculation based on Gary Stern's cost-efficiency statements and recreated audio clips demonstrating AI capability to imitate the stream audio_
- [HIGH] Gary Stern acknowledged feedback about X-Men music and confirmed a fix is in development — _Gary Stern stated in a seminar (link provided) that they heard feedback and will change the main play music_
- [MEDIUM] X-Men was released/shown sooner than intended due to incomplete code (currently at 0.76) — _Cary's speculation confirmed by George Gomez in two interviews (Phantom Tilt Pinball Podcast and Canada's Pinball Podcast) stating the game wasn't ready_
- [HIGH] Avatar's UV lighting won't show well at Expo due to bright ambient light and requires dark room with headphones to fully experience — _Cary's observation from stream footage and speculation about environment requirements for UV effects_
- [MEDIUM] Avatar has coil stop reliability issues—Jersey Jack's demo unit required repairs within a day of use — _Observed during 'Dumb Pinball Show' Twitch stream where coil stop failed 30 minutes in; mentioned prior repair/replacement_
- [HIGH] Dutch Pinball's Alice in Wonderland features flexible/impact-resistant plastics (not typical rigid molds) — _Cary claims to have seen all sculpts and plastics up close and describes their flexibility properties directly_
- [MEDIUM] Cactus Canyon remake code has been in development for couple of years with recent updates — _Referenced NAP Arcade article about updated code; Cary speculates Chicago Gaming will showcase at Expo_

### Notable Quotes

> "Does that sound fucking X-Men to you? Doesn't sound X-Men to me."
> — **Cary Hardy**, early content
> _Core criticism of X-Men music—establishes primary complaint that drives entire game assessment_

> "It's almost a make or break kind of thing. That's why I'm hoping, fingers crossed, that that's just a placeholder. They've got better stuff coming."
> — **Cary Hardy**, early content
> _Frames music issue as potentially dealbreaker for personal purchase decision on X-Men_

> "The code isn't done, the code is currently at 0.76 according to what we saw on the stream. Luckily, the things that I'm harping on can be fixed."
> — **Cary Hardy**, mid-content
> _Acknowledges code incompleteness mitigates criticism and provides realistic context for quality issues_

> "It shouldn't be just power all the damn time or anything but it should be a little bit more of a head nodder, a good beat to it."
> — **Cary Hardy**, mid-content
> _Clarifies musical aesthetic preference—not demanding constant intensity but requesting more engaging theme_

> "The chances are Stern is utilizing AI for call outs at least within this game trying to be cost effective but it's also turning people off."
> — **Cary Hardy**, mid-content
> _Connects cost-cutting rationale to community backlash; frames AI use as business decision with reputation risk_

> "I stated that I believe that this game was rushed that it got released quicker than they would have liked to due to the amount of like or lack of code currently at this point in time."
> — **Cary Hardy**, mid-content
> _Personal theory about X-Men development timeline; later confirmed by George Gomez in two separate interviews_

> "My excitement and enthusiasm FOMO is very low. But that could change when I get my hands on the game."
> — **Cary Hardy**, avatar section
> _Quantifies low interest in Avatar despite acknowledging gameplay experience could shift perception_

> "This game and what we're seeing so far with Blues Brothers should give you homebrewers out there a lot of encouragement and motivation to build your own game knowing that you have stuff like this is making its way into the market."
> — **Cary Hardy**, smaller manufacturers section
> _Positive framing of homebrew/small manufacturer viability; sees Home Pin as proof of market opportunity_

> "The plastics in question that are sculpts and molded and stuff like that that you've gotten little previews of are not your typical plastics. They got a little bit of flexibility to them, so they're able to take a hit and keep on going along."
> — **Cary Hardy**, Dutch Pinball section
> _Technical detail about Alice in Wonderland design innovation; demonstrates material/engineering differentiation_

> "You've got the looks, but we'll see, you know, how it plays. I haven't even seen that. I've only seen the game at a standstill."
> — **Cary Hardy**, Dutch Pinball section
> _Expresses skepticism about judging games without hands-on play experience; establishes requirement for evaluation_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cary Hardy | person | Host/creator of Pinball Omnibus video series; pinball collector and commentator providing critical analysis of recent game releases and industry developments |
| X-Men | game | Stern Pinball game designed by Jack Danger; currently in early code state (0.76); criticized for placeholder music and suspected AI callouts; primary subject of Cary's episode |
| Jack Danger | person | Designer of X-Men pinball game; associated with the X-Men announcement stream that Cary critiqued |
| Gary Stern | person | Leadership at Stern Pinball; acknowledged X-Men music feedback and confirmed fix in development; addressed cost-efficiency measures in seminar |
| George Gomez | person | Interviewed on Phantom Tilt Pinball Podcast and Canada's Pinball Podcast; confirmed X-Men was rushed and not ready for initial public showing |
| Avatar | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game with UV-reactive playfield; has coil stop reliability issues; low personal excitement from Cary due to lighting/visibility concerns |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Avatar; known for impressive light shows and hot rails; demo unit experienced coil stop failure within first day |
| Home Pin | company | Smaller/homebrew manufacturer showing Blues Brothers gameplay; represents emerging market opportunity for non-traditional manufacturers |
| Blues Brothers | game | Home Pin game with recent gameplay footage; example of smaller manufacturer viability in pinball market |
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Developer of Cactus Canyon remake with updated code after multi-year development cycle; expected to showcase at Expo |
| Cactus Canyon | game | Remake in development by Chicago Gaming with recently updated code; Cary speculates about Expo showcase |
| Dutch Pinball | company | Developer of Adventures of Alice in Wonderland; scheduling seminar at Pinball Expo; known for detailed world-building and innovative plastic materials |
| Adventures of Alice in Wonderland | game | Dutch Pinball game scheduled for release before Expo; features flexible sculpted plastics and detailed theming; Cary has seen all sculpts/plastics in detail but not yet played |
| Pinball Expo | event | Major industry exhibition where multiple new games will be showcased; Dutch Pinball and Chicago Gaming expected to present; Cary planning to attend and play games |
| Dumb Pinball Show | organization | Twitch stream where Avatar gameplay was demonstrated; experienced Avatar coil stop issues during broadcast |
| Phantom Tilt Pinball Podcast | organization | Podcast where George Gomez confirmed X-Men development timeline information |
| Canada's Pinball Podcast | organization | Podcast featuring George Gomez interview about X-Men development; interview available on creator's Patreon |
| Melvin | person | Scheduled for live interview with Cary and Chris after Alice in Wonderland release; appears to be industry analyst/commentator |
| Chris | person | Associated with Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; scheduled for live interview about Alice in Wonderland release |
| NAP Arcade | organization | Source of article about Cactus Canyon remake code updates |

### Topics

- **Primary:** X-Men game music and audio quality, AI voice generation in pinball callouts, Game code completion and rushed releases, Avatar UV lighting implementation and venue suitability
- **Secondary:** Jersey Jack coil stop reliability, Smaller/homebrew manufacturer market viability, Dutch Pinball material innovation
- **Mentioned:** Pinball Expo 2024 expectations and lineup

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.35) — Primarily critical of X-Men music and Avatar lighting strategy; cautiously optimistic about Dutch Pinball and smaller manufacturers; acknowledges future code fixes may improve X-Men; expresses willingness to change opinions with hands-on experience

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Live interview series planned with Cary, Melvin, and Kaneda's Pinball Podcast Chris following Alice in Wonderland release to answer community questions (confidence: high) — Cary explicitly announced live interview plans before Expo; presented as official post-release community engagement event
- **[industry_signal]** Stern appears to be using AI voice generation for callouts (Gambit) as cost-efficiency measure to maintain pricing (confidence: medium) — Cary provided recreated AI audio clip matching stream Gambit voice; connected to Gary Stern's public statements about cost efficiency and avoiding price increases
- **[design_philosophy]** Avatar's UV lighting design compromised by venue limitations—won't display effectively at Expo with ambient lighting; requires dark room setup (confidence: high) — Cary observed UV barely visible in stream footage despite promotional materials featuring UV lamp; predicted poor Expo experience without environmental control
- **[design_philosophy]** X-Men main music thematically misaligned—described as 'chill' placeholder when X-Men theme requires energy and head-nodding appeal (confidence: high) — Cary repeatedly emphasized music doesn't sound like X-Men; played it multiple times to demonstrate mismatch; compared unfavorably to promotional trailer music
- **[market_signal]** Smaller/homebrew manufacturers gaining market credibility—Home Pin Blues Brothers positioning as proof homebrewers can reach market viability (confidence: medium) — Cary explicitly framed Home Pin as encouragement to homebrew community; described Blues Brothers as example that 'anybody can make a game and make it to market'
- **[event_signal]** Pinball Expo scheduled to feature major new releases (Avatar, Alice in Wonderland, potentially Cactus Canyon) with manufacturer seminars and live play opportunities (confidence: high) — Cary references Dutch Pinball seminar at Expo; mentions Expo as venue for testing Avatar and viewing game mechanics; plans to attend
- **[product_strategy]** Cactus Canyon remake code has been under development for multiple years with recent updates; expected showcase at Expo (confidence: medium) — NAP Arcade article mentioned updated code; Cary speculates Chicago Gaming will prioritize code showcase over announcing additional medieval madness remakes
- **[product_concern]** Avatar experiencing early mechanical reliability issues—coil stop failed/required replacement within first day of demo use (confidence: medium) — Observed during Dumb Pinball Show Twitch stream; coil stop issue occurred 30 min into broadcast; mentioned prior replacement/repair
- **[product_strategy]** Dutch Pinball Alice in Wonderland includes flexible/impact-resistant plastic materials as design innovation, along with undisclosed warranty terms (confidence: high) — Cary examined all sculpts and plastics in detail; described flexibility properties; noted warranty information approved for Dutch Pinball to release at Expo
- **[product_concern]** X-Men released with incomplete code (0.76) appearing rushed; unfinished animations and placeholder audio acknowledged (confidence: high) — George Gomez confirmed in two separate podcast interviews that game wasn't ready; Cary observed early stream timing and code state
- **[sentiment_shift]** X-Men hype declining post-stream despite initial excitement—music complaints and suspected AI callouts driving negative sentiment, though early code state provides recovery pathway (confidence: high) — Cary states stream was disappointing letdown; consensus was negative for first major anticipated game in while; acknowledged fix in works may change perception
- **[technology_signal]** Suspected industry adoption of AI voice generation for cost management despite community resistance—Stern case study of cost-efficiency vs. quality perception (confidence: medium) — Cary's AI analysis of Gambit callouts and connection to Gary Stern's cost-efficiency messaging; framed as industry trend affecting pricing structure

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## Transcript

 So, music. If that is the music in the game, and that is there to stay, and that's what you get, I don't like it. I do not like it. Not like, you know, it's almost a make or break kind of thing. That's why I'm hoping, fingers crossed, that that's just a placeholder. They've got better stuff coming. Because that seemed very, and for those that didn't hear it, I'm going to do it once for you again right here. Does that sound fucking X-Men to you? Doesn't sound X-Men to me. Great. I'm sure someone's going to snip that and I'll see it online here shortly. But whatever. whatever brings it more to their attention that they need to change that make it better that is 100 the finalized music bull i think someone's just trying to trigger me right now there's uh no now in 4k what's up guys and welcome back to the channel where i talk and do everything pinball so if that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below in this omnibus episode i'm gonna go over just a list of topics here i hate to say that this is going to be a short episode because when I say that it tends to not be so we're just going to go with it and see how long it is start off with x-men we had the x-men stream I spoke about this in length for like a good while on my live and I feel that the consensus is that this wasn't the best stream that Stern slash Jack Danger has put on to show off a game. And I think that's a little upsetting for a lot of people, including myself, because it was basically the first game in a good while that a lot of us have been excited about, that a lot of us wanted to see what this game could do. And I think it was a little bit of a letdown. it was for me but not so much mainly on the gameplay and how poorly the players seem to be playing for me the only downside i have on this game right now is merely the main music and that's the good thing and i have to preface this right now because i know people are probably already typing you stern army folks i'm well aware that the code isn't done the code is currently at 0.76 according to what we saw on the stream. So, luckily, the things that I'm harping on can be fixed. And from what information we've recently obtained via Gary Stern himself, it looks like the fix is in the works. So, again, my main complaint is the main music. It just doesn't feel like X-Men. It doesn't get me a little pumped or motivated or has anything exciting about it. It almost makes me go, what music is this? Where is this from? This doesn't seem like it should be in X-Men. I mean, when you have the initial release trailer that has this type of music in it. And then you get into the stream and we hear this. why would we not question what we're hearing now there's those of you out there i saw in sheds like, oh, this is very chill music. It shouldn't be chill music for X-Men. I know that's not just me. I mean, it shouldn't be just power all the damn time or anything but it should be a little bit more of a head nodder a head nodder a good beat to it you know i i have some examples right here that i might throw in and i might not but here's just some examples that i think would be at least better than what they gave us so far Now, also, along with the complaints for music, the other complaints that we're hearing are also dealing with the call-outs, particularly Gambit. and the thing is now this is speculation not confirmed but with the kind of information we're getting from like gary stern about being more efficient and having to do things and how they have to basically find ways to cut cost in order to keep the costs low and not raise prices and i think a part of that is not hiring voice actors they're more than likely using ai and the kind of i don't want to say proof i have but information is that i received certain audio clips of an individual that merely utilized ai to recreate what was heard in the stream so this is ai imitating gambit from the stream hey carrie i think you might like this better than stern's attempt hey Cher don't go nudging me like that this is AI the chances are Stern is utilizing AI for call outs at least within this game trying to be cost effective but it's also turning people off but luckily a fix is in the works i don't know what all that means that they're just going to kind of revamp the music change it entirely i don't know but evidently according to Gary himself in this seminar that I have a link in the video description down below if you'd like to watch it in its entirety because he gets a lot of information. I do recommend it. But he states that he heard the feedback and they're doing something about the music, the main music for X-Men. So, yay. Some of you saw the streams or were some comments that weren't great that we learned from. uh we'll change some of the music uh based on that uh the gameplay main main play music um other than that it's mainly just me anticipating the ability to play this game i'm really looking forward to it i'm still not turned off by what i'm seeing about how the game shoots that's in the end for me is going to be me playing that and as far as the animations go that people were complaining about here's the thing is that i'm one that doesn't really harp a lot on animation and i feel like for what we got so far it's a it's a good start i'm not really complaining about it i know it can only get better from here kind of thing but i mentioned this i want to say in my live or a previous previous episode or maybe it was just to my patrons but i stated that i believe that this game was rushed that it be it got released quicker than they would have liked to due to the amount of like or lack of code currently at this point in time and just the way things are for me i got the vibe of the game isn't ready yet and that's why the stream wasn't like a little sooner than i guess we would have liked it to have been because again the game wasn't ready and that was confirmed twice two different interviews both by george gomez one was the phantom tilt pinball podcast link below the other one was on canada's pinball podcast link to his Patreon where that interview is available is also down below. So in a nutshell with X-Men game still looks interesting to me. I really do want to play this game, fix the music, and I think you are one step closer to at least me taking the plunge on getting this in my collection. Moving on to Avatar. So this game for whatever reason I just have like no interest in as of right now it's like i've i can only go by what i've seen on the streams that are available and it's one of those where i'm watching it and i'm like it seems at this point there's just a lot of shots that aren't being made or the ball is just not doing anything and from what i can see that entertaining me kind of thing so i cannot sit here and watch an over hour stream i for the i watched it an hour i wanted to give it one hour of my time because i gave x almost an hour of my time because that's all they provided for us anyways but i wanted to give it a fair amount of time to give me an idea on how i feel about the game so far now i watched the uh the dumb pinball show it's on twitch i'll put a link in the description down below on this but they streamed it for about an hour and a half or so i found it not funny but 30 minutes into it their riot flipper they had an issue with that they had to get in their coil stop issue and i want to say that they've already also had to repair or replace a coil stop on this game that they've obviously only had for maybe a day but along with that i have to give them a compliment jersey jack that is on the light show which is not a surprise it's like every game jersey jack does amazing light shows they've got their hot rails to assist with that but this light show in particular i'm watching this and i'm just at certain moments i'm like my god that's gotta be something to see and really enjoy when you're right in front of it. But my speculation before the initial release of this game looks to be holding true, meaning the UV isn't going to be very prominent in this gameplay, from what I can tell on the stream. Typically, when it comes to lighting, it's going to be intensified from the camera. The camera is going to allow more light to come in. Whereas currently on the stream i'm not seeing any kind of like uv at all so and like during their promos i pointed out that they had a giant uv lamp hanging over the play field to really intensify that uv and i feel like this game's only not only but really going to be enjoyed when you create an atmosphere or an environment to really bring it out meaning you're gonna have to have a dark room maybe some uv lamp over your machine headphones on stuff like that and current point in time i don't think this game is going to show well at expo with the bright lights and everything around i don't think you're going to get the whole daytime night time effect very well it's not going to put you into the world that Jersey Jack has created. And I kind of wonder how well it's created whenever, even if you are in a dark room or a dark environment, because that play field gets very dark and I'm not a big fan of playfields that are dark. I've got pen lights and pen stadiums on every single one of my damn games because I like to be able to see the ball. And at least on the stream at this current point in time, I'm finding myself not keeping track of the ball very well. So what I want to do for Expo, I need to remember to bring headphones because I also feel like Avatar is going to be one of those games that the music is just going to be very cinematic. And it's going to probably draw me in. From what I can hear, it seems like it's definitely the Avatar soundtrack, the music and everything, very powerful. But you're not able to hear it over all the mechanical and the talking and everything. So I want to remember to bring headphones to fully experience Avatar with the soundtrack and everything. I think that's going to basically kind of bring it up a notch or two. But, you know, when it comes to just how the game plays and everything, I mean, I'm just not excited for it yet. I mean, I'm more excited about X-Men, but it's going to be one of those things where we'll see how it plays when it comes to going to Expo and playing it there. Or maybe I might be able to get to play it sooner. I want to say that my local distro is going to have one this week, if not sooner. This week or sooner. But I think he's got one at his shop actually right now. So I may, I might see if I can, I can't do it tomorrow. Damn it. So in a nutshell for Avatar, my excitement and enthusiasm FOMO is very low. But that could change when I get my hands on the game. I mean one thing you have to give it to Jersey Jack for so far is they got plenty of lights the light show the code is almost complete although Jersey Jack they got the code like you know spreadsheet online for you to try to decode and figure out all the different things you can do and how to get to certain things and stuff like that i not doing all that homework so let take a little gander at the smaller manufacturers out there like home pin there is some gameplay now of the blues brothers let me show you to you now one is multiplied I'm going to try not to be so negative on this. So let's look on the positive side for what we just saw with the Blue Brothers gameplay. I think that this game and what we're seeing so far with Blues Brothers should give you homebrewers out there a lot of encouragement and motivation to build your own game knowing that you have stuff like this is making its way into the market this shows that anybody can make a game and make it to market. If that could be a compliment. So we have an article from NAP Arcade here talking about the updated code for Cactus Canyon remake and how there has been some more information that's been shared showing off and stuff like that and talks about it. And this kind of makes me wonder if this is going to be something that Chicago Gaming Company is going to be showing off for Expo. Are we going to get Cactus Canyon and it's going to have the new improved code and stuff like that on there i think that would be good since the other option is to show off that they're going to be doing more you know medieval madness remakes then no how about you show off the code that people have been waiting on for a couple of years now so the next game that we are scheduled to see before expo is dutch pinball exclusives adventures of Alice in Wonderland. So, I can only give you information that I have basically been approved to give you at this time. I will say that I have been shown every one of the sculpts and plastics that are in the game up close now to get a better look at all the details that are throughout. I think that from what this game is going to look like, it's going to be something that you haven't seen before when it comes to just how much of a world under glass they're bringing us. The plastics in question that are sculpts and molded and stuff like that that you've gotten little previews of are not your typical plastics. They got a little bit of flexibility to them, so they're able to take a hit and keep on going along. There's also information in regards to what kind of warranty that this particular game is going to have. I haven't been given the privilege to release that. I will let them do that, but I think that a lot of you are going to like what you hear. And again, I must stress, if you want further information about what Dutch Pinball is currently doing and what they will be doing, I highly recommend that you go to their seminar at Pinball Expo. I, too, am looking forward to seeing how this game plays. I'm looking forward to playing it, but mainly, I just want to see how it shoots. I haven't even seen that. I've only seen the game at a standstill. Like, look, this is how pretty it looks. Like, yeah, you've got the looks, but we'll see, you know, how it plays. After the initial release of Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, there's stuff still in the air, but I want to say there will be a live interview with me, Melvin, and I think Chris from Kaneda's Pinball Podcast for all of you out there to ask questions and get all the juicy details you can after the full release of the game, which should be before Expo. And that's all I have for now, guys. And until next time, peace out.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 89084c43-ea03-4db8-8647-da0be135ef82*