# 73: Quick interview with RETROCENGO

**Source:** Pinball Party Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-05-21  
**Duration:** 31m 26s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://pinballparty.podbean.com/e/quick-interview-with-retrocengo/

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## Analysis

Jason from Pinball Party Podcast discusses his frustration with the pinball industry, including Stern's poor customer support on Jaws (losing $1,000 on a $10,000 machine), his exclusion from Stern's media events despite being a prominent podcaster, and broader market challenges affecting collectors and content creators. He contrasts Stern's approach with Jersey Jack and Spooky's more supportive manufacturer relationships, and reflects on industry pricing, game remakes, and community dynamics.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Stern's response to Jaws physics issues (air balls on right side shots) was dismissive, claiming problems would 'settle down over time' despite the $10,000 price point — _Jason (Pinball Party Podcast) describing Stern customer support response to Jaws playfield defects_
- [HIGH] Jason purchased a JAWS (Premium/LE), played 4-5 games, listed it for sale within 2 hours, and ultimately lost $1,000 after 50-60 games played — _Jason directly stating his Jaws purchase, sale, and loss details_
- [HIGH] Premium-tier pinball machines in Europe cost significantly more due to $1,000 shipping and 25% VAT on top of US pricing, making $15,000+ total cost — _RETROCENGO (European distributor) explaining European pricing structure for premium games like Elton John_
- [HIGH] Stern did not invite Jason to the John Wick release media event, which contributed to his frustration documented in a podcast episode called 'Can I Be Honest' — _Jason and RETROCENGO discussing Stern's media event exclusions and the resulting podcast episode_
- [HIGH] Stern reached out to Jason via email after his critical podcast, stating they listen to every show and appreciate it, though without retroactively offering an event invite — _Jason revealing Stern's post-podcast outreach and clarifying it was personal appreciation rather than event invitation_
- [HIGH] Jason owned Metallica pinball twice and sold it before losing money due to poor market conditions, and the original game had mono audio instead of stereo — _Jason discussing his Metallica ownership history and audio quality issues_
- [MEDIUM] Rumors suggest both Tron and Metallica remakes are in development, with focus on converting DMD to LCD for Tron — _Jason citing unconfirmed rumors from friends working at manufacturers regarding playfield and display conversions_
- [HIGH] Jersey Jack and Spooky have been significantly more supportive and responsive to Jason's media efforts compared to Stern — _Jason contrasting manufacturer relationships and citing Jersey Jack's generosity (lending Hobbit playfield) and Spooky's community engagement_

### Notable Quotes

> "It sucked and it was really kind of just deflating... no one owes me anything. But it's when you do it for so long, like a podcast and you get to know a lot of people in the industry... people don't follow through."
> — **Pinball Party Podcast**, early in conversation
> _Core frustration with industry exclusion despite long-term content contribution_

> "$10,000 and it's expected to not fully work correctly. And that's your answer? Yeah, it'll settle down."
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, middle section
> _Illustrates Stern's dismissive approach to critical quality issues on premium machines_

> "The market is so bad that it's barely affordable to do the hobby and then to do the media on top of it and not get any recognition."
> — **Pinball Party Podcast**, mid-conversation
> _Articulates the compounding financial and recognition challenges for pinball media creators and collectors_

> "I'm healthily angry. And I'm not even like – I'm not angry anymore. Full disclosure, I should say this. Stern did reach out to me."
> — **Pinball Party Podcast**, late in conversation
> _Shows tension resolution and nuance; Stern's outreach partially addressed the grievance_

> "Jersey Jack has been the opposite... so generous and so forthcoming... Spooky, to be honest, they've also been wonderful. And I don't deserve or they don't owe me anything, but just like working with them... it's just a different experience."
> — **Pinball Party Podcast**, later section
> _Demonstrates contrast between manufacturer business models and community-focused approaches_

> "When we sell a game, if there's the slightest trouble with it, we just contact Jersey and they're just, no problem. Here's brand new parts."
> — **RETROCENGO (European distributor)**, middle-late section
> _Corroborates Jersey Jack's superior customer service reputation across regions_

> "For me maximum $10,000, man. I mean you're losing $1,000. It's not sustainable."
> — **RETROCENGO**, mid-conversation
> _Articulates market price ceiling concerns from operator/distributor perspective_

> "If I can, Stern is great and there's a lot of people there I know and it's wonderful, but Jersey Jack has been the opposite... they don't owe me anything, but that was the, another, you know, where you have this idea of like, I know how a manufacturer can be."
> — **Pinball Party Podcast**, later section
> _Shows nuanced understanding that manufacturer support varies significantly despite equal lack of obligation_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Jason | person | Host of Pinball Party Podcast, content creator covering pinball industry, musician (Neon Dale), formerly associated with Pinball Network, experienced player and critic |
| RETROCENGO | person | Content creator and pinball enthusiast interviewing Jason, based in Europe, operates or works with pinball distribution/sales network in Denmark |
| Zach Sharpe | person | Founder/operator of Pinball Network, close friends with Jason, involved in pinball media ecosystem |
| Kaneda | person | Pinball content creator (Kaneda's Pinball Podcast), known for critical commentary and recent 'Saturday Spectacular' episode expressing frustration with industry pricing and Stern marketing, has history with Jason, critical but supportive within community |
| Keith Elwin | person | Pinball designer, credited with design of Jaws, mentioned as recipient of critical feedback from Jason regarding game quality issues |
| George Gomez | person | Legendary pinball designer, mentioned by Jason as recipient of complaint escalation regarding Jaws quality issues |
| Scott Denise | person | Designer of Total Nuclear Annihilation (TNA) at Spooky Pinball, has been on Jason's show, no longer with Spooky, known for community engagement and quality work |
| Ken Crone | person | Jersey Jack Pinball representative, described as 'nice guy' by both speakers, responsible for strong customer service reputation |
| Cale and Rachel | person | Operators of Electric Bat Arcade with Spooky machines, candid about Spooky quality issues on location |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer, subject of criticism for customer support on Jaws, exclusion of Jason from John Wick media event, poor communication, but later reached out to Jason via email |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Manufacturer praised for generous support to Jason's podcast (lending Hobbit playfield), superior customer service in Europe and US, responsive to media and community |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Emerging manufacturer, community-focused and supportive, great licenses but quality on location play sometimes inconsistent, improving through community feedback, recently approved for CE certification in Europe |
| Jaws | game | Latest Stern Pinball game by Keith Elwin, has known physics issues (air balls) on right side shots, Premium tier $9,500-10,000, experiencing poor secondary market sales despite popularity, Jason purchased and quickly resold at $1,000 loss |
| Total Nuclear Annihilation | game | Spooky Pinball game designed by Scott Denise, Jason owned twice, praised for quality, subject of review and music collaboration on Pinball Party Podcast |
| Metallica | game | Stern Pinball game, original version has mono audio instead of stereo, Jason owned twice and sold due to market conditions, rumors of remaster in development with updated audio and display technology |
| Tron | game | Stern Pinball game, rumors of remaster with DMD-to-LCD display conversion in development, competing with Metallica remaster for priority |
| John Wick | game | Recent Stern Pinball release, subject of media event that excluded Jason and other independent content creators, included gun imagery controversy (resolved in artwork), featured selected media personalities in official release video |
| Elton John | game | Recent Stern Pinball release, Premium tier costs ~15,000 EUR in Europe after VAT/shipping, appears to be experiencing poor market uptake, mentioned as market indicator for pricing problems |
| Funhouse | game | Classic Bally/Williams game being remade, Jason uninterested in remake, played original only ~5 times as teenager, views remake as less relevant than other classics |
| Lord of the Rings | game | Stern classic (2003) that Jason strongly desires to see remade, identified as top wish for Stern remaster |
| Pinball Party Podcast | product | Jason's podcast show, primarily audio format on multiple platforms, features interviews and game reviews, recent episode 'Can I Be Honest' went viral in community for honest industry criticism |
| Pinball Network | organization | Content network founded by Zach Sharpe, Jason was talent until recently, agreement allowed Jason to reclaim episodes after one-year window, Jason left for scheduling autonomy |
| Poor Man's Pinball Podcast | product | Pinball podcast mentioned as referencing and criticizing Jason's honesty podcast, host expressed frustration about Stern media event exclusion and industry status, Jason found critique partially entertaining but insufficient in depth |
| Electric Bat Arcade | venue | Pinball arcade location with Spooky machines, operators Cale and Rachel candid about Spooky quality inconsistencies on location |

### Signals

- **[product_concern]** Jaws by Stern has known physics issues (air balls) on right side of playfield affecting multiple shot areas, Stern customer support dismissive of issues, claiming problems will 'settle down over time' despite $10,000 price point (confidence: high) — Jason's detailed description: 'Google Jaws pinball air balls... right side of the real shot area is a lot of problems... you try to hit the ball... sends the ball all over the place... three or four areas... that would just send the ball everywhere'
- **[market_signal]** Premium pinball machines experiencing steep depreciation and poor liquidity; Jaws (brand new, most popular game) described as 'one of the hardest games to sell' despite high demand; Jason lost $1,000 on Jaws Premium, secondary market weakening across titles (confidence: high) — Jason: 'Jaws is awesome... the most popular game right now... it's been one of the hardest games to sell'; market loss on new Jaws Premium; RETROCENGO: 'games are cool but everything has just stopped'
- **[product_strategy]** European pricing for premium pinball machines has become prohibitively expensive; CE certification requirements, 25% VAT, and $1,000+ shipping create final prices (e.g., Elton John Premium ~€15,000) that drastically limit addressable market and customer conversion (confidence: high) — RETROCENGO explaining European pricing structure: 'we put on 25% VAT on top of everything... When this guy got the final prize, he was like, are you kidding me? For this toy... I thought it cost like a PlayStation 5'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Significant frustration among independent pinball content creators regarding exclusion from manufacturer media events, poor market conditions, and recognition disparity; Jason's 'Can I Be Honest' podcast episode resonated widely as expression of broader community frustration (confidence: high) — Jason's honest podcast prompted RETROCENGO to reach out; Poor Man's Pinball Podcast similarly frustrated about exclusion; multiple content creators (Jason, Kaneda, Poor Man) expressing industry anger publicly
- **[industry_signal]** Stark difference in support approaches between manufacturers: Stern exhibits gatekeeping behavior on media events and poor customer support; Jersey Jack and Spooky significantly more accessible, generous, and responsive to independent creators and community (confidence: high) — Jason: 'Jersey Jack has been the opposite... so generous... Spooky... also been wonderful... Stern is great... but it's a different experience'; RETROCENGO: 'Jersey and they're just, no problem. Here's brand new parts'
- **[business_signal]** Stern's customer support characterized as 'notoriously bad'; dismissive responses to legitimate defect reports; contrast with Jersey Jack's proactive parts replacement policy and Spooky's community engagement and willingness to improve (confidence: high) — Jason: 'Stern's customer support [is] notoriously bad'; Stern support response to Jaws air balls: 'that's kind of expected. It'll slow down over time'; RETROCENGO on Jersey Jack: 'no problem. Here's brand new parts'
- **[collector_signal]** Traditional FOMO-driven collector market appears to be cooling despite limited editions and exclusive machines; games like Jaws (most hyped and popular current title) experiencing difficulty finding buyers at new/near-new prices, indicating potential shift in collector psychology (confidence: high) — Jason: 'Jaws is... the most popular game right now but it's... been one of the hardest games to sell'; RETROCENGO: 'everything has just stopped'
- **[personnel_signal]** Keith Elwin credited as designer of Jaws; George Gomez referenced as possible escalation point for design/quality concerns; John Borg, Lyman Sheets, and other legendary designers implied as reference points for quality standards (confidence: high) — Jason identifying Jaws as Keith Elwin game and requesting feedback be sent to 'Gomez and Keith Elwin' regarding unacceptable quality
- **[rumor_hype]** Rumors of Stern remaster pipeline including both Metallica and Tron, with LCD/DMD display conversions and potentially updated audio; Jason sources indicate Metallica likely before Tron despite broader speculation; Metallica rumors mention updated sound systems and stereo audio (confidence: medium) — Jason: 'I'll just say Metallica is likely... last I heard, they were transferring DMD stuff to the LCD generation for Tron'; 'friends that work at some of these places... Metallica one is just, it's very much likely... playfield should be the same'
- **[design_philosophy]** Remaster philosophy differs by manufacturer: Chicago Gaming and others remake classic Bally/Williams games; Stern pursuing LCD conversion/audio upgrades on older titles; debate within community about whether remasters should preserve original layouts vs. update mechanics (confidence: medium) — Jason discussing Funhouse, Attack from Mars, Medieval Madness remakes and expressing preference for layout preservation on Metallica remaster while wanting 'something more' than original
- **[community_signal]** Pinball media ecosystem increasingly fractured along lines of manufacturer relationships, event access, and creator independence; tension between 'official' media (invited to events) vs. independent/critical media; Kaneda's recent anger video and Jason's honest podcast both resonating as expressions of systemic frustration (confidence: high) — Jason and RETROCENGO discussing Stern media events, Kaneda's frustration, Poor Man's Pinball Podcast anger, and Jason's 'Can I Be Honest' episode resonating widely
- **[operational_signal]** Spooky Pinball games on location ('Electric Bat Arcade') frequently experiencing reliability issues despite strong home ownership experience; indicates potential gap between home-use quality and location/commercial durability standards (confidence: high) — Jason: 'Spooky on location... They have a Spooky, and it's always busted... Cale and Rachel... Spooky is a hardworking company... some of the quality on location doesn't always hold up to something like a Stern'
- **[manufacturing_signal]** CE (European Conformity) certification requirements creating significant delays and costs for manufacturers seeking to sell in Europe; Spooky games just recently approved for European market entry, explaining previous unavailability (confidence: high) — RETROCENGO: 'When we order games to Europe, they need to be something called CE approved... it take[s] some time, cost[s] a lot of money... they just got approved'

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## Transcript

When you're ready, I'm going to start. I'm ready. All right. Welcome, everybody. We got a great, great guest on today's show today. Jason from Pinball Party. How are you, Jason? Hey, I'm great. Thanks for having me. How are you? I'm feeling awesome, man. Jason, this is the first time we actually talk to each other. I have listened to some of your shows and I must say the last show you made that was an episode something but it was called Can I Be Honest episode you made on your podcast. That really made me want to reach out to you and have a talk to you. It was really honest from the hard talk. So I just reached out and I said, yo, RETROCENGO here. I don't know if you know my channel. I make people with you. You do? Okay. Oh, yeah. Cool. Oh, nice. Yeah, I have listened to some of your shows, but this last one, it was amazing. And I wanted to recommend this channel, Jason's Pinball Party Podcast. Go in and listen. This last episode, it was so good. Can I say before you keep going, thank you very much for the kind words. I really appreciate it. You are talking about, at the beginning of that show, anger, jealousy, you mentioned that, but you're also a, as I understand, you're a really honest guy, you're a genuine guy, but you're talking about, you have done all of this pinball media stuff, and Stern has invited people over, but you didn't get the invitation. Yeah. How did that make you feel? I guess if you want a long answer, yeah, go listen to that last episode called Can I Be Honest? Yeah, I don't number the episodes, so forgive me. How did it make me feel? I mean, man, I'm of two minds. One, like I don't – no one owes me anything. You know, so the fact that Stern didn't invite me, it hurt, you know, if I'm honest with myself and not doing any defense or pretense or trying to, like, defend my feelings. Yeah, it sucked and it was really kind of just deflating, but it was also like, well, I mean, it's not like, yeah, again, no one owes me anything. It's not like if you do this, then that happens. It's when you do it for so long, like a podcast and you get to know a lot of people in the industry. And I've done it for a while and made a lot of connections. And there's all this basically talk that happens, but then people don't follow through. And that's the part of me that I try to do what I say I'm going to do and vice versa. Yeah, anyway, so long story short, it just was kind of deflating. Do you have any idea why they didn't include you? Because you're pretty known in the pinball world, as I understand. You are part of Zach's, what's it called? I used to be on the Pinball Network. Pinball Network, yes. You're not anymore? No, I left for my own reasons. Zach and I are close friends and, well, we became close, I guess I should say. I started doing this podcast a couple years ago when I was recording an album for the music group is called Neon Dale, but it's really just me making songs. I was recording this album and in the middle of it, there was a lull for, I had a couple weeks break for some reason, I can't remember what it was, but I made a couple jingles for the Triple Drain podcast, which is a fantastic pinball podcast, Joel and Travis and Tom. And then there was like a lull in podcasts for a while. And I was just like, you know, I know audio pretty well. I am somewhat of a showmanship from playing shows. I'm a front man and sing and do all that stuff. And I just hit record one day and just started recording. And I was like, well, I don't know how to do a podcast by just saying stuff. So I started making sound effects and putting music in and doing all this stuff and then got the attention of the Pinball Network. They asked me to come on after like four episodes. And then, yeah, I did the Pinball Network thing for a long time. Okay, you got an invitation there. Yeah. Yeah, okay. And that's honestly like the opposite feeling. When that happened, it was great. It felt, you know, like it would for anyone, an accomplishment. That's how I found about your pinball show. So it's really nice. But, okay, so when did you exit that? So you started your own now for how long? Um, probably, uh, actually I know it's a little less than a year because we basically made an agreement when I signed on to the Pinball Network that any podcasts I do, they get rights to it for a year. And then after that year, they come back to me. So just the other day, I was like, Hey, Zach, can you, can I take all those episodes back? And it's almost been a year, but I really left for, um, everyone on that team is incredible. Uh, everyone and great shows. Yeah, they're fantastic shows. I thought you were there. Yeah, and the only reason I left was honestly down to like kind of scheduling stuff. I like to sometimes, and for anyone that listens to my show, I guess, I'm not always the most consistent because I'm just so busy in life. And sometimes I don't want to do a podcast. So I just wanted to be in control of my scheduling and I wanted to not harm their brand if I was to go off and say a bunch of... Terrible words or whatever. The way I do it, whatever. Some people judge. So yeah, I left and they were heartbroken. Hey guys, I was heartbroken. But yeah, we still stay in touch. Okay, so you're good with Zachs too? Oh yeah. He's a great guy. Nothing there. All right. So on this show, you're new. I'm not going to ask, who's your daddy? What does he do? Nothing like that. We're just going to jump into it. And if people are interested, they need to check out your channel. Because on your channel, I listened to one of the shows where you had a guy over. You were talking about a pretty new game from Stern called Jaws. And that guy on your show, he was like, Jason, Jaws is awesome. And you were like on the fence, but he was talking so positive about Jaws. And on that show, while you were doing the show, you were writing to Zach and you were about to buy a Jaws. I did buy one. Yeah, you did buy one. So you bought one and then you made a show where you said, I'm listening to these shows when I'm driving and it just jumps to the next show. So this show came up, your show came up next, and you were like, I just got this game and it's for sale same day. I was like, Jason, what's going on? I mean, it's rated pretty high. Which version did you get? Was it a Pro? Premium. A premium. All right. Nice. And you put it up for sale same day. How many games did you play? It was up for sale within like two hours. I probably played four to five games max. Five games and you were like, what was it? Was it a shot or what was it after five games? I mean, it's a lot of money. How much do they cost in the U today or what So basically 9 to 10 depending on who you friends with Yeah All right So why did it come up for sale I really want to know Yeah. And when you asked the question earlier, and I guess I maybe didn't necessarily answer it, why I don't think Stern asked me to come on. Can you swear on the show or should I keep it clean? It's okay. I know how your shows are. It's okay. So I'm not going to go, but I basically shit all over the game when I got it because there is some flaws with the physics. Flaws may not be the right word, but it's very common for people that want to just Google Jaws pinball air balls. That'll get you on what I'm talking about. The whole kind of right side of the real shot area is a lot of problems, I'll say, where you try to hit the ball in a place because you're aiming in pinball. And you'll hit these things and it sends the ball all over the place. Like you basically can't make a shot. And there's also another spot right before that shot that also sends the ball up in the air. So basically, one, two, there's three or four areas in this one spot that would just send the ball everywhere. And I just couldn't hit that shot. So I was like, OK, that sucks. I've done this a long time and I know how to fix things. But like you said, $9, 500, you get a game home and it doesn't work right. So I email Stern's customer support and they're notoriously bad. I actually wanted to ask you, did you talk to Stern about this? Yeah. Okay. Let me hear what they say. You got a new play field, Jason. Yeah. Hey, welcome to Stern. You got this brand new game. I'm like, yeah, it doesn't really work. And they're like, oh. And when I have these support tickets with Stern, I try to say in the first email, like, I know what I'm talking about. Please, let's go over that. Please don't, you know, I know what I'm doing. Just, hey, these are the problems. Can you help? And the problem, the answer was basically like, ah, that's kind of expected. It'll slow down over time. And I'm like, let me get this straight. $10, 000 and it's expected to not fully work correctly. And that's your answer. And they're like, yeah, it'll settle down. And I was just angry and said, you know, can you please send this to Gomez and Keith Elwin and just say, like, this is unacceptable and like close the ticket. Thanks for not helping. So the game just, yeah, it wasn't, it was very frustrating. So I listed it for sale. So you put it out for sale. Is it sold? It's sold. After how many games? I mean, after I took some time to fix some of the air balls that you shouldn't have to do, a lot of them came back. I probably played 50 to 60 games on it. Did you get all your money back? It's a brand new game? Yeah, no, no, I didn't. How much? $500 for? $1, 000. $1, 000 for 50 games? Yeah, not cool. So – How does that make you feel, my friend? Yeah, right. Oh my god. And that's a Keith Elwin brand new game, man. I know. The market, I mean, as bad as it's in the US, it's same here in Europe. Is it? Yeah. My brother, he sells for all the companies and it just – it tanked. But everything has just stopped. Yesterday, there was a guy over. He tried – Elton John? And we have the premium there and we have the CE on the way. And my brother was like, we have this one if you're a fan of Ilton John and we're getting the CE, blah, blah, blah. And he was so interested. And then he said, how much does this one cost? How much does the CE cost? And my brother, he's told the prices, but the prices, you know, you say $15, 000 in US, but we add $1, 000 for shipping. And on top of that, here in Europe, we put on 25% VAT on top of everything. Yeah, yeah. It's so cheap over there. So when this guy got the final prize, he was like, are you kidding me? For this toy, for this game, I thought it cost like a PlayStation 5. Yeah. No. So, yeah, I mean, games are cool. We are getting some cool new games. But my 2024 thing is maximum $10, 000. I mean no game should cost more than $10, 000. I don't know how you feel but for me maximum $10, 000, man. I mean you're losing $1, 000. It's not sustainable. Was it hard to sell? Did you sell your Jaws? Yeah, that was the thing and you said it right. It's the most popular game right now but the most popular designer and it's so brand new. And it's been one of the hardest games to sell. And I guess anyone who's thinking not selling these to make money, you're basically trying to just mitigate the cost of owning and enjoying the hobby. So the last podcast I made that was, you know, can I be honest, was like a combination of the market is so bad that it's barely affordable to do the hobby and then to do the media on top of it and not get any recognition, I guess is the right word. But I don't really mean that in the way that I need it. It's just the combo of that was like, I'm just going to hit record and just see what happens. But yeah, I don't have any games right now because I'm – It was a great show. Look at what it resulted in. It was so honest. You can just hear it. I was driving. I was like, let me put out – check the volume up. This is some honest, real talk, man. And I felt bad about all of it. And I'm like – and you were also mentioning Kaneda on that show. So on this channel, we have had Kaneda from Kaneda's Pimball Podcast. We have Don from Don's Pimball Podcast. We have got Joel from Pimball Network. Now we have got Jason from Pimball Party. So welcome to the high table, Jason. Thank you very much. It's an honor to be here. So you say you empathize with Kaneda's anger video on that last Saturday show where he was like, F off. I want to hear your frustration. When you say you understand his anger, you empathize with his anger, is it because of Jaws or is there more to it? Um, no, Jaws was, I've been kind of vacillating lately while you see the market go down and you see somewhat in the pinball media what's rewarded, I'll say, and not rewarded necessarily by the manufacturers, but rewarded with, it's kind of nebulous to say, but to answer the Kaneda thing specifically, him and I have a little bit of a history and I don't think he'd mind me sharing. He's been on my show as well in the past in the pinball party. And the first episode I did, maybe it was the second, the first person ever to reach out to me was Kaneda. And it was a welcome to the hobby, don't swear so much. And I was like, cool, man, I get it. Like he goes for the number of listens and he wants to really maximize. And that kind of made me like, ah, I'm going to double down. And it looks like there's my niche. I'll just swear all the time. And not like I'm trying to forcefully swear. That's just how he talks. So I had him on the show one time and we were doing like a game on the show of like every time we would curse, we were donating money to I forget what it was. And at the end, we didn't have a lot. So then I just put a bunch of F-bombs at the end, like 30 in a row. And that's been fun. And honestly, that guy, you know, rightfully so. And he admit it He gets a lot of grief in the hobby from you know personal relationships he had or things he done or whatever And he fully admit it And you know there plenty of people on the pinball network that are against him And there's a lot of drama like there is anywhere else. I've seen him on your show, by the way. I thought that was great. But off the record and off the air, him and I have great communication. We kind of encourage each other and give each other kind words when we need it and help each other out and talk about stuff. So it's that anger that he shared about prices and everything. So for him to say to me in the very beginning, don't swear, yada, yada, for him to suddenly just start saying the F-bomb over and over and I was like, there we go. There's the real guy. And I get it. He's doing a show. Family friendly is not the right word, but I get it. He doesn't want to swear a lot where I just do because whatever. And his anger was real and it was – it's like from the gun stuff on John Wick to the prices to the Stern marketing and for – I mean to Canada's defense, a marketing guy seeing what Stern is doing marketing wise. It's just it's frustrating because it's all really a love for this hobby. And when you see these things from the outside of like, just don't do this stuff, it's it's it's tanking some of the enjoyment of the hobby. And yeah, I I thought it was a great show. Like, I mean, listen to Pinball Party, sure, but go check out one of Canada's recent Saturday Spectacular, as he calls them. And it's so it's reflective of people I know. All right. So let's talk about the newest game. So you said this gun thing on John Wick. What's your opinion? It doesn't have a gun on the artwork. Does it anger you? No. I could care less. Thank you. It's ridiculous that people – I don't care. Yeah. I mean it's just ridiculous. We don't want to talk about it. It is what it is, man. Let's leave that. Next thing we're going to talk about is Funhouse. So they just released this remake. Is it something for you? Did you order it? No, no and no. I did play Funhouse when I was a teenager at the time when I was playing like, you know, Adam's Family, Twilight Zone, Tales of the Raby Nights, all that. I remember there was a Funhouse and Rudy was kind of like a creep, you know, the little doll head like, all right, that's fine. And I played it maybe in my life five times and I didn't need to play it anymore. So seeing those kind of remakes doesn't do much for me. How about you? Well, I have two fun houses and one of them is just like brand new. So yeah, I'm not sure, but maybe, maybe, I don't know. I want to ask you, with all these remakes where they remake Bally Williams games from CTC and now Padretti, I want to hear your top three wishes for Bally Williams remakes. Bally Williams. Okay. Well, it's pretty easy for me. Adam's Family, Twilight Zone, and, well, they remade the ones I wanted to. It would have been Attack from Mars and Medieval Madness. Yeah. But the one that I would like to be remade, which is not a Bally Williams, and it's a trash game to most people, is Waterworld. Oh, from Gottlieb. From Gottlieb, right? Yeah. That's the game that got me into learning how it was pinball because, you know, you just lack of resources and where they are in my town. And it was at a bowling alley and it was Waterworld. So that was the game that we learned how to replay and get good at. Yeah. Do you live close to pinball locations? Are you close to a location where I just can go out and play John Wick? No, no. The closest I can go to play new stuff is probably an hour and a half. Oh, so you need to buy these games to make all the shows. Yes, exactly. Get them home and sell them and lose a thousand bucks each hour. Yeah, it's a great time. Right. That's not cool, man. So talking about remakes, I have heard on your show you really want a Lord of the Rings. Do I ever. I fully understand why. But not only Lord of the Rings. They are talking about remaking more games. I want to ask you, Stern remakes, top three, what do you wish for? It's funny that the top three remakes are, aside from Lord of the Rings, the two that I actually would like remade. I'm pretty certain they are. Tron and Metallica. Yeah, the rumors are saying, which one do you think will come up first, Tron or Metallica? Metallica. Very confidently. I think Tron. Let's see. Really? Maybe you know things that I don't know, but I'll just say Metallica is likely. I mean, last I heard, they were transferring DMD stuff to the LCD generation for Tron. That's the last thing I heard. Yeah, I don't... I hope Metallica gets back three. Come on. With proper sounds and, you know, speakers. Metallica, you're a sound guy. It just needs better sound system. My God, does it? Yeah. I'll say on the Metallica thing, I have friends that work at some of these places, so I don't want to say, but the Metallica one is just, it's very much likely. But they say, the rumors, again, this is just rumors, that the shots on layout, the whole play field should be the same. I hope so. Do you really hope so or do you want something more? I want something more, man. I've played that game for so many years. I didn't because when I had the game at my house to play it, the market was going down and I had to sell it before I lost too much money. So again, the same reason for me to play a game. I just don't want to lose a ton of money. I liked the game a lot. I get that it was repetitive, but as someone, I mean, I really like Metallica. The main reasons for getting rid of it aside from the money was the audio wasn't even stereo. There you go. I mean, I'm in like a recording studio. This is what I do. So I can't be hearing mono Metallica. Get out of here. What's going on? Man, last thing I want to talk to you about is they just came out with John Wick and you know, I know, they invited these new guys for the release video. Yeah, not people like you or me. Sure. And now they're making this media thing we started this video with and Kaneda, he calls it a Ryan Policky tour or something. You know how it is. Yeah, yeah. Yeah So earlier today actually I got a link to a podcaster I have never listened to his show His show is called Poor Man Pinball Podcast Oh boy Yeah Okay You have listened to it So I listened to that show for a couple of hours ago I don know the guy I'm sure he's a good guy. But he says that he's huge in the industry. He's the second or third biggest pinball media guy. And he has done this and that and this and that for 20 minutes. He talks about all of these things. And he didn't get the invite. And he was just pissed off. Really angry. Do you know the Poor Man's Pinball podcast? Not personally, no. I know of the show. I've heard it a couple of times. Okay, okay. So you're just – you're a bit sad about it, but you're not angry like that guy. He was really if-stern, if-stern all the way for 17 minutes or something. I would say I'm healthily angry. And I'm not even like – I'm not angry anymore. Full disclosure, I should say this. I guess I didn't mention it. Stern did reach out to me. They emailed me after the podcast and they kind of apologized in a way, which I didn't need the apology or the pity party, but it was nice. More than anything, honestly, it was enough to basically they said, oh, yeah, hey, I've listened to every show. I love it. That means enough to me. I don't need the invite. I get that some of the very blunt honesty doesn't always work with their marketing. And of course, they're a business that need to make money. I don't blame them for that. But it felt good for them to reach out. And we have communication now, which is nice. So the anger that I heard on Poor Man's Pinball podcast, probably there was a little bit of that inside. I'm not going to, you know, whatever he did was his choice. And it's entertaining to say the least. I would just ask because he did reference that I made a podcast venting the frustration. I wanted him and he kind of was rubbing me a little bit, like kind of giving me shit. I wanted him to go harder on me. If you're going to really make fun of me, come on, roast me, man. That would have been funny. He kind of almost did, but I think he could have gone harder. So there's a challenge. Poor man, if you're listening or watching, if you want to roast me, you've got to go 10 out of 10. I can take it. I think it's pretty funny. Go full Jason. Please, go nuts. Tear me apart. I like that stuff. But yeah, I think it was really cool Stern reached out to you. I'm happy to hear that. So are you going to visit Stern and play their games now or what? What did you say? Did you just say it's OK, but I'm OK? Yeah, they didn't retroactively send an invite. They really just said, we're a big fan of the show in so many words. It was a good personal email. I will say, if I can, Stern is great and there's a lot of people there I know and it's wonderful, but Jersey Jack has been the opposite with myself in the pinball party. As in, maybe not the opposite, they've been so generous and so forthcoming and so, you know, I'm looking at a Hobbit playfield right next to me that, you know, I got because of, yeah, so Jersy Jack has been wonderful. And it's not to pit the two against each other, but that was the, another, you know, where you have this idea of like, I know how a manufacturer can be and spooky, to be honest, they've also been wonderful. And again, I don't deserve or they don't owe me anything, but just like working with them on the side and talking with them and having them on the podcast. It's just a different experience. I mean, you're mentioning Jersey Jack. We have been selling Jersey Jack games for years here in Denmark. And I'm telling you, when we sell a game, if there's the slightest trouble with it, we just contact Jersey and they're just, no problem. Here's brand new parts. Here we go. No, it's so super service, man. I really love doing business with them. So I guess you talked with Ken Cromwell, such a nice guy. Yeah, he's such a nice guy. Often. And we just started cooperation with Spooky, and I hope in a couple of weeks we will get some Spooky games here. The reason I have unboxed a lot of games, I don't know if you've watched some of them. The reason we haven't unboxed Spooky Games, I'm not sure I'm allowed to say this one. I'm going to say it anyway. When we order games to Europe, they need to be something called CE approved to come into Europe with voltage, with, you know, don't go into flames. And all those improvements, they take some time, cost a lot of money. So they just got approved. So their games are great now. So now they're welcome to come into Europe. So soon I will be unboxing them and check out their quality. I will check out their quality personally before we will sell the game. Have you owned some of their games? Do you know about Spooky Quality? So, yeah, I've owned Total Nuclear Annihilation twice. And personally at home, it's been fantastic quality. I love the game. Scott Danesi has been on the show as well. We've reviewed TNA and talked about a lot of that. We did a music collaboration as well. So yeah, go support Scott Denisi and what he does. He's not part of Spooky anymore, but just a shout out to him. But Spooky on location. So we do have a location locally. It's just not a lot of games, to answer your question earlier. They have a Spooky, and it's always busted. Cale and Rachel at the Electric Bat Arcade who have Spookys are just – and they'll say it. Spooky is a hardworking company that has awesome licenses that try really hard, and they're great guys. And all that being said, some of the quality on location doesn't always hold up to something like a Stern. So it can be not great. Which titles, which games do they have? The old ones or newer ones? I've heard Scooby-Doo has been pretty great. Looney Tunes and Texas Chainsaw from what I've heard. But also some manufacturers. I don't want to... Spooky is great. You know, they're great for the community. They're trying hard. They're doing wonderful things, but they're learning as they go. So from my experience with them and people I know in media, Spooky learns and listens. So they are improving even while things don't always hold up on location. So nothing but great things. They are so active in the community. I love those guys. They're just on there. You can speak with them. It's so good. So I'm really happy to have them on our team here also, man. It's so great. Jason, this has been a great show doing with you, my friend. Thank you for accepting this. I've said I would only take 20 minutes of your time. I'm so sorry. We are a bit over. I appreciate the invite. Yeah, of course, man. And if you have, you know, a great friendship with Kaneda, maybe we can do you, me, and him. Let's do it. I don't know how much talk time we could have, but let's include him and make it on another show, man. Why not? Everybody, thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. Go in and subscribe to Pinball Party. Great guy, as you can see in here, and great show. Do you want to say something? Yeah, just check out the Pinball Party podcast. We do more audio than the video. Yes, we have a YouTube video, but I rarely do video just because of what I do. So it's been an honor. Thank you for having me on here, and I appreciate the invitation. Of course.

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-08-04 | Item ID: 8c0cb644-0e99-4239-a616-2f9bebd81085*