# Arcade Trip Part 2: Resistance Is Futile!!

**Source:** Bash Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-07-04  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.bashpinball.com/2024/07/04/labyrinth-pulp-fiction-the-new-williams-3-2-3-2-2-2-2/

---

## Analysis

The Bash Pinball hosts recount their trip to Richmond Pinball Collective, discussing their experiences playing older electromechanical and early solid-state games like Gorgar, Centaur, Wipeout, and NBA Fast Break. They praise the arcade's well-maintained machines and highlight how proper maintenance and flipper quality dramatically improved their appreciation for vintage games. The episode includes restaurant recommendations, introduction of a new producer (Diane), and reflections on how games like NBA Fast Break lower the barrier to entry for non-pinball enthusiasts.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Wipeout (Gottlieb game) at Richmond Pinball Collective had Williams flippers instead of original Gottlieb flippers, making it significantly more playable — _Hosts directly observed and played the machine; discussed how the flipper swap transformed the game from unplayable to enjoyable_
- [HIGH] NBA Fast Break is a George Gomez design with unique gameplay mechanics including passing system, defensive AI goalie, and basketball-themed scoring that makes it accessible to non-pinball players — _Detailed firsthand gameplay description with specific mechanics mentioned; hosts expressed strong enthusiasm and desire to own one_
- [MEDIUM] Gorgar (1979) was the first pinball game with speech, using six words rearranged to create different callouts — _Host stated as fact but did not cite source; could be verified against pinball history records_
- [HIGH] Poor maintenance at older pinball arcades (like Asheville Pinball Museum) with incorrect pitch settings and flipper delays prevented hosts from appreciating pre-System 11 games before visiting Richmond Pinball Collective — _Hosts directly contrasted their past negative experiences with well-maintained machines; explained how this changed their perspective_
- [HIGH] Richmond Pinball Collective houses games including Gorgar, Centaur, Blackout, Scorpion (super wide body), Wipeout, Time Fantasy, World Cup Soccer, and NBA Fast Break — _Hosts played these machines during their visit; specific gameplay details provided for multiple titles_

### Notable Quotes

> "if you put this game in a sports bar or something, which is I'm sure what they were going for probably, you'd probably get a lot of people playing it who weren't necessarily into pinball and it might get them into pinball"
> — **Bash host (discussing NBA Fast Break)**, ~26:00
> _Identifies how NBA Fast Break's accessibility design could broaden pinball's appeal beyond traditional enthusiasts_

> "I feel like pinballs nowadays has become too isolated like you know it's not branching out you kind of already have to have a certain level or base for understanding and it's maybe even intimidating to some people"
> — **Bash host**, ~28:00
> _Commentary on modern pinball design's gatekeeping effect; contrasts with how vintage sports-themed games lower entry barriers_

> "It's a little bit more, almost strategic in a way. There's less stuff to do. Right? But you almost have to be more careful with what you do and where you're going to go."
> — **Bash host (discussing Gorgar gameplay style)**, ~43:00
> _Describes how well-maintained vintage games require different strategic approach than modern pinball_

> "The whole aesthetic of it, black and white and red, it was just such a cool layout. Yeah, that's always been one of my favorite art packages on the game."
> — **Bash hosts (discussing Centaur)**, ~54:00
> _Appreciation for vintage game art design; indicates strong aesthetic value of classic machines_

> "Every single store and shop was like, I want to go there. I want to go there. I want to go there. It was cool. Richmond is awesome."
> — **Bash host**, ~63:00
> _General location endorsement; establishes Richmond Pinball Collective's venue appeal beyond just pinball_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Richmond Pinball Collective | organization | A pinball arcade venue in Richmond, Virginia housing multiple vintage and classic pinball machines; praised by hosts for excellent maintenance and machine condition |
| Gorgar | game | A 1979 Williams pinball game; first pinball game with speech synthesis; featured at Richmond Pinball Collective; hosts played well-maintained version and appreciated its strategic gameplay |
| NBA Fast Break | game | A George Gomez-designed Williams pinball game with basketball theme; features passing mechanics, defensive AI, and accessible scoring system; hosts praised it as innovative and accessible to non-pinball players |
| Wipeout | game | A Gottlieb skiing-themed pinball game; at Richmond Pinball Collective, it had Williams flippers instead of original Gottlieb flippers, which hosts found significantly improved playability |
| Centaur | game | A vintage pinball game with black, white, and red aesthetic; featured at Richmond Pinball Collective; praised by hosts for distinctive art package and layout |
| Time Fantasy | game | A pinball game at Richmond Pinball Collective with surreal/psychedelic artwork featuring a creature described as snail-like; hosts found the art style particularly striking and unusual |
| George Gomez | person | Renowned pinball designer; credited as designer of NBA Fast Break; hosts praised him as a top-tier designer for creating innovative, conceptually unique games |
| Sam | person | Staff member at Richmond Pinball Collective who showed hosts game rules and strategies; facilitated gameplay experience for Gorgar and other titles |
| Dale | person | Associated with Richmond Pinball Collective; mentioned as having strong preference for Scorpion; pictured at venue |
| Bash Pinball | organization | The podcast hosting this episode; hosts are exploring pinball arcade locations and producing content |
| Diane Kroger | person | New audio producer for Bash Pinball podcast; second cousin of Chad Kroger (Nickelback); met hosts on r/NickelbackLovers subreddit; has audio editing experience; contributed to previous episode |
| Asheville Pinball Museum | organization | A pinball museum with locations in Asheville and Hendersonville; hosts had negative experiences there due to poor machine maintenance (incorrect pitch, flipper delay) |
| Scorpion | game | A super wide body pinball machine at Richmond Pinball Collective; Dale indicated it's one of their favorite current games; featured extra flippers on upper left |
| Pepe's (restaurant) | organization | Mexican restaurant in same shopping center as Richmond Pinball Collective; hosts ate there and had mixed experience (good food, small portions, difficult shrimp dish preparation) |
| World Cup Soccer | game | A pinball game by Tim Kitzke (callouts); played at Richmond Pinball Collective by hosts while others played other machines |
| Blackout | game | A vintage pinball machine at Richmond Pinball Collective; noted as beautifully restored or untouched; one host played it while other played World Cup Soccer |
| Chad Kroger | person | Lead singer of Nickelback; second cousin of Diane Kroger; hosts hope to potentially use Nickelback music with Diane's family connections to secure rights |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Vintage pinball machine maintenance and condition impact on gameplay experience, Game accessibility and lowering barrier to entry for non-pinball players, Richmond Pinball Collective arcade location and venue quality
- **Secondary:** George Gomez design philosophy and innovative game mechanics, Classic vs. modern pinball gameplay strategy differences, Pinball community content creation and podcast production, Flipper design and its impact on game playability (Gottlieb vs. Williams flippers)
- **Mentioned:** Vintage game art and aesthetic appreciation

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Hosts expressed strong enthusiasm for Richmond Pinball Collective experience, vintage machines when properly maintained, and games like NBA Fast Break. Positive tone throughout despite minor complaints about phone damage and shrimp preparation effort. Introduction of new producer received supportive reception.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Bash Pinball hosting arcade trips and content creation around pinball venue experiences; documenting machines and gameplay (confidence: high) — Hosts visited Richmond Pinball Collective, took pictures, documented game experiences, plan return visits with specific game plans
- **[event_signal]** Richmond Pinball Collective serving as significant community gathering space and content venue for pinball enthusiasts (confidence: high) — Hosts traveled specifically to visit, plan multiple future visits, documented experience extensively for content, met staff including Sam and Dale
- **[design_philosophy]** NBA Fast Break exemplifies accessible game design philosophy that bridges pinball and sports enthusiasts; contrasts with modern pinball's isolation and gatekeeping (confidence: high) — Hosts discussed how basketball familiarity lowers entry barrier; debated modern pinball becoming too isolated and intimidating for newcomers
- **[market_signal]** Hosts updated Pinside game searches to include vintage games after positive Richmond experience; shifting collector interest toward older titles with proper maintenance (confidence: medium) — Host explicitly stated updating search criteria from excluding to including vintage machines within certain radius; now interested in acquiring older games
- **[sentiment_shift]** Hosts' appreciation for pre-System 11 vintage games shifted dramatically after experiencing well-maintained machines at Richmond Pinball Collective; previously avoided older games due to poor maintenance at museums (confidence: high) — Hosts explicitly stated they had zero interest in pre-System 11 games before this trip due to Asheville Pinball Museum experiences; now seeking vintage games in their Pinside searches
- **[technology_signal]** Flipper replacement discussion: Wipeout's Williams flipper swap from original Gottlieb flippers dramatically improved game playability, raising questions about flipper design standardization (confidence: medium) — Hosts noted Gottlieb flippers made game nearly unplayable; Williams flipper swap made it enjoyable; discussed as potential modification standard

---

## Transcript

 you guys i cannot even begin to explain where i've been i've been gone for about a week but it feels more like five years the last thing i remember was playing time fantasy and i happened to hit the time shot five times. Then I hit the mushroom baby loop on the right, I think four times. I noticed that weird shell man looking at me. So I looked at him and that's the last thing I remember. I think I hit like a time warp. I'm not sure. I think I entered a portal. Maybe. Don't worry. I'll give you guys the full rundown once I have some time to process and get back to regular life. I hope everyone else is safe, and if you play time fantasy, do not look directly at his eyes. This is part two of our trip to the Richmond Pinball Collective, and yes, we are the Borg. Come on in. Welcome to the theater of magic. Welcome to the party zone. Welcome to my home. Welcome to the Bash! I don't know if you want to get into that now, but I'm still kind of also shook about the alternate flippers on the older games, right? There was the, what was that, Gottlieb game? I didn't play all of the EM games, and there may have been a Gottlieb in there. But as far as like 80s and newer, I think they just had the one Gottlieb game that I recall, and that was Wipeout. That game was so much fun. And it's a skiing-themed game, but it has kind of radical vibes. It's like, whoa, awesome! It's like the call-outs are all that kind of thing, which is funny and great. But they've replaced the Gottlieb Flippers with what appeared to be Williams Flippers. Yeah. And it was so much more fun because the Flippers weren't Gottlieb Flippers. It felt right. If it had had the Gottlieb Flippers on it, I probably would have played one game and be like, I can't handle Gottlieb Flippers. and maybe it's like sacrilege to some people to swap the flippers on a gottlieb but to me i was like man if i came across one of these i would get it i love that game that game was super fun had so many cool quirky you know little yeah toys and the ski lift the ski lift yeah it's awesome and it was not that hard to get like you pretty much get it right away you just hit that like center yeah belt thing that the ball just like falls into and then it slowly carries the ball up to the ball lock yeah it's amazing yeah and that game shot fun it had like a 180 uh the left ramp was like a 180 ramp like the one in jaws actually reminded me of that one comes back to the flipper really quickly yeah yeah all the shots were fun none of them were too crazy it had some drop targets it's a fun game like a ton of fun fun artwork and play field and toys and and all the stuff and it was completely saved by not having the gottlieb flippers we should look for other pictures of that game and see what the stock flippers oh i already did are they are they gottlieb yeah yeah gross gross yeah man that's like an easy hack right yeah stop the flippers get an amazing game wipe out a game i've never heard of was gottlieb really kind of a sleeper right yeah we we will just play it while we wait for something else right yeah i think we're waiting for no fear to open up yeah exactly and wow blown away yeah yeah that one was wipe out like that's on my that was on my list i'm gonna keep an eye out for that one too yeah sure oh i guess real quick since we were at wipe out within close proximity nba fast break it's my first time playing that game freaking awesome freaking loved it i wish i could buy one today yeah nba fast break I had played at one other spot, but this one definitely played better. It's something about the sports games. Williams did really cool stuff with sports games, and those kinds of games aren't being made anymore. I love it, man. Everything about it is different. It takes a second to understand what's going on, but then once it clicks, it makes perfect sense. I like that that game is almost its own self-encompassed thing. Scoring system, just the way it feels, the way you play it, the whole thing where you pass the ball, I love that game, man. That's like a game you could have to show someone how to play pinball secretly, right? Yeah. It's like a secret pinball game where you don't have to know anything about pinball. You just know a little bit about basketball, which everyone knows, right? Yeah. And then even the scoring, right? Like what context do you have for 500 million, right? Right. Or 1 billion, right? But we all know how to score basketball. Yeah. And in that game, you can have a two. You can finish a game with two points. Yeah. Sam, he got the lowest score right on the line. Yeah, he said he had the record for the lowest score in a tournament because of that game. He got a two. Which is a funny achievement. That's awesome. Yeah, I mean, you could end up with a two. I think I had like a six one game. I love that game, man. Yeah. It's fun. It's got three ramps. It's got tons of diverters and stuff. Super fun. It's got the goal in the back, like a basketball goal that you shoot the ball into off of one of the ramps. There's like three ramps, you said, right? Yeah, there's three ramps. And they go into the basket. Yeah. Yeah, they don't all go directly into the basket, but they go, there's a bunch of diverters. There's weird diverting situations that can make it go into the basket. Yeah, and then sometimes the diverters also return the ball to the flipper. And then there's that mechanism where you can pass the ball using the flippers from like, I don't know if it's like four or five different positions kind of in a semicircle. I think it was three or four. Yeah. and you hit the flippers and it moves the ball it kind of bounces the ball from one spot to another in a semi-circle and then there's a defensive guy that is also moving to block your shots and when you're ready you hit the shoot button which is like uh like an action button in the middle and if you're not fast enough the guy will block your shot yeah which is awesome it's awesome it's like It's like World Cup soccer, right? Like the whole little goalie guy. Yeah. But with basketball. Yeah, similar. Yeah. Hit the left flipper, pass it to the left. Hit the right flipper, pass it to the right. Yeah. Look for an opening, hit the action button, get it in the hoop, score two points. Yeah. Yeah. And there's also a shot clock on the play field. It's like a digitized two-digit clock that's counting down. And it's another George Gomez game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. George Gomez has to be my number one. Yeah. He's a real one. He's my number one. Yeah. It's just such a cool concept and it's unlike any other pinball machine. And like, it's sad that they don't, I don't know if there's not enough demand or if there's not I don know why but nobody making games like this anymore that have something totally different from anything else in concept you know Yeah Those are my favorite games Yeah The ones that do make you take a second look or I don know just make you feel something different You know, like just slightly confusing thing that you can figure out fairly quickly for me is a lot of the joy in pinball. Yeah, and it feels like if you put this game in a sports bar or something, which is I'm sure what they were going for probably, you'd probably get a lot of people playing it who weren't necessarily into pinball and it might get them into pinball especially around here right yeah unc chapel hill yeah like i wonder if my dad would get into pinball because he's so into basketball there's a huge basketball scene here yeah yeah it's huge huge huge i wonder if van would get into pinball because he's a huge basketball oh yeah i bet he would love that game yeah i feel like pinballs nowadays has become too isolated like you know it's not branching out you kind of already have to have a certain level or base for understanding and it's maybe even intimidating to some people um like my mom yeah i've been trying to get her to play she just won't even consider it right because oh i'm not good i don't know look at all these it's a lot um but if you have something to grab onto like basketball basketball that's get a slam dunk shot get it in the hoop yeah i mean it's just lowers the barrier of entry. Yeah. And not to mention that game had like great music. You pick your team. Pick your team. I forgot about that. You like Bulls and you know, it's all the 90s. And it's the dream basketball era. Yeah. The Vecennia Jordan era. Yep. Yep. And they've got the Tim Kitts Road doing the call outs who did NBA Jam and World Cup Soccer and all those other great games. So like, you know, the call outs are great. Such a cool game. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we got to get ourselves one when it comes up. I'm going to put that on the short list for sure. And now for a word from our sponsor. She knows the future. You're already dead, everybody. She knows the danger. You have to let me see my son. Get down. What she doesn't know. You're really real. Is that her only hope. Come with me if you want to live. Is the Terminator. Shoot out. Call now to order Terminator 2 for only $19.98. For faster delivery, please have your credit card ready. Sorry, no CODs. Makes a great gift. Call now. And now, back to the show. So, speaking of shortlists and, like, games that we want, visiting the RPC, Richmond Pinball Collective. RPC. Not to be confused with, I believe, the Rochester Pinball Collective. Or the news station in Panama, RPC. Okay. Radio Panama Canal. Um, so yeah, speaking of which, every time I've been to an arcade that had older games, and by older, I mean like 70s and 80s. Like, for example, there's the Asheville Pinball Museum. Right. They have a second location that's in Hendersonville. They have a couple of these pinball museums around and they'll have older games and they just play horribly. Yeah. So, so bad. like the lights won't work right they're always set up like at the wrong pitch like the flippers have like a four second delay when you hit them there's and it made me not interested in old games in older games at all at all like zero interest in anything like pre-system 11 because i've never played anything that played decent before that era so that's changed like richmond pinball collective they had a bunch of older games like late 70s early 80s games that i had a ton of fun with they played fast and the flippers felt good and they felt much more modern just with a more retro play field yeah i feel the same way yeah so i feel the same way i updated my pin side game search and now instead of like because i had kind of excluded a lot of stuff like not interested not interested not interested that day we got back or the next day i updated my search now i'm looking for just anything within a certain mile radius and i kind of want an old game now yeah yeah yeah yeah we need them you know it's we got to stay humble like we need to remember the roots you know what i'm saying like yeah so we played gorgar that was the first one that game was awesome man And it was like, I've never experienced, I've played it before, I think at the Asheville Pinball Museum. Yeah, played it there. Played horribly. Played horribly. And I remember not liking it. Yeah. And I thought, oh, it's an old game. Just like what you were just talking about. Yeah. This one, totally different, man. It kind of changed my mind on the game. I also played that game in a different way than I play modern pinball. Yeah. Right? It's a little bit more, almost strategic in a way. There's less stuff to do. Yeah. Right? But you almost have to be more careful with what you do and where you're going to go. Yeah. And it's like a weird, different way to play that I don't think I... I usually like to play fast and loose and just hit stuff and start building things and adding things up. And this is more like, I don't know, man, it was interesting. Yeah, well, yeah, Sam from RPC, we played a game with him and he showed us the rules and what to shoot for and how the progression worked a little bit on that and how you had to nudge very carefully in certain circumstances. and the flippers didn't change the lanes. You had the lights on the lanes. You had to really nudge everything to get the ball to go where you wanted to. So yeah, it was definitely a different sort of strategy. No ball save. Yeah, and no ball save on that. It was a lot of fun. I think that was the first, 1979, was the first game with speech and they had like six words or something and they would rearrange the words to say different things like gorgar. I can't remember what all the call outs are. But yeah, that game had pretty modern-feeling flippers. It has standard flipper shape, and it was responsive. And it was fun. I had a ton of fun playing it, and I've never enjoyed that game. I've played it at several arcades, and I never enjoyed it until playing it there. Same, same. I never understood why people liked it so much, but now I understand. Yeah, and then we also played... Oh, Centaur. So yeah, they did have a real Centaur there. Man, that game was awesome, dude. The whole aesthetic of it, black and white and red, it was just such a cool layout. Yeah, that's always been one of my favorite art packages on the game. It just looks so amazing. They also had a beautifully restored, or just untouched, that blackout game. It looked amazing. I don't think I played that. Yeah, I don't know that you played it. I think I was playing it while you were playing World Cup Soccer. Gotcha, gotcha. I really enjoyed those games, and I kind of want one now, for sure. Yeah, I do too. And they also had a Scorpion, the super wide body. That was one of the games that Dale was like this is one of my favorite games right now So I played it It was kind of cool We got a picture Yeah and then it like the extra set of flippers on the kind of upper left that was a cool game yeah what was that game with the weird like nautilus looking man like a snail oh uh time fantasy time fantasy how did we not get more pictures of that game i don't know i think we're too busy playing other games yeah there it is it's right next to the wipeout picture but it's not an actual picture of the how did we yeah we'll have to pull that offline or something i'm sure there's some other photos of it but yeah time fantasy what is that thing it's like a weird snail creature who looks just these people were like on acid i need to like find out more about this game because i've never seen it and then walking in like what the fuck is this thing you know yeah there we were having such a great time there that we didn't even get to play all the games that we wanted to play and yeah we got to go back like a bunch more times. We have to. Yeah, I mean, I think now that I'm familiar, I'm going to have more of a game plan. I think I was just kind of, I felt like a kid in a theme park kind of thing, and I wanted to ride all the rides. So I didn't even pick. But now, I already have in my head what games I'm going to play more of. Yeah. And now for a word from our sponsor. Gorgar Speaks. Gorgar is the first and only talking pinball game given life and breath by Williams Electronics. Me, Gorgar. Hear me. My words are for you. Gorgar speaks. Listen to the sound. Hear the words. Feel the incredible playing and profit power that only Williams Electronics could generate. because when Gorgar speaks, the industry listens. And now, back to the show. So if you go to Richmond Pinball Collective, you could go to any number of delicious Richmond, Virginia restaurants because Richmond is a super cool freaking town, apparently. It was super cool. This was the thing we didn't have any clue about. I did not realize Richmond was that cool. Richmond is awesome. It's rich, full of... The downtown was maybe the coolest downtown I've ever seen. Ever? Maybe. Nah. I mean, it was cool. I mean, you've just been living here too long. Okay, you're right. But within a several hour drive from here, I can't think of a better downtown. It was cool. Every single store and shop was like, I want to go there. I want to go there. I want to go there. I want to go there. Every corner had something interesting on that little strip that we were going down. It seemed like people were out and shopping, eating, doing stuff. very very cool it almost reminded me like dc or something it was cool i really liked it i really enjoyed it so luckily we didn't have to try that hard to find a place to eat yeah because it's in the same parking lot in the same shopping center yeah lot yeah as the massage parlor the mosque yeah the possible dominoes i don't know it's some pizza place pepes pepes pepes a little mexican place really cool um yeah the only negative thing about the place is that the floors are concrete and I dropped my phone. Well, yeah. When you first walk in, the floors are like concrete that was painted at some point and then most of the paint chipped away. So it had a... It's authentic. This is what it's like in Latin America and a lot of places, right? It's just like painted concrete, just kind of rough, kind of raw. Yeah. I just didn't even consciously think about that. Yeah. With my phone that's not case protected. Because you're a madman. I have AppleCare. It's fine. Why? But yeah. Anyways, That was probably the most painful part of that experience. Besides peeling the shrimp. Let's see how you deal with this. Pro tip from a Hispanic person. Get the camarones a la diabla, a.k.a. the devil's shrimp, Gorgar's shrimp. Gorgar's shrimp. Make sure to ask if the shells are peeled. Yeah. By the time I was done peeling my shrimp, you were done eating. Yeah. And then my fingers had this shrimp smell. So then I felt subconscious playing pinball because I didn't want to transfer the shrimps to the buttons and wash my hands multiple times. They had a really nice bathroom. But Pepe's. Yeah, well, yeah, delicious. You did waste precious pinball time peeling shrimp. Peeling shrimp. Precious pinball peeling. I lost it. Precious pinball points. Peeling properly. Properly peeling. Properly peeling. I can't think of any other P words. Shrimps. shrimp shrimp shrimp anyways yeah we i would recommend it pay-pays it was cool it was kind of expensive the portions were somewhat small but it was good and it was right there and literally like a it was shorter than my commute from work to home which is 30 seconds yeah yeah you the amount of money you save on gas driving somewhere else makes up for the extra dollar that the burrito costs yeah i had the guapo burrito which was name checks out quite good fitting name checks out enjoyed it good service good vibey um place which by the way i want to make this known we are in no way shape or form being compensated by mr pepe or anyone else for this endorsement this is just us recounting our experience yeah right we're not selling it to you you know maybe Mr. Pepe is a huge douche. Whatever. We enjoyed his Mexican food. Just don't peel the shrimp. This is not a personal commentary on Pepe himself. We don't even know if he's real. We don't know if he's real. Anyways, there's going to be pictures. We're going to post some stuff from the trip, from Pepe's restaurant. We're going to have a picture of Sam and Dale. Wait, did we include Pepe in the pee thing? No. We did it. No. We should do that. We should think about it. We should come up with a tongue twister. Tongue twister. Pinball Pepe. Pinball Pepe. Peeling. Peeling shrimp. Yeah. Shrimp. Shrimp. We hope Mr. Pepe is un buen hombre. Yeah. But we don't know. I mean, they're not paying us. We're not necessarily endorsing them. I mean, if you like Mexican food, go to Pepe. because it's convenient if you don't want to peel a shrimp don't don't order gorgon shrimp but get the guapo burrito or something else right and use the bathrooms because they're clean oh and don't drop your phones don't drop your phone if you're an insane person who doesn't put a case on your phone unless you have apple care which yeah i still don't i don't get it i dropped my phone like 10 times a day i dropped it twice three three times in your life yeah that floor was not very nice to my phone. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry for your phone. But not really because you should have a case. It looks so much better It looks and feels so much better without a case man I mean I agree But my phone wouldn last a day So here why right Because I got the Plus right So the case makes it way too big Without the case, the size of the actual device is way more appropriate for your pocket or for other places. The only issue that I didn't think about was how freaking slippery the phone is. I don't know if it's just the materials or the buildup of oils on your skin or your face. That thing slides off of everything. It'll slide off of a flat surface. It's crazy, man. Wouldn't it be nice if they just made it out of some kind of rubberized material that you didn't need a case for? At this size, yeah. Yeah, at that size. Man, those Otterboxes, dude. They're massive. It feels like I'm holding a brick. I don't want that in my pocket. No, I don't like those. I have something in the middle ground, but it keeps me from breaking it. Yeah, yeah. We'll see. We'll see. All the time. Maybe soon I'll just have my Vision Pro everywhere. I have the case and I have the screen protector. And I have to replace the screen protectors like every six months because I just get so many cracks in them. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, right now I need a new one actually. Actually, I like it, man. I like not having a case. It's high risk. You're a daredevil. No fear. That's my motto. That's how I live my life. If you want to start some beef with me, come at me, bro. Ooh, fighting words. Come at me, bro. No fear. Do you wash your hands before you play games? Because I do. I wasn't expecting that. I wasn't ready for it, but that's funny. Hey, Diane, can you cut that part out? That part? Just now. No problem, boss. I forgot about her. Do we have time to mention? Yeah, we talked about... Freaking Diane, man. She didn't put it on the show schedule. I know, I know. I mean, she's learning. Anyways, yeah. That's why nobody likes you. We almost forgot to mention. we have a new we have a producer now diane i used to be in a uh i used to be in a nickelback fan page on reddit like a fan forum yeah and we'd basically you know defend the artistic integrity of that group yeah because they got somebody's got to they got a lot of hate yeah and um anyway she that's that's where i met her on nickelback lovers subreddit r slash nickelback lovers yeah which then became Nickel Front because he wanted to bring Nickel back to the front of... Yeah, that makes sense. You got to turn it around. You got to flip the script. Anyways, so yeah, we just became friends and I got her into pinball. She's pretty bad, though, to be fair. So I didn't realize that after we had exchanged a couple of comments and stuff, because I like that song. This is how you remind me. Yeah, because I like the way that he said sorry, right? Because it's not like you to say sorry. Yeah, yeah. Because it rhymes with story. Yeah. So I thought it was really creative that he changed the way that sorry sounds to sorry. Well, did he? Or is that just how he says it? Right, right. Innately, because he's Canadian, he says sorry. Right, right. But anyways, I thought it was impressive. It's some real craftsmanship in songwriting. So then, you know, fast forward to like a couple years later. Yeah. Diane Kroger. yeah well she was just like Diane Kay on the on the forum and you didn't even realize her last name was Kroger word of the odds right no way no freaking way anyways yeah so she's like what she's like related to the singer yeah she's like the second cousin or something and she had some audio experience because she did some you know obviously if you're a Kroger you're like a musical whiz born that way so yeah It kind of seemed like a good fit because she can help us edit and be a producer, right? Right, right. And we need it. It's a lot of work. We've had a hard time using the Nickelback music on our podcast, so we're hoping that also this— Get a little inside action. Yeah, yeah. So maybe she can get Chad to let us use that song. Yeah, because it's not like we can afford the $200,000 usage rights or whatever it costs. Yeah, yeah. But if we can do it, man. Anyways. Next level. So Diane, yeah, I mean, she's going to be with us going forward, hopefully. She doesn't have a lot of podcasting experience specifically, but we have high hopes that this is going to work out. Agreed. We're excited to have her. Yeah, you might hear from her every now and then in the background or something if we're making some notes or she might chime in as appropriate. She said she was, did she say anything to you about the fact that she might have been working on a song for the podcast? No, I'm not aware. Well, in the style of her family. Yeah. The Kroger's. Well, that would be interesting. But she's singing on it, so. Okay, okay. Anyways, I'm excited to hear that, too. So maybe we'll feature that on the episode one of these days. I mean, I'd love to get Diane more involved, you know, take less work for us. I mean, and technically, the last episode, the 25 de Mayo, that was all her. Oh, really? Yeah, that was her idea. Right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right. Yeah, I kind of forgot. I kind of forgot about that. So, you know, strong, strong start. Thanks, Diane. Hey, Diane, can you just, you know, say hi to everybody? Hey, everyone. I'm really excited to be here. All right, thanks. Can you do it again? I didn't hear that. I think I had some issues with the recording. Oh, oh. Diane can. Yeah, hey, Diane, can you just say hi to everybody? I know you don't have a mic, but we can hear you in the background. Hey, everyone. I'm really excited to be here. Wait, I got to turn it up. Hang on. Diane, try again. Hey, everyone. This is Diane Kroger, Chad Kroger's second cousin and founder of the subreddit Nickelback Lovers, now known as Nickelfront. Also, Bash Pinball's new audio producer. I look forward to joining you on this audio journey. All right, Diane. Well, thanks for sharing. Anyways, thanks, Matt, for helping me finish this episode while I was stuck in time. And thank you guys for listening. Remember to check us out on Instagram at Bash Pinball, where you'll find some visual documentation of this trip if you want to check that out. If not, you could always... Look at this graph! Leave this territory now. Return to your home. Evacuate all personnel. you

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 8c68ef96-88a2-4e0e-a833-cd3626cfb213*