# Episode 1100: "Why Potter Pinball is Polarizing"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-06-09  
**Duration:** 24m 10s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-1100-why-131063504

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## Analysis

Kaneda discusses the polarizing reception of Jersey Jack's Harry Potter pinball, arguing it succeeds at gameplay and art direction but fails to translate the franchise's narrative and emotional core. He criticizes JJP's reliance on 96 mini-modes over story-driven sequences, slot-machine-like sound design, and buried licensed music, while praising the CE's unique artwork and strong sales momentum. He predicts Potter will dominate the market for years, warns of Predator's weak June 12 launch timing, and speculates on Stern's pivot to Star Wars and Pokemon to compete.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Harry Potter is selling tremendously well with no FOMO, potentially the biggest seller since Guns N' Roses — _Kaneda discussing early sales performance and market demand_
- [MEDIUM] Jersey Jack has only one production line and will likely be manufacturing Potter into next year, delaying Steve Ritchie's new game — _Kaneda speculating on JJP's production capacity constraints_
- [HIGH] Potter's playfield is mechanically simple (one diverter, drop target, no complex toys) compared to prior JJP games like Hobbit and Pirates — _Kaneda describing observed playfield design based on seeing underneath the playfield_
- [HIGH] The CE's unique artwork is the primary driver of sales, not the topper which is 'atrocious' — _Kaneda observing community feedback and purchase motivations_
- [HIGH] Eric Menear stated he focused on Potter 'lore' instead of 'story,' which Kaneda criticizes as a fundamental design error — _Direct quote attribution from Kaneda citing an interview with Eric Menear_
- [MEDIUM] JJP's recent games sound like slot machines; even David Thiel couldn't fix JJP's new sound approach — _Kaneda comparing Potter sound design to other manufacturers and criticizing four years of unaddressed feedback_
- [MEDIUM] Pinball Brothers' Predator is launching June 12 with the red polo shirt tease suggesting Arnold Schwarzenegger may not be in the game — _Kaneda speculating based on teaser imagery and lack of confirmation from Genghis Khan (Pinball Brothers)_
- [LOW] John Borg is working on a Stern Star Wars Episode I-III game featuring Darth Maul — _Kaneda stating this as insider knowledge/rumor about future Stern release_
- [LOW] Stern may release a Jaws 50th anniversary limited to 750 units, though Kaneda doubts this will happen — _Kaneda discussing Stern rumors and speculation about production limits_

### Notable Quotes

> "I think this game succeeds at doing some things really, really well. And I also think this game has some big issues that could be issues for the duration of this game's existence."
> — **Kaneda**, ~0:02:00
> _Core thesis: Potter is neither a complete success nor failure, but a dichotomy of strong and weak elements_

> "This theme alone is a juggernaut. It's bringing new people into pinball. I'm seeing people with just like two or three posts being like, I didn't even realize there was modern pinball."
> — **Kaneda**, ~0:07:30
> _Documents Potter's unprecedented ability to attract new collectors from outside core pinball community_

> "The reason why Harry Potter has millions, if not a billion fans around the world is because of the story... That story is not coming through in this game at all."
> — **Kaneda**, ~0:13:00
> _Core criticism: design philosophy prioritizes 'lore' over narrative, alienating story-focused fans_

> "Close your eyes and listen to this thing. Close your eyes and listen to a spooky game. Listen to a stern game... They don't sound like this. It just feels like it belongs in a casino."
> — **Kaneda**, ~0:19:30
> _Articulates primary audio design criticism; frames JJP sound approach as incompatible with immersion_

> "Jersey Jack, as a company lately, is like creating solutions that are in search of a problem. If you're on location, every game should be set up the same way for everybody."
> — **Kaneda**, ~0:24:00
> _Critiques Game Changer QR difficulty adjustment feature as operationally misguided_

> "I would not in a million years launch my pinball machine the week after the second biggest IP launch in the history of all the pinball."
> — **Kaneda**, ~0:27:30
> _Criticizes Pinball Brothers' timing decision for Predator launch immediately after Potter release_

> "They're going to be selling Harry Potter pinball machines for the next five years... Unless people do get this game and get a little tired of the 96 modes over and over and over again."
> — **Kaneda**, ~0:32:00
> _Predicts long production run but hedges on sustainability due to gameplay repetitiveness concerns_

> "I would give it like a B overall. I just don't think they nailed the theme. I really don't."
> — **Kaneda**, ~0:41:00
> _Final verdict: solid technical execution but failed thematic translation_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Harry Potter pinball; criticized for design philosophy, sound design approach, and production bottlenecks; praised for gameplay and flipper quality |
| Harry Potter | game | Jersey Jack premium release in June 2025; polarizing reception; strong sales; licensed theme song from John Williams; CE features unique artwork; criticized for 96 mini-modes, slot-machine sound design, and buried licensed audio |
| Kaneda | person | Podcast host of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; influential pinball media figure; provides balanced but critical analysis of Potter; speculates on industry trends and unreleased games |
| Eric Menear | person | Designer at Jersey Jack Pinball credited with Harry Potter; stated design philosophy prioritized 'lore' over 'story,' which Kaneda criticizes as fundamental error |
| David Thiel | person | Audio engineer hired for Potter; unable to overcome JJP's slot-machine sound design approach according to Kaneda's assessment |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Next JJP game designer; release delayed due to Potter's production demands, likely pushed to late 2026 |
| Pinball Brothers | company | Manufacturer launching Predator wide-body on June 12; Kaneda speculates Arnold Schwarzenegger may not be included despite red polo shirt tease |
| Genghis Khan | person | Pinball Brothers representative; refusing to confirm Arnold Schwarzenegger's inclusion in Predator game |
| Predator | game | Pinball Brothers wide-body releasing June 12; anticipated to conflict with Potter momentum; questionable Arnold Schwarzenegger involvement |
| Stern Pinball | company | Struggling manufacturer; King Kong did not sell well; criticized for mediocre theme selection and LE artwork compared to JJP's CE approach; Kaneda predicts Star Wars and Pokemon upcoming |
| Star Wars | game | Rumored Stern pinball game designed by John Borg featuring Episodes I-III with Darth Maul; speculated as part of Stern's recovery strategy |
| Pokemon | game | Rumored Stern pinball game with Keith Elwin involved; Kaneda speculates will attract new players like Potter; positioned as larger franchise than Harry Potter |
| Jaws | game | Rumored Stern 50th anniversary release potentially limited to 750 units; Kaneda skeptical this will occur |
| King Kong | game | Recent Stern release criticized for poor sales and generic LE artwork; failed to establish market success |
| John Borg | person | Stern designer reportedly working on Star Wars Episode I-III game |
| Keith Elwin | person | Reportedly working on Stern's Pokemon pinball game; described as passionate Pokemon fan |
| Lord of the Rings / Hobbit | game | Jersey Jack game referenced as narrative masterpiece in contrast to Potter; features story-driven modes and character call-outs tied to film moments |
| Guns N' Roses | game | Jersey Jack's previous major seller; gameplay-focused appeal; owners later divested; Potter expected to surpass in sales |
| Elton John | game | Jersey Jack game; Kaneda claims plays differently than Potter but doesn't compare favorably |
| Mark Silk | person | Sound designer/composer whose work dominates Potter's audio mix, burying licensed John Williams theme music |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Competitor manufacturer whose games sound distinctly different from JJP's slot-machine approach |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Competitor manufacturer; making Dune pinball; Kaneda questions how to reignite buyer interest in context of Potter dominance |
| Dune | game | Barrels of Fun release; positioned as competing title but overshadowed by Potter and upcoming Predator |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Harry Potter game design philosophy and narrative translation, Jersey Jack Pinball's production constraints and supply chain, Collector's Edition artwork as market differentiator, Audio design and licensed music integration
- **Secondary:** Pinball market saturation and IP competition, Stern Pinball's competitive position and recovery strategy, New player acquisition and community growth
- **Mentioned:** Predator launch timing and marketing strategy

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.45) — Kaneda is cautiously optimistic about Potter's commercial success and gameplay quality but fundamentally disappointed in its narrative execution and design philosophy. He praises specific elements (CE art, flipper quality, new player attraction) while criticizing others (96 modes, sound design, lack of story integration). His tone is measured and balanced but leans negative on long-term appeal.

### Signals

- **[sentiment_shift]** Potter has awakened extreme opinions in the community; Kaneda observes dichotomy of deep appreciation and deep criticism, with community pressure to hold absolute positions rather than nuanced views (confidence: high) — Extended discussion of forced binary thinking and need to hold opposing views simultaneously
- **[product_strategy]** JJP's decision to create radically different CE artwork with unique artist backstory is driving CE sales; Kaneda urges Stern to replicate this approach instead of 'matching luggage' design (confidence: high) — People writing checks for $15k CE specifically for artwork; Kaneda calling it a wake-up call to competitors
- **[product_launch]** Pinball Brothers' Predator launching June 12, one week after Potter; Kaneda criticizes this as self-sabotaging given Potter's dominance of consumer attention and capital (confidence: high) — 'I would not in a million years launch my pinball machine the week after the second biggest IP launch'
- **[design_philosophy]** Eric Menear publicly stated Potter prioritizes 'lore' over 'story'; Kaneda argues this is fundamental design failure because Harry Potter's appeal rests on narrative arc, not world-building (confidence: high) — Direct quote attribution; Kaneda contrasts with Lord of the Rings' story-driven mode design
- **[product_concern]** JJP's recent games consistently sound like slot machines; four years of community feedback has not prompted design changes; David Thiel unable to overcome systemic audio approach (confidence: high) — Kaneda comparing to competitor games and noting unaddressed feedback across multiple titles
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Potter's unexpected demand has consumed JJP's single production line; Steve Ritchie's new game likely delayed into late 2026 (confidence: medium) — 'Jersey Jack doesn't have two lines. Jersey Jack has been making just one game at a time'
- **[machine_intel]** John Borg reportedly designing Stern's Star Wars Episode I-III pinball featuring Darth Maul; Kaneda treating as high-confidence industry knowledge (confidence: low) — Stated as insider information without attribution
- **[market_signal]** Potter's success demonstrates that major IP licensing is necessary for market viability; mediocre themes no longer viable; Stern pivoting to Pokemon and Star Wars (confidence: medium) — Discussion of why Potter succeeded where King Kong failed; speculation on Pokemon/Star Wars as forced moves
- **[content_signal]** John Williams' theme music cannot be played in online clips due to copyright; Kaneda notes this limits marketing exposure compared to original compositions (confidence: high) — Direct observation that clips are flagged; contrasts with Predator teaser approach
- **[collector_signal]** Kaneda advises against immediate purchase citing unlimited CE production runs; predicts secondary market prices will fall as supply floods market (confidence: medium) — 'These CEs are going to go down because they're going to have so many of them out there'
- **[operational_signal]** JJP's new Game Changer QR difficulty adjustment feature questioned by Kaneda as solving non-existent operator problem; operators prioritize revenue over player progression (confidence: medium) — Extended critique of feature utility and operator incentives
- **[community_signal]** Kaneda notes that non-subscribers on Pinside/Facebook don't hear full nuanced perspective; creates perception of unfair criticism despite balanced stance (confidence: medium) — Meta-commentary on audience fragmentation and narrative control

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## Transcript

 Welcome everybody to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. Happy Monday after Harry Potter morning. How's everybody doing? Is everybody surviving? You know what I love about a new game like this that everyone's been waiting for? It's one of the biggest themes in the history of pinball. Obviously, it's awakened a lot of opinions by everybody. And that's a good thing. I love reading everybody's feedback. There's really good suggestions on how to make the game better. there's really great feedback on how the game plays and how it shoots there's opinions about the art the topper the code the call outs the sound effects and when you hear it all and you absorb it all here's my overall feeling and I should be playing the game sometime early this week but here's what I can tell I think what this game has done is a difficult thing because I think in this hobby, we really always want to think in extremes. You have to absolutely love the game in its entirety, or you need to hate the game in its entirety and say it's a miss. And I think that's not how I see this game. And I think when I look at Harry Potter pin bump, and probably a lot of you feel this way? I think this game succeeds at doing some things really, really well. And I also think this game has some big issues that could be issues for the duration of this game's existence. And I think Jersey Jack as a company overall, as a company, never really has incorporated any of the feedback people have been trying to give them game after game after game. The feedback they have listened to that they've implemented is stronger flippers and make the games actually fun to shoot. It's taken this company a really, really long time to make a game that's rewarding to shoot. They've achieved that. The gameplay feedback that we are getting on Harry Potter is very positive. I don't doubt that this game is going to be fun. I don't doubt that it's going to be fast. I don't doubt that this game is going to be satisfying when you're looking down and just flipping the game. Okay, so they got the gameplay down, right? I haven't heard people say it's a brick fest. I haven't heard people say it's sluggish. I think the game is going to play just fine. So what I want to do on this episode of Canada's Pinball Podcast is I want to talk about the dichotomy, which is Harry Potter pinball and how it's okay to hold in your head two opposing views, you're allowed to do that. Like you could think this game shoots amazingly well. You could think the artwork is incredible, but you also could think the call outs are atrocious. You could think the boing, boing, boing sound whenever the slingshots go off, don't feel like Harry Potter. Like you're allowed to like this and not that. Because when you think about a pinball machine, it's serving up a ton of stuff at once. So here's the thing. I want to start out by saying this theme alone is a juggernaut. It's a juggernaut. This game is for the first time ever, I've seen new people coming into Pinside because of the theme. I'm seeing people with just like two or three posts being like, I didn't even realize there was modern pinball. I saw this game and I just ordered a CE and I'm happy to be here. And that is the power of Harry Potter. It's bringing new people into pinball. Potter has so many fans that when they saw this game released, it awakened in them the desire to own a toy based on a theme they really, really love. So the debate about whether or not Harry Potter would be a good selling pinball machine to the pinball buying demographic has been erased. It is selling tremendously well. This game is not going to have a problem selling units. I'm almost a little bit surprised it's selling so damn well because there's no FOMO. I'm also a little bit worried that Jersey Jack might be so inundated with orders that they're going to be making this game, not just this year, well into next year. So I don't know if we're going to see Steve Ritchie's pin anytime soon. I think we're going to see it at the end of next year because Jersey Jack doesn't have two lines. Jersey Jack has been making just one game at a time. Also remember, Jersey Jack hasn't really had a game with that much demand since Guns N' Roses. So I think this game's going to be easy to build. When I saw underneath the playfield, it is pretty damn barren. I know, guys, you don't play underneath the playfield, but they definitely made this game a lot simpler to manufacture, and they had to. If this game was loaded, which it's not, can we just stop the debate? This game is not loaded. If it was loaded like Hobbit, if it was loaded like Pirates, it would be a nightmare trying to make those games and get them out to people They never going to make another game like that but let just stop being stupid It got one diverter and then a drop target and nothing really else going on mechanically and no complex toys in the game you know it funny i saw someone say the whole damn game is a toy so now we're there panzer freak said the upper playfield is a toy i don't care anymore these have become such inane arguments it doesn't even matter it's not loaded okay let's just move on to the next topic so this theme brought so many people into pinball it created so many week one sales for a game that has no FOMO there's no limit you still don't know how many CEs they're going to make I saw a lot of people are ordering the CEs and that brings me to my second point next to the theme being so powerful the smartest move they did around this game was the uniqueness in the collector's edition artwork. I think Stern Pinball needs to wake up and look at what Jersey Jack just did. They made the top of the line version of the game look so radically different from the other versions of the game and that is what people want. Not just that, they found a different artist that had a unique story. When you hear the story about why the collector's edition looks the way it does it makes you want one it gives you a feeling of having something special and again the games don't look like matching luggage go look at king kong what a joke there's no story there around the le artwork and for the longest time stern pinball hasn't really made its le art cabinets nice enough and they need to take notice here because i'm seeing people write checks left and right for a $15,000 version of Harry Potter simply because of the artwork. The artwork is the number one reason everyone's going in on the CE. It is not the topper because everybody knows the topper is atrocious. And even with this atrocious topper, everyone still is feeling like if I'm going to get Harry Potter, I want that special art package. and it does look stunning and I love it and I'm glad they did it and I think it's a wake-up call to everybody else. If you wanna make a top-of-the-line version of the game, it can't look anything like the next lower tiers of the game. Stern, you better be paying attention to this. Okay, so that art is moving units. So we got beautiful artwork. I think the artwork looks good on all the additions, but that CE is special. we've got Harry Potter theme we've got the theme song from John Williams they can't play it in the clips on the internet because it'll flag it as copyright that's why you're not seeing it and so the gameplay is fast okay so there's so much right there to like about Harry Potter pinball but then there's the stuff that isn't really working for people and this stuff that isn't really working for people is pretty problematic it's pretty cringe and on the surface level it seems to be things they could fix but historically they won't so I just want to tell you this right now historically speaking whatever you see now is what you're going to get in Harry Potter I get it is 0.70 but this company is not going to go do what I think some people think they're going to do because they are so far down the road on how they decided to theme translate this game. And I'm just here to tell you right now what this game misses the mark on. And Eric said it in an interview, and I can't believe he went down this road. He said, instead of focusing on the story, I wanted to focus on the lore of Harry Potter. Okay, Eric, the reason why Harry Potter has millions, if not a billion fans around the world is because of the story. It's what this whole franchise is about. What do you think those books were about? It's the story of Harry and his friends defeating Voldemort and that journey from being a little boy, discovering his origin, finding his powers, and then defeating the evil. That story is not coming through in this game at all. The story of the movies is never gonna come at you. It's done so differently. It's like all these 96 little modes where you're just shooting the same stuff over and over again. And you don't even really hear from Harry, gang. And I mean this. Like, how does anybody who loves the story of Harry Potter look at this gameplay and feel connected to the major moments in the movie? It's not happening. The reason Lord of the Rings is such a pinball masterpiece is it took the major moments from those three movies and that's what you play. The physical mechanisms in the game connect to those moments in the movie. The call outs between the characters all happening from the movie. And when you start a mode, you feel like you're progressing through that mode with those characters and the sense of urgency and the sense of excitement that that game telegraphs to you as a player is phenomenal. And then you go look at the Harry Potter stream. And again, if you close your eyes, you don't feel like you're going through anything. It still sounds like a slot machine and all the noises and the sound effects. You hear so much more from Marc Silk than you do from the actors in the film and that is not gonna change Okay so there you have it everybody That the dichotomy of Harry Potter pinball You're gonna get a lot of the stuff I said at the beginning. They did so damn well. But the stuff that they got wrong, I think they missed the mark by so much that it's almost comical. It's hard to talk to the fanboys about it Because a lot of them are the pinball fanboys. So they're just happy that the game shoots well. And then they walk up to the machine. And you know, Jersey Jack machines always do this because they're beautiful. When you walk up to them for the first time, they're stunning. And you want to love them. And you want to connect with them. And you want it to click with you. It's like sitting in front of a beautiful woman. Have you ever sat at a table with a beautiful woman? No matter what she's saying, you're going to nod and smile. I mean, that's just how it goes. And that's what jumping on a Jersey Jack machine is for the first time. But over time, if you're a Potter fanatic, will this 96 mini mode world really be exciting to you? You know, I had a friend say to me yesterday, he's like, a pinball machine is a three to five minute experience, maybe five to 10 at most. why are they putting 96 modes into a game and it just starts to feel again like they don't truly understand they still don't get it jersey jack always too much of what you don't want and not enough of what you want there are some clips that are synced up but most aren't and it's there and you could tell it like i think they have permission to use it and that's the part that's killing everybody that's a fan of the property. It's because you can kind of hear it in the background, but they're burying it underneath Marc Silk, underneath these slot machine sounds, underneath their original orchestration. We all were so excited that David Thiel is on board for this game, and I've seen nothing but complaining about the way the game sounds. And so even Thiel couldn't save what Jersey Jack's new sound approach is, which makes every game lately sound like a slot machine. And look, that criticism is accurate. I don't care what anybody says. Close your eyes. Listen to this thing. Close your eyes and listen to a spooky game. Listen to a stern game. Listen to barrels of fun. Listen to everybody else's machines. They don't sound like this. It just feels like it belongs in a casino or in a Dave and Buster's. But again, we've been giving Jersey Jack this feedback gang for four years now. For four years. And they haven't changed it once. So they're just doing what they do. And if you like it, you like it. What you see is what you get. That's been Jersey Jack's response to all the feedback we've been giving them. All right. So that's Harry Potter pinball. I look forward to playing it. It's not a game I'm going to buy. I think they're going to make so many of them. They're going to be everywhere. They also have some new innovation for operators called Game Changer or something where you can hold up a QR code and it could change the difficulty of the game on location from easy to normal to hard. I'm not sure why an operator would even want or need that. Operators want to make money. They want to set the game on hard. You think an operator is like, you know, I really just want people to go deep into the 96 modes of this game. Guys, come on. Like, I feel like Jersey Jack, as a company lately, is like creating solutions that are in search of a problem. If you're on location, every game should be set up the same way for everybody. There should be one grand champion. I'm sorry. Like, just play better. Okay, so here is the other thing I'm hearing. It is Monday, June 9th, and I think we're going to get Predator news today. I think we're going to start to see some Predator news because I think Predator is going to be out June 12th, which is the anniversary of the movie coming out. So if you weren't impressed by Harry Potter without much Harry Potter speak, I think get ready for Predator wide body from the Pinball Brothers with possibly no Arnold. I was watching the new Predator animated movie on Disney Plus. It's insane. So cool. But if you're going to bring out Predator, I don't know. They've been teasing it with the red polo shirt. So if Arnold's not in it and they tease this game with that shirt, I think they're going to get a lot of backlash. But, you know, I've been asking Cengiz, is Arnold in it? He won't tell me. I think the silence is speaking volumes that he's not in it if he was in it They would just be on loop playing his sound clip get to the chopper Like seriously, that would be all you would have to do to tease this game I also think everyone's over this like drawn out a few weeks of teasers like it just doesn't work It only works If you give people the release date and they know when they can really start paying attention we got the Harry Potter countdown I think that was nice uh and if this Predator game is coming out June 12th you know come on guys like let people know like this is so stupid this world of like we're gonna keep everything a secret and expect you to just like wait and stick around for us stick around right see what I just did there the problem is Harry Potter just gobbled up all the money people have right now and enthusiasm people have right now for a new pinball machine so uh you I would not in a million years launch my pinball machine the week after the second biggest IP launch in the history of all the pinball It just goes to show you these guys don know what they doing So that going to happen And then I like gang I here to tell you right now John Borg game is Star Wars episode one through three. Get ready for Darth Maul. Kona Mota. Like it's coming. Like I'm excited. Stern needs a hit, everybody. King Kong did not sell. and now with all this money going to Potter I think it's going to be a rough rough few months for Stern and the big question mark for this month is I think it's June 20th are we going to see a 50th anniversary of Jaws and the rumor is they might actually make only 750 Jaws 50th anniversary games I don't think that's going to happen they said they're never going to make another LE but this is it like Stern's got to figure something out they let too many of the competitors eat away at the market share they've had too many mediocre themes in a row like how did Stern not get Harry Potter right great get by Jack by the way I mean OMG they're gonna sell 8,000 Harry Potters they ain't gonna sell 8,000 King Kongs this game is gonna sell more than Venom John Wick X-Men, Foo Fighters, all combined, like all combined, they're going to be selling Harry Potter pinball machines for the next five years. That is unless people do get this game and get a little tired of the 96 modes over and over and over again and no real moments of magic. We'll see what happens. It's in their court, but I'm a little worried. I'm a little worried. You know how I feel. Fools rush in and I just think rushing in before you get to play it is difficult because the people playing it right now, remember, there's a honeymoon phase. And look, is gameplay all you need to buy one? I think for a lot of people, yeah, right? It's like everybody wants a beautiful Jersey Jack game in their lineup. You don't necessarily want the Elton John. I don't think this game shoots better than Elton John. They both shoot differently. But I think that's why this game's going to do well, because it's just going to be satisfying to shoot. Everybody bought Guns N' Roses and then they realized the gameplay was the reason why you had to get rid of it. So it's going to do phenomenally well for Jersey Jack Pinball and Stern needs a hit. Barrels of Fun needs to figure out what to do now. How do you get people reignited around Dune? How do you get people to buy Predator if your Pinball Brothers and Arnold isn't in it? The world's going through some crazy stuff right now. A lot of people are anxious. A lot of people are stressed out. I think a lot of people just want magic and we need better themes. Harry Potter should sell a ton because the theme is great. There's no room in pinball anymore for mediocrity when it comes to theme selection and Stern does need to wake up. So that's why I think we're going to see Star Wars and I think we're going to see Pokemon. One, two, punch. And those are big punches. And if the rumor's true that Keith Elwin is a big Pokemon fan and he's working on the Pokemon pinball machine that, much like Harry Potter, will bring new people into pinball. And Pokemon is a much bigger property than even Harry Potter. And I actually think it's easier to translate Pokemon into pinball. Really difficult to take eight movies and put it all into one pin. And will it work out? We shall see. But everybody, look, I think it's a buyer's market. There's no need to rush, right? Everyone's either in a rush to glorify the game or overly indicted. I think I've been very fair and balanced on my feelings on Harry Potter. The problem is a lot of these people on Pinside and Facebook, they're not subscribers. So they're not listening to the full story of how I feel about this game. I have not unfairly indicted this game. There's stuff I really, really like. And there's stuff that's really, really cringe. And so I just want to go play it. I want to go play it. And that's what I'm going to go do this week. And even if I play it and I enjoy it, I still wouldn't feel like I would order one right away. The code's got at least a year to go. You know this. They're going to make this game for a long time. And you all know, and we haven't talked about it, none of these models are holding value. None. So just let them make them all. And then you can march in. These CEs are going to go down because they're going to have so many of them out there. I don't think everyone's going to bolt this game to the ground like they say. Again, I think it's a really good effort. I would give it like a B overall. I just don't think they nailed the theme. I don't. I really don't. And that's just what I would do. And that's just historically looking at how it goes. That's how it's going to go. Unlimited runs of every model. Oh, yeah. Let me order now. Why? Why? Why? When you haven't even played it yet. Okay, everybody look. Happy Monday. More to come on this. I might have to do another show today if we see Predator. But I don't think we're going to see it to the 12th. It's going to be like Predator Day. So I think that's coming. So get ready. Another new pinball machine, right? Do you guys all work in finance? How does everybody have this much money to absorb all these games? Everybody, Canada out later. seperti Almeida Suggup Suggup Suggup Suggup Come on Like Go Suggup Suggup Suggup Yeah Yeah Yeah Thank you.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 92c1b7b2-139a-4bba-8df4-66498e4093b0*