# Episode 90 – We See All

**Source:** Final Round Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2026-01-05  
**Duration:** 61m 39s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.finalroundpinball.com/episode-90-we-see-all/

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## Analysis

Final Round Podcast hosts Jeff and Ryan discuss movies and Golden Globe nominations extensively before pivoting to pinball. They analyze why Stern's recent releases (Star Wars, King Kong) haven't matched the success of games like Godzilla or Metallica, attributing it partly to theme saturation, manufacturing issues (Death Star ramp rejections), and stronger competition from boutique manufacturers like Spooky and Barrels. They note a sentiment shift in the community toward smaller manufacturers while acknowledging Stern's higher production volumes.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Lyman Sheets didn't consider ACDC complete and wanted a mini wizard mode and tighter gameplay elements — _Ryan citing Head to Head Pinball Podcast interview with Lyman Sheets about ACDC; cannot independently verify quote_
- [MEDIUM] Metallica remaster improvements have been proven to enhance the game — _Ryan claims 'improvements on Metallica that people have on their machine has been proven to enhance the game' but provides no specific evidence_
- [MEDIUM] Walking Dead remaster was rushed with limited new content - colorized DMD, two new voice actors, same playfield layout — _Marty states: 'It seems like it was rushed out' and describes limited updates; Jeff confirms layout unchanged but acknowledges not seeing final product_
- [HIGH] Star Wars Fall of the Empire has Death Star ramp rejection issues on Premium and LE models due to tight hole design — _Jeff directly states: 'When you hit the ball and go up a ramp, it's probably going to get a little bit of air. So maybe the hole of the Death Star needed to be a little bit bigger'_
- [HIGH] King Kong had gong mech issues on Premium and LE models — _Jeff states: 'some mech issues with the gong, especially on the premium in LE' on King Kong_
- [HIGH] Community sentiment has shifted toward smaller manufacturers like Spooky and Barrels vs Stern — _Marty: 'there is a bit of hate there going, oh, well, Stern wished they could do this or wished they could be this' and notes 'so much enthusiasm for other companies'_
- [MEDIUM] Spooky (Evil Dead, Beetlejuice) and Barrels (Dune, Winchester Mystery House) have sold out their allotments — _Jeff states these games 'fly off the shelf. They've sold out their allotment' but doesn't provide production numbers_
- [MEDIUM] Harry Potter rarely appears in tournament play despite being a good earner — _Ryan: 'you will not see that in tournaments. I have yet to see a tournament... It comes with a bit of baggage if you do'_

### Notable Quotes

> "What's happened with Stern? What do you think's happened?"
> — **Marty (guest)**, ~48:00
> _Central question driving the pinball discussion about Stern's recent underperformance vs competitors_

> "Spooky comes out, does the evil dead, and has done Beetlejuice, and the games fly off the shelf. They've sold out their allotment... Barrels with two games this year... sold out that allotment. So is what you're asking, Marty, with what's happening with Stern, is it a change in the business model?"
> — **Ryan C**, ~52:00
> _Directly contrasts Stern's performance with smaller competitors' success_

> "It's like when you haven't seen somebody for a long time and you go, oh, have you lost weight? And they're like, well, no. But because you haven't seen them for a while, you notice the big difference. I'm now sort of coming back and having a look around at the industry. What I'm seeing is so much enthusiasm for other companies."
> — **Marty**, ~49:30
> _Articulates the sentiment shift in the community toward boutique manufacturers_

> "Lyman's code's perfect. It's not perfect... he doesn't consider ACDC complete. And he wanted to have some kind of mini wizard mode, you know, in the middle and to tighten certain things up."
> — **Ryan C**, ~42:00
> _Justifies remaster approach by noting original designer's own dissatisfaction_

> "When you hit the ball and go up a ramp, it's probably going to get a little bit of air. So maybe the hole of the Death Star needed to be a little bit bigger as opposed to the tight shot that Luke Skywalker did in the actual real Star Wars movie."
> — **Jeff**, ~58:00
> _Identifies specific mechanical design flaw in Star Wars Fall of the Empire_

> "This is way too much pinball content for our podcast. We didn't sign up for this bullshit, Marty. Come on. Used to be about movies."
> — **Jeff**, ~65:00
> _Meta-commentary on podcast drift; hosts acknowledge pinball discussion dominance_

> "You know you can backhand the Quidditch ramp, Jeff? Game changer."
> — **Ryan C**, ~80:00
> _Harry Potter gameplay discovery/hidden feature_

> "I think it's been one of the better years in pinball. Maybe not, you know, like when we look back 10 years from now and say, oh, these are some of the greatest games ever. But what I would say is I think everybody did well in the pinball business this year that's making games."
> — **Ryan C**, ~95:00
> _Overall positive assessment of 2024 pinball year despite Stern concerns_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Stern Pinball | company | Primary subject of discussion; recent releases include Star Wars Fall of the Empire, King Kong, Dungeons & Dragons, Jaws 50th Anniversary, Walking Dead remaster, Uncanny X-Men. Sentiment: declining relative to competitors |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer praised for Evil Dead and Beetlejuice; games noted as selling out quickly |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Released two games in 2024: Dune and Winchester Mystery House; both sold out; praised for volume and execution |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Released Harry Potter in 2024; noted as successful but rarely seen in tournaments; Guns N Roses referenced as major success |
| Multimorphic | company | Portal praised as 'their best game'; other titles mentioned: Heist, Princess Bride, Final Resistance |
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Referenced for remaking classic games (Attack, Medieval, Cactus Canyon) |
| John Borg | person | Designer of Star Wars Fall of the Empire; also known for board game design expertise |
| Lyman Sheets | person | Deceased legendary designer of Metallica, Walking Dead, and ACDC; reportedly told Head to Head Pinball that ACDC was incomplete |
| Scott Danesi | person | Multimorphic designer referenced for Final Resistance design philosophy |
| Carl D'Angelo | person | First game designer for Barrels of Fun; released Winchester Mystery House |
| Jeff Teolis | person | Co-host of Final Round Pinball Podcast; out of touch with pinball for extended period; strong opinions on game quality |
| Ryan C | person | Co-host of Final Round Pinball Podcast; more current on pinball industry; knowledgeable about game mechanics and rules |
| Marty | person | Guest on this episode; recently returning to pinball after extended absence; provides outsider perspective on sentiment shifts |
| Star Wars Fall of the Empire | game | 2024 Stern release by John Borg; criticized for Death Star ramp rejection issues on Premium/LE; questioned theme choice vs licensing value |
| King Kong Myth of Terror Island | game | 2024 Stern release; compared unfavorably to Godzilla; gong mech issues noted on Premium/LE |
| Walking Dead remaster | game | 2024 Stern release; colorized DMD, two new voice actors, same playfield; perceived as rushed compared to Metallica |
| Metallica (remaster) | game | Successful Stern remaster that established demand for classic game updates; improvements noted as enhancing gameplay |
| Harry Potter | game | 2024 Jersey Jack Pinball release; good earner but rarely tournament-played; features Quidditch ramp backhand mechanic |
| Portal | game | Multimorphic game cited as their best release; ongoing technical improvements |
| Dune | game | 2024 Barrels of Fun release; noted as Marty's favorite theme; sold out allotment |
| Winchester Mystery House | game | 2024 Barrels of Fun release by Carl D'Angelo; sold out allotment |
| Godzilla | game | Stern release cited as benchmark for 'killer app' quality; strong seller that set high bar for recent releases |
| Head to Head Pinball Podcast | organization | Referenced Australian podcast where Lyman Sheets allegedly discussed ACDC incompleteness; provides industry credibility |
| IPDB | organization | Internet Pinball Database; used for game release verification |
| Pinball Awards | event | Annual awards discussed as potential earlier-year voting opportunity; subject to community participation |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Stern Pinball recent game performance vs competition, Manufacturing/mechanical issues on recent releases (Star Wars, King Kong), Community sentiment shift toward boutique manufacturers, Remaster strategy for classic games (Metallica, Walking Dead, anticipated ACDC)
- **Secondary:** Theme licensing and game selection strategy, Tournament play and competitive meta, Movie/TV content consumption and Golden Globes, Barrels of Fun and Spooky Pinball business success

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.45) — Positive on overall 2024 pinball year quality and boutique manufacturer success; negative on Stern's recent execution, theme choices, and mechanical issues; concerned about community sentiment drift; nostalgic frustration from Marty on missing out on recent years

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Stern transitioning business model toward remasters of classic games vs new IP development (confidence: medium) — Ryan and Jeff discuss Metallica/Walking Dead/ACDC remasters as pattern; Marty questions if this reflects strategic shift
- **[sentiment_shift]** Harry Potter rarely selected for tournament play despite being good earner; community concerns about machine baggage (confidence: medium) — Ryan: 'you will not see that in tournaments... It comes with a bit of baggage if you do, but that doesn't mean it's not a good earner'
- **[competitive_signal]** Multimorphic establishing Portal as benchmark for their best game; continuous iteration improving library (confidence: medium) — Ryan: 'Portal is so good. It's their best game... Multimorphic games... just keep getting better and better'
- **[design_philosophy]** Star Wars Fall of the Empire theme questioned as unnecessary given recent Star Wars saturation and licensing value (confidence: medium) — Marty asks: 'do we need another Star Wars game?' and questions thematic originality relative to Godzilla benchmark
- **[market_signal]** Industry narrative: theme saturation at Stern limiting novelty; smaller manufacturers gaining advantage through scarcity and boutique positioning (confidence: medium) — Multiple references to Stern having 'had so many great themes' and newer competitors selling out vs Stern's slower sales
- **[market_signal]** Spooky and Barrels games selling out allotments while Stern releases show slower adoption (confidence: medium) — Ryan notes Spooky/Barrels 'fly off the shelf. They've sold out their allotment' vs Stern games having slower sales
- **[market_signal]** Walking Dead remaster initial marketing underperformed; unofficial player videos preceded official Stern promotional content (confidence: medium) — Ryan: 'first videos that came out were somebody shooting it by themselves as opposed to it being properly done by Stern'
- **[personnel_signal]** John Borg designed Star Wars Fall of the Empire; typically produces board game designs, raising questions about pinball specialization (confidence: medium) — Jeff states 'I'm obviously going to love playing it because I love board games' when discussing Borg's board game expertise on pinball title
- **[product_concern]** Walking Dead remaster perceived as rushed relative to Metallica remaster; limited new content despite video game precedent (confidence: medium) — Marty: 'It seems like it was rushed out' describing colorized DMD and two voice actors as insufficient new content
- **[product_concern]** King Kong has gong mechanism issues on Premium and LE models (confidence: high) — Jeff states: 'some mech issues with the gong, especially on the premium in LE'
- **[product_concern]** Star Wars Fall of the Empire has confirmed Death Star ramp rejection issues on Premium/LE models; mechanical design flaw identified in hole sizing (confidence: high) — Jeff directly describes issue: tight hole design causes ball rejection on ramp shots matching Star Wars film sequence
- **[sentiment_shift]** Community sentiment notably shifted toward boutique manufacturers (Spooky, Barrels, JJP) vs Stern (confidence: high) — Marty observes 'so much enthusiasm for other companies' and 'a bit of hate there going, oh, well, Stern wished they could do this'

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## Transcript

 Where's the third flipper? Give me that soul! You just ain't enough to make me roll! Just playin' that! Yeah, what a shame! Someone pooped their pants mid-game! Where's the third flipper? My little pecker. My little pecker. My little pecker. It's player versus player, and player versus machine. Welcome to the final round. Like clockwork every two weeks. If your clock is broken, I'm Jeff Teolas. And I'm Ryan C. How you been, Jeff? Pretty good. And people have been wanting to hear our voices for a lot of reasons, a lot of hot topics in pinball right now, and we are not going to avoid the tough conversations. We are going to get to them starting off right off the bat. Biggest story probably in my world. and it's something that means a lot to me every single day. The Golden Globe nominations have come out and we're talking about maybe some of the best movies of the year and no other podcast talks movies like Final Round. So what do you think, Ryan? You've seen a few movies this year. Old Marty never saw shit unless he stole it and downloaded it illegally, but there were some good ones out here. Well, that's not exactly true. I have seen a couple of movies, but nothing from this year. and I've looked at the Golden Globe nominees and I've not seen a single one of these movies. Excuse me, how the fuck did you get in on this call? Well, you know, you're talking Golden Globes and there's actually a movie nominated called... Marty Supreme. Marty Supreme. Well, I guess since you've still got the password and the keys to the final round tools, I guess you can join us for as long as you want. But, okay, that stupid movie aside, the big movie, and I'm glad they acknowledged it for the Golden Globes, Sinners. Have you guys seen Sinners? No. No. Fuck Australia. You guys are idiots. Sell us on it, Jeff. It's only a vampire movie. Hello. Is there anything more important in the world in 2025 than vampire movies? K-pop demon hunters. Which I guess is also a vampire movie. Have you seen Amani? I okay look I tried to because on paper it should be everything that I'm into but I don't know maybe 20 minutes into it I went yeah it's just it's not grabbing me and I'm not I'm not big on well you know I do like k-pop and I do like animated movies um not a massive vampire fan although I will say now go with me on this buffy the vampire slayer the original movie not the tv show the original movie is fantastic i agree how far back are we going now buffy the vampire slayer what year was that 80s late 80s early 90s i said the tv show was 1997 is that the movie with the same person no no no christy swanson i think you're right 1992 she's married to my boss's cousin so i she's married to a guy named a figure skater in canada lloyd eisler and uh they may have hooked up on one of these reality shows and uh yeah so anyway the movie is funny as hell and uh yeah look at this right you ready let's name some names so obviously christy swanson right donald Sutherland, is it? Luke Perry, Hilary Swank, David Arquette, Paul Rubens, who obviously was Pee Wee Herman, Rutger Hauer. I mean, it was just stacked with talent. Hold on. While you're going down the list, there's another person that was in the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We're going way back here. But again, people who listen to Final Round, they're deep into movies like we are too. Certainly. On the cast call list of that was a guy named Mark DiCarlo. Do you see that on there, Martin? I can see that, yeah. He was the coach. Yeah, he was the coach. He used to host a TV show on Fox years ago called Studs. And Studs was the dating game except you knew everyone was banging. Like it was – like they weren't hiding that. You know The Bachelor, they try to hide it and they make it all sweet and lovey-dovey. After six weeks, you get my rose and all that bullshit. When you know they're on just tapping big time. Well, studs, they would interview them after they all got together and basically would talk about the good times, the bad times, the naughty times. And then studs would pay them if they wanted to date again. But it was just awesome. Anyway, Mark DiCarlo, the reason I bring him up. We're going way back here. When I used to do Yuck Yucks, which I took Ryan to when he came to Canada. It's a comedy place here. one of the first ever comedy shows i did was with that guy mark di carlo and he was in buffy the vampire star in a roundabout way we got there anyway so of the movies that have been nominated really none of them the best television series now i've watched a lot of television series and the the not the nominee that i hope wins is severance because I thought the last season was great. But I will call out something that I loved that I'm pretty sure you didn't, Jeff. And that was Murderbot. Oh, did they get nominated? No, but I think it should have. I think it was just crazy good. I know you were a bit cool on it, but loved it. My favorite of the year. Well, the voters have spoken. Marty has no taste. Correct. Well, people write in. Severance is great. Severance is great. I just, I caught up on the first season during the second season. And then when I finished the second season, I looked at the gap between the two seasons and you're going to have to remind me, Marty, when season three comes out because I feel like these days there's so much content that comes out in between. I just forget. Like, Stranger Things season five. Who are all these people? I don't remember. No, exactly right. So here's the deal. Well, Stranger Things is probably a bit of an anomaly because they put so much into it so I think that their production is what holds them back. But a lot of these shows, when they come out, They only commission one series because it usually either gets extended or cancelled after the first episode or within the first season. So if they go right, we're now getting a season two, they've got to tool up again. They've got to find everybody. They've got to write the second season. They've got to film it. So there's usually a delay between first and second season. But when they know that they're on to a winner, you should then see them yearly after that. Okay. So you're saying I should see Sever in season three in about two years? No, they reckon it's going to be a lot sooner than that. I've only watched a few episodes of the first season. It's not that I didn't like it. It's just there's so many shows and stuff. There really is. I can't spend more than an hour watching TV a day. I mean, I try not to. I like movies, though. And another movie that really caught my eye this summer. Did you guys see the movie Weapons? I did see that movie. Marty? I think you know the answer to that question. Of course not. I wouldn't watch it on my own, but my partner, Emma, really into horror movies. And this one, actually, I enjoyed. Not as scary as I thought, but just storytelling was great. An old ginger witch? I mean, that's the premise right there. I mean, notice all these scary characters are gingers, like Pennywise, too, is a ginger clown. Hmm. I think I missed my calling. Of course, I'm gray now. Oh, my God, Ryan. By the way, we recorded another podcast the first weekend in November before or whatever shit hit the fan we decided not to air it just because um the world changed a little bit so anyway one of the things we talked about on that podcast and maybe i'll play it at the end of this is you know as you get older you kind of you think you are a certain way and then you look in the mirror and you go who the fuck is that old fart that's my life now as i think of me as a ginger and it's hard to find any ginger in me and so i was telling marty this and he And he fucking was busting laughing. I'm like, what's so funny? He goes, do you know the hardest thing about doing the show with you? And I'm like, what? And then he started crying again for another 10 minutes. He goes, it was trying to Photoshop red into your pictures because you're so old. Yeah. I had to color in his beard because it didn't show up in any of the pictures. because you're white. You're a dick. Well, that's what happened. Just remember, weapons, Pennywise, Ginger, horror villains. So I got an eye on you too. I saw a movie that I guess is pinball related, and of course everything ties back into pinball. I saw the new Predator movie, and I've never seen a Predator movie in the theaters. Everyone's saying it's really good. It's fucking unreal how good it was. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Predator Badlands? It was fantastic, and my son wanted to see it. I'm like, ah, fuck yeah, sure, let's go. And I was sitting there going, this is really good. Really good movie. And I hadn't seen any of them. I think I finally saw the Arnold Schwarzenegger one years and years later and just, you know, realized what it was. You know, just a bunch of corny tough guy action movie stuff. It didn't pretend to be anything it wasn't. But this was actually a good movie. Watch it. Predator Badlands. Yeah, I probably won't. Is it related to any of the other movies? because I know there's been so many crossovers between Alien and Predator, and I've lost track and interest a long time ago. Do you mean the 15-second premise? Kind of a runt. Predator is trying to be a real predator, but he just doesn't have the chops, and he's got to earn his father's trust, and he's got to prove that he can be a predator, and he has to go tackle the hardest thing to tackle that no one's ever been able to tackle, and he's gung-ho to do it. And he meets a, I don't know what the proper term, almost like a, have you seen the movie Alien, where they have that robot? That's not a robot. It's a person. What do they call those people? Android? Android, yep. So he comes across an android, and then it ties into the Alien movie. So it was really good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. Marty, have you been watching Pluribus? Oh, now someone did tell me to watch it, but no, I haven't. I watched the first episode. No, that's actually not true. I watched about the first five minutes and I went, yeah, okay, I'll come back to that. And I just never did. It's no Murderbot. No. Correct. It's made by Vince, what's his name? Killigan. The guy who did Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. And I feel like he's on a mission throughout his series. It's escalating to prove that human beings don't have patience with the story development and the pacing of the show. My wife watched the whole first series. She goes, it's getting weird. There's still a couple of episodes to go, but it's getting, like, the plot line is great, but the way in which they deliver it is kind of like Better Call Saul, where it's like you really, really get to know the characters, but you have to sit there and read it between the lines of a scene that is three minutes and nothing really happens. And normally people would just change the channel or jump on their phone. I have to fight my instincts to do that. Because everyone else is like, oh, everyone has ADHD. let's just flash a bunch of scenes and let's just like quickly like here's the summary of the plot line and now we're gonna do this scene and this scene i saw the i did see the premise of the show and i'm now that i'm now that i'm thinking about it i probably watched the first episode and just went none of this is related to what i believe to be the plot of the show that's how much they're trying to slow it down and set up the characters but i just wasn't vibing with the characters It's got to grab Marty. That's the key. Marty needs to be grabbed. That's what I've learned. Yeah. I don't think I would have kept on watching if I hadn't seen that actress. What's her name? Ria Seahorn. I can't say her name. If I didn't see her in Better Call Saul, then I probably also wouldn't have continued watching after the first episodes. But I know how much of a good actress she is. So give it a go. Give it a go. Listen, TV shows, you can't not talk. I mean, that's what Final Round's about here, talking about. Everything other than pinball. Stranger Things. First four episodes of season five came out. Hello. Did you watch it? It was fucking awesome. No, because I'm going to watch them. Shut up. I'm going to watch them all in a row. I don't want this whole wait how many months we've got to wait in between. That's bullshit. Not even a full month. Yeah, well, good. When do the rest of the episodes come out? Christmas week, I think. So I think the numbers are wrong. They've shown four. There's a bunch coming out maybe very soon. and then the last episode comes out on New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve? Just to stop people from going out. Well, they don't want people to download it all and then cancel their Netflix. I watched the first episode. I liked it. I will watch the rest of them. But I did find myself many times needing a summary of who is who. They have that little summary at the start. They're like, you know, last season. But there was no YouTube person guiding me through. It was just a bunch of scenes. I'm like, oh, that's interesting that that happened, but why and who and what was the context? I wonder if Stern will do another run of Stranger Things games. It should. Is this part of getting old where I watch something now and I'm like, yeah, I enjoyed that. That was great. And then it just seems to get deleted or partially stored in my memory banks. Is it because it's not impactful or is this just an age thing? There's too much content now. What do you think, Marto? I think there's just way too much. I've got a list of, I don't know, 40 things that have been recommended, and when am I going to see all this stuff? You know what? Dave Hashman, Oz Eric, constantly messaged me going, oh, have you watched this season that I recommended six months ago? And I'm like, no, I haven't because there's just, A, there's probably so much to watch, but B, I don't. I've got a lot on at the moment work-wise, and I don't need to have my brain challenged when I get home, when I've just literally had a barrage of things to do with during the day. So I tend to just not go for anything that requires too much of attention. Murderbot was perfect for that because it was 20-minute episodes, funny, quirky, but you didn't have to think much. No, you did not. No. And, you know, when you come back from work, all you want to do is you put your brain aside and forget the day that happens. And if that doesn't happen, you drown it out with gin. Admit it. Yeah. Well, I don't even drown it out with gin. Like, I'm already glass in hand as I enter the house, regardless of what day I've had. Attaboy. Well done. Some things will never change. You're like Donald Trump with the Diet Coke button. So look I know that we promised that we wouldn talk about pinball but can we just talk about pinball just for a sec Because as per last time I was on I still am not really into pinball and I don't really follow stuff. In fact, I've unfollowed a lot of stuff. But I did see – what's the one that's now got the remaster? Is it – Walking Dead. Walking Dead, right? Did they add, because that's relating to your comment that you were saying about Stranger Things, did they add new content from the series into it, or did they just add a screen? They got two of the actors to do voices, but I believe the layout of the Pimolmo machine is the same, which means, like, the five modes from the first couple of seasons. So I don't believe, to this date, they've added any new content. And I don't think they've actually added new animations on the screen. I haven't seen them yet, but I've heard that it's just like a colorized version of the DMD in the same aspect ratio. And they've got things. It seems like it was rushed out. Can I ask a question to both of you? Of course. The Metallica one did very, very well. The Walking Dead one, a bit of a slow intro. So not exactly, maybe fumbled by Stern as far as the way they released it. You know, the first videos that came out were somebody shooting it by themselves as opposed to it being properly done by Stern. And I feel a little rushed after Star Wars Fall of the Empire just came out. I guess they've got to keep the line moving. But, okay, they've got Metallica. Gameplay's great. First of all, the original's fantastic. They now have The Walking Dead. The original, it's fantastic. The rumor is the next one, ACDC. And they're going to give it that full treatment with the big screen and I assume a 70-year-old Angus Young running around playing these games. In a wheelchair. Well, I hope they use old footage. But anyway, that being said, these are three iconic games, all done and coded by the late, great Lyman Sheets. Why do we need to redo these? Those are perfect games. I'm confused. I guess is it because there's so much demand on the secondary market and these games aren't being done? but there have been a lot of runs in Metallica. There have been not as many of Walking Dead and maybe not as many sales of this version too. ACDC went through a lot. Are there not enough of those machines out there? I mean, I don't get why we're coding Lyman. Why are we recording machines? Yeah, but why are we adjusting Lyman's code? Lyman's code's perfect. It's not perfect. Lyman sheets, you know. Oh, you're a big OIMania guy, are you? That's the one that you need on ACDC? Fuck, I'm not playing this. OI is incomplete. Damn it. It's got the greatest wizard mode ever on, Corey. I mean, Lyman Sheets said himself on Head to Head Pinball Podcasts. What the hell is that? I'm pretty sure he said that, yeah, like he doesn't consider ACDC complete. And he wanted to have some kind of mini wizard mode, you know, in the middle and to tighten certain things up. And, you know, I think the improvements on Metallica that people have on their machine has been proven to enhance the game. you can always refresh it. It doesn't mean it has to be a direct comparison saying this game needed work. It's just, well, here's something slightly new in a different package. There's a big Metallica ACDC. They're quite old machines, Jeff. Yeah, there's a lot of new people in pinball now. I get that, yeah. It's no different than Chicago Gaming coming out with, here's Attack, here's Medieval, here's all these classic games that I guess you can't get anymore, Cactus Canyon. And so maybe that's what they're trying to follow. But it doesn't speak much to the new games being made, especially by Stern, if that's a real big part of their business model now. So besides the remakes, again, because I've been out of this, what would have been the last few cornerstone games from Stern? Obviously, Star Wars. King Kong. Star Wars. Dungeons and Dragons was this year. I don't think any of them have been great sellers like say Jurassic Park or Godzilla or Deadpool they should re-release another game they should bring out something like people are really clamoring for Transformers that's the next rumor that's not going to sell a different version, maybe it's a cartoon one Jason Wardrick will buy it but what's happened? What's happened, guys? Tell me. We were talking about movies, and then we got into this fucking pinball and wrecked this whole podcast. I know. But what's happened with Stern? What do you think's happened? Marty, I don't know. Ryan, you're the smart one. Go ahead. Dan's silence. I don't know. I guess they've had so many great themes. There always has to be a lull in what people want. If you give them what they want, then they will compare the next one to that. So I feel like we've been spoiled over the last five years or so with pretty much everyone's dream themes. And, yeah, I mean, these themes aren't scraping the bottom of the barrel at all. Wait a second. Wait a second. Spooky comes out, does the evil dead, and has done Beetlejuice, and the games fly off the shelf. They've sold out their allotment. Harry Potter did very, very well. I don't know if it did as well as Guns and Roses for Jersey Jack. You know, the model that Barrels is doing, you know, they, first of all, kudos to Barrels with two games this year. Two! They had Dune. I know Marty loves that movie. We should really spend more time talking about the movies, but he loves Dune. And then they came out with Carl D'Python Anghelo's first game, Winchester Mystery House, and sold out that allotment. So is what you're asking, Marty, with what's happening with Stern, is it a change in the business model? Because it seems to be working for the other companies. Is it working for Stern? Is this exactly what Stern wants to be doing? Yeah, I guess that's what I'm getting at. Look, how can I give you this analogy? It's like when you haven't seen somebody for a long time and you go, oh, have you lost weight? And they're like, well, no. But because you haven't seen them for a while, you notice the big difference. I'm now sort of coming back and having a look around at the industry. What I'm seeing is so much enthusiasm for other companies. And more so than what I've seen previously, there is a bit of hate there going, oh, well, Stern wished they could do this or wished they could be this. It's like, well, they've also probably sold 5,000 of these games instead of 500, right? Exactly. You know, it's just I'm trying to work out why the sentiment has changed, but also looking at Stern's releases. I think that Star Wars game that came out recently was a bit of a head scratcher because I'm like, do we need another Star Wars game? I looked at the layout and it's fine. It's good. And it was Borg, wasn't it? It was Borg. Yep. Yep. So I'm obviously going to love playing it because I love board games, as you know. Yeah. But, you know, where's your killer app? Where's the one? Where's your Godzilla, right? Where you just go, wow, that is a great theme, great layout. It's got the special sauce, which is obviously. So, Keith, just to be precise. But that's kind of what I'm looking at is where's the killer app? Where's the one where you go, wow, they are still on top of their game well let me ask you this question if godzilla didn't exist would kong be godzilla are we only are people only a little bit lukewarm on kong because they're comparing it like oh yeah we've we've had that we've had this this level of greatness before i wonder though to compare king kong to godzilla the ip godzilla has been around for years and years and they've had different versions even current movies the uh godzilla minus one like that's a movie that's being currently made and it's freaking awesome king kong movies one was last great king kong movie the only way they have king kong now is they bring in godzilla with it so i don't know if king kong would have got the same buzz if it came out before godzilla you still get that keith factor of the wow factor and it's a great shooting game some mech issues with the gong, especially on the premium in LE. And I think that's what you're finding now with Borg's game with the Star Wars Fall of the Empire, hitting that Death Star and going up the ramp and it rejecting. Like, when you hit the ball and go up a ramp, it's probably going to get a little bit of air. So maybe the hole of the Death Star needed to be a little bit bigger as opposed to the tight shot that Luke Skywalker did in the actual real Star Wars movie. I think maybe we're guilty of it as podcasters, but when some bad press comes out, whether it's the form of podcasts or blogs or whatever about, oh, this is an issue. I wonder if it kills the buzz because you're getting that with the Death Star. You're getting that with King Kong and the Gong issues. Does that make people kind of stay away? At least from the standpoint of, I'll wait until they fix it and manufacture the fix as opposed to me having to, like when I bought that Zeppelin LE and the spinner and electric magic didn't work. I still haven't fixed it. They sent me and I still haven't fixed it. It's sitting in the coin box. Does that mean that your game is unplayable, Jeff? No, I've turned off Electric Magic. I play it like a pro. Wow. Yeah. Who wants to buy it? Fucking fix it, Jeff. I prefer the pro anyway. Go ahead, Marty. So can I then... End of your podcast, our only pinball comment that we can talk on is... Well, obviously, we started with Golden Globes, right? Nominations are out. uh not sure whether you saw that the um the game awards aired a couple of days ago whatever that was no the game awards okay do you know that there are more viewers watching the game awards than there are the super bowl there you go fact bullshit look it up look it up no way no i will not allow lies on this podcast well ever but let me let me explain to you who's interested in the Super Bowl? North America? Sure, more so than other parts of the world, but it is seen in 100 plus countries. Sure. Well, the Game Awards is for the world. Well, no. Look it up. Is it streamed? Where is it on? Yeah, it is. It's streamed. Streamed. Anyway, that's all I'm saying to you. Anyway, well done. Spoiler alert, everybody. Claire Obscure, Expedition 33, absolutely cleaned up as we expected Did it what? But let's do, can we do the pinball awards before everybody does their wrap-ups next year? Yeah, good call. Get the jump. Right? This is way too much pinball content for our podcast. We didn't sign up for this bullshit, Marty. Come on. Used to be about movies. Used to be about killing people. This is crap. This is my pinball fix, right? I'll get it now. Fine. I just want to go through all the games that were released this year. And this is so funny. I'm even just going into IPDB, which I've not been to for years. You know what? This is great. The fact that you're doing this reminds me of any pinball award in which I know you've been out of touch with pinball for the whole year. But here you are, an asshole with a microphone and an opinion and a vote. No different than everybody else who votes for the awards. I'm only going to vote for the ones I know. Is that right? Yeah, it is right. Thank you for proving my point. Yeah, I've always agreed with your point. Yeah, yeah. You know I've always agreed. I know. Go ahead. Give me your views of the Pinball Awards. No, I think you're missing what I'm sort of getting at. I don't know the machines that have been released. That'd be a fun game. Can you name eight machines that came out this year? And we've probably mentioned a few on here, so maybe it's easy. I don't even think I can do that, Jeff. Sure you can. Anyway, Jersey Jack just came out with one this year, but it was a banger in Harry Potter. Still, you will not see that in tournaments. I have yet to see a tournament. I've been looking. I haven't seen it happen yet. It comes with a bit of baggage if you do, but that doesn't mean it's not a good earner or a good machine. You know you can backhand the Quidditch ramp, Jeff? Game changer. I've only played the game once. if you listen to our last unreleased episode I talked about it for a good half an hour unfortunately I did not win the raffle so I did not get a free or $100 Harry Potter machine maybe at the end of this episode I'll put together a little bit of the unheard episode for our listeners if they're listening to our little song and dance Marty have you listened to any of our previous podcasts yep do you like any of the songs where's the third flipper that was a banger Oh, sorry. Are you asking me whether I got to the end of the podcast? Wait a second. Are you asking, did I listen to the entire podcast and get to the end and listen to the song? Or are you asking, did I skip the entire podcast and get to the end song? Or third option, did I listen to the first few minutes and then skip to the end song? What question are you asking me? I'll take door number three. I know. I know. I know. What a dick. No, the actual answer is, yeah, okay, I've listened to all of it. Oh, okay. What about the song? The songs are amazing, right? I know. Right. I think that the songs have improved over time just because I think of how I think Ryan's generating the song. But the crop dusting one is still my favorite. Blame the breeze, blame the air. Jeff's not the culprit, he's not there. Crop dust trails where he's been Silent thunder rolling within Even though I think the other songs are actually better lyrically and the song composition, just the topic of the crop dusting one is just my favourite. Blame the breeze. So according to ChatGPT, so it's saying Stern Bimbal released King Kong, Myth of Terror Island, is that right? Again, you'll have to correct me if I'm wrong. Dungeons and Dragons, The Tyrant's Eye. Jaws 50th Anniversary. Wow. Star Wars Fall of the Empire. Uncanny X-Men. Interesting. Did that come out this year? That was last year. No, it was probably January. It probably came out at CES show, yeah. No. I bet it did. Really? I don't know, maybe. I'm pretty sure. I own the machine so I should know And then of course they got the Walking Dead remastered too A lot of things on the line there plus whatever else I sure they had a few Godzillas out there and some other games Yeah, and then so Jersey Jack Harry Potter. It's a multimorphic portal. Portal is so good. It's their best game. I love multimorphic games, and they just keep getting better and better. When Heist came out, I was like, wow, Weird Al's fun. And Princess Bride is right on theme. And Final Resistance is just Scott Danesi going, here, I'm coming right at you. Boom. Just like TNA. It was good. Yeah. That's it. And then Spooky, of course, had a big year and continues to do well. I think it's been one of the better years in pinball. Maybe not, you know, like when we look back 10 years from now and say, oh, these are some of the greatest games ever. But what I would say is I think everybody did well in the pinball business this year that's making games. No one came up with a game that was like, oh, fuck, this is going to kill our whole company. How are we ever going to recover? Was Spinal Tap this year or last year? Jesus Christ. With all due respect to Home Pin, Blues Brothers, I think, is their latest game. And Dr. John will swear by that being their best game. And it should be. It's freaking stars. But do-it-yourself code? No, thanks. How about that game, Predator? I've heard, Jeff, that that's a dangerous game. What have you heard? Oh, can we, again, we talked about this in the last episode, and then you said, please, that's another reason we couldn't air the last episode, because you said a story. I'm not going to say what it is. You said a story, and then you said, can you remove that, please? Oh, it was such a good story. Ryan, don't listen for a second. Marty, there's something on Predator. Like when you remove, it's on the play field. Is there like a paid or something there? Is that right? It might as well be a Ginsu knife. It is the sharpest tool ever, and I'm not saying it impaled somebody because I'm not, but be careful. That's all I'll say. Is that okay, Ryan? Okay. Ryan. Okay. All right. So here we go. So what I've actually just realized is that the reason why I couldn't search for any games in 2025 on the pinball database is that it doesn't exist anymore that hasn't been updated since 2023 that goes to show how long it's been so i've actually gone to pinside for the first time in years fortunately you'll find good things there yeah it's a very happy place anyway so here we go uh dungeons and dragons time i portal multiple merlin's arcade from turner really good game yep yeah you know turners really good game They've done all right, you know. June, that was a fun. King Kong, Harry Potter, Predator, Jaws 50th. Winchester. A new Medieval Madness, Merlin edition, of course. Star Wars, Fall of the Empire, Winchester, Mystery House, Walking Dead Remastered, and Beetlejuice. So have we had a good year for releases? That, to me, says, yeah, actually. Yeah, I think so. We've had good games there. Yeah, I definitely think so. I will, as an official podcaster of the podcasting land, I will give this year a 9 out of 10, guys. A 9 out of 10. With my professional opinion. I do think it was a good year. Do I think it's some Hall of Famers? Probably not, but just really successful games. And okay, with all those games you mentioned, it's like a lot of the pinball community says, okay, I wonder what's going to be next. And you've created some excitement, some buzz. that, and I've played almost everything you've said there except for Predator. I even played the Alice in Wonderland game, but that came out the year before. They're all fine. They're pretty good. It's still a pretty big investment, and maybe fine isn't enough to get me to buy some of these new games, but as far as looking forward to play them, sure. You know, and you're an operator, Ryan. I mean, what matters to you probably isn't so much as, is this a great game? Is this an IP? It's, do people put the dollars in? That's all that matters. Is it reliable? Have they hot glued things together? Is there a spike on a Predator game that might kill me? I'm a prime candidate for that. If there's something sharp on the play field that you can cut yourself open with, that's usually me. Hey, Jeff, I finally met my neighbor. Whoa, Marty. I don't know if you know he had a new neighbor, and you know how he likes to sunbathe nude and play music and fly drones around to do god-awful things. So tell us about your neighbor. So this is actually not the neighbor that just moved in, Jeff, a couple of months ago. This was the neighbor adjacent to them who I've been living here for six years and I've never once met them. And I was running a pinball tournament the other day at my house. It just happened to be the Victorian state champs. There's 30 people at my house. People are rocking up. What's happening? I see this guy streaming into my garage and I didn't recognize him. He's not one of the 30 people that qualified this year for the state champs. And I asked who he is. Hello. How can I help you? And he proceeded to say, someone's parked their ute. It's just like a utility truck for those people in the US of A. Someone's parked their ute on my nature strip. You've got two minutes to move it. I want to smash it to fucking bits. I kid you not. That was his opening line. Oh, my God. And I'm like, oh, okay. Well, it's probably someone here. I can walk around and ask who it is and I can get them to remove it off your nature strip but you've got to give me more than two minutes because he's like not two minutes and I found out who it is and and he removed it but yeah it was hilarious to me and quite jarring that the first six years worth of being here and I've always wondered Do my neighbors like me? Am I annoying because I have people over my house? So hold on a second. Yes, he fucking hates me. Were they parked in a spot they were allowed to park in? No. It's not officially their land. The native strip is council land, but you're responsible for kind of mowing it and looking after it. But yeah, it's a narrow street. So he would have done it so that cars could pass through easily, but he could have just parked further down. Was he not parked on the road? He was parked on grass? half the road half the grass like he mounted the car move the car dude yeah move the car but also give me more than two minutes before you threaten to smash the car it was pretty funny i i walked up to him and i was completely calm and he was just i couldn't stop when someone's raging you can't the more calm you are the more they kind of rage to that they want you to get on the same level as them and he said something to me as i was walking away and and this guy uh this guy called Brody who, Marty, you know Brody and what he looks like. I do know Brody. Yeah, he's a gentle giant but he doesn't look like a gentle giant. He looks like he's a bikey and he heard him say something and I think I can say this on air. He said, without knowing any context, he just kind of walked past the situation and he yelled out to the guy, calm down you fucking cunt. And then the guy shut up. The guy didn't say anything after that. I feel like I had a Pimble, bodyguards, thank you, buddy. So when is the neighborhood Christmas party? Yeah. Oh, God. Wow. Marty, let's explain to a much younger Ryan, although he's coming up to mid-40s, but let's explain to him that there are people in the world that are miserable and are assholes, and there's not a lot you can do about it. Have you noticed that? Yeah. It's something that we've learned is that some people, they're only happy when they're sad. So there you go. It is sad, but true. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Some people just love being miserable, and that's fine for them. So whatever. We talked a little bit about movies. We talked a little about shows. I mean, I guess for sales of pinball machines, the IP does matter. But I'm not an operator, Ryan or Marty. I like to play pinball. I care about whether the game is fun and good. I could, like if Pokemon comes out next year, I'll know nothing about Pokemon. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Maybe could name two characters ever. But if the game's great, I'll love it. So what is more important to both of you? Is it the IP and that they nailed it or that the game is great? Oh, that's a really high, I'll let you go first, Marnie. as you always do um look it is it is a tough question because the the answer is it's all of that right and it's varying degrees because no no no let me explain let me explain shut your face so it could be that it's a great thing but it could have shit art right or it could be it could be that it's a good layout but it's got clunky mechanics it could be that it's got good flow but it's got rules that don't match. So you understand the complexity of it is. But for me, it's always about layout for me. And then, again, that's very subjective because I like a flow layout. Some people like stop-start or more precision shooting. So again, that doesn't really answer the question. But for me, the most important thing has always been layout. I think you lean towards more the game's got to be good than the IP good. perfect example is you do not like elton john you are the one person and elton john but you love the pinball machine oh cut and even like the music oh my god it was just okay this is right now what you're saying what i was saying as well perfect example can't stand the guy don't really like his music all that much but you would waste brake pads on your car if he was standing in front of it no god no right so it is such a joy to play and because the integration of the theme is done so well i actually really started enjoying the music because how they've placed the music where it is and the the volume of it how it increases is perfectly situated for you to feel something when you're playing that game i just should not have liked that game anywhere near as much as i did and i think it's absolutely a masterpiece i really do same question to you ryan you're an operator where are you gonna go uh there's so many factors i guess about the price of a machine and reliability and theme i have entered the stage of my pinball buying journey adventure career of buying games that i would not own personally like teenage mutant ninja turtles I don't think I ever want to own that game, even though I loved it as a kid, grew out of it, and don't like the way the game shoots, don't really like the rules, don't like playing it in competitions. It's objectively not a bad game. I just don't enjoy playing it. But that game rents really well. It earns really good money on location. Is it better than a game like Rush? I don't think so. I think Rush is way more fun. I think the rules are better. I think the layout's better. but Rush doesn't earn anything on location so when it comes time to buy something that's going to hold its value and earn money then yeah something like TMNT is better and then there's games like Harry Potter which will be largely ignored by the competition community and that does affect sales because I think people trust what comp players like there isn't a direct crossover but if there's a whole section of the community screaming like this is a good game then that filters through into into other parts of the community but i i don't think jgp and i don't think eric yes they care about balancing rules and making it a competition game but they're not thinking first and foremost how do we make sure this is on like you know every final four you know big competition this year going forward and you know let's not care about everyone else's buying our machine let's just make sure like that's our number one priority that jjp never going to do that they're never going to throw the kitchen sink into a game and you know put that as their priority and i think that's perfect for their position in the market so if you've skipped through orion talking there let me just quick summarize he's a greedy bastard who only cares about him making money and that's all that matters. As long as you get your quarters, that's all I care about. Is that safe to say? Yeah, rightly so. It's a business for him, so he's got to look at it objectively and not emotionally. Look, we have to go right now. We have to wrap things up. We have to wrap gifts. Christmas is coming too, and I want to say thanks, Marty, for stopping by and infiltrating our little podcast. Always good to hear you. I do want to recommend something to both of you as we started with movies, we'll end with movies. We haven't even talked about what live bands we've watched this year. Come on. Go ahead. I thought you had to go. That's why I was cutting it off. No, no, no. I've literally just messaged them saying I'm going to be 15 minutes late. Okay. All right. Bonus time here. Favorite concert of the year. Did you see one, Ryan? I've seen a bunch of them. I've seen Metallica. I've seen Rufus the Soul playing a DJ set, not their music. I've seen possibly my favorite band, Breathe. It's an Australian duo perform their first ever live concert. It was pretty bad. I am becoming really sensitive, I think, these days when you have noise-canceling headphones and you're able to listen to music at a really high fidelity in the perfect mix. it is becoming increasingly hard for me to go to venues large venues small venues and i feel like i'm very fussy with the sound mix and it's not with every single one but i i was at rufus the soul and they were playing amazing music and then the bass just got really mushy and i'm like am i drunk am i high what is going on like is this just me and then i went on a social media post by the group and every single comment was the same i'm like okay so it wasn't just me metallica i feel like they deafened me um evanescence played before metallica that was clear so it is the samix my favorite uh probably metallica even though they're my least favorite band out of the bands that I saw. It was an experience. I loved the visuals. I loved the crowds, how different it was. It's a great experience live, for sure. And the drummer, Jeff, is amazing. Terrible. Do you know what This tour that they been doing they actually been filming in 4K So you can actually go on YouTube and look at pretty much the whole concert through all the different cities It looks phenomenal. It does look great. I've been a on and off again Metallica fan ever since I think Ride the Lightning came out. So that's how old I am. I wouldn't see them live, but what I saw, fantastic. Just looked amazing. Your favorite concert, Marty? It wasn't long ago, was it? Well, actually, the kind of music that I'm into really doesn't tour Australia often, so I don't really get to see that many bands. So I've only done three concerts this year. The first one was OMD, my favorite band, Orchestral Maneuvers of the Dark. I thought Kraftwerk was your favorite. No, no, no, no, OMD. Kraftwerk's up there, but no, OMD just seems to be one of those things. I saw Soft Cell, believe it or not, right? And the funny thing about that, there's two people in Soft Cell, Mark Armand and Dave Ball. And when they came out and played, I went, oh, Dave Ball's not there. Okay, something must be going on. And then, yeah, it turned out he died recently. So there you go. That's why he wasn't there. And then my last wildcard concert that I went to was the Dead South. And you know this because I told you, Jeff. Yeah. And the Dead South really shouldn't be a band that I would like. You would call it a bit bluegrassy, a bit, you know, obviously very country. They're a Canadian band. I don't know, have you heard of them, right? No, I have not. I think, what's it called? In Hell I'll Be in Good Company, I think. Yes, that's their big hit. That's their big hit. They've had quite a few hits. And so they played at a venue, which you wouldn't know of, Jeff, it's called Festival Hall. notoriously bad acoustics and ryan i am so with you if the concert has got bad audio it ruins the whole experience but i gotta tell you the the audio in this venue was absolutely phenomenal and the crowd were fantastic and it was just a really joyous concert so even though i finally got to see OMD since I think 1989 was the last time they came out. And it's my favorite band. Oh my god, the Dead South was actually more enjoyable. It's strange. Strange, but that's the magic of music. If you've watched the TV show The Umbrella Academy, their big hit In Hell I'll Be In Good Company was in season two, so that's where you might have heard them. Maybe you don't know them by name. And I didn't even know they were Canadian. They're from Saskatchewan. But there you go. I've seen a few good concerts this year, and my God, am I getting old. You know, Spotify gave me a thing that showed me all the songs I listen to, and it said I was 72. Oh, wow. Mine said 57, and I was offended by that. 72. Mine said 28. Yeah, you're listening. I'm listening to K-pop demon hunters on repeat. I had soft rock as my number one thing, and I was like, what? But anyway, the two shows that stand out to me was I thought, I'll go see it. It's the last time. I went and saw The Who's Left, or as they're known, The Who, with Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey. And I've seen them a bunch of times. And I thought, oh, my God, I've seen them every decade since the 80s. And I couldn't believe how good Roger Daltrey's voice was. I don't know how well he's been taking care of it, but he belted out. And I was in shock at how wonderful a concert that was. So that was good. And then for the 12th time, just a few weeks ago, at the start of December, I went and saw a hero to me that means a lot for so many reasons. My favorite band, the lead singer. And in fact, the day my father died in 2011, I was walking up the steps to go see him in concert when my sister called and said that my dad had left us. I saw him the day before and said my goodbyes. And so I'm sitting in, I don't know, the 10th row in Michigan, and I'm watching this guy sing and just his music. And I, of course, was bawling throughout the whole concert, just being moved. So every time I see him in concert, I kind of think of that. And this time I saw it at Massey Hall in the fifth row. And by the end of the concert, I'm in the front row. And I got to see Robert Plant once again. Oh, yeah, you do like him, don't you? Oh, my God. And just, you know, is he the crooner that he was in the 70s singing Immigrant Song and belting out Kashmir? No, but what he does with the songs now is wonderful and just, oh, my God, I just was so moved. And I might have cried a tear or two. But anyway, those were big concerts. So the power of music can move you. Correct. I'm sure that our next song will do from our AI generated. But anyway, probably it for the year. I know we try to get in every two weeks, but it'll be tough to get in before Christmas. So I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. Marty, it's good to hear from you. Good to be back. Oh, shit. We were going to talk about the IFPA. We just ran out of time. I'm so sorry about that. Darn it. There's a lot of stuff going on in the IFPA. We'll get to it next episode. Oh, yeah. I'm sure we will. There's that. Oh, by the way, here's the recommendation. You're looking for a Christmas gift? You want to see a good movie? And you like pinball? may I recommend Abe Flips Mastering Pinball. It has now been released and if you wonder why I've been podcasting as much and if you wonder what took that video so long to come out, it's actually all my fault. It's not Abe's fault from Austria. It's not Johannes Ostermeyer who filmed it all. It's not Scott Danesi who did the music. It was Jeff Teoles who took his sweet ass time because I was traveling a lot and had to voice I think 23 hours worth of translated sometimes loosely into English. Anyway, it all got done. It sounds fantastic, but more importantly, it looks fantastic. Great tips. Mastering Pinball you can get on AbeFlips. Check out his Patreon, and I'm sure I'll put a link on that on Pinball Profile. Yes, please link it, Jeff. I promise you. It was a biggie. It's the movie of the year. AbeFlips, Mastering Pinball. It's really good. And, you know, he does those short little videos, so this is 104 minutes of you name it, it's in there, and he did a great job. This is the new Pimble 101, right? Been a while since Keith Elwin's released that. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So this is the one to go to. You two have fun. Hope to talk to you both in the new year very soon. Yep. Merry Christmas, everyone. Oh, by the way, this counts as the holiday edition of Head to Head. Absolutely. Yeah, it's all there. Have a good one, guys. Enjoy the bonus material that comes after this. So long, everyone. Thanks, everyone. See you. It's the final round. The final round. Grab your popcorn and have a seat. The boys have got a special treat. Modern machines got a little scream, but theaters got ones that make you cream. Lights go down, curtains part, pinball part, but we're talking art. Projectors hump, speakers crack. Wait a sec, where the flippers at? Reels are low and opinions fly. Somebody's wrong and nobody's shy. You tuned in for a silver ball, but now it's cinema after all. Is it thumbs up or thumbs down? Talking movies in the final round Where's the pinball talk on this show? That shit's lame, it's out of the door So what movies are the big winners? Weapons is fun, yeah, so is sinners Right and safe, but don't vampire suck What did you say? You stupid fuck You stupid fuck Popcorn grease on the control panel This review's gone fully channel to channel Marty's nodding like it's high art Jeff's just waiting for the rant to start One guy claps, one guy boos Someone yells, you missed the rules Critics fight in stereo Still no multiball, just so you know Is it thumbs up or thumbs down? Hot takes flying all around You came for coals and silver steel Got a rotten tomato field Big explosion, booty lightin' Half this party's still arguing Ryan's mad and Marty's smug Jeff just shrugs And sips his mug And sips his mug Hey, don't forget there's TV too Ryan loves a little boob too Marty says watch Murderbot But Jeff says nah, it ain't that hot Streaming wars and endless queues Someone spoil drops episode 2 Skip intro, skip the plot Still no talk of a flip or shot We're doing warning flashing red and white This episode's off the rails tonight But damn if it ain't entertaining Even when the topic's straying Rhyme neighbors fixing up and down the street Lose their damn minds over four-part wheels and some concrete Not the nature strip They scream into the void Like the grass was sacred ground Since Jesus was a boy And a pinball player slides in Cake made out of guts Points at the fence line Says mate You're being a cunt He's restored The crowd goes wild Multiple justice Melvin style Is it thumbs up Or thumbs down Final verdict Say it loud Pinball pop Still got soul and still got sound No jackpots, no rule decals But last I hit my fall highs You came confused, you stayed for luck Hit subscribe Yeah, what the fuck? Yeah, what the fuck? Yeah Life's camera tilt Arguments are built like a busted ram You swear you're leaving, then you don't, cause next week's gonna top this rant. Bimbo heart, moving rates, same old crew, different lanes. Silver ball or silver screen, either way it's still the same. If Bimbo's out, thumbs down, doesn't matter, stick around. Bimbo talk or cinema rage, same damn crew on a different stage. No flippers trot, but we still strut at the show. Now go get fucked! Good luck three. Nothing pisses me off more than an AI generated song. I do want to read one email here. Stacey Borg wrote us. It's, again, due to our last show. And if you want to email us, it's finalroundpinball at gmail.com. Hi, Jeff and Ryan. You'll have to read this in my voice, Jeff, okay? Or it won't make sense. All right, here comes Stacey. He did not say that, did he? He did. It says, hi, Jeff, Ryan. You'll have to read this in my voice, Jeff, or it won't make any sense. So here we go. Okay. Here's Stacey Borg. I'm loving the AI music in this season of The Final Round, Even though I'm generally against AI, the art for the last episode has Jeff looking like Mark Maron. The art you did. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I'm going to get back to the email in a second. Let me finish it. Okay. If two flippers make a soul sucker, how many flippers is too many? Humpty Dumpty probably went overboard with six flippers, though JJP Avatar matches that. Wizard of Oz has five, but most other modern games stick to four or less flippers. Is three the optimal number? Three or four is good. Aside from that, Jeff, are you okay? You haven't mentioned your amazing pinball record in Australia for a while. I just wanted to do a welfare check. Don't you worry, Stacey. I'm well aware of my Australian legendary status. Keep up the great work, gang. I'm sure another pinball podcast will copy your segments in no time. Cheers, Dr. Curly Tech, Stacey Bog. Stacey Bog. Anyway, thanks, buddy. Stacey Bog. So what were you saying about that? He didn't say that? Oh, Mark Maron. The image you had is probably pretty accurate, but it was pretty fucking gray for this ginger that I believe I still am. The only problem is, and I will agree with this, is that my goatee has given up the fucking fight. It is completely white. And because I wear hats all the time, I look so old. So old, in fact, that for three years, I've been getting seniors discounts at a local store. And instead of crying, I take their damn 20%. And I'm not a senior. Anyway, I was talking to Mark. Are you sure it's got to do with your face, or it's not the fact that your pants are undone and you're crop-dusting all over the place? I'm fine. This guy's going to shit his pants to give him a discount. It's not like I'm buying Depends. Not yet, anyway. Are you a Metallica fan, Jeff? Of the actual bands, not the pinball machine? Sure. I've seen them quite a few times in concert. You just saw them, didn't you? I saw them live for the first time. I went with my friend Daniel on one of the nights at the Expo. And one funny thing was I went to a local bar right outside the stadium right before, and I looked around and I had this thought that pinball people and Metallica fans look pretty similar. I feel like there's a good crossover there. I feel like the way it's just a pure observation of people's external appearance. They look like they would all enjoy playing pinball. The concert was amazing. I'm now deaf, which is probably why I'm whispering. It was so loud. But I just wanted to make one note about the theme integration of the Metallica pinball machine. As someone who is not a massive Metallica nerd or fan, I was amazed that the choices they made, I'm not sure when Metallica came out, I think around 10 years ago, are still so relevant to a Metallica concert. that everything that I saw in the visuals behind the band playing were things that were directly in the game. I saw the hammer coming down. People were dancing in the snake pit, moshing. There was the graveyards. I mean, their drummer is getting old enough to... Is it Lars? Looks like Sparky. Yeah, he looks like Sparky himself. I don't think it was modelled around him, but they were zooming into his face, and his tongue was hanging out of his mouth, and I'm like, mate... concentrating trying to play the drums you're so shitty I said it

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 92d76325-3e13-4c53-b6d3-ba4c670d4591*