# Kaneda's Wisest (and free) Show Ever:  Episode 1235: "We All Need To Make More Pinball Friends"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2026-06-25  
**Duration:** 26m 14s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/kanedapinball/posts/kanedas-wisest-162056876

---

## Analysis

Kaneda delivers a passionate monologue criticizing the pinball community's obsession with buying every new release and comparing games competitively. He advocates for treating pinball machines as 'friends' rather than marital commitments, emphasizing enjoying games on location before purchasing. He specifically discusses Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay, positioning it as a fast, action-oriented 'shoots you out' game fundamentally different from story-driven titles like Harry Potter and Transformers, and challenges the community to wait until November before making purchases.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Jersey Jack Pinball games are mixed bags in terms of pulling players into narrative; Harry Potter succeeds at this, but Guns N' Roses and Elton John do not pull players in despite other strengths. — _Kaneda's analysis of Jersey Jack's catalog comparing narrative engagement across titles_
- [HIGH] Sonic the Hedgehog is a 'shoots you out' game fundamentally different from story-driven games like Godzilla, Jaws, and Harry Potter that 'pull you in.' — _Kaneda's detailed gameplay analysis comparing Sonic's design philosophy to other recent releases_
- [MEDIUM] Most pinball fans are casual players and would have more fun with Pokemon than Sonic due to easier shot accessibility. — _Kaneda's observation comparing casual player experience between Pokemon and Sonic_
- [HIGH] Sonic gameplay demo at Jersey Jack Pinball stream was 'the worst ever gameplay' and 'embarrassing.' — _Kaneda's opening critique of the Sonic reveal stream quality_
- [HIGH] The Sonic Collector's Edition topper is 'the coolest topper in the entire game' and better than all other toppers. — _Kaneda's specific praise for the CE topper design_
- [HIGH] Steve Ritchie designed Sonic and created an 'interesting new layout.' — _Kaneda's attribution of Sonic design to Steve Ritchie_
- [HIGH] Transformers has strong code by Elizabeth (Elizabeth Gieske is 'insane') and story integration that pulls players in. — _Kaneda's comparative analysis praising Transformers' narrative and code quality_
- [MEDIUM] Multiple major games are arriving by November: Fallout, a Keith Elwin game rumored to be historically significant, Pokemon improvements, Back to the Future, Goonies, and another Barrels of Fun release. — _Kaneda's prediction about game pipeline through November_

### Notable Quotes

> "All of you need more pinball friends... why do we look at this hobby of ours with such stupidity?"
> — **Kaneda**, ~0:30
> _Central thesis of the episode—the core metaphor about treating machines as friends rather than purchase obligations_

> "It is okay to like something and not buy it. It is okay to see a pinball machine and say, hey, this is a lot of fun. And at the same time, I'm also not going to buy it."
> — **Kaneda**, ~10:00
> _Direct challenge to the community's purchasing compulsion and FOMO-driven behavior_

> "Sonic shoots you out where other themes pull you in. That is the greatest metaphor."
> — **Kaneda**, ~15:30
> _Concise design philosophy articulation differentiating Sonic's gameplay approach from narrative-driven competitors_

> "The most fun guy is the guy with one pin who's just enjoying watching the silver ball roll around. And the rest of us we been damned to a hellish position."
> — **Kaneda**, ~5:00
> _Critique of how community gatekeeping and competition has corrupted simple enjoyment of pinball_

> "I could never put this in the house for the kids. It's too much. They would never be able to enjoy what's in this game... But with like Pokemon, they can hit every shot."
> — **Kaneda**, ~25:00
> _Practical accessibility comparison showing Sonic's difficulty barrier vs. Pokemon's casual appeal_

> "If you wait until November, you'll be able to play Sonic as much as you want, date Sonic, and then decide if you want to marry Sonic."
> — **Kaneda**, ~45:00
> _Crystallization of the 'friends vs. marriage' metaphor applied to purchase decision-making_

> "I guarantee you, if you wait until November, you won't miss out on anything... There won't be a single pinball machine if you wait until then that you won't be able to get."
> — **Kaneda**, ~48:00
> _Direct challenge to FOMO-driven purchasing, claiming production will be abundant by fall 2024_

> "Take that for what it's worth. And I'm here with no sponsorship dollars, no kickbacks, no discounts on anything."
> — **Kaneda**, ~51:00
> _Transparency claim differentiating his commentary from manufacturer-influenced content creators_

> "What I love about Jersey Jack Pinball is that every single game is so unique. None of them look like another Jersey Jack game."
> — **Kaneda**, ~55:00
> _High praise for Jersey Jack's design diversity and originality in manufacturing strategy_

> "Can we all make more pinball friends together? Can we slow down and stop being so psychotic and hyperbolic about these games?"
> — **Kaneda**, ~58:00
> _Meta-call to the community to de-escalate toxic comparison culture and embrace collaborative enjoyment_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Sonic the Hedgehog | game | Stern Pinball game designed by Steve Ritchie; recently revealed with gameplay video; characterized as fast, chaotic, action-oriented with a unique upper playfield; subject of Kaneda's primary analysis and community discourse about purchase timing |
| Kaneda | person | Host of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; passionate advocate for community culture reform; claims no sponsorships or manufacturer relationships; delivered this critical monologue about pinball purchasing behavior |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Designer of Sonic the Hedgehog pinball machine; Kaneda credits him with creating 'an interesting new layout' and praised the game's theme integration execution |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer praised for game uniqueness and design diversity; games analyzed for narrative pull (Harry Potter succeeds, Guns N' Roses/Elton John less so); streamed Sonic gameplay reveal on Facebook |
| Harry Potter | game | Jersey Jack Pinball title that 'pulls you in' through narrative immersion; serves as benchmark for story-driven design; often compared unfavorably to Sonic in community discussion |
| Transformers | game | Jersey Jack Pinball title; praised for pulling players into Transformer world; code quality credited to Elizabeth; compared favorably to Sonic for narrative engagement and character interaction |
| Godzilla | game | Stern Pinball title cited as example of a game that 'pulls you in' with storyline and moments; mentioned as fundamentally different from Sonic's approach |
| Jaws | game | Stern Pinball title mentioned alongside Godzilla as narrative-driven competitor to Sonic; cited for pulling players into moments and storyline |
| Elton John | game | Jersey Jack Pinball title; praised as 'a great shooter' but doesn't pull players into storyline; compared to Sonic, with Kaneda preferring Elton's straighter shot layout |
| Guns N' Roses | game | Jersey Jack Pinball title; noted as repetitive light show that 'got boring real fast' despite good shot mechanics; example of game that doesn't pull players in narratively |
| Pokemon | game | Stern Pinball title; similar to Sonic in colorfulness and speed but with more accessible shot design for casual players and children; positioned as better family-friendly option than Sonic |
| TNA | game | Spooky Pinball title; cited as example of 'chaos' and 'speed' gameplay similar to Sonic that some love and others don't; appeals to specific player preferences |
| Fallout | game | Upcoming Stern Pinball game mentioned as part of November release pipeline; Kaneda challenges players to wait to play this before buying |
| Back to the Future | game | Upcoming pinball game mentioned as part of November release pipeline; Kaneda projects availability by fall for players to experience before committing to purchase |
| Goonies | game | Upcoming pinball game mentioned as part of November pipeline; cited alongside other titles to support argument that patience will yield options |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; Kaneda anticipates upcoming game release by November as part of competitive pipeline |
| Keith Elwin | person | Stern Pinball designer; Kaneda hints at upcoming Keith Elwin game rumored to be historically significant, though he dismisses industry hype claims as unreliable |
| Elizabeth | person | Code developer/designer for Transformers pinball; Kaneda credits 'Elizabeth's Code' as 'insane' in quality, citing it as reason Transformers might deserve ownership despite Optimus Prime transformation issues |
| Winchester Mystery House | game | Barrels of Fun game cited as genuinely exclusive and hard to get, positioning it as a legitimate exception to Kaneda's 'wait until November' advice for pre-ordering |
| Beetlejuice | game | Pinball title used as counterexample to Winchester; now easily available despite early scarcity, supporting Kaneda's argument against FOMO purchasing |
| Pinside | organization | Online community platform mentioned as part of broader pinball ecosystem; referenced as representation of content consumption that influences purchasing behavior |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer of Sonic, Godzilla, Jaws, Pokemon, Fallout, and other titles analyzed throughout episode; subject of community speculation about competitive position vs. Jersey Jack |

### Signals

- **[sentiment_shift]** Kaneda identifies a cultural shift in pinball community toward compulsive pre-ordering driven by FOMO and content creator marketing, rather than experience-based purchasing decisions. (confidence: high) — Kaneda criticizes players ordering Sonic after 20 minutes of 'crappy gameplay' and then defending games they haven't played, characterizing this as psychotic hyperbole driven by instant gratification culture
- **[gameplay_signal]** Sonic the Hedgehog represents a distinct design approach ('shoots you out') contrasting with narrative-driven games that 'pull you in,' creating gameplay personality diversity in the market. (confidence: high) — Kaneda articulates Sonic as nonstop action/chaos vs. Harry Potter/Transformers/Godzilla as story-immersive, noting both philosophies are valid but appeal to different player motivations
- **[product_concern]** Sonic's upper playfield and complexity create difficulty barriers for casual and younger players compared to more accessible titles like Pokemon, potentially limiting its appeal for home installations with mixed-skill players. (confidence: high) — Kaneda notes he couldn't put Sonic in his house for kids as they'd get frustrated with upper playfield, whereas Pokemon allows casual players to feel like better players by hitting accessible shots
- **[market_signal]** Kaneda predicts abundant production and availability by November 2024 for all major upcoming releases, contradicting FOMO narratives about limited availability. (confidence: medium) — Kaneda guarantees no single pinball machine will be unobtainable if players wait until November, citing Winchester as rare exception and Beetlejuice as counter-example of early scarcity that resolved
- **[competitive_signal]** Jersey Jack Pinball is positioning itself through design uniqueness and narrative depth as qualitatively different from Stern's approach, with Jersey Jack games each presenting distinct design philosophies. (confidence: medium) — Kaneda praises Jersey Jack for not recycling or redoing previous designs, contrasting this with Stern's releases and suggesting Jersey Jack's differentiation strategy is working
- **[design_innovation]** Sonic's Collector's Edition topper represents significant innovation in topper design, with Kaneda considering it so integral it perhaps should have been integrated under glass for gameplay purposes. (confidence: high) — Kaneda calls the CE topper 'the coolest topper in the entire game' and notes it overshadows other toppers, wishing it could be under glass for greater gameplay integration
- **[community_signal]** Kaneda explicitly separates himself from manufacturer-influenced content creators by claiming no sponsorships, kickbacks, or discounts, positioning independent commentary as more trustworthy than shill content. (confidence: high) — Kaneda states 'I'm here with no sponsorship dollars, no kickbacks, no discounts on anything' and criticizes shills being paid by manufacturers and dealers to convince people to buy
- **[product_strategy]** Pinball manufacturers and dealers are deliberately leveraging FOMO and commitment psychology to drive pre-orders before players can experience games, creating artificial urgency disconnected from actual scarcity. (confidence: high) — Kaneda criticizes dealers wanting players to 'knock these games up' and 'put them in your home and buy them right away without even playing them once,' describing this as intentional psychological manipulation
- **[market_signal]** The $15,000 price point for Sonic CE is creating psychological resistance and questioning among players, with Kaneda implicitly critiquing pricing escalation in the market. (confidence: medium) — Kaneda responds to Sonic's price with 'It's like, what's happened? What's happened to everybody?' suggesting pricing has become unreasonable or concerning to community members
- **[venue_signal]** Sonic is positioned as excellent for location play due to its fast, action-oriented design, but potentially less satisfying for long-term home ownership requiring narrative pull. (confidence: high) — Kaneda describes Sonic as 'such an awesome location game' but expresses uncertainty about long-term satisfaction for home ownership due to lack of narrative pull
- **[personnel_signal]** Steve Ritchie is publicly credited as Sonic's designer by major podcast personality Kaneda, establishing clear attribution for the game's design philosophy. (confidence: high) — Kaneda explicitly states 'Steve Ritchie did a fun job making an interesting new layout' for Sonic the Hedgehog
- **[business_signal]** Multiple major releases (Fallout, Back to the Future, Goonies, Barrels of Fun game, Pokemon improvements, Keith Elwin game) are scheduled for November pipeline, suggesting healthy industry production and competitive market. (confidence: medium) — Kaneda's November challenge references specific upcoming games and promises they will all be available, indicating robust manufacturing pipeline across multiple manufacturers

---

## Transcript

It's just one of those days when you don't want to wake up. Everything is, everybody sucks. Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit. What is wrong with this community? I'm coming in hot today, baby. I think I need to tell everybody a lesson in life. You know, I'm waking up and I'm getting all these text messages, all these chats on Facebook about Sonic gameplay. Some people are saying it's great. Some people are saying they don't love it. Some people are saying, oh, it's going to shoot so much better than Harry Potter. People are saying, I saw the Transformer stream and that's so much better. And I'm just here to tell each and every one of you, all of you need more pinball friends. And what I mean by pinball friends is why do we look at this hobby of ours with such stupidity? And what I mean by that is the lens at which everybody is looking at this stuff is, do I need to buy this game? Because if you don't, you would look at all these things differently. And you need a friend. Think about it. Why do you need to look at every single new pinball release and make your mind up on whether or not you want to be fully committed to this game? It is absolutely asinine. And yeah, so what? We get the worst ever gameplay of this thing last night. It was embarrassing and it was being streamed at Jersey Jack live on Facebook. What a terrible way to show the gameplay for the first time, but at least we got to see it. But also newsflash, everybody, you're going to be able to play this game before you have to make up your mind if you want to buy it. But I'm here to tell you right now, stop acting like fools. Why does everybody feel like this compulsion to have to buy every single game that comes out and weigh every game through that lens? And also, why can't we just enjoy each game for what it is? I hear people saying like, well, you know, it's not going to shoot as good as Harry Potter. This game is so radically different from Harry Potter. Harry Potter succeeds in being Harry Potter pinball. Sonic the Hedgehog looks like a Sonic the Hedgehog pinball machine. It's fast. It's a lot of up and down. It's basically like shooting you all over the game. And it's like, that's what Sonic is. He was shot all over the freaking world of Sonic. He's doing the loop-de-loop. He's bouncing around. He's boinging everywhere. He's collecting coins. That's why this game is a lot of just like chaos. I mean, that is the best word to describe Sonic the Hedgehog. There's not a lot of stop and go. It's nonstop action. I'm going to talk about the gameplay in a little bit. Harry Potter's much different. Transformers, much different. Jaws, Godzilla, much different. But, you know, it's just the way everybody goes to these games and just like acts like they need to make a sort of like a fatalistic decision on this game. And they can't enjoy Sonic the Hedgehog without saying Stern's going out of business. Like it's so weird. And why can't we have just more pinball friends? And what I mean by friends is just make these machines your friend. Think about in life. If you have a partner, a wife, right? You're fully committed to that person. You need more than just that person, but you and that person live in the same house. That's like your favorite pinball machine, the one you're fully committed to, the one you're never going to cheat on, the one you're going to invest most of your time on. And I think the happiest person in the entire pinball world is the pinball person who found that game. That one game that just makes them happy, puts a smile on their face. And you know who is that person? It's probably someone who just owns like a beat up roller coaster tycoon. It's in his basement. He doesn't even know what Pinside is. He's never listened to a podcaster and he just goes on the machine, drinks a few beers and enjoys playing pinball the way it was meant to be enjoyed. He's not like, oh man, when are they going to finish the final wizard mode? Three years from now, oh man, and then I'll never be able to get to it. I got to take the glass off and use my little fingers to get to it. And when I get to it, I'm going to realize that Keith P. Johnson mailed it in and it wasn't even worth it after all that time. Really, man, that's not having fun. The most fun guy is the guy with one pin who's just enjoying watching the silver ball roll around. And the rest of us we been damned to a hellish position within this hobby where we expect every new game to be the best game of all time and we have to own it ourselves to find out if it any good And the reason why we need more pinball friends and you all need more pinball friends is it's okay. And I mean this. It is okay. Here I am a grown man telling you grown men, it is okay to like something and not buy it. It is okay to see a pinball machine and say, hey, this is a lot of fun. And at the same time, I'm also not going to buy it. I'm going to enjoy it like a friend. Think about it. How often do you see your friends? You see them every once in a while. You go out and you enjoy it. And think about your friends. They all have different personalities. They all have different attributes that you like. Not all of your friends are the same. Not all pinball machines are the same. And it's good, it's beneficial in life to have a variety of friends that do different things, that bring different things out of you, that have different hobbies, different interests, different styles, different takes, different cultures, all those things. And in life, if you can do that, you'll be very happy. And that is what is so funny about this hobby is I woke up this morning and it wasn't like people were happy with Sonic gameplay. And if they were, they had to say they were happy about it by crapping on Transformers or they had to say like Stern is dead because of this upper play field. And I think it's all asinine and I think it's all juvenile. And I think it's all because this hobby has been dominated, especially in the content space, by people that want to sell you these games. We live in a world now where the only thing that we hear from everybody out there is a bunch of noise about what you need to buy next to be happy in your life. And that's all it is. Like buy, buy, buy everything. Everything on Facebook is what they want to sell you next. And I'm here to say right now, after watching Sonic and seeing the gameplay and reading the feedback and reading the room, I think this game is going to be fun, but I also at the same time don't feel like this is the kind of game I absolutely need to own right now. It feels like a game I want to spend some time on. That upper play field is very interesting. It is a very, very ambitious choice to create something so large like that and have so much happening up there. It's got so many shots. There's like nine or ten shots below the upper play field. There's all the shots on the upper play field. When I was watching people play, the ball does not stay up there very long, yet it takes up so much real estate in the game. I understand that the clear nature of it makes it not look like it's taking up so much room. It doesn't block seeing the ball, but it's a huge part of this game. And I also felt this yesterday. And again, there are just different games. When I see Sonic, it reminds me of Sonic video game. It's just nonstop action. It just keeps coming at you, right? It's like a lot of up and down, a lot of speed, a lot of like all this chaos that Sonic's known for. And I'm listening to the call outs and I'm looking at like the modes and I'm realizing this is going to be a lot like Sonic. It's just going to be a lot of go, go, go. It's not going to pull you in. It's going to shoot you out. Right. That is the greatest metaphor. Sonic shoots you out where other themes pull you in. And if I look at what I think people love the most about pinball, you got to make a decision. Another game that just shoots you out is like TNA, right? Some people love TNA, some people don't. If you want that kind of chaos and kind of speed, this is the game for you. Now, if you have a lineup that has other games that pull you in a lot, it's nice to break up the monotony with a game like this. But here's the thing. I'm someone who likes to be pulled in a little bit more to a storyline, to moments. And I don't think Sonic's going to pull you into those moments the same way Transformers will, the same way Godzilla does. And it doesn't mean one of them is wrong. And that is also something that I want all of you to remember. I could look at a game like Transformers Pokemon Godzilla and Sonic and Harry Potter and be like these are five of my friends These five friends do things differently I don want to marry any of these which means I don want to buy it All right If you all start to think like that I don need to buy these things and marry them and fully commit to them because when you fully commit then you got to think about the longevity Is this someone I want to live with right I mean that it Why do so many of you really approach these things with such like I don know like ultimatums like this is it Like it all or nothing I have to spend 15 or 10 or and live with this game You haven even played it You haven even taken it on a date And the number of people that have already committed to living with these games before they even take them on a date On a single date is comical. And again, it's not even like you've been gaslit. Maybe you have because there's so many dealers and distros where that's what they want. They want you to sleep with these things right away, get them pregnant, and then you have to take care of them for life. Like that is exactly what they want you to do. They want you to knock these games up. They want you to put them in your home and they want you to buy them right away without even playing them once. Think about how stupid that is. Think about if you said to your friends, I could test drive this car. I could like test drive it for months before I even commit to buying it or I could buy it before ever driving it. The rest of the world would look at us like we're idiots. The only time you need to commit, right? The only time you need to commit before you date is when the game is really like exclusive and hard to get. A game like Winchester was like that. A game like Beetlejuice is not even like that, right? I mean, it was at the beginning, maybe Goonies, but look it, you can go get a Beetlejuice now easily. There's almost nothing, there's almost nothing in modern pinball where there are so many games where you need to make a full commitment right now. And as I hear people say, like, I just ordered Sonic, I really look at you guys like, what's wrong with you? You saw enough already? Right, well, you're so impatient. And I guarantee you every single person that is ordered a Sonic has already in their lineup at least three to five games that are amazing. And they don't need another and they don't need another member of the family right away until they play it. But again, it's your prerogative. Spend your money as you'd like. But I think it creates this mentality because here's the other thing that's annoying. And I was seeing dudes on pins that and I know these guys, you know, we're like they place an order. This dude dealt, right? Delt's funny, right? He places the order. And go read his commentary. Before he ordered Sonic, he was a normal man. He was a normal man who was just like, all right, looks cool. Like, you know, I need to see more. And then he sees like 20 minutes of crappy gameplay. And then he orders one. And then all of a sudden, go read what he writes now. Now he's committed. Now his check has been sent. And now he's defending this game to no end when he's never put a single ball on it. That is so lame to me. It's like, you know, it's like you're defending your child because now it's your child. Now you've welcomed this game into your family. It's more than just a friend. It's something you're fully committed to financially. So you'll defend it to no end and you haven't even put a single ball on the game. And that is why it is just comical to me when I wake up and I've got these funny messages, man. And people are like, this game is never going to be as good as Harry Potter. Well, I don't know, man. Like, is Sonic trying to beat Harry Potter? In what world do you ever mentally be like, what should we do today? Should we watch Harry Potter or play Sonic the Hedgehog video game? Like, these things don't even enter into anyone's, like, decision making. But in pinball, this is how silly we are. We really have to, like, weigh these things against each other. And I'm here to tell you right now, after watching the gameplay, hearing the call outs, which are kind of annoying, and everything is just like, hit this or jackpot, right? There's no story happening here. You're not going to get pulled in to some real exciting narrative like Godzilla or Jaws. And then watching Elizabeth play Transformers, I'm here to tell you right now, the game that will be more rewarding, I think, to own might be Transformers It's because it pulls you in to that Transformer world and it really takes you on this intimate experience through the world of Transformers and all those moments from the cartoon. And that's the benefit of having assets like that where the characters actually talk to each other and there's more storyline going on. Where Sonic is just about speed. And look, I think they nailed the Sonic theme integration. But here's my thing. When I look at Sonic, I'm almost a little bit like it just looks like a really fun game to play on location. So is like Pokemon. Those two games. Funny, right? They're very similar in their cuteness and in their delivery. They're very colorful. Both games have a lot of speed, a lot of flow. One has way more shots. But I tell you this a casual player Most of us are casual Most of your friends are casual Most of your kids are casual is going to have a lot more fun shooting Pokemon than Sonic the Hedgehog You know, when I was looking at Sonic, I was like, I could never put this in the house for the kids. It's too much. They would never be able to enjoy what's in this game. They would get so frustrated with that upper play field and they wouldn't know what to do and they would walk away. But with like Pokemon, they can hit every shot and they're going to feel like a better player. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. I think Sonic, when I look at it, it's going to be such an awesome location game that is a lot of fun because of the nature of the nonstop flow of the game and the speed and the chaos. Whether or not you want to own it is a different question because, you know, that's where I'm like, I don't know if owning a game where it doesn't pull you in is going to be satisfying in the long run. And we've all seen, you know, with these Jersey Jack games, they're a mixed bag. Like some of them pull you in. You know, Harry Potter pulls you into that Harry Potter world. I mean, it's overload of Harry Potter assets and all those movies. There's like eight movies. That game pulls you in. Guns N' Roses, you know, not so much. It's just kind of like repetitive. It's the light show. It's the same thing over and over again with the songs. And it got boring real fast. Now, obviously, Guns N' Roses gameplay was the issue, but a game like Elton John is another good example. Elton John, a great shooter, doesn't really pull you into a storyline. People love the way it shoots. Now, I will say, looking at the gameplay of Elton John compared to Sonic, I do prefer Elton. It's more like straightforward. You can see where the shots are better, and you're not always sort of getting to that big upper play field And rolling off it time and time again. Now there's more cool stuff mechanically in Sonic for sure. And it's like, to me, a more fun theme than Elton John for sure. And that's it. It's like, I would love to have Elton as a friend and Sonic as a friend. I just don't want to buy them. I just don't want to marry them right now. And I will say like, maybe I'll change my mind. And this is the thing. If I go on enough dates with Elton or Sonic, I might realize that this should be more than a friend, that this should be something I bring into my home. And I want to have this every day because it makes me so happy. But the fact that so many people are asked to commit and make it more than a friend in just 48 hours after seeing terrible gameplay after that launch, Which wasn't the best is really strange to me. And it shows me what's happened in culture is broader than what's happening in our hobby. We are in a world of instant gratification. We are in a world where we are bombarded with nothing but marketing from brands that want us to buy now. We see it everywhere. Watch the World Cup. It's like nauseating. How many ads? Like what is all this? It's all just screaming at us. And I'm here to tell you right now, I think the wise man, the wise man plays this game, goes and finds it on location. They are going to make this game forever. OK, they are going to make this game for years. It is never going to be hard to get. It might be hard to get one in the first six months, but trust me, in three months, Fallout. In six months, Back to the Future, Goonies. All these things are happening. And after watching Sonic, look, it's a beautiful game. Steve Ritchie did a fun job making an interesting new layout, but I don't feel this compulsion to say I'm going to buy it right now. And by the way, man, that CE topper, oh my gosh, that is the coolest thing in the entire game. Even I was like, can we stop talking about toppers? That is the coolest topper in the entire game. I almost wish it was under the glass. There's something about it. As I watch it do what it's doing, I almost wish they would have figured out a way to put that under the glass so it's more integral into the gameplay. But it is, man, it is amazing. This thing puts every other topper to shame. But again, $15,000. It's like, what's happened? What's happened to everybody? So look, I just want to say that I love the fact that we're into this hobby. Life is very short, but we need to be able to look at a game and say, this is fun, but I'm not going to buy it. But I don't need to trash it if I'm not going to buy it. I think a lot of what people do is they need to justify for themselves their decision. And for some weird reason, if we're not going to. Buy a game. We can't just be happy with the game. We have to say, I'm not buying it because of this. I'm not buying it because it sucks compared to this game. I'm not buying it because the shots are not as good as that. Like, why can't you just say, this game looks fun, I'm not going to buy it, and I can't wait to play it. That person, the person who can mentally get there is the wise man. The person who's like, I ordered two, I've never played it, and if you think this game sucks, you're an idiot, and this game's going to put Stern out of business, and Transformers is a joke when you look at what Steve Ritchie put it. Like, who are us? Like, who are we? Imagine if your mama, your mama, whether she's alive or not, your mama heard you talk this way about pinball. She'd be like, I failed you, son. I failed you. All of us. Let's just grow up a little bit. You know, just turn the shills off. All these guys do. They're being paid by these manufacturers and paid by these dealers to make content that is trying to convince you you need to buy it. Half of these guys are not even buying their machines or they're getting them for a discount. So take that for what it's worth. And I'm here with no sponsorship dollars, no kickbacks, no discounts on anything. I don get a free game if I tell you I love Sonic the Hedgehog I just here to tell you right now that this is a moment where we all going to have to learn how to exercise some patience There so many games coming out You know what my advice has been to everybody whether Sonic gameplay excites you or not I just say to everybody right now, just wait until the fall. Think about it. When we get to November, think about it. You can't wait till November. I challenge each and every one of you to do two things. I don't care how rich you are. I don't care who you are. I don't care where you live. wait until November to buy your next game. And I guarantee you, if you wait until November, you won't miss out on anything. In fact, what I am going to give you are more friends than you've ever had before. And it's going to be great. And maybe one of those friends you're going to want to marry and bring home, but you won't miss out. You won't be heartbroken. There won't be a single pinball machine if you wait until November that you won't be able to get. If you wait until then, you'll be able to play Sonic as much as you want, date Sonic, and then decide if you want to marry Sonic. That's easy. That's going to happen. You will be able to see Fallout. You will be able to get it. You will be able to see what Keith Elwin game is going to be I hear it as the most the biggest bomb in Stern history I don think that means anything anymore because we all told you that Transformers was going to be the biggest and the greatest and it didn turn out that way But then you also in November going to be able to see if Pokemon actually becomes good You going to be able to see Back to the Future You going to be able to see the next game from Barrels of Fun You going to be able to see Goonies All of this in November And I am personally here, Kaneda, telling you that I will help you get any game you want. I will use all of my Kaneda powers to make sure if you fall in love with one of those games, I will get you one. Okay? But I challenge you to go to November. Do you have what it takes to do that? Or do you have to buy right now? And I guarantee you, if you pause and you just listen to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, I will help you get through this. I will help you make friends. And here's the thing, all during the next like six months, you're going to make friends. Let's make friends with Fallout and not buy it. Let's make friends with Transformers. You know, Transformers to me is really a game where we all need to look at it like that. If we start saying, hey, I'm not going to marry you because of Optimus not transforming. But you know what? I see some good qualities in you. I see something that's worth hanging out with. And Elizabeth's Code is insane. And I think what would happen is this. I think Transformers, if we made friends with it and hung out with it more often it might be one of those where you like you know what I willing I willing to marry you even though you do have some cankles and Optimus doesn transform But that healthy Let do this Can you do this with me people Can we all make more pinball friends together Can we slow down and stop being so psychotic and hyperbolic about these games? Nothing you saw in Sonic is like revolutionary. It's super cool and it's so unique. That's what I love about it. I want to end this show by saying this. What I love about Jersey Jack Pinball is that every single game is so unique. None of them look like another Jersey Jack game. I love that about this company. They don't recycle. They don't redo things they've already done before. And they've made all of these games so unique. And that's what's fun about having friends that are each unique. And that's why I think this hobby is about to have a great year. But I guarantee you, I guarantee you, you will have more fun if you put your checkbook away and just make friends with all these games, go back to treating pinball the way it was meant to be, which is you go play on location and you really, really get to know these games. It's easy to do. Everybody, I love you. Thank you for the support. I'm going to make this show free because everybody needs to hear this. Kaneda out.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v5)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-08-03 | Item ID: 996947c3-1bb6-40d6-b4fb-72d98a7deb6b*