# DPP #196 "Predator: Explained"

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-06-19  
**Duration:** 19m 59s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/donspinballpodcast/episodes/DPP-196-Predator-Explained-e34elnb

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## Analysis

Don analyzes the newly released Predator pinball game by Pinball Brothers, covering pricing ($11,000 USD base, $12,000-12,500 with Trophy Package), game mechanics (jungle hunt with hidden pop bumpers, magnet-fed subway to cargo netting, Gatling gun integration), Dutch character inclusion with soundalike voice, and market positioning. Don expresses cautious optimism about gameplay depth while acknowledging pricing concerns and production timeline (August manufacturing start).

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Predator base model US pricing is $11,000 with $500 shipping; Trophy Package adds $1,000-$1,500 — _Don cites distributor pricing and marketing materials; European pricing of €9,970 (~$11.5k) validates US pricing structure_
- [MEDIUM] Trophy Package includes Invisiglass (wide-body protection), shaker motor, powder-coated/laser-cut armor, lollipop rail with targeting reticle, and backbox lighting for approximately $650-$750 worth of upgrades — _Don breaks down component values from official flyer and marketing materials; acknowledges some nebulousness on backbox lighting interpretation_
- [MEDIUM] Production timeline targets August for manufacturing start, games anticipated to ship then — _Don attributes this to Enzo (Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama), RetroJingo, or Naps Arcade but doesn't specify exact source_
- [MEDIUM] Predator topper is in development featuring a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher with lighting and articulation, extending behind the backbox — _Don cites RetroJingo as source; acknowledges no firm timeline announced; compares to ongoing topper delays (Alien, Cheshire Cat)_
- [HIGH] Dutch character is in the game with soundalike voice acting (not Arnold Schwarzenegger) due to licensing cost prohibitive at $10M+ — _Don confirms from Enzo/Gonzo interview and gameplay videos; provides reasonable explanation for voice actor choice_
- [HIGH] Jungle hunt feature contains two hidden pop bumpers underneath with magnet system that feeds ball via subway to cargo netting vertical kicker — _Don reconstructs mechanics from Enzo interview, gameplay videos, and wire form analysis; describes sophisticated ball routing_
- [MEDIUM] Game pricing in European market is competitive against Stern Premium ($9,700 US) when accounting for import taxes and VAT — _Don's comparative pricing analysis; acknowledges VAT treatment still unclear but notes parity across competitors_

### Notable Quotes

> "It looks interesting it looks like the game's fun to shoot it looks like it would be at home next to an alien... game looks fun game looks like it has a lot of shots i'm not disappointed in it um i'm not tap dancing on the tin roof that this is the third coming of the pinball messiah"
> — **Don**, early in episode
> _Sets measured tone: enthusiasm for game design without hyperbole; acknowledges its quality without overselling_

> "I'm sure that Arnold Schwarzenegger was available to do custom call-outs for this game. However, it would have costed multiple tens of millions of dollars, and there would have been no money left for anybody else"
> — **Don**, mid-episode
> _Provides realistic industry context for licensing constraints; explains soundalike necessity vs. licensing luxury_

> "So this game will come as a relative bargain within the European market... you get a game that, if you're within the European Union at least, there's not extra taxes and things added on to it"
> — **Don**, late episode
> _Market differentiation signal: Predator positioned as European manufacturing advantage vs. US-imported competition_

> "I think this is like the most gameplay mechanistically integrated system that they have here like the big thing to do is to put balls in these locks"
> — **Don**, mechanics discussion
> _Highlights lock-based multiball as primary engagement mechanic, contrasts with typical toy-based design philosophy_

> "if you take into account what it costs in Europe to have a game imported from the U.S. into Europe, you're going to be paying a whole lot more money for a Stern Premium that may not have as much fit and finish as this game does"
> — **Don**, pricing analysis
> _Competitive positioning: European manufacturing cost advantage makes Predator compelling vs. Stern logistics overhead_

> "Unlike Harry Potter, this isn't going to be a game that's at every single arcade in your town. You know, you'll be lucky there may be one that's there"
> — **Don**, late episode
> _Inventory/availability expectation: Predator positioned as limited-distribution premium game vs. mass-market Harry Potter rollout_

> "games will be anticipated to be made sometime around August, which is in two months from now. They're waiting on some plastic sculpted parts, which sounds like they have everything else that they need right now"
> — **Don**, production discussion
> _Supply chain status: plastic components (likely jungle hut sculpture) identified as critical path item before shipping_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Pinball Brothers | company | Manufacturer of Predator pinball; Scandinavian-based; European market advantage via local manufacturing; successor to Alien production; widebody specialist |
| Predator | game | Newly released pinball game based on 1987 film; widebody; $11,000 base price; jungle/combat theme; features Gatling gun, hidden pop bumpers, magnet subway mechanics; Dutch character with soundalike; topper in development |
| Retro Jingo | person | Danish community member; enthusiast whose dream theme realized in Predator; created detailed trailer breakdown and gameplay walkthrough on YouTube channel (CENGO) |
| Don | person | Podcast host (Don's Pinball Podcast); analyst providing equipment valuations, pricing comparisons, mechanic reconstruction; sources information from community content creators |
| Enzo | person | Content creator (Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama YouTube); conducted ~45-minute interview with Daniel (Pinball Brothers); provided production timeline and mechanical details |
| Naps Arcade | company/person | Distributor/arcade operator; provided hourly launch updates; linked gameplay videos; published promotional images; Canadian distributor |
| Alien | game | Previous Pinball Brothers widebody game; referenced as predecessor to Predator; establishes two-tier pricing precedent; subject of topper delays (Heighway Lior toppers missing) |
| Stern Pinball | company | Competitive benchmark for Premium-tier pricing ($9,700 US); referenced for feature comparison (lacks shaker motors, artblades standard); US-based competitor |
| Arnold Schwarzenegger | person | Original Predator film star; licensing rights cost prohibitive ($10M+); Dutch character voiced by soundalike in game instead |
| Daniel | person | Pinball Brothers representative/designer; interviewed by Enzo; explained gameplay mechanics, licensing decisions, production details |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Referenced for backbox LED aesthetic comparison; premium manufacturer competing in same price tier |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Referenced for Scooby-Doo voice licensing precedent (re-recorded overdubs); vibrant design aesthetic comparison |
| Harry Potter | game | Referenced for AI-generated art concerns; compared as mass-market game with widespread arcade distribution; Pinball Brothers product; pricing comparison point |
| Nitro Pinball | company | Canadian distributor; associated with gameplay video footage release at launch |
| Jurassic Park | game | Design reference comparison; referenced for jungle theme similarity and lack of interactive giant mechanism; wireform/layout aesthetic benchmark |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Predator game release and launch details, Pricing structure and market positioning (US vs. Europe), Game mechanics analysis (jungle hunt, magnets, subway, Gatling gun), Licensing constraints (Arnold Schwarzenegger unavailability, voice acting)
- **Secondary:** Production timeline and supply chain (August start, plastic components), Topper development and delays, European manufacturer advantage vs. US competitors
- **Mentioned:** Community content creator sourcing and attribution

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.72) — Don expresses cautious optimism about game design and mechanics (describes as 'fun to play,' appreciates integrated systems) while tempering with realistic concerns about pricing impact on ownership and production timeline uncertainty. No significant negativity toward Pinball Brothers; instead frames pricing as market challenge rather than design failure. European market advantages emphasized as genuine win for community. Tone shifts from enthusiasm about game discovery to practical analysis of value proposition.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Launch day content distribution fragmented across multiple sources requiring aggregation (Pinball Brothers press kit, YouTube interviews, distributor updates, gameplay videos); Don acts as information consolidator for confused community (confidence: high) — Don spends multiple hours tracking down information from Enzo, RetroJingo, Naps Arcade, Nitro Pinball; official launch trailer (1:50) insufficient; shout-outs acknowledge information gaps filled by community
- **[competitive_signal]** Predator positioned as competitive alternative to Stern Premium ($9,700 US) in European market; European manufacturing advantage eliminates import tariffs/VAT overhead that would apply to US imports, creating relative bargain (confidence: high) — Don's comparative analysis: €9,970 Predator (~$11.5k) vs. $9,700 Stern Premium; notes European-built game avoids import taxes that would make Stern significantly more expensive in EU
- **[design_philosophy]** Predator integrates magnet subway system into cage lock mechanic (ball fed via subway from back orbit into cargo netting) rather than direct scoop access; creates hidden discovery element similar to Twilight Zone gumball machine (confidence: high) — Don reconstructs ball path from wire forms and Enzo interview; compares favorably to Twilight Zone discovery mechanic; notes appeal of player-driven exploration
- **[licensing_signal]** Arnold Schwarzenegger licensing cost prohibitive ($10M+); Dutch character included with soundalike voice; precedent set by Spooky Scooby-Doo re-recorded dialogue due to voice license restrictions (confidence: high) — Don explains licensing economics; cites Spooky Scooby-Doo as comparable case where voice rights separated from show rights; confirms Dutch voice in gameplay videos
- **[market_signal]** Predator inventory expected to be limited distribution (unlike Harry Potter mass rollout); premium locations may receive units; not anticipated to be ubiquitous in US arcades (confidence: medium) — Don: 'Unlike Harry Potter, this isn't going to be a game that's at every single arcade in your town... you'll be lucky there may be one that's there'
- **[personnel_signal]** Daniel (Pinball Brothers designer/representative) conducted extended interview providing mechanical details, licensing rationale, and production timeline; indicates willingness to engage community directly vs. controlled marketing (confidence: medium) — Enzo (Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama) conducted ~45-minute interview; Don cites this as primary source for gameplay mechanics, Dutch character inclusion, and topper details
- **[announcement]** Predator officially released with pricing, three-tier system (Jungle Hunt base + Trophy Package upgrades), and production timeline (August manufacturing start) (confidence: high) — Don provides US distributor pricing ($11,000 base, $1,000-$1,500 Trophy upgrade), European pricing (€9,970), and timeline attribution to multiple sources
- **[product_strategy]** Topper in development with unannounced timeline; critical path item identified as plastic-sculpted components (likely jungle hut) awaiting manufacturing and approval before full production shipment (confidence: medium) — Don cites RetroJingo source for topper info; notes delay precedent with Alien (missing Heighway Lior toppers) and Cheshire Cat (supplier issues forcing shipments without toppers)
- **[product_strategy]** Predator uses à la carte upgrade model rather than classic Pro/Premium/LE three-tier system; Trophy Package features Invisiglass, shaker motor, armor, rail, backbox LEDs (confidence: high) — Don explicitly contrasts this approach to standard tiered systems used in Alien, ABBA, Queen; notes ABBA's Voyage Edition was cabinet decals only ($1,000 difference)
- **[product_concern]** Widebody layout doesn't fully leverage extra cabinet space; jungle hunt/Gatling gun area could theoretically fit in narrowbody; comparison to Jurassic Park layout suggests efficient but not ambitious space utilization (confidence: medium) — Don observes: 'I kind of think you could have truncated this into a narrow body without changing too much shot geometry. It doesn't seem like they really put in a high level of moving mechanisms'

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## Transcript

 Happy Predator release day everybody! How's your day going? Chucked me a few hours but I was able to assimilate and boil down all the information. I'm here to talk about it with you right now in a quick episode. Let's go 196 on this thing and let's kick this stuff off. It's Predator! Oh, how about that for a jump cut? Alright guys, so this game came out around 2 o'clock in the afternoon for me and then I was like, good! finally I'll be able to see exactly what's in this game what exactly are all the shots how do they work how do the mechanisms work we'll finally put it to rest is Dutch in this game or is he not is it an Arnold Sunderlike or is it completely absent is it all AI generated art just like Harry Potter I'm joking you know and so I was waiting to see it so I queued up the trailer I noticed it was only one minute 50 seconds so I'm like well maybe we don't need very much and then I saw it and then that's what I got was not very much I still had so many more questions that weren't answered based on that trailer trailer was fine and I did dig the shots and what they did show they showed the galley gun like three times but like how do you get to the ramp that goes to that so the rest of the day I was sitting around and thanks to all their content folks out there you're able to fill in the gaps for me really appreciate that you know it's it's seldom that we get a pinball launch that seems to just not stumble a bit out of the gate but regardless I'm hearing a couple of things uh the game's being relatively well received it's selling well so who cares what i think and then uh you know the game's out there so let's talk about it all right i'm gonna surge ahead and just say that i'm in favor of this game existing how about that um it looks interesting it looks like the game's fun to shoot it looks like it would be at home next to an alien okay now we have the whole problem of pricing and things and yes this game looks really fun to play i can't wait to play it i hope my local arcade gets one but is the price for entry you know gonna affect ownership and those things and that's what we'll get into in the nuance here but jumping ahead to the end game looks fun game looks like it has a lot of shots i'm not disappointed in it um i'm not tap dancing on the tin roof that this is the third coming of the pinball messiah um but the game looks fun i know retro jenga you probably hear him right now over there in denmark He's probably still howling over how cool this game is. His dream theme was made, and it was by a European company. So everything's coming up Jenga's right now. So let me give you the rest of the information that was missing from just the launch trailer. And that is price. And I'm going to give United States pricing that I have seen from distributors here. $11,000 is your ticket to entry for this game. And we'll talk about what all that means. But that's where it seems to be coming down from. I'm seeing 9,970 euros landed in Europe, within the European Union, which correlates to around 11.5 US. So that $11,000 price seems relatively fair then compared to MSRP in Europe. However, there is another charge of $500 for shipping. And again, that was for the base model. Let's start with that. So I've been seeing little leaks and teasers that there were going to be two levels to this game. They did the same thing with ABBA. They did the same thing with Queen as well. And how many versions of Alien were there? So they generally release a base model and then a model with extra stuff in it. And that tends to be the good one. Went a really weird course with ABBA where like the only difference between the extra $1,000, did they call it a Rhapsody edition? It was the Voyage edition. It was just cabinet decals, right? And it had weird art to begin with and then just went even weirder on the upper level model. Whatever. So stepping away from that, the two differences here are a bit more substantial. which I'm appreciative of, but it doesn't really look like the classic sense of a two-tiered model system. It's more like a base system, and then there's some upgrades that you can purchase to have added on at the factory to your machine. Okay, so no gameplay and layout changes. You know, no topper that comes with this version or anything. So I've broken that down, and it looks like pricing on this is a little bit more hazy, but landed in the U.S., I'm seeing what they're calling the trophy package. I'm seeing prices anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500, and some of that might be because some distributors are incorporating the cost of shipping maybe some aren't but for around one to one thousand five hundred dollars you get some extras and again the the marketing material was not helpful here there was a one sheet and i was hoping that this would be the feature matrix and they listed like the jungle hunt which i guess is what they're calling the original version shout out to atari fans and then the trophy package but then underneath the heading of trophy package is where they listed three bally williams style flipper mechs two pop bumpers and it read as if the pop bumpers and the flippers were only in the the upper priced version when that's not the case that's not the case later on in the flyer there was a spot where these extras were listed so here what i can surmise for the extra upcharge what you getting invisiglass for wide body game i threw a value of around or on that A shaker motor is around You do get powder coated and laser cut armor It's a lollipop rail with some laser cut targeting recticle from Predator is on there, and it's a sparkly jungle powder coat. I valued that at about $250. So it looks like about $650 worth of stuff for a thousand bucks. Plus you do get backbox lighting. And this was a little bit unclear. I don't know if they mean extra LEDs behind the back glass, or if this is more like a Jersey Jack style, there's LED strips on the back of the backbox cabinet assembly wood part, you know, throw some, some art on the walls. Um, they may mean that because, uh, like Daniel was talking about, it's on the back of the backbox, but what did he mean by that? Still a little bit nebulous. I'd really love a rundown. Um, but that's what I can see as far as like the promising upgrades. What would you value that at? $110 maybe, um, you know, plus some installation fees or something. So if that seems worth it to you, that's the trophy package upgrade. It seems like mainly things you could add yourself later, but maybe you don't want to do the work and you want it to order from the factory. So there you go. Um, they threw in a couple of superfluous things, kind of like American pinball style. You get a poster, big deal. I'm spending a thousand dollars you give me a poster you should just give me that anyway and then there's like some kind of merchandise package is that like a t-shirt and stickers and things again hard to put a really high value on those sorts of things when we're already in you know for five figures um but there it is so missing from that was a topper but i am hearing from other sources that there is a topper coming retro jingo shout out to you and it sounds like there will be a gun mechanism with some sort of lighting system like his shoulder mounted johnny five rocket launcher uh and probably a predator head on top of the cabinet and it will extend a little bit behind the backbox so it won't be able to sit flush with the wall because of an assembly and some rotations i'm excited about that man as a topper guy uh but no word on when that is coming so i was able to fill in the rest of the gameplay issues by watching everybody else's channel so i want to take a moment and shout out all of my sources where i got this information um you know i was able to get the press kit from pinball brothers but i mean it was light on on questions that i wanted answered as a fan. So shout out to Enzo for your awesome interview with Daniel there over at Pinball Brothers. That's over on the Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama channel on YouTube. You can go check that out. Pretty longish interview, about three quarters of the way through it, but answered a lot of my questions in there. You know, where's Dutch? Where's Arnold? Why is he in there? Why is he not? And all that stuff was kind of answered there and a lot of other little fun tidbits, including some gameplay issues, which were gameplay, not issues, but a feature that I'll get to in just a moment. Shout out to Nap Arcade. He's got great information on his site. He's been doing hourly updates, it seems like. He linked the actual gameplay video, which initially I was told was not coming out anytime soon. And then here we are in the late afternoon. Boom, it dropped. Retro Jango, of course, did a great walkthrough. He's seen gameplay already, so he knows more about this game than any of us at launch, like outside of the company. And he's on the Retro Jango channel, C-E-N-G-O, is how he spells his name oh so you can go check that out he runs through the trailer breaks it down and gives his embellishments that's where i found out about the topper so that was awesome thank you for that sir and then i guess nitro pinball a distributor out of canada was the one that was associated with the footage is what i'm hearing um i found a youtube page somebody dropped to my discord shout out to you guys i think it was a silver ball over there uh stubborn gamer is the name of the channel that i found this video on i don't know if that's who originally posted it and made it or just somebody that grabbed it and threw it up there. But I posted a link on my Facebook page. You can check that out. And then Nat posted links as well. I had trouble getting them to work on my phone, but the YouTube page through my Discord, I found that and put it on Facebook. Now that link is working for mobile phones. It's been exhausting last couple hours trying to track all this information down. Okay, so we got the price, you know, because you can have the greatest looking game, but if the price is too high, I'm not interested, right? So that was like pertinent information. I wanted that plastered like at a splash screen at the end of the trailer. Like, this is the price. Call your distributor. European prices. US prices. When you can expect to get it. Whatever. Production is in August? Late August? One of these folks broke that. It was either Enzo, RetroJingo, or Nap Arcade had that out there. So, games will be anticipated to be made sometime around August, which is in two months from now. They're waiting on some plastic sculpted parts, which sounds like they have everything else that they need right now. My hope is that they've got games kind of par-baked right now, like built, just waiting for those last little plastic things to come in from China, make sure they're approved and everything, and then games can start going out. Would love to see that. Would love to see that. Okay, haven't heard where this game's going to show up to play first. That's kind of like the next thing I'm waiting on. So let's talk about the game itself, and I'll use NAPS images here. I have them on my phone too, but it makes it really easy to bring it up on the computer here So a couple of wire forms I dig this It actually you know like a Y one Look at that jungle hunt at the mid of play field Does that give you like Jurassic Park vibes a little bit? I think this is kind of what I'm feeling. It looks a little Jurassic Park-y with no dinosaurs or like giant mechanism that interacts with the ball, right? So we know the the Timu people or whatever are going to have issues with that. Gameplay-wise, what I've seen from the gameplay videos, what I've been able to surmise looking at these images, it looks like a fun and compelling pinball game. So I'll put that out there. You know, not taking cost and shipping and tariffs into consideration. I think this looks like a pretty fun game to play. If I walked by an arcade, I definitely wouldn't walk on by. I'd go and play it. I like the apron embellishments, whatever. So the questions I had, what exactly is going on in that jungle hunt? So I've been able to put it together here. So there's two pop bumpers that are underneath there. I'm not certain exactly how you access them. It may be down from the top or, you know, something from the side, or maybe those three sweepable drop targets allow you entry, but there's two hidden pop bumpers underneath there. So I like how they use that space and a couple different layers. So you can shoot underneath it in some manner. There is a 180 ramp into that wire form that returns to the left in lane. Okay, I get that. The whole mechanism with the Gatling gun, I know they've shown off the photos of it. I can trace the ball pass. It has to come through this Flintstones wire form from the right from the cargo netting, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how you access that cargo netting because there's not like a shot in there or a 180 ramp or anything. So watching, I think this was the interview with Daniel that Enzo did. In the back orbit, which I think is accessible from either the right orbit or via the right upper flipper to that left side orbit, there's a magnet back there that will grab the ball and then drop it into a subway. And that subway actually seems like it runs down the entire length of the play field to that right cargo netting where there's some sort of vertical up kicker that will then stage a ball behind a post under that cargo netting. that's cool that's a cool way to get in there it's a lot better than if it was just a simple 180 ramp or a scoop that you would shoot right in like the area where scoops tend to hang out and then it seems like balls will stage there and then when appropriate uh we'll run down that flintstones ramp into the gatling gun i was hoping that that flintstones ramp would tie in more with a wire form so you can hit it a little more frequently but here it looks like it'll be a little staged thing um but i do like this with pinball and i mentioned this before when there's a ball path or a wire form or some kind of element and when I'm looking at it and it's up to me to figure out how I get the ball in there like Twilight Zone did this fantastic like how do you even I need to this day I don't even know how to get a ball in the gumball machine I know what happens but you know it's there for me to figure out as a player like how do I access that and it seems like you trigger the lock and then that magnet will grab it and then all of a sudden you'll shoot into the orbit your ball will be gone hopefully there'll be a little a screen tie-in attribute or something and then all of a sudden boom it's going to pop down there in the cargo ramp or just all of a sudden you'll see your ball that you got lost back in the jungle all of a sudden here it is crawling out of a cargo net and you're thinking it's going to drain and then it's over in the gatling gun things are going off stuff shooting around the jungle's getting blown up i dig it i dig it that looks fun to me that looks fun to me so in lieu of like a giant predator head that you're bashing in the face and loading balls in his mouth i think this is like the most gameplay mechanistically integrated system that they have here like the big thing to do is to put balls in these locks. You can lock balls underneath the chopper. It looks like there's a post or something back there. I'm not sure exactly how the predator comes into play. I know he moves around and he gesticulates. So that's appreciated. But I still have a lot more questions and hopefully over the weeks, we'll see some gameplay. One of these will hopefully show up. How cool would it be if there's already going to be a game down at the Southern Fred Gaming Expo in the US? I know it's wishful thinking. I don't think it's going to happen because that show's coming up this weekend. But I think it would be reasonable to assume that come October, come Expo in Chicago, in addition to those four Abbas they probably didn't sell during the last show, there'll be some Predators as well. So wouldn't that be fun? And how about if we had a topper as well? Man, these international companies and their toppers. You hear about the Cheshire Cat Topper. The company went out of business. Now they're shipping games without them and trying to find a supplier to make it. What a headache nightmare. Where the heck are the Lior Alien Toppers? who knows man i hope it sees the light of day this predator topper because that sounds super cool having predator on top of your machine with his johnny five mounted shoulder rocket targeting system articulating back and forth and blasting you in the face which is kind of what we'd expect from a predator game i do like to sculpt the jungle hut that's kind of cool very jurassic parkish and where it's at it's got a 180 ramp in there that's kind of cool i like the integrated wire forms i do like a little curly q ramp this one of course does not seem to convey the velocity of a biplane ramp from Kong or even some of the subway ramp from Godzilla. But I do like a circuitous route. You know, we saw this in Labyrinth that was down near the bottom More circles and wire forms please I think those are fun I think those are fun Now as a wide game is this game really taking advantage of that extra room I mean, probably not really. I guess if the Gatling gun here was taking up some of that real estate, I suppose that was added. But I kind of think you could have truncated this into a narrow body without changing too much shot geometry. It doesn't seem like they really put in a high level of moving mechanisms that otherwise couldn't be in here. Because really looking at it, it's kind of Jurassic Park, right? I mean, maybe there's an extra ball path or two. But it's looking like they took Jurassic Park and they're like, here's a game in a jungle. Let's make the Pinball Brothers European manufactured version of that and put a helicopter instead of a T-Rex and say, here's Predator. Fine, fine. Gameplay videos. So Dutch is in the game. I did like that they didn't cop out and say well none of the original characters were in this game because this is your journey in the jungle with the Predator right like as if we were going back to Ila Nubla or wherever the hell this took place and you know we were getting hunted by Predator I like that this is taking place during the first film Dutch is in the game and they actually have this set up so you're playing as him which is a cool way to say you know we put in as much assets as we could get away with and we could afford you know and I'm sure that Arnold Schwarzenegger was available to do custom call-outs for this game. However, it would have costed multiple tens of millions of dollars, and there would have been no money left for anybody else, and you would have been broke trying to make this game. So I get why Arnold's not in there like, come on, put the quarter in the game. And there's great sound-alikes for this. So Dutch's voice is going to be in the game, not voiced by Arnold himself. Maybe down the road they can do a Dutch edition or something. But for now, he's in the game. I saw the call-outs in the gameplay videos, so it looks like it'll at least satisfy that. It sounds a little weird, you know, of course. It's probably all overdubbed. You know, Scooby-Doo from Spooky Pinball was all overdubbed, too, because even though they got the rights to the show, they didn't get the rights to, like, all the voices, and they had to re-record things and stuff, because it's just how pinball licensing works. It's a nightmare headache. I don't understand why anybody reasonable would want to do that, but I'm so glad that they do. All right, so that's kind of Predator. I'm sure people will do shot-by-shot breakdown layouts and everything, RetroJingus. He did a good overview of the trailer, pausing it and showing the layout. He's more intimate with these shots than anybody else at this point. So like that would be my authority on people that make YouTube content on games they haven't played and try to give you an impression of them. I think his is probably the best right now because he's had this information the longest. I think there's fun things in here. There's at least two magnets that stop the ball. One to drop into that long subway into the cargo net. That's cool. And then another one that's like Dungeons and dragon style uh jelly cube lock that holds the ball up there and then drops it stages it for the upper flipper and given that there's like three four major shots off that flipper that's cool man that's cool so predator from what i've seen so far really feels like this came from pinball brothers it just got their sense on it and uh you know what a win this is for the european market uh because at 9 900 or whatever euros it's priced and well it's built feature-wise equivalent to at least a Stern Premium, I would say. And Stern Premiums don't even come with Shaker Motors or Artblades. Well, either does this unless you spend an extra $1,000. Okay, so let's target it right at the Stern Premium, which, you know, over here in the U.S., $9,700. It's pretty close in price, probably $1,000 more expensive. But if you take into account what it costs in Europe to have a game imported from the U.S. into Europe, you're going to be paying a whole lot more money for a Stern Premium that may not have as much fit and finish as this game does. So this game will come as a relative bargain within the European market. I think that's a win for our friends across the pond over there, that you get a game that, if you're within the European Union at least, there's not extra taxes and things added on to it. I'll still have to see about the value-added tax, but if it's on this game, it's going to be on every other game anyway. So at least it's a bone for those guys. It's a bone for us because this game looks cool. If I had an arcade here, I think I would get one. I think it'd be fun to have one, and I get the sense that unlike Harry Potter, this isn't going to be a game that's at every single arcade in your town. You know, you'll be lucky there may be one that's there, and you'll get to go and play it. Like at your Wizard Worlds, maybe Interium might get one, but Interium doesn't even get all the Pinball Brothers games, so who knows. But you know, the marquee locations around you may have one of these, and it's something fun to go play. And for a fun-to-play pinball machine, this looks like it. Let me know your thoughts and everything in the comments. So get this out to you. And then more information as I hear it, be sure to follow the Facebook page, the discord, the YouTube, the Patreon. I drop content there as soon as I get it. Anything else? Cue the predator. If it bleeds, it leads.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: b69f0177-e2df-4679-abef-747e2cdd7bf0*