# Episode 843: "Magical Mechs Since Godzilla?"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2023-09-07  
**Duration:** 32m 9s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-843-88891807

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## Analysis

In Episode 843 of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, the host critically examines whether pinball machines released over the past two years since Godzilla have delivered meaningful mechanical innovation despite record-high prices ($7,000–$15,000+). He systematically reviews recent releases (Rush, James Bond, Venom, Toy Story 4, Godfather, etc.) and concludes that most lack truly 'wow' mechanisms, arguing that the industry is prioritizing software, lighting, and art over creative mechanical engineering. He contends that Multimorphic and Jack Danger's Foo Fighters stand out for genuine innovation, and warns that overpriced games without mechanical creativity will face permanent demand collapse.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Pinball machines are at their most expensive ever, between $7,000 and $15,000+ — _Kaneda, opening and throughout episode_
- [HIGH] Godzilla was released on September 14, 2021, and cost $6,900 (Pro), $8,900 (Premium), $10,500 (LE) — _Kaneda, directly stated_
- [HIGH] Most pinball games released in the past two years have not delivered impressive mechanical innovation despite higher prices — _Kaneda, core thesis of episode_
- [HIGH] The dead save post in Foo Fighters and the bookcase flipper diverter in Scooby-Doo are among the most impressive recent mechanisms — _Kaneda, detailed analysis_
- [MEDIUM] Multimorphic is the manufacturer pushing mechanical creativity the hardest currently — _Kaneda, opinion-based assessment_
- [LOW] A Pedretti Gaming and Planetary Pinball remake is coming, likely of Whitewater or Fishtails, with Brian Allen artwork — _Kaneda, speculative teaser interpretation_
- [LOW] A mysterious licensed pinball game is in production using Fast Pinball boards, possibly The Goonies — _Kaneda, based on blurry teaser image and speculation_
- [MEDIUM] No Good Gophers, released 35 years ago at roughly $2,000 (≈$6,000 adjusted for inflation), has more mechanical creativity than modern $10,000+ games — _Kaneda, comparative analysis_

### Notable Quotes

> "Pinball is the most expensive it's ever been and this is the best we can do."
> — **Kaneda**, N/A
> _Core criticism: high prices not matched by mechanical innovation_

> "A quarter pounder with cheese is really delicious for like $6. It's still really delicious, but if they ask $30 for it, you're not buying one ever."
> — **Kaneda**, N/A
> _Analogy for pricing-to-value disconnect in pinball market_

> "For something to be wow and truly creative, it doesn't mean it has to be complex. It doesn't mean it has to be like overly engineered."
> — **Kaneda**, N/A
> _Defines 'wow mechanism' philosophy—elegance over complexity_

> "I don't buy a pinball machine for software only. I don't think software should be the most impressive thing in the game. I think the software and the hardware should be equally impressive."
> — **Kaneda**, N/A
> _States value hierarchy: mechanical and software equally important_

> "It is so ironic I'm going to say this, because the one pinball company that I think is trying the hardest mechanically to do super cool things in pinball is the one pinball company that has decided to make 80% of its play field in LCD screen."
> — **Kaneda**, N/A
> _Paradox observation about Multimorphic's approach_

> "I can go get a $60 Xbox game... I got it on sale for $45... if you want me to spend freaking $10,000 on the pinball version of Star Wars, then you better do something physically amazing that separates it from what's happening in other software entertainment products."
> — **Kaneda**, N/A
> _Compares value proposition of pinball vs. competing entertainment_

> "Once demand is dried up because people don't see the value, they may never want to own it at any price."
> — **Kaneda**, N/A
> _Warning about permanent demand collapse for overpriced, under-creative games_

> "You all know this. You all know this. Nobody really wants to say this."
> — **Kaneda**, N/A
> _Identifies taboo criticism in pinball community_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Kaneda | person | Host of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; pinball analyst and critic; vocal skeptic of recent industry trends |
| Keith Elwin | person | Pinball designer; designed Godzilla for Stern; upcoming Jaws pinball expected to deliver high mechanical creativity |
| Jack Danger | person | Pinball designer at Stern; credited with innovative dead save post mechanism in Foo Fighters |
| Pat Lawler | person | Pinball designer; created No Good Gophers (35 years prior); designed Duke Kaboom jump ramp for Toy Story 4 |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; released Godzilla, James Bond, Foo Fighters, Toy Story 4, Rush, Venom, Queen; criticized for high prices but praised for Godzilla and recent Foo Fighters |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; released Godfather; criticized for overpricing ($12,000–$15,000) |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer; released Scooby-Doo; credited with creative bookcase flipper diverter |
| Multimorphic | company | Pinball manufacturer; praised by Kaneda for mechanical creativity despite 80% LCD playfield; released Final Resistance and Weird Al |
| American Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer; released Galactic Tank Force; criticized for poor mechanical design and 3D-printed parts |
| Pedretti Gaming | company | Custom pinball cabinet/kit manufacturer; rumored to be collaborating with Planetary Pinball on a classic game remake |
| Planetary Pinball | company | Rumored collaborator with Pedretti Gaming on a classic game remake |
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Implied involvement in pinball market; makes Monster Bash and other games |
| Brian Allen | person | Pinball artist; rumored to be doing artwork for a Pedretti Gaming/Planetary Pinball remake |
| Tilt Bob Pinball | person | Pinball designer/builder; creating Road Trip Pinball for commercial release; previously made Elf Pinball |
| David Fix | person | Stern Pinball designer; previously discussed possibility of adding mechanical features to games post-release (e.g., Hot Wheels) |
| Godzilla (pinball) | game | Williams/Stern game released Sept 14, 2021; designed by Keith Elwin; benchmark for mechanical innovation; featured motorized collapsing skyscraper, breakaway bridge, rotating targets, Mechagodzilla magnet, and Newton ball magnet |
| Foo Fighters (pinball) | game | Stern game; features dead save post mechanism; praised by Kaneda as impressive creative design |
| Scooby-Doo (pinball) | game | Spooky Pinball game; features dual apron locks and bookcase flipper diverter; praised for creative flipper use |
| Toy Story 4 (pinball) | game | Stern game; criticized for lack of toys/mechanisms; Duke Kaboom jump ramp cited as main mechanic |
| Venom (pinball) | game | Stern game; features three-stage acro lab with multiple ball interaction modes; considered neat but not 'wow' |
| James Bond / James Bond 60th (pinball) | game | Stern games; criticized for limited wow mechanisms; James Bond magnet pickup considered linear and boring |
| Godfather (pinball) | game | Jersey Jack game; criticized for high price ($12,000–$15,000); topper cited as main memorable feature |
| Galactic Tank Force (pinball) | game | American Pinball game; criticized for poor tank mechanism design, stationary targets, cheap 3D-printed alien, and dangling cow mechanic |
| No Good Gophers (pinball) | game | Classic Williams game from ~35 years prior; cited as having superior mechanical creativity to modern $10,000+ games at fraction of original cost |
| Final Resistance (pinball) | game | Multimorphic game; features cool lockup mechanism and hamster wheel; praised for mechanical creativity |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Mechanical innovation and creativity in post-Godzilla pinball (2021–2023), Price-to-value disconnect in modern pinball ($7,000–$15,000+ machines), Comparison of mechanical vs. software/code innovation as priority in game design, Upcoming pinball machine announcements and leaks (Pedretti/Planetary remake, mystery licensed game, Road Trip Pinball), Community sentiment shift toward skepticism of recent releases
- **Secondary:** Secondary market and distributor price reductions due to weak demand, Multimorphic's paradox of mechanical creativity constrained by LCD playfield design, Keith Elwin's upcoming Jaws pinball expectations and impact on competitive market

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[sentiment_shift]** Widespread growing dissatisfaction in pinball community with high prices ($7k–$15k) not matched by meaningful mechanical innovation in games released 2021–2023. Kaneda observes that community cheerleading ('everything is awesome') conflicts with objective assessment that most recent games lack wow mechanics. (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'Do you understand why there is a growing dissatisfaction with where pinball has been over the last two years? Do you understand why more and more people are waiting and seeing.'
- **[market_signal]** Distributors are actively price-reducing inventory due to weak demand at inflated MSRP. Games like Ghostbuster Premiums (originally marketed at $14,000) and James Bond 60th (originally $19,900) are being discounted significantly, signaling demand collapse. (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'You know, I'm laughing as I see these distributors that have been telling you to buy, buy, buy, and guess what they're doing right now? They're price reducing all of their inventory because people are not buying and they're not buying at these inflated prices.'
- **[design_philosophy]** Debate in industry about whether innovation should prioritize mechanical creativity (limited by physical space constraints) vs. software depth (infinitely expandable). Tournament players favor software; Kaneda advocates for equal mechanical prominence. (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'I don't buy a pinball machine for software only... the software and the hardware should be equally impressive.'
- **[product_concern]** Despite highest-ever price point, recent pinball releases (2021–2023) show limited mechanical wow-factor. Most impressive mechanisms are simple (dead save post, flipper diverter) rather than complex. Kaneda argues this indicates prioritization of art/LCD over mechanical engineering. (confidence: high) — Kaneda systematically reviews Rush, James Bond, Foo Fighters, Venom, Toy Story, Pulp Fiction, Godfather, and others; concludes only Foo Fighters' dead save post and Scooby-Doo's bookcase flipper are genuinely innovative.
- **[rumor_hype]** Kaneda speculates that Pedretti Gaming and Planetary Pinball are collaborating on a classic game remake with Brian Allen artwork, likely Whitewater or Fishtails (not Twilight Zone or Big Bang Bar due to art constraints). Expected to be unveiled at Pinball Expo in ~1 month. (confidence: low) — Kaneda: 'I'm hearing that Brian Allen is doing the artwork for this remake... my two guesses are going to be a remake of Whitewater and a remake of Fishtails.'
- **[leak_detection]** Unannounced pinball game in production using Fast Pinball boards and LCD screens. Teaser image shows open backbox, wire forms, and dark red painted aprons. Kaneda speculates it could be The Goonies based on blurry reflection of skull-and-crossbones imagery, though certainty is low. (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'We saw an image of an LCD screen with the back box open and fast pinball boards being used in the game... I'm just going to go out on a limb... I think this game might be the Goonies.'
- **[product_launch]** Tilt Bob Pinball is releasing Road Trip Pinball with original artwork design. Initially planned for 4 units at Texas Pinball Festival. Kaneda cautions that at current pricing ($5k–$7k implied), the game's campy art package and limited mechanical appeal will not sustain sales above 25 units in the modern market. (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'This was the gentleman who did Elf Pinball... he's making this game for commercial release. I think the plan is to make four of these for Texas Pinball Festival.'
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Mechanical engineering in pinball faces finite physical space constraints (4–6 inches between playfield and glass), making innovation harder than infinite software coding. Once mechanical design is finalized, no post-release additions are feasible, unlike software patches. (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'You've got the wood and then you've got the glass. And I've got to make something wow happen between that very finite... four to six inches of room. And that's all I have. A software coder can keep coding... But a mechanical engineer, what they finalize mechanically is done.'
- **[industry_signal]** Pinball market now has 8–12 active manufacturers, many releasing licensed titles. However, increased competition has not driven mechanical innovation; instead, focus has shifted to art, software, and IP licensing. Kaneda warns this trend will continue to erode demand for mediocre-to-good games. (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'There are more pinball companies is throwing their hat into the ring... Just how many pinball companies there are, how few games have been magical, how much effort is going into this hobby, and there's not that much greatness happening.'
- **[business_signal]** Kaneda predicts that games with weak mechanical creativity and high prices may experience permanent demand destruction. Once consumer perception of value erodes, price reductions alone will not restore demand. (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'Once demand is dried up because people don't see the value, they may never want to own it at any price... Like how are you going to get more people into Godfather? How Galactic Tank Force?'
- **[personnel_signal]** Pat Lawler's modern designs (Toy Story 4) do not match the mechanical creativity of his classic works (No Good Gophers from 35 years prior), despite modern budgets and technology. Raises questions about whether increased costs enable or constrain creativity. (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'Pat Lawler, like 35 years later, he couldn't even equal what he did 35 years ago... No Good Gophers back in the day was probably $2,000 at most... Toy Story 4 into the world for [~$10k] with no toys in it.'
- **[competitive_signal]** Keith Elwin's upcoming Jaws pinball is expected to set new standard for mechanical creativity. Priced 15–25% higher than Godzilla, it will serve as benchmark against which other recent/forthcoming Stern and industry releases will be evaluated. (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'And that is why we're so excited for Keith Elwin's Jaws because we saw what he did with Godzilla. And now that this Jaws game is going to be like 15 to 25 percent more money than Godzilla... he's going to deliver.'

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## Transcript

 Welcome everybody to Canada Spinball Podcast. What's happening here? I thought everybody cancelled and moved over to somewhere else. Uh-oh, we're actually climbing in subscriptions. Everybody, thank you so much for the support. So here we go. on this episode, I asked a very simple question. I asked, since Godzilla pinball has been put out into the world, has there been other pinball mechanisms over the last two years that have delivered some pinball magic, some mechanisms that really showed some real creativity, some mechanisms that interact with the ball and do something you've never seen before? Remember, everybody, over the last two years, pinball as a whole has been the most expensive it's ever been. So surely a question like this would come back with a ton of amazing mechanisms, amazing creativity, amazing mechanical engineering. We have so many pinball machines that have come out since Godzilla. And now that pinball is between $7,000 and $15,000, are we at a loss of words? Are there a ton of mechanisms that came out since then that have been wowing us, that have created pinball moments you can't wait to show your friends and family about? We're going to talk about that on this episode of Canadian Pinball Podcast. I'm going to talk about some of your responses, and then I'm going to give you my overall opinion about it all. because this is why you come to Canadian Pinball Podcast because I'm not just Win Schilling everything that goes on in pinball. I'm not just doing jumping jacks as this entire hobby goes through the price ceiling. It's like nobody really wants to stop and just analyze what's going on in this hobby, what's really going on in this hobby, and that is why you're here. All right, but before we get into this topic, there are a couple news items of the day. There are two new pinball machines coming into the world. Actually, there's three of them. The first one is going to be a game I've been telling you about for a really long time. Pedretti Gaming and Planetary Pinball are going to release a remake of a classic game. I think it's going to be Twilight Zone. It's either Twilight Zone, I think, or Big Bang Bar. But here's the weird part. I'm hearing that Brian Allen is doing the artwork for this remake. So that makes me think it's not Twilight Zone because they're not going to redo the artwork for Twilight Zone with Brian Allen style artwork. and it also makes me believe it's never going to be Big Bang Bar because that art package is amazing. You wouldn't touch that art package with a 10-foot pole. So here's my guess of what I think Brian Allen and Pedretti Gaming is going to remake. Now there are two games where the art packages aren't the best and I know Brian Allen's done a ton of translates for all of these Bally Williams games. my two guesses are going to be a remake of Whitewater and a remake of Fishtails. Now, do we want more Whitewaters or Fishtails in the pinball world? The problem is the code on both of those games will not be appealing to modern pinball audiences. I feel like both of these games are really fun to play on location, but would you want to own one? Would you want to put it into your home? I have no idea if that's the theme, but I don't think we're going to have to wait very long. I think we're going to see this game unveiled at Pinball Expo in about a month. We also got another teaser from that mysterious pinball company that is making a licensed pinball machine. We saw an image of an LCD screen with the backbox open and fast pinball boards being used in the game. We saw a blurry image in that LCD reflection of the play field. We saw a lot of wire forms. Now, I can tell you this. Oh, we also saw some aprons, some dark red aprons that are hanging after being painted. And so this game, I'm telling you right now, this game is going to be a licensed theme game. It is not going to be a remake. Now, what will it be? I'm just going to go out on a limb. I'm going to go out on a crazy limb and say that I think this game might be the Goonies. I know. Someone said they saw like a reflection of like a skull and crossbone. I'm not sure I saw that in the blurry image, but we know that the Goonies license is available. We know that Deep Root had it years ago, but it's been over two years since Deep Root collapsed. so maybe these gentlemen saw that that license was available and went to go make it. I could be completely wrong. This is just a guess, so don't go making other shows. How Canada is always wrong. This is not anything I'm confirming, but this is another game where I think we're going to see it really soon. I'm kind of over all of these teasers. The teaser was like, now that Labor Day is over, the real work begins. I do think it is kind of crazy that there are more pinball companies is throwing their hat into the ring. When I go down this list of games over the last two years since Godzilla, it's gonna jump out at you. Just how many pinball companies there are, how few games have been magical, how much effort is going into this hobby, and there's not that much greatness happening. You all know this. You all know this. Nobody really wants to say this. It's like there's Keith Owen Games, There's some very enjoyable pinball coming from Stern, but it's way overpriced. Same with Jersey Jack pinball. It's not that Godfather's not any good. It's just an $8,000 game that they want us to spend like $12,000 or $15,000 for. That ruins the equation. As Kaneda always says, a quarter pounder with cheese is really delicious for like $6. It's still really delicious, but if they ask $30 for it, you're not buying one ever. All right, so we got that mystery game coming as well. And then we saw from Tilt Bob Pinball, we saw a teaser image of Road Trip Pinball, which looks like an art package that was designed by a third grader. And I'm really confused. Now, this was the gentleman who did Elf Pinball that he's been bringing around to the shows. He's making this game for commercial release. I think the plan is to make four of these for Texas Pinball Festival. and I'm just here to tell you right now, Tilt Bob, I don't know how many you wanna make of these, but if you're gonna make this game with that artwork, and I get it, I get what you're going for, some campy, all original thing, I think as long as you don't wanna sell more than 25 of these, I think you're in good shape. But if you wanna sell more than 25 of a game that looks like this, in the modern pinball era, there's only two things that will help you out. if this game is $3,000 or if this game is $2,000 because there's just no way you're going to ask people to spend like five, six, $7,000 on this kind of game when there are like 12 pinball companies, most of them releasing a licensed property games. It's a big difference from making a homebrew game based on a Christmas movie everybody loves and then you go and make this. I get it's a passion project, I get it. But the moment you want to start asking customers for money, are you making something that has any market research whatsoever? And I don't understand how the answer doesn't come back as an outstanding. No, this is just you making a game for you. This is like when Josh Coogler made a game about his family. That's great. Like, I'm happy he made the Coogler family pinball machine. But if he tried to sell me like the family pinball machine, you're not going to sell any. So let get to the topic of this podcast Godzilla by Keith Elwin and Stern was released on September 14th 2021 really almost two years ago to today That game had a decent amount of stuff in it from a mechanical standpoint. And I think what people love about the mechanics in Godzilla is they really interacted with the ball. This wasn't just stuff off to the side. It wasn't like expression lighting. I can't tell you how many people, when I asked for, what's an impressive mechanism since Godzilla, people said like expression lighting systems. Okay, I don't think a lighting system is a mechanism. You know, Godzilla had stuff like, it had the motorized collapsing skyscraper bash toy. It had the breakaway bridge, had the motorized rotating three bank standup targets that revealed a jump ramp into Mechagodzilla who had a magnet on his chest that could grab the ball. It also had the super cool industry first magna grab Godzilla magnet Newton ball that could send the ball in five different shot directions. Super cool stuff in Godzilla. And all of that was found inside a game that had some of the best theme integration of all time, especially from Stern Pinball, had clips from all the Godzilla TV shows. It had great call-outs, great music, great artwork, and all of that was given to you for the price of $6,900 for a pro, $8,900 for a premium, and it was $10,500 for an LE. And now as we stare into the modern pinball space and an LE is 13, a premium is $10,000. The pro has stayed around the same, around $7,000. Now that we are here and pinball is this expensive, are we seeing this kind of mechanical creativity in pinball? Now, I would also argue that as cool as Godzilla is, I still don't think all of those mechanisms are wow mechanisms. I actually think the magnetic Newton ball in the game is the most wow mech in the game. For something to be wow, I think this is a really important point. For something to be wow and truly creative, it doesn't mean it has to be complex. It doesn't mean it has to be like overly engineered. I'll give you a great example of a wow pinball mech that is not that complicated. In Tales of the Arabian Nights, if you've ever played that game, The shooting star ball saves on the out lane, when those cages pop up, when the opto senses that the ball is going to drain, that is one of the most wow moments in all of pinball. It's not complicated. It's easy to understand how to activate it. And when it happens, every time it happens, it always puts a smile on your face and it always feels like a little bit of pinball magic. I would argue the same thing with the disappearing magnet in Toten. There are some complex devices that are also very magical, like the theater of magic, magic box, the hand in Adam's family grabbing the ball, the Lord of the Rings magnet that freezes the ball in midair, ball rock that swings out and blocks your pathway and you have to bash him. These are mechanisms so perfectly designed and engineered to create pinball moments of wow. And so as we look at the last two years in pinball, in the most expensive this hobby has ever been, let's do a roll call first of all of the games we're talking about. And I mean it when I say it. When you hear all of these games, and this is what pinball has been over the last two years, I feel a little bit underwhelmed. These don't sound like the greatest pinball machines. Most of these games did not light the pinball world on fire. most of these games are not going to go down as some of the greatest pinball ever they're just not we kind of got this large batch of games that i think are going to come and go in the zeitgeist of pinball the unfortunate thing is this is these games came out during covet they also came out at the same time pinball prices were going through the roof that's been my overall feeling about the entire hobby recently all the everything is awesome like overly enthusiastic lego people that have come into this hobby recently, they seem silly to me because all they're doing is cheerleading everything happening in pinball over the last two years. And then you look at these games, are these things really worth like ultra celebrating? So let's go down a list of the games we're talking about. We got Rush Pinball. We got James Bond and James Bond 60th. We've got Foo Fighters. We've got Venom. We've got Toy Story 4. We've got Pulp Fiction. We've got The Godfather. We've got Galactic Tank Force. We've got Weird Al. Final Resistance, Punny Factory, Scooby-Doo, Queen Pinball, Spinal Tap, and Cactus Canyon, which we won't even count in this because Cactus Canyon is packed with really cool WoW mechanisms. They were designed over 30 years ago by a team over at Bally Williams, so nothing has happened in the last two years. So I'm going to talk about the kinds of things you threw out there as being your most impressive mechanism since Godzilla, and I just want to say this. I also understand But a lot of you are saying stuff like, well, Chris, the real improvement in pinball is in the software department. And we're seeing real innovation there. Stuff like Venom Pinball, where you can continue along your progress in the game. I understand that. We're seeing innovation in lighting. We're seeing the sound in pinball machines get even better. But still, to me, when I think about why I love pinball, it is a three-dimensional world under glass. It is a physical thing on wood. I don't buy a pinball machine for software only. I don't think software should be the most impressive thing in the game. I think the software and the hardware should be equally impressive. And if I had to choose between the two, that's where it gets difficult because the tournament players and the frequent players are always going to choose the software. The modern tournament player, they want deep code, deep software. They want to study those rule sets. And that's really who's driving modern pinball. It's not the mechanical engineers. Mechanical engineering is a lot more difficult. Mechanical engineering can break. Mechanical engineering has a finite amount of space to work within, right? You've got the wood and then you've got the glass. And I've got to make something wow happen between that very finite, like what, four to six inches of room. And that's all I have. A software coder can keep coding. They can keep going on for years and years and years. They can always add more to the game. But a mechanical engineer, what they finalize mechanically is done. There's no additional things happening in the game. Do you remember years ago when David Fix said that they were looking into the option to add mechanical features to games like Hot Wheels? Remember when he said that? Has he done it? Has anybody done that? Has a game that's been released seen a new mechanical addition to the game that you've been able to add into your experience? No, because after he said that, he probably went to realize how difficult that really is because you need to design all the physical stuff to be permanent. Once you say pencils down, this is the physical layout of the game. All right, Canada, you're so heated up. What happened? I thought you got canceled again. You can't cancel Canada. Come on. You know, the funny part is the more people complain about me, the more popular I get. One day they're going to learn the only way to beat Kaneda in a game of chess is not with your pawns, people. Let's just talk about the games that have been getting shout outs. James Bond has come up a lot. Like people seem to like the James Bond mechanisms in the game. And I look at the James Bond mechs and I look at the missile. I don't like that. The ejecting seat is not a wow moment in pinball. It happens too fast. I would say the most impressive thing in James Bond is the James Bond magnet that picks up the ball and drops it on top of the tank But when you see it happen time and time again it very linear It very boring to watch I don really think it creates a lot of wow So to me James Bond and there not really much in James Bond 60th in both of those games, I don't think there's a single wow mechanism that makes anybody say, wow, how did they do that? Let's go on to Venom. In Venom, there was really two things that people were calling out. The main one was this new three-stage acro lab, which actually transforms into three different things. So it becomes a target, it becomes a pathway for the ball to go through, and then it comes all the way down and it's like a horseshoe ramp that it turns into. I like stuff like that. I like when stuff has multiple purposes, multiple ways for the ball to interact with it. So I really do applaud that mechanism on that front. Now, from there, when I've seen all the clips of this thing in action and I haven't played the game yet, is it a wow mechanism? Is it doing something that really feels truly creative? If I look at it through that lens, I don't think so. Like it's neat, but it feels like what should be the third or fourth mechanism in a game. It doesn't feel like the primary thing that's going to make everybody say, wow, did you see that? Remember like Aerosmith, like the toy box in Aerosmith? Like to me, that's a wow mechanism. I mean, it freaking shoots the ball across the play field. It opens up the toy box and the ball's flying through the air. The milk can shot in Houdini, that's a wow creative thing. The bowling alley in the Big Lebowski, that's a wow moment in pinball. All right, Foo Fighters. Now look, Foo Fighters is a really popular game because of how it shoots. The most popular Foo Fighter mech that I heard from many, many people as the wow mechanism in modern pinball for these prices, this kind of makes me laugh, is the dead save post that pops up. But I want to say this, as I said earlier, using your creative mind to create something in pinball that creates a wow moment in pinball. That is my definition. And so when I look at this dead save post, that is simply just a single post that pops up when you think your game is over. When you think your ball is about to drain, that thing pops up and keeps your ball alive. By my definition of a mechanism that creates a wow moment in pinball, albeit not a visually stunning wow moment, I think that dead safe post is a wow mechanism in modern pinball. Now, what's funny is it doesn't cost anything, right? We're looking at that thing. We're like, well, this didn't really cost a lot of money. And it just goes to show you all we want in pinball is mechanisms that make the ball do something wow and memorable. That's what we want more of. That's what we're craving. And if Jack Danger can do it with something as simple as a post, I can't wait to see where his creativity goes as he makes more pinball with Stern. All right, so what else we got? We got the Rush Time Machine. A lot of people said the Rush Time Machine. I look at the Rush Time Machine as a recycled idea from the Lord of the Rings. That's not nearly as interesting as the Lord of the Rings. Remember, in Lord of the Rings, when that magnet grabs that ball and freezes it in midair, What happens after that? People forget this. It sucks the entire ball through the back of the pinball machine, which is one of the most wow moments in pinball. And then, quite honestly, probably my favorite moment in all of pinball is when you go to destroy the ring and you shoot the ball up the ramp and it grabs it in the middle of that magnetic ring and one ball is frozen in midair and then you have to shoot another ball to knock that ball through the ring to destroy the ring. Quite possibly the greatest pinball moment in all of pinball. Do you feel that way when the Rush Time Machine happens? Also like the Rush Time Machine is kind of weird. Like before the ramp goes down, you're just sort of bricking against that mechanism. It seems kind of clunky. It feels like something else was supposed to go there. So while it's a cool mech, I think it's a B version of a mech that was already done and done in a much better way. Now let's get to galactic tank force. A lot of people were joking around and saying the greatest mechanism in the last two years, Kaneda, is a cow hanging from a wire. I heard that it took American pinball three years. Three years, Dennis Nordman studied the length between the UFO and the cow just to get that wire at the exact length. So that moment in pinball would be something you would never forget. I'm joking. If you've watched the game streamed, if you've seen people play this game, I've played this game. Hitting that dangling cow is terrible. It's silly. And so that leads us to like the tank mechanism itself, which is the weirdest mech I've seen in the last two years. It's too close to the flippers. You're just bricking balls off these targets. The targets are stationary. They don't move. And then when that 3D printed alien pops up from the tank, It's not rewarding. It's not satisfying. You kind of just stand there, shoulder shrug, and are like, oh my gosh, I can't believe these are cheap 3D printed parts that they were too lazy to get good sculpts put into the game. So yeah, Galactic Tank Force, no thank you. Scooby-Doo, I heard about the dual apron locks. Now look, I like them. They're brand new. I haven't seen that done before. It's kind of neat to see your ball trapped in an area where you don't expect a ball to be locked. So I think the creativity is there on those ball locks. Is it a wow moment, right? Is it like, oh my gosh? No, I think it's a moment that's neat. I think it's a neat ball lock location. But I think after seeing that a few times, it's not really gonna impress you like down the road. The other thing in Scooby-Doo I heard about was the bookcase flipper diverter. And that's another interesting one to look at because it's really just like an L-shaped flipper where they used it really creatively to create a lot of different movement with the ball. And much like the dead save post in Foo Fighters, this is another one where it's not complicated. It's not this humongous feat of engineering, but it's a very creative use of a flipper area that I haven't really seen done much in pinball. And for that, I got to give Spooky Pinball credit for that bookshelf flipper. I think it's very creative. But again, for this much money, that should be like the fourth or fifth most impressive thing happening mechanically in the game you know and when you look at Scooby-Doo there's not like a major wow mech in the game all right let's keep going so this one makes me laugh so Toy Story we obviously know that there's no toys in Toy Story the one that people called out was the Duke Kaboom jump ramp which Pat Lawler did much better in No Good Gophers he brought it back here for Toy Story it's not a very complicated it, Mac? It's a very simple Mac. Now look, I'll say this. It is a very fun shot. Shooting that ramp, having it fly up and go through that carnival area with all the lights. It's a very rewarding shot. Again, the fact that that's the major mechanism that people are calling out in Toy Story makes me want to cry. It really does. It should be like the fourth or fifth thing in that game, not the main element. But that's my point, people. Pinball is the most expensive it's ever been and this is the best we can do. All you got to do is go play a No Good Gophers and look at the amount of mechanisms in that game. And it blows Toy Story away mechanically. It blows it away creatively. The only thing Toy Story has is modern code and modern screens and modern lights. So Pat Lawler, like 35 years later, he couldn't even equal what he did 35 years ago. And I hate to break it to you, but No Good Gophers back in the day was probably $2,000 at most and adjusted for For inflation, it would be like $6,000. And then you drop Toy Story 4 into the world for to with no toys in it I mean here I am doing a podcast about what the greatest toys and mechs in a game since Godzilla And I get to Toy Story and I have nothing, nothing but a flap that pops up. Do you understand why there is a growing dissatisfaction with where pinball has been over the last two years? Do you understand why more and more people are waiting and seeing. Do you understand why we need more people to be like, this is not good enough. The days of just Win Schilling and telling you to buy everything in sight, it's not working. You know, I'm laughing as I see these distributors that have been telling you to buy, buy, buy, and guess what they're doing right now? They're price reducing all of their inventory because people are not buying and they're not buying at these inflated prices. And these distributors that want to sell you like use Ghostbuster premiums for like $14,000, those days are over. You know, where did all the distributors go that said James Bond 60th was priced right? Do I have to go back and get those sound clips? Freaking people saying that 19.9 was a good price on James Bond 60th. And now the same people who said that are selling that game for $14,500. Do you want to just give me the twippy now or are we going to wait for the other shows to come back and try to win it again? Because it's not going to happen. All right. It is all heated up. I can't wait for you guys to hang out Saturday. I'm coming back Saturday morning spectacular. What's he going to say? You're going to have to tune in and find out. All right. So we just got a few more games to cover off on. We got Godfather. This is the funny part. The most common response I got to the best mechanism in Godfather is the topper. And that just goes to show you the sad state. When you make a pinball machine for $12,000 to $15,000, what's the best toy in the Godfather? And people say the topper. I mean, yeah, that's it for the Godfather. So for Pulp fiction. I heard the briefcase that spins and opens up. That is more of an interactive sculpt to me than a mechanism toy. It doesn't interact with the ball. It's really cool. Don't get me wrong, but it's just sitting on top of plastic. It's not really what I want to see when I talk about a toy or a mech in pinball. I also got a lot of people that said the Pulp Fiction topper is amazing, which it is. But again, I don't consider stuff above the glass to be the pinball experience. I consider the pinball experience to be below the glass. All right, last on my list, and these guys are not least, because I'm going to say something controversial right now. I think out of all these pinball companies, I think out of all the money, all the minds, all the geniuses, the one company to me that really seems to be pushing the mechanical creativity, it is so ironic I'm going to say this, because the one pinball company that I think is trying the hardest mechanically to do super cool things in pinball is the one pinball company that has decided to make 80% of its play field in LCD screen in which you can't screw any mechanical things into. And that is no other than Multimorphic. You know, Jerry's got some really good mechanical engineers over there and stuff like the final resistance lockup is super cool. Stuff like the weird owl hamster wheel is super freaking cool. It has stuff mechanically. When you look down at the game, it does really cool stuff. I know this is not eligible because it was before Godzilla, but the crane in the heist, when was the last time you saw a mechanism like that, a mechanism that complex put into a stern machine, put into a Jersey Jack machine? Now, I would argue the problem with Jerry's mechanisms, as amazing as they are mechanically, I think he suffers from the games themselves aren't pulling you in. And the experience of the gameplay is not pulling you in. You know, he doesn't have like the AAA theme. He doesn't have the same kind of pinball feel as everybody else. You know, so it's a trade-off. And it's so weird to me because here I am in 2023 with the most expensive pinball has ever been and there's been so many amazing mechanically creative things in this industry over the last like 100 years or so here I am and over the last two years the two most impressive things from a creative standpoint that I've seen in pinball in a game that also excited each and every one of you is a freaking post that pops up to save the ball from draining and an L-shaped flipper that diverts the ball into different pathways. And you understand, ladies and gentlemen, we should not be buying these expensive machines until they get more creativity into them. And if we keep accepting artwork and LCD software as where all of the effort is going to go, why bother buying these things then? I want physical mechanical stuff. If I just want software immersion and experiences, I can go get a $60 Xbox game. I'm playing the new EA Jedi Survivor game. It's amazing. It's so much more immersive than any Star Wars pinball machine that's out there. And it cost me 60 bucks. It wasn't even 60 bucks. I got it on sale for $45. And if I could have that many hours of amazing Star Wars, like interactive gameplay experience, You know, if you want me to spend freaking $10,000 on the pinball version of Star Wars, then you better do something physically amazing that separates it from what's happening in other software entertainment products. And that's just my point. And I know it's an unpopular point with some people. And some people just want to do jumping jacks around every new offering. I just don't think most of you are going to be buying this stuff unless you see creative magic in the game. And that is why we're so excited for Keith Elwin's Jaws because we saw what he did with Godzilla. And now that this Jaws game is going to be like 15 to 25 percent more money than Godzilla. so shouldn't we be expecting 15 to 20 percent more in the game and i think he's going to deliver and the other thing i think is going to happen is this when he does deliver all of these other companies and all of these other games even other stern games that don't cut it that don't have that level of creativity in it why would you buy it why would you buy it at any price point and that's the rude awakening happening in pinball it's no longer like this game doesn't have demand at 15,000 or 13,000, if the game doesn't meet our new standards, it's never going to have demand. It's just never going to have demand. Like how are you going to get more people into Godfather? How are you going to get more people into Galactic Tank Force? Once demand is dried up because people don't see the value, they may never want to own it at any price. Like I am never going to own a Godfather. I don't care if it was $15,000 or $3,000 because I value my space and my time more than even the dollars these games cost. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Canada's Pinball Podcast. If you're new, most of you are not. We are still over 600 subscribers. Thank you so much. Everyone who said this show was gonna be canceled and we'd be done and everyone's gonna migrate out of here, it didn't happen. I'm just gonna end this show with one humble brag. I have more subscribers to this show than every other pinball content creator on Patreon combined. mind one day i'm gonna get respect but maybe i need to stop drinking to get it everybody have a great day i'll talk to you soon that ain't working that's the way you do it money for nothing and your chicks for free money for nothing and the chicks what's that look at that look at that money money money money

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: c1fddc9e-de0b-4554-99b6-bc85ddb24277*