# Tucson Pinball Podcast – Episode 75 – Does Not Compute

**Source:** Tuscon Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-01-01  
**Duration:** 21m 55s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.tucsonpinball.com/tucson-pinball-podcast-episode-75-does-not-compute/

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## Analysis

The host of Tucson Pinball Podcast discusses the impact of relocating from TISC to Hot Rods venue in Tucson, analyzing 2024 coin drop data, venue dynamics, and sharing a top 10 played games list. He reflects on operational challenges, marketing efforts with A-frame signs and flyers, the failure of ticket redemption games, and his optimism despite a decline in coin revenue from previous years.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] 2024 gross coin drop was the lowest since 2020 — _Host speaking about venue financial data; this is specific, quantified, and verifiable against their records_
- [HIGH] TISC closing was probably a big factor in the coin drop decline — _Host's direct statement about venue closure impact; he's the operator with direct knowledge_
- [MEDIUM] Ticket redemption game interest fell off after initial players achieved their prize goals — _Host's interpretation of redemption game play patterns; speculation based on observed behavior but grounded in direct location data_
- [HIGH] Ghostbusters went from being number one in September to zero coin drop for the last three months of 2024 but still finished number one overall — _Host providing specific monthly coin drop data from his venue_
- [HIGH] Some customers stopped visiting because the new venue is 45 minutes away instead of 15 minutes — _Host's direct conversation with customers about attendance changes_
- [HIGH] Iron Maiden has been at a secret location in an employee lounge at Hot Rods for three months, not getting played much — _Host's statement about his own machine placement and play metrics_
- [HIGH] Walking Dead finished number six despite being off-site for the last three months except for December — _Host's ranking data from his venue operations_
- [HIGH] Metallica went from being at TISC full-time to being upstairs at Hot Rods and dropped from top 3-4 to number five — _Host comparing venue placement and play data year-over-year_

### Notable Quotes

> "So now we're only at Hot Rods. Asterisk. And so let's let's do a little bit of a data dive and kind of see what what it looks like when you compare apples to helicopters."
> — **Host**, ~0:00-1:00
> _Sets up the episode's data-driven analysis of venue relocation impact_

> "A customer came in the other day with their family to check out Hot Rods and they were all excited that that was there and then they saw the pinball machines and she didn't play much but he was saying that like he'd been playing since he was in high school or junior high and you know hadn't played in a little while but now was aware that there was pinball there so like that's cool"
> — **Host**, ~3:00-4:00
> _Illustrates positive word-of-mouth and discovery mechanism at new venue location_

> "This year's gross coin drop was the lowest since 2020, which is kind of a bummer, obviously."
> — **Host**, ~10:00
> _Key financial statement about venue performance decline_

> "The troubleshooting is is a lot more sparse on that kind of a machine [ticket redemption] than something like an American Pinball machine."
> — **Host**, ~12:00
> _Critique of ticket redemption game support; comparison to American Pinball's support quality_

> "A little while back in September, it was number one and the last three months of the year, it had zero, zero, and zero for its coin drop and it finished number one still. So, that has to say something."
> — **Host**, ~18:00
> _Observations about Ghostbusters' cultural appeal despite lack of recent play in peak season_

> "There's just, if you look at it, you're just like, I want to hit that, and then I want to play it again and I want to hit that. And just to see what all this stuff does. Because it's got a lot of really cool stuff."
> — **Host**, ~19:00
> _Design analysis of Ghostbusters' magnetic appeal and visual feedback loops_

> "Kids really like Ghostbusters. So, you know, it's a good thing they don't get all the jokes but kids really like Ghostbusters."
> — **Host**, ~16:00
> _Observation about casual player demographic and game appeal segmentation_

> "I'm kind of nervous to put some signs out on the street because I don't know if I'm going to get terrible feedback or if I'm going to get like 100 new casual players."
> — **Host**, ~24:00
> _Expresses uncertainty about scaling/marketing strategy impact on venue traffic_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Tucson Pinball Podcast | organization | Long-running pinball podcast/operator show; host discusses venue operations and top games in Tucson |
| Hot Rods | venue | Restaurant/entertainment venue in Tucson that now houses the operator's pinball machines; replaced TISC as primary location |
| TISC | venue | Previous primary venue for Tucson pinball operations; closed/evacuated, forcing relocation to Hot Rods |
| This Week in Pinball | organization | Pinball industry media outlet; host references their monthly top 10 list approach as comparison for his annual ranking |
| Keith Elwin | person | Pinball designer referenced for game design philosophy; host cites his approach to casual player accessibility and multiball design |
| Andy | person | Regular player at Hot Rods who plays Stern AC/DC Premium and contributed significantly to its #4 ranking |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer; referenced for Stern AC/DC Premium and Ghostbusters pinball machines in operator's top 10 |
| American Pinball | company | Manufacturer; host contrasts their machine support/troubleshooting favorably with ticket redemption game manufacturers |
| Ghostbusters | game | Stern pinball machine; host's #1 ranked game for 2024 despite zero coin drop in last three months; noted for appeal to casual/kid players |
| Stern AC/DC Premium | game | Stern pinball machine; #4 in host's 2024 rankings; benefits from lobby placement at Hot Rods and dedicated player Andy |
| Metallica | game | Pinball machine; #5 in 2024 rankings; relocated from TISC full-time to upstairs at Hot Rods, previously top 3-4 |
| Walking Dead | game | Pinball machine; #6 in 2024 rankings; off-site for three months except December; noted for appeal to experienced players only |
| Iron Maiden | game | Pinball machine; #8 in 2024 rankings; currently at secret location in employee lounge at Hot Rods, minimal play |
| Ice Fever | game | Pinball machine; was briefly removed for troubleshooting but now operational; ranked #9 in 2024 |
| Diner | game | Pinball machine; mentioned as potentially having issues (host uncertain if it was Diner or Ice Fever that had problems) |
| Godzilla | game | Pinball machine; noted for appeal to adult casual players at TISC venue |
| PAPA | organization | Professional/Amateur Pinball Association; host runs PAPA tournaments in Tucson, referenced in marketing flyers |
| Tucson Pinball League | organization | Operator's local competitive/casual league; referenced in marketing flyer distribution strategy |
| Billy Madison | product | Film reference used by host in joking about prize/victory mechanics in arcade games |
| Wayne's World | product | Film/cultural reference; used as episode theme/intro/outro |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Venue relocation impact and operational adjustment, 2024 coin drop financial analysis and year-over-year comparison, Top 10 ranked games by venue play metrics, Marketing and customer acquisition strategy (A-frame signs, flyers, street outreach)
- **Secondary:** Ticket redemption game trial: ROI and lessons learned, Game placement strategy (lobby vs. upstairs vs. off-site) and play frequency correlation, Casual vs. competitive player preferences and game accessibility design
- **Mentioned:** Equipment maintenance, troubleshooting, and backup machine strategy

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.55) — Host expresses concern about coin drop decline and operational challenges, but maintains optimism about growth opportunities and new venue potential. Frustration with ticket redemption game support quality, but appreciation for loyal players and positive customer discovery moments. Overall tone is reflective, data-driven, and forward-looking despite setbacks.

### Signals

- **[venue_signal]** TISC venue closure forced relocation to Hot Rods restaurant; operator analyzing operational and financial impact over three-month period post-move (confidence: high) — Host: 'three months away from when we had to vacate TISC. So now we're only at Hot Rods' and discusses coin drop decline, attendance drops for distant players, and machine placement strategy changes
- **[market_signal]** 2024 venue coin drop lowest since 2020; host attributes to TISC closure but notes decline likely predates relocation (confidence: high) — Host: 'this year's gross coin drop was the lowest since 2020, which is kind of a bummer, obviously. Everything since then had actually been pretty steady.'
- **[operational_signal]** Machine placement in venue significantly affects play frequency; lobby placement (Ghostbusters, AC/DC Premium, Iron Maiden) correlates with higher play than upstairs tournament area (confidence: high) — Host discusses placement impacts: 'being in the Hot Rods lobby is way better potential than being in the Hot Rods upstairs area' and notes Iron Maiden at 'secret location in employee lounge' gets minimal play
- **[product_concern]** Ticket redemption game manufacturer support is sparse/inadequate compared to American Pinball; troubleshooting difficulties noted (confidence: medium) — Host: 'The troubleshooting is is a lot more sparse on that kind of a machine than something like an American Pinball machine'
- **[operational_signal]** Operator implementing new customer acquisition tactics including street A-frame signs, wall-mounted flyer holders, and strategic sign placement at intersections (confidence: high) — Host details efforts: 'I've been making those A-frame type signs', 'picked up some flyer holders', 'have a good idea of the intersections I kind of want to start off at'
- **[gameplay_signal]** Ghostbusters and Godzilla appeal primarily to casual/child players; Walking Dead and competitive-tier games appeal to experienced players only; progression-heavy games favor casual play over pure skill (confidence: high) — Host: 'Kids really like Ghostbusters', 'Walking Dead...everybody enjoys it if they...are a fairly experienced player', 'progression through stuff just by flailing around' favors casual players
- **[design_innovation]** Ghostbusters' magnetic playfield elements create strong visual feedback loops and tactile appeal that drive repeated play attempts independent of rule complexity or score progression (confidence: medium) — Host: 'There's just, if you look at it, you're just like, I want to hit that, and then I want to play it again...And just to see what all this stuff does.'
- **[product_concern]** Ticket redemption games generated interest initially but play fell off sharply after early adopters achieved their prize goals; operator reports machine malfunction and support issues, plans not to repeat this experiment (confidence: high) — Host: 'I think everybody that wanted to play them and win the prize...probably all got what they wanted and then just kind of interest fell off' and 'Would I do it again? No.'
- **[community_signal]** Local tournament play counts and league attendance remain relatively consistent despite venue relocation, suggesting core competitive community is stable despite some distance-based attrition (confidence: high) — Host: 'the overall play count at my tournaments and leagues, that's actually been pretty consistent from you know one scenario to the next'
- **[venue_signal]** Hot Rods venue (restaurant) generates organic discovery of pinball among non-specialized customers; family visits and nostalgic players represent growth opportunity (confidence: high) — Host anecdote: 'A customer came in the other day with their family to check out Hot Rods...he'd been playing since he was in high school or junior high and...now was aware that there was pinball there'
- **[operational_signal]** Host identifies poor advance notification of tournament dates as operational weakness; plans improved flyer distribution to increase player scheduling ability (confidence: high) — Host: 'I sprung that on' people with short notice, 'I will not need many of those [flyers], probably just one or two to hang up at Hot Rods and then people will actually have that presumed date as early as possible'
- **[market_signal]** Ghostbusters finished #1 despite zero coin drop in final quarter; suggests ranking methodology (full-year cumulative) can obscure seasonal trends and recent performance changes (confidence: high) — Host: 'A little while back in September, it was number one and the last three months of the year, it had zero, zero, and zero for its coin drop and it finished number one still. So, that has to say something.'

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## Transcript

 Wayne's World, Wayne's World, party time, excellent! Wayne's World, Wayne's World, party time, excellent! What's up everybody? Welcome to episode 75 of the Tucsonpinballpodcast. Welcome to Wayne's World. Today is, well not today exactly, but we are now three months away from when we had to unfortunately vacate TISC. So now we're only at Hot Rods. Asterisk. And so let's let's do a little bit of a data dive and kind of see what what it looks like when you compare apples to helicopters. So first off, the thing that I was noticing going through the end of 2024, there's a very noticeable drop in in coin drop. I'm not as worried as I was. At least that's what I'm telling myself. So I think one of the reasons why I was worried is because there's kind of an X factor with what was going on at TISC. Fseklyalka, Mark SP sniper bias First Line Singer یCS Extremavais Todistani Knapp Carr lively Tiri Kr влад, General Priority Scholar Play your count overall at the my tournaments and leagues That's it's actually been pretty consistent from you know one scenario to the next and I do know that there's going to be it has been a slight decrease in some people's attendance just because they live Way far away now and I totally get that like I don't I don't begrudge anybody for being like yeah You know like this stuff used to be like 15 minutes from the house and now it's 45 and that's 5O 28 7 6 5 Sonora Rein Aufghtyr.k todos ihn vou gatta sare culpa с ve любим енести strands кубоке в чerald рейтинг he sprung под fem λ viens развою 5472 ogóle306Н personal реально 인중키 후방 스피계 repeatedly 생성한 금식 스무 뽀로 최초 점费점 또 봉다 그룹을 그냥 달려당그룹 같은스튜비에 1만 neighborhood시 요�ods 이젠 fruits이라며는 1년간까지 pillow sovereign스모SUA �าก 틀을� andar다 Seg vigil서 카메라에andon 아마도 다른 분들도다르겠다는걸 드라이� сразуedo against done to." I not about hot rods and they were all excited that that was there and then they saw the pinball machines and she didn play much but he was saying that like he been playing since he was in high school or junior high and you know hadn played in a little while but now was aware that there was pinball there so like that cool and that was something that I was able to to be present for and witness so you know how often does that happen when I not there that that kind of the little snowball as it starts off you know at least that the hope So, um, hopefully the fact that, um, it's not a super specific destination type location, um, and that there is a pretty, a pretty broad appeal to a restaurant as opposed to the appeal that like a roller hockey rink would have as far as who's willing to go to it and check it out. I'm so we're we're still kinda kinda feeling things out and probably will for several more months even though I've been there a while but you know the scenario has changed a little bit so of those other ideas I have been still making those a frame type signs I got the the cricket has done its thing I've got all that stuff cut out I just need to iron it on to the thing that I want to use and then I have been driving around during this break and taking a few different routes to work and now I have a pretty good idea of the intersections I kind of want to start off at and then the secondary intersections that I want to go to. So that'll hopefully have something, at least maybe one sign ready. I think I've got four pieces of board that I could use, but I'll probably only make like two signs at a time. So hopefully have one one of those finished and ready to go and maybe not be too rickety, but just going to use some scrap wood and some scrap screws from taking some stuff apart and just kind of show up at an intersection in the middle of the night and set it up and see if it survives a couple days. I hope to put that at a place that people are just waiting at a left turn arrow for a little while and you have a chance to get two or three sets of eyes at a time and over the course of a week, hopefully that adds up to something. I also got some flyer holders. If you've ever, I mean, if you drive around and John Youssi like real estate signs in front of a house, and typically there's a clear plastic box that says take one or you know whatever, it's flyers for the house. Well, there's a lot of those that have that are meant to sit on counter space. And that's all that like OfficeMax or Office Depot or whichever is the surviving one. That's all they have. And so they like, lean back and they have these fins on the back so that they can actually like stand up and not fall over. I was looking for something that was flat and that could mount on like the wall or I don't know the side of a change machine maybe so I had to go to Amazon but I got a couple of those in and I made some flyers today and still have a few left to do so in total I think I'm gonna end up with four different flyers the full one is gonna be the full list of all my FPA tournaments one is gonna be the full list of Tucson Pinball League dates and Events Gaston Wh Pole, This week's topic is about the city championship. I will not need many of those, probably just one or two to hang up at Hot Rods and then people will actually have that presumed date as early as possible as opposed to a week before the event like I think I did this year. Sorry everybody that I sprung that on. So yeah, that's, it's more just keeping the regular players well informed so that everybody can show up to everything that they want to. And some people probably were not able to schedule their, their pinball time very well because I did not give them very much notice so that is my fault and I will be better. So going past the last couple years, this year's gross coin drop was the lowest since 2020, which is kind of a bummer, obviously. Everything since then had actually been pretty steady. You know, it's kind of, it's not really increasing, not really decreasing, like it's kind of flat with a plus or minus tolerance in there. So I think TIS closing was probably a pretty big factor. But this year probably still would have come up short And I think the reason why it would be lower than 21, 22, and 23 is probably the ticket games getting used at a test. And those had been going pretty strong in the last couple of years. And I think everybody that wanted to play them and got the prize or, you know, had some prizes in mind, I think they probably all got what they wanted and then just kind of interest fell off. And you know, they would end up just getting a little Subtitles by the Amara.org community Actually you know collect the tickets and dispense a prize because your stupid machine that you bought that worked at the house did not work when it showed up on location and you couldn figure it out And the troubleshooting is is a lot more sparse on that kind of a machine than something like a pinball machine So anyway all in all Was it worth it? Sure, why not? Would I do it again? No. I would probably do claw machines or stackers, direct prizers or whatever they call them like that. But basically, machines that you play the game, if you are good enough, I don't know, you don't beat the game, but if you achieve victory, whatever, as Billy Madison would say, you get the prize. I'll be the ad It's not my space and I have to say pretty please in order to add anything else. And there's no point in adding a claw machine upstairs because it can't be on anyways. So anyways, Let's do something that that we've done the last couple years. We're gonna have several side comments on several of these things. But let's do a top 10 list just because right? Okay, so this is the full year. This is not monthly like This week, the Electric Batcast does. It's so great at that. But this is the full year. So we're going to do a top 10. And this is out of what 14, like slots for games to be in. But keep in mind, there's typically some rotation that goes on. Granted, the top games rarely get rotated out, because all they do is get played. So no point in swapping those out. Unless something breaks. And then that's why we have This week, Compose 코로나19 Checksית When... what was it? Was it Diner was giving me some problems? Yeah, I think it was Diner. No, it was Ice Fever. So, one of those games was kinda being a little finicky, so it's like, okay fine, you can go upstairs, put a working game downstairs, I'll work on the game upstairs in off hours and get it going. And now, Ice Fever is doing just fine. So, Ice Fever is alive and well. Number eight is Iron Maiden and this one is the asterisk. It hasn't been out for three months, kind of. It's actually at a secret location in an employee lounge, not getting played a whole lot. It's there, it looks pretty. I think we're slowly converting a couple of the staff to give it a try. Razak cultures And that is in the lobby of Hot Rods and has been all year. So that's kind of a at this point, it's very important because being in the Hot Rods lobby is way better potential than being in the Hot Rods upstairs area in our tournament area because those games aren't on unless we're doing an event. Number six is Walking Dead. That has been off site the last three months, except for it was upstairs in December. So basically a three month vacation still coming in number six not too shabby for its second year out on location Walking Dead is Walking Dead everybody enjoys it if they you know are a fairly experienced player and kind of have some idea of what's going on but if you don't have any idea what's going on there are players that really really really don't like it but we try to kind of show them at least a little bit of a starting point and And, um, kind of, kind of get the ball rolling on that. Uh, number five is Metallica and that went from being at TISC full time to being upstairs. So, uh, still sitting at number five, so not too bad. Um that had been in the top three or four for the last several years Uh number four is ACDC and there is a magical combination to this one and that is it in the lobby of Hot Rods and has been all year and we have a guy named Andy that really really really likes that game so really appreciate Andy participation in playing ACDC and getting it to the number 4 spot potentially all by himself rosary Arrow retrospective not This week's winning for an all time Lifetime Alejampf館, Spinballariansophobia105 Directions testoster微ежráț 드, Video fontâmon, State of Israel Voucher economicismûr,oningpartuming возг echo, Low poquito nè,ings memesê, you know it's a good thing they don't get all the jokes but kids really like Ghostbusters so o, Uchtê re inspired Iightä Bideab tbspè maniac, Just a little hard. So, be really nice if they put in that Slimer multiball. Like I had kind of talked about often. I mean, not like I told Dwight, Hey, you should do this but like, you know, that would have been my thing. Like, you know, like, like Elwin says, you know, give them a bosal multiball, make it worth absolutely nothing, but make it somewhat easy to get to that you just whale away at the main thing which is Slimer and you know, you put a smile on their face and that would have been my thing. Yeah, right. So, like I said Closed Caption by The Closed Caption Project alabama's finals, reinsvag μύρες acquisition, mir Minegyak nauăăăăăå%, ik ye Pay Professional отлич acord, keuze alj. Speaking bettor Толькоин In Yeah Dingon, Hot Leabil consulting and A little while back in September, it was number one and the last three months of the year, it had zero, zero, and zero for its coin drop and it finished number one still. So, that has to say something. I, I think it's a great game. I think it's another one of those magnetic games. There's just, if you look at it, you're just like, I want to hit that, and then I want to play it again and I want to hit that, and then I want to play it again and I want to hit that. And just to see what all this stuff does. Because it's got a lot of really cool stuff. And you know whether I understand people think that it's too not it's not like it's too progressive like there's it's too easy to make progression through stuff just by flailing around. Which that's kind of you know you play any Elwin and you kind of are going to pick up on that a little bit but skill players might not like that so much but casual players kind of like that. That's really it guys, thanks a lot for watching this episode of Pinball pineapple of that when I would go in and see casual players playing stuff it would either be it's playing Ghostbusters or adults playing Godzilla that's just kind of the dynamic that was atISC and you know you you can you can criticize things all you want it it's not your thing it's not your thing that's totally fine but if it works I guess don't really fight it so that's I'm excited for 25. There's definitely opportunities for improvement on my end. There is definitely room for growth from a player count standpoint. I'm kind of nervous to put some signs out on the street because I don't know if I'm going to get terrible feedback or if I'm going to get 100 new casual players. I don't know. One would be great and one would be not so great. So we'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted. Stay tuned and thanks for listening. And you know, cheers. Happy New Year's. Party on. Party on Wayne! Party on Garth! It's Wayne's World! Wayne's World! Party time! Excellent! And... we're clear.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: c4b7569c-4b2f-46b6-83de-329e29568394*