# Ep 41: Pinball Tubes!

**Source:** Pinball Party Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2023-10-18  
**Duration:** 41m 34s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://pinballparty.podbean.com/e/pinball-tubes/

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## Analysis

Jason from Pinball Party Podcast discusses five pinball games he will not buy again due to various gameplay, design, and financial reasons. Before diving into his list, he covers recent expo news including Barrels of Fun's Labyrinth gameplay reveal, a Jersey Jack Pinball Elton John/Rocketman teaser, and a Stern Alien themed topper with interactive features. He critiques games including Elvira's House of Horrors, Total Nuclear Annihilation, Attack from Mars remake, TMNT, and Star Wars Pro for issues ranging from design philosophy and flipper latency to poor secondary market performance.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Labyrinth appears to play slowly, not in a floaty way like Hobbit, but generally on the slow side during gameplay footage reveals — _Jason's personal observation from watching two gameplay reveal streams of Barrels of Fun's Labyrinth_
- [HIGH] Jersey Jack Pinball is announcing an Elton John/Rocketman themed game, evidenced by teaser image with vinyl records on drop targets and promotional material featuring Steve Ritchie — _Jason saw teaser image on KNAPP Arcade showing records and Steve Ritchie promotional shot saying 'the king is back'_
- [HIGH] Stern's Alien topper features a moving tail, hand-sculpted xenomorph, RGB LEDs, lit egg sculpts, and individually controlled tubes in the backboard, priced at $1400 plus shipping with limited run of 300 pieces — _Jason reading official feature list for Alien Ripley Special Edition topper_
- [HIGH] Elvira's House of Horrors is overpriced on secondary market; asking prices should drop below $9,000 for units to sell, having lost significant value — _Jason sold one recently and observed secondary market listings asking 'a little too much' and recommends pricing in 'low nines' at minimum_
- [HIGH] Attack from Mars remake has noticeable flipper latency compared to original and other Stern games, making the game feel disconnected and unresponsive — _Jason's personal gameplay experience testing both original and remake on same day; he is very sensitive to latency and felt the lag immediately upon first flipper button press_
- [MEDIUM] Medieval Madness remake also suffers from flipper latency issues similar to Attack from Mars remake — _Jason mentions he hasn't owned Medieval Madness remake but has observations about its latency compared to originals_
- [HIGH] Total Nuclear Annihilation CE lost Jason $700-$1000 and was the hardest game to sell by far, taking months to move even with price reductions — _Jason's direct experience owning TNA CE twice; he bought it for $8k expecting to flip easily but experienced significant secondary market difficulty_
- [HIGH] Star Wars Pro has physics issues including inconsistent Death Star shot registration between units and drain problems with the TIE fighter ball saver compensation — _Jason's hands-on experience owning Star Wars Pro; tinkered with shot mechanics and observed unit-to-unit inconsistency_
- [HIGH] TMNT pinball game has a very fast third flipper shot (inner loop/warp ramp) that is difficult to time and crucial to all game modes — _Jason's personal gameplay experience; couldn't master the timing and cited it as a primary reason for not enjoying the game despite loving the theme_
- [HIGH] Elvira's House of Horrors feels like a 'chopping wood' game with repetitive shot sequences that don't require skill beyond time investment to reach wizard mode — _Jason's gameplay analysis after owning the game briefly earlier in the year; noted modes require many shots to complete and feel like busywork_

### Notable Quotes

> "Individually controlled tubes in the backboard. Oh God, tubes. Exactly what I've been looking for."
> — **Jason**, ~13:30
> _Humorous commentary on absurd accessory feature of Alien topper, highlighting how niche pinball product marketing can be_

> "It costs as much as a fucking used car! God! Make them, make them cheaper, but don't make them like home pins."
> — **Jason**, ~44:00
> _Expresses core tension in pinball hobby: high cost, space requirements, and depreciation risk limiting collection size_

> "I can't have a game that's going to sit forever. [...] For a game to be that hard to sell, [...] that's personally one of my kind of stipulations of the game. If I can't move it somewhat easy, it's a bad get."
> — **Jason**, ~57:00
> _Establishes Jason's practical collecting philosophy: games must be tradeable/sellable within reasonable timeframe, not hoarded_

> "The flipper feel in the remakes is real. There is a latency in it. [...] I felt it the first time I hit the flipper when I got it in the house. I didn't test it. I didn't need to."
> — **Jason**, ~63:00
> _Technical critique of Attack from Mars remake that Jason claims is obvious and pervasive, affecting core gameplay feel_

> "For $6,000 to watch a brain in a machine bounce up and down and get some epilepsy in my eyes, I think I have better ways to spend my money."
> — **Jason**, ~89:00
> _Sarcastic summary of TMNT's appeal; highlights disconnect between theme/lighting and actual gameplay enjoyment_

> "Every time I walk by, I'm like, this is the most gorgeous game, and I want nothing to do with it."
> — **Jason**, ~107:00
> _Describes his emotional relationship with Star Wars Pro: beautiful cabinet/art but unplayable due to physics and design issues_

> "Latency is important to me and the feel, like you feel connected when you, as soon as you hit a flipper button and it pops, bam, like Stern, you know, you... That's one of the best things about Stern games is the feel of the flippers."
> — **Jason**, ~61:00
> _Establishes Jason's technical sensitivity and preference for Stern's flipper response as industry standard_

> "Shallow and spread out wide."
> — **Jason**, ~40:00
> _Characterization of Willy Wonka's game design philosophy: breadth over depth in rule variety_

> "Attack from Mars. Can't wait. Yeah, of course. I've read online, but I thought like, oh, people are meh, you know, and I'll get over it, you know. Oh, no, I did not get over it. Not in the slightest."
> — **Jason**, ~65:00
> _Jason dismissed online latency complaints before owning remake, only to have his concerns validated immediately upon physical testing_

> "I do know he plays guitar and I've seen a video of him playing and he's great from what I could see. So, JJP, Elton John, we'll see. The theme everyone asked for, of course, they're gonna be buying it."
> — **Jason**, ~22:00
> _Notes Steve Ritchie's musical credibility and predicts strong sales for Elton John theme despite his own uncertainty_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Jason | person | Host of Pinball Party Podcast, collector/player discussing games to avoid owning again and recent industry news |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Pinball manufacturer that produced Labyrinth game; revealed gameplay footage twice due to initial lighting concerns |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Manufacturer revealed to be making Elton John/Rocketman themed pinball game; known for colorful, theme-heavy machines |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Designer associated with Jersey Jack Pinball's Elton John game; featured in promotional material; plays guitar |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer; praised by Jason for superior flipper response and latency; makes Alien themed machine |
| Labyrinth | game | Barrels of Fun pinball game; gameplay revealed twice with improved lighting; Jason observes slow play speed |
| Elton John / Rocketman | game | Unannounced Jersey Jack Pinball game revealed via teaser image showing vinyl records; Steve Ritchie designed |
| Alien (Stern topper) | product | Premium topper accessory for Stern's Alien machine; features moving tail, sculpted xenomorph, tubes, RGB LEDs; $1400, limited to 300 units |
| Elvira's House of Horrors | game | Spooky Pinball game; Jason owned briefly earlier in year, lost significant money on secondary market; criticized as repetitive/shallow |
| Total Nuclear Annihilation | game | Spooky Pinball game designed by Scott Danesi; Jason owned original and CE, lost $700-$1000 on CE due to poor secondary market performance |
| Attack from Mars (remake) | game | Stern remake of classic game; Jason criticized for significant flipper latency compared to original, despite loving the game conceptually |
| Medieval Madness (remake) | game | Stern remake; Jason mentions it also suffers from latency issues similar to Attack from Mars remake |
| TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) | game | Spooky Pinball game; Jason owned but quickly sold due to difficult third flipper shot timing and fast gameplay |
| Star Wars Pro | game | Stern game; Jason owned and disliked despite beautiful cabinet art; cited physics issues, inconsistent shot registration, poor ball saver design |
| Scott Danesi | person | Designer of Total Nuclear Annihilation; Jason previously interviewed him; praised for game design that respects player time |
| Joel Engelberth | person | Host of 'Just Another Pinball Podcast'; discussed TMNT ownership with Jason; has printing background, noted TMNT screenprint quality issues |
| KNAPP Arcade | venue | Arcade where Jason saw Elton John teaser image; known source for pinball promotional materials and updates |
| Chicago Pinball Expo | event | Major annual pinball event; Jason chose not to attend in favor of personal trip to Door County, Wisconsin |
| Flip N Out Pinball | company | Pinball merchandise retailer; Jason endorses for good prices, customer service, and accessories |
| Pinball Network | organization | Umbrella organization coordinating pinball media creators; Jason acknowledges commitment to elevate other shows like Wally Winka Show and Straight Down the Middle |
| Zach Sharpe | person | Host of 'The Pinball Show'; covers tournament news and WPPR rankings; part of Pinball Network coordination |
| Willy Wonka (2023 Stern) | game | Stern game Jason briefly owned; criticized as 'shallow and spread out wide' with repetitive shot mechanics |
| Pizza Del Rey | venue | Pizzeria in Eau Claire, Wisconsin; historically had pinball machines including TMNT; nostalgic location for Jason |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Games Jason Will Not Buy Again, Flipper Latency and Mechanical Feel, Secondary Market Depreciation, Game Design Philosophy (Shallow vs Deep, Time Waste), Recent Pinball Game Announcements and Reveals
- **Secondary:** Pinball Collecting Economics, Barrels of Fun's Labyrinth Production, Jersey Jack Pinball Theme Strategy

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[product_concern]** Attack from Mars and Medieval Madness remakes have noticeable flipper latency issues that disconnect player input from immediate physical response, creating poor gameplay feel (confidence: high) — Jason felt latency immediately upon first flipper button press despite not pre-testing; observed identical issue across multiple users of remake; tested original vs remake same day and noted clear difference
- **[market_signal]** Elvira's House of Horrors experiencing significant secondary market depreciation; units overpriced in current listings requiring price reductions to sub-$9,000 range to move inventory (confidence: high) — Jason sold unit recently in perfect condition and lost substantial money; observing current secondary market listings as overpriced; recommends 'low nines' minimum for sales
- **[collector_signal]** Total Nuclear Annihilation CE experienced severe secondary market liquidity crisis; took months to sell despite significant price reductions and marketing effort (confidence: high) — Jason owned TNA CE and lost $700-$1000 on it; described it as 'hardest game to sell by a long shot' requiring extensive advertising and price drops over extended timeframe
- **[machine_intel]** Jersey Jack Pinball teased Elton John/Rocketman themed machine via image showing vinyl records on targets with Steve Ritchie promotional material (confidence: high) — Jason saw teaser image on KNAPP Arcade showing records and drop targets; Steve Ritchie featured in promotional shot saying 'the king is back'; image shows colorful aesthetic consistent with JJP house style
- **[product_launch]** Stern Alien machine premium topper released with interactive features including moving tail, sculpted xenomorph, RGB LEDs, lit egg sculpts, and individual tube control; priced at $1400+ with optional beacon accessories (confidence: high) — Jason reading official feature list and specifications; topper limited to 300 units; features include interactive game mode integration; beacons sold separately
- **[design_philosophy]** Jason criticizes games that artificially extend play time without meaningful interaction, comparing negatively to games that demand constant player attention and reaction (confidence: high) — Elvira's House of Horrors criticized for requiring many shots to complete modes; describes as 'chopping wood' busywork; contrasts with approval for fast-paced games like Iron Man and TNA that keep player engaged
- **[product_concern]** Star Wars Pro exhibits multiple physics inconsistencies including unreliable Death Star shot registration between units, TIE fighter ball saver drain issues, and poor orbit shot behavior (confidence: high) — Jason owned Star Wars Pro and experienced unit-to-unit variation on Death Star shot; observed consistent drain patterns from left orbit regardless of shot speed; tinkering with shot mechanics unsuccessful
- **[gameplay_signal]** TMNT game's third flipper shot (warp ramp/inner loop) has extremely tight timing requirements that Jason could not master; shot is critical to all game modes (confidence: high) — Jason described inability to find timing on third flipper shot; noted it is 'by far the fastest game' on his house; cited shot's crucial importance to mode progression
- **[content_signal]** Pinball Network coordinating media creators to cross-promote; Jason acknowledges commitment to elevate other shows like Wally Winka Show, Straight Down the Middle, and The Pinball Show (confidence: medium) — Jason explicitly states goal of Pinball Network is getting all media creators to listen to each other's content; mentions cross-promotion with Zach Sharpe's show and Triple Drain for tournament news
- **[event_signal]** Chicago Pinball Expo upcoming; Jason not attending despite initial plans, instead taking personal trip to Door County, Wisconsin (confidence: high) — Jason states 'right before expo edition' of podcast; mentions initially planning to attend but chose alternative trip; notes proximity to other attendees traveling to Chicago
- **[gameplay_signal]** Labyrinth appears to play at slower pace based on two gameplay reveal videos; Jason notes speed might be intentional fit with Jurassic Park and Hobbit style exploration themes (confidence: medium) — Jason watched two Labyrinth reveal streams; noted game seemed 'a little slow playing' and compared to Hobbit's 'slow floaty' feel; speculated slowness aligns with adventure theme
- **[sentiment_shift]** Jason contradicts his own dislike of Attack from Mars remake by noting it genuinely belongs in PinSide Top 10 list despite personal latency issues affecting his enjoyment (confidence: medium) — Jason states he 'struggled not to put it on runners-up last week in my top five favorite games'; acknowledges game's deserved ranking while acknowledging his personal gameplay disconnect due to technical issues

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## Transcript

 Hello! Welcome to this right before expo edition of the Pinball Party Podcast. This week, as promised, instead of talking about my five favorite games, I'm going to talk about a handful of games that I have on my list that say, Jason, don't buy these again. Figure it out. That's not to say that I won't or that I haven't bought it more than once, but reasons of why games might leave my quote collection, which I don't even have a collection right now, faster than others or, you know, just a little variety. Instead of gushing about all the most fantastic things in the last episode, let's talk about not as fantastic things. But I assure you, I'm not just gonna use this opportunity to talk shit about games. Just, yeah, man, these games are the worst. Anyone that owns them is stupid. Nah, nothing like that. Because all of them I've owned for a reason. Some, you know, I'm not a crazy person that thinks I want to buy something that is going to make me upset. At least in pinball. We all have little dumb things we buy, but... But anyways, welcome back. I hope a lot of you are on your way to Chicago Expo, the Pinball Expo, the biggest one of the year, I guess, arguably. I was initially going to go, but instead we decided to check out of pinball for a little bit and go to Door County, my wife and I, which is a few hours north. So I will be in the general vicinity of a lot of you going, but I figured why not get The Wally Winka Show, Knapp Arcade, Bally Williams, Straight Down the Middle, Bally Williams, I'm still very great friends with those guys. The goal of the Pinball Network was to get all the media creators is to get everyone to listen to or engage with more Pinball Network stuff. So hey, I'm a team player and rising tides lift all ships and I believe that in life in general and I will continue to say go listen to the pinball show and triple drain for tournament news, the kind of what's on the line, all the stuff that Zach does at the pinball show and all that. But to outright say I will not talk about the news I think is stupid. So I won't make that statement and I will talk about news. But I'm not going to, you know, wrap this show in, you know, we are the Fox News of pinball. Come here to get all your news that's all untrue or has a, you know, an edge of disdain to it. So I'll talk about news as much as I see fit, I guess, or, you know, whatever's out, I'll talk about it. In that vein, before I get to talking about a few games that I have on my list of Jason, don't buy these again. And I don't always listen to myself. We saw the labyrinth reveal of gameplay twice, right? Because the first was like, I don't know if someone complained. I didn't. I thought it was fine. Maybe low light conditions. They released another one that showed it a little in a little better lighting. I have not watched each stream, you know, with a magnifying glass and I took a bunch of notes and did all that because it's one, not a theme that resonates with me fully, so I'm not just, you know, like, oh, again, doing something I don't want to do, but I am taking a passive interest in it. My first impressions are that it seems a little slow playing, not like Hobbit, slow floaty, but just, okay, on the slow side. I'm not seeing a just suddenly Black Knight Sword of Rage or Venom, just like, Whoa, look at that. But, you know, the theme, I don't think lends itself well to. The video assets, the sound, everything seems complete. It does not seem like an early spooky or even a later spooky, I guess of like, you know, I'm like, yeah, this thing's kind of shoddy and, you know, again, I didn't watch each stream just full through magnifying glass again, so maybe there's a couple things that people are like, oh, you're forgetting about this, bro. But my first impression, it looks good. I'm continuously impressed by the art of it, the kind of vibe I get from it. I guess, you know, as Afra mentioned, the slowness of it might fit. And it might be in the more realm of Jurassic Park, Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, where it's like, eh, no, just kind of like, take your time, have a little adventure, and I think there's a place for games like that. In fact, I think it's a wonderful place. So Labyrinth was revealed. We got a little teaser image of Elton John, Rocketman, whatever. Maybe by the time you're listening to this, you know the name of it from JJP. Again, it's all rumors, but I mean the picture, you can see in the picture there's like records on the drop targets or stand up targets. I don't, you know, if there was any contention that this is, hey, maybe this is the Matrix. I don't think there was vinyl in the matrix. No, there was vinyl, but there wasn't vinyl records. And records to be clear as in musical, the device that holds music, not recording something. And then it's colorful, Elton John, but that's JJP anyways, right? I don't think they have a game that isn't a rainbow fest. Maybe they should be the ones making the black and white editions of games like Elvirus, The House of Horrors Black and White Edition, which we haven't seen quite yet. I think, is that today where you're going to see it? So a very quick teaser image on the, well, on NAP Arcade is where I saw it, of course, KNAPP Arcade. That's where you go to get a lot of that. Did they alter this image? I'm looking at it again. Does it change? Hmm. Anyway, Elton John, we'll see. Steve Ritchie. You know the promotional shot I saw on I think Facebook of Steve Ritchie saying like the king is back whatever. He doesn't look enthused. It's just kind of like hey yeah fucking pinball I guess like just another one. I don't know. I don't know the guy. He makes great games so I don't know. Maybe that's just his demeanor. I do know he plays guitar and I've seen a video of him playing and he's great from what I could see. So, JJP, Elton John, we'll see. The theme everyone asked for, of course, they're gonna be buying it. The Alien version, the Ripley Special Edition, whatever it's called, was revealed, at least the side art or, you know, a side shot of the game. And then the topper, the art of pinball, well, the alien art of pinball, alien topper, which looks like a topper. And if you're into toppers, it's great. But it is. I'm just like some of the art is from like an up, like you can even see in the promotional shot, it's from above that you're seeing the kind of The Spores and the Alien Pods, where they coming out? And the cracks in the grating of the floor on the topper, which is all reminiscent, of course, of Alien and looks incredible. But you can't see this. You're looking up at a topper. I'm 5'7". I'm not looking down into a topper's... It looks like it would be really cool on a desk. It's a really great piece of art, but it's on top. So if you look at it, even if you're super tall and you're looking at this thing straight on, you still can't see the details on the floor. And that just strikes me as odd, I guess. But it looks great as far as it moving and all that. I mean, it's got lights, of course. Let's see. Let's read the features. It's $1400 plus shipping. A moving tail, interactive A moving tail, interactive with the game, okay, that's awesome. A hand sculpted and painted xenomorph in a truly immersive alien environment, I will agree. Immersive, for sure. Multitude of addressable RGB LEDs that are interactive in game modes, okay, yep, as you'd expect. Six hand painted egg sculpts that lit up and are individually interactive with game modes, this must just be a language thing. Individually controlled tubes in the backboard. Oh God, tubes. Exactly what I've been looking for. Oh yeah. Whoa, Mef! What's up? What are you doing? Hello, Jason. Good to hear your voice, man. Sup? Just making a podcast. How are you doing? Doing good. Hearing about those tubes woke you up, huh? Oh yeah. Okay, I'd love to keep going, but I got to get back to this list. It was good to see you. Good to see you too, Dad. Don't call me Dad. Well, I know these tubes and more. If you want to buy some pinball stuff, there's really only one place to buy it if you want good prices, good customer service, and to not suck ass. And that's Flip N Out Pinball. When I buy my pinball shirt, I buy from Flip N Out. From toppers, art plates, premiums, I've got it figured out. All right so aside from tubes which I think we could have just stopped there and I think that worth 1400 bucks pinball tubes We have flashers around the alien queen for spectacular light show and effects quality of a collectable figurine limited run of 300 pieces I assume that means of the whole topper, because that's built in with... okay. Beacons are optional, not included. Topper includes cover plates when beacons are not installed. Beacons can be purchased separately for Ripley version and regular. Okay, so, kind of strange to come out with a topper, but like the topper also has its own separate accessories and a cost different in its limit. Eh, a little confusing to the layperson, the topper layperson, but it looks great. I'm not sure that game sells that great lately. Maybe that Ripley one will be taking a cue from Jurassic Park or some of that and maybe they'll sell a bunch. But we'll see. In other news, the Elvira's House of Horrors, of course the black and white is coming out and it's going to be cool. And guess what? I've seen some Elvira's House of Horrors up for sale on the secondary market. As someone who sold one relatively recently, y'all be asking a little too much. You're gonna want to drop that below nine probably to get that right. Let me think. Yeah, low. Low, bro. At least low nines. It's not what it used to be. And that is actually on my list of games that I will not buy again. And that is for one of those reasons of a game that used to be command such a price. It was lost a good amount of money on a basically home use only perfect condition Elvira's House of Horrors. So let's get to those just briefly because it was such a good segue, but I hope everyone's having a great time at Expo. Appreciate all the support and the continued listenership out there. It means a lot. Thank you very much. Thanks for sticking through these kind of, you know, rough times of taking a break and coming back and re-figuring this out. Figure it out. Thank you for the reminder. And yeah, let's get into games that I have on my list, which is real, of Jason, don't buy these again, don't be stupid. And yeah, as I'm, I don't always listen to this. I'm sure a lot of us have these, you know, temptations of don't do this again. And then it almost makes you want to, right? And pinball, man, again, a monetary heavy burden. It's a tough one because if this was just a video game hobby, a cheaper hobby, I wouldn't get any game out of here. If they weren't, you know, what is it square foot wise? What, three by five, let's just go 15 square feet? A thing if you count like the space you need on the sides for the plug-in in the back or the angle and your hands for the flippers. I mean, it takes up quite a bit of space. Ah, that's just for it to sit there. And then you have to stand, so another, let's say, eh, five, six square feet. That's 20 square feet just for a game that, uh, may or may not get boring. And it costs as much as a fucking used car! God! Make them, make them cheaper, but don't make them like home pins. Or, eh, I don't know. I wish virtual pinball was as good. It's not. But maybe all of these reasons, the monetary heavy burden, all of these reasons, or the chase, the rarity, not rarity, you know what I mean? That's what makes this fun. Maybe if you could just buy them at JC Penney's, you know, my goal, get these games at JC Penney's, maybe the allure would be gone. Such is life. The games that I have on my list that say don't buy these again, four reasons, and let's just get into each. I have five because we did top five favorite last time. This is not, again, this is not a bottom five favorite. That list would be slightly different, actually very different. These are just games that may be least favorite, at least games that I've had. It may be in that category if I don't really like it, but for other reasons, maybe don't want to own it again. Let's go through the list. This is in no particular order. There is no, this is by far the least favorite game I've ever had in my house for a reason. Get out. This is just, you know, let's get into five. I'll just touch on the one I talked about segueing into this. Elvira's House of Horrors. This is on my list of do not Jason buy it again. The first reason which I mentioned before is losing money on this. And when I say losing money, I don't of course I don't care about 50 bucks 100 bucks whatever if we're discounting the cost of gas and traveling which a lot of us do if I was to give myself a price of Jason you're worth $100 an hour plus the the gas These, I'd be losing a lot more money, but I don't, you know, that's part of the fun, the hobby of actually going to get a game, kind of, beyond a couple hours, that fun drops off significantly. But Elvira's House of Horrors, I owned it earlier this year, home use only, basically new, it was perfect condition, condition doesn't matter, it worked great, none of that, you know, works great. I had only played it once or twice before and a lot of people that I knew were like, oh, it's so fun, it's so deep, it's a smooth shooter, it's relatively easy, it's all this and it's a Vyra and maybe we have to cover up her tits because, you know, on back glass and like, oh, eh, whatever, let's just give it a shot. It always seemed like an easy game to trade on or sell should I get it. So I thought, no harm, no foul, let me play it for a little while and it just seems like The Valley Company, Subsidiary of Walter Kidde & Co., Inc., Mirco Playfields, Tim Tim Kitzrow, Scott Danesi. Black Argonaut, The And then The The main mansion was great, you know, you hit it a bunch to start a mode Some of the modes were like how many shots do I have to hit to complete this mode? I'm used to Star Trek But this is like geez man I got a I got hit so many shots to complete a mode and if you drain that modes over And that kind of stuff. I don't really like I don't like personally to each his own if they like modes that keep going in between balls. I don't. I like the mode to stay persistent until either a timer runs out or I complete it. Personal preference. But hitting the ramps, starting, I don't know, like every shot does something similar to Godzilla. You can stack a lot. It's been a few months so I'm not remembering it so much. Because after the first couple days, I could see, oh, I could just get to this wizard mode by just, I mean, I thought that was one of the most chopping wood games I've ever played. Like, I see the end of this already. The end of it will not take, you know, more intelligence or more challenge. It will just take time. Time of doing something that I don't really want to spend doing it. As in, alright, I can keep backhanding this thing. It's not a challenge. It's just wait. David David Van Es, Finer on The I'm waiting for gravity. So I hit a button. Okay, now wait for the physics and the gravity. Okay, do it again. And I have this, this thing against wasting time. Oh my God, I've, you know, Oh, I'm the only person. No, a lot of us get that. But in game design, when you're, when you're wasting someone's time, like not respecting it, this is, this is not a knock against the designers. The Big Single Player Playstation Game Spider-Man Last of Us Let me talk about Last of Us for sure. That. I get where we're going here. Can you hurry up? Call it impatience, call it whatever. I only have so many minutes and hours in a day to spend the time like in a video game holding forward for five minutes on a thumb stick and staring at a quote movie that's not written as good as a movie or a show and I know I'm going to get back to like let me move the other camera that just it's a waste of time to me to each to each their own I want to be engaged I want to be playing I want to be reacting and doing stuff so why I gravitate towards The Willy Wonka Show, Knapp Arcade, Bally Williams, Straight Down the Middle, Bally Williams, Kick some ass Todd It was pretty hard to sell surprisingly I found it to be very chopping wood It was a spectacle and although quote people say it deep I didn personally find it deep I found it very shallow just spread out wide Uh, uh, uh, yup. Shallow and spread out wide. Alright, next game on my list of do not own again, Jason, is TNA, Total Nuclear Annihilation. I've owned it twice. The first time I owned it was the original. The second time was the CE. The CE I got at a very good deal as in I think a monetary, let's take monetary relief through all the trades. I'm thinking like what do I have, what did I have into it? Keep in mind it's nine or 9.5 new? What is it new? God, it's, it's, uh, Googling it. Let me, you know, because we're just doing this. Total Nuclear In Our Nation, new, it's sold out, so does it even say the price? Let's just say it's a 9.5, whatever. It's expensive. I think it was 9. 9 or 9.5. I got it for like 8. So, on the secondary, in perfect condition. I was like, again, oh, if I don't like it over time or whatever, I'll lose a little bit or I'll make a little bit. It's really not a big deal. So, it felt like a free game for a little while. I lost so much money on that and it was the CE again all the new stuff I lost at least 700 if not a thousand on it and to this date to this day to this date it has been the hardest game for me to sell by a long shot dropping the price dropping the price you know advertising everywhere you name it it was so hard to sell and that alone is like I don't know. For me, personally, a very red flag of don't do that again because you might need that money for something. Who knows? And if you can't get it within a month back, that's personally one of my kind of stipulations of the game. If I can't move it somewhat easy, it's a bad get. On top of that, speaking of shallow, but that game keeps you going the whole time. You know, Scott Danesi, I've had him on the show in the past, great guy, great music, very talented. That game does not waste your time. It does not take advantage of the player's time. It doesn't take it for granted. All that. The epitome of, hey, let's just keep going. It's coming out of the scoop. Fuck it. Let's go. Come on. Keep your eye on the ball. It's great. But for a game to be that hard to sell, and both times, mind you, the first time it took a long time I had to ship it, second time took a long time I had to ship it, and frankly the buyer wasn't that great either, and got damaged in shipping, and all that stuff, even though I wrapped it like a tight butt, still ended up happening. So I have no complaints about the game of TNA. I think at its original price of whatever it was, six, 6.5, it's absolutely a fantastic game. And I think if I had a infinite space, large collection, TNA would actually be in it. But in my kind of current state of how I do this thing, one to three games, try to own, have one or two rotating or mind you, all three rotating, I can't have a game that's going to sit forever. Subscribe to Lukas and Number three is Attack from Mars remake. I love Attack from Mars. I struggled not to put it on my runners-up last week in my top five favorite games. It was going to be either Adam's Family or Attack from Mars. And if I could retroact... I can! What am I talking about? I would retroact... retroactively put this on a honorable mention list. The Valley Company, Subsidiary of Walter Kidde & Co., Inc., Mirco Playfields, Tim Tim Kitzrow, Scott Danesi. Remakes. So when I got one a couple years ago, got the mid-level trim, the SE as that was called, with the bigger XL color DMD. Gorgeous game. I was so excited. I knew what I was getting into. I've played the game to death. I knew it was somewhat shallow, but still, like, it's a race car. Let's go. Let's play it. I know what I'm doing. Let's have fun. People love, family and friends, Joel, love playing it. They know what to do. It's humorous. All the good reasons, all the reasons that attack from Mars. Should be where it is on the PinSide Top 100. Which is always in the Top 10. Right? What is it at today? I think it belongs uh... Let me see. Personally, I would... Ehh... 7. Where is it at? Uh... 4. Okay. Yeah. Cuz for me I'd take Godzilla out of the Top 10. Um... and uh... A Firehouse of Horrors? 7? What?! You what, mate? Uh... Foo Fighters? Sure. Um... okay. But yeah, Attack From Mars remake. Why? What I Not Buy It Again. It's not because it's shallow. The flipper feel in the remakes is real. Especially Medieval Madness and Attack from Mars. There is a latency in it. And as someone who is very conscious of it in video games, latency, so conscious to where there's been times where a buddy of mine have had in the same room set up a projector, An OLED and a plasma, all with multiple HDMIs and display outputs from a graphics card to test display and latency between that, not only that, but 2.4 and Bluetooth controllers all at the same time because of just part of the fun of it, but very sensitive to it. And if you've heard, I like very fast twitch, keep your toes coordination games, not slow, like wait. Not that I don't like it, but I prefer an Iron Man, a TNA gameplay, that type of thing, of precision and speed and reaction time. Latency is important to me and the feel, like you feel connected when you, as soon as you hit a flipper button and it pops, bam, like Stern, you know, you... That's one of the best things about Stern games is the feel of the flippers and why a lot of people complain about JJP in the past. Godfather seems to have rectified a lot of that. But in the remake, it is so apparent. It was so apparent the first time I hit the flipper when I got it in the house. I didn't test it. I didn't need to. And I knew when I was buying it, it's Attack from Mars. Can't wait. Yeah, of course. I've read online, but I thought like, oh, people are meh, you know, and I'll get over it, you know. Oh, no, I did not get over it. Not in the slightest. It was so distracting. Now, it's not like a second later of a leg, like you hit the button and then like, it's not that. It's just, it's enough to feel it. And one of the best, going back to games and saying testing latency between plasma and VRR and 120 hertz displays, 240, all this, all those reasons. One of the best games to test in all that is Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Gaiden, however you prefer, on the NES, because that is a classic game of you need to, as soon as you hit the button, it needs to react to what you're doing. Anyway, maybe I just found, wanted to find a reason to talk about Ninja Gaiden, so there we go. But I felt it in Attack from Mars that there's an inherent latency of hitting the flipper. And that alone was like, well, I don't enjoy playing this game. I've played the remake and the original both in the same day within a couple hours and just like, oh, no contest. You can feel it. It is no contest. So the flipper lag in those two, well, and Medieval Madness remake, but I haven't ownedはじめて521 Dance Garden Crew monastery event All of these are actually credible evidence that Monster Bash and Cactus Canyon have fixed or mitigated some of that latency. PinballPartyPodcast.gmail.com Another game on my list that I will not own again, I have two more here, is TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the pinball game. I fell in love with this game in two stages, three, let's say three stages. The first stage was the theme I heard about like, oh, it's turtles. Amazing. The second, and I've talked about this before and I've told them, when I was getting into pinball, I took a little break and came back during COVID, I was on my way to get my first booster shot and I was listening to a pinball podcast called Just another pinball podcast. Like, oh, what is this? Just some guy talking. How weird. And it was Joel. Joel Engelberth talking about his TMNT, his love for it. And actually, I think that episode was talking about how his art and his playfield was, the screen print was bad and he comes from a printing background and knew about it. Anyway, he kept me company. Thanks Joel on the way to get my first immunization shot for COVID Remember that shit We do because it fucking coming back And it you know hearing about it hearing about his enthusiasm Justin Garwekkemn藤田당뼈김יץ� m thirds,,ć.kie ng SNWX 딷쥙춘 데�standing有一 Mobil 지원 half 약간 이�답 pandemia If you're ever in Eau Claire and the question is which pizza should I get, it's Pizza Del Rey. Pizza Del Rey. They, even when I was in high school, used to have pinball machines and they still have one or two. They don't, it's not really a scene anymore like it used to be, but they had a Turtles. I went and played a Turtles and immediately loved the light show, loved the, like, okay, you know, I played the game, 50 cents, it kicked my ass and okay, I like that it's difficult. A couple things I liked about it. I didn't play it a ton I had a lot of fun. And I knew that it was in the like low six high fives. I'm talking dollar wise, $6,559 when I was buying it a couple years ago. Searched for it, found it, whatever, got in the house. And I, after a couple games, like, I don't think I like this game. The thing I didn't like about it was the third flipper shot, the inner loop, the third ramp, you know what I mean, the warp ramp shot on the left. I could not find the timing of it. And it was by far, by far the fastest game on my house. I'm like, I gotta sell this. I don't want this. I don't want anything to do with it. Theme wise, I wanted it to be there. I wanted to love it. I like difficult games. I wanted to be like, nah, it's just difficult. I love difficult games and Ghostbusters and Walking Dead. I love that shit. This one couldn't get me over the finish line. Something about it, probably mainly that third ramp, third flipper shot that is so crucial to the game. It's part of like all the modes. This is a production ofhibbit.com. And that's my favorite. Two favorite things are Krang bouncing up and down and the light show. Love them. But for $6,000 to watch a brain in a machine bounce up and down and get some epilepsy in my eyes, I think I have better ways to spend my money. But even though it's on my list, that doesn't mean it won't happen because this has been a game that I've like, oh, I might, I might, I might do it. The Valley Company, Subsidiary of Walter Kidde & Co., Inc., Mirco Playfields, Tim Tim Kitzrow, Scott Danesi. The For a lot of people that like the premium better with the Comic Art Pro would be the best combination, but the Comic Art Pro is chef's kiss. The Translight is so awesome in Star Wars and 80s and so good. Both the sides of the cabinet incredible, the front of the cabinet so good. You put the art blades on there with the Playfield. And why I got the Comic Art Pro is I don't mind the Hyperloop space thing, I'm not saying the big wire form, but I love the art on Star Wars. Who doesn't love Star Wars? But if you love Star Wars, you love it. And the art on the Comical Pro, I don't like it. It distracted me that it's always like covering so much. And I like the horseshoe shots on both on the Pro. I love the speed of it. I love that it, you know, the consistent shot of the Death Star on the Pro. I love that every time I hit it, it's going to register. Every time. One of the premiums I had, I could backhand the Death Star shot and it was great. You know, it would even have enough power to hit it. The other one, not a chance. And tinkering with the screws and up and down, no thanks. So one, I like the Hyperloop removed for a visual aspect. I like to see the playfield. Two, I like the loops speed better, the horseshoes, so why would I get a premium? If they made a Pro with an Exploring Death Star, great, that'd be perfect. So I'm just not a huge fan of the premium. I'm not the pro, but after a little while, I was like, you know, this game just fucking sucks. I love Star Wars, and I like hard games, but it just, I never played it after a week. Every time I walk by, I'm like, this is the most gorgeous game, and I want nothing to do with it. The physics of the TIE fighter, dunk, dunk, dunk, just terrible. I mean, when half the time you're plunging and it drains and it's compensates for that ball save, but you do it two or three times like, all right, all right. And then you just feel like it's jank. And the way it drains sometimes it's just jank. The pop bumpers, they sound jank. You know, for those who know the pop bumpers, they sound different in that game. Either they're all firing at once. Something doesn't sound great about them. My orbits, hitting the left orbit at average or fast, any fast speed in that game is normal, would make the ball whip around to the right side, come back and drain down the middle every time. Every time. So, like rescuing Leia, I would save that shot for the last and then I would hit it and it would drain. I bent the metal, I leveled it. Like little flaws like that are somewhat unforgivable and not having the force in it. My least favorite thing about Star Wars is that once it's reminding you to keep the multiplier going to that like it's stressful to keep the multiplier going you have to hit the most annoying shot in the game, easiest shot mind you, but the most annoying because once it You hit it, it's going to go somewhere you don't want it to go. To keep your points going up, you have to keep hitting that. And I don't find that fun. It's like the reverse of wasting your time. No, you have to hit this. You have to hit this if you want that score. I want to progress, but even to progress in that game, I have to deal with messed up, well, messed up physics, I would say, just design faults, just under utilizing a theme Don't forget to give the album plus year and it connects with Beginner تفضل الفيرette & podcasts at seg疫 رر!!!.com professorunes you. End of the first Star Wars? Those aren't what people go to Star Wars for. Some, at surface level, like big bombastic, you know, nah, it's about the force and the mysticism of it, the philosophy of it, the... yeah, I think it should have been that. But I think hope is not lost of... They have... They. Stern has a great relationship with Disney. Star Wars, Ahsoka has done pretty well. Maybe not Obi-Wan, but man, the end of Obi-Wan, I think that fight between him and Vader is fantastic. I... I think they need to do another Star Wars. Please, but do... I mean, Mandalorian, it's a pretty great game. But like, don't go niche, don't do an Ahsoka game, do a new Star Wars game. Again, call it Star Wars if you like. Well, we've had Star Wars trilogy. But tackle, I'd almost say the prequels. Episode one is a pretty cool game. But make a re- come out swing and make a Revenge of the Sith pinball machine, please. Or make remake Star Wars or make an Empire Strike Back or Return of the Jedi. Just or if you want to do a meme, make a Last Jedi machine and just like, you know, have that feels bad man meme on the back glass and just like charge 10 grand for it. I'll buy it and make the game just well, make it great to make up for the horrible movie that is the Last Jedi. Well, thank you for listening to me talk about five games I will not own again, and we will see if I stay true to that. I hope everyone has fun at Expo. I'm looking forward to all the news, the reveals. Sorry I can't be there, but at the same time, I'm happy to be going where I'm going. I'll catch up with some of you when you get back. Go listen to the Electric Batcast with Cale and Rachel. Stay tuned, I think we might be getting the band back together a couple things soon. We'll see. Wait and see. Anyways, have a great weekend. Enjoy pinball. See you later.

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: ce066b35-df8d-4c28-acb9-ef14330ed896*