# My Venom Pinball First Impressions

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2023-07-19  
**Duration:** 10m 40s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DqIwSIIJQY

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## Analysis

Carrie Hardy gives first impressions of Stern's newly released Venom pinball machine, focusing on layout analysis, Pro vs. Premium tier differentiation, and art direction. She criticizes the heavily edited reveal trailer (60+ cuts in 108 seconds) for obscuring how the game actually plays, and notes that the Premium tier's exclusive mechs (Doppelgänger, moving scoop, repositioning mech) are the only elements that make the game mechanically interesting compared to a standard fan layout Pro. Hardy expresses cautious skepticism pending actual gameplay experience, contrasting her measured reaction to her initial enthusiasm for Foo Fighters.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Venom reveal trailer contains over 60 cuts in a 108-second video — _Hardy counted the cuts while analyzing trailer editing; specific comparison to Foo Fighters trailer which had better continuous footage_
- [HIGH] Pro model of Venom has no physical changes when selecting different symbiote hosts; Premium/LE models get physically repositioning mechs that change playfield layout — _Hardy explicitly explains the host-selection mechanic difference: Pro only changes code/scoring, Premium/LE change physical mech positions_
- [HIGH] Venom Premium features a Doppelgänger mech (called 'doppeldangler') that Hardy has never seen in a pinball game before — _Direct statement about unfamiliar mech type and expression of curiosity about its durability_
- [MEDIUM] Venom's playfield is heavily saturated with color and may be the most colorful game Zombie Yeti has designed — _Hardy notes high color saturation on playfield but acknowledges video post-processing may exaggerate; credits Zombie Yeti's design philosophy of making games 'stick out in a lineup'_
- [HIGH] Pro model is designed for location operators with fewer mechs for easier maintenance and reliability — _Hardy explains Stern's standard design philosophy: 'less mechs makes for easier maintenance and increases the chances of that game working 100% for the customers'_

### Notable Quotes

> "choose your host change your game if you own a premium that is because if you own a pro you ain't changing shit"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, 0:00-0:05
> _Encapsulates the core mechanical differentiator between Pro and Premium tiers on Venom_

> "if you watch the game trailer of verbatim there are over 60 different cuts that had been done in the editing process for this one minute and eight second video"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~1:30
> _Hardy's main criticism of Stern's reveal marketing approach; excessive editing obscures how game actually plays_

> "the only thing that really makes this game interesting and unique is for the premium because that where you getting the doppelganger or the doppeldangler mech"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~5:00
> _Direct statement of value proposition; Premium tier justification based on exclusive mech innovation_

> "the pro is just another fan layout stern with the venom theme over it"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~8:30
> _Damning characterization of Pro tier as generic; implies lack of mechanical novelty_

> "as of right now i do not have the excited and giddy feeling i had for foo fighters whenever it was first revealed"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~11:00
> _Explicit sentiment contrast; cautious wait-and-see approach to Venom vs. prior enthusiasm_

> "Yeti always says that he wants these games to be something that sticks out in a lineup"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~7:30
> _Attribution of Zombie Yeti's stated design philosophy on color saturation and visual distinctiveness_

> "i'm not dissing the art jeremy you did great i'm just saying that this is the first package that you've done that i've looked at and been like whoa that's a lot"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~7:45
> _Acknowledges artist Jeremy's work quality while noting sensory overload from color/detail density_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Carrie Hardy | person | YouTube pinball content creator and streamer providing early gameplay impressions and critical analysis |
| Venom | game | Stern Pinball's Marvel-themed pinball machine; recently released; available in Pro, Premium, and LE tiers |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Venom; Hardy discusses their design philosophy, tiering strategy, and marketing approach |
| Zombie Yeti | person | Head of Stern Pinball art department; noted for colorful, visually distinctive game designs |
| Jeremy | person | Artist credited on Venom playfield artwork; Hardy compliments their work while noting visual saturation |
| Foo Fighters | game | Recent Stern pinball release used as comparison point for reveal trailer editing quality and Hardy's initial excitement level |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | game | Referenced as precedent for host/character selection mechanic that changes only code/scoring, not physical layout |
| Dead Flip | organization | Streaming platform hosting Hardy's Venom stream scheduled for July 19th |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pro vs. Premium/LE tier differentiation on Venom, Marketing/trailer editing as barrier to understanding gameplay, Host selection mechanic and mechanical novelty, Playfield art direction and color saturation choices
- **Secondary:** Location operator vs. home collector machine design considerations, Stern's design philosophy on visual distinctiveness
- **Mentioned:** Plunger technique and physical gameplay mechanics

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.35) — Hardy expresses cautious skepticism and measured interest rather than enthusiasm. She acknowledges quality artwork and recognizes Premium's mechanical value, but criticizes Pro tier as generic, notes visual overload, and contrasts her muted response to prior excitement for Foo Fighters. Sentiment is suspended pending actual gameplay experience.

### Signals

- **[product_concern]** Hardy expresses concern that Venom's playfield is visually oversaturated with 'a lot of color...a lot of inserts there's a lot of characters...a lot of everything' concentrated in back third, creating sensory overload (confidence: medium) — 'when you're looking down at that play field it's a lot to take in there's a lot going on...it's a lot of nuts there's a lot of everything' and acknowledgment video saturation may be artificially enhanced
- **[design_philosophy]** Zombie Yeti's stated design philosophy is to make games visually distinctive and 'stick out in a lineup' through vibrant color choices; Venom may represent peak expression of this approach with multiple sources noting high saturation (confidence: high) — Hardy attributes to Zombie Yeti: 'Yeti always says that he wants these games to be something that sticks out in a lineup' and notes Venom 'might be the most colorful game that zombie yeti has done to date'
- **[market_signal]** Stern's Venom reveal trailer uses excessive editing (60+ cuts in 108 seconds) that obscures actual gameplay flow and playfield routing, making it difficult for community to assess game quality (confidence: high) — Hardy counted cuts and directly criticized editing approach: 'they're doing the post editing adding saturation to the video' and 'there are over 60 different cuts...there's so many cuts and this is something that really aggravates me'
- **[product_strategy]** Venom's Pro/Premium/LE tier strategy explicitly differentiates by exclusive moving mechs on Premium/LE that physically reposition based on host selection, while Pro tier locks to single playfield layout regardless of host choice (confidence: high) — Hardy's detailed explanation: 'if you get a premium or the le you choose your host that's going to physically change the layout of the game those mechs will move accordingly to different positions' vs. Pro 'you're not going to get any physical changes'
- **[product_concern]** Hardy characterizes Venom Pro tier as lacking mechanical innovation and differentiation: 'the pro is just another fan layout stern with the venom theme over it...nothing different that we haven seen before' (confidence: high) — Direct statement comparing Pro to Premium: 'your premium is going to have all of that while your pro is just another fan layout stern with the venom theme over it'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Hardy's measured, wait-and-see response to Venom contrasts sharply with her initial excitement for Foo Fighters reveal, signaling lower community enthusiasm baseline for this release (confidence: medium) — 'as of right now i do not have the excited and giddy feeling i had for foo fighters whenever it was first revealed...this is going to be one of those games where it's definitely i'm gonna wait and see'

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## Transcript

 choose your host change your game if you own a premium that is because if you own a pro you ain't changing shit what's up guys and welcome back to my channel where i talk and do everything pinball now as you're more than likely well aware stern revealed and released their latest title venom and i did a about a two hour stream today and uh going over my sort of thoughts and opinions on it but it was merely me learning the game the same time a lot of you were learning the game as well when it comes to layout and what it looks like and all that so now that i've had a little bit more time to muster over it look through the videos and get a better idea i wanted to give my initial first impressions of what i think about the game before we get our first stream which should be tomorrow july 19th via dead flip so as of right now i'm going to tell you this due to the nature of the layout on this game because it's a fan layout pretty standard i feel like it's going to be highly dependent on what the code is going to allow us to do because there's nothing fancy about the layout nothing original doesn't we don't really know how well it flows due to the the way they put these trailers and videos together you don't really get a good a great idea how the game plays because there's so many cuts and this is something that really aggravates me and i had to look at some videos on this but if you watch the game trailer of verbatim there are over 60 different cuts that had been done in the editing process for this one minute and eight second video now out of curiosity i decided to look at foo fighters granted it's about the same not a drastic difference but the difference between the two games and game trailers is that how it was filmed and edited on foo fighters you had a much better idea of how the game shot they had some better footage to show you how the ball travels along the playfield versus what we're seeing on venom i'm pretty sure a lot of you could agree when you watch the minute and eight second clip that they showed us from the very beginning to reveal their game i was kind of like going what did i just watch because it was just so much so quickly that it was a little bit difficult to process that might just be the old me kicking in though maybe i gotten to that age now to where things just need to be slowed down so that might be what it is but looking at the game i think a little bit of the contributor for so much is that there is a lot of color on this game this might be the most colorful game that zombie yeti has done to date all i know is that when i'm looking at the art the play field and as it's going through it seems highly saturated now whether that be due to the editing process done in the when they're doing the post editing adding saturation to the video very possible so it may not be as saturated in person but that's yet to be seen all we've got to go by is these these videos that they're showing us so who knows but all i know is that when you're looking down at that play field it's a lot to take in there's a lot going on there's a lot of inserts there's a lot of characters there's a lot of color that's a lot of nuts there's a lot of everything especially since there's so much of a canvas right there in front of you because everything that you're going to be shooting at aside from the two side stand-up targets is in that back third and a fan i do feel at this time that the pro is definitely going to be stripped down in comparison to the premium you're missing quite a few good sized mechs that really change the way the game plays especially since one of the main themes for this game is to choose your host change the game technically that only bodes well for those that got the premium in the le that's the only physical change that's going to take place for you on the pro sorry on the pro you're not going to get any physical changes so no matter who you choose the play field is going to play the same if you get a premium or the le you choose your host that's going to physically change the layout of the game those mechs will move accordingly to different positions you're going to get a different and i think a better experience now versus the pro the only thing that's going to change is of course like it did on teenage mutant ninja turtles when it comes to choosing what turtle you want to play as this one you choose which type of symbiote you want to play as it's going to change the scoring and perks and stuff like that that's what's going to be changing is merely the code nothing physical So when I feel what makes this game interesting the only thing that really makes this game interesting and unique is for the premium Because that where you getting the doppelganger or the doppeldangler mech that comes out that I don think I ever seen in a game before I'm kind of curious how well that's going to hold up. You've got the other mech that basically has three different positions. that's what really changes the way the game plays as well as the ramp that goes up and down to the right of that scoop so then you also have an extra there's just so much more in the premium versus your pro and i think that the pro as they always do design the pros to be for location pins less mechs makes for easier maintenance and increases the chances of that game working 100% for the customers out there. So, take it for what it's worth. Do you want mainly just the Venom theme with a fan layout with nothing fancy? Or do you want to go with the premium where you actually get the full experience and something different than any other pro that Stern has to offer? And of course, with the Venom theme. The wife just came in and screwed up my role that I was on for talking about this game, so I really don't know where I left off. So I may have to just re-record this entire session right here when it comes to what you're getting on your pro versus your premium. There's just a couple of hardcore facts that some of you are just going to have to deal with here. And that is, one, the game is definitely very bright and colorful. And that is on purpose because Yeti always says that he wants these games to be something that sticks out in a lineup. if you're going to like a pub or whatever an arcade and John Youssi a row of pinball machines he wants his games to stick out i guess the only downside to that is that every game that the arcade has if they're going to be zombietti games then technically they're all going to stand out or would they technically all blend in since they're all the same and just so we're clear i'm not dissing the art jeremy you did great i'm just saying that this is the first package that you've done that i've looked at and been like whoa that's a lot you've done a lot of work on this machine it's crazy but the premium has all the innovative parts in it the pro doesn have any innovations nothing different that we haven seen before or experienced before your premium is going to have all of that while your pro is just another fan layout stern with the venom theme over it now again this is before i've seen how it plays i that's it's difficult for me to get a good idea of how it plays due to the kind of videos that they put out for us to view so i will definitely putting up a post stream video maybe tomorrow night maybe not we'll have to see how things go on my schedule so as of right now these are just the thoughts that are going through my head with this game all i know is that as of right now i do not have the excited and giddy feeling i had for foo fighters whenever it was first revealed so this is going to be one of those games where it's definitely i'm gonna wait and see i want to see how it plays to really get a good idea if the game's gonna be any good and we should get that tomorrow should be a good crowd let me know what's your thoughts about venom are in the comment section down below so as much as i would love to go through the videos like you know step by step to 25 speed it's it's it's gonna be relevant in a matter of a few hours due to the stream but there's one thing that really stuck out to me and i don't know why but i wanted to get you guys opinion on this as well it's the method at which the person playing this venom machine pulls the plunger i have never seen someone pull a plunger like this and for one thing to go along with it the editor felt like they had to put a cut right here to do a quick little zoom out. We'll just add that to another cut out of the other 60 that we've done. But aside from that, I've just never done the whole pull the plunger back. That's a strange, I've got to try that. That's just weird. I don't know. Is it me? Am I the only one? have you guys ever pulled up do you what i mean it's hard for me to explain how i pull a plunger let's just use i got i got a phillips head screwdriver right here the typical way that i would pull the plunger this is gonna be weird i don't know i feel like i should i just pull it back like that and then let go i mean that method right there am i strange am i weird

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: dd8f4bf2-2d33-4e07-aefe-5c463c023085*