# The Walking Dead Pinball with Brandon and Greg! - Straight Down the Middle - 7/25/2017 **Source:** Straight Down the Middle **Type:** video **Published:** 2017-07-26 **Duration:** 3m 11s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3mwLx0Po7o --- ## Analysis Straight Down the Middle's first Twitch stream features hosts Jon and Zach Sharpe with guest Chris Brandon ('Waspinator') playing The Walking Dead Pinball at Brandon's house. The stream showcases the learning curve of newer pinball players, discussing basic mechanics like tilt sensitivity and game restart functions while attempting various modes and strategies on the machine. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Chris Brandon will stream Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8pm for SDTM — _Jon speaking about Chris Brandon's streaming schedule commitment_ - [HIGH] Jon plans to upgrade internet and stream at least one night per week starting around August 1st — _Jon announcing his own streaming plans for SDTM_ - [HIGH] Chris Brandon originally wanted to stream Star Wars Pinball but switched to The Walking Dead — _Jon explaining the machine selection: 'we were supposed to stream Star Wars. But Chris Brandon then the itch and said, fuck Star Wars, it's not the game for me, so we now Walking Dead'_ - [HIGH] Chris Brandon was experiencing excessive tilt sensitivity when first playing The Walking Dead — _Jon describing Brandon's tilting issues and unfamiliarity with tilt adjustment_ - [HIGH] Zach Sharpe didn't know you could hold the start button to restart a game in Ghostbusters — _Jon recounting learning experience: 'he didn't know that you could hold the start button and restart a game'_ ### Notable Quotes > "fuck Star Wars, it's not the game for me, so we now Walking Dead" > — **Chris Brandon (relayed by Jon)**, early in stream > _Explains why they switched from Star Wars to The Walking Dead for this stream session_ > "we wanted to showcase somebody the trials and tribulations of pinball... when he [would play] this machine, because we were supposed to stream Star Wars" > — **Jon**, early in stream > _Clarifies the educational intent of featuring Chris Brandon as a newer player experiencing learning curves_ > "we're always learning something new" > — **Jon**, mid-stream > _Reflects SDTM's philosophy of ongoing education and beginner-friendly content_ > "Basically... Beat the hell out of a machine and drain. And drink some beer." > — **Jon (quoting their approach)**, mid-stream > _Humorously describes the casual, fun-focused approach to the stream rather than competitive play_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Straight Down The Middle | organization | Pinball streaming channel and content creator; conducting their first Twitch stream | | Jon | person | Co-host of Straight Down The Middle; organizing and commentating the stream | | Zach Sharpe | person | Co-host of Straight Down The Middle; newer to pinball hobby | | Chris Brandon | person | Guest player known as 'Waspinator'; newer pinball player; will stream Tuesdays/Wednesdays for SDTM | | The Walking Dead Pinball | game | Game being played on this stream; Stern-produced machine | | Star Wars Pinball | game | Originally planned game for this stream; Chris Brandon decided against it | | Ghostbusters Pinball | game | Referenced as machine where Zach Sharpe learned about start button restart mechanic | | Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of The Walking Dead and referenced games | ### Topics - **Primary:** Beginner/newer player education, Streaming format and community building, Basic pinball mechanics (tilt sensitivity, game restart), The Walking Dead Pinball gameplay - **Secondary:** SDTM content strategy and expansion ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Upbeat, enthusiastic tone about launching streaming platform; supportive of new players; casual, fun-focused atmosphere; minor frustration with Star Wars choice but quickly resolved ### Signals - **[community_signal]** SDTM launching first Twitch stream with dedicated streaming schedule (Chris Brandon Tues/Wed 8pm, Jon planning nightly streams starting August 1st) (confidence: high) — Jon announcing streaming schedules and Chris Brandon joining as streamer - **[community_signal]** SDTM positioning beginner-friendly content as core value proposition, showcasing learning curve and mechanical education (confidence: high) — Jon emphasizing desire to 'showcase somebody the trials and tribulations of pinball' and discussing basic mechanics with newer players - **[event_signal]** SDTM's debut Twitch stream represents platform expansion for pinball content creator; marks infrastructure investment in streaming capability (confidence: high) — Jon noting this is 'our very first twitch stream for SDTM' and bringing on Chris Brandon specifically for streaming expertise --- ## Transcript He loans up for people, but... Yeah. I'll get my house. You can do this one. Yeah, we're live. Ed Boon! Make sure I got it in. Yep, we're good to play. Good to go. Hey, what's up guys? man this is our uh our very first twitch stream for sdpm i'm over here at brandon's uh house mr waspinator um man we brought brandon on board to help us stream me and zach didn't have a clue what we were doing with uh streaming so you know we brought brandon on brandon's pretty new to how about how we been playing brandon uh physical physical yeah that'd be our A month and a half in a pinball, man. And you'll see, like, for you who aren't familiar with Waspin, you'll see, man, he's a pretty damn good player already. But, you know, we wanted to bring somebody on because me and Zach, we started off in this hobby new. We started the show fairly new and everything. So, man, we wanted to showcase somebody the trials and tribulations of pinball. Like, not to bust Brandon's balls, but when he got this machine, because we were supposed to stream Star Wars. But Brandon then got the itch and said, fuck Star Wars, it's not the game for me, so we now got this Walking Dead. So he got the Walking Dead brought it in and he was messing around with the machine It kept tilting on him So he was like man is this particular machine is it a little is it sensitive is it sensitive and uh he didn really know about the tilt bob and stuff too much like he knew it was there but he didn't know about adjusting it and stuff so like like we want everybody to see those trials and tribulations of back when we were like when we were newbies man i've got plenty of those yeah well and hell Me and Zach, I'll bust Zach's balls. I don't have any problem with that. Zach didn't know, like I was talking to him about, because since we've been in that competition for Ghostbusters, he didn't know that you could hold the start button and restart a game. Like if you were on ball one or ball two or anything else, if you push the start button and hold it, it'll restart a game. So, you know, we're always learning something new. So Brandon's going to be streaming Tuesdays and Wednesday nights at 8 o'clock for SDTM. And then as soon as I get my internet upgraded and everything, it should be about August 1st. I'm going to be up streaming at least a night a week or probably more. So we'll let you know about that. So tonight, what are we doing? Do you want to walk us through a little bit of stuff? Just a little bit. What are we going to go for? What's our challenge? What are we going to do tonight? Drain a whole bunch. That's one thing we're going to do. Beat the hell out of a machine and drain. Basically. And drink some beer. And drink a lot of beer. I mean, so basically, really, the only thing I really go for when I start playing is I'll go for one of these drop targets, knock down all three of these drop targets to start a mode, whether it be any of these six, you know, Barn, CDC, Riot, Tunnel, Arena. I'll go for one of those, and then I'll just flip around, you know, because, again, I'm not super... _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: dfe5361e-c01a-4f03-bf6c-a0ef976f4994*