# A Major Pinball Upgrade Coming SOON!

**Source:** RetroRalph  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2022-12-28  
**Duration:** 6m 32s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAmL8t3AuQA

---

## Analysis

Jon (RetroRalph) visits Castles and Coasters in Phoenix to document arcade modernization efforts led by Cole. The venue is installing new Stern pinball machines (007, Deadpool, with Jurassic Park and Avengers Infinity Quest arriving mid-January 2025), joining Stern Connect/Army by mid-January. The facility is also acquiring VR Agent (attendant-less VR experience from Sega), modernizing with new Midway redemption games, and planning a 60-foot wall expansion with mini bowling and multi-player claw games throughout 2025.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Castles and Coasters will have Stern Connect integration and join Stern Army by mid-January 2025 — _Cole states machines are currently installed but 'Mid-January 2025 they'll be all hooked up' and 'they're not Stern Connected yet, but they're all installed with Stern'_
- [HIGH] Jurassic Park and Avengers Infinity Quest pinball machines are due to arrive at Castles and Coasters around mid-January 2025 — _Cole explicitly states 'We have two more on the way too. We have Jurassic Park and The Avengers Infinity Quest that are due to be here around mid-January as well'_
- [HIGH] Castles and Coasters has ordered a VR Agent game from Sega — _Cole confirms attendance at Amusement Pinball Expo in Vegas and states 'So yes, actually I went with Cole to that—the Amusement Pinball Expo in Vegas, and him and I were both super giddy about that game' and mentions 'gun mounted to the goggles'_
- [HIGH] VR Agent is an attendant-less VR experience with gun mounted to goggles suitable for all age groups — _Cole describes it as 'kind of this attendant-less VR experience' with 'the gun mounted to the goggles, so any age group can play it because you're literally holding the gun to your head'_
- [HIGH] Castles and Coasters is knocking out a 60-foot wall where offices were located to add new games — _Cole states 'We actually have a big 60-foot wall where we had some offices that's going to be knocked out. A whole new row of Midway games are coming in'_

### Notable Quotes

> "Mid-January 2025 they'll be all hooked up. But yeah, they have the new 007 one that just came out not that long ago. They have a Deadpool, which is awesome. It's got a shaker motor installed, so it's super fun. We have two more on the way too. We have Jurassic Park and The Avengers Infinity Quest that are due to be here around mid-January as well."
> — **Cole**, ~3:20
> _Confirms specific pinball machine arrivals and timeline for Stern Connect integration_

> "It's kind of this attendant-less VR experience because that's kind of the big thing with VR. It's like, you know, you can have it, but if you have to have an attendant, it's kind of more of a nuisance than anything else."
> — **Cole**, ~6:30
> _Explains design philosophy of VR Agent addressing operator pain points_

> "We actually have a big 60-foot wall where we had some offices that's going to be knocked out. A whole new row of Midway games are coming in. Things like Break the Plate, Ring-O-Rama, Bowler Roller."
> — **Cole**, ~8:00
> _Details significant venue expansion and game acquisition plans_

> "We've been in the Valley for over 40 years, so, you know, definitely don't want to lose that nostalgia."
> — **Cole**, ~4:45
> _Emphasizes venue's heritage and balance between modernization and preserving classic appeal_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Castles and Coasters | company | Arcade and amusement venue in Phoenix area undergoing modernization with new Stern pinball machines and game expansions |
| Cole | person | Manager/operator at Castles and Coasters, appears in Chasing Nostalgia episode 4, coordinating venue modernization and game acquisition strategy |
| Jon | person | Host of RetroRalph/Tee'd Off channel, visiting Castles and Coasters to document arcade modernization |
| Stern Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer providing machines and Stern Connect network integration for Castles and Coasters |
| Stern Army | organization | Stern Pinball's tournament and community network that Castles and Coasters is joining mid-January 2025 |
| Stern Connect | product | Stern's networked score tracking and tournament integration system being deployed at Castles and Coasters by mid-January 2025 |
| Chasing Nostalgia | company | Content series featuring Cole, episode 4 filmed at Castles and Coasters |
| Amusement Pinball Expo | event | Vegas-based trade show where Cole attended and discovered VR Agent game |
| Sega | company | Manufacturer of VR Agent attendant-less VR arcade experience |
| VR Agent | product | Attendant-less VR arcade game from Sega with gun mounted to goggles, on order for Castles and Coasters |
| Jurassic Park | game | Stern pinball machine arriving at Castles and Coasters mid-January 2025 |
| Avengers Infinity Quest | game | Stern pinball machine arriving at Castles and Coasters mid-January 2025 |
| 007 | game | Stern pinball machine currently installed at Castles and Coasters |
| Deadpool | game | Stern pinball machine currently installed at Castles and Coasters with shaker motor |
| Midway | company | Manufacturer of redemption and arcade games being installed during Castles and Coasters expansion |
| Break the Plate | product | Midway redemption game being added to Castles and Coasters |
| Ring-O-Rama | product | Midway game being added to Castles and Coasters |
| Bowler Roller | product | Midway game being added to Castles and Coasters |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Venue modernization and expansion, Stern Pinball machine acquisitions and Stern Army integration, VR arcade technology adoption
- **Secondary:** Phoenix area arcade landscape and venue strategy, Retro game preservation and modernization balance, Arcade industry evolution and game trends
- **Mentioned:** Multi-game claw and skill-based game innovations, Mini bowling/duck pin bowling emerging trends

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Both speakers express enthusiasm about venue modernization, new game additions, and industry innovations. Cole demonstrates commitment to evolving the venue while preserving heritage. Jon expresses excitement about covering modern arcade trends. No criticism or negative sentiment detected.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Castles and Coasters expanding venue footprint with 60-foot wall removal, adding Midway redemption games, VR arcade, and mini bowling experiences throughout 2025 (confidence: high) — Cole describes specific expansion plans including office conversion to game space, new game categories, and VR equipment ordering
- **[community_signal]** Castles and Coasters joining Stern Army tournament infrastructure, positioning venue as competitive pinball destination in north Phoenix area where options are limited (confidence: high) — Cole states 'we're going to be part of the Stern Army' and machine hookup enables tournament participation and score recording
- **[market_signal]** Content creator (RetroRalph) intentionally shifting coverage to modern arcade trends and emerging technologies beyond traditional pinball, recognizing industry evolution (confidence: medium) — Jon states 'this coming year on the channel, I want to cover more of the modern stuff' and acknowledges 'arcades never really died. They just changed a bit'
- **[market_signal]** Arizona arcade venue prioritizing fresh game rotation and seasonal updates to maintain player engagement and repeat visitation (confidence: medium) — Cole states 'We always want to keep it fresh' and visitor messaging encourages feedback on game selection
- **[announcement]** Stern Pinball machines (007, Deadpool, Jurassic Park, Avengers Infinity Quest) announced for Castles and Coasters with Stern Connect/Army integration by mid-January 2025 (confidence: high) — Cole explicitly confirms machine arrivals and timeline for Stern Connect hookup
- **[technology_signal]** Emergence of attendant-less VR arcade experiences (VR Agent) as significant operator trend, addressing previous pain points with VR requiring staff supervision (confidence: high) — Cole explicitly discusses 'attendant-less VR experience' as 'kind of the big thing with VR' and explains gun-mounted goggles design enables all-age unsupervised play

---

## Transcript

 Hey guys, welcome back to the channel. I'm here at Castles and Coasters with Cole from Chasing Nostalgia episode 4. So Cole, a lot of stuff's changed. I just walked in, I saw there's like a whole open wall over there and I'm noticing less pinball machines, but there's like some cool new ones. So what's going on? So here at Castles, basically what we're trying to do is modernize. We still want to keep some of our old, but also interject some of the new. As you can see, we got a whole new lineup of Stern Pinball. All are going to be on Stern Connect. Nice. So we're going to be part of the Stern Army. So representing kind of that mid to north section of the valley here where you can come in, play Stern, record your scores, get on the tournaments and things like that. So we really have strong plans to get some of the new stuff in here. We also have a lot of our retros that are going to be redone as well. We partnered up with a company that's going to reproduce some of those titles that we have here. So not quite going to lose it, but we're going to get some new stuff put in. nice so keeping up with that old and also interjecting some of the new one of the things that if you're out here in the phoenix area they're really there aren't that many pinball destinations up this part of the valley it's like most of them are kind of down south tempe mesa area yeah so that'll be cool so that way you can come into castles and coasters you'll have they're not stern connected yet but they're all installed with stern mid-january 2023. they'll be all hooked up but yeah they have the new 007 one that just came out not that long ago they have a deadpool which is awesome. It's got a shaker motor installed, so it's super fun. We have two more on the way too. We have Jurassic Park and Avengers Infinity Quest that are due to be here around mid-January as well. Sweet Which is the Jurassic Park Pro It a pro Okay cool Yeah so Castle Coast is going to be a nice destination location for someone looking to play some of the newer starring games and I think the plan is to kind of keep it fresh from here going forward, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely keeping it fresh. We want to keep up with a lot of the new games. If you guys have suggestions, email us, you know, let us know. But we always want to keep it fresh, but also true to what we are. We've been in the Valley for over 40 years, so, you know, definitely don't want to lose that nostalgia. Yeah, yeah, and if you go downstairs like something that I find really interesting is you know The downstairs area has got all like the modern. Yeah all the new ones The redemption games the raw thrills a lot of our drivers are gonna be in the mid pit area and you guys are gonna get This one this is kind of a setup I'm super excited for this game you guys are gonna get the VR agent from Sega right you have a VR agent on order So yes, actually I went with Cole to that was the amusement expo Yeah, the Amusement Expo in Vegas, and him and I were both super giddy about that game. It's kind of this attendant-less VR experience because that's kind of the big thing with VR. It's like, you know, you can have it, but if you have to have an attendant, it's kind of more of a nuisance than anything else. It becomes troublesome with all the extra features. So what's great about this one is it's the gun mounted to the goggles, so any age group can play it because you're literally holding the gun to your head so you can kind of play. Sega really figured it out nicely. Yeah, so that's going to be cool. so you know I'm gonna be coming back to check that out. Yeah, we're gonna have to pry them off of it. You better call me as soon as that comes in. Oh, you'll be our first one on it. Our first one on it. So yeah, so that's cool. It's cool to see that you guys are starting to modernize a bit. And then I think you were saying you were gonna do some cool you have some ideas for Yeah there will be some remodeling that gonna be happening We actually have a big 60 wall where we had some offices that going to be knocked out A whole new row of Midway games are coming in Things like Break the Plate, Ring-O-Rama, Bowler Roller. So we've got some different ones that we're playing with. Whatever we can fit, we're going to fit. Sweet. We might even be looking at some mini bowling. Oh, really? That could be cool, yeah. Like the duck pin, but like the... Yeah, it'll be the smaller row. Do you know the term duck pin bowling? It was big in the East Coast to do duck pin bowling. So what it was is you'd have full-size bowling alley, but the balls are small. Well, yeah, this will have a micro-size bowling. This has smaller pins. They're kind of on like a string system, so that's what pulls them back up and resets. I don't know why that term. It'll be a smaller alley, but it'll basically, yeah, you'll feel like a giant kind of playing it as an adult. Well, that's cool for a kid, right? It'll be fun. You'll have a little bit of everything in here, everything from bowling, retro games, new and modern games. We've got some new claw games coming. one of which is a six-person claw game. So it's got six stations all around it. You're going in with claws all at the same time to get the same thing. So it'll be a lot of fun. So look to Castles to be modernizing throughout 2023. Nice. So I think the reason why that's so appealing to me is this coming year on the channel, I want to cover more of the modern stuff. Like, obviously, like, arcades never really died. They just changed a bit in the games, the type of games they make. Yeah, they just transform, yeah. Yeah, so I want to make sure that we cover some of those things and bring some of those things to light because there's some great games out there, like VR Agent. Absolutely. As the industry shifts, some games are traditional, but there a big push for virtual reality too and that be featured here Anyways that kind of it Cole I don have anything else but we should just go play some but let just go play some pinball yeah let go play some pinball all right cool thanks dude oh i came out the car did John Youssi that no Dude you got a free game! That's the hard one because I feel like it shoots as well. Dang it. I need to hit that blue ramp again. But, ball added. Damn, this is freaking badass right now. I don't know what my deal was. Oh, what's my show? I don't know. I don't know. Thank you.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: f8249508-90bb-4fbc-8eec-712fb89cac91*