Triple Drain Pinball Podcast Ep 12: RUSH Is Here With Loserkid

TL;DR

Triple Drain discusses Rush pinball reveal with Loser Kid, focusing on band involvement and theme integration.

Summary

Key Claims

• Rush LE machines are selling faster than Godzilla and Ninja Turtles, with first couple production runs nearly sold out

  high confidence · Travis citing distributor feedback: 'the first couple of runs are pretty much all but sold out if you're looking for a premium or an LE'

• Rush pinball marketing exceeded 100,000 YouTube views within 24 hours, surpassing Guns N' Roses' annual view count

  medium confidence · Travis: 'it took all of about 24 hours for them to eclipse what GNR's release was for the past year now'

• The 20-song track list was curated by Getty Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Ed Robertson of Bare Naked Ladies, with 15 songs unanimously selected

  high confidence · Josh referencing Stern Insider: 'they all did 20, and they had 15 of the same ones'

• Raymond Davidson, #1 ranked player and Rush coder, confirmed the game 'shoots really well'

  high confidence · Scott: 'he said it shoots really well so i was excited to see in fact that it does shoot very well'

• Rush layout is similar to X-Men but includes coding by tournament players Tim Sexson and Raymond Davidson to ensure balanced gameplay

  high confidence · Scott discussing layout similarities and coder selection

• Rush has 19 studio albums plus a retro album (Replay), each with distinct visual styles and art direction

  high confidence · Scott: 'they have 19 studio albums and they have one, which is it's like a it's called Replay. It's a retro album'

• La Via Estrangiato (the instrumental track) consists of 12 parts, originally intended as a single continuous recording before being split into three parts

  medium confidence · Scott: 'there are 12 parts to it...they actually wanted to record it in one take from start to finish, but they were finally convinced to break it up into three parts'

• Rush retained complete ownership of their music rights independently, unlike Led Zeppelin with fragmented rights across multiple holders

  high confidence · Scott: 'they're pretty independent so they own all their rights they haven't sold any of it off to anyone'

Notable Quotes

• “This is the greatest game ever made.”

  Scott (Loser Kid) @ Early discussion — Opening statement establishing enthusiast perspective on Rush machine

• “The fact is it's selling. And I know that Stern, as far as I know, the first couple of runs are pretty much all but sold out if you're looking for a premium or an LE.”

  Travis @ Mid-episode market discussion — Market demand confirmation from distributor network contacts

• “La Via Estrangiato is completely made up. That's why I can't pronounce it.”

  Travis (joking about song title) @ Song selection discussion — Reveals the made-up nature of instrumental track name

• “I want to see more of this. I want to see the band involved in their own pinball machine because it brings an extra depth to it.”

  Scott @ Design philosophy discussion — Advocates for direct band involvement as design philosophy

• “If you look at it it's very similar to X-Men...I never connected with it...however...it shoots really well so I was excited.”

  Scott @ Gameplay analysis — Addresses layout concern and resolves based on coder expertise

• “You're wasting more time on hoops than when you are creating a great product.”

  Scott @ Licensing discussion — Commentary on licensing complexity impacting game development

• “They chose the right ones. And it sounds like Ed won on Levi Estrangiato, which is an instrumental.”

  Josh @ Track selection discussion — Credits Ed Robertson's influence on final song selection

• “I was nervous because most people have commented and appropriately so that this is a very similar layout to X-Men.”

  Scott @ Pre-reveal concerns — Expresses gameplay concern resolved by reveal

Entities

Signals

• ?

  business_signal: Stern's Rush production appears capacity-constrained with first couple production runs nearly sold out immediately post-reveal. Travis reports dealers struggling to source LE units at MSRP.

  high · Travis: 'if you can find an LE, especially for MSRP, like good on you, because it's these are just flying' and 'first couple of runs are pretty much all but sold out'

• ?

  community_signal: Canadian pride driving incremental demand for Rush machine; multiple Canadian content creators (Craig Bobby, Mike with Pinballers) enthusiastically adopted game, with possibility of Canadian distributor inventory depletion.

  medium · Joel: 'I feel like there's some Canadian pride behind this' and discussion of Canadian distributor demand

• ?

  competitive_signal: Rush pinball designed with input from #1 ranked player (Raymond Davidson) and other tournament players to ensure competitive depth and makeable shot variety; three unrevealed wizard modes suggest significant rules complexity.

  high · Scott confirms Raymond Davidson's involvement; Joel notes no wizard modes reached during reveal stream despite extended play time

• ?

  design_philosophy: Playfield layout similarity to X-Men initially concerned Scott (prior X-Men owner), resolved by confirmation that tournament-level coders (Raymond Davidson, Tim Sexson) balanced gameplay to avoid repetitive shot sequences.

  high · Scott: 'i immediately recognized x-men...i was nervous...however...he said it shoots really well so i was excited'

• ?

  design_philosophy: Rush game demonstrates artist/band involvement as differentiator in game quality and theme authenticity. Direct band participation (Getty Lee, Alex Lifeson, Ed Robertson) ensured appropriate song selection and visual asset integration spanning 19 albums.