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Hosts discuss emoji guessing game, indie pinball game, Golden State Fest, and community highlights.
Golden State Pinball Festival runs May 15-17, 2026 at Lodi Grape Festival grounds in Lodi, California
high confidence · Erika and Manu discuss event dates, location, and specifics about the festival
Pinball Capital arcade in Stone Park, Illinois has over 130 pinball machines and charges $20 for all-day play
high confidence · Erika reads details from the venue's information, mentions it's Illinois's largest pinball-centric arcade
Roger Sharp recreated his famous shot at the opening of Pinball Capital in Stone Park, Illinois
high confidence · Erika describes seeing it across multiple Instagram posts and confirms Roger Sharp was there to 'bless the establishment'
A Pinball Game That Makes You Mad was released November 18th, 2025 by Azimuth Studios and costs $9.99
high confidence · Manu provides specific release date and price information, both confirm playing the game
Golden State Pinball Festival pricing is $60 for three-day pass, $45 for two-day, with day-of rates of $30 for Saturday and $20 for Friday
medium confidence · Erika cites pricing but notes she should verify, directs listeners to goldenstatepinball.org
A sci-fi comic is being developed exploring an alternate universe where Roger Sharp's pinball shot failed and aliens invaded
medium confidence · Erika describes finding the comic on Reddit, being connected to the creator, and facilitating potential contact with Roger Sharp
Erika's Instagram post asking followers to identify favorite pinball machines with emojis received 346 comments
high confidence · Erika states the number of comments and notes it was her most active post
Manu has two sons working in pinball industry—one at Stern and one at Play Mechanics/Rothrils
medium confidence · Erika mentions Zach Sharpe as Manu's son working at Stern; unclear if both sons are confirmed
“They stopped work. They saw this post. They stopped working at work and went, 'Oh, okay. Let me put like, what am I going to put?'”
Erika@ 1:25 — Highlights the viral engagement of Erika's Instagram emoji guessing game about favorite pinball machines
“If Roger Sharp didn't make that shot, you and I wouldn't be friends.”
Manu@ 25:59 — Emphasizes the historical importance of Roger Sharp's famous pinball shot in defending the game's legality
“Sat on the plane, almost wanted to jump out of the plane. I was raging. Flames, flames outside of my head.”
Erika@ 10:31 — Describes the frustrating experience of playing A Pinball Game That Makes You Mad
“It's a sci-fi fantasy comic that explores the idea of a world where Lagardia's pinball ban was never lifted.”
Comic creator (cited by Erika)@ 28:33 — Description of the alternate-history pinball comic concept
“It's our local show. It's hard not to want to go and people are like camping out there.”
Manu@ 21:55 — Describes the passionate community engagement at Golden State Pinball Festival
“Just bought this my first game. And then it gets like hella up votes. So many comments.”
Erika@ 23:14 — Describes the supportive Reddit pinball community culture around first machine purchases
community_signal: Erika's Instagram emoji guessing game about favorite pinball machines generated 346 comments, described as her most active post, indicating high community engagement with creative pinball content
high · Erika states: 'Got 346 comments... That is the most active post. I swear you had people stop work.'
venue_signal: Pinball Capital arcade opened in Stone Park, Illinois with 130+ machines, positioning itself as Illinois's largest pinball-centric arcade with $20 all-day play pricing
high · Erika: 'They have just started the pinball capital in Stone Park, Illinois. It's Illinois's largest pinball centric arcade. They have over 130 pinball machines.'
event_signal: Golden State Pinball Festival 2026 features multiple California arcade operators and museum vendors (Pinball Museum Alameda, TJ Pinball Pirate, Flipper House, The Flipper Room, Lynn's Arcade) bringing machines; layout emphasizes community games in center with vendors on edges
high · Manu describes: 'There's a lot of um representation of all the different groups of California... very different from Texas Pinball Festival where you have like a vendor here, a vendor there'
content_signal: Pinball Minority Report podcast launched as April Fool's joke but continuing with bi-weekly episodes; Manu created outlet for Erika's creative pinball content and storytelling
medium · Manu: 'I needed to give Erica another outlet for creativity because I was tired of sitting in the car with her and she tells me 27,000 different cool things'
product_launch: A Pinball Game That Makes You Mad by Azimuth Studios launched November 18, 2025 on Steam for $9.99; features pinball mechanics (flippers, pop bumpers) with roguelike/frustration-based gameplay and commentary voice-over
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“This is just like the whole community coming together bringing games.”
Manu@ 20:14 — Describes the community-driven format of Golden State Pinball Festival
high · Manu: 'It was released November 18th, 2025... It cost at the time that I bought it. It was $9.99... It's available on Steam'
community_signal: Reddit pinball community characterized by enthusiastic responses to first-time machine purchases, with posts receiving high upvotes and comments asking about next purchases; supportive, casual tone
medium · Erika: 'One of my favorite things about Pinball Reddit is that people will share stories of buying their first game... it gets like hella up votes'
historical_signal: Roger Sharp's famous shot that proved pinball was a game of skill (not gambling) in court is being culturally revisited through alternate-history comic exploring what would have happened if he missed
high · Erika: 'Roger Sharp was uh brought into court to defend Pinball's right not to be a gambling game... he called a shot and he got the shot'
rumor_hype: Erika is in early stages of building a homebrew pinball machine with her son Skyler; Manu involved in developing digital assets, music, and sound effects for a matrix-based homebrew project
medium · Erika: 'I'm in the infancy of building a homebrew'... Manu: 'I helped create the virtual and create all the all the assets, add digital stuff and the music and the sound effect'
content_signal: Game Grumps (millions of YouTube followers) featured A Pinball Game That Makes You Mad, exposing the indie title to mainstream gaming audience
medium · Erika: 'Thanks to Stephven Bowen, uh he posted something about a pinball game that makes you mad... I then I then was curious and I watched this video from this thing called like Game Grumps... they have like quite a few followers'
event_signal: Golden State Pinball Festival 2026 raffle includes donated machines (Foo Fighters, Halloween); Halloween machine donated in memory of Rob Anthony, longtime vendor at show
high · Erika: 'There's Foo Fighters you can win if you enter the raffle on Saturday... Halloween, which um very graciously is being donated in memory of Rob Rob Anthony'
historical_signal: Sci-fi comic being developed explores alternate universe where Roger Sharp's shot failed and aliens invaded; creator seeking Roger Sharp's blessing for project; Erika facilitated connection
medium · Erika: 'It's a sci-fi fantasy comic that explores the idea of a world where Lagardia's pinball ban was never lifted... he wanted to get in touch with Roger Sharp and I was like I will get you in... it happened'