Kaneda's Pinball Podcast LIVE REACTION to seeing Star Wars for the first time.

TL;DR

Kaneda's first Star Wars reaction: underwhelmed by art, scale, and $13k pricing.

Summary

Key Claims

• The AT-AT toy is too small and mechanically illogical—the shot should loop around its legs to tie them up, not loop over the head

  high confidence · Direct observation of game footage; Kaneda critiques design logic and scale of the AT-AT mechanic

• Star Wars playfield art looks cheap and doesn't justify the $13,000 Limited Edition price point

  high confidence · Kaneda's repeated criticism: 'It just doesn't look like a $13,000 game' and 'seems too cheap looking'

• Harry Potter and Evil Dead (Spooky) look more visually impressive and expensive than Star Wars despite similar or lower price points

  high confidence · Direct comparison: 'after Harry Potter and how beautiful that game looks, what Spooky's putting into Evil Dead, I think these Stern machines are looking like they're not looking expensive enough'

• Star Wars LE would be more appealing at $8,500 instead of current pricing

  medium confidence · Kaneda's speculation: 'I think at $8,500 that LE, we would look at it differently'

• The licensing prevented use of the full Star Wars theme song—only a 'weird version' was included

  medium confidence · Kaneda's observation: 'I feel like the licensing—they didn't have the theme song. It was like a weird version of it'

• Text dialogue is being cut off on the display screen and should show full-screen scrolling

  high confidence · Kaneda observes text clipping in gameplay video: 'I don't like the text is cut off. It should be full screen when it's scrolling'

• Heads (Vader, Stormtroopers) look like 'shooter rod handles just dropped in' without bodies

  high confidence · Direct visual critique of playfield design elements

Notable Quotes

• “It just doesn't look like a $13,000 game.”

  Kaneda @ ~15:30 — Central criticism anchoring his overall negative reaction to pricing vs. visual quality

• “It's too small. It's too small. It's too small... Why are you looping it? Why is it looping around above it, Johnny?”

  Kaneda @ ~8:00 — Core mechanical/design critique of AT-AT feature; questions game design logic

• “The art is pretty bad, gang.”

  Kaneda @ ~18:00 — Direct assessment of playfield artwork quality

• “I just after Harry Potter and how beautiful that game looks, what Spooky's putting into Evil Dead, I think these Stern machines are looking like they're not looking expensive enough for the amount of money they're charging.”

  Kaneda @ ~16:00 — Competitive positioning criticism; raises question about Stern's visual presentation vs. competitors

• “There just didn't seem like there was anything magical happening.”

  Kaneda @ ~17:30 — Overall emotional response to game presentation; lack of excitement factor

• “Not feeling the hype. Star Wars. I want to go home, mommy.”

  Kaneda @ ~5:00 — Expresses exhaustion and lack of excitement despite IP magnitude

• “It seems very—it seems too cheap looking.”

  Kaneda @ ~16:00 — Value perception critique

Entities

Signals

• ~

  sentiment_shift: Kaneda's negative reaction aligns with community commentary; multiple negative comments already appearing in live chat before detailed analysis

  medium · 'People are already saying all their negative comments' and 'first live reaction of Star Wars is exactly the commentary I've been hearing'

• ?

  competitive_signal: Stern's visual presentation and craftsmanship perceived as falling behind Spooky (Evil Dead) and competitors on premium releases despite comparable or higher pricing

  high · 'after Harry Potter and how beautiful that game looks, what Spooky's putting into Evil Dead, I think these Stern machines are looking like they're not looking expensive enough for the amount of money they're charging'

• ?

  design_philosophy: Multiple mechanical design choices criticized as incoherent: head elements appearing as disembodied shooter rod handles, scale inconsistency throughout playfield, ball save art showing literal pinball which feels lazy

  high · 'Vader and the Stormtrooper heads look like shooter rod handles just dropped in. Just bodyless.' and 'why didn't they just leave that—like why, why not have Yoda like—it looks like a picture of a pinball'

• ?

  design_philosophy: AT-AT toy scale and shot logic criticized as mechanically illogical and undersized; design doesn't match thematic expectation from Empire Strikes Back scene

  high · Kaneda's detailed critique of AT-AT mechanic: 'It's too small... Why are you not going around its legs? It should have been bigger... Why are you looping it?'

• ?

  licensing_signal: Star Wars theme song not fully utilized in promotional materials—only a 'weird version' of John Williams' iconic score presented

Topics

Sentiment

negative(0.25)— Kaneda expresses significant disappointment with Star Wars across multiple dimensions: visual presentation, mechanical design, art quality, pricing, and overall wow factor. While acknowledging the game 'seems okay,' he does not recommend the Limited Edition and criticizes it unfavorably compared to competitor releases. His tone is frustrated and unconvinced.