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SDTM Episode 93: Alice Cooper Pinball Machine Review

Straight Down the Middle·video·44m 2s·analyzed·May 27, 2019
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

SDTM reviews Alice Cooper: Nightmare Castle, praising design improvements and art while debating designer Charlie Emery's standing.

Summary

Straight Down the Middle hosts review Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle from Spooky Pinball, praising its art direction, layout improvements by designer Charlie Emery, code quality, toys/gimmicks, and music/callouts. They discuss community feedback about tight shots, debate Emery's design credentials relative to industry legends, and highlight technical achievements in lighting and sound. The episode includes housekeeping segments on the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show, Back Alley Creations' Easy Sliders product, and Brian Harry Allen's limited custom Monster Bash backglass artwork.

Key Claims

  • Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle was in production for a long time before release

    medium confidence · Jon and Greg (SDTM hosts) discussing the game's development timeline

  • Charlie Emery designed Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle and serves as CEO/President of Spooky Pinball

    high confidence · Jon explicitly states: 'Charlie Emery is the one who designed this game. He's the CEO and the President of Spooky Pinball.'

  • The game's music comes from Alice Cooper himself and his greatest hits, with Piggy D involved

    high confidence · Jon: 'The music comes from Alice Cooper himself. Some of his greatest hits. As well as Piggy D, I think, helped with...'

  • Charlie Emery has shown significant improvement as a designer compared to previous Spooky Pinball games

    high confidence · Jon: 'I think Charlie has improved. I agree. I think that greatly improved.' Greg: 'Because America's Most Haunted was what it was. Rob Zombie's Spookshow International, still just the shots.'

  • The game features notable shots including a left orbit shot that is 'better than the orbit shot on Houdini Master of Mystery'

    medium confidence · Jon: 'This left orbit. The left orbit shot on this is better than the orbit shot on Houdini Master of Mystery. It is smooth, man.'

  • Brian Harry Allen has the license to create alternate backglass artwork for Monster Bash

    high confidence · Jon: 'He has the license or the go-ahead to do an alternate back glass for Monster Bash. A lot of people have seen this at the Texas Pinball Festival.'

  • Brian Harry Allen's custom Monster Bash backglass is limited to 125 units priced at $225

    high confidence · Jon: 'They're $225... There's only 125 ever. Ever. You're going to get a limited edition number on that.'

  • Matt Scott Danesi worked on lights and sound for Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle

    high confidence · Jon: 'Matt Scott Danesi, he helped out with the lights and sound as well.'

Notable Quotes

  • “This left orbit. The left orbit shot on this is better than the orbit shot on Houdini Master of Mystery. It is smooth, man.”

    Jon (SDTM host)@ 18:16 — Strong endorsement of the game's playfield design, comparing favorably to a critically acclaimed classic

  • “I would rather shoot an Alice Cooper than I would a Lost World than I would a Lethal Weapon 3 than I would a Deadpool than I would a Star Wars all day long. It's that addictive. It's fun.”

    Jon (SDTM host)@ 20:21 — Enthusiastic comparison placing Alice Cooper's shots above several modern and classic titles

  • “Charlie, look, buddy. I think you're up there with everybody else now. I think he there I think he there... Charlie Emory with this layout this design that he did for Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle, to me, is now in the leagues of John Borg... Joe Balser.”

    Jon (SDTM host)@ 17:51 — Jon elevates Charlie Emery's design credentials to legendary designer status, representing significant reputation boost

  • “I now feel like for Spooky Pinball, I want him designing another game. And I, I'm going to be honest, I wouldn't have said that before.”

    Greg (SDTM host)@ 22:11 — Greg reverses previous skepticism of Emery, indicating the game changed community/media perception

  • “Spooky Pinball has back glasses. That was a good one... The composition in that back glass might be one of the nicest in pinball.”

    Jon (SDTM host)@ 13:37 — Recognition that Spooky Pinball consistently delivers high-quality backglass artwork

  • “The colors are more unique than any other LEDs or anything you've ever seen 'in there' or similar interjection this. Like, something's different. That's the programming.”

Entities

Alice Cooper's Nightmare CastlegameSpooky PinballcompanyCharlie EmerypersonDavid Van ZornpersonJeff ZornowpersonDavid FausmapersonMatt Scott DanesipersonBrian Harry AllenpersonMatt ReisterpersonBack Alley Creationscompany

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Hosts highlighting and promoting community vendors (Back Alley Creations, Brian Harry Allen) through podcast segments and sponsorships

    high · Extended segments on Easy Sliders product and custom backglass artwork with direct purchase information and vendor praise

  • ?

    community_signal: Hosts provide dedicated airtime and promotion for community figures (Matt Scott Danesi, Brian Harry Allen, Matt Reister) with personal endorsements of character and quality

    high · Extended praise: 'Matt Scott Danesi is truly, everything you hear about Matt Scott Danesi is genuine and true... He's worth more than his credits.'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle demonstrates iterative design improvement, with Charlie Emery addressing previous criticisms of America's Most Haunted and Rob Zombie's Spookshow International

    high · Greg: 'I think Charlie has improved... Because America's Most Haunted was what it was... This was more traditional... I think he took the criticism. I think he's learned a lot.'

  • ?

    event_signal: Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show confirmed for May 31-June 2 in Greater Tacoma; hosts acknowledge promotional requests but note budget constraints for travel

    high · Jon describes event dates and location; Greg notes: 'We're always asked to go to these shows, but then nobody wants to pay us to go.'

  • $

    market_signal: Brian Harry Allen's custom Monster Bash backglass priced at $225 for limited 125-unit run; hosts frame this as more exclusive than typical 500-unit LEs, suggesting differentiation strategy

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.132

0:00
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0:27
Let's kick this shit. I'm sorry. Hey guys, welcome to Straight Down the Middle of Pinball Show, another episode. We're in the 90s. Dude, we're getting close to 100. 100 episodes. We should celebrate 100 episodes. We're going to do something big. A big party or something. We always say that, but I'm going to be asleep. Yeah.
1:54
You'll back out the day before. Yeah. Then I'll be stuck with catering and everything else. Greg will be passed out on his couch. So, Greg, what are we doing today? We've got some housekeeping, but what are we doing? Tell the people. We are going, and I'm actually excited about this. I am super excited. This has been a long time in the making, guys. Long time in the making. In the making. Well, it came out, this pen, that we're going to review. And it was a long time in production, too, to try to get this thing rolling out of the factory doors. Very fitting of our review. Yeah. So, what is it? What are we going to review today for these people? Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle. By Spooky Pinball. Developed in 2018. Congratulations. By Charlie and the gang up there. How many came out in 2018?
2:39
A few. Like three. A few, maybe. But before we do that, we got some housekeeping. Yes, we did. Number one, John Peters, one of our fans, John Peters. Hey, what's up, John Peters? He was a winner of the sweepstakes. He won a free t-shirt. He was wanting us to help promote a really cool show up in the Northwest. Do you know what show that is, Greg? I have no idea. The Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show. You can find this at, I think it's nwpinballshow.com. It's up in Greater Tacoma. Oh, shit. So when you say, like, Northwest, you mean Northwest. It's all the way up there. I've heard really good things about this show. We were asked to go. I would love to travel to Washington. We were asked to go. Like, Oregon, all that out there. God, man. Here's the thing. You get that Pinot Noir, you get some fish. They got a lot of good fish up there. Wine and fish? Yeah, food is excellent up there. We're always asked to go to these shows, but then nobody wants to pay us to go. Oh. It's like, hey, what do you think? You think we're made out of money? We ain't got no money, man. This show goes on from May 31st to June 2nd, so it's like next weekend. You've got to make sure to catch us. Zombie Yeti did a really cool art package for this show, so if you can buy posters, make sure to do that but the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show definitely check that out. What else do we have? We want to show them a little something. Matt Reister at Back Alley Creations makes the coolest thing in the world. So this is super awesome. I've fallen in love with it. Go ahead. Yeah, I've fallen in love with it but I have not put it on yet. I do not know how it installs but so... It's like a couple screws. It's easy. It is super easy. They said they'd install it in like five minutes. So it's called Easy Sliders. Yeah. And these Easy Sliders you know like on all your new Stearns like you pull your play field out You go to push it back in. Yeah. What happens? You get a stoppage. It's like a, uh-oh. Stoppages.

  • Back Alley Creations produces 'Easy Sliders' that reduce friction when pulling and pushing Stern playfields, priced at $30

    high confidence · Jon: 'Matt Reister at Back Alley Creations makes the coolest thing in the world... It's called Easy Sliders... They're like $30.'

  • The Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show runs May 31st to June 2nd in Greater Tacoma, Washington

    high confidence · Jon: 'This show goes on from May 31st to June 2nd... It's up in Greater Tacoma.'

    • Greg (SDTM host)@ 27:54 — Praise for the lighting programming achieving unique color saturation effects beyond standard RGB

  • “There's only 125 ever. Ever. You're going to get a limited edition number on that. You know what's more limited than? What? 500 Limited Edition.”

    Jon (SDTM host)@ 7:26 — Commentary on limited edition scarcity and FOMO in pinball collecting, positioning 125 units as more exclusive than typical 500-unit LEs

  • “I love how Bowen or whoever did it said, once you complete it, you gotta hurry up to collect... sometimes I feel like, okay guys I've chopped Alice's head off a couple times let's get into another mode”

    Jon (SDTM host)@ 25:13 — Critique of repetitive mode structure and grinding mechanics in the code design

  • “Matt Scott Danesi is truly, everything you hear about Matt Scott Danesi is genuine and true... He's worth more than his credits.”

    Jon (SDTM host)@ 15:07 — Personal endorsement of Danesi's character and professional value in the community

  • “It's exactly what Spooky Pinball pinball should be. Fantastic job, guys.”

    Greg (SDTM host)@ 28:56 — Validation that the game meets Spooky Pinball's brand identity and quality standards

    • Northwest Pinball and Arcade Showevent
    Jonperson
    Gregperson
    Alice Cooperperson
    Piggy Dperson
    Houdini Master of Mysterygame
    John Borgperson
    Zach Sharpeperson
    Joe Balserperson
    Monster Bashgame
    Rob Zombie's Spookshow Internationalgame
    America's Most Hauntedgame
    Straight Down the Middleorganization
    Texas Pinball Festivalevent
    Deadpoolgame

    medium · Jon: 'They're $225... There's only 125 ever... You know what's more limited than? What? 500 Limited Edition.'

  • ?

    community_signal: Charlie Emery's design reputation appears to have significantly improved with Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle, reversing previous community skepticism

    high · Greg: 'I now feel like for Spooky Pinball, I want him designing another game. And I, I'm going to be honest, I wouldn't have said that before.' Jon elevates Emery to 'leagues of John Borg... Joe Balser.'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Back Alley Creations' Easy Sliders product addresses Stern playfield installation friction, priced at $30, addressing operational pain point

    high · Jon: 'You get a stoppage... This removes that heavy bump and it easily slides... They're like $30... We're going to do an install video.'

  • ?

    product_concern: Some community members criticize tight shot layout and playfield ergonomics; however, hosts defend the tightness and praise smoothness, suggesting design preferences vary by player skill level

    medium · Greg notes criticism: 'This game gets a little heat for being tight... some people say Charlie is maybe not the designer that they want to see on these Spooky Pinball games.' Jon counters the tightness is intentional and well-executed.

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Notable positive sentiment shift regarding Charlie Emery's design capabilities and future; hosts express willingness to support future Emery-designed games

    high · Greg's explicit reversal: 'I wouldn't have said that before... I would not be mad when the fourth game comes out and Charlie's designed it... I'm looking forward to it.'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Spooky Pinball's lighting implementation features unique color saturation and choreography distinguishing it from standard RGB LED systems, contributing to overall visual experience

    medium · Greg: 'The colors are more unique than any other LEDs... Something's different... The yellow is just a different yellow... It's just a different feeling yellow.'

    • 4:29
    Stoppages. Yeah! That's right. Yeah! You get a bumper over that thing. So what this does is it removes that heavy bump and it easily slides. That's right. So I'm actually super pumped about these because. We're going to do an install video. It'll be super quick. But, like, I really am excited about this. It's not one of those innovative, super awesome things because what I did was I saw a guy, and instead of pulling it, giving it a good ram, he'd go to the back, sort of pick it up. That's what I do, yeah. And I started doing that, but I literally lost a play field in the cabinet doing that. You do. Yeah, you've got to watch it because you'll get it catty-wampus there. Yes, because it's at such a weird angle. It happens. That's why I'm super excited about these. And they're cheap. They're like $30. They're not much, but a lot of people are replacing all their stern ones. They are freaking solid. You could smack your mom with that if you needed to. Don't smack him. Poor Bone, Miss Bone. Hopefully Miss Bone will call us today. You hurt her raunchy ass. Oh, I know I do. She needs a little. And the last thing, this is the thing I'm most excited about, right? So, Brian Allen. You ever heard of Brian Allen? He's a stupendous artist. I heard about him this one time. Oh, he's done some alien artwork, right? Yeah. He did all kinds of cool. Alien. Man, he, so what he's done is, I think he's, I don't know if he's partnered, but he got the license or the go-ahead to do an alternate back glass for Monster Bash. A lot of people have seen this at the Texas Pinball Festival. So who gave him this go-ahead? Do you know? I think the license holders of the, what's it called? The, maybe it's Planetary. Whoever owns the Bally Williams, right, Scott? You've got the rights to this back glass. And instead of the Translight, that's what we get on Monster Bash. We've got the most beautiful custom artwork for Monster Bash. I'm going to show it right here. Boom. I'm going to take a look at it. Oh, Greg. Look at it. Would you just look at it? Now, what do we love more than trans lights with good art? We love bag glasses with good art. But let me ask you this. So, this is something that obviously we could purchase. We have. We've got two on the way. Well, yeah. I didn't mean like technically us because we are buying them because I love art. They're limited, limited edition. Super limited. but you know what would be awesome is if Chicago Gaming actually did like a Brian Allen package to where you got an LE or something and you could go a little bit above and beyond and already have that back glass shipped. Pretty cool. I think it would be awesome because it sets it apart. It's that thing I think LE owners, especially on a remake and stuff that people are looking for. Even if you don't have Monster Bash, this thing behind light I don't have Monster Bash and I'm going to hang it up I'm going to light it up. Yes, I'm building a nice frame for it. You don't have to build his. They are, yes you will. You're a nice little crafty guy. I'm kind of crafty. They're $225 which when you're talking original art, back glass, saturated colors printed right onto the glass there, it's unbelievable. No trans-lite my friends. And it's limited too. There's only $125 ever. Ever. You're going to get a limited edition number on that. You know what's more limited than? What? 500 LEs. That's true. So you've got to check that out. Let them know that Straight Down the Middle sent you. And a little birdie told me, Greg, that this isn't the only one he's doing. I'm going to collect them. I think I'm going to start collecting them on the wall. And then if I get one of those games, I'd replace it. Because this looks better than the Monster Bash. Oh, it looks way better than the Monster Bash. I like Monster Bash Translight, but this actually looks, it's a little more updated. Greg, you want to get into the review of Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle? What do we need to do first?
    8:01
    We need to go to an overview. We're going to start here from left to right on the shot layout, starting with the scoop.
    8:12
    Moving over to the hurry-up target. Left orbit with the spinner. That's navigate through the rooms. Left ramp feeds you up to the Frankenstein monster or to the upper playfield.
    8:29
    Next shot over is an inner loop. That's your secret passage. it loops until you light up that passage and then there's a magnet that will grab the ball to start the mode then you have your mystery shot that feeds a subway back to the scoop, monster targets hit those to change through the monsters and then the two orbit shots will lock in that particular monster you want to play There's a Denise style lock, you can see that drop target, lock the ball in there, you can steal it, get a two ball multi ball pretty much any time. You can also drop in from the upper play field to lock or to start that two ball multi ball. You have the right ramp and right orbit. Looking at the upper playfield, get to the upper playfield with the left and right ramp. You can leave the upper playfield with that same left ramp, the right guillotine shot which comes down to a really cool corkscrew. It can fall down into the Denisi lock. Your multiplier rollovers left, exits down to the subway to the scoop right, down a wire form. And also up here you have a drop target that you have to bash a few times to lock ball two. with your vampire target in the back.
    10:17
    Extra ball target. And moving down to the lanes, spells out save. Once activated, you have a magnet between the flippers that'll grab the ball and throw it back onto the play field.
    10:38
    Chrome it, brass it, black nickel it, candy chrome it, powder coat it. The possibilities are endless at pinballplating.com.
    10:46
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    11:18
    All right, so before we get into all the categories, we know that Charlie Emery is the one who designed this game. He's the CEO and president of Spooky Pinball. We know that David Van Ness did the animation. We're going to talk about that a little bit. We know the music comes from Alice Cooper himself. Some of his greatest hits.
    11:37
    As well as Piggy D, I think, helped with... Sorry if that name is wrong. Software was done by David Fausma. Thank you. Fausma. Ah, Waka Waka. It's Fawzi. I know who Fozzie is. And Bo and Karen helped with the structure of the code set. We also have, who was it that did the artwork? Zorn and Zornow? I don't know what the artwork is. Jeff! Jeff Zornow did the artwork for it. So we're going to get into all that. So those are your creators, as well as a bunch of minions over there at Spooky Pinball that created Alice Cooper. So let's start with something that's near and dear to us. It's worth 10% of our weighted grade. It is art. Art. Oh. So what did you give the art? Okay, for me, art It's hard because we're swapped here For me, this pinball machine is beautiful I love it It's beautiful The cabinet There's not one part of this pinball machine art-wise that I don't like I agree I think the cabinet is beautiful The playfield is beautiful The back glass is beautiful The head decal is beautiful 100% All of it is beautiful He did a really good job Yes It's just unique I can't It's not just Can't put your finger on it, Grant? No, it's not characters. It's not just like a character thrown up there. It's a style. Yeah, it's a style. It's beautiful and it's very cohesive. Every color flows from play field to back glass to cabinet. Composition's good on them. Fantastic. We've got a big old skull bat right in the middle of the play field that you would think is like the weirdest image ever, but it works. It all works. It really does work. I like the cabinet too. The cabinet where you see Alice Cooper, the caricature of him, pressing the electrocution thing it's the flipper button and the big monster on the side yes 100% it is honestly I don't want to take anything away from anybody else that worked on it but the art is literally the art package is what a lot of games sells this game we've said it before the composition in that bang glass might be one of the nicest in pinball spooky does as bad as what Rob Zombie grew on me a bit but as bad as Rob Zombie was, Rob Zombie's back glass was still freaking amazing to me. I liked that back glass. I loved it. Now, America's Most Haunted. The cabinet on Rob Zombie looked a little muddled. Shit. A little watercolory. Which one? The side cabinet on Zombie. Oh, on Zombie. Yeah, the play field I didn't care for, but I'm just talking about back glass. Spooky does. Spooky has back glasses. That was a good one. Yeah. It was a fantastic one. It just came along. You even see Scott Denisey, who helped with, shout out to Scott Denisey, he helped out with the lights and sound as well. Yeah. As only Scott Denisey came, right? I love Scott Denisey. Oh. Like, I thought Scott Denisey was maybe just hyped. Oh, no. He was just a hyped guy. Yeah, right? You know, because things get hyped in pinball. He's worth more than his credits. Yeah, yeah. Like, and I met Scott, I'm like, Scott's not fake. I told everybody. I like him. I told everybody the story of me having a sore throat at MGC. Yeah. Him noticing it and coming up with lozenges for me. Because there's a lot of fake people in pinball you learn, especially when you get as deep as what we are. You know you might be it. There's a lot of fake, dare I say it, assholes who portray themselves as being gracious, kind, fellow pinballers. Let's not name those people. But they're assholes. And these people don't even know they're assholes. That's a sad thing. I think they know they're assholes. Do they? Yeah. But Scott Denisey is truly, everything you hear about Scott Denisey is genuine and true. I'm going to give Scott Denise an A. Yeah. How about that? I give Scott Denise an A+. But what I was going to say is he is even in mummified form, or not mummified, zombie form on the play field. It's so awesome. Right? By the lock shot, which is a tribute to the Denise lock right there because they kind of have that mechanism. All right. Art, I'm at an A, Greg. It is a solid A.
    15:33
    There's nothing wrong really to say about it. Whenever you walk up to it, you notice the art. You do. A as well. Oh, you're an A. Love it. Yeah, super sick, dude. All right. Let's go to shots and layout. Now, this game gets a little heat for being tight. Yes. Right? This game gets a little heat because some people say Charlie is maybe not the designer that they want to see on these spooky games. Look, I'm not surprising anybody by saying that. That's what people generally say. They say, okay, the America's Most Haunted ramp is the same as Rob Zombie ramp. They don't flow. They feel a little clunky. how do you feel about this layout? Are you asking me? Yeah, go ahead.
    16:17
    I think Charlie has improved. I agree. I think that greatly improved. I agree. Because America's Most Haunted was what it was. Rob Zombie, still just the shots. I mean, I don't think the shots were horrific, but they were chaotic. Yeah, something was off. This was more traditional, but they were super tight shots. my only problem now I went in a lot worse than you which is really oddly surprising usually you're the low baller in this oh you're just wrong I could be I went a C plus on this and the reason that I did is I don't mind tight shots I look at Twight like a tiger I like it I love Houdini obviously you don't those shots were tight but they felt good when you hit them this game they're tight but they don't always still feel super great and laid out like they should be per se don't listen to they're not mad i'm not mad at it what i'm saying is is that it just doesn't coupled with the tight shots it doesn't feel as good as houdini i can defend houdini a little bit more i feel but it doesn't feel as good when i make those shots now it's still fun to shoot i'm not mad at the game like you'll see i'm not mad at the game at all but i can see where some of the discouragement comes from okay is that fair no you're still gonna be mad i think it's completely fair it's just inaccurate uh so on this layout i'm at an a minus and you know why yeah because charlie emory with this layout this design that he did for alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle, to me, is now in the leagues of John Borg's. He's now in the leagues of. Yeah, Zach.
    18:06
    Like, I don't know if I'd go that far. He's right. He's in the leagues of Joe Balser. He's in the leagues. This is a fantastic game to shoot. I'm telling you what right now, Greg. This left orbit. The left orbit shot on this is better than the orbit shot on Houdini. It is smooth, man. It is smooth. The secret passage shot is like a little orbit. It's cool. I'm not taking it. Smooth. But you can't say Charlie is elevated to that level yet. I can. I'm saying Charlie is approved, and it's a good game, and I like it. I want it. I'm on the same page as you. I want this game. It's literally one of the number one pins on my radar that I want. I will agree with that. I think it's spectacular. Oh, I do too. Shooting one. I can't say that it's like the best shooter. I can. Why do people dislike monsters? You name a game right now. Name a game for me. Name it. What? Any game. Name it. Munsters. Shoots better.
    19:02
    Ten times better. Depends on what you're looking for. Ten times better. It depends on what you're looking for, Greg. Houdini.
    19:08
    It depends on what you're looking for. There are more smoother shots in Alice Cooper than there are in Houdini. I think there's just as many tight shots as Houdini. I agree. But these shots, I think, are smoother than Houdini. I do. I don't know if I'll argue because I haven't been so focused on the smoothness, but I think the Houdini shots, when you make them, they're more fun.
    19:30
    No, I don't know, man, because, look, there is diverters in this. There are scoops in this. You lose the ball on this, which is so fun. It shoots it out of the scoop. You've got a secret passage that's an orbit, but then sometimes it diverts into a scoop. Then you divert it up to an upper play field that has multiple shots. Well, I think there's some awesome shots. There's some awesome shots, but it doesn't make them feel good shots. I completely disagree. I think there's plenty of shots in this move. He packed the shots. The shots are packed. Here's what you did. You just created in Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle one of the – you don't have to – you're drinking beer off camera. You have created one of the most fun and satisfying back-to-back orbit shots in pinball. I promise you. When it goes – and you see lights and it comes back around and you hit it again and hit that orbit knowing that it's so tight.
    20:20
    I'm telling you, Greg. I would rather shoot an Alice Cooper than I would a Lost World than I would a Lethal Weapon 3 than I would a Deadpool than I would a Star Wars Pro all day long. It's that addictive. It's fun. When's the last time you knew someone on crack cocaine?
    20:37
    I'm not on crack. No, the reason... Here's the reason I didn't go in A+. I was not going to cuss this one, but I'm going to have Zerk Cousin. No, these people know. These people know my ratings. That's where it's at. if you're a good, good pinball player, you feel like you're playing a musical instrument to perfection whenever you get these shots down. The f***ing accordion. The only reason I gave it an A- instead of an A or an A+, was the three bank is not as fun. That's one of my favorite parts. The three bank. No, I'm just lying. That's not as fun. And I would have liked to have seen, with all of the diverters that you guys put spooky into this game, I would have loved to have seen a way that one of your ramp shots to divert and come right back to your flipper instead of going right up to that play field. I agree. Yeah. But the upper play field where you can go down the habit trail or you can go down the hole that locks your ball? Greg, boom. No, I'm not. What are you talking about? And maybe I should have gave it higher just for layout. Locking drop target? For shots, not layout. I guess I should have probably given it a little higher for shots and not layouts because I even like the little wire ramp totally. Absolutely. But it's hard to get that. Well, but it can fly off there and it's a little prone to problems.
    21:50
    Charlie, look, buddy. I think you're up there with everybody else now. I don't think he's up there. I think he there I think he there I not going to say he up there I think he is I think this game did it I think he knocking on the door He just waiting to get let in
    22:06
    Who's going to let him in? Steve Ritchie? What do you want? You only hold yourself back, Charlie. No, no. I think he's, not only is he up there, but I now feel like for Spooky Pinball, I want him designing another game. And I, I'm going to be honest, I wouldn't have said that before. No, no. I wouldn't have said that before. If this game would have been like Rob Zombie, I would have said, Charlie, you definitely need to go. But I think he took the criticism. I think he's learned a lot. I would not be mad when the fourth game comes out and Charlie's designed it. Nope. I won't be mad. I don't know if I'm looking forward to it. I'm still nervous. I'm looking forward to it. But I will not be dis... I'm not mad if he was. No. I think he will. He'll be a designer. So, so far, I'm right and you're wrong on that. What about rules and code? I went a little higher. I'm going to be B+. You want to be B+, I'm going to be. I love the navigating the castle. That's really cool. Yeah. And I love. What have we seen before like that? Nothing. Nope. And I love the modes. I love the squashing of the bugs. The Igor trying to find Igor? Yes. Where's he at? Is he in that scoop? Is he in that loop? Where's he at? The Dracula or whatever. The vampire. So much fun. It's awesome. Frankenstein mode. The multi-ball. Yeah. You got Alice Cooper that's chopping his head off. Yeah. Right? You're trying to go for the guillotine. They're very unique modes. It enables a lot of shots for the most part. A lot of clever little rules here, too. The save. Think about the outlane saves from the TNA. And not only does it save the magnet, which we'll talk about in Toys and Gimmicks, but really smart there. I think one of my favorite things about the code is the skill shot. Skill shot's really fun because upon the plunge, you come around. If you can hit, it's kind of the same shot as where Deadpool's katana is off the skill shot. and you can lock it in that Denise single Denise Nelox. What you do is you not only get your points for the skill shot, but you also quickly enable a mode to start. Instead of going through all the rooms, bam, you're ready for a mode to start. Right into a monster. I really like this. It feels really good. The code itself, a lot of fun. You've got two main multi-balls.
    24:10
    Here's why I'm at a B, though, instead of an A. Because this could have been an A. I think when you're going through that castle, sometimes it feels like you're grinding to get to a moat. Yes. Right? You're hitting a lot. You've got to go through a lot of rooms just to get to a moat. Yeah. And sometimes, for whatever reason, it feels like more than others. It just, sometimes you feel like you make it through there quick. Yeah. And other times, if you make a wrong turn or something, then it just, I don't know, it does seem to drag on forever. You're just hitting orbits. and the orbits are like the hardest shots in the game, especially that right orbit. That right orbit is just enough room for a ball. So you feel like I think you've got to hit them three times, the orbits, just to get to that. And sometimes I feel like the modes themselves, you're stuck in them. Yes. I feel like you're kind of stuck. You find Igor, but then you're looking for Igor the second time, the third time. Then you're getting your hurry-up super jackpot. There's some repetitiveness to it. So I like how Bowen or whoever did it said, once you complete it, you gotta hurry up to collect, I like that but sometimes I feel like, okay guys I've chopped Alice's head off a couple times let's get into another mode so that's why I'm at a B I can't believe how close we are very close maybe it's because we're right it's all about toys and innovation I want an A- I enjoy the guillotine I enjoy the ball locks I enjoy the little place you hit to switch your monster over I enjoy it I enjoy the Magna save You said that but yeah I'm in an A I like the little thing where you switch your monster What are you doing there? You can change your monster It did a little trump hands It's so terrible I'm never showing my hands on here again Don't be self conscious About your little fingers No reflection of what's in my pants I feel like you got into a brutal saw accident And they had to take your toes and sew them onto your hands. Same saw that took all your hair. You're like one digit short. You bald bastard. I'm a little thin up there. A little thin, my ass. I'm a little thin.
    26:19
    So when it comes to toys and innovation, you like the magnets. So cruel. What, your little finger? The only thing he worries about making fun of my hands is calling somebody a broke dick podcast. Oh. Too soon?
    26:38
    That's funny. Those guys are like, not funny, not funny. And then look, they text me at the same time.
    26:50
    Oh, my God. Inside joke. Sorry, guys. They love that. I'm in an A because it's fully loaded. It looks like a castle. You forgot to talk about the castle. It's a damn castle. The whole thing is a castle. Thank you, Matt. It's got little hideaway holes. Now, the Frankenstein, he's got this cool guy jacket on or vest on, but he's furry. He pops up. But it's cool that you don't always see him, too. It's kind of a rare thing. You're not always seeing him lift your balls. And I would say that we don't rate light show. No, but the light show is one of my favorites. You know what? Honestly, when I was doing this right now, I was like, do we not have a light show? Because I really want to rate the light show on this because I think it's fantastic. I think Scott Denise had his hand in that because it feels like a TNA at times. Oh, my God. When he goes into that weird yellow. Oh, yeah. That weird yellow is like a yellow that you've never seen. The Ethel mode is blue. Everything's really cold and blue. Oh, it's so. The colors that they. The jackpot shots with all the colors. Tell me if I'm wrong. You probably are. The colors are more unique than any other LEDs or anything you've ever seen in this. Like, something's different. That's the programming. Really? I think that's what some of these, especially the P-Rocks, like your American pinball, are trying to do. Because it's an insane... It's a choreography. It is an artwork. Oh, no, I'm not just talking about the way the lights come on. I'm talking about the actual color saturation. No, it's a bulb. RGB is an RGB is an RGB. Pretty sure. No, the yellow is just a different yellow. I know it should be, but do you not feel that it's just a different feeling yellow? Really? Yeah, I think it's... I guess I'm just maybe... Tell me if I'm wrong. Yeah, tell us. But no, left orbit spinner. I'm going to write Charlie about that. Left orbit spinner where the whole play field, where you get the colors everywhere. It's insane. And then whenever you're doing the save, it turns pink and it, and it throws back up great. The light show is seriously one of the most amazing. That was my vote for Twippy. I think, yeah. It was definitely my vote. I voted hands down. So innovation wise, it's just, it's what spooky pinball should be. I agree. This is exactly what spooky pinball should be. Fantastic job, guys. So toys and innovation, knocked it out of the park. Music and call-outs. Wow, buddy. What? Your score from music. I'm an A+. A+, where are you at? You can't get any better than that. Now, you let me tell you. I'm an A-. Now, there are better pens that still hold an A+, but they fall in the same A+. But what really throws this over the top is some of the songs are slightly, feel a little... They're pinball songs. They're a little droney and everything, but the freaking disco whatever the hell that is for the dress i am just giving it for that because i have never played pinball to a song that is more fantastic we're hyping this game because it's fun how dare we hype a pinball we hype the spooky yeah well you know why though it's because i sell them no burned all you haters uh we don't uh flipping out don't sell that's one of those peaks that people get mad about her mic we're absolutely that a plus so you like the disco song i love it now one of the critiques that we've heard in forums we've heard in media is alice cooper's um call outs i think they're fitting i do too i think they're fitting to me it's like uh like houdini's animations i still think that that's fitting i think that alice cooper's voice i think the call outs are fitting like they just fit he's not screaming no but that's not who he is. No, it just, no, it's, it's like this cool, mysterious, it fits it. It's not like a goose, like Rob Zombie.
    30:33
    It's just, it's, Alice Cooper is a, kind of a smooth, rock star. Like he's, it's, it fits him. I agree. For me, this has done what Metallica did for me. I didn't listen to the music, but now that I've played a lot of Alice Cooper, I like the music. I've listened to a lot of Alice. Like, Logan and My Nightmare, That's an awesome song. I've listened to a lot of Alice Cooper growing up, but this has some of the songs that I never messed with. The spinner sound. Whoever did that. Whoever did the spinner sound effect. The sound effects are fantastic. The screaming. It's good. I agree. It's good. What else do we got? Display and animations. Okay. Where are we going with this one? People like you. You're at a solid A. I'm at an A minus. A. I'm at an A minus. And you know what's nice is that it was cohesive with the art of the pinball machine.
    31:25
    I agree. It fits. That's a good observation there, Greg. That's my favorite word in pinball is cohesive. That's what I love about pinball. Integration and cohesion. The artwork on the back glass, on the LCD animation, does look like the artwork on the Play Store. It's fantastic. It's cool. I'm going to name mine. It's damn near perfection. It's almost like you feel, like I feel like it's like the opening of, like, Tales from the Crypt. Mm-hmm. like it's that cool colors look good beautiful and rich and it's like a comic book you see the page that's what i'm saying yeah super awesome dude the only reason i'm an a minus instead of an a plus this is nitpicky stuff it's dan it's like it could win twippy stuff easy but the only reason i'm in an a minus is because some of the images are more static they are but it's like a moving static but this is my problem is that you you get david van as you killed i think i i and i don't like to say this about my friends over at JJP, so I think that you have certain levels and I think Stern is sort of towards the bottom when it comes to animations of their CDs. No matter how good they are, it does not come close to what Alice Cooper did. I would say that changes for me if you stay tuned to an upcoming review for Stern on the Main. It still does not touch Alice Cooper. I know where you're going. It still does not touch Alice Cooper. And I dare I say that it's sort of you know I'm in limbo of where I would go with it versus something like Pirates and I love I love JP but this is so original and so beautiful You get characters It its own story within itself on those animations It's all original, to my knowledge. I don't know.
    33:11
    Tell us what you need to know. You've got the map right up there. You've got your points right up there. Everything you need to know is on the screen. It's done so in a very nice, cohesive manner. Just good animations. Theme.
    33:22
    Big Alice Cooper fan? No. Okay. But I like him. I gotcha. I like Alice Cooper again. I'm not a huge fan. I'm not one on buying records or anything. When this game was first announced, you said that as well. You said, I like Alice Cooper. He's not my favorite artist, but I like his music. I like the Nightmare Castle theme. There you go. I poo-pooed the whole Alice Cooper idea. You did. That was going to be one of my first new unboxes, and then the price went up a little bit, and I was like, you screwed me, $400.
    33:46
    It kicked me out of the price range. You're at a B+. But then, can I get into this right now? Go ahead, bud. So this is my only problem. This is what kind of kicked me from it too. From an A. Spookies can tend to be slightly problematic.
    34:02
    Theme? No, not theme. This is before theme. I know, but that's why I said, do I get into this now? We'll get into it at the closing. Son of a... Slightly problematic. You're slightly problematic.
    34:12
    That's kind of true. Theme, you're at a B+. I'm at a B. I think it's solid. Here's the thing. I like it. If it was for Alice Cooper, it would be a C to C- theme for me. This Nightmare Castle is what pulls it up to a B. because Alice Cooper really has nothing to do with the game except for he's perfect for the game. They couldn't have just done an unlicensed Nightmare Castle because he is the soundtrack and he is the gatekeeper, the MC. I am the gatekeeper. Yep, and it adds to it. It was the perfect combination. I am Keymaster.
    34:46
    I am Vince. Vince Clortho, Keymaster of Gozer. Vulcus Sildro, our lord of the Sebulia. Are you the gatekeeper? what was that Keymaster Ghostbusters I know the Keymaster and what Gatekeeper she's the Gatekeeper oh jeez man Sigourney Weaver what about Sigourney Weaver in that movie are you the Keymaster not that I know of I was never into her never thought she was you know I didn't either no I didn't think she was an alien you know where she really got me was Galaxy Quest nope Are you the key master?
    35:30
    Yes You know I think Sigourney Weaver looks better bald I think she's a very attractive bald woman Yeah You know who else could pull off bald? Spooky pinball Scott Denise's wife Sarah Rose Yeah Shaved her hair for the cause The cancer cause Yeah I don't know if I ever saw that Beautiful Hey well thank you Sarah She looks just as good bald as she does with hair There are some very beautiful bald women. Why are we talking about bald women? Sigourney Weaver. Alien. Why are we talking about Sigourney Weaver? When they're lice on the ship. Where did we get to Sigourney Weaver at, though?
    36:02
    Gatekeeper. Okay. I can trace it. I'm going to be... Sexy. I love that Alice Cooper is the emcee to this. It fits. The music fits. I like it. Okay. Last category, Mr. Bone. Most important on my end. Enjoyability. Yeah. I'll give it an A minus. My old friend did. I didn't know. Are you, like, practicing a role? Are you trying out for a... Didn't sound too bad, though, did it? A cockney. No. I'm in an A. Solid A. This is a very, very enjoyable pin. It's so much fun to shoot. The code is awesome. I love playing it. I want to own one. I want to keep playing it. I've said it for... We both actually said it for a long time. If you guys... If you're decent at pinball... The Cincinnati show is what sold me on it the most. We had a blast. We did. And playing it in a more quiet environment, we went to a collector's house and played it. I fell in love with it even more because I got the rich details of it. I'm not getting it at a loud show. I agree. But no, I'm in an A because I want this game. I do too. Don't listen to anybody. Here's the deal. If you guys hear anybody that says this game's a clunk fest, this game is boring, it's not true. And it can be a clunk. If you're a new player and you're not good at figuring shots out and you're not good at getting that trajectory, it can be tough for you. I can understand. I agree. To me, it's a Ghostbusters. It's a Houdini. It can be a little tough. I'm okay with that. But it's our favorite game. And it's not a bad game. That does not make it a bad game. It's still enjoyable. It's another one of those pins you have to give a chance, and you've got to put a little more time on than what you normally would. You've got to get time on it. Yeah. And I think because people hear such bad stuff, they go into it with a preconceived notion, and they don't give it that chance. I had to leave. I was playing at Rec Bar recently in Louisville, Kentucky, and I had to leave because I ran out of time hanging out there, and I left a couple credits on the game that I had won. So it's not that hard. I was winning free games, extra balls. I was, yeah. You're a master. Yeah, well, you know. The key master. Just call me GC, baby. GQ and GC. So I'm in an A. I think it's a very enjoyable pinball machine, and bravo. You shouldn't rate your pinball, man. No, please. So if we're looking at the cumulative scores, as a reminder, we have weighted. You know why I couldn't do this show without you? Why? Because I can't say that word very well. Cumulative? Yep. So I have to have you to say it. You can see the first three letters. The best of our scores. God.
    38:28
    It's f***ing wrong. Come later. No, so we're not doing that. That's all edited in. It's always. If you add our grades up, taking into consideration our weighted grades and percentages here. The most important of which are shots and layout rules and code and enjoyability. The least of which are music and callouts, display and animations. Pull it together, Greg. You ever just get things in your head that you're just like, I'd really like to do that right now? But you just know you can't. I'll tell you off camera. Don't do anything weird. It was something with weighted grades. Oh, okay. I just saw big... Never mind. No. Stop. In this time, in this age, please don't. I literally just wanted... I can't do things because he'll sneak in shit in our outtakes that I'm kind of... No, not me throwing salamis on screen. That I'm sort of not proud of doing, but I really want to do just for my friend. But then he'll put it on outtakes. It happens. I have to be careful now what I do.
    39:32
    Even though if I have an urge. What is your cumulative score for Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle? My cumulative score is B+. Oh, I'm so surprised Mr. Greg Bum with a B-plus coming in at three. .36 I don't even know how that I hit B pluses at this point the whole screen that people are seeing right now is B pluses but see I'll throw in the C and then I got all these A's and then it evens out and it becomes a B and I don't really have that many B's and sometimes I got a lot of B's I'm at a B plus as well Greg I'm a little bit higher than you I'm at a 3.61 I'm surprised for me this feels like an A pin I'm not going to lie it feels like an A pin double D it feels like an A but fell into the B plus Because it makes me want it. You know what's funny? You were telling me about the Charlie not being up in that echelon. Look at your people below. There's some big names. There are some big names. That's my point.
    40:28
    B-Plus is all around. You guys did a damn good job. You can pick one of these games up around $64.50. That's a hell of a price for what you get. For what you get nowadays. That's a hell of a price. That's a lot of game. They're still making this code thicker, deeper, more detailed. detailed, thicker and deeper and uncut.
    40:47
    God damn. That's how you like your coat, thick and deep there, Greg. Oh, boy. Uncut is what pushed it.
    41:01
    I wonder if Alice Cooper's uncut. Jesus. He probably was uncut. That puts my 36 to shame. Alright. What do these people need to know for if they're going to stick around for another show after this one? We think we've got a new artist for a new shirt. Oh, we may.
    41:26
    Speaking of artists, Brian Allen, you've got to buy the back glass. That's a cool one. We bought them. You're going to miss out because it's only making $125 and I know that way over half are sold. I think there's still some left. Literally, if you don't jump in now after this video, you're done. What else do people watch Chuck Wirt stream? Watch Chuck Wirt. Watch Cary Hardy. Oh, man. I still love Cary Hardy. He's good. Love Chuck. Those cliffhanger videos. Yeah. Cary is becoming a little cinematic genius of his own. He's good. He's having fun with them, and that's what's great. That's one of the things that attract us to Cary is he has fun. Yeah. I like it. He has fun. We have fun. I like it. Whether you like it or not, we have fun. If you want to buy one of these, I don't sell any at Flippin' Down Pinball. Kingpin. Chrissy Kingpin sells spooky pinballs. Oh, really? Yeah. I didn't know that at all. I didn't think they had to distribute it at all. He's actually their... Chris is their main lead. Oh, nice. Like, if you have a problem, you call in to Chris. Oh. Yeah. So, he's part of that... I'm from Chris, dude, because I'm telling you, it's a game that will grow on you. I'm not saying that it's a game that's going to knock your socks off. I don't even know if there's any left. I don't think they sold all 500. You're going to have to buy them used. Yeah. But... I'm going to call Chris, see if he's got any. Get excited about the next spooky game.
    42:35
    What is the next spooky game? Speaking of... I don't know. Haunted Scott Denise's haunted house party. Yeah. Tricky bastard.
    42:45
    Always telling me lies. All right. Check us out on Facebook, Twitch. Where else? YouTube. Subscribe. We're close to 4,000. Whoop, whoop. We are going to surpass a lot of people with that 4,000 mark. Are we really? Yeah, we're killing it. Okay. Yeah. I mean, we're not in like the millions like some of this like kid that's six years old opening like a thing and my kid watches that action figure my kid watches that crap that doesn't mean it's good it's terrible he's got his own toy line making millions he's like sponsored by mcdonald's and everything it's insane they like eat chicken nuggets I'll eat a chicken nugget for a million dollars what did we say put out the Zach and Greg toy line wonder if we can get our own bobble heads mine would just fall over see that was a joke about yourself alright Greg tell the people goodbye all that was edited out tell them bye friends you want to scare greg here we go watch this i'm gonna scare you