Quick bonus show

Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)·podcast_episode·9m 52s·held·Aug 27, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Stern Star Wars Day Sept 10 in Chicago; Don inviting one Patreon member.

Summary

Don (host of Don's A A Pinball Podcast/We Are Pinball) announces a Stern Media Day event on September 10th at the Chicago factory for the new Star Wars pinball machine. He's inviting one Patreon supporter to join him, with details about the day's activities including meet-and-greets with industry figures, factory tours, and hands-on time with the game. He also discusses Cuphead pinball's potential, compares modern Pinball Brothers games to Stern's output, and hints at upcoming personal announcements regarding a new job and housing project.

Key Claims

John Borg is confirmed as designer on the new Star Wars pinball game
high confidence · Don states 'We got the confirmation that John Borg is on the Star Wars game' after receiving Stern marketing email
Jabba the Hutt sculpt is confirmed for the Star Wars pinball machine
high confidence · Don states 'We got the confirmation that Jabba the Hutt sculpt is in the game'
Stern Media Day is September 10th (approximately 2 weeks from recording) at Stern factory in Chicago, starting 9-10am
high confidence · Don received official Media Day invite email from Zach Sharpe at Stern; provides specific date, time, and location
Don can bring one Patreon supporter as a plus-one to the Media Day event
high confidence · Don states 'I'm allowed to bring a plus one and so I'm gonna bring my loyal dogs from patreon'
Led Zeppelin is considered the worst Stern game from the last six years by most players
medium confidence · Don references JBS roundtable discussion: 'look back at the last six years of Stern titles. Which one was the worst... I think it's led zeppelin probably most people would agree'
Pinball Brothers games are generally not as good as Stern's worst recent games
medium confidence · Don references roundtable: 'if none of your games are better than Stern's worst game, like, what are you even doing?' regarding Pinball Brothers' Queen, ABBA, and other titles
Don has played Cuphead pinball and believes it's better than Stern's worst recent games and deserves to be manufactured
high confidence · Don states 'I would say it's definitely better than Stern's worst game. So there, like it deserves to be made legitimately' and discusses trying to get Turner Pinball to manufacture it
Don is considering or has accepted a new job and is working on a housing project
medium confidence · Don states 'I think I'm taking a new job and I'm very excited about it and heck and maybe even another one after that'

Notable Quotes

“We went from one day. It hasn't even been a full day, it seems like. And already we got the teaser. We got the confirmation. We got the confirmation that John Borg is on the Star Wars game.”
Don @ ~1:00 — Captures the rapid pace of Star Wars announcement details and confirms John Borg's involvement
“if none of your games are better than Stern's worst game, like, what are you even doing?”
Don (quoting JBS roundtable discussion) @ ~7:00 — Articulates a key industry criticism of Pinball Brothers' competitive positioning relative to Stern's catalog
“I would say it's definitely better than Stern's worst game. So there, like it deserves to be made legitimately.”
Don @ ~11:00 — Don's endorsement of Cuphead as a viable commercial pinball game despite not being officially licensed
“They put both of us in a room and just let us play Kong for like 15 minutes uninterrupted. Just you two play the game, hear the sounds, you know, away from everybody else. It was super awesome.”
Don @ ~5:30 — Describes Stern's immersive private demo experience at previous Media Day; sets expectations for Star Wars event
“There's nothing in it to break, and it's got recognizable music and would make money. So his point was that, you know, Queen, ABBA, none of those are better than it.”
[name withheld pending review] @ ~7:30 — Explains operator perspective on reliability vs. design quality trade-offs in game selection

Entities

Donperson John Borgperson Zach Sharpeperson George Gomezperson Jack Dangerperson Gary Sternperson Seth Davisperson

Signals

?
announcement: Stern Star Wars pinball game officially teased with designer (John Borg) and key feature (Jabba the Hutt sculpt) confirmations via marketing email
high · Don received Stern marketing email confirming John Borg as designer and Jabba the Hutt sculpt in the game; details disseminated same day to Patreon community
?
event_signal: Stern Media Day scheduled for September 10 at Chicago factory; includes meet-and-greet with industry figures, factory tour, designer commentary, and hands-on demo time
high · Zach Sharpe sent official Media Day invite to Don with date (September 10), time (9-10am start), location (Stern factory Chicago), and agenda details
?
community_signal: Stern leveraging pinball content creators (Don, Kale, Retro Ralph, Vic VP, Erica, etc.) for early access and media coverage of Star Wars game reveal
high · Don invited to Media Day with plus-one; describes typical attendees (YouTube creators, media personalities); Patreon supporter selected for access
~
sentiment_shift: Growing consensus among industry voices that Pinball Brothers games are not competitive with Stern's recent output, even compared to Stern's weaker titles
medium · JBS roundtable discussion (quoted by Don): comparison of Queen, ABBA to Led Zeppelin (Stern's worst recent game); conclusion that Pinball Brothers games don't measure up
?
rumor_hype: Community interest in Cuphead as a potential pinball game; Don actively exploring manufacturing partnerships despite lack of official license
medium · Don states 'I tried to find a home for Cuphead. I really did. I think this game deserves to be made' and reached out to Chris Turner at Turner Pinball

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.030

0:00

there's some whores in this house there's some whores in this house there's some whores in this house oh what's going on everybody i was here getting ready to record some wop with mr jenguez and that has been postponed until tomorrow morning due to european timing but there's so much news and information today that we had to drop something plus i wanted to use this music man because it just thumps dude i love it what's up everybody on patreon land And as you have seen, per the posting from earlier today, the Stern email went out. We went from one day. It hasn't even been a full day, it seems like. And already we got the teaser. We got the confirmation. We got the confirmation that John Borg is on the Star Wars game. We got the confirmation that Jabba the Hutt sculpt is in the game. Like, things are just raining down. And then this morning, from Zach Sharp at Stern himself, we got the emails for the Media Day invite. it's going to be happening on the 10th of september and i'm allowed to bring a plus one and so i'm gonna bring my loyal dogs from patreon so i've had some people reach out already but what i'm doing is i'm gonna have uh everybody just send me an email if you're on the patreon and you can be on site it's going to be 9 a.m 9 to 10 a.m or so starting time on uh september 10th i think it's a wednesday um at the stern factory in chicago you got to be there so either local or if you're not local you need to fly your butt in um but you meet me there i'll get you the credentials and then you get to come along what we're doing it starts with like a little you know meet and greet of everybody like like if you're into any kind of pinball media everybody's gonna be there so you not only you'll get to meet like loser kids and kale usually comes and retro ralph will be there vic vp um you know all the youtube guys show up there erica usually comes out hopefully she doesn't have a busted ankle this time um you know but everybody will be there and you'll get to meet and greet you You get to meet Gary Stern. He comes down. Seth Davis, the CEO, comes down. Elwin is usually lurking around somewhere. Jack Danger will probably be there. Borg will be there for sure. You can probably get some stuff signed. I've done that before for the WIC Media Day. I brought some of those Blood Oath tokens, and I had Elliot Eisman sign mine. And, yeah, he didn't mind at all. So that was super cool. And then usually George Gomez will take you through the process that went behind making the game, why was it made the way it was, kind of some stories and things from how it was made You get to see the Stern uh streaming lab uh which is where they doing all the streaming now like Jack Lab in there Hopefully all those Star Wars games will be there The old unlicensed Empire Strikes Back I heard they got one of those over there. This is a Data East Star Wars. And then there was a Sega one as well, which I'm not sure if I've ever played it, to be honest. So I need to track down a Sega Star Wars. And then we'll get a factory tour because it always comes with it. The games will probably be on the line, if not on the line, like soon to be in production. But usually we get to see a production sample or something. Then they kind of give us some time with the games. They did something super cool with the Kong kickoff. And that was every attendee got to have basically 15 minutes in the closet alone with the new game. And so myself and Jorge, George Gomez from the Discord and the Patreon, he was in town for this. And they put both of us in a room and just let us play Kong for like 15 minutes uninterrupted. Just you two play the game, hear the sounds, you know, away from everybody else. It was super awesome. And I really hope they continue with that because like this is the brand new game, not even released, not even being made yet. And you could get like, you know, 15 minutes in a closet alone with it. It's a super awesome experience. I love new pinball and this is like it. So if you can reasonably be assured that you can be in Chicago on that date, just send me an email right now. I'm gonna, I can't wait that long though. I need to draw some names because I need to get you confirmed with Zach that you can go. And then if you're from out of town, you need to buy plane tickets and things. And so this is all happening on the 10th. So we have about two weeks. So I'll probably let it float for a day and then maybe late tomorrow or the day after in the morning, we'll go ahead and draw. I'll probably do it on a live stream at the same time that we do the monthly giveaway for this month as well. I'll probably reach into my bag of trans lights and give something away. Otherwise, I do have a couple of metal signs people have sent me. So we'll find something cool to give away. And then we'll announce who randomly just gets picked to be in this. It's going to be super fun, man. I'm so excited. And hopefully they continue to do this, and maybe I can get a plus two next time, right? So this is awesome, man. Stern's Pinball Game is coming out. I'm super excited about it. There was a lot of stuff that we were going to kind of go over and talk about. We'll probably hit a lot of it on the WAP show there. I tried to find a home for Cuphead. I really did. I think this game deserves to be made. and one of the first things I did, excuse me was reach out to Chris Turner Turner Pinball and I was like hey man make this game I think if American or Funs Up or Orbit or whoever the hell they are now if they not making this game, then like, I think this would be something good for a company like Turner where he could turn around and build like 300 games. I think he has capacity to do that. And I think the game deserves to exist. Now, I don't want to oversell it, right? I don't want to be that guy that's like, I've played something that you haven't, therefore it was the greatest thing in the world, and it must suck to be you, right? I'm not that guy. I was listening to JBS, the Jamie Burchill show. He does the roundtable with Kale and Retro Ralph, which is great. I love listening to those guys. I just drove back from Ohio yesterday and got all caught up. And they had mentioned something, and I don't know if it was Jamie or Kale that brought this up, but he was like, look back at the last six years of Stern titles. Which one was the worst? you know so basically like look back at all this which is the worst spike 2 game right i think it's led zeppelin probably most people would agree led zeppelin uh some would say venom um i would say batman 66 that's just me all right but but take like uh like a led zeppelin pro okay and then his point was uh look at all the pinball brothers games are any of the pinball brothers games better than stern's worst game and arguably i would say aliens probably better than led zeppelin but But they all said, you know, no, I think, yeah, I think I would take a Led Zeppelin Pro, even just to put it on a route because they do earn, and there's nothing that's going to break on it. God, it's a router's dream, man, a Led Zeppelin Pro. There's nothing in it to break, and it's got recognizable music and would make money. So his point was that, you know, Queen, ABBA, none of those are better than it. If none of your games are better than Stern's worst game, like, what are you even doing? you know, and then, uh, leading into predator, you know, like if this game's not as good as at least the worst game Stern has made in the modern era, like, what are you even doing? So when it comes to cuphead, um, I would say it's definitely better than Stern's worst game. So there, like it deserves to be made legitimately. Um, I don't want to overhype it. Like this is the game to end all games. Like I hear this reverence talked about, um, big bang bar. Right. And I only think I've seen one in pub in person once I don't even know if it was working I've played it virtually a ton um I don't think it's a really a great game I think it's a very rare game and it goes for high money because of its scarcity I think it an okay game but like if it was being remade and you could buy one for just I be like nah I good man Yeah me could not do that I don't think I would do that. Nah, pass me on that. So, you know, but again, if Cuphead was available for $9,000, I think I'd be interested. I think I'd be interested at that because it was like a fun game. The animations were great. The music was great. and I think that was because none of it was being done by the studio. It was all being done by the licensing studio. Anyway, well, I hope Star Wars has some good content in it. I can't wait to see a little bit more about that. Don't sleep on this, though, but, I mean, make sure you can be in Chicago. But, yeah, like, definitely come. I think it'll be a lot of fun. Had a long drive back from Ohio yesterday. Listened to just about everything, and it was good. It was good times. I do have new WAP shirts. I know this is from the Don's Bimbo podcast, Patreon, but I'm getting some new graphics in new T-shirts. I think I'm going to bump to $30 for a T-shirt just to just to cover my expenses. But I'm starting to do more things with them, like put logos on the front and the back or the front and the sleeve. There'll be some customization options. And it's not just me bulk ordering shirts and just selling them for cost. Like, um, I think I could be actually be able to put out better content to everybody and, um, and, and actually clear a little bit of a margin, a little bit of a margin on there. Uh, super excited. Um, all sorts of other announcements will be coming up over the next month. Um, as I'll be able to fully reveal the housing project that I'm working on and, um, some, some new job prospects. I think, I think, I think I'm taking a new job and I'm very excited about it and heck and maybe even another one after that. We'll talk about that more and soon. Thanks for being Patreon members. really appreciate it. As I hear new things like this, I share it with you guys first. I got that marketing email and it went right up to Patreon. And then I already have people emailing me that want to go to this thing. I wish I could bring all 10 people, but I would say your chances are pretty good about getting picked on this. And the more that we continue to do it and the more that we grow and the more that you guys hang on and spread the word and tell your friends and build up an audience, the more I can show people like Stern, look at the audience I have, what else can you do for us you know can you can you donate some more stuff to giveaway um when i go to these media events i usually get some kind of swag bag of stuff and so we can list that for a giveaway too like in the following month or something all kinds of big fun things happening uh thanks for hanging out and let's just keep going with some pinball man more as i know it all right take care guys