Episode 1217: "Exclusive Back to the Future Details"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·20m 47s·analyzed·May 8, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Kaneda leaks Back to the Future whitewood details: big DeLorean, minimal mechs, heavy on artwork and video.

Summary

Kaneda discusses exclusive whitewood details of Dutch Pinball's Back to the Future machine, revealing a large DeLorean as the main toy with limited interactive ball mechanics, fewer inserts, and heavy reliance on artwork and video modes. He also critiques Stern's Pokemon code update 0.82 as underwhelming, condemns Pedretti Gaming handling of the Big Bang Bar remake, and expresses skepticism about remaster culture while hyping upcoming new IP releases.

Key Claims

Back to the Future has a very large DeLorean as the main mechanism but it does not appear to interact significantly with the ball; the DeLorean sits above a scoop underneath it.
high confidence · Kaneda, speaking from viewing the whitewood: 'I don't see like a complex mechanism or toy that interacts with the ball at all in this game... I think the DeLorean is sitting above any interactivity with the ball I think there like a scoop underneath the DeLorean.'
Back to the Future will rely heavily on franchised artwork, sculpts, and video content rather than mechanical toys to create game immersion.
high confidence · Kaneda: 'I think they're going to use a lot of Franchi artwork to make it look like it's got a lot more in it than it actually does.'
Pokemon pinball code update 0.82 made the game easier but added minimal new assets, storyline, or content after four months of development.
high confidence · Kaneda: 'We go from .81 to .82 and it is like absolutely nothing... they made a game that is already easy. They've made it easier.'
Spooky Pinball has only produced approximately 200 Beetlejuice units by January (five months into production) at a stated rate of ~100 per month, suggesting 80+ show games were made.
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'Spooky Pinball is only on Beetlejuice's in the number 200s... only 200 something games. And what month is it? January, five months into production, 200 games.'
Team Pinball spent approximately 90,000 euros on Big Bang Bar electronics and design work with Pedretti Gaming, lost the prototype, and received no compensation.
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'Team Pinball said they spent around 90, 000 euros working on this game. And now they have nothing. They can't even get their money back.'
Back to the Future has fewer inserts than comparable games, limiting light show potential.
high confidence · Kaneda: 'There's not a ton of inserts in this game. And you know when there's not a lot of inserts, it means there's not going to be a lot of light.'
Stern's Pokemon code update video by Jack Danger lacked clear explanation of new features and did not demonstrate Insider Connected integration properly.

Notable Quotes

“I swear on the soul of my mother that I am looking at back to the future right now.”
Kaneda @ ~0:30 — Establishes Kaneda's exclusive access to Back to the Future whitewood imagery
“Pedretti Gaming, I think you've become like the new home pin of the pinball world. I don't think anybody's taking you seriously.”
Kaneda @ ~8:45 — Harsh public criticism of Pedretti Gaming over Big Bang Bar failure
“I don't see like a complex mechanism or toy that interacts with the ball at all in this game.”
Kaneda @ ~13:30 — Core criticism of Back to the Future's mechanical design based on whitewood observation
“No matter what I say about Back to the Future, this game is going to sell like hotcakes. Nothing I say will change that.”
Kaneda @ ~20:00 — Prediction that IP strength and presentation will drive sales regardless of mechanical concerns
“I'm tired of it all. There's so much great pinball around the corner. Why would anybody want these old games?”
Kaneda @ ~9:15 — Dismissive stance on remake culture in favor of new original IP
“Team Pinball, that sucks. Padretti, shame on you.”
Kaneda @ ~8:40 — Public condemnation of Pedretti Gaming's handling of the Big Bang Bar project
“If I were to tell you there was a DeLorean in the game, you'd be like, yeah, duh. But that's not what you want to know about.”
Kaneda @ ~12:00 — Explains rationale for selective disclosure of whitewood details
“It's just that big DeLorean, Franchi on artwork, a 27-inch screen, and when that Back to the Future theme song hits... this game is going to be impossible to get.”
Kaneda @ ~20:30 — Identifies the key drivers of Back to the Future's likely market success

Entities

Kanedaperson Dutch Pinballcompany Back to the FuturegameSpooky PinballcompanyBeetlejuicegameStern PinballcompanyPokemongame

Signals

?
leak_detection: Kaneda has obtained and is viewing whitewood photographs of the unreleased Back to the Future machine, revealing playfield layout and mechanism placement before official reveal.
high · Kaneda states multiple times he is looking at Back to the Future whitewood images and promises specific details from visual inspection; compares to previous whitewoods of Guns N' Roses and Deadpool that he leaked
?
design_innovation: Back to the Future appears to prioritize visual design and artwork over interactive ball-playing mechanics, with a stationary DeLorean toy and heavy reliance on screen-based content.
high · Kaneda: 'I don't see like a complex mechanism or toy that interacts with the ball at all in this game... this game is going to be more about flow and less about mechanisms'
?
code_update: Pokemon pinball code update 0.82 added minimal new features (easier catch mechanics, flipper button outlane save) after four months of development, failing community expectations for substantial asset additions.
high · Kaneda: 'We go from .81 to .82 and it is like absolutely nothing... barely anything other than they made a game that is already easy. They've made it easier.'
?
product_concern: At current code update velocity (.81 to .82 in four months), Pokemon would take ~5 years to reach version 1.0, suggesting slow development pace.
medium · Kaneda: 'If we only go .81 to .82 in four months, this game will be finished in like five years to get to 1.0'
?
business_signal: Big Bang Bar remake project collapsed between Team Pinball and Pedretti Gaming; Team Pinball invested ~90,000 euros with no compensation and lost prototype to Pedretti.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.062

0:00

Cause I believe that love is the answer. I believe love is fine and way. Welcome everybody to Canadian Spinball Podcast. Happy Friday. I'm on pin side and people are saying that I don't have images of back to the future. I'm here to tell you right now that I swear on the soul of my mother that I am looking at back to the future right now. Dutch Pinball is like, how? Oh, oh, oh, what's going on, Canada? But just don't worry. Don't worry, Dutch. I'm not leaking your photos, but we're going to talk a little bit about this game on this episode of Canada's Pinball Podcast. I want to dedicate this episode to Tobin, a man that was just listening to my Facebook Live and he signed up because of that. See, this is why every once in a while I got to recruit the newest members of Canada's Pinball Podcast. You can thank Tobin for unlocking this Back to the Future information because it put me in such a good mood. Happy Friday, everybody. Every day above ground is a great day. Kiss your loved ones. We're going through some stuff in my family. You don't want to hear words like biopsy and seeing if it's spread and chemo. That is why every day we've got our health and our happiness and we've got each other is a very important day. Remember, I'm going to get a little bit crazy on this show over the next few months because I'm putting everything in the proper context in a world in which so much calamity can happen. We've got to stop pretending like these pinball machines and these companies and their precious secrets are that valuable. They're going to sell a ton of Back to the Futures regardless of what you see. They're going to sell a ton of these games regardless of what I say. They're going to sell a ton of these games and not be able to make them. That is the state of so much modern pinball. I mean, Spooky Pinball is only on Beetlejuice's in the number 200s, only 200 something games. And what month is it? January, February, March, April, May, five months into production, 200 games. And they said they're making about 100 a month. Well, it begs the question, how many show games did you make if you're only on serial number 200 of the consumer games? I'm not going to kick that can down the road, Luke. I just did, baby. I don't know. Kaneda's guessing there might have been more than 80 show games. Hard to tell. They're not serial numbered. Why do you think that is? Who gave this man coffee? Who said he's cringe and he should be on TikTok? Who wants some Back to the Future news? You're going to have to wait. Okay, so Pokemon Code 0.82. We've been waiting for a Pokemon Code update. The game has been out for almost four months and we were expecting something big, right? Because you think about it, like this code team has been working on this game and nothing has been put into it since the game was revealed in February, mid-February. So almost four months later, we go from .81 to .82 and it is like absolutely nothing. There's like barely anything other than they made a game that is already easy. They've made it easier. They've made it easier to catch the Pokemon. They've made the action button help you progress more through a game that was already easy to progress through. And that's not what people wanted. We need more assets. We need more storyline. We need more moments of magic, moments of wow. And I'm not sure like this code update is really significant at all. I feel like these are just minor tweaks. Where are the assets? Where are the clips from the show? Where are the different characters? Where's more happening in the game? I'm getting worried. I'm getting a little bit worried. Now look, it's only .82, which means at this rate, think about it. If we only go .81 to .82 in four months, this game will be finished in like five years to get to 1.0. So it's not the update anybody wanted. I do like the fact that you can change the outlane ball saves using the flipper buttons That is a really really nice thing Sure I don mind using the action button Maybe the kids can now use it to catch more Pokemon They added a ball save when you hit the Pok and it unlocks the catch mode of the Pokemon So they just want more people to catch more Pokemon because here what I think is happening in the game There is more in this game but you have to catch a certain amount of Pokemon to unlock what further in the game And I don't think anyone's been able to do it. Like most people are not playing a game of Pokemon and catching like six or ten Pokemon in one game. So we shall see if we can explore more of what's in this game now after this code update. I also want to say this, Stern, Jack Danger, team over there. You did a 40 minute video about the new code in Pokemon and I just watched the first 10 minutes and it's atrocious. Guys, come on. You've got a new code update. You need to start the stream right away. We want to explain to you what is new in this new code update. It's like they just start playing a game and there's barely like any description of what's going on. They don't even have their insider connected QR code set up. Guys, over at Stern, this is your machine. Why doesn't the Pokemon team have its insider connected set up to that machine as its home game? I don't get it. Anyway, I just think that's how you should do it. If you're going to start a stream explaining the changes you've made to the new game, go through them in a way that's easy for us to understand. Again, it's like Travis is making better gameplay tutorials than Stern's own team. A little bit frustrating, not how I would do it. All right, what else is going on in the pinball world? A lot of drama around this Big Bang Bar. We might as well call it Big Bang Bust. Predretti Gaming, a company that is now getting slammed by Team Pinball due to the inability for both of these companies to get together and bring back Big Bang Bar. Now, if you own a Big Bang Bar, you are really, really happy right now. You are about to have your game tanking value if these two companies figured out how to bring Melvin Williams' prototype to life. I've seen Melvin's game. It's amazing. It enhances everything about the original game and makes it better. And all they had to do was make it. And it's this weird story where Team Pinball sent the prototype of Melvin over to the guys at Pedretti. Pedretti made some changes to the prototype. And then there were like delays. And then they refused to send back the prototype to Team Pinball when Team Pinball realized that nothing was going to happen. Now, Team Pinball is in charge of the electronics and other aspects of the game. And they said they spent around 90,000 euros working on this game. And now they have nothing. They can't even get their money back. They can't get the time back. The game's not going to come out. They were supposed to make money on every game sold. And so then they take it to the pinball community. It's like we only think it's fair that we tell you our side of the story. I'm just going to say this. Team Pinball, that sucks. Pedretti Gaming, I think you've become like the new home pin of the pinball world. I don't think anybody's taking you seriously. I think this is another nail in the Pedretti coffin. And I think with so many pinball companies executing on such a high level right now, who has time for these like European boutique companies that are not executing, that are not getting it done, that are not known for quality? That can't even remake a game. If you can't remake a game that's been out for like 30 years, you have no business being in pinball. And so I think I speak collectively from all of us in the community. Padretti, shame on you. Team Pinball, I know it sucks for you Big Bang Bar owners out there. Congratulations. Your games will now hold value and remain collectible. And I keep saying this. I think the future in pinball is in front of us. I don't think like a Circus Voltaire with Ryan Allen artwork by American Pinball is necessarily the way to go. I don't think bringing back another Adams family or another Twilight Zone or another medieval madness run after they've done like five runs. I'm tired of it all. There's so much great pinball around the corner. Why would anybody want these old games? Name me one old game other than Cactus Canyon because the code was so incomplete. Name me one old game that has come back out that everybody's talking about, that everybody can't wait to get their hands on, that anybody thinks plays and is more enjoyable than Jaws, than Harry Potter, than Beetlejuice, than Metallica Remastered, than Godzilla. All of these new games are so damn good and they only going to get better We about to get Transformers We about to get Fallout We about to get Sonic We about to get Goonies We about to get all of these games And you telling me with all of this new stuff coming out you want to go back and buy an old game that used to be like twenty five hundred bucks for like twelve thousand dollars I don't think so. I don't think so. So, yeah, in my honest opinion, I understand why people do these remakes because, you know, there's a built in audience. And look, I will say this. You can't really easily go find a brand new Circus Voltaire anywhere. You can't go find a brand new Toten anywhere. And if you find a mint condition version of those games in this market, it's going to cost you like $12,000 or more to get your hands on it. So will they sell? Probably. Do I care? Absolutely not. And that's just my opinion. I just don't care about remakes. And that's my prerogative. If you want to excite me, excite me with what's new. All right. What else is going on in the pinball world? Oh, man. You know, look, I've only had this happen a few times. I've only had this happen a few times where I can open up my phone and I can look at a game that nobody else has. I know a few other people have images, but my point is this. I can see what is about to come out in the pinball world. And I had this with Guns N' Roses. I had the whitewood of Guns N' Roses before any of you saw the game. I had it for about a year before the game came out. I also had images once of the Deadpool layout before the Deadpool game was released to the world. I think I had something like a Ghostbusters Translight before that became available. And you know me. I'm the kind of guy that loves to spoil these companies' ideas and their plans because I think it's silly. I know what's coming from Porsche. I know what movies are coming out. I know what video games are coming out. But in the world of pinball, everything has to be a total secret. And what's funny about Back to the Future, it's no mystery. It's going to be Back to the Future. If I were to tell you there was a DeLorean in the game, you'd be like, yeah, duh. But that's not what you want to know about. You want to know some details. You want to know what this game is going to be. And even just describing some elements of a game you've never seen before does nothing but make you excited to see more. Now, I will say this. When you look at a whitewood of a game, it is always hard to sort of know whether or not it's going to be great. I'll give you the Guns N' Roses example. When I first saw the whitewood of Guns N' Roses, I was like blown away. I was like, wow, look at this. Look at this thing. It's got the Les Paul guitar neck. It's got the drumsticks. It's got all these lights, all these inserts. And even the version I had had Subways in it. And if you listen to Eric, Guns N' Roses was supposed to have a hard plunge until they removed the Subway system. So the original idea for Guns N' Roses was much better. You know who made him take all that out? Pat Lawler. Nobody wants to talk about it. Guns N' Roses also had in front of the scoop. It had a big drop bank target that went up and down in front of the scoop. So those two things would have drastically changed the Guns N' Roses gameplay, but they wouldn't have changed the layout really. And Guns N' Roses, you know, now that we all know the layout is a dog and it's not fun to shoot. I don't think it would have been that much of a better game, but it is what it is. But I will say, seeing that game in whitewood form blew me away. I was like, wow, look at this. Look at this. Look at all these flippers, upper playfield, all this stuff going on. What was my reaction when I saw the whitewood of Back to the Future for the first time? Did it blow me away? I'm trying to think like what the whitewood of Lebowski would look like or the whitewood of Jaws or the whitewood of Iron Maiden or the whitewood of Lord of the Rings. And I will say this, looking down at the game, it definitely screams back to the future. I mean, the reason why is there is a very large DeLorean in this game. It is the main mechanism in this game. But here is the thing, looking down at back to the future right now, I'm just going to give you a little bit right now. I'm not going to give too much away. I'm just going to say this. Looking down at the game right now and knowing that Dutch Pinball made the lower playfield bowling alley, the rug that rolled out, they had the upper playfield that was the bowling alley that you bashed the wall and then the car popped out and you bashed that. Looking at this game I don know where the toys are I really don know where the toys are that interact with the ball Dare I say I not sure that there is a major mechanism in this game that interacts with the ball And by that I mean I know the DeLorean is going to do stuff but I think the DeLorean is sitting above any interactivity with the ball I think there like a scoop underneath the DeLorean So that my first like reaction seeing this game is like yeah like it going to scream back to the future You're going to see the big car. I don't see like a complex mechanism or toy that interacts with the ball at all in this game. And because of that, I will say that's a little underwhelming. Coming from the big Lebowski, having all of these years to get this game to a place it needs to be, that's a little underwhelming. Now, it does beg the question, if you think about it, because I was thinking about this, like back to the future as a world under glass is a bit of a tricky theme to bring to life under glass. Because if I were to ask each and every one of you, what would you put in this game as a toy other than the DeLorean? You might have the Nike sneakers that lace up, but that's Nike IP. They're not going to get that. The hoverboard is probably not going to be in this game because that's a Mattel property. And I don't think they're going to get the IP for that. Remember when they put the Kahlua bottle into the Big Lebowski and then they had to remove it. But what would the mechs be? That's the hard part. I think what you're going to see in this game is more about the sculpts and bringing Hill Valley to life. So you're going to see the clock tower. Now, looking at the tower in Winchester's Mystery House, how cool is that tower that falls over? Now, back to the future, if you ask me, if they had the clock tower in an upper corner of the game, and remember, like, Doc Brown has to connect the cables, and doesn't he slide down the cables at some point? I think he just collects them, but you've got to put the cables together. Like, recreating that whole scene would be really cool, but it's still not really a mech that would interact with the ball. And so, yeah, I think what's going to happen is this. I think you're going to see a very large DeLorean and I think its doors are going to go up and the wheels are going to go up. And that's all it's really going to do. It's not going to do much more. Now, it's going to look freaking awesome. Don't get me wrong. It's going to look freaking awesome. I'm not sure if it's going to turn around and show you its rear end when it takes off like in the film, but you are going to walk up to this machine and know it's back to the future. The other thing is this. There's not a ton of inserts in this game. And you know when there's not a lot of inserts, it means there's not going to be a lot of light. And there's not going to be the ability to do a huge light show in the game. That's another interesting thing about this game. And I think what they're going to do is this. I think they're really going to use a lot of Franchi artwork to make it look like it's got a lot more in it than it actually does. So that's your first bit of information on Back to the Future. No major, major mech other than the DeLorean I'm seeing in this game. The DeLorean doesn't look like it interacts with the ball. The doors are going to go up, but it's not going to lock balls inside it, I don't think. And the wheels are going to flap up like it does in the second film. But I'm not seeing that big bowling alley. I'm not seeing the upper playfield in Lebowski. I'm not seeing the rug that rolls out. So maybe there's something there that I'm not seeing, but from what I can tell, from what I can tell, this game is going to be more about flow and less about mechanisms in the game. OK, I think they're going to use a lot of sculpts to create the world, but I would love to hear from you. What would you put into Back to the Future Pinball? I want to read your answers on the next show. So what would you, knowing the three movies, what would you put into this game that would be a mechanism or a toy that would interact with the ball? I don't know. The cafe, the Pepsi Perfect. There needs to be a video mode with that shooting game in the cafe. The sports almanac, the Nikes, the hoverboard scene. See, the hoverboard scene, man, it's like that would have been perfect to like, I don't know, you take the hoverboard over the lake and then the ball freezes. When he's trying to pedal across the pond in the hoverboard, I don't know what they're going to do, but I also know this. It doesn't matter. Just that big DeLorean, Franchi on artwork, a 27-inch screen, and when that Back to the Future theme song hits and all the clips from those movies are up on that screen with all the assets and the voices synced up with the actors, this game is going to be impossible to get. Just keep that in mind. No matter what I say about Back to the Future, this game is going to sell like hotcakes. Nothing I say will change that. And to get one is going to be next to impossible. You know, and as long as it shoots well and it looks like it's going to shoot well, I do think people are going to be fighting over each other to get their hands on a Back to the Future pinball machine. All right. That was a little bit, but it's more than anybody else is telling you. Canada out.