Kaneda at Expo 2025: Alice hype, Spooky/Franchi exclusive, confrontation with management, reflection on critical role.
Summary
Kaneda livestreams from Pinball Expo 2025, showcasing Alice's massive popularity (long lines, ~800 plays), meeting key industry figures including Christopher Franchi (newly exclusive to Spooky), and discussing upcoming games. A brief confrontation with expo management about his presence is resolved by Melvin, after which Rob (likely expo organizer) asks Kaneda to keep content positive. Kaneda reflects on his role as a critical voice in pinball media while acknowledging manufacturers' sensitivities to negative coverage.
Key Claims
Alice has generated ~800 total plays across two machines at Expo, with continuous long lines throughout the event
high confidence · Kaneda interviews operators with Alice units; they mention play count of ~400 per game, totaling 800 combined
Only 500 Alice units will ever be made
high confidence · Kaneda directly states 'there's only five hundred of these being made ever' while discussing the line
Christopher Franchi is now exclusive to Spooky Pinball and is working on at least two games simultaneously
high confidence · Franchi confirms: 'Exclusive. Got them exclusive' and states 'We're finishing up one. We started another one. Working on two right now'
Spooky's next game will be revealed at Pinball at the Beach (February), meaning release is before then, likely December or earlier
high confidence · Spooky representative (Bug or similar) says 'The new game's going to be at Pinball at the Beach' and 'It's in February'
Big Trouble in Little China homebrew pinball is being made by Kyle (Mud Flaps on Pinside), with Brian Allen on playfield art and Michael K on hand-painted backglass, targeting 500 units
high confidence · Kyle introduces himself: 'Big Trouble in Little China coming Expo twenty five. Playfield art by Brian Allen. Hand-painted backglass by Michael K'
Kaneda has over 2 million total listens to his pinball podcast and has produced approximately 1,000 podcast episodes over 12 years
high confidence · Kaneda states: 'I have over two million listens to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. Two million. Um, it's does it irk me a little bit...I've done a thousand podcasts about pinball'
Expo management asked Kaneda to keep his content positive and not critical, citing his reputation for 'leak' journalism and negative coverage
high confidence · Rob (expo contact) says: 'just here come here enjoy yourself' and earlier: 'you're the best leak. Got to leak it' in context of manufacturers not wanting content to be negative
Notable Quotes
“It's the talk of the show right now. It's not just me hyping it. It's not just me hyping it.”
Kaneda @ early in stream — Establishes Alice as the dominant game attracting attention at Expo 2025, not driven solely by Kaneda's influence
“You are going to be pleasantly surprised as far as there's a lot of things you specifically have been asking for. Games number one on that list is Christopher Franchi, baby.”
Spooky representative (Bug or staff member) @ mid-stream — Confirms Franchi's exclusive move to Spooky and hints at addressing community feature requests in next game
“I'm the biggest sellout in the industry for the right price. I'm exclusively only covering Spooky Pinball.”
Christopher Franchi @ mid-stream — Franchi humorously confirms exclusive deal with Spooky while maintaining self-deprecating tone about loyalty
“You're more like the National Enquirer of the press...you're the best leak. Got to leak it.”
Rob (Expo management) @ confrontation section — Explicit acknowledgment of Kaneda's reputation for unreleased game leaks and critical/negative coverage
“What makes my content good is is that I don't hold back on how I feel about stuff.”
Kaneda @ late in stream — Kaneda's defense of critical approach vs. manufacturers' preference for positive-only coverage
“These games have to be worthy of the money. I mean, you you've been around long enough. Where games used to be twenty five hundred bucks and have everything that Twilight Zone had in it. Now they're fifteen thousand.”
Kaneda @ late in stream — Justification for critical stance based on pricing inflation (2500 → 15000) without proportional feature increases
“Big Trouble in Little China is my favorite theme...It's tailor-made.”
Kaneda @ homebrew section — Expresses personal enthusiasm for niche IP in pinball, contrasting with commercial manufacturers' focus on popular licenses
event_signal: Expo 2025 serving as major showcase for upcoming games and industry networking; Alice emerging as standout attraction with unprecedented player interest despite limited 500-unit production
high · Continuous long lines for Alice, ~800 plays recorded, multiple industry figures present, Spooky reveal timing tied to Pinball at the Beach announcement
~
sentiment_shift: Tension between manufacturers preferring uniformly positive coverage and critical media voice Kaneda representing honest assessment approach; Rob (management) frames Kaneda as 'National Enquirer' type but acknowledges his influence
high · Rob's confrontation/request for positive content; Kaneda's defense: 'What makes my content good is is that I don't hold back'; acknowledgment that some manufacturers don't want to see him
?
community_signal: Melvin (Alice coordinator) intervenes to prevent Kaneda's removal from Expo, suggesting content creator relationships and manufacturer support networks operate parallel to official management
medium · Kaneda: 'They might be trying to kick me out...Melvin's talking to Rob...they're asking me to speak up front'; later confirmed 'we're good' after intervention
?
leak_detection: Rob explicitly acknowledges Kaneda's role in leaking unreleased game information, noting: 'you're the best leak. Got to leak it'; suggests this is ongoing industry tension point
high · Rob: 'Or you leak...you're the best leak. Got to leak it. This stuff shouldn't be. You're the best. It shouldn't. It shouldn't be secret that you know what titles are coming'
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Topics
Alice demand and productionprimaryChristopher Franchi's exclusive move to Spooky PinballprimaryKaneda's critical role in pinball media and leaked informationprimarySpooky's upcoming game reveal and contentprimaryHomebrew vs. commercial pinball market segmentationsecondaryManufacturer relations with critical media coveragesecondaryGame pricing inflation (2500 → 15000) and value propositionsecondaryExpo 2025 booth layouts and game demonstrationsmentioned
Sentiment
mixed(0.62)— Positive overall regarding Alice hype, Spooky exclusivity, and homebrew creativity. Tension/frustration regarding expo management's approach to Kaneda's presence and critical content style. Kaneda defensive but ultimately conciliatory about his role as critical voice. Reflects awareness of industry tension between manufacturers wanting positive coverage and his commitment to balanced/critical analysis.
Transcript
youtube_auto_sub · $0.000
we got Cal what's happening the man who was told to pound sand if you operate that Avatar pound that sand we got Rachel Rachel's with me Rachel's here we got Melvin what's up guys I've got the steady cam actually working it's it's actually working well all right so have they put flips in to have you played it again we haven't okay we haven't we haven't been over there yet no have you played Alice no look at this line can't you can't play Alice the line is crazy the line is crazy let's uh let's pan over yeah let's go see server I'm going to switch up so you guys can see the I walked in here I ran in here I was like I'm going to get the play house and that's the line like right away right away hey gang if you're watching right now go over I'm going share this link can someone sh uh all this technology I can't figure out cuz I'm like on YouTube I want to go to Facebook but you YouTube's better um is this Facebook oh how do I flip me around let's see we're backwards see that yeah I don't know how to use I don't know how to use any of this stuff all right that's why my H everything all the words are backwards how how do you Orient this Carrie Hardy someone tell Carrie Hardy yeah you don't you don't much better to the danger room don't you want to see that yeah let me figure this out I'm I'm going to fall I'll meet you guys over there canadi is going to figure out how to rotate around how do you does anyone know how do you Orient this thing let's see like so it's reverse I don't know maybe I have to do it later everything's going to be backwards until I shoot straight look at Barry in the house how you doing I'm fine thanks oh the world's backwards yeah how you know jet lag right dude the line congratulations Barry in the house I'll see him later I'm look I got to figure this out does anyone know how to do this does car where's Carrie Hardy when you need her where's Carrie Hardy when you need him let me go find Carrie that's not that the world's arm backwards the words aren't these aren't backwards you're seeing this right oh wow all right okay that's that's good to know let's share this copy link hold on one second all right I heard it works now you guys want you guys want to chat sure look look what I ran into the these Knuckleheads who decided to take a foam core of a Jpop game and actually they made it work they made it work we got Melvin we've got Roy Roy you I've seen you on pinside all day piping this damn thing and the man himself Barry all right so the line is just forms immediately I mean I was witness to to that um what's it been like how many people have played it so far you been a play count no so I looked at the games and I think both games were on like 400 or something but it's about 800 G get in a little bit get in there we go okay and um yeah there was a line up till last night right are you like we should have made a th no no the the answer is immedi make him even you know everybody's like oh Dutch Canada takes them 10 years so yeah then it should be 20 right right yeah now we're going to see beginning of the year we're going to see these roll off the line okay I got I got one yeah you haven't sold your spot yet I'm not selling it I'm not selling it no backing out no backing out now all right well we're going to walk around I'm going to go walk over and just like kind of film Alice but congratulations guys like I I it's it's the talk of the show right now it's not just me hyping it it's not just me hyping it Norwalk Connecticut this is my this is my badge caned coloris Norwalk Connecticut I had to put a real name in case they like wanted all right we're going to we're we're going to we're going to flip around so you guys can see yeah if you want me to flip the game later on you know and I can flip the game really well just I shot I shot the G shot like 15 times in a row and and you're you're one of the best players right the best play in the he the best player in the so I so ifp number one so walk me through the game like it shoots great she's phenomenal really she just like I don't know just backed out or just get and get in I I saw someone uploaded a video just like 90 seconds of bricking I think people are trying to sandbag the game like what's up with that like so Roy we're going to get you on there in a little bit um we could do this together baby yeah we'll do yeah we'll do together like let's let some people play I'm I'm here all day all night I'm staying in the hotel I'm happy you got in actually I like they don't know I'm here yet so like I think once they figure out let's see if security escorts me from the building but it's going to be late now I'm in I'm in already um well look I look forward to seeing you play I'm excited to play it I know all of you who have one are excited and I too that told you yeah what I mean yeah you too right he's got one in 500 can we trust them can we trust I think we can I think we can all right I'm going to walk around awesome number one player in in the Netherlands all right let's see where oh look who we got here this no wait wait we we should charge for this this is the first time ever how you doing you know what uh I've heard that you and I may be doing something towards the end of the year I think so too I mean what Tyson Paul got nothing on Mini and Canada we're doing it look we're doing it shill shill baby oh that's dealer have you played Alice yet no line is stupid stupid it's stupid I didn't know you were coming I know I snuck into that I didn't want I didn't want you know Dutch paid for him to come no I'm not I'm not I'm not they did not I PA paid for my flight I had some credit the doctor cleared me to travel oh yeah I'm all good it's like you know I'm pay meds you know how it is p Med all fancy with the damn gim I know got the I've got it working it took me all day I was like spinning around like DV all right so Zack where's your booth at we're going to walk around chill all right all did you order an ALICE no I heard a rumor that you might have bought some from pinball Traders is that true no no okay all right no no we I think we we inire TI about selling them but uh we weren't able to uh so Personal Collection you don't want one for personal I haven't played it yet play I got we play it yeah we should we should we should get that on there yeah but maybe towards the end of the year okay we we got some stuff start what you get them to subscribe or something your dollar I think we got something big coming up yeah something big like save on yeah yeah all right Zack always a pleasure absolutely have a good one all right all right so we are we are coming together we are breaking bread there's nothing but positive energy and Vibes in the house right now um I'm going to walk I'm going to walk let you guys see I'm going to turn this around so you can see the line for Alice now when you think about it and there's only 500 of these being made ever that's um and this kind of line for it it's like I don't know if it's the the breus is I don't know what it is but something about Alice makes everybody want to line up can play this game let's go over and see it and they've got this little boo with the biggest boobs I mean that could be it know I know want to get on camera here let's do this what's up all right who we got here C how you doing C Canada what's up buddy Alice Chris how you doing buddying good all right so Alice you guys played it yeah we play it right now do you think all right it's it's very pretty game all right you guys are in your first game yeah okay you wait in line to play the line's crazy right I mean they jumped on it right away 100 people in line only 500 um it's definitely a a nice looking game I mean it looks really good it's a little it looks a little floaty right now I got I got to got you got to get a little more snap on that on that pitch angle yeah you know look we're gonna get a chance to play all these games guys how's the show been so far so what's your favorite game like you played X-Men space hunt space hunt yeah these guys ninja eclips X-Men X-Men's good X-Men's good super we're all the Homebrew games the home grow back there they got the Harry Potter and I got to find the guy that's got um the Big Trouble game coming and try to get him to make me one all right let's I'm going to just try to film some of this Satur well Friday I was getting confused wait what day is no today's Friday we're going the wrong way it's not S I think is this a Saturday morning spectacular that didn't sound good let's just that's what get you 500 games sold it does look really nice I think all the griping about the colorization was a little pretty good in person yeah it looks really nice in person it looks like a oh there's the Topper Topper looks looks better in person too all right I might I might want those LEDs on the side rails just to stay on but all right all right Tony H over there is pretty sweet Tony Hawk all right we're going to do a left right over little left we're going to walk around thank you thank you we're going to do we've got want to do a lap of Expo we've got multimorphic here Princess lab we've got oh you know I'm going to do point of view all right so we've got pin sound get let me get up a little bit we've got how's it going guys we've got some arcade games and we've got Troy section here with a lot of stuff I mean they brought a 100 Stern machines Godzilla we've got a bar here nice I mean there's nobody online at the bar are you serve can you serve before noon can are you open all right the bar I'm shocked the bar is empty because all these guys are sneaking in the booth yeah oh it's only yeah it's only 10:30 I mean it's not it's it's never too early to drink any in in my land I mean talk about red carpet Stern pinball just is has a humongous section of games oh we got the danger room let's look at this the leveling up idea with your this is cool like this is a really nice setup if you can see this and then it's all like in this dark room I I think this is really well done this is a phenomenal game gang and it's just going to keep getting better um you know like X-Men it's just great and they're going to keep making it better and better and better um you know the more they get weisson off the cat the better the game's going to get I'm serious I'm serious like they they had to like they had to throw in more people um all right what is the weisson goas of I I just think Stern through more people at X-Men they they just they listen to the feedback and I heard like the game was in really bad shape before they um before they did that I'm going to switch modes again I'm I'm figuring this this gimbal thing out ah there we go there we go calan bombing us uh there's a line here's the Alice line again it's too long're they're all sold out it's Point you're waiting for nothing people you're waiting for nothing all right let's um I want to go find like The Homebrew what's up guys Alice all right my my left hand is going to be dead tired this gimbal thing weighs a ton Let's see we got we're going to go this way we're going to go around the edge someone gave me a t-shirt now I'm stuck carrying a t-shirt around I will say um when I go to these shows oh here's Abba let's turn the camera around what's that filling out that ra I will say you know it's very Abba it's very Abba I think if you're a fan of ABBA you got a pin we've got alien all right we've got a big crystal ball I you know it's it's funny because I can definitely tell there's people that don't want to talk to me you know it's cool it's cool I rag on a lot of stuff we got the Jersey Jack Booth got Toy Story we got Jack over there I don't want to I don't want to bombard Jack the Jersey Jack always does set up a nice Booth Elon John's okay so we got avatars in the dark like a little a little bit it's not really Pitch Black in here I mean the danger room is more I mean this is the the danger room this is the pipe and drape Avatar it's not blacked out I and I I still the marketer in me just just kind of cringes a little bit because you've got this UV game and you got to pipe and drape it you got to Black it out like black out the room it's like come on like show it in the best possible way all right let's keep walking oh I mean he hit me he hit me up with an electric badat arcade t-shirt of course Cal did all right got let's go find the spooky crew let's turn it around all right we got home arcades all these retro Cades man I mean I don't know I kind of feel like the whole arcades and houses thing is it's going to come to an end soon people are just going to get tired of the Nostalgia a little bit and and also like I don't know kids kids don't uh kids don't play it they just don't play it anymore oh what's going on how you doing all right we got we got a tent here this is a darker room of Galactic tank forces and you can see nobody online I mean that's is they G like nobody online for this the line for Alice is down I mean it's an old game though but like nobody's playing these games it just it goes to show you you know you know your marketing efforts worked out when people are actually lining up to play your game um you know that speaks volumes let me see if anyone in the spooky crew is here I haven't I've played Looney Tunes there he is hold on we're going to get him in there there's the bed that's it he's a surpr as surprised as my wife is we're going to we're going to turn this around look who I found what's going on do it crew I know I got like I I'm in just for the day I got a proove by the doctor to fly I lost like 20 lb it's good it's good I feel great painkillers and vodka people it's the it's the answer painkillers and pinball two things that just how's that how's the show going oh it's fantastic we're moving moving lots of merch everything merch is great lot of people rolling through ton of people do you like our our Funway open concept playout I do I do it's really nice I was going to go across the street to Ikea I'm going to buy some couches a conv like yeah what's with this table back here like what is it's like an area to play Dungeons and dragon so you guys must be excited to get to what's next right it's coming like everything that's next I'm excited for every single one of them yeah and and what do we thinking December maybe you know we we tend to stick around the same time December could be sooner could be later what I will say uh we we've talk about it publicly the new game's going to be at pinball on the beach so it's going to be before that when's that it's in February oh okay okay so I mean there might be Harry Potter in February are you guys a little bit I I don't know you don't think so who knows he I I'm just finding my own he knows he knows all right well all right well so um I I want to ask you what the theme is but I know you can't confirm it but are we going to see like a big Mech in this game you are going to be pleasantly surprised as far as there's a lot of things you specifically have been asking for games number one on that list is Christopher franie baby here he is here he is he's about to crash it mrr franie did you get in here how you doing how you I I was talking uh bug about the next game rumor that you might be on it that's not a rumor it's true you're on it all right are you excited absolutely how many games you working on who doesn't love he man oh oh it's basts of the Universe the game that will never be made how many games am I working on for spooky well we're finishing up one we started another one working on two right now right this they kind of overlap okay are you including yeah all right so then three are you exclusive now spooky or No Ex got them exclusive all right yeah okay I'm I'm the biggest sellout in the industry for the right price I'm exclusively only covering spooky pitball we can we can work a deal out um it's good seeing you Mr franie and Bug we're doing a lap around the show what's up everybody I'm trying to learn this gimbal thing it's weird keeping everything steady the bar is open people we will be back here to play games I'm stilling a l Chris oh thank you brother I know I need I I got to can you can you do me the the honors look I still think Barbie people don't believe me Barbie would sell 5,000 pins 5,000 we got a little a little addition accessory coming from Mr franie if bug can grow some nails and get get the STI all right we're going to go right right there beautiful I love it I love it all right guys you guys want an electric fat t-shirt C oh they don't want it they don't want a cow throw it shade all right all right so let's see what we got here you know it's really interesting cuz everyone's going to stern right now so it is a really good time to be at the show to just play Pinball we've got um some pulp fictions here uh they'll be shipping your leie in 2028 I don't know what the deal is with like the delay on that game but John Youssi man like when you go to these shows everyone's cool everyone's chill the internet brings out the absolute worst than everybody um you know even franie he tried to run me over with his e scooter but he did but he did it and he gave me this beautiful sticker and now I feel like we're besties again that's how it works that's how it works um really some quiet areas here I will say for dudes who came in like Tuesday I feel your pain because you you absolutely are are like you've seen it all you've walked it you've lapped the floor and you're just ready to I don't know drink and eat oh Tony Hawk all right here we go all right wow this thing looks cool thing that is super crazy Scot Bonnet TT I mean when you look at look at these look at these like and this is like what Sonic the Hedgehog is like really has this really cool too young favorite movies coming to X next year who's making this can I can we talk can we get made uh Bri Brian Allen's on the art I got a hand painted back glass can you hold get in here all right introduce everybody to yourself who we got here hey my name is Kyle mud flaps on pide fride 13th this is my game here we got Big Trouble in Little China coming Expo 25 Playfield art by Brian Allen hand painted back glass by Michael K you know that's my favorite theme I know is there any way I could get one like we make two we can talk offline let talk offline we're we'll talk offline as we're live I'm so it's such a good theme it's like the call out it's tailor made and you what do you think about all these big companies sort of like ignoring properties like that there there is Niche and there's popular and there's cult right I think the big boys tend to gravitate toward it's popular stuff but there's place in the market for Niche we're not talking 2 3,000 4,000 un we're talking 500 units of a of a theme that's pretty popular not just big trouble little China but other themes John Youssi here yeah that are Niche but there's a market for but like pitball is Niche too so like if you overlap properly I think you could sell a couple thousand big troubles if done like if done right if the demand is there if you have the assets I think it can be something special you know what Jack Burton says about that what the hell I love that se in the elevator I feel good you feel good I feel good I feel kind of invincible and that's how I feel right now all the reflexes have a good time definitely there's tons of great home brews and all the other kind of stuff awesome thank going to be looking out for that big trouble and I'm going to be talking offline cuz I need to get that theme need it like I'm not it's never going to happen otherwise it's only going to be in the home brew world it's probably a licensing nightmare as well um all right you know I'm trying my best to read your comments people but I actually I need reading glasses so it's true does doesn't pop them up as big here as it does on my computer I'm going to turn around so you can see we're back at the stern I mean that's kind of it we kind of just lapped it all and you can see like it's not now there's another area where there's free play so I'm going to go try to find that but I'm going to go back to the line for Alice you can see the line for Al is can they want to talk you up front oh really uhoh they want to talk to me up front what about they want to talk to me up front am I not allow are they going to kick me out I wasn't asked not to come yeah yeah I'm getting escorted to the front um I'm just doing a labp talking to everybody nicely Melvin hold on can I just tell him once I I he's got my bag and everything so Melvin they're they're asking me to speak up front they might be trying to they they might be trying to kick me out so you might have to tell that I don't know this guy's escorting me to the front here just walk with me I'll be right back who's that there I don't know you got to be kidding me all right we I got Melvin I got I got a little I got a little muscle we're I'm just just walking around the show having a good time didn't do anything haven't said any so we'll see what they say if they're going to say it they're going to say it on camera why is it always got to be drama I'm not doing any drama Expo they're they're walking me out after my first class ticket what's up Rob how you doing good um yeah all right well Melvin's talking to Rob I don't know what's happening I'm going to let them have do their thing just trying to just trying to record pinball okay we're good on I don't think it was Rob the famous can how you doing Rob I don't know if you ever met yeah we've met I me what name probably Chris or Canada so listen I want you I remember I sent you an email last year yeah yeah why don't you think about coming to low ke and don't call what do I do nothing oh okay but you're known for you're right right Ste things so my point being I'm not here to lot right I'm just here for you to say come to the show enjo the show yeah yeah I'm not I'm not give us all positive present no negative Stu absolutely absolutely robt don't think about hey I snuck in and all no I paid I paid I paid my 50 bucks but I mean this is youro right so I'm not here to bmth you give you grief just ask you to just respect me in the show and just have a good time so how how do you know melbour um we've been talking for months about Alice so it's been um a long journey to get the game to Market so I've just been helping him sort of with some ideas on how to launch it see my take is is your manager if I was your manager is turn the switch and all of a sudden can is a greaty everything he does all positive yeah no I've been hyping the game and it's sold out no but I'm just saying in general you know you're you're more like the national inquire of the press well you know I got it I got to call it well I I mean I think I'm pretty balanced that's a good way you've done a good job more than no question yeah but uh I guess my final take is a time with a place yeah yeah so just here come here enjoy yourself yeah yeah there's GNA be I'm not getting you any grief you know some of these guys the manufacturers don't even want to see right no I know that over years I can tell be American or Jersey ja you know you said some stuff yeah or you leak that you're you're the best leak got to leak it got to leak it this stuff shouldn't be you're the best it shouldn't it shouldn't be secret that you know what titles are coming when I mean I know well you know I guess it's just the way you do it right yeah what me outside the the shirt on the shch C the world famous where where did this name come from by the way it's uh there a Japanese anime called I'm and yeah he's the the main the main character the protag I need a better picture of you than that oh I'll get you a better one than that well I'll just take it you now say this is this number so good 914 yeah9 yeah so where where's Home For You Connecticut just moved 4 months ago yes sir well you you called me all good there's still a nice one here pal I don't know maybe 150 I just I walk quickly might be yeah so are you Greek what not yeah Greek and Sicilian so what do you speak no not a lick the the my parents the grandparents to assimilate their kids what picture do you want on my phone this one world famous Rob where's the free play area over there over there okay no I'm just in for the day flow tomorrow morning um just you know here to do lap the show hey so tell me how you how' you meet who meet who Wings yeah oh just yeah marketing you know I'm just helping them look when people want to get their product hyped they come to me I got you know a few hundred people on patreon a few thousand on Facebook and you know I think I'm a good hype man for the hobby oh yeah thing is Rob it's like like in the end if I if you think about me like a movie reviewer am I going to say every movie's good who who'd want to listen to me you look at you're very fun boy look how you should be in theater yeah yeah no but like the the whole the the criticism that you know I don't I don't speak favorably about every game is accurate but nor should anybody speak favorably about every game you know you just can't blank it give everything a you know a great score especially at these prices these games have to be worthy of the money I mean you you've been around long enough where games used to be 2500 bucks and have everything that Twilight Zone had in it now they're 15,000 am I cool to run around Rob are we good we're good okay cool I'm going to go to the free play area we're going to have a good time there's absolute pleasure thank you for allowing me to how I met you though I don't know I've come here before yeah I a remember talk your medium okay well I mean like it's other than sing him I don't think I ever saw then I did there I when I snuck it it was just getting early to film a little bit but I paid I wasn't like my friend have a good time you too Rob I'll see you all right okay all right we're good I I um they keep asking me how I know Mel like I did get saved by Mel like I I think I think we're going to go get the free play area I mean I don't I don't um I don't expect the red carpet treatment but I also do find it interesting that there is just this like this attitude that like you're bad if you don't like everything and I I as someone who's done this now as a hobby for 12 years years and has done a thousand podcasts about pinball and you know I have over 2 million listens to Canadas pinball podcast 2 million um it's does it irk me a little bit that I get kind of treat it like that like I don't know I haven't thrown a drink in a dude's face in like six years like I don't know sometimes I feel a little bit singled out but I don't really mind because in the end what makes my show special what makes my content good is is that I don't hold back on how I feel about stuff and and it's interesting too when when you hear the indictment of me that I I you you should celebrate pinball more like nobody Hypes these games more than I do I do a better job hyping these games uh than the manufacturers do let's let's be honest all right let's go check out the free play area I'm you know what I'm just going to leave someone Cal don't kill me but I'm I'm going to leave your electric bat arcade I I'm I've been carrying it around man I wish your your commentary would come up a little bigger cuz I I'm honestly disappointed in how they view you they honestly think yeah I I'm I'm a little a little disappointed too I mean they literally going to KI me out like if Melvin didn't talk to him and say he's with us I was getting tossed out of Expo but they did in and Rob is a good guy it's look we all know it's not Rob it's not Rob we know we know but look we're not here to we're not here to focus on any negative as I said Good Vibes day I I I'm having a great day with great people um and I I think we'd leave it at that okay so we're going into the free play room let's let's show you what it's like walking in here and we've got um and everyone's at the stern tour right now everybody let's go I'll do a lap we got a lot of a lot of em got to just change this I mean as you can tell you got this beautiful old Arab pinball and I mean these are mostly em in this free play room so this is where you come for those of you that have a problem with the Alice artwork how I see you with a hard body no no gang I'm I'm used to um I'm used to that kind of a treatment and you know I have very thick skin I I don't I don't let stuff like that get cuz I'm here to have a good time I flew out first class I'm flying home first class I've got a beautiful oh sorry a beautiful wife two beautiful children a job I love a hobby I love all of you guys and a house that I just absolutely love and I feel like pinch me you know I'm living a dream so no no getting getting asked to um getting getting asked to explain myself at a pinball show is not is not going to is not going to diminish my mood okay so let's go back in and I don't know I guess Alice is just going to have this endless line and what's crazy is the line is so long and almost everybody is at Stern Pinball right now and here we are at Expo and it's kind of I want to say it's kind of empty I think a lot of people are at Stern getting that factory tour and I I will say the stern factory tour is absolutely incredible it you you will understand the moment you tore Stern why it's so cool look at look at this I should interview this all right here we go it's like Flippy my man my main squeeze my main squeeze you get to see the Metallica artwork here there's no Metallica here um all right let's let's show you what it's like walking in let's do point of view let's turn it around all right so this is what it feels like to walk into pinball Expo and you're going to see like right when you get in you're going to hit you're going to hit this long line for Alice everybody wants a piece of Alice I told y'all to buy one thank you Chris for live streaming no worries guys I will live stream you know I wish I could live stream more of the the seminars and everything but I'm really just going to um I'm only here tonight I'm out tomorrow morning Saturday is date night with the wife morning how you doing all right so as you can see oh we got we got some stuff we didn't catch earlier but I'm going to show you guys Alice I haven't really even stood over Alice yet here's here's old Metallica it really is a pretty wide openen game now that I look at it it's not as like it's not as loaded as the more like modern games all right so this is the back of the line for Alice and I'm going to say there's a good I don't know there's a good 40 to 50 people waiting to play the game it's on a two-player game I wonder how all these people even heard about it you know it's like really doesn't have like a ton of let's get these guys you're still online D almost almost all right Alice can Club member since like since like the very beginning the $50 $50 since the very seriously I was there before the beginning though before you were acquiring yeah when it was free uh are you guys excited to play Al did you guys buy one yes I did on your recommendation it's too late no okay see that did you buy Metallica Le on my recommendation too no I got it cuz it's awesome are you but you you got one not as connected as you are I mean connected I will say Melissa Melissa didn't get me one it was like she legit did not right I'm gonna um when I'm in Manhattan next week if you're Manhattan next week you're Manhattan you said you're where next week manhatt my now yeah let's connect you around yeah of course time for yeah well let's let's go to my Tokyo all right that yeah no I don't see it's I'm a terrible I bet if I just leave it on this I will have more views more views it's like Brenda's face when I said I'm going to pinball Expo I'm not a good player either oh no the details are amazing dagger all right let's get some gameplay here oh I mean you're not going to see any gameplay with me can oh come on get it back said he's samand magging it for the you waited on that line for that Dan that was that was sad I'm a collector I'm not a tournament player go I think this game's going to be okay though br I mean it's shooting buttery smooth he suckered you into it can I take the can I take the glass off so I can see the upper play field oh that that magnet grab sweet oh that ramp didn't work at 2 a.m. I'm going to make it work now we not that that was it Dan just waited like a half hour play 30 Seconds for 30 seconds yeah then then the brakes I don't know if you got a feel for it on that that play D that was yeah you're had know I wish I wish I would have been paired with a good player I could have at least watched it and this man waited for 30 minutes no 45 an hour an hour yeah oh wow yeah it's a it's a and he drained in 2 minutes all right proud of it we can yeah we we'll connect in the city go to my my Tokyo jazz bar OC ocas the ocas club are you in the ocas club am I yeah fing are you kidding me of course been in theoc club for it was all right we're going out for OC we're going out for um you I will say like I think the the flipper power on Alice needs to be like cranked a little bit they feel a little little sluggish getting up in down that play field um we've all been spoiled with Stern let let's do this I want to there's there's another area I want to show you guys we've got Princess Bride here there's only two um multimorphic games here's we got all the modular systems here just to so you guys can see the cabinet again a good point of view does it play as beautiful as it looks I think that is a debate people will have what's going on you want to get on camera here guys let's see how's it going what's going on who we got here say hi to everybody Brad L Brad and Matt Pac all right guys have you played Alice no not yet all right are you going to wait on this long line hell no for a two ball game what have you played so far nothing we just walked in the door and went through the frustrating process of filling out oh the pre registration worth of why they just like sell you the tickets let us it's like your home address your firstborn to get in here all right so what do you guys most excited to play you know I I'm more what brings you here Gentleman Just Just to hang that's that's good enough that's good go get the bars over hey I'm going to be in New York all right let my wife's the one that's running the marathon oh yeah yeah so I'll get a hold of you hit me up up yeah all right John Youssi that they had no they didn't know why they're here they didn't know why they're here all right Al this line continues to stay a consistent I I will play the game eventually um we'll turn around here so you guys can see let's get a little all right this is more comfortable all right I got my the steady cam is working I will say it is working how's it looking on your end guys good oh we got 3D art really neat how's it going as a as a 3D artist are you somewhat disappointed that Avatar is not in 3D it is it's not yes it is the game Oh I thought you mean the movie no the game exactly we were saying like shouldn't the game be in 3D just actually my mind I love I that's what they're known for do you did you guys do the toppers too I did the art oh nice yep yep really cool very neat 3D art guys wear the glasses see things in a different perspective got some vendors here how's it going really cool artwork just going to some of this artwork I really need to get artwork in my game room it's it's like really fighter very neat very neat I love a good shadow box 3D art here's can's Booth the brick wall it's like listening to me is like ramming your head into a brick wall The Homebrew custom games area all right see this WOW here's this monster of a game look look at it next to Hercules it's bigger than Hercules I I don't understand you could sleep in this thing it's the size of a bed wow the monitor looks tiny that's cool this is cool still live yeah competing live she's got more viewers let's see how many viewers you have this I need to find we should just film each other film each other filming each other yeah I've got no viewers I've got 51 how many you rolling now Carrie 118 he's got double hey got hey hey Chris a great game for the new house a great statement cules look down the basement just think Kian and Cassian could be playing on this be this this could be Killian's bed 4500 I know you spend more than that like on a couch I would convert this it's true it's true this could be a bed this could be a bed I would convert this into a bed that'd be a great kids it would be a great kids bed you have a little ladder going up is that your microphone on your hat look see this guy knows what he's doing ladies and gentlemen can we get you want at least but I I got the gimmel I got this whatever this thing's called Carrie yeah I have it also but I took it away I I was like I thought it was going to be a short one a short video Annoying this this thing is heavy did you play Alice yet no I haven't the two Alice shows NDA [ __ ] we're under NDA people are turning around now they're like horrible the line's down the block it's sold out they should have listened to Carrie and Canada everybody what about Facebook live oh get more people on Facebook live should I go on Facebook yeah how you doing how you feel you want to come on camera sure all right hold on let's get around here all right introduce yourselves everybody I'm Jamie from the wormal how are you this is Ian from nudge magazine oh [ __ ] how you doing brother good to see you I snuck in today they almost tried to kick me out did they already yeah they tried but they no they were cool robber was cool all right so have you played everything I haven't played the monsters and I'm trying to play saw and I need to play ABA you play Alice yeah I played Alice what do you think it was good I I put up a good little score nice with two balls you hit the ramps and everything I I didn't get up top nobody nobody's getting up top no one's they need to fix that like it's like when you have a major feature that nobody you should be able to get to it yeah like almost every game just kick it up there for some reason you know it's like the the hyper Drive in Star Wars you got to get you can play that game like 50 times and never get in it well we'll see they got they got another one coming today maybe that one will look at you all fancy today too I'm dripping gentlemen you're looking good guys always a pleasure these guys are two of the best best content creators out there one two three carry carry four he's two he's two all right let's see home brew we got the home Bru stuff the reason I'm doing YouTube is like you guys can go back and watch this whenever wow is this the Harry Potter game that I thought was the real one and I lost all my credibility do you want can we talk Kyle get you let's get around here this game I'm here with Kyle he made this hairy Potter game which is absolutely insane how deep this cabinet is how's it going you setting up now is it is working it's been flipping on and off uh was troubleshooting an issue with the trop I think that's fixed I had to run out to Best Buy to get this so I could get an adapter to get back on but it's a been a challenge but now like this like it's so amazing you got to I'm going to turn the camera on so you guys can see this how deep this cabinet is do you wish more pinball companies like when like you clearly built this to the theme right like made it made the environment work for the theme like you could never fit this into a traditional pinball cabinet but it works here how do you feel are you a little worried about like having the better Harry Potter come February and everyone's going to want yours that's not really a concern of mine I guess like I built this for me because I was just passionate about the license I wanted to see a game try to do it justice so I'm a first believer in creating moments for bball so there's a whole lot of things I have land with the code to actually bring that to life this this looks like a jersey Jack game this is what threw me I mean the play Feel oh yeah this looks exactly well I think you saw my rendering of it yeah and I and I thought it was real um across the center here there's a magnet on a linear so you'll have a duel with another Wizard and it'll be kind of like M multiball so Dr ball then you can push in the battle back and forth that's so cool and then this all lights up through here and I have little Speckles of Lights to get like a splatter effect on it so I I really want to create those moments and I'm planning on doing you know for seven years you know I what I love what I love what Kyle's saying he's designing the game for the moments he wants players to feel and also bringing the theme to life in a pinball that's everything I sometimes feel like people just design a they design games without even the theme in mind and then they slap the theme on and you can feel it in the game it's like it could be any game this is Harry Potter how many people have tried to buy this from you or want one I've had at least probably like 10 people say how much you want for it right would you sell it ever or make another for no I I don't think I legally can sell it I mean so you can do anything it's whether you get in trouble or not yeah well they made like those five Matrix Games or whatever right I don't got the money for a license that's not going to happen on my end no it's a real cheap license Kyle uh well look it's absolutely stunning it's a pleasure to meet you in person man I've been following this game online absolutely stunning manate it's um it you really you don't get a sense of how like a world underglass and then some let's go around again we've got a an probably probably better than Stern SL Zeppelin there's a lot of really cool like Homebrew stuff it's exciting seeing this Homebrew Market explode because this is where the next Keith Ellen's going to come from you know this is where the next Jack danger will come from always a beautiful game The Nightmare Before Christmas this game continues to be one of the most again huh my gma's acting up there there we go wow Frozen this space gang is like I think some of where the most exciting pinball is happening I mean it it just it's just it's cuz everything you're seeing in this area is is 100% passion I mean to wake up one day and make a a pinball machine is a is a Herculean task Sonic the Hedgehog oh coming from Jersey Jack soon Pokemon Hazard what's this OverWatch wow very cool I'm sorry very cool what's up how you doing you too you too Mike m good to see you Mike is this yours yeah yeah me and my Sons built this machine it's called OverWatch it's based on Activision Blizzard game all right so Mike's hey What's Going got it's OverWatch home brew game very cool how long did it take from like idea to What's Happening Here 2 years start to finish and it would have been probably 5 years if not for like the home grp Community right helping each other out with coding and Woodwork and everything very cool so yeah me and my sons built it I drove it from Jersey last night 13 hours it survived wow looks great you know what I want to point out guys I love the artwork on you know the hinge John Youssi that it looks great I wish more companies it just it it ties in so nicely we love this helmet yeah totally defeated vinyl there I haven't seen anybody do that that looks so good well congratulations you know are you guys into video games yeah yeah I heard a Fallout might be coming oh that' be sweet so from one of the big guns so we'll see we'll see all right brother good enjoy the show pleasure seeing you did can just drop an exclusive hint there I think I did I think I did oh is this backwards again like what's going on with this thing H it's all right it's all right as long as it looks good you know G I'll tell you this it's it's only 12:15 I I've only been here 2 hours I'm exhausted you know I'm exhausted and and this is this is why shows are tiring cuz like you're you're you know it's loud it's sensory overload you're on your feet um and you know you what's going on how you doing you want to get on camera with me what do we got here who introduce yourself what's going on bandal Amusement America welcome to pinball Expo 2024 what are you selling here man I got the complete package here I got Pacman cave.com I got jukebox bolama right here oh shoot wow side here it's a bowling game let's go bowling look at this oh this game yeah yeah all right it's a bowling game four players five games very cool connectivity with Bluetooth you can use any phone you can play your music Spotify iTunes SoundCloud this is bad boy this one's $41.95 all seems cheep in the world the Pinball it's like a Topper well it's great you can bring the fun home right it's $41.95 completely assembled and then we've got this ski ball yeah yeah no no Pac-Man roller Pac-Man roller can't say ski ball probably how much how much this bad boy we can talk about that later but this is great for everybody here you can pair it up with another one wow try to get those tickets so I can get that all right Redemption game in the house not only that let me show you the best part I got Miss Pac-Man gallaga all right let's do this last in 1981 this Pacman gallager right here 32 games officially licensed games by Bandai hand full size 27 in LCD monitor full size cabinet all assembled ready to go check out the artw work look at the artwork nice like the original it is the original it's the best all right here come today the pinball XO there we go right here in shamber come get shirts today in the house I um I thought I knew that guy when he called out to me and I did it and then I got the whole sales pit sorry about that but um it's also no one wants that no one wants those Cade machines without a CRT no all right we're back at Alice and the line is still still ridiculous um let's go look underneath it they've got one they got the third machine with the hood up NDA production mod as you can see there's actually stuff underneath it all right looks good looks good J very clean very dut very Dutch get a nice sense here of the um the height of that upper Playfield gang the details and the color I mean I'm going to tell you right now Melvin we need that apron artwork on here man yeah we need it working on I'm bringing my paint brush walk not the jabber walkie jabber walk people the jabber walk is the name of the poem are you guys turning this one on y it's about to be set up you need to set up they could have 10 of these things and there's still a line I don't know what happened guys ain't no line at some of the other games I'm not going to name names maybe you should have listened to Canada maybe you should have bought one oh now you can't now you can't get one translate going in nice nonreflective glass but walk you guys over this very nice what do you person I mean it's beautiful looks it's way more colorful in person I mean I'm picking up the color too which is what I love with the camera lot of opinions on the internet guys but in real life which is where you're supposed to play Pinball and have intimacy with your wives it's it's really really colorful you know and I really like this color you got to stand over it I love it I love it I I don't like this black black apron no that's the one thing where get art cuz all this beautiful colorful artwork you crash into this no so what I have we have like the apron CS that are colorful as well so it Blends in a little bit more yeah I was the first idea for me was to paint uh just powder coat it in this color but it was just it was in your face so much but we're now doing like we have magn apron C just Blends in more like this yes that's what I production all right they've got your your decal in our decal things walk it's it's absolutely gang a stunning cabinet I mean it it really is and I'm not just saying that cuz I'm under NDA I'm no longer under NDA um all right gang I'm going to go take I'm going to sit down and collect my thoughts a little bit with you guys if you guys want to still hang here and I hope you enjoyed this sort of lap around I I am a little like there there's a lot of avatars over there I'll show you I you know I just really want to give Jersey Jack the constructive feedback I do and and I I really did enjoy the factory tour and the time with them you know was like um it was like about a month ago I believe you know but you know as they got they got a lot of games here you know the I I think Elton is their best game right now let's hang and talk about Avatar Xmen who wants to come talk come find me man I when all those people from the stern tour let's go walk out real quick wow there's still still going on the stern S I got to I got to you really do need like you do need like brakes and it's it's exhausting and I I always tell people this like you don't need 3 days at a pinball show uh you will you will burn burn out and burnout is real this I think this Stern tour goes until like 1:00 um okay I need my reading glasses they the YouTube has these comments come up with size for font we're going to go upstairs right no I'm I'm glad to be here I mean it it's it's always fun to come to these shows and hang out in person with everybody um I don't know why when my thing is like backwards hold on there we go oh that's F I heard you had a busy day yesterday oh I can cut through there oh is this a that's the tournament okay do you guys want to go in the tournament room do you guys want to see the tournament room let's do that let's see cuz just cover it all might as well for back all right pinball tournament you know the this's a big room you know I just I can't I I can't take pinball this seriously um I get it it's fun you know it's easy to be competitive but I don't know it just seems like a lot of for me pinball should be drinking whiskey and beer with your friends you come over and you all play a four player game and who cares like you know you but like really taking it super seriously like I I get it like I get it but then I don't get it oh I'm going to like I think I saw like a piano I'm who look at this guy get in here how you doing what's up man how you doing just got today I literally just landed say hi to everybody what's up y'all I'm tux tux how you doing always well man literally just landed car fishing Auto yeah well-dressed man what are you doing what are you here to see Alice is a long line uh Alice X-Men uh Labyrinth again before I get mine what did you order so far did you get Alice I did not order Alice metallic Le I already have a me okay so what do you think of the new one I'm honestly a fan of the art on the older one but I am intrigued about the new mechs we're and see it if see we'll see it later today STS bringing it over after the tour did you go on the tour no I literally just got literally just there I'll see you I'm here all day always a pleasure brother love John Youssi you in bed all right great collector there from the Texas area car maybe it's a car lover all right should we play a little G&R it's too early normally I got to get liquored up for this all right later I got to get some booze in me I never Play Sober good morning morning how you doing how you do talk Times online oh Josh what's going on tourament director for Expo this year yeah how's the tournament going we had 230 players wow you know it's going to be when's the party later all right save me some booze okay so tor's going to get 200 plus players 230 players a division finals started about a half hour ago what's the prize the game uh total prize PS like 20,000 spread out a little bit plus the game and a bunch of other stuff okay okay what game's at stake I think they get to pick okay new St new box St and everything so awesome Sterling qualified 20th overall only kid in the whole tournament yeah oh man it's incredible I I suck I should join one year oh great awesome all right I love it I love watching people battle it out yeah for this be great to get a free game you have to declare that in taxes or what yeah C the pro circuit finals Ron Wednesday uh it was Jared August and Eric Stone Eric Stone got second Jared won I think Grand at a new game as well some of these like really good players must win a lot of games yeah not a bad side gig it's better than podcasting guys I can I have to beg people for five bucks but it's good see get every month yeah yeah good seeing it um okay so here's what here's what I how's it going how you doing um I'll play I'll play um I'll play Some Guns and Roses later I need to have some whiskey in me though I can't do it now it doesn't it doesn't work um all right I'm going to go guys we're going to stop now I'm going to collect my thoughts but I just want to say like it's a really cool show there's a lot of everything here right now and if you're in the market this is kind of invaluable you get to put your hands on everything everything and play it I I will say overall overall my feelings are that the games are a little too expensive for what's underneath the glass I I mean it in general G I mean there's just there's too much required to make so much money to then like you got to make $30,000 before taxes to buy a single pinball machine from Jersey Jack and C form 26,000 for his turn and this before taxes I mean this is a lot of money and you know I think overall I I like seeing you know the home brw stuff I like seeing the creativity those guys are putting into it I really do because I think those guys are are doing it all with 100% passion and that's it like they're not doing it for commercial reasons they're doing it for love and I just you know I just think it's it's competitive you know you've got you've got all these different companies with their games lined up and you've only got a finite amount of cash what's going on man you man how you doing uh you only got a finite amount of money you know you can't buy it all and that's why I think Alice line is really long and successful I think Alice is just it's different and I think people do appreciate that you know they do appreciate that you know and it's like it's not the same like as everybody else because when he like all right I got to go get some lunch we'll be back on later love you guys peace how do I even end this oh there we go
X-Men pinball required significant additional development resources after initial poor state, with Stern adding more staff to address feedback
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'I heard like the game was in really bad shape before they um, before they did that...they just listen to the feedback'
“There is niche and there's popular and there's cult, right? I think the big boys tend to gravitate toward. It's popular stuff. But there's place in the market for niche.”
Kyle (Big Trouble in Little China designer) @ homebrew discussion — Articulates market segmentation between mass manufacturers and boutique/homebrew developers
market_signal: Boutique manufacturers (homebrew, smaller ops) increasingly attracting enthusiast attention with niche IP licensing while large manufacturers focus on popular properties; licensing complexity for big IP noted
medium · Kaneda: 'Big companies sort of like ignoring properties like that'; Kyle on Big Trouble licensing: 'It's probably a licensing nightmare as well'
?
personnel_signal: Christopher Franchi transitioned from Stern to exclusive deal with Spooky Pinball, now working on multiple games simultaneously
high · Franchi confirms: 'Exclusive. Got them exclusive' and describes working on two games with overlap; previously associated with Stern
$
market_signal: Kaneda articulates structural pricing concern: games have inflated from $2,500 to $15,000 without proportional feature increases, justifying critical approach to game quality assessment
high · Kaneda: 'Where games used to be twenty five hundred bucks and have everything that Twilight Zone had in it. Now they're fifteen thousand'
?
announcement: Spooky Pinball's next game will be revealed at Pinball at the Beach (February), indicating release target before that date, likely December 2024 or January 2025
high · Spooky representative: 'The new game's going to be at Pinball at the Beach...It's in February'
?
product_concern: X-Men pinball required significant post-release development intervention with additional staff allocation to address gameplay/quality issues from community feedback
medium · Kaneda: 'I heard like the game was in really bad shape before they um, before they did that...they just listen to the feedback' and 'they threw in more people'
?
rumor_hype: Possible teases about Spooky's next game including mechs and addressing community feature requests; Christopher Franchi involvement confirmed as major element
medium · Kaneda asks about 'big mech' and is told 'You are going to be pleasantly surprised'; Franchi described as top priority for addressing community asks
?
technology_signal: Big Trouble in Little China homebrew demonstrating viable niche market using hand-painted backglass and professional-level playfield art (Brian Allen), challenging big manufacturers' focus on mass-market IP
medium · Kyle discusses targeting 500 units with professional artists; notes: 'There is niche and there's popular and there's cult...But there's place in the market for niche'