Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

Straight Down The Middle: a pinball show Episode 1: Batman 66 Review

Straight Down the Middle·video·46m 13s·analyzed·Feb 10, 2017
View original
Export .md

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

New Midwest pinball show debuts with critical Batman 66 review citing incomplete code and mechanical issues.

Summary

Zach Sharpe and Greg launch 'Straight Down The Middle,' a new Midwest-focused pinball podcast/show, with their inaugural episode reviewing Stern's Batman 66. They establish a weekly content format (machine reviews, top 10 lists, Pinside drama, interviews) and rate Batman 66 across multiple categories, finding strong art and presentation but significant issues with incomplete code, clunky ramp mechanics, and underdeveloped rules.

Key Claims

  • Batman 66 was unplayable at Pinball Expo when first shown

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe and Greg discussing the machine reveal at Pinball Expo

  • The left ramp on Batman 66 has widespread issues with inconsistent feel and some machines experiencing balls flying off the back

    high confidence · Both reviewers noted the left ramp bounces excessively and feels 'clunky'; Zach stated he hasn't personally experienced balls flying off the back but many players report this issue

  • Batman 66 code is incomplete and similar to the delayed KISS code update situation

    high confidence · Reviewers express frustration that lesser-known villain modes don't work and mystery shots don't register; game functions as 'four-mode game' effectively

  • Stern had significant production challenges in their recent cycle (Ghostbusters playfield issues, Batman 66 release timing)

    medium confidence · Hosts acknowledge Stern's difficult year and note the company had to release Batman 66 despite incomplete code, possibly due to 40th anniversary timing pressure

  • The rotisserie/Batmobile spinner mechanism is innovative but slow to activate during multiball sequences

    high confidence · Zach demonstrated in video review that the spinner doesn't turn quickly enough when answering the Bat Phone to start modes

  • Batman 66 music is 'smooth jazz' that fits the theme but doesn't excite players compared to recent Stern titles like Walking Dead

    high confidence · Reviewers compared Batman 66's music negatively to the energetic soundtrack of Walking Dead

  • George Gomez designed Batman 66 with his typical layout philosophy that some players find repetitive

    medium confidence · Hosts note Gomez's consistent design approach across his games, referencing similar layouts in other titles

  • The show is focusing on Midwest pinball coverage because the region lacks dedicated content compared to Northeast (Buffalo) and Chicago areas

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe explains the show's regional focus and regional content strategy in opening segment

Notable Quotes

  • “So we're just going to try to film the hell out of some pinball, talk pinball, have fun, make fun of each other, and have a blast.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 1:04 — Establishes the show's casual, enthusiast-focused tone and community approach

  • “Code, code, code, where is the KISS code? is going to be an issue with this.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 14:52 — Captures the community's frustration with incomplete code at release, referencing ongoing KISS code delays

  • “That left ramp, you guys, it's brutal. It is brutal.”

    Greg@ 22:13 — Emphasizes the consensus critical issue with Batman 66's primary ramp mechanic

  • “It's like a step back. Yeah, it is. It is almost like a step back. It's very true.”

    Greg and Zach Sharpe@ 20:20 — Indicates Batman 66 represents a quality regression compared to recent Stern releases like Walking Dead and Star Trek

  • “Everything about pinball is subjective. You know, it's all an opinion.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 17:25 — Establishes the show's meta-commentary on review subjectivity and different player preferences

  • “The new Sterns have gotten me so spoiled. Fantastic.”

    Greg@ 25:09 — Demonstrates how recent Stern quality has raised baseline expectations for new releases

  • “I hate how they released it so early. Like, hold on to the thing just a little longer just so that it doesn't look bad.”

Entities

Zach Sharpe MenypersonGregpersonGeorge GomezpersonStern PinballcompanyBatman 66gameStraight Down The Middle: a pinball showeventWalking Deadgame

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Stern facing production challenges across multiple recent releases (Ghostbusters playfield issues, Batman 66 incomplete code) suggesting manufacturing or development capacity constraints

    medium · Reviewers acknowledge 'What a hell of a year Stern has had to face' and note timing pressure around 40th anniversary may have forced early release of incomplete game

  • ?

    community_signal: Launch of 'Straight Down The Middle' represents organized effort to create Midwest-focused pinball content addressing regional media gap

    high · Show explicitly designed to cover Midwest region ('really there's nothing down here in the Midwest'); hosts note Buffalo and Chicago have coverage but Indiana/Kentucky area underserved

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Batman 66 playfield layout lacks tight shots and skill-based challenge; shot flow described as lacking smooth progression; contributes to gameplay that feels disconnected from mechanical execution

    medium · Reviewers note 'There's not really tight shots on the machine' and 'you don't want it to be so easy because then I think you lose interest'; describe lack of flow despite hit detection registering

  • ?

    design_philosophy: George Gomez exhibits consistent design approach across multiple machines (Batman 66, Lord of the Rings) that some players find repetitive; layout philosophy drives similar shot sequences and mechanics

    medium · Reviewers note 'Every time I play one of his games. It feels the same some people love that in particular, I just don't I'm not in love with that' and reference similar ramp issues across Gomez titles

  • ?

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.139

0:00
So like this is the beginning of the show where we show our logo and we insert upbeat music that's really cool but we can't afford editing. Hey everybody this is Straight Down the Middle, a pinball show. My name is Zach Minney. I'm Greg. We're gonna start filming a pinball show. We're two newer guys we've been in it a little bit over a year and we have a lot to say about pinball. What we're going to do with our show is we're going to do different things like machine reviews. We're going to do a top ten list that we're really excited about. We're going to talk about the drama of Pennside. We're also going to hopefully, over the weeks, we're going to do some interviews with different people in the community. We're trying to focus this show around the Midwest. We've got a lot of stuff. Guys up in Buffalo are doing a fantastic job with the Northeastern stuff. There's some people in Chicago doing some things. But really there's nothing down here in the Midwest. So we live, I live here in Indiana. He's in Indiana, close to Louisville as well. So we're just going to try to film the hell out of some pinball, talk pinball, have fun, make fun of each other, and have a blast. Anything you want to add to that, Greg? No, man, that's about it. You know, we got a, we're going to have a weekly breakdown. We're going to try to release a show every week.
1:20
We're going to try to stick to a schedule so that you know what to expect the first week of the month, second week of the month, and so on. Yeah, so what we're looking at is the first week of the month, we're going to try to review a machine. This month is going to be Batman 66. We'll go to a video here in a minute where I review the machine a little bit. Greg and I are going to sit, we'll talk about the machine, and what we're going to do is we're going to rank the machines based on a grading rubric. So A, B, C, D, F, and stuff. Hopefully nothing is going to be an F, but it might be. So that's the first week. Second week, we're going to try to talk about a top 10 list. I think, what do we got on schedule? I think we're going to do a top ten toys. Yeah, toys. So pinball toys, top ten list. And then we'll try to throw in a top three or worst three of pinball toys as well. Then the third week, we're going to talk about This Month in Pinside, a segment that talks about the dramatics and all of you lovely Pinside people that are full of drama. Which there's no shortage of. That's right. No shortage. That's no shortage. And then the fourth week, we're going to try to release an interview with somebody. And the interviews, I really want to focus on different collectors. People like you, people like me that have a small collection, a big collection. People that restore pinball machines. People that fix pinball machines. Pinball companies. We're going to try to do some really cool, awesome stuff when it comes to that. So emails are being sent out. We're trying to connect with individuals. And we're going to have a lot of fun, guys. So the first thing we're going to do is we're going to review Batman 66. Review Batman 66. When did this thing come out? It was the expos when they... Yes. They started showing it. You couldn't play the damn thing in Expo. Yeah. You got a good view of it, though. Right. I went to Expo, went to the tour.

Zach Sharpe@ 24:08 — Criticizes Stern's decision to ship incomplete code, advocating for longer development cycles

  • “The right ramp feels good. That's a nice.”

    Greg@ 21:38 — Provides minor praise for the one ramp that functions smoothly, contrasting sharply with left ramp criticism

    • Star Trek
    game
    KISSgame
    Pinball Expoevent
    Pinsideorganization
    Lord of the Ringsgame
    Ghostbustersgame
    Dark Knightgame
    Deadflipperson
    Lymanperson

    product_strategy: Batman 66 released with significantly incomplete code; lesser-known villain modes don't function; mystery shots don't register; game operates as four-mode game instead of full feature set

    high · Zach stated in video 'The left orbit to the mystery shot, it acts like it registers, but it doesn't give you anything. The lesser known villains, they don't give you really anything.' Reviewers give Rules a D grade and compare to delayed KISS code

  • ?

    product_concern: Batman 66 exhibits mechanical inconsistency with left ramp that bounces excessively and feels clunky compared to right ramp; widespread reports of balls flying off back on some machines

    high · Both reviewers extensively criticized left ramp mechanics; Zach noted 'feels cheap' and described it as 'almost like nothing is even holding it up'; ramp described as 'trampoline-like' and creating poor player experience

  • ?

    product_strategy: Code updates for Batman 66 incoming with at least one update mentioned as released night before or night of recording; reviewers skeptical of speed of fixes

    medium · Greg mentions 'there was a code update I think last night or the night before. Yeah. They might be better, but I can guarantee you they're still not a really good working machine.'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Community perception of Stern quality control declining; recent machines setting high baseline expectations that Batman 66 fails to meet

    medium · Greg states 'It's like a step back' and 'The new Sterns have gotten me so spoiled' after praising Walking Dead and Star Trek code quality

  • ?

    technology_signal: Batman 66 screen implementation creates mechanical vulnerability; reviewers concerned monitor will be damaged by balls flying around playfield

    low · Reviewer concerned about Ecto goggles-style damage: 'I love that. It's an aftermarket monitor. Keep doing that to pinball machines. That thing was really cool. I think it's probably going to be shattered at some point with the balls flying around like Ecto goggles.'

    • 3:02
    George Gomez was nice enough. They showed off the machines back in the back. It was really pretty. It was really nice. So we're going to review that, and then after that, I don't know, we'll talk about it a little bit. We'll talk about the art, the shots, the layout, the rules, the music, the call-outs, the stuff like that. So with that being said, let's go to the video and look at me reviewing Batman 66. Hey everybody, it's me, Zach. Greg's not with me today, but today we're going to be reviewing the Batman 66. Stern just came out with this, I don't know, about a month ago. They showed it at Expo. It wasn't flippable. And we'll get into the details of everything, but not really the most flippable right now. What we're going to do is we're going to go through the art package, we're going to go through the play field, we'll go through the toys. different things like that and then Greg and I will sit down and talk about it we'll give you a rating on it. Alright one second let's see if I can get this camera going alright good deal so Batman 66 from a distance this thing is pretty gorgeous sorry alright first thing let's go over the cabinet shows Batman shows Robin and I think it's pretty terrific very bright colors Stern's been doing a pretty good job as of late with this and the Ghostbusters and different things like that the cabinet head really good-looking one of my favorite parts of this machine it's got to be the back glass of the trans like the thing is just sharp really really bright colors same graphics over on the side here in In the front, it shows Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman, and Joker there.
    4:52
    All right. This actual game, I got the guy before me that had it. He put some lighting on the sides, the back, the front here. So this freaking thing is just lit up, which I do like. It looks really, really pretty. So now on with the screen. The screen itself is a pretty good compromise compared to the Jersey Jack. I know that George Gomez said something about them wanting to retain all of the artwork on a pinball machine, but still give that player a screen, which I think it looks pretty good. It looks pretty good. I still like the Jersey Jack kind of stuff. I'm more of a new school kind of guy. But overall, it looks a hell of a lot better than a DMD, in my opinion. all right let's go over the play field here hopefully it'll show up in the video all right so uh overview here there we go apron real quick the apron looks i hope they continue to do this one solid piece there instead of the actual price graphics or the price sheet they actually give that as well as a commemorant uh this is the chloroform victim how nice but I like the apron. Apron looks really good. It's solid. Apron looks cool. Lock bar looks pretty gnarly. The attract mode right now. So this guy you guys are probably saying oh my god all the purple. Yeah it is purple. So the apron here is shooting off a lot of purple LEDs back. A lot of LEDs but the sides I'll have to find this guy's name for you guys if you guys are interested but They're like magnetic strips and he lights them using LEDs. It's a pretty cool effect. It just really brightens up the entire game. So the play field itself, you guys, the clear coat on this thing is actually really, really nice. As much as Stern's been getting some heat lately for the play field, the play field looks awesome. Colors again, colors pop. The artwork pops. When you look at this thing, it's freaking gorgeous. I really like it. Now he added some of the little characters here. The Riddler and the Joker, Penguin here. He added the, what is that, I'm not into this stuff, a Batcycle I think. He's got the Batmobile up there. The Batboat down here. I didn't change any of the LEDs in the GI or anything like that. So nobody has to cry about color GI. But overall, man, it looks freaking sweet. Oh yeah, I did add flipper rubbers because whatever was on here before, whether the guy put it on, it was unbearable to play. They were bouncing around everywhere. Alright, so individual shots. So two flipper layout. I guess you'd call this a fan layout. You got your left orbit. You've got your left ramp, which is... Sorry. I should have turned that off. You have your left ramp. goes with Catwoman. You have your, I don't know what the hell they're calling it, rotisserie maybe, that has the television screen. You have your ball lock right there as it turns around. You have your spinning, almost totem-like Batmobile that spins around. The cool thing about that shot is it actually has, it goes through. So you can go through the shot. It's a really good satisfying shot. Or you can just hit the post and make that thing spin. and then it's got two shots beside it they're like drop tower not drop targets regular stand up targets and then over here you got the bat phone when it turns that you can answer the bat phone the bat phone lights up this displays different there you go displays different images really cool idea like that a lot it's got a magnet up front here with dimples so it's got a magnet right up front here that is supposed to I think code is going to go a long way for that because it's supposed to throw the ball around. It's kind of inconsistent now. Whenever you hit it, sometimes it'll throw the ball around. Sometimes it'll catch the ball. But again, consistency is not there. I don't know half the time what the hell it's going to do. And then you've got your right ramp here that goes with the Catwoman. And I will say the left orbit is for Riddler, Ramps, or Catwoman. Right down the middle is the Joker. You've got the Pops up here.
    9:22
    There's the Pops. And then you have a spinner right there. Kind of a chintzy little spinner, but it's a spinner nonetheless. Then you've got a scoop right down there, and that's for Penguin. And then this crane comes out, and the ball comes out, and it pops on one of these lights here, and you hit it, and you light up the thing. And then you've got your right orbit over there.
    9:49
    You've got your gadget stand-up targets over here. That's a lot of stand-up targets. And then you've got your TV stand-up targets right over here.
    10:00
    Okay, so I'm pretty sure that's the shot layout. Now, skill shot on this game, it's kind of cool. It's got these three lit arrows right there, and code's not ready for it really, I don't think, but I'm not the greatest pinball player, so I could be wrong. But you shoot it at a certain point, it'll go back here, it'll catch, and then you light up one of these things for your skill shot. Now you can, just like a Star Trek, you can hold that left flipper down, plunge your ball, it'll go all the way around, and then you can shoot a shot for a skill shot. But again, every time I seem to do it with the current code, sometimes it's a skill shot, sometimes it's not, etc. Basic rules of this game. Again, I'm no Keith Elwin here, but you start the game up. You hit the Riddler a number of times. You start Riddler mode. The phone will start ringing. You hit it, and then your Riddler mode is opened. You hit a certain amount of lit green shots. Then you defeat Riddler. You hit the scoop, lock him up in jail. Same for Catwoman. You hit Catwoman ramp so many times. Phone rings. You answer the phone. Then you hit so many of the Catwoman lit shots. Once you've qualified enough shots, hit the scoop, Catwoman is surrendered or she's in jail or whatever. Same with the Joker same with Penguin This game is really fast I wouldn say long ball times just because the ball is Thank you high speed The ball is flying around everywhere Now just I played this thing probably hell I don't know 50 times or so. First impressions for me and Greg and I will talk a little bit more about it it's a fast machine really fast good-looking machine that left ramp man it is short of tragic it really is it's I'll show you the let's see it's it bounces there's nothing holding this ramp up this one that was good but this thing you hit this thing and it just it feels cheap now everybody's having the issues with it flying off the back I've honestly not had any issues with it flying off the back nor have I had any issues with this machine at all but then again you know I haven't played it haven't played it much I did forget left orbit actually goes around and like Lord of the Rings locks back there so when I play this game you know I'm trying to trying to defeat the villains right here if you if you defeat all four villains I think it lights up the bat signal and you go into what is it do your homework Zack I think it's bat signal wizard mode I think it's what it is and then the other items if you like the TV targets you can start different not as popular villains but again code I don't think they work on this code because whenever you start it you'll shoot a left orbit all the way in the back and then once you you can pick your villain that you want to play whether it's was an egg man bookworm whoever the cowboy dude is King Tut Mad Hatter you start them but nothing happens at all or not not that I could see fun modes the cranes a fun mode just like Dark Knight that's pretty cool other than that it's a pretty basic stern game I've had a lot of people come over and play it and you know for what it's worth they say it's fun but might not be worth that price tag it's pretty and it looks good in a collection but right now Lyman's gonna have to do a lot for that code the way it is alright so we'll go back to Greg I think I've shown everything oh what I do want to show I'm going to show one thing real quick let me get I want to show you how the a lot of you have seen this already but it's definitely worth seeing again all right let me see if I can get this thing okay I think this is a great idea all right so the way the screen comes down it's got these locks or these uh cables on it And it's nice. If you need to work on the DMD or anything back here, adding some speaker lights or anything, it's right there. And then the trans light kind of sits on a tray here. It's really cool. So well done, Stern. Well done. So overall Stern made them a hell of a game. But uh, code, code, code, where is the KISS code? Is going to be an issue with this. Alright, I'm going to take it back to Greg. And get one more shot of this beautiful, beautiful game. And then we'll rate it and we'll go from there. Thanks guys. Okay everybody, so now you've seen what Batman 66 looks like. So let's go into a little bit about the categories. We're going to look at art. We're going to look at shots and layout kind of in its own category. We're going to look at rules. We'll look at toys and innovation in its own category. We're going to look at music and call outs in its own category and then the theme. Whenever we get done rating it or ranking it, we'll talk about the pros and cons of the machine, what we like, what we don't like as an overview. We're also going to talk about the price point because God knows that needs to be discussed when it comes to new sterns. All right, let's go with art. You want to go with art, buddy? Yeah, I'll go with art. So overall, I love the art. I think it's beautiful. It's vibrant. It's colorful. You know, Batman right on the side with Robin. I don't know if it's hand-drawn, but I certainly don't think it's just photo. No, it doesn't look just photo. It's not just a stock photo like Lord of the Rings or anything like that. That was pretty bad, Lord of the Rings. Yeah. There was a thing. The Dark Knight did the same thing, didn't it? Whatever Stern was thinking at that point, it kind of drove me crazy. I wasn't a big fan. It kind of looked washed out, too. Some of the stuff wasn't great. No, I mean, I think art-wise with Batman 66, I think they hit it out of the park for the most part. Because, like you said, it's so vibrant. You know, Zack had had it next to his Ghostbusters, which is one of the most beautiful Ghostbusters I've seen. Thank you. You know, it made Ghostbusters look bad because of how vibrant, how beautiful the art was on it. It really did. That is the biggest thing I think that Batman 66 has going for it. Let's talk about the art on the play field. So art on the play field, we're going to try to shoot some pictures up there for you guys. But art on the play field, same as the cabinet, super bright. The finish actually, the clear coat, I know this isn't really art, but clear coat looked awesome, guys. But it has the villains right in the front, right in the middle of the screen, each one's a mode.
    17:08
    And then it's got your different shots and stuff like that. But the colors, I mean, they used a lot of vibrant colors. I really like the art. So if we're talking about grades on the art, and you guys can, I mean, art's hard to discuss. You guys can see for yourself. And that's the thing about this show, too, that we want to express, too.
    17:25
    It's just, you know, everything about pinball is subjective. You know, it's all an opinion. And most of the reviews, everything that we're giving is opinion-based. Everybody's going to be different with lighting, with art. You guys are going to hate some of our opinion. Yeah, yeah, definitely. It's going to happen. But, you know, like we said, we're fairly new guys into it, and we want to get from a newbie perspective. We're not guys that's been in it for 15 or 20 years. We've played a ton of machines. We've owned a lot of machines already. And we'll even tell you about our wife's perspectives because my wife pretty much hates pinball, I think. But she'll come out here, and she'll say it's pretty or shit like that. So art is good for me, man. I'm going to give art a freaking A. And I give art an A as well. Yeah, because I think it's a beautiful machine. It goes downhill from here.
    18:13
    In some parts. Art is good. Let's talk about the shots and the layout. So it's a basic fan layout. It's the very typical George Gomez. You get your left out lane, or not left out lane, I'm sorry, left orbit. Scoops around there, hits the top scoop like Lord of the Rings. It's got your left, your right ramps for Catwoman. I'm trying to remember off the cuff here. Then you got your rotisserie, the nice little new cool George Gomez game. It's got the Batphone on it, it's got some stand up targets, it has a ball lock, it has a... What else? What the hell else am I missing? Batphone, stand up targets, ball lock, the frickin' spinner. It's got the spinner in it, like the Totem, Totem spinner. So it's got the Batmobile on top, which I hear a lot of them are flying off and breaking and stuff like that. If you have a Batman 66, that's definitely something to check out. That car is coming off of that spinner. And then you've got your pop bumpers to the right. You've got a scoop right in front of it for the Penguin. You have a crap load of stand-up targets to the left for Gadget.
    19:22
    And then it is activated with the button, but it's not really into the code much. And then you've got your right orbit, and that's about it. So shots and layout, for me, it really falls wayside. I hate, hate, hate, you probably saw in the video, I can't stay in that damn left ramp. A lot of people are having troubles with it. It's fast, it's super fast, but a lot of people are having troubles with it, flying up that left ramp, flying off the back, hitting shit and all kinds of stuff. Are we okay cussing? Yeah, we're okay. Alright, we should have gave a disclaimer. It's okay, I cuss. So the left ramp for me, it was fine. It stayed on the track all the time, whipped around to that left flipper. I was cool with that. What I'm not cool with is it's a damn trampoline. The damn thing bounces, and you can – every time you hit it, it just feels clunky. Yeah, it's very clunky. Yeah, for a start, I mean, with solid games like Walking Dead, everything that they've come out with, Star Trek, everything that they've been cranking out, it is an oddly clunky game. It's like a step back. Yeah, it is. It is almost like a step back. It's very true. So the left ramp itself, that damn thing is bouncing, but the right ramp is solid. And I was trying to look great at the left ramp. It's almost like nothing is even holding it up. So it doesn't feel good when you hit that left shot all the other stuff. I Like George Gomez. He's made some awesome every time I play one of his games. It feels the same some people love that In particular, I just don't I'm not in love with that Lord of the Rings same way that right ramps go missus ramps It's just the ramps. You get a whatever. I'm on it. Yeah, same thing You know the 90 degree bends in those those Johnny ramps It's such an impact that it just feels clunky and rave. It's not smooth. Great game, though. Fantastic. But just the ramps. Same thing like Batman. The ramps. It's just something weird and clunky and odd. So the rotisserie itself is a shot. It's cool. The mechanism itself is cool. We'll talk about that in innovation and toys. But the stand-up targets, you're going to have balls flying everywhere.
    21:26
    The scoops themselves are fine. Typical scoops. Stand-up targets on the left. I could have one less stand-up target. I'm just not crazy about stand-up targets like ACDC Pro. There's stand-up targets everywhere. I'm not crazy about that. The right ram feels good. That's a nice. I do like that they put, instead of integrating a lot of plastic rams, they did put the metal. Yes. Wire forms. I like wire forms. I like the metallic. Metallic they kicked ass for that very reason. Shots and layout. What else we got on shots and layout? Which ones am I missing?
    21:55
    The crane, I guess you could. Yeah, the crane's a shot. It's a shot. It's more of a toy. So shots and layout. So what do you rank? Overall shots, what do you rank the shots at? If we're doing our grading, I would do, man this is harsh, C- for me. That's exactly what I came in at, too, is a C-. That left ramp, you guys, it's brutal. It is brutal. And when you walk up to, and this is 2016 to 2017, when you walk up to a new machine like this and start playing it, you want it to be butter. In a sense, you don't want it to be too easy. I want it to be, but I want this thing just to glide. You do, but then at the same time, I think if it's too – you do want it to glide. I agree with that. You don't want it to be too easy, though. You don't want the shots to be overly simple because then I think you lose interest in the game if you walk – especially being a player. If you're seasoned to pinball in any kind of way of playing, you don't want it to be so easy because you don't want that machine really. You want something – find the line. There's not really tight shots on the machine. No, no. That's what I'm saying. So it's staying power. There's not. To be a little weak There no tight shots but I swear to you you hit every damn post or anything there It just the flow is just not there So I going to C I am too. Okay, this is, I think, the next thing I think is the biggest downfall of the game. It's what I just can't believe Stern, why they sent this out, especially with all the criticism that they've been receiving, is the rules. Yeah, the rules. They've got to get Aerosmith out, man. Yeah. Aerosmith. Yes. And then before that it was... Did they finally release Kiss? Did they finally update that? Oh, no. Or is people still... Where is the Kiss code? Yeah, the Kiss code. And this just... It's not even a complete... There's some shots that don't even register. Is that right? Yeah, the mystery... I don't know. Maybe I'm just a dipshit and I can't play pinball very well, which is actually true. But the left orbit to the mystery shot, it acts like it registers, but it doesn't give you anything. The lesser known villains, they don't give you really anything. Yeah. Right now the game is a four-mode game for all intents and purposes. And it's got great potential. I mean, that's the one thing. Slime and lime is not going to mess it up. No, no. It's just I hate how they released it so early. Like, hold on to the thing just a little longer just so that it doesn't look bad. That's like, hey, we're going to have your dash in and your radio for your car after you buy it a few months down the road. It's somewhat standard. In their defense, if it is their 40th anniversary. they can't be pulling a two-year development for a four-year. They've got to get the damn thing out. It's true. The Expo was there. They had play field issues with Ghostbusters. What a hell of a year Stern has had to face. I'm still not completely turned off to him. I freaking love Stern. Look.
    24:48
    I know. I love Stern. And he's talked me into being a bigger and bigger fan. I'm a new pinball kind of guy. I freaking love Stern. I got a new Star Trek Pro from Zach, man, and that sold me an eye. Wait until we review that. We love that. Yeah, we love it. And I can't play an older Valley of the Leagues or anything anymore almost. The new Sterns have gotten me so spoiled. Fantastic. Let's go to rules. Overall, there's not much to review, guys. Right now, they even know it. They're just trying to get the machine out there. Code updates are easy now, so it's not a huge deal. But get them out more frequently. Poor Kiss guys.
    25:28
    Yeah, Walking Dead code is awesome. See, if it can get to that point, that's Lyman. So it's there. It's just still going to be a clunk monster. But right now, before we get into grading, a lot of people are just doing multipliers. Oh, just violating some multipliers. And for me, it's just I'm not a score base. You like shooting for scores. I like score base, but not anything with, like, giant multipliers. With Johnny, it's got the spinner millions. You feel me? I don't like anything that tips it way out of balance. I feel that that's, you know. Where you get like 25 times multiplied. Yeah, yeah. That's Game of Thrones, man. Yes. Oh, geez, yeah. All right, so rules. It's a D. Nobody can really argue that it's worse than a D. Now, since we've recorded this and probably sent this out, there was a code update I think last night or the night before. Yeah. They might be better, but I can guarantee you they're still not a really good working machine. So I'm going to D. And I threw in a D as well. Cool. So far we're doing good. We're matching up here. We're pretty good. This doesn't happen very often.
    26:37
    He likes freaking turd games. I'll take anything, man. Pinball is pinball. It's fun. Lethal weather is not freaking pinball. It's a good game, man. A lot of people like it. Other than the Joe Pesci call out, it's a good game. It sucks, especially for the price. I mean, hell, you can't get anything under $1,500 hardly anymore. So that's a solid game for it. We'll talk about that later. Freaking leave the web. Okay, so now we're on to toys. Toys and innovation. So what are our toys? We've got the rotisserie. I don't know what they're calling it, guys. I hope they're calling it rotisserie. Otherwise, I have no clue. It rotates. You know what we're talking about. Yeah. And then they've got the crane. What other toys? The bat gadget button. I guess that's a toy-ish.
    27:19
    I don't think there's any other toys. Those are the major toys in there. Rotisserie's cool. Looks really cool. It's innovative. It's very, very, very innovative. If you guys saw the live stream, oh, hell, did Deadflip do that? I think Deadflip did the live stream on that, and George Gomez brought out the actual rotisserie out of the machine. The thing looks like a miniature bomb or something. It is jam-packed. It is complex. It turns really good. My only complaint is, like, when multiball is ready, or not multiball, when you have to answer the bat phone to start that mode. It doesn't turn quick enough.
    27:56
    It doesn't turn quick enough. You get the ball back down in the flippers, and you're ready to hit that bat phone. It hasn't turned quick enough, so you have to bullshit around and find a way to mess with the ball to answer that phone. And it's a little clunky. It's cool of a toy as it is. It's a little bouncy. Yeah. The best shot on that rotisserie is, I think, underrated. It's right through the spinner. It's got a nice sound that's attached to it. It goes right through the spinner. and almost like Austin Powers kind of kicks it to the side into the orbit. So that's a really cool one. You guys can see that in pictures. The crane. Crane's neat. Tried and true. Everything's cool. It comes out. You hit the shot. It was mean on Dark Knight. Yeah, it's a good force feedback whenever you hit the ball. I really like that. So for toys and innovation, I'm going B+. It's by no means an A just because that rotisserie is a bit clunky. It's a bit slow.
    28:46
    Oh, you know what? I forgot the whole time. Sorry, guys. The TV screen. There's a monitor. Yeah. What a freaking rook. Which was nice to be built in there. Yeah, I love that. It's an aftermarket monitor. Keep doing that to pinball machines. That thing was really cool. I think it's probably going to be shattered at some point with the balls flying around like Ecto goggles. But the TV, yeah.
    29:07
    I completely forgot about that. I ended up giving it a B. I couldn't go as high as a B plus, man. I like the TV screen. I like the spinner. The screen is good. You know, the reason I gave it a B, I mean, it may deserve a little higher because Sterns, a lot of Sterns toys, you know, it's not like the Segas and some of the Daddy East and stuff back in the day. Or even some of the, I mean, a lot of pinballs back in the 90s, it seemed, once you got the DMD era and everything, there was a lot of toys and everything. Yeah, Wizard of Oz got a lot of toys. Jersey Jack does a lot with it. Sterns always been lacking, it seems. Bash toy. Yeah, bash toys, almost everything. Your X-Men, everything. It just – so, you know, I mean, it's nice to see, like, the rotisserie and some different stuff and the crane and the stern games. The innovation is cool. Yeah. But it's still, you know, it's not – It's not perfect. Yeah. It's not A-worthy. No, no, no. So I had to just stick with a P on that. Let's go to music and call-outs. Another place I thought it was lacking a bit. Yeah, so right now the music is like a smooth jazz or a – it fits the theme. it doesn't pump me up to play pinball though when I'm playing Walking Dead the music gets to going Lord of the Rings the music gets louder different things like that hell even like Twilight Zone it's just that I really like it but this is like you're in a jazz club and you're smoking a cigarette out of one of those like the penguin so it's just real cool calm and collected and as of right now the code doesn't have many call outs The call outs that are there are really cool though. Like Batman and Robin, when you drain, they'll say something witty. That's awesome. I like that. Well, they're not utilizing that LCD as well as what I think they can too. Yeah. Call outs and everything. I'm hoping that that with code and everything will hopefully change. Because LCD looks good. LCD does look good on it. It's a nice size. I like it. Let's segue into that a little bit because it kind of falls in between categories here. What do you think about the design of the new sterns? The LCD layout, the panel. I like it. The trans-light size now. I like it. And some people might shoot me. I kind of like the size and how it's integrated a little better than Jersey Jacks. I know that that's blasphemy, man. Greg is saying I'd rather watch a 20-inch TV Super Bowl than a 40-inch TV. I don't like too much change in pinball. So it's nice seeing it. Get off my lawn. It didn't go the whole full spectrum. Let's take the whole back glass. So, yeah, I'm kind of a fan with it. I was pleasantly surprised by it. Not that I don't like Jersey Jacks. No, you're true. We were talking about the back glass or trans light. That's my favorite part of the art package here. Yes, it is. That's really cool. The LCD does look good, guys. You saw on the video how I folded it down. It's going to be easy to operate and work on. It looks almost like the size of an original color DMD. but when you throw that thing into DMDs you cut off half of it. It's about that size. It looks really nicely done. For my money give me a Jersey Jack. I want to fill up that damn thing with movie clips. See and I like that. We're kind of off topic on this but we're off topic. It's our show. I love the big screen. I do. I love it all.
    32:25
    LCP is not that important to me unless I'm an observer and I'm watching Zach play. I'm watching somebody play because I don't have time, man. If it's a damn fast game and I'm into that shit, I don't have time to see what movie's playing or anything, which I kind of hate because I would like to take more advantage of it, especially with something like Aliens coming out, man. That looks like they've really integrated the L-7. There's going to be three screen films right now. Yeah, which I like that. That turns out well with it in the play field and everything. Now that I can utilize. That'd be cool. But, man, if you're rocking in those orbits or something and then you are trying to pay attention to what's on that screen. LCD other than aesthetics isn't super important to me at this point. See, I like pretty things. I like pretty things too. I like pretty things. No, I'm a big Jersey. I like that. I like that big old screen on there. So where did we leave off, brother? We're at music and call out. So what do you end up giving that music? C minus. That went a little nicer. I went with a C on it. That was kind of harsh. I was being kind. I think once the call-outs, because Ghostbusters, there's no better call-outs than that day.
    33:32
    But this. Ernie Hudson. How can you not love Ernie Hudson? Well, even like the movie sound call-outs. Yeah, that's good. It's great. The flipper buttons. Oh, they're funny. Let's go. No, music. Music for me, boom, boom, boom, boom, like a Seinfeld episode. Not really into it. The call-outs are cool when they're there, but they're just very seldom. Like, I want to hear Joker laugh. Yeah. Come on. You hear Catwoman when you start her mode up, you'll hear her. And it's impressive. That's cool. Maybe we just need to wait for code. But for right now, C minus for me. C for you. Theme. So for us, we've talked about this before. Theme is huge. And it's a hot topic. You know, some people, I know it doesn't matter too much. But I think theme can bring a game. I mean, you know, we were discussing the other day about Terminator.
    34:22
    Man, T2, it's a fun game. Zach, you don't really care too much for it. But I like it. But I think what draws me in more than anything is theme. And I think that why that machine is at the price point it at is because of the theme It not an overall amazing game The shots aren overall amazing But the fact that it Terminator you get Arnold right there Last Action Hero has Arnold. Yeah, that's kind of a terrible... It's different, though. It's Arnold. But it's a fun game. You take Last Action Hero, it's kind of the opposite. It's a decent game, but then at the same time... Oh, you want that turd in your basement? No, you don't want that. I would own one, actually, probably. I would have. Yeah, I like the crane and stuff. We were talking about that. So theme is huge for us. Yeah. I want themes that I like. Hence, right now I have Walking Dead. I'm a big fan of Walking Dead. Ghostbusters. If you don't like Ghostbusters, man, what the hell is wrong with you? Wizard of Oz. I'm freaking pansy. I love the movie. I think it's part of it. We grew up with it. It was part of it. In the 80s, kid. That's right. It was part of your childhood. It was before that. Even 70s. When did that movie come out? You know. Oh, God. I can't remember. Probably 50s. We'd have to Google it. It was black and white. It was for color. They had to color. I didn't. Have you never seen Wizard of Oz? I guess it was all. I thought that originally it starts out in black and white. I thought for some reason we're looking like idiots now. For some reason I thought that they had to remaster it in the color. I'm probably way wrong. But theme. It's important to us. I like Batman.
    36:01
    But do you like Batman 1966? I don't hate it, but I'm like what you said the other day. We grew up Michael Keaton. That was it. That was Batman for our generation. I'll even take George Clooney. Yeah, you can take any of that. It just wasn't. Christian Bale. Yeah, because the Batsuit was somewhat unchanged up until Batman v Superman and stuff. You know what I'm saying? You get the shorter ears and everything on the mask, on the cowl. So the Batman 66 Batman is spandex. Yeah, it's not really our generation. No, high underwear.
    36:39
    Yeah, some of the older guys in pinball are just into classic. I can get why you guys like the theme. Especially, you know, we're friends with a lot of pinball guys in their mid-50s, even 60s. Yeah, and that's huge to them. I get it. I totally get why you like it. For me, though, it's a theme that I care less about. I really don't. It does nothing for me. I don't hate the theme. I'm not mad at it. I like the song. That's okay. I still like it just because it's an overall beautiful game. If they wouldn't have crushed it with the artwork, I think theme would have hurt me a little bit more, but it's still that, man. What are you rating the theme at, buddy? I'm giving it a B on that. Okay. I give it a B. I'm going to be an ass. I give it a C on it. Yeah. I give it a C. He is that opinion thing.
    37:24
    People are all over the place. It's just literally personal preference when it comes so much to pinball. That's true. So overall, let's go over, I think we've ranked pretty much what we're going to rank. I'm going to give you a rundown. Art, I had an A. Shots and layout, C-, rules, I had a D. Toys and innovation, I had a B+. Music and call-outs, C-, and theme, I had a C. And I had art at an A, shots at a C-, rules came in at a D. My toys were a B.
    37:52
    Music, call-outs, a C, theme, a B. Okay, so overall, we calculated the scores, tallied the score, drum roll. Mine calculated to be a C+. I hit a C+, too. You know, we differed just slightly on stuff. I think it's accurate. It is. Yeah, it's an average game at this point. It's a C-plus game. Yeah. I don't think that game will ever. I'm sorry, guys. I spent so much damn money on it. It's not going to be an A game. No, I don't think so. I don't care. Code, it could really boost it, but I don't ever see it. I agree. Not an A game. It'll be above average. It should be a fun game. But again, I mean, Code is really going to have to be outstanding. Do you think it will ever, I mean, if we're thinking about some of the classics, do you think it will ever be a favorite of anyone?
    38:35
    Let me think about that game. I don't think that the way that thing is set up, it will be anyone's favorite game. Fiends? I mean, people pick some off-the-wall freaking, like they watch. Some people go, oh, that's my favorite game. I don't see anything being quirky enough in that game to say five, ten years down the line, Batman 66 is my favorite. If code turns out really well, then it'll still be better. No, but I think that's where the theme comes into play. A lot of old school guys don't like walking. Exactly. So I think that for the people of that generation, and you come out with good code, I think it could be a few people's. It could be a favorite game or a top game in their collection. Please shoot us up on Facebook. If this becomes your favorite game, for the love of God, I would love to hear it because I don't think – and I feel like I'm bashing it. It's a beautiful game. It's awesome. It sits in your game room. It's fun. There's nothing not fun about it.
    39:32
    If it was at a lower price point, I'd take it and keep it for a while just because it's so damn beautiful. You know how long I kept it for? A week.
    39:45
    You were lucky to get a home run too. I'm so excited about it. You're going to see different pins throughout the season here. I go through pins. We don't have anywhere to play pinball around here. So I'll play a game. If I like it, great. I'll mob the hell out of it. If I don't, it's out the door. I can't afford to do a collection like all of you guys. I'm super jealous about that. But you're not going to see many consistent pins here. They go to places that stay longer than anything. We'll review that. See, I'm a little more lucky. I'm closer to Louisville, so I've got Zanzibar to play at, which is fantastic.
    40:16
    Wreckbar in Louisville, too. rec bar. I think that February 10th, they're supposed to do some kind of big unveiling because their pins are a little lacking right now. Their arcade's pretty good, but the pins are a little lacking. But I think on February 10th, I think they're supposed to do some unveiling.
    40:32
    Well, you know, it's a business I believe in and a place I go to. You know, I like. But I think they're supposed to unveil a pin corner or something. I'm hoping, fingers are crossed, that they're going to get in. Yeah, look into it, guys, if you guys are in the Midwest. Check it out. Especially Zanzibar. Yeah, man, like Zanzibar. Zanzibar's cool. Ants is fantastic. And Ants, man, Ants loves pinball. Yeah. Like, he don't care. You don't go in, like you do a lot of on-location places, and it's just pros. Yeah. No, pro here, pro there. Ants, man, Ants, L-E on everything. Yeah, on everything that he buys. So he cares about pinball, man. It's not just about making the dollar. Like, he is a true collector. And he's got great machines, and he rotates them out. So, man, if you're in the Louisville area, and great food. It's great food. If you're around my area, there's not a damn thing around. Yeah, so I understand. Zach has to rotate out, man. I've got to go to Nashville or Louisville or St. Louis or Indy or Bloomington. And my pens are in the basement, so I'm not rotating those bastards out at any time. We can pull the soundtrack out of your basement. And that thing's light. Whatever I put into the basement, it stays in the basement. Another shout out, Larry Kitchen at Flippin' Out Pinball sells the, what the hell is that thing called? Oh, the Escalara. Yeah, thank you. Escalara. So those help. Yeah, those make a difference. We did the old dolly method, and this is rough. All right, so I'm in a C+. You're at a C+. I think that's where it needs to be. Let's talk about the pros and cons. Well, we kind of talked about the pros and cons. Well, let's go into price, because with arts and everything and shots, we kind of got pros and cons. Price sucks. What else is there really to say? I agree. What is the premium? If this is $8,000, you'll probably pick one up for $76,000 maybe, $75,000.
    42:24
    Man, guys, I don't want to bash Stern because I love Stern. But maybe it's an $8,000 game. Yeah. And I hate that. I know with it being the anniversary and stuff, I just hate with the Super Elite. of all games to pick because I know a lot of you, this is a very touchy subject because of the price. Why do we start with this machine on our first day of business? Because it's new and it's hot.
    42:48
    But like the Super LE, I just can't. The price of a Super LE for a game that is basically a re-themed game in a sense. Oh, yeah, the rehashing of it. Yeah, that's the one thing that kind of disappoints me. If you were going to do a Super LE, even at the price point, people are going to go crazy that that's still just super expensive. And it is. But if it was a whole new game. But if it was a whole new game, I could feel a little better about Stern trying to pull more money from you and doing more stuff. $15,000. $15,000, yeah, for a re-themed game basically in a way. $15,000. And then the LE is somewhere in the middle, $12,000. Yeah. I don't know. And that damn thing, man, the Super LE, like I would want it to, the foil is nice on the side. Yeah. In person, the cabinet foil.
    43:35
    But why not do that to everything? I understand price points and stuff, but Star Trek, not to get off, because we'll review it, we'll talk more about it during that. But man, I think premium pro, there's not a huge difference with Star Trek. Yeah, I think that a pro, that's a damn good bang for your buck. LE is a very beautiful special. The side rails and stuff on that. All right, we're ranting. So price, Stern knows that's the 40th anniversary, so they're going to jack up the price a little bit. probably to cover some of those GB playfield costs. I don't know. It's just speculation. But price is not great for that machine. I don't think pinball guys are against spending $15,000 on a Cactus King. They don't care about that. They want an awesome game. It's just not a $15,000 game. Some people will disagree with me. $8,000 for that game for a premium, that's fine. because we're at that hell worth that price point for a lot of these games anyway, new out of box. So I'm not crying about 8,000. It's not worth more than that. No, I agree.
    44:46
    So let's, Zach threw a few games on there. How many games did you play on it? Do you remember what you threw on there? Oh, gosh, probably 50, 50 or so. What'd you do on the video? How many did you shoot on the video? I think just one. Just one? Oh, one good game? At the end of the... I didn't get to see it yet. I was having problems with the upload. At the end of our video, I try to rig up just streaming, but just videoing a game. Now, the one that I had had just LEDs out, so it's a bit washed out in the video. But you still get the point. And don't judge. I am not a great pinball player. But I get into multi-ball and complete a couple of rounds. So right now we're going to send you over. We'll let you see Zach throwing a few games down on Batman 66. See what you think. Let you judge for yourself. But first, check us out straight down the middle on Facebook and Instagram. Check us out. Shoot us some emails or messages if you guys have interest in the show. If you guys think us coming over to your house, if you're in the Midwest here, coming over to your collection or coming over to your operation, if you're operating some games, we'd love to do it. We'd love to go on location, interview you guys, talk about your collection itself, and just have a lot of fun. So for our first episode, man, not too bad. Not too bad. Not knowing what we were doing. But, yeah, we'll sit over and let you see some gameplay from Zach. And then feel free, like Zach said, on Facebook, let us know what you think about Batman 66. See how much you agree with what we said. Thanks, guys. Appreciate you watching. Thank you all.