The Heavy Metal Playfield Looks BAD!

Cary Hardy·video·7m 24s·analyzed·Mar 3, 2020

Analysis

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TL;DR

Heavy Metal playfield art criticized as amateurish cash grab at $8,300 price point.

Summary

Cary Hardy harshly critiques the Heavy Metal pinball machine's playfield artwork as amateurish and poorly executed, calling it a blatant cash grab at $8,300 MSRP. He argues the art was the game's only potential saving grace given its simplified design (regular DMD vs. Star Wars' premium features), and doubts heavy metal fans will purchase it despite the IP's strong merchandising appeal. Hardy attributes approval responsibility to Incendium (the licensing partner) rather than Stern, who is merely manufacturing the machine under contract.

Key Claims

Heavy Metal artwork was officially released by Stern today and is legitimate, not a troll post or photoshopped image
high confidence · Hardy's direct statement about checking official sources before posting criticism
Heavy Metal is a contract game through Incendium, not a Stern cornerstone title; Stern is manufacturing while Incendium gets majority profits
high confidence · Hardy explicitly states the business arrangement and contrasts it with typical Stern IP control
Heavy Metal uses the same design/platform as the Star Wars home pin, designed by George Gomez
high confidence · Hardy states 'The design we're already familiar with because it is the same design as the Star Wars home pin done by George Gomez'
Heavy Metal MSRP is $8,300
high confidence · Hardy explicitly states 'what have I told you that Heavy Metal's MSRP is going to be $8,300'
Star Wars home pin launched at approximately $5,000
medium confidence · Hardy states 'the star wars home pin launched at i want to say five thousand dollars' with some uncertainty in phrasing
Heavy Metal will likely feature heavy metal figurines replacing Star Wars' TIE Fighter and Death Star toppers
medium confidence · Hardy speculates 'that's more than likely what we're going to see' based on typical game modifications

Notable Quotes

“It looks amateurish. It's all I needed. It just looks like a teenage boy drew the artwork.”
Cary Hardy (guest in video)@ 0:37 — Core criticism of the artwork's quality; establishes the central complaint driving the video
“when first looking at this i honestly thought that someone quickly photoshopped something together and posted it up online just to kind of troll people...turns out nope this is legit officially released by Stern today”
Cary Hardy@ 0:48 — Hardy's shock at discovering the artwork is officially released rather than fan-made; underscores severity of criticism
“How? How do you fuck this up?”
Cary Hardy@ 1:23 — Emotional expression of frustration with the gap between expectations and execution
“I felt that that was going to be hopefully the saving grace for the game was the art. Because you're lacking a lot of stuff on this machine than you typically would on...the most recent home pin, which was Star Wars.”
Cary Hardy@ 1:58 — Establishes context: Heavy Metal's simplified design relative to Star Wars made art quality critical to commercial viability
“The main selling point for heavy metal merch is the art. No heavy metal fan is going to like this.”
Cary Hardy@ 5:12 — Core argument: the failure contradicts heavy metal's merchandising DNA, making the product fundamentally misaligned with target audience
“The issue I have with these cash grabs is when it's blatantly obvious that that's what it is, is a cash grab. where it's sloppily put together, put out there, and they ask for ridiculous amounts of money.”

Entities

Cary Hardyperson Heavy MetalgameStern PinballcompanyIncendiumcompanyStar Warsgame George Gomezperson Centaurgame

Signals

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design_philosophy: Heavy Metal playfield artwork perceived as amateurish and poorly executed, failing to meet heavy metal aesthetic expectations; artwork quality was identified as the sole redemptive feature given simplified game design relative to Star Wars
high · Hardy's repeated emphasis on artwork as 'amateurish,' looking like 'a teenage boy drew it,' and criticism that it fails heavy metal IP expectations despite being the primary visual differentiator from Star Wars platform
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design_philosophy: Heavy Metal's artistic direction fundamentally misaligned with heavy metal merchandising/fan culture DNA; core appeal of heavy metal IP is visual/artistic, yet playfield art is perceived as lowest-effort entry point
high · Hardy emphasizes 'The main selling point for heavy metal merch is the art. No heavy metal fan is going to like this,' arguing the product contradicts basic understanding of what heavy metal fans value
?
licensing_signal: Incendium (Heavy Metal IP/licensing partner) held approval authority over playfield artwork; final responsibility for quality lies with licensor, not Stern manufacturing
high · Hardy states 'This had to have been approved. They had to have looked at this and thought, yes, this looks good. Print it' and explicitly attributes responsibility to Incendium rather than Stern due to licensing arrangement
$
market_signal: Heavy Metal projected to have minimal market appeal even among target IP enthusiasts due to price-to-execution ratio; Hardy estimates only 'a dozen, maybe' units sold to uninformed wealthy collectors
medium · Hardy states 'The only heavy metal fans that are going to be purchasing this machine are those that have the money that don't know any better, and have to have everything' and 'So you may sell a dozen, maybe'

Topics

Playfield artwork quality and designprimaryHeavy Metal pinball machine specifications and pricingprimaryIP licensing arrangements and manufacturer responsibilityprimaryPerceived cash grab business practices in pinballprimaryHeavy Metal IP fan expectations vs. product executionprimaryComparison to Star Wars home pinball design and featuressecondaryPricing sustainability and value perceptionsecondary

Sentiment

negative(-0.85)— Hardy is deeply critical of the artwork quality, calling it amateurish and the product a blatant cash grab. However, he explicitly states he is not bashing Stern itself, directing blame toward Incendium for approval. His frustration stems from wasted potential rather than systemic manufacturer failure.

Transcript

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Baby! Come here! Remember I was telling you they had a Heavy Brewing metal machine? Uh-huh. That's the playfield. What do you think about that art? Really? Really what? I mean, you look at that playfield. This is, you know, where the Flippers Arcade are going to be and stuff like that. What do you think about that? Good? Bad? What? About the Flippers Arcade right there and... Just the art in general. The art in general? I don't care for it. It looks amateurish. Okay. Why? It's all I needed. It just looks like a teenage boy drew the artwork. Okay. Oh my god. When first looking at this I honestly thought that someone quickly photoshopped something together and posted it up online just to kind of troll people to get them to think that this is the legitimate version of it so the people would just start complaining turns out nope this is legit officially released by Stern today. This is the art of the playfield for Heavy Brewing metal. How? How do you fuck this up? In my previous video for Heavy Brewing metal, I discussed, you know, a lot about essentially Heavy Brewing metal in general as well as a little bit of the game and I really didn't care about the game being made I wasn't against the theme for it And the reason why is because I felt that the game had a lot of potential when it came to the art I felt that that was going to be hopefully the saving grace for the game was the art. Because you're lacking a lot of stuff on this machine than you typically would on, let's just say, the most recent home pin, which was Star Wars. This is down to just a regular dot matrix display I don't blame Stern on this This is not going to be a Stern bashing video I'm sure I'll have plenty of those down the road But this is not what this is going to be This has got to be on Incendium It's got to be You would think that anything that gets made Be a Heavy Brewing metal for them Has got to be approved by them This is not something that Stern put together and was like, this is what you're getting. It had to have been approved. They had to have looked at this and thought, yes, this looks good. Print it. I agree. Where do I sign? Whatever. This is – so I don't blame Stern entirely for this. I don't know who did this art, but I felt like you kind of missed the mark here, buddy. What was I expecting? Well something a hell of a lot better than this I don't know In in my head I felt as if I was kind of wanting it to be sort of a centaur-ish type of uh look to it uh not the black and white but just kind of like the layout the way it is I mean I'll throw up a centaur playfield right here to give you an idea but in my head that kind of what I was hoping it to be but obviously it needed to be something to really capture the art style and give the Heavy Brewing metal enthusiasts something to be excited about Here another point For those that don't already know this is not Stern cornerstone title This is a contract game through Incendium. So Stern's just essentially making the game. That's all they're doing, and Incendium is going to be basically the one that's going to be getting the majority of the profits here. The design we're already familiar with because it is the same design as the Star Wars home pin done by George Gomez (legendary Stern designer). But I'm feeling that the only really differences that we're going to see on here is that you're going to have this crap art along with probably a couple of Heavy Brewing metal figurines to take the place of the TIE Fighter up on the far right and the Death Star that's up on the left. Those are probably just going to be Heavy Brewing metal-esque figurines that go there if I'm just throwing out a guess we don't see everything yet but that's more than likely what we're going to see the Star Wars home pin launched at I want to say five thousand dollars which in my opinion was a little overpriced but honestly I played it it played fine I mean it seems pretty solid I mean it's not bad I just felt like the price was a little higher than it needed to be but what if I told you that Heavy Brewing Metal's MSRP is going to be $8,300. Yeah, more than likely all of you would be saying, nope. Now I know what you're thinking. This machine isn't for us. This is for the Heavy Brewing Metal enthusiasts or the fans. But do you honestly think that a Heavy Brewing Metal fan is going to look at this and want it? Someone that has that much passion behind something is going to want to purchase this Because the main selling point for Heavy Brewing metal merch is the art No Heavy Brewing metal fan is going to like this The only Heavy Brewing metal fans that are going to be purchasing this machine are those that have the mindset that don't know any better, and have to have everything and all that is Heavy Brewing metal. So you may sell a dozen, maybe. Maybe more. I could be completely wrong. But for the price and what we are seeing so far, I highly doubt it. I understand that essentially every product that a company puts out is a cash grab because the objective for any company is to continuously grow. So when anyone puts anything out there for sale, including this, the objective is to gain profit. The issue I have with these cash grabs is when it's blatantly obvious that that's what it is, is a cash grab. Where it's sloppily put together, put out there, and they ask for ridiculous amounts of money. That's what I have a problem with, is the obvious cash grabs. And that's what this is. It's a cash grab. I don't know, you guys tell me what you think about the art and what we've seen with Heavy Brewing Metal so far. If you like what you've seen here, please give me that thumbs up. And if you haven't already, do not forget to hit that subscribe button down below. That way you can be notified of whenever I upload something for your viewing pleasure. Until next time, guys. Peace out.