Episode 1073: "Barrels vs Elwin? What A King Kong Size Mistake!"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·20m 1s·analyzed·Apr 4, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Host condemns Barrels of Fun and Stern's simultaneous April game launches as marketing suicide amid tariffs and economic anxiety.

Summary

The host criticizes Barrels of Fun and Stern Pinball's simultaneous game launches (April 15 and April 17) as catastrophically poor marketing timing, particularly given economic headwinds, tariff concerns, and the impending Harry Potter release. He argues that launching on the same week as Keith Elwin's game (Cornerstone) is a strategic blunder that will cannibalize both games' sales, and speculates that Barrels of Fun's unreleased game is Little Shop of Horrors based on leaked details.

Key Claims

Barrels of Fun is launching a new pinball game on April 15, 2025, one week before Stern's Cornerstone
high confidence · Host cites official email from Brian Savage, co-founder of Barrels of Fun, sent April 3rd at 6:30 p.m. with launch date of April 15, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Stern Pinball's Cornerstone is launching April 17, 2025 with media event at Stern offices and public debut at Pinball at the Zoo in Kalamazoo
high confidence · Host cites official email from Zach Sharpe at Stern Pinball, sent April 2nd at 1:02 p.m., confirming April 17th media showing and April 17-19 public availability
Barrels of Fun's unreleased game is 'Little Shop of Horrors' based on the Steve Martin movie with a ball-eating mechanic
medium confidence · Host speculation: 'I think Barrels of Fun's game is Little Shop of Horrors and I think what eats the ball is the Audrey 5 or the Audrey 5000... based on the Steve Martin movie. That's my final guess.' Also references prior rumor about a new pinball company getting the license.
Keith Elwin is the lead designer and programmer on Stern's Cornerstone, with 'the best code team in all of pinball'
high confidence · Host's repeated assertion: 'the best designer in all of pinball with the best code team in all of pinball' launching Cornerstone on Thursday April 17
Stern Pinball is expected to raise King Kong's price to $13,600 or higher
medium confidence · Host speculation: '$13,600 is the guess, maybe more' in response to tariffs and industry pricing trends
Harry Potter pinball is coming soon and will significantly outsell competing games
medium confidence · Host asserts: 'Neither machine is Harry Potter, which is the bigger theme than all of these titles' and 'everybody is gonna wait until they see Harry Potter' before buying
Barrels of Fun's game will be at Automated Amusements within one to two weeks of the April 15 launch event
medium confidence · Host states: 'I also know that this game is already in a box. I know that this game is going to end up down the street at Automated Amusements... a week or two after this'

Notable Quotes

“You've got 52 weeks in a year! You've got 52 weeks, David Van Es and Barrels of Fun to release your new pinball machine... you're going to release the same week as a Keith Elwin game. The best designer in all of pinball with the best code team in all of pinball.”
Kaneda (host) @ opening — Sets up the core thesis: Barrels of Fun's April 15 launch against Stern's April 17 Cornerstone is catastrophically poor timing
“If you buy a King Kong LE and then buy a freaking Harry Potter CE, you're gonna drop like $28,000 on two pinball machines as your investment portfolios are losing so much money.”
Kaneda (host) @ mid-content — Illustrates the economic squeeze on collectors during market volatility; highlights the collision of multiple premium releases
“This whole thing used to make you feel giddy and excited, not stressed out. I would be stressed out right now.”
Kaneda (host) @ mid-content — Captures sentiment shift in the community—pinball collecting is now anxiety-inducing rather than joyful
“Nobody cares. So you waited and now you're gonna make the biggest marketing mistake... The only way out of this quagmire and this problem for them is if this game is epic, is if this game is insane, is if they know they've got something that is just awesome. That is the only way out.”
Kaneda (host) @ late-content — Barrels of Fun's redemption is entirely dependent on game quality; timing alone has already damaged the launch
“If you're Barrels of Fun, I would have waited. I would have just waited now. Like nobody is gonna pull the trigger on Tuesday knowing what they're gonna see on Thursday.”
Kaneda (host) @ mid-content — Direct advice to manufacturer: sequencing matters more than theme quality in a saturated launch window
“And now they're going to get destroyed by launching on the same week as King Kong because even King Kong I think is not going to sell like people think because again, look what's happening in the world.”
Kaneda (host) @ mid-content — Predicts that both Barrels of Fun and Stern will suffer from external economic factors, not just competitive overlap

Entities

Barrels of Funcompany David Van Nessperson Brian SavagepersonStern PinballcompanyKeith Elwinperson Zach Sharpeperson Tim Sextonperson

Signals

$
market_signal: Host predicts widespread price increases due to tariffs (King Kong expected to jump to $13,600+) while consumer demand contracts due to economic anxiety, creating a demand death spiral for high-ticket pinball purchases
medium · Host repeatedly cites tariff news, market volatility, and consumer anxiety as suppressing demand across all manufacturers; predicts 'All of these games are gonna sink in value so much'
?
product_strategy: Barrels of Fun chose to launch April 15, one day before Stern's Cornerstone (April 17), despite knowing Keith Elwin's game was coming; host characterizes this as catastrophic marketing malpractice
high · Direct citations of both launch dates from official emails; host's repeated refrain 'You've got 52 weeks in a year' emphasizes the avoidable collision
~
sentiment_shift: Host describes a fundamental shift in pinball collector psychology from giddy excitement to stressed anxiety, driven by macro economic conditions and relentless release pacing
high · 'This whole thing used to make you feel giddy and excited, not stressed out. I would be stressed out right now.' Host also notes: 'I'm happy to watch this stuff from the sideline. Keep my money in my pocket.'
?
machine_intel: Host speculates Barrels of Fun's unreleased April 15 game is 'Little Shop of Horrors' based on Steve Martin movie with ball-eating Audrey 5 mechanic; cites prior industry rumor about new company acquiring license
medium · Host states: 'I think Barrels of Fun's game is Little Shop of Horrors... based on the Steve Martin movie. That's my final guess' and references 'a rumor a long time ago that a new pinball company was going to make Little Shop of Horrors. I think that was Barrels of Fun getting the license'

Topics

Launch timing and marketing strategyprimaryEconomic headwinds and consumer anxiety (tariffs, market volatility)primaryGame pricing and secondary market value collapseprimaryCompetition between Barrels of Fun and Stern PinballprimaryHarry Potter pinball's anticipated market dominancesecondaryTim Sexton's departure from Stern and impact on John Wick codesecondaryUnreleased Barrels of Fun game speculation (Little Shop of Horrors)secondaryIndustry media relations and exclusive preview eventsmentioned

Sentiment

negative(-0.85)— Host is sharply critical of Barrels of Fun and Stern Pinball's launch timing decisions, frustrated by economic conditions suppressing the hobby, anxious about secondary market depreciation, and pessimistic about near-term sales across the industry. Some self-deprecating humor and schadenfreude about watching the situation unfold, but overwhelmingly negative assessment of the strategic landscape.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.060

You've got 52 weeks in a year! You've got 52weeks, David David Van Es and barrels of fun to release your new pinballmachine The game is a game that you've been working on and you're going to release the same week as a Keith Elwin game. The best designer in all of pinball with the best code team in all of pinball. You're going to launch your game on the same exact week as Keith Elwin. You didn't listen to a word I said to you David David Van Es when we talked. I said if you're going to invite people, invite them on a Friday. It's the So this video is going for the slowest day of the week for people, and especially if you're gonna ask people to take off of work and go to Texas to see your new game, you think people are going to take off on a Tuesday? And it's like, on top of all of this, all of the stuff happening in the global economic world with tariffs, and I'm reading Pinside and it's the conversation everywhere. It doesn't matter whether it's Barrels of Fun or Stern Pinball or JJP or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, everybody realizes the world is upside down. Things are gonna cost a lot more money. You have lost a lot of money. Sure, some very wealthy people like Bill Brandis are gonna make money during these declines. It's what the rich do. They buy when the markets tank. I get it. You have so much money, you don't need more. To be continued Me Reiона Dodon沒關係 в speculativeicios Mollyєл найнеине機會 NSYY!". Mainste muging by Jović Janic наши, 정말 трудный Subinziverage"! OMG New бы threatening Лgunиṛ vis небольш hvadАлб абсолютно неж � 不要 flow ofahh, staraland Dunurf Nichtsler, The first I'm sorry, but most of us, you know, most of us, I don't know, like I don't have the freedom of some of these other content creators apparently who could just always be running around amusement parks. Hi, Native! chicky! We just finished Successcaust to get live 4 day mix saga and look at�� clickbaitiodolive.comamento.me clickbaitioommeetkeltitaire.com Wendy İyi Karen Thanks for watching today, or wherever you're from. colors-magic 3D-dxxisión in.: no illustr rarely. Lorda Louise Page couw to stay or music video ends Quiet cassio and I think Medieval Madness is a sure thing Is Stern gonna sell a ton of King Kongs if they raise the price We'll talk about that in a minute but man, I just want to talk about Barrels of Fun's marketing decision. And here's why I think it's crazy because look Stern Pinball sent out an email before Barrels of Fun. So I got the Stern email on April 2nd. Sorry I'm late with this news because I've just been so busy at work. But at 1.02pm on April 2nd, I got an email and an invite. Thank you from Zach Sharp over at Stern. And he said, we're thrilled to invite you to an exclusive pinball media showing at our office of our upcoming cornerstone game. Join us on Thursday, April 17th for an early hands-on experience. Terms from 10 to 10 30 factory tour 10 30 to 11 30 overview and open play of Cornerstone with the lead designer programmer and Stern team 11 30 to 1 lunch catered by Stern okay so they're gonna pay for the food there's no pay for travel there's no pay for hotel but man the food's gonna be catered 1 to 6 30 p.m. individual demo interview content creation sessions okay so they give everybody five ecco the What fun content I'm gonna create"? These Atmictheless, we will have games available for the public at the Pinball at the Zoo show in Kalamazoo, Michigan April 17th through the 19th. Please RSVP. Okay, so that came from Zack on April 2nd. All right, so, everybody knew that, right? Everybody knew that. I bet Kerry Hardy told everybody instantly on his Patreon page. Everybody knew that. So then what happens? So knowing that's the date right Keith Elwin on Thursday Barrels of Fun sends out an invite the following day at 6 30 p.m April 3rd from Brian Savage co-founder of Barrels of Fun. He says hello media folks. The day has come and we are all very excited to show you our second game. It is an epic playing game. And yes, the ball will becomes a I think Barrels of Fun's game is Little Shop of Horrors and I think what eats the Ball is the Audrey 5 or the Audrey 5000, is it Audrey 5 right? And I think it's going to be based on the Steve Martin movie. That's Kanae's final guess. I don't think it's Goonies. There was a rumor a long time ago that a new pinball company was going to make Little Shop of Horrors. I think that was Barrels of Fun getting the license for this hint Grandpa montague pitch bそんな face to the The game will be released on April 15, 1030 a.m. to 4 p.m. to view this exciting new game and take a tour of the factory. You will have the opportunity to play the game, create your own assets for your followers, and talk to the designers and engineers. If you can't attend, we understand and that will not change your allocation schedule. We will have assets for you if you can't come, so no worries. I going to request the assets because I not going I can go It in the middle of the work week It just not a good time I also know that this game is already in a box I know that this game is going to end up down the street at Automated you know like a week or two after this So why would I spend a few thousand dollars to travel to either of these companies when I can spend on some gasoline and drive to Automated Oh just so you know the TRIAL is SIMPLY accessable into16 medium next to a wine Then trash CinemaRainfor Ole Force variety ofoot Boomer mashed have goa Boomerdade Dan Daisy Harkage Shame Change Days Me ninthαι Epic is just the beginning! So there we have it. The world's economies are collapsing. People are losing tons of money. So what a perfect time to launch two pinball machines on top of each other. When there's all this time in a year, we're going to launch two machines on top of each other. And neither machine is Harry Potter, which is the bigger theme than all of these titles. And knowing that Harry Potter is right around the corner, I don't even know like why would you pull the trigger on either of these games because we know they're gonna make so many. And look, we all know that Stern is gonna raise prices on King Kong. 13.6 is the guess, maybe more. Look what Nintendo did yesterday. They raised the price of the Switch 2. It was supposed to be $400, now it's $450. Games are like $90. People are just tired. You look at the Nintendo people talking in the thread, everyone's just complaining about price. We're over it. We're over it. The world's become so expensive and what's happening is just this overwhelming vibe. I don't need this stuff. This stuff shouldn't be this much money. You got so greedy during COVID, now there's no wiggle room. But as a marketing decision for David David Van Es and Brian Savage to do it like this, and I said this, suppository The game with just blue armor. This would have been the new game that would have been looked at probably with the most enthusiasm, but they didn't do that. And now they're going to get destroyed by launching on the same week as King Kong because even King Kong I think is not going to sell like people think because again, look what's happening in the world. Again, you might as well wait to see Harry Potter. Are you guys really so rich that you're going to buy If you buy a King Kong LE and then buy a freaking Harry Potter CE, you're gonna drop like $28,000 on two pinball machines as your investment portfolios are losing so much money. I mean look, maybe some of you guys are but I have to be honest. I just think the vibe right now amongst a lot of people is just be careful. Like the world is shaky. Everyone's anxious. It's not a time to act like everything is fine. Everything is not fine. Now, it's not like the world is ending, but I think a lot of people are just going to be more conservative. I think they're going to be more patient. I also think people are just over the high pinball prices for so long now. And also just all these games crashing on top of each other as the tariff news sweeps across the world. It's just horrible timing. Timing matters. It's also just stupid. It is so stupid. If you're barrels of fun, I would have waited. I would have just waited now. Like nobody is gonna pull the trigger on Tuesday knowing what they're gonna see on Thursday. And I think even when Friday rolls around, people are probably gonna wait until they see Harry Potter. You might as well wait because then you're gonna get to see Harry Potter You're also gonna get to see Predator in like three weeks or two weeks. It's like four new games in like four weeks and everyone's lost a lot of money and everyone's a little nervous and everyone's a little anxious. You kinda have to be in a state of suspended jubilee to drop this much money on pinball machines. Remember, you know what I'm saying? Like this whole thing used to make you feel giddy and excited, not stressed out. I would be stressed out right now I am so happy I did not listen to my financial advisor She wanted me to take half of my apartment sale money and put it into the market a month ago And I said nope I am putting 100 of that money against my mortgage I knocking it all the way down to a low amount and that it I live in this house We use it every day It our family home This matters more to me Investing in this and getting this paid off matters more to me and I so happy I did that because if I had bought in when she wanted me to I would have lost like a hundred grand and then I would be so depressed right now I be as depressed What does John Wick owners realizing Tim Sexton has left Sternpinball and their games will never be finished? Stern's not gonna make John Wick any better. You've got a sinking asset. John Wick LEs are gonna be like $7,000 real soon. So man, it's gonna be fun to watch though everybody. I'm happy to watch this stuff from the sidelines. Keep my money in my pocket. Tem remargination Las Vegas Stadium with 48 calories based on pinball solem 주세요 rame sayängt Yo surfdentcao crony puri porio YouTube torrentis WarHmm's TV September of acrylic Cup Amanus. Hibitboxin semisprincaoiis Yep you've reached the end of today's presentation. an thee you do- didtcaddy hitsuyazumaano the end of today's presentation. On. And you didn't! And now you're launching 52 weeks in a year and you're launching the one week where the best designer in all of pinball is dropping its game. Stupid! Stupid! You don't want to be in that position. It's like you made decisions in a vacuum and look I think you got forced to go on that Tuesday. I bet David wasn't even ready to go. I think this was a pivot. Like they knew Kong was going to be on Thursday and then he had to make a decision. Carolina Bodny,amentos Mouse on Pod by Henry PotterXXÚ. I get it, but is the barrel gonna go overboard on this one? But boy man, barrels, you're in a bad position. You're in a bad position and again, you waited too long. You should have gone out a month ago, you knew these games were coming, you have friends in the industry and you waited to prove a point that we're gonna be a company that doesn't reveal games until they're on the line and in boxes. Guess what? As I said before, nobody cares. So you waited and now you're gonna make the biggest marketing mistake and I think you're gonna get hammered The only way out of this quagmire and this problem for them is if this game is epic, is if this game is insane, is if they know they've got something that is just awesome. That is the only way out. If it's not that, if it's anything short of that masterpiece, they're gonna be DOA. Everybody, it's nuts. Trust me. Let's have fun watching all of this. Keep your money in your pockets right now. All of these games are gonna sink in value so much. And look, this hobby, if everything keeps going the way it's going right now in the world, No one is going to buy pinball machines. You are not going to buy toys in a time when you need to take care of your real priorities. And the only thing that is not going to go up in value, there is not going to be any tariffs on Canadian Pinball Podcasts baby. Made in America, Made in Connecticut. I don't know, maybe this mic comes from China, but you are never going to have to pay more. That's just the way it is. Trust me, I get notifications from Patreon. They want me to charge more money for new subscribers. I still won't do it. $5 a month, that's the entry fee for the greatest pinball podcast on Mars. Later.achment speaking of your goodbyes this afternoon until now are empieza which Iowa Band has called out the Tit The Pinball Channel