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Episode 901: "Who's Making Alice & JAWS Eating a Ball?"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·25m 46s·analyzed·Jan 10, 2024
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Dutch Pinball confirmed for Kimchi game; industry criticism of delays, pricing, and manufacturer accountability.

Summary

Kaneda discusses several major industry developments: Dutch Pinball is confirmed to manufacture the upcoming Li'l Gaeser Kimchi game (based on John Papaduke's foam core design) with a May release, marking a potential turnaround for the company. He criticizes Haggis Pinball for missing deadlines and financial struggles, questions Spooky Pinball's delayed Looney Tunes code citing licensor approval excuses, analyzes poor reception to Jaws Pinball at CES despite high pricing, and expresses frustration with modders compensating for manufacturer shortcuts. He also clarifies George Gomez's deleted Facebook comments about future Stern anniversary editions and pricing strategy.

Key Claims

  • Dutch Pinball is manufacturing the Li'l Gaeser Kimchi game with a May release

    high confidence · Kaneda states this is likely confirmed based on Pinball Magazine and News spoilers; he extensively discusses Dutch Pinball as the manufacturer and compares it favorably to other potential makers

  • The Kimchi game is based on John Papaduke's foam core prototype, not his original Bally Williams design

    high confidence · Kaneda explicitly clarifies: 'It is based off of that game. The standard Williams cabinet. And it has the upper magnetic flip playfield.'

  • Haggis Pinball failed to complete all Fathom editions by end of year as promised

    high confidence · Kaneda confirms Haggis stated they would finish all Fathom editions by year-end but did not deliver

  • Haggis Pinball bait-and-switched early Mermaid Edition customers by later offering exclusive software to everyone

    high confidence · Kaneda describes the strategy as damaging collector confidence: 'The moment he did that, he screwed over everybody because he needed the money.'

  • Haggis Pinball is financially struggling and 'on the wall'

    medium confidence · Kaneda states: 'This company is on the wall. There is no way this company is doing just fine financially. I think they must be running on fumes.'

  • Spooky Pinball had to lay off staff before holidays due to seasonal game production lull

    high confidence · Kaneda confirms layoffs occurred: 'Spooky Pinball had to let some people go right before the holidays'

  • Jaws Pinball LEs are still available for sale weeks after launch, indicating poor demand

    high confidence · Kaneda reports seeing Keith Elwin LE editions still for sale on Pinside marketplace after over a week

  • George Gomez stated future Stern anniversary editions will be premiums with no fancy LE content

    high confidence · Kaneda reads directly from Gomez's clarification: 'Black armor, no fancy LE content. Limited Edition machines or Elite editions will mostly be uniquely cornerstones.'

Notable Quotes

  • “I really mean it. I think they're going to be done with the Big Lebowski. Everybody's going to be made whole.”

    Kaneda @ early segment — Expresses optimism about Dutch Pinball completing commitments and turning around company reputation

  • “I know what Dutch Pinball went through. I know every mistake they've made. We've given up our ability to forgive somebody and accept the fact that he found a solution.”

    Kaneda @ early segment — Advocates for forgiving Dutch Pinball's past failures and giving them a second chance

  • “Can you share us an email that says that? Any correspondence between you and the license holder that says you can't show this game until we give you approval.”

    Kaneda @ Spooky section — Demands transparency from manufacturers about licensor approval claims; skeptical of the excuse

  • “This isn't like just removing a target, opening up a pathway in Rick and Morty. He's talking about eating the ball, going into a subway, and then returning it to the playfield through what?”

    Kaneda @ Jaws mod section — Critiques the proposed shark-eating-ball mod as technically infeasible and software-breaking

  • “The more we keep allowing the mod community to make the games the manufacturers should have made at the factory, the more we screw ourselves.”

    Kaneda @ Jaws mod section — Argues that relying on modders shifts manufacturer responsibility to consumers while prices stay high

  • “For $13,000, this thing should have everything. I shouldn't have to go mod it out afterwards.”

    Kaneda @ Jaws criticism — Summarizes frustration with premium pricing but incomplete factory builds

  • “I think people are so burnt out after two years of these high prices. I think people are so burnt out of losing so much money on all these Stern machines.”

    Kaneda @ Jaws feedback analysis — Identifies collector burnout and financial loss as drivers of negative Jaws reception

Entities

Dutch PinballcompanyLi'l Gaeser KimchigameBig LebowskigameBack to the FuturegameJohn PapadukepersonHaggis PinballcompanyFathom Mermaidgame

Signals

  • ?

    announcement: Dutch Pinball confirmed as manufacturer of Li'l Gaeser Kimchi pinball game with expected May 2024 release

    high · Kaneda states Pinball Magazine and Pinball News have 'spoiled the reveal' and confirms Dutch Pinball as manufacturer; extensively discusses production timeline and quality expectations

  • ?

    product_concern: Haggis Pinball failed to meet year-end deadline for completing all Fathom editions, continuing pattern of missed ETAs

    high · Kaneda confirms Haggis stated they would finish Fathoms by year-end but did not deliver; cites pattern of broken promises

  • ?

    business_signal: Haggis Pinball showing signs of financial difficulty; employed bait-and-switch tactics (offering exclusive Mermaid Edition software to all customers after early buyers) to generate revenue

    medium · Kaneda analyzes secondary market collapse of Mermaid editions and describes company as 'on the wall' and 'running on fumes'; identifies desperate business decisions

  • $

    market_signal: Jaws Pinball LEs remain available for sale over a week after launch; first Keith Elwin LE not selling out, indicating collector burnout and pricing resistance

    high · Kaneda observes unsold Keith Elwin LEs on Pinside marketplace and interprets as sign of market saturation and collector fatigue

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Spooky Pinball conducted layoffs before holidays due to seasonal production valley (2-3 month window with no game shipments)

    high · Kaneda confirms Jack Danger addressed layoffs; attributed to cyclical production schedule creating cash flow strain

Topics

Dutch Pinball turnaround and 2024 prospectsprimaryLi'l Gaeser Kimchi game announcement and manufacturingprimaryHaggis Pinball financial distress and deadline failuresprimaryJaws Pinball poor reception and pricing criticismprimarySpooky Pinball layoffs and Looney Tunes delaysprimaryManufacturer accountability and licensing transparencysecondaryCommunity modding vs. factory builds and manufacturer responsibilitysecondaryStern anniversary editions and LE pricing strategysecondary

Sentiment

mixed(-0.3)— Kaneda is enthusiastically optimistic about Dutch Pinball's future and the Kimchi/Back to the Future projects, but deeply critical and frustrated with Haggis Pinball (financial failure), Spooky Pinball (excuses and poor marketing), Stern's greed and limited design thinking, and the broader industry trend of high prices without corresponding features. He's also cynical about community modding filling manufacturer gaps.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.077

It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me, it's he, Ty, everybody agrees. Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up. Welcome everybody to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. I'm super excited about today's show. For all you new members, welcome to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. I think for all you old members out there, you're realizing how you're getting your money's worth. We're doing rapid fire shows. We're back to the old Kaneda scooping the industry. Alice in Wonderland is coming out sometime in May and we're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about Haggis Pinball and how they did not build all the fathoms. We're going to talk about Spooky Pinball. Where's the Looney Tunes code? Do you believe that they're waiting for licensor approval? That is the greatest excuse in the history of pinball. Jaws Pinball is at CES. We'll talk about that. There's a mob that's supposed to make the shark We're going to talk about how that's impossible. We're going to talk about why I think Jaws feedback is so harsh and the fact that there's still LEs available. And I got a correspondence from George Gomez yesterday. We chatted about his comments being deleted on Facebook. I'm going to clarify what George said to me and what his statements are on this topic. And then we're going to talk about if hindsight were 20-20, how everybody made a mistake revealing Li Gaeser Kimchi, What greater confirmation that it's happening than that and I know there's a lot of down votes. There's a lot of anger J-pop's not working on this game. They took the J-pop design. I've seen this game It is based off of the John Papadiuk foam core machine It is not based off of John Papadiuk's like Bally Williams Prototype Alice game that he made that got him the job at Bally Williams So it is based off of that game The Standard Valley WilliamsCabinet.com And it has the upper magnetic flip playfield. It's gonna be freaking super cool super beautiful And I can't wait to see this game and now the next big question mark is who's making the game Is it gonna be American pinball? Is it gonna be Dutch pinball? Is it gonna be CGC? Is it gonna be Pedretti gaming? Everybody's wondering and look, you know pinball news pinball magazine might have I think we've spoiled the reveal on this one and I think a lot of people have been guessing, you most likely been guessing right, a pinball manufacturer that you know all too well built a second building and there's a really good chance, I don't know, maybe it's not gonna be them but I think there's a really good chance it's gonna be our friends over at Dutch Pinball. Now look, I think Dutch Pinball screws together a better game than Pedretti Gaming. I mean the Italians don't screw things together as well as the Dutch. I think what got people all confused about this too is the people who were behind the Magic Girl remake, those group of people that fixed Magic Girl with the kit, the guy went on Pinside and said, I'm not doing this. I'm not making Alice in Wonderland and I'm Dutch. What he meant by that was that he's actually Dutch by ethnicity, not that he's Dutch pinball. And look, I'm glad this news is out there because I think 2024 is going to be the year of Dutch pinball. I really mean it. I think they're going to be done with the big Lebowskis. Everybody's going to be made whole. And now, right now, it's going to be smooth sailing for Dutch Pinball because they're going to have two games out in 2024 in which they don't owe anybody anything. They're going to make these games and then take your money and then take a deposit on games. You're not going to be paying in full for these games and not get them in 10 years. And I want to encourage everybody. I know what Dutch Pinball went through. I know every mistake http://www.paulaventura-astrosync.com tranặ mealzo覆 rightlyaze kismėle kようjdir Punwaliichtig intrigued Liuyiha œyintayini Iñidenšekicaольgo SANICI AGHE We've given up our ability to forgive somebody and accept the fact that he found a solution. He was in a terrible dilemma, a terrible situation, and instead of quitting, he found a way forward. And that doesn't erase what he did 10 years ago, but it should at least make each and every one of us give the damn guy and the company a second chance. I've done that. A lot of people have done that. And every EA is going to unbox their big Lebowski before you see these other games and that's really good news. And so I'm super excited and looking at the landscape of pinball right now, I think Dutch Pinball is a company that has a lot of people's attention. As we see these other companies strip down their games and take everything out and not build their games with incredible quality, we're happy to see that this pristine factory The end of the day, I'm going to be back in the future with Joe K. I'm hearing Bob Gale is on board for this project, so it's not going to be this stripped down, got nothing in it game that some people want you to believe it's going to be. It's going to be the game you should be holding onto your money for. And that's just the damn truth, people. So congratulations. This Alice game is going to be gorgeous. and his Back to the Future game is going to have three times the demand as games they can build Scratch that ten times the demand and I super happy that Barry ship is going to come in It going to come in for Chris and Melissa at Cointaker who stood up for Barry all those years Alright, so that's that. Put a pin in that people because we got five months to wait on that game so we don't have to talk about it every day and read the misinformation on Pinside. Haggis Pinball said they would finish all of the Fathom Mermaid editions, not just the Mermaid, all of the Fathom editions by the end of the year. Guess what? Guess what they didn't do? They didn't finish all of the fathoms by the end of the year. So here we go once again in ETA a statement by Haggis Pinball that does not come true. This is just one of many updates from Haggis Pinball that has not come true. I'm just gonna say this right now. As I look on Pinside and see these Mermaid Fathom editions that are selling for less than they were brand new, new in box. You know why that is? Because they screwed over everybody who bought the Mermaid edition. People might have forgot this. Remember when sales were struggling and they didn't have many orders on the standard edition and Damien was probably looking at the balance sheet and realizing we can't afford to go on unless we sell some more of these games. We need some more money. So what did he do? He went against his word. I would say he bait and switched all of his early customers. He then offered the exclusive Mermaid Edition software to everybody else. And the moment he did that, he screwed over everybody cuz he needed the money. Everybody, I'm not gonna hold back here. This company, the writing is on the wall. There is no way this company is doing just fine financially. I think the writing is on the wall. I think they must be running on fumes. And I kinda do feel bad for these guys because they started their company at the worst possible time. At the very beginning of a pandemic, located in a part of the world where it's super expensive Shawn DiPfiction tsunye Susief, Hank clipping Wiggnall, wrestlings at the end. All you want, but the writing is on the wall with 15 pinball companies. Try and sell games in 2024. How is this company going to survive if all they've got is a centaur remake? That's not where the demand is in pinball. How many people do you know are looking for remakes of solid-state games that costs like twelve to eighteen thousand dollars, right? But, what's the point of having a game that's so much better in the current climate? Everybody who's stuck in COVID, everybody whose marketing plans were established during the COVID frenzy, you're gonna fail. It's all gonna fail. You all need to wake up. Part of being a marketer, part of being a businessman, you gotta adapt to the times. And the times, they haven't changed people. You can't even sell out of a Jaws LE and you're going to sell a $17,000, $18,000 or Oblivion Edition with a stupid motorcycle helmet and a leather jacket? Didn't you learn anything from Galactic Tank Forces Thermos and a lunchbox? We don't want this stupid stuff. We don't want to spend stupid prices. And we don't want to be told eight weeks we're going to get our games and then eight months later there's still no game inside the home. They didn't live up to their end of the year promise and I don't know at what point are we supposed to say, you know what? I don't have any trust left in this company. I get that they can slowly crank games out, but the writing is on the wall. I don't see how they survive the year. Look guys, times are tough. Let's go over to Spooky Pinball. Times are tough. Spooky Pinball had to let some people go right before the holidays because they have like a two to three month window where games are not going out the door. deliberate PHP from our 어느 next here on Subscribe beloved criptomim Ages Mits.org thank you again for watching. On Oct И Сl circumstance. The Jack got in front of it and I'm going to talk about this later but hindsight being 2020 I'll just talk about it now. I think everybody sort of if they could go back in time they would have just let Jaws come out because the Jaws response even though we all thought it was going to be the Keith Elwin masterpiece and nobody was going to buy another game after seeing Jaws that's not the case and it actually would have been better to let Jaws come out, Let everybody see what Stern's doing with their home run hitter and then come out and show people Elton John. Can you imagine if Elton John launched after Jaws? I do think the response would have been much better because relative to Jaws, because if I was Jersey Jack, I would have taken a Jaws like premium. I would have bought one and this is what I would do. You remember when car companies used to advertise with other cars in the commercials or the Pepsi Coke challenge? If I was Jersey Jack, the best way to show people the value of Elton John Platinum is to go grab a jaws and put it next to your machine and just say no words I mean that's the one time you would use Damien and Marty's like hashtag No words because when you see Elton John next to jaws and you see what's in it and the overall package of Elton John It absolutely blows away jaws pinball, but they didn't do that They sort of like limped it out in this like soggy fashion. There was no featurette video. There was no excitement I going to be out of there system by the time the game goes on sale when you have something that you know is going to trigger people in maybe a negative way like an Elton John theme then just rip the band aid off early let those complainers run out of energy and steam and then get people excited they didn do that they did the same playbook as if every game they launch is guns and roses and Jersey Jack has once again realized that They only have one approach to marketing and it's not working on their last three titles. So Spooky Pinball definitely went out early. So when they say to us like we're waiting on license or approval, if that's the case, I would like to ask them to do one thing. If they're waiting on license or approval, can you share us an email that says that? Any correspondence between you and the license holder that says you can't show this game until we give you approval. I don't understand this. Why would they be waiting on licenser approval of cartoons that are aired everywhere all over the world? I can go watch every single episode on YouTube. Do you really think Warner Brothers is like, wait a minute, we're really concerned about how you're going to show these cartoons in a pinball machine for 888 people when millions of people can go on YouTube and watch every single clip of every single show we've ever done? I don't buy it. I think the waiting on licenser approval is simply because The code is not far enough along and I don't think they want people to see it until the code is further along and I wish they would just say that. It's like for some reason no one can ever be honest about that like even when Stern did James Bond, they should have just been like this code sucks right now. We're going to be honest. Just be totally brutally honest. Working with the license holder is really difficult. What you're going to see right now is like 20% of where the game's going to be. Now it does beg the question, if you're not far enough along to show the game, then don't show the game. You don't have to show Looney Tunes and Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the same time. Again, it's because Jaws forced them to show it then. But it clearly wasn't ready to be shown. I don't think anything should be shown to the public. You should never take money on a pinball machine if you don't have approval to show the damn code. Can we just make that like a rule within this hobby? Don't show me your product unless you're legally allowed to show me your product. It's so stupid and don't take my money and then don't take my money in a nonrefundable fashion. Everyone who gave a deposit on Looney Tunes, if you don't like what you see, you now can't get your money back. Do you understand the idiocracy in that sort of arrangement between company and consumer? Absolutely asinine. All right, Jaws Pinball is at CES and I think Jaws is trolling all of us. They marched in a bunch of games and there's a really big shark with a pinball in its mouth. And that's the one thing everybody wants the shark to do in the game and then they troll us. There's more going on in the booth at CES than is going on in the actual machine itself. They've got a wax figure of Quint reeling in the shark. They've got the authentic barrel from the movie. My friend is the one who actually set up all those props, Mr. Chris Kiska. He's a great guy. I'm not hearing the feedback I thought I'd hear. I'm not seeing any gameplay being discussed by people at CES. I heard the sound there is really loud and you can't really hear the game. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, it makes no sense for Stern Pinball to bring any of these games to CES. I mean, they are right next to a 3D holographic TV. That is state of the art technology. And they're like, and over here we have Stern pinball introducing QR codes in 2024 with hexagon achievements. I'm sure it's fun to have pinball machines to play at CES, but it's also probably a horrible experience for anyone who's trying to get a first impression of Jaws. Now look, the game is on the line and the game is going to be at operators. The game is going to be on location all over the place real soon. I can't wait to play one. And now we get the most ridiculous item of the day. You know the guy who made the Jerry ramp in Rick and Morty that opens up that Jerry shot that gives you a straight shot into the garage which is basically a cheat mod in the game because it's really hard to get into the garage with that upper right flipper shot and so this gentleman is on pin side saying he is going to engineer a shark mod that eats the ball feeds it into a subway and then releases the ball somewhere else onto the playfield in the The premium and LE models of the game. He's also going to make a shark that eats the ball for the pro machine. And the one thing that this guy doesn't get, this isn't like just removing a target, opening up a pathway in Rick and Morty. He's talking about eating the ball, going into a subway, and then returning it to the playfield through what? There is no hole that is connected to a subway in Jaws Pinball. He also has no idea what underneath the game looks like. He also has no idea if you do that, if you do that, that is going to mess up the entire software of the game. Because Rick and Morty, you were just getting to that switch faster, but hitting that switch wouldn't change the way the game is coded. If you turn what is a millisecond bashing of the shark, which hits a switch and then that activates something in the software. If you take that fraction of a second switch moment in Jaws which is just bashing the shark and then that becomes the shark opening its mouth, eating the ball, going into a subway, having to travel to another place in the playfield and then having to be ejected back into play. So you're taking what's a fraction of a second and then adding in like a two second delay. It would absolutely mess up everything in the software of that game. Not Not to mention how are you ever going to make this mech happen without drilling a hole or drilling screws into the playfield And I love that everyone like put me on the list Sign me up Pinball people Stern Pinball should have engineered this And I just going to say this The more we keep allowing the mod community to make the games the manufacturers should have made at the factory the more we screw ourselves the more we screw ourselves Then they just going to keep relying on the mod community to do everything they should be doing And they're charging us $13,000. For $13,000, this thing should have everything. I shouldn't have to go mod it out afterwards. When I buy a Dodge Demon, I don't have to add anything to the car. I'm so sad to me that we're like doing the work for the manufacturers and we're paying them for this work they should have done at the factory. You know and then I was just thinking about it. I was reading all the feedback. I've been watching people's commentary on Jaws and it's not great. Like Jaws' feedback is really brutal. I thought there was going to be more universal love for this game and there's just not and I think I know why. I think it's one reason why. I think people are so burnt out after two years of these high prices. I think people are so burnt out of losing so much money on all these Stern machines and then jaws comes out at $13,000 and on top of that I think Stern really at the worst time showed their true colors of greed with those anniversary editions of Jurassic Park another version of Elvira. The sour taste in the mouth of the collector of the person that loves to buy the Le's and you almost need the le fanfare to lift everything else up And so when jaws le got revealed you have all these people that are burnt out They're angry and they're seeing what the game is for 13k and they just don't see it And I think that turned a lot of people off, you know when they say the numbers don't lie I have you ever seen a Keith Elwin Ellie after being out for over a week. It's still for sale. Like you can go on the pin side marketplace and people have them for $13,000. And I think you're going to see more of these games open up for sale. I think it's a whole new world of pinball. And I think for this much money, the game has to check every box and I don't think the game does it. All right, so I talked to George Gomez yesterday and you know, I ragged on him a little bit for his deleted comments. We had a good conversation back and forth. And he was just like, look, I deleted the comments. He said something like it was impossible to tell what he was answering because it was like a really chaotic chat going on. And so I want to read for you what he said. And he's confirming this future anniversary additions will be premiums with new art built as premiums. Black armor, no fancy Ellie content. Ellie's will mostly be uniquely cornerstones. I think this is new. A special DMD may get an LE model, but that's TBD and very dependent on the model. DMD remakes will be few and far between because they are very hard to do, the tech, update, and licensing. And he was like, you know, I'm not sure why there's so much drama. And I said, George, to be fair, a lot of people that bought LEs last year saw anniversaries or new LEs drop that significantly hurt the game's value. I also told him, you know, this is why it's a hot topic because no anniversary edition to date has been unnumbered $9,500 or without powder coat. I just want to clarify for him that we're not just making up this drama out of thin air. He said he's been trying to respect what he's been hearing. He said that distros have been telling them that people want to know they are buying the loaded best of everything edition. He said we've been buried in requests for certain vaults, Lord of the Rings, Tron and Ghostbusters. Some are very hard. A white star game ported to new tech is like making a new game from scratch. Not to mention the challenges of approvals all over again with all new people because no one works at a licensor for that long. So we're trying to be responsive and responsible. Totally right. I mean, if you made Lord of the Rings in 2004, nobody who worked on that game from a licensing standpoint is still over at New Line Cinema, right? What a nightmare it must be like 20 years later. We have to write all new contracts. We have to create all new technology to make the game work. It is probably more expensive than making a game from scratch. But if they made Lord of the Rings Vault with modern artwork and modern tech, that's something I'd pay a lot of money for. So there you have it. And speaking of DMDs coming back, Kari Hardy is saying that Kiss DMD is going to be the first DMD they remake. Is there really that much demand for more Kiss machines? I think there's more demand for Kiss toppers. And you know that Stern is going to remake the Kiss topper. If they remade the Black Knight topper, if you're one of those people who bought a Kiss topper for like $3,000, I think you're about to see a new one probably for like $899. Oh, look at you guys getting like back to back to back episodes of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. Everybody, thank you so much for the support. If you've been loving the show recently and you've been a member for a long time and you feel like you're getting more than your $5 worth, I would love it to call out more names of people who are raising the roof. And what I mean by raising the roof, you just raise your subscription a little bit, maybe from five to 10, 10 to 15. That's it. I'm not going to make anybody. Don't worry. I'm never going to raise the minimum, but if you feel like you're getting your value, I would love to shout out more people raising the roof. Everybody have a great Wednesday. We'll be back with more. Oh, and by the way, next week I'm going to Disney with the family. I'm going to Disney with Brenda and Killian. I am so excited. So there will be no podcast next week. Please don't cancel your subscription. Please let me have a week off to recharge with my little man. I don't want to bring my podcast gear on this vacation. I might do a Facebook live here and there so check that out. But there will be no shows next week and I think it's the perfect time to go because I don't think anything new is happening in pinball. Well we might get that Pedretti Gaming Valley Williams remake. That's coming any day now. Everybody have a great Wednesday. We'll talk to you soon. Sphodou sorcery Thank you for Logitech

“If they made Lord of the Rings Vault with modern artwork and modern tech, that's something I'd pay a lot of money for.”

Kaneda @ Stern vault discussion — Expresses consumer demand for modernized classic game remakes

Spooky Pinball
company
Looney Tunesgame
Jawsgame
Stern Pinballcompany
Keith Elwinperson
American Pinballcompany
Pedretti Gamingcompany
Chicago Gaming Companycompany
George Gomezperson
Barryperson
Cointakercompany
Chris Kiskaperson
Rick and Mortygame
Elton Johngame
Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
Karl DeAngeloperson
  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Jaws Pinball facing unexpectedly harsh community feedback despite Keith Elwin designer pedigree; sentiment driven by collector burnout on high prices, prior losses on Stern machines, and perceived insufficient features for $13k price point

    high · Kaneda analyzes 'brutal' feedback not matching expectations; identifies burnout from expensive Stern machines and aggressive LE strategy (Jurassic Park anniversaries, another Elvira) as dampening enthusiasm

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern announced future anniversary editions will be premiums without fancy LE content; LE/Elite editions to focus on unique cornerstone titles; DMD remakes to be rare due to complexity

    high · George Gomez clarified deleted Facebook comments directly with Kaneda; confirmed policy shift in response to collector feedback about devaluation

  • ?

    regulatory_signal: George Gomez emphasized licensing difficulties for vault remakes (Lord of the Rings, Tron, Ghostbusters); noted original licensors no longer employed at studios, requiring new contracts and tech approvals

    high · Gomez told Kaneda that remaking classic licensed games involves regulatory complexity exceeding new game development; cited 20-year gap since originals

  • ?

    design_innovation: Community proposing mechanical mods for Jaws (shark eating ball with subway feed) similar to Rick and Morty Jerry ramp modifications; Kaneda criticizes this trend as evidence manufacturers are cutting features

    medium · Kaneda extensively analyzes infeasibility of proposed shark mod and argues modding trend indicates manufacturer abdication of responsibility despite premium pricing

  • ?

    industry_signal: Kaneda criticizes Jersey Jack Pinball for using identical one-dimensional marketing playbook for all recent launches (Guns N' Roses, Elton John) without adaptation; suggests better strategy would have been staggered Jaws/Elton John reveal to highlight comparative value

    medium · Kaneda proposes counterfactual: 'If I was Jersey Jack...best way to show people the value of Elton John Platinum is to go grab a Jaws and put it next to your machine'

  • ?

    venue_signal: Jaws at CES generates poor gameplay impressions due to loud environment, booth focus on props/displays (shark eating American Pinball machine, Quint wax figure, movie barrel) rather than game mechanics; Kaneda questions value of pinball at CES for consumer experience

    medium · Kaneda reports lack of gameplay discussion by CES attendees and noise issues preventing evaluation; criticizes proximity to advanced tech (3D holographic TV) making pinball look outdated