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Saturday Morning Spectacular!

Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives·video·1h 30m·analyzed·Jun 14, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.037

TL;DR

Kaneda critiques Harry Potter's overwhelming code design and inaccessible casual entry points post-extended gameplay.

Summary

Kaneda hosts a Saturday Morning Spectacular livestream after playing Harry Potter Pinball extensively at a Collector's Edition display. He criticizes the game's code design for overwhelming players with simultaneous activity ("everything in a blender at once"), making it difficult for casual players to access core content, featuring overly complex mode stacking, and poor pacing. He argues the scoop shot required to start movies is too difficult for beginners and that the game prioritizes quantity of features over clarity of experience. Despite acknowledging the game's beautiful playfield and critical acclaim, he questions Jersey Jack's foundational code architecture and expresses concern that early fixes won't address systemic design issues.

Key Claims

  • Harry Potter code is fundamentally flawed in its stacking architecture—everything happens simultaneously, making it confusing for players to understand what they should focus on

    high confidence · Kaneda's extended 2+ hour gameplay and design analysis; compared directly to Guns N' Roses as a counter-example

  • The scoop shot required to start movie modes is too difficult for casual players (30% hit rate even for experienced players) and should be replaced with a simpler selection mechanism

    high confidence · Kaneda's direct observation: 'The scoop on the right is not easy. It is one of these shots where you're going to hit it only even with your like a good player, you're going to be hitting it like 30% of the time at best'

  • Movie intros lack visual hook—no full-screen film clips to establish context, just linear lesson loops with low-volume voice acting

    high confidence · Kaneda detailed the absence of dramatic movie introduction sequences

  • This is not early code (v0.70); the foundational architecture is set and won't be substantially changed

    medium confidence · Kaneda: 'This is not early code. There is so much in there. It's how they've laid the foundation for the code. They're not going to like see what I'm saying.'

  • Slingshot boing sound persists even during epic Battle for Hogwarts multiball, creating tonal dissonance

    high confidence · Direct gameplay observation: 'But you're in this like battle and it's dark and and the music is amazing and then in the middle of this like dark battle, boing boing boing.'

  • Casual players will never experience core content (6 movie progression, Battle for Hogwarts) on standard 3-ball games

    high confidence · Kaneda's assertion: 'You're never going to get through like two on a three ball game. Never.'

  • The game becomes repetitive after extended play because movie moments don't feel meaningful

    medium confidence · Kaneda after 30-minute session: 'It's amazing how repetitive the the game does get and how how few moments there are'

Notable Quotes

  • “Everything's just happening at once... This game is incredibly fun to shoot and it is incredibly frustrating to experience the code.”

    Kaneda @ ~mid-show — Core critique framing the tension between playfield design and rule implementation

  • “This game is not about playing better. It's just so much is buried deeper into the game and I'm just not sure... when you experience some of those multiballs and those moments, it makes you wish they gave you these moments more... not what's happening with everything, all these like side things happening all at the same time.”

    Kaneda @ ~early analysis — Identifies accessibility/pacing as core problem, not player skill

  • “I think this code is hurting this game... I think people that ordered this game, I don't think you quite know what you're about to get.”

    Kaneda @ ~conclusion — Prediction of disappointed pre-order customers; signals potential community sentiment shift

  • “To me the fix is they need to stop stacking everything. Need to stop having seven things you can be doing all at once. Allow the gamer, allow the player to intimately be in the movie.”

    Kaneda @ ~design prescription — Clear prescriptive design critique; implies structural rebuild needed

  • “This game doesn't need more. It needs less.”

    Kaneda @ ~summary — Encapsulates the core argument: complexity over-engineering, not under-development

  • “If I was in the room there at JJP and we're going over the rules and somebody said, 'We're going to start the movies at the scoop that's on the right hand side, that's already a difficult shot for even experienced world class players,' I promise you... How is a casual going to handle that?”

    Travis (guest, referenced) @ ~mid-show clip — Credible designer/player validates Kaneda's scoop shot criticism

  • “You're asking the player to constantly jump out of where the focus should be. So, it becomes this schizophrenic journey that is just not fun.”

    Kaneda — Articulates the dissonance between thematic intent and mechanical execution

Entities

KanedapersonHarry Potter PinballgameJersey Jack PinballcompanyTravispersonJoelpersonEric MinorpersonDavid ThielpersonMark Silkperson

Signals

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Game's primary content gated behind high-difficulty shot (scoop) that contradicts stated design intent to welcome casual Harry Potter fans who may not be pinball players

    high · Kaneda: scoop hit rate ~30% for experienced players; prevents casual engagement with movie modes; contradicts Eric Minor's stated goal

  • ?

    event_signal: Saturday Morning Spectacular positioned as space for critical dialogue on major releases; Kaneda explicitly notes this will upset some but help inform community decision-making

    high · Kaneda opening: 'I think this is going to be a show that some people get upset about, but I think most of you will appreciate what we're going to talk about'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Content creator with significant audience (Saturday Morning Spectacular) delivering extended critical analysis suggesting negative word-of-mouth trajectory among informed players

    high · Kaneda positioning himself as early adopter warning community; prediction that pre-order customers will feel disappointed post-play

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Game complexity creates learning curve that separates experienced players from casual players; mode stacking creates tournament stack complexity unlike previous JJP titles

    medium · Discussion of feature prioritization and overlap management; reference to tournament play stack strategies

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Debate over appropriate complexity for licensed casual-appeal game; Kaneda and Travis align on over-engineering problem while designers defend feature depth

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:09
down in the basement. The lighting is I know it's grainy. It's too dark in here or something. But we're going to share. We're going to be sharing screen. Just copy this link. Just get everybody at Facebook in the house. This is going to be a good show. I mean, I've been waiting all day to talk about what we're going to talk about. And I think this is going to be a show that some people get upset about, but I think most of you will appreciate what we're going to talk about.
0:59
I'm I'm so excited to do this show. I can't even tell you. I can't even tell you how excited I am. Well, I just did tell you. But, um, Brian C is in the house. We're gonna let people come in. You say hi to me. I am in Massachusetts. Brenda's great auntie's 90th 90th birthday. I'm really really looking forward to the party. Um, Bill Brandice might join. He's He's not happy. He's not doesn't want to hear anything negative about Potter. I love these people. They really only want to hear one side of it. But you know what we're going to do? We're going to show on this uh Saturday morning spectacular that everyone's starting to see what I saw first. Everyone's starting to realize there's a lot of work that has to be done to make this game click for people and it's it's good. It's good feedback and they should they should take it to heart. Christopher Franchise in the house. Welcome. We got Mike Jones. We got Charles Thomas. We got people coming in. They're going to get in. They're going to start to hear what we're saying. The text messages are going to be going out. You need to turn on Canada Saturday morning spectacular. He just mentioned you or he mentioned this about the game. How do we stop this guy? I don't even think he plays pinball. I don't even think he likes pinball. And here he is all these years later. He's made more episodes about pinball than most pinball companies have ever made games. We are going to have a good show. And you know what I love about this hobby is is is that every few months we get something new to react to, to play. I don't think I've played a game more on launch week than I've played of Harry Potter. I went over yesterday. I played the game a lot more. I've put on I I've played the game and this is like you can't this is why I I think people are going to be listening to me because the 95% of people on pinside that have ordered this game have never played it and now I can I can say with a straight face I've put hours on this game. I also played the longest game probably anyone's ever played on it because I I'll tell you what I did. I wanted to see into the game more. Mike is great at automated for opening the door. The CE is set up. If you want to play the game uh and you're near uh Milford, Connecticut, it's uh it's worth the trip. It's a display sample of the CE game. Uh I played about two hours in total. Uh but you know, playing straight through is the key. It's annoying when you have a new game and you're just trying to get a sense of it. It's annoying to do two ball games, three ball with other people. I I and and my boy Frank was with me and he was nice enough to just like, let me just let me play. Let me bake on this game. Let me see what's going on. Let me let me after hearing how Eric coded this game, I really we went into it being like, "All right, now we know how this game is coded. Now we know what their philosophy was in making it this way. Now let's go experience what we know is in the game. And lots of thoughts I have to share with each and every one of you about what that experience was like. How much more of an understanding I have of why they made the game this way. how much more feelings I have around if I think this was the right way to make the game. Do I think they can fix things? Do they need to fix things? All of it's going to be discussed on today's Saturday morning spectacular. going to discuss what this game means. I think how it will be received by the pinball community and how the shelf life of enthusiasm around this game, how long do I think it's going to last, right? Is it going to be a game that people are going to want for years based on theme alone? Is it going to be a game where word of mouth elevates people's enthusiasm to get it? or is it going to be a game where word of mouth early on makes people wait on the sidelines? So, all that and more on today's Saturday morning spectacular. I've been up since 4:00 in the morning because I drove three hours to get here. Surprised Brenda. She didn't think I was go coming, you know. She thought I was like a bad husband. I was just like going to let her go. Now, she went yesterday. Like, I just I I couldn't do two days away. And sometimes when you have the house to yourself, if you saw my my live last night, it was nice to just play pinball loudly on a Friday night. On a Friday night, it's going to sell great. Ah, yeah, man. Harry Potter sales are going to be amazing. Who cares, right? Is it a great game or not? Harry Potter would always sell great if if Hexa Pinball made it. Someone asked me to talk about Hexa Pinballs. What was it? Uh what was that game even? I even forgot the game. Um what's that Hexa pinball game? It's uh something Ranger or something. Space Ranger. Space monkey. Spa. Why? Why? Sorry. I literally just had the game uh let me see. It was um Space Hunt. Thank you, Ryan. And I was like, "Look, I" He's like, "I got a good idea for a show topic. Talk about Hexa Pinball Space Hunt." And I'm like, "I don't think anybody bought it. I don't think Hexa Pinball is going to, I don't know, have much of a future if they keep making games like that." So, it is what it is. Um, so we're going to get going here. So, we've only been here for six minutes. We're going to get more people join. I'm also going to do something that I think is important because I'm going to share and we're going to watch a few other pinball personalities talk about Harry Potter code and talk about the game because I think they nail it or at least one of them nails it and understands exactly what I've been saying about Harry Potter now for a week. I think more and more people are coming on board. Uh, and we're going to air that in a little bit. But I want to give everybody here my take. Okay, my take on Harry Potter after playing it for over an hour yesterday, sitting on the game, diving into the game, diving into the modes, seeing the multiballs, getting to uh the big Hogwarts battle. I think it was called Battle for Hogwarts. It was it was that mode. It It's like you get to that. It's very much like Lord of the Rings. If you do the three multiballs, it then unlocks the battle for Hogwarts and it is one of the coolest modes. Uh, you know, the sound during it and the atmosphere and the sort of um, you know, the sense of achievement and accomplishment to get there. The only bad thing is you you're probably never going to even see it unless you do something to your game because the game is once again one of these games where to unlock the things that are like magical are really really really going to be difficult for people to ever experience them on a three ball game. And this is not about playing better. It's just so much is buried deeper into the game and I'm just not sure. And the other thing is this, when you experience some of those multiballs and those moments, it makes you wish they gave you these moments more as you know, you're starting all those movies and the movie modes and and so here's how I want to talk about Harry Potter Code. First and foremost, the the the one thing about this game, if I had to summarize it before getting into more specific details, if I had to summarize this game right now, it is a beautiful game to shoot with quite possibly one of the most confusing codes I've ever experienced in a pinball machine because there's everything happening at once at all times as you're playing the game. And so imagine this. Imagine playing Guns and Roses, which I know last night I triggered some people by saying Guns and Roses is a much better coded game than Harry Potter is right now because you understand what you're doing. And in pinball, understanding how to play the game is important for you to have enjoyment. Like in Guns and Roses, I know I'm just trying to collect the band members. When I do that, I can start a song by shooting the scoop and then I'm in the song and a each song becomes a mode and it tells you what to shoot in each song differently and it and again like but you're intimately connected to that song when you start it. Harry Potter is the opposite. It it's the So imagine in Guns and Roses though, imagine you start Live and Let Die, right? And you're you're loving it like you're and imagine in the middle of the song or just at the beginning right when Axe was like and then it's like dude death death eater boom quiddage match started. Imagine if you kept interrupting what you're in the mode to do with everything else happening else in the game is still on, right? Everything else is still registering. Everything else is still, you know, making sounds. everything else is like, you know, stacking up on top of what you think is the thing you're supposed to be focused on. And imagine if that was happening in Guns and Roses. It would be horrible. And that is exactly what's happening in Potter. You select your movie and what happens when you select your movie is you're starting the different lessons from that film and it's just linear going through each one. And I think it's something like 30 seconds on a timer. Whether or not you make your shots or not doesn't matter. It's just going to go on to the next scene. So talk about removing any sense of satisfaction of getting through the mode because it's just it's just like you're just going to get through it. And when that starts, you also, you know, they have the rights to all the voice actors and the synced up and it's in there. You can hear it, but it's so low that you don't really connect with the scenes. But here's the bigger issue I have with Potter. First and foremost, Eric said he wanted to create a game where casual fans can walk up and experience the movies they love, the characters they love, and and you know, you know, jump on a machine. And and when he says casuals, I mean, he means people that are like walking up to a pinball machine probably for the first time maybe that are even Harry Potter fans. Uh they are never going to see anything because the only way to even begin seeing that stuff is a difficult shot. like it is a difficult shot. The scoop on the right is not easy. It is one of these shots where you're going to hit it only even with your like a good player, you're going to be hitting it like 30% of the time at best if you're good at pinball. I mean, it's it's off the tip of the left flipper. You can't backhand it. It's a very difficult shot. And that's the shot required to even get started with your movies. Okay, so that's an issue, right? I would never have made such a difficult shot the way you start getting into the game. I I think that is a bad decision. It should have been something simpler. Okay. Then when you start a movie, this is the other issue I have. It's like Mark Silk I think's voice is introducing each movie. And what they don't do when you start a movie is they don't just like let a little bit of the movie clip play full screen like introducing you to that film. So that's a huge miss because you don't again feel like you're achieving or turning on a connection to the films. It just starts playing the the you know, you start the linear loop of whatever the first scene is that is started and that's it. And there's no drama. There's no excitement that starts off. It doesn't turn anything else off. Everything else is still going. Every switch is still doing something else that's outside of that mode. And then what they've done is they said, "Hey, you have to hit the red shots and the gold shots to get through the modes." But it's so unsatisfying. First and foremost, it is hard to even tell which shots you're supposed to hit. It is very hard to tell. The inserts on this game are small. You can't read any of the writing on the inserts and there's just something about the fact that there it's just not satisfying because you see the red and the gold inserts lit. You have to sort of find them and then when you everything else is still lit around them. So imagine that you don't that's why you don't feel like you're in this mode. I don't feel like I'm in this movie right now because it didn't change the game at all. The whole game is still just all on all the time and now there's just two colored inserts I'm looking for amongst all the other stuff lit up at the same time. Makes it really unfulfilling uh to play it like that. And so that really is is unsatisfying. And so I I And then from there, you got to imagine what the experience is like. It's like everything's in a blender at once. So you don't feel a connection. You don't get pulled into the movie with a full screen clip. Even if it's just 5 seconds, 10 seconds, just hairy like what? You know what I'm saying? like here like there there there are pivotal moments in all of these films that could have been used to introduce the movies and what they're about and there's nothing there's nothing you hear Mark Silk's call outs just over it all and what's also what's crazy in this game and and I mean this is just one of the things I just I really don't get is why they have the boing sound on the slingshots it never turns off so when I was Battle for Hogwarts. This epic music like uh David Theal's music is so good in this scene. The sound effects are incredible. It's like it's like it's my it was my favorite moment playing this game. That and the owl multiball were so cool. And the people I were with, they were saying the same thing. They everyone just wants more of the game to be like this. Like every time you start a movie, this is what it should feel like. this is how the game should come at you, not what's happening with everything, all these like side things happening all at the same time. But you're in this like battle and it's dark and and the music is amazing and then in the middle of this like dark battle, boing boing boing boing. Like why didn't they just turn it off? You know, like I had Lord of the Rings. I don't think Lord of the Rings even has a slingshot sound. I don't think you even have to give the slings a sound effect. Why does a slingshot even need it? You're gonna hear the sound of the physical sling through the glass and you'll hear it always. You It's just It's just one of those things. So, to give it a sound effect on every sling hit is absolutely like a terribly distracting thing to have when you're like in this moment. So, you know, after walking through and seeing the way they've kind of built this game codewise, I walked away just so like unsure of what they were thinking cuz I just I just don't understand. I mean, I get what Eric and company were doing. They had a really difficult task of of getting eight films into a pinball machine experience and it's a lot. So they kind of broadstroked the movies. Um and and I think they they focused more on the moments that you're going to remember are the multiballs that will unlock another like mini wizard mode multiball moment. Like that's what you're driving towards in this game. you will not feel much when you start these movies. And I I don't know if this is the case, but are you supposed to be able to like is one of the things unlocked when you get through all six of those films? Because I'll tell you this right now, you're never going to get through like two on a three ball game. Never. Like, you're just not going to get through it all. Um, I I I really I I really worry that this is another case of these guys had uh an intention to put all this stuff into a game, but like forgot what pinball is. They forgot what pinball is on a fundamental level that pinball, you know, a three ball game will only allow you this much time to experience this much pinball. And I think they forgot that. And even on like I had like a half hour game because I'll tell you what I did. I was like I was using the Coindor ball save to just stay alive to see what this game would bring me. And and that's how I got that 900 million score was saving the ball. Um, and I I will say this, after playing it for like a half hour, for it's amazing how repetitive the the game does get and how how few moments there are because of how the movie moments just don't come through in a very meaningful way right now. And so I I understand the direction they took, but I think they had a golden opportunity. A golden opportunity. Cuz here's here's what I think they were going for. That whenever you start a game, they know you're not going to make it through all six movies. They wanted so every time you play Harry Potter, you could pick from one of six movies and like that's your game. Like your game will be that movie experience. I get it. But then the movie has to come through more and that's not what's happening. And then they need to make it so when you're in those modes, you are experiencing Harry and his friends journey through that film. Um, you are h what's okay. So that's that's gang where I'm at. I I think this code is hurting this game. I think people that are playing it now are feeling the same way. And I think people that ordered this game, I I I don't think you quite know what you're about to get. And I think I think once you see what I've been talking about, you're going to feel the same way. And I think what's going to happen is there's a lot of expectations now on them fixing this. And the code is at.70. But historically, I don't know. I I worry that Jersey Jack has laid too much of the foundation of the code and they're not going to fix it. I think to me the fix is they need to stop stacking everything. Need to stop having seven things you can be doing all at once. Allow the gamer, allow the player to intimately be in the movie. the whole game, the shots should be in dedication to getting through the modes of the movie. I don't want everything else to be on. So my point is this. So then, yeah, have a shot that's a red or gold shot. Have it up there where Quiddage is, but I want to get up there to hit that shot to get through the mode of the movie I'm in. I don't want every time I get up there to be starting a Quidditch tournament because why are you taking me to a Quidditch tournament if I'm at, you know, the dinner table in the, you know, the first movie? You know what I'm saying? Like I we you're you're you're asking the player to you and you're constantly asking them to jump out of where you where the focus should be. So, it becomes this schizophrenic journey that is just not fun. I don't know any other way to say it. This game is incredibly fun to shoot and it is incredibly frustrating to experience the code. And so when I walked away after an hour, I said, "That wasn't fun." Like it it was fun when I got to the end moments that mattered, but the journey to get there, not fun. Not fun. Everything's just happening at once. Now, if you think it's just me saying this, what I want to do now is I want to play for you a conversation about this game for a few minutes. We're just going to watch it where I think this is exactly how I feel. And I think Travis, you'll hear him, is is like aligned exactly with what my fears are about this game and and what I think about the gang. It's not early code. I I think people need to stop saying it's early. This is not early code. There is so much in there. It's how they've laid the foundation for the code. They're not going to like see what I'm saying. This game doesn't need more. It needs less. So when people say it's early code, I I again I think you guys are in for a world of disappointment if Jersey Jack keeps plowing the software software in the direction they're going in. Okay. All right. I want to play this for you

People who ordered the game without playing it are in for disappointment; word of mouth will turn negative once players engage deeply

medium confidence · Kaneda prediction: 'I don't think you quite know what you're about to get... I think once you see what I've been talking about, you're going to feel the same way.'

@ ~late analysis

  • “The problem is that means you're gonna introduce so many people that haven't played pinball consistently, have never played pinball. And if they step up to Harry Potter and they're not even in a movie yet, and they have no idea how to start a movie, like you've lost the hook.”

    Travis (guest) @ ~mid-show segment — Designer perspective on barrier-to-entry for casual licensing appeal

  • “I don't want every time I get up there to be starting a Quidditch tournament because why are you taking me to a Quidditch tournament if I'm at, you know, the dinner table in the, you know, the first movie?”

    Kaneda @ ~detailed critique — Illustrates the tonal/contextual whiplash of stacked modes

  • “Joel, you're saying that in order to understand what's going on, you have to have the glass off and just use your hands... that's embarrassing.”

    Kaneda @ ~guest segment — Highlights that game requires unnatural play conditions to be understood—damning design critique

    • Guns N' Roses Pinballgame
    Lord of the Rings Pinballgame
    Godzilla Pinballgame
    Evil Dead Pinballgame
    Simpsons Pinballgame
    Rush Pinballgame
    Brian Cperson
    Bill Brandisperson
    Christopher Franchiperson
    Mike Jonesperson
    Jaredperson
    Brendaperson
    Frankperson
    Hexa Pinballcompany
    Milford, Connecticutlocation
    Tomperson
    Ryanperson

    high · Extended stream segment featuring designer pushback on Kaneda's simplification suggestions; Joel's glass-off revelation

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Stark contrast between playfield shooting quality and rule/code implementation; game designed with layered depth but executed with overwhelming simultaneous activity that defeats casual engagement

    high · Kaneda: 'incredibly fun to shoot... incredibly frustrating to experience the code' and extended analysis of mode stacking architecture

  • $

    market_signal: Growing narrative in content creator community that Harry Potter, despite IP strength and sales success, has significant code/design execution issues that will require player education and adjustment

    high · Kaneda positioning himself as educator for incoming player base; Travis and Joel clips supporting his analysis; prediction that more players will align with this critique

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Game heavily reliant on IP appeal and theme recognition to drive sales; thematic content (film clips, scenes) is poorly integrated into mechanical gameplay, risking that appeal translating to disappointment

    high · Kaneda: 'Harry Potter, that theme is going to lead it' but then game fails to deliver on thematic promises through mechanical integration

  • $

    market_signal: Despite critical design concerns, Kaneda acknowledges Harry Potter sales are 'going to be amazing' due to IP strength, but predicts secondary market stabilization as players discover issues

    medium · Kaneda: 'Harry Potter would always sell great' due to IP, but expresses concerns about shelf-life of enthusiasm and long-term satisfaction

  • ?

    community_signal: Extended play session (2+ hours, half-hour continuous play with ball save) needed to uncover design issues; standard play sessions may mask fundamental problems

    medium · Kaneda: 'playing straight through is the key... annoying when you have a new game and you're just trying to get a sense of it' via short 3-ball rounds

  • ?

    product_concern: Foundational code architecture may not be correctable through incremental updates; fixing mode stacking/prioritization would require substantial redesign

    medium · Kaneda: 'This game doesn't need more. It needs less.' and assertion that v0.70 foundational decisions won't be reversed

  • ?

    product_strategy: Community expectations now set for code fixes; Jersey Jack will face pressure to address stacking/prioritization issues, but current codebase may resist meaningful revision

    medium · Kaneda: 'there's a lot of expectations now on them fixing this' and concern about whether foundational architecture allows for fixes

    • 24:53
    and we're just going to watch this because these guys nail it. And and what what what Joel says about taking the glass off is embarrassing. I almost feel bad for him but you know he said it I didn't
    25:06
    a lot of conversations with people and us talking about the different parts of Harry Potter and this is what happens when so much is in the game I think we take we take it for granted of what people actually see in the game. That's why we talk about how the first 10 minutes are so important because that's what everybody's going to see, right? Even the first five minutes, even the first three minutes. And that's why I've told you guys like my non-negotiable for especially high-end themes for rules is what I've told you this Joel constantly. Joel, what is it? Don't put a mode start on a scoop or put a mode start on a hard shot. Like you want a mode start to be selectable. And if anything, then when does that mode need to start? Yes. 100%. It needs to start at the question for you. Go ahead. Why is Godzilla so popular when you have to hit two ramps and then a scoop? That's easy. Because Godzilla was not a huge IP at the beginning. I'm talking about IPs at the very beginning that you know are going to sell gang busters that you know is so unique that it's going to go. Godzilla didn't do that because it was Godzilla. Godzilla was a slow seller like first week. A lot of people forget it. We were all talking about how the uh the playfield art was and all that. And Joel and I even had a podcast about it live that I was like, I think this is going to be the sleeper like number one. I'm looking at it. I can see how it's going to develop. So, a lot of that we're talking about like two different things. I think the design and the rules and what Godzilla is pulled it, not the theme. Now, Harry Potter, that theme is going to lead it. It's going to get people like Joel's wife to come up and want to play it. Yeah. It's going to get a lot of people to want to play it. The problem is that means you're gonna introduce so many people that haven't played pinball consistently, have never played pinball. And if they step up to Harry Potter and they're not even in a movie yet, and they have no idea how to start a movie, like you've lost you've lost the hook. You've lost the hook. So, what you're saying is have have that movie mode start at the plunge at the Oh, yeah. Select your select your movie mode. Every everybody's going to have their opinions and we tal like Tom and I talked about this before that we always create something in our minds and it's always better in our minds besides actual reality. That's just creativity right there. But if I was in the room there at JJP and we're going over the rules and somebody said, "We're going to start the movies at the scoop that's on the right hand side, that's already a difficult shot for even experienced world class players." And I promise you it is. It can disappear for a lot of people, even people that are world champions or people that are top 50. True. How how is a casual going to handle that? And now we are automatically putting up a barrier unnecessarily in front of the meat and potatoes of a game to get people into the experience immediately. Like if I have a game and I want people to experience that world, I want to thrust them into that world. Otherwise, it's like riding a roller coaster and not getting to your first drop until like five minutes of just going around like I might. Nope, I'm waiting. I'm still going. Like it listening to a podcast. still listening to a podcast and we're not getting to the actual meat of the podcast till 5 minutes in, right? You know, you're just waving. Hey, it's it's all about hooks. We should all know everything's about hooks. You got to hook a player in. You got to give them a reason to keep playing. And simplest way if somebody's playing Harry Potter, I have I have a lot of thoughts on that. I was gonna one side comment was Tom had asked why is why was why is Godzilla because we've we've we've talked before that unfortunately the the scoop you have to hit you ramp ramp and then you have to hit the scoop the scoop is so hard to hit on Godzilla for casual players that a lot of them don't experience battle but I remember asking my dad who played Godzilla I was like why did you enjoy that so much he goes well I didn't know what I was doing but every shot I was hitting made me feel like I was accomplishing something they've designed it well there's other stuff going on he could fumble his way into Godzilla multiball or maybe even hit like he doesn't need the battle. It doesn't feel like you're in a waiting room waiting for something to start because you haven't started. Like there's Yes. Has he played Harry Potter yet? My dad has not played Harry Potter. So, well, let's also not get it Let's also not get it twisted either. They did have to adjust Godzilla afterwards to make it two ramps. Yeah. To the Well, to the You could hit the same ramp twice instead of alternating the ramps. So, so you get done you get done with your stream on Wednesday night. Yeah. How did Jared feel? Like honestly, honestly, that's what he said. He goes, he goes, "That's a good game." He goes, "I enjoyed that game. I look forward to playing that game more. That's a good game." He goes, "There's just so much going on." Joel said, "There's so much going on to experience. I don't quite understand what's going on." And that led us to a very interesting conversation about um I mean, long story short, I said, "If I had to buy a game right now, would you rather me buy Kong, Harry Potter, or Evil Dead?" and he without hesitation said Evil Dead like Evil Dead really he loved Evil Dead and that because I think Evil Dead Max and Moments very well. That's then that's what he enjoys in pinball is Max and Moments. Um so Harry Potter here we go. I agree everything you said Travis I completely agree because that was the frustration I had on my first few games was if you're playing Harry Potter you want to see the movie. I don't want to sit there and watch it. I'm not don't don't don't misconceue what I'm saying here. I don't want to sit there and watch the movie. Um I know a lot of people are bent up about the sound balancing which is I do agree needs a little bit of work. There's a lot of Mark Silk like you his callouts are are loud and clear. The music's great. David the did a great job with the music in the fanfare but there's some audio dipping to you know make Mark Silk loud and clear but the movie clips are very quiet in the back. Well, here here's the easiest question to ask cuz you guys all know how I feel about LCDs and all that, we don't even have to go over that. Jared doesn't like it, by the way. But yeah, but what I'm asking is is since you guys have played it, you've started a movie, you're in the lessons because the way it works is I guess it's lessons for 30 seconds and the timer goes, it rotates to the next lesson regardless of Yep. Right. regardless of if you completed it or not, you just get the points for whatever you've done at that point. My question is, does it feel like you're actually playing that movie? Do you feel like do you realize what scene of that movie you're playing and you're going? Cuz like if I take it to Rush, which is Tom's baby, like that is very well integrated to where I feel like the modes actually are what they are. You know, I will say yes and no. And what I mean is when I took the glass, let's go. No, no, no. Let me when I took the glass off when I took the glass off and and started throwing the ball around and what that allowed me to do was focus. So it's like I want to understand this multiball. So all I did I never started a movie. I didn't I just I just had the multiball. So only the multiball is being displayed. It's very easy to see what you're saying. So if you're only playing a movie and you can and only the movie shots are lit. Yes. They actually did a decent job of like oh this movie is with Ron so the Ron targets are lit. Joel, you're you're saying that in order to understand what's going on, you have to have the glass off and just use your hands. No, I think the modes themselves, they just like that's something I think Simpsons does well where the modes, you know, Homer's day, you're hitting the areas of the playfield that are Homer's day. They they made that mode immersive. I think there are modes in Harry Potter, as in the the the lessons, that if you can focus on just the lit shots, they do correspond to what's going on in the scene as well. Yeah, of course they will. But it's about the totality of the package, not the individuality of everything. Cuz if you take the glass off, of course you can isolate anything. But nobody's going to go on location and say, "Hey, hey, glass off. I want to experience this right now." Like, you know what I mean? Get a lesson going. and then start a Quidditch match. So that's the the snitch is riding is flying all over the screen and then accidentally start a multiball and then while you're doing that hit a death eater shot and you got all that going all over each other. Yeah, at that point you have no idea which is how everything's lit. But then you have to teach yourself, okay, red and that red and gold that color is for that. This is for this. Oh, this is for this. But yes, it's you're not experiencing a moment at that point. You're experiencing all of it. You're experiencing Skittles thrown in your face. You're going to get all of it. I mean, it's it's fine. And here's why it's fine. Okay. Some some parts it's okay, some parts it's not. Tom will fully understand this because we have to do this all the time in tournament play when we try to stack things together and get the perfect stack. It's natural in pinball to have overlap of certain features going, but at some point you do have to have certain features that are priority. Right. And so that's the main thing is that you you're going to always have background stuff like side features. That's what makes the game very accessible. But if everything tries to be like the number one, that's when it gets like super confusing. And this isn't just a JJP thing. I've seen this across every manufacturer. So it's not just like this isn't just picking on JP, but that's what happens. That's what makes it overwhelming. Even in King Kong, if you if you're in the middle of a scene, a movie scene, and then you start King Kong Multiball, you're going to have those two things overlap. The colors, but that's just So, you see what I mean, everybody? We're all coming to the same conclusion. A confusing game. Everything is on top of each other, layered in a way that's not fun. And it's it's it doesn't work. It doesn't make you walk away feeling satisfied. And this is this is the game, right? Until they do a major code update, until they fix I I don't know how you fix it now, though. I don't know how you fix it now. They would really have to go back and rework a lot of what's on the screen, the UI. They would have to you I you I I guess they could just turn off all that side stuff when you're in a movie and and elevate the movie sounds like you know you'd still see them in the middle you know like it's a shame that they had they had this big 27 in screen and they very rarely like whenever you're in a movie you're not seeing the full screen image of those movie scenes. It's only when you lock a ball do you get the full screen of something happening. So silly. Jersey Jack, you had 4K Harry Potter movie footage and you decided to reduce it down to a 10-in middle of the screen surrounded by seven other things happening. You you you like that was a mistake. So, I um I want to kind of read what you guys are writing now and and and and comment on your thoughts and I then I want to talk about how I think kind of King Kong is unfairly getting thrown under the bus, but I'll tell you my thoughts on Kong. Um this is one of the most informative and researched shows you've put together. Um thank you. Um, Sean, I look, I I really feel after playing the game and thinking about it, it it allows me to talk in a lot more uh educated way about the about the game, right? I mean, I look, I wish I had access to every game as much as everybody else. You know, we're not just we're not bitching about price, right? Isn't it fun? Every once in a while, we're not just complaining about price. Now, that being said, um I I wouldn't go anywhere near the $15,000 version of this game when you can get the same exact game for 10 cuz you're just not going to notice like much happening on the CE package. Um but yeah, I I think this game is going to be in the short term a very very um beautiful game. I think people are going to have fun to shoot it, but after you kind of get into it, you're gonna really wish it was completely executed differently. You're going to wish the great gameplay was complemented by beautiful code that immersed you in the films you love. You're you're just going to wish for that, and you're never going to get it. You might get it one day, but you're not getting it right now, and you're not going to get it early on. I don't think we need to be invalidating any opinions. Spooky Luke. Um, look gang, like Luke, I think you guys know how to code. I think you know how to like let people play the thing they want. I think you did it with Scooby-Doo. I think you've done it with Evil Dead. I think you did it with Halloween. I think you did it with like Ultram. Like I think you guys understand the concepts of like when people buy a theme, they want to feel like they're playing that theme and they're getting what they want. George said, "Got my evil dead yesterday. It's crazy good." Yeah. No, it's great. Um, you know, I I also, you know, it's so it's so I want to say this and I mean this and I'm coming from a place of of of caring about this hobby. I think Jersey Jack Pinball is um is incapable of listening to feedback. And and by that I mean they just need new blood in that company. They keep making the same boneheaded mistakes. They keep putting the same team on the field. And you know what it is is because they look they they sell they sell games to people that love them. And I think they only want to hear the feedback from those people. And I just think that if they had brought in Travis or me and we banged on this game for like an hour like six months ago, we would have given them the same feedback we're giving them now. And what worries me about Jersey Jack Pinball is after 14 years of being in business, the fact that they need feedback like this shows me they don't get it. They don't get what fun is. They I I just I mean that they don't get they don't get it. They don't get it. I I actually, you know, and when I when I hear the interviews of Eric and so Eric directed it this way, too, like this was under Eric's guidance to make the game this way. I just think they don't get it. I They just don't get it. What they do got what they did get right, they really got it right. But what they got wrong on this game, they really got it wrong. And on a theme this big, they should have nailed it. You know, I was talking to George Gomez today. I was like, George, I just want to say thank you for how you handled Lord of the Rings. And that was a Keith Johnson game. But I just want to say thank you. Like you made you took an iconic film trilogy and you you nailed it. And it's like George, you know, playing Harry Potter like it's like they took these eight movies and they just like they just nerfed nerfed it like in terms of feeling anything. So, like I just don't think Jersey Jack, like I don't even think they care. And you know, and like and the Potter fanboys, you know who you are. You've ordered one. You're like, "You don't want to hear this. You think it's negative. I This is not us slandering." I'm rooting for this game. I want this game to be the masterpiece it can be. It It still can be saved. But what if I'm Jersey Jack? I'm I'm I'm hitting up Travis. I'm hitting up Canada. I'm hitting up, you know, four other people. Guys, look, we you didn't play test this game with anybody, you know, and that's terrifying. It's like they might have play tested it mechanically to make sure the game doesn't break down, but they clearly did not play test this game with anybody like us. And when I say like us, I just mean like the normal pinball playing community. And so when you don't play test it and you build it in a vacuum and you've got, you know, millions of dollars invested in this IP, what what the heck were you doing? You know, you could have saved yourselves and and look and the things we would suggest would have saved them so much energy because you don't need all this other stuff happening. You literally have access to everything people want. Just serve it back to them in the right way. Why do you need all this other stuff happening? Because you realize what Eric did is like he put these elements in the game and then he made the whole game about interacting with those elements versus focusing on feeling amazingly good about going through the movies you love. He he made it all about the elements on the playfield taking center stage, not the storyline of Harry's journey to defeat Voldemort. I mean, think about like Voldemort's not even on the playfield, guys. The Death Eater is. How do you not have Voldemort? It's like it's like not having Darth Vader on, you know, as the bad guy. Isn't the Death Eater like even like a Isn't that a good character? Dis, you know, like I I don't get it. I don't get it. I don't get it.
    43:17
    You're the guy who only owns Guns and Roses. Yeah, Guns and Roses is a better machine than Harry Potter right now. And I'll explain why. And I and I know this made some people upset yesterday, and I took it down because a friend asked me to. And I'll I won't explain why. Guns and Roses, what it does do good, it what it does do well, it does better than anything Harry Potter does well. So Harry Potter shoots way better than Guns and Roses. No argument there. You will never see Canada say, "Oh, yeah, like Guns and Roses shoot." No, I crap on the Guns and Roses gameplay every chance I get. I also hate the brutal outlane drains in G&R, but when Guns and Roses when it what it does well, when it when it hits you with a song and it's on volume 40 and I've got pinwoer speakers and you have a couple whisies in you, Guns and Roses is so much more impactful and hits you so much harder and and puts a smile on your face way bigger than you're going to yet with where Potter is currently. I I I I don't like again it's it's because of the experience, right? It's clunky. It's not the best shooter, but man, sometimes when you when you got it going and it's going
    44:44
    and look, music pins are easier. It's way easier to make a good music pin than a good Harry Potter pin. a good music pin really just like you know just play the music back in an interesting way and it'll it'll you know it's it's hard to fail at being a music pin. It's really easy to fail at being a Harry Potter eight movies trying to get it all into one game, right?
    45:10
    Don, what's up buddy? Still being a grumpy weirdo. Don, why are you so negative man? Don, we're all having a good conversation here. I'm friends with Jenga again. You you come in here and call me a weirdo. That's really strange, man. I Don, you know what? Happy Father's Day tomorrow. I wish you the best, but I really wish you would just accept the apology I've given you multiple times. And can we just bury the hatchet right now? Now that you're here, what's what's holding you up at this stage, Don? Like, what? Like, I've said I'm sorry. we should just bury the hatchet. We're two grown adults and you come into my show and call me a grumpy weirdo. To me, that's strange, man, because I don't I don't interfere with any of your shows. I don't go to your page and say negative stuff. So, just just it's it's it's in your court, man. And that's all I'm going to say. But like really really don't appreciate you doing that. I don't I don't think it makes much sense. Um, but yeah. What's up, Jenis? What's up, Jenis? You know, you know Jen is, you know, Jen is, you know, you you know who your your your boy is. I know you guys look, I'm I I'm happy you guys are making your content. It's it's it's it's the way it should be. Everybody do your thing, but you know, just don't come into my house and call me a weirdo, man. It's just not It's not cool. It's not cool. Um, look everybody, this is the thing is like when Don comes in here and says I'm being a grumpy weirdo, it's this desire to shut down a conversation about this game. I think we've been having a really good conversation about this game, Don. And the only way this game is going to get better, Don, is if we give this kind of constructive feedback. I probably have played Potter as much, if not more than you. I don't know how much you've played it, but I don't think anything we've just talked about I I don't think I'm wrong. I don't think Travis is wrong and Joel is wrong. So, we're all grumpy weirdos. Um, sorry, man. I You know, and the thing is this, bro, it's like this is your Saturday morning. I I don't wake up and go engage with you if I think you're a weirdo and I don't like you. So, to spend your time, and this is like this triggers me, to spend your time coming into and you're doing it in front of all these people and they're all going to see it. And and again, it's just like it's now in your court, bro, to be like, "Look, let's just bury it right now. Hatch it buried. We're cool." Right? That's fine. I You know, life's too short, bro. Life's too short. I'm here um I'm here to celebrate the birthday of a 90-year-old woman who's amazing. I heard she's doing like um she's taking edibles now at night. It's it's it's good. It's going to be a fun party. Anyway, it's it's it's fine. It's fine. You know, I don't I you know, I'm I'm happy to be the grumpy weirdo that you guys um subscribe to and you guys listen to every week. I think this is um you know, this is going to be a good thing. So, look, the the Potter fixes, they are doable. They they are doable. It's going to take a while. And so, my here's what I encourage each each and every one of you to do. I encourage each and every one of you to go play the game. And I think the real the real exciting thing now in pinball is every single one of these new games, King Kong, Harry Potter, Dune, right? The last three launches, you can go play them before you need to order them. None of these games will be hard to get. None. And I've been covering this hobby for 12 years now. And I've never seen a moment in pinball where every new game that's come out this year has zero FOMO to to you don't have to order it. You didn't even have to order Evil Dead. Like you could play these games. And I've always encouraged everybody to play the games. Make up your mind. know you really want the games and and then make your decision, right? I mean, look, all I want is you guys to buy games that make you happy. I mean, it's a toy. It's a toy, right? So, buy the toy that makes you happy. And so, you can go play, you convince me, um Frank, Frank is in the house. Frank, you're not getting the CE. Here's the thing. I also gang the the there is no way to justify Harry Potter CE at 15 when you can get the same exact game for 10. I I I absolutely I don't think the CE is nice enough. I don't think that the topper is just I didn't even talk about it, bros, but like dudes the topper is so bad in Harry Potter. Like even like Frank and I were like looking at it like how did they even end up with this thing? It is that bad. We we were looking about the you know how good the topper is on Elton John and and Pirates and the other games. What what a like I've never seen and this is again this is this is why Jersey Jack worries me because how did they like greenlight the damn Topper? How did they as an organization like nobody you know I don't know why Ken Cromwell left but I I I would love it and I'm just making this up Ken and Ken and I were talking. I wished him the best. I can't wait to have a beer with Ken. Um Ken has always been a class act, a great guy. You know, I said this to Ken, you've always treated me with so much respect and dignity. Even when I didn't deserve it, even when I was like, you know, saying disparaging things about Jersey Jack, Ken was the first one to invite me into the company, right? Ken, great guy. Uh I didn't get the same love from from Mr. Sharp over at Stern. He didn't he decided not to invite me. Well, we're going to talk about Stern sending a DND to a PC reviewer guy. We're going to talk about that in a little bit. How stupid that is. But again, like, yeah, we'll talk about it. Um, anyway, but Ken, I would love it if Ken was like, you know, I saw the topper and they and I I I they didn't listen to me and that's why I left because I'm just tired of listen like being at a place that doesn't take my ideas. They just ignore what I'm saying. And they and I I I you know what I'm saying? Like it would just be amazing if that topper made him rage quit JJP, which I again I'm just making this up. This is just for entertainment. Don't go texting Ken Canada said you quit because of the topper. Um but it's terrible. It's terrible. I didn't read the whole chat. Did Don did Did Don accept my apology or did he just come in here, call me a grumpy weirdo, and then did he did he leave? Did he? Okay, I think he just left. Jenga, work on your boy. Work on your boy. Uh, you know, it's cool. It's all good. Life is too short to hold on to a pinball grudge. You know, speaking of pinball grudges now, you know who like like really just call in again. Like I just I you know, he said some real nasty stuff about me when when when Ken left, someone wrote something like, "Oh, now the marketing positions open at JJP. Canada should take it." And he's like, "That would be the worst thing." and just starts slamming me like like bro I I don't know what's up man and I think it a lot of it comes because you know I when he tried to clickbait everybody with his JK Rowling trans clickbait story like you he was you know and then again once again he's like oh you know he's just always trying to like I just it's just something about Colin man like I try I try with that guy so he was praising Stern's he called it a great PR move okay I work in PR. A great PR move for Stirring Pinball. A big win to send that PC gamer guy a free Dungeons and Dragons game. Okay. And the guy has like I think a million followers and got like a 100,000 views on the And then you know what he says? He's like this this video alone got more views than all the Harry Potter pinball content combined. And that's a big win for Stern. And so the reason why Colin doesn't work in marketing anymore and is making all of his living with a pinball website that can't even be cracking six figures a year. The reason why Colin doesn't work in marketing anymore is Colin doesn't understand the concept in marketing of reach versus impact. that it's more important to do a move that has impact on your business and impacts your audience versus just reach. And so what Stern Pinball did with that move was they reached a lot of people and they gave the game to a guy who has no idea about pinball. Didn't look like he was like a complete newbie. And that kind of video won't sell you one more game. And instead of, you know, whereas Jersey Jack hit all the pinball people with much more impact and sold a lot more games. So like I don't and I think Stern's strategy now and you could see it like they've expanded they've expanded their net of who talks about their product but they're abandoning in a in in some ways the people that have more impact for them. So I I'm look I'm just going to say this. I would impact sales more for Stern than that guy. And I mean that my one to three thousand people that absorb my content on a weekly basis and it's, you know, it's I'm just taking into account my podcast plus this plus Facebook lives. The the 3,000 people I reach will have more of a sales impact on Stern and its games than the hundred,000 people watching that guy conf in a confusing way try to set up a pinball machine. And yet they give him a free game. They gave him a free game.
    55:34
    Somebody else got a free game too recently. I'm not going to name names, but here's the thing. Here's the thing, and I and I mean this. If you get free product from a company, you're supposed to disclose it so that when you start doing reviews, everybody knows you got it for free. Like, isn't that going to change? I I don't want a free game. I don't want a free game. I'll buy my own game. You know, Carrie Hardy bought his own King Kong LE with his Patreon money. He bought his own game. That's how you uh you know, you don't want to take a free game from a manufacturer if you're in a space like ours where you want to objectively review the game.
    56:13
    Don and Colin hate you, buddy. I know that. Yeah, it's fine. I mean, look, they could never hate me as much as I hate myself. And I'm joking here, guys. Like, literally, I love myself. John, how you doing, brother? Better to have a small impact amongst people who never bought pins than a huge impact with those who already do.
    56:37
    No, John, that doesn't make any sense. John, that John, that's not how you grow pinball, John. That that's been the Stern model now, and it's not working out for them. It's not working out for them. There are very few people that will wake up on planet Earth and write a check for $7 to $15,000 for a pinball machine. I can tell you I live in a town where people have $20 million homes. I live in a town where every car that pulls up to the restaurants $100,000 or more. The moment I start talking about pinball, they all stop talking to me. Nobody wants to hear it. Nobody Nobody cares. Nobody cares. Hey guys, Harry Potter pinball. Nobody Nope. Nope. Nope. Nobody cares. We care. And the best way to get another person into the hobby is if each of us invites a friend,
    57:33
    but you know, it's um it's it's it's fine. Okay. So, Kong Li, Kong in general, I think King Kong is getting a little bit of an unfair go. I I think every time I talk to people about Harry Potter, the first thing they say is King Kong sucks. They're like, "Ah, Stern's in trouble. King Kong, look at this game." Oh, you know, then I go over and I play King Kong. I'm like, "Wait a minute. Why are people like indicting this game, saying Harry Potter's loaded and King Kong sucks?" And then I play King Kong and I'm like, well, there's a lot more interesting mechs in King Kong. There's like an easier storyline to follow. I can read the inserts, which I can't on Harry Potter. And it it the Stern has one mistake. Stern just has one big mistake. They just don't make a $13,000 product. And if I could give Seth and George just just they had it that that's their problem is I should walk up to King Kong Ellie and it should be $10,500 and Harry Potter CE should be $15,000 and I should see why Stern is the greatest option and the best bang for the buck. Once Stern took all of its products so up market, you can't help but look at it and just not see something worth that much money. They they legitimately they they they lived in a little bubble during COVID and when demand was through the roof and supply was non-existent, they now price themselves on everything in a in a time that's gone. It's been gone now for four years. And so, yeah, if I'm looking at Harry Potter next to King Kong and you're telling me like this is 13, this is it. It's just it's just I I I don't even care how much better King Kong is. I just don't want to buy something that looks so much cheaper. And I just think that's their issue. Also, I don't know if you've noticed this, the clear coat on a Stern game now is bad. It's not glossy like it used to be. I think they like are trying to avoid dimples. And by the way, Harry Potter dimples like crazy, but it just feels shinier. It feels glossier. It feels more premium. Stern Playfields lately just feel like dull. like they're just coming across as like a dull looking game and I I think they need to fix that too. Um but yeah, I mean King Kong is is is clearly not selling like they thought it would. First of all, I want to thank the we have 166 people right now, which is pretty good for my Saturday morning lives. I I think we got another 20 people join, you know, once you start talking about other content creators. Um, I just want to give a shout out to everybody for being here. I want to thank you guys for joining this grumpy weirdo every Saturday morning. Thank you, Don. I'm going to start using that as as my new descriptor. Um, I want to thank you for hanging out because you're taking time out of your life to hang out here, talk pinball. Uh, Gino, brother, we have people here in Australia, in Europe, in America, in Canada, probably Latin America. Um, you know, it's it's so amazing to me what a community has has, you know, gotten together uh to join myself every week and talk about pinball. And it's and and again, as people continue to try to like paint me as this thing. Look, yeah, there are times when I say stuff that's strident. There's times I might come at some people, but never never like just like if if they didn't deserve it a little bit and they know that. And and also like these companies deserve to hear it from us. They do. And that's always been the thing about Canad Pinball Podcast is like I love what these companies create and sometimes I loathe the decisions they make and that's what makes this hobby fun, right? right? If every game was just like perfect way, you know, okay, on to, you know, but they're not like and they're so far from it, but we're getting there. We're getting there. Um, and I want to thank everybody who subscribes to Canadas Pinball Podcasts. Uh, we've been below 700 for a while, but the numbers are still really good, and it's the reason I do it every week. Who knows, one day it might be my only source of income. I'll join Colin in in in that income bracket and only have to pay 15% tax a year. Um, but you know, in the end, waking up and having something like this to connect us is great. Uh, Brazil, right, the Twippy capital of the world. Um, yeah, Retro Ralph, I don't know if he's joining. You know, Retro Ralph is a really good guy. He's a really good guy. The thing about Ralph is this, he gets mad. Like, he gets mad at me like a lot. And he's, you know, I his angle is always he's like, "If you played more Canada, you'd you'd see how great Avatar is." is I'm like, "Bro, I don't need to play Avatar any more than I than I than I already have. I don't I know exactly what that game is all about. I just I'm good, man. I'm good." And, you know, look, he clearly got the JJP hookup. He made the the featurette for them and he's pushing Avatar pretty damn hard now. Um, I'm glad he's having fun with it. The the the And you know, you know, I I love Kale. Kale Hernandez over Electric Bat. Kale Kale gets me. He understands Canada the C because he gets it. It's all like we Kale and I just go back and forth every day just taking the piss out of this hobby and that's what's fun. And we have a great great banter every day. Ralph tries to like earnestly like get to like change my mind or like can't quite get me yet. Like he doesn't quite get it yet. And then when he does get it, it like annoys him. He's like you're you're doing it for entertainment. You're not even playing the game and you're slamming this company and I gotta go there and film my feature. Like it's like Ralph like chill bro chill. He's I'm not a shill. I'm not a shill. I'm not a shill. Avatar is the best game ever. See even that like I'm joking. He's going to Oh man, you call I'm not a shill, man. I'm not a shill. X-Men Ali is incredible. I'm not a shill. I You know, look, it's like and that's the thing is you got to be able to laugh at yourself. And I don't I don't I think the the shill like Zack Manny leaned into it. He leaned into it cuz he knew he was shilling games as a distributor. Like he leaned into it and and I know when you find yourself in that unfortunate situation where you just like everything about pinball. Yeah. Like it's like you're going to get called a shill and it's fine. Just lean into it.
    64:55
    Ah, how's everybody doing? Avatar is terrible. It's terrible. It's it's it's it's I mean like it's not it's just it's just another soulless game. You you it's just you just like you know it's like as I was saying earlier like if we if life is short and we measure our life and how we spend our time, you're going to have a lot more time. 90 minutes of Canadas Saturday Morning Spectacular. This will this will be more entertaining than any 90minute game on an avatar and this cost you how much money exactly. No one even gave me any money or super chats. I don't care. Like whatever. You know what I'm saying? You know, Carrie gets I see Carrie giving money. People give Carrie money all the time to be a super chat. No, it's fine. It's fine. I'm not busking. I'm not busking today, people. I'm too happy. He's a paid spokesperson, so he's gonna shill. If anyone understands it's a paid promo, I'm fine with it. Scotty Pinball. Yeah. No, I don't care. I don't care. You're just supposed to disclose if you're paid or not. You're you're you're you're supposed to make that disclosure. And you're also supposed to disclose, you know, the terms of some of those deals, but, you know, no one ever does. It's like this the the the for years we've been joking there's no real journalism in pinball and there's not other than Jason Nap and Jason Nap like he's the only guy and like what the thing I love about Jason is you can you know you I remember when Jason started it was like it was just the news you know then a little bit you know then he started to give his opinion a little bit more then he went fulcanada and was like rumors man rumors I love it he he you got to go remember the origins of nap he didn't really want to do rumors or spoil companies news and you know now it's great like I love his site everybody does like you know you I was selling this to Kale can you imagine you know we talk about like newbies coming into pinball can you imagine how much exponentially better a grown man's life is before he joins pinside like let me let me just repeat A man's life is exponentially better every year of his life before he joins Pinside. The moment he joins Pinside is a bad moment for his life. You you understand this, right? It's like you had it, bro. You had peace of mind. You had the ability to enjoy pinball machines without listening to a bunch of alcoholics argue with each other all day long. without listening to Iceman and Neil battle it out like who's got more money who which means whose opinion matters more and it's like the most ridiculous place to end up and the reason why I love Nap's Arcade is you don't have to end up there ever again. Yeah, you maybe pop in for the for the club thread, but even that's kind of nauseating. It's like all these buyers justifying their purchase before they've even played the game. I this is where my Harry Potter's going to go. I I love the Harry Potter club thread right now. You got the dudes with like owls on their walls. Like this is where my Harry Potter's gonna go. And I'm like, "Oh man, is it too late to get a refund?" Cuz that game, if you're a Harry Potter fanatic, I don't know, man. Get ready. Strap in. Let's talk Predator. All right. So, Jenis is here. And Jenis uh and I have been going back and forth because um you know, he's he's getting he's not he's not hearing my show. So when I say um when I say that Bill Billy Boing Brandis is in the house, Billy, welcome to the show. Dude, you have gummy bears on your wall. What does that mean, Billy? See, Bill Bill ordered two Harry Potters already. One for each of his home and he could order 50 and not even feel it. And you know, you know, Bill, come on. It's Bill. I get it. I get it. Bill, the thing is you're in a suppernal realm unlike most people. So like it doesn't matter to you, right? And I know you have fun. I know this is all like, you know, you you're you're part of the community. Um but you are very jaded on the side of JJP around this game. Like so Bill, do you think I'm wrong on how they're coding this game? It's that it's that simple. You were just knocking. Bill, Bill, Bill, I'm having fun, you know. I'm not like literally making fun of people that have owls on their walls because Harry Potter is going to go underneath it. Yeah. Like, yeah, I was making fun of that person, Bill. I was making fun of a Harry Potter fan. What happened to all of us girly men? We need to get to the chopper. I mean, let's talk about like it's so funny to me the sensitivities. You have You can't make fun of someone having a Harry Potter owl on their wall. Canada, get to the chopper, Billy. Come on, Bill. Let's do this. You are always wrong. Yo, Bill, I'm always wrong. So, Bill, who's more wrong, me or you hanging out here? I got you. I got you. And guess what I don't do? I don't go watch people make content every week who are wrong. So, clearly something I'm saying is right, Bill. If I was wrong, Billy Boing, why would I have so many subscribers? Why? Everybody's just like they all just want to tune in to like someone who's just wrong about pinball. Come on, Bill. We love you. You're loaded. It doesn't matter. We love you, okay? But you're you're you're not going to have a Pirates of the Caribbean experience with your Harry Potter, okay? Just accept it, okay? Um I pleaded with you to join. I just asked you to join today, Bill. It wasn't I wasn't begging you. Don't worry. Don't worry, Bill. I I I know. I know. Um No, I'm glad you're here, Bill. I'm glad you're here. Um so, Predator is coming out this week. And so, back to the Jenga. So, Jenis has been the one with all the he has the keys to the castle. Like, he's been teasing and leaking this game slowly. Clearly, he's on board with the Pinball Brothers. This is their strategy. And and I've said it before, you know, they didn't give anybody else any assets. They people with much larger reaches, but it's fun. It's cool. Like I I I they can do what they want to do. Um and when I said I'm sick of the slow tease of this game, he was like, "Just block me." I'm like, "Bro, it's not you I'm mad at. It's the Pinball Brothers. They this this whole game is like just show the game already. There's only so much of these little teasers and every time we see a new tease, it's like we get less excited about the game. And so that helicopter is horrible. How is that the major mech in the like I don't I don't think it's the major mech in the game, but how is there a better helicopter in ABBA than in Predator? how I I I mean I just don't get it. But we're going to see it this week. You know, widebody pinball brothers game. I I I don't know. Like why? Like I don't know. Maybe they just got a bunch of cabinets lying around that aliens didn't go into. Um they should have shown Predator before Potter came out. Maybe. I don't know. Oh, I mean I look if you ordered a game, I wouldn't buy either any new game without playing it first. Like and and cuz remember these are like non-refundable deposits. Like the best non-refundable deposit that just got refunded is Tony Homer's. Do you guys know Tony Homer? If you don't know Tony Homer, he's a gentleman that ordered two Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Has been moaning about not having them yet. And I love it. After just being a troll in the Alice thread for months, both distros are like, "We're just giving you your money back. Get out of here. They don't want them. They don't want, you know, you're not worth it. You're not worth the headache." He's been threatening to do a credit card chargeback. So, one distributor uh won't give him the check until he confirms that he's not doing the credit card chargeback. I get it. because if you if they write him a check and then he charges back, they can't get that check back. Um, and then he might double dip. So, it's Melissa was the other dro. So, Coin Taker and the other DRO were just like, "Dude, get we're done with you." And and he really is causing like a nightmare for these these these damn distros. It's like, you were promised a game by the end of the year. Not right now. 400 people going to get refunded. I I look the the um the the topper for Alice, the company that was making it went out of business. So I So like it's like uh right. I mean like damn like that sucks. So Melvin uh who's now the partner with Leor at little shop of or just Leor the art of pinball um he has to find a new source for that topper because Leor didn't make that topper. It would have been even more expensive. So I that that's unfortunate. I hope they nail it like one to one. Like I I wouldn't want to I don't know even know how you would go about finding another supplier for such a unique item. Canada was a salesman for that dog Alice, then just pretended it never existed. Um, no. I was 100% transparent about Alice. I've been completely transparent about my relationship with Melvin, the assets Carrie and I got. I I have been very critical of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland since the moment Dutch couldn't even stream the game in good lighting. So, um, you know, that's it. And my whole thing is this is like you got to see the game before you ordered one. You know what I'm saying? Like you all got to see the game. If you placed an order for Alice, it's on you. You know what I'm saying? I I I got no kickbacks. I have no skin in the game.
    75:51
    anything else you guys want to talk about? We got 15 more minutes. I think this has been a great show. We got Bill Brandis in the house. Christopher Franchie, your favorite grumpy weirdo. Jenis is in the house. I have about 250 players on X-Men. You know, when I was uh at Automated yesterday, I hate to say this, but X-Men is just such a beautiful pin. I mean, I don't hate to say it. I mean, I'm happy to say it. I hate to say it because I want the game to be as amazing as it looks. I think it is one of the most stunning Stern machines of all time. It It nails World Under Glass like nothing else. And it's such a unique layout. I love what Yeti did with the art. I'm just so saddened that like, you know, we may never get, you know, it's much like Potter, like both of those games. I mean, think about this. X-Men and Potter, like both incredible shooters, potentially spoiled by by Rod and Code H.
    77:02
    Yeah. And look, I I got to I got to be honest, both codes are just as annoying. One one is annoying and it's like just like X-Men is just like h just you know but Potter is just annoying because it's just so confusing and just so frustrating how you can't focus on anything. It's like trying to eat a hamburger and someone's shoving five other food items in your mouth at the same time asking how's the hamburger?
    77:34
    Um, major update coming in July. How do you guys, you know, I just, it's weird that I mean, Kong just seems to be, it seems to be a game that everyone's just sort of moving past pretty quickly. And we we might get Jaws 60th this week. and then sorry Jaw's 50th and then um you know John Borg
    78:11
    Yeah, you know, I've been using Lyman as an example of like the reason why Lyman was the greatest coder in the history of pinball is his understanding of how to make a game where casual players will experience magic and experienced players will get even more magic. And the way you journey through a lineman sheets game is just pure genius. And there will never be another pinball coder that I think kind of understands from both a player's perspective and and a and a emotional perspective what a pinball machine can do. I think he was the the the best at just understanding what fun and what rewarding moments in pinball can be if you take the player along on a journey like this. You know, I just I just have nothing nothing but fawn thoughts of him personally, too, but also just professionally. He was just the best. Um, Bill Brandice just didn't like Kong at all. Just feels so cheap. Yeah, Bill, you know, I talked about this. Um, you know, having there literally is a Kong next to Harry Potter at at automated and and it is just it's so glaringly cheaper. Everything about it just feels subpar next to a next to Jersey Jack. And it's a problem for Stern. It's a problem. Like it's like I if you see King Kong on its own a lot easier to warm up to it, but if you see it next to Harry Potter, it's just worlds apart. You know, it's worlds apart.
    79:57
    But Jersey Jack games have always been beautiful. And we it's it's not the beauty we want. We want the substance that keeps us coming back for more in these games.
    80:12
    I I think King Kong did not move units like Stern needed it to. And I mean the Ellies are are still not sold out. You know, a game we haven't talked about and I just don't see people I are people even unboxing this game like where is Dune? Where where where's the where's the where where's the conversation around Dune? I haven't spoken to David in in in a few weeks. Um but I I just kind of I'm just kind of observing the community like how many pages I'm going to go to the pinsite right now. Like the Dune Owners Club like is it even like 10 pages long? I mean the game's been out now for months.
    81:05
    The Dune Club thread. Let's see. Here we go. I guess it's been out for like what, a little over a month. But the the Dune the Dune club thread is four pages long. Four pages. Wait, what? Like are is nobody getting machines? If you put up a post right now being like Canadas Canada doesn't like Harry Potter code, within an hour there'd be more than four pages on Pinside.
    81:55
    I yeah, I just I just don't know what's I don't think they're really sending out games until they get more approvals on the code.
    82:07
    But, you know, I it's just I I don't think they should have launched it when they did. I I think they they went out too early. The the game wasn't ready. And you know, you serve people cookie dough, it's hard to get them to buy the cookies. Actually, cookie dough is really good, but you know what I mean.
    82:29
    I can't wait for more people to play Potter. You know, right now there's just a handful of us that have played it and reviewed it and talked about the code. I I just can't wait for more people to play it. And I think when people jump on now, they're going to be looking at it through the lens of what we've been describing. And so I think I think people are going to walk away with very similar feelings.
    82:55
    See, Bill, when you play Potter, did you know what you were doing? You know, and Bill's like me, like we're not Potter fanatics. I think we probably maybe seen the movies, but did you know what you were doing? And like did you feel like I I just again like I think if if JJP can just remove the annoyingness of stacking everything when you're in a movie, it'll be much better. And that's and like it's like less is more. Having a a more connected feeling to a moment is better than everything crashing on top of itself. My district said 80% sells are C. Yeah, man. Everybody's buying the CE. That's good news for Jersey Jack. You know, look, because when you watch the featurette video, how do you not buy the CE? Like, right, all that discussion of the art. I But I'm I'm I'm telling you, like when you see it all in person, I think the wizard edition with the rad cows is going to be the most visually stunning version of the game because the artwork on the CE it's it's very muted and dull as I mean just like in it's because it's matte. it it doesn't pop like shiny pop glossy rad. So again, I think the wizard edition is the way to go because I also just think the the topper on the sea is terrible. Like it's terrible. It's like it's so frustrating because the topper is usually like I want one of those and it's like this is like ah that's embarrassing. There was a moment I saw on the topper like an I think an owl pops out and it just looks like a a tongue depressor. It's like, you know, it's like it's like all of a sudden it's like it's just doing this and it's so cheap looking. It's like this flat piece of plastic owl pops out from behind. Like I'm just I can't like who whoever designed this thing was trying to sabotage your game.
    84:58
    Yeah, I I do like the gold wire forms, but I feel like you won't even notice them when you're when you're in the because the this game is so fast. That's the other thing is like because it's so fast, you're not really stopping to look at stuff as much. Uh I wish the inserts were maybe a little bit bigger or there was like a better way to telegraph where to shoot in the game. I did I did feel a little confusion at times like where to shoot. I guess it's simply because like everything's lit at once, so it just gets a little difficult. Is that yellow or is that gold? Is that a red shot or is that or is that the red shot? You'll see when you play it, people. I'm not making this stuff up.
    85:45
    Yeah. I mean, Jaws stacks a lot and but I think, you know, but it but Jaws knows when to turn stuff off when you get to like the moments that matter. And I think that's what they need to do with Potter. Everybody, look, happy happy Saturday. Uh, I'm going to go take a nap. I've been up since 4:00.
    86:08
    Bill, I don't understand like what your issue is with my my gradient gummy bear art. Like, I don't understand. Like, you you do not you don't understand contemporary pop art like that. It's like it it goes perfectly with the color schemes of my house. Like I don't I don't understand, Bill. Like it's like weird. Um art is very subjective. And if you walked into my house, Bill, it it looks really good. Like the whole thing is very very artistically pleasing, uh if you will. But you know, apparently the gummy bear artwork is has is is not to the liking of Mr. William Brandice. Um, we should change it to the grumpy bear art instead of gummy bear art because this is the grumpy weirdo. Signing off everybody saying enjoy your pinball machines. Play all these new games. Make up your own mind, okay? Don't let me persuade you. Don't let the shills persuade you. Harry Potter, in my honest opinion, needs a lot of work. It's not a masterpiece yet. It shoots great. The code is a complex, confusing, you know, mess right now. It's it's a schizophrenic game that doesn't know what it wants to be. Will they fix it? I don't know. Do they need to? I think so. Have they gone too far down the road to make major changes? I don't know. Historically speaking, the answer would be yes. That you're you're going to what you see is more of what you're going to get. Um I think the hobby overall is very expensive right now. I don't think people see most of the value anymore in in the other companies all charging 12, 13, 14. I think everyone is just a little bit fatigued. The world is a very crazy, scary, unstable place right now. And I think a lot more people are going to be pulling back. Of course, they're going to sell a ton of Harry Potters. But just play everything before you buy it. Okay? That's all I'm asking you to do. Just get time on it. Don't lock in your money before you play the game. Don't ask for people's opinions about these games. go play them. And the good news is is that nothing is sold out. Nothing will sell out. You will be able to get any of these games for years to come. And guess what? And then they're going to be a lot cheaper. If you think Harry Potter CE is going to hold at 15 in a year, a CE will be if if the code continues the way it's going, in a year it will be 12. It will in a year easily. and knowing what Jack has coming down the road. Again, I think I don't know. I think this might have been a real challenging game because of the amount that's in it. And I think they fumbled a little bit figuring out how to get it all into the game. And I think what they the decision they made to not really make it about a journey of the movies, but more, you know, things interacting with these key elements of the of the universe might have been a mistake. But we we we will see. This is it's too early to tell. That's why I think it's too early to buy one. Um more they need to do some work on this game. We're the first focus group. You know, they didn't bring in play testers to give them feedback on the code. That's us. That's now. So, they're getting what they should have got six months ago. If they had pulled more people like Travis and Bill and if they pulled people in earlier and had us give them feedback, we would have given them this feedback so they could have tweaked stuff before releasing it. Just always concerning to me that Jersey Jack seemingly doesn't get some of this stuff. It seems very common sensical and they continue to make the same I think mistakes time and time again and again because they just don't bring in outside feedback. I think they they just think they're making the greatest and they don't want to hear about it from anybody else. I I get that vibe a little bit. Um I think they're making 20 games a day right now for Harry Potter, so it's going to be a wait to get one. And yeah, so everybody have a great Saturday. Thank you for being a subscriber if you do subscribe. And just thank you for uh lending your time here. You you make this engaging and interesting. And thank you and especially to you, Bill. We know we know like you could be in your Ferrari right now, but you decided to hang out with Canada. So, I appreciate it. Give Sabrina my best and the little Frenchie my best. And we will talk real soon. New shows probably Monday. It's going to be Predator week. Can't wait to see what Predator is. Uh later.