Episode 863: "Goodbye Yellowbrick Road & AP's Next Title"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·26m 1s·analyzed·Oct 20, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

Kaneda trashes Elton John, leaks Cuphead as AP's next game, attacks industry leadership.

Summary

Kaneda delivers a scathing critique of Jersey Jack Pinball's Elton John and predicts its commercial failure, contrasts it unfavorably with competitor releases like Labyrinth, and reports an exclusive: American Pinball next title is Cuphead, which he views as a market-misaligned decision that exemplifies poor leadership at the company.

Key Claims

Elton John will ship in Q1, not Q4 2024, because it's not in a box yet.
medium confidence · Kaneda, direct prediction based on absence of boxed units at Expo
American Pinball's next Ryan McQuaid game is Cuphead, not He-Man or 300.
high confidence · Kaneda, citing a trusted insider source; positioned as exclusive scoop
David Van Es lost his media credentials at Pinball Expo because he critiqued Galactic Tank Force.
medium confidence · Kaneda, attributed to Kerry Hardy's commentary
Steve Ritchie's Elton John design lacks innovation and recycles his previous work.
medium confidence · Kaneda, opinion based on playfield analysis (three drop targets with no mechanics)
Jersey Jack revealed Elton John early out of fear that Keith Elwin's Jaws will make customers prefer it.
low confidence · Kaneda, speculation about JJP's motivation
Barrels of Fun shipped 10 boxed machines to Straight Down the Middle while JJP had none ready.
high confidence · Kaneda, direct observation at show
Elton John did not win Expo's game of the year vote.
high confidence · Kaneda, confirmed by results
Stern's repeated limited editions of Elvira devalue the concept of limited editions.
medium confidence · Kaneda, opinion on Stern's strategy
American Pinball is making Cuphead because Ryan McQuaid wants to make it, not because market demand exists.
medium confidence · Kaneda, analysis of decision-making at AP
Labyrinth will likely win Game of the Year at Twippies, with Foo Fighters as runner-up.
low confidence · Kaneda, prediction based on hype and code quality

Notable Quotes

“Why even try to change? You're Steve Ritchie. Are you going to try something new? Are you going to do a new design layout?”
Kaneda @ ~5:00 — Core criticism of Elton John as uninspired recycling of Ritchie's established design patterns
“It's another Steve Ritchie game that is wrapped up in more artwork and glitz and sparkle and lights but there's nothing of real substance in this game.”
Kaneda @ ~7:00 — Summarizes the visual appeal vs. mechanical depth complaint about Elton John
“I hate to say it but Steve Ritchie this has to be it like I think he just needs to retire now I think this needs to be his final game.”
Kaneda @ ~10:00 — Extreme criticism calling for Ritchie's retirement from design
“They are terrified of Keith Elwin. They are terrified. They are trying to lock you in now because they know when Jaws comes out, you're not going to want this game.”
Kaneda @ ~35:00 — Alleges JJP's early Elton John reveal was a competitive defensive move
“Ryan McQuaid's American Pinball game is Cuphead. C-U-P-H-E-A-D. Cuphead. If you've been clamoring for a Cuphead pinball machine, Congratulations!”
Kaneda @ ~55:00 — Exclusive leak of American Pinball's next title with sarcastic delivery
“Guess who hasn't been clamoring for a Cuphead pinball machine? Almost everybody!”
Kaneda @ ~55:30 — Kaneda's immediate reaction to the Cuphead announcement, expressing market misalignment
“You cannot come out with games like Cuphead. We need to get back to making themes people want.”
Kaneda @ ~56:00 — Broader critique of niche IP selection given current market price points
“They are sitting on games people would much rather have than their latest three offerings and they won't give it to you.”
Kaneda @ ~48:00 — Criticism of JJP's IP selection strategy; references games like Matrix, Harry Potter, and Addams Family

Entities

Kanedaperson Steve Ritchieperson Jack Guarnieriperson David Fixperson Ryan McQuaidperson Keith Elwinperson George Gomezperson

Signals

~
sentiment_shift: Elton John failed to win Pinball Expo game of the year and audience sentiment is notably negative compared to pre-launch hype.
high · Kaneda states Elton John 'didn't even come close to winning Expo' and contrasts this with his own initial excitement that turned to deflation upon playing.
?
product_concern: Elton John criticized for mechanical simplicity, lack of moving parts, and recycled design patterns despite premium pricing.
high · Three drop targets with only a rubber behind them, comparison to classic games like Led Zeppelin, plastic Elton John toy as only creative element
$
market_signal: Kaneda predicts Elton John will see steep secondary market discounting ($3,000+ off) due to weak demand.
medium · Quote: 'you'll get Elton John for $3,000 off by the time it hits the line'
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product_launch: Elton John will miss Q4 2024 ship date and slip to Q1 2025 (4-5 months away) due to lack of boxed units at Expo.
medium · Kaneda notes game not in boxes at Pinball Expo and contrasts with Barrels of Fun's 10 boxed units
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machine_intel: American Pinball's next game is Cuphead, not the teased He-Man or 300 titles.
high · Kaneda's exclusive leak from trusted insider source; positioned as confirmed information
?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.078

0:00

Good morning everybody. It is your venerable pinball podcaster Kaneda at 4 o'clock in the morning. And I want to do a little bit of a longer musical intro to this episode of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. And I want you to close your eyes. I want you to listen to the lyrics of this song because I think it captures how I feel about Jersey Jack Pinball. I think it captures how I feel about Steve Richie saying he was going to bury what his friends over at Stern did to him by yanking everything out of his game. And then we see this game and there's not much in it. Subtitles by the Amara.org community

1:00

Bongiork Soyuzhanppulaos balmxide scheme up villagersonal nouslihood. and with a straight face tell me that this is going to be one of the best selling Jersey Jack pinball machines of all time. So close your eyes and listen to these lyrics and tell me this is not what's going on in the pinball industry. Why even try to change? You're Steve Ritchie. Are you going to try something new? Are you going to do a new design layout? Are you going to think about pinball a little bit differently? Now that you've had three years since Stern Pinball, are you going to really do all these new magical amazing tricks that you've said I'm going to be talking about the three pinball drop targets that I saw in the Elton John game. And when I saw those three drop targets straight up the middle where there's nothing behind them but a rubber, there's no movement, there's no magic, there's nothing happening in this game that's any different than previous Steve Ritchie games. In fact, it's very similar to what he's done before. So then you have to ask yourself, why even try to change? Are you the king because you're just gonna keep recycling idea after idea after idea? This is just another Steve Ritchie game that is wrapped up in more artwork and glitz and sparkle and lights but there's nothing of real substance in this game that even remotely warrants what they're charging for this game and that is the universal feedback on this game. It's another launch where we're like, it looks fun, I can't wait to shoot it, it Edits ¬. The Game you absolutely do not and put this game next to a CDC just do me a favor put it next to a CDC And tell me there's a lot more in this game put this next to Led Zeppelin and be like oh He really put a ton more into this game if you remove that Elton John toy right the little toy in the back Which is probably the only thing I really like in this game or feels creative the plastic Elton John that locks the balls I mean I feel like that looks like something that would be on a topper The Game What is in it? What took him so long and what? Creativity went into this game and I hate to say it but Steve Ritchie this has to be it like I think he just needs to retire now I think this needs to be his final game and look at a guy like George Gomez He's been designing games all these years and look at George Gomez is James Bond. He tried something new. He didn't go back to the well He's not just making the same game over and over again He's been making the same game over and over again James Bond. He tried something new. He didn't go back to the well. He's not just making the same game over and over and over and over and over again. And that's how you're supposed to do it. And look, when you run out of ideas, when you run out of ideas, it's just time to stop. There's too much money at stake in pinball to get it wrong. There's too much money at stake to come out with stuff like this that is just not that inspired. It's not that creative. You can see the passion is not there. N out The Platinum Edition If it was eighty five hundred or nine thousand for that and twelve thousand for the CE of the game and they made only five hundred CEs It's a much different conversation But they didn't do that and they're putting again once again much less in these games than games like Pirates of the Caribbean And games like dialed in and games like the Hobbit and games like Wizard of Oz and I would even say Guns and Roses when you You just look down at Guns N' Roses, of course this game is gonna shoot better, cuz it's got a wide open playfield with nothing in it, of course it's gonna have better flow and better speed, but then look down at Guns N' Roses and you tell me where the passion is in both of those games. And you look at the Guns N' Roses code, how much better integrated Guns N' Roses is into that game. I mean I'm looking at the Kerry Hardy footage, and Kerry by the way, I think it was so disgusting David Van Es These media credentials at Pinball Expo simply because Kerry Hardy said some truthful things about Galactic Tank Force so David Fix yanked his media credentials This is disgusting, people. This is where we're at in pinball. Let's shut down anybody who wants to tell you something truthful or something that is not just another shill in the pinball content space, and we're gonna take away his media credentials. We're gonna ban Kaneda from Pinside for 10 years. I mean, it's absolutely shameful what is going on and the sort of echo chamber they're trying to create but we're not gonna fall for it and people aren't falling for it and the reason why I know they're not falling for it is I just have to look at the numbers who are joining Kaneda's Pinball Podcast every single week. And so I'm watching Kerry Hardy and I'm listening to it and I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't believe it. They're once again using these really cheap like slot machine sounds throughout the game and the worst part about this game I sent the link of claust StraightXRG in bio. More info links in description column. A The Game over the last five years stop using these cheap slot machine sounds stop it Nobody likes it and instead of going to get David feel and going to get the guy who does the best sound in all of pinball Instead of using their billions of dollars to make their products stand above everybody else's instead of going to get real voice Actors giving you animated call outs like go play a bally Williams machine and listen to the way the pinball Callouts should be they need to have some passion some animation and then you listen to this game and then you realize this is it this is all Jersey Jack is gonna be now this uninspired stuff with these generic sounds these generic callouts and where is the heart and the soul of this company and the truth is this it's gone because Jack is out of it this is not his company anymore he's simply a salaried employee and I'm just gonna say it look some of you might buy this game most of you are waiting for it to go on sale because btw NetAx5挺다에avais squeezing낀 건데자는광 당신팅 Women in Milk Anobliqueị"... сто 지�Ask관남 скор tribe Mens 많아이큰지까 찐 작업야한 mier 되게 hunch고 바르냐자니라고 Cutting We both know that this game is not going to be shipping Q4. It's going to be shipping Q1. It's going to be shipping 4 to 5 months from now. So then why did they show the game at Expo if the game is not in a box? Freaking Barrels of Fun rocked up with 10 machines. 10 machines in boxes that people could go home with. And I want to give a big shout out to Barrels of Fun. Yes, I'm not going to make fun of their name today because they did something amazing. They showed up at the show with 10 games in boxes which Jersey Jack Pinball Hi, I'm David Van Es. I'm your host, Karl DeJakeo. I'm the editor at Sp YJin.com. Let's get started. The first thing I want to do is to congratulate Aaron and Fast Pinball and the team over there that made this game because the Labyrinth games were played for 14 hours straight at Pinball Expo. 14 hours straight. That's a lot of time. I hope you can tell that. But, also, I want to congratulate Aaron and Fast Pinball and the team over there that made this game because the Labyrinth games were played for 14 hours straight at Pinball Expo. The game's didn't crash, they didn't go down, and I want to say congratulations because that's amazing. So if you're buying one, you know you're getting a quality product. This is the thing. It's like now people feel a lot better about supporting this brand new company than they do Jersey Jack Pinball. You know, I predicted that Elton John was gonna win Expo. It didn't win Expo. It didn't even come close to winning Expo. The reason why they revealed the game when they did is because they are terrified of Keith Elwyn. They are terrified. They are trying to lock your money in now because they know when you see Jaws, you're not going to want this game. They know when Pulp Fiction goes on the line, you're not going to want this game. This is such a desperation move if there ever was one by Jersey Jack Pinball and people are not going to fall for it. I mean Todd Tucky, I love you Todd, but Todd texted me. He's like, this game is going to sell nunn and Pan Corps, Crash Cla chuying Mick Am fiber, Damperbookes, Ab bra frick stalker 464 Steeve Richie, V ine Cron Adam Advis Cron Ch snowflake to Schengen Inc. Sh壽 Ohaka after the D Z Te I Thank you for watching. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our channel and hit the bell icon to get notified about new videos. We'll see you next time. Bye! The Pinball Buying Demographic is and these have all been Jack Guarneri selections. These have all been Godfather, Toy Story 4, Elton John. Jack Guarneri has sent this company down a road in which he doesn't know what people want. Where's the Matrix Jack? Where's Harry Potter? How are you going to get to Harry Potter with three misses in a row Jack? I don't know. Maybe the Abbas family, this whole thing is just a tax write off and it doesn't matter. But man, oh man, oh man, when I saw this I a fan of the game and you saw me on Facebook Live I was so excited to be blown away I absolutely deflated by this offering And the only thing I really love about these games the only thing that I look down and I love about these games is I love the Christopher Franchi art package on the Platinum edition of the game It is a much nicer art package than what on the collector edition John Yauci did that Now look Franchi a better artist than John Yauci and here why they did this Like instead of putting Franchi which they know is the better artist on the collector edition I think they swapped it this time because they didn want the nicest package to be the CE because I think they need to move Ellie of this game because they saw what happened with Godfather Sure, they might sell a thousand CEs, but then all these $12,000 Ellies are gonna sit. I think they tried to juggle it a little bit with this Elton John. And hey, look, I think I can summarize this game real quickly. It's beautiful looking. The music is great because it's Elton John. But then I look up on the screen and it's not like GNR, right? You're not like at an Elton John concert. You don't hear the whole song play. You're not seeing Elton John in concert sing the song when you start the song. Kap honorable societies

14:03

Jack Low Buy Money The end. Thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, please subscribe to my channel. I will see you in the next one. Bye! I think they've lost all their mojo. I think they have no answers. I think their only answer right now is to give Eric Minier a theme people want like Matrix or Harry Potter. I think their only answer right now is to rerun more Pirates of the Caribbean. I mean, how silly is this company? They are sitting on games people would much rather have than their latest three offerings and they won't give it to you. What is Stern Pinball do? And the reason why Stern Pinball dominates? They know you want it more Stranger Things, so they're making it. They know demand for Elvira is through the roof, so they made another LE of Elvira that is gorgeous. It is gorgeous, this new Elvira edition. I don't like what they're doing, you know, three LEs now with Elvira. I don't like it. You know, they're going after the newbies and they just burned everybody who bought the other editions of the game. I still think the purple one, the 40th anniversary is my favorite. I think if you put them side by side, I'd much rather have the 40th. But hey, this is only $13,000, right? The damn 40th, people were spending $25,000 on that 40th when it dropped. Look, and we now know that Stern will not respect what an LE is. So like if you buy a new Stern LE, I think, you know, just be prepared to be disappointed. I mean, that's it. Now they've made sure that all these LEs mean nothing and they're going to go back. If they make a Batman 60th anniversary, I kind of might get out of pinball altogether. And I don't understand people defending these stern moves. Like we can't. Why? Why as consumers would you be on the side of a greedycompany move? It's a greedycompany move. If you make a game and say, hey, this is the only limited edition version of Elvira we're going to make. That is the reason I'm going to spend the most amount of money and they're never going to one up me. And then they want up you. And then they want up you again. And we have people saying, who cares? Don't buy pinball as an investment. Who cares that they're doing? What do you mean? Who cares? The people who say who cares aren't the people who bought the LEs. So stick to your last because you don't understand what it feels like to be burned by a company who's going against what it promised you, that this is what you want. This was it. This was the limited version of this game. Move on to the next game. It's not like Stern needs to do limited editions of Jurassic Park and other games and Elvira. Again, they don't. They've sold enough. Move on. Oh, Kaneda. You know, part of me is glad I didn't go to Expo. Seeing some of the walkthroughs and seeing Elton John and hearing those slot machine sounds would just send me into a tizzy. Also, I don't even want to see these people. I don't want to see David Fix. I don't want to see Steve Ritchie. I don't want to see the people. I really don't. I'd rather just sit at home and text with Jason Knapp and have an amazing time talking about what we're seeing at Expo than spend like over a thousand dollars to be there when I could use that money and take Brenda out for an amazing meal or two. Alright, so I also said yesterday that I would let you know the next title from American Pinball that Ryan McQuaid is working on. Alright, so let's do this. Let's do what Kaneda always does. I'm going to tell you right now the title Ryan McQuaid is working on. And here's the crazy part. American Pinball just did a factory tour in which they teased He-Man and 300 and they showed us this brand new factory with all of these galactic tank forces and all of these Houdini's. Who the heck is ordering a new in box Houdini when you can get one for $2000 less in mint condition right now? I don't know. Looked a little bit like a staged photo. But here's the thing. We've been hearing they have a video game license and they do. We know that Ryan McQuaid wanted to make Sonic the Hedgehog and he did. And we know that David Fix lost the license to somebody else. We know that David Fix has been in charge of American Pinball now for many many years. And the decisions he's made have not worked out. And I'm here to tell you right now, this is going to be another decision that doesn't work out. Because it's not He-Man, it's not 300, it's not Sonic the Hedgehog. It is a video game, it is a cartoon. But this is another example of someone making a game for themselves, not making a game for the pinball buying audience. This is the equivalent of making Dennis Norman's Galactic Tank Force. You made a game that Dennis Norman wanted to make for a decade. There's a reason why that game sat in a garage for a decade and Spooky Pinball didn't want to make it. There's a reason why David Fix sees that game and says, let's make it. And that the reason why David Fix hasn fixed American Pinball And that the reason why this company is out of touch and they don get it And I just going to rip the bandaid off And you heard it here first Get ready Jason Knapp and get ready Kinetasys to copy me and Jason Knapp and then not give us credit you little weasel. Are you ready for it? I'm just going to say it. Kinetas Pinball Podcast is here to tell you that Ryan McQuaid's game in American Pinball, this is what I'm hearing. Now look, you could call this a rumor, but my person said this is 100% what it is, Chris. Congratulations on having the scoop. I love you. I trust this guy, so get ready for it. Ryan McQuaid's game is a video game which I haven't really played. I guess it's popular with certain people. It's niche, it's not something that everybody's like, oh my god, I can't wait to get this. Ryan McQuaid's American Pinball game is Cuphead. Yes, you heard that right. Cuphead. C-U-P-H-E-A-D. Cuphead. If you've been clamoring for a Cuphead pinball machine, Congratulations! You're about to get one! Guess who hasn't been clamoring for a Cuphead pinball machine? Almost everybody! Can you tell why I'm deflated? At these prices, there is no room for this anymore. This hobby is too expensive. It is not the cute, cheap and cheerful hobby it was eight years ago. You cannot come out with games like Cuphead. We need to get back to making themes people want. I bet you could get the Bloodsport license in front of Cuphead, but this is the thing is Ryan McQuaid probably didn't grow up watching Bloodsport even though most of us did. So Ryan McQuaid wants to make what he wants to make and he's making a huge gamble with this. And David Fix has gambled with Mukesh's money, I think, for the last time. The other thing David Fix wants to make over at American Pinball is a Barry Osler game that is just untitled as Barry O. They want to release a Barry O game that is single level. What is wrong with these people? You don't gamble with other people's money. Nobody wants a Barry O game. We're all sad that he's no longer with us, but this isn't what you do. You've got to start doing market research. People would rather buy Matrix than Elton John. You've got to do market research. I'm going to be doing a little bit of research. What's selling in the pinball market? Games designed like Keith Elwyn games. That's also part of market research, people. What kinds of pinball games are working? What kinds of designs are leading to sales? And then Steve Ritchie comes out with another generic Steve Ritchie game. It's over. It's over. These legacy people that have no ideas. Pat Lawler was one of them. Steve Ritchie is another one. It's time to get out of the hobby. Retire from the hobby. I love you guys. I'm not going to stop. I know it's coming. There's a lot of exciting stuff coming down the road in pinball. This is another sort of off year. It's going to be Labyrinth and Foo Fighters sort of battling it out at the Twippies. I think Foo Fighters might win Game of the Year. It might battle it out with James Bond people because the new James Bond code I hear is incredible and a lot of people are loving James Bond. So James Bond, even though the code stunk when it came out, it might have enough fandom now by the time we get to December that it might have a chance to beat out Foo Fighters for Game of the Year. But I think everyone's going to give it to Jack It's Jack's first game, and there's nothing you can give to George Gomez that he doesn't already have. Elton John might win Best Art Package. Maybe it'll go to Venom. I think it's gonna go to a Stern Machine because again, there's not many JJP fans, and it's a vote by the populace, and I think Zombietti's gonna win it with either Venom or Foo Fighters. There's nothing else that's really gonna surprise us unless Jaws comes out when it's still eligible for Twippy votes. See, that could be the dark horse. Everybody have a great day. Have a great Friday. Pinball Expo seems like it's turning out to be a bust in terms of what we thought we were gonna get. We didn't get a new game from Pinball Brothers. We got a new code update for an old game. We didn't get anything from Turner Pinball. What a joke that reveal was. I'm not even gonna talk about it. I feel like Turner Pinball needs to be a Nepo baby. Like he needs to just be a guy that's got so much money he doesn't need to make smart moves because that's exactly what he's showing us and it's so weird. It's like he's battling it out with Home Pin for the most irrelevant pinball company in the world. Everybody, have a great day and trust me, we're gonna be fine. We're gonna still have fun in this hobby. We're gonna keep the pressure on these companies. Let the distros buy these games and let them sit on them. Trust me, you'll get Elton John for $3,000 off by the time it hits the line. Later. Even the cops can't stop us, my enemies flip when they see me drink a fifth of that Hennessy. If you think you're special, then you're probably not. Why, why, why even try? Just living a lie. You've never been like that. Red Ocean IX IPO mañana, a and he doing on the toys in this the Vedal Os lên I'm not going to do all that stuff, but I will. He made a really great game. And I think a lot of people will say Steve Ritchie is back, really.