The weight is over. A revolution in LED lighting for your pinball is finally here. Fully customizable, full spectrum lighting from PinStadium Lights. Order yours now at PennStadium.com. Let's kick this shit. Hey guys, we're back. This is straight down the middle. I almost felt like John's arcade there. Hey, guys. We're back. Episode 96. In the basement. That's right. Where's our popcorn machine at? This is straight down the middle of Pinball Show, YouTube series, everything about pinball. This is my best buddy, Greg Bone, here. I'm Zach Minney. We're the host of this fabulous program that we're going to put on for these people. Greg, I haven't seen you in a while, bud. It has been a while. What have you been up to, my friend? You've been actually up to a lot. This is what I... You, my friend, have been up to a lot. jet-setting across the United States. Impressive. Yes, and working two jobs and dealing with a family and dealing with you. You've been on some podcasts lately. Podcasting. You're like a superstar. People know Greg Bone as a – You truly are fitting your pin-side handle, Hollywood Bone. I know. I will say, and you guys that follow us on – I didn't post it on our Facebook, did I? I posted it on just my personal Facebook. I'm not sure. And, you know, so my wife, like, she likes to make fun of me, as most of our wives do about our hobby. And so she was being just a jackass and was like, you know. So endearing. Yeah, so I had to go on a flight and she was like, do you think somebody will recognize you? Oh, she was being smartass. Yeah, being just an asshole about it. And literally, I'm in Denver, Colorado. Yeah. In the fucking airport. And I'm standing there and I'm waiting to board the plane. And I see like this guy and he sort of like does this wave thing. And I'm just like, why the fuck is this guy waving at me? It was almost like the person behind you. Yeah. And there was a blonde chick that was just a little bit in front of me. And she sort of turned to him or whatever. So I was like, oh, he's waving at her. So I go ahead and board the plane. I'm sitting in my seat. And this man and this woman, the blonde, and that guy, they get onto the plane. And they were like, Greg. And I was like. Oh, that's good. Knowing you, you were probably freaked out. Yeah, they were like, we love this show. We're pinball people. Oh, my God. Yeah, so they told me, like, you know, a bunch of cool places to play in Seattle and stuff. And we hung out, like, you know. So were they from Seattle? No, they were from, they go to Seattle to visit friends quite often. Gotcha. Because they're from Colorado. And so, which was neat, because it wasn't like one of those weird things where there was, you know, because that's where my layover was and my connect. So, you know, that's kind of how it ran into them. So then when we got off the plane and stuff, we had met up and we were just chatting and talking about pinball and everything else, which was awesome. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. It is you. I cannot believe it. Greetings, Your Highness. Please, please stop bowing, please. I am a loyal citizen of Zamunda. Yes, but you're going to spill your beverages. This is the greatest day of my life. And they took a picture. Yeah, we took a picture. I won't say their names because I don't know if they want to be heard on the show. What were you wearing? I want to know what you were wearing through the airport. Oh, man. Do you remember? Probably a t-shirt and some jeans. Yeah, there's a t-shirt and jeans in. I think maybe a jacket because it was freezing balls in Seattle. 98 degrees here. Did you get to hang out in Colorado at all? No, it was just a layover. I had maybe an hour in Colorado. I hate layovers. But you know what the sad thing is? I'm in Seattle, and big pinball scene, and I'm at all these pinball places. Nobody. Nobody knew who I was. You went into every barcade, and you wore that shirt with your own face on it. Come on, guys. And nobody knew who I was, but I got recognized at the Denver airport. Maybe we're more Midwest people. I think we are. I don't think we're East Coast people. No. I don't know if they like us too much. No, I don't. We're a lot of Canadian fans. We do have a lot of Canadian fans. Aussies fans. Some Aussies. A lot of Aussies. A lot of Germans. Yes. Yeah. So that was just kind of a cool story. It was kind of fun. Like it kind of made, honestly, my entire weekend. Oh, remember last time we were recording, we were talking about we ordered a mod. Oh, yes. We ordered a mod and we thought it would be cool if we unboxed this mod in front of you guys. Yes. Why don't we do that? Yes. Real quick. So we've got... I'm seeing if it says our name on it and stuff. I've got to be careful here. I know that it... This is big. So I know you like foreign boxes sitting on your lap there. I know this is rough on you. You know how many people... That's why I didn't shower before you got here. I'm like, I don't like touching our equipment. I don't like touching anything you bring in the house. I think we're good here. What are we doing? So cut it open. What did that say? No, I was just making sure it didn't show the address. I hope people come and stalk us. People send the hate mail to me. Stalk us. We'll send naked pictures to you. Don't worry. That's what I said. We probably should have pre-opened this before. But this is the, I think this is the Brian Allen Monster Bash alternative back glass. Well, I sure as fuck don't think it's PinStadiums. Just a lot of PinStadiums. Well now that I'm here, now I can come in there. With this. Maybe. Don't cut my penis. Well, we know that's not going to happen. You're definitely getting a thigh first. This is the biggest disaster that we've had on Straight On. Okay. Or maybe it was our Iron Maiden review. Wow, wow, wow. Wow. This is kind of like Christmas. You think so, Pastor? We just haven't recorded. I know. You've had it forever. I've been jumping for it. Yep. Yep, this is it. We'll show you in a minute. It's something about being careful, but I don't know what the price was. Yeah, I'm happy you got to do that kind of thing. Oh, this one's yours. I want one. Dude, the mummy is sick. We're gigging out here just a minute. Oh! Look at that. Check that out. That's freaking unbelievable. Greg. How could you not want that for your Monster Bash? I know what I'm going to be doing this week. I almost want to buy a Monster Bash just for this. You're going to light this thing up in a frame, aren't you? Yeah, I'm going to build the box this week. Look at that. Look at the art. Yeah, in the crowd you can see some of the favorite horror film stars. Ooh. Oh, there's Chucky. Is there? Yeah, right there in the middle, ain't he? This? No, right. Oh, it is. Yeah. It is Chucky. And then you've got the exorcist girl with her head backwards. Which is awesome because it's so subtle that if you don't look. You've got Freddie to the right over here. The vibrancy of it in person is like 10 times better. It looks so flat on camera, but the colors and the way that the light comes through is freaking stellar. This guy needs to be doing pinball. Oh, God, Zach. Yep. Look at the castle. Look at the freaking castle. Just point at that castle. oh yeah go up yeah whoo so Greg tell let's get into it tell me what's your guesses to the content of this episode they've read the they've read the title but I'm not sure you know what it is so let's what are you doing you're picking tape off your little pink scissors what are we doing Greg what are you doing Greg we're doing a mid year okay in review of released games. Very nice. So we're in July. July. We're in July. We've had about six months of 2019 games. Six months of turds. No! Is that early take? Like one long shit. We're going to talk about what has been released in 2019 and maybe... I think I just summed the last six months up. No, there's some great games that have come out. You think the second half is going to be better than the first half? Damn straight. Okay. If it's not, We're in a recession. We'll talk about it. So we're going to look at all of these games, and we're going to let you know our thoughts holistically about them, and maybe even Twippy contention, what we may see as finalists in the Twippies for 2019. What do you think, buddy? I think that sounds glorious. So one of the first games that came out, these are in no particular order, but let's talk about them. We've got the Munsters, the Munsters by Stern Pinball. Now we pre-hyped this. We did. because we were given some information from multiple sources prior to its release that made us very, very excited. Agreed. One of which nobody will ever know. Maybe they'll know one day. You know what I'm talking about. Yes, I do know. One that we would love to share. Yes. One day, friend. And those that are starting right now are like, No, quit! Quit! Quit! One day you will. But we were really excited about the Munsters coming out. We knew that it was likely going to be a John Borg layout. And we like John Borg games, right? We knew that it was going to be a Dwight Sullivan code set. We love Dwight Sullivan. I will remind you, he is Team Zack. Dwight Sullivan is. For now. There you go. No, you're going to sway him over. There you go. There you go. There you go, friend. There you go. You do like the Star Wars video mode. I do. And you do still own Star Wars. I don't. I do. Okay. And honestly. Why am I pitching Dwight going to your team? stay in no dwight stay with me and we knew that uh francie was likely going to be on art yes does it get better than that trio no that's pretty damn good it came out with mixed reception i did do why i had mixed reception why did it come out with you bought one that was your first new inbox okay i think and nothing against dwight again i love dwight it was just it sounds like it's against dwight i mean it's against the white because he coded it but it's not against the white personally like it was just not my cup of tea and i think that it wasn't what a lot of people were expected. Gotcha. You know? Okay. But I will tell you this. This is honest. I got rid of mine fairly quick. Okay. I gave it a chance. Love, hate, love, hate, love, hate. But I have, and I said, I said, this is one game. Because, you know, a lot of games you'll get rid of. And you're just like, I know this isn't coming back. And some you say, I know this is coming back. Yeah. I honestly, I think I would take it back. Okay. And I would play it. Because, honestly, I miss hot shoots. Really? And I kind of miss that rule structure. I kind of miss that. You haven't talked about this. That build up. No, I haven't. Okay. Because it all came to light within the last week or two. I just kind of started thinking about it hard again. Because right now you're looking for another pen. Yes. So you're thinking, eh. I'm holding out. Yes, you are. I'm holding out. We'll talk about that in a bit. I am like a. A wife. A high school vert. That's so true. Yeah. You're like a wife. I'm a wife. Not an angry wife, not a happy wife, just a wife. Yeah, just a wife and a wife. Yep. Sorry for all the wives out there. Yes. But you all are proud of what you do to us. Maybe the wives in the... There's not a woman that's going to get mad about that coming. Mm-hmm. Damn right That right Hold them out That right Talk shit to me again That right Cut the grass son of a bitch Mm You want something Why don you actually do something around here You want something Sitting on the couch Build me a fucking house Watching these stupid idiots on YouTube talking about pinball Sell that pinball machine. You want something? So you've thought about having it again. Now, no one can argue, Greg. Not even you out there, you little troll. Nobody can argue that it is a gorgeous, beautiful pin. Very gorgeous. Very beautiful. Playfield is one of the best artwork packages I've seen on Playfield even the back glass cabinet stellar people were mixed about the reception of the premium coming out as black and white yeah I was I never cared for it did you still like it? I loved it from day one and I still prefer it over the other art packages the LE came out and it was different too people wanted to love this pen I still don't care for the LE you know what I still get plenty of orders for Monsters yeah cause I mean I think it's something that's just like, it takes you by surprise. It's not what you expect. And even playing it, it just... It's not really a mode-based game. No, and it has its place in a larger collection. I just... It feels at times a bit like a Monster Bash rule set. Yeah. Maybe a good tribute. Yeah. Nice, more simplistic. Yeah. Simplistic is tough because it's very complex. And it's a great shooter for a Borg game. Oh, one of Borg's best shooters. John makes good games, but they're not a Richie. They're not that flow. This actually had some flow that you could get going on it. It was just good feeling shots. You can't put a finger on it. No, and that's sort of what I miss about it. It's one of those things like it might be like an old girlfriend. You think you want her back, but you just kind of like, hmm. With the girlfriend analogies. I think that's what it is. Okay. Twippy Contender, yes or no? And if so, what? Artwork, yes. Artwork. Yeah. easily everything else I think it's too I think it's a little too tainted okay the call outs a little too repetitive what about layout layout it could but I think it's going to be over mass you know how people are like you like it's hard for people to say it's like saying hey you know what that movie was very well directed but it was a shit movie like nobody gives that movie best director you know what I'm saying if it's a good pin then they get behind this stuff exactly they're not going to get behind it not going to happen lighting Pro came with some different colored GI lighting. Lighting's actually really cool on it. Lighting is cool. The effects are cool on it. Animation's pretty good. It has the clips from the film. Yeah, it's okay. It's not bad. I think artwork's not bad. Recently, I think on a podcast, Christopher Franchi said he did the Babe Ruth point to left field. He said Twippy winner for artwork. I think so. I think it'll be Chris' first win. But, I think we're going to talk about a pin here upcoming that uh we're midway so in this list already it's going to get a lot of votes yeah so that's monsters yes right then we had octoberfest pinball on tap which actually was revealed 2018 yeah but wasn't released until 2019 boy oh boy juxtaposition here in octoberfest pinball machine versus the monsters octoberfest by american pinball came out what was your first thoughts on Oktoberfest. You've spoken publicly about this. Yeah, I thought it was beautiful. I thought it was cool, man. I had a lot of fun on it. I think the modes are great. Again, I just talked over with Kaneda. It's just, it needs to be polished. It needs that cohesion to get together. But I think it's a beautiful game. I think it's fun. It shoots well. Some of the shots are a little tough. What's the coolest part about Oktoberfest? Is it for you the theme, the shot layout, the code, the animations, the art? What stands out to you on October 1st? Probably some of the shots. I still really like the roller coaster. I still really like that. It's a fun shooting pin. It is. The lift ramp. The 180 ramp. Yeah. And it's not a wasted. One-handed mode. So we'll get into this. But I like the magnet catch on there. Up there. Magnet, yep. Up top on that right-hand side. Flipper control. Yes, flipper control. So the thing that I have a problem with, and I've only played this a handful of times, but with Black Knight, I feel that that is a very, very wasted magnet catch up there. It makes no sense to me. Because it's on the center lockdown bar where you're trying to... No, it's the position of where it is. The right outline. Yeah, and shit happens so fast up there. I have absolutely no reaction time to be able to grab that. If the ball is about to go down the middle, you can catch it in the middle or if it's coming around orbit you can catch it but where that is on on black knight am i wrong like yeah and almost you fucking you never catch it we'll talk about that but when you're comparing it to octoberfest you like where that's at i like it on octoberfest i like that magnet catch you can catch it in two magnet spots yes there are magnets and there's a reason because it gives you for that that third flipper shot it that that's one of the only ways you can hit that damn thing so it it has a purpose that opens up oh i think the bar is into a Subway. Yep. I still like the game a lot. Now, I haven't owned it. Owning a game, to me, is always the deciding factor. I've seen some of them sort of hit the market relatively quick. I don't know why. Oktoberfest, to me, Greg, feels like it has the dialed-in treatment. You said this as well. Yeah. Right? Where it's your blast to play. The rules are good. Yeah. It just kind of comes down to theme. Maybe it's a theme thing. If I've got limited... And you love beer. Yeah. So it's saying a lot. Yeah, but it. And Veeners. And Veeners. No. No, no. I mean, hot dogs. Hot dogs. Not the Veeners. Seattle hot dogs. Yeah. Yeah. Shout out to, what was it, Shorty's? Shorty's. Fine establishment. Fine establishment. Okay. Not for me, but. What did you like up in Seattle? Some folks. What was your jam? I went to the Jupiter Bar. Yeah, you liked Jupiter Bar. I liked Jupiter Bar. That place was rad, dude. And people in there were friendly. They were nice. They weren't like. Not the hot dog lady. They weren't assholes. You know, that's a plus. Can you not just at least tell the story? That story is so great. Who cares? It's a funny story. The benefits outweigh the risks on this story. I don't even know if I fully remember it now. I remember it. Can I tell a little bit of it? You go into this place because everybody's like, oh, my God, this place is great. And you go up and you're hungry and you say, I'd like some food. What is great here? And she was like, I don't know. What are you looking to eat? And you're like, oh, my God, the cornucopia. No, first of all, I said, how's the hot dogs? And she goes, I don't know. They're hot dogs. And I said, okay. I asked for that. Is it Nathan's? Yeah, I can take that. I can take it. It's a hot dog. Is it a boiled hot dog? We got a grilled hot dog. I saw him on the rotisserie, and I know that he was even on the rotisserie. Yeah, which made me, why did I was asking, how's the hot dogs? I figured she would tell me, you're going to puke your guts out and shit. I've been sitting for a couple days. I've been rolling. Yeah. Okay. And so, you know, like, I'm like, okay, I deserve that one. I can take that. It's worth it. Bear with us. But then, I'm like, you know, I'm like, I don't really know if I want a hot dog because I don't trust the rotisserie hot dogs. Yeah. And I'm like. Get a lot of air on the rotisserie. I'm like, well, what's good to eat? And she's like, well, what do you like? And I'm like. That's right. What do you like? Well, how's the hot? I said, how's the hamburgers? We don't have hamburgers. Yeah. And I said. Okay. Okay. I said, what do you have? Hot dogs and nachos. all they had was hot dogs i said what do you like why in the fuck did you ask me what i like to eat when you have two options i'm sorry that i am not uh you said her delivery was just oh she didn't want to talk to me like like that's what made me mad is like i can take i can take a smart ass person or with some dry humor but like she was talking to somebody who looked like they just rolled out of one of the legs. And is sitting there. And when I walk up, it's like she was pissed off that she had to end her conversation to talk about hot dogs. And so... So did you get a hot dog? No, I walked straight out. Because the game... She frustrated you. She frustrated me. And I'm big on... Customer service. Decent people. She literally didn't even look me in the eye the entire time she was sitting there. It was like I had fucking leprosy or something. Like, I was a damn leper in there. Was she on her phone? What was she doing? No, she was talking to some guy at the bar and just literally, like, she was literally, like, and she was friendly to him. They were chatting it up. Oh, I love that. Oh, here's a friendly, nice lady. She knew you were a Hoosier. Hello, ma'am. No, I didn't have gauge earrings and wearing flannel. Did she sigh at any point? No, but it just was that, just, ugh. Oh, man, thank you. Thank you for that, Craig. He's got gel in his hair. We're crazy about sharing that. But I go to Jupiter Bar. They treat me very friendly. They're like, hey, what can I get you? And I'm like, I'll take a PBR. And they're like, great. Oh, yeah. Do they have hot dogs? Got some change. No, I didn't eat there. I did not eat there. You want a Jupiter dog? The bad thing is, I remember my pinball places, but I don't remember where I ate. I ate good places. Seattle does have good food. Gotcha. Seattle in general just wasn't my cup of tea. Well, by the time you were eating in the evenings, you were kind of under the influence a bit. so maybe a little bit yeah a little bit actually i had to leave beer in my hotel room that was so disappointing thank you for the hot dog shorty story yeah shout out to shorties out there maybe maybe something besides hot dogs and nachos on your menu i'd have been fine with hot dogs did you yelp them did you give me no i'm i'm not that kind of person that gets mean but i was just i thought if this is the way all of seattle is then i'm just staying in my hotel room we need a t-shirt shorty's hot dog t-shirt yeah that would be good with what with her in the background i don't know what he liked hopefully he says nachos hopefully he says with a picture of the menu like we just need menu hot dogs and nachos like what do you have fucking cheese to go with the nachos oh okay let's get into sorry devastated that was a long story octoberfest pinball and tap okay so uh a lot going forward do you think it's a twippy contender for anything no i do i would argue that i think a lot of people like they did houdini for toys and mechs will come around for because this game is loaded i could see this game is really loaded but again it's getting past the... Houdini found a way into the top three list on Twippy's for toys and mechs. I agree with it. Maybe even gameplay. Maybe. I mean, it's cool mechs, dude. Like, it's cool. It's got some of the coolest stuff. I don't think it's going to get anywhere. We're not surprising anybody. Saying animations isn't going to be in the top. There's nothing on that list that's got better toys or mechs at this point. I will tell you this, though. For those of you just hearing this the first time, I did a seminar with Josh Kugler, the coder of Oktoberfest Pinball on Tap here at the Atlanta show too special, name dropping what do I say, the coder so Josh and I were on stage together and he played a game with me called Family Friendly or Not Family Friendly they've got new voice call outs on Oktoberfest that Inga, the main narrator of that story she, they're doing an adult mode good and the call outs greg made me blush i'm not i'm not gonna lie at one point um she said something to the effect of uh even inga can't shove that much in her mouth see that's the reaction i had i was like wow okay now we're getting somewhere uh one was uh ducks is a predominant theme in that game and one was inga says why don't you whip out your duck and uh race me or something like that and I was like oh my god I like that or something to the effect of what's a four letter word that rhymes with Vuck duck oh man my word hey you know what though that could be best call outs like once that gets implemented maybe it could be but I honestly like I just said you were over talking because you already had a thought so I was sort of over talking to you there's nothing on this list so far that beats it in Toys and Max. Oh. Meh. I would make an argument for another one. I know you would. But we'll get there. Meh. Meh. Then, Blank. Wonka, Wonka, Wonka. We gonna go Wonka now? No, I was just like. Wonka, Wonka, Wonka. Ah. Now, let's go, let's go Wonka. Willy Wonka recently debuted and released. They are shipping. Oh, these are shipping now. That's fast. Yeah. Jersey Jack's doing it this time around. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory designed by Pat Lawler, coded by Joe Katz and team. Yes. Right? Dress the team. John Yousi on artwork. Mm-hmm. You were a mixed bag on this. You think it's a great game, but maybe not your type of game. No. Dream theme for me Yes And I think it has everything It checks every box for me What do you think Is it a gameplay Is that where it shines? Is it the animation? Is it the sound? Is it the toys and mechs? Sound, no. Toys and mechs. Some people might say toys and mechs. I don't know. I think shots and layout is where Wonka could be a contender for sure. Light show. I think it's got a pretty wicked light show. It's hard to compete against that. light show so great light show jgp always kills i mean look at dialed in fucking destroying it like even the wonka tania the boat mode where the waves are flashing on the light yeah super wicked with their lighting and it stands out it's it's not like a super weird subtle thing that's like oh my god we coded this great light show and you never really notice it because it's just so dismal yeah whereas like like jgp stuff it really when you open it up it turns into a candy factory yeah i mean it is bright yeah it's wicked cool the way everything moves around i think you're Right. Light show, it's going to be hard to beat that one. Artwork, I don't think art's terrible on it, but I know people are not being... They're not being very nice. No, they're not being nice about it. No. I think they were just envisioning something different. In animations, I would have maybe taken something a little different than just the chocolate factor being kind of the main thing. When J.P. DeWin works on a pinball machine, it's hard for me to argue against it. Because I see anything contending this year next to it, it's going to be hard to beat. Regardless of if it's J.P. DeWin's best work. it's hard to compete against that he's super talented it's like Spielberg coming out with Ready Player One is it Spielberg's best? maybe not but when you set it up next to another film it's still hard to beat it's a very complex screen he did a lot of work not to take anything away from him visually I personally would like something different but I'm not taking anything away from his work because it was hard work what he did is complex There's a lot going on. But you're right. It may take a hit on the Twippies this year because people did not perceive it the way they wanted to. Yeah. It's not that it's bad. It's just they wanted more integration of synced vocals and picture. They wanted all that. Yes. Chromit, Brasset, Black Nicolet, Candy Chromit, Powder Coated. The possibilities are endless at pinballplating.com. Your pinball machine deserves the best. At Comet Pinball, you'll find the best variety of LED products with the best quality LEDs and, most importantly, at the best price. Your collection is begging for an upgrade. Order yours now at cometpinball.com. Check out Pin Graphics for the latest and greatest in pinball enhancements, power blades, blade skins, pin blades, and even more. Visit Pingraphics.com now to see what's available for your pinball machine. I do think that Willy Wonka is a contender at the Twippies 2019 for Game of the Year. I do think so. Wonka? I do think so, absolutely. I think there are two camps with Wonka. There are people who say this is exactly what Jersey Jack is. It's a mixture of dialed in and washed. This is everything we want. And there is a camp to say this is a step backwards. We're talking about at this point. At this point. Yes, I think so. We don't know what's coming. I agree that it's definitely a game of the year. What about Black Knight Sword of Rage by Stern Pinball? This is Steve Ritchie bringing back the character that he is known for. Black Knight and Black Knight 2000. I think that it could maybe win in... Code by Tim Sexton? Yeah. New coder? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. What do you think? Mm-hmm. Artwork is hand-drawn? Artwork's cool. Kevin O'Connor? Artwork is cool. Okay. It is really cool. but I don't know that if it will outshine monsters. I think it's fair to say. Yeah, I think it's fair to say. Shots. Not too difficult, but it's still... It's a butt kicker. Yeah, but I mean, it's not really my cup of tea as a shooter. I think that where this pin is going to prevail is in animations and callouts. Code? I haven't opened it up enough. I can't comment. I can comment on code. I think it is a damn good code set. Okay. I think Tim Sexton... But do you think that it's a twippy... It's really good. Potentially. Really? Potentially. We're at .97 code. So a little bit of room to grow. So this is made from .94 to .97? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I did read about it. Yeah, about the joke there. And even .94 was great. Yeah. This is a mode-based game where you're fighting through these different characters. They've created, what they did with this one, they created the entire Black Knight world in one game. Yeah, that's how it is. The animations are fantastic. And when I'm thinking of Twippy Contender on things other than that, because obviously you've got to dive into it. Of course. But I always look at it as a first impression, second impression. Like when you play the game, you step back, you come to it. And that's why I say that art and animation, I'm not saying it blows me out of the water, but it's fucking really cool characters. It's different. It's really neat. Yeah, it is super cool in the call-out, so that's sort of where Stern's been going with things. Shout-out to Chuck Ernst for a lot of that. He's the director of animation and computer graphics there. And if you haven't seen him on a stream recently, flipping out a stream, the guy is so much fun. I did not watch that stream, I'm sorry. He's the coolest character ever. Wait until you get to meet Mr. Ernst. That's awesome. He's fantastic. Good job. You'll love him. So that's Black Knight Sword of Rage. Twippy Contender. Hmm. I think maybe Code. And I think maybe Toy. You said earlier that Oktoberfest, you see as being the Toys. Oh, with the Knight? That is one of Stern's coolest toys lately. It is super cool. So, yeah, Toys, I think that's one of Stern's recently pretty cool toys. It's a multidimensional toy where it has a flail that rejects you. It's got a sword that acts as a block. It is cool. As well as a lock. I like it. And then you've got him, his facial features, his mask lighting up different RGB color with his eyes lighting up. It's a cool toy. And if we're taking it all together, the flame work in the back of the LEDs. Oh, now that is cool. I will say that. I hope Stern keeps doing that. That was cool. That's really cool. That stood out. Everybody said we want physical ball locks, Stern. They gave us a physical ball lock. They gave us a Magna Savior. Talking about that. It's a lot of toys. The toy is super cool. It looks so great in that game, too. It sits right in the middle of the play field. Nice. The composition size-wise, really, really fitting for that game. But it's the one toy. I think that's where still Oktoberfest sort of shines with the roller coaster. It feels like there's just so much more going on. But does Oktoberfest have one single toy? If you had to pick one toy in Oktoberfest, is it better than the night? No, no. I mean, I'm saying, like, no, there's not that one thing. But it feels like you've got more going on, and it's not the one-trick pony. Okay. So I think that you're still in a... It's a heavier contender. Black Knight could be in contention, but I still think that Oktoberfest... I think if the code continues how it is, you might see a lot of people start to buy this game more. It may be a game of the year kind of contender. Now our next game... Okay. This one could cause some waves. It could. It could cause... You know why. It already popped into your head because I said that. Or it can tank. It could tank. It could tank, But I'm saying it could cause twippy waves. We don't know enough about this. In one department. We know enough about that department, don't we? Yes. What is it? Cosmic Carnival. By Suncoast Pinball. By Suncoast Pinball. People are like, what? Huh? So. What is that? That could be where that. They're shipping. Franchi gets in trouble with monsters. I spoke too soon. Yeah. That could be a battle. Tell the people who the artist is on that. Zombie Yeti. No, it's not. I like that. I was like, what? Don't be a... What made you think? I want to go buy that. No, Dirty Donnie. Yeah, and we haven't seen much out of... We seen him two years ago at the Twippies when he took home the trophy for Aerosmith for best artwork of the year. And that could be... Might he be the first two-time winning artist for a Twippie award? He could. Because it's really impeccable art. It looks really cool. Jason Fowler from the Slap Safe Pinball Podcast heralded this as possibly the greatest art package on any pinball machine. Wow, Jason. And at that time, he had Franchi as basically a co-host of his podcast. It's a strong art package. It is a strong art package. They did a good thing. It's so great. It is Dirty Donnie's wheelhouse. That is exactly. He's doing clowns. He's doing carnivals. He's doing mechanical figures. And something you have to take into consideration is it comes down to where I think this is going to come. It's going to come down to taste. It's going to come down to just pure preference of whether you like the franchise photo realism almost. Franchipop. Yeah, of characters and of pins. Or you like that Dirty Donnie style. Right now, I think I'm leaning towards just the originality of a black and white premium pin on the Munsters. This might be the year of the Franchi. Oh, I still love Munsters. Munsters is still where mine is. I think this might be his year. Yeah, just because that play field is fantastic. It's still just laid out so well art-wise for me. Is it the year of the Franchi? Is it the year of the Dirty Donnie? Is it the year of the Zombie Yeti? We'll talk about that here in a bit. But what else about Cosmic Carnival could make it a contender? This is a newcomer. new company, new manufacturer, coming out with a pen that's priced great, $6,000. You get full powder coat. You get beautiful artwork, glossy artwork. See, I only shot a really early prototype at Texas, so I can't definitively speak on it. So I'm going to have to turn over an opinion to you. Here's me being objective. I do sell them. Jesus, people, chill out. I'm trying to be honest here. I didn't expect much I really didn't expect much Nor have I I thought you know what $6,000 is a damn good price We'll see what this pen is made of If I feel like it's good We'll continue to sell them I thought it might be like a mafia kind of thing That's sort of what I made of it A $6,000 pen that's not going to make a lot of them But This weekend when I was playing the production one that we got I kind of was intrigued to continue playing it Which is a good sign There's like 12 modes on there, and I was only seeing a couple of them. Nice. I was looking most forward, when I got back to the shop, opening that one up and trying to play it more and trying to figure out how I can get to the multi-balls and how I can get to the different modes. But, having said that, if I'm being honest, we still have some work to do. Yeah. Still have some nips, some tucks to do. But is it things that can be overcome? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. They're little things, but it's a number of little things. Yeah. The code, the code is, it froze up on us a couple times. Okay. We had to reset it a couple times. So code, and they're producing them. If they want us to say good or bad, they are producing them. Yeah. So I'm giving you my take on it. But that's something that can be fixed. Absolutely. That's just a software. That's a software. I won't say simple software, but it's a software. They have some things that they've done differently that maybe I don't agree with. Some things they've done differently that I thought, oh my gosh, why isn't anybody doing it? Everybody else doing this. Yeah. So we'll see where that goes. But yeah. I thought you were going to bring one to my house. I was going to, but I just want to keep it in my house. I want to play it. That's a good sign. So we've got essentially about five. Hopefully we're not missing any. Greg, five releases. I think that's it. Mid-year. 2019 pinball is fantastic. We have five releases. Five new pinball machines. And how many to go? We're going to have a bottleneck in 2019. I've been saying this on podcasts and everything. Bottleneck in 2019. What the hell's next? What's coming up? Uh-oh. Say something. He's not going to say anything because it's a second's broke. It ain't broke. I don't think I got that track off. Showcase head is so fucking dumb. I think they're awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. What was coming up? Do we think Jurassic Park is coming out? I'm hoping for a Jurassic World pin. So which one? I don't know. He's just so eager. Yeah, I don't even care. I don't even know. It's going to be dinosaurs. I think we're going to see Jurassic Park. I hope so. I think so. That would be dynamite. That would be dynamite. I will, I will, uh, uh. Oh man. That is, uh, that is one big pile of shit. You know, you know how Greg's the pro guy. You know a pin's going to be good when he's... Woo! Sight unseen, Zach. I will not be getting the pro It going to be at least the premium Actually Oh no What I am buying a pro what because there is no way in hell that i waiting for the premiums to ship so i am buying a pro then i will sell that pro and buy the premium if jurassic parker world comes yeah and it's got to be it's still got to be a little bit of a bang for my buck like the rumors are keith ellen's on yeah which makes it even more awesome i mean i have to see a few mechs that make it a little different he took home the Whoopies last year for Iron Maiden best game of the year as well as the majority of others. You don't have to sell me on it. Wow. He's getting fidgety over here. Don't have to sell me. And you know what? It's a tenth of the dream theme it is to you, but it still is something. You know how much I love Jurassic Park 2. People still love dinosaurs. It's so magical. Yeah. Ian Malcolm. I mean, come on. It's not a fucking gobstopper. Hey, careful now. It's dinosaurs. Careful now. Got Mr. Wonka Bar over here. I will say that the theme Wonka and the theme Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park's just as strong. It is. I'll admit it. It is just as strong. Just as strong? It is. Just as. I think it is just as strong. Just as. Do you think it's stronger than Willy Wonka? Yes! Really? Yes! Yes! I don't know if I'm going to argue that point. It is so much. It is so much. I don't know if I'm going to argue that. It's so fantastic. Gene Wilder? Yes! In a world of pure imagination? Yes! You got Jeff Goldblum! Can you imagine back in 2000, what, 15, 16, when we were getting into pinball, if they told you that Willy Wonka and Jurassic Park may be coming out at the same time, pinball-wise, I would have been like, I'm in it long haul now. You know what? So this is my problem. Watch Jurassic Park not even come out. I honestly never thought that it would happen. Especially if it is Jurassic Park. Like, you know, this week in pinball, I kind of said something about, oh, there's Jurassic World. Like, brief rumors, like a year ago. Yep. And I was kind of like. And you've asked me every week since. Yeah. Have you heard anything else? Even Jeff. I'm like, Jeff, Jeff, did you hear anything? You're like, you know, our little pinball circle. I'm like, anybody hear anything? Anybody hear about the dinosaurs? About them dinosaurs. About them dinosaurs, man. I don't care what it is. The dinosaurs. Give me some. Yeah. The dinosaurs, man. The dinosaurs. I got these cheeseburgers, man. Man, you got this bad taste. sorry bro I'm all out man man I got these cheeseburgers man I don't need no cheeseburger I need dinosaurs I got this hot dog Venus but so like I honestly never thought that we'd see it so like when shit got real over the last like couple weeks where the rumors really started getting ramped up then I got I'm having sleepless nights and I don't doubt that you are no I am not I am so geared up for this. You're selling games. You're ready. Yeah. I'm more geared up for this than the movies coming out. What else might we find? What else? Don't even put that in my head. What else might come out? Because Elvira. We know that there's a strong rumor Elvira's going to come out. It's like what I was saying on that podcast. Stern has been very tight lipped. They've been good. Stopping their leaks. We have sort of a vague representation of where American Pinball could go. Yes We know that maybe We might see another Yeah we see something Coogler recently said He don't think there's Going to be another Pin in 2019 Oktoberfest might be it And I've heard that too I've heard that it Might be pushed until Until next year So they're ready to Really So then we're down To Stern And we have This possible What We're down to a lot more Who else Dude Chicago Gaming Company Oh Chicago Yeah Possibly releasing Cactus Canyon Which hasn't really Been seen by the public Ever No No We've got Deep Root. Oh, we do have all the Deep Root. Deep Root. Deep Root. We have to do Deep Root. Holy moly. We've got Deep Root. That could be exciting. It could be. Stern could squeeze out another title even after Elvira. Oh, but what I was saying. Jersey Jack Pinball. Jersey Jack Pinball may release another one this year alone, Greg. You may see a Guns N' Roses. That's the rumor. Freaking Slash came out and confirmed there is a Guns N' Roses machine being made this year. He thinks in December. We may see that. I will backtrack on that then. So, this. There's a bottleneck. This could be complete insanity at the end of this year. Kingpin. Serge Maximus making Kingpin. Oh, that's fun. Kingpin. Look at all this. So if you had Kingpin, if Robert drops, if Deep Root drops. Oh, my God. Raza. Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland. Whatever they come out with. That shit could be amazing. Guns N' Roses really comes out. If you've got Jurassic Park coming out. Elvira. Elvira? Yeah. What is going on? It is going to completely make up for the third of the first half. A tale of two halves, right? Yes. You get a Shorty's hot dog in the first half. Yeah. Now I went over to the bar, got me a nice PBR, a nice people. A Ruth Chris steak in the second. I heard their hot dogs are good. I just didn't trust them. The roller dogs. If she would have been like, you know what? Those are super fresh hot dogs over there. Yeah. Just put it on there tonight. Stick it on a bun. Do you want some cheese on it, Greg? Maybe you want a little chili on there? And I'd have been like, you know what? You sold me. But no. Ask me what I want to eat. Can I get you anything else? We've got a hell of a pinball year here. And this is just halfway through. That's why we wanted to present to you guys the mid-year review of that. Twippy Contenders. We wanted to give you something to think about. Do you think more Twippy Awards are going to go to the second half of 2019? I think it's very possible. I think so, too. I think it's very possible. We've got some good games. And they're fresh games on people's minds. So that always helps. That always helps. That might go against you, the fringy. Yeah, that second half. When Twippies get, Twippies are big. Twippies are growing. They're getting big. When they get really big, I think you're going to start seeing manufacturers maybe hold off for their really good titles for the second half, the second two quarters. What if we see the big Lebowski? What about the big Lebowski in 2019? Yeah, but because some have rolled out. What if we see Exposé? I could keep going all of these pins that potentially could be coming out. It's nuts. It's nuts. You guys are going to have to stay tuned to see what the entire 2019 is going to reveal. But until then, this is Zach and Greg from Straight Down the Middle, a pinball show. What do these people need to do, Greg? You're still thinking about, are you thinking about hot dogs or dinosaurs right now? Dinosaurs eating hot dogs. This little ant. Jesus, ride it. How does T-Rex eat a little hot dog? Huh? Kind of look like Greg Bone. Has another T-Rex hold it for him? Look like Greg Bone' mom on a weekend. She got them little arms, but little hot dogs. If it's a shorty's hot dog, then she's holding Zach's. Oh, that's good, too. It was a fun little attempt, but it made its point. If you haven't subscribed to Straight Down the Middle of Pinball Show, please do so below by hitting the like button and the follow button. We've got t-shirts coming out at some point. Who knows? We've got a big Chicago Expo that we're going to be attending today. That's going to be a lot of fun. It's coming up fast. Absolutely. You know what else is coming up fast? Our 100th episode. We're still going to figure out what in the world to do. What we'd like you guys to do, email us, message us, put in the comment section below what you guys would like to see as our 100th episode. Maybe we do something special. I will not get naked, so don't even. Just don't request it. There's that one guy out there that's like, please, help please. But no. Maybe a party? Maybe a big party? Maybe we finish out our teams? Maybe we do a battle? I don't know. We've got to have something. Something big. I'm not sure. Also, follow Chuck Wirt on SDTM Streaming. Yeah. Chuck Wirt's been doing a lot of stuff recently. A lot of competition kind of stuff. Speed runs and different things. Kerry Hardy is always making you guys videos. Always killing it. Great, great quality. Did you know Cary Hardy can play the piano? Oh, that last video, if you check out of Cary Hardy's, he's playing the piano as a montage in the background as he's. Would you have ever thought Cary Hardy in a piano? Cary Hardy's awesome, man. So we've got our boys there. Also, what else do they need to check out? Oh, Facebook. That's your baby. Go ahead. Plug Facebook. Hi, Facebook. We have some random stuff on there. You guys seen my fans. My fans from Colorado. Yeah, that's right. Fans from Colorado. What else? I don't know what else. It's been so long. Oh, we got some mod install videos coming up. Yes! We've got that coming up. Yeah, there's one that I was supposed to be getting out, and I just literally couldn't film it and do it by myself. It's just a weird type area. We're going to get it. We'll get it. I'm leaving it to Zach. We're going to get it. Also, if you guys want to help out the show, help out the channel and donate, we also accept donations, right? Message us. You can do... We prefer to be the kind of people that will give you something for your money instead of asking for stuff and begging. Wow. So, you know, we're just going to get some t-shirts and stuff. We'll get some t-shirts. We take some donations still, too, but we like to give you some advertisement, give you a plug for your league. We like to give you a little something. A little something, something. Plus, they can review a game, right? For a donation of $100, they get to pick the game that we review, and they get to review it with us. They submit their grades, submit their explanations, and we review it with them. So definitely check out that. We criticize you. We agree with you. who knows where it'll go and once this new machine sorry for the plug here bud but once this new machine comes out or wonk or anything else call me at FlippinOutPinball to purchase said machine we'd be happy to help you out until what next week maybe Greg? ooh what's coming up next week? maybe a little top 10 maybe a little this or that I'm not sure maybe a this or that maybe a this or that I missed this or that make sure to share this video too that helps us out a lot yeah yeah sure alright in the meantime don't share fly up to Seattle be nice to that woman selling hot dogs at Shorty's. We love having fun with her, right? She's probably a nice lady. I didn't. I never went back in there. She's probably a nice lady. But no. Until then, Greg, I love you, buddy. I'll see you next week. I'll probably see you now because we're going to... Yeah. It's all good. See you next week. You hit it off with a bumper Now you're straight down the middle again Middle again You had a fling with a slingshot You're rolling out the alley dog again I tried to cradle you Who's your favorite actor? If you had to say, favorite actor, you only get to pick one. Favorite actor. Or actress. It's BPC here. Charlize Theron. Meryl Streep. Who's your favorite actor? That's pretty tough, dude. I know. Having one is really tough because Tom Hanks comes to mind. I really like Keanu. You do love Keanu Reeves. If I had somebody I respect that I think is one of the best actors. Not best, but like your favorite. Your favorite actor. not the best because best we would pick like what's his name off of Gary Oldman for like really one of the best yeah deep cut chameleon who's the guy that did There Will Be Blood Daniel Day-Lewis but Daniel Day-Lewis is sort of Daniel Day-Lewis like he's really good at what he does but he does one thing I've abandoned my boy yeah I've abandoned it's awesome and it's powerful but it's all the same I drink your fucking milkshake like that's like i drink your fucking milkshake yeah it's great it's fucking great like don't get me wrong but gary oldman is like you know fucking fifth element dracula fucking commissioner gordon gordon like gary oldman's good fucking serious black like oh yeah that's what i'm saying he's a you don't know it's gary oldman yeah and you're like damn that guy's good yeah oh it's like Gary Oldman! No, fuck you, Gary. Favorite actor or actress? That's kind of hard. Tom Hanks has to come to mind. No. No! I mean, I enjoy him. He's fantastic. America's favorite person? No. Really? Leonardo DiCaprio, probably for me. Yeah, no. I'd probably go Leo. Leo or Hanks, man. I don't know if I can answer that. Gary Oldman, you just answered it. Yeah, but I mean, it's not like I want a Gary Oldman poster on my wall. I'm not talking about posters. I'm just talking about your favorite actor. Like, when you hear he's coming out with a film, it's like, holy shit. Oh, I'm excited about it. If I'm looking at a, like, something's going to come out in theaters. Yeah. And I hear these actors' names. Yes. And I'll be like, I would watch that. Okay. Because they never make a bad movie. I'm going to go two actors. That's what I want. I'm going to go Mark Wahlberg. Mark Wahlberg. Like, besides Daddy's Home or whatever. Dude. Mark Wahlberg does good films. I've lost respect for you with that answer. Please pick a better one. You go with Tom Antonio Cruz. Tom Antonio Cruz is bankable. Tom Antonio Cruz is our pick. He's crazy. You know he's going to have good... But he's a fucking good movie. Was Mummy good? I thought it was actually pretty good. I haven't seen that. People hated it. I haven't seen that. I thought it was pretty good. Tom Antonio Cruz is a good pick. Mark Wahlberg. Marky Mark Wahlberg. Yeah, you don't like... I like almost everything he does. Shooter. I like it all. Yeah. I'll go Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio.