Episode 1224: "Kaneda's HUGE RUMOR EXCLUSIVE for People That Pay Him Money & Love His Haircut!!!"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·21m 17s·analyzed·May 24, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

Kaneda reveals Star Trek as Keith Elwin next game and details on Sonic, Transformers, and Pinball Brothers' mystery project.

Summary

Kaneda discusses exclusive rumors about Keith Elwin next Star Trek pinball game and provides detailed intel on upcoming titles. He criticizes Stern's decision to remove the transforming Optimus mechanism from Transformers as a cost-cutting measure, speculates about Jersey Jack's Sonic the Hedgehog featuring an upper playfield with dual flippers, and teases that Pinball Brothers is working on a new game (hinted to be The Fifth Element based on audio played at episode end). He expresses frustration with NDA embargoes limiting media transparency and concerns about Stern's operational stress due to facility expansion.

Key Claims

Keith Elwin's next game after Fallout is Star Trek based on the original series crew (Spock and Captain Kirk)
medium confidence · Kaneda stated this as an exclusive reveal, claiming 'nobody else has said to date' but providing limited corroboration details
Optimus Prime's transforming mechanism in Transformers was engineered and working throughout development but was removed as a cost-cutting measure at the last minute
medium confidence · Kaneda speculates based on George's explanations and the fact that the transforming Optimus appeared in recent promotional video, inferring this was a deliberate late decision rather than early prototype rejection
Sonic the Hedgehog will feature an upper playfield with two flippers, likely in the upper left area
medium confidence · Kaneda states this as exclusive intel from people who saw the game but were bound by NDA; notes concern this could slow gameplay like in past Steve Ritchie games
Sonic the Hedgehog's Collector's Edition will have red sparkly armor similar to Willy Wonka and holographic-effect artwork
medium confidence · Kaneda describes the CE cabinet aesthetics and topper design based on conversations with people who viewed the game
Sonic the Hedgehog is releasing in approximately two weeks (June 20th or sooner)
medium confidence · Kaneda states 'definitely either June 20th or sooner' based on information from industry contacts
Keith Elwin finished Fallout six months ago and has been working on Star Trek for six months
medium confidence · Kaneda provides this as insider information about designer timeline
Pinball Brothers is working on a new game with a major IP license (hinted to be The Fifth Element)
low confidence · Kaneda teases this at episode end by playing audio that sounds like The Fifth Element's famous 'Multipass' scene; frames as rumor about company pursuing dream theme
American Pinball's next game after Winchester will be a 'banger' theme like He-Man or G.I. Joe

Notable Quotes

“Keith Elwin's next game is an all-original Star Trek game based on the original Star Trek crew of Spock and Captain Kirk. That means it's William Shatner, it's Leonard Nimoy”
Kaneda @ ~00:01:30 — Direct announcement of alleged exclusive Star Trek reveal; major industry news if verified
“Optimus was engineered and working all throughout the development cycle of this game. The transforming Optimus is in the promotional video that Stern shot for this game. That was shot probably two weeks ago. So that means this decision was made just at the very, very last minute.”
Kaneda @ ~00:08:45 — Core argument that Optimus removal was deliberate late-stage cost-cutting, not early design rejection
“For this much money, I don't think anybody wants to buy a pinball machine and have that feeling. That is not an emotional state. I think anyone that buys these expensive machines wants to feel.”
Kaneda @ ~00:12:30 — Commentary on consumer expectations and emotional value of premium machines; critique of Transformers' compromised state
“I just also have a little bit of an issue... pinball media who saw Transformers and then went down the street and saw Sonic the Hedgehog and they have both games in their thoughts... and they're not telling us what they know that Sonic the Hedgehog is going to embarrass this game.”
Kaneda @ ~00:14:00 — Critique of NDA restrictions limiting media transparency; signal of Sonic superiority vs Transformers among industry insiders
“Sonic the Hedgehog... has an upper playfield. I believe it is in the upper left of the game, and it has two flippers on that upper playfield.”
Kaneda @ ~00:20:15 — Exclusive mechanical detail about Sonic not previously disclosed publicly; potential gameplay concern flag
“The LEs are not sold out. And because of that, the premiums are not going to move because everybody knows now when you don't have that kind of FOMO that those $13,000 Sterns are going to crash down to $10,000.”
Kaneda @ ~00:26:00 — Market dynamics analysis: FOMO scarcity and secondary market pricing correlation; Pokemon LE price collapse signal

Entities

Kanedaperson Keith Elwinperson Georgeperson Steve RitchiepersonElizabethpersonElliottpersonDavid Van Esperson

Signals

?
announcement: Keith Elwin's next game is Star Trek (original series crew) according to Kaneda's exclusive claim on Patreon
medium · Kaneda states 'Keith Elwin's next game is an all-original Star Trek game based on the original Star Trek crew of Spock and Captain Kirk' and frames as exclusive never-before-disclosed information
?
product_concern: Transformers' transforming Optimus mechanism was engineered and working through development but removed at last minute, likely as cost-cutting measure
medium · Kaneda analyzes George's justifications as 'spin and damage control,' notes transforming Optimus appeared in recent promotional video shot two weeks prior, compares to Jaws early prototype rejection
?
design_innovation: Sonic the Hedgehog features upper playfield with two flippers (upper left) as novel mechanical element
medium · Kaneda reveals as exclusive intel from NDA-bound sources: 'It has an upper playfield... two flippers on that upper playfield' with concern about gameplay impact
?
gameplay_signal: Sonic the Hedgehog designed as fast, flowing game; compared to 'Flow Monster' and described as Richie's greatest flowing game
medium · Kaneda characterizes game as 'super fast game... like a Flow Monster... Richie's greatest flowing game I hear of all time'
$
market_signal: Limited Edition Stern games that don't sell out cause secondary market crashes; Pokemon LE went from $13k to $10k with 40+ inventory
high · Kaneda details: 'The LEs are not sold out... everybody knows now when you don't have that kind of FOMO that those $13,000 Sterns are going to crash down to $10,000. Pokemon LE is crashing. There's like 40 LEs for sale.'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.064

0:00

Welcome everybody to Canada's Pinball Podcast. I felt like I used enough energy on yesterday's Saturday Morning Spectacular that I've got nothing left in the tank. Well, that's not true, but I really hope you enjoyed that show. If you haven't seen it, go watch. We reveal to the world the exclusive bit of information nobody else has said to date. Keith Elwin's next game is an all-original Star Trek game based on the original Star Trek crew of Spock and Captain Kirk. That means it's William Shatner, it's Leonard Nimoy, and I'm not sure if it's like the original series yet or it's the movies like Rath of Khan. It's going to be great. And I'm also hearing that Fallout is unfreaking believable. But it's hard to really feel that way about any Sterns moving forward, isn't it? It feels like every time we hear it, it's like, oh man, this thing's going to be loaded. It's going to be incredible. And then we get the game and there are corners cut. But I am hearing that Fallout is great. It is Keith Elwin. I don't think it's a leap to say that Keith Elwin's next game is going to be phenomenal. The only issue is this, is that most of us would rather Transformers knock us away or knock us out of the park versus Fallout, the Amazon TV show, which isn't really something we grew up with. We don't have nostalgia for it. It's going to be cool, but it's not timeless. And it's not in our sort of cultural sort of zeitgeist the same way stuff like Transformers is. So we'll see. It's coming out. When is that going to be like four months from now? We will get the Keith Elwin game. I think it's going to be sometime in August. All right. So what I'm going to do on this show at the end of this show is I am going to break an exclusive again because I heard loud and clear from B. You know B, he's on the Patreon chat. He said, Kaneda, you're not supposed to give away such valuable information for free to those people that don't pay for the show. And I don't always agree with that. I think if you subscribe to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, you're doing it because not only are you getting a great chat on Patreon, you're getting all the shows that not everybody gets access to. But I think it's more about supporting me. You know, a little monetary monthly donation that just says thank you so much for taking time away from your family, time away from work to create content every single week that we enjoy. So I really do appreciate each and every one of you. I want to say welcome to our new member at ten dollars a month, Crapio. And so I'm going to dedicate this exclusive news to Crappio. I'm not sure who it is. I love the fact that there is a grown man out there that just is going to give me $10 a month and his screen name is Crappio. Okay, so first let's start with Transformers because I'm hearing more and more from people on the inside that this mechanism of Optimus was working. It was yanked out and it was a cost-cutting measure. It's based on the toy. I just shared the video on my Facebook page. This is the toy that Hasbro sent them that transforms. That's why his arms are in that little like chicken flap dance sort of motion because they quickly go in and it transforms down. And it's a little remote control vehicle. It would have been so cool. And the more I think about it, the more I think about George's answer on this whole topic, the more I'm getting skeptical that they couldn't get it done. The more I'm starting to believe that it was a cost cutting measure, because if George just said something like the linkage wasn't working properly and that was it, right, then I would have believed him. But when he starts saying stuff like it wasn't even fun and it got old, like once you start adding in those types of excuses, then I start to feel like you're trying too hard now to convince me and everybody else that the game isn't going to suffer because it's not in it. It just starts to feel a little bit more like spin and damage control, which we see a lot of these days over at Stern Pinball when the competitors are getting it done. And then you look at this game and, you know, Grimlock looks unfinished. Optimus doesn't transform. And so, look, all the complaining in the world isn't going to fix this. They had their opportunity to get it done They didn execute on the plan And so now we will forever have a very very compromised version of Transformers See, Jaws is different. When Keith Elwin was designing Jaws and they experimented with Jaws eating the ball, that wasn't in the development of that game for like a year and a half. And at the 11th hour, they changed it to the way Jaws is now. They scrapped that idea early on. The difference in this is that Optimus was engineered and working all throughout the development cycle of this game. Heck, the transforming optimist is in the promotional video that Stern shot for this game. That was shot probably two weeks ago. So that means this decision was made just at the very, very last minute. And so, yes, all of these months in which we were hearing reports that this game was loaded and the major mech was a transforming optimist. Where do you think all those reports came from? People that worked at Stern and played this game and couldn't wait for us to see it. And then all of a sudden it's just taken out. It's like removing a main character from a movie right before you put the movie into the theater. And then all of a sudden maybe the storyline doesn't make as much sense because you edit it out, something that had a major role in the film. And so, yeah, like, look, my advice to each and every one of you is simply this. Play the game. I think Elizabeth's code is incredible. There's so much I like on the software side of this game. It's just going to be really hard to play this game and not always be thinking about what could have been. And for this much money, I don't think anybody wants to buy a pinball machine and have that feeling. That is not an emotional state. I think anyone that buys these expensive machines wants to feel. So what I think Stern should have done is delayed the launch and solve the problem. That to me is what they should have done. And what's clear now is that they're really at the mercy of the manufacturing schedule, the private equity loan that they have to pay back. And these decisions are being made by the accountants, not by the creative team. I bet you if you get Elliot and Elizabeth in a room and you close the door and George is not around, they will tell you the truth about what happened with Optimus. Okay, the other thing that I brought up on the show yesterday, and I've been making fun of it on my Facebook page, is I just also have a little bit of an issue. Of all these pinball media who saw Transformers and then went down the street and saw Sonic the Hedgehog and they have both games in their thoughts and then they're going to go and make content shilling Transformers and not telling us what they know that Sonic the Hedgehog is going to embarrass this game. And I just have an issue with that because it's like your listeners deserve to know everything you know. Now, look, I'm not asking them to leak photos. I think Jersey Jack should have embargoed the reviews, which they should have. But the embargoing of people's emotion and even being able to admit they went is silly. When I'm talking to the people that went and I'm like, how was the game? And they can't even form a sentence. That's silly. What harm would it do for these gentlemen who have visited Jersey Jack Pinball to say, hey, you know, Transformers is neat. But, you know, I would wait if I were you. You're going to see something in a couple of weeks that is pretty amazing. They could just say that. They won't even say that. And so this is what the content space has become. And that's always why I don't like signing NDAs. I don't like being imprisoned by an organization's desire to control me when my audience is coming to me to be truthful, to be honest, to not lock myself in to what they want me to say. And the weirdest part about all of this is that all of these dudes think Sonic is amazing. It's like the weirdest thing to prevent people from being able to express their excitement for your product. And yes, I will tell this to Brett. I will tell it to everybody else. You've made these media look a little foolish because by embargoing their emotions, what was the point? What was the point whatsoever? Maybe some of them are capturing content, but still, what was the point? So you're going to invite a guy into your company to make all of this content about how great Sonic is. And then the next day he's shilling your competitor's product and putting his face in front of it with smiles left and right. I don't get it. I really don't get it. Oh, what's that phrase they use? It's just like their unbridled excitement or their genuine enthusiasm. That's it. It always like oh I just love their genuine enthusiasm I don think any of it is truly genuine I think everything happens with a little bit of an agenda Yeah everybody biased I included I biased I have favorites I have companies I like because I like the people I might be more favorable on a game sometimes because I just like the people who created it That just the way the world works Now I admit that though I always sort of like someone who does try to admit where my bias falls Okay, so we are about two weeks away from Sonic the Hedgehog. Let me give you a little bit of an exclusive because I've been talking to these guys who saw the game and you know what? They broke. They broke and I got information on Sonic the Hedgehog that they can't say and I'll say it right now. Right? Isn't it just funny? It's like I'm literally the one who's capitalizing the most on that NDA and I didn't even sign it. You know, what was the value in that little thing? Okay, so Sonic the Hedgehog is going to have, as we know, a loop-de-loop underneath the glass. Super cool. Super fast game is going to be like a Flow Monster. It's going to be Richie's greatest flowing game I hear of all time. We'll see. We'll see. Now, look, I also heard, and this is, I think, the exclusive. It has an upper playfield. I believe it is in the upper left of the game, and it has two flippers on that upper playfield. So I don't know if those flippers are arranged in sort of like a mini playfield style thing, like a mini game. But this game is going to have an upper playfield with two flippers. Now, as I say that, I think there are many people out there that don't like that, that you might be nervous when you hear that. And the reason why is simply this. Whenever Steve Ritchie has an upper playfield in his games, it actually makes the game worse. If you think about games like Game of Thrones, the last Black Knight game, Black Knight Sword of Rage, people prefer his games without the upper playfield. Because it slows down the gameplay. So I am curious to see if that upper play field on Sonic doesn't slow down gameplay, adds a really interesting element, and is a lot of fun. Now, everything I've heard on this game is that it's a masterpiece. Everything I heard about this game is that it's just stunning. I'll tell you something else. The armor on the CE is red. It is like a sparkly red. It is a deeper red. It's kind of like the red on Willy Wonka's CE. And something really cool coming on the cabinet. You're going to see all the characters. What's cool about the CE cabinet, it's got like all the characters like in a collage around each other with the logo. And then there's like this blue sparkly explosion behind them. And when you walk from left to right or around the cabinet, that sparkle is going to move like a hologram sticker. You ever hold those up when you were a kid and you turn it and it's got that really, really cool effect. We've never seen artwork like this on a pinball machine ever before. It is absolutely stunning. I'm hearing the CE topper is super cool. Everything about this game I'm hearing is next level. It's going to be really exciting and it's coming very, very soon. I think it's in two weeks. It's definitely either June 20th or sooner. So that's really exciting. And that's why I don't understand why anybody would buy a Transformers right now. The LEs are not sold out. And because of that, the premiums are not going to move because everybody knows now when you don't have that kind of FOMO that those $13,000 Sterns are going to crash down to $10,000. Pokemon LE is crashing. There's like 40 LEs for sale. Stern, you got to get some code in this game. I played Pokemon for like an hour yesterday. I still love the way it shoots. I really do. It is a fun game to shoot, just not a lot in it. And after an hour, it's a weird game. Like after an hour of playing Pokemon, I feel like I'm good for like a week because it's just the same over and over and over again. I don't feel this sense of like other things I want to be doing. So it's kind of that kind of game for me right now. It's like once a week, I'll put a bunch of time on Pokemon. I'll catch a few of them. I'll like enjoy the shots and the layout. And hey, who would have thought that Meowth, the Meowth Mech is more interactive with the ball than anything in Transformers. By the way, did you see that video of Megatron shooting the ball and it actually bounces off of the wire form? Here's what's crazy, ladies and gentlemen. That is from Stern's own promotional video. Like that's their own video. They didn't look at that frame by frame and say, hey, I think we don't put this in. Like this is embarrassing. This is actually going to make people sort of feel like this mech is going to be problematic over time. It's also just clunky looking and it just goes to show Stern Pinball is rushing. They need to slow down, but they can't. They got this massive factory that they can possibly sustain the volume they need if they slow down It doesn work I really worried about them I think everybody over there is super talented but I think everybody over there is super stressed out Imagine buying more house than you need That is where Stern is right now They never needed to move into the bigger facility And now that they moved into this big house the mortgage payment is insane Even though they're doing well, they're always stressed out. You know what I'm saying? You can make a lot of money and have a lot more stress than when you made less money because you're now spending more. Your lifestyle is so much more expensive and that's where Stern is at. And so now let's just think about what we're going to get. We're going to get Transformers. It's out like in a couple of weeks. It'll be on the line. Then we're going to get Fallout. Then we're going to get Brian Eddy's Dracula. I think before that we might get some Ozzy Osbourne from John Borg. I think we might see two games at the end of the year from Stern. But what I heard is that Elwin's been done with Fallout for six months. So he's been working on Star Trek for six months. OK, so is that enough exclusive news for you, B, and everybody else out there? I really do appreciate all of your support. But you know what? You weren't expecting this show on Memorial Day weekend. It's a rainy one here in Connecticut. So maybe I'll give you a little bit more. So I got another rumor that I want to say, and this one's exciting. And the more I think about what's going on in pinball, I kind of have a little bit of a line of sight onto the kinds of themes that American pinball is going after and their bangers. And we know that David Van Ness is going to come with a banger after Winchester. I think it's going to be He-Man. It's going to be maybe G.I. Joe. It's really banger or bust time in pinball. It's super exciting. I'm looking at Back to the Future. The more I see this game, the more I like it. But that's not what I'm going to give you. What I'm about to tell you right now, and I'm just going to end this show with the audio from this theme that I'm hearing is coming out. Now, there's a company out there that really had a big misstep. They got a really exciting license that we all were excited about, and then they left out the main character. You know it as Predator. Now, we haven't heard a lot from the Pinball brothers. They haven't gone away. They're working on their next game, and they're being very quiet about it. And there's a reason why, because I don't think they want anybody to know that they're about to maybe bring out again. This is a rumor, but I'm hearing that they are going to bring out with the assets, with the stuff we want. They're going to bring out one of my dream themes that is a must buy for me, even if they mess it up. It's like one of those dream themes for me that even if they mess it up, I'm getting it. But you know what? I don't think they're going to mess it up because from what I hear, People really, really like Predator except for the fact that it doesn't have Arnold. And so I'm excited to end this show with an exclusive from Canada's Pinball Podcast, the only dude that doesn't sign NDAs, that goes crazy bipolar during Saturday morning spectaculars for your entertainment, the only guy that makes you want to upgrade your subscription from $5 to $10 right now. B's living in an $8 million house. I don't think he's even giving us $100 a month. He lives in an $8 million house. I can't even imagine what that mortgage payment is. I bet it is fully paid for. Okay, so everybody, it pleases me to give you this rumor that this title that's been floating around here and there, I'm hearing that this company has the license and that they are making the following. Have a great day and just remember when you run and tell people where you heard this, it's thou who shall not be spoken, Canada.