Episode 718: "James Bond First Impressions"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·14m 19s·analyzed·Sep 13, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.026

TL;DR

Kaneda praises James Bond's packed mechanics but criticizes Stern's failed launch strategy and disappointing art direction.

Summary

Kaneda criticizes Stern's botched James Bond reveal strategy after the Queen's passing delayed the official announcement, but praises the game's mechanical depth and toy-laden design as a strong response to Toy Story's perceived lack of interactive toys. He expresses frustration with Stern's art direction while celebrating the engineering, noting the game features innovative mechs like a jetpack-wielding Bond figure with magnetic ball interaction.

Key Claims

Stern delayed the James Bond reveal in honor of the Queen's passing, which was a marketing mistake
high confidence · Kaneda, opening segment; stated as confirmed news
James Bond features a jetpack-wielding Bond figure with a magnet that grabs and swings the ball to drop it on a tank target
high confidence · Kaneda describing the playfield mechanics in detail
James Bond's art package is a step backward compared to recent Stern releases, resembling older Stern machines like Elvis and The Sopranos
high confidence · Kaneda's detailed critique of the artwork
The game has one of the most packed toy counts of any Stern machine, with physical toys that all interact with the ball
high confidence · Kaneda's analysis of playfield design and mech integration
The delay will damage the FOMO window and reduce the frenzy when pre-orders open compared to a 48-hour reveal cycle
medium confidence · Kaneda's opinion on marketing strategy and order bank psychology
James Bond's design will hurt Toy Story sales due to the visible contrast in mechanical toy density
medium confidence · Kaneda's prediction about collector purchase decisions
Jody Dankberg is responsible for repeated Stern launch failures, including the Stranger Things CES reveal
medium confidence · Kaneda attributing launch strategy failures to Jody Dankberg
George Gomez led the design of James Bond and wanted it revealed the right way
high confidence · Kaneda referencing George's involvement and the disrespect to the team

Notable Quotes

“This is one of the weirdest marketing mistakes I've ever seen in all of pinball.”
Kaneda @ Early segment — Sets the critical tone for Stern's launch strategy failure
“Jody needs to wake up and understand that in the modern world, you can't do it like this anymore.”
Kaneda @ Launch strategy critique — Direct criticism of Stern's VP of Marketing for repeated failures
“This is one of the coolest mechs, if it works right, in Stern pinball history.”
Kaneda @ Mechanical praise segment — Highest praise for the jetpack Bond magnetic magnet mechanic
“The art department has let down the engineering department.”
Kaneda @ Art critique — Crystallizes the core tension between visual and mechanical design
“Stern Pinball is the company that's bringing Valley Williams Error Game. It just did.”
Kaneda @ Mid-analysis — Comparison of James Bond to classic Williams design philosophy
“When you start playing a pinball machine, you're not going to be looking at the art. You're going to be looking at all the fun stuff to shoot at.”
Kaneda @ Conclusion — Reframes the art criticism in context of actual gameplay experience
“The worst thing for FOMO is time. The worst thing you can give anybody on the fence about spending this much money on a toy is a lot of time to think about it.”
Kaneda @ Business impact analysis — Articulates the strategic marketing failure in consumer psychology terms
“I wish the art would be as exciting as all the other stuff in the game. But when you start playing a pinball machine, you're not going to be looking at the art.”
Kaneda @ Closing thoughts — Balances visual criticism with practical gameplay prioritization

Entities

Stern PinballcompanyJody Dankbergperson George Gomezperson KanedapersonJames Bond (Stern pinball)gamePat Lawlorperson Franchiperson

Signals

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product_launch: Stern delayed official James Bond pinball reveal in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's passing, but left machines on show floor at IFAPA, causing unofficial photos and videos to circulate
high · Kaneda states 'Stern put out an announcement today that they're going to delay the reveal of James Bond pinball in honor of the Queen passing' and criticizes the decision as the Queen died days before the show
?
design_innovation: James Bond features a jetpack-wielding Bond figure with magnetic ball interaction that picks up and swings the ball to drop it on a tank, described as potentially one of Stern's greatest mechs
high · Kaneda: 'my favorite mech in this entire game, is the James Bond on a jet pack that has a magnet that grabs the ball and swings over and drops the pinball on top of the tank'
~
sentiment_shift: James Bond's mechanical density is causing negative reassessment of Toy Story, with collectors reconsidering CE purchases due to the visible contrast in toy count and interactive elements
medium · Kaneda: 'I think the launch of James Bond is going to hurt Toy Story sales... if you're locked into a $15,000 Toy Story CE, you're looking at this James Bond. And it's hard not to look at it and say, I wish there was more stuff like this in Toy Story'
?
product_concern: James Bond's artwork package is criticized as dated, photoshopped, and lacking depth—resembling older Stern games like Elvis and The Sopranos rather than recent high-quality releases
high · Kaneda: 'The art on this game it looks like when Stern was making games like Elvis and the Sopranos' and 'The art department has let down the engineering department'
?

Topics

James Bond reveal strategy and timingprimaryMechanical toy density and design philosophyprimaryArtwork quality and visual aestheticprimaryComparison to Toy Story and competitive positioningprimaryStern's corporate decision-making and marketing executionsecondaryFOMO dynamics and pre-order window optimizationsecondaryIndustry launch strategy best practicessecondarySecondary market impact and collector purchasing behaviormentioned

Sentiment

mixed(0.45)— Strong enthusiasm for mechanical design and toy integration (positive 0.8+), significantly undermined by frustration with launch strategy (negative 0.9) and disappointment with artwork (negative 0.7). Final verdict leans positive on gameplay potential but marred by execution criticism.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.043

And I said that you can't always get what you want. I said, I said, I said, I said, I said, I said, I said, I said. What a weird day in pinball. An hour ago, I was going to do a show all about James Bond. I'm still going to do that show. But we thought we were one day away from the official reveal of this game. And now Stern put out an announcement today that they're going to delay the reveal of James Bond pinball in honor of the Queen passing. Okay, so this is really weird to me. I think this is one of the weirdest marketing mistakes I've ever seen in all of pinball. Stern, you knew the Queen passed away days ago. Then why did you bring the games over to the UK? Why are you setting them up at IAPA in the UK? hey, are you going to leave the games on the show floor tomorrow? And so then everyone's going to get a week of like crappy cell phone images and videos of this game. This game is revealed. I think I want to start with this. Jody Dankberg, and this is all Jody Dankberg. This is amateur hour. Jody needs to wake up and understand that in the modern world, you can't do it like this anymore. He's trying to sync up simultaneously, revealing this game at a show in real life on a Tuesday with an internet reveal of the product. So what did you think was going to happen, Jody, when you march these games out and you have people walking around the trade show? No one's going to take a photo. No one's going to share anything about the game. And so their chance to reveal this game to the world the right way was once again spoiled. And I just have to ask this question. How many messed up launches before the world's number one pinball company stops with this amateur hour approach to launching these games? It's such a disrespect to all the men and women who worked really hard on this game. It's such a disrespect to George Gomez and everybody who wanted to have their stuff shown to the world the right way for the first time. Why did you think this was going to work? Remember, it was Jody Dankberg who brought like Stranger Things to CES, people. He brings a game that's using a projector and puts it on a show floor in Vegas that has super bright lights above it. It's not going to look good. It's not going to work well. And it didn't. It's almost comical now that every single Stern launch goes this way. And they need to learn from Jersey Jack. They need to learn how to launch a game. And I know what everyone's saying right now. Well, Jersey Jack needs to now learn from Stern how to put toys into a game. All right, so let's jump into the game now that we've seen it. Now that the mystery is over, now that James Bond pinball is out in the world, what are my first impressions of this game? And I'm going to talk about it from a little bit of a macro point of view. I'm not going to go over each insert and everything about the game. I want to give you my broad strokes first impression of the game because I haven't played it and I'm going to give you my complete honest feelings about the game. my initial reaction to seeing James Bond was a mixed bag. My first reaction was I don't like the art. That's the first thing that jumped out at me. I just didn't like the art package on the game. We are used to seeing some beautiful Stern machines and that was the first thing that just rubbed me the wrong way. I was looking at the artwork and I saw all the drag and drop kind of artwork. This feels very much like a Stern game before Stern games got good with art. It feels like a major step backward in the art department I will not allow anyone out there to say it looks pretty good No it does not look good The art on this game it looks like when Stern was making games like Elvis and the Sopranos Okay, so it has a throwback look to it. I will give you that, but it is not a good throwback look. Okay, so the artwork sort of was like, oh no, it doesn't look as beautiful as I wanted it to. And then I looked at the game and I looked at what matters most. and I looked at the mechanisms in the game and I looked at the shots in the game and I looked at the features of this game and OMG, am I excited to shoot this game. This game is packed. Like it is loaded. Like there is so much to shoot at that I got so excited looking at this game because that is what pinball is supposed to be. All of these years, I've been saying when you see a pinball machine for the first time, the world of that theme should come to life in a three-dimensional way where you look at the game and you say, wow, I wonder what that does. I wonder what happens when I shoot over there. I wonder what happens when the ball hits there. I wonder how to get the ball from here to there. This game has that in spades. This is one of the most packed Stern machines of all time. I was like, this is the greatest response to like the reaction we had to Toy Story, a game that didn't have many toys in it. Here's the thing about this game. This game has so many toys in which every single toy in this game, everything I'm looking at interacts with the ball. This isn't just like a static figure that does nothing. There are no cake toppers in this pinball machine. I thought it was like some ironic justice. If you think about it, what we saw in Toy Story and what we're seeing in this game right here, right where Pat Lawler put a huge LCD screen, what did Stern put? A ginormous missile that is physical, that locks balls that is super amazing. And this is what pinball is. It's not about LCD screens. It's not about LED lighting. It's not about just artwork. Pinball is always about physical stuff that the ball should interact with. I mean it when I say this. When I glanced at this machine for the first time and saw all of these mechs and all of this stuff, this game feels like Stern Pinball is the company that's bringing Valley Williams Error Game. It just did. It feels like Stern Pinball is starting to load their games up with a lot of toys and this is good. This is such a good sign. And what I like about a lot of the stuff that the ball interacts with in this game, it's not just flat plastic. You've got an Aston Martin car. You've got the missile that's sculpted. And my favorite thing in this entire game, my favorite mech in this entire game, is the James Bond on a jet pack that has a magnet that grabs the ball and swings over and drops the pinball on top of the tank to destroy it. How cool is that? I want to stop right there on this one thing. This is one of the coolest mechs, if it works right, in Stern pinball history. I mean it. This stuff is super cool. You've got drop targets. You've got physical ball locks that mean something. And you've got a layout that's non-traditional. Like, this is not a fan layout. This game doesn't look like anything else I've ever seen Stern do. It has a lot of originality, and I feel really excited about that. And so from a toy standpoint, and from a mechanical world under glass standpoint, this game looks phenomenal. And I think all of us can't wait to see this game in action. And I think it going to shoot really well You can tell it pretty wide open but there a lot of unique shots in this game I think there going to be a lot of fun combos in this game When you just look at the layout of this game it doesn feel like a game where the ball is going to get stuck in the pop bumpers all the time You know if you play Toy Story a lot of the time you just lobbing the ball up the middle and into those Buzz Lightyear pop bumpers. And I just think this game has a lot of wow. I absolutely am in love with this because I also think that this shows us that Stern Pinball is going to start packing their games more and more and more. And they know for these prices, you have to start putting stuff like this in pinball machines. You know, there's no middle ground anymore. You know, with all these pinball prices going higher and higher and higher, when you first see a game, you want to see where the engineering went. And you want to see toys and mechs in a game that make you feel giddy inside. And I think this game delivers on that. And that's why we love pinball. Analog stuff that interacts with the ball. Toys that lock the ball. A James Bond on a jetpack carrying a pinball across the air, across the playfield, and dropping it on a target. This is exactly why we all love pinball, and this is what we want to see more of. But then I look at the art again, and I feel so deflated on some level. I won't lie to you. I feel deflated that Franchi's not doing this art package. Franchi would have made this game look so damn good. And I'm just going to say it. The art department has let down the engineering department. Of course, they're going to say, this is what the licensor wanted us to do. This is the direction they made us go in. Of course, they're going to hide behind that excuse. And that's why Franchi would have been perfect because Franchi could have taken these assets and re-illustrated them in a way that would have looked so beautiful. Instead, everything looks very Photoshopped, dragged and dropped. The thing that Franchi does so well, he gives the images depth. He gives them warmth and character. And this stuff looks very flat. It just looks like it has no dimension to it. I don't know. This blue cabinet on the premium looks a lot like Thunderbirds. And then you've got all that yellow on the Dr. No. So I think these games aesthetically, aesthetically are not going to win any awards. I do. I think aesthetically these games are a step back. I think they look like older Stern machines. It's unfortunate because the art department should never let down the engineering department. It is so easy to get the art right. It is so hard to engineer magic. And I just wish these games looked more beautiful. Now, you could argue that we haven't seen the HD images, but that's not my fault. This is what Stern always does. We're always looking at stuff in the most washed out and bad way possible. And that's Jody's fault and it's Stern's fault. Now, the question becomes this, people. Do they keep these games on the floor at IAPA all week or are they going to yank them off the floor? I mean, I think it would make sense. if you're going to delay the launch, that you take the games away. I mean, that would be the worst thing ever, to delay the launch and then have three days of crappy cell phone footage of the game. I mean, this is unbelievable. This is really one of the worst fumbled launches in the history of pinball. And I know how much this game means to Stern. And they had so much time to plan it. And they knew the queen died a few days ago. This makes no sense. Absolutely no sense. And I think this is Gary Stern last minute decision. because I've heard from people that Gary is always like, whenever something happens in society, Gary always wants to be sensitive to it. But are you telling me that as the world mourns the loss of the queen that that overlaps somehow with the launch of a niche little pinball machine There is absolutely no overlap there This is not an insensitive thing to do Like the world is still going on. Like concerts are still happening in the UK. Other sporting events are still happening. But launching pinball, that's where we draw the line. Can't do that because there's so many people paying attention. No, there's nobody paying attention to this. No, there's only a few thousand people that even care about this reveal. I also think it's a big mistake because you have a short FOMO window. And I mean this. There's a reason why they reveal a game in like 48 hours and lock in all of our money. Now we're going to look at these crappy photos for a week. We're going to study this game so much now over the next week that when the order banks open up, it's not going to have the same frenzy it would have if they opened up tomorrow. The worst thing for FOMO is time. The worst thing you can give anybody on the fence about spending this much money on a toy is a lot of time to think about it. So we will see if that will impact sales. I don't think it really will, but it's not going to be the same frenzy. It's not going to be the same level of excitement because now we all have seen the game. And look, I see the comparison in the thread to Toy Story 4. Yes, I agree. This is the kind of mechanical stuff people wanted to see in Toy Story. I just think the launch of James Bond is going to hurt Toy Story sales. I think they're going to hurt the sales of Toy Story. I think if you're locked into a $15,000 Toy Story CE, you're looking at this James Bond. And it's hard not to look at it and say, I wish there was more stuff like this in Toy Story. I wish there were more analog toys. I wish there was more sculpts. I wish there was more interaction with the ball. And you'd be right. And it doesn't have it. And that's just the way it is. I'm not going to beat up Toy Story on this podcast. I just think that Stern Pinball gave us a game that is super packed. It looks like a really fun James Bond world under glass. I think the artwork is a swing and a miss. I do. I don't like the artwork in the game. I really wish the art would be as exciting as all the other stuff in the game. But when you start playing a pinball machine, you're not going to be looking at the art. You're going to be looking at all the fun stuff to shoot at. And that's the key, people. A pinball machine should just have a lot of fun stuff to shoot at. And this game has fun stuff to shoot at in spade. You can see it. It's all right there. And that is what we want. That's what we want, Jersey Jack. It's what we want, Stern. It's what we want, American Pinball. It's what we want, Spooky and everybody else. You need to make games that have fun stuff to shoot at. This is pinball. I don't want to play an LCD screen. I don't want to be hoodwinked by just artwork. I want physical stuff that interacts with the ball that does magical stuff. I want James Bond on a jet pack, picking up a ball with a magnet and moving across the play field and dropping it on a tank. That's pinball, people. We will talk again this week. I feel a little bit deflated. I got the energy up. And now we have to wait a week. I don't want to wait a week. Later. Honey, you can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want But if you try sometime Well, you might just find That you're what you need Bye!