Episode 1122: "Star Wars is SOOOOO Close!"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·23m 20s·analyzed·Aug 11, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

Star Wars pinball imminent; Stern consolidates market while smaller manufacturers struggle with themes, pricing, and communication.

Summary

Kaneda discusses Star Wars pinball by John Borg being photographed this week, speculates on Spike 3 implementation and pricing ($13,700 potential), and critiques the broader pinball industry landscape. He argues the market is consolidating to three major players (Stern, Jersey Jack, Spooky) while analyzing the health, themes, and customer communication strategies of smaller manufacturers. Key themes include IP licensing strategy, pricing pressure, manufacturing capacity, and emotional customer experience as differentiator.

Key Claims

Stern is photographing Star Wars this week (August 11th) with John Borg as designer
high confidence · Kaneda (host), opening statement: 'Stern Pinball is photographing its next game this week. It is John Borg's Star Wars.'
Star Wars will feature Spike 3 in some form but not the full cabinet redesign; new cabinet with expression lighting will arrive on The Walking Dead remastered instead
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'I think we're going to get the bigger screen, the narrower speakers... I don't think we're going to get the new cabinet, which is going to have the new expression lighting system built into the cabinet itself... It's going to come on The Walking Dead.'
John Borg spent nearly as much time redesigning Metallica as creating the original Metallica
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'John Borg said he spent almost as much time, not sure if I believe him, redesigning Metallica as he did when he originally made Metallica.'
Stern can manufacture approximately 800 games per week
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'a company that can make around 800 games a week. When you think about how many Star Wars machines they're going to be able to pump out of that factory, it's like absolutely crazy.'
Star Wars pricing will likely be $13,700 for Limited Edition, representing a $500-$700 price increase
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'I was starting to hear a week ago... I think $13,700 hurts... Are we going to see a $500 price increase? Is it going to be $600? Is it going to be $700?'
King Kong is a total flop; Jaws 50th is more successful because it has assets and fan enthusiasm
high confidence · Kaneda: 'King Kong is a flop. Like it's a total flop. People did not want to spend that much money on an assetless King Kong. Jaws 50th has all the assets, has the fans much more excited.'
Stern has not nailed a juggernaut IP in approximately five years; Godzilla is the biggest recent hit
high confidence · Kaneda: 'really, there hasn't been a juggernaut IP that Stern has nailed in about five freaking years... What has been their biggest game in the last five years? and Godzilla isn't even a massive, massive IP.'

Notable Quotes

“This game needs to pop... Stern Pinball is photographing its next game this week. It is John Borg's Star Wars.”
Kaneda @ opening — Sets up the primary topic—imminent Star Wars announcement photography and its importance to the market
“Really, there hasn't been a juggernaut IP that Stern has nailed in about five freaking years.”
Kaneda @ mid-episode — Key criticism of Stern's recent IP execution and context for why Star Wars matters
“There are only three pinball companies that people are really feeling FOMO for. Spooky, Stern, and Jersey Jack. Everybody else, in my honest opinion, is on the outside of that race.”
Kaneda @ mid-to-late episode — Bold consolidation narrative; defines the competitive landscape and market structure
“The only thing you will ever remember is how they made you feel... The companies that will succeed are the ones that make people feel great, not just make great products.”
Kaneda @ late episode — Core philosophy on customer experience as key differentiator; applies across all manufacturers
“Chicago Gaming Company, pointless to talk about... I love seeing Pulp Fiction prices keep going lower and lower. It is what it is.”
Kaneda @ mid-episode — Harsh critique of Chicago Gaming's market position and communication failure
“I think in a world in which this game is almost $15,000 to your door, who's buying one? Who is buying one at that price?”
Kaneda @ mid-episode — Expresses pricing concern for Pinball Brothers Predator, raising existential questions about smaller manufacturers
“Every time I do a show, every time I do a live spooky Luke joining, they're hanging out with me. They make me feel good.”
Kaneda @ late episode — Positive endorsement of Spooky's community engagement and transparency strategy
“I hope the new game from John Borg makes us feel something again. I hope it brings the energy and the love we have for Star Wars to life.”

Entities

John Borgperson Star WarsgameStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyThe Walking Deadgame

Signals

?
product_launch: Stern photographing Star Wars this week (week of August 11th); teaser content expected imminently
high · Kaneda: 'Stern Pinball is photographing its next game this week. It is John Borg's Star Wars.'
?
technology_signal: Spike 3 rolling transition underway; Star Wars will have partial implementation (larger screen, narrower speakers); full cabinet redesign with expression lighting deferred to Walking Dead remaster
medium · Kaneda: 'this is going to be somewhat of a rolling transition into Spike 3... Star Wars is this... bigger screen, the narrower speakers... I don't think we're going to get the new cabinet... It's going to come on The Walking Dead.'
$
market_signal: Star Wars Limited Edition expected to price at $13,700 ($500-$700 increase); secondary market depreciation on recent high-priced LE games (e.g., Godfather CE: $15k → $8k retail)
medium · Kaneda: 'I think $13,700 hurts... Are we going to see a $500 price increase? Is it going to be $600? Is it going to be $700?... How do you feel if you bought a $15,000 Godfather CE and now you're seeing them sell for eight?'
~
sentiment_shift: Community sentiment shifting away from Stern due to perceived IP execution weakness over past 5 years; juggernaut IP drought raising expectations for Star Wars to deliver
high · Kaneda: 'really, there hasn't been a juggernaut IP that Stern has nailed in about five freaking years... This is going to be a really important test for Stern Pinball.'
?
industry_signal: Pinball market consolidating to three major FOMO generators (Stern, Jersey Jack, Spooky); all other manufacturers described as outside competitive race and facing viability questions

Topics

Star Wars pinball announcement and release timelineprimarySpike 3 implementation and technology roadmapprimaryStern Pinball market position and IP executionprimaryPinball market consolidation (three-horse race)primaryManufacturer communication and customer experience as competitive differentiatorprimaryPricing pressure and secondary market depreciationsecondarySmall manufacturer viability (Pinball Brothers, American Pinball, Chicago Gaming)secondaryRemaster strategy and franchise IP licensingsecondary

Sentiment

mixed(0.35)— Kaneda expresses cautious optimism about Star Wars (anticipatory, hopeful for emotional resonance) but significant pessimism about industry consolidation, small manufacturer viability, pricing sustainability, and manufacturer communication. Critical tone toward Chicago Gaming and American Pinball. Positive toward Spooky's transparency and Jersey Jack's leadership. Overall: industry at inflection point with excitement tempered by concern about sustainability and customer experience quality.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.070

Welcome everybody to the world's most apologetic pinball podcaster. It is going to be crazy the next couple of weeks. Here's what we know. Stern Pinball is photographing its next game this week. It is John Borg's Star Wars. Is it going to be episode one through three? We've never had that before. Is it going to be a return of a new version of episodes four, five, and six? Now, I am still on the fence. I don't know. I don't even know which one I want even more. Of course, we all want four, five, and six. Come on, Kaneda, be honest. But I will say, if they can really nail Darth Maul pod racing, a lot of fun, I don't know how you get Jar Jar out of the storyline, but it could work. The thing is this, this game needs to pop. So this is also going to be the game where we see the first, I think, of Stern's Spike 3 in some form. George Gomez did a great interview on the Loser Kid Pinball podcast. We were talking about it on Saturday. And apparently this is going to be somewhat of a rolling transition into Spike 3. So what I think is going to happen with Star Wars is this. I think we're going to get the bigger screen, the narrower speakers, same size trans light that's been on all the Stern machines. It's still going to look great in a lineup. But I don't think we're going to get the new cabinet, which is going to have the new expression lighting system built into the cabinet itself. So that's not going to come on Star Wars. It's going to come on the following game. Now, does that mean the following Cornerstone game or does it mean The Walking Dead remastered? I think it's going to be on The Walking Dead, and I think they're going to use that in a really interesting way to drum up excitement and really make the new version of Walking Dead unlike anything that came out before. If you want people to buy again a new Walking Dead game, much like they did with Metallica Remastered, I think we're going to see a completely rethought out game. And John Borg said he spent almost as much time, not sure if I believe him, redesigning Metallica as he did when he originally made Metallica. But it is going to be a John Borg special the next like few months. Back to back games. Borg is not happy that they shelved his Indiana Jones. Borg loves Star Wars. Borg has been waiting to get one of these like juggernaut themes. They've been giving all the big stuff to other people. What was the last big John Borg hit? Was Rush the last big game he came out with? I think it might be. I'm not, I think I'm missing something that came out after Rush. Sorry, it's Monday morning. I'm always in a little bit of a fog. So this week, they're shooting the game. Jack Danger just had shoulder surgery. So we know he's probably not making any of that content. And so hopefully, you know, we get something a little bit more exciting than Mr. Sharp walking up to the game with a deadpan face. I think Stern needs to get a little bit better at making some more exciting videos. Will they turn it over to other content creators? Will they ever have Kenea do a launch? You asked for it. You wanted it. Now you're going to get the greatest Star Wars pinball machine of all time. I wish they would have more hype. It's always like George next to the machine. Hi, George Gomez, Chief Creative Officer at CIS. Come on, guys. Come in with some real fire. May the force be with you. The only thing you're not going to be able to do is keep the money in the wallets, people, because this is the greatest Star Wars pin ever. There's never any real hype. It's just like why we're talking to grown men. That's who buys these things. They need to get a little bit more Bruce Buffer. You know, like presenting. The man who's made some of your favorite pinball machines, Tron. He's made Guardians of the Galaxy. He's made Rush Pinball. The designer that's been hungry. He's been on the sidelines waiting for his title shot. I give to you the undisputed, the undeniably 80s nostalgic geek, Mr. John Borg, baby. Where is it? It's time. You know what I'm saying? There's no hype at all. It's like, let me tell you what I did with the vertical up kick, baby. You know what I'm saying? You know, I don't want to hear stories about Eric going to drive to get a Harry Potter book. I don't want to, I get it. I get it. I want to hear you haven't been able to sleep until people saw this game. A little bit of energy. You know, I believe in energy in life, as you can tell, right? I deal with this every single day. Low energy people, low energy people. Someone said something walking around our company the other day It really feels like we got law firm energy going on here And I like you right Why is everybody so quiet We are one day gonna be extinct every single one of us One day our voices will no longer be heard. One day we won't be around. What's the point in being around and just being quiet? Especially when you're making toys that are meant to get grown adults excited. So they're shooting the game. What does that mean? Do we think there's gonna be a teaser this week? it's August 11th I'm not sure it feels a little early right because I was looking at when Stern Pinball announced X-Men and it was September 4th so are we gonna get Star Wars even earlier than that and wasn't X-Men rushed out because other stuff wasn't selling and so I don't know they're shooting the game this week it is August 11th it doesn't feel like the best time people are traveling a lot in August. They're spending a lot of money. But if it's Star Wars, that's immune to any like date. You could release a great Star Wars pin any time of the year and it's going to sell really well. But it is interesting because Stern usually drops stuff around a similar time period. And, you know, they want to get this game out. I think we're going to get this game in August. I think we're then going to get in like late September, early October, the Walking Dead remake. And the thing about Stern, you know, a company that can make around 800 games a week. When you think about how many Star Wars machines they're going to be able to pump out of that factory, it's like absolutely crazy. So they'll make thousands of them by the time Pinball Expo rolls around. Now, I think everybody, and I mean this, everyone is more cautious moving towards these modern stern machines because the other thing we haven't talked about, what is the actual price increase going to be on this newer spike three and a half version of the game or spike two and a half? If you take into account, not all of spike three is going to be in this. Are we going to see a $500 price increase? Is it going to be $600? Is it going to be $700? I was starting to hear a week ago. Now, I think $13,700 hurts. It hurts because I'm watching all these people buy all these $13,000 LEs. And even if it has a good IP, it's really hard for these games to justify being that expensive. Now, King Kong is a flop. Like it's a total flop. People did not want to spend that much money on an assetless King Kong. Jaws 50th has all the assets, has the fans much more excited. But really, there hasn't been a juggernaut IP that Stern has nailed in about five freaking years. I mean, think about it. What has been their biggest game in the last five years? and Godzilla isn't even a massive, massive IP. Stuff like Batman is bigger. Stuff like Star Wars. Stuff like Guardians of the Galaxy. You know, X-Men is a big property, but again, they always go cheap. If they made X-Men more about the X-Men movies, or better yet, what they should have made was Wolverine versus Deadpool and made a game based on that movie. Can you imagine how awesome a pinball version of that movie would have been with the Madonna like a prayer, like wizard mode where all the Deadpools are popping up? I mean, it was all right there. And they really haven't given us anything of this magnitude in a really long time. And so this is going to be a really important test for Stern Pinball. They know they need a big hit. They've got the biggest IP that we're going to get. and then they've got Pokemon after it. Those are the two biggest IPs in the history of pinball people. Those IPs are bigger than Harry Potter, I believe. They're bigger than Avatar. And so they're ginormous. And the thing I would like to see after we get this round of IP, I really would love to see more variety from the world of pinball in the world of stuff that's humongous, stuff like Super Mario. I wanna see more Disney properties, I do. I want someone to do Toy Story right. If we're going to go back to the well and redo Star Wars so nobody's ever going to make a pinball machine based on the best Toy Story movie of all time, that's never going to happen. I would love a Ratatouille pinball machine. A Lion King pinball machine would crush. You know, this stuff would just do so much better than stuff like Venom, stuff like John Wick. And look, I get this stuff is expensive, but now we're paying this much money. We want to see more. We want to see iconic IPs. That's why Jaws is doing so well. It's just an iconic thing. It's always going to be iconic. And they made the right version of the game. If they made only Jaws 3, I mean, that's the equivalent of only making Toy Story 4. So it's going to be a very, very, very competitive pinball landscape. and you know how I feel about it. These companies are gonna have to make the best product they've ever made. Jersey Jack Pinball just made what is easily the best shooting pinball machine they might have ever made. Is it better than Elton John? Maybe, I think so. It's got more interesting stuff going on. Is it loaded? Not so much but it loaded with assets and it an incredible theme Harry Potter and people are loving the game I not going to argue with that I reading people feedback They loving the game And Jersey Jack games, I think, are only going to get better from there. It's good. They've raised the bar on gameplay. That's what they needed to do. Spooky Pinball has some incredible themes coming out. We know they know how to load their games. I think the last frontier for spooky is just quality. If they can get the quality up a notch where it needs to be, they're going to be so damn successful for so many years. Barrels of Fun, a company that just needs to get the themes tighter. They need to get the themes more connected to the community. You can't have a theme in modern pinball times where you can't sell a thousand over four to five months. That's a bad theme selection. They make a quality product. They do. I know some of the early Dunes are having some issues here and there, but man, when you stand over a Barrels of Fun Dune machine, it's a really premium item. They just need to get the themes better. Chicago Gaming Company, pointless to talk about. August 11th, when are you getting your Medieval Madness remake? You don't even know. That's pathetic. Pathetic. Like, I don't even care anymore about this company whatsoever. I love seeing Pulp Fiction prices keep going lower and lower and lower. It is what it is. I don't know how any of you feel good about supporting a brand that never talks to you. They absolutely don't care about you. Is there even anyone over there like in a marketing department? There's nothing happening over there. They don't care. I think Turner Pinball, they're not going to sell that many Merlin's Arcade. Chris Turner would have been smarter to hold on to the Raza license and release that game. I can't believe we're still talking about Raza. But speaking of Raza, it's going to be the next game from Dutch Pinball X. We all know this. It's going to bridge the gap between Alice and Back to the Future. I don't know how they're going to handle the Back to the Future demand. If they were smart, I don't know what these tariffs, who knows? Like they're going to have to charge a lot. I think everyone's expecting a lot in that game. I have not seen anything. It's why I don't talk about it that much. It's more than a year away. So there's so much that's going to happen between now and then. And, you know, we know that Dutch has it. There's no speculating Dutch Pinball has back to the future. I think the other companies out there, man, it's hard. Pinball Brothers, how are they going to survive if Predator is not a huge hit? I keep seeing more and more content on Facebook. They've got to get these games out. The key for Predator, I think two things. They've got to get the game out. The word of mouth has to be amazing. And I think they need to make enough money to go license Arnold. I don't think they can. he's so much more expensive. He might not even be gettable. Sigourney Weaver was gettable and there was just a certain amount of money you had to pay to put her in the game. I don't think Arnold is even gettable. And I think what you see is what this game is gonna be. And I think in a world in which this game is almost $15,000 to your door, who's buying one? Who is buying one at that price? And so, I think for most of us, the first time we're going to play this game might be at Pinball Expo, but I can't see the Pinball Brothers really surviving if this is what they've got. Pedretti Gaming has been rumored to have Tales of the Arabian Nights remake. The Funhouse remake was a total flop. And so if they have Toad in, yeah, it would be a good time to maybe even start to tease that. Remember they teased they had something magical coming and they had the carpet and all this stuff. That was like a year ago. Where's the follow-up on that teaser? Where's Kingpin, that pinball circus Maximus company? They're nowhere to be found. I think 200 people bought the Translight and were expecting that game. That's nowhere to be found. That game was like developed. It's crazy to me that nobody was able to like get that over the finish line. And then you've got American Pinball. Kerry Hardy said that Cuphead was coming out. It's coming out. It's not coming out. We are not going to see Cuphead. Mukesh is not going to sell any of that inventory and he's going to move on, especially if Ametron goes public in India. No one's going to want this pinball sort of thing on the books. Why are we losing money on this pinball venture? Sometimes people forget. Robert Mueller took $61 million from other people who thought they were investing in something else and started a pinball company and didn't ship one single game. Remember like $61 million and he couldn't even get a single game out the door. Now, not all of that money was used for pinball, but tens of millions of dollars went into the pinball development and into like people's pockets and coders and all this stuff and not one single game ever came out. And so, as I said, it's a three horse race now. There are only three pinball companies that people are really feeling FOMO for. Spooky, Stern, and Jersey Jack. Everybody else, in my honest opinion, is on the outside of that race. And they're gonna have to do stuff that puts them into the pack because that's where the money's going to go. That's where the excitement is. And that what people want And you know to get there it not just about the game It about transparency It about communication And it about making sure your customers feel good and feel excited to support you as a brand. You know, I'm looking at a game like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the owners that get it are having a good time. The problem is it's August and the game was revealed and deposits were taken in like September of 2024 when it was like production's going to start in January, right? You still don't have your game. So I get why people are getting really upset. But again, you don't get a refund until January 1st. They will honor that. But you know what I'm saying? It's like, even though your products could be there, you still have to think about the journey you put customers on. People will always remember one thing. I say this at work. I'll say this to you guys. The only thing people ever remember, whether you're buying a pinball machine, whether you're in a marriage, whether you go to a restaurant, whether you try to buy a Rolex, whether you're house hunting with a realtor, whatever it is, whatever moment you decide to do something with other people and where there's a product on the line or some service that you expect from people. The only thing you will ever remember is how they made you feel. How does CGC make you feel as a buyer? How has Dutch Pinball made you feel if you ordered a game eight months ago? How does Stern Pinball make you feel if you went in on some of these LEs and lost $4,000? How do you feel if you bought a $15,000 Godfather CE and now you're seeing them sell for eight? How do you feel about losing $7,000? Okay, so this is going to be the new benchmark. The companies that will succeed are going to be the ones that make people feel great, not just make great products, but make them feel great. And this is why when you think about all the companies out there in the pinball world, the company that is doing that the best is spooky pinball they are in it with everybody they are transparent they are the ones right that make people feel the best the product has not always been the best but they make you feel the best and i have to say this like everyone's allowed to be a little bit biased and you know what that's fine that's just the way the world works we're all going to have favorites. Like you might think Stern's your favorite or Jersey Jack. You might think Spooky's are not great because they use servos. But as a pinball content creator that is trying to be as unbiased as possible, I also have feelings towards companies based on how they make me feel as an individual. And so I have a lot of respect for George Gomez and Zombie Yeti and Jeremy Packer (Zombie Yeti) and Seth Davis. And I've met with them intimately and they've always made me feel really good. So I have a lot of respect for Stern Pinball. I have a lot of respect for the leadership over at Jersey Jack. I've had very intimate conversations with them. Not so much from Eric. You know, he's nice to me, but then, you know, there was times when I saw him at a show and I always feel a little bit sometimes like I'm getting the smug, cold shoulder. But that being said, when I had an issue with my guns and roses on the same day, I get a text from him. And I'll tell you that goes a long way in making me feel great about owning Eric's Guns N' Roses machine. So thank you, Eric, for doing that. That's what people want. And when I think about spooky pinball, it's like they're always in it with me. Every time I do a show, every time I do a live spooky Luke joining, they're hanging out with me. They make me feel good. They make my community feel good. And that goes a really long way. Same with each and every one of you. I hope this show makes you feel good every week about pinball. There's not a lot of news in pinball every week. You know this. And so I love waking up and making you feel good about the hobby. I think content creators do an amazing job of making so many thousands of people feel good about pinball when the manufacturers have nothing left to say. And we sort of bridge the gap between those moments of news and those moments of excitement. So everybody look on this Monday, let's really get ready for what's about to drop. I hope the new game from John Borg makes us feel something again. I hope it brings the energy and the love we have for Star Wars to life in pinball format and we finally get a modern Star Wars pinball machine that is magical, that is a world under glass, that makes us feel like Luke on his journey or makes us feel like Obi-Wan and young Anakin trying to make their way through the Star Wars narrative, Darth Maul. I just hope whatever it is, one through three or four through six, I just hope it's incredible. I don't want games to be mediocre. I don't want games to be too confusing. I don't want games to be empty. I don't want Arnold to not be in Predator. I want the magic and so do you. And so let's see what we get, everybody. Thank you for being a member of Canada's Pinball Podcast. We'll be back this week with more episodes of the most feel-good pinball podcast on the planet. Kaneda out.