Episode 244 - Kong Smash Without Rhythm

TL;DR

Dune and King Kong reveal reactions; concerns about game difficulty, pricing, and toy pacing.

Summary

Key Claims

• Dune is priced at $11,600, which is $1,000 more than Labyrinth

  high confidence · Dennis explicitly states: 'the price to purchase it is $1,000 more than Labyrinth was. the game is $11,600'

• Barrels of Fun is expecting to build about 20 Dune machines per week

  high confidence · Dennis states: 'They're currently expecting to build about 20 of these a week'

• Dune is limited to 1,000 units production

  high confidence · Dennis notes: 'I think the limit on this is going to be a thousand units'

• Labyrinth is considered a very hard game that most players struggle to complete

  medium confidence · Dennis: 'Labyrinth is by all accounts a very hard game. For most people, they can't really get through it.' Referenced in context of similar difficulty expectations for Dune.

• Dune media event footage showed media players struggling with the game's difficulty

  medium confidence · Dennis: 'the people who recorded at the media events they struggled just like how labyrinth is by all accounts a very hard game'

• Dune lacks complete voice callouts and licensed film content at reveal stage

  high confidence · Dennis: 'a lot of the call-outs and stuff are not yet in the game. Stuff from the film, not yet in the game.'

• Jersey Jack Pinball stated there will be 'limitless games' of Harry Potter (no hard CE limit)

  high confidence · Doug's email: 'JJP stated that there will be limitless games, pressure is off' regarding Harry Potter CEs

• JJP games prior to Elton John were not designed to shoot well

  medium confidence · Doug's email: 'their layouts simply were not are not designed to shoot well' and 'I really don't [enjoy playing them]'

Notable Quotes

• “JJP's games are pretty to look at and have lots of lights but i want games in my collection that i enjoy playing that's the reason my collection has no jjp games in it before elton john their layouts simply were not are not designed to shoot well”

  Doug (via email) @ email submission, read during episode — Critical assessment of Jersey Jack Pinball game design philosophy from a collector perspective; frames the Elton John as a design turning point

• “I really hope the thumper has the proper thump sound effect coming when it fires...It was a proper thump. I mean, I find that cool.”

  Tony @ mid-episode — Identifies sound design as important quality metric for toy animations; notes Dune media footage included proper SFX

• “What looks cool up front, once you start playing and playing and playing, Remember, these are mostly at over $11,000. These are going to be in homes, not arcades. You're going to see it a lot.”

  Tony @ Dune discussion — Articulates key concern about expensive home machines: aesthetically cool animations become annoying through repeated play; emphasizes home vs arcade use case difference

• “I think that the worm, riding the worm, I don't know how often you trigger that. but it seems even slower than a Godzilla building drop. So we're kind of getting in the realm of Maverick Riverboat ball locks here. I worry like, yeah, that's going to be great the first, what, six times you look at it, and eventually you're going to be like, okay, well, time to make a sandwich.”

  Tony @ Dune toy discussion — Raises concern about animation pacing on expensive game; compares Dune sandworm to Godzilla drop and Maverick locks as precedent for overly slow animations that become tedious

• “I can't remember. Was that book cover art on one of the – Not my edition. It might be maybe an older edition. But regardless, that worm look, that's really awesome. I'm glad they didn't stick apron cards on it and just let it look all wormy and cool.”

  Tony @ Dune art discussion — Positive feedback on apron art execution; notes artistic choice to avoid busy window-card approach in favor of clean visual design

• “My biggest problem with Godzilla, as an aside, isn't that. It's when I have balls locked at the top, and then the game ends, and the building has to drop to release the balls. I have to wait for the building to go back up before I can start a new game.”

Entities

Signals

• ?

  event_signal: Barrels of Fun held media event day with invited press and content creators; however, hosts were unable to attend due to work scheduling

  high · Dennis: 'There was a media event day by the way we were invited to media event days i didn't respond to them because they were all during work week work week times'

• ?

  design_philosophy: Sandworm animation appears to have pacing issues similar to Godzilla building drop; Tony expresses concern about novelty wearing off quickly, comparing to Maverick Riverboat ball locks (slow animations becoming tedious in home play)

  medium · Tony: 'it seems even slower than a Godzilla building drop...that's going to be great the first, what, six times you look at it, and eventually you're going to be like, okay, well, time to make a sandwich'

• ?

  gameplay_signal: Dune expected to be very difficult based on Labyrinth comparison and media event footage where professional players struggled; limited gameplay reveal data makes difficulty assessment uncertain

  medium · Dennis notes media event players 'struggled just like how labyrinth is by all accounts a very hard game' and that 'when you're first playing a game, it's quite possible to have a brick fest'

• ?

  licensing_signal: Dune licensing approval incomplete at reveal; screen assets and film callouts not yet integrated into game code; suggests ongoing approval process with content owner

  high · Dennis: 'there's a lot of license or approval that was not yet ready. So a lot of the call-outs and stuff are not yet in the game. Stuff from the film, not yet in the game.'

• $