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The Pinball Show Ep 182 BONUS: Dirty Dots & Other Pindustry News

Pinball Show Patreon Feed·podcast_episode·18m 11s·held·Sep 23, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Stern pipeline rumors, Dutch Pinball financial concerns, and remake licensing strategy discussion.

Summary

In this The The Pinball Show bonus episode, hosts discuss post-Star Wars pinball news, including rumors about Stern's 2026 pipeline (Pokémon delays, potential Fallout and Transformers games), Barrels of Fun's Dune accessories, Evil Dead topper sales success, Dutch Pinball financial reliance on upcoming Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland, and speculation about remake licenses (Big Bang Bar, Theater of Magic) for Pedretti Gaming. The conversation also covers Medieval Madness remaster shipping, Cactus Canyon upgrade kit delays, and criticism of 'dirty dots' artwork design on several games.

Key Claims

  • Pokémon Pinball might be delayed/bumped in Stern's 2026 schedule due to not being ready yet

    medium confidence · Unnamed host discussing rumors about Stern's pipeline; explicitly stated as 'running rumor' with uncertainty ('I have no clue')

  • Fallout is rumored to be a Keith Elwin design for Stern, likely based on the Fallout TV show

    medium confidence · Host discussing 'rumored Fallout game by Keith Elwin' as possible Pokémon replacement

  • Stern is rumored to have animated Gen 1 Transformers IP for a pinball game

    medium confidence · Host mentions 'the rumor is that Stern has the animated the nostalgic animated 80s or 90s cartoon Transformers'

  • Elliot Heisman is rumored as designer for a potential Transformers game

    low confidence · Host states 'So that's the It could be in Transformers The rumor would be Elliot Heisman' with unclear connection

  • Evil Dead sold more Spooky butler cabinets than any other title, with 750+ toppers sold of 888 total games

    high confidence · Host citing Spooky factory tour data: 'They sold more butter cabinets on Evil Dead than they did any other title' and '750 toppers' out of '888 units in total'

  • Dutch Pinball financial survival depends heavily on the upcoming Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (Raza) due to investor Melvin Williams

    medium confidence · Host reporting information allegedly from insider 'best friends with' Dutch Pinball owners; states 'he made it sound like the whole company contingency of still being in business is rooted around Alice and this Raza'

  • Dutch Pinball to the Future game is unlikely to see release and may never happen

    medium confidence · Host citing insider information: 'he was saying that Back to the Future is still not going to see that forever'

  • Pedretti Gaming is rumored to announce a Big Bang Bar remake at an upcoming expo

    medium confidence · Host states 'Pedretti Pinball, or Pedretti Gaming, the rumor is Big Bang Bar remake, announcing possibly at Expo'

Notable Quotes

  • “Now that we've got their money, we break it to them.”

    [name withheld pending review] @ Early in episode — Humorous observation about post-Star Wars release news cycle

  • “I hate the dirty dots. Let's be lazy, let's just dotify the movie and then it just looks like a mess.”

    [name withheld pending review] @ Mid-episode — Industry criticism of artwork/dot design philosophy on recent games (Transformers, Kiss, Iron Man)

  • “There are too many pinball companies right now. There's not a big enough market for all of them. We need some more to go away, not just American Pinball.”

    [name withheld pending review] @ During Pedretti discussion — Commentary on market saturation and manufacturer viability concerns

  • “He's basically acted as if this Melvin Williams is keeping the company afloat... That's nuts to even think that if that's the case.”

    [name withheld pending review] @ During Dutch Pinball segment — Expression of concern about Dutch Pinball's financial dependence on single investor

  • “Raza sucks. That layout – guys, I love J-pop stuff, but the layout's the layout. It sucks. There's nothing to shoot for.”

    [name withheld pending review] @ During Dutch Pinball discussion — Critical assessment of Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland's playfield design

  • “I would do that with Theater of Magic and Tales of the Arabian Nights. You need consumer trust.”

    [name withheld pending review] @ During remake licensing discussion — Strategic disagreement about which classic remake Pedretti should prioritize

  • “If you get the Fast Board system, open access it so that modders or somebody can realize how to switch around those videos.”

    [name withheld pending review] @ During Pinball Brothers Predator discussion — Suggestion for community-friendly technical approach to video licensing constraints

  • “Pedretti Gaming, and if I do have the rights to Theater of Magic or Tales of the Arabian Nights... I would make sure I establish a customer-consumer base sooner than later.”

Entities

Jack DangerpersonKeith Elwinperson[name withheld pending review]personSteve RitchiepersonGeorge GomezpersonBugpersonMelvin WilliamspersonStern Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Multiple rumors circulating about Stern's 2026 game slate: Pokémon possibly delayed, Fallout by Keith Elwin, and animated Transformers potentially taking priority positions

    medium · Host explicitly frames all as rumors with uncertainty; mentions 'running rumor' about Pokémon bump and Fallout/Transformers as alternative candidates

  • ?

    product_concern: 'Dirty dots' criticism: community dissatisfaction with 'dotified' movie-based artwork on recent games (Transformers, Kiss, Iron Man) described as 'sloppy' and lazy design approach

    high · Extended discussion: 'I hate the dirty dots. Let's be lazy, let's just dotify the movie and then it just looks like a mess' and comparison of how 'bricked' original Transformers game was

  • ?

    business_signal: Dutch Pinball's survival heavily dependent on single upcoming game (Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland/Raza) and financial support from investor Melvin Williams; Back to the Future appears indefinitely delayed

    medium · Host states: 'he made it sound like the whole company contingency of still being in business is rooted around Alice and this Raza' and 'Back to the Future is still not going to see that forever'

  • $

    market_signal: Host expresses concern about too many pinball manufacturers for current market size; argues some companies need to exit the market beyond American Pinball

    high · 'There are too many pinball companies right now. There's not a big enough market for all of them. We need some more to go away, not just American Pinball.'

  • ?

    product_launch: Barrels of Fun releasing Dune Pinball accessory bundle ($269) including Chris Knife shooter knob and molded plastics; topper still in development

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.054

0:00
Warning, the following episode contains adult language and screaming goats. Listener discretion is advised. Thanks again for the ongoing support as a Pinball Show Club member. Enjoy this exclusive TPS content, and make sure to visit the Pinball Show Club Discord to chat about the bonus material. Okay, Dennis, this is our exclusive content. We've covered so much Star Wars, we didn't have time to cover all the other stuff, and, quite frankly, not a lot of other news now that Star Wars is out. Oh, no. Now that we've got their money, we break it to them. Sorry, guys. Sorry. No, there's still a lot, but it's nothing big. I mean, we can talk about Stern. There are rumors that the rumor was like Pokemon. That was going to be the Jack Danger thing. Yeah. And he stepped back, so people are finishing Pokemon, and we're going to see it the first. Now the running rumor. I don't know if this is true or not. I'm totally, I have no clue. But the rumor going around the backlot is that this could be a bump. Pokemon might get a bump. They're not ready yet for Pokemon. So moving forward or moving up in the schedule, maybe either the rumored Fallout game by Keith Elwin.
1:14
That right there, I'm like, what? Fallout? I'm a big Fallout fan. Everybody loves the Fallout. Moving on video game. or the show. It's the TV show that's probably I assume that'll be what they base it off of. Walter Goggins, yeah.
1:32
Do you think Keith really does a Fallout game? I don't. I mean, I think he'll work with any theme that you ask him to. Yeah. But that's the rumor. The other rumor is that Stern has the animated the nostalgic animated 80s or 90s cartoon Transformers.
1:56
Again. Well, there's a big difference between Michael Bay Transformers versus the cartoon Saturday morning. Optimus was voiced by the same guy in both. Okay, well, you make a good point. That's true.

[name withheld pending review] @ During remake strategy discussion — Business strategy analysis of license prioritization

Barrels of Fun
company
Spooky Pinballcompany
Dutch Pinballcompany
Pedretti Gamingcompany
Pinball Brotherscompany
CGC Pinballcompany
Pokémon Pinballgame
Falloutgame
Transformersgame
Dune Pinballgame
Evil Deadgame
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventurelandgame
Big Bang Bargame
Predatorgame

high · Host states bundle is '$269 for the bundle. So you get the Chris Knife shooter knob and the plastic mold. They did say a topper is still coming, but it's going to be later on.'

  • ?

    product_launch: CGC Merlin editions of Medieval Madness now shipping; Cactus Canyon upgrade kits shipping with 2-8 week delivery estimate remaining for backlog

    high · Host confirms: 'CGC, Merlin editions of Medieval Madness now shipping' and 'Cactus Canyon upgrade kits are shipping now' with estimate 'two to eight weeks'

  • ?

    collector_signal: Spooky's Evil Dead achieved exceptional topper attachment: 750+ toppers sold from 888 total games (80-90% rate), highest for any Spooky title

    high · Host citing factory tour data: '888 units in total games sold' with 'well over 750 toppers' and 'it was like 80% to 90%'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Discussion of Pedretti Gaming's strategic choice to remake ultra-rare Big Bang Bar vs. beloved Theater of Magic/Tales of Arabian Nights; tension between rarity-driven collector FOMO vs. building consumer trust with known IP

    medium · Host debates: 'I would have done Theater of Magic and Tales of the Arabian Nights' vs. Pedretti's apparent strategy of leveraging rarity/collectibility to drive early purchases

  • ?

    personality_signal: Jack Danger stepped back from Pokémon Pinball project; Steve Ritchie referenced as having left Stern, suggesting staffing/project management changes affecting release schedules

    medium · Host states Jack 'stepped back' from Pokémon and notes 'they got rid of Steve Ritchie' in context of 2026 pipeline changes

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Negative assessment of Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (Raza) playfield layout: 'layout sucks', 'nothing to shoot for', poor shot quality compared to Alice in Wonderland; previous Deep Root features (jump ramp, pop-up target) not well-received

    high · Host: 'Raza sucks. That layout...sucks. There's nothing to shoot for. I don't know what you're shooting for.' Preference stated for Alice over Raza despite Alice also having layout issues

  • ?

    industry_signal: Discussion of video licensing complications for Pinball Brothers' Predator: Arnold Schwarzenegger footage heavily restricted, necessitating creative workarounds; community suggests open-sourcing code to enable fan modifications as solution

    high · Host describes '500 clips of a close-up of Arnold's pulpit. He couldn't show his face' and proposes FAST Board open access for modders; acknowledges licensing issue as fundamental

  • ?

    supply_chain_signal: Dutch Pinball's Alice in Wonderland delayed beyond 2024 end-of-year target; customers offered opt-out choices; inventory management and production constraints affecting delivery commitments

    high · Host states 'people are not going to get them all by the end of the year, so people are going to have the choice of opting out and all that'

    • 2:16
    Totally. I mean, okay. All right. The Gomez game is terrible, though. Like, y'all, those of you, listen, y'all, bless their hearts. You guys who are newer to pinball, who have never played it, like, you have no idea what bricked shots are.
    2:35
    Like, we maybe talk about some shots brick a lot, like on this new Star Wars, the Star Wars. But the Transformers, you literally were, like, shooting Optimus Prime in the crotch. Like, that was a shot. Like the balls up on the plastics the whole time. And that's the design. It's like Booty Ray is the feature of that game. It's it was meant to be a brick fest. And it's it's and it says it's those dots where they dotified the movie. So they're sloppy as hell. Yeah. Kiss is real dirty. Yeah. Iron Man's the same way. Real dirty dots because they're dirty. Yeah. I hate the dirty dots. Let's be lazy, let's just dotify the movie And then it just looks like a mess So that's the It could be in Transformers The rumor would be Elliot Heisman So the John Wick I didn't think so but That's the rumor Maybe now that Jack stepped back they had no choice Maybe we see Yeah they got rid of Steve Ritchie so Maybe we see The Transformers or Fallout take the place of the first cornerstone of 2026. Well, Transformers, honestly, Gen 1 in particular, could. Yeah, that's what the rumor is. There's a lot of nostalgia to be had there. Gen 1. Had a hell of a movie. There was a hell of a movie they had there with Transformers. The animated movie. That was a good movie. The one from the 80s, or do you mean the newer one? No, the one from the 80s. That was a good movie. Yeah. That was like the first movie a lot of us went to and cried.
    4:14
    Yeah. Because they traumatized us. Yeah, but where trauma leads to sales. Okay. I'll never let go, Jack. I'm just saying. Where's the Titanic pimple? I want it. I want it bad with Leo and Kate Winslet. I fucking want it I wonder if Tony would be with me on that one He a big Titanic to history fan The pro version doesn even have the door that they on
    4:40
    It doesn't even have the... It's a booty right. I just pictured the band playing, like the band members from ACDC with the booty right sticks. JJP does it. And then I get to watch the feature where Eric Menier explains how his friend Slash went ahead and did the, my heart will go on on his electric guitar. And how they, guys, no. He knew Celine personally and called her. At the 11th. I'm just, oh, my God, guys. No.
    5:12
    Don't flex your famous friend in ways where it doesn't work. Just don't do it. Happy night, guys. I love that movie. I fucking love that movie. I don't even care. Paint me like one of your French girls. God, I love it. That's the new video mode.
    5:31
    Use the flipper buttons like an Etch-a-Sketch animator. Dirty dots. All right. Let's talk about Barrels of Fun. Did you see the Dune accessories?
    5:43
    Oh, my gosh. Look at Dune, Michael. You like Dune. The movie and all that in the literary pieces. but they got the accessory, the shooter rod. I don't know what they call it, the Chris knife or whatever it is, the handle. Yeah, Chris knife. Yeah. And then there was like molded sling and in-lane plastics that are like Arrakis. Pretty damn cool, if I don't say so myself. I've got a set ordered for my Dune. Of course, I have to.
    6:12
    We got them on the website, too, flippingoutpitball.com. Buy, buy, buy. I mean, if you have a Dune, you're going to buy them. It's one of those things. I think it's $269 for the bundle. So you get the Chris Knife shooter knob and the plastic mold. They did say a topper is still coming, but it's going to be later on.
    6:33
    Spooky Pinball. They did a factory tour. Bug did a factory tour. A very in-depth one, too. Answered all kinds of questions. So go check that out. That was really neat. I liked all of that. I think they said something about butter cabinets, where they sold more butter cabinets on Evil Dead than they did any other title, which does not surprise me at all. They sold a lot. Did you ever hear the total amount of toppers they sold for Evil Dead? No. It was astonishing how many toppers they sold. It was interesting. There's 888 units in total games sold. I think there were well over 750 toppers. Oh, wow. Yeah, it was like 80% to 90%. And that's how our sales were, too. Everybody bought that topper.
    7:20
    All right. Oh, I was about to say something else. Shut up a sec. CGC, Merlin editions of Medieval Madness now shipping. We got our first little bundle.
    7:32
    How much? Nice. That's not tragic. That's Merlin's magic. And the Cactus Canyon upgrade kits are shipping now. everybody's asking that didn't get one shipped from us yet we did get quite a few but still not the full order yet everybody's like when am I going to get mine they haven't really said but our current estimate would be two to eight weeks I think they're going to get them all made within two months or so could be sooner I don't know Dutch Pinball they're banking on Raza now what I mean by that is I was listening to uh canada's i'm trying to think chris's um is either a stream i think it's the stream where i he was indicating how he's like best friends literally use that term with melvin williams or yeah i think it's melvin williams the person who is dumping a lot of money into dutch pinball he's basically acted as if this melvin williams is keeping the company afloat and talked about the Alice in Wonderland stuff, and they're still shipping those, but people are not going to get them all by the end of the year, so people are going to have the choice of opting out and all that. But he's also saying, and since he's best friends with one of the owners, I would think this is probably maybe true, but he was saying that Back to the Future is still not going to see that forever,
    9:01
    and Dutch is lucky that they doing Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland next because he made it sound like the whole company contingency of still being in business is rooted around Alice and this Raza, which scared the hell out of me because I'm like, wait a minute. You've got this guy, his best friend is helping dumping money into this company, And he's saying basically Raza is keeping this company afloat. That's nuts to even think that if that's the case. If that's the case, how in the hell are they going to do back to the future? It's mind-boggling to me. But I found it very alarming. So have they announced Raza? No, but, I mean, if you're best friends. Do you think Raza does well enough to – it's Dutch, and the way Alice is gone, I just – Raza sucks. That layout – guys, I love J-pop stuff, but the layout's the layout. It sucks. There's nothing to shoot for. I don't know what you're shooting for. Kind of like Alice in Wonderland. I don't know what you're shooting for. Shoot for her trailer. That's right. At least it would be an interactive mech. Like, there's just nothing.
    10:31
    I think Alice, probably the layout, interests me more than Raza. Remember, like, when Deep Root was doing Raza, one of the features was that, like, that spinning stand-up target, like the duck thing? Yeah. On the plunge? No. I'm thinking that was it. Yeah. Like, there was a pop-up or cluster. There was that little jump ramp, too, that other than Jeff Keighley. I don't even remember a jump ramp. I think I only remember I think FTLS said he liked it. The 180 jump ramp kind of thing. The 180 jump ramp. But everyone else I heard didn't like it, so it seemed, broadly speaking, it wasn't a very popular shot.
    11:09
    Man, so it scares me hearing that. But does it really scare you? Yes, because I want Back to the Future.
    11:18
    Sure, but if they don't do it, that frees it up for someone else to do it. You don't really want them to do it, do you? No, but... I'm going to put it like this. There are too many pinball companies right now. There's not a big enough market for all of them. We need some more to go away, not just American pinball.
    11:35
    Pedretti Pinball, or Pedretti Gaming, the rumor is Big Bang Bar remake, announcing possibly at Expo.
    11:45
    You know, 2019, 2020, I bet that it has sold gangbusters. I just don't know if the modern collector cares about Big Bang Bar, because you know it's not going to be worth $25,000 if they do it. That's the whole thing. Again, that's a game that it's rare. It's not great. If I'm Pedretti, and if I do have the rights to Theater of Magic or Tales of the Arabian Nights, and I have the rights to Big Bang Bar, I would make sure I establish a customer-consumer base sooner than later. I would do that with Theater of Magic and Tales of the Arabian Nights. Do you not think the strategy of doing the ultra-rare game might not get them that?
    12:29
    I don't think you have Big Bang. Why do that now if you have Theater of Magic? You need consumer trust.
    12:44
    Especially in the international sales times and tariff times. You need that trust. And what more trust than a beloved game already? Big Bang Bar is not. People don't know. That's a niche kind of thing. But I think their thinking is, this is a guess because I don't know what they're thinking. My guess of their thinking would be that they're saying, okay, well, Big Bang Bar is ultra collectible. So if we do it, a very plebeian analysis by the collector public would be, maybe this one will end up being worth more than I bought it for as well. It happened last time. And thus they get purchases, not to mention the whole, I've never even got the chance. I've never played big bang bar. I've never encountered it. So there's also the whole, Hey, people be excited. Cause it's this, it this storied game with this fascinating history that no one ever gets to play I going to scoop that up It be like if they have the rights to it they might as well do Pinball Circus Because even though that might be a one pony of a turd of a game it so rare that the game sells itself. I'm wondering if that's what they're thinking. I agree with you, Zach, that I would have done theater, but that might be the logic. It's going to be hard to sell a lot of units.
    13:56
    That's what worries me. I wonder if it would be hard for them to sell a lot of any of the games, because there's a fear about them now. There's an aura. There is. Because outside of, well, it's Pedretti and not Pinball Brothers. It's an umbrella. It's all one and the same. Outside of Alien, this is a big nobody cares company. Because Funhaus sold a lot of units, but I don't think the reception once people received it was, I don't think it kept that trajectory in the same... Not like Alien.
    14:32
    Yeah. I did play a remake in it at a show, and it was fine. But I'll never own Funhaus because it's creepy. But their vision of their 2.0 code and animation and call-outs and their art package, it just wasn't what people were really wanting. It went suey. Yeah.
    14:53
    Pinball Brothers. Predators are now shipping, I think. So we'll see. We have some. Enjoy your 500 clips of a close-up of Arnold's pulpit. He couldn't show his face. Oh, man. You know what they would be smart to do? What?
    15:11
    Twins. I think this is legal. What if they... I think this is legal. They could do twins, and they'll just have to zoom in on Arnold's shirt, and that way Danny DeVito's too short to be seen, and you don't see Arnold's face, and it works out, and then we have twins. Just a crotch shot of Arnie. and Danny DeVito. I would have done this. And Pinball Brothers, if you haven't thought of this, please do. If you get the Fast Board system, open access it so that modders or somebody can realize how to switch around those videos. Oh, don't tell the Blues Brothers the game. You can develop your own code. Not intentionally, but I'm saying you know how people did the Jurassic Park? Yeah, but they're not going to gain enough sales to go into this trouble. I think that could help them a lot. It would help, yes, I agree, but not enough to save anything. Just open source it up a little bit. Just make it accessible. Pinball browser, that shit.
    16:09
    Honestly, you know what though, Dennis? It's not enough. I would probably buy Predator if I knew I could throw the code on there to have the Arnie videos. I mean, I get your logic. I just maybe we need to get better licensing. I'm just not thinking of that. If you unintentionally released the Arnold videos during the launch of that game and hurried up and said, no, that's not it, I swear. Watch it, but that's not it. If that was a tactic, then just opening up and making available people to fanfare. Just do an Arnold movie where it's not a weird, complicated licensing arrangement. Do Kindergarten Cop instead. It's not a tumor. Not too much. I love that. Multi-ball.
    16:59
    Kindergarten Cop, I would love. I would love that. Exactly. Again, no, but we've got to have Star Wars, so here you go. Man, that bad guy in that is such a dick.
    17:10
    Commando. Creepy. Remember I said I'd let you go lost? What about Rambo? Do you think Rambo would work?
    17:16
    Sure. I think Rambo would work. Are we doing First Blood? Are we doing Rambo 2? What are we doing? All of them. I don't care. Rambo. So the play field is going to convey Afghanistan, Vietnam, and rural Washington or wherever. What doesn't yell, scream fun and pinball and entertainment like Vietnam?
    17:39
    Yeah, come on. And then they can release the composite bow handle shooter rod. Oh, my gosh. And then you can do the red thing. No, if they're going to do a Sylvester Stallone game, I want them to do Cliffhanger. I want them to get John Lithgow to do the call outs this horrible accent he chews the scenery up so well I think that's it is that good? yeah you can turn it off now see bye