Pinball Omnibus: Episode 9

Cary Hardy·video·14m 2s·analyzed·Jan 31, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Lyman Sheets Jr. passes; new games and hardware announced; Texas Pinball Festival upcoming.

Summary

Cary Hardy discusses major pinball industry news including the death of legendary code designer Lyman Sheets Jr., new game announcements from Multimorphic (Flipper Foxtrot Rhythm Explosion) and Quetzal Pinball (Super Hoop), code updates to Rush Pinball, reproduction hardware from Pinsound, and upcoming events like Texas Pinball Festival. He also covers restoration products from Classic Playfield Reproductions and updates on delayed remake projects.

Key Claims

Lyman Sheets Jr. passed away on January 21st, 2022
high confidence · Direct statement by Cary Hardy at episode opening
Lyman Sheets Jr. was code designer for Attack from Mars, Metallica, Monster Bash, Spider-Man, Sopranos, The Walking Dead, and Cactus Canyon Remake
high confidence · Cary Hardy listing known works
Flipper Foxtrot Rhythm Explosion's primary objective is to not play pinball (similar to Guitar Hero mechanics)
high confidence · Hardy describing the Multimorphic P3 game mechanics from watching streams
Stern fixed an annoying sound issue on the scoop in Rush Pinball through code update
high confidence · Hardy discussing recent code changes
Cactus Canyon Remake's production status is uncertain following Lyman Sheets Jr.'s death
medium confidence · Hardy speculating about CGC's plans going forward
Quetzal Pinball has been developing Super Hoop since at least Chicago Expo 2019
high confidence · Hardy recounting his personal experience playing the prototype
Haggis Pinball announced Fathom remake would begin in summer (July) but hasn't delivered pictures yet
medium confidence · Hardy discussing delayed remake timeline
Texas Pinball Festival is approximately 60 days away and expected to be larger than previous years
medium confidence · Hardy estimating timeline and discussing Ed's expectations

Notable Quotes

“Most of you know this person by his work and that is the coding involved in many of the games that you enjoy.”
Cary Hardy@ 0:28 — Introduction to tribute for Lyman Sheets Jr.
“I have never seen a game where the objective is to not play pinball on a pinball machine.”
Cary Hardy@ 2:37 — Commentary on Flipper Foxtrot Rhythm Explosion's unconventional game design
“when I standing in front of a pinball machine I would prefer to play pinball”
Cary Hardy@ 3:13 — Opinion on preference for traditional pinball gameplay over Guitar Hero mechanics
“It's just enjoyable to do just like it's enjoyable to hit the soccer ball or pinball into the goal on World Cup Soccer.”
Cary Hardy@ 5:03 — Describing the satisfying tactile feedback of Super Hoop gameplay
“I am all up for reproduction boards for pinball machines. This is something that, you know, we're starting to lose reproduction versions of said boards for games, and games are beginning to die.”
Cary Hardy@ 7:27 — Strong advocacy for preservation hardware like Pinsound's Rocket CPU
“this might be the biggest show yet due to the fact there's going to be even more people who have never been before coming in”
Cary Hardy@ 8:37 — Prediction about Texas Pinball Festival growth

Entities

Lyman Sheets Jr.person Cary Hardyperson Multimorphiccompany Quetzal PinballcompanyStern PinballcompanyChicago Gaming Companycompany Classic Playfield ReproductionscompanyPinsoundcompany

Signals

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business_signal: Uncertainty about Chicago Gaming Company's plans for Cactus Canyon Remake following loss of code designer Lyman Sheets Jr.
medium · Hardy speculates: 'CGC was the one that's going to be banking when it comes to selling Lyman's code for Cactus Canyon Remake. And now that that's not going to happen, I'm curious to see what their plans are going to be'
?
event_signal: Texas Pinball Festival anticipated to be largest event yet with increased international attendance and returning visitors
medium · Hardy: 'this might be the biggest show yet due to the fact there's going to be even more people who have never been before coming in'
?
community_signal: John Borg and Tim Sexton from Stern discussing Rush pinball on third-party livestream (Marco Specialties), indicating openness to community engagement on recent releases
high · Hardy mentions Marco livestream with Borg and Sexton discussing Rush and answering audience questions
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product_strategy: Haggis Pinball's Fathom remake significantly delayed from promised summer 2021 timeline; still no production photos despite recent claim of being 'on the line'
high · Hardy states: 'they told us last year that they're going to be doing their fathom remake starting in the summer...due to the pandemic and park shortages and a number of other things, that hasn't happened'
?
product_concern: Multimorphic's Flipper Foxtrot Rhythm Explosion represents significant departure from traditional pinball gameplay, potentially alienating players seeking conventional pinball experience

Transcript

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0:00

what's up guys and welcome back to another episode of pinball omnibus where i talk about a lot of things going on in this hobby in just a short amount of time so let's get started let's start out with the sad news and that is the fact that january 21st of 2022 we lost a pinball legend and that was Lyman Sheets Jr. Most of you know this person by his work and that is the coding involved in many of the games that you enjoy. Just to name off a couple of those games, you have Attack from Mars, Metallica, Monster Bash, Spider-Man, Sopranos, The Walking Dead, and even more, the upcoming title of Cactus Canyon Remake. And by all means, he has had his hands in a number of machines, and I will put a link down below so you can see what all he has been involved in. I mean, what's curious about this whole thing, and it's upsetting without a doubt, guys, but what's curious is that they still have not yet revealed the reason behind his passing, the cause of death that has not been announced or revealed. And that's just a little weird, I must say. And I understand it's not like they have to announce that obviously because the family, that is up to them whether or not that information should be revealed to the public. So I get it. It's just usually if it's not announced, there's something weird going on. But I think a lot of people out there, including myself, must question what CGC has in store for Cactus Canyon Remake. because as all of us know, we were really banking, and I say banking, but I mean CGC was the one that's going to be banking when it comes to selling Lyman's code for Cactus Canyon Remake. And now that that's not going to happen, I'm curious to see what their plans are going to be. And I'm obviously not pushing for them to hurry up and tell us. That will be unveiled sometime in the future. But I'm curious to see what happens with that next. Next up is P3's Multimorphic with their new game Flipper Foxtrot. Nope, let me get this right. Flipper Foxtrot Rhythm Explosion.

2:24

So there you go on that. So as going through this game and what it does and how you play it and watching the video, the stream of how you go about playing this, I must say, I have never seen a game where the objective is to not play pinball on a pinball machine. That is where it's kind of curious and like, that's strange. Basically, if you're playing pinball at this time, basically you messed up. The objective is to not miss any notes. And I'm sure they're well aware, as those of us aware out there, that this game is not an uncommon thing to have or have seen before when it comes to Dance Dance Revolution. But more often than not, we're going to recognize this game as being Guitar Hero. But to see it on a pinball machine and the primary objective is to not play pinball...

3:20

It's different. Don get me wrong I like Guitar Hero games I relatively decent at them but when I standing in front of a pinball machine I would prefer to play pinball but that just my two cents This past Thursday Marco on their live stream had John Borg and Tim Sexton from Stern discussing their latest title, Rush. If you would like to see the VOD, I will put a link in the description down below where they discuss many things and answer many questions from the audience. And while we're on the topic of Rush Pinball, something recently discussed with me is the fact that Stern has changed some of the code in the game so there is no longer the annoying sound on the scoop. So bravo, I'm glad they fixed that, but it's one of those things where luckily the main issues I had with the game were all fixable when it comes to the code. Next up we have a new pinball machine from a not so well known pinball company. Ketzel Pinball Reveals Super Hoop. Now the thing is I remember playing this game at Chicago Expo 2019 and honestly I was having a lot of fun on this game. It was one of those where I didn't know that at the time it was just their prototype. They had a couple of other pinball machines there but I kept coming back to super hoop and I think the reason why I was finding it so funny is that I'm not a basketball fan just as well as I'm not a soccer fan but for whatever reason this game was the best of the three that I believe they had there at that time I kept going back to it it's one of those things where whatever the it shoots the ball up there and makes it through the basket it's just one of those things it's just enjoyable to do just like it's enjoyable to hit the soccer ball or pinball into the goal on World Cup Soccer. It's the same nice tactical satisfaction that you get when playing Super Hoop. My buddies at RB Flip did a video stream showing off this game recently. I will put a link in the description down below if you would like to see it in its entirety. Classic Playfield Reproductions has revealed, and I have also helped them reveal, their new mirror back glass for Johnny Mnemonic. I am glad that I guess I'm a little bit of a contributor to the pinball restoration now when it comes to them utilizing my original Translight to make the new and improved mirrored back glass. And it looks amazing. I did a video on it. If you have not seen it, I suggest you check it out if you would like to see what they are capable of. Now, as per any mirror back glass that they do, it's going to be a mixed bag for those of you out there that want it to be just like the original. Because CPR does tend to change things up a bit. And a lot of people just don't want change. They want it to be just like it was back in the day. But, as you can see, there are some liberties when it comes to adding mirroring effects. I personally like it, and a lot of people that own a Johnny Mnemonic like it as well. I've also obtained the Mirror Swords of Fury version. As you can see, that game finally has a back glass on it. I have video footage showing that off as well, so look forward to that in the future. Outside Edge, the makers for Hard Tops, has done a teaser showing off what their next Hard Top will be. And it's one of those where they do a little teaser and it's not like it's difficult to figure out what game it's going to be. So judging by this sample picture their next title will be Electro Next up for products for pinball is Pinsound Now a lot of you know Pinsound for their DMD boards their Pinsound Plus boards and pretty soon you going to be seeing that another product from them is going to be their Rocket CPU. Now this is something I definitely would like to be involved in in some form or fashion. I still need to get in touch with them to see if I can be somewhat of a, I don't know, help promote this. Because I am all up for reproduction boards for pinball machines. This is something that, you know, we're starting to lose reproduction versions of said boards for games, and games are beginning to die. Pensound makes, like, hardcore rock-solid hardware boards. They are very, very awesome. So to have them be stepping into the CPU version of boards to put into your games is definitely enticing. So by all means, be on the lookout for that upcoming hardware. I'm going to get in touch with them here pretty soon to see if maybe I can be involved in, I don't know, promoting that hardware. Whether it be me trying a board out to see what I think about it, I don't know. We'll see. More than likely not, but you never know. And next up we have Texas Pinball Festival is merely, what, maybe 60 days away? Less than that, guys. And I have been contacted by many of you out there who live in different countries letting me know that this will be your first time to attend. And it's one of those where I've talked with Ed recently to letting him know that, hey, man, this might be the biggest show yet due to the fact there's going to be even more people who have never been before coming in. and those that have already been before are definitely wanting to return. If there's anybody out there that has gone to Texas Pinball Festival and you go, I'm never going to that show again, let me know in the comments section down below. I'm just curious if there are people like you out there. So let me know. And as per my yearly usual, I will be doing a couple of videos in the near future promoting Texas Pinball Festival, trying to get some information out there. Those of you that would like to be an exhibitor or just to be an attendee. I would like to give you all the information to help you decide what you want to do in the near future when it comes to Texas Pinball Festival. Next up, I happen to see this going through, I want to say, Facebook pinball enthusiast. Someone showing off their Terminator 2 pinball machine. And now usually I've seen a lot of tricked out Terminator 2 machines, guys. I've seen so many where it's honestly, I'm just like, yeah, yeah, yeah, next. I've seen too much. This one's a little bit different, mainly due to the decals that he's used on the cabinet.

9:59

As awesome as it is, I would hate to be in charge of having to make sure that fingerprints don't show up on that. It seems like it would just really stand out, but this game looks damn cool. I don't know if I'm a big fan of all the, uh, Terminator 2, you know, sculpting things that are on the play field. That might be a little much. I don't know. Uh, that's the only thing that kind of like sticks out in my mind when it comes to looking at this machine But um everything else is like wow it pretty impressive So my hats off to you uh i don know your name but i had to i put the video here for those of you out there to see obviously and i'll put a name in the video for who posted for the terminator 2 pinball machine so next up is haggis now they told us last year that they're going to be doing their fathom remake starting in the summer i want to say july and due to the pandemic and park shortages and a number of other things, that hasn't happened. But they have posted recently that they are now getting Fathom on the line. But they haven't given us any pictures, so we're just gonna have to take their word for it. By all means, I really want Haggis to succeed, so I'm really hoping that Fathom is in fact in the manufacturing state. they get these games out so then they can hopefully move on to Centaur being their next remake. Actually, I can wait. I don't have the room. I don't even have room for my Cactus Canyon. I really don't know where I'm going to put it yet. And finally, I want to discuss with you guys whenever you're shopping on marcospecialties.com and you do come across a particular part that is currently on backorder or out of stock and you have the option to be notified via email for when they do get it I highly recommend that you do press that button because that's how they know for sure the demand is there for said product and I know there's plenty of you out there that when you're shopping for a part and you see they don't have it then you move on to another website how do i know you're doing that because i do the same thing so i'm trying to make it an effort going forward to put me on the let me know whenever it's there that they need to know that there is in fact a need and necessity for said part so they can start stalking them again and that's going to wrap it up for this episode of pinball omnibus and i'm sure there's plenty of you out there that are wondering what happened right here i get into a fight or whatever my wife beat me something like that no my dog got a little rambunctious and clawed me so I'm actually surprised it was only that bad I almost lost an eye because she got me above my eyelid as well but anyways it'll heal over time wife says I look like a badass now whatever works I've got plenty of videos that are definitely on the cutting board guys I just need to get the time to sit down and focus on getting them out.