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Beetlejuice Pinball Machine | Full Tour & First Thoughts

Cary Hardy·video·25m 0s·analyzed·Mar 8, 2026
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.026

TL;DR

Cary Hardy's Beetlejuice first-look: excellent theme, frustrating Wi-Fi UX, unreliable voice recognition.

Summary

Cary Hardy receives his first Spooky Pinball machine, Beetlejuice, and provides a detailed day-one tour and impressions. He praises the theme execution and his daughter's enthusiasm, but identifies friction with Spooky's Wi-Fi setup system, unreliable Spooky Speak voice recognition feature, and lack of an interlock safety switch. New code dropped same day with a Catherine O'Hara tribute image.

Key Claims

  • Spooky Pinball is currently in the 30s on game production numbers (for Beetlejuice serial numbering)

    high confidence · Cary Hardy, day one of ownership, discussing serialization

  • Spooky Speak voice recognition feature does not work 100% of the time across multiple machines and streams

    high confidence · Cary Hardy, observed across his own machine and multiple streamer demonstrations

  • Spooky Pinball machines lack an interlock safety switch (unlike other manufacturers) that normally kills high voltage when the coin door opens

    high confidence · Cary Hardy, hardware inspection and comparison to Stern/JJP standards

  • Spooky Pinball's Wi-Fi password entry system is limited to single-letter scrolling (no QWERTY keyboard) and masks input with asterisks

    high confidence · Cary Hardy, direct experience during setup; stated he has already contacted Spooky about improvement

  • New code for Beetlejuice dropped on the day Cary Hardy received his machine, including a Catherine O'Hara tribute image

    high confidence · Cary Hardy, real-time observation of same-day code update

  • Beetlejuice Pinball features a larger subwoofer than other manufacturers' machines (larger than Stern)

    medium confidence · Cary Hardy, hardware comparison during cabinet inspection

  • Beetlejuice Pinball has intake and exhaust ventilation system for temperature control, which Hardy has not seen on other manufacturers

    high confidence · Cary Hardy, observed during playfield inspection

Notable Quotes

  • “It's none other than more than likely their best yet. It may be too little early to say that, but it's my favorite game so far that they've done.”

    Cary Hardy@ 2:47 — Hardy's overall positive assessment of Beetlejuice compared to other Spooky titles, sets baseline sentiment

  • “The way I've done it and the way I'm doing it going forward is that I'm using my phone as a hotspot and I've got the password set to the same character just eight times in a row so I don't have to scroll through.”

    Cary Hardy@ 8:42 — Reveals workaround for Spooky's poor Wi-Fi UX, indicates severity of usability frustration

  • “I don't want to say I rest my case, but it doesn't work 100% of the time. So, that is a little bit aggravating for something that kind of comes with the purchase of the topper.”

    Cary Hardy@ 10:16 — Critical assessment of Spooky Speak reliability across multiple conditions; signals design flaw

  • “This is Beetlejuice, guys. This is They have nailed this theme inside and out with the call outs, what you're hearing, what you're seeing. It is Beetlejuice.”

    Cary Hardy@ 12:07 — Strong endorsement of theme execution and art direction, indicates Spooky succeeded on core design promise

  • “Spooky games... is that we don't have an interlock switch. On pretty much every other manufacturer, you're going to have an interlock switch... But this doesn't have that, which is interesting.”

    Cary Hardy@ 16:04 — Identifies safety design departure from industry standard; raises questions about Spooky's engineering philosophy

  • “My daughter Charlotte has already got the Magna Save down a lot faster than it took me to get it down. And she says that this is her new favorite game so far.”

Entities

Cary HardypersonSpooky PinballcompanyBeetlejuicegameCharlotte HardypersonBrady HearnpersonFrankiepersonCatherine O'HarapersonJersey Jack Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    product_concern: Spooky Pinball's Wi-Fi password entry system is severely limited in UX (single-letter scrolling, no QWERTY, masked input), forcing users to adopt workarounds like simple repeated-character passwords.

    high · Hardy demonstrated direct frustration during setup and detailed the workaround he implemented; stated he already contacted Spooky about this being 'a learning curve' and promised future improvements.

  • ?

    product_concern: Spooky Speak voice recognition feature on Beetlejuice topper does not work reliably (not 100% success rate); issue has been observed across multiple machines and multiple streamers.

    high · Hardy tested multiple times on his own machine, tried different accents, and confirmed seeing the issue across multiple Twitch streams. States: 'it doesn't work 100% of the time.'

  • ?

    product_concern: Spooky Pinball Beetlejuice lacks an interlock safety switch standard on other manufacturers' machines, which normally kills high voltage when coin door opens.

    high · Hardy identified missing interlock switch hardware during cabinet inspection and explicitly contrasted with 'pretty much every other manufacturer.' Stated uncertainty about whether door opening cuts power or if an undiscovered sensor exists.

  • ?

    code_update: New code update for Beeteljuice released on same day as Hardy's delivery, adding Catherine O'Hara tribute image (likely 'RIP' or similar) that displays during attract mode.

    high · Hardy observed and confirmed: 'New code did drop today... they've already got an image and it's a basically a rest in peace. Uh, Catharine O'Hara has now been included.'

  • ?

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

1:04
Heat. Heat.
1:04
Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> Heat. Heat.
2:03
Heat. Heat.
2:03
Heat. Heat. [music]
2:30
What's up, guys? And welcome back to the
2:30
What's up, guys? And welcome back to the channel where I talk and do everything pinball. So, if that sounds interesting to you, then hit the subscribe button down below. Here we are, day one of my very first spooky pinball machine. And it's none other than more than likely their best yet. It may be too little early to say that, but it's my favorite game so far that they've done. And the theme has a little bit something to do with that. But it's now in the lineup back there. And everybody's wanting to know also whenever I post the pictures up online, Carrie, what number is it? Now, I know mainly you guys want to know what number it is because you're curious of when your game's going to be made. At this current point in time, I want to say they're in the 30s on what game numbers are being made. Mine doesn't have a number. I'm not sure if it's considered a show game or what, but it's literally just says Hardy Pinball on there. So, there you go with that. So, where we're at on the game is that I got it today and I had to hold off because I wanted my girls to be here to set the game up. Mainly my daughter Charlotte because she does love Beetlejuice. She loves the original movie, but we saw the sequel and she was like, I like the first one better. I'm like 100% I'm right there with you. So, it was one of those where I wanted her to see it and see it all come up there, play it for the first time and everything like that. I wanted her to also be a part of the whole unboxing, but I did have a little bit of footage of my youngest daughter and when Charlotte saw the game for the first time, at least in the box form or all wrapped up. [screaming]

Cary Hardy@ 11:13 — Third-party validation from casual player; indicates accessibility and appeal beyond hardcore base

Stern Pinball
company
Harry Pottergame
Foo Fightersgame

design_innovation: Beetlejuice features intake and exhaust ventilation system for active thermal management inside cabinet, which Hardy has not observed on other manufacturers.

high · Hardy inspected cabinet during tour and noted: 'this is something I haven't seen on other manufacturers is that you have an intake and exhaust for the entire cabinet to keep the entire machine at a decent temperature.'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Hardy experienced adjustment period transitioning from Harry Potter's playfield layout and design philosophy to Beetlejuice's different mechanical design, but improving with play time.

    medium · Hardy stated: 'I think a little bit of this is because I've been playing so much of Harry Potter lately. So, getting into a completely different type of design layout and play style is catching me a little bit off guard. But, I'm putting the time in on it.'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Strong positive reception to Beetlejuice's theme execution, artwork, and atmosphere by Hardy and casual players (his daughter); considered Hardy's favorite Spooky title so far.

    high · Hardy: 'This is Beetlejuice, guys. This is They have nailed this theme inside and out.' Also: 'If you are a fan of this theme, then you're going to be a fan of this game more than likely.'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Beetlejuice currently in 30s production numbers; Hardy's machine appears to be special show/demo unit with 'Hardy Pinball' custom nameplate instead of standard serial number.

    high · Hardy stated: 'they're in the 30s on what game numbers are being made. Mine doesn't have a number... it's literally just says Hardy Pinball on there.' Suggests gifting/promotional unit vs. retail serial.

  • ?

    content_signal: Hardy producing comprehensive content coverage of Beetlejuice across formats (unboxing, hardware tour, impressions, family reactions), with promised follow-up coverage; patron-supported channel.

    high · Multi-part video series implied; Hardy mentions 'I'll probably do more content obviously about this game down the road' and thanks Patreon supporters for sustaining channel.

  • ?

    community_signal: Hardy has already communicated product feedback to Spooky Pinball (Wi-Fi UX, Spooky Speak reliability) with expectation of future improvements; suggests open communication channel between content creators and manufacturer.

    medium · Hardy stated: 'I've already spoken to them and this is going to be improved down the road' and 'I've already brought it to their attention on things that I would like to see improved and I'm sure it will be improved down the road.'

    • 4:34
    [laughter] >> So, yes, they are excited. And I don't
    4:36
    So, yes, they are excited. And I don't
    4:36
    So, yes, they are excited. And I don't think they've actually been able to play a full game on it with the topper and everything because I didn't get this on here until they left for the weekend with their aunt. So, when they get back, they'll get to continue playing this. and my daughter can try to see if she can beat my score like she did earlier on live stream for those that have watched that. She played better than me. But, you know, I think a little bit of this is is because I've been playing so much of Harry Potter lately. So, getting into a completely different type of design layout and play style is catching me a little bit off guard. But, I'm putting the time in on it and I'm learning it and I'm getting better. And as I'm getting better at it, the game for me is shooting better and better. Now, I know that everybody kind of wants my first impressions on the game. And I don't know if I've given that or not because I played this game at the midnight release at Spooky's warehouse and everything when the first when the game got first revealed. And that's when I put my deposit in and was ready to buy the game. So, I would like to hope that you guys seeing that I purchased the game went all the way through and it's here says a little something about how I feel about the game. Now, I know there's going to be some of you that are going to go, "Well, Carrie, what about King Kong? How long are you going to throw that in my face?" The one time that I break my own rule of buying a game before I play it, and wow, big surprise, I regretted it. But that aside, definitely I'm not regretting Beetlejuice so far. Oh, I hope he didn't hear me say it cuz I know he's listening. Okay, he didn't catch it this time. Okay, good. But I think it definitely I got my my first scare with the game. If you saw the intro all the way through, then you saw the driver doing a lot of shake shake and trying to get this game off the tailgate. And I had to do a little bit of assist. I mainly just wanted to break the game's fall in case for whatever reason it did topple over kind of thing. But I was really wanting some better shots, but I had to on my drone, but I had to go up there and help the guy kind of thing. But I I I did enough. I But regardless, the the game came out no issues. The game setup went without issue. Purring like a kitten right now. The only criticism that I have, and I've said this on a separate video for my patrons out there, is regards to their system, and I say their system like you go into settings and you're messing with things, mainly the Wi-Fi and and I've already spoken to them and this is going to be improved down the road. This is something that's very new to their system is the whole Wi-Fi and downloading updates. And this is a learning curve for me because I'm not familiar with their system. I'm familiar with JJP's now and with Sterns, but with theirs, I found it very limited and aggravating. And simply enough, it just the way you input a password for your Wi-Fi on this system, it is aggravating because you can only do one letter at a time, scrolling through upper and lowercase letters instead of a certy keyboard type of thing. And it's always like asterisks out, like you can't see what you've already typed. And you kind of probably know where I'm going with this. And that is whenever you're typing a password in to log into your computer or whatever. And what happens if when your finger slips or if your mind goes off and you forget what you've already typed in? What are you going to do? You probably say, "F this." and you end up starting all over again, which isn't too bad on a keyboard, but whenever you're going one letter at a time and scrolling up and down till you find the right letter and you're halfway through your password, trust me, you're going to feel it. So, the way I've done it and the way I'm doing it going forward is that I'm using my phone as a hotspot and I've got the password set to the same character just eight times in a row so I don't have to scroll through and I'm only going to need the Wi-Fi whenever I'm downloading updates for the game anyway. So, it's not a major inconvenience. And like I said, I've already brought it to their attention on things that I would like to see improved and I'm sure it will be improved down the road. Some other little tidbits of criticism I have because I mean, I'm going to give you criticism that I'm going to do this guys. I mean, I don't want you guys thinking even though I'm wearing shirts and clothes and got the game and all that jazz, you would think that I'm going to sit here and just shill, shill, shill, but I'm going to let you know the things that I don't like. And currently the thing that kind of aggravates me a little, and this has been something that's been true since I first played and saw the game, is that the spooky speak isn't 100%. It doesn't always work. I don't know why. I don't know. They don't know why, but it's been on multiple streams and different people streaming it. It doesn't work every single time. And in the end, it is a little bit of a gimmick. I get it. But whenever you got your daughter and you're like, "Yo, say this phrase, say this phrase, say this." And then the game's just looking at you like it makes it seem like you're either insane or something's wrong with the machine. But chances are it probably will listen to me now. But you know what? Let's just see. Hello.
    10:14
    Nothing. I don't want to say I rest my case, but it doesn't work 100% of the time. So, that is a little bit aggravating for something that kind of comes with the purchase of the topper, but the topper looks great. I just really wish that they would figure out what's going on with the spooky speak. I've tried different accents. You can blame it on my Texas accent all you want to, but I
    10:40
    I don't know if it's responding to me or if it's just showing in a track mode, but I got Juno back there talking about stuff. But yeah, regardless, I mean, I've tried different accents and everything because I know that my Texas accent can sometimes be a little thick, but I would like to see that definitely pro improved. And I'm not sure if that's something that's going to be on future machines. And knowing what their next titles are, I'm curious how that could be implemented, but maybe it can. But this may just be a one-off. But my daughter Charlotte has already got the Magna Save down a lot faster than it took me to get it down. And she says that this is her new favorite game so far. Although it wouldn't sound like it when every once in a while there would be a sense of frustration that comes out, but she was really enjoying with what she was seeing and hearing, at least so far. She'll get some more time on it here in the next couple of days when she gets back from her aunt's house. So, new code did drop today, the day that I received my game. So, that has been installed. And I have noticed that they've already got an image and it's a basically a rest in peace. Uh, Katherine O'Hara has now been included that every once in a while will show up during the track mode. So, that's very nice of them to include something like that in this game. But aesthetically, this is Beetlejuice, guys. This is They have nailed this theme inside and out with the call outs, what you're hearing, what you're seeing. It is Beetlejuice. I I I don't know what other way to describe it. If you are a fan of this theme, then you're going to be a fan of this game more than likely. I can't guarantee that you're going to like how it shoots. To each their own, but I will guarantee you that if you are a fan, you will appreciate all the work and effort that they put underneath the glass to do this theme justice. Let's take a tour of the inside of Beetlejuice over here. As you can see, the game is powered off, but at least this will give you a look underneath the game. Everyone's seen the exterior and knows what that looks like, but not everybody has gotten to see up close and personal of the engineering and architecture and organization and all that jazz that is involved in underneath. So, let's kind of show that off for everyone to see. A lot of you see all this and kind of just go, it all looks like a different language to me. But as you get familiar with machines and working on machines, you'll be able to identify a lot of these parts and components.
    13:38
    Whether it be, oh, oh yeah, this is a flipper coil. A lot of people don't even know that, guys. Magnet. A lot of people don't know that. Your trough. little stuff like this. These right here, these are servo motors along with uh 3D printed parts and everything that allows things to move up and down. So, you're going to see that for your shooter lane area. And then you're going to see it down here for the drop targets for the worm. And then you'll see it I want to say there was another one. Oh, yeah. Somewhere over here. I thought, but I could be mistaken. Yeah, right here for Beetlejuice himself that goes up and down.
    14:27
    But nice little touch right here. Doesn't need to be powder coated, but they did. So, nice little touch.
    14:40
    When it comes to the sound system, it looks like they've got a very large subwoofer in this damn thing. Definitely larger than you have seen in uh other manufacturers. Not to, you know, point fingers, but Stern, you have your amplifier right here. And uh Brady Hearn, the guy that did the composing, the composer for the music for this game, reached out to me and gave me his settings. So, I now have my knobs all turned in the correct orientation per his request. I guess the only thing I have with in regards to this is that I wish there was an easier way to see for sure where my knobs are turned. I had to like get at a certain angle and see the very tips over here to make sure that they were at a current spot. But this thing is screwed to the bottom of the cabinet. And the only way you can really see where you have your knobs turned is by unscrewing those or getting a mirror. But so access to that is not as easy as I would like it to be. I do not have my uh my tilt bobber on there. I don't care. You can give me [ __ ] all you want to, but I'm I'm like beating the hell out of this damn game. Uh, something else I've noticed about spooky games, cuz this is my first game if I haven't already specified this, is that we don't have a interlock switch. On pretty much every other manufacturer, you're going to have an interlock switch. And this is what this right here is supposed to be pressing up against. This kills your high voltage, which is, you know, 42 volts or 48 volts, depending on how you want to look at it, to the entire game as a safety measure. But this doesn't have that, which is interesting. I'm kind of curious. I'm going to start a game and see if I can play this game with this door completely open. I'm going to assume that I can. I don't see another sensor anywhere that would detect the door being open. But that was just something I've noticed. Not something I'm really too concerned about or anything, but I guess if you're worried about touching something that's high voltage, merely opening the coin door doesn't look to be something that you can do to keep your high voltage at bay.
    17:01
    So, that's the inside of the cabinet right there. At least this portion. Let's pull the play fill down and look further back and I can show you something else. So back here you can see we have power supplies. We've got about at least three of them it looks like. And then back here you have an exhaust system. Now, this is something I haven't seen on other manufacturers is that you have an intake and exhaust for the entire cabinet to keep the entire machine at a decent temperature, which is interesting. I I mean, this is something, like I said, I've never seen on anybody else. And maybe there's method to this madness here, but it makes sense. So, that way the heat's just not building up inside the box. It's got somewhere to go. Cool air going in, hot air going out. I mean, hopefully I mean, I like to assume that they've done all kinds of testing with smoke and everything to make sure that we don't have any kind of pockets building up in there, but that's getting way too technical on this.
    18:13
    Oh, just noticed I've got a screw down here. Maybe it goes right there. That looks like it. I don't know if they usually come with three or they're supposed to come with four, but that looks like where this might go. I don't know.
    18:37
    So, they provide you this cushion whenever you're lifting the playfield up to go against your topper and everything up there. They don't have any kind of system to keep the balls from rolling out. But on this game, I guess it doesn't matter because they all kind of catch right here underneath the barn. So, at first I was like, "Oh man, they're just they're falling out of the machine." Then, nope, they all just kind of catch right there. So, that's actually, at least for this game, very acceptable because the balls aren't going down into the playfield and falling into the cabinet. This is a nice little thing. A lot of other machines don't have that and you're going to have balls going everywhere. So, that's pretty cool. Whether that be a happy little accident or purposeful, I don't know. But, still just something to note. And here we have inside the back box. Not a lot back here, but you have your main computer
    19:43
    speakers. I don't know if these are good or bad. They look pretty much there's no labels or anything on them to indicate to me their power or whatever. So, uh I don't know. But I'm just Even the same thing with the subwoofer. I didn't see a lot of information on there. It just definitely looked larger. But
    20:07
    that's that right there. From what little I can say about the exterior of the cabinet that has not already been stated by me and everybody else that loves this game and loves the theme, Franchie obviously did an amazing job. I'm going to use the phrase that he loved to hear so much he knocked it out of the park. So that's obviously a joke. He does not like that term. But the fact remains is that he totally nailed it. He did it justice. I'm very pleased with what he has done with this game. So there's your tour of inside of the spooky pinballs Beetlejuice game. And in case you're curious how I turn my machines on, I use my little [ __ ] over here. Alexa, turn on Beetlejuice.
    21:03
    That's right. I get jump in the line playing. [laughter]
    21:14
    I think I've got it on like a uh 20 or
    21:14
    I think I've got it on like a uh 20 or 30 second timer for it. I may set it up to where it plays the entire time the game is booting up. >> Once I figure out how long it takes to
    21:23
    Once I figure out how long it takes to
    21:23
    Once I figure out how long it takes to boot up, then I'll just go in there and adjust that accordingly. But, you know, since I don't have that song in the game, damn it, I'm going to get my feel of it that way. I keep turning around and looking back at the game trying to figure out if there's anything else that I need to mention or talk about. But this is really day one of me having the game. And these are just the things that I've noticed immediately that I feel like I need to mention. I fully I have not fully experienced this game yet. There's still modes that I have yet to see and go through, especially with the new code. So, who knows what else has been added to it. So, I'm going to bring this video to a close so I can get back to jamming on it. So, this is merely going to be just like early impressions of day one of my new game. One thing I I I I need to put in here also is my daughter's reaction to seeing the topper for the first time. I thought that was a little funny.
    22:28
    Ew. [laughter]
    22:28
    Ew. [laughter] >> It's got real hair.
    22:29
    It's got real hair.
    22:29
    It's got real hair. >> Yeah. [laughter]
    22:33
    Yeah. [laughter]
    22:33
    Yeah. [laughter] Ew. [snorts] >> Does it actually move?
    22:36
    Does it actually move?
    22:36
    Does it actually move? >> Yeah.
    22:38
    Yeah.
    22:38
    Yeah. Why is it so old? >> No, it's not old. Just the way it looks.
    22:43
    No, it's not old. Just the way it looks.
    22:43
    No, it's not old. Just the way it looks. >> It's the snake. That's what I thought it
    22:45
    It's the snake. That's what I thought it
    22:45
    It's the snake. That's what I thought it was. [laughter] >> It's the snake. Oh.
    22:49
    It's the snake. Oh.
    22:49
    It's the snake. Oh. Woo. Want to pull the plastic wrapping off. Careful. >> Stuck to the bottom.
    22:58
    Stuck to the bottom.
    22:58
    Stuck to the bottom. >> Oh, it's got a piece up underneath here. hair is flattening down. If you take a deep breath and blow in his face.
    23:24
    All right, we've got the topper. So, when it comes to mods, I don't know of any mods that need to go underneath the glass. There is something that I might like to do, and that is make underneath the game glow. kind of like I've got with my Foo Fighters right now. Hell, I might even just take them off Foo Fighters and put them over there on Beetlejuice to have me a nice like a purple glow or something or maybe even mimic the lights that they have going on inside the game. Got me curious now. But I think I'm going to wrap this video up for right now. Like I said, this is early impressions and my feelings on the game so far. I'll probably do more content obviously about this game down the road, but until then, thanks for watching guys and a special thank you obviously to all my Patreon supporters out there. Your monthly contribution is very much appreciated.
    24:17
    I mean, you just don't know how frustrating it is >> to get about six characters through on
    24:21
    to get about six characters through on
    24:21
    to get about six characters through on the password for this damn system and >> let alone all the way through and then
    24:26
    let alone all the way through and then
    24:26
    let alone all the way through and then hit yes to connect and then you wait and then you wait and then it turns you down and you don't know if it turns you down because the password's incorrect or if something's going on with the just the connection in general. Uh, does it not able to connect to wireless N, B, or G? I do not know. It's just so that's the only thing. Mainly just do that little fix. And there might be more in the settings, but that is the thing that stuck out the most to me so far.