Avengers Pinball is Here and I Don't Care....Yet.

Cary Hardy·video·17m 18s·analyzed·Sep 13, 2020

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.024

TL;DR

Carrie Hardy unimpressed by Avengers streams; won't buy without playing first.

Summary

Carrie Hardy expresses lukewarm interest in Stern's new Avengers pinball machine despite initial hype, citing poor stream presentation, overly complex rules explanations, and boring spectator experience. She emphasizes her preference for playing games before purchasing and criticizes the development team's unprofessional stream conduct and messaging to potential new players in the hobby.

Key Claims

Avengers came out too soon after TMNT; there must be underlying reasons for the quick release
medium confidence · Opening section discussing timeline of recent Stern releases
The first Avengers stream had poor internet quality and convoluted rules explanation
high confidence · Direct observation of stream quality and content delivery
Carrie fell asleep during both Avengers streams, similar to experience with Stranger Things pinball
high confidence · Repeated statement across multiple stream viewings
The game rules presentation was too complicated and information-dense for new audiences
high confidence · Detailed critique of rules explanation methodology and comparison to TMNT simplicity
Jurassic Park pinball was mesmerizing to watch in comparison to Avengers
high confidence · Direct comparison of spectator experience between two games
Development team seemed dismissive of co-op questions and eventually said no co-op despite audience interest
medium confidence · Observation of team's response pattern to repeated audience questions
The development team had off-topic personal conversations during the stream that distracted from product promotion
high confidence · Direct criticism of second stream conduct and priorities
A sound check where someone said 'fart' gave new audiences a negative first impression of the pinball community
high confidence · Specific incident during first stream presentation

Notable Quotes

“I was a little worried that this game was going to make me regret purchasing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
Carrie Hardy@ 1:19 — Establishes her initial concern about Avengers cannibalizing TMNT value
“I'm not going to drop six plus grand on something and I haven't even experienced it yet”
Carrie Hardy@ 3:17 — Core principle: plays before purchasing, criticizes day-one buyers
“something happened guys something happened that I was not expecting while watching this and that was that I fell asleep”
Carrie Hardy@ 4:11 — Key critique: game was not entertaining to watch despite potential to play well
“You have got a license that is massive, that is reaching a whole span of possibly millions of different people that are unaware pinball and all that lies in this hobby. You're trying to capture a new audience.”
Carrie Hardy@ 6:45 — Explains why stream quality and professionalism matter for market growth
“Dumb it down, guys. I mean, like, just give us the basics right now. We just need the basics of how to play a game.”
Carrie Hardy@ 9:04 — Core feedback on rules presentation strategy
“my initial impression so far with Avengers is that it doesn't interest me. I have all the faith in my current game of TMNT over here. I do not have any regrets as of right now.”
Carrie Hardy@ 13:10 — Clear statement of current stance: not interested, satisfied with TMNT

Entities

Carrie HardypersonStern PinballcompanyKeith Elwinperson Avengersgame Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesgame Zombie Yetiperson Black Knight Sword of Ragegame Stranger Thingsgame

Signals

?
event_signal: Two official Stern/Marvel Avengers reveal streams conducted with mixed execution and audience reception
high · First stream on Stern channel, second stream on Marvel's Twitch channel with different hosts and improved but still problematic presentation
~
sentiment_shift: Significant negative sentiment from prominent content creator (Carrie Hardy) toward Avengers reveal streams and presentation, despite acknowledging game's visual appeal
high · Repeated statements of disinterest, fell asleep twice during official streams, no plans to pre-order despite game meeting technical criteria
?
product_concern: Questions about whether Avengers was released too soon after TMNT, suggesting potential production timeline or licensing deadline pressures
low · Carrie speculates 'there must be some underlying reasons why they released it so soon' but provides no concrete evidence
?
design_philosophy: Avengers game layout and rules may lack spectator entertainment appeal compared to recent Stern releases like Jurassic Park, though actual play experience remains unknown
medium · Carrie fell asleep during gameplay streams but acknowledges this could be layout, music, or personal factors; won't judge until actually playing
$
market_signal: Official Avengers reveal streams criticized for poor quality presentation, overly complex rules explanation, and unprofessional conduct that may alienate new audiences
high · First stream had technical quality issues and convoluted rules delivery; second stream had off-topic personal conversations that distracted from product promotion

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.052

0:30

Chances are guys, this is probably going to be my most downvoted video. I've had a few of you out there that have contacted me whether it be actually posting directly on my Facebook page or private message me asking, hey, where's your Avengers take? What's going on there? And I have been pretty damn busy this week. And Avengers came out, and I want to talk about it because whenever it was first announced, I was a little worried that this game was going to make me regret purchasing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I didn't want that. That was when I saw that it was going to be Avengers, and got zombie yeti artwork as well, with it being a Keith Elwin game, and I've really loved his previous two titles, so I was like, man, I can't believe I purchased TMNT, and then their next game coming out, which seemed a little too soon, honestly. I kind of think that Avengers could have waited a little bit longer but there must be some underlying reasons why they released it so soon but it comes out and I see it and I've already got my first impressions on it my first thoughts on what I saw with Avengers with their trailers and I was excited I was like man this game looks like it's going to be really fun to shoot from what I've seen but I have been mistaken before by this kind of footage guys They put out their little teaser trailers and show you these certain shots and everything to make the game look really good. And I remember whenever I first saw Black Knight Sword of Rage, I was highly impressed and was really wanting that title until I saw it get played. And that kind of made me think twice about it. And I'm kind of up that same ladder when it comes to the Avengers. Now, hear me out. I know there's a great deal of you out there. that think that this game is going to be the game of the year when you haven't even played it yet.

2:57

I'm one of those that like to play a game before I buy it, so I'm definitely not one of those that have put in my order for a game. I played TMNT, played it, enjoyed it, and put my order in literally five minutes after I left the establishment that I played it at. That's how that goes. I'm not going to drop six plus grand on something and I haven't even experienced it yet. For those of you that do that, okay, that's fine. I'm not doing it. But so when I saw Avengers get streamed the first night, overall the stream was very poor quality. And I say that because it was like the internet was in and out, and this is with me watching it via YouTube after it not even live. So I can't blame it on my internet connection. This is talking about being watched via YouTube at my house after because I was busy. I couldn't watch it live. Otherwise, I would have been in chat chatting with you guys, but I couldn't do it. I was at work. So whenever the – I watched it on YouTube, and I was sitting there just like, all right, watching it. and something happened guys something happened that I was not expecting while watching this and that was that I fell asleep You fell asleep There only one other game that has put me pretty damn close to asleep and that Stranger Things No I don't. I'm not saying that this game is as bad as Stranger Things. That's not what I'm saying. I'm merely saying as of right now From what I've seen The game isn't entertaining enough to watch Or watch other people play It may be a blast to shoot yourself But it's not entertaining to just watch And so when that happened And I was watching the stream Or the YouTube video of it And I was watching it go And I was watching them play it And I was like and just eventually just kind of and i fell asleep and i woke up and i was like how much did i miss and so i like rewinded back and and i didn't want to post my initial thoughts because i was like man maybe i'm just tired i need to give it another chance they're going to be streaming it once again on marvel's channel on twitch i'm going to give this another shot i'm going to watch it then maybe I just had a bad night. I didn't want to jump the gun and get a video together for you guys and say that the game was horrible or whatever without giving it a fair shot. So second stream comes up. Once again, I'm working, so I can't watch it live. So I had to watch it when I got home. And sure enough, once again, guys, I was put to sleep. And the thing is, I wasn't put to sleep so much. The second stream was better. I will give it that. The second stream was definitely better when it came to quality and going over the rules. Because the first stream, when they were going over the rules, it was very convoluted, very difficult to follow. And I really, some of the decisions that were made when it came to that first stream, I thought were not very streamlined. There was a lot better ways to go about doing some of the things that they did, but they did not. To really, because here's my thing. I'm going to go one more swing.

9:11

Well, the game was too complicated, and research showed people didn't follow it. Well, what's complicated? You spin the Wheel of Mayhem to go up the ladder a chance. You go past the Mudhut through the Rainbow Ring to get to the Golden Monkey. you yank his tail and boom you're in paradise pond yeah all that's gone what are what is the basics that we need in order to understand how to generally play the game i could be all confusing as hell on my tmnt over here talking about it but generalizing it is to basically hey go through your episodes in order to get to the final battle to do that shoot this ramp shoot that ramp it'll say episodes lit go in there accomplish the shots that's just a generalization they don't need all the every little details unless people start asking about certain things but i felt like there was just too much information going out there and none of it was sinking in and you had they almost seem to be like a little bit like i don't want to say angry but like as if they just were upset that people were asking so many times that the game was going to have co-op. And at first they didn't even want to answer. It's like they just were kind of like, ah, just laughed it off. And then eventually, I guess, due to all the people just asking about it, they finally said, no, it's not going to have co-op. Okay. Because then evidently I hear that I'm guessing it's just different. You're not actually playing as the Avengers. You're collecting them and stuff. So once you find out how they've coded the game, then you understand why they could possibly, you know, do without co-op. Although I felt like co-op thrown into a game on the coding would help potential sales, but whatever. So the second stream goes on, and I'm like, all right, I don't know who this person is that's in the corner on the screen, little bitty whatever, evidently he's a friend, and he's playing. And this one went a lot better because, one, there was much more generalization of how to play the game. It was the pro model, but the way he spoke about how to play the game, what your goals are to do, was much more simplistic. And it actually did a lot better for me to pay attention and not get bored or just like I don't know what they're talking about kind of thing and just kind of give up. but once again they lost me whenever they started having their own little personal little chat and started talking about other things that i don't think were pinball related at all or anything to do with the game that they're trying to show to thousands of people hopefully millions but they're trying to show this game and what it can do and why people should buy it but yet they're having a conversation about things that are just between them that i don't i don't know if i was marvel and that was my twitch channel which it was their twitch channel i would have been like i mean come on guys you couldn't have talked up the game a little bit more or something promoted the product that you're showing up on the stream maybe just maybe I gotta say, one of my... ...where it's like, right, make lasagna, and you gotta shoot the shots correctly, but if you screw it up... ...it doesn't matter.