What's Next for American Pinball?

Cary Hardy·video·30m 16s·analyzed·Aug 16, 2025

Analysis

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TL;DR

Hardy covers speculation on JJP Sonic, Stern Star Wars, American Pinball troubles, and Pinball Brothers Predator backlash.

Summary

Cary Hardy discusses speculation about upcoming pinball releases from major manufacturers: Steve Ritchie's next Jersey Jack game (likely Sonic), Stern's Star Wars Episodes IV-VI remaster, and American Pinball's stalled Cuphead release amid trademark expiration concerns. He also covers news about Multimorphic's free Elemental module, Harry Potter's success, and criticism of Pinball Brothers' Predator release strategy including its omission of Arnold Schwarzenegger and controversial direct-to-consumer pricing that alienates distributors.

Key Claims

Harry Potter is one of Jersey Jack Pinball's best games yet and is reaching high ranks in the community
high confidence · Hardy mentions a friend traded in a Texas Pinball Festival award-winning game to get Harry Potter and is thoroughly enjoying it; Hardy notes everyone playing it is enjoying it
Steve Ritchie's next game for Jersey Jack Pinball is likely Sonic the Hedgehog
medium confidence · Hardy presents educated guess based on rumors and previous reporting; notes Nap Arcade released article reiterating his Pinside speculation; speculates it will be primarily movie-based with Sega Genesis aesthetic for collector's edition
Stern's next game is Star Wars Episodes IV, V, and VI
high confidence · Canada's Pinball Podcast confirmed this; Hardy expected this based on Stern's pattern of revisiting and improving previous themes
American Pinball is not shutting down but may rebrand as it expands beyond pinball into other arcade entertainment
medium confidence · Hardy states this based on information received; notes American Pinball trademark/licensing expired but this is temporary; company previously discussed expanding to polycades and other entertainment machines
Pinball Brothers claims to have sold 650 out of 800 Predator machines, leaving 150 remaining
low confidence · Hardy explicitly expresses skepticism: 'I doubt' and suggests calling distributors could verify the claim; suspects fake FOMO creation
Pinball Brothers is absorbing tariff and shipping costs by offering direct-to-consumer Predator sales at $12,000 from overseas
high confidence · Hardy provides specific details of the business model: shipping directly from overseas location to Pennsylvania office to undercut distributor prices
Ryan McQuade created a Sonic homebrew based solely on video games (Sega Genesis style) before being hired at American Pinball
high confidence · Hardy discusses McQuade's homebrew game and notes American Pinball was going to do Sonic but license was snatched by Jersey Jack

Notable Quotes

“And I'm looking forward to hopefully getting one back here eventually. once I get rid of Kong back here.”
Cary Hardy@ 2:00 — References his own King Kong machine and desire to acquire Harry Potter, indicating strong market interest
“if it is Sonic. I'm definitely glad it's Steve Ritchie because he's known for his speed and that is a great theme that I think he should be able to nail.”
Cary Hardy@ 3:58 — Connects designer capability (speed/pacing) to theme fit; indicates confidence in Ritchie for this theoretical project
“But you also have to remember that we would no longer be getting one keith elwynn game a year we would be getting one keith elwynn game every three to four years unless somehow or other jersey jack starts being able to pump out games like stern”
Cary Hardy@ 12:20 — Highlights manufacturing capacity difference between Stern and Jersey Jack as counterargument to Keith Elwin transfer rumor
“American Pinball is not going anywhere. Now, in the future, there may be some changes done, possibly a name, maybe because they're looking to do more than just pinball.”
Cary Hardy@ 16:05 — Direct clarification aimed at dispelling shutdown rumors; hints at rebrand strategy
“you also decided to do Predator without Arnold Schwarzenegger. And this is where I really question... if you're going to do a particular theme then you have to have this this is what people will expect”
Cary Hardy@ 22:36 — Core criticism of Predator game design choice; mirrors his earlier John Wick complaint about missing guns

Entities

Cary Hardyperson Steve Ritchieperson Jack Dangerperson Keith Elwinperson Ryan McQuaidperson John Borgperson

Signals

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business_signal: American Pinball trademark and game licensing expired; company clarifies via Hardy it is temporary and not indicative of shutdown
medium · Hardy: 'the trademark or the licensing for the name, they let it expire. so that definitely blew up as well as all the names for like galactic tank force'; later: 'emails were being sent to people that were no longer employed there so it's merely a temporary hiccup'
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sentiment_shift: Skepticism about Pinball Brothers' claims of strong Predator sales (650 of 800 units); Hardy explicitly doubts numbers and suggests verification possible
high · Hardy: 'I doubt and it's very popular and there's only 150 left so what do you do you figure out a way to lower prices i call bullshit' and 'if I really wanted to confirm this, then it would not look good on you guys'
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design_philosophy: Hardy emphasizes expectation that major IP themes must include iconic characters; criticizes omissions of Arnold (Predator) and guns (John Wick) as fundamental design failures
high · Hardy: 'if you're going to do a particular theme then you have to have this this is what people will expect' and 'I might even get more pissed off about a non-loop in a Sonic game than no guns and wick'
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market_signal: Harry Potter achieving strong sales and secondary market success; friend traded award-winning game for it; described as Jersey Jack's best game
high · Hardy: 'A buddy of mine recently traded in one of his games that won an award at Texas Pinball Festival to get a Harry Potter. And he's thoroughly enjoying Harry Potter. I think it's one of those games that is reaching up on the ranks as being Jersey Jack's best game yet'
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Transcript

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0:00

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. And we've got quite a few items to talk about in this video. I mean we're going to go talking about American pinball, pinball brothers, stern, jersey jack pinball, a little bit of multi-morphic, and a few other little items within all of that. So buckle up, let's get into it. First up, a pin quest reminder. I am the guest host this month. I encourage all of you to reach out to your locations and have them look into getting a pin quest on their site. And it's really no money out of their pocket. I'll put links in the description down below. First month is free using your promo code HardyPQ. And finally, I'm releasing to the public my More Guns Than Wick t-shirt. It's available on my website, carryhardy.com. If you scroll down, you should be able to see it. Add it to your cart. It's yours for the taking, by all means. I hope you enjoy it. Definitely not my most proudest moment in all my video history, but there in turn lies the reason why there is a shirt. Starting off with some pinball news, Multimorphic has released a new game called Elemental, and it's free to download for any of you P3 owners out there. It works on every module, evidently. But for all you P3 owners out there, I think that's pretty cool that you have a new game to explore at no charge. And let's jump into Jersey Jack and discussing a little bit about Harry Potter here. It seems that everybody that's playing Harry Potter is thoroughly enjoying it. A buddy of mine recently traded in one of his games that won an award at Texas Pinball Festival to get a Harry Potter. And he's thoroughly enjoying Harry Potter. I think it's one of those games that is reaching up on the ranks as being Jersey Jack's best game yet. And I'm looking forward to hopefully getting one back here eventually. once I get rid of Kong back here. And to segue into talking about the eventual sweepstakes for the King Kong, yes, I'm well aware I need to get that going, but still things need to be worked out and tweaked up just to make sure everything's good to go on that. But the art is done. I think you're really going to like the t-shirt involved with that. And then let's talk a little bit about this. I mean, I mentioned it even on like a pin side post because people were speculating about, you know, there's been speculation there always is speculation but even though Harry Potter just came out it's always about what's next who's doing what what's coming next it always is it never fails in this hobby so the people are already speculating and wanting to discuss Steve Ritchie and what he's working on and when it's coming and what it's going to be my guess this is an educated guess is it's Sonic. And Nap Arcade released an article today basically reiterating things that I... I'm not saying he got it from me. But reiterating things that I mentioned on Pinside why I believe it to be Sonic. And for me, I'm honestly very excited if it is Sonic. Because I'm a big Sonic Sega fanboy. It's mainly the console that I played the most growing up. and I have a lot of nostalgia in the Sonic franchise, especially the Sega Genesis. And he mentions that, you know, is it going to be the movie or is it going to be the video games? And discussing art packages for how it may be like Harry Potter, like the top tier might be the video game or a version might be the video game type of artwork versus the movie. And here's how I feel about it. Again, speculation. if it is Sonic. I'm definitely glad it's Steve Ritchie because he's known for his speed and that is a great theme that I think he should be able to nail. And the theme of Sonic makes total damn sense because he's a blue ball going very fast and there's plenty of levels throughout the games that really represent and remind me of a pinball machine, especially Casino Night Zone and Sonic 2. Those of you know what I'm talking about. there also is a little bit of nostalgia in the movies just not so much i do enjoy the movies would i be like willing to spend multiple thousands of dollars for a sonic movie pinball machine not as much as if it was the video game and a lot of you know that ryan mcquade made a homebrew of sonic the hedgehog and it was solely based on the video games mainly of course you know sega genesis the style that i'm a major fan of so playing his game was pure nostalgia the music was there the call outs the sound effects everything was there the fighting robotnik and hitting him eight times to get it was all there i loved it i think was some proper little tweaks in the design and some better engineering on certain things in the game would have been a major hit then he gets hired on to American Pinball, and they were going to do Sonic, but evidently the license was snatched up by somebody else. That is rumored to be Jersey Jack Pinball, and it makes sense that all this time has gone by that Sonic would be about the time frame of being next. Now, in regards to movie versus video game again, it's like, yeah, if the game came out, it's got to be the movies. It has to you know jersey jack they all their themes and everything they're always about the movies of the themes that they do so it's going to be primarily about the movies and more than likely the collector's edition like we have with harry potter is going to be based on the like this the main property where it started from so more than likely if i was a betting man the collector's edition for sonic will be sega genesis style and that's going to be awesome and it's going to be very hard to turn down for me that is but i could definitely see what the potential is for a game like this with the spinners and making certain shots and hearing the sound of collecting rings and then getting emeralds there's a lot of things that they can do with this video game wise when it goes into the movies though i i feel like that may be a little bit limiting and i almost feel like i could make a whole video discussing theories and how i feel about sonic inside of a pinball machine but that's currently the rumor is that steve richie's next game with jersey jack which is a good year away they're gonna be busy building harry potter's they're printing money over there in jersey jack right now so there is no like oh when's it gonna happen when's their next release they they are they are no rush to get the blue blur out right now so patience everybody and we're going to see what happens but like again speculation that it's sonic it could be maverick who knows but i hope it's sonic and i definitely hope it's going to be the sega genesis version next up let's talk about stern pinball canada's pinball podcast is confirming in some way that the next game is star wars versions episodes four five and six now we already kind of assumed and had the rumors of it being a Star Wars but now it confirmed that it 4 5 and 6 Which basically kind of backs up my feelings about how I believed it would be 4 5 and 6 And I was going to be surprised if it wasn't. If it was any other Star Wars that they haven't done yet, I would be surprised. But this seems to be the way of what Stern's doing. things they're they're doing things that they've already done but improving upon them so there is that like they are reaching into their usual bag of goodies but they're improving upon it so i'll give you a little bit of credit for that now when can we expect to see the new star wars game i would say definitely very end of august early september if history repeats itself so i'm definitely curious to see what direction Borg goes with this. There's also rumors that it's basically a remaster of his Data East version from 92, which isn't a horrible thing, but I definitely would like to see some improvements, mainly those two targets up near the scoop on your Data East game. Those things were always going cockeyed, but otherwise the game was pretty enjoyable. I mean, but I think it definitely could use a sprucing up. It better not just be a copy and paste, which I don't think it's going to be. And this other rumor that I thought was pretty funny, but, you know, let's talk about it a little bit. I was listening to the JBS show. I'll put a link in the video description right there if you want to check out their podcast. It has Retro Ralph and Cale Hernandez on there, and they were discussing a multitude of topics and going over everything. And there was a discussion about a rumor that Keith Elwin would be leaving Stern or the possibility, again, rumors, that Keith Elwin may be going to Jersey Jack Pinball. supposedly his contract is coming up or something of that nature.

Jack Danger is transitioning to a different role at Stern, potentially creating a designer position opening

medium confidence · Hardy mentions this transition and suggests homebrewers should prepare games for Pinball Expo in October as resume material

“I call bullshit it it's simple capitalism here when it comes to what do you do when your product is in high demand it's very popular do you lower prices has there ever been a company that's done that no”

Cary Hardy@ 20:19 — Skepticism about Predator sales numbers and economic logic of price reduction when claiming high demand

“Distros knew this immediately. So now you've totally pissed them off. It's like, well, we had customers, but people are going to want to, if they do decide to buy this game, they're going to be going direct.”

Cary Hardy@ 21:29 — Identifies specific business damage from direct-to-consumer strategy: distributor alienation and channel conflict

“Steve, if you're doing Sonic There better be a damn loop in there Don't you dare if you dare make a Sonic game without a loop. I might even get more pissed off about a non-loop in a Sonic game than no guns and wick.”

Cary Hardy@ 29:54 — Humorous but emphatic statement about design expectations for Sonic theme; shows strong fan preferences influence purchasing decisions

Stern Pinballcompany

Star Wars Episodes IV, V, VIgame

Nap Arcadeorganization

Canada's Pinball Podcastorganization

personnel_signal: Jack Danger transitioning to different role at Stern, creating potential designer position opening

medium · Hardy: 'jack danger is transitioning to a different role which by the way for you homebrewers out there this may be a time to spruce up your resume'

market_signal: Pinball Brothers implementing direct-to-consumer sales at $12,000 for Predator, absorbing tariff costs; strategy alienates distributor network

high · Hardy: 'they are now basically eating the cost of the tariffs and the shipping and everything by shipping the games directly from their location overseas to their U.S. office in Du Bois, Pennsylvania. And you can buy them direct through them for $12,000' and 'You just pissed off every distro that sells your games'

announcement: Stern Pinball confirmed by Canada's Pinball Podcast to be releasing Star Wars Episodes IV, V, and VI

high · Hardy: 'stern pinball canada's pinball podcast is confirming in some way that the next game is star wars versions episodes four five and six'

product_strategy: American Pinball's Cuphead game functioning but unreleased; speculation about inventory clearing requirement for Galactic Tank Force before release

medium · Hardy: 'you've got a functioning shooting game ready to go I've played it... You just need some more code, but you're not releasing it due to a number of unknown reasons' and 'speculation is that you need to sell all of your Galactic Tank Force games Their inventory before Mukesh is going to allow you to build the new Cuphead game'

product_concern: Predator game lacks Arnold Schwarzenegger despite being central character; Hardy criticizes as fundamental design failure similar to John Wick omitting guns

high · Hardy: 'you also decided to do Predator without Arnold Schwarzenegger. And this is where I really question... if you're going to do a particular theme then you have to have this this is what people will expect'

rumor_hype: Keith Elwin potentially leaving Stern for Jersey Jack Pinball when contract expires; Hardy disputes likelihood despite recognizing financial incentive

low · Hardy: 'there was a discussion about a rumor that Keith Elwin would be leaving Stern or the possibility, again, rumors, that Keith Elwin may be going to Jersey Jack Pinball' but concludes 'I do not believe that keith elwynn will be leaving stern to go to jersey jack pinball'

rumor_hype: Steve Ritchie's next Jersey Jack game rumored to be Sonic the Hedgehog; Hardy presents as educated guess; Nap Arcade article released same day supporting speculation

medium · Hardy: 'my guess this is an educated guess is it's Sonic. And Nap Arcade released an article today basically reiterating things that I... I'm not saying he got it from me.' Context: Ryan McQuade previously created Sonic homebrew; American Pinball was going to do Sonic but 'license was snatched up by somebody else. That is rumored to be Jersey Jack Pinball'

sentiment_shift: Consumer confidence in Pinball Brothers declining due to combination of licensing decisions, pricing strategy, distributor alienation, and game quality history

high · Hardy: 'you're gonna need to really do some, you know, resurrecting when it comes to consumer confidence because that is fading fast' and 'you've got a history of just games that aren't really that good. So this is also hindering your ability to sell Predator'