Welcome everybody to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. I'm waking up Saturday morning and I'm feeling something. And I'm feeling like the whole new in box enthusiasm and the energy around a new pinball machine. I just want to ask each and every one of you, do you think it's like dying or is it dead or is it just changed forever? And I can't quite put my finger on it. But in the 10 years I've been covering this hobby, I've never seen such a lukewarm and such a sort of disinterested response. when you confirm for people these are the next two games from Stern Pinball. Like this is the next maybe like four to five months of Stern Pinball, maybe six months if we throw in King Kong. And it's almost like nobody cares. You're telling people it's going to be X-Men. Look at the thread. Like it's not blowing up. Everyone's not super excited. And then you tell people it's going to be Metallica Remastered, which is one of Stern's most successful games of all time. And also it's like crickets. It's like no one even started a thread saying Kenaid is confirming it's Metallica remastered because look, we've known this for a long time. But man, I'm just reading the room. And here's my takeaway on all of it. I think this pinball industry and these companies need to wake up. Consumers are no longer chomping at the bit to buy these overpriced games. That's the vibe I'm reading. It's like, great, Stern's going to come out with another Marvel game. And it's not a terrible theme. We're going to talk about that now that we've confirmed it's X-Men. But man, who's excited to drop $13,000 on an LE? $96 or $9,700 on a premium? That's the problem with all of it, is that no one wants to run at this stuff. And if you think about it, you know, new in box, like why would you? Look what happened when they launched Venom in August, right? It just was a sinking ship. And now you can march in anywhere and buy a Venom LE for like $3,000 to $4,000 cheaper than it was brand new. And that's the sense I'm getting with each and every one of you is it's just like the excitement's gone. And the unfortunate thing is now that we've lost excitement because they outpriced the damn deliverable of the product itself. Now it's like people aren't even really giving the games a chance, right? It's like if you walk into a restaurant and you see the prices on the menu, I mean, think about it. How many times have you gone up to a restaurant and you saw the prices and you just kept on walking? You didn't go in because even though you know it might be a good filet, it might be a good piece of lobster, it might be a good burger, you just don't want to spend $38 on a burger. And even though that burger might be life changing and it might be the best burger you ever had, you're just going to keep on walking. And that's what's happened to pinball. It's like Venom seemingly, I'm reading people who like own this game and play this game a lot. Venom seemingly is a really good game, but nobody really wants to even give it the time of day. And I think John Wick might also be suffering from the same fate. And it's not about the game anymore, right? It isn't. It really is not about the game anymore. I think most people are looking at this hobby right now and saying at these prices, I don't care what it is. The only way I would even consider it is if it is a theme that I want to bolt to my game room, because unless it's that, I'm not even going to consider it. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm just going to say this right now. If Iron Maiden came out today and an LE was $13,000 and a premium was almost $10,000, Iron Maiden does not become the hit game it was back then because the prices now are stupid. You know, and I keep thinking about the conversation I had with George Gomez and this whole notion that Stern Pinball wants a different market than you and me, that they think they've got a strategy to expand pinball with themes like John Wick and crazy prices like this. I mean, when are they going to actually wake up? There is no expanded market of pinball at these prices. The only people that would even consider pinball at these prices are people like you and me, people who have been in the hobby for a really long time. There's no way they're going to get this expanded market at these prices. And the problem now, too, is, I mean, imagine if you're a newbie, right? And we've seen newbies like Don rolled into the hobby, bought everything, lost thousands on everything. You know, and when you do that, when you do that, when you're a newbie and you get bit by the bug and you buy all these things and then you lose your shirt on every single game, you're going to wake up, right? You're going to come out of that coma and that honeymoon period, you know, and even though they might not say it to your face, everyone's feeling like this is a stupid move. Like when you roll in and just buy everything it just shouldn be this way It crazy Like now even when we know what around the corner there not even that much excitement I think Stern needs to change its strategy It's like they still keep their major distributors in the dark about what's about to come out. Do you know yesterday I had to tell some of the biggest distros at Stern that it was going to be X-Men? That it was going to be Metallica Remastered? They don't even know. And so think about how stupid that is. You've got this huge sales force and you don't even give them a window or even a runway to start getting people excited about the theme. So what? You're just going to do what you always do, which is okay on a Friday, put out a teaser that confirms what Canada has been telling you for months. And now we know it's not X-Men 97, it's X-Men. You're going to put out a teaser that just confirms that. Then you're going to do your dealer call on a Tuesday. then we're going to get crappy cell phone photos of the game you know because people are going to take photos of the computer screen and then we're going to hear from zombie yeti how oh man if you can only see it in its hd glory and we are but the first impression won't be in its hd glory and then you're going to have this truncated period of time where they're going to try to sell us on this fomo that if we don't buy one in the first week we're not going to get our hands on an le like it's over it's absolutely over like if that is the marketing approach to expand pinball and sell these games it is over there is not going to be any difficulty whatsoever in trying to get your hands on an le version of this game and you have to remember like that is the entire foundation of every single stern launch if they don't have fomo on the new in box le they don't have anything. They have no other creative ideas whatsoever. So let's think about this, right? You've got X-Men. And so are they going to do something creative to launch X-Men? Are they going to do something unique and interesting if you buy an X-Men LE? Are you going to get anything other than different art, right? That's it. That's all they can think of. You don't get anything unique when it comes to gameplay. You get nothing exclusive when it comes to toppers anymore. You get nothing. I mean, Stern, you need to wake up and read the room. If you want to sell a thousand LEs at $13,000 a pop, then those LEs need to come exclusively with something, with something, you know, like give it an exclusive topper. How about exclusive wizard mode? Something. They're doing absolutely nothing. And it's just rinse repeat. And I think that's the thing that everybody's feeling. It's just going to be another rinse repeat moment. like we've got nine Marvel games. We've already had an X-Men game. And look, yes, X-Men's not a terrible theme. I mean, look, I would argue that X-Men is a better theme than Foo Fighters, than maybe even Godzilla. I mean, X-Men is one of the best properties within the Marvel universe. And so you've got all those characters, Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Professor X, like Magneto, Beast you know it's great Gambit like all of it is great like the X-Men are amazing and look I think this game is gonna shoot well I think they're gonna get the right voice actors unlike last time and it's gonna be comic book based but all that being said then why aren't people more excited that's my question to each and every one of you if we all know it's X-Men how come when you go on Pinside there's not much excitement how come when you tell people Metallica remastered There's not much excitement. We need to get excitement back in this hobby. I don't even know how to hype these things anymore. I really don't. I mean, at this point, and it's not just because I signed an NDA, I'm more excited to see the community's response to Alice in Wonderland. There's only going to be 500. It's got toys. It's got mix. It's got magnets. It's got subways. It's got physical ball locks. It's got sculpts. It's got a mirrored back glass. It's got a topper. And they give you all of that. for less than $12,000. You're going to get all of that and not everybody's going to have it. I'm more excited to see people respond to that. This thing with Stern, I mean, I wish I could march into Stern's offices and be like, we can't keep going in this direction. If we just keep doing this, it shows everybody we're never learning a lesson about anything. See, the thing is this, when I talk to Stern distributors, and this is just like the reality, Stern's not listening to their distributors. They're not pulling these people in, you know, and I know they say they do, but then I'm talking to their biggest distributors and they're in the dark. You know, their distributors had to complain to get Stern to stop making LEs of everything because they were completely destroying, they were completely destroying the entire collector side of the hobby. You got to think about it like this. How did Stern not know that what they were doing would upset all these people who spent all this money on its products? And so what's going to happen now when you make a nicer Metallica? I get it's been 12 years, but you're still going to have thousands of people with that original Metallica. And so is remastering it the way to go? And it just starts to feel like it a company that is sort of out of original ideas I mean think about it We going from X that been made already to Metallica back themes that have already been released in the Stern world. Now look, Stern's got so many games in his portfolio, but man, I really think they need to read the room, and I don't think they're going to. So what that means for everybody else is this. I think Stern's strategy is outdated. I think they're a big company that is unable to pivot. And I think because of that, I think this is going to open the door for everybody else. The opportunity is now. If you are another pinball company and you understand what the pinball market wants, what these people are looking for, not just in a product. Yes, you've got to get the product side down. You got to get a game out there with a good theme, with toys, with value. All that's got to work. It's got to have flow. It's got to have code. It's got to have a rule set that makes people want to replay it. Yes. And we should be getting all of that easily for this much money. I mean, there is not a single pinball company out there that is selling anything that is affordable. Wake up, everybody. All of this stuff is the most expensive pinball has ever been. And it is not the greatest pinball has ever been. All you need to do is go walk down a lineup of Bally Williams games that used to cost like twenty five hundred dollars. And even if you adjusted for inflation, people, those games would be like five to six thousand dollars today. And now we're spending 10, 13, 15, 16, 5 with tax and shipping. And you lift a playfield on an Elton John and it's completely empty. And you got these owners trying to justify it. Everybody, it's time to wake up. We should be getting for this much money amazing pinball. But it's not just about the machine itself. Because the opportunity is also in building a brand. And I think it is interesting because I don't think Stern has invested much in building a brand and a bridge between the company and its consumers and its community. And we saw that, right? The panic move to get all the media in when John Wick wouldn't sell. And that, to me, speaks volumes. The only time they want to listen to us is when the gravy train starts to dry up. The only time they care about our opinions is when we stop spending money. And that's not the right approach. So I think the opportunities are there now for companies like Spooky, Barrels of Fun, and yes, Jersey Jack, for the love of it, Jersey Jack, you got a billionaire backer. It's time. It better not be Margaritaville. It better be the Matrix. And look, I think it's going to be the Matrix. And if it is the matrix, and if it does like finally give us what we've all wanted for freaking 12 freaking years, Jersey Jack pinball, I feel like Nicolas Cage just put the stuff in the game that people want. A, artwork. B, ball control. C, code. D, deliver it on time. Like, you know, I just feel like they need to finally put it all together. Jersey Jack, you've never really done it. You've never really put it all together. You got close a few times, but you never did. And if you make the Matrix, it better be Matrix 1. And you better have Morpheus in it. And when we're watching clips of the movie, it better be synced up with what's on the screen. And you better put toys back in the game. And if they do that, if they do that, yes, we will most likely forgive that the games are so expensive. because it'll finally be the one Jersey Jack game that just puts it all together. And I can't believe it's 2024, people. It's 2024. This hobby used to put it all together in the 90s. Just think about that for a minute. In the 90s, this hobby crushed it, right? It made the coolest games, both licensed and unlicensed. the level of creativity that went into those pinball machines was phenomenal. And they were built for arcades. They weren't built for home collectors. Life was better before Pinside. And it was a heck of a lot better before Kaneda. But now, now what's interesting is we live in a world in which you don't get to avoid the Kanedas of the world. You don't get to avoid the Pinsides of the world. we're going to be watching and we're going to be saying, hey, wait a minute, how is that $15,000? And the same guy made Adam's Family 30 years ago and it was two grand or $2,500 and it has way more in it. Can someone explain to me how this is an evolution of pinball? Can someone explain to me where the innovation is? Can someone explain to me why an analog game is now so digital and everything is on the screen and we removed the physical magic I mean, nowadays, if they made Addams Family, you wouldn't have things hand grab the ball and magnetize it into the box. It would just be a visual on the screen. The moment Pat Lawler put an iPad underneath the glass on Toy Story, a freaking game called Toy Story, and it had no freaking toys in it. And what did we do as a community? Well, you know, it shoots well. You know, the Bo Peep loops, shots out the new toys. I come up, guys, guys, let's all get back to it. Let's all get back to it. So look, you and me together, and I'm almost happy seeing there's no enthusiasm for the cookie cutter approach at Stern Pinball. I'm happy to see people put their money back in their wallet because the only way, the only way we're ever going to get what we deserve for this much money is if we demand it. If you throw money at this stuff like the stupid newbies who are just reinforcing the laziness, reinforcing the lack of creativity, who just wake up every day and say everything is awesome. You got to remember in that Lego movie, the whole point of it is that that's not the way to live. You don't want to live in that world. You actually want to see the real world. All right. And I think we can get there. And it's just crazy that it's 2024 and every new game that comes out, especially from Stern and like, look at John Wick. The thing is empty. Like the game is empty. And I'm just like over it. Like I'm over it. Like, how can you even consider a game for this much money that has nothing in it? And it's not about guns on playfields. It's about a lack of creativity. It's about a lack of innovation. And also they've overpriced everything. So now we don't even want to stop in the restaurant. Pinball is a restaurant that we used to look at the menu and we went in. Pinball is now a hobby where we look at the menu and it doesn't matter what they're serving. We don't want to go in. I'm looking at all these pinball companies. You got to start thinking about your price. You got to get more creative with what you put into the games. You got to build better bridges to the community because it's over. Like it's absolutely over. There is a new Stern game coming out next week and nobody cares. There is no enthusiasm. There's no energy. The threads are dead. It's like an exhausted wasteland on Pinside. And yes, Pinside is a good indication of the thousands of people that actually care because I'll tell you, nobody else cares. Nobody. You are not going to introduce this hobby to anybody new because the moment you tell them what it costs to buy one of these things, they look at us like we're idiots. We're the only future of pinball. We are pinball's only hope. And they've got to win us back over. And that's the issue at Stern. It would be an issue at JJP if they did not have unlimited funding. And it's an issue for every single boutique. You got to win people over because almost every single game is $10,000 or more. Nothing is selling out. I can go on Jersey Jack today and order an Elton John CE and it's been out for a year. I can go on Spooky's website and order all of their games. Nothing has sold out. And that is the ultimate indication that everything in pinball has changed. We'll see how people respond to 500 Alice in Wonderland. And the other thing too, people, is this. For this much money, have you seen the Godzilla black and white thread? Have you seen the quality of the cabinets that people are getting? Bubbling up, right? The decals are falling apart where the bolts go into the cabinet, like it's bubbling around there. And now people are looking at the lighting in the game and they couldn't even get the black and white right. It looks like a yellowish tone was it's not black and white it's like sepia or sepia like whatever it is it's got that like yellowish tint to it and now people are like taking their godzilla trans lights and putting them into like other stern games like foo fighters because the leds on the cpu of the game itself might be different and they might have got a bad batch of cpu leds what the heck am i even saying Like, how are these things even leaving the factory unless they're bulletproof for this much money, unless the black and white is actually black and white? I mean, if Stern can't even get black and white right, and now the owners are feeling like it looks weird, like a washed out newspaper, everybody, they all need to wake up. And I implore each and every one of you, don't run at any of these games new in box. And trust me, we're all going to be able to get any of this stuff at bargain basement prices because these companies just haven't learned. Everybody, have a great Saturday. Thank you for being a member of the Kaneda Club. And we're going to get magic back into pinball. But the only way we're going to do it is if we demand what we deserve for this much money. Kaneda out. Thank you for watching!