Episode 1077: "Kaneda Goes Crazy Over Kong / Potter Teasers"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·26m 39s·held·Apr 12, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Kaneda analyzes Kong teaser & praises JJP's Potter letter while blasting Barrels of Fun's marketing silence.

Summary

Kaneda discusses Stern's official confirmation of King Kong (Myth of Terror Island) releasing April 15th, expressing concern about the teaser's limited mechanical showcase and questioning whether Spike 3 will launch with it. He contrasts this with Jersey Jack's emotionally resonant Harry Potter announcement letter, praising their confidence and marketing approach while criticizing Barrels of Fun for failing to build hype for their simultaneous release.

Key Claims

King Kong will have 933 Limited Edition units at $13,000 MSRP
high confidence · Kaneda states directly: '933 at $13,000' and references the 1933 connection to the original film
Godzilla is currently 'the benchmark' and 'the number one game in the world' with strong value retention
high confidence · Kaneda: 'Godzilla is still the benchmark. Godzilla the bar' and 'Godzilla is the number one game, I believe, in the world right now'
The teaser shows only a spinner-like mechanism, not the main mechanic of King Kong
high confidence · Kaneda: 'It's basically like a glorified spinner...There's no way this can be the main mech in the game. It's just not impressive enough'
Stern LE machines have lost collector appeal due to lack of exclusive differentiation from Premium versions
high confidence · Kaneda: '90% of the LEs have plummeted in value' and 'it doesn't have really anything that's exclusive enough. They need to start putting an exclusive topper on the LEs'
Barrels of Fun is launching their new game on the same day as King Kong (April 15th) with minimal marketing effort
high confidence · Kaneda: 'Stern Pinball has confirmed that it's going to be April 15th, which is the same day that Barrels of Fun wants people to come through the door and see their new game, we got absolutely nothing from Barrels of Fun'
Jersey Jack Pinball has spent years securing the Harry Potter license and refining the game
high confidence · Jersey Jack's announcement letter (read by Kaneda): 'After years of relentless dedication...We've worked for years behind the scenes, refining every detail, fighting for the license'
Kaneda has unreleased news about Pirates of the Caribbean pinball potentially returning
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'I've been leaking this information, people. I don't think we've seen the last of Pirates of the Caribbean. I have news on that and it's gonna be exciting'
X-Men pinball is considered broken/non-functional by some players and won't be fixed by designer Jack Danger

Notable Quotes

“This is the most mic drop communication I've ever read in the history of pinball, because this is what you want. You want a company to be as excited about its product as you.”
Kaneda @ ~21:30 — Kaneda's effusive praise for Jersey Jack's Harry Potter announcement letter, contrasting it sharply with Barrels of Fun's silent approach
“If you're a collector, you kind of want to have all the LEs, and 90% of the LEs have plummeted in value, and it almost is like the Stern LE means nothing anymore.”
Kaneda @ ~16:50 — Core industry criticism of Stern's limited edition strategy and collector appeal erosion
“This is it. This is Jersey Jack's opus. Eric Minier's opus. Like Eric Minier wants to establish himself finally as not being a hit or miss guy.”
Kaneda @ ~27:30 — High-stakes framing of Harry Potter as a career-defining moment for Jersey Jack and designer Eric Minier
“Dune on arrival. That's what DOA is going to stand for, Dune on arrival.”
Kaneda @ ~31:20 — Sharp criticism of Barrels of Fun's poor marketing strategy, predicting their release will fail without strong hype
“King Kong, that is the big question mark. Is it a dream theme on a surface level for most people? No.”
Kaneda @ ~10:00 — Expressing core uncertainty about King Kong's mass market appeal relative to other licensed themes
“Historically, the stuff that made King Kong iconic is not King Kong battling monsters on islands. The iconic King Kong move is them finding him, taking him off the island, and bringing King Kong to the United States.”
Kaneda @ ~8:30 — Detailed thematic analysis of what makes King Kong culturally resonant, questioning if the game captures it
“The reason why we always talk about resale value, think about it, it's like talking about your wife through divorce. You want to bolt that woman into your soul.”
Kaneda @ ~23:00 — Philosophical commentary on why collectors discuss secondary market value (as a proxy for game quality/connection)

Entities

King Konggame Keith ElwinpersonHarry Potter PinballgameJersey Jack PinballcompanyJack GuarnaripersonEric MinierpersonBarrels of Funcompany

Signals

?
announcement: Stern Pinball officially confirms King Kong: Myth of Terror Island as next title from Keith Elwin, releasing April 15th
high · Kaneda: 'Stern Pinball has announced the game we know was going to be the next game from Stern Pinball and Keith Elwin, the not-so-mysterious Myth of Terror Island. It is now official!'
?
product_strategy: Kaneda argues Stern has lost collector appeal by failing to differentiate LE versions from Premium; recommends exclusive toppers like Jersey Jack uses
high · Kaneda: 'They need to start putting an exclusive topper on the LEs. Jersey Jack does that, and that's why Jersey Jack is gonna sell so many CEs'
$
market_signal: 90% of recent Stern LE machines have plummeted in secondary market value, eroding collector confidence
high · Kaneda: 'if the premium right is the same exact gameplay as the LE, I just feel like Stern's kind of lost the whole collectibility around its LEs...90% of the LEs have plummeted in value'
?
product_concern: King Kong teaser shows only a spinner-like mechanism; Kaneda expresses concern this is insufficient as a primary game feature and suspects hidden major mechanics
high · Kaneda: 'Is this the main mech in the game? It can't be. There's no way this can be the main mech in the game. It's just not impressive enough. It's basically like a glorified spinner.'
?
technology_signal: Kaneda questions whether Spike 3 will launch with King Kong despite it being the ideal marquee title for a new platform
medium · Kaneda: 'I'm a little worried that Spike 3 is still not going to be a part of this game. I don't know why. Why wouldn't you launch your new platform with your biggest designer and King Kong?'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.080

0:00

Pinball Ah, King Kong! Well, I heard an old airplane propeller there. If you listen closely at the end of that trailer, Stern Pinball has announced the game we know was going to be the next game from Stern Pinball and Keith Elwin, the not-so-mysterious myth of Kong Terror Island. It is now official! And so what do we think about this trailer from Stern Pinball? We finally got a look at a mechanism in the game. It's like a gold A pinball famoso. Arrived Springrebbe niemand iqduld climate impact j それ中国中的三 HY ich9 King Kong, are you serious people? Do you seriously now get Indiana Jones vibes because a dude has a hat walking through the forest or the jungle? And then we've got this mechanism. Now here's the thing. I'm on pin side today and this teaser isn't really lighting everybody on fire. People know that Keith Elwin is gonna deliver a great game. So maybe that's a little bit of the reason why the The response to this teaser is in bonkers because you know what it's like is anybody really concerned that Keith Elwin is gonna make a great game I mean the guys made mostly amazing pinball machines but when you think about King Kong and what we're gonna get in this game let's talk about it a little bit because all we have is a little bit and I think that's the thing right in just a few days April 15th they're gonna show us the entire Razaantics, top ten 하락이 아닌 king bah,латього 저기 also 가이면 Samantha sjPS The pictures we got from King Kong. Let's talk about it. And then we're going to talk about the one company that we also know is going to reveal their game next week that continues to do nothing. And now that Stern Pinball has confirmed that it's going to be April 15th, which is the same day that Barrels of Fun wants people to come through the door and see their new game, we got absolutely nothing from Barrels of Fun yesterday. So we're going to talk a little bit about that. Okay, So here's how I want to look at this trailer. First and foremost, we know now that this game is mostly going to be an animated adventure. It's going to be an all new original King Kong storyline. Is it going to be based on the old movies? Are we going to get clips from King Kong 1933? There's going to be 933 LEs of this game. King Kong came out in 1933. Makes total sense. Sturn must love the fact that there are pretty high numbers of significance, right? In the X-Men world, it was like 860 something. And in King Kong, they're like, oh, cool, we can make 933 and connect it, you know, and not make a thousand, make close enough to add a little bit more demand. But that's still a lot of games, people. 933 at $13,000. Remember, Godzilla is still the benchmark. Godzilla the bar but when Godzilla came out and they made a thousand godzilla's godzilla only cost ten thousand five hundred dollars and ten thousand dollars is the price where most of these modern thirteen came out these have slid down to now jaws is held value because it's jaws remember when jaws came out the main concern not just about the shark not eating the ball the main concern before jaws came out and jaws was a theme that Playbook, Sear esempがスタートンには全品を消失し Jonak inoned on ANA TVating, Yeahas Wide on FMWгу4.com and that's how F cable number is adjusted to be approved. The Dream Theme for people Godzilla wasn't really a dream theme for most but because they had all those assets They made it work really well King Kong that is the big question mark is it a dream theme on a surface level for most people? No, but what are the assets gonna be? That's my main worry in this game is if it's animated like Jurassic Park www.cinemaback 늦ario coefficient vender.comこんな Thank you juanito也是 To 5 The iconic Kong that everybody knows and loves and the movies and what happens in those movies the iconic stuff when it comes to Kong

6:23

Historically the stuff that made King Kong iconic is not King Kong battling monsters on Islands the Iconic King Kong move is them finding him taking him off the island and bringing King Kong to the United States of America where he been removed from his island and then he sees the Empire State Building he sees the Twin Towers he been incorporated into our world and that is the iconic Kong move Now more recently they've made it more about Kong on Skull Island. That's been what the recent movies have done. And there's always been Kong battling dinosaurs and lizards and big creatures in the old movies as well. But will this game have a mixture of Skull Island battles or Terror Island battles? We can see on the inserts it's probably gonna be a lot like Godzilla. That you are King Kong. And you are being summoned by the natives to then go battle the creatures on the Island. It seems like that's a formula that's worked for Stern in the past. It's how Godzilla is and Godzilla is the number one game, I believe, in the world right now. And so why go a different route? So is this game going to be like that? When you look at the colors of the logo, it looks a lot like the Data East King Kong game. Are they paying homage to that game that never made it to market? It doesn't look like it's going to be the old King Kong movie poster look and feel. I don't know, right? It's like Godzilla's had a lot of iterations. And when you think about Toho Godzilla, the look and feel of the art package on Godzilla, that was the most controversial thing. It created a lot of debate, like a lot of people wanted it to be more throwback Toho Godzilla look and feel. So for King Kong, I do think it's going to be Zombie Eddie. I do. I think he's going to want to be part of the monster series of Keith Elwin. And so I look forward to seeing it. We didn't see much, right? I'm not going to go off of like a few inserts to say, hey, the art is this or that. We just don't know. The logo lockup looks a little in between. I could see how that could be kind of a mixture of old and new Kong blended together, but it's not much, right? When I see that King Kong, it looks more like a logo that would go on a monster oh hey-y-y-y-y kneading boxes ISO Agora no dishwash Moveable Tai Scouleczal assist metallic novels table extractable where 3D printing machine can handle the ... Is this the main mech in the game? It can't be. There's no way this can be the main mech in the game. It's just not impressive enough. It's just not. It's basically like a glorified spinner. I'm not saying this thing do that much. The thing I'm worried about with King Kong is if you play as King Kong, there might not be a big gorilla mechanism in the game. I hope there is. I hope they're hiding all of that. And I think they might be. I really do. I think Stern knows this game needs to be loaded. I think they know the pressure. They know that Harry Potter's coming out. They know the climate. They see the sales. Like, they know they have to give us a lot for $13,000. I'm a little worried that Spike3 is still not going to be a part of this game. I don't know why. Why wouldn't you launch your new platform with your biggest designer and King Kong, right? If you're going to make a bigger screen, what better game to increase the screen size than King Kong? We know the price is not going to change and we know there's going to be 933 L.E.s. Okay, so we're going to know a lot more in four days, but just going off of the response on pin size, the animeよう Finale g G The Game And if the premium right is the same exact gameplay as the le I just feel like Stern's kind of lost the whole Collectibility around its le's because think about it if you're a collector you kind of want to have all the le's and 90% of the le's have plummeted in value and it almost is like the stern le means nothing anymore The Brand of SternLE they really have and I don't think Collectors run to these things like they used to and I just don't think KongLE is gonna be like I have to have it and the other issue Stern's facing with their LEs They need to figure this out is that it doesn't have like really anything that's exclusive enough They need to start putting an exclusive topper on the LEs Jersey Jack does that and that's why Jersey Jack is gonna sell so many C se лай te nome mixta cutney tha A-lichea星 Görnhack got coca recon hafid scholars heals teng 양yaILLHCAs これ để truyw My name is Jack Pinball and I am a fan of SturneLE. I am a fan of SturneLE and I don't think they have focused enough of their marketing effort on making SturneLE special again. They just haven't. Now we also heard that there might be a super LE of King Kong, we shall see. I don't think that's going to happen, I really don't. I don't think people are in the mental mind space to throw even more than $13,000 at a Sturne machine. I don think it going to happen Alright with just a little image Jersey Jack Pinball on the same day they knew the Kong teaser was gonna drop released a Harry Potter image of an envelope with a message that says we have a message for you Now what I found funny about this image is the envelope is sealed and yet the letter is outside the envelope. You know Kaneda, I'll find everything to complain about. It's like, well, why is the envelope wax sealed and the message is outside it? A little weird here, guys. Come on, like that seal should have been broken. Okay. But they wrote, Dear friends, collectors and the extended family of Jersey Jack Pinball. I love that they put collectors in there. Again, they're going to drive all of this towards buying the CE version of the game. We are approaching a moment we've dreamed about for a long time. One of the most monumentous times in the history of pinball. After years of relentless dedication, love and hard work, we are beyond proud to announce the upcoming release of Harry Potter Pinball. This is not just a game. This is a once in a lifetime moment for our company, for our community, and for the countless fans around the world who have kept the magic alive. The love, passion, and demand for this title have been unprecedented. Soon we will finally get to share with you something we've poured our hearts and souls into. Bringing Pneumonic, bringing Harry Potter to life in pinball form has been an extraordinary journey. We've worked for years behind the scenes, refining every detail, fighting for the license and staying true to the spirit of the Wizarding world. We believe the final result will be everything you've hoped it would be and more. But this isn't just about one game. This is about all of us. Our loyal fans, our collectors, our dreamers, our creators. The pinball community has weathered difficult times lately. We've all felt the uncertainty, the challenges, and the weight of keeping this art form alive. Yet we continue to support one another, lift each other up, and move forward with love, purpose, and positivity. To our tiny world of pinball that we hold so dear, thank you. Thank you for believing, thank you for standing by us, and thank you for helping us create a future where passion, imagination, and craftsmanship still matter. This Harry Potter release is for you. For the kid inside all of us. For the magic we never Jack Guarnari, founder JerseyJack Pinball That's exactly what I would write if I wanted to put some words in Jack's mouth. This has me excited, I mean, a tenure in the making, once in a lifetime pinball machine that's going to keep the magic alive. That's what we all want to hear. And they're saying this game is not just going to deliver that and what we're expecting, but it's going to go beyond. We believe the final result will be everything you've hoped it would be and more. Wow. Right there. You know what I was laughing yesterday because I was like, can you imagine if this game is empty? Like right after writing this, can you imagine if they release a barren game like Godfather? Ladies and gentlemen, to me, this is the most mic drop communications I've ever read in the history of pinball because this is what you want. You want a company to be as excited about its product as you. This is what you want to hear. When I call over to Barrels of Fun and I talk to them about their next game, I'm not hearing anything like this. I'm hearing stuff that's like, well, we put a lot of work into this game and it's not going to be for everybody. Like some people are going to like it. Some people might not. Are you hearing any of that here? Are you hearing any of that division? Are you hearing any lack of confidence in Winners expres, FA We Intended Hams on Thursday 7, 2010, we are all awkward. It was a race. When we said it is a race to hide and keep our faces down.... ...no function. Coach Kr elephants back up 都有, kombinas 👩‍🎨 The coachics match, Knapp Arcade, shotsInaudible Coachdit SOON?!?! Coachengeckreddit orange fans leche STOWATYOU vs annotation Bar obed 13 grams F estrut перев Gare Chad Hamzat Ramon 18187416945 Kid Vomits prosperous is to The Mistakes weird theme selections and then they started to remove all the magic from the games We got freakin toy story with no toys in it And then we got games that nobody wanted like Godfather games like avatar that are soulless and so after all of these years I know that this company finally finally is at the precipice of The actually checks every box dream theme it shoots well it's loaded with toys it's the most beautiful modern representation of a pinball machine ever and it's a game that we're all gonna want and we're gonna want it so much that we're not gonna care about how many CES they make we're not gonna care about resale value the reason why we always talk about resale value think about it it like talking about your wife through divorce Talking about the woman you love You want to bolt that woman into your soul and all we talk about with modern pinball is how much we're going to lose because you know what, because we know we're going to let these games go because we know they're not that special. We know they're not that good. We know they're not worth it. We know they don't deliver the intangibles we're looking for. And when I read a statement like this and I hope to the pinball gods they deliver, I do because I feel like this is it for Jersey Jack. If they don't nail this and they're talking about this with this game, this is it, right? They are telling us this is the greatest moment of our whole pinball lives. Like this is it. This is Jack's, not just the 10 years or 12 years at Jersey Jack. This is decades for Jack to get to this point. To maybe make a game that could be considered the greatest pinball machine of all time. It's got enough going for it where it could do that. Stern Pinball had the greatest theme of our childhoods. They had Star Wars and they made one of the worst games ever with our childhood dream theme. Now while Harry Potter might not be the dream theme for us, it is a dream theme for millions of people. And it's about wizards and magic and if we can get into Godzilla and if we can make Godzilla the best game of all time then heck we could also make Harry Potter the best game of all time. So when I hear stuff like this I get excited and I can't wait to see this game out of all the games, I gotta be honest, this is the one. This is the one that I would wait for, this is the one that I would hold my money back on cuz you guys know you're not gonna drop $28,000 next week. You owe money on taxes most of you, you're not gonna do it. Out of all these new games, the new Stern, the new Jersey Jack, the new Barrels and the new Pinball Brothers, you're gonna most likely buy one. And look, and I think for a lot of you out there, I'm talking to you collectors out there, you've been waiting for something that just speaks to you. And I mean this, as a collector, you wanna keep it. You don't wanna get something just because, oh, it's the nicest version of D&D. The D&D LE is crap. It looks like crap. It plays no better than the premium. It looks no better than the premium. It's crap. John Wick, L.E., crap. Venom, L.E., Crap. X-Men, L.E. It's not crap, but it looks exactly like the premium and it's not worth collecting because the game itself is now being considered a game that's not working for people, right? And they're not going to fix it, gang. Jack Danger's going to be on to his next. That game, I hate to say it, but when you think about it, people are considering it kind of crappy with where the code is at. This is it. This is Jersey Jack's opus. Eric Minier's opus. Like Eric Minier wants to establish himself finally as not being a hit or miss guy, right? It's like Pirates didn't really hit. They only sold a thousand and nobody wanted Pirates when it was available. By the way, I'm just saying, I've been leaking this information people. I don't think we've seen the last of Pirates of the Caribbean. I have news on that and it's gonna be exciting. I think this game being successful is gonna usher a second line at JerseyJack that might just make a few more. Oh, man, I'm saying too much. Alright, so you hear all my excitement. And what company do I have nothing to say on? Because they haven't given us anything to talk about. Barrels of Fun. What are they doing? Really? I mean, I made a joke. Do they have their head in the sand, the marketing department? Because is that how they're releasing Dune Pinball? I don't know. I don't know what these guys are doing. I really hope they have goonies or they have something amazing because if it's Dune after all this, again, they've failed to manage expectations. Again, I just think it's going to be dead on arrival. It's going to be Dune on arrival. That's what DOA is going to stand for, Dune on arrival. And it's their fault. They've given nobody anything to get excited about and they're inviting media over on the same day we're going to see King Kong. They did it to themselves. I don't know. And again, the only way out for them is if the whole thing has been Video scripts. Dev��ZZ PooF, IHabimки Efud eh MATI. When I sleep,Ikudnabio, You Er. Formulate runtime spin the pinball congregations monitored that's weekend. P simplesmente Pinball Siemens, OK dot com, Chocolate for german, & 服일 Duke론 오르 souls저 similarly πο consuming 그래서 variable at ebay installed in a hautme.da it's opening up and they said can so they are perfect timing i hope these guys get alvin years dec나 yen round failed setting Jason, I can't wait to see it. The only thing you forgot to tell me, bro, is the name of the lounge, people. Come on. Everybody in pinball needs to hire me to help with their marketing. But Jason, once you have photos of this sleek lounge, just share them with me and I will put them all over my Facebook page and help you guys get going. Everybody look, it's about to get nuts. Kong, Potter, I don't know, sandworms or Chunk, who knows what's going to happen. And then Predator. We haven't even spoken about that because again, pinball brothers, nobody cares. Later.