Episode 858: "The Worst Name In Pinball?"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·16m 54s·analyzed·Oct 12, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

Kaneda reveals mystery pinball company is 'Barrels of Fun' making Labyrinth, harshly critiques the name.

Summary

Kaneda discusses the official reveal of the mystery pinball company as 'Barrels of Fun,' which will produce Labyrinth as its first game featuring Jim Henson's IP. The episode extensively critiques the company name from a marketing perspective, arguing it lacks the gravitas and professionalism expected of a major pinball manufacturer. Kaneda praises the teaser campaign and controlled narrative but expresses disappointment that such talented ex-Spooky Pinball personnel (David Van Ness, Scott Denise, Bowen Kerins) are launching under what he considers an embarrassingly poor brand name.

Key Claims

The mystery pinball company is called 'Barrels of Fun' and will produce Labyrinth as its first game
high confidence · Kaneda directly confirms: 'And we're going to talk all about that on this episode of Canada's Pinball Podcast. I want to look at this thing from a marketing perspective... And the easiest thing to do is just name your company something that you'd be proud of and what are they doing? But before we do that... We now know the name and it is the worst name you could possibly pick for a pinball company.'
David Van Ness left Spooky Pinball because they would not allow him to make Labyrinth
high confidence · Kaneda states: 'David Van Ness was disgruntled that they would not let him make a game. Like he wanted to make Labyrinth at Spooky Pinball.'
Key personnel at Barrels of Fun include David Van Ness, Scott Denise, Bowen Kerins, and an ex-Spooky Pinball coder
high confidence · Kaneda lists: 'The ones that jump out the most are Bowen Kerins, Scott Denise, and David Van Ness. Like these people are all ex-Spooky Pinball.'
Spooky Pinball's Charlie Emery transferred the company to his children rather than selling it when they opposed a sale
medium confidence · Kaneda explains: 'There was a period where Charlie was going to sell the company and the kids were against it. Like they didn't want their dad to sell the company... Instead of cashing out, Charlie gave the company over to his children.'
Bowen Kerins was recently blocked by Spooky Pinball from their Facebook page
high confidence · Kaneda reports: 'Recently, Spooky Pinball had a block Bowen from their Facebook page. That's how heated it is.'
The Barrels of Fun game will feature Scott Denise's music and David Van Ness's animations
high confidence · Kaneda confirms: 'Scott Denise and his music is going to be in Labyrinth. That is super interesting. David Van Ness and his animations, super interesting.'
A Stern Pinball game announcement is coming in approximately one month via Kaneda's Pinball Podcast
medium confidence · Kaneda states: 'I know a new title coming out from Stern Pinball that nobody knows about that I'm going to let you know about it in a month because I agreed to an embargo on when I could release the news... you're gonna hear it here first on Canada's Pinball Podcast.'

Notable Quotes

“And we're going to talk all about that on this episode of Canada's Pinball Podcast. I want to look at this thing from a marketing perspective. And how could you do all of this hard work?... And the easiest thing to do is just name your company something that you'd be proud of and what are they doing?”
Kaneda @ ~0:35-1:30 — Sets up the core thesis of the episode: despite significant work and talent, Barrels of Fun made the easiest task (naming) into a failure.
“I actually think the Mystery Pinball Company is a much better name than Barrels of Fun.”
Kaneda @ ~4:00 — Direct comparison showing Kaneda preferred the placeholder name over the official name.
“Imagine if Porsche didn't call itself Porsche. It called itself like a car that's a lot of fun to drive. It's just weird to name it Barrels of Fun.”
Kaneda @ ~11:15 — Brand analogy illustrating how poor naming undermines premium positioning.
“Let's just say you're at the bar and someone's like, what do you do for a living? I make pinball machines. What's the name of the company? Barrels of Fun.”
Kaneda @ ~12:30 — Practical example of how the name creates embarrassment in casual conversation.
“It doesn't show respect to the fact that this is Jim Henson's first pinball machine. It doesn't show respect to all the personalities that are a part of this company.”
Kaneda @ ~14:00 — Frames the naming issue as disrespectful to Jim Henson IP and the talented team.
“Real good marketing removes the marketer from the equation. The end user is what people are thinking about and what the end user and what the buyer's feeling will be towards that brand.”
Kaneda @ ~15:45 — Core marketing philosophy explaining why brand names matter regardless of product quality.
“I would have told them right away, this is horrible.”
Kaneda @ ~16:30 — Kaneda expressing how obvious the naming mistake is from a marketing expert perspective.

Entities

Barrels of Funcompany David Van Nessperson Scott Deniseperson Bowen Kerinsperson LabyrinthgameSpooky PinballcompanyCharlie Emery

Signals

?
announcement: Official reveal of Barrels of Fun as the mystery pinball company producing Labyrinth based on Jim Henson IP
high · Kaneda confirms: 'I said it was going to be Labyrinth. It's Labyrinth... We now know the name and it is... Barrels of Fun.'
?
personnel_signal: Multiple ex-Spooky Pinball employees (David Van Ness, Scott Denise, Bowen Kerins, unnamed coder) have left to join Barrels of Fun, forming a direct competitor
high · Kaneda states: 'We've got a whole list of people that are ex-Spooky Pinball employees that are part of this new pinball company... Bowen Kerins, Scott Denise, and David Van Ness. Like these people are all ex-Spooky Pinball.'
?
product_strategy: Barrels of Fun executed controlled teaser campaign as 'Mystery Pinball Company' with NDA compliance and early trailer release before Pinball Expo to control narrative
high · Kaneda praises: 'They kept it a mystery... I think the teaser campaign was fun. It was decently orchestrated... they did a good job of keeping this thing secret... we're going to see the trailer for the game the Friday before Expo.'
~
sentiment_shift: Strong negative community sentiment emerging around Barrels of Fun company name despite positive reception of game and team; Kaneda predicts outcry and potential name change
high · Kaneda states: 'I think there's going to be an outcry about the name. And I think they're going to feel embarrassed about it. And I think they're going to change it. I really do.'
?
industry_signal: Barrels of Fun positioned as direct competitor to Spooky Pinball with overlapping talent and IP strategy, creating industry tension

Topics

Barrels of Fun company name criticismprimaryLabyrinth pinball game announcementprimarySpooky Pinball talent exodus and internal politicsprimaryPinball manufacturer branding strategyprimaryBarrels of Fun marketing execution and teaser campaignsecondaryJersey Jack Pinball Elton John game rumorsecondaryEmbargoed Stern Pinball announcementsecondaryPinball Expo 2025 competitive landscapesecondary

Sentiment

negative(-0.75)— Kaneda is enthusiastic about Barrels of Fun's game, team talent, and marketing execution (teaser campaign, controlled narrative), but overwhelmingly negative about the company name. The negativity is so strong it dominates the episode and contradicts the positives. He states he would not buy from the company despite liking the product, indicating the name issue overrides product quality in his assessment.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.051

But... My name I cannot sign. Why? Do you mean to deny this confession when you are free? I mean to deny nothing. Then explain to me why you will not... Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! I have given you my soul. Leave me my name! Oh, welcome everybody to a late night edition of Canada's Pinball Podcast. We were right once again. I said it was going to be Labyrinth. It's Labyrinth. I said it was going to be David Van Est, part of this company, after he left Spooky Pinball because they wouldn't make Labyrinth. And that's just what happened. We've also got Scott Danesi. We've got a whole list of people that are ex-Spooky Pinball employees that are part of this new pinball company, this mystery pinball company, which now we know the name and it is the worst name you could possibly pick for a pinball company. And we're going to talk all about that on this episode of Canada's Pinball Podcast. And I want to look at this thing from a marketing perspective. And how could you do all of this hard work? It is really hard work to make a pinball company happen. all of the hours and the labor and making the parts and figuring out assembly. And the easiest thing to do is just name your company something that you'd be proud of and what are they doing? But before we do that, I've got to introduce some new members to the Canada Raise the Roof Club. We've got our new members, Jeff Tersh. We've got Pete Rosen who raised his membership in one single day to $30 a month. And that wasn't enough for Pete. He then raised it to $50 a month. Steve Jablonski. Now, Steve is another one. He sent me an amazing note. Steve is like, look, don't insult my wealth with asking for $30 for the Omokase Club. And now he's up to $50 a month. We've got Arcade Time is up to $30 a month. And Mike N. Mike, sorry, I don't want to butcher your name. Mike N is also raising the roof and upped his pledge to $10 a month. Yes, you get a shout out even if you just go from 5 to 10. Welcome, everybody. All right, so here's the deal. We now know that this company is making Labyrinth. We know who's behind it. It's a lot of people in the industry that carry a lot of weight. They carry a lot of clout. They have a lot of respect by people in the pinball industry. And so look, I'm here to tell you right now, I'm excited to see this game. Now, Labyrinth isn't a dream theme for me, but when I talk to people about the movie, you do get a lot of enthusiasm and excitement for the game itself. I do want to start out this podcast by saying I think this company is doing a lot right. I like the fact that they did do this teaser campaign. I like that this game didn't leak, like they really controlled the narrative on their own product. They didn't have any leakage of information. everybody who signed an NDA around this game and look at all the people involved with this game and it didn't leak like I didn't I wasn't talking about Labyrinth six months ago and yet I know a new title coming out from Stern Pinball that nobody knows about that I'm going to let you know about it in a month because I agreed to an embargo on when I could release the news now look the news is not coming from Stern they don't know I know this but it's gonna happen and you're gonna hear it here first on Canada's Pinball Podcast but they did a good job of keeping this thing secret. They kept it a mystery. And Mystery Pinball Company became what this company was known as. And I actually think the Mystery Pinball Company is a much better name than Barrels of Fun. We're going to go more into this title, but I want to start with what I think they did well first. I think the teaser campaign was fun. It was decently orchestrated. You know, they definitely piqued everybody curiosity What I like about what they doing now though I like that they ripped the band off the fact that it labyrinth the way they did Because as I said if you don have a theme that like a take my money now theme you might as well just let people in on it before you bring the game to the show Like Jersey Jack Pinball is going to do the complete opposite. They're going to wait for the show to tell us it's the theme that nobody really wants. They're going to wait to Pinball Expo, march in there, and tell us it's Elton John, which we already know. And if they would just confirm it now, it would just allow people to voice their anger about it. And then by the time they bring the game to the show, everyone sort of lowered their expectations. And then the game itself can exceed those expectations. That's what I would have done with Toy Story 4. It's what I would have done with The Godfather. It's what I would do with Elton John. But Jersey Jack Pinball, they're like the definition of insanity. They do the same thing over and over again and they expect different results. It's not going to happen. So I like the fact that they told us it's Labyrinth. I like the fact that they gamified it. They brought the community in on it. I also like the fact that we're going to see the trailer for the game the Friday before Expo. I think getting out in front of the show is super smart because they're now going to control the narrative. They're now going to be what everybody's talking about. They're now going to be the game. when you go through the door at Expo, they can be there right away. Like they don't have to wait to the pizza party to play the game because they've now shown you the game. You know what the theme is. You know what this company is all about. So they don't have to like make everything happen at like some sort of panel discussion pizza party. That party can now just be a party because the cat's out of the bag and we know everything about the game. I think that's super smart. I think it puts extra pressure on Jersey Jack pinball and I think it puts some pressure on the Pinball Brothers. And I don't think anyone really cares about what Pinball Adventures elements that will be at Expo. So I think that's all good. And I think they assembled a lot of talented people that are on board with this company. I'm not going to name all of their names, but the ones that jump out the most are Bo and Karen's, Scott Denisey, and David David Van Es. Like these people are all ex-spooky pinball. Now, if you want to know a little bit of the backstory on why this all happened, it's that David David Van Es was disgruntled that they would not let him make a game. Like he wanted to make Labyrinth at Spooky Pinball. And what happened was this. There was a period where Charlie was going to sell the company and the kids were against it. Like they didn't want their dad to sell the company. They didn't want like to lose what they had created. And instead of cashing out, Charlie gave the company over to his children and they're doing what they're doing with the company. And look, it's been successful for Spooky Pinball. The Emery family is receiving the lion's share of all that money they're making at Spooky Pinball. If David David Van Es was to make a game, he would make money for that game. Same way Scott Danesi made money for every Rick and Morty. And so the Emery family has kept Spooky Pinball close to the Emery family. And that's always been the trade-off, right? Because they lost a lot of the talented people that were over at Spooky Pinball, seemingly because they did not want to pay those people what they are worth. And I think this mystery pinball company, which we now know is the worst named pinball company in pinball with barrels of fun, barrels of fun pinball now has all of these ex-spooky talented people that are now making a game that is obviously going to be a direct competitor to Spooky Pinball. So now it gets real interesting. You know, Scott Danesi and his music is going to be in Labyrinth. That is super interesting. David David Van Es and his animations, super interesting. There's also one of the ex-coders from Spooky Pinball that is part of this team. And Bowen Kerins and his rule sets. Now look, Bowen and Spooky do not get along. Recently, Spooky Pinball had a block Bowen from their Facebook page. That's how heated it is. And look, he doesn't hold back. He picks fights. He doesn't like me. I think he blocked me on Facebook too. So I don't really know what his deal is. But I do know that he a really good pinball player Some people like his rules Some people think the Rick and Morty rules are really shallow So we see what happens with this game I don expect this company to be able to animate or code a machine as good as a Stern pinball machine or a Jersey Jack pinball machine just yet. But they don't have to get that far. You know, I think what people really want to see in this game is a world under glass. I think we're going to get that. I think it's going to be interesting to still see how many tiers there are and how much money this game costs. All right, so look, more to come on that. We're going to do a lot of shows about this new game. I want to talk about how do you freaking name this company Barrels of Fun? And that is the name, people. It is Barrels of Fun. I don't understand why they didn't name this something that showed more respect for all the hard work. And here's the thing. It's like I hear people saying, I just went on Facebook Live, and people are saying, like, it doesn't matter what the name is if the game is good. And I absolutely disagree. You have to make sure with a brand that you take it seriously. And every detail of your brand matters. Everybody will tell you this. You have to go through every single thing. Like imagine a restaurant that served amazing food. Like you could have a Michelin star restaurant where the food is amazing. But if you name the restaurant like Wacky Packs, which I think is, you know, Sonic Drive-Thru's like Happy Meal name. If you name the restaurant Wacky Packs, are people going to be excited to say they ate at Wacky Packs? Imagine if Porsche didn't call itself Porsche. It called itself like a car that's a lot of fun to drive. It's just weird to name it Barrels of Fun. And look at the pinball marketplace. And someone was saying this on Facebook. It's a niche market, so it doesn't matter what the name is. That's absolute bogus. This is the part where I think they're really going to regret this name. Like Barrels of Fun. Okay, so what's the abbreviation? Boff? Everyone's going to be calling you Boff? And then think about it like this. When you go around pinball shows and Stern Pinball, you see their employees with like really cool denim jackets and t-shirts and Stern and Stern Pinball Alley. And Stern's this powerful name. Jersey Jack. Great name. Great logo, right? It makes total sense why it's Jersey Jack Pinball. I love that branding for that company. It's weird now that the games are made in Chicago, but Jersey Jack Pinball. I love the name of that company. Spooky Pinball. I love the name Spooky Pinball and the story behind it, how it connects to people. And you want to walk around a show and on your T-shirt, on your polo shirt, the entire team that works for your company has to walk around wearing a shirt that says barrels of fun. Let's just say you're at the bar and someone's like, what do you do for a living? I make pinball machines. What's the name of the company? Barrels of fun. You know, everything about it is just bad. And it disappoints me as a marketer because you really do only get one chance to name your company. I'm hoping that they come to their senses and change the name of this company before Pinball Expo. I don't think it's going to happen because their deals are signed under this name. It's on the trailer. Like, this is it. It just doesn't show respect to the fact that this is Jim Henson's first pinball machine. it doesn't show respect to all the personalities that are a part of this company it's not good and with all these people that are seemingly very smart and understand this industry how did nobody say what are you doing like really that can't be the name this is like as bad as haggis it's as bad as deep root i think it's worse than those like deep root and haggis i mean just saying those is not as bad as saying barrels of fun it's like a statement it doesn't feel like a company name And so I know I put up on Facebook that I would never buy a pinball machine from a company called Barrels of Fun. And deep down inside, I kind of feel that way. And I'm not trying to torpedo this company or their sales or like people's desire to own these machines. But I think they should really be ashamed of themselves calling the company this. And someone asked me like, well, what would you name the company? Well, look, I mean, it's not like I'm going to sit here and throw pinball company names at the wall. But a pinball company name should be derivative of like the people that are there the founder of the company and have some sort of storyline that goes with it But you know what when you name it something as silly as this I don't even care what the story is. I don't even care what the cultural reference is to that phrase like barrels of fun. I think that's what they used to say about toys back in the day. This toy is a barrels of fun. But when people make decisions like this, it's like you're not taking into consideration your target audience. And this is the thing about marketing. Real good marketing removes the marketer from the equation. The end user is what people are thinking about and what the end user and what the buyer's feeling will be towards that brand. And you're telling me if you take some of the most iconic brands of all time and you gave them terrible names, you think those companies would be as successful? Imagine if Nike was called Comfortable Sneakers. Imagine if Apple was called Fast Computing Company. It just doesn't work. I think they're really going to regret it. I think there's going to be an outcry about the name. And I think they're going to feel embarrassed about it. And I think they're going to change it. I really do. I think they're going to change the name because I think they're going to hear the feedback and realize it's a huge mistake. And here's the other thing too. You buy a pinball machine. You're going to have that company name on the back glass, on the translate, on everything. And do you really want to look at a pinball translate and you see Stern, Chicago Gaming Company, Jersey Jack Pinball. Like these feel like brands that people want to be about. They feel like brand names where there's going to be fandom and a community. And then you see Barrels of Fun. Oh, it just kills me inside. Like they had all these people sign NDAs if they just came to me and said, what do you think? I would have told them right away, this is horrible. To the point of like, what would I name it? I mean, again, I would just name it something else. Like give it a name that's more about pinball. Like you could just call it the pinball company. You know, it's just a better name. You know, there's so many better names. You could call it silver ball trading company, whatever you want to call it. Like wicked pinball, you know, like look at a brand like liquid death. Okay. Liquid death is a billion dollar brand because they called it liquid death. It's just H2O in a can with some cool artwork on it that makes young kids feel like they're drinking beer, but it's water. imagine if liquid death was called h2o you know like h2o it's good water like it doesn't work so that's just it on this episode of canada's pinball podcast there's a lot more to come this week i'm going to be doing a lot of shows you're going to get sick of hearing my voice everybody look i mean it when i say it details matter and this company worked really hard to make a game to figure manufacturing out and i'm just really disappointed that the name of the company which is the easiest thing to get right, they seemingly turned it into a joke. And I would just love to hear from you. Like, do you think this is a good name for a pinball company? I'm going to start a poll. I'll put it on Patreon. We'll see what people say. And this is the thing is like, why create such an unnecessary distraction? Why would you name your company something that's going to turn people off when you want them to be excited? You want them to feel good about every aspect of your company. And there's no excuse for this. There just really is no excuse. Again, as a marketer, It just kills me. It just kills me that they're doing this. Everybody, have a good night. I'm going to go to bed. I'll be up. And we're going to get the trailer for this game on Friday, which is going to be super exciting. I can't wait to talk about that. Everybody, thank you for being a member of the Canada Club. And also, I got some really good feedback about the Omokase Club, which, by the way, if you donate $30 or more, I am going to treat you to an Omokase dinner in New York City or the city we're in together. I'm also probably going to make Omokase Club t-shirts so if you join the Omokase Club you are going to get a Canada's Omokase Club t-shirt that's going to be super funny and no we're not going to require people to give us a hundred bucks for a polo shirt everybody have a great night we'll talk to you soon leave me my name It's like... It's making me laugh all day.