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Ep 71: Beasts

Final Round Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·1h 2m·analyzed·Jul 20, 2023
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Centaur Revisited unveiled; pricing, design, and manufacturing strategy discussed.

Summary

Martin Robbins and Jeff Teolis discuss the announcement of Centaur Revisited by Haggis Pinball, including the game's design philosophy, pricing strategy, Beast edition features, and customization options. They also cover Stern's upcoming Venom announcement, Jack Danger reduced streaming commitments, Yegpin tournament details, and engage in a non-pinball tangent about recent movies.

Key Claims

  • Haggis' Fathom Classic Edition sold very little; purists will never buy remake games and only restore originals

    high confidence · Martin Robbins discussing Fathom feedback and market research at shows

  • Centaur Revisited will have 300 units total production run

    high confidence · Martin Robbins stating 'There's only 300 of them'

  • Haggis honored original Fathom prices despite post-pandemic cost increases, but adjusted Centaur pricing for market sustainability

    high confidence · Martin explaining pricing rationale: 'we still honored that price' for Fathom but adjusted for Centaur

  • Stern's factory move happening in August 2024 with Venom entering production in September

    medium confidence · Jeff citing information from Slamtail Podcast episode and production timeline

  • Jack Danger has significantly reduced Deadflip streaming to focus on game design at Stern

    high confidence · Martin and Jeff discussing Danger's shift away from regular streaming commitments

  • Centaur Beast edition offers original black-and-white aesthetic with optional color lighting accessible by pushing right flipper

    high confidence · Martin describing design feature: 'black and white with a spot of red...then you just push the right flipper and all the colored lights come on'

  • Haggis offers customization services including custom aprons and modified art files for Centaur Revisited

    high confidence · Martin explaining custom apron services and file modification capabilities

  • Brian Eddy is designing Venom; Dwight Sullivan and Raymond Davidson handling code; Zombie Eddy doing artwork

    high confidence · Jeff stating confirmed design team roles for Stern's Venom

  • Yegpin is Canada's biggest pinball tournament using Pinberg-esque match play format at Millennium Place in Edmonton

Notable Quotes

  • “We looked at it and went, what is actually now a viable product for us to stay as a business? and that's the price of the machine.”

    Martin Robbins @ ~14:30 — Defensive explanation of Centaur pricing strategy against market criticism

  • “A purist will never buy this game, no matter what...they will buy an original and restore an original”

    Martin Robbins @ ~8:00 — Key market insight explaining shift from Classic to Beast edition strategy

  • “Money well spent. Yes. You'd probably look at it and go, hey. You know, it's a pretty cool item to show off, so.”

    Martin Robbins @ ~32:00 — Humorous exchange about custom apron surprise; reveals customization services availability

  • “I just care less about the theme...when I may have shit on Jurassic Park, I'm like, the game is awesome.”

    Jeff Teolis @ ~47:00 — Jeff's philosophy on theme fatigue vs. actual game quality

  • “If that's keeping you busy, dude, we've got streamers out there. Do the bread and butter and make more great games like you're doing.”

    Martin Robbins @ ~50:00 — Support for Jack Danger's decision to stop streaming in favor of game design

  • “Picture the size of a hockey rink, and it would be two of those.”

    Martin Robbins @ ~38:00 — Describing Yegpin venue scale at Millennium Place in Edmonton

  • “Take a turd in that fucking hat of yours, Indy. Call it a day. What a piece of crap that was.”

    Jeff Teolis @ ~70:00 — Dramatic rejection of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

  • “It's okay to say you hate something but to say something is just not relevant that's really insulting”

    Martin Robbins @ ~73:00 — Contextualizing Jeff's movie criticism; distinguishing between dislike and irrelevance

Entities

Martin RobbinspersonJeff TeolispersonHaggis PinballcompanyCentaur RevisitedgameFathom RevisitedgameStern PinballcompanyVenomgameJack Dangerperson

Signals

  • ?

    product_launch: Centaur Revisited officially revealed by Haggis Pinball with Beast and Oblivion editions; 300-unit production run announced

    high · Martin discusses reveal and design decisions; Jeff confirms purchase of Beast edition

  • $

    market_signal: Haggis Pinball increased Centaur Revisited pricing vs. Fathom due to post-pandemic supply chain costs and low production volumes; defended as business necessity

    high · Martin's detailed pricing rationale; acknowledgment of community backlash; reference to maintaining Fathom prices despite increases

  • ?

    collector_signal: Haggis discovered purist collectors will not buy remakes regardless of quality; only Classic edition sales were driven by Mermaid edition stock-outs

    high · Martin: 'We didn't sell many...The only reason people really bought the classic was because we'd run out of the mermaid edition'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Shift from dual-tier (Classic/Mermaid) to single Beast/Oblivion strategy; Beast edition designed to preserve original aesthetic while offering color option

    high · Martin explaining design rationale for color-as-option feature and removal of classic tier

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Stern moving to new facility in August 2024; Venom production starting September; implies expanded capacity goals

    medium · Jeff citing Slamtail Podcast information about August move; Venom September start date

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.187

0:00
The Pinball Network is online. Launching final round pinball podcast. It's player versus player and player versus machine. welcome to the final round you go I don't want to go hello everybody this is Martin starting this podcast doing a fantastic job of it welcome to the final round pinball podcast it's already fucked it up I mean that's the quickest tune out we've ever had ever well this is why This is why you go, oh, you do it. I'm like, why? Why would you want me to? This is what's happened. So if you're hanging around, don't worry. I'm here. My name is Jeff Teolas. Yes, that is Marty Robbins. This is episode 71 of Final Round. Can't believe we're still going. I honestly sometimes wish we weren't. No, that's not true. I wasn't talking podcast. I was talking life. Like, seriously. Yeah, that's what I was talking about. Okay, okay. Podcast is easy. Yes.
1:26
Because you've had a busy week or two, haven't you, Marty, since the last time we talked on this podcast? Have I? What about? What's happened? I don't know. Why don't you spill the beans? Since you are the official spokesman of Haggis, ladies and gentlemen, he has said it all along. It's not Damien. It's Martin Robbins. Go ahead. Tell us everything. So if that's the case, why wasn't I on the Kerry Hardy interview? Oh, snap. Yeah, right? Well, I mean, I was. I was just in the background. um yeah so yes we thank you for bringing it up because everybody remember that is the rule i do not bring it up jeff brings it up that's the only way i talk about it so yes centaur revisited was revealed very exciting it looks fantastic different version you've got a color version if you want if you're so inclined for the oblivion edition and um i'm on the outside looking in like everyone else in this podcast you're on the very small inside for for the company haggis so for everybody else you know we were excited for new announcements new titles uh we knew it was going to be a valley you had the teaser which gave us a clue or maybe it did it was going to be eight ball deluxe was it going to be centaur who knew and it turned out to be centaur with a little more and what made you guys decide to do this it's a little different than when you did fathom because you had a kind of a fathom original for a lay person's sake and then you had the the 2.0 the revisited and it looks like centaur is kind of revisited and then the next level and then up yeah look to be obvious it was because so the original with fathom we had the classic version and then we had the mermaid edition right that's it yeah and so we did that because we thought the purists would want a like-for-like game that was more in line with the original, without all the bells and whistles. We didn't sell many, to be honest. Not a lot at all. You're talking about the original Fathom without the mermaid stuff. Yeah, the classic edition. Just the entry-level classic edition. Sold very little. And because Damien hasn't given out that number, I'm not going to give out the number here. but very little. So, you know, when we had that whole, let's call it plus gate, I just wanted to call it plus gate. It's not many games, very few. So it didn't matter. Anyway, so throughout the time that we've been speaking to people at shows, we've been asking for feedback. And what we really came to the conclusion was, which was obvious but we didn't know at the time, is that a purist will never buy this game, no matter what. Look at the original. It's not an original. they will buy an original and restore an original so they weren't buying it the only reason people really bought the classic was because we'd run out of the mermaid edition so what we decided this time around was well let's not make a classic nobody wants it because also what you've got to remember is the beast edition which is now the level of the mermaid edition when you're playing the original rule sets it looks like the original game it's black and white with a spot of red and all the inserts are the original color. So if you want the original experience, it's there, but then you just push the right flipper and all of a sudden all the colored light come on. And that's what we've done. Do you want my honest opinion? And I know you're a friend and I'm talking to the thousands and thousands of people listening to this podcast. Sure. Yeah. Go. My 100% honest opinion. Sure. You already know it. I bought one. Well, yeah, I know that. Well, that's not an opinion. That's a fact. You bought one, yeah. That's obviously saying I'm pretty excited about this game and what it has. And again, for me, I love what you did with Fathom. Fathom was a game before. I never really played it much, didn't see it much. It was okay, it was fine, but the old code was, really, for a tournament player like myself, hit the stand-up, shoot the spinner. There is nothing else. Yeah, that's it. Obviously, Mermaid is definitely not that. It is so much more. And it made Revisited wonderful, and I've played it a few times, And then I was there firsthand at Texas, and I saw the reaction of people who are seeing it for the first time for many people. You and Damien and Georgia and everyone else saw it. So I'm not surprised you went this way, happy you went this way. It looks like the feedback's been pretty good. You mentioned Kerry Hardy. That was very nice, very exciting. I know Zach Manning also was pretty thrilled at flipping out, and I assume your other distributors are as well. I'm thrilled to be getting it, but I've told a few people. Do you want to know what they said to me? What's that? Do you want to guess? You don't have to guess. I won't put you on the spot. Price? Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. It's that much money? It's a single-level play field. I went, hold the fuck on a second. Don't you give me this single-level play field bullshit after we've just seen Bond 60th, after we've just praised and loved Pulp Fiction. I know there's a subway. It's still single-level. I don't care what you say. And I've always loved TNA. So don't give me that bullshit. I've always loved Centaur. And now I get this much and more. The price? Hmm. So I've had two people say, not two people. I've had two comments when I bought this thing and told some friends. Oh, my God, it's going to cost a lot. I'm like, really?

high confidence · Jeff describing tournament format and venue details from personal experience attending multiple times

  • Deadpool's success as a game (despite low movie regard) provides precedent for Venom's potential quality

    medium confidence · Martin's speculation: 'if Deadpool can turn out to be one of the best games ever, then so can this'

    • Brian Eddy
    person
    Dwight Sullivanperson
    Raymond Davidsonperson
    Zombie Eddyperson
    Damienperson
    Final Round Pinball Podcastorganization
    Yegpinevent
    Derek Thompsonperson
    Kerry Hardyperson
    Zach Manningperson
    Foo Fightersgame
    Jurassic Parkgame
    Deadpoolgame

    announcement: Stern Venom officially announced at Comic-Con (Tuesday release); designed by Brian Eddy with code by Dwight Sullivan and Raymond Davidson

    high · Jeff: 'Venom being announced by Stern...We know that Brian Eddy's doing the game. We know that Dwight Sullivan, along with Raymond Davidson, doing the code'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Jack Danger significantly reduced streaming commitments to focus on game design and family; no longer doing regular Deadflip shows

    high · Martin: 'he certainly has shut down Deadflip as far as on a regular basis'; discussion of mental/physical energy requirements for game design

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Community expressing superhero and Marvel theme fatigue; Venom announcement generating mixed reactions despite precedent of Deadpool success

    medium · Jeff: 'I know there's some fatigue with superheroes and the Marvel'; Martin's acknowledgment of skepticism despite Deadpool quality

  • ?

    event_signal: Yegpin tournament upcoming in Edmonton; uses match play format similar to Pinberg; Die Hard Pinball providing streaming coverage

    high · Jeff describing tournament details, venue, and streaming plans; attendance of 4-5 previous years

  • ?

    content_signal: Final Round Pinball Podcast continuing at episode 71; Martin notes busy schedule with Haggis work affecting streaming availability

    high · Episode numbering; Martin discussing time conflicts between podcast prep and Haggis design work

  • ?

    design_innovation: Centaur Revisited features dual-mode playfield lighting: original black-white-red aesthetic vs. full-color mode toggled by right flipper

    high · Martin: 'if you get an oblivion, you have the option of the original black and white, or...the color version...push the right flipper and all the colored lights come on'

  • ?

    operational_signal: Haggis offering custom aprons and modified artwork for Centaur Revisited; uses batch printing process enabling easy file modification for personalization

    high · Martin detailing custom apron service and explaining 'everything that you see pretty much visually with the game i create...if anybody wants customization i can just change the file'

    • 6:41
    Do you not think by the time I get that game, which I don't care when I get it. I get it when I get it. You don't think prices won't go up in other things? Because that seems to be the pattern. What is it, a 4% inflation rate? Stern, for example, is going into a brand new manufacturing building. I don't know if they're going to increase it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. It's just the way everything is going. and everybody's prices are increasing. So I'd be shocked if companies all across the board didn't increase the price. So by the time I get this price, and I assume my price is locked in, it's fixed, correct? Sure. Yeah. Sure. Yes, it is. No, it is. And look, because we've had some, obviously, some inquiries come our way directly about it. And my answer to them is the answer that I'll say now. And that is that at the time of Fathom, we put that price out there. and then straight after that, Ian, thank you, ruined everyone's lives and the pandemic happened. And so what happened is all these prices went up and they haven't come back down. The delays happened with supply chains, all this stuff again. They haven't gotten that much better. So the price itself is not – we didn't look at the market and go, oh, what is it that we can do to fleece people? We looked at it and went, what is actually now a viable product for us to stay as a business? and that's the price of the machine. That's just what it is. It's low run. There's only 300 of them. So it's not like we can buy 5,000 parts, 10,000 of this, 25,000 of that. It's a low run machine. We call it coach built. You know, it's like we're trying to make it the build quality premium. So that's what it is. And, you know, with Fathom, even though all the bomb went up, we still honored that price. I mean, it sounds like I'm trying to be defensive. I'm not. But what you got up is- And you still maintain the original price. So that's pretty cool. Correct. Your class went up. Correct. And that's what I was going to say. There were some instances where people had already put a deposit down on a machine and then that price went up. Well, we didn't do that. We just honored Fathom. But it's now just been a market shift. We've now just altered our price accordingly. bananas, Damien says, and we have a catchphrase at the factory as well, like, nobody's buying a Ferrari off this. You know what I mean? Yeah, and like I say, by the time I get the game, I bet your prices across the board have gone up on everybody else. Oh, for sure. So that's the other thing people said. Oh, when will you get it? And I'm like, I don't really care when I get it. If I get it in a year, I'm thrilled. If I get it in two years, I'll be fine with that too. I have to sell a game to bring this in for spacing and it's not like I've got this void. I'll be fine. And whenever it comes in, great. I don't have to be the first one out. Let's see how they go, and I'm sure they'll be great, but I'm in no hurry. I get it when I get it. By the way, for those people like, oh, fuck, they say it could be 2025. I'm like, really? How many people have ordered Elvira House of Horrors, or Cactus Canyon, or Pulp Fiction, or... I know. Spooky took a long time. Every company But every company has had some delays and stuff, especially post-EN, post-COVID. Sure, I get that. And like I said last episode, people can have these opinions and that's fine. It's okay. All I can do is do my best, and my best as the head of design at Haggis is to make sure that this game looks as beautiful as it can be. So the majority of what you see on the machine is what I've done in my design team that I've got. So it's in safe hands as far as how it looks. My question to you that I've been dying to ask, and I know which one you got. I got the Beast. No, okay, cool. I just didn't want to put it out there in late. The main thing I was really wanting to see was what people's reaction to the color version was. And let me say, the first thing that we had to do, which was from the outset, was it has to only be an option. You can't lock people in. So if you get an oblivion, you have the option of the original black and white, or we call it black, white, red, black and white, red art, or the color version. So if you don't want color, that's fine. And obviously the reaction from the internet, well, the reaction to everything has just been very mixed. But the people that have bought it love the color. The people that haven't bought it hate the color. What are your thoughts? Be honest. That makes sense. If I had the option, I would have got black and white. That's just me because it's the uniqueness of that specific game. Now, that being said, I also want to go back to the Munsters. When they did the black and white one, I loved that addition. And I know it was also mixed, too. I know even Franchi himself, when he designed it, it was never meant to be black and white. I don't believe it. From what Franchi told me, they kind of made it black and white. And he said, oh, I would have changed things if I knew it was black and white. He's got different tools in his artist bag to do that. But I've always liked Centaur. I've always loved that game. And now I can buy one that has extra code, that is not 40-some-odd years old, that has an incredible play field that isn't going to chip and all that kind of good stuff. And my only worry is that here's one of the great assurances of buying the game, is I might have an immediate line to somebody in the company that if I have any problems If there's any concerns, I'm going to make their ear ring just a little bit. But I don't have any concerns. But you're not the only person. Whether people know me or not, you still get the same level of service. That's true. You just do. And that's what people... I can be extra bitchy, though. I can really lay it on thick. I've got that magic in me. Sure. No, you... But I know what you're saying. Your service is great. Everyone talks about how great the service is. Sure. That is why you deal with companies like Haggis and other companies, too. That's why you deal with distributors. Do you have that backing? So that's a nice, you know, it's a big purchase. Obviously, you want that to make sure everything's okay. The only thing I'm worried about is your fucking trickery. I know I'm going to get the game, and I'm going to look at it, and it's going to say, that doesn't say Centaur. That says Cuntar. He fucking switched the E. That's what I'm worried about. Well, way to ruin the fucking surprise. Jeez.
    13:05
    So it will literally be yours will be the Cunt Edition. so i don't know i'll have to do i'll have to do something inside the cab so i can sell it again if i ever have to all right not just like but just just so you know like dicks all over it i know like because okay so what you also need to know like the the art that goes on these games i do the art as in i physically print the art the art that goes on the playfield i print that the art that goes on the decals on the cab i print that i do the back glass i do the plastics i do will i do the apron so people have asked if we can do customized items for them and so i've done custom aprons in particular is the the number one thing that i do i didn't know that yeah yeah yeah people have just asked and said hey can i get this yeah so what do you get is a you get a custom apron but also you get a standard apron as well so if you wanted to actually ever sell the machine you know you could put that one back on so what i'm saying to you is um surprise when you open up your game is really that yep that's gonna happen in advance you're welcome so you say you're welcome but who's the joke on the joke's gonna be on me and all that money spent ah giggle giggle oh wow i feel so bad having now multiple aprons and a machine that's now one of one so i guess look so it is it's not it's not one of those services that we've advertised but i've just had people reach out and say hey can we get some customization so i'm saying to everybody if you want a sent or revisited and you want some customization just reach out and we'll see what we can do aprons easy really that's pretty cool well it's because everything that you see pretty much visually with the game i create so the decals i print uh the play fields i print the back glass i print the plastics i print what else is printed i think that's pretty much it so i print them and we don't like print 5 000 at a time that's that's not how our manufacturing works so i do them in batches so if anybody wants customization i can just change the file when i go to print that's all it's easy i won't have any prolapsed anuses on there will i uh i wish you would just stop ruining the surprise now. Oh, please stop. Yeah, you know. So basically destroy rectum Yeah custom call on your machine That what happening So yeah
    15:42
    You know what? You can put on that Hall & Oates song or whatever that the guy. You're a cunt. You can definitely put that on. Feel free to do that. That'd be awesome. Yeah, you're welcome. Every time you restart. Yes, correct.
    15:59
    You're a cunt. Okay. Well, actually, we would have put code in your own game, so you can't actually start the game. And every time you hit the start button, it just says, here, I can't, and that's it. That's the end of your game. No more. Money well spent.
    16:13
    Yes. You'd probably look at it and go, hey. You know, it's a pretty cool item to show off, so. Come on over, League Knight, Jeff's house. What the hell?
    16:23
    Nice, nice. Okay, we didn't spend this much time on Punny Factory or Space Hunt. We did a little on Space Hunt. I feel a little guilty. I've said this before. I'm going to say it again. Space Hunt, sure, whatever. That's not what I'm here to talk about. Punny Factory, I would, if I was in the market and I had a decent collection and I just wanted to have, you know, one just, not especially for shits and giggles, but just one that was just kind of unique and different, I would totally be in on a Punny Factory just because I feel like there's a bit of kinship there because, in a way, it kind of reminds me of Celts in that it's single level. The lighting looks great. I saw the recent video footage of it. So if I like Celts, I should like Funny Factory. So I can't really rubbish it. But I don't know. There's just something about that game. It's my thing. And this whole thing about... Oh, God. Did we bring up this whole thing about single level play-throughs? Because everyone's like, oh, you know, money... Do you know how much a ramp costs? Not much at all. Fuck all! Yeah. Is the answer to that. So it's a perception thing. Which I get. I understand. So there you have it. Yeah. It's never bothered me. Doesn't matter. Give me a good game. That's all I care about. Now, before we get on to the next thing, I might see Punny Factor, maybe, this week. By the time this airs, I will either be on my way or in Edmonton for Yegpin. Yegpin is Canada's biggest tournament with Derek Thompson and his crew there. The diehard pinball. It's just so damn good. I think this is my fourth, maybe fifth time going. It's always on the calendar. Wonderful facility, this huge Millennium place. He's done so much work, and this is basically a Pinberg-esque, not Pinberg, Pinberg-esque match play format tournament that is so much fun. And we just don't get to see that because it takes a lot of machines to do that, a lot of different era machines. So I'm looking forward to that. But they also have a huge gameplay area, so maybe I'll see Punny Factor there. Who knows? They've got so many other good games to see. I'll finally maybe get to play Pulp Fiction. There's going to be one there. a lot of GTFs and other new games. So, yeah, it'll be good. I think I've asked this before, but can I ask again? And I'll have this in a two-part question. First of all, where is Edmonton and where's JP going to be? And how do people get there? Like, is it easy to get to? I'm flying. It's a major city in Canada, Edmonton. It's in mid-northern Alberta, I would say. It's certainly north of Calgary. Those are the two biggest cities in Alberta, which is right beside British Columbia. So got a little bit of prairies depending on where you are, but you can kind of see the mountains to the west. Beautiful city. I have a lot of relatives in Alberta, in fact, in Calgary. And they held this at this place called Millennium Place, I think it's called. It's just this huge compound of lots of swimming pools. They hold this on two big, I want to say almost ice rinks, but they're not ice rinks, they're indoor ice rinks, or maybe they are ice rinks, I don't know. It's very stadium-like. Just so you know, ice rinks don't have to be outside. I'm just saying. You keep going. No, I know. But I'm just saying that's the size of it. Picture the size of a hockey rink, and it would be two of those. And one side is all free play area and vendors and all kinds of good things there. And then the other side is the competition. So there's food in there. There are hotels around there. There's places to eat. So it's a good time had by all. And people for Carl D'Angelo, Jim Belsito, they're going to come up from California. and others will make the trek too. So for Canadians, it's probably a lot easier because we have a lot of direct flights there. It might be a little more difficult. I know the guys in Chicago were having a little difficulty. Seattle, it's a piece of cake. But anyway, that's the Eggpin, and you'll be able to watch that again on Die Hard Pinball. They're going to be streaming that at a big event. It's too bad it runs at the same time as BPAC, which is going on right now, and I'm looking forward to that. I was just about to say, because if people are going to make the effort to fly all the way around the other side of the world to Australia, people should be able to get to Canada, eh? Because that's how you pronounce Canada. It's always got an A on the end. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, you're correct. BPAC has started. Ten days of pinball goodness.
    20:36
    Oh, the timing can't be good for you. I mean, obviously, the Haggis release would be – you must be just so busy right now to be at BPAC, I would guess.
    20:45
    Yes, but you never know. Oh, okay. Yeah. That's all I'll say. I don't know. We may try and get up there if we can. If we can, yeah. But it would be understandable if you didn't, I mean, with this big release and the orders. And then we've got Tazpin, like, I don't know, a week after. So those events are happening right now. So we'll see what we can do. We might be able to get to some of them. Maybe one, maybe two, maybe none, maybe 100. Who knows? So we haven't seen it yet. It comes out, I think, probably Tuesday, I think, at Comic-Con. but we're recording this on the weekend before the Tuesday it's released. Venom being announced by Stern. Yes. Comic edition. We know that Brian Eddy's doing the game. We know that Dwight Sullivan, along with Raymond Davidson, doing the code. Artwork Zombie Eddy. I'm excited to see this. I know there's some fatigue with superheroes and the Marvel, and it seems a lot like the same well. That being said, you heard me last week, and boy, did I get shit out of her, saying, I don't really give a shit about the theme. I'm like, when I may have shit on Jurassic Park, I'm like, the game is awesome. I just care less about the theme. Yes. You did get some shit for that, too. Here's what I think about this. I'm probably one of these people that's also getting a little bit fatigued about superheroes, and in particular, like, comic art. I think I'd love to see some sort of evolution there. However... We haven't seen it yet. No, we haven't. But for me, this kind of reminds me of Deadpool. I'm like, really? Does this deserve its own game? It's just Deadpool. Venom's not really that well regarded as a movie and as a particular villain or hero or anti-hero, whatever you want to call it. He's not on the number one list. The movies have been considered pretty poor. But the reason I'm bringing that up is because if Deadpool can turn out to be one of the best games ever, then so can this. Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited to see it. Probably a few weeks before I get to play it, but we'll definitely have the stream. I'm sure Deadflip will have it. So actually, you know, Deadflip, I think we talked about this before. Jack Danger has said he's kind of, he certainly has shut down Deadflip as far as on a regular basis. Yeah. And good in the sense that, good, because you're making good games like Foo Fighters and Jurassic Park. Oh, man. If that's keeping you busy, dude, we've got streamers out there. That's fine. Do the bread and butter and make more great games like you're doing. No, exactly. But he did come on recently and had, I guess it was a Bond Code update, so I watched a little bit of that. Yeah, look, you know with me, I've had to stop streaming just because my day life in pinball has just become so much that I just don't have the energy to do streaming. The truth is, two weeks before each podcast, he's writing podcast material down nonstop non-stop and it's just and then oh fuck i should probably do work at haggis i should probably you know pay attention to my family but no it's the podcast it's fine it's the podcast is number one i know you're busy yeah but that's what but i'm just saying that's the reason why i sort of stopped streaming was just because just something had to give and he was doing a lot more streaming and also working for a much bigger company so the fact that he's sort of gone look i i just can't do this anymore. Absolutely. What would I rather? Would I rather change upstream or would I rather more games like Foo Fighters? The answer is very easy. Oh my God. I played it again today. It is such a fun game. Oh my God, isn't it good? Yeah. So, if that means that he now has that, well, more importantly, he actually has more time for his family, right? That's number one. Personally, I don't care. I just want good games, but family as well. I guess that's important. Yeah, for sure. But It does take mental energy. It takes actual physical energy to design a pinball machine. So if he's now got that time that he's spending with his family and back on the games, then I think we're all better off for it. And who's making games at Stern? I mean, we know Brian Addy's got this one. We know Borg's doing it. We've got some guy named Keith Elwin, who, you know, a rookie, certainly not a seasoned veteran by any means. No, not yet. You're an idiot. And if Gomez still tries to make games once in a while, Also, I guess, you know, the big move is happening in weeks, from what I heard. I thought it was August. That's what I heard when I was on Slamtail Podcast. You weren't on that show. They didn't ask you. It was just me. Interesting. No, they didn't. Well, there was a reason for it. Quit your bitching. But I had to plug you. I knew I'd hear no end from you. No, I'm completely indifferent. Keep going. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, they were saying, I think the big move for the factory is in August. So, bigger factory, more manufacturing. Maybe we get back to more cornerstones per year. Well, yeah, I hope so. So Venom apparently going into production in September. So that gives them a month to settle in. I still think, based on history, and I know nothing, they're not done in this calendar year. They're going to have something right before Christmas, don't you think? Maybe. Oh, it's only July. I'm trying to remember Munsters, if that was a late December or an early January release But, you know, there's the big shows I feel it was January CES, whatever it is in Vegas, they like to be there too They're at Comic Con right now, so they've got to have another one ready to go, I guess, I'm hoping I think so Yeah, no, I would say, yeah, six months Whether it's a vault, whatever it is Well, yeah, and again, people are still And I just don't know whether it is wishful thinking but people still are on the rumor mill about them vaulting a game of some kind. And again, I don't know whether people actually know or whether it is just wishful thinking, but who knows. So maybe that's what it'll be. Who knows? I don't know. I just, I probably said this before, but I just say that I don't think there really are the numbers or the number of units that people think from a vault than there is to actually doing a brand new title. So they're better off just focusing on new games. Sure. Yeah, for sure. So Venom's out, and we're talking about new games and stuff, and seeing a lot of movie themes. We'll get to the Jurassic Park comment, but I want to, okay, a little tangent here. I know it's a shocker. I know, wow. We usually stick to pinball and nothing but pinball, but I've seen a few movies lately. Now, I know that you see a lot of movies. You don't pay for any of them. You illegally pirate them to the point where SAG has to go on strike, and the writers have gone on strike. People are out of work because of assholes like yourself. But I actually go to the theater and contribute.
    27:27
    In fact, I've seen four movies in the last probably three, four weeks. Okay. My son and I totally love that animated Spider-Man movie. My God, just movie magic with that. But I'm going to give you three other movies I saw. And I want you to rank them, what you think I liked the best and which I disliked the most. I will give you the three titles. I haven't said this anywhere on social media. We haven't talked about this. Okay, no. Play along at home in the non-pinball game that is What Movies Did Jeff Like? Here are the three movies. They're big ones. You might have heard of them. All right. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Okay, yep, yep. The Flash movie. Okay, yes. And just a couple days ago with my wife, Mission Impossible 7, Dead Reckoning, part one. Okay. Big blockbuster movies. what did Jeff like the most and what did he... There's one movie I specifically did not like. In fact, I wanted to leave an hour into it. Oh, okay. Well, you've given me too much information because... I'm helping the people along at home. There's thousands playing. Okay, but you're not helping me you're helping me too much because... I don't know if you remember this there was... Oh my God. There was actually... There was a movie that you were in where I actually feel you probably spent more time messaging me whilst you were in the cinema watching this movie telling me how shit the movie was. Okay, so you know the answer. I know the answer to that one. Give the shittiest movie, and I mean a shit fest. Okay, it was Indiana Jones. Take a turd in that fucking hat of yours, Indy. Call it a day. What a piece of crap that was. Okay, yeah. Turd. And it's geared right for me. Guy in his 50s. Grew up watching Indiana Jones. I've seen all the movies in the theater. excited to go i think i went opening night what a fucking shit show yeah look as i said i had the inside scoop because you were messaging me and i wish i just could be bothered getting my phone to read out the messages but they were they were hilarious and and it was again it's one of those things it's okay to say you hate something but to say something is just not relevant that's really insulting and that was the gist of it at one point i had to take a piss and i thought fuck do i even go back yeah i was like yeah i've actually only ever walked out of one movie and it's bizarre that i did because as a kid i was obsessed with 3d movies obsessed used to watch every 3d movie i walked out of jaws 3d just because it was terrible i mean treasure of the four crowns is a terrible game. If anyone's ever seen that movie, it is a complete Indiana Jones rip-off. Nice segue there, but poorly acted, poorly filmed, but it was 3D. It was still fun, but Jaws 3D, oh, terrible. All right, so we've now got to get on to your next two movies. Now, this is where it gets interesting because obviously I haven't seen any of these movies. I do actually want to see, I do want to see The Flash, and I do kind of want to see, I don't really want to see Mission Impossible, but my partner does. anyway i'm gonna give you another clue or do you want okay i think i know but i've seen this movie more than once in the theater now as in your best your favorite movie out of those three okay okay cool so this is what i'm gonna say i think i think the flash is a bit of a wild card but also mission impossible is too so what i know about the flash is that everybody said it was going to be the next blockbuster. It was going to be the next big hit. It was going to save DC It was going to just have this whole new franchise and apparently after one week everyone said it a shit movie and all the cinemas took it off I know nothing about Mission Impossible Nothing. Absolutely nothing except that it's a movie that exists. That's my review. Classic review. Classic money. So what I'm going to say is I think that Mission Impossible was the surprise hit in that it was... I think it's been a while since we've had a Mission Impossible and maybe they've done sort of a mini reboot of it. That's just going to be my guess, that that was a good one and Flash was sort of... It was okay, but it was sort of mediocre. There you go, I'm locking those answers in. So, it's so funny, your reviews were surprise hit and mediocre. You are bang on correct. Just the wrong movies. So, the Flash, I have seen in the theatre, not once, not twice, three times. It was a fucking great movie. Oh my God. Here's a perfect example of separating the art from the artist. Yes, I know. Because good old Ezra's had some problems. He's a horrible human being from things he's done in the past 18 months. No question, no argument. I kind of knew what he did. I don't really want to know what he did. I'm looking at a guy who's playing Barry Allen and The Flash. that's all I care about. Kevin Spacey is a fucking monster of, and we're hearing things that he did, just a horrible, horrible human being.
    32:41
    Fuck, am I going to get cancelled by saying I thought he was one of the best actors I've ever seen in my life? No, you can separate those two things. Objectively, I do separate. Objectively, he was a fantastic actor. Objectively, you cannot, I was never a big fan of his. I always thought he was a bit overrated, but he's a good actor. He's also a monster. Yep, yep. But he is a, so I can say in one breath, loved his performance, don't like the human being. I can make that separation. Sure. And some people can't. I don't see Kevin Spacey on screen. I see Frank Underwood or I see whoever the other characters are. And I wish those things didn't happen, but I'm immersed when I watch movies and stuff. And when I go to the theater, I always sit in the back row so that no one's behind me talking in my ear. And, you know, I really just kind of get into it. and The Flash was great. So why the big reason I like The Flash? Michael Keaton was so fucking good as Batman. Okay. And the girl who played Supergirl was spectacular. Okay, so you're giving too much away now. I know nothing about this and I don't want to know about all these cameos and all this kind of stuff, right? Okay. I really want to watch Flash. I just, there's something about it and the premise that I know about it, which isn't all that much, where I'm like, I wanted that to be really good and then I heard that it wasn't good, but now you're saying it's really good. I want it to be good, So I'm going to, you can't see my inverted commas here, but I'm going to go to the cinema. No, you're not, because it gets digitally released on the 18th. You don't have to. No, that's what I'm saying. When I say go to the cinema, I've literally got a home cinema. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Tuesday you'll be able to see it. I can do that whenever. Yeah, okay, cool. Now, I had a buddy over last week for dinner, him and his wife, and Anne and I, we entertained them and all that stuff, and he was saying, you know, I really wish I hadn't saw The Flash. I said, fuck, I'll go with you again. I've seen it twice. And he goes, yeah, I kind of want to see Keaton on the big screen. I go, it's good. I'll go with you. Let's do it. And so we went on Monday and I said, it comes out digitally next week. You still want to do this? He goes, yeah, I've got it on the big screen. I'm like, I'm in. Yeah, for sure. Good. I like that. So Mission Impossible. I always say, if you like something, go for it. No spoilers. Mission Impossible. Are the stunts great? They're off the charts. Insanely good. Good fight scenes. Good. The car chase stuff is some of my favorite stuff. Story wasn't really the greatest. I mean, like, it just was... There were a lot of lulls there. And I was like, ah, because the last two movies have been so good. Bangers, as my son would say. And this one was just like, it fell a little flat. And there were so many YouTubes of the Incredible Stunt, which is an Incredible Stunt. So it didn't pay off in the theater as much because I've seen it a thousand times on YouTube.
    35:19
    Yeah. You know. And that's why I thought, when I was having a guest, that I thought, because in my mind, I thought that Flash was going to be fantastic and that Mission Impossible was going to be mediocre. But because you put me on the spot, I'm like, ooh, maybe there's a shock twist and it's the reverse. But clearly it's not. And Mission Impossible for me is kind of how Bond came, went for me. It was like, you've got all the ingredients, but you're not surprising me. I've seen car chasers. I've seen ski chasers. I've seen helicopter chase I've seen it all What are you doing that's new and fresh See what I give respect to Mission Impossible And the Bond movies Is the stunts are real They will CGI Daniel Craig's face On the actual stunt person doing Whatever the motorcycle stunt and all that kind of stuff The stunts are real I can't watch a fucking second Here's another go ahead write in Gmail I can't watch a second of the garbage That is the Fast and Furious franchise Oh my god It's all CGI bullshit. Vin Diesel can't act his way out of a fucking paper bag. And tough guy, like, how are we going to get across that building? I'm just going to put it in drive. Off the fucking 34th floor. Fuck off. Like, come on. I say that loving Star Wars and superhero movies and all that stuff. But just Mission Impossible, at least Tom Cruise is doing the stunts. At some point, we're going to see him die on screen. And then the Bond stuff, they set world records for some of these stunts. I love all that stuff. And you don't support it. SAG's on strike, the writer's on strike, and I'm sorry it's final round. We'll get back to it. Okay, well, I can't really help you with most of that. Prime example is you'll either be proud or completely non-shocked at all to know that I've not watched a second, a single second, of any of the Fast and the Furious movies. Me neither. Not a second. No. None. The trailer. Whatever's on the trailer is all I've ever seen. Yeah, and even then, I'll turn it off. Yep, absolutely. But you know what? If you like it, listeners, you do you. We're not saying that you're trash and hideous. We're not saying you're fuckwits. We're not saying it. Whatever you like. Whatever you're into. It would make a great pinball machine. There you go. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Sure. Yes. Oh, well. Yeah. Of course it would. Okay. Let me think about that. Really? Yep. How? Is it Getaway 3? High Speed 3? Is that what it is? Sure. But it's car chases. It's adrenaline. It's, you know, fast-paced music. It's cool. I love high speed. I love getaway. Thin diesel call-outs. Come on. Corvette is a super game. My God. Did you watch FIFA 18? Mustang, you and I have said on this program, one of the most underrated games. Yeah, correct. So maybe I'm, yeah, maybe I guess. I'm trying to think of a car game that I don't like, and I think I like them all. I love cars. I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with cars. I'm not a car nut, but I love cars. So, well, I don't know. I just think car games. Has there been a dud car game? Well, we haven't seen it. Porsche from Home Pin? Hey, Dr. John. I actually listened to the Australian Pinball Podcast because a bunch of people were talking about it. I thought, all right, I can listen to this at one and a half speed. Not any disrespect to John, but it was Mike from Home Pin on. And I'm like, okay, what's he going to say? He took shots at you, by the way, on the podcast. Sure. He did. By saying that we copied his playfield technology. Is that one? Yep, there was that. But you personally about, oh, I played it at, I don't know if it was Tazpin or something show I played one ball and walked away and he said that's impossible because in Thunderbirds it fires again it's impossible to walk away from it because it completes the game and I was like hmm he said whoever played it played one ball walked away and came back and the ball was still in the shoe lane he said that's impossible well maybe the last part was editorial but I believe I myself have played it at Yankton and I was like I'm good I'm done but I never said I played one ball and walked away He said somebody at an Australian show who's in the know. I assumed he meant you. I don't know who it was. Who else would be it? Ryan C? I have to go back and listen to Jesse Jay's Pinball Adventures, too. I don't know. I played a football game. Did you? I think so.
    39:29
    But remember, I don't think I was harsh about Spinal Tap. I talked about some of the things that I thought that they could change, a couple of minor changes, and it would actually make it a great game. So that's actually what I said. So it wouldn't have been, I wasn't rubbishing it at all. Anyway, I don't get that. I just don't understand why he's bashing the United States, which the last time I checked, and you and I are foreigners to that country, might be the number one pinball market in the world. I wouldn't shit on them. That's just, if I'm a manufacturer of a pinball company, I might make concessions to please that country that is going to be buying more pinball machines than anybody else. But anyway, he got burned a few times by PayPal or something like that. Yeah, it was PayPal. Yeah. Look, here's the thing, right? Who knows? How many machines does he want to sell? And has he got enough customers in the rest of the world to be able to make them? That's it. Maybe he doesn't need to sell to America. There is not a bigger market for Spinal Tap than the United States, for sure. I'm sure that's probably true. But let's say he only wants to sell 200, 500, 1,000, and he can get those from around the world. That's all he needs. He might not need the U.S. market. You're being politically correct. I can sense it. I'm not. I'm saying that because we're in a similar boat, but obviously we're nice to our U.S. customers. But, you know, he's from day one. His business model has not looked at the U.S., so he's not counting any sales from the U.S. at all, and yet he's still continuing to make machines. It was interesting to hear him talk about, I guess, originally being in China and how difficult it is to import anything in China. So yeah, that makes sense. And, uh, I think I remember hearing Damien say, you know, he didn't know any better when he was first making Kelts and he just kind of made everything. And I don't know, obviously there's been changes and stuff, but, uh, you know, it was certainly different laws in Australia than there would be in China. But now I guess Mike can home pin is in Taiwan. And, uh, Hey man, best of luck to you. Whatever I think of anyway, I like to see all pinball companies do well. It's better for everyone. I hate hearing horror stories. nobody likes that it's bad for everybody but um you don't want to see anybody get burned but uh yeah i i gave i gave that podcast to listen so thanks dr john hope you're having fun at b-pack awesome oh we've got a few other things to talk about if we can just skip over the fact that i won our league um i don't really want to talk about it's an important league a lot of a lot of great players it's i've played in nine years never won it before so let's just i don't even want to bring it up so okay let's not talk about it then we'll all okay we'll just move on we will cut that out we will not talk about the big victory nice okay fuck sake tell me about this fucking league that you fucking want just tell me you know you want to if you don't you're gonna somehow slip it in anyway so just do it go do it now go you won a league congratulations congrats you're well done gun to my head i will quickly say it is a six-week league with the last Four weeks counting. You play six games. You actually play them twice. It's kind of fun. It's unique. Then you have the big playoffs. It's a long day. It's grueling. Yeah, I won. Okay, fine. Let's move on. This show is not about me. This is totally about, really, are we getting sponsorship money from Haggis? No.
    42:53
    Do you want some? I think after this episode, you probably should. So, okay, was it a big deal? Like, I mean, winning any sort of tournament or league or anything is big. Was this actually a big deal for you? Was it a big deal for me? Again, I'm just trying to whip through this as quick as possible. Just be normal about it. Was it good? Did you enjoy winning? Boner alert. Fucking right it was. Nine years I've been trying to win this fucker. So? It was a huge deal. Now, some of the best players weren't there. That is the truth. I'm not going to discount that for anything, but I'm not going to not mention that. I don't care. I want it. My name's on the trophy. I get to keep this trophy for six months. It's huge. It's awesome. Excellent. Yeah. Pretty exciting. We'll see how that carries over again to Yagpin coming up. Now, again, this will be airing roughly around Yagpin. The next big event for me is I've run into a lot of big events. Pinball Profile Tour. Those are nice little one-stop things. A lot of travel. A lot of work more so before the event happens than the actual event. The event is turnkey. It's fine. This one. and you know firsthand about this, running Melbourne Silver Ball. I'm running the beast August 4th through 6th at Pocket 2 Billions in Buffalo, New York. Myself and a lot of great volunteers, Adam Becker is going to help TD it. We've got lots of techs, and I'm looking forward to that. Bruce Nightingale, Shane Jackson, the volunteer list. My goodness, I need a lot of shifts covered. People have stepped up for that. And I remember you talking about Melbourne Silver Ball. All I give a shit about is people have a good time. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Like that weight on my shoulders is the most pressing thing is, have I covered everything? Whether you play shitty or not, I don't care about that. Are the machines going to be great? Yeah, shit's going to break down. I've got techs on hand. We've got enough games in the bank that no one's going to be screwed. Pricing is certainly very fair. I'm really excited to bring this to Buffalo, and it's a biggie. Okay. How many people do you expect to be there? Already over 100 signed up. Fantastic. That's awesome. for three, there's even a fourth day too because I figured people will be there the night before. So I'm like, you know what, fuck, we'll just have a quick little five-hour tournament. People are going to be there if you want to play, great. But the main thing starts on the Friday morning, but people are probably coming in Thursday night. Here you go. And what's the format? It's a pump and dump. So you've got a main event, you've got a classics event, you've got a women's event. Those are the three big ones. And then you've got, for those that don't make the main on Sunday, I've got a three-strikes tournament because people book hotels and they're there Saturday night. I'm like, oh, fuck, I didn't make the finals. What am I going to do Sunday? Now you've got something to do. Yeah. Good. Well, that's good. But is this considered your tournament? Is this presented by Jeff Deolos? Yeah. It's presented by Pocket of Billiards and Pinball Profile. Fantastic. And I got American Pinball to come on board with some sponsorship money to add to the prize pool. I'm excited about that. Excellent. Yeah.
    45:43
    We've got 15 games in the main bank, 11 in classics, 9 in the women's. and basically the classics and women's banks will be used for the three strikes tournament on the Sunday. And then there's a whole probably other 40 games on Coindrop. Now, my games for the Beast are not on Coindrop. That's kind of covered with the administration fee. We've got some Coindrop. They've got a full menu there, which is kind of nice. That's something new to the Pocketeer Billiards. So you don't really have to go anywhere. The hotels are pretty cheap around the area. It's good. Okay. I'm excited. I'm nervous. Yeah. Well, you should be. Not nervous from the sense that, oh, what if something goes wrong? I mean, every little detail. Like when I go to Yagpen, I'm going to play, but I'm also looking at every aspect of it because they do it right. I'm like, okay, got this, got this. Picking brains and stuff like that. Just not missing a beat. Of course, I got Never Drain Software with Carl D'Angelo. He's going with me. Oh, it's going to be fun. The Beast. If you around New York area certainly upstate New York Buffalo New York Pocketeer Billiards August 4th 5th and 6th We love to have you So the poster all the artwork for it looks great I had Chris Franchi do that Did you? I did. I asked him, and he was extremely nice to me. Let's just play that. And I don't expect anything like that to be free. I would never ask a friend of that. And so I commissioned him, and he gave me one very nice deal. And I don't want to put him on the spot because now everyone will plug him, but he's a good guy. And I knew he would do a bang-up job. I got him to sign a bunch of limited edition posters. People are buying those up too. So they'll be gone like that. Awesome. Yeah. Is it going to be streamed? It is going to be streamed. Thank you for asking. The Pinballers on the Pinball Network. Mike, Lisa, Carter Castleman. Carter won't be there, but Mike and Lisa will be there. They're going to be doing all the streaming. So they're coming down from Ottawa. Streaming was pretty important for me because here's the thing. There's so many great tournaments around, and we had questions about that in previous shows. To be big, you've got to look big. Anybody can run a tournament, and that's fine and dandy, but some places do it right. And we see it at District 82 with Fox City Spinball, the great streaming that they do, and, of course, Indisc, and all the big tournaments have great streaming. So the Castlemans have really come through with that. So I think we've got everything kind of covered. Awesome. Mm-hmm. I look forward to seeing it. I'm going to watch. Yeah, it'll be good. I look forward to seeing you in the booth. Oh, fuck yourself. You're saying that because I'm going to be done quickly.
    48:13
    Obviously. That's not that much of a puzzle. It's funny. I got... So, Yagpin's coming up, and they sent out a schedule for those who want to stream. And I'm just letting you know this. It was sent to me. Teolis, you're doing the finals, and this, this, this, and this. And I didn't say anything like that. Well, what if I make... No, he's probably right. I probably won't make it.
    48:37
    Yeah, fine. I'll do it. yeah yeah yeah yeah reality yep but that's okay because at least at least you've got it locked in and then you can organize a substitute if you do get into the finals so i think that's a wise decision you and i know that isn't happening no i know i'm just trying to be nice holy shit we whined and said we're not gonna do another show if we don't get any emails like people don't even fucking care whoops that was yeah unfortunately because i think hadn't we said if we don't get any emails we're actually not going to do any more recording wasn't that what happened well why should we put in the effort if you fuckers listening to our free program don't give us any feedback good or bad yeah well we shouldn't say good or bad because it all came back and it was I think the general consensus of all the emails that we got was, yeah, you guys are shit, but we still want to listen to your shit. Maybe it makes other podcasts better. I don't know. Yeah.
    49:37
    Ian Dungeon. Jim. Yeah, Jim. There's still a few people listening. Actually, I saw the both of you at TPF, but you both seem busy, so I just lurked around. Perhaps next go-around. Probably best to stay away, Jim. Good call. Funny, I'm in the States, and the C-bomb is still just a word to me. it's all just words and they have no power beyond that which uh which we give them good point jim the only thing i took out of that was dude i don't care how busy we are okay if someone could just walk past the hackers booth and say jeff's a cunt and not even stop you could have done the same is all i'm saying that's all you didn't have to stop us you can just walk past and say the obvious fact and keep going. Michael Rauch has no problem doing that. As he wrote, hey cunts, here's the email. Now keep doing your talkie thing for us. Dance, I say. Dance for us all with your mouths. Thanks, Mike.
    50:41
    Steve Condren says, don't stop the show. Or do. It's up to you, really. I don't care. But you know, at this point, Ian is still listening just to hear his name every episode. Seriously, you guys are hilarious and I always love listening to your exceptionally prepared and professionally wrapped podcast.
    50:58
    So this one's going to take a while. Oh, here we go. Is this the one that's got my favorite start? Is it Ed's? Yep. This is a long one, but it's really well written and we're going to read the email, but we're going to interject here. This is from Ed from Denmark, who, by the way, if you recall, at the IFPA 18, he's a great player, I gave him a signed Marty and Jeff final round postcard, if you will, that said to the biggest cunt in Denmark and maybe the world?
    51:29
    How did he respond to us, Marty? This stuff just makes my day. Basically, here's how the email starts. Fuck off, you dusty cunts.
    51:43
    Wow. That's just... He said, I actually made notes on what to comment on during your episode, but when you started begging for emails or you would kill yourself, I almost didn't want to.
    51:57
    And then you even had the nerve to call me out personally. Deal weeds. I love this guy already. Have you not met Ed before? Probably not. I don't know. Maybe.
    52:08
    He's, how do I describe Ed? Well, you think there's something wrong with him when you first look at him. I don't mean any disrespect, but you think he's not well. He's obviously had or needs some sort of facial reconstruction. It looks like he's had maybe six, maybe five strokes. I mean, he's nice. He's the sweetheart of a guy, but just an absolute goblin, really.
    52:34
    He's best for emails. He's probably the best. If I were having to do a police sketch artist, that's what I would say about Ed.
    52:46
    Okay. This is him commenting on the last show. First off, it's not a European thing to have a playfield protector. We talked about that. That was the thing that shocked me. He goes, it's probably a German thing, though you might see it in other places around Europe, but definitely not all people agree on the pleasure you get from it. Most players like to play without plastic. It does change the game, and we talked about that last time for sure. Now moving on to, wow, wow. Schutztod. He said, now let's move on to the ridiculous headlamps. Ed, you ignorant slut. There's nothing wrong. He's about to shit on headlamps. Here's what Ed thinks. And I know everything I just described to him was all bullshit. He's a really tall guy, so he's close to the sun, so he doesn't need fucking lighting.
    53:33
    He said, I thought we already agreed that pinball is not for old men anymore. He might be on to something there. The young with fresh flesh and eager eyes are taking over. But in all seriousness, I played next to a headlamp in the very dark part of the room, In Fulda, no matter how hard you try not to turn your head, you will always be moving around following the ball. And exactly that's what happened to me where the player's headlamp next to me casted shadows on my game, which made it hard for me to follow the ball. So, Ed, I agree with you. If somebody's headlamp is affecting your game and they are turning your head, of course you put up your hand and say, hey, man, this guy's basically shining a light on my game. Totally agree. But that's not what I said. if you are not doing that problem, and like I said last time, Trent Ogdenstein, Andy Rosa, those guys are pros. They might as well have neck braces on. Actually, Andy Rosa did have one on. I hope he's doing well because he had some surgery there, but they don't fucking move their head. That lamp is on their game and their game alone. Anyway, blah, blah, blah. What else was he talking about? I just want to say something about that there. What happens in those situations is somebody else is causing the problem that makes you feel like you're an asshole for having to put your hand up and dob on somebody. You know what I mean? I think what he's saying is people shouldn't be doing this to begin with and now he's the arsehole. So, no, the problem is... No, but you just said, yeah, all you've got to do is put your hand up. Yeah, but somebody don't want to put their hand up and go, I'm dobbing on that person and now I'm the arsehole. You know what I mean? Like that person shouldn't be moving their head around and casting shadows on a game next to them. They shouldn't happen. For the European Championship, for the World Championship, if somebody's doing something to distract me, I don't care what they think of me. I'm putting my hand up. That's fine. You're an asshole. We know that. Some people are nice, and some people feel reluctant to do that. Oh, yeah, Ed's a sweetheart. He's a Denmark model, for sure. He's the best. Give me a break. No, but I've also seen people... Okay, I remember once seeing somebody playing a game. This was in a tournament, and it was a big tournament, and the machine next to the malfunction, and the play field came up, the glass came off the player. someone then went in between the machines to try and fix while someone's playing and they were just quite a shy person and didn't say anything and what they should have said was oi fuckers get the fuck out of here but some people just they're not like that they don't want to create a scene but now that person who shouldn't have been working on the machine in the first place makes it look like this person's the asshole and that's how they're going to feel so that's all i'm saying on that is that it's easier to say well you just put your hand up but some people just don't want to do that and they shouldn't have to there you go ed's a cunt that's all i'm gonna say point well made then okay uh let's fast forward down he he liked your banks of games blah blah medieval madness and afm are totally different games yeah yeah yeah fuck off That's true. Okay, don't just gloss over it. It's true. They don't play like at all. There are similarities. Come on. I don't doubt that there are similarities, but again, we've said there are similarities between Metallica and Guardians of the Galaxy. They do not play the same. Yeah. So, that's all. Fine, Ed fan.
    56:51
    Oh, this is heartfelt. Hold on a second here. This one touches the heart. As much as I like teasing you, as much as I actually love you guys, don't let it go to your heads, I had about 10 minutes left to go on the episode for my bike home from work on Friday, and it saved my day after a long, hard, stressful week. Well, we're glad that we helped in some way, Ed. He said, you guys always manage to make me laugh, even in public, just by your natural interaction with each other when you're not even trying to be that funny. Is he saying like we're funny looking? What's he saying there? He said, okay, you're not even trying to be that funny. We're not trying to be funny because we know we're not funny. It's not like we're stand-up comedians. Come on. Yeah, I didn't. You wanted to.
    57:33
    You fucking wanted to. I did. What is it? I think it's the egging. I think a few people, especially in the last 10 years in my pinball life, that have been trying to get me to do this again or reveal some stuff. And I have a lot of friends on Facebook, let's just say that, that have seen me do stand-up. They're not pinball people because I didn't do it during the pinball days.
    57:56
    It's out there, man. It happens. Yeah, I'm moving on. Anyway, let's go on to the next email. The next email says, Your files are nearly ready to be uploaded. Click below to see how easy it is to complete your Dropbox setup. You'll be able to access your files from anywhere. Why are you reading that? Because that was the next email. I just deleted it.
    58:16
    Well, what did Mark say? I thought we were reading out emails. Okay, this is from Mark. It says, Marty slash Jeff. Love the show. I only listen to a few podcasts, and yours is one of them. He said, just for the record, when the $1 IFPA thing came down, only one person was hostile. The rest of us couldn't care less, and we were embarrassed. In fact, we still joke about it. And he said, and Jeff, Jurassic Park 3 is pretty good. Heard you say you never saw it. Hmm. Is that the one where they're in San Diego, or is that 2? I forget. I don't know.
    58:45
    Jurassic Park 3. I just thought it was like, eh. It's okay. It's all right. No, all of them. It's okay. It's the one where they had pterodactyls. It was okay. You know, it was like Fast and the Furious 10 or James Bond 12 or Mission Impossible 7. It was just, they'd run out of fresh story, is really what it was. Listen, there's no denying how big that movie was. A monster movie. For God's sakes, when the Toronto NBA franchise was awarded a team, they called it the Raptors. Why? Because of the popularity of Jurassic Park. It has nothing. What the hell do Raptors have to do with Toronto? And now somebody's going to email you, well, the fossil's founded, but I don't give a shit.
    59:28
    Like it's a basketball. You could have called them the Toronto Towers. Oh, there's a CN Tower. There's a lot of different names over there. The Raptors was only, only because of Jurassic Park. So I get how big the movie was. I'm just saying it was fine to watch. It wasn't a bad movie. I never said it was a bad movie. It just was like, I don't need to see it again. Yeah, there you go. All right. And just our final email is a new sign in on Windows. We noticed a new sign up to your Google account on a Windows device. If this was you, you don't need to do anything. If not, we'll help you secure your account. Check activity. It's called spam. You don't have to read the spam. That doesn't count as actual spam because I did sign in on my new laptop. It was me who did it. The timestamp was when I did it. Nope. We both did it then. We must have both done it at the same time. We just can't get enough of it. We're always refreshing our email to see if anybody writes. Basically, what we said was, oh, my God, we got so many emails. so that just included a google security all right don't you have some centaurs to make uh i do one yes i do i'm excited yes thank you i have to fly to edmonton i have to get ready and then the beast oh boy i'll do you a favor marty and i i even as busy as i am i think you're busier i will edit this show. What? Yeah, great. Good. Thank you. As you should, because it'll never get done otherwise. I've made notes. Just take out that whole thing about my league win. I can cut some time there.
    61:00
    Okay. For sure. So, where can people reach us, Jeff? Marty's direct phone number is 1-3-4-2- I don't know. No, because you don't know my direct number. I don't think I do. That's kind of sad. Like, we're buds and we don't have each other's phone numbers. Because we don't, we don't talk to each, we talk to each other over Messenger, effectively, so. I'm getting verklempt. I'm a little sad I don't have your phone number. With that being said, I couldn't tell you my son's phone numbers. No, that's exactly right. I know it's speed dials. No, exactly right. But basically, you're stalling, and so the answer is finalrampinball.gmail.com. It's Final Rampinball Podcast on Instagram, and it's at Final Rampin on Twitter. And if you want to send us a fax, you can do that at our pager number is blah, blah, blah. Yes. Or smoke signals will also work. All right. You work on the lovely graphic, God Only Knows What It's Going to Be, for episode 71.
    61:55
    I'll get ready for Edmonton and the Beast. We'll try to squeeze a show in before the Beast. That would be two weeks from now. I think we can do it. Yeah. I reckon you can. If we can, we can. There's no promises. We'll give it a go. And if we don't get any emails, what do we do? It'll be the same. Never record again. That's it. Correct.
    62:13
    That's a promise. I like that. I like the threat. Same. Thanks, everyone. Speak soon. See you, Marty. Bye.