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Pokémon by Stern Pinball: Game Announcement Breakdown. Streamed from Raccoon City Pinball.

DRI374·video·49m 42s·analyzed·Feb 14, 2026
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

Pokémon Stern pinball announcement breakdown analyzing playfield design, features, and variants.

Summary

A pinball content creator provides a detailed breakdown of the newly announced Pokémon by Stern Pinball game, analyzing official artwork, playfield features, and game mechanics from the announcement media. The video covers the Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition variants, examines design choices (many inherited from Transformers), discusses rule depth and accessibility for new players, and critiques Stern's All Access subscription service for providing a pre-recorded Zoom call instead of live content.

Key Claims

  • The Pokémon playfield layout is very similar to Transformers, with the same ramp shots, orbits, scoop, and standup bank positions, attributed to George Gomez's architecture work

    high confidence · Content creator analyzing playfield comparison, referencing earlier leaked playfield overlay with Transformers

  • Pro Edition lacks the Squirtle Whirlpool bowl, animatronic Pokeball lock, Pikachu animation, and Arena Magnets that Premium and LE editions have

    high confidence · Content creator reviewing official feature matrix and playfield photos from Stern's announcement materials

  • The game features 180+ collectible Pokémon characters that can be collected through an insider connected app with special events and quests

    high confidence · Content creator reading from instruction card and discussing app features

  • Stern's All Access subscription ($100/year) provided a pre-recorded Zoom call from a previous media day rather than a live premiere event

    high confidence · Content creator describing personal experience receiving the All Access perk

  • The game is designed to appeal to and attract new/younger players through accessible central saucer shot design similar to Attack from Mars

    high confidence · Content creator analyzing rule design and discussing how kid players naturally gravitate to large central shots

  • The Pokémon brand licensing is very particular about game elements, which influenced the large character sculptures and official artwork used

    medium confidence · Content creator speculating on licenser influence while examining playfield design choices

  • There were errors in Stern's marketing materials where Pro Edition photos were mixed with Premium Edition playfield photos showing features not actually in Pro

    high confidence · Content creator identifying misplaced ramp flap images and noting customers who pre-ordered based on incorrect photos can request compensation

  • The game features combo mechanics where consecutive shots provide rewards, and Eevee evolution combos require unique shot sequences

Notable Quotes

  • “it's basically just like it is some pre-recorded like I mean it's a it was probably a real call this morning for a bunch of other people, right? Uh because what they there was some dude at Stern that simply they just they just he just hit play on a video from a previous Zoom call”

    Content creator @ ~1:30-2:00 — Criticism of Stern's All Access service providing recycled pre-recorded content instead of live premiere event

  • “that is just like stir no access, right?”

    Content creator @ ~2:30 — Sarcastic play on 'Stern All Access' highlighting disappointment with service quality

  • “once you kind of see this thing is kind of full full high high fidelity you're just like wow Jesus Christ. And because all I had there or similar interjection my mind is like this this dull kind of Legends of Wrestlemania (Limited Edition) res uh kind of PowerPoint picture that somebody took on a on a Nokia 3210”

    Content creator @ ~4:00-5:00 — Contrast between leaked low-quality playfield image and final high-fidelity promotional artwork

  • “If I was a kid, this machine would just swallow me whole and I wouldn't stop thinking about anything else. This is just so lush.”

    Content creator @ ~15:30 — Assessment of visual appeal and accessibility for younger/new players to the hobby

  • “you can shoot combos. You shoot the left ramp. You the ball on the left flipper and then you can shoot the right ramp and then you get to the right flipper and then you can shoot the left orbit and then the left ramp. Yeah. So, you can do infinite combos on this game.”

    Content creator @ ~42:00 — Analysis of combo system mechanics providing shot flow and player reward depth

  • “Like this is this is going to attract new people and uh new uh new new players, new player base, right? and uh and hopefully this will kind of foster a a new generation of players because we need to like we need to backfill, right?”

    Content creator @ ~17:00 — Commentary on Pokémon's potential to grow the pinball player base and address aging demographics

Entities

PokémongameGeorge GomezpersonJack DangerpersonStern PinballcompanyTransformersgameGodzillagameAttack from MarsgameJunkyard

Signals

  • ?

    announcement: Pokémon by Stern Pinball officially announced with full promotional materials, playfield photos, and feature matrix

    high · Official artwork, playfield photos, instruction card, and feature matrix released as part of announcement media day

  • ?

    product_concern: Stern's marketing materials contained mixed Pro and Premium Edition playfield photos showing features not present in Pro version; customers who pre-ordered based on incorrect images offered compensation

    high · Content creator identified misplaced ramp flap imagery in Pro Edition photos that only appear in Premium/LE versions

  • ?

    design_innovation: Pokémon features novel combo system allowing infinite sequential shot rewards and Eevee evolution tracking across unique shot combinations

    high · Instruction card details combo mechanics and Eevee evolution feature requiring unique shot sequences

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Game deliberately designed with prominent central saucer shot to appeal to and onboard new/younger players, following Attack from Mars design principles

    high · Content creator analyzing rule design and central shot accessibility; instruction card showing Meow Balloon center shot as primary Team Rocket Multiball entry point

  • ?

    product_strategy: Pokémon available in three tiers (Pro/Premium/LE) with significant feature differences; no 30th anniversary special edition planned

    high · Feature matrix showing Pro lacks Pikachu animation, Squirtle bowl, Pokéball lock, and magnets; distributor call confirmed no additional special editions

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:02
All right, folks. Uh, we're live here from the office. Uh, I'm going to do a little bit of a game announcement breakdown, uh, as I call them, uh, when, uh, a manufacturer releases a new game and they got pictures, official pictures and official media around a new game, right? And today, obviously, it was the big day for Pokemon, right? And it was a big uh har about this game for a very long time because it's been delayed and this that and the other, right? And who's been working on it, who's not been working on it, who's been taking over from who, whatever, right? Difficult licenser to work with, we've heard, and and all that good stuff, right? So, but u now it's finally here. We haven't seen any like live gameplay yet, I guess. Uh I guess you can catch some kind of gameplay footage from from the factory from the media day to kind of see how it shoots and stuff like that but um uh other than that I haven't seen the been any uh like you know a stern stream from the factory or pre-recorded whatever. Um, speaking of pre-recorded, right? So, this this is this is just hilarious, right? So, I I I I pay for the stern all access uh stern all access. It's sort of like, you know, a little perk you get uh when you you pay like 100 bucks a year and you get some stuff, right? And I I initially kind of signed up for it because you got access to the the game podcast that they used to do, right? which which I think was really they were really well produced and they had a really good content right so I want to get access to that uh and they stopped that and then and sort of now it's back in a new kind of shape and I never stopped subscribing right and yesterday I got an email just like yeah you got an all access kind of invitation a zoom call you know from Stern and it's just like all right finally this is uh we're finally getting something for for our money, right? And like dialing into that Zoom call just to realize it's basically just like it is some pre-recorded like I mean it's a it was probably a real call this morning for a bunch of other people, right? Uh because what they there was some dude at Stern that simply they just they just he just hit play on a video from a previous Zoom call uh because they were talking about when they were releasing assets and this that and the other and he's just like hm they already released the assets and uh yeah just very mysterious very very uh very strange how they kind of uh announced that that's that was what that would be your all access perk. that you get to kind of listen to a pre-recorded call that was destined for someone else, right? And like shape up. Seriously, that that is the like like that is just like stir no access, right? So hopefully that we will see some improvement there in in in that department uh when a day comes, right? So, I got my kind of web browser up here and I just going to see if we can uh watch some of the content and um uh and like kind of analyze some of the the shots and stuff, right? I mean, I don't know if you all saw the um saw saw my kind of, you know, breakdown of the leaked playfield and I kind of overlaid that over the Transformers playfield and you can see that the ramp shots and the orbits and and this and the scoop and the and the stand up bank on on one of the sides. It's the exact same spot as on Transformers, right? And and that's I think that is the Gomez part of it, right? And and then we have a bunch of other things, sneaky bits and and stuff that we're going going to look at because on that playthrough, we didn't see a lot what was kind of going on with all the subways and and there's like kickback targets. There's magnets and yada yada yada. Right. So, we we'll see um uh what it uh let's see if we can go to watch the gameplay trailer here first and just step through that and then we'll go through the pictures and and see where where that takes us. Oh, there's a long gameplay video on YouTube. Yeah, there. Yeah, there is a guy who brings uh some sort of streaming rig to those media days there. So, I was I was kind of suspecting that, but I haven't uh I haven't watched that. I haven't uh like I Yeah. So, I have a day job, a normal day job, you know, so I have not had a chance to uh look through anything. I looked at looked at the game trailer and made sure all the photos were up and stuff like that. That's all. All right.

high confidence · Content creator reading from official instruction card detailing Pokémon combos and Eevee evolution feature

“the artwork is like spot on, right? I mean there's no and and I kind of like this about this particular kind of when they there's no it's not an interpreted version of Pokemon right this is the Pokemon brand like there's no question about it right”

Content creator @ ~13:30 — Approval of official Pokemon IP representation versus generic themed interpretation

  • “They thought about everything. They everything they thought about, right? Fantastic.”

    Content creator @ ~37:00 — Positive assessment of design detail and planning evident in playfield features

    • game
    Black Knightgame
    Tanya Kleissperson
    Raccoon City Pinballvenue
    Jeremy Packerperson
    IFPAorganization
  • ?

    licensing_signal: Pokémon brand licenser is described as 'very particular' about game elements, influencing large character sculptures and official artwork representation

    medium · Content creator speculation that licenser control led to high-quality sculptures and authentic brand representation vs. interpretation

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Pokémon announcement generating strong positive reception with high-fidelity promotional materials and gameplay depth appeal

    high · Content creator's enthusiastic analysis of artwork quality, design thoughtfulness, and player base growth potential

  • ?

    community_signal: Stern's All Access subscription facing criticism for providing pre-recorded Zoom content instead of live premiere event, signaling customer expectation mismatch

    high · Content creator's detailed account of receiving recycled pre-recorded Zoom call from previous media day as All Access exclusive perk

  • ?

    leak_detection: Leaked low-quality playfield image possibly intentionally released with watermarks as teaser before official high-fidelity reveal

    medium · Content creator speculating that watermarked leak was strategic marketing tactic to maximize impact of official announcement visuals

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Pokémon features wizard mode (Pokémon Master), multiple story modes, battle system, and collectable progression mechanics within connected app ecosystem

    high · Instruction card documenting wizard mode progression, story modes, Team Rocket Multiball, and 180+ Pokémon collection through companion app

  • ?

    technology_signal: Game integrates with Spike 3 platform and insider connected app allowing 180+ Pokémon collection tracking, special events, and quests with ongoing developer support

    high · Content creator noting connected app features with special events, quests, rare Pokémon availability, and licensing approval dependencies

  • ?

    content_signal: Stern released high-quality professional photography and promotional materials for announcement, suggesting upgraded marketing/media production approach

    medium · Content creator noting exceptional photograph quality and production values, speculating about new photographer or enhanced editing process

    • 5:01
    All right. So, let's Yeah. What do we want to do here? Do we just want to Yeah, let's just watch it from the start and uh step through it.
    5:43
    Who will be the champion of the arena battle? Pending license approval. Got to catch them all.
    6:10
    All right. So, let's uh let's just turn off the sound here and just there's a lot of cool stuff going on here that we kind of need to look at, right? So, so one one thing that I I'm sort of starting to suspect almost is that like the leaked image, you know, that came from they had a bets on kind of like, you know, watermarking and all that stuff over it was sort of like intentionally in low res kind of looked a little bit, you know, really shoddy, right? And that would was leaked for the purpose of that when we're going to see the real thing, we will just get our heads blown off, right? And that is sort of like that is what I kind of get here because once you kind of see this thing is kind of full full high high fidelity you're just like wow Jesus Christ. And because all I had in my mind is like this this dull kind of low res uh kind of PowerPoint picture that somebody took on a on a Nokia 3210, right? And then it it's just you're just like wow. and you just kind of almost like break your neck there. But it it goes to show here like I think like the uh since the licenser for this particular brand is very particular about things. I I think we I think we have them to thank that we have these like monstrous big scults in this game, right? And and I think that is really cool. Like we you have that big Pikachu that's kind of twisting it heads. It's a little bit like, you know, the um the Homer Simpson in the Sim Simpson pinball party kind of sitting at the exact same spot and kind of doing call outs and stuff like this bash toy is just like this is just next gen. I I love that kind of, you know, you have a little puck underneath there and the premium also has a magnet here. There's a pop bumper in the action there. And it looks like a slingshot there. So, there's going to be a lot of action there, right? And I can only imagine how chaotic this going to be during multiball. And uh the premium le also have this ramp here that kind of lifts up. And I I'm trying to figure out what where things go here. Uh because somehow there there's like a sneaky there's a sneak here like and and then somehow it looked like on some of the uh pictures that there's another sneak in here somewhere to that feeds to that scoop or something. Yeah. Let's see if we can figure it out here. Pokemon All right, let's see some motion here.
    8:50
    You see there that like this kind of training thing here, there's nothing that feeds there. It's just like a weird dribble that can get the ball in there. Just kind of smacking the ball straight into the metal there. That's not going to be very pleasant for the ball.
    9:10
    Okay. So, that fed to the Yeah. So, this the behind shot there is sort of similar like junkyard, you know. Uh, no, it's not similar because that is not a loop, is it? I can't remember now. I just lost my mind. But that Okay, so in in my head that was kind of feeding to the pops, but it's not. It's feeding to the right orbit. The center shot there. That puck comes down and it moves around. Pikachu is moving its head. goes back up. Open ups there. And all right, let's see if we can capture ramp here. Okay, so
    9:58
    So, is there like a Oh, so it's like a scoop that comes up that because this kind of looks like a, you know, like a regular kind of scoop flap where the ball kind of feeds into to a to a saucer, right? Yeah, it has to be. Okay. Interesting. That's That's a really cool design because the ramp flap is still it's still on the playfield. And why is it being so jerky here?
    10:33
    So the the opening is basically a tad bit Oh, now I started looking at something else. Where is this thing here?
    10:46
    Yeah, you see the RAM flap is still on the playfield. Or is it? No, that's a different flap.
    10:59
    but that makes sense because you need a flap to feed to the scoop. Okay. So, and then we have this thing here. And I find this design interesting. So there there's like a diverter here
    11:16
    uh that has and somehow grated so you can kind of see what the ball is doing in the uh in the outline in lane there maybe is is that why and I somehow thought that this would be some sort of lock mechanism but it's not it's just it's just a whirl pull with it that has a diverter. So, I guess when you kind of get the ball in this kind of bowl here, I guess you catch the Pokemon because I talked about that on the on the on that distributed call that uh the the left ramp is basically where you catch them and it makes a lot of sense because that's where the big ball is kind of hanging out. Uh, another interesting thing here somebody said on on my previous video I posted is like the left slingshot here. So, it looks like there is
    12:08
    uh it looks like there is a um a kickback target that Jack Danger loves right here.
    12:19
    Or is it not? No, it's so difficult to see. And maybe we can see it in the photos. What's actually going on here? Oh, these are standups. I thought they were drop targets. The b these battle targets were drop targets, but they're not. They're standups. That's not as exciting as I thought it would be.
    12:41
    So, these captive balls. So, there's like three balls. So, this is like the judge dread kind of, you know, the the the tower thing. And this is your Pokedex somehow. I also heard him mention talk about. Oh, wait. Look at that. What What was that? Look at that. There's a there's an uppost here in the ramp. So, you would probably be able to
    13:09
    stage a ball there for something or kind of like start a mode and you kind of get a some nice narration from the game there or quick two ball multiball and stuff like that. So, that that's cool.
    13:27
    And this this left ramp here I seen that is sort of like a you know like a swirl like a like a what do you call a pretzel right? Uh with a little jump ramp there and that is almost similar to Transformers in a way because it's it's not a jump ramp per se but it kind of feeds in a in a in in a in a figure similar to this one. But the Transformers one is much cooler of course. But uh but this is this is neat. So there's So there will probably be a dribble shot here like because backounting that ramp then becomes very difficult because the ball will probably just barely make it around
    14:19
    and on the right side. Yeah, the the the right side of the playfield down here is just a regular kind of Godzilla saucer. But I mean, at the end of the day, like Ellie Pro Premium, they they look very they look like very they look very similar and and I'm going to see if I can look at the uh the the feature matrix, but it looks like you don't lose a lot with the uh look at this. Like this animation is just so fun. And I said that on the call as well that like they are using uh a lot of animation from from the cartoons, right? Plus stuff that they've done inhouse. Uh so yeah, and it says pending licenser approval down there, of course. But the artwork is like spot on, right? I mean there's no and and I kind of like this about this particular kind of when they there's no it's not an interpro interpreted version of Pokemon right this is the Pokemon brand like there's no question about it right and uh I really appreciate that because sometimes you know oh we going to do an interpret interpretation of this particular IP now and and like well that didn't come out really good right And uh and and I like this because this looked like very official artwork
    15:55
    can remaster. Oh, these are the comments from Pokemon. So what is a what's a Kanto rem? What am I What am I missing? What's Kanto?
    16:11
    I mean, the artwork is fantastic. I mean, I I I mean, I wouldn't I mean, so yeah, I I mean, I might add that to to the conversation here that like I'm not a Pokemon fan, right? I I I play the first Red and Blue version on on game on the OG Game Boy when when I was like 20 years old, right? And at that age, I kind of thought that nah, this is a little bit too kitty, right? because it was sort of like played like a like a JRPG and at that time I was playing far more advanced JRPGs than than than catching Pokémons, right? I don't know was like was like Final Fantasy 8 or 9 was probably out there at that time, right? Uh so so yeah, so the game didn't make much sense and it was kind of cool to play on the go, but uh at the end of the day, I don't know. Yeah. Uh I so and and with that said, I I nothing Pokemon related after that never kind of, you know, I it never interested me in the slightest, right? But uh that doesn't take away the fact that this is a very it looks like a very fun game, right? I mean, this is this is going to attract new people and uh new uh new new players, new player base, right? and uh and hopefully this will kind of foster a a new generation of players because we need to like we need to backfill, right? You know, we're getting older and uh so so so I think I think I and I hope that this will be the gateway drug that they need to get interested in uh in in pinball, right? So, all right. So, let's uh see let's look at the pictures. pictures. We get a pro, premium, and a limited edition. And somebody said on the distributed call as well, somebody was asking about or is there going to be like a 30th anniversary edition, yada yada? Uh, you know, similar to the Jaws and Jurassic Park one and uh but they said that no, this is it now. This this is this is what you're getting, right? So, let's uh let's let's see if there's any uh where is the u there used to be a uh list of documents. Oh, here we go. Pokemon feature matrix.
    18:40
    Pants matrix. Why Why is the file called pants matrix? What are we getting here? So, backlass is mirrored hardware and trim, custom powdercoated legs, hinges, action button, front molding, laser cut, illuminated pinball armor. That's what we get on the LE. And uh then you get your wrinkles on the other uh editions.
    19:20
    Okay. So, here's the Ellie stuff. Yeah, you kind of get the regular LE things. And there said some Yeah, you get shaky motor, anti-reflection, playfield glass. Yeah, it's the it's the regular stuff there. But here's the game features. So, Pikachu is not animating on the Pro. That was uh pretty clear. Get a static toy instead.
    19:51
    Arena Magnets you only get on a prem. So you don't get that. You get the you get all the battle targets and Pokedex and whatnot. And so what what do we have here? Animatronic Pokeball ball lock with RGB illumination.
    20:13
    So that that is probably the under ramp thing. Animatronic Pokeball lock
    20:23
    should be right. No. Left ramp feeds the Squirtle Whirlpool bowl. Oh, wait. Oh, so there is no whirlpool on the pro.
    20:43
    Psyduck sneaking ball scoop. Now I I think we need to look at some more pictures here before we kind of even understand what this is. So let's look at the pro here. Okay. So ah look at this. It's right here. It's right here. Like that is so interesting. So there's basically a a there's a target there. There's just a standup target. Uh,
    21:17
    so this target is blocking this thing here and there's an uppost in the ramp there.
    21:27
    Okay, so let's let's let's continue our journey here. So where is the first picture? Okay, so here's the cab.
    21:37
    Okay. So, there is a there's a moving Yeah, it looks like there's a moving Oh, wait. Let Yeah, let Okay, so let actually look at the playfield picture here. Yeah, look at that. You You don't You don't get the bowl. You don't get the bowl on pro
    21:59
    and you get an up post there instead. So, I guess that will then
    22:06
    Uh, and that will stop the ball and kind of like, ah, you caught it kind of thing. And that means there's no kickback there either in the in that kind of sneak thing there. So, there's just a target there. All right. It kind of makes sense, I guess. Uh, and then you don't get the magnets there. You don't get the ramp flap underneath the Pokeball. And the Pokeball is apparently not moving either on the Pro, right? And there's no animation on Pikachu.
    22:38
    Oh, interesting. So, the left orbit shot actually feeds to the ramp here. Okay, so look at this. This is a little bit sophisticated. Look at that. So, you have the right ramp feeds around the Pikachu and then you have the left orbit feeding to the same habit rail. Oh, that's cool. This shot. Yeah. So, it is basically like the Bond shot. What? Somebody said that in chat, right, Psyduck? Yeah, you you're dropping so many like terms here. I know I know Pikachu and the What's the What's the big big sleepy guy? Snowasaur or something. Yeah, this guy here. What's this? This guy. He has a funny name.
    23:24
    Yeah, I'm Yeah, I need to educate myself on this. I I guess because all of a sudden I need I need I you need you need to understand these things when you collecting them and they're probably worth different things and stuff and you need to understand the call outs. But look at this artwork. Seriously, I mean this is this is amazing. Look at look at how vibrant this is. Like if I was a kid, this machine would just swallow me whole and I wouldn't stop thinking about anything else. This is just so lush.
    24:02
    This is so lush. All right. All right. Yeah. Let's Let's uh move on here in our journey through the pro pictures. Yeah. I was just certain that these uh battle targets were were standups, but it just like Yeah, that just makes sense now that that that would just be a little bit too uh too expensive, I guess, having two drop target banks there as well and might not have been ideal for space and ball traps and whatnot. Pikachu, he's a happy one. Yeah, you can see there's an uppost there.
    24:44
    What else do we have here? Yeah, there's that stand up that that looks so out of place. Uh, pro edition. Yes, we got that. But I wonder if you get the same kind of motion on the main bash toy there, but I guess will that remains to be seen. Pikachu.
    25:10
    Yeah, it feels inspired by Junkyard. That's that was sort of I I mean I Yeah, some somebody told me before I have seen it and and I was kind of influenced by that. But that that that middle bit sure does inspire shows inspiration from Junkyard. But this one is lower down on the playfield. Well, the junkyard one. Everything is so far in the back. And who designed junkyard anyway?
    25:42
    Yeah. So, the pro doesn't have a ramp flap there. But I I think uh like I I don't know Pokemon good enough, right? But I mean, I understand that you need to catch these suckers and somehow like like there's uh uh there's villains like this Giovani guy, right? And you have like a battle arena in the in the center and you have a big kind of thing that you're fighting. I I think that makes a lot of sense from from from a from a game design perspective, right? Because you're catching Pokemon and you're fighting Pokemons or whatever or you're kind of battling. So, so this kind of arena in the middle here makes makes a lot of sense.
    26:51
    Oh, but now that I'm still on I'm still on the pro when there there's a ball there and there's holes in my plastics. So, this is what Yeah, this picture is misplaced. This is This is not the pro version. It cannot be the pro version. Interesting. No. And now all of a sudden the ramp is opening. This is not This is not right.
    27:20
    Yeah. Someone someone on the in the marketing department is going to get fired.
    27:28
    All right. All right. Yeah, I'll I'll let him go. All right. So, let's let's take a closer look on the premium here.
    27:42
    Okay. So, why are you being so difficult? There we go. The left sling looks really weird. There is something going on there. We need to see if we can investigate that.
    28:04
    Yeah. Well, it just it just I mean it just looks so lush, right? Like look at all these like fat, you know, saturated colors, fat thick outlines on everything and everything is just 100% on brand. It's just fantastic.
    28:25
    And the thing is like we know that like it's going to shoot like butter, right? Um because you know like the ramps and orbits and the scoop here is basically Transformers, right? And we know how buttery that game shoots, right? So there's no there's no doubt about like how how this game will shoot and feel. and you just get this like thing in the middle uh that will uh just add add to that kind of flowiness. You know, you go in there and do some battles, whatever. Right. Oh, you don't have the back ramp here. The the orbit feeds all feeds full around on Transformers. Uh
    29:15
    and here you have the stranger things kind of feed Yeah, this this browser here they they need to fix it. Pikachu. All right. So there the the post is actually going up. I wonder if is that is that a premium only thing then that you get an up post there. They couldn't spare that uh coil for the pro. Maybe not. I don't know. We'll we'll catch you later. Yeah, that bowl on that the bowl design there is really interesting.
    29:59
    So it seemed that Gomez. Yeah, look at this. There's the pictures that was in pro. Here they are on the premium, right? So obviously there was an a mixup but people who already bought their games based on this particular feature they can request compensation.
    30:20
    Okay. So what I don't really know is understand. So so I think so where does this ball feed right? Jack said on on the on the distributor call that it feeds to a subway. And does it feed down here? Is this a subway or does it feed somewhere else? It must be down here, right?
    30:51
    Yeah, because somehow I thought the ball could dribble between the pop bumper and this thing here, but no, that's not happening.
    31:07
    Okay, so there is only one flap. Why did on on the video it looked like there were two flaps? I could swear, but there's only one flap here. I think this is a really fun design. I think this is really clever. This this kind of metal flap that just sits on it that just rests on the ramp there. Basically, it's just Yeah, it's very clever. Like it. Love it.
    31:32
    Yeah, these are some really artsy pictures here. I wonder if they've hired a new photographer or something because these pictures look really good.
    31:46
    Yeah, look at this. Ah, look at this. I mean, seriously. Like somebody somebody spent time on this picture, right?
    31:58
    Somebody must have spent time editing this picture to look this good.
    32:10
    And there's a lot of like details here. I really like like this kind of feed here. It has some like, you know, a little bit of grass there on on the on the ramp, right? A ramp feed there. And there's decals in the bottom of the the metal there. I mean, the thing is that they paid attention, right? And and the same with this plastic here kind of goes well with the background there. I mean, yeah, looks looks looks really good.
    32:44
    Yeah, really nice backboard. Where is all What is that? Is Is that It kind of looks like a pig Pokemon, but it's probably not. So, that ball lights up somehow and bounces around on the pro on the premium. So, there's a coil for that. There's a little Charizard is his name, isn't he? The the fire dude. And that makes sense. You want to kind of light the spinner on fire, right? They thought about everything. They everything they thought about, right? Fantastic.
    33:22
    Battle, travel, mystery, extra ball. All right. So, that's where you start your battles. That's where you go to places. And that's your mystery. H, that reminds me of a different monster pinball.
    33:42
    Which one could that be? Yeah, it's a Charmander. He evolves into Charizard. Yeah. Okay. I need to keep my
    33:55
    I I I need to uh get my Pokedex out. And uh speaking of Pokedex, they are actually allowing you to collect these uh Pokemons, a whole 180 of them so far in the uh insider connected app. So uh I think that's pretty fun. And uh obviously they can have like special events and and quests and stuff like that. It allows you to have like collect rare Pokemons during certain events or whatnot. And uh there's a lot of stuff that hasn't been ironed out yet with the um with the license or so we'll we'll see where where that goes and uh how long Seth will allow the developers to work on this game.
    34:44
    Yeah. So there's the there's the instruction card. I wonder if we want to have a glance at that. See if we can make something out here. Okay. Discover and catch. Hit various playfield features to discover Pokemon in each area. All right, then. Shoot the Pokédex. Cap the ball to scan them. Shoot lit shots to light the Pokeball. Shoot the Pokeball to catch the Pokemon. All right. So, that uh that that's make make perfect sense, right? So, you can shoot a a few lit shots and shoot your Pokedex and you shoot your Pokeball and that's your Pokemon.
    35:24
    Complete training targets to qualify and boost story modes. Uh, okay. So, I wonder where you start the modes then. Battle. Defeat Forest Lake Mountain Desert Rivals in battle to qualify the Pokemon arena battle. Story modes. Help Pikachu, Bulbasar, Charmander, and Squirtle. Look at this. There's a bunch of Poke Pokemon names right there in their adventures. Help them to all to battle Charizard and Lucerio or Lucario, who knows? Team Rocket Multiball. This sounds like a pinball moment. Complete battle targets and hit Meow Balloon to light the center shot to start Team Rocket Multiball. Yeah. Okay. So, that's kind of like the whole battle in the center there. So, that's a good reward coming out of that, right? I mean, that's good pinball design right there, right? you you shoot in the middle for in enough to make something happen in the middle, right? That's that's intuitive, gets new players in and and it's actually fun how that works, right? I had a kid playing my black knight in my garage, right? And all he wanted to do was shoot the black knight, right? And and and he had a similar kind of, you know, play on on Attack from Mars. He just wanted to shoot the saucer, right? And he blew it up and thought it was super fun, right? So, I think that idea for luring new players in is great because they just want to shoot me, right? And they just continue to do that and that is like the widest shot in the game. You can't basically miss, right? And I I think uh that is a really really clever choice by the game designers. I think I don't know if that's intentional or not, but that will definitely and it's kind of like, you know, in when you're like three shits tall, that is basically what you're staring into into the game, right? You don't even see the flippers. You just see like the big thing in the middle. All right. So, there's some playfield multipliers and some shot multipliers.
    37:28
    Oh, so complete story modes and collect team rocket super jackpot to light shot multipliers. All right. So, you can put place multipliers on a shot. H transformers more than meets the eye. Uh, okay. Okay, so playfield multipliers
    37:44
    complete berry targets. And I guess those are the purple kind of standups that are around the playfield. Uh Pokeball combos, follow lit combos. Oh, this is this is going to be buttery. Oh, that's nice. Okay, so you shoot combos. Okay, so let's play let's play with this thought. You shoot the left ramp. You got the ball on the left flipper and then you can shoot the right ramp and then you get to the right flipper and then you can shoot the left orbit and then the left ramp. Yeah. So, you can do infinite combos on this game. And once you're done and you know you can't really do any more combos, you just hit the Pokedex and collect. Awesome. Eevee evolution combos. Complete unique combos to find all eight Eevee evolutions. All right, this I like. I like this like this is uh like that particular I don't know what you call this particular kind of like game feature, right? Where you basically have like any shot you shoot subsequently with something else just it will just give you something, right? Just give like whatever you shoot some weird combo and it's just like oh there was something there, right? and and you you kind of collect that, right? And and I think that is a very especially if you're playing a long game and you you've been doing a lot of weird stuff and all of a sudden, oh, I actually got something for all my the things that I kind of you thought that you missed, right? So that that's a cool feature to have on the deck on day one, I might add. All right. So, complete chancy to hit it ball say. Okay. So, the m I missed the mystery. Complete team bottom lanes. The light mystery at the town scoop. All right. So, that's like the in lanes then I guess. Pokemon master. Conquer the arena. Stop Team Rocket. Defeat Charizard and Lucio to challenge me Mewtwo and become the Pokemon master. So, they already have an idea for a wizard mode, right? That's uh that's fantastic.
    40:06
    That is fantastic. I love it. So, out of the three machines, obviously, like the I mean, it was just such a no-brainer for them to make like a Pikachu limited edition, right? I mean, anyone could have figured that out that that was going to happen, right? And like obviously it's glorious. Absolutely glorious. And I also learned that the the expression lightning on on this particular game um is yeah so you got lights on the inside and the outside right and that will also be available on on pro and premium if you're into all this like light mania. One thing that I don't actually appreciate at all is that they have now have speaker lights like by default in premium. It's just like that is just like it's just the most grating kind of pinball physical pinball feature. It's just like I just absolutely hate speaker lights. It's just like Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's the same crowd with the RGB PCs. It's just like don't just don't go there. There's a different thing like when they actually add to the game, right? So, they did something really cool with the with John Wick, right? where uh they somehow connected like all the bullet shots in the videos to flash the speaker somehow, right? That's different. That That's a game feature. Like just having speaker lights and just like pulsate RGB like constantly. It's just that's not a game feature. That's just irritating. Uh but yeah, it looks really good. I mean, I really like the color on this trim. It's very similar to uh Oh, I cannot click on the pictures here. Excuse me.
    42:03
    All right, I'm back. So, this trim uh reminds me a lot about the uh the Alien LV trim. It has the same purple.
    42:17
    Nearly identical, I'd say, which will be funny because I will No, I I won't get the Ellie.
    42:26
    Yeah. So, with that said, uh I have a premium coming. Um and if everything if everything kind of like what what is this? Like what what in the actual
    42:40
    what happened here? What happened here? It's just like what are all these speaker lights about? I mean, I'm Yeah, I mean, the thing is I'm somehow like I'm over buying LE, right? And like things like this is just this is just making me happy to see.
    43:00
    All right. Anyhow, uh yes, back to business. I'm I'm getting a premium, so that's going to be fun. Uh, I'm getting a premium after the Texas Pinball Festival. There's obviously a lot of things that needs to come that needs to fall into play uh fall into place for this to play out uh as I wanted. Uh, but there uh if everything kind of uh falls into place, I will have a premium, which is this one in the arcade just after Texas Pinball Festival. And uh I'm stoked. I I I really I really want to play this game. In my mind, I'm getting an upgraded Transformers.
    43:51
    It's not a theme that I would put in my collection permanently, but there there's there's another kind of side of this that I think that is kind of worth discussing and and that is like this is will I I think this will technically be the first commercially produced pinball machine with kind of like an anime type um background, I'd say, right? because they're going to base it on the the the the original cartoons, right? That is going to be on a display, right? And obviously all these like little Pokémons, they are very animeish, right? And like I mean I I just hope for everyone's sake that this this game will outsell Godzilla, right? For for because all of a sudden, oh, we have this like big Japanese franchise that absolutely knocked everything out of the park. How about we explore some other IPs that are coming that that that are from Japan, right? Uh because there there are just so many things that you can build pinball machines from from the the art and culture in Japan, right? And Pokémon obviously is the biggest one, but uh there's so many cool series and movies and and and it has a really long history of everything, right? And I would love to see, you know, some some of the, you know, the Mecca kind of comics like the Gundam or or or or those kind of Japanese animes. Uh just completely escape my mind now. What the uh what the other big one is it? Is it Voltron? I can't remember. But yeah, I I just I I just think this will translate really good to pinball. And if this is kind of like paying out in a sense that oh, we kind of introduced like 5 million new pinball players, right? League has blown out, blow blown up because all these players want to come play Pokemon and they're Pokemon players and they didn't know like real pinball existed and stuff like that. Th those are the stories that I want to hear and and uh and hope that we'll uh hear with this game, right? because this is kind of like a clash of of of franchises or or or niche hobbies in a way, right? But Pokemon is so much bigger, right? Just Pokémon Go like there's 5 million daily players, right? And I I don't think we have that many players like throughout time, you know, in in pinball, right? So, uh, I'm just, uh, hoping that, uh, some of that would kind of rub off and and there's there's something else to be said about that. It's just like I I really hope that they kind of figure out a way to to kind of bridge, you know, Insider Connected with Pokemon Go. So like all your insider connected games kind of show up on the Pokemon Go uh app and you have to go play the pinball, you know, because I I think I think I think that will kind of cross-pollinate from from from pinball and to the Pokemon base, right? Because I could think it could also work the other way around, right? Where where you see pinball players all of a sudden, oh, I I can find pinball machines in the Pokémon Go app. How cool is that? and you start playing Pokémon Go just for the pinball part of it and they can just have some achievement in the game or something that you kind of cross over that you kind of connect your Pokémon Go account with you inside the connected account and you somehow uh and and can get uh achievements and and uh catch some some rare Pokemons back and forth, right? So, there's so much there's just so much you can do, right? And uh obviously the trading card game is kind of like the big uh pretty big deal right now as well, but I don't really see how that kind of, you know, translate into uh in how how you would cross-pollinate like a pinball machine with a with a card game. I think that's kind of that I think that's a dead end. But the Pokémon Go that and and pinball, especially when it's connected to the internet, there's definitely some value to uh tie together there. So, all right. Anyhow, uh super excited about this. Uh this is uh this is going to be fun. Um uh to get this game and uh get some feel for all these monsters and kind of figure out how well, you know, this element works in pinball. Because at the end of the day, like if you watch the gameplay trailer, they kind of have the main kind of tune in in in the in the game, right? And some of the call outs are just like, "Wow, this this sounds this sounds really good." Right? I mean, and and that's because they're using like official voices, this that, and the other, and it's very true to the franchise. This there's not not someone's mom they dug out and put in front of a microphone. It's just like it just looks so authentic, right? And you can kind of get that true Pokemon experience playing pinball. Yeah, I'm I'm I just are starting to sound like a [ __ ] chill right now, but I mean I'm really stoked for this game. I just I just wanna I just want to get it and play it. Yeah. Anyhow, uh thank you so much for for hanging out. I'm going to upload this to YouTube and uh hope you stay tuned tuned to the channel. Uh, if you want to say see some Pokemon gameplay, uh, it's going to happen towards end of March and I'll probably play this for a couple of months until the next cornerstone comes out. And, uh, and you can also check out some other content on the channel if you want to do that. All right, so let's rage somebody.