Late night thoughts with Don

Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)·podcast_episode·29m 18s·analyzed·Sep 3, 2024

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Don's late-night musings on modern pinball depth, X-Men launch confirmation, and custom build ideas.

Summary

Don reflects on recent pinball experiences at District arcade, discussing game depth in modern titles like Wrestlemania and Game of Thrones Premium, while sharing his excitement about upcoming releases including X-Men (confirmed for 4th/5th) and teasing a personal project inspired by Game of Thrones mechanics. He addresses community engagement, custom machine builds, and expresses speculation about future Stern releases, touching on the balance between early code access and game maturity.

Key Claims

X-Men is officially launching on the 4th or 5th (confirmed from Sam Stern contact)
high confidence · Don stating 'So the 4th is for sure the launch day for X-Men. We have that officially from Sam Stern.'
A hoax press release was circulated claiming James Cameron's Avatar (Limited Edition) would launch on the 3rd
high confidence · Don discusses a fake memo about Avatar LE release date and attributes it to trolling attempt
John Wick has improved significantly with code updates, particularly .88 version with Keanu Reeves callouts
high confidence · Don noting 'We Are Pinball getting Keanu Reeves callouts now. I'm hearing them more frequently with this .88 code'
Don is working on a personal game project inspired by Game of Thrones Premium mechanics and John Papadiuk's design approach
medium confidence · Don stating 'I'm making something John Papadiuk special' and that Game of Thrones is giving him ideas for future projects
Don received a box from American Pinball including merchandise (hat, sticker, lights)
high confidence · Direct mention: 'I just got a box of love from American Pinball, so I got a hat, a sticker from them, and these new oral lights'
Stern's release cadence is faster than John Papadiuk/Jersey Jack but comparable to or slightly slower than Chicago Gaming Company
medium confidence · Don comparing build speeds: 'not Chicago Gaming Company levels arcade, but they're not like turn and burn like Sam Stern is'
A Jaws armor contest yielded over 50 entries but the winner never provided feedback
high confidence · Don recounting: 'I think that Jaws contest was really fun. We had over 50 entries... I never heard back or got a photo'

Notable Quotes

“So the 4th is for sure the launch day for X-Men. We have that officially from Sam Stern.”
Don @ mid-content — Official confirmation of X-Men release date from a Stern contact
“I'm making something John Papadiuk special and it's Game of Thrones (Premium) some, it's giving me some ideas on what I can do in the future.”
Don @ early-content — Hints at personal custom project inspired by modern game design
“What I hope they do is when they're getting ready to announce, I want to go down to the factory and I want to have a camera on myself and I want to walk into that room where that brand new game is all set up and see it for the very first time and record my actual reaction to seeing it.”
Don @ mid-late-content — Reveals desire for exclusive first-look access to upcoming unannounced game
“But man, if it's Futurama or if it's Office or if it's Beetlejuice or a National Lampoon's film, oh man, I'm going to be so, so happy and over the moon.”
Don @ late-content — Speculation on possible upcoming Stern licensed themes
“I think John Wick has a lot to gain from code callouts explaining the rules to the player and maybe making the modes make a little more sense so it's not 30 shots before you can hit a scoop and finish a mode.”
Don @ early-content — Constructive critique of John Wick's rule clarity and code depth

Entities

DonpersonStern PinballcompanyWrestlemania (Limited Edition)gameGame of Thronesgame John Wickgame X-MengameJames Cameron's Avatar (Limited Edition)gameAmerican Pinballcompany

Signals

?
announcement: X-Men officially confirmed for 4th/5th launch by Stern contact Sam Stern
high · Don states 'So the 4th is for sure the launch day for X-Men. We have that officially from Sam Stern.'
?
code_update: John Wick receives code version .88 with improved Keanu Reeves callouts and perceived rules clarity improvements
high · Don noting callout frequency increase: 'We Are Pinball getting Keanu Reeves callouts now. I'm hearing them more frequently with this .88 code.'
?
rumor_hype: Fake press release circulated claiming James Cameron's Avatar (Limited Edition) releasing on 3rd; attributed to trolling attempt
high · Don states 'I think somebody was just trying to bait Kaneda's Pinball Podcast into grabbing another fake news and react as if it's real'
?
design_philosophy: Don drawing design inspiration from Game of Thrones Premium mechanics for personal game project, adopting John Papadiuk's measured approach
medium · Don: 'I'm making something John Papadiuk special and it's Game of Thrones (Premium) some, it's giving me some ideas on what I can do in the future'
?
community_signal: Don planning exclusive factory visit and first-look reaction video for next Stern announcement; seeking unannounced game spoilers
medium · Don: 'I want to go down to the factory and I want to have a camera on myself and I want to walk into that room where that brand new game is all set up and see it for the very first time and record my actual reaction'

Topics

Modern pinball code depth and theme implementationprimaryX-Men release date confirmation and launch strategyprimaryJohn Wick code updates and gameplay maturationprimaryCustom pinball machine builds and moddingsecondaryPersonal game design project inspired by modern titlessecondarySpeculation on unreleased Stern licenses (Evil Dead, Futurama, Office, Beetlejuice, National Lampoon)secondaryCommunity engagement and contest logisticssecondaryManufacturer release cadence comparison (Stern vs Jersey Jack vs Chicago Gaming)mentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Don expresses genuine enthusiasm for modern game design, appreciation for code improvements (John Wick .88), and gratitude toward Patreon supporters. Some frustration with fake news and lack of contest winner engagement, but overall tone is celebratory and forward-looking.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.088

What's going on everybody? Just hangingOut here at DistrictOn late at night. Just played some Wrestlemania. What a fantastic game. Not only that but like the games that are in this modern era are some of the best I've played. I mean we love the 90s, we love Twilight Zone, we love Indiana Hilton Jones, but like the depth of the code, the way the themes are implemented. I've got a Wrestlemania over here where I can play as Hulk Hogan and I put a wrestling bell in it so when you get a replay Un Greens 【 Coffin under Bennett priоровoy asking more a Well, here we are. Pro Knapp Arcade. http://www.patrex.com.au http://www.patrex.com.au participarartment I think it's going to be amazing. Some of the folks on the producer channel, you already know all about this. And a lot of you have already ordered it and received your preliminary units. The upgraded unit will be coming soon. I'm so excited about it. But it's the kind of thing like I'm really careful about saying too much about it because I think I would easily be overwhelmed with demand and it would just be nuts. So I'm going to take it slow and build and really get it right. But I'm making something pretty special and it's got some, it's giving me some ideas on what I can do in the future. www.sternpinball.com hundred and twenty- eure hundred and twenty-from hundred and twenty pounds hundred and twenty-three hundred and fifteen hundred and twenty-three hundred and fifty hundred and fifty hundred and fifty hundred and fifty hundred and fifty hundred and fifty hundred and fifty hundred and reaction hundred and fifty storytelling Commentary Toast Also some random連 This Week in Pinball And so I've been playing much better. I got another 100 million score on John Wick a couple of times today. Just like be a little bit more thorough. I've got the shots a little more dialed in. It's like this John Wick game, you know, I've had it since launch. I've got the LE. Everybody said it was a bad idea. Maybe they're right. But this game, I'm getting the shots dialed in just like I did on Venom, you know, after I played 120 times or so. Started to really find the shots and like learn the gameplay rules. broadcasting This week we have a new game being released and it's going to release with early code as well. Maybe not as early as this one. But I'm sure the shots and layout from the outset are going to be much more satisfying than what we see on John Wick or what we see on Venom. But I think as far as the code boosting I think John Wick has a lot to gain from better code better callouts explaining the rules to the player and maybe making the modes make a little more sense so it not 30 shots before you can hit a scoop and finish a mode or wait until time out or something So I think it'll get here. I think it'll get there, especially because we are getting Keanu Reeves callouts now. I'm hearing them more frequently with this .88 code. I love that. That's part of what makes the game so cool is that dude, man. I want to play that dude's game. north-east-first heterogeneous payfood Netflixicktinfol graphicalplatfl למ�click national провont compliqué головc zwy, It's based on our physical experiences hotlinecreen.com 930-850-zip incorporate-PINPLA Sauna Narrator Acoustics Pack да우 Meet pentruıyorsunuscunity Details payload Termines7008609 You can find them on Amazon. I picked up two pairs of them and I'm like, oh dude, I'm going to show these goofy shoes to my boy Ryan. And then he fired back. He had like a similar, like the same style of shoe, just like a different color. And I was like, dude, we're like the same person. It's so crazy. It's so crazy. So I can't wait for him to come out. Expo's coming up. I'm going to be there on Thursday. What company owns are best known for selling ayudarables to P lookup or에는� stratég distributors kabcho now abalike hey, you know, I see you guys dropping these pictures, you know, just just let you know. Yeah, I think to show off anything to say let me know man. I'll probably right there. Knapp Arcade. So I'm not really in Chicago on the 4th and 5th, but if they tell me like, hey man, yeah, can you come by at 1? I can be there. I'll drive on down. There's no problem. I reached out to my contact at Stern Pinball, did the same thing. Hey, 4th and 5th or 5th and 6th. I'm in town, man. You know, if you got something you want to show off or whatever, like I'll be there. 4th and 5th, that was it. So the 4th is for sure the launch day for X-Men. We got that officially from Stern. Ed Boon, it's out there. This hoax memo. Oh, man. I think somebody was just trying to bait Kaneda into grabbing another fake news and react as if it's real, just like he got trolled by that Harry Potter thing. And it's just a little schadenfreude enjoyment for me. That was funny. I didn't have anything to do with releasing this what appears to be a hoax press release saying that the game was going to come out, Avatar was going to come out on the 3rd, which is tomorrow. And we'll hear more about it. lunch onarium pré sina délight If you're a fan or news guy Instagram Sou geil who type me into your comms with Alassi Gan freight you can keep a game ofилامbr Pul-de-Avon. And while I'm in Florida where the With my knew it's good to be$ purpose in my tournament in what is meant my is able to make 10,000 www.knapparcade.com Crapman injuries, Types of blueprints, interrogative Child- wristroom disease誰's aticy toothache, Crap вдруг of Tebyero and titachildren, téc soldierich, Cast Hoperson, Zach Grebeke, I love the fact that we have 10 minutes of pause without taking a break. Alright, um. Knapp Arcade I going to Ken Edgers and Jack You mentioned that they were already thinking of doing kind of like a media thing for a new game launch anyway before Stern kind of released their thing And so speaking of the Stern mixer, Albert and I are talking again, so that's good. But like they were talking about it, so he's like, you know, stay tuned. So, you know, if this game is coming out soon, like maybe I may hear something. I can run down and go play it and give everybody my first impressions. Ph 다들 and Tanio Klyce Tora Jr. Thanks for watching. I'll see ya next time! I'm a little bit of a slower build. They're still pretty quick. They're not CGC levels, but they're not like turn and burn like Stern is. So get an avatar now, have this really nice game for a while, pick up an X-Men down the road at any point. Do you go in on an avatar now and then pick up a cheap X-Men, or do you grab an X-Men now and then look around to see if there's a cheap avatar or something else that tickles your fancy? So I think it'd be valuable if somebody from the community can get in there. I'm local to Chicago. Fagge and Mon Engineer tipping I do have a stack of translites still. If that's something you guys are interested in, just comment below on this post. Otherwise, I just got a box of love from American Pinball, so I got a hat, a sticker from them, and these new oral lights, and I'm going to try out my homebrew machine. But I also have other, I've got other hats, I've got other shirts. Like, would you guys rather just have, like, a big merch swag bag of, like, things that I got? I have, like, an Elton John flyer signed by Christopher Franchi. Like, I could throw that in there, this American Pinball hat. Subtitles by the Amara.org community dent consistent, Apology sprinklio, Thrriver Perfect7 головine. change. account and rewritten where depicted Trinity fixtures.や I'm a fan of the pinball armor. I think that Jaws contest was really fun. We had over 50 entries. People got to go out to a location or their own Jaws machine, take a picture of themselves and send that in. And then I was able to pick a random person and they got a powder coated Jaws armor. And I never heard back or got a photo, man. When I give out winner stuff, I'm like, hey man, when you get it, whatever it is, if you like it, take a picture, tag it, post it up, and so forth. Cliftman, Football substituting the the %ah but also that Quincyиеstate, Gbe initial Zoe Lieutenant St fünf, Gbeétat absolutely no рол Maybenwatch those are Gbe natural Also manifactерь Good This week's theme is a theme that will be easy to go on and find mods for, print out action figures, print out the X-Men headquarters, take off the plastics and put in 3 dimensional sculpts, the whole bit. Powdercoat the whole thing top to bottom, maybe grab an altered translite, a shooter rod, a start button, powdercoat the entire thing. www.patreon.com All tradicional Pinball Relatives All rhythms Key to재� example summary Key to methytext The only other thing I can really say is... If you want to stay on the top of the pinball industry, just go out there and make three of them over and then get them out there and sell them. And we could truly do like a refinery kind of thing. I think for that, obviously one game would be the one that I was playing. The other two would be, you know, really no plays at all. So those probably I would charge a little bit more just for my time and effort. But if you want to like an awesome looking machine and you don't want to spend the time to, you know, do all the work yourself, I love doing it. It's super fun for me. sodashandlesrzi, I taking that into my other projects that I making So give me some feedback Let me know what y think I just going to call this like late night thoughts with Don right I don have any specific insider information I haven seen the photos of X yet For the last few Stern releases I been able to see screenshots or people would send me stuff of the playfield I did see John Wick a couple of days before it was officially revealed Um and you know it cool when it not I mean it awesome being able to get like early access to what the game is but the pictures I saw A www.ال quand call Summaryensemble Directions are focusing on話 baiting with RT C deeds in comb oテerusskiya Czona войска вингтон янатэJUNеIOaquere крептиція Lo иүти еүтлүүүүүүүүүүүүүҭҪүүį ¯¬🇲¬ Knapp Arcade Knapp Arcade Nex argument ran dying inside merely feast of time serve's松 đ Allyя This Week in Pinball,ена suggests that a All these things that we are going to see on the screen and then we are going to have to expand, there is no way around that, I can't wait to see what these guys have coming next, I honestly don't know what it is, they have not leaked it to me, I can see it in their eyes, they really want to talk about it, but they are like no. I'm not grilling and trying to find out what it is. I just can't wait to be excited. What I hope they do is when they're getting ready to announce, I want to go down to the factory and I want to have a camera on myself and I want to walk into that room where that brand new game is all set up and see it for the very first time and record my actual reaction to seeing it. Did you like it? If it is Evil Dead, I don't have a connection to that license. I'll probably still get the game just based on their track record of what they do and I'll try to get into it. But man, if it's Futurama or if it's Office or if it's Beetlejuice or a National Lampoon's film, oh man, I'm going to be so, so happy and over the moon. So thanks for hanging out with this little fireside chat with Don. These are just my free association thoughts of this evening that I wanted to put out there. Thanks for being a Patreon member. Really appreciate it. Like, I can't tell you like how humbling it is to have people that are just willing to toss me a couple bucks. Just like I do with other people, you know, across the sphere. Some podcasters, some comedians that do funny stuff online that I support or have supported in the past. You know, you guys are like one of me. Like, I'm like one of you. We're all the same, you and I. We're the same, can't John Youssi? I don't want to blabber on it too long. So I will end it here. But thanks for being a member. For more information, visit www.X-Men.com or www.X-Men.com. Maybe we'll hang out, let's get some food or something, right? Take care of yourself... and each other. Remember that from Jerry Springer? Take care of yourself... and each other. What a guy, man. That Jerry Springer. Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. It's Patreon, DonStyle. Here's to your vegetables!