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DPP #191 "Don't tease me bro!"

Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)·podcast_episode·42m 18s·analyzed·May 25, 2025
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

Don reviews Kong, criticizes game announcement teasing, and discusses upcoming pinball acquisitions.

Summary

Don shares extended hands-on impressions of Kong after receiving it for home play, praising its layout and mechanical design while ranking it third among recent Stern releases behind Jaws and Godzilla. He critiques excessive teasing by Pinball Brothers for the Predator game, discusses his custom banana-themed shooter rod mod, evaluates Evil Dead and Medieval Madness restoration economics, and expresses cautious interest in the rumored Harry Potter machine.

Key Claims

  • Kong is Stern's third-best recent game behind Jaws and Godzilla in Don's ranking

    high confidence · Don directly states his ranking: Jaws #1, Godzilla #2, Kong #3, with John Papadiuk close behind

  • Jaws has more compelling code and integrated modes with subtle touches like Keith appearing in the window

    high confidence · Don explicitly compares Jaws' code favorably to Kong, noting he hasn't seen similar details materialize in Kong

  • Pinball Brothers is doing excessive teasing for Predator with vague jungle images instead of concrete information

    high confidence · Don criticizes the teasing strategy, noting it makes him lose interest and comparing it to DPX's similar approach

  • A reproduction Medieval Madness playfield costs about $1,000 from Marco

    medium confidence · Don cites this as a factual data point when discussing Medieval Madness restoration economics

  • Don is planning a trip to Austria to visit an American Pinball representative and play Dune at a specific location

    high confidence · Don describes making a weekend trip with pinball friends to Vogelbrook in Austria

  • Dune's release was sudden and unexpected, dropping while Don was at an airport

    high confidence · Don describes being surprised by Dune's release announcement while traveling to the airport

  • Evil Dead has mechanisms distributed across the entire playfield, similar to X-Men: Uncanny X-Men

    high confidence · Don praises Evil Dead's mechanical design and compares it favorably to X-Men's periphery design

  • Don's main criticism of Evil Dead is the ball release timing from the cabin mode scoop

    high confidence · Don explicitly states this is his only criticism, wishing balls would launch directly from a scoop to the flipper

  • Avatar is currently worth approximately $11,750 on the secondary market

Notable Quotes

  • “The layout is good. The mechanisms are fun. The drop targets sweeps are probably my favorite part of it. That and I didn't think I was going to love the little curly Q hit back shot on the right orbit as much as I do.”

    Don @ early — Establishes Don's hands-on appreciation for Kong's specific playfield features and mechanical design

  • “That left upper flipper, that whole right upper quadrant of the game, feels like it's so mini playfield and it definitely does.”

    Don @ early — Describes a key layout feature that elevates Kong's design complexity compared to other Stern games

  • “Jaws still holds that place. And it's really because of the theme. Now, I would argue that this layout on Kong is a more interesting layout than Jaws, only just, just premium is what I'm comparing to.”

    Don @ mid — Shows Don's nuanced ranking — Kong has better layout mechanics but Jaws wins overall due to theme integration

  • “I won't judge Kong harshly on the code. I will judge it on the modes. I think the modes in other games are more compelling.”

    Don @ mid — Identifies Kong's weak point relative to recent Stern releases in code depth and mode design

  • “They're doing these teasing images... and then he had like the back of a playfield like against a corner... I don't want to see the bottom of the cabinet, the playfield. That doesn't mean anything to me... When you do this kind of edging, this teasing, you just kind of like dangling something, like it's still a jungle you know and I get the idea is that they're trying to keep the conversation in the community but that's going to get stale.”

    Don @ mid — Direct criticism of Pinball Brothers' marketing strategy for Predator, warning that excessive teasing creates fatigue

  • “By the time there is an actual release, I'm not going to care because it's going to be like, oh, it's probably just another tease, you know, and then, oh, that game came out this afternoon. Yeah, I haven't looked at it yet.”

    Don @ mid — Articulates the burnout effect of prolonged teasing campaigns on community engagement and his personal interest

Entities

DonpersonKonggameJawsgameGodzillagamePredatorgamePinball BrotherscompanyEvil Deadgame

Signals

  • ?

    product_launch: Don has received Kong for home play and is in early modification/customization phase ('mod build phase')

    high · Don states: 'I've had some time with Kong here. I've started the mod build phase of everything.'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Kong's playfield layout praised for interconnected shot sequences, drop target mechanics, and upper flipper mini-playfield area with good ball control and feedability

    high · Extended discussion of left orbit to right upper flipper flow, curly-Q shot, drop target complexity, and upper quadrant as pseudo-mini-playfield

  • ?

    code_update: Kong's code modes assessed as less compelling than recent Stern releases (Jaws, Godzilla); lacks subtle animated touches and integrated narrative elements seen in Jaws

    high · Don states: 'I won't judge Kong harshly on the code. I will judge it on the modes. I think the modes in other games are more compelling.'

  • ?

    announcement: Kong's announcement strategy praised as effective: gong picture reveal followed by comprehensive information release within days

    high · Don states: 'Look at Kong. What do we have with Kong? We got a picture of the Kong gong and then like two days later it was like here's all the information. Perfect.'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Pinball Brothers' prolonged vague teasing campaign for Predator creating community engagement fatigue; Don warns this dampens interest in eventual release

    high · Don: 'by the time there is an actual release, I'm not going to care because it's going to be like, oh, it's probably just another tease... I haven't looked at it yet.'

Topics

Kong gameplay and mechanical designprimaryRecent Stern game rankings and code qualityprimaryGame announcement and marketing strategy criticismprimaryEvil Dead design and gameplay mechanicsprimaryHarry Potter rumor and acquisition planningprimaryCustom pinball mods and accessoriessecondaryGame restoration economics and secondary market pricingsecondaryCommunity sentiment on game teasing and marketingsecondary

Sentiment

mixed(0.62)— Don is very positive about Kong's mechanical design and Evil Dead's layout complexity, maintaining enthusiasm for new pinball releases. However, he's frustrated with Pinball Brothers' excessive teasing marketing, critical of Kong's code depth relative to Jaws, and hesitant about Harry Potter's pricing despite community hype. His sentiment reflects appreciation for game quality balanced against marketing frustrations and financial constraints on collection expansion.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.127

Welcome back friends to Don's Pinball Podcast episode number 191 doing a Patreon edition show here. I got a ton to talk about. I've had some time with Kong here. I've started the mod build phase of everything. Pinball companies are teasing us way too much. I got so much to talk about. Let's get into it. CKvng we involved Amanda . Thank you for watching. I'm a fan of the game, but I've played the heck out of this game, and it's good. I mentioned this before, you know, after I got to play it at the factory. Now I've had it at home, and I can verify that, yes, this game is good. The layout is good. The mechanisms are fun. The drop target sweeps are probably my favorite part of it. That and I didn't think I was going to love the little curly Q hit back shot on the right orbit as much as I do. What I've been able to do now that I've had the game, though, is discover a lot of these little things. That just set this game apart from some of its other contemporaries. Things like the little jumpy ramp that's on the left orbit. So you shoot that left orbit shot, it comes all the way around to the right Feeds that right upper flipper and from there there's multiple shots But if you shoot the right orbit because that little ledge that's there. The ball hops over if it's coming from the left You get the little curlicue punch back time to get a feeling for this offand hill죠 And whenever you do combo that biplane ramp, it's magical, man. It's magical. And I've heard people mention this before. The left upper flipper, that whole right upper quadrant of the game, feels like it's so mini playfield and it definitely does. Like, if you can imagine shooting up a ramp or something and then having a little mini playfield up there with the four drop targets, that mini flipper, the diverter, like that could be a mini upper playfield. Well, welcome to another episode of the It just happens to take place on the main play area of the game, which is great. It's feedable from either flipper. It's feedable from the plunge. If you plunge right and then catch it with that upper flipper, you can start playing up there. I've noticed that my scores have really taken off when I focus when I'm up in that area. Like normally, you know, drop targets, whatever. I'll try to finish them, you know, when I get a chance. On this game in particular, it's important to finish them as many times as you can, right? Some至は, WPPR dłteokbokki haihostèt Knam meinen노�ню 고�ustomhas� 19 genocide later diese neck위식 발 무대 Smack을 다는 έuci 그다음 10,008 개산 I expect the ball, if it's coming fast, to hit that diverter and just rocket off that flipper. But it totally doesn't. And it may be due to like the rubber that's on the flipper right there. Something about the geometry. But like the ball comes around that corner so fast, but then it'll hit the flipper and then just slowly roll on down it. And it's like, oh, it gives me a chance to see, you know, where on the flipper do I do want to shoot that shot? Am I going for that first drop target? It's right off the edge of it. Hemisp Medien Lesson Uh-huh huh huh slippedomez for the time somewhat internship that would i've always going around em vorbei it built up some speed in goes pretty quick on this to though it does give you some pause on that flipper and a little things like that that i appreciate so this game really is the some of its part some you know he's to hear i was praised for our one as psych dependent on해 Thank you for watching. Okay, so Don, how does this game rank? Is this Elwyn's best game? And for me, definitely not. Definitely not. Jaws still holds that place. And it's really because of the theme. Now, I would argue that this layout on Kong is a more interesting layout than Jaws, only just, just premium is what I'm comparing to, just because that extra wireform that's off the upper playfield, which you don't get on the pro, The This programme presents bunker All right. All right. Presented by Prateek S ent surround aalipayни.com Cyberpunk tackeко Penelope Blow Remain S失 Tus 你这样 настро面上那 performs 234 transfer 丸并开玩来丸的据病让 cabana útji tv上面的png 让 yao"! N outs 무대crates Half expressions TiS, PENCHITEX, recovering souvent breathtaking Gomez,pr sponsored for fakethroughíssa갑 mismatch diag Geneva volume no more Up qualcendictoralinvest wprowad procrast zoning researcher arriving accommodation Location mariokipui cochliukamiusing supportingpersonhisab Fahract and navigate Klundñälla &ò Neos Marvelnikob går© Prяńcłówá‡òŠ Campusá This is a Tribe's So how do you rank the Elwins? I don't know. His lower tier of him? Just mash him up however you like. I mean I like Iron Maiden probably a little bit more than Avengers Infinity Quest. But you know do I like Iron Maiden better than Bond 60th? That's such a hard, they're two different games. But as far as the top three, I'd put Jaws at top. I think Godzilla's still coming number two. Kong number three and pretty close to that. And some people may argue that this is their favorite one. And I wouldn't argue with you because they're all pretty close I'm John Papadiuk להίας and I'm a loggia Scientąćitzerland sophomorticism Frogken Puis The Jaws modes are so well integrated, they have a lot of clips in them. Just all the subtle little things like when you get a high score in Jaws and every now and then Keith walks by the window of the office, right? At the sheriff's station. Every now and then you see that. I like those little touches. I haven't seen them materialize here in Kong yet. I won't judge Kong harshly on the code. I will judge it on the modes. I think the modes in other games are more compelling. . . . . . . http://www.gmail.com.au http://www.youtube.com.au http://www.youtube.com.au http://www.youtube.com.au We're here at the Knapp Arcade in the studio's Hollywood tram Ride back in the old days before it burned down. When it was just like a giant Kong animatronic like at the end of The Wizard, that movie The Wizard with Fred Savage back in the day. They run around the movie lot and they run through past this giant Kong animatronic. When you were going through there, there was actually this banana bread smell that would emanate from him as if he had banana breath. And I always thought that was kind of cool. So there's my banana connection to Kong. So what I had done was I went and found a fairly realistic representation of a banana file. I started with that and then truncated it to the size that I wanted, made it fit to the hand, you know, so essentially like real banana scale size. And then I had to get an exposed banana for the end of it, the part facing the player. And there was just no way that I could achieve what I wanted to get with just 3D printing. So I went over to Amazon and I just looked for fake banana slices. Chemist stump Case65.com All right, so let's get started. Scaling it down this size is kind of small. I'm losing some detail. So what I might do is keep that idea for a Chiquita Banana sticker, but maybe just put Kong on it instead, so it's Kong branded bananas, but still have that Chiquita vibe. I think that'll print better. But I made a recess in the banana file, so I can separately print that, marry it together, and then, gosh, this thing just worked out of the gate. I took the weight of the Stranger Things shooter rod and some of the other Stern shooter rods that they've had, I found out like the weight of the actual end of that rod, like the die in this case on Stranger Things. And then I calculated the weight in the banana to make it have the same feel and heft as a real stern one. And then I put it on a Bally Williams rod just so there's a little extra length in there, like an eighth of an inch. And it just makes it such a strong, nice plunge. It doesn't fail. No weak plunges on this one if you pull it all the way back. It feels good in the hand, man. I love how this thing is. I love how this thing turned out. Let me ask you this, I've been on a bunch of these and a bunch of them are just, like, I'm gonna take a look at them one by one and see how many of them I can find. How do you, how do you want to get one? I don't know. There's a lot of work that goes into these. I don't know if I'm gonna launch this as a product. I think for now, if I do make some more of these for people, I think I'll just offer it exclusively on Patreon. I think that would be the thing to do just to get some exclusivity for you guys. Plus, there's only like 150 of ya. www.wppr.com Please subscribe, save, and view. This is a pinball machine that looks like a beer opener and it's made out of wood. It's super cool, man, like a promotional thing that he made for his deal. He hooked me up with that and he invited me out and he said, dude, when you're in Austria, come by. And I'm thinking, I'm the kind of crazy person that will say, yeah, let's go do that. And so I had an opportunity, I had a couple of the pinball friends that are going out there, so we're all going to make a little weekend trip to Austria to Vogelbrook. And it seems that there will be a Dune machine there to play as well. Now Monica still hasn't played Dune, and it's down at IO Arcade in Madison, it's about an Knapp Arcade. Tit allí Viami, Tudor General Transcript by David David Van Es, Knapp Arcade.com I'm going to talk about game launches a little bit. I think some companies are doing them pretty well and other companies are really not. And, you know, for instance, right? Look at Kong. What do we have with Kong? We got a picture of the Kong gong and then like two days later it was like here's all the information. Perfect. I love that. Hey, look, confirmation, this is the game. Hey, here's a date coming up in just a couple of days. Let me make sure I'm available to go and watch the trailer Trans discourse in spoken English Trans ​​​ ebenfalls in spoken English Trans Kivol JOHN P печ建 leurs而 traditionalließen All right. Thank you, guys. I'm going to go ahead and call it a day. I'm going to go ahead and call it a day. I'm going to go ahead and say, hey, I'm going to call it a day. I'm going to go ahead and say, hey, I'm going to call it a day. I'm going to call it a day. It's happening now with Predator, though, and it's the opposite of Rushed. I don't know what they're doing. It kind of seems like they are not sure exactly when they wanted to release this game. It almost feels like they were kind of ready to release it and then decided to hold back and now, like, they're coming back in. And I've seen companies do that before. Here's the problem. They're doing these teasing images. We're making images of a jungle and there was like a razorblade or something they just did as their last teaser. And then they did this other one where the guy from Pinball Brother was sitting there with one of the in-universe comic books and then he had like the back of a playfield like against a corner. Oh, I know. This was DPX with Alice. They were doing this kind of stuff where it seemed like every couple weeks, every month, there'd be like another teaser image, you know. I'm a fan of the playfield flip so you can see the bottom of it and it like I don want to see the bottom of the cabinet the playfield That doesn mean anything to me you know when you show me that I want confirmation of like what the license is and then I want a confirmation of a date when I going to have all the information because then I can make a decision When you do this kind of edging this teasing you just kind of like dangling something like it still a jungle you know and I get the idea is that they trying to keep the conversation in the community but that going to get stale And if Pinball Brothers keeps this up, by the time there is an actual release, I'm not going to care because it's going to be like, oh, it's probably just another tease, you know, and then, oh, that game came out this afternoon. Yeah, I haven't looked at it yet. I'll check it when I get home. Closed web in the obsolete Нов 7 7 7 7 I'm probably Predator's biggest fan as far as a license, if anybody. He's seen the game, he's seen the gameplay. And he can't tell me what he's seen, but he can give me his impression. And he's extremely excited about it. Like he's really excited. And he's the kind of guy that if something sucks, he'd be like, Donnie, I don't know what they doing, man. Like he would tell me. Like if it wasn't good, he wouldn't just BS. You know, he's not just chilling for pinball brothers of all things. Learn more atârカンタ ciento.com How До改� 무한� Abg technoเห thanks for watching!! unsure what all this is! Enjoy! If you liked it, please rate, share or subscribe to this channel- Thank you!!!! See you soon!!!! Peace!!! Benic didntra棕, N, published in 1990 as N, in 1999 as Gupta in 1950 due to ganska yFF chant studlights.com, and you notice Flop There is a Hero Acad ¿­ta? to all the cushions for Minnesota a�et Miles. Ya know a n Fore equations of Hip Hop? I think that's the best way to put the game out there. You let everybody know what's coming so it doesn't just drop randomly, you know, at like 6 or 7 p.m. in the evening when I'm on a bus going to the airport. All of a sudden, like, oh, Doom's released? You know, I thought somebody had leaked it to me and I'm like, oh, spoiling surprise here, huh? But no, like, that was the actual release. You know, lackluster, you know, I'm sitting at an airport trying to get information about this, but like, I gotta go check in for my flight, get through security. Like, I didn't have time to really see what this game was.引agner将 전재재생광 kilos Thank you for watching. This is a game that I do appreciate, and while I am a guy that seems to be heavily into, like, new pinball is best pinball, like, that's what I want, I like new pinball because it affords me the opportunity to play a game that I've never seen before, I've never played before. Like, that only happens once, you know? When I was at the factory and I played Kong, like, that was the first time I got to play that. When I played Evil Dead for the first time at the factory, like, that was the first time to play a new game. On Knapp Arcade. If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe, like, comment, and share it with your friends. returned today. I'm not really allowed to talk about the details, but it actually reminds me a lot of a game like Mouse in a round. So is $3200 or best offer a good price for that game? Probably? I mean, there's not exactly a lot of them out there. And you know, I was starting to think like, man, I could get this game and then this could be the one that I can make over into a real showpiece. And then Jenga's hit me with some reality. So you can buy reproduction playfields for about $1,000. You know, If you need to get, say, a mouse around and it's available from Marco, I think he's the one with the license to make these things, you know, $1,000. So, you know, let's say I get this game for $2,700 or something, you know, I dick them down a little bit, drive down there, pick it up. There are some wear spots in there, a little bit of wear over the inserts. So I get a brand new playfield, brand new clear coat, not a dimple in sight, perfectly cured and all the inserts are nice and fresh. And then, I do a topside teardown, put everything on there, flip it upside down, get all the wiring, harnesses, and everything off and manage to put them on there. And Jayka says like, no, no, man, you're gonna get those old ramps, they're gonna be old and dusty and you're gonna want new ramps, so like there's another couple hundred dollars per ramp, you know, to get those done, you know, and if you can find them, you know, you're gonna want new flipper coils, you're gonna want new all stuff. I don't know. Out of the box, the game is a classic, but it's a great game to play with your friends and family. Out of the box, the game is a classic, but it's a great game to play with your friends and family. I'm having a hard time justifying the purchase of Harry Potter for Cripes Sakes. And this is the game that's been rumored and like the most wanted thing as far as like being talked about in the community for like two years now, right? The most expensive license ever in pinball. They got all the assets, not one dime out of your pocket until it comes out and all that business. But I have an appreciation for Mouseandaround, and I think I just wanted to mention that. test printer www.patrendyphone.com The whole brand new experience. Tell me what you think. All right, what else do we got? What else do we got? Evil Dead thoughts. Let's go with that and then we'll finish on Harry Potter here for this Patreon exclusive episode because I just want to reward you guys for the support. Really appreciate it. So Evil Dead. Yesterday I fired up Spooky Corner. I've been trying to do this thing where like I turn on all my games and just go down the line and play each one of them once because I hardly, I never do that. And so far I haven't been able to make it that far Thank you for watching Knapp Arcade This is a production of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, the Center for Autism and Related Disorders. If you don't want to miss out the nextordoors walking over the hotel area lying across the unique I'm like, okay, fine, okay, fine. And she's like, why do you want to sell Looney Tunes? I'm like, well, Harry Potter's coming out. And she just looks at me like, no, are you kidding me? So they're staying. I pop on over to Evil Dead. And this is a game that I've absolutely played the heck out of. And, you know, when I first got revealed and saw what it was, they didn't tell me what their game was. And the game wasn't announced or anything yet. They just walked me into a room and, like, I came face-to-face with Evil Dead and the topper and everything just all right there. Top with Snive Kimptionslipgoogle.com This is a game that also has like that magic sprinkled all around. Mainly because there's a mechanism sprinkled everywhere. I gave X-Men, Uncanny X-Men a lot of praise for filling every part of the playfield with like something to do. As far as like the periphery, you know, you've got that phase through wall there on the left. You got the breaking wire forms there on the right. You got the danger room down there. You know, so a lot of cool little things that are all about. Transcript by Rev.comPsirse, Sit down in a locked pink There's also something like Left Orbit Shot to the 180 ramp that drops into the pops. The ramps feel good, the cabin lock is great. All these fun things that are in there. One thing I wish and I'm fine with shooting under the ramp to start modes, but I really wish the balls would drop into a subway and then like when the mode is ready to start, they would just launch out of the scoop. Like okay, mode start, boom here's your ball. Because what we get instead is the ramp just lifts up and the ball that you shot in there Just kind of rolls on out, bounces off the flipper or the Sling Area. Sometimes it goes towards theOutlane. Sometimes it comes down the Sling. Sometimes it bounces off the Sling. All the time these modes are timed,right., You know, so it's like,mode start. And it's a couple of seconds, just waiting for the ball to kind of roll down so Ii can interact with it. So I really wish it was like mode start,scoop, boom devastated,here it comes." You know Florida's availableup to the wire форм," Boom, here it is, safe shots,start this mode." Subtitles by the Amara.org community The Cabin Shot itself, it's satisfying every time you put balls up in there. What a lot of fun. I just wish that, you know, for the cabin multiball and the mode start, the balls would actually come out of a scoop, like directly the flipper, like let's get this thing going. That's my only criticism of the game. Other than that, like fantastic. So coming back to Evil Dead now that it's been released, that I've been around, I've played everything else new, and then it's going through the spooky lineup of what was previously like my favorite spooky game they made, TCM. Hi I'm David David Van Es, I'm going to talk about a講idoir what I ever wanted to talk Donefux about gameplay, gameplay views, film, over including gameplay which keeps height shots and raisers from the very beginning and лай what to do. Lindsay Wilkinson, head Molini at Canjemigaker addicted to tender distance for author of RM goodbye who died in news article Doctor Keenjan, and also the thing about author or someone else, which can certainly suck fat like clean saver as his name is LeadTakeChampain10 arrived on google Canada. Knapp Arcade. Don Weeks Vill לה slammed www.patre intellectually trouvered Telod abstainted fantasy, Hob��pańczi, This Week Out of the game, I'm looking at Avatar and I'm looking at probably only getting like $11,750 for it or something just to get it to go and then use that money for another $15,000 game. And that doesn't seem fun to me. Like it doesn't seem fun for a couple of reasons. Number one, I'm enjoying the heck out of avatar. Number two, I've only had it for a couple of months. I don't want to sell it this quick. I guess that's kind of partially number one. Transää Knapp Arcade. And we welcome you back to our SichtになRomanAd91 in quests Canadiansi at Ring of Honor.com in prereqISIty, Facebook and – actually, sorry, I need to feel good about it. I don't want to feel like it's an obligation, right? So, I don't know. I'm not for sure in. I'm not for sure out. I'm for sure waiting for more information. Let me know what you guys think and I hope you enjoy this bonus Patreon content I'm going to put up for you actually right now. We spent a good amount of time together and I love this. I got some more fun stuff coming up for Patreon to announce here hopefully the next couple weeks. Probably when I get back from the trip. Other than that, be good to each other. Email me at donpinnballpodcast at gmail.com. Let's talk on Patreon, let's talk on Discord. You know where to find me. Alright, be good everybody. I'll talk to you soon. ребята ö認lated protagonists çocuğ가 것이라 청 군婆 filme 거예요

medium confidence · Don estimates this price when considering whether to sell Avatar to fund a $15,000 game

  • Harry Potter is the most expensive license ever in pinball and has been the most-discussed rumored game for two years

    high confidence · Don describes Harry Potter as the most wanted/discussed rumored game with premium licensing costs

  • “I'm probably Predator's biggest fan as far as a license, if anybody... And he's extremely excited about it. Like he's really excited. And he's the kind of guy that if something sucks, he'd be like, Donnie, I don't know what they doing, man.”

    Don @ mid — Sources credible insider enthusiasm for Predator from someone who has seen gameplay but cannot discuss details

  • “I'm having a hard time justifying the purchase of Harry Potter for Cripes Sakes. And this is the game that's been rumored and like the most wanted thing as far as like being talked about in the community for like two years now, right?”

    Don @ late — Confirms Harry Potter as the community's most-anticipated rumored title with premium pricing that creates hesitation

  • “One thing I wish and I'm fine with shooting under the ramp to start modes, but I really wish the balls would drop into a scoop and then like when the mode is ready to start, they would just launch out of the scoop.”

    Don @ late — Identifies specific gameplay design improvement for Evil Dead's cabin multiball feature

  • “I'm enjoying the Ben Heck out of Avatar. Number two, I've only had it for a couple of months. I don't want to sell it this quick... I need to feel good about it. I don't want to feel like it's an obligation, right?”

    Don @ late — Reveals Don's decision-making criteria for game collection: enjoying the game over financial optimization

  • Spooky
    company
    Medieval Madnessgame
    Dunegame
    Harry Pottergame
    Avatargame
    American Pinballcompany
    X-Men: Uncanny X-Mengame
    Looney Tunesgame
    Keith Elwinperson
    Marcoperson
    Monicaperson
    Don's Pinball Podcastorganization
    Stern Pinballcompany
  • ?

    design_innovation: Don created custom banana-themed shooter rod for Kong using 3D-printed handle and real Stern rod mechanics, calibrated weight to match stock Stern shooters

    high · Don describes sourcing banana files, 3D-printing components, and calculating weight equivalents to Stranger Things shooter rods

  • ?

    machine_intel: Harry Potter pinball machine remains rumored/unannounced despite two years of community discussion; described as 'most wanted thing' with highest licensing costs in pinball history

    high · Don: 'Harry Potter's coming out... the most expensive license ever in pinball... the most wanted thing as far as like being talked about in the community for like two years now'

  • ?

    event_signal: Don planning weekend trip to Austria with pinball friends to visit American Pinball representative at Vogelbrook location and play Dune

    high · Don: 'I had a couple of the pinball friends that are going out there, so we're all going to make a little weekend trip to Austria to Vogelbrook... there will be a Dune machine there to play'

  • ?

    product_launch: Dune pinball released with minimal advance notice, dropping while Don was traveling to airport; perceived as unexpected/poorly communicated release

    high · Don: 'it was the actual release... I'm sitting at an airport trying to get information about this, but like, I gotta go check in for my flight, get through security'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Evil Dead's cabin multiball mode criticized for ball release timing; player would prefer direct scoop-to-flipper launch rather than ball rolling down ramp after mode trigger

    high · Don: 'I really wish the balls would drop into a scoop and then like when the mode is ready to start, they would just launch out of the scoop'

  • $

    market_signal: Avatar pinball estimated at approximately $11,750 for quick secondary market sale; price gap vs new $15,000+ games makes upgrade less attractive financially

    medium · Don: 'I'm looking at probably only getting like $11,750 for it... to get it to go and then use that for another $15,000 game... that doesn't seem fun to me'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Don values extensive mechanical distribution across playfield (as seen in Evil Dead and X-Men) and interconnected shot sequences over simpler layouts

    high · Don praises Evil Dead for 'mechanisms sprinkled everywhere' and compares favorably to X-Men for filling every part of playfield with interactive elements