Final Round Pinball Podcast Ep 56: Wild

Final Round Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·1h 16m·analyzed·May 22, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

Josh Sharp discusses IFPA policy changes, World Championships expansion, and supply chain crisis.

Summary

Final Round Pinball Podcast episode 56 features Josh Sharp, IFPA president, discussing multi-state league reporting changes, World Championship expansion from 64 to 80 players for 2023, certified event criteria, supply chain constraints affecting manufacturers, and an upcoming Cactus Canyon code update co-developed with the late Lyman Sheats. The hosts debate pinball market bubble predictions, discuss competitive rule design philosophy, and cover upcoming major tournaments including IFPA 17 in Fort Myers.

Key Claims

IFPA has sanctioned approximately 2,000 events in 2024 compared to 7,591 in 2019; attendance is at ~44,000 compared to 174,000 in 2019
high confidence · Josh Sharp citing IFPA data directly on the episode
IFPA World Championship expanding from 64 to 80 players starting in 2023 (Germany)
high confidence · Josh Sharp, IFPA president, official announcement
Misinformation was spread in a previous Final Round episode about multi-state league policy changes
high confidence · Josh Sharp directly stating the previous episode contained inaccurate information about why IFPA changed league reporting
IFPA Certified events require minimum 64 rated players, dedicated qualifying (minimum 16 to finals), no byes beyond round of 16, and finals cannot start same day as qualifying
high confidence · Josh Sharp outlining specific Certified event criteria for 2022
Manufacturing backlog continues: Raw Thrills ships 100 games but takes orders for 106, growing backlog by six each cycle
high confidence · Josh Sharp describing supply chain situation at Raw Thrills
Cactus Canyon code update developed by Josh Sharp and Lyman Sheats is complete for competitive/strategic gameplay and will represent 'radical departure' from original ruleset
high confidence · Josh Sharp discussing updated code in his basement, played daily
Supply chain constraints (e.g., coin door shortages at Raw Thrills) are primary driver keeping pinball market inflated, not pure bubble conditions
medium confidence · Josh Sharp and Marty Robbins discussing supply-demand dynamics
Previous IFPA World Championship cut line in Italy (2 or 3 years ago) was as low as 59-60 players due to high country delegation attendance
medium confidence · Josh Sharp explaining historical cut line variation based on venue location

Notable Quotes

“Well, there was a lot of information that wasn't factual on your episode...if a lot of that was factual, then there probably would be bigger issues.”
Josh Sharp @ early in episode — Directly calls out misinformation in previous Final Round episode about IFPA league policy
“For bums like me to have a chance. That's why. Get us, Jeff. Beat me to it. I need a lower cut line, man. I'm not as good as I used to be.”
Josh Sharp @ discussing World Championship expansion — Self-deprecating explanation for 64-to-80 player expansion; shows personal motivation for policy
“The game that Lyman and I wanted to make from a competitive, strategic perspective, it's done...it will be a radical departure and something that I can't wait to see how people try to attack it.”
Josh Sharp @ Cactus Canyon code discussion — Confirms Cactus Canyon code update is functionally complete and substantially different from original
“You're not running into the 99 percent thing which is you have everything but one thing, and guess what you're down because 99 is not an A minus, it's an F, and you're fucked.”
Josh Sharp (quoting his boss) @ supply chain section — Illustrates severity of supply chain bottlenecks in manufacturing
“I think it's a year away at least before supply even catches up to demand, and then we'll see some leveling of the water and we can talk about it then.”
Marty Robbins @ bubble discussion conclusion — Prediction that market normalization is 12+ months away
“I do see something like that coming down the pipeline, just nothing I can talk about.”
Josh Sharp @ discussing potential for increased TGP rewards for long leagues — Teases upcoming IFPA policy changes for 2023 season
“You want there to be a debate over...you want to force someone to have to make a choice that makes them feel like they're giving something up by not making a different choice.”
Josh Sharp @ game design philosophy discussion — Core design philosophy behind Cactus Canyon code update

Entities

Josh SharppersonJeff Teolisperson Marty Robbinsperson Lyman Sheatsperson ZachpersonChuckwurt WebsterpersonInternational Flipper Pinball AssociationorganizationIFPA World Championship 17 (IFPA 17)event

Signals

?
policy_signal: Josh Sharp clarifies that previous Final Round episode contained inaccurate information about IFPA multi-state league reporting changes. IFPA changed HOW results are reported, not whether leagues can operate; primarily affects groups that don't prioritize WPPR points.
high · Josh Sharp: 'There was a lot of information that wasn't factual on your episode...We were simply changing how the results were reported, which for a group that primarily does not care about whopper points, I would imagine makes it mostly irrelevant.'
?
announcement: IFPA World Championship expanding from 64 to 80 players starting in 2023 in Germany. Change driven by concern that at-large cut line had fallen below 64 in previous events (e.g., 59-60 in Italy), creating situation where officially ranked top-64 players couldn't compete.
high · Josh Sharp: 'For bums like me to have a chance...I need a lower cut line, man...this will help move that at-large line, hopefully back a little bit.'
?
product_strategy: IFPA Certified events are mid-tier tournament classification between normal events and majors. Requires 64+ rated players, dedicated qualifying/finals structure, specific formatting rules. Provides 20% TGP bonus. Designed to reward high-quality, longer-duration events without major designation.
high · Josh Sharp outlining detailed criteria: '64 or more rated players...dedicated qualifying portion...minimum of 16 players into finals...finals cannot start same day as qualifying'
?
supply_chain_signal: Raw Thrills experiencing persistent component shortages (e.g., Coindoor coin doors shut down production). Manufacturing backlog growing: shipping 100 units but receiving 106 orders weekly, growing backlog by 6 units per cycle. Josh Sharp uncertain when supply will catch up.
high · Josh Sharp: 'We'll ship 100 games and we'll take orders for 106 games and our backlog will be plus six...I think it's a year away at least before supply even catches up.'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.228

0:00

The Pinball Network is online. Launching final round pinball podcast. It's player versus player and player versus machine. Welcome to the final round.

0:39

Hello and welcome again to Final Round. My name is Geoff Teolas. My name is Martin Robbins and this is episode 56. Geoff, how do we do it? It's a miracle every single week. It's certainly not through fan support, but that's another side. I mean, listen, maybe, maybe, if we think about it, we've killed off some of our fans. And I don't mean we, I mean you. You were on a rampage there for a while, let's be honest. Yeah, sure. In fact, our next guest has been killed by you. It was a battle between him and his brother, Zach, and you easily chose Zach. I also agreed with that, but... Oh yeah, it was so easy. Through the miracle of reincarnation, or who knows what, the president of the ifpa joins us right now josh sharp hey josh what's up boys as you were talking about zach i just got a text from him that he's on the way to help me move my godzilla in the basement so good uh good coincidence nice so i mean yes as as jeff mentioned in the intro i i did kill you off but i was gonna say it's the ghost i'm the ghost of job yeah but i i at least i haven't killed off competitive pinball fair very fair so we we talked about it a couple of episodes ago this was the whole the the leagues the multi-state league how's how's that ended up for you he's banned in texas and in new england the misinformation extravaganza it's fine it's everything's every everything's fine what's fine to you because i know players that have reached out to me especially after that episode fine wasn't the four letter f word that they used well there was there was a lot of information that like wasn't wasn't factual on your episode so i think uh you know if if a lot of that was factual then there probably would be bigger issues but i for us there's nothing that we've changed not allowing leagues to run leagues like that league like the new england pinball league to run the same way they were and still sanction that activity. We were simply changing how the results were reported, which for a group that primarily does not care about whopper points, I would imagine makes it mostly irrelevant to how things get reported. How's that? Is that pretty good? Well, let's find out from the source joining us right now, Chuck Webster. So when you say misinformation was there something specific that you went whoa whoa whoa that's not exactly it i can't you know i can't it's been it's been too long that i can't remember everything but i got enough messages of like is this doesn't sound right is this right and responding to many people privately that uh you know a lot of that was not right in terms of uh why we were making the changes we were making and the fact that it is still allowable for leagues to run exactly that way. And it's sort of, I feel like it came off that like we were not allowing that to be the case anymore. Now you understand, and this is what I've gathered in five years of podcasting. Yes. If you do a podcast where you give false information, you actually do very, very well and you get more listeners. So, so maybe that was our whole point. Did you ever think of that? Does this mean you guys are officially like twippy hunting then? Is that the plan? Let's not get crazy. Not a chance. So I did mention, and I still feel this in some way, maybe not through anything you've done, just maybe the way that people are looking at points and trying to accumulate whoppers and achievements and get status for their state or their province or their country. I do still believe we are going to see less IFPA leagues, but they would be replaced with ifpa tournaments is that that's totally fair and that's kind of it's been that way for a really long time right if you're looking to strictly maximize points like any game you play i mean we we had a uh we were joking about it in our league years ago we were playing like 300 percent tgp worth of stuff and and we had a conversation in our league about do we just want to play three smaller seasons rather than this one season that takes seven months and everyone was like no i kind of like it the way it is but i think for most people like our league has been around far longer than the ifpa has been around so for us it wasn't a really important thing you know the whoppers but for other groups it is a far more important thing than i think people are willing to admit. And the leagues do end up with a lot of wasted games played because once you hit that 100%, you've done it. You've done everything you can to maximize the value. So it's been that way for a while. You talk about wasted games, and I get that too. So once you achieve the 25 TGP, you can't really maximize any more based on the current scoring system. So if you played a league that you required to have 10 nights and you played four games each night, well, even before you get to playoffs, if there wasn't direct play, that's 40 TGP. So that's 15 wasted games, if you will, probably four nights. Is there any chance that any of these leagues that do more than 25 TGP might be rewarded somehow? Or is that kind of the nice comfort zone no i think uh look forward to our changes for next year which have not been finalized yet but we do see a path towards kind of increasing that runway for events that want to take advantage of that so yeah no i think it it is worthy for for leagues that i mean i think our league when you count the fact that match play counts double you know for four player groups we have something like like 70 meaningful games played first you know it's like it's three full tournaments worth of activity that uh you know it should be graded higher than you know a 25 game event or league so i do see something like that coming down the pipeline just nothing i can talk about you've said enough that's good yeah yeah so overall for the ifpa as far as participating people how are the numbers looking at the moment and obviously we we had that the break with covid are we are we back to normality yet as far as the number of people competing let's see let's i don't know that answer but i can look at it i told you we should have had shepherd come on this program why did we bring on josh so we've we've had 2 000 events this year and 2019 was 75 91 so we're still we're batting low you know we're not all the way back same thing on the attendance side almost 44 000 people have played this year and it was 174 000 in 2019 we're batting like two-thirds so not bad but not all the way back do you seeing it just a natural progression of it just it coming back or do you think that there has been some permanent casualties uh i think figuratively speaking yeah not nobody no events are we killing events now marty stay tuned right i i think there's just like the natural course of the year that things tend to pick up you know starting in april i know that's usually when i've hit the most trouble with amanda is when april starts and i start traveling to places so i think it's it's half a function of the calendar of that 2019 season takes into account the whole year like December is usually whopper madness with people putting in a ton of events to try to to qualify for states or whatever country they're in so I think uh we'll see it as the year progresses I think we'll get closer back to normal but I'm still even though I have stuff planned to go to this year I don't know about you two but I'm still not I haven't competed as often as I used to yet because I just haven't had the things on the schedule hit yet. You've got a big one coming up in a few weeks, and that's the World Championships in Fort Myers, Florida. The IFPA 17. Three years in waiting, really. Yeah.

“It's just a question of like when's that going to happen? Spring next year? I don't know.”

Josh Sharp @ supply chain forecast — Acknowledges uncertainty in manufacturing backlog resolution timeline

Stern Pinballcompany

Elvira: House of Horrorsgame

code_update: Cactus Canyon code update co-developed by Josh Sharp and Lyman Sheats is functionally complete for competitive play. Represents 'radical departure' from original ruleset. Josh Sharp actively playtesting on 'super hard, no balls' setting. Intended to significantly change strategic priorities compared to original one-shot orbit meta.

high · Josh Sharp: 'The game that Lyman and I wanted to make from a competitive, strategic perspective, it's done...it will be a radical departure and something that I can't wait to see how people try to attack it.'

market_signal: Pinball market prices remain inflated not due to speculative bubble, but due to genuine supply constraints. Secondary market prices driven by scarcity rather than speculation. Jeff Teolis' previous 'bubble burst' prediction has not materialized; market remains seller-favorable due to supply shortage.

high · Josh Sharp: 'It's got to be as simple as textbook supply and demand...when supply...Coindoor shut us down, what we now have available is...sheet metal...it's still crazy out there'

design_philosophy: Josh Sharp and Lyman Sheats designed Cactus Canyon code to force player choice and strategic debate by making both left and right flipper shots viable and valuable, avoiding dominant meta where single shot is only optimal choice. Philosophy applies to competitive pinball design generally.

high · Josh Sharp: 'How do we change and give someone a choice?...you want to force someone to have to make a choice that makes them feel like they're giving something up by not making a different choice.'

product_strategy: IFPA planning expanded event tier system for 2023 (details not finalized). Certified 2.0 will build on existing Certified criteria. Will allow events to earn various TGP boosts between normal events and majors. Designed to recognize high-effort, long-duration leagues that exceed 25 TGP maximum.

medium · Josh Sharp: 'Look forward to our changes for next year which have not been finalized yet, but we do see a path towards kind of increasing that runway for events that want to take advantage of that.'

event_signal: IFPA 17 (World Championship) in Fort Myers at Pinball Asylum venue selected based on reputation and venue's track record hosting quality events. Venue selection criteria: positive player feedback and host group interest in hosting marquee events. Event delayed 11 times over 3 years.

high · Josh Sharp: 'I've heard great things from people that I trust...these places earn their stripes through holding their own events...when player feedback is positive...that's the kind of match we're looking for.'

business_signal: IFPA participation still below pre-pandemic levels: 2,000 events in 2024 vs. 7,591 in 2019 (26% of pre-COVID); ~44,000 attendees vs. 174,000 in 2019 (25% of pre-COVID). Josh Sharp expects recovery will accelerate in spring 2024 as tournament calendar fills.

high · Josh Sharp citing official IFPA data: '2,000 events this year...7,591 in 2019...Almost 44,000 people...174,000 in 2019...we're batting like two-thirds.'

rumor_hype: Josh Sharp humorously states Cactus Canyon code update will release 'someday in 2029 or whenever the hell it comes out,' suggesting no firm release timeline is set despite code being functionally complete. Back-end polish and testing remain.

medium · Josh Sharp: 'The game that they will be playing someday in 2029 or whenever the hell it comes out, it will be a radical departure.'