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DPP #187 "The Don is back! Game reviews; Dune, Kong!"

Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)·podcast_episode·30m 47s·analyzed·Apr 24, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.036

TL;DR

Don reviews Dune, Kong, Portal; forecasts Spooky's Nov release will sell out due to Evil Dead FOMO.

Summary

Don returns from a week-long pinball road trip covering Pintastic New England, Orlando theme parks, Barrels of Fun's Dune release, and Spooky Pinball. He provides detailed reviews of multiple games including Portal (still prototypical), Home Pins (Spinal Tap, ABBA), Dune (brown-themed spiritual successor to Labyrinth), and King Kong (killer layout, potential Godzilla competitor). Don forecasts Spooky's next release arriving November with high FOMO demand based on Evil Dead's sold-out success.

Key Claims

  • Portal remains prototypical with ongoing design improvements; had a plastic malfunction that was addressed with a more robust version coming

    high confidence · Don played Portal three times publicly (TPF, MGC, Pintastic), waited 20-45min lines, directly engaged with the programmer/coder on site who answered questions

  • Spinal Tap (Home Pins) is unplayable, with broken code stuck on infinite ball save and inaccessible ramps; Don's least favorite Home Pins game

    high confidence · Don played it for ~5 minutes when operational; detailed playfield issues (ramp trajectories unusable, ball trap problems)

  • ABBA (Home Pins) was down the entire Pintastic show; played poorly at TPF, better at Expo

    high confidence · Don wanted to play ABBA multiple times at the show but it was non-functional throughout

  • Dune (Barrels of Fun) is a spiritual successor to Labyrinth with similar flipper feel, better shot flow, elaborate sculpted plastics/toppers hiding ball paths

    high confidence · Don played 7-8 games of Dune at the factory; detailed mechanical analysis (worm mech, thumper interactivity, lift ramps)

  • Dune still had prototypical graphics without full sound/callouts at release; only atmospheric music and drain callout implemented

    high confidence · Don played early version at Barrels factory during launch window

  • King Kong has killer layout, super fun to play, potentially as good as Godzilla; drawback is unfair outlying gate mechanic

    medium confidence · Don characterizes it as top-20 game all-time material alongside Godzilla and Jaws

  • Evil Dead (Spooky) is completely sold out, unit 109 just wrapped, 135 shipping soon; expect catch-up by November-December

    high confidence · Don cites posts from community members about shipping numbers

  • Spooky Pinball's next game release expected November; will sell out due to FOMO from Evil Dead scarcity

    medium confidence · Don's forecast based on production velocity and Evil Dead market dynamics; speculates before November reveal

Notable Quotes

  • “It's brown. It's very brown. It's a very brown game. Brown cabinet, brownish armor, brown playfield, brown screens.”

    Don @ Dune section — Signature Don review descriptor; establishes Dune's aesthetic as fitting but monotone

  • “It's not a consumer product. I'm not asking for $8,500 for this. I barely even call it a game. It's like a playable slanted coffee table at this point. That's Spinal Tap. It's garbage. It's hot garbage.”

    Don @ Spinal Tap section — Harsh critique of Home Pins quality relative to price expectations; establishes standards for game playability

  • “The reason I don't think it's a good question is because what are we comparing here? Like, is this game better than this game? These are two of, like, the greatest games that are probably released of all time.”

    Don @ King Kong section — Contextualizes Kong vs Godzilla debate; positions both as elite tier

  • “Who else is doing that? Who else is doing that? We do get reels posted from Stern Pinball, but what we don't really get is a lot of really one-on-one interaction.”

    Don @ Spooky section — Praises Spooky's transparency and community engagement vs Stern's approach

  • “I think it's too subjective. I think it's every bit as good, potentially, as Godzilla. Time will tell. It's still early code days.”

    Don @ King Kong section — Acknowledges Kong's potential but caveat on early code state

  • “They give their staff time off for the holidays, not because they're laid off, but because they're like, you know what, take a couple weeks off, come back, we'll be refreshed, we'll be retooled.”

    Don @ Spooky forecast section — Insider knowledge of Spooky's production rhythm and staff culture; explains January launch timing

  • “Evil Dead Completely sold out, trading for high prices. Just try to find one. And I don't even think with $3,000 you can get somebody's pre-order deposit.”

    Don @ Spooky forecast section — Quantifies Evil Dead scarcity; secondary market evidence of extreme demand

Entities

DonpersonPintastic New EnglandeventPortalgameSpinal TapgameABBAgameDune (Escape the Dark Magic Spice)gameBarrels of FuncompanyKing Konggame

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Spooky Pinball differentiating on transparency with weekly YouTube streams (bug-screaming, open chat) allowing community to ask direct questions; contrasted with Stern's limited one-on-one interaction

    high · Don praises Spooky for total transparency, openness to tough questions; notes Stern posts reels but lacks real community interaction

  • ?

    competitive_signal: King Kong vs Godzilla comparison; Don positions both as elite tier (top 20 all-time) but declares comparison subjective; personal preference for Jaws

    high · Don explicitly rejects Kong as 'Godzilla killer'; both games too close in quality to meaningfully rank

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Dune (Barrels) features hidden ball paths beneath sculpted sand dune toppers, more combo potential than Labyrinth; pain box ball-save mechanic integrated for theme (hand on button, shoot with other hand)

    high · Don detailed playfield layout observation, tried pain box mechanic unsuccessfully twice, praised shot flow vs Labyrinth

  • $

    market_signal: Spooky Pinball positioned as design powerhouse with perfect storm conditions for next release; FOMO-driven demand cascade building from Evil Dead scarcity

    medium · Evil Dead sold out, trading at 3k+ deposits, last four games (last three especially) praised, community will buy regardless of theme to avoid missing out again

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Spooky Pinball acquisition of premium licenses (Evil Dead with Bruce Campbell custom callouts) signals strong IP control and licensor relationships

    medium · Don notes Spooky won't pick licenses they can't get all assets for, references Bruce Campbell callouts as evidence of premium asset access

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.092

0:00
You're listening to the Don Caster Pinball Network. Now get ready for Don's Pinball Podcast. Brought to you by Burials Barbecue Challenge. Please buy one of us, won't you?
0:14
Screaming into a cold 187 episode for everybody of Don's Pinball Podcast. We are back and buckle up, baby, because it's going to be a long episode. Probably a double parter. We've got so much stuff to talk about. I'm back from the whirlwind trip. We've got game releases, barrels of fun going nuts, with Spooky. Let's go.
0:54
He's the ultimate Spooky Shoe. He's got his face all in your grill. It's Don's Pinball Podcast. Yeah!
1:07
That's right, Internet. The Mac is back. What an adventure I've been on. Six days on the road. It was supposed to just be a simple trip to Pintastic New England. Then we got game release upon game release. Some content for Dawn of the Magic. Even popped up over at Spooky Pinball. And then, throughout my adventure, I managed to gather a collection of pollen from all around the United States. And I'm storing it like a chipmunk with nuts in their cheeks all up inside my head right now. But I'm not going to let Gravely Don stop me. This is the best my voice has sounded in days. And damn it, we're going to record this episode. So join me for this nauseating journey throughout the pinball diaspora and atmosphere. And let's start in regional Boston. As far as I'm concerned, I was in the bean town But it was on the outskirts This is Pintastic New England And this is how this whole adventure kicked off for me So I've been hearing, Don, you've got to come out to this show It's a constant party It's different from every other show that's out there Why don't you get yourself out there I talked with my host, Dave Marsden Set myself up with a media pass And I'm like, you know what, I've got the weekend off I'm not doing anything that week anyway Surely I can afford a day away from home To bop on over and see what Pentastic's all about. Really glad I did it. Of course, that's how the adventure then turned into a week-long odyssey on the frickin' road, wasting my entire week off of work. What in the absolute hell? Let me tell you about Pentastic. So there's expo events, which are like, you know, the giant convention experience, right? I'm thinking of the big tentpole events of the year, Southern Fright Gaming Expo, Chicago's Pinball Expo, Texas Pinball Festival, Midway's Gaming Classic. These huge events, you know, with, like, furries wandering around, like everybody's there, people in anime suits, some guy in a suit of armor swinging stuff around, you know, people doing internet videos, all the big stuff, right? It's like an event that you prepare for, and then you go, and your feet are killing you. Then there's the other events, which I've been terming the more regional events, the more subdued, the more like we are the local hobbyist group. We get together. Sure, we have some vendors, but we don't have a vendor hall. There is nary a pro wrestling rink to be seen, and like not one DeLorean in the whole show. And this was one of those shows. Not saying one is definitely better than the other. They both have different vibes. But I was definitely vibing over at that hotel in Worcestershire, Worcester, Worcester. Man, some New England town over there. So I fly myself out to Boston, pick up my rental car, and I bop on in to what is essentially a hotel event. Now, these people have taken over this entire Budget Suites accommodation in New England for this event. So it does have a main hall, and it is strictly a pinball event, essentially. Pinball fills every room available at this convention center hotel. It was phenomenal. It doesn't have the cavernous appearance of, like, walking into Expo, where it's, like, you know, seven stories high, and, you know, you can see the Elton John topper glow from, like, across the building from a quarter mile away. It's not like that. But they did have one large hall full of games all on free play, and then I got to see vendors I don't typically see at the shows that I typically go to. It was cool seeing the crowd. That was like half the fun of going here. So I met the guy from Automated for the first time, you know, because this is like one of his home shows. I met Butch from Butch's Pinball Garage, the guy that bought a couple of games from him before. He was there. I think he's Pennsylvania-based.

  • “Personally, I take Jaws over all three of them.”

    Don @ King Kong section — Establishes Don's personal ranking (Jaws > Kong/Godzilla/presumed third); contrarian take

    • Stern Pinballcompany
    Evil Deadgame
    Spooky Pinballcompany
    Labyrinthgame
    Godzillagame
    Jawsgame
    George Gomezperson
    Rick and Mortygame
    Halloweengame
    Looney Tunes TCMgame
    Scooby-Doogame
    Bruce Campbellperson
    Home Pinscompany
    Thunderbirdsgame
    Blues Brothersgame
    Automated Amusementscompany
    Butch's Pinball Garagecompany
  • $

    market_signal: Evil Dead scarcity creating secondary market dysfunction; insufficient supply to meet demand despite Spooky's production ramp (109 wrapped, 135 shipping, November catch-up expected)

    high · Described as completely unavailable, people angry, can't find one even for $3,000 pre-order deposits

  • ?

    community_signal: George Gomez (Reno-based, not Chicago area) met with Don before Spooky visit; context unclear but suggests Gomez-Spooky association or consultation

    low · Don mentions meeting with 'George Gomez, not that of the Chicago variety, but the Reno one' before Spooky Pinball visit; no explicit role stated

  • ?

    announcement: Dune officially released from Barrels of Fun; early morning launch with screenshots leaked to community

    high · Don was at factory, played 7-8 games, prototypical graphics/audio state at release

  • ?

    announcement: King Kong officially released from Stern Pinball with Keith Elwin and Sheena Easton

    high · Don played Kong, calls it killer layout, still early code days, directly reviews mechanics and game state

  • ?

    product_strategy: Portal still prototypical with ongoing mechanical refinements (plastic malfunction requiring more robust version); no production timeline specified

    high · Don played three times publicly, directly engaged with programmer, machine had failure mitigated with improved version coming

  • ?

    product_concern: Home Pins (Spinal Tap, ABBA) suffering from design and code issues; unreliable at shows; characterization as Six Flags-esque (budget-constrained, plagued with problems)

    high · Spinal Tap unplayable (infinite ball save, inaccessible ramps), ABBA non-functional entire show, Don's harsh critique of value proposition

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Spooky Pinball next release expected November with killer theme (likely horror/Halloween given pattern); pre-orders likely January post-holiday staff return

    medium · Don's forecast based on production velocity, Evil Dead pattern, and Spooky's stated production timeline; speculative but grounded in industry knowledge

    • 4:29
    But a lot of free-play games in the main room. And then the point of distinction for this show in particular was all these other side rooms. Like they have just, you know, small little meeting rooms that you would go to for that weekly meeting that you hate at work or something. Little conference rooms. Not terribly high in square footage, but enough that you could fit 10 games comfortably in about 20 people and have a good time. And so they have a tiered admission process for this. So you can get yourself your lanyard good for the whole weekend, go have fun, a free play, go to the seminars, have yourself a good time. But you can also pay to access these VIP-esque rooms where the local hobbyists will bring their tricked-out versions of games One's restored, in very good condition, full of mods, playing impeccably well, and kind of put them in these other rooms where if you go ahead and pay the fee or con yourself into a media pass, you get access to this. And it's very much like a ton of elbow room, all right? You know, like not lines for games. And you can just breeze from, like, room to room, checking out these high-end games from these private collections. And that was completely amazing. It was cool. The other thing amazing about being there was just being around all the people from Long Island. that would make the trip out, the New York region, the rest of the New Englanders that were up there. A lot of strange accents I don't hear a whole lot, except when I get out to the land of the lobster roll. So it was super fun getting to be out there and hang out with some people that I don't frequently run into a heck of a lot of time. And so that was really one of the other main points of distinction for this, was the cool crowd of totally different people.
    6:02
    And then the food, the food wasn't terrible in town there either. So they did have a tournament going on in one of the back rooms. I did pop in there a couple of times I had about 20 machines up And I've made my wishes Or expressed my thoughts on tournament life At pinball parties Such as this And it's not for me It's not for me I want to wander from room to room and play some stuff I want to go check out Reba McIntyre's Hangover pinball machine Rita Cardi Rita Hardy That's it Reba Hardy? Not McIntyre She wasn't in that show but like that game, that game was phenomenal it was in one of the VIP rooms so I got to frequently go into there and play that this dude called Pinball Tycoon wears himself a nice, was it a Stetson hat looking very Marlboro man he had a whole spread in there Portal was played again, talk about that for a minute sorry I'm a little scattered, must be the antihistamines alright so this was my third public appearance with a Portal machine in public, I played it at TPF, tried to play the hell out of it I got to play it a ton at MGC, and then I got to play it also here pretty frequently. They had one machine with Portal. They had another one with Princess Bride, which I played loads already. I really wanted to be there for Portal. The line would take anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes, depending on if there were 3 to 7 people in line in front of you. A bit of a long player, but we had a good time on the machine. Got to explore it a little bit more. Got to see some of its idiosyncrasies late one night as the show goes to like 2am. We were having a problem with a plastic that was in the back there I put up a post on Facebook and reached out We got it mitigated And it seems to be there be a better More robust version coming This is still prototypical so it a little unfair to judge it at this point though they are asking money for the game, so I want to give my honest opinion. The game is still fun. It's still as fun as it was the first time I played it. I would like to have a version in the home. I made my thoughts pretty clear on that in the past, but it's out there and if you want one, you've probably already ordered it. So there we go. I had a great time with the Portal Dude that was there. I think he did either code or programming.
    8:10
    But, yeah, what a fun guy. I got to hang out with him quite a bit. He answered all of my questions. And I had several times I got to wait in line and play the game. And I'm glad I got to do that. Yeah, I went to put some more time on it when time comes. This was exciting. I got to play a freaking Spinal Tap for the very first time. Home pins, not flagship project, but, like, the one I've been searching for. I've played Thunderbirds at a couple different locations. If you want to go out to the next level in Oregon, they got one there. You go play it. I think I played one at Southern Fry Gaming Expo or some show. The game is firmly in the not a good game category, as is every Home Pin release.
    8:45
    But it's probably my favorite. It's probably honestly my favorite Home Pin game is Thunderbirds. I do love that ramp straight up to nowhere. It's so pointless that it's almost like performance art more than it is pinball at this point. The International Rescue Ramp. Oh, my goodness. The Shaking Palm Tree Cake Toppers. Just chef's kiss. Perfect. All of that is missing from Blues Brothers, which I'd also rather play more than Spinal Tap. Getting to Spinal Tap, I don't think this is a game. I don't even think this is performance art. I think this is just kind of a joke on the public. The game is just not playable. And, in fact, most of the show, it was literally not playable. It was turned off. And I finally did get to catch it during a period when the lights and things were on and I was able to plunge a ball. It turns out it was probably not supposed to be on. I thought somebody had turned it on and just kind of left it, which, fine. But at least I got to play the damn thing Because I've been to the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas I've been over here at Pinball Tycoon's Layer where I got to play it finally And you know what this is? Man, Home Pin is like the Six Flags Of pinball companies I used to go to Six Flags Great Adventure It's a regional theme park in Jackson, New Jersey And they had the world's largest roller coaster Up until just a few weeks ago When they finally tore it down It's 428 feet tall 120 mile an hour launch 128 mile an hour launch Kingda Ka was its name, had a dragon theme it was green, it was essentially a launch into a giant tower, and I wanted to ride it because I was a rollercoaster enthusiast so throughout the early 2000s I would make the trip from California all the way out to New Jersey to go ride this thing, only for it to be down for an unscheduled downtime, right? It was plagued with problems, partially because of the limit pushing of the design, and partially because of the budget constraints of Six Flags not wanting to invest the money to get the thing running properly, even though it was like the fourth iteration at this point. They should have had it basically nailed down. Regardless, it took me, I think, four trips to New Jersey from California before I finally got to get on this thing. And that's a considerable time and energy expense in order to do that. But that was the levels of enthusiasm. I'd be in the region for another reason, but I would budget time to go to this park, which is essentially just okay, to ride this ride that is also essentially just okay, but just because I wanted to ride it. And that's how this feels. I was in Vegas, and I took time out of my day to go to the Pinball Hall of Fame, knowing, having heard all the reviews, to go play this game only to find it down. You know, it's like, it's a Griswold family Christmas moment, you know, driving all the way out to Wally World to find out, you know, sorry, parks closed this week. Except even in Wally World's defense, that was probably a scheduled downtime, and if they would have just checked the Internet before driving all the way out there in the middle 80s, they would have seen that, oh, we should probably come out a different time. Regardless, after a great expense in traveling all the way to Boston, I finally got to play a Spinal Tap. And when you know it, there's two ramps that are right there that looks like they have some interesting things at least to interact with. But my entire play time on this game, I managed to make it up the ramp one time. And, like, this wasn't a game that had been played nonstop at a show and the flippers were weak or anything. Like, this game was barely on. I happened to catch it in, like, the five minutes of the whole weekend. It was actually operational. And shooting, I managed to get up the left ramp, which was okay. That second ramp that's right next to it I swear there's not a ball path trajectory On that play field that will service that ramp I think from the upper flipper Is how you're supposed to get up there But there was barely enough energy to even get the ball to the ramp Let alone try to negotiate That trajectory up there So all the other toys and mechanisms that are up that ramp On Spinal Tap, you couldn't access them Lord I tried And then I managed to get the ball caught in like One of the most obvious ball traps of all time Behind a spinner mechanism And then I just walked away Now the game's code was absolutely broken It was stuck on a loop of ball save So it was set on ball one With just infinite ball save And so every time you drained The ball would just plunk back over there Which was fun I at least got to shoot the layout But as far as playing the game Like I said, it's unplayable In this state If this was something that I made And I brought it to a show I would say, yeah This was an interesting thing that you built here Thanks for bringing it It was fun I'm going to take a picture with it And I'm not going to judge you harshly because this is not a consumer product. I'm not asking for $8,500 for this. I barely even call it a game. It's like a playable slanted coffee table at this point. That's Spinal Tap. It's garbage. It's hot garbage. And I think I can safely say it's my least favorite home pin game after having played all three of them, and I didn't see myself saying that eventually. My goodness, man. What a hot pile of garbage. Speaking of, two doors down was ABBA, which was down the entirety of the show. which was a bummer because that is my show game. That's like the game I go to a show, I want to play some ABBA. It was playing fairly terribly at Texas Pinball Festival. It was playing pretty good at Expo. And I really wanted to get some more time on just another joke of a game. Who was this made for? Apparently three people. I don't think it sold well at all. I would like to speak a bit on Pinball Brothers a little bit later in the recording session because I got some comments there. They're posting some weird stuff, man. anyway, Pintastic went great I tried to rage as late as I could but the show went to like 2am and I was like conked out by like 10am and then before I knew it I had to get back to the airport and grab a spirit flight not back to Chicago and back home as originally planned but I had two days until the Barrels of Fun release and so I had to kill some time somewhere so I bopped on down to Orlando to go generate some content for Dawn of the Magic, listen to that in episode 3 which will be forthcoming here soon Thanks for those of you that made it over to the Dawn of the Magic podcast, my theme park roller coaster podcast that I started. Two episodes deep now, and I've already sold a T-shirt. I can't believe it. You guys are amazing. Give yourself an ear horn.
    14:31
    So, down in Orlando, had some good time. I did bop into some pinball there a little bit. I'm saying bop a lot. I'm going to continue to do that. And, you know, I got some more time playing some Gardens of the Galaxy, Star Wars, and or Avengers Infinity Quest. And sometimes a Tron if it's working, because the only games you find at the Disney hotels. super fun time but rather than just like chilling my heels in a Chicago area hotel before I was going down to Houston, at least I got to go to Orlando and go take use of my annual pass so that was some good fun alright, bopping over to Barrels of Fun my homies over there, always fun going to Houston I was absolutely expected to come in there, I'm already under NDA, see the new game so I was very excited to get over and spend some time with my friends at Barrels of Fun and their brand new release of Dune, Escape the Dark Magic Spice I forget what the tagline of the game is I was expecting to go in there and have some exclusive time to evaluate and then record a whole episode and curate and launch it but of course we know it dropped late into the well it was early evening for me I was taking a bus to the airport All of a sudden people are sending me pictures of the screenshots of the play field of Dune, and I thought, thanks guys for ruining the leak. I was expecting the curtain to be revealed tomorrow, but this wasn't people leaking. This was the launch that just serendipitously was dropped upon us by Barrels of fun for reasons, I assume. And that's how the saga goes. So all of us gathered at Barrels of Fun. Thanks for the invite out to the factory. Super fun to be there. Factory tour and then we return loose on the game. I played Dune. I played about seven to eight games of Dune. I got to have some good time on the balls. It's not a quick playing game, not a long playing game. You don't really have to earn the multi-balls, I feel, in it. But I was able to see the worm mech activate several times. I was able to activate it myself. several times, so it's doable.
    16:18
    And I'll give people my rundown. The rest of the weekend, essentially, people were asking me, Don, how's Dune? And my first response was, it's brown. It's very brown. It's a very brown game. Brown cabinet, brownish armor, brown playfield, brown screens. There's two of them. But it's Dune, so of course it's going to be. It's like Tatooine the pinball machine. It feels just like Labyrinth, which considering that it probably has the same guts as Labyrinth, I think that's apt. as far as like how it shoots regarding the flipper strength the trajectory, the fact that you can hit all the way to the back of the play field with no problem there's no problem with soft flippers here flipper feel is as solid as it was on Labyrinth so I have no complaints there accuracy is just fine the bottom third feels like Labyrinth the shots do feel better than Labyrinth I think some of those shots on Labyrinth were a little bit tight if you're bowling Karens no problem, it's like throwing a corn dog into a hallway but for me it was tough to negotiate some of those mode starting shots some of those multi-ball starting shots were a little bit difficult to consistently be able to hit enough to really progress into the game which was one of the only drawbacks I had with Labyrinth I loved everything else they created there so essentially this feels like a spiritual successor to Labyrinth in the fact that the sculpts are definitely there the plastics are there in very few supply because everything is sculpted, it's made out of sand there's a little thumper there. Some of the shots are hidden by these elaborate sculpted, I guess they're plastic toppers you call them. Essentially around that thumper on the bottom left of the playfield there's a physical pop bumper underneath there with a tiny little attachment to one of the thumpers so it gives you some thumb paddock interactivity. I think that would be some TEMA, Joe Cherovino's term. But you can shoot completely around there which you wouldn't notice just looking down on it because all you see is sand dunes but you can shoot around the dunes underneath them. So there are more ball pass than first meets the eye. First meets the deeply blue set aqua velvet eye of the Dune game. The rest of the shots are fun. Feels a bit Godfather-esque up in the back right because there are a lot of lift ramps and diverters that are back in there. So again, more ball pass than you can necessarily take at first glance. There's a little Raptor pen there with forks that will lock your ball in there for more multi-ball bonanza madness.
    18:35
    And yeah, it shoots just fine. I think it shoots better than Labyrinth does. I feel like you can combo things a bit more. I can't really comment about the entirety of the theme integration as the version I played still had some prototypical graphics without sounds, without the call-outs and did just have atmospheric music essentially. There was a call-out when you would drain but that's about it. The mechanic with the pain box where you can potentially save your ball that rolls out the left end lane by placing one hand on the action button and keeping it there and using one other hand, your free hand, to try to get to a flashing shot on the play field in order to save your ball was interesting. I think it's good theme integration. I didn't really enjoy it. It wasn't fun to do. I didn't manage to accomplish it either time that I did it. With practice, I'd probably get better. Now, you can throw your bare belly on the button, of course, but if it senses that you're hitting buttons with both hands, like two buttons are hitting in succession too quickly, your ball will drain. So I'll have to play it more. I would like to successfully accomplish that. But sometimes it's hard enough under pressure to hit an orbit shot, you know, with a time limit and a hurry up, let alone to do it one-handed. So I think if you're a skillful pinball player and or your Venn diagram also includes loving dune and or the color brown or perhaps maroon, yeah, interesting game, interesting game. And I'll have some more comments on it to come forth with. I wasn't able to dwell in the Houston region. I had to leave and get up to Chicago for, of course, the car release. Prior to that, though, again, I had myself with most of an afternoon to kill. So myself and George Gomez, not that of the Chicago variety, but the Reno one, we managed to get together and head over to Spooky Pinball, which we talked about on our last podcast there,
    20:25
    which, you know, if you are an audio engineer looking for work, I could use a little bit of help when I do interviews and such. We had a great time over there at Spooky Pinball. I think I talked about that on that last episode that went up. But, yeah, dudes are totally salt of the earth, and I love how approachable they are. Weekly streams are great. Directly ask them questions. Thursday, there's going to be a bug-screaming stream, 7 p.m., on YouTube now. They moved over to YouTube, just like every other sensible human on the planet. And he'll just be doing basically an open chat. So if you have a question for Spooky Pinball, why do you guys suck so bad, how are you such sharp dressers, whatever your question is, ask him directly. And I love that, man. Who else is doing that? We do get reels posted from Stern Pinball, but what we don't really get is a lot of really one-on-one interaction. Let me be from the community and just ask you tough questions. They open themselves up to it. Total transparency. I love it. Now, it is too early for Spooky Pinball to be grazing us or glazing us with a new release that will probably come around November. But by the numbers, I think Evil Dead number 109 just got unwrapped. I think 135 is shipping soon from people that have posted their numbers and such. This would essentially say that if you're in the late 800s, I think by around November, I think this should be just about getting caught up with this, maybe go into December. But I'm looking at November being pegged as a release date for their next game, and I think we're going to be in a Halloween moment in probably the best way. If you'll think back to Rick and Morty, 750 games, killer theme, layout that would probably have done a little bit better if it were to be designed today. But the game is fun. The game immediately sold out and has been commanding high prices since then. They've softened a bit, but you're still not going to get one for MSRP, like, ever. Rick and Morty is such a game. My daughter, who thinks pinball is super, totally lame, Dad, is even like, would you get a Rick and Morty again, please? I really like that game. One of my daughter's favorite games, so I probably have to find another one at some point. But coming off the back of Rick and Morty, selling out and not being available, Halloween, their next release, was gobbled up super quick. Now, Halloween, which did great service to the theme, and is still a great game to play. I entertained mine for several years. I wasn't playing it that much anymore. Let it go for something else. But I have considered picking it actually up again. That bass drop, man, in the sanitarium was great. Like, comboing shots, not really there. It's not the flow monster that they're putting out now. You know, it's not Evil Dead. It's not Looney Tunes TCM. It doesn't have the huge upper gameplay field Like Scooby-Doo did And as much like fun modes But it was a great game for what it was I think But it sold completely out based on the popularity of the prior game And they have probably the most successful game right now with Evil Dead Completely sold out, trading for high prices. Just try to find one. And I don't even think with $3,000 you can get somebody's pre-order deposit. Maybe in November that can happen, but like, this is a very sought after game right now, and it's completely unavailable, and people are angry about it. So I can see their next release being just, like, regardless of the theme, something that people may just run into just so they don't miss out again, right? Like, this is what drives FOMO, is actually missing out, and the fear of it happening again. The difference now from where they were back in the Halloween days, is these guys are becoming like a design powerhouse, man. Their last four games, last three in particular, just really good, man.
    23:55
    Ask anybody. Ask anybody who's played Evil Dead, even if you don't like the theme. Like, the layout and gameplay is great. So if they come with a killer theme like they've been saying that they are, and these guys wouldn't be BSing because they know good themes. They deal with the licensors that work with them, and they won't pick up a license that they can't get all the assets for. Ain't going to be no muted clips. Shoot, they got Bruce Campbell to do custom call-outs for Evil Dead. How amazing is that? So I think we're going into a perfect storm of an even faster layout for their next game.
    24:24
    It's probably just me spooky shilling, but I've already got my order in for it. I can't wait to see what it is. I'm going to have to make some room in the game room somewhere. But I'm thinking we're going to see a – I don't think we will see a reveal before November. That would probably be the earliest. And then, of course, pre-order deposits will open. They generally put the new game on the line in January after people return from the holidays. Guys, they give their staff time off for the holidays, not because they're laid off, but because they're like, you know what, take a couple weeks off, come back, we'll be refreshed, we'll be retooled. You know, because you have to go through and train everybody on this brand new product that you're making. And it would be hard to, like, you know, take the first two weeks of December to train everybody up, then send them away for two weeks, and then have them come back and, like, pick up. You know, it's better to just start fresh. It's January. New year, new you. New gym membership. Let's go and make some damn games. So that's what I'm thinking. So that's kind of what I'm forecasting with Spooky Pinball for the rest of the year. But who knows? They may surprise us all. Dumping tons of code updates, too. Thank you for the hospitality. King Kong came out from Stern Pinball. I don't know if you've seen this. Keith Elwin, Sheena Easton, something like that. What a guy. What a game.
    25:32
    Don, is this the Godzilla killer? Is this what everybody wants to know? My answer is that's not a very good question. I think it's too subjective. I think it's every bit as good, potentially, as Godzilla. Time will tell. It's still early code days. But it's a killer layout. It's super fun to play. Got a couple little drawbacks to it. I don't really like that outlying gate thing. It can be a little bit unfair sometimes. But, yeah, it's got definitely the potential. The reason I don't think it's a good question is because what are we comparing here? Like, is this game better than this game? These are two of, like, the greatest games that are probably released of all time. You know, and we're talking about, like, top 20s, right? So, you know, if Godzilla is number two and this is number one, are we really saying that much? It's only, like, one game apart. They're both up there at the top. So I say celebrate them both. Personally, I take Jaws over all three of them. So how's that for a hot take? But, you know, just because my order of game 1, 2, 3 is a different order than your game 1, 2, 3, but they all contain the same three games, we're splitting hairs here, guys. We're splitting hairs here. Everybody that enjoys pinball and has the means to be able to own a game is going to have a Kong at some point.
    26:43
    Even the Pro is a great game, but I think Premium is really the way to go here. You've got to have that bashing Kong, man. You've got to have the movable Kong, I think. Unless you're one of those tournament nerds who don't care about those sorts of things, just want to find that most exploitative combo. Or you have your budget allowances, man. I'm not going to shame you.
    27:02
    Or this is another game that is going to be absolutely everywhere, every arcade, every airport bathroom. It's going to be there. So if you don't buy games, you don't feel like buying games right now, you can still play the hell out of some Kong pretty affordably at just about any local arcade, because Kong is going to be freaking absolutely everywhere. Try to lobby to get the premium so you get some more action in there. But, yeah, it's a good game. Had a great time at the Stern Tour there. I think later in the afternoon as dinner was coming on, the symptoms were really hitting, and I had to just, like, get out of there and get home. It had been a long time for me on the road, but, you know, it was a lot of fun. Got to meet Keith, got to talk to everybody. George Gomez came with me from Reno. Had a good time. I think I'll start doing the Loser Kid thing, just rip off their idea and take Patreon members with me to the next launch, which will probably be that Star Wars Skeleton Crew game and or The Walking Dead Remastered coming up later in the year. So there's some news for you. That's what I'm excited about in the world of pinball. Kong, Don has a play. Great. Combo shots all over the place. Fun ramp design things. The action button controls the log that comes up. Sweepable left targets. They're great. Like, listen to anybody. We've all gushed about this game. The game's great. It's almost like boring at this point because, yeah, it's really good. It's really good, and I think the modes are going to mature. That's the only thing I really can't speak to. Animations look fine. The art seemed to be just fine.
    28:31
    It's not Metallica Remastered, which was just like I'd put that on an artist pedestal as just being a step above just about everything else. Elvira I would put up there and the legions of great art. Avengers Infinity Quest I would not put up there. This one I'd put somewhere between Avengers Infinity Quest And the upper echelon of art We've seen in pinball Definitely better than the original Walking Dead art Freaking awful Playfield was good but the cabinet Was just like so pedestrian Hopefully that's I can't wait to see what the remaster looks like It's going to be phenomenal But I don't know what else to say really about it That hasn't already been said before It's a good game you can backhand the gong It's kind of everything I like In an L1 game and a Stern pinball machine So, like, it's one of Stern's best, probably, of all time games that's out right now. So, yeah, go check it out. I don't know what else to say about it, man. It's just good. Go listen to Triple Drain. They had three hours of just extensive, like, really good focused interviews without any brain fog with creators of the game from George Gomez to Keith Allen to everybody. So go listen to that three hours. It's phenomenal, man. What a game. Can't wait to get it. I'm going to add bananas to the whole thing. I've got a creative idea of what to do with the armor to it. should I get one? Now, I would like to continue this conversation over on Patreon for my Patreon folks. I normally don't pull content and put it behind there, but I feel like I have to, especially with all the people rushing over there. We've got so many new Patreon members. Air horn out to you guys.
    30:00
    I'll head over there, and let's do this. Let me talk a little more candidly about my feelings about these new games that we've seen. Am I getting one, and why? And maybe that'll help you make some decisions and hopefully come up with some ammo to bring to your wife. And I want to talk about Pinball Brothers for a little bit because I think they are approaching a moment. So thank you for joining Don's Pinball Podcast, Triumph in Return. And hopefully I'll return with my sinuses here soon. A new WAP episode was amazing. We got new stuff over there. Go We Are Pinball. Check that out. Don of the Magic, new podcast just started. So much going on. Don's Pinball Podcast at gmail.com to get at me. I unboxed the Pulp Fiction topper yesterday. Go check that on YouTube. Don's Pinball Podcast YouTube channel. We got a live unboxing of that. I've got giveaway stuff to ship. We'll see you over on the bonus show later.