Episode 736: "Why 2022 Was Pinball's Worst"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·20m 49s·analyzed·Oct 28, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

Kaneda dissects 2022 as pinball's worst year for new releases amid record prices and demand.

Summary

Kaneda argues that 2022 was pinball's worst year for new game releases and theme quality, despite record demand and the highest prices ever. He systematically reviews announcements and shipments from major manufacturers (Stern, Jersey Jack, Spooky, Chicago Gaming, Haggus, American Pinball, Multimorphic, Pinball Brothers, Bittronic), finding that most games either shipped in minimal quantities, were delayed far beyond promises, or underwhelmed the community. He criticizes manufacturers for announcing games before production readiness and charging premium prices for mediocre offerings.

Key Claims

2022 was the worst year for new in-box pinball games in the five or six years Kaneda has covered the hobby
high confidence · Kaneda, opening thesis of the episode
Rush Pinball did not become a mainstream hit and only appeals to Rush fans
medium confidence · Kaneda's assessment of Stern's January 2022 announcement
Toy Story 4 lost $2,000 in value immediately after reveal due to disappointment with content and pricing
medium confidence · Kaneda discussing Jersey Jack June 2022 release; secondary market observation
Cactus Canyon Remake has not shipped a single Elite edition despite being announced August 2021, with delays attributed to finding a topper vendor
high confidence · Kaneda citing Chicago Gaming Company delays and Ryan White's stated excuse
Haggus shipped fewer than 100 Fathom machines (possibly fewer than 50) since April 2021 announcement
low confidence · Kaneda speculation: 'I bet it's not even 100. I bet it's not even 50 games'
American Pinball shipped no new games in 2022 and only remade existing titles despite promises of four production lines
medium confidence · Kaneda citing David Fix's podcast claims versus 2022 deliverables
Multimorphic shipped fewer than 25 Weird Al games despite announcing it in February 2022
low confidence · Kaneda speculation: 'I bet it's less than 25' based on unboxing visibility
Pinball Brothers took deposits for Queen Pinball with promises of end-of-2022 delivery, then announced delays at Pinball Expo
high confidence · Kaneda recounting distributor pre-order campaigns and subsequent announcement reversal
Bittronic's factory burned down a few weeks prior, halting Super Hoops production
medium confidence · Kaneda's January 2022 Super Hoops announcement; factory incident timing unspecified

Notable Quotes

“2022 has been the worst year in pinball new in box games that we've received in the five or six years I've been covering this hobby.”
Kaneda @ ~2:00 — Core thesis of the episode; establishes the critical framing
“We're getting games that are underwhelming most people and then we're charging more money for these games.”
Kaneda @ ~2:30 — Captures the central paradox: declining value despite rising prices
“If you want something new, you can't really get what's new. You got to go get something that is old and will be new in your home.”
Kaneda @ ~3:30 — Explains the used market explosion as a supply/demand consequence
“It is like saying that a prostitute is a great lady because she gets so much action. Do you want to marry her?”
Kaneda @ ~4:15 — Crude but pointed analogy distinguishing operator revenue from collector desirability
“Overnight, the demand for this game went away. Overnight, the enthusiasm for this game just dissipated.”
Kaneda @ ~11:30 — Describes Toy Story 4's dramatic market collapse following reveal
“How could it take you over a year to find a vendor to make that topper? Absolutely bonkers, inexcusable.”
Kaneda @ ~13:00 — Criticizes Chicago Gaming's Cactus Canyon delays as unacceptable
“Don't reveal your game. Don't release your game. Don't announce your game. Don't take people's money if you don't have the games on the line.”
Kaneda @ ~14:30 — Direct prescriptive statement on manufacturing accountability
“Rush Pinball, Toy Story 4, TNA 2, Weird Al, and Super Hoops. And that's it.”
Kaneda @ ~20:00 — Summarizes the entire 2022 new-game output as five titles of varying shipping success
“We are all on the same team. I mean, if you're listening to Kaneda right now, we are all on the same team.”

Entities

KanedapersonStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyChicago Gaming CompanycompanyHagguscompanyAmerican Pinballcompany Multimorphiccompany

Signals

$
market_signal: Toy Story 4 secondary market prices have fallen from $12,000-$15,000 retail to below $10,000 for LE editions, representing $2,000+ losses for early buyers and ongoing downward pressure
high · Kaneda states: 'As of today, if you bought this game, you lost $2,000 right away. And the price is going to keep going down on this game. Greg Bone can't even sell his for 10, too.'
?
product_concern: Multiple 2022 releases disappointed via poor theme integration or minimal physical content (Toy Story 4 had no toys; TNA 2.0 is a remake; Rush lacks broad appeal)
high · Kaneda: 'it wasn't packed with toys. It had absolutely no toys in it' and calls 2022 'one of the biggest whiffs in terms of theme and theme integration'
?
supply_chain_signal: Multiple manufacturers cite vendor delays: Chicago Gaming blames topper vendor for Cactus Canyon delays (15+ months); American Pinball's cabinet redesign prevents using standard vendors
high · Kaneda: 'Ryan White is saying the excuse is the topper. Can you imagine this? How could it take you over a year to find a vendor to make that topper?' and 'Dennis Norman thinks it's important to make the cabinet look like a spaceship or a tank...finding a vendor might be impossible'
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product_launch: Systematic pattern of announced release dates and shipping windows missed across multiple manufacturers: Cactus Canyon (15+ months late), Pinball Brothers Queen (promised end-2022, delayed at Expo), James Bond (promised Nov/Dec 2022, rumored to slip to 2023)
high · Kaneda documents multiple cases: Cactus Canyon announced Aug 2021 'still not shipped'; Pinball Brothers announced July 2022 with Oct production start and end-of-year delivery, 'then what happens? Those distributors take that money...they announce we're delayed'

Topics

2022 new game releases and quality assessmentprimaryPricing increases and affordability concernsprimaryManufacturing delays and supply chain failuresprimarySecondary market pricing and collector sentimentprimaryManufacturer accountability and false promisesprimaryOperator vs. collector divergence in game valuesecondaryIndividual game reviews and theme criticismsecondaryKaneda's podcast business and audience growthmentioned

Sentiment

negative(-0.82)— Kaneda is sharply critical of 2022 manufacturers across the board, describing the year as an industry failure despite record demand. His tone is frustrated, sarcastic, and contemptuous of false promises. He frames himself as the lone critical voice holding manufacturers accountable. The segment on Toy Story 4 and James Bond pricing is particularly caustic. He does acknowledge external factors (supply chain, vendor issues) but argues they don't excuse poor planning or premature announcements. The overall sentiment is deeply disappointed rather than angry—a tone of betrayed expectations.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.062

I just believe I'm still bejeweled, when I walk in the room, I can still make the hopes they shimmer. And when I leave the band, they ask, do you have a man? I can still say I don't remember. Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up. Welcome everybody to Canada's Pinball Podcast, the only pinball podcaster giving you three shows in a week. Are you getting your money's worth? So here's what I want to talk about. And I know I've been a little bit down and out on pinball. And I've been trying to get to the source of this. I've been saying, Chris, why are you so sort of bummed out about the pinball scene in 2022? And then I did a little research and I started to dig. And I asked one simple question. How many games have been announced and are shipping new in box in 2022? Like what kind of year has this been as we go into November next week? how many games defined this year. And I want to break it down for you. And when I give you this information, you're going to understand why I came to the following conclusion. That 2022 has been the worst year in pinball new in box games that we've received in the five or six years I've been covering this hobby. And here's the thing that's crazy about all of this. Not only do I think this has been the worst year for like new in box games that got revealed and shipped to customers, it's also the most expensive pinball has ever been. And think about those two opposing forces. We're getting games that are underwhelming most people and then we're charging more money for these games. So are we surprised that some people are starting to get a little bit uninterested and losing some of their enthusiasm for pinball? Now, here's the thing. It's just been an off year. And I know there's supply shortages. I know the cost of goods has gone up. And I know that manufacturing is harder and harder and harder than it's ever been. But still, it was a year in which demand for pinball went through the roof. And as an industry, with all of these companies saying they are making pinball machines, as an industry, the entire pinball industry failed to deliver new games that satiated the extreme demand for pinball. And that is why we are seeing an explosion in used game prices. Because if you want something new, you can't really get what's new. You got to go get something that is old and will be new in your home. Okay. And I don't even want to hear from operators out there who are going to tell me something like this game earns incredibly well. Let me state, and I've never done this before. Let me state right now. This is not a podcast whose target audience is operators. Every single new pin, for the most part, is going to do well on location. I have put so much money into Toy Story. I put money into Legends of Valhalla. I will never own those games. It is like saying that a prostitute is a great lady because she gets so much action. Do you want to marry her? That's the difference, everybody. And I know that's a little bit of a weird analogy, but it's true. I am looking at games. Are these games something you want to buy and put in your home? Because 98% of my audience are not operating pinball machines. Joe Abadi, I still love you. And I love every time you chime in on Facebook. Okay, so here's the data. Let's go down the list of what companies gave us in 2022. And when they announced the games that we are talking about in present day. We're going to start with Stern Pinball. Now, Stern Pinball announced January 4th, 2022. So this year, that is when Rush Pinball was announced. Now, look, Rush Pinball is a game that I hear good things about, but I just want to say this about Rush. I hear good stuff about John Borg's machine, but I still think this was not a game that became a mainstream hit. I don't think it's a game that excites the majority of the pinball buying community. And I think it's more of a wet dream for Rush fans. And that's fine. Like, that's okay, right? Then on June 21st, 2022, Stern Pinball announced their NFT game. You know, that Zombie Yeti NFT machine. They made just one of them. I think they auctioned it off. It was a reskin of Heavy Metal Game. Nobody cared about it. It didn't set the world on fire. It was a really weird move for Stern Pinball trying to jump into the NFT craze. So that happened. And then on September 22nd, 2022, Stern Pinball announced James Bond, one of the worst and weirdest and strangest rollout in Stern Pinball history because here we are and it is almost November and these games are still not on the line Now what we are hearing is James Bond Pro is going to be on the line sometime in November and Ellie in December But if you factor in like shipping and actually getting a machine, I think it's safe to say that the majority of people who are waiting for a James Bond machine will not be unboxing it anytime in 2022. So you got to remember that. And that's it. That's it from Stern Pinball. There were not many machines being unboxed that were brand new. I'm not talking about Godzillas or Mandalorians or Stranger Things or them rerunning premiums. I am simply talking about the new games that were revealed or announced around 2022. Then we get to Jersey Jack Pinball. On June 20th, 2022, Jersey Jack Pinball gave us the highly anticipated release of Pat Lawler's farewell game known as Toy Story, but it wasn't Toy Story. It was Toy Story 4, and it wasn't packed with toys. It had absolutely no toys in it, and so this game, I think, had a 24-hour huge hype window. Remember when Ken Cromwell was like, we're going to give you the best shot at landing a collector's edition, and here's how you're going to be able to get one, and then what happened? Once we saw the game. Once we saw how little was in it, and it was based on the theme we didn't want, and then it was ridiculously priced at $12,000 for an unlimited LE, basically, and $15,000 for CEs, in which they were going to make a thousand of them. And overnight, the demand for this game went away. Overnight, the enthusiasm for this game just dissipated. And as of today, if you bought this game, you lost $2,000 right away. And the price is going to keep going down on this game. Greg Bone can't even sell his for 10, too. Nobody has the guts to offer an LE for sale below $10,000. But what we're looking at right now is the market for this game is below 10 Gs if you have an LE. All right, then we get to spooky pinball, right? So spooky pinball, you might be saying, hey, Halloween and Ultramans have been shipping throughout the year. But let's go back. Remember when these games were announced and revealed, you know what date it was? July 5th of 2021, right? These are not new games. These are just them making these games they announced a long time ago. Now they did announce a remake of TNA 2.0 on September 5th of 2022, but it's a remake of TNA. And now a game that used to be $6,000 is now $9,000. Just think about that for a minute. A $6,000 game is being remade just a few years later and is now 50% more money. Okay, can you see why people might not be loving the state of affairs in current day pinball? Then we get the Chicago Gaming Company. They announced Cactus Canyon Remake August 21st, 2021, right? They unveiled the game at Expo 2021. and here we are going into November and not one single Ellie of the game has shipped. We are now hearing that Ryan White is saying the excuse is the topper. Can you imagine this? How could it take you over a year to find a vendor to make that topper? Absolutely bonkers, inexcusable. They even revealed the game if they didn't have their vendors lined up. Is it Canada being too negative? Am I toxic? or is this the only pinball podcast that will actually call this stuff out, that will actually go back and give you these dates, that will actually go back and remind everybody of all of the false promises we got from these companies. Remember, when they took orders on Cactus Canyon LE, they said the games would be shipping by the end of the year. I didn't say it. They did. And then I love it. It's like, these are not lies, Chris. They're not lies. You don't understand about what's going on in China. You don't understand about supply shortages. I do know this. If I tell my boss, I'm going to have that report for you in six weeks, and then I don't, what happens to me? Am I not held accountable? Was I not lying to them about when I would deliver the report? It's time we stop making excuses. Then don't reveal your game. Don't release your game. Don't announce your game. Don't take people's money if you don't have the games on the line. Now, speaking of having games on the line, let's go to Haggis Pinball next. They announced Fathom, are you waiting for it? April 26th of 2021. April 26th of 2021. How many Fathoms do you think they've shipped to date? I bet it's not even 100. I bet it's not even 50 games have been shipped to customers since April 26th of 2021. Legends of Valhalla, American Pinball, right? Legends of Valhalla, the game everybody wanted, right? the game everybody was clamoring for before AP made it. Yeah, okay, I'm making that up. I being sarcastic here It Friday and as you can tell I in a good mood American Pinball announced Legends of Valhalla October 22nd 2021 What did they deliver in 2022? No new games, no new announcements. Now, David Fix did deliver some podcasts in which he said American Pinball is gonna have four lines of production going, four lines of production, and all they can do is remake a game that was made years ago before they announced Legends of Valhalla. Can you tell why I think this industry is inefficient? Why this industry has lost a lot of people's enthusiasm in the new products? Because this stuff is just comical. Let's go to Multimorphic. Multimorphic, the company that we've been saying, Jerry, you need a licensed theme. And he finally did get a licensed theme. And he actually did announce his game this year. And Weird Al arguably is the most in-demand Multimorphic P3 game to date. and it was announced February 22nd of 2022. So that is a game that was announced this year. They've made some this year and they've shipped some this year. But here's the problem. How many? How many has he actually shipped? I bet it's less than 25. He can come out and say, I'm wrong. I have not seen more than like 10 unboxings of this game. And hey, if you have this game, please unbox it and let us know. Then we get to the Pinball Brothers. The Pinball Brothers, They're not even brothers. The Pinball Brothers unraveled the mystery of Andrew Highway's Alien. They remade that. And then we knew they were going to make Queen Pinball. Now, Queen Pinball was officially announced July 21st, 2022. So that's another game that was part of this year's announcements and reveals. Now, remember, when they announced this game, what did they say? We're going to be making them this year. We saw some distributors taking money on the games, saying you're going to be at the front of the line. If you pay in full now and these are non-refundable deposits and you're going to get your game by the end of the year and production starts in October. Okay, so what happens? Those distributors take that money. These guys go to Pinball Expo. And then they announce, we're delayed. We're delayed. We're not going to be making games this year. The games are not going to be shipping this year. Okay, so another game that was revealed way before it should have been. Another game that has underwhelmed us. And so here we are. And last but not least on our list is Bittronic. Now, you might be saying, Kaneda, who the heck is Bittronic? Well, these are the guys who made the Super Hoops game, which was announced January 28th of 2022. And they actually made some of these games and shipped them out. I don't think anyone in America got one. Cengiz got one over in Denmark. And then what happened? Their factory, like, burned down, like, a few weeks ago. So no one's getting any more Super Hoops. So in totality, if you remove James Bond, because nobody has it yet, as we go into November of 2022, imagine being a pinball podcaster and your job is to cover the news and what's going on in pinball. Now you can tell why Canada deserves all of your $5 a month because I've made this year far more entertaining than these pinball companies have made it. Because as I go down this list, these are the games that are really going to be battling it out at the Twippies for like best pinball machine, best design, best this, best that. Ready for it? Rush Pinball, Toy Story 4, TNA 2, Weird Al, and Super Hoops. And that's it. You could throw James Bond in just at the last 11th hour, but that was the state of pinball in 2022. Super Hoops, Weird Al, TNA Remake, Toy Story 4, and Rush. And when these games came out, all of them came with a price increase. And now we are paying more for pinball than we've ever spent before. And this is the creativity we're getting. These are the themes we're getting. This is the imagination we're getting in pinball. And pinball demand is through the roof. There are more people in the world that want to buy these machines, that want to collect them, that want to spend their hard-earned money on these games. And so how can you disagree with Kaneda that 2022 was one of the biggest whiffs in the history of pinball manufacturing? one of the biggest whiffs in terms of theme and theme integration. It was one of the most underwhelming years ever in pinball. And I know what you're going to say, but Chris, I've enjoyed pinball because I've been playing my pins. And of course you have. I'm not saying you haven't had fun in pinball. I'm not saying you didn't have a good time at the pinball shows. I'm not saying you haven't had a great time following podcasts like this. Of course, we still love pinball. Of course, we still are having a good time as a community. But this is not about that. This show is about how these manufacturers have absolutely given us one of the most inefficient years in the history of pinball. And so obviously, outside forces had something to do with this It is like there was a supply chain issue There issues with getting chips There issues with vendors I hearing that American Pinball new game is delayed because they can find a vendor to make the cabinets And it's not surprising, right? Because Dennis Nordman has redesigned the cabinet. So now you can't go to standard cabinet makers who have been making pinball cabinets. and you can't give them the order because Dennis Nordman thinks it's important to make the cabinet look like a spaceship or a tank. And cool, that's very ambitious, but maybe they should have thought it through that if we do this, finding a vendor might be impossible or might delay us by six months. And if that happens, nobody's buying your damn Legends of Valhalla Standard Editions, David Fix. The only person ordering that game has two names, David and Fix. And it's about time we all realize this. See, I love it because you know what? We're all on the same team. I mean, if you're listening to Kaneda right now, we are all on the same team. We are looking at our wallets. We're looking at these games. We're looking at all the failed promises and all the stupid fumbled launches that we keep getting. I mean, how many times can a pinball company keep making the same mistake? Don't reveal your game until it's on the freaking line. You don't have to worry that there's going to be buyers. Like, do what Spooky did. They revealed TNA 2 as the game was on the line. People were unboxing it a few weeks later. Now, what's going to happen in the tail end of 2022? And I think what I just talked about indicates one thing. This year is up for grabs. This year is up for grabs. In the next two months, I think if any game comes out that actually has some magic, that actually has some creativity, that actually feels like it's worth the money, it's going to attract people because this was one of the most unattractive years in pinball. And the other thing is this. I'm going to say this. I'll play devil's advocate. I know many of you out there have been waiting for your Stern premiums. Many of you out there ordered games like Elvira, Jurassic Park, Mandalorian, Godzilla, and Stern was on a backlog of all of those titles. So for a lot of you out there, you've been unboxing games. They just aren't games that came out this year. And that is what has satiated most of you. As you know, that doesn't satiate Kaneda because I don't unbox anything. I'm just here to comment on the industry and what's happening and the news, rumors, and speculation. So it's been a really rough year for pinball content creators and making this thing interesting. I want to thank each and every one of you for tuning in every week to Canada's Pinball Podcast. We are over 540 club members. Every effort to cancel this show has failed. We are still here having a good time. Tomorrow, I'm going to do the Saturday Morning Spectacular. We are going to see this Keith Elwin James Bond. The new rumor is the game is going to be $18,000. It's so stupid. It's absolutely stupid that you need to make $36,000 before taxes to buy a single level game from Stern Pinball, all because they want to arbitrarily limit the number to 500. Great. Keith Elwin is a man of the people. For them to do this and make a game that's only for rich dudes and all the tournament players who love Keith Elwin are not going to be able to buy one. What a great feel good story this is going to be, right? I can't wait for this game to come out. I can't wait for the people to try to justify this. Even if it sells, it doesn't matter because if this thing sells out immediately at those prices, you know what that symbolizes? We're all screwed. Why are people rooting for these things to be successful? None of you are investors in Stern Pinball. You're absolutely cheerleading and supporting the very thing that is making this hobby less enjoyable. It's really strange to me. And it's just real simple now, right? It all comes down to one thing. The greatest bang for your buck in pinball, the most exciting and entertaining thing in pinball costs $5 a month. It's the Kaneda Club. And you all should go get some of your friends to join so we can get to 1,000. Everybody have a happy, happy Halloween. And I really do want to say be happy, be healthy, and be safe. You know, don't be lighting fireworks or throwing M80s inside your Toy Story 4. I mean, that would be the only thing that would make Toy Story 4 exciting. If you threw a bunch of fireworks inside it and lit the fuse and say, hey, Pat Lawler, how could you do this, Pat? How could you think this is a $15,000 machine? I can't believe it. Everybody, we'll talk to you soon. Kaneda out. I can still make the whole day shimmer