Top 5 Pinball of 2025 | Who Will Win the Crown?

TL;DR

Loser Kid podcast defends Walking Dead Remaster and Beetlejuice against community backlash, emphasizing gameplay over art controversy.

Summary

Key Claims

• Walking Dead Remastered was revealed by John Borg approximately 3 weeks prior to this episode

  high confidence · Josh RP states 'Walking Dead revealed by John Borg, uh the remake, and and we've had obviously partially we still don't know everything about that' and 'that came out uh 3 weeks ago'

• Stern only produced 500 limited edition copies of Walking Dead Remastered and has not sold out to distributors

  high confidence · Josh RP: 'they only did 500 limited editions as far as I'm aware. Stern hasn't even sold out from them to their distributors. So obviously there's still a lotment there.'

• The Walking Dead art package was approved/directed by the IP licenser, not Stern

  high confidence · Scott Larson: 'Who did this art package? The licenser. Okay... Stern is playing in a world where they are working with with a licenser and this is the direction the licenser wanted to go.'

• Spooky produced exactly 999 units of Beetlejuice

  high confidence · Josh RP: 'There there are going to be people who are like why did they only do 999 or you know'

• Evil Dead (Spooky) didn't sell out until Texas Pinball Festival, approximately 3 months after reveal

  high confidence · Josh RP: 'they didn't know Evil Dead was going to sell out and it didn't sell out till Texas Pinball Festival. That was 3 months after reveal.'

• Spooky's Halloween and Ultraman combined produced 1750 total units and experienced quality control issues

  high confidence · Josh RP: 'like you talk about Halloween. So they had Halloween and Ultrammen together, right? So it was 1750 total... And there was issues there. There was a lot of quality issues'

• Walking Dead Remastered has a Lyman F. Sheats Jr. rule set, similar to the original

  medium confidence · Josh RP: 'What makes Walking Dead great? It's a hard layout and it also has a Lyman rule set and so it rewards the elite players.'

• Spooky makes extra games specifically for major shows like Texas Pinball Festival

Notable Quotes

• “The licenser... this is what the licenser wants... Stern is playing in a world where they are working with with a licenser and this is the direction the licenser wanted to go.”

  Scott Larson@ 5:04 — Key defense of Walking Dead's art direction, establishing that Stern had constraints due to IP licensing rather than creative choice

• “Having a game that is even, you know, geared more toward the competitive scene, I don't think that's a bad thing.”

  Josh RP@ 16:56 — Argument that Walking Dead's competitive/elite focus is valid market positioning, not a weakness

• “You basically want one person out there who cannot get the product. Yeah. Because that is exactly where you want to be.”

  Scott Larson@ 20:43 — Articulates supply scarcity strategy: create demand by ensuring slight shortage of inventory

• “Scalability is the hardest thing in manufacturing... Having this model where they just have a new game every year is actually really good for a small company.”

  Scott Larson@ 26:56 — Defends Spooky's production model against criticism of limited runs, citing manufacturing realities

• “I think to wrap it up, I think both Walking Dead, Beetlejuice, both you and I agree, have been shortchanged in very weird ways, but I think they've... Walking Dead needs to be given a chance.”

  Josh RP@ 29:32 — Summarizes main argument: both games unfairly judged before gameplay evidence accumulates

• “Did you know Zach Mini takes interested lists for titles? Just in case you're like, 'Hey, I may have an you know what, I have a like Hello Kitty Island Adventure. I may be interested in that theme if it ever comes out. So why don't you put your name on a list? This is how good he... This is customer service at its best.”

Entities

Signals

• ?

  product_concern: Walking Dead Remastered art package (green/blue color palette) received polarized community reception with some criticism over color choices not matching TV series tone, though hosts defend licenser approval constraints

  high · Josh: 'I'm not a fan of the art... The color palette just isn't for me.' Scott contextualizes as licenser-approved; community pointed out duplicated zombie artwork on playfield

• $

  market_signal: Spooky Pinball deliberately limiting Beetlejuice to 999 units to manage demand and protect secondary market value; strategy tested with prior releases (Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween)

  high · Scott: 'if I have a thousand that I'm trying to sell how many do I want demand for... You basically want one person out there who cannot get the product.' Josh notes Evil Dead didn't sell out until TPF (3 months post-reveal)

• ~

  sentiment_shift: Hosts actively defending both Walking Dead Remastered and Beetlejuice against what they characterize as unfair community criticism based on aesthetics rather than gameplay merit

  high · Josh: 'I don't think it's fair to Borg that he's gotten a lot of heat for this game when... a lot of people have just looked at the art and passed on it.' Scott: 'Art is... it's one of those things where you know your favorite book and then you hear they're going to make a movie of it'

• ?

  competitive_signal: Walking Dead Remastered positioned as competitive/elite game with complex Lyman rule set; hosts plan to seek feedback from elite players (Tom Grass, Travis Murie, Carl D'Angelo) rather than casual players

  high · Josh: 'Walking Dead isn't revered as a casuals game... I want to talk to the elite players... the Tom Grass... Travis Murie... Carl D'Angelos of the world.'