Episode 82 – Hold Up Your Weight

TL;DR

Slam Tilt covers Raymond Davidson's Nationals win, Pinball Expo split, and Texas Pinball Festival previews.

Summary

Key Claims

• Rob Burke is breaking from Mike Pesak after ~32 years running Pinball Expo together

  high confidence · Ron Hallett and Bruce Nightingale discussing Pinball Expo split; they state it was started in 1985 and run together for 32 years

• Rob Burke likely holds the trademark rights to 'Pinball Expo' name and told Pesak he cannot use it

  medium confidence · Ron and Bruce's speculation: 'I think he does [have the rights], but... Rob Burke probably has the rights to the name... and he basically told Pesak, like, you can't use that name'

• Mike Pesak has the hotel contracted for this year and next year for Pinball Expo

  high confidence · Bruce: 'Mike has the hotel for this year and next year. So, whatever it's called is going to be a show, or if he cancels it, that's going to be a hefty price tag.'

• Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle will debut at Texas Pinball Festival

  high confidence · Ron: 'The Big News is this weekend's Texas Pinball Festival! We are going to see the debut of Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle!'

• Raymond Davidson won the Nationals tournament by beating over 40 players

  high confidence · Josh Pugh confirms Raymond beat 41 state people and 6-7 Canadian provisionals; Raymond defeated Carl in finals

• Total Nuclear Annihilation will debut co-op mode at Texas Pinball Festival

  high confidence · Ron: 'Speaking of new software, they're going to have a total nuclear annihilation at Texas that I believe will be debuting the co-op mode.'

• Pinball 102 educational video is now available for order on PinSide

  high confidence · Ron: 'Pinball 102 is out, Bruce!' Bruce ordered it during the podcast episode

• The Stern Pro Circuit Finals will take place in Chicago

  high confidence · Ron: 'this is going to be in Chicago, right? Yep. It's going to be huge!'

Notable Quotes

• “Raymond, we were playing in a tournament this weekend. How do you think he picked his games? He picked them random.org.”

  Ron Hallett@ 5:52 — Humorous reference to Raymond's game selection strategy at tournaments, establishing his playing method

• “I think they will both pretty much cancel each other out and it will fail miserably, unfortunately. I just, you can't have two shows like that, that close together in the same area.”

  Bruce Nightingale@ 10:49 — Core concern about the viability of splitting Pinball Expo; indicates industry skepticism about both shows surviving

• “It's unfortunate. It doesn't sound like it can be repaired at this point. Especially once lawyers are involved, it just, no.”

  Ron Hallett@ 13:50 — Reflects resignation that the Pinball Expo split is now irreversible due to legal involvement

• “I think it is a vastly underappreciated game, and if you took five minutes to learn the game like a little deeper, I think I could convince almost anyone that it's a fun game.”

  Raymond Davidson@ 5:17 — Raymond's passionate defense of Black Rose and its depth; indicates his personal attachment to the game

• “You know what, that spinner's lit, and I just hit the spinner and kept hitting the spinner and stuff happened.”

  Ron Hallett@ 27:48 — Humorous description of Catacomb's confusing rules, highlighting the game's complexity and poor usability

• “Once and for all, we'll know what pinball podcasting team has what it takes to back up their braggadocious blather with the actual skill to play the silver ball.”

  Chuck Webster@ 33:33 — Official tournament description establishing the competitive spirit of the new podcaster event

• “We can do it and we're destined to fail.”

Entities

Signals

• ?

  industry_signal: Historic Pinball Expo split after 32 years of co-operation; founder Rob Burke breaking away to run competing show in September, leaving Mike Pesak with October event and hotel contract through next year

  high · Ron: 'So it was announced this week that Rob is breaking off and is going to do his own show, which is going to be a month earlier in September.' Hosts predict mutual failure.

• ?

  event_signal: Texas Pinball Festival confirmed to feature Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle machine debut, Total Nuclear Annihilation co-op mode debut, and Stern Pro Circuit Finals game lineup announcement

  high · Ron: 'The Big News is this weekend's Texas Pinball Festival! We are going to see the debut of Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle!'; 'Speaking of new software, they're going to have a total nuclear annihilation at Texas that I believe will be debuting the co-op mode.'

• ?

  product_launch: Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle pinball machine; theme licensee confirmed, limited visual assets shown, no production details or pricing announced yet

  medium · Ron: 'Not yet, just little snippets' on whether photos shown; machine will debut at Texas Pinball Festival

• ?

  design_innovation: Total Nuclear Annihilation introducing co-op mode where two players share reactors; described as novel approach to multiplayer pinball

  high · Ron: 'Also, it's like a two-player game, but you're shared reactors or something, I assume.' Host reaction: 'That is such a brilliant idea. How has that never been thought of?'

• ?

  competitive_signal: Raymond Davidson won Nationals tournament; defeated Carl in finals; only participated in Nationals, not Masters; Black Rose was featured tournament machine; Raymond's go-to game

Topics

Sentiment

mixed(0.55)— Hosts express genuine excitement about upcoming festivals and new games (Alice Cooper, TNA co-op mode), but significant negativity around Pinball Expo split which they view as damaging to the industry. Tone is generally casual and humorous with self-deprecating commentary. Enthusiasm for community events like Podcaster Bloodbath tournament tempers broader concern about competition.