Inside the Winchester Mystery House Pinball Machine | Barrels of Fun x DirtyPool Pinball

Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama·video·44m 33s·analyzed·Oct 14, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.035

TL;DR

Winchester Mystery House audio/design deep-dive with composer Jeff Dodson addressing game features and pricing justification.

Summary

Jeff Dodson (Dirty Pool Pinball) and host Gonzo discuss Barrels of Fun's Winchester Mystery House pinball machine, its design philosophy, sound design approach, and pricing. The game features innovative mechanics including a rotating turntable, Pepper's Ghost display effect, 13 room modes, extensive audio content (440 callouts, 30+ music tracks), and was designed by Carl D'Angelo. The conversation addresses pricing criticism in Australia ($20k AUD) by explaining the cost of custom asset creation for non-licensed IP.

Key Claims

Winchester Mystery House sold approximately 300 of its 525 units within 24-48 hours of announcement
high confidence · Jeff mentions 'nearly 300 of them' sold by time of interview; separately mentions 25 units available in Australia with 20 already sold
The game contains 440 callouts, over 30 music tracks, and 7-8 rooms with multiple multiballs at launch
high confidence · Jeff states: 'There's 440 callouts in it... over 30 music tracks... there's like seven or eight rooms. There's two multiballs.'
Carl D'Angelo designed Winchester Mystery House independently; his homebrew project is a different, separate game
high confidence · Jeff clarifies: 'Carl was designing his own game... when David approached him, they didn't use Carl's game. That's a different game... Winchester was an IP that barrels had pre-Labyrinth.'
The game uses emulated Yamaha chip programming similar to Twilight Zone and Addams Family for sound design
high confidence · Jeff: 'The sound design that I did for this game is heavily based on the Yamaha chip that was used in uh like Twilight Zone, Adams Family... I used emulated versions of it, but the same programming.'
Creating original asset content (animations, 3D models, music) for Winchester was as expensive as licensed IP production
high confidence · Jeff explains pricing parity: 'We have to make all of our video assets from scratch... David had to hire three new animators... a 3D modeler... I was hired to do sound and music... the team had to increase in size.'
The rotating turntable mechanic has 8 total entry and exit paths, creating significant shot diversity
high confidence · Carl discusses: 'there's like eight total like entry and exit paths in it. So, like the amount of shot diversity is crazy.'
The Pepper's Ghost effect uses a horizontal monitor shining down on angled acrylic to create a hologram appearance
high confidence · Jeff explains: 'The monitor is actually horizontal and shines down on a plate of acrylic at an angle and it gives you that hologram effect.'

Notable Quotes

“I think at this point, I want you guys to remember this day. I think sound in pinball will change forever as of today.”
Gonzo @ Early in interview — Hyperbolic but reflects strong sentiment about game's audio production quality and potential impact on industry sound design standards
“This game's kind of a love letter to the '90s where pinball was... we are making a modern pin with a storyline that plays like a board game.”
Jeff Dodson @ Early discussion — Articulates core design philosophy balancing nostalgia with modern mechanics and narrative structure
“We made a pretty loud game. The decisions we're making are the opposite of what a lot of pinball manufacturers are doing right now.”
Jeff Dodson @ Mid-interview — Signals deliberate differentiation in audio strategy from industry competitors, particularly Stern's conservative approach
“The game is packed. This is not an empty game at launch.”
Jeff Dodson @ Content discussion — Addresses community concern about post-launch code updates; signals confidence in launch feature completeness
“With the smaller IP, you can create more with the pinball machine, both creatively and technically. And that's what we did.”
Jeff Dodson @ Pricing discussion — Justifies premium pricing by reframing lack of licensed IP as creative opportunity rather than cost-cutting measure
“Carl and I are not streaming this game yet because we have taken a backseat to allow customers to get the first wave of games... we believe in this game so much.”
Jeff Dodson @ Late interview — Demonstrates community-first positioning and defers content creation to prioritize customer access; signals confidence in product
“Carl's just like... he's got his own pinball channel... he will play and talk... it's very therapeutic to watch his streams.”
Gonzo @ Designer discussion — Reinforces Carl D'Angelo's credibility as designer and content creator; therapeutic/calming quality appeals to audience

Entities

Winchester Mystery Housegame Jeff Dodsonperson Carl D'Angeloperson Barrels of Funcompany David Van Nessperson

Signals

?
design_innovation: Sound design uses emulated Yamaha chip programming from Twilight Zone/Addams Family; 440 callouts and 30+ unique music tracks per room; intentionally aggressive call-out approach
high · Jeff technical breakdown of sound methodology; sample audio callouts provided; explicit rejection of 'dry planned callouts' in industry
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community_signal: Content creators (Carl D'Angelo, Jeff Dodson) deferring streaming/content creation to prioritize customer access to physical machines during launch period
high · Jeff: 'Carl and I are not streaming this game yet because we have taken a backseat to allow customers to get the first wave of games'
?
competitive_signal: Winchester positioned as risk-taking alternative to licensed IP model; appeals to collectors skeptical of Stern's three-tier pricing and FOMO strategy
medium · Gonzo notes lack of FOMO/price tiers: 'there's no there's no FOMO with this. It's just like this is the cost of the game'; contrasts with Stern LE pricing model
?
design_philosophy: Deliberate strategy to use original IP as creative liberation opportunity rather than cost-cutting measure; aggressive audio design intentionally contrary to industry trend
high · Jeff: 'With the smaller IP, you can create more... decisions we're making are the opposite of what a lot of pinball manufacturers are doing right now'
?
design_philosophy: Carl D'Angelo's competitive pedigree (top-20 player) positions him as designer who understands player perspective; Inland Empire Pinball streaming demonstrates communication skills and therapeutic presence

Transcript

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0:12

All right, good morning and we are back. Good morning, my side. I always forget that. Good evening over in the US of A. You guys know why we're here. It's in the freaking title. Uh we are here to talk about the Winchester fun house. Mystery house. It's the Winchester Mystery house. It's the Winchester Mystery House. Yeah, know the fun. Yeah, barrels of Yeah, know the fun. Yeah, barrels of fun. fun house, you know, whatever. I got I got yelled at because I was I I I got I got yelled at because I was I I called it the Winchester something house at one point, too. And uh yeah, now now I know I see a really good opportunity to make I see a really good opportunity to make Winchester sauce, right? right? There you go. So, There you go. So, or like a hybrid game between Funhouse or like a hybrid game between Funhouse and Winchester, right? And like hit up Padetti. We'll do like a team team thing, assuming they're doing Funhouse. I don't assuming they're doing Funhouse. I don't know. Yeah, allegedly. Um guys, obviously Yeah, allegedly. Um guys, obviously today's been a pretty epic day. Uh, every all of a sudden I woke up because it was like 2:00 a.m. I did set my alarm cuz I heard whispers of like something happening. Uh, but you know, I I don't know. I don't think my alarm went off. My wife thinks I probably slept through it cuz it's been a long couple days. We've had the WWE in town and uh that's a big thing for us. So, I went to every show and it's like exhausting. So, but we know why we're here. We're here to talk about Barrels of Fun's new game all of a sudden. Two games in one. Surprise, [ __ ] And we know Surprise, [ __ ] And we know that Jeff from Dirty Pool is involved with barrels. So, I thought, why not get Jeff on. Uh, and one of the reasons why I want to get Jeff on is not only is he a sexy man, but he's a talented [ __ ] and sounds important, right? And I think at this point, I want you guys to remember this day. I think sound in pinball will change forever as of today. June was good. Well, I don't know about that. I'll Well, I don't know about that. I'll agree with one out of three of those things. No, I will say I heard like some of the No, I will say I heard like some of the stuff on Car's live and you were on there and he was sharing the even just the multiball call out which I'm sure we'll hear in a second. Um was a goosebumps uh experience. Uh and that's me shilling the hell out of this. So, um, it there are elements of what I heard already, which I'm sure we'll touch on in a second, which has bought something that is lacking in pinball, I feel, which is, uh, as someone who works in hi-fi and movie stuff, uh, a cinematic experience, and this game just nails it out of out of the park. I'm assuming that's what you're going for, right? Yeah. I mean, this game's kind of a love Yeah. I mean, this game's kind of a love letter to the '9s where pinball was kind of like just uh it it wasn't trying to emulate a cinematic experience kind of with what you're saying, but at the same token like we are making a modern pin and and you know, Carl's game is a storyline to a degree. It's very it plays like a board game. You know, you travel between rooms and you know, you you meet ghosts and and defeat them and it's uh each each room has its own character. And you know, when they gave me the the opportunity to do the audio on it, like they just I don't know what the hell they were thinking, but they were just like, "Go do your thing." So, I like had complete creative control. I mean, obviously Carl and David had to approve this stuff, but they were like, "We trust you." And that is huge, and I appreciate that. And uh, you know, we made a pretty loud game. Like the decisions we're making are the opposite of what a lot of pinball manufacturers are doing right now and we're trying to just people wanted an IP that's not an IP, right? They want a game that's not based on something and this was an opportunity to do that and we were like, let's just push it. What else can we do? The sounds are unique. The music is all different. I mean, you're not going to hear anything like this in a modern pin. This is the most unique game in my opinion that's come out in a very long time. Hence my comment about the turning point in Pinball Sound. There has been some fantastic games in the last couple years with good call outs and sound effects and stuff, but there's always missed soul and character. I' I've done a video about '90s pins. We haven't released it yet, but why I think they have more character and soul, and yes, I know they're not as deep and all that stuff, uh, but they are just far more captivating in my opinion, but that's a video for another day. Uh just to give some context, there's a lot of people that probably don't know because a lot of our viewers are from the UK and Australia. Um the Winchester House is a house that uh is built obviously in America. Uh I'll give you a quick rundown. K's done a fantastic video about this. Uh giving a bit of history on it. Uh the woman's basically loaded. The family were the Winchester guns. Correct. Yeah. Sarah Winchester. It's the Yeah. Sarah Winchester. It's the Winchester family. Yeah. Well, I'll let you tell the story. Yeah. Well, I'll let you tell the story. your better storytelling. What am I doing? I don't know. Give me a second. I'm I don't know. Give me a second. I'm going to turn off the I'm going to turn off this laundry machine in the middle of our interview while I do this. Hey, so guys, basically, Hey, so guys, basically, uh, this lady had a string of bad luck, right? So, her bad luck was like a string of bad luck. And I I want Jeff a string of bad luck. And I I want Jeff to explain it because he's he knows the story better than me. So, she relocated and was told that she needed to build this house in order to like give these spirits like a like a way to either defeat the spirits or somehow like like free herself of being like stalked or give them a home or something. Again, like I'm not super versed on this. This is definitely Carl's world. We talk a little bit in my in the interview that I did with Carl. Uh but yeah, so this this lady just like started building this house and like kept building onto it in like insane ways, like building staircases that don't go anywhere. They're bu putting doors on the edge of the house that fall off like as like a cliff into nowhere and she's obsessed with 13. Like everything in the house has got 13. Like there's just like there's rooms with glass on the like windows on the floor. Like it's just it's a it's weird. It's a weird place. And so the the whole thing was like there's a story line with like uh there's a friendly ghost named Clyde in there. like there's just there's a whole history and like kind of story that is already baked into this house. And that was it. It was like a perfect template to make a pinball machine that was like kind of based on an IP but just not and like also the Winchester like estate or whatever was just like stoked that we're making a pinball machine about it. They were just like they had essentially their involvement was just that they loved everything and they were supportive of what we were doing. Again, from from what I've heard, most of the stuff that I heard was like, "Yeah, they heard the music. They love it." And that was the end of the discussion. It was just like, "Great, let's move on." But yeah, I mean, in terms of creative control, it was just like this was Carl's baby. He could do whatever the hell he wanted to and make like the greatest first entry, uh, you know, of his pinball design career. And for those that don't know, Carl And for those that don't know, Carl D'Angelo uh is one of the best players in the world. I think he's in the top 20. Uh, and Carl is very critical of games. He's a good player and he knows when a game's good or not good. Uh, he he shares a very common passion for a game that we all don't like. We won't go there. But, uh, you know, like for a game to be made by Carl and shot by Carl, you know, that game's going to be butter. And sure, there'll be some challenging stuff because, you know, or else it's going to be boring. Carl even said that in your video. Um, but the game looks captivating. There's a lot of toys in mechs. um you know the light show, the call outs, the I mean for the sweet spot number of 525 games or whatever it is uh this will sell out probably by the end of today like there in Australia they've got 25 they've already sold 20. I heard today from Kerry that they've already sold like over nearly 300 of them. So it's a I that's awesome. I appreciate that. I that's awesome. I appreciate that. that I really wish these people should wait to play it at Expo. Don't get me wrong, the game's amazing. I'm here to tell you this game actually is as amazing as it looks. It's so much fun and if you are pre-ordering it, you're you are making a faithful decision and we appreciate that. But also, I cannot wait for you to actually play it because it it is as fun as it looks. It the rotating platter just constantly changes the amount of types of shots you can have. The shots themselves are engaging and fun. like just the fun factor for this game is there and it's such a breath of fresh air and for me to be working on the first like major pin as music and sound design like this is a [ __ ] dream, man. Like I I just I can't wait for people to play the game. I just can't. I think like I totally agree. I've I think like I totally agree. I've always been an ambassador that people should play a game before they comment or buy it. But I think the the rush to get this and it is a like a generic IP in theory, but I I think it's a testament to Barrels, David, yourself because there's been a lot of people including myself that throw a lot of love towards yourself and Dave and the team at Barrels and you know, you guys wear your heart on your sleeves and the amount of like great feedback we've had from June. Uh, and they go, "Jesus, another game's just dropped." Uh, and because of the low number and because of the theme, because the spooky theme is, uh, it's a popular theme. Uh, you know, uh, you can say it. It's Beetlejuice. It's you can say it. It's Beetlejuice. It's going to be Beetlejuice. It's going to be Beetlejuice. But like, It's going to be Beetlejuice. But like, people love that theme and people miss out on Evil Dead. People are like, "Well, hold on. This is made by Barrels of Fun. David's passionate about these type of horror theme ride stuff. It's got Jeff doing the audio and call outs. We know Jeff slaps. Uh, all this type of stuff, right? So, people are going, I'm just going to buy it. Like, there's 20 people in Australia that have bought it and they're probably not going to see it till next year at this point. So, you know, I I can understand. Barrels has a reputation. We I I I Barrels has a reputation. We I I I appreciate the respect that people have given us and we're going to deliver. It's I can say it right now. I I you know people I think obviously every pinball machine has certain criticisms and this was no other you know we're going loud the call outs are ridiculous like they're extreme in the best possible way uh for me but some people are going to bounce off that I think and you know we've heard some fe feedback that the game is difficult but uh you know why I don't want an easy game in my home collection personally and it's it's designed by a player of a top category like I mean he's Carl's on totally different level Uh, but the game is still fun for everybody. And when you see it, when you play it at Expo, it just Well, I'm going to We'll let Expo speak for itself. Like I just Yeah. I think I think the thing with Carl I think I think the thing with Carl doing it, yes, people go, "Oh, yeah, but he's a great player and it's going to be hard." Because some of Elwin's games get criticized for being hard because he's a good player. But I think the benefit with Carl is Carl has a mind for code and modes which is very unique because a lot of pinball designers use coders and people like MXV and all that to to support them, right? I'm sure they have minds for code as well, don't get me wrong, but I Carl's just like I've had a lot of dealings with Carl on on a personal level. Um, and he has so much time for for me, everyone to help. But he's he's just like I watch his streams and Carl's got his own pinball channel. Uh, I pinball. Um, is that the name of the channel? I always forget. It is. I It's Inland Empire Pinball is It is. I It's Inland Empire Pinball is what it stands for. Uh, Uh, he will play and talk and, you know, he's it's very therapeutic to watch his streams. So, the mechanic, the base mechanic for this game is so addictive right off the bat. It's it's it's brilliant. It's so brilliant. Uh, which I I I don't know. We could Uh, which I I I don't know. We could talk about that, right? Why not? This is Winchester everything, right? This is Winchester everything, right? So, when you when you start the game traveling to different rooms, you build the value of the room as if it was kind of a jackpot right off the bat. So like as soon as you start traveling in the Winchester because like you start off in the foyer and then as soon as you start going it lights a bunch of shots, in fact almost the whole playfield with white shots and every time you hit a white shot, every time you hit the spinner, everything it starts building the value for that room and then when you get to the room you can either choose to enter it or you can choose to go to a different room by collecting keys which you build off those three targets at the top. So, right off in the beginning of the game, you can go to the last room on the entire house, which is the the top, which is the witch's cab. Uh, and you can just keep building the value of the room the entire time. So, the riskreward mentality is like in the game from the moment you start. And it I mean, if you've played Godzilla's a good example of this, right? Like some of their many wizard modes have that where you're trying to like uh build the value of the jackpot over like a series of of things right off the bat, right? I'm thinking like Monster Zero or I forget what the other one's called, but that's that is the main main travel mode of the game. Start building the value of a room, go into a room, play an awesome mode that has its own unique music and character and a ghost that you have to defeat or, you know, interact with in some way. Not all the ghosts are bad. Um, in fact, most of them are just like part of the rooms. Um, and if you lose the room, it releases an evil spirit into the house. So, uh, yeah, I it's just it's just brilliant, man. The game's so fun. I can't [ __ ] wait that and the theme integration with that and the theme integration with barrels like having that screen at the back of the playfield and having that framed as the house is just brilliant. I think it's like it's such the secret source for these games to be so successful in theme integration and like engaging the player in what's going on because obviously who the hell looks up, right? So, right. Um, and this one's slightly different cuz and this one's slightly different cuz it's a hologram. So, like the monitor is actually in the top of the house shining down and there's a piece of glass there. It's and there's a piece of glass there. It's called a pepper's ghost uh effect, I believe. Um, so you know, the the monitor instead Um, so you know, the the monitor instead of being vertical in the back box, it's actually horizontal and shines down on a place on a plate of uh of acrylic at an angle and it gives you that hologram effect, which is neat because when you hit the orbit shot, there's a magnet there. Uh, this is how you collect mystery and and a few other things. uh it actually grabs the ball inside of the box and you can see it. Uh so even though it is uh a display, it is also transparent, which is kind of neat. Uh you can see that better in my video. I have a bunch of white wood kind of behind the scenes stuff. Uh I don't know if it's in that trailer that that David put together. Yeah. So you head over Yeah. So you head over Yeah. So there you can see the ball is Yeah. So there you can see the ball is in the middle of that web. Yeah, there you go. Um, if you head over Yeah, there you go. Um, if you head over to Jeff's channel, uh, he he's got a video up with Carl that him and Carl obviously discussed this whole process. Um, and, uh, you know, runs through. I'm just watching. There's some wicked toys and mix. I'm still trying to digest the whole the whole layout and everything. I saw someone where is I got saw someone comment on where is I got saw someone comment on K's video that the um the mech it reminds them of Popeye. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, that's fair. I mean, there's a few rotating mechs in I mean, there's a few rotating mechs in pinball that change the kind of direction of shots, but this one's like I I don't know. I don't want to say the I I don't know. I don't want to say the biggest one, but you know, Carl talks about there's like eight total like entry and exit paths in it. So, like the amount of shot diversity is crazy. So like you know you can shoot the spinner regular and it like flips through the mechanism through the turntable towards you but then later on it's at a position where you can shoot it and it actually hits that spinner backwards. There's two scoops in the spinner or I'm sorry in the turntable. So the turntable itself is also a subway system. So like it's not it's not a gimmick. It's like a core mechanic of the game. Uh and the diversity that it creates for how many different shots you can do is like huge. It's huge. So, it's, you know, looking at these photos it's, you know, looking at these photos and the light show, uh, it is it's it's captivating. Um, and dude, that's all Eric and Trent. dude, that's all Eric and Trent. They're [ __ ] lighting wizards. I They're [ __ ] lighting wizards. I mean, the the how they're using the house system and how they're using the paths on the playfield to actually convey it. The planchet, the actual like spirit board, the Ouija board that lights up on the actual apron is part of the game. It tells you players and ball counts and and it interacts with you when you do certain modes and stuff. It's it's it's neat. The um The um uh the collapsing tower is interesting. So, I heard that the there was a tower and like in the 60s it fell down because of an earthquake or something. Is that correct? Yeah, there's a there was a huge Yeah, there's a there was a huge earthquake. I don't think it was in the 60s. That's an excellent question. I should know this. What do I know? I'm just a dumb composer, right? Uh the uh so so the tower falls and it actually it changes one of the modes at one point and uh I don't know if that room is actually in uh launch. We are everybody made sure that an a extreme amount of content is the game. We talk about it. There's like seven or eight rooms. There's two multiballs. There's all the 13th modes which are kind of like a side kind of side modes for completing certain uh numbers of shots of things. So there's like a there's a boatload of con boatload of content in here. This is not an empty game at launch. Uh, and it's got 440 callouts in it. I've I've There's so many call outs. There's so many sound effects. There's like over 30 music tracks in it. Like, it's This is The game is packed. It's packed. And we're ready for Expo, man. There you go. Um, I was trying to find There you go. Um, I was trying to find uh I had it open and now it's gone. Uh this is a great video that um you and KL did because it's really kind of like a behind the scenes but not at the same time like because obviously you guys knew what was going on but um it's such a little documentary that you know 20 minutes long it's a good good sweet spot but I really enjoyed kind of hearing Carl talk because Carl, like I said, is an extremely um uh intelligent and therapeutic person to listen to. So, please head over to uh Jeff's channel at Dirty Pool Pinball, like, subscribe, or he will haunt you in your dreams. Um, it's funny. Carl hates doing interviews, it's funny. Carl hates doing interviews, but he's he's so good at it. Like, his his natural voice and from his IE pinball stuff, he's like clearly got a knack for it, but you know, I mean, like, there's been a lot of criticism for how people launch games. And, uh, you know, when I got involved, I was just like, yo, like we're going to film you talking about your game, and we're going to mix it with as much behind the scenes footage, Whitewoods. I mean, you're looking at prototypes of the game in that video on launch day. I mean, like, I don't know any other pinball company that is showing like the prototype building concept of like how we went from no game to game. Yeah. Yeah. On launch day. On launch day. But, and also just to clear up some of But, and also just to clear up some of the misinformation out there, Carl was designing his own game. Um, and then when David approached him, they didn't use Carl's game. That's a different game. This is That's correct. This is not that This is That's correct. This is not that game. I don't know. I don't know where that rumor got started, but the game Carl's homebrew is not the the Winchester. So, this was a Winchester was an IP that barrels had pre-Labyrinth. It was before Labyrinth was even a [ __ ] spec on the horizon. And they had acquired it. And I guess, you know, David and him sat down and had a talk and, you know, Carl was like, "I love the Winchester." And like, I would love to make a haunted house game. And here it is. Now, I was just one of the notes I Now, I was just one of the notes I wanted to touch on was in Australia, this game's like $20,000, right? Which is the price of a Stern Ellie. There was a little bit of criticism in There was a little bit of criticism in some of K's com um not Kerry himself, the people watching. I saw Yeah, I saw it. I saw Yeah, I saw it. But it's price-wise. Now, I think the But it's price-wise. Now, I think the thing is is that since their first game come out, there's been price rises of cost of materials, tariffs, all that type of stuff. Um, and for what you get, and keep in mind, companies like Spooky and Barrels have been giving you and Turner Pinball have been giving you damn good value for money games packed um for quite a while. Um, and I think it's I I don't see the the issue with the price rise on this game that like you're getting a lot. David actually addressed this on Car's like right before we started this and I think what he says is really good and and may not people may not connect it right so you're like why is it the same price as Dune right well in Dune you're buying an IP and you're paying for the footage in order to use it and the sounds and stuff like that and you're like well if you're using a tiny IP like you don't need to do any of that and that's not true we have to make all of our video assets from scratch like David had to hire three new animators in order to do all of it all the ghosts need character animation there's a 3D modeler to you know Joshua Josh Clay took care of all the 3D modeling for the house. We had to create all those models from scratch. You know they hired me to do sound and music. I mean like the team had to increase in size to create no assets from something that has no video footage to like snake from. Like I sure we could have gone to the Winchester and just like gone in with a camera and shot footage of the rooms and put that on the background, but like you know then the game's just a weird like video choose your own adventure or something and like Dave David's done a couple videos with Dave David's done a couple videos with me on Gonzo's and he's hinted at this for a while now that he's hinted at this for a while now that I think about it and when I saw the drop because he's said multiple times that um an IP like this is actually sometimes more complicated and just as expensive, if not more expensive. Um, and I always thought, well, why is David saying this? Because, you know, Labyrinth and June aren't, you know, so makes sense now. But, uh, yeah, look, I totally agree and I understand it. Um, and I I I think, you know, again, at $20,000 Australian is still cheaper than the Stern LE, you're still getting a lot of stuff. um you're still getting um a very captivating game that's going to have awesome replay value. There's no doubt about that. Um totally I mean somebody who buys pinball I mean somebody who buys pinball machines, I want them to be cheap, too. But, you know, I went I go down the list of the stuff that's in the game. And I think, you know, the the reality is is like if you think that this game has enough stuff in it that values or relates to that value, like on top of the stuff that you normally get in Barrels games, and I I should specify like I'm technically a vendor for Barrels, as much as I'm part of the team and they've welcomed me as part of the team, like you know, I'm Dirty Pool. I don't work at barrels yet, but you're getting the house system, but you're getting the house system, you're getting shaker motors, you're getting like all the [ __ ] normal stuff that comes in the game. On top of that, you're getting the mechanics for the turntable. You're getting the pepper ghost. You're getting the weird seance room thing. You're getting like the falling tower. Like there's there's no shortage of stuff that went into this because just because we got a small IP, that would have been the opportunity to take a cheap path and be like, "Oh, we could pump this game out for cheap and like, you know, that's it." But instead, we put like we could do more with it now. Like, holy [ __ ] like we're freed up creatively and camera focus-wise. I know that I've got, you know, Lord of the Rings back there and it's prioritizing that. I get it. Uh, but yeah, with the cheaper IP, and I talk about this a little bit in the in the video, you know, with the smaller IP, you can create more with the pinball machine, both creatively and technically. And that's what we did. You know, it's it's that simple. people I think people have been hanging on to this whole um kind of comment that's been around for a while um that pinball pricing especially Ellie's that Stern I mean let's face it Stern are the big beast are overpriced and I think as soon as any other company makes a game and prices at that price point it's going to automatically be subject to that criticism you know whatever isn't tricking you with three different isn't tricking you with three different versions of the game there's no there's no FOMO with this. It's just like this is the cost of the game and this is how many of them there are, you know, and and all due respect at 500 or and and all due respect at 500 or there's enough collectors that are really wealthy collectors, I can already think of 10 off the top of my head that are going to buy it. And you know, the minority of people that are complaining about the price, it is what it is. I mean, don't buy it. Move on to the next one. Um, I want to touch on Um, I want to touch on Can I interject one point? I will tell Can I interject one point? I will tell you, you'll notice that Carl and I are not you'll notice that Carl and I are not streaming this game yet and that's because we have taken a backseat to allow customers to get the first wave of games and then we will get ours so that we can stream them. So, it is important to us and to the pinball community that we like we believe in this game so much that we want the pinball community which has rallied crazy like everybody was really worried about this because the IP is like unknown, right? But people seem to be backing up barrels with the concept that we are taking a risk to make a game that's not based on a common IP that is taking risks that's trying to make something that's just fun and very like pinball to the core. And uh because of that I we want people to have the game first and then we'll stream it. So, um, so um, so as much as shots and theme are important, uh, I think obviously sound effects, call outs, uh, the secret source to games. Kerry pointed out today on his live that sometimes there will be a shot that you make and it just feels like it doesn't do anything because there's no sound effect or no sound at all, music or anything that kind of complements that shot. And I agree with a lot of that. There are a lot of games that I feel that if every ramp had a a what do you call it? A spinner on it and it did something for me that's enough. Like so your what you bring to the table is very very important. And you know yes a game design is important but I still feel that without the speech the call outs and I know obviously one of your colleagues or friends that you know did the the call outs. You got some samples. Do you want to hit me with some of the stuff that's in this game because I heard stuff? Um, just let the people know what Um, just let the people know what they're listening to and let's let's listen to some. Yeah, sure. So, I think to preface like Yeah, sure. So, I think to preface like one thing that we did is like the the sound design that I did for this game is heavily based on the Yamaha chip that was used in uh like Twilight Zone, Adams Family, and I'm I'm not joking when I say actually the chip. I used emulated versions of it, but the same programming that went into that to create those sounds was used for this. and we hybridized that to try to really give this like this character to it. So the sound design in this game is like aggressive and uh in like I would say one of the one of the best possible ways. Um so let's see what we got here. This is like mag grabbing releases. Got huge, you know, jackpot sounds. There's simple stuff like this is the mechanism that rotates. Um they're just firing off alone, right? That's great. Thanks. So, the the soundsscape for it is aggressive. And then the music, depending on what room you're in, every room has its own kind of like vibe, right? So, you start the game and you're in the shooter groove. It's like

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My favorite part is that all of the sound effects in it are all tuned to the same keys and relative keys that are in all the songs. So, every time you're hitting ramps or hitting drop targets, everything creates this like complete musical experience. And uh and it really shows. And when Carl does the live stream, when you guys see the actual game, I guess I should stop it so you can hear me talk. When Carl does actually stream the game and you can see this happen, you'll see it in action. And it's just like it's just awesome. It's so much fun. You're hitting ramps and You're hitting ramps and sound. sound. What's that? What's that? What's the spinner sound? What's the spinner sound? The spinner sound. So, I can't replicate The spinner sound. So, I can't replicate that because the spinner sound in its own is just a single sound. It's just like a [ __ ] It's the code that actually like drives it occurring. But I will thank Dune because of my experience on Dune, which had three spinners and like day and night differences for each of them. Like there were so many different spinner sounds in there. Like I created this thing in uh Bitwig, which is the DAW that I use to kind of like temp it out so I could hear what it would sound like as it slows down. And Eric and I had the experience of like how many milliseconds the attack should be for it. It's awesome. There are three spinner sounds in the game. There's the B the main state one, there's one for when you have a super spinner, and then there's one when you uh there's a spirit energy buildup that you use to initiate the playfield multiplier. So when you hit the spinner, it will build up this like energy meter on the uh display and then when you max it out, you can hit the X-target which is hiding up uh in the upper left and then that will do the playfield multiplier that has its own music queue with it too. There's so many songs in this goddamn game. It's, you know, listening to it, I was It's, you know, listening to it, I was getting goosebumps. I was showing the camera the goosebumps. Like you could shut your eyes and ask someone hearing this music, what are you experiencing? And I think a lot of people go, "Yeah, it feels like I'm going through like a haunted house of some sort or I'm traveling through some type of ride or something." And you you really get that message across. Like you've nailed that, man. That's just the sound effects are just just brilliant. Well, we could safe with it, too. Like Well, we could safe with it, too. Like you could we just creaky doors and like, you know, bat sounds and like just all the stuff you see when you go through like or hear when you go through like a like a bad haunted house, right? You ever gone through a haunted house that's like at a county fair or something and you've got these like bad spooky sounds for lack of a better word? They're very generic. They're very generic. They're totally generic and like that They're totally generic and like that could have been the direction, right? But that's not that's not that was not pinball to me and that wasn't pinball to barrels and David and Carl, like I said, took the risk to allow me to just kind of explore that. And uh you know, instead you have a completely unique experience that has its own character. And I urge you to find it either online or come to expo if you are able to and uh play it and uh make your own assessment. Um I I think this game I mean I already had said in an interview with David I think people are going to play June at um the expo and that's going to probably more than likely either get close to selling out or selling out because I think there are everyone I've spoken to that owns a June or has played one hasn't had anything bad to say about it. Um, and you know, already having that at Expo and then them bringing this, I'm assuming they're probably going to take three or four games, more than likely. We have 11 games coming to Expo. There We have 11 games coming to Expo. There are four Winchesterers, five Dunes, and two Labyrinths, I believe. Wow. Okay. So, yeah, they're bringing Wow. Okay. So, yeah, they're bringing it, that's for sure. Um, for sure. for sure. You know, and Canada Canada touched on You know, and Canada Canada touched on this. I can't believe I'm gonna I'm gonna talk about Canada right now, but uh Canada is like really a supporter of this game from his earlier podcast that he put up there. Um but he did he did make one comment that I don't agree with and which is crazy because I agree with so much of what he said on his podcast and uh which I'm thrilled about. Uh you know, but he said that Dune's DOA essentially and uh I'm going to I want to go on record saying like these games are totally different games. They play different, they feel different, they sound different. Like you're going to get a different experience. So, you know, some people may like Winchester more and some other people are going to like Dune more, but you know, play them both. That's why they're both there. Yeah. I think the comment on June being Yeah. I think the comment on June being DOA is because there's a a small minority of pinball content creators that didn't want June as a theme and they think that just because it's a theme that they didn't want that nobody else wants. But when you're only making a thousand of them, there's a thousand people in the pinball community that like June as a theme. It's as simple as that. Can they all afford one? Maybe not. But speaking to how but how can you say you don't want how but how can you say you don't want Dune as a theme but then Winchester which is like a totally unknown IP is like you could say the same thing about this but people are rallying about the idea of having a new haunted house pinball machine right I think I honestly think that uh you I think I honestly think that uh you know you look at the 70s and 80s there were so many kind of generic IP pinball games that were so popular because they were telling a story. It's because they were telling a story. It's all about storytelling. It's all about creating an experience. And I think you you really need to have all those elements to be able to do something out of the park when you have a generic IP like this. And again, it's not really generic. I mean, this house is pretty famous right now. Maybe it Yeah. Yeah. But when you when you think about like But when you when you think about like an IP, right? Like you know, when you think about Dune or Godzilla or any like Jurassic Park, right? You're forced to make the sounds, you're forced to make the music like fit the IP, right? Whereas a lot of the like older games like the Bal Williams games that you're talking about and Winchester as an example, we have the opposite where we can take the theme and create our own world out of it. We can make our own music and our own sound design, our own artwork that fits it because it has no template that we need to force ourselves into. And that's what made that's the secret sauce on these ballet games from the '9s is that they weren't tied into like needing to fit the IP. they could just create a really fun experience. And uh we didn't touch on the art. And uh we didn't touch on the art. That's Brad Albra artwork. I could tell that from a mile away. Right. That's right. It's Brad's Brad's work That's right. It's Brad's Brad's work for sure. Brad, Trent did animations on it. Uh Josh Clay and Julian did uh the animations and 3D modeling on it. There's this team. It's a big team. It's uh it's amazing how far Barrels has It's uh it's amazing how far Barrels has come in such a short time. Um, but it also proves the theory that when you have a team that passionate about what they do, uh, you can definitely knock it out of the park and move mountains. So, I'm excited to see the gameplay. I think we're going to see gameplay tomorrow, I'm hearing, uh, if I'm not mistaken. I actually don't know about that. I know I actually don't know about that. I know that the footage has been recorded currently. Uh, David and Carl are on a road trip in a truck full of goddamn pinball machines driving up to expo right now. So, yeah, they're hoofing it, bringing it to the expo, literally. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing I'm definitely looking forward to seeing all the content that's going to be created on this because I'm really interested to see the shots and the and um the layout and how, you know, how fast it is and the theme integration, etc. So, man, it was so amazing to wake up this morning uh and I was a little bit down this morning because I I should have been on a flight to expo and unfortunately I'm not going across. Um, and this brought a smile on my face. At the same time, made me a little bit more depressed because I don't get to see it. But, um, I'm so happy for the guys at Barrels, and I keep saying, you know, um, that their their boutique is, uh, killing it at the moment. Uh, between Spooky and Barrels, we are so sport for choice. Um, and when you have an amazing team like the guys at Spooky have and how the guys at Barrels have, look at the type of crap that you get to see. So, um, it's, yeah, it's, uh, really, really awesome and I can't wait to jump into it. Um, was there anything else you wanted to touch on before we finish up? You hit everything, man. I just, I urge You hit everything, man. I just, I urge anybody to go check out the game. That's it. I think that, you know, the the internet has already kind of set the tone that this is a unique game. And uh, if that's something that's interesting to you, find one. Buy one quick cuz they're selling. Buy one quick cuz they're selling. I don't mean buy one. I mean, find one I don't mean buy one. I mean, find one and play it or find footage online. You should I would buy one. I'm going to get one. It's happening in a couple of weeks, I hope. Uh, but, you know, again, like I said, that's after the first wave of orders. And I guess it seems like that that wave of orders is rapidly growing. So, yeah, yeah, I'm glad. It means people really think I'm glad. It means people really think what we're doing is a good idea. And I couldn't be happier that people are rallying behind making pinball fun again instead of doing like kind of, you know, what things have been. I'm trying not to say anything mean about other companies, but pinball's stagnant, man. It's cookie cutter now, and it needs to be different. And I think people are seeing that that's what we're doing. So, So, 100%. I mean, I I I'll say it. There's 100%. I mean, I I I'll say it. There's uh certain games that when you've got, you know, of certain manufacturers and you've got them lined up, they all start feeling and looking the same. And I think, you know, that comment is on the hits the nail on the head. And mate, it's extremely refreshing. And honestly, again, uh if this is me shilling, so be it. I I genuinely think that when you've got this many fantastic people behind a product, you're just going to make something completely spectacular. And uh honestly, it's uh it was really cool to see and the feedback I'm seeing. I've been in a lot of the Discords and chats and everyone's wrapped. So, congratulations to you and the team. Uh I'm really appreciate it, man. I know I just hit you like really quickly. Do you want to just shoot something? I had nothing planned. Um, nor did I know this was really coming. Again, I had a little inkling that something was happening. I didn't know it was a game though. Um, but you know, uh, awesome, awesome stuff. And, uh, I do still stand by the comment that I think a turning point in pinball audio has changed as of today. Um, because hearing those on K's live and people will hear it now on this video, uh, it should change things forever and I hope it does. you you're not the only person who said goosebumps in terms of the performance and the music and the sound is on combined and the whole experience needs to come together. But it's not for me to say. I love the music. I'm biased. I love everything about the game. But uh it's not for me to decide. It's for everyone else to play it and see if they feel the same thing that we tried to like put into it. And what a time. So you'll be able to And what a time. So you'll be able to play this weekend, guys. So get to expo. Unfortunately, I am not going to be there. But please send me all the photos, all the videos, all the nudes, whatever you want to send me. make me feel like I'm at Expo. We'll do like a seance and you can you We'll do like a seance and you can you can channel yourself through me, right? Yeah, sure. Yeah, sure. Almost everybody from Barrels will be Almost everybody from Barrels will be there. Uh I think the only people that aren't going are Jess who's customer service because who are customer service is still running at Barrels while Expo is going on. Uh and Trent, the animator. I don't know why Trent's not going, but he's not. But everyone else is. There's like seven or eight people at least uh from from the core team uh from the design design part of the team are going to be there. So, well, I hope you guys steal the show. well, I hope you guys steal the show. Uh, you know, I think you guys deserve it and Barl deserves it and Dave deserves it and, uh, yeah, we'll, uh, see you on the flip side, I guess, guys. Thank you very much. Like, subscribe. Uh, please, if you haven't gone over to Jeff at Dirty Pool Pinballs, please do it. And I'll praise the Great Pyramid. I'll praise the Great Pyramid. I make a face just because I I would I make a face just because I I would love to steal the show, but I think that there's so much other awesome stuff at Pinball Expo. I want to give a shout out to like all the homebrew stuff that's going on. Like, I know that Marco's doing a bunch of homebrew stuff. I just as much as I would love our game to be the star, like I just think that pinball as a whole needs to get better and if people rally behind our game, that's great. But like go there's so much other cool [ __ ] there too. Check out our game first, but then then go around and see other [ __ ] and then come back and play. Go play big trouble little China. Go play big trouble little China. There you go. Yeah. Or Hercules. There you go. Yeah. Or Hercules. Or or Hercules. Yeah. Yeah. If you can Or or Hercules. Yeah. Yeah. If you can get your arms around it. Uh guys, thank you very much. Uh Jeff, thank you very much again, mate. You're a gentleman. Uh we'll see you on the flip side. [Music]