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DPP #76 "Expo hype! Winning passphrase!"

Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)·podcast_episode·28m 42s·analyzed·Oct 18, 2023
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

Pre-expo hype: Labyrinth pre-order, Venom review (C+), Elton John teasers, raffles, and live coverage plans.

Summary

Don previews the upcoming Pinball Expo in Chicago, discussing his pre-orders for Labyrinth (Barrels of Fun) and his extended experience with Venom (Stern). He details Labyrinth's mechanics, production timeline, and pricing relative to competitors, shares his critical assessment of Venom's code progression system (rating it C+), and outlines his expo plans including giveaways, raffles, and coverage of new releases including Jersey Jack's Elton John and Pinball Brothers' Alien.

Key Claims

  • Labyrinth's first 150 units sold direct will ship starting November 3rd, with another 10 units going into boxes at the Houston factory

    high confidence · Don spoke with Barrels of Fun executives; confirmed production schedule through first/second quarter 2024

  • Labyrinth is priced at $10,600 and offers more features than Stern Premium tier games like Venom ($9,700-$9,800)

    high confidence · Don direct comparison of MSRP and playfield complexity

  • Don has beaten the Null boss in Venom after 100+ games and 5.5 hours of playtime

    high confidence · Don checked audits; describes the grinding challenge and eventual success

  • Venom's code has a progression lock-out where players at level 99 cannot access mini-bosses without restarting from level 1

    high confidence · Don describes frustration with inability to replay mini-bosses while stuck on final boss

  • Barrels of Fun brought 10 Labyrinth units to Expo, all spoken for, with another 10 about to ship from Houston factory

    high confidence · Don reached out to Barrels of Fun executives; stated 10 games at Expo are pre-allocated

  • Jersey Jack is revealing Elton John on Thursday at Expo after two days (from episode air date)

    high confidence · Don references Jersey Jack Facebook post with close-up playfield photo; scheduled official reveal

  • Lior (custom topper sculptor) is working with Dutch Pinball and Pinball Brothers, not Jersey Jack

    high confidence · Don confirmed with Lior directly; states he is 'not working with them [JJP]'

  • Rush received a code update allowing players to start 2112 mode from the beginning by holding buttons

    high confidence · Don states Rush code is downloaded and playable; describes 2112 as six-ball multi-ball mode

  • Don has a Venom LE with armor modifications (Taco Bell tower, custom spinner) in transit to his house in Milwaukee

Notable Quotes

  • “This is Jim Henson's Labyrinth pinball machine. Ed Boon. They blew the doors off the Muppet warehouse, and, yo, they're in Muppet Labs right now, and this is the first thing to come out.”

    Don @ early in episode — Expresses excitement about Barrels of Fun's debut and Muppet licensing potential

  • “It's got a lot of the things that I loved about the look of the Hobbit and the play of Wizard of Oz and kind of squashed together, sprinkled with some Muppet magic.”

    Don @ Labyrinth discussion — Key design comparison positioning Labyrinth as synthesis of JJP precedents

  • “I was ready to drag it out to the curb at one point. So what had happened was, right, you know, it's got this code progression where you level up.”

    Don @ Venom review section — Illustrates the frustration Venom's progression system caused

  • “There's like no in between. So my hope is that there'll be some nuance or something in the code where you'll at least have the option, you know, if you need a break from Null to, like, go back and just battle those other guys just for something different to do.”

    Don @ Venom code discussion — Suggests specific code improvement that could fix primary complaint

  • “You know, you'll play a game, you know, like 30 times in a row, and it's just, like, grinding against the – your nose is against the stone, man. You're just not making any progress. And then you take a step away, you go to bed, you come back the next day. Game number two, the next morning I just beat him.”

    Don @ Venom breakthrough moment — Describes the breakthrough that shifted his perception of the game

  • “You can't compete with Godzilla, man. You know, you start a game of Godzilla, and it's just kind of up to you what you want to do.”

    Don @ Venom comparison — Key competitive benchmark; contrasts Venom's linearity with Godzilla's open design

  • “So if you see me, come up. That's your passcode. You have to listen to this episode to know what that is. And then, you know, while supplies last, I'll have something to give you.”

Entities

DonpersonBarrels of FuncompanyLabyrinthgameVenomgameBowen KerinspersonJersey Jack PinballcompanyElton Johngame

Signals

  • ?

    product_launch: Barrels of Fun's Labyrinth first 150 units shipping November 3rd onwards, with 10 units at Expo already allocated and another 10 in boxes at Houston factory

    high · Don confirmed with Barrels of Fun executives; provided specific November 3rd date and unit counts

  • ?

    collector_signal: Labyrinth at Expo has 10 units all spoken for; direct website pre-orders numbered in 650s range; Don has deposit down

    high · Don states '10 games that they're bringing to Expo are all spoken for' and notes his order number was in the 650s

  • ?

    code_update: Rush received code update allowing 2112 mode to be selected from the beginning via button hold; Venom also received code update

    high · Don: 'Rush is downloaded. You can play 2112 right now from the beginning just by holding the buttons and picking the mode'

  • ?

    product_concern: Venom's progression system traps players at level 99 unable to replay earlier bosses without full restart; frustrates grinding players

    high · Don detailed 25+ plays stuck on Null, unable to replay mini-bosses without restarting from level 1; suggests this needs code fix

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Venom's final boss Null has time limits and flipper kill mechanics that create frustration; character selection (Gwen) affects difficulty

    high · Don describes Null's five phases with random flipper kills; notes Gwen's middle ramp shot easier to trigger than Venom/Parker's full ramp

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.086

0:00
Don's Pinball Podcast, episode number 76, the pre-expo edition. The secret word is whirlwind. If you happen to find me at the expo, say the word, get a prize. That's how we do it. More details to come. But first, so much news. Have you guys even seen this labyrinth? Kick it.
0:30
There are many ways in and out of this amazing maze. Can you figure your way in and then can you get your way out? That's what we will find out in a maze of scopes and pathways and divergent ball paths and different modes and the cleaners, man. the cleaners the fiery heads i've been blowing up myself going wild over these videos that have dropped from barrels the pinball company barrels of fun bof to your friends uh mr bowen karens has had two videos now on the youtube of the gameplay man and like i really wanted to watch these but then again he's like showing how all the modes work and i want to be surprised a little bit too so i you know went in and out in the living room watching this but man is this a stacked looking game. I'll tell you what this game reminds me of, friends. This reminds me of the first time that I saw Wizard of Oz from Jersey Jack, right? You know, that big LCD screen that was in there. But then you look down at the play field and here's, you know, a witch that pops up from the play field, right? Here's pop-up with tree sculpts on them. Here's this, you know, cool upper play field. One of them has a house on it. The other one has got a gate that you can bash into. And there's all kinds of colorful lights everywhere. But, This game seems to have a little bit more soul in it than The Wizard of Oz did, Jersey Jack's perennial favorite, and a theme that I can jive with. Man, this is Jim Henson is in the name. This is Jim Henson's labyrinth pinball machine. Boom. They blew the doors off to the Muppet warehouse, and, yo, they're in Muppet Labs right now, and this is the first thing to come out. Are we going to see some more? I'm super hyped on this. So watch the labyrinth videos. Go check them out. They're on YouTube. Barrels of Fun put them up. and these guys are going to be on location in a matter of like 36 hours with some labyrinths on the show floor at Expo in Chicago, and I'm going to be there. I'm going to pack up as soon as we're done here, and I'm going to head my butt down there. So this is game. I was looking at it also just kind of from a place field aspect, right? And it kind of looks like somebody took that wide-body hobbit from Jersey Jack and just kind of squeezed it, narrowed, And as they squoze it, there was some material under the play field popped up in the form of more sculpts and ball paths and really cool things. So I like this. I like the theme and the look of Hobbit. The play field was just kind of huge. I like Wizard of Oz. It's just I want more of a contemporary theme for me. And I think this is really kind of delivering. And it's delivering at a fairly okay price. I don't want to pat them on the back too much about price because I don't want to give them carte blanche to go ahead and double it for the next release. But when we're looking at games, this is pretty much going head-to-head almost with a stern premium, like the Venom sitting behind me that I'm going to get to in a minute. That thing delivers for $9,700, $9,800. This one's $10,600, and it's, by all respects, is much more packed and loaded in here. So I like that It's got a lot of the things that I loved About the look of the Hobbit And the play of Wizard of Oz And kind of squashed together Sprinkled with some Muppet magic I'm vibing on this game Your boy's got a Discharge I do not have a discharge, that cleared up I've got a deposit in For Hobbit, I've been up for a couple of days With work So I got a deposit in for Hobbit And, you know, I, but, oh, can we stop and reset for Labyrinth? Labyrinth. Also went in on a topper, too, because you've got to have the Talking Goblin topper. That thing's amazing. When are we going to get these things? So the word is, from Barrels, is that the first 150 that they sold, or at least the ones they sold on the website, will sell direct. The people that have paid in full already are going to be in the early shipment coming, like, November 3rd. I think as soon as they get back from Expo. So I reached out to a couple of the execs from the company, you know, just contacting them through their website. And the 10 games that they're bringing to Expo are all spoken for. So people already got their hands on those. And apparently there's another 10 about to go in boxes down in the Houston factory that will be going out. And then we'll see, you know, what kind of production schedule they can meet. But from my understanding, we're looking at about 150 games, that first 150 out between now and into first, second quarter of 2024.

high confidence · Don states LE is 'on its way' and 'should be at my house soon'; plans powder coat and modifications

  • Don rates Venom a C+ overall, primarily due to code progression frustration rather than layout or mechanisms

    high confidence · Don explicitly states his rating after extensive gameplay; cites code as primary issue

    • Don @ Expo giveaway section — Establishes the 'whirlwind' passphrase incentive for Expo attendees

  • “If it's Elton, let's try to get as hype as we can for it so we can have some excitement when this thing comes out.”

    Don @ Jersey Jack Elton John discussion — Reflects frustration with drip-feed reveals and desire for immediate clarity

  • “I'm glad we have a dialogue. As soon as I know more about the Lebowski topper, which is supposed to be next, I'll let you know.”

    Don @ Lior topper discussion — References upcoming custom topper projects and Don's channel for topper news

  • “I think the game gets a C+. I have the LE armor on its way. It's in Milwaukee. It should be at my house soon.”

    Don @ Venom final rating and plans — Final rating with context of upcoming customizations

    • Pinball Brotherscompany
    Aliengame
    Liorperson
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Spooky Pinballcompany
    Dutch Pinballcompany
    Straight Down the Middle: a pinball showevent
    Wizard of Ozgame
    Hobbitgame
    Godzillagame
    Rushgame
    Mad Pinballcompany
    Pinball Adventurescompany
    Elvira (Blood Red Kiss edition)game
    Wonkagame
    ?

    announcement: Jersey Jack Pinball revealing Elton John officially Thursday at Expo; playfield confirmed via Facebook photo showing 'Elton' dots and record drop targets

    high · Don references Jersey Jack Facebook post with close-up playfield photo; states reveal is 'in two days now'

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Custom topper sculptor Lior confirmed working with Dutch Pinball and Pinball Brothers; has additional unannounced projects in progress

    high · Don: 'I confirmed it. He's not working with them [JJP]. But he did announce that he was working with Dutch Pinball. And then out of nowhere, Pinball Brothers has stuff too.'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Labyrinth features forked left orbit that holds ball in certain modes, enabling kinetic flipper shots to send ball backwards through spinner

    high · Don describes forks that pop up on left orbit, ball locks there, players can kinetically hit it backwards through spinner as integrated mode mechanic

  • $

    market_signal: Labyrinth at $10,600 positioned as direct competitor to Stern Premium tier ($9,700-$9,800) with claimed superior feature density

    high · Don: 'This one's $10,600, and it's, by all respects, much more packed and loaded in here' vs Venom at $9,700-$9,800

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Don shifted from considering discarding Venom to cautious appreciation after breakthrough game following rest period; planning LE customizations

    high · Don: 'I was ready to list it on Pinside. Somebody come and take it.' Then after break: 'Game number two, the next morning I just beat him.'

  • ?

    event_signal: Don planning multi-day Expo coverage with daily interviews, reviews of Labyrinth/Elements/Elton John, giveaways, raffles, live streaming

    high · Don: 'I'm hoping to jump in and record something every day that I'm there... We'll have reviews on everything, Labyrinth, Elements, Elton John.'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Custom spinner installation on Venom's left orbit possible using Pinball Life bracket; fits between existing post and ball guide with minimal drilling

    high · Don detailed spinner installation: $15-$20 cost, drilled one hole, cut notch for ball guide, holds perfectly with pliers adjustment

    • 5:08
    So they're going to run before they walk or walk before they run or run before they blast off. But either way, that's kind of what we're expecting as far as games come out. So I got my word out to them. I bought directly through the website. Now, my order number was in the 650s. So at first I took that to mean that like, oh, man, half of these things are already sold. But I don't know. They might have had, you know, lower numbered allotments for the distributors. And then this is the allotments for the preorders from the website. I don't know. I'll try to get some clarification on that when I run into these guys. But I'm digging this game. Whoa, mic problems. We good? We good. It's all falling apart today. Oh, geez. So how was that?
    5:51
    Things I'm digging about this. I like the play fit. I like how packed it is. The modes seem fun. I like the call-outs and the theme and all that business. I love the extra LCD screen. When I was watching the video with Bowen, it didn't look like it was utilized a whole lot. Really, most of the time it just kind of had the elaborate letters, and as you're hitting these white shots, it adds a letter. Every now and then it had something cool with the modes. But I really want to see some more atmospheric code get in there, and I think we'll hopefully see some of that coming forward. The little things, though. Did you see the forks on that left orbit that pop up to hold a ball? So there's certain modes where as the ball is coming down or as it goes up and rolls over that switch, these forks will come up and hold the ball there. And then right behind it is where that spinner is, that left orbit spinner. And so when you're in a mode, your ball can lock up there, and then you can take your other ball and kinetically smash it through the forks, sending the ball backwards up into the spinner, and that is integrated into mode. And I dig that. That's a fun gameplay element. You know, when you notice, hey, cool, the ball is locked up there. Let me go and hit it. And then you get that satisfying left orbit shot. Send it backwards through the flipper. Flippers. Spinners. God, I've got to reset this whole episode. You know, that's the kind of thing that I'm kind of into. That a fun gameplay element and it didn require like a huge leap of you know expensive mechanism or something to bring it to life And so I excited for that and to see where some of the other ball paths are the little ball diverters where the subways go And I am in absolute love with that right ramp wire form, how it comes down, slings to the right, and then does that quick U-turn and then drops in the in lane. It's magic, man. I want to just rip that all day long. So I'm hype on Labyrinth. When is it going to come? We still don't know yet. But I think we're going to end Expo weekend knowing a heck of a lot more about this game and its production than we have going into it. And I'm going to get my filthy hands all over it. I can't wait. I'm going to go touch it. I want to see what that powder coat looks like in person. See if it is just kind of like a maroon burgundy, you know, kind of rusty blood color. Or like if it's got some sparkle. Did it go with some illusion? I'll report back because I'm all about the powder coat, you guys. Moving on to Venom. I've got a Venom review. But Don, this game just came out. How can you have a review already? Because, dear listener, I have put over 100 gameplays through this thing. I checked the audits yesterday. I have finally beaten Null. So I've been through the main storyline of the game finally. I was getting myself pretty frustrated with this game. You can check it out on the live stream. I mean, I was ready to drag it out to the curb at one point. So what had happened was, right, you know, it's got this code progression where you level up. It saves your progress. It doesn't really save your linear progress. It really saves whatever stage you are at. So, you know, as you play through, you know, the three mini modes and you activate that battle, of which there's four mini bosses to start off with, as long as you're at level 10, then you fight them. And if you beat them, they stay beaded, right, defeated. Then you can go around and play and try to do the other ones or just work your way up through Grendel and Null all the way up at the end there. My problem was As you level up It's easier to beat the bosses So I'm leveling up, I'm getting through them I beat all four of them, then I went for Grendel That was a bit of a grind, but I managed to get through it And then I got to Null And so here I am, playing this game Logging in, I'm at level 99 now My playtime is up over 5 hours And I just keep dying To Null For reasons I'll be playing okay and the time will expire or I'll be playing and ready to hit one of the final shots and then my flipper dies. There's nothing I can do about that.
    9:33
    Or I just hit an out lane or something or straight down the middle drain, which isn't that bad in this game. But the problem is when I restart, I'm still there. I'm at level 99. I can't go up any more than I am. It's already only taking me two or three shots to get through each of the phases, but there's five phases. They're time limited. and randomly if you don't hit him quick enough, he kills a flipper. And then what do you do, man? Unless you're like Magic Nudge Machine, you're done at that point. And then you just got to start right back where you were and play the three mini modes and then, okay, now go back to null. And I was grinding through this guy. I must have put like 25 plays or something through it. Sometimes facing null multiple times in the same three-ball game and still failing. And it's not like I could go back and say, okay, well, let me, you know, go through and play these mini-bosses again. Like, there's no way to get back into them without, you know, finishing the complete game and then starting back at level one. So, you know, it reminded me, like, of the frustration you would have back in the NES days for, you know, my friends in the 30s and 40s that had those games when they came out. You get yourself into a point where it's like Either you saved it or you got to this level Where the only way to progress Was to get through this boss or something And if he was too difficult That's as far as you ever got in that game And the rest of the game that you had played through You couldn't go back and do it without starting completely over from the beginning When you log in You can pick to continue your progress Or start over But use your same file so you get the achievements and things But the problem is you know if I'm fighting null and getting frustrated I can go back and start a game at level 1 you know but then you know I may do the 3 mini modes but then you still can't fight the mini bosses until you're level 10 and then even if you do get to level 10 do that 3 ball game which is doable you're under leveled you know and so it's going to be more difficult to get through them and then what do you do you drain and then you have to start back at level 1 or you can go back to level 99 and just be up against the null wall there's like no in between So my hope is that there'll be some nuance or something in the code where you'll at least have the option, you know, if you need a break from Null to, like, go back and just battle those other guys just for something different to do. So I was getting dang frustrated with Venom. I was ready to chuck this thing, list it on Pinside. Somebody come and take it. And then Glory. I just had a good game. You know, you'll play a game, you know, like 30 times in a row, and it's just, like, grinding against the – your nose is against the stone, man. You're just not making any progress. And then you take a step away, you go to bed, you come back the next day Game number two, the next morning I just beat him I woke up in the morning, I had my frosty Cheerios I went down and just beat the guy like it was no big deal So, uh I'm liking the game again now Now I'm back at level one again I got to unlock Wolverine And now I'm playing through with a new character Which is what I wanted to do So the game's redeemed itself a bit to me I still wouldn't put this up in the upper echelon of games You know, this can't compete with Godzilla, man. You know, you start a game of Godzilla, and it's just kind of up to you what you want to do. Do you want to play tanks? Do you want to play jets? Do you want to play Mechagodzilla? You know, do you want to shoot ramps? Do you want to try to go through the main modes? Do you just want to, you know, battle one of the guys and then get to a different city? Like, what do you want to get out of the game? Like, you can pivot. You know, so it's not just like grinding against the same objective over and over, which is what I'm finding out that I'm doing with Venom. Now, I will say I'm very happy that I have Venom in the home on free play So I can sit there and just like 15 times go through games without just wasting money, right? And, you know, I can at least hear the game. I can make sure it's leveled so that the shots fit, you know, well where they should be. Instead of playing this game on location where, you know, I might be going through seven, eight dollars going through eight or nine plays. And then, you know, little Timmy's behind me and he wants time on the machine. So then I got to take a break and it's like I want to get back in there and try to grind through this. So it's a good game to have at home. I guess it's a good game to play on locations. You don't have to commit to this particular game, especially with everything else that's coming out. So how would I rank Venom? I mean, you know, if an F is a bad game and an A is a fantastic game and a C is just a serviceable pinball machine that's, you know, it's not fun to play, you know, but it's not terribly great, I think I'm at like a C plus on this. And, you know, it's not so much because of just the layout, which is a bit light on mechanisms and things, but it really is the code and I really thought the code was the thing I was going to like about it but I just hate being stuck like that so the good thing is these are things that are fixable with code there would be a way that you could go in there and if you're up against null for the 50th time you just not going to do it you can select maybe one of the different guys I could see that happening Or just like a separate challenge mode that you could start That easy So I think it going to improve I will say the doppelganger mech, super fun. Every time he comes out, the first time he flips out, one of his inserts is lit, and that's the shot you have to do to finish that mode. Then the next time there's one, you do that one. Then another one lights up. Then the third time you have to hit three different shots in a row. It's fun and it's engaging. I like when it pops out during the multi-balls, too, because then you have all your ball frenzies are going on. And even though the one insert is lit that you're supposed to hit, if you hit the other ones, there's a good light show reaction. Like the whole field strobes red for a little bit. So that is fun, and that's just not on the pro at all. It is fun to take a break and go through the different characters and change up the play field a little bit, too. I did find that as I was grinding towards Null, it was easier to get the modes done if I picked Gwen. Gwen has that sort of middle station on the tilting thing. Or maybe it's all the way back. But it's the one where you can shoot straight through it, so it plays almost like the pro. The nice thing about that is when you hit that shot, it'll register just by crossing the opto at the play field. You don't have to completely go up the entire 180 ramp and get to the wire form 4 to trigger like you do with Venom or Peter Parker. So when I was in the mode of just trying to get back to Null as quick as I could, Gwen was a great character to pick for that reason. Because even if the ball is bouncing off a sling or something, as long as it registers that opto right at the entrance, it registers that shot. So that made it a little bit easier. I did appreciate that. So take that as my tip. I think the game gets a C+. I have the LE armor on its way. It's in Milwaukee. It should be at my house soon. I'm going to take it out, get it powder coated, and I'll be able to unveil what I have done to Venom. That includes the Taco Bell building, the spinner I put in there. I haven't even talked about that yet. I put a spinner in Venom. Let me spend two minutes on that. So I bought the left-handed, I guess it's left or right-handed, but the one-sided spinner bracket from Pinball Life. And right there on the left orbit, right at the base, at least it is on the premium I've signed on the LE, there's a space in the plastic. And right underneath there, there's access to the screw for the ball guide on the left orbit and also a post that sits right there. So there's a post bolt. and they're close enough together that you can just put the spinner right through them. I had to drill out the lower hole, you know, the one more closer to the flippers, the downfield one. I just had to take it up one side with just a regular, you know, high-speed drill bit so that the post would fit through there. And then I cut a little notch in the other hole just so it would slide underneath the, what is it, like a hex cap, a hex screw, wood screw, or a panhead wood screw with the kind of hex bolt pattern. Anyway, it slides right under there for the ball guide and holds this thing perfectly in place. I took my pliers and did just a little bit of a twist on the spinner itself just to get it perfectly aligned, and it is super fun. Now, there's no micro switch attached to it, right? It doesn't have any, you know, code in the game to interact with, you know, but it does spin like an opto spinner, you know, so when you rip it, man, it goes for a while. I'm on the hunt at Expo to find some stickers for it that would make sense, or maybe I'll order the Star Wars ones from Stern's Star Wars game because it's got that cool sparkly light field on it. I think that would look fun spinning around. But it's totally fun to rip this spinner, man. There's no sound attached to it, but you can hear it, like that metal satisfying clink and the spin, and it just keeps going. Love it. So if you want to add a spinner to Venom, it's totally easy to do. It costs like $15 to $20, and then you can put the thing right in there. So I'm having fun with that. The Taco Bell Tower is just ridiculous, and it pleases me. I kind of dig it. Otherwise, I'll be ready to get Venom dressed up soon. So I spent some time with it. I put over 100 games through this. I beat Null. I played through. I'm playing as Wolverine now. I like that the game plays a little bit different with him, and I want to play through again. I think the next time I get to Null, I'll be able to do better. I beat the whole game, 5 hours and 30 minutes, right around there. So it was a bit of a grind. But, you know, I'm already at Grendel and I'm only an hour or so through the second playthrough, so I think it'll be a little better. I'm dialing the shots in. It really is important to get the game leveled left to right because the left orbit, at least, is backhandable as long as it's leveled properly. I may not have it perfectly dialed because I can't backhand the right orbit. I want to play some on location and see, like, if that's a thing and maybe I can fine-tune it a little more. Anyway, there's my Venom take. If you're excited about this game and you want to get it at some point, I think it's worthwhile having at home at some point, but I don't know that it's going to be a game that people are going to bolt to the floor figuratively. But, you know, it's a serviceable Stern game, so there's your review. Let's talk about Expo for a minute. I'm getting almost all the way loaded up and ready. I've got prize packs I'm giving away. I was at the Louisville Arcade Show back in March, and I did this thing where I took some of my T-shirts and some stickers and things, and I made these little prize pack envelopes for people, and the keyword there was whitewater. If you happened to see me walking around the show floor and you came up and said whitewater, out of my bag I pulled out one of these packages and handed it to you. We got a selfie. It was a good time. I brought four of them. Three people partook and won, and it was a lot of fun. So I'm doing it again. I've got ten packages this time. The keyword will be whirlwind, right? Let's just keep it classic. So if you see me, come up. That's your passcode. You have to listen to this episode to know what that is. And then, you know, while supplies last, I'll have something to give you.
    19:58
    I've got ten of these things to give away. I'll probably do three or four a day until they're gone. You know, I'll try to do one per group. So if three people come up, you know, kind of maybe just share it amongst yourselves or something. If I'm out of shirts for the day, I've got stickers and things. You won't leave empty-handed. You'll get something. And it will be worth more than a handshake. So if you see me there, whirlwind is the passphrase that pays. There it is. I got so much stuff planned, man. I'm hoping to jump in and record something every day that I'm there. Let's kind of recap. I'm bringing my equipment around. I've already got some people interested in some maybe interviews. So if I record that, we'll upload it at the end of the day or between parties or whatever. We'll have reviews on everything, Labyrinth, Elements, Elton John. We can talk about that next. What's Stern got? Stern's bringing the Blood Red Kiss edition of Elvira. I can't wait to see what that black and white looks like with the red highlights. Are we going to see some toppers maybe? That's rumored. Pinball Brothers is going to be there with Alien. They've got the Ripley version. Hopefully they have one of these Lior toppers that's out there. I was talking to Lior online. He's really excited about the sculpts that he's doing. He's got some other projects that he can't talk about yet, which has me excited, which means that this wasn't just a one-off. We heard about Lior working with pinball companies, and we were thinking it was going to be JJP. But no, no. I confirmed it. He's not working with them. But he did announce that he was working with Dutch Pinball. And then out of nowhere Pinball Brothers has stuff too And there may still be another company out there as well So I excited about that He excited which excites me So I glad we have a dialogue As soon as I know more about the Lebowski topper which is supposed to be next I'll let you know. I told him, put me on your blast list. If you've got information, let me know and I'll get it out there. I'm hyped for the Lebowski topper. This alien topper looks pretty sweet, man. I mean, if I had the game, I would have to have this thing. it's $13.95 MSRP and Pinball Brothers is going to be shipping them here pretty soon they also have a whole gamut of other sculpts that are in the Ripley version that will be available for the other ones as well and we get a nice juicy code update so that's fantastic speaking of the code updates, we got code updates for not only Rush but Venom as well today, Rush is downloaded you can play 2112 right now from the beginning just by holding the buttons and picking the mode so that's cool what a zany 6 ball multi ball mode that thing is. And then Venom's got code. I'm about halfway through downloading it right now. I haven't got in there to see what's going on. But maybe they've already implemented some of these things that have already occurred to me that would be a good idea. So we're excited about that. I'm excited about Expo. I cannot wait. I'm hitting the road in the morning. We're going to get down there. I'm going to have stuff to give away.
    22:45
    Oh, I'm doing a raffle too. I'm going to be doing two raffles it turns out. So I've got some prize buckets that I made. Some gift baskets Well, the wife put together for me. They're loaded with T-shirts from myself, from the show's sponsor, Mad Pinball, and all sorts of other accoutrements and cups and hats and visors and other – and there's books – crap. Whoa. We good? There's books and things in there, a ton of stickers, a ton of T-shirts, some hats. It's nuts, man. I'm going to have two of these things to raffle off. The raffle is free. All you have to do is stop by the table and put a ticket in. There'll be a drawing that afternoon, and you just have to be present to pick the thing up, right? So I've got two companies now, Pinball Adventures and Spooky, have both signed on that they're going to allow me to do the raffles from their booth. So what I'm thinking is Friday I'll do one, Saturday I'll do the other one. I'll announce it on the Facebook page, so be sure that you're following so you know which one to go to. The baskets will be out there. There'll be a little jar. You just come by, get a raffle ticket, write your phone number on it, stick it in the thing, and we'll draw and call people until somebody answers the phone and comes by and picks it up. We'll do one on Friday. We'll do one on Saturday. I'm going to post pictures up on the Facebook page. It's going to be live. It's going to be lit. And it's free, man, a free whole bunch of stuff for you. We throw all kinds of crap in there. You're going to love it. And then you'll have a bucket. Take it home and eat cereal out of it or something. That's yours to keep, courtesy of Don's Pinball Podcast and the podcast sponsor, Mad Pinball. Email Jeff. Get yourself a machine. He's got them loaded. He's got aliens on order, man. And if you want a Ripley, get in on there now, man. The list is open. He's got machines. He'll get them out to you.
    24:23
    Spooky Pinball is going to be at Expo. They are not unveiling a new game. I confirmed that the other day. Will they have some other stuff there? Perhaps. Have you been watching the stream? Have you been watching Bugs Gameplay streams? Have you been watching the new Bugs Screamin' Steamin' Demon show? I forget what he called it. If you did, there's a passcode to go win something free from him, so be sure you check it out. But, yeah, he's live streaming. Everybody's live streaming. There's room for everybody. Get in on this. Speaking of getting in on this, how about some purple stage lights for my boy Elton John? We got a photo from Jersey Jack today on their Facebook page of, like, a close-up of the ball on the play field of their new game. And everything else in the background is completely blurry. You can only see a portion of the play field. But that didn't stop Internet Sleuths from zooming in on these photos and trying to pick apart every little blurry smudge of color that they could find from the play field. So if you look at it in the abstract, there's dots on the play field that spell out Elton. So, I mean, that is the game. This isn't Hogwarts Legacy that we're getting.
    25:31
    Behind the ball, completely out of focus are a bank of three drop targets with records on them. Somebody zoomed in on the reflection of the ball itself. and you can see what I get. I don't know if we're just looking at clouds trying to see things, but they can see a caricature of Elton John with his flamboyant sunglasses there on the side too, just further confirming that that's what this game is. I'm glad they're revealing in two days now because I don't want to go through this drip feed of stuff. If it's Elton, let's try to get as hype as we can for it so we can have some excitement when this thing comes out. Hopefully, they'll be there to play. Now, they're not releasing it until later in the day on Thursday, which is in two days. Does that mean that they're not going to have any on the game floor when the show opens? Will there be some on the game floor afterwards? Are they going to do the Stern Batman 66 things where it's cordoned off and you just look at the machine? I hope not. It's Jersey Jack. They should have some games there to play. Come out and play Elton John. I'm going to be playing it, and I'll give you my honest feedback from it. I saw what I saw with Labyrinth and I put a deposit down I am not on a list to get Elton John but I'm desperately hoping that it really surprises me and blows me away I've got a Steve Ritchie game sitting behind me so I'm into the dude hopefully it shoots really well and if it's something like Wonka or better with a rockin' music theme and the updated flipper power it could be a fairly decent machine So I'm excited to see it and I'm excited to play it. We'll see what we see. So many games, man. I'm going to be covering it all every day. I'm going to try to do something, whether it's a live or a podcast or something. Follow the Facebook page because I think that's the easiest place that I can drop information quickly from the show floor. That's where I can quickly do live interviews. And so that would be a good way to kind of follow virtually along amongst everything else. So I think that's probably everything I have for now. I'm going to Expo tomorrow. I'm going to be on site. I hopefully will have to fix this microphone.
    27:38
    Whirlwind is the phrase that pays. If you see me, say that to me, and you'll get something. If I've got prize packs left for the day, they are yours. If you want to pick yourself up a T-shirt, I've got stock locked up in a nearby location. It's undisclosed. But I'll be staying at the hotel, so I'll be able to get something to you. So if you want to pick up a T-shirt at Special Show Pricing, man, we can do that. I'll be wearing the gear. The new shirt is awesome, man. I love it. If you just want some free stickers, man, hit me up. I will hook you up. Otherwise, we'll talk. We'll hang out. It's going to be a good time. Let's get some nachos. Let's throw some White Claws. Let's have some Diet Coke. Grab a Dr. Pepper. Whatever you're into, man. It's cool.
    28:16
    Special thanks to Jeff at Mad Pinball. I'm so happy that you believe in me, dude. Thank you for all the stuff that we're going to give away at the raffle, man. We're going to have raffle winners. We're going to have prize pack winners. We're going to have sticker winners. We're going to be high-fiving women and shaking babies. It's going to be nuts. I can't wait for Expo. It's happening soon. I've got to finish packing. Hopefully I'll be able to livestream something for you too, man. It's all happening.
    28:38
    Later.