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Episode 221 – A Christmas Episode

Slam Tilt Podcast·podcast_episode·1h 24m·analyzed·Dec 25, 2023
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Slam Tilt Christmas episode covers Jaws reveal, awards drama, and Pedretti Gaming's new Williams partnership.

Summary

Ron and Bruce discuss pinball news on Christmas morning, including the Jaws reveal announcement, Twippy awards changes, pinball industry awards restructuring, a 100-person Pinberg-style event at Past Times Arcade in Ohio, Papa Championships rumors, and a partnership between Planetary Pinball and Pedretti Gaming to produce Williams Valley remakes using Fast Boards. They also compare pinball to professional darts and discuss recent tournament results.

Key Claims

  • Jaws will be Keith Elwin's fifth Cornerstone game, with three years since his last release (Godzilla in 2021)

    high confidence · Ron and Bruce discussing the Jaws announcement; confirmed timeline of Godzilla release

  • Twippy Committee removed Josh Sharp from the committee between November and the content creator award elimination announcement

    high confidence · Ron verified this via Wayback Machine archive.org, confirming Sharp was listed in November but not in later announcement

  • Twippies backpedaled on eliminating content creator awards and created one unified 'Favorite Pinball Content Creator' category

    high confidence · Direct quote from official announcement read on air regarding category changes and feedback response

  • Planetary Pinball partnered with Pedretti Gaming to produce Williams Valley titles because Chicago Gaming is too slow

    high confidence · Ron presenting official announcement; confirmed Twilight Zone as next title; both companies will continue working together

  • Pedretti Gaming and Pinball Brothers partnered to form Euro Pinball Corp but still operate separately

    medium confidence · Ron found announcement of partnership but clarified they operate independently and continue separate production

  • Fast Boards (used by Pedretti Gaming) are open-source, unlike Chicago Gaming's proprietary boards

    medium confidence · Bruce's commentary comparing Fast Boards to proprietary systems; noting manuals availability differences

  • Papa Championships expected to be announced December 28th with first event in several years

    low confidence · Ron citing rumors he's heard; no official confirmation; last Papa Championship was 2019

  • Past Times Arcade hosting 100-person Pinberg-style event in March, weekend after TPF

    high confidence · Facebook announcement by Past Times Arcade; Ron notes limited details and predicts instant sellout

Notable Quotes

  • “They're a cash cow, and they don't have anything from them for three years. Well, they got a great game. They got what, Bond that no one bought because it's like $25,000?”

    Ron Hallett @ early in episode — Commentary on Stern's release strategy and Bond's commercial performance despite premium pricing

  • “Everything pinball wishes it could be. Packed houses. Insane fans. It's awesome.”

    Ron Hallett @ mid-episode — Comparing professional darts championship spectacle to pinball's lack of mainstream appeal and engagement

  • “It's the only pinball show of this year. The only pinball show.”

    Ron Hallett @ awards discussion — Referring to G-Genny's (Pinball Degenerates awards) as the only remaining pinball awards ceremony

  • “They're going to be making Twilight Zones, which is the rumor next title... I think it's going to be a shit show beyond shit show.”

    Bruce Nightingale @ partnership discussion — Skeptical assessment of Pedretti Gaming's capability to produce Williams Valley titles

  • “The only reason why they're doing this is because they have white body.”

    Bruce Nightingale @ late episode — Bruce's cynical take on why Planetary Pinball is partnering with Pedretti Gaming

Entities

Slam Tilt PodcastorganizationRon HallettpersonBruce NightingalepersonJawsproductKeith ElwinpersonTwippieseventTexas Pinball FestivaleventG-Genny'sevent

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Pedretti Gaming using open-source Fast Boards for Williams remakes instead of proprietary systems

    medium · Bruce confirming Fast Boards are open-source and discussing implications for repairability and manuals

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Significant controversy over Twippy awards elimination and reinstatement reflects community values around content creator recognition

    high · Death threats mentioned; committee member appears to have left over policy changes; quick reversal of decision

  • ?

    competitive_signal: RPC Classic Tournament results show continued competitive play; Zach won A division

    high · Discussion of recent tournament with specific placement results and player commentary

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Bruce expresses skepticism about Pedretti Gaming's ability to produce quality Williams Valley remakes

    medium · Bruce calls partnership 'a shit show beyond shit show'; questions whether they'll use Williams mechs or redesign

  • ?

    event_signal: Past Times Arcade hosting 100-person Pinberg-style tournament in March with expected instant sellout

    high · Facebook announcement by venue; Ron predicts rapid capacity fill given popularity of format

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Star Trek TNG licensing uncertain despite Paramount's generally positive reputation with pinball

Topics

Jaws Pinball AnnouncementprimaryTwippy Awards RestructuringprimaryPlanetary Pinball / Pedretti Gaming PartnershipprimaryPinball Industry Awards ChangesprimaryPapa Championships RevivalprimaryComparative Analysis of Pinball vs Professional DartssecondaryTexas Pinball Festival Management ChangessecondaryWilliams Valley Remakes Production Strategysecondary

Sentiment

mixed(0.35)— Hosts maintain cynical, critical tone throughout. Positive on new announcements (Jaws, awards reinstatement) but deeply skeptical about execution quality and industry direction. Dismissive of Pedretti Gaming's capabilities and worried about Williams remakes quality. Generally pessimistic about pinball's mainstream trajectory despite engaging with community content.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.253

Honey, I'm mad about Christmas, and I'm mad about you. Mwah! Oh. Aw. Uh. Thanks, RoboCop. You saved Christmas. Aw. Better watch out. Women who are stalked by men dressed as Santa. Coming up on Ricky Lake. Why does every channel have some dumb Christmas thing? Maybe it has something to do with, like, um, like, Christmas. or something. Uh, oh yeah. I know. Less like not watch TV. Okay. Ah, no! Turn it on! Turn it back on! No, Beavis. This is Christmas. Let's go out and find some chicks. Oh, yeah. Tears of the season. Coming to you from beautiful upstate New York, this is the Slamtail Podcast, a show about all things pinball. I'm your host, Ron Hallett, here with my other host, Bruce Nightingale. Merry fucking Christmas. It is fucking truly Christmas Day. And I got Ron working. Yes, yes. The fans have spoken. They don't care about me getting any time off. They just want more content. Yes. So here we go. On Christmas morning. On Christmas morning. Eight o'clock exactly. Yes, this episode will be called a Christmas episode. This is all for you, our listeners. Mm-hmm. Yes. You couldn't give me the day off at all. No, what's day off? so it's christmas morning bruce what have you have you gotten any have you gotten a new uh machine have you gotten any new games no nope nope nope nope me and kathy don't exchange so it's just a plain simple normal day we're gonna see godzilla today ah wait a minute so movie theaters are open on christmas yes they are oh so i'm seeing godzilla at 11 a.m tickets already in hand wow okay well that gives us a hard cut off for this episode it can't go more than two hours or so two and a half hours no the movie theater is five minutes from my house ah yes and it'll be at least half hour before the movie actually starts and i have reserved seats so i can just walk in like at 11 15 like do do do do do so we have three hours of fun playing for you it no fuck that yeah so let's see what did i do i got my presents yeah i saw that i got a gift certificate for the pizza place i go to i got m&ms which i already finished and a sweater that says slam tilt on it yeah yeah from dad and i guess i got nothing from dad oh see see how this works well the other half of the slam or tilt you got both i got nothing well in another month when whenever he listens to this episode yeah he'll realize the error of his ways and he'll have to order one up for himself for me oh my extra large super extra large uh double x double x yes yes i take sexy i take medium yeah i know you do all right are you ready to get started i am ready to get started okay uh what's news in the world the jaws reveal oh that didn't oh that's right yeah the jaws reveal that everyone kept on saying except for us yeah i always figured it'd be in january it's gonna be in january i knew it was gonna be in january that's why i wasn't going we're gonna get this no you're not gonna get this month you're not even here this year it's next month you know i was thinking about this So Jaws will be Keith Elwin's fifth Cornerstone game. Yes. You know how many years now it's been since his last one when that comes out? A year and a half. No, no, no, no. Godzilla was two years? Godzilla came out in 2021. Wow. Three years. Yeah. Think about that. Wow. They're a cash cow, and they don't have anything from them for three years. Well, they got a great game. They got what, Bond that no one bought because it's like $25,000? I know, but they probably sold all of them by now, right? I don't know. I don't know either. I don't think so. So, yeah, that'll be interesting. That will never be in the house for me. No Jaws? No. Never. You hate sharks? No. Kathy does. Oh. Kathy's first movie she ever saw was when she was, I guess, a young'un, Jaws. Oh, so she can't go into the water. She can't even hear the music. When she hears the music, she gets all freaked out, and that's it. So that will never be in the house. It could be the best title ever. And no. Just when you thought it was safe to put in Bruce's house. No. I hope there's some nudity on this thing. Oh, there's no nudity in the original movie. Yes, there is a nudity in the original movie. There is. She is nude at the beginning, but you can't see anything. But that's what they have to change. It's now 45, 50 years later now. We have to change to be modern. Well, actually, Ron, in the new 4K version, you can clearly see. We see. Okay. Inner thigh. Yes. oh my so i'm excited yeah you're gonna get it i'd have to see what the hell it looks like no you just gotta be like all these other bass munchers just bye bye bye well there is people on you know team elwynn that will buy anything he does so well i thought you were team elwynn i guess you're not team elwynn well i don't have an avenger so i can't really say i'm team elwynn i have the other three so three out of four ain't bad three out of four yes the new title meatloaf you heard it here folks the bat out of hell pinball machine oh that'd be awesome i actually get that how can i try how can i try to hit this shot right now no matter how i try i'll never be able Well, actually, I was thinking of you for something I watched yesterday. Actually, two days ago. Oh, my. I watched. Is that Pornhub again? God, what are you doing? You're trying to give out my password. I watched the World Dart Championships is going on, Bruce. And that's a sport. No. But it's literally everything pinball wishes it could be. Oh, totally. Packed houses. Insane fans. it's awesome i fucking always love watching that shit you gotta watch the british stuff that's the only you know there is no other ones but these guys have fucking intros now they come down and one of them was came down to elo so i thought of you nice yes he comes down to elo another guy evil woman yeah another guy came down to uh sweet caroline for some reason and everyone's singing it sweet carol well he's probably from boston or something like that maybe these guys are all They're all British. Well, not all British. They're different parts of the United Kingdom. They're all fat. There's like one guy that was thin. I don't know how he got in there. It was you. It was you. It was you. Everyone else looks like they literally could be just some dude at a bar playing darts. They're all out of shape. They all have cool nicknames. I wrote some of them down. One guy was the Bronze Adonis. Another guy was the Ferret. The Ferret. another guy and his whole gimmick he plays super fast like he just went after another so he's his name is ricky so they call rapid ricky rapid ricky what would you be your nickname i was thinking of that what the hell would i be called chili ron chili ron you're always have a fucking sweatshirt on yes there you go he have a sweater on whenever i'm playing and they all their custom their own shirts with their nicknames and shit on them. What would my name be? Good question. Asshole Bruce? Yeah, probably. The Ass. The Ass, man. Do you have an ass on the front of your shirt and the back is the hole? But I'm sure it's like everything pinball wishes it could be, with the full intros, with a packed house of rabid fans. I did notice, I watched this years ago, and there'd be like a big cloud of smoke behind them from all the smoking. I noticed that's gone. So they must have did away with it. Like, you can still drink, but we're doing away with the smoking. What? Hey, man, I got to have my smoke. Yeah. Yeah, and it's just awesome. I love it. What's it on usually? Like ESPN? No, no, no. It was on Sky Sports out of Robert Englunds. Someone was simulcasting it on Twitch, their Twitch channel, which I don't even know how that's legal or how that doesn't get pulled. That seems completely wrong to me. No, Ron's not going to be able to watch it anymore. Well, it's weird. It's a long bracket, like a long tournament, and it goes through like Christmas. So this was live, and they're like, this is the last day before our Christmas break, and then they come back in January to finish it up. So I'm going to have to keep my eye out for it. It was like the Stern tournament. Yeah, it was like the Stern circuit or whatever. It just goes on and on. It's just a tournament that never ends. And it goes on and on, my friends. But it just made me think of pinball, the fact that. And what it's craving. And what it's craving, because it's a non-sport played by a bunch of non-athletes, and I swear it actually made the pinball players look in shape by comparison from what I'm seeing. Yes. Yes, Bruce, you would have been one of the thinner players in this. Wow, the nurse. So, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's a ticket, yeah. The thing is, you can understand everything. They're all playing the same game. There's not different games. It's super fast. The matches are over quickly. All the stuff you can't get with pinball. Yeah, that's the problem. That's why you have to edit this. You have the intros, you have everything else. Yeah, see, they don't have the adoring fans. Yeah, they don't have to edit anything. It was all live, and it was all quick. I mean, yeah. Yeah, we wouldn't have the editing and that kind of stuff. We wouldn't have the super rabid fans. No. No. Not at all. No. All right. Let's get this. So let's go back and do Awards R Us. Yeah. You must have known what I was going to say. Yes. Of course. I always know. We had our very long conversation about the Twippies. Yeah. Yeah. We got a shout-out on the pinball show. We did. Good. Well, I did. Oh. Zach shouted me out. You know, my informed opinion about everything. You barely said anything. Yes, it was very informed opinion. Which agreed with mine. Pretty much. Yeah. So thanks, Zach. You fucking cocksucker. Wow. Wow. So. Because I even had to ask you, what was your opinion? You said exactly. Oh, yeah. I really agree with you. But he calls you out. Mm-hmm. What a fucking asshole. Okay. So there was another trippy announcement. Actually, there's a couple more announcements. Two more announcements. So they had no live show this year. Yeah, which is... Due to a variety of circumstances, both in and outside of our control, we will not be performing a live award show. I heard a couple things. I heard that actually TPF was also in on not wanting this. Yeah. The thing is, you've got to remember, there's different management this year at the Texas Pinball Festival. Yeah. Ed Van Der Veen and his wife Kim, and there was a third guy who I can't remember. I don't believe they're doing it this year. It's different organizers. I don't know who they are, so it's possible they had a different view or opinion or wanted to do something different. There was also the whole death threat thing and all that going on. Why would there be death threats in pinball? The funny thing is I'm trying to think. Almost 20 years now? Damn. In pinball, how many times have I seen actual violence of any kind? And I'm thinking twice. Nice. Once was by Chris. Good job there, Chris. Chrissy, please. The other time I saw the aftermath. I saw a guy that was on the losing end of a fight. Got the shit beat out of him. and the cops were actually going into the game hall to get the guy to kick the shit out of him. That was at Texas. Excellent. So he should be happy he didn't get shot. Yeah, exactly. The other announcement was they backpedaled a little bit on the whole no content creator award thing. Yep. So we still have a chance, Bruce. No, we don't. I don't know. I saw the ballot on the drop-down, at least on my drop-down. We were the first ones listed. Wow. Yeah, which I don't get because it's not in alphabetical order. Maybe it's in order of how long we've been around, but there's other ones that have been around. Eclectic Gamers podcast has been around longer than us, so I don't get it. Yeah. I don't get it. Let's see. What does it say? We've been disappointed in the reaction to our category changes for pinball content creators. Surprise, surprise. Don't say. However, we've heard the feedback and recognize the importance of encouraging promoting those who work hard. So basically, they're going to create one category called Favorite Pinball Content Creator, which encompasses everything. And if you've won a Twippy in the past, you can't win. So we have a chance. Honestly, I don't even want to be associated. Straight Down the Middle doesn't have a chance. Dead Flip doesn't have a chance. Chris doesn't have a chance. Pinside doesn't have a chance. Pinball Magazine doesn't have a chance. Papa Pinball doesn't have a chance. This Week in Pinball doesn't have a chance. and TNT Amusements doesn't have a chance. Anyone else has a chance to win an award? Yes. So if you won, Bruce, would you go to Texas? I don't know. Actually, what am I saying? There's no ceremony. So would you film a clip at least? Well, it would have to be in a privacy of my own home. Cover it up. No, you should film it at RPC and just plug the shit out of it. Yes. Hey, everyone, I am here at RPC. Like a commercial. Yes. Where is RPC? That is in beautiful East Rochester, New York. That would be the Rochester Pinball Collective. Yes, it would be. 349 West Commercial Street, East Rochester, New York, suite number 2965. I did notice something about this announcement. You know the deal where I remember everything I see on the Internet? Yeah. So when I'm reading the announcement, below the announcement it has the committee members, the Twippy Committee. Yeah. And I'm looking at him, and I'm like, wasn't Josh Sharpe on the Twippy Committee? Yes, he was. And I went to the Wayback Machine. Thank you, archive.org. Of course, it's great. And in November, he was listed. When they had the announcement where they got rid of all the content creator awards, he was no longer listed. Maybe he didn't agree with it. Maybe we should have Josh on just so he can say nothing. We should. But we haven't had him on in a while, and we can also talk about the updated. Come on, you know he's got an NDA. Well. He cannot confirm or deny anything. That's his whole gimmick. He can talk to us about the new points. Do you think, like, he teaches his kids about NDAs, like, immediately, like the first? Like, they're signing NDAs when they're 10, because it's just. Now, kids. Do they have the most NDAs ever? Here we go with an NDA, just for you and me. Yeah. No. What else happened with the award ceremonies? Oh, yes. The pinball awards, formerly the pinball industry awards. Yes. The ones off of the pinball network. Yes. My crew, which were my podcast, my other podcast, Silver Ball Chronicles, can be heard. Check out our new Capcom episode in two parts. That's going to be heard on the pinball network. Nothing. Nothing? No? Don't you listen to them, Bruce? Aren't they informative? Don't you like them? I haven't listened lately. I don't want to be biased by all the wrong information. Maybe that's why we haven't had any correction emails lately, because you're just not doing them. Yeah, I am. Yeah, they announced. And the thing is, this is weird. They had a Facebook post where they said they weren't going to do them, and then it disappeared. Yes. So we actually, that was the one edit I made in the last episode. We talked about it. But then the post was gone, so I took it out in case we weren't supposed to say anything or something. Yeah, but guess what? We're Bruce and Ron. We can say anything we want. Well, it's just, yeah, it's just a shit show. It's all a fucking shit show. But I missed that. That was the pinball industry. Like, we voted on that. People actually know stuff, you know? Yep. What are you saying, Bruce? Our listeners don't know things? Uh-oh, I'm going to get in trouble. They don't. it's the people choice awards man i always bring it back to that that cincinnati reds all-star team back in what was it the 50s yes where they had some massive writing campaign and they got like every starter on the on the national league team was from cincinnati yep and then the next year they they did away with the fan vote for a while because of that because that bias because yeah that that was yeah i think it was just to get out of jail free card they went well we don't do this Now, this would have been the time to do it. Well, because of the sheer amount of games. Pure amount of games, pure amount of, guess what? The other company is not doing it. So now, look, we're doing it, and now we are the only ones, and we're still doing it. There's only one award ceremony this year, the only one that now matters. That would be the G-Genny's. You got it, baby. I got that right next on my list. Joe Cherubino, it's the G-Genny's. They're one reward. They won awards show. Did I say reward? I did. One award show. Yes, you said reward. Have you won one of these? Yes, I have. Yeah, see, I haven't won a Degeni. See, you're not worthy like us Degenis. We are degenerates. I am not. I'm definitely not degenerate enough. Yeah, I am. So what's going on? Well, I think all the awards are voted on by Joe Churchill himself. Well, no, no, no. You can nominate people. You can nominate people, yeah. And then he votes on it, which is the way it should be. It is one body. It's like Stalin. Stalin. I let you live, I let you die. So it's all off of Facebook, right? Yes, it is. There's going to be an awards show in February. Yes. So check it out. Look for the Pinball Degenerates group and put your nominations in. Since it's the only pinball show of this year. It's the only pinball show. And we'll have Joe on, I think, beforehand. The D-Jenny's. So, Joe, contact us, since I know you do listen. And we'll get your ass on to brag about the only award show of 2023. He hates volley, though. That's weird. Well, you know, he's not perfect. None of us are. Wait a sec, wait a sec. We have Zach on. We have perfection every time. Oh, that's true. That's true. I forgot Zach was perfection. Well, we didn't mention that, actually, we will be going through the Twippy ballot later on this show. Oh, we will be? Yes, we will. We will. The full one where we actually just add people in? No, no, no. We're going to be going through the Twippy ballot. Oh, God. And we're going to be putting our votes in. Let's see. There was a Past Times announcement, you know, Past Times Arcade in Ohio. Yep. Did you see that, Bruce? I did so they gonna have a and i didn pop style Yeah Well Pinberg style right Pinberg style Yeah Of 100 people 100 people in March It's the weekend after TPF. Yes. You know how fast this thing is going to fucking sell out? Well, they put an event on their Facebook page, and I can't find any information about like – I know. I think there was an Evan Bright or whatever it's called, Everbright thing. But when you click on it, I couldn't find anything that says when they actually go on sale or any other info. I think it said more info coming soon. That's all it said. So, yeah, that will probably sell out instantly, like within one to two seconds. Yes. So, I mean, I won't be going to that. I mean, I'm going to TPF the weekend before. I don't want to do two consecutive. No, no, I don't blame you either. Yeah, that's too much. I totally agree. Yeah. Totally agree. But interesting. I wonder if that's just like a little – now, do you think that had anything – now, Papa hasn't announced anything, so. No, they have not. No, so. I don't know. It's all up in the air. That would be the place to do it, if anything, because it was an old – what's it called? Food market. Supermarket, yeah. Yeah, grocery store. and you know it's building big enough for parking and that kind of stuff but it would never be papa papa was original with uh everyone hanging outside and doing their own things and you know it was mostly people from the area originally doing it and then of course it went to you know regional Then it went nationwide, and then it went worldwide. Worldwide! Yes. So for Papa, I keep hearing December 28th is when some announcement will be made. So I don't know how true that is. Where would you have it? Now, is it just the Papa Championships? I have no idea. It's not going to be Pembroke. With the games gone? Yeah, they don't have the games. They don't have the games. So that's everyone who's thinking it's Pinberg and hoping it's Pinberg. It's not Pinberg. It's going to be the Papa Championships. We have not had one in a couple of years since before COVID. Since 2019. Yeah, the longest reign of anyone. Well, maybe not the longest. There's a gap in the 80s and 90s. Well, it started in the 90s, Bruce, so there would be no gap in the 80s. I thought there was. No, it started in the early 90s. but needless to say, I think it's going to be the championships, which will be a smaller thing. It will probably be like 250 people, 300 people max. And, you know, it's going to be a first come first serve again. And, and really, I mean, if it's the world, they'll reserve probably 50 spots for the top 50. But they never had reservation. They never, like anyone could play. Cause he had, they, they would do the old, the card base format. Yeah, exactly. I agree with that, totally. There's no cap. They're going to have to cap it. Where are you going to put it? Where are you going to put it? I mean, there's no cap on InDisc, where I'm going to. I know. Well, there probably is a cap. You just don't know about it. Like if they got a certain amount, like we can't have it. Yeah, the room can only hold so many people. Well, they're in a pretty big room, and we were nowhere close to that. I know. But don't forget also logistics and how many people they have working behind the scenes. is also a stop problem also, where you're trying to say like, hey, I got 500 people coming, we're fucked. So you do limit it. I guarantee there is always a number for every organization that says, hey, at this number, we have to say, pump the brakes. At Papa, it was a big enough facility. The hardest part was the parking. That was the limiter. Yeah, that stupid fucking decaying warehouse there that they couldn't tear down because all the experts said it. No, they tore it down. It finally got torn down? It was torn down. Okay. All these years later. Yeah. Yeah, the parking was an issue. Yes. Let's see. Well, there was a tournament that just happened at RPC. A classic tournament. Yeah, that's right. The thing you tried to get me to go to, which I did go to. And then who didn't? You didn't. Because I had to work. You had to work. I thought you went somewhere. Oh, where did I go? What was that? They were saying you went somewhere. Oh, I went to a concert. Yes, you went to a concert. There you go. I went to a concert. That's even better. Yeah, I had to tell you where you went. Yeah, I couldn't remember. Good Lord. It was a good concert. I didn't win shit. What? Actually, no. I was third in B. Third in B. So it's like you were the second loser of the loser bracket. So guess who won? uh let me guess since i wasn't there zach yeah zach won yes zach won a and i got it over here oh ryan smith won b yes he did and i suck you do oh well i'm sorry i started good and then it kind of you get old and you're older now well i went from good to then mediocre And mediocre wasn't good enough. You got old. Yeah, I got old. You're getting old, and that's the problem. Your stamina is gone. My stamina is gone. I should just retire. Then my play will just get better. Get so much better because you have less pressure. Everyone wants to retire now. Did you hear about this? Everyone wants to follow the Bruce Nightingale method. Really? Who wants to retire? A couple of people have said they want to retire, and then they don't, and then they tease about it. I at least have retired. I only come back in limited editions. You know, my number keeps on dropping in IFPA. Okay. So guess what? It's not like I'm really like trying to go ahead. What else do I have on here? I have a note about Elton John shot feed. Remember you were talking about that dead end shot on Elton John. I did see at least one stream where it would actually feed the upper flipper. Yeah, one stream. Yeah, there is some adjustment there of some kind. So it may be savable. Someone save, someone save, someone save my shot tonight. Someone save my shot tonight. Bad shots, they say. So much. So. Ben the lane guide, change the shot. All right. Try to make the game work. Game work. This game sucks. No. Sucks so bad it does. I have to bring this up because you always get on my case when I'm on any other show. You were on another show. I was. I haven't heard it yet, but I saw your picture, so I assume you're on there somewhere. I am on there somewhere. You were on the latest episode of Pinball Profile. I know. It's been a while for me. I think I'm way crushing you on that show. Now, Pinball Profile, that's the one you can't swear on. So how did that even work? It was hard. It was a lot of beeping. So you were hard during the actual recording? Yes, very. Okay. No, I know it, Jeff. I can be good, you know. You can? Are you sure? Once in a while. Once in a while. I'm good. All right. I've proven it. So everyone, check that out. Yes. But we'll make Bruce bad again by mentioning this next thing, as I'm sure he'll do a horrifically bad Italian accent. But did you see the announcement? No, I fucking saw it. We got more work, boys. Hey, what the fuck? We fuck up these games and we still make fucking money on this. So Planetary Pinball, the holders of the Williams Valley rights, they, I guess, were sick of Chicago Gaming taking forever to make games. So they decided to enlist another company. Now, they're still going to be working with Chicago Gaming. Yes, they are. But they're just so slow. We need someone else to make some games for us. So they're going to be partnering with Pedretti Gaming. Now, for those who don't know, Pedretti Gaming is the company that makes the games for Pinball Brothers, Alien. They also made the Fun Hashtag. The Crash and Burn titles. Fun House 2.0. Yay. Which this confused me because I thought they had combined with Pinball Brothers into a company. And I did find that announcement. Yeah, but they didn't. They did. They didn't combine. They partnered together to form Euro Pinball Corp. Euro Pinball Corp. But I guess they still exist. Separately also. Separately also. But the thing is, they were making arcade equipment and jukeboxes until they started making pinball machines for Pinball Brothers. Now they're going to be making Twilight Zones, which is the rumor next title. And just judging by what I've seen on their alien builds... And they're going to be using fast boards, just like the... Yes, they're going to be using fast. Which is terrible. Why? What's wrong with fast? That's what the Fathom uses. Yeah, but it's like an open... Oh, it's open source. As opposed to the proprietary stuff that's in Chicago Gaming, which who knows what happens if that breaks. Yeah, but at least that stuff is fixable. How is it fixable? There's a big-ass board right under the play field that's attached to it. I've had problems with mine, and I fixed it. It's not a hard thing. It's just you've got to just, guess what, have some knowledge. You've got to do some stuff. Well, do they have manuals, Bruce? Yes, they do. Oh. Full manuals. Oh, did you know what has a manual, Bruce? What? Elton John already has a full manual available. Yeah, that's the color rollable, you know, you've got to need a dolly to move it around from one to the other. Yeah, but Bruce, well, I don't think they do the print ones. They have it. But Bruce, come on, you're Mr. You want the manuals. Come on, give props. Give props. Totally props. Okay. And so this is Chicago Gaming. They have the original Williams with their new board stuff. Okay. So they do do it also. but I guarantee there's not a manual for Alien. So guess what you're not going to get when you get your new game from the other fucking game? A manual. So Petrae's not going to give you a manual? Well, they'll give you a manual probably of William's stuff and that's it. Oh, here's the mechs and here's the parts for this. Here's another thing. Are they going to use William's mechs or are they going to now use their original stuff? Because they're based out of Italy. Are they going to import all the parts and shit? Yep. Or are they going to redesign and make new stuff and use the Williams licensing? This is a big... I think somewhere I read they have access to all of the... They're a tool, right? They are totally tools. They have access to all the stuff because of the arrangements. They are tools. I will agree with you on that one. You're so mad. I am not mad. I'm truthful. Truthful. Everyone doesn't like to hear the truth. You can't handle the truth? You can't handle the truth! Okay. But, yeah, no, it's just, I think it's going to be a shit show beyond shit show. The only reason why they're doing this is because they have white body. That's the only reason. So you're going to see your Indiana Jones. You're going to see your Twilight Zone. And you might see a Star Trek Next Generation. I don't know about that one. That will be the hard one. Yeah, licensing. Licensing, yeah. I don't see that happening. Oh, Paramount's pretty good. I've heard Paramount is really good. The Mount? The Mount. Are they as good as the Peacock, the Cock? The Cock? I love the Cock. I love the Cock. Oh, my. Oh, my. It's a full rainbow of Cock. Oh, good Lord. All right. But, yeah, so you're going to see those titles. You're not going to see, of course, Popeye. You're not going to see Judge Dredd. Oh, I like Judge Dredd. You're not going to see it. When I go to RPC, that's the first game I always play. But if you did see it, what would be great, though, if you were really going to be cool, is make an alternate Judge Dredd off the comic book and the music from Anthrax and everything like that. Wait, wait, wait. The game is off of the comic book. I know, but a better drawings and everything like that. Better drawings. Yeah. I do feel it. Better play field. The play field is awesome. Oh, God. No, it's not. And the music is incredible. Why would you want different music? literally i'm the law oh god i want i am the law i know the law yeah no we do the you will fuck around no more we'll do the um uh stallone version that's pretty good bruce there goes there goes to everyone's ears there yes but uh no i you're gonna see three titles from them at least and that's gonna be the three i talked about okay but definitely indiana jones twilight and don't forget twilight zone and next generation are both from paramount they're cbs So if you get one, the odds are you'll get both. Plus, they already bought the ramps or whatever, right? Because there was this big Twilight Zone ramp order that happened. Everyone was like, who was it? Who was it? Well, now we know. Now we know. And now knowing is half the battle of dealing with your purchase. Are you ready, Bruce? We're going to make a game for you. I'm going to do the accent for you, Bruce. See? Mario and Luigi will be making the games in the factory. You already hear the ding, ding, ding every time they think they made one and it doesn't break. Ding! Where's the sounds, buddy? Oh, it broke again. Okay. All right. There was a video that Spooky had showing the Texas Chainsaw Massacre gameplay. Did you see it, Bruce? God, no. Oh. God, no. It looks like it shot fine. It looks like it shoots pretty good. I've seen clips from it, but I have no interest in that fucking game. How about Lennytoons? None. No? No Lennytoons? No. The, the, the, the, the, that's all, folks. I had their dream theme from them, and the game sucked. What game was that? Oh, Rick and Morty. The play feels not the best, but I... Oh, I agree. That's what I'm saying. I love Mega Seeds. Mega Seeds. Yes, Mega Seeds. Get the Mega Seeds. Those are really important. Yeah. But, you know, I can't trust them with a good title. Oh. They just fuck it all up. But they get better titles than Jersey Jack does, though. You got to admit that. They do. They're probably two in best titles. Yes, I agree. But, hey, we have more fun with Jersey Jack titles. We can sing along. Oh, yeah. You know, that's funny that Zach didn't know any of those songs. Yeah, I know. It was pretty funny. uh don't forget the 85th anniversary of uh wizard of odds coming out so maybe jack will have another well we have the uh let's see the emerald city edition the ruby red edition the yellow brick road edition uh what else the horse of another color edition maybe we have green yellow red so let's go blue you know hey blue is first it's 85th anniversary how about the brown edition for we've we shit on all the other leo's edition yes we can make another edition just to try to make us a buck off of you all right are you ready are you ready for twippy voting bruce oh god do i have to well we're going to go back i'm just going to vote none of the above we're going to go back to an old clip we're going to go back to see people don't realize that our podcast has been around since the 80s the 80s yeah they don't they don't They don't realize that. And we've been doing – the Twippies have been around a lot longer than people think. Really? Yes. I went back on our archives, and I found a clip from the 1982 Twippies. Wow. Where we voted, yes. So we're going to go on the Wayback Machine, and we're going to go back to 1982. Wow. We're going to sound weird because I'm like – Yeah, I'm like nine. Yeah, I'm 11. 11. Did you see that game with the arcade run? It was really good. That's going to be weird. All right, hold on. It's going to be great. Let me cue it up here. I got hair down there, Ron. Ron, I got hair down there. What are you talking about? I'm 11, and this hair is growing down in my crotch. What the hell? Bruce, your voice has changed. Have you had puberty already? I have not had puberty yet. Oh. I was 5 foot till 15. You're not going to do that voice the whole time, are you? Yes, I am. No, you're not. Stop. You told me I could. No, I didn't tell you you could. Yes, you did. Come on. I have the chat from this. You're ruining the gimmick, Bruce. It's fucking awesome, this gimmick. So, yes, it's 1982, folks, and we're going to do the Twippy Awards. I have the categories right here. I have the games. Ooh, and this is a big year for Twippies in 1982. Yeah, 1982, this is a big year. We got a lot of games to go through. And 83 looks even better. Like, we're going to be nonstop awesomeness in 1983. You know, they're filming the Star Wars, the third movie. I heard it's going to be called Revenge of the Jedi. Yes, it is. I cannot wait. And I'm wondering if any of the manufacturers are going to get the license for that, because that would be awesome. If they don't, they are fucking stupid. They are stupid if they don't get the Return of the Jedi license. Exactly. I mean, I can't believe. Remember Empire? I know. It was so lame. Like, freaking Australian company was the only ones who paid up for the license. I don't understand that at all. I know. I don't know. I think Bally really missed the boat there because we know they like the license. Well, you know, they had a big 81. They didn't want to spend so much money. Well, they had Flash Gordon, but it ain't no Star Wars. I mean, come on. Flash Gordon is fucking awesome now. Yeah, it is, but it ain't no Star Wars. Come on. You got to admit that. No, Star Wars is awesome. So this year, this is what Bally has had. A little off year. I don't want to include some of these. Can we say we're not going to include? Nope, you have to put them all in. No, no. Yes, you do. No, what I'm saying is these video game pinball machines. You have to. It's a pinball machine. It has a play field. Yeah, but I'm DQing him immediately. No, no, no. It does have a play field. Okay, so we got Baby Pac-Man. Yes. Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man. Yes. 8-Ball Deluxe LE. This was lame. I don't believe they did this. Oh, it's great. It made more money. You're going to see this in the future. They do. Where manufacturers make an LE version, and they're going to make more money than ever. Ah, that's stupid. That'll never happen. It's going to. You watch. This is the future. The future's going to happen. They just did it to use up all their freaking rapid-fire cabinets they didn't sell. Nope, nope. It's the future. No. Okay, they have Speakeasy. Ooh. Spectrum. Ooh, showdown. Spectrum. Now, I heard that it makes many Spectrums. Yeah, and Speakeasy was, I didn't really like that one. But we'll go through all of them. Swingable targets? I love swingable targets. Gottlieb, they did Caveman, their version of the video game pinball machine. Captain Caveman! They did Devil's Dare. Okay. They did Eclipse. I didn't see any of these, but I've heard it's basically Black Hole without the lower play field. That seems kind of weird. Oh, boy, that's pretty shitty. It's very weird. Haunted House. Okay, that was a great game at the arcade. I loved that thing. Punk. Oh, gosh. Rocky. Do you remember we saw that one, the flippers? What the hell were they thinking? That guy who made that is fucked up in the head. Yeah, he's fucked up in the head. Then they had Spirit, which I didn't see any of these. I heard most of them went to Europe. Yeah, but I think there's one at the, what's it called, the Nickel and Dime Arcade down the road. Really? It's an old place, yeah. Okay. Stern. Stern our buddies at Stern We love Stern but man they had a fucking rough year I am really worried After 81 a lot of companies after 81 they thought it was going to be their year Unfortunately, stupid video games are just kicking it. We were really excited about Dragon Fist, but this year they had Iron Maiden, which I didn't even see. I heard most of them went to Europe. I did not see this game at all. And then they had that Orbiter 1, which was what the hell. And then nothing else. I'm really concerned. I've had rumors. I've heard rumors that Harry Williams is doing a new game. Yeah. And I heard they bought out a company, too. Who'd they buy out? They bought out Seaberg. I thought Seaberg owned them. Well, not really. Not really? No, it was more Gary. Oh. Well, we'll have to see. Well, how about his, what, Gary? I thought his father owned everything. No, it was all of it. You gave it to your son after a couple years. You go, Dad, here. It's almost like the Harry Chapman song from a couple years ago where you feel guilty. Isn't it Chapman? Maybe it is, but you feel guilty about it. You don't have many times with your son, so you just give up pinball company. Okay. Jesus. Okay, so Williams at Cosmic Gunfight. That was a pretty cool game. I did like that one. Defender. You really liked that one. I love that game. Too bad I can't find that in arcade either. Varkon, another video game pinball hybrid thing. Yeah, I've only heard about it in the magazines. Yeah, I haven't seen that one. And then, oh, God, Warlock. I played that thing. It's blackout. It's blackout. They just reused the play feel. Yeah. Lazy. Well, you know, when you're not the big boys anymore in the world. I think the video games are really hurting them, judging by some of these titles. Well, you know. Because they're trying to do the video game thing. I mean, Williams just flat out does a game called Defender. Yeah. Well, you know, when you have laser discs coming out and everything, that's so much better than pinball machines, you know. Well, a new game arrived at Time Out in Northway Mall, my home arcade. Yeah. It's called, what's it, Robotron. Robotron. Robotron. Robotron. It's got, like, two joysticks. And get this. Like, stop. The one you move the guy and the other one fires. Oh, wow. So you can fire in all directions while you're moving. Nice. It's like super intense. Nicey-nicey. I likey. I'm really liking it. It's from Williams. But I'm thinking maybe they're spending more time in their video game division than they're spending in their pinball division. They know where the money is. They know where the bread and butter is. I mean, video games are the big thing. I mean, that's – That a future. Yeah. They're going to be around for years and years. forever the arcades are going to be just video arcades it's going to be they're never going to crash or anything it's going to be huge it's going to be great forever okay so so we got the twippy categories up here so we're going to go through so the first category is best theme best theme what game has the best theme for 1982 okay best theme oh boy see i i gotta i gotta say It's one of two, but they're the same theme. So, but what do you got? I think it's 8-Ball Deluxe. You think that's a theme? Yeah, for the theme. It's because it's been used before. It's a winning theme. So guess what? Rehash. Okay, so that's your vote? That's my vote. 8-Ball Deluxe. Mine is the Baby Pac-Man, Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man, because it's Pac-Man. It's not the future. Pac-Man is huge, dude. It's a killer theme. Killer theme. all right all right so we have best animations and display best display would have to be one of the video games it'd have to be them it'd have to be so you got to give it so is it caveman or baby pac-man yeah it's got to be it's got to be pac-man the pac-man game because i the caveman game was really bad that had the best displays It's nothing big. We've all had seven-digit displays for a couple years now, and there's nothing coming out. I mean, I'm partial to the Williams, like, dancing digits displays, but, I mean, you can't beat full-motion video. No, you can't beat full-motion video right off the bat. This seems like a bullshit award for this year. I agree, but that's what we get. So, between Caveman and Baby Pac-Man. Baby Pac-Man. Baby Pac-Man. I got to agree. I can't get – Caveman is horrible. Oh, it's horrible. Let's see. best toys and mechs. Best toys and mechs. Well, you do have a lot of up-kickers and a lot of flippers for Haunted House. That is really cool. I know I bashed it, but Orbiter 1. Orbiter 1 is the one I was going to go with. The spinning rings. I hear there's no magnets in the game. Oh, there isn't? Because it acts like a magnet. It acts like a magnet. So just that alone means the mech's got to be cool. It's got these pop-uppers that spin. I can't wait until one of these days I can take apart a pinball machine and actually look inside of it. Well, I heard there's some kind of thingy in there so when it hits the spinning pop-uppers, it knows that it hit it. So that's pretty cool. Yep, I have to go with Orbiter One then. The Hornet House has a lot of cool stuff in it, though. It does, but not like Orbiter One. How about the flip targets on Speakeasy? Yeah, that's only okay. It's a new concept. I don't know if it's going to fly a lot. If it breaks, you're screwed. Okay. But, you know, you can't really kill a spinner. We'll take Orbiter 1 for best toys and mechs. Yep, best toys. All right. So, best sound. Which games here talk? But does it say call-outs? Well, it says, okay, I'm looking at it. Best music, call-outs, and sound effects. There you go. Yep, so it's all three. So which one talks? Pac-Man talks. 8-Mult Deluxe talks. Spectrum talked a lot. Yes, it did. Vector talks. Yep. Caveman, I think, might talk. Maybe. Devil's Dare does. Yep. I don't think any of the Williams do. Orbiter One talks. But Defender does have the cool Defender sounds in it. That is actually cool. Man, this is a tough one. Yeah. I don't know. damn you'll have to shit or get off the pot ron ron what'd you pick i mean does it have to have call outs because some of the i like some of the music on some of these devil's dare talks also it does i don't know man this is a rough one i mean i'm partial to williams sound effects yeah i kind of do like defender with the sound yeah i like defender it doesn't have the speech but then we're kind of copping out. It's got all the video game sound effects, so we're kind of like saying the video game's better than pinball. Well, it's the new and future. It is the future. It is the future. Sure, I'll go with Defender. Okay, Defender it is. I'm sure that'll help its sales. It's going to sell a ton. It's going to sell a ton. Let's see. I can't wait to see this in my local arcade. Let's see. Best Rules. Oof. Rules. I just hit the ball around, man. It's 1982. I mean, hmm. Which one has multiball? Because that's pretty important now these days. But you can still have a good single ball layout, I think. Yeah, I agree. But, you know, we're going most, you know, newest rules and that kind of stuff and exciting stuff. Exciting rules. Cosmic Gunfight. Cosmic Gunfight had some good rules. It made up for kind of a, like, it doesn't, it's got, what, two ball, multiball, I think? Yep, yep. No speech. But it does have some cool rules. It does have some cool rules, though, except for the fact that I noticed if you just hit the right orbit over and over and over. You just go over and over. You can play that game all day and win credits all day, mother. I really like 8-Ball Deluxe rules, but I don't want to pick it because it's already been out. It won last year, too. It crushed last year with the rules. I don't want to pick it again. No, I think we go Cosmic Gunfight on this one. Yeah, but the right orbit thing. Yeah. How about Vector? It's got the thing where the – It's got everything. It's got everything. It's got five displays. It's got – Yeah, it's got – how about the new Vector record? Like it times how fast you hit that one shot. How does it do it, man? Does it have a radar gun in it, man? I don't know. I bet you it has a radar gun in it, man. That's why it's so expensive. I just noticed, though, if you just spell hype over and over and over, you also get a good score. Just like punk. Punk. You just spell punk over and over. Damn. Rules really need to get better. Why? I just like to flip. Maybe one day there'll be more complicated rules. That would never fly. No. That would only fly if they were actually for the home, and that'll never happen. That's just stupid. That's dumb. We saw the home buying in the 70s. That never went anywhere. Yeah, the home editions, they were a complete failure. Yeah, those were terrible. But what I'd like to see is more timed games. I'm sure that would work good. Oh, yeah, that would be great. That would be great. People love that. Yes. Man, this is, I'll say Cosmic Gunfight because it's got the grid thing. And I like grids. Okay, I can go with that. Let's see. Best play field, gameplay, and layout. Ah, here we go. Orbiter 1. I'm just kidding. No, no, no. I'm just kidding. That was terrible. No. Oh, God. Oh, man. Spirit. But we haven't played Spirit. I've only seen pictures. I saw the pictures, and they look pretty fucking cool. You're just going to go buy pictures? I have to. Really? So pictures are better than the games you've actually played? Some of these games are pretty lame compared to that picture. I like 8-Ball Deluxe, but I don't want to pick that. It already existed. That's lame. Vector, Caveman, Devil's Dare, I actually like. I like Devil's Dare. Iron Maiden looks pretty cool. It looks cool, but I haven't played it. Yeah, I know. I still have to go with that long shot all the way up to the top corner. It's really neat. Well, how about Haunted House? It's got that flipper way up top. Not Haunted House, Devil's Dare. And Devil's Dare and Defender got that controlled kickback thingy. Yep, and don't forget, Defender has drop targets in the play field. Well, they all have drop targets in the play field. No, I mean, they pop up out of nowhere. That's true. And then, yeah, they pop up and down. Yeah. It seems really complicated. Yeah. But the lock shot is so – It's impossible, man. It's almost like the catacomb lock shot from the year before. That one sucked. That sucked bad. It was all bouncing, and that's the only way you got the shot. You know, I'm going to go with Devil's Dare. I haven't played Spirit. I'm going with Spirit. Okay, so you're going to go off a picture. Good job. Yep. That's how lame I am. Yeah, you are lame. All right, let's see. Best artwork. Ooh. Ooh. Okay. Let's see. Pac-Man is just a Pac-Man shit. A-Ball Deluxe, screw that. We already saw the art. Although they did redo the back glass a little bit for this LE thing. Smaller. Speak easy. Spectre, meh. Vector. Vector's kind of. Got the tri thing. Yeah, Vector's got the, what, it's got the infinity lights. They did a multi-layer back glass thing. Devil's Dare. K-Man suck. Devil's Dare has got Satan in it. That's pretty good. That's pretty cool, man. Satan's cool. Satan's cool. Eclipse I haven't seen. Haunted House I like. It's pretty cool because it reminds me of the horror house, man. That movie from the 50s. Psycho. Yeah. 1960, actually. But yes. Punk. Rocky. No. Spirit. The picture looks pretty cool. And it rotates, I heard. Oh, it rotates? like Black Hole? Yeah. So the whole head spins? Yeah. Really? That's pretty weird. Iron Maiden? That chick is hot, man. Oh, Iron Maiden, the back glass. I saw the picture of that. That's ridiculous. The chick is hot, man. Yeah, but they're doing that thing with the cabinet where they have no cabinet art. That kind of worries me. I'm really worried about Stern. They may... They got this. They got this. I don't know. They might be gone by next year. No way, man. They're here forever. Orbiter One didn't have any side art either. It's cheaper. They're keeping the cost down for everyone in the world. Okay. Let's see. Cosmic gunfight? I like that. It's weird. It's weird, though. Guys and horses in space? Yeah, I kind of like that one. Are the horses breathing in space? They got thingies. No, they're mechanical horses. Remember? I know, but, oh, that's right, man. Yeah, they're robot horses. And the guy's got the air things on so they can breathe. Okay. Defender? That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. It's got, you know, all the artwork for the video game. Sparkon I haven't really seen. Warlock. That's lame. It's just got a guy's face or whatever. Yeah, it's pretty lame. This is a toughie. I can go for Defender, and I can go for Haunted House. I like Haunted House, Cosmic Gunfight, Devil's Dare, Satan. This is a tough one. This might be too close to call. I'll go with Cosmic Gunfight just because I like gunfights in space, that whole concept. I've got to go Defender, man, because it's a cool game. I grew up on Defender. you know it's really cool defenders killing it i mean it's gonna be it's gonna be the hottest game it's gonna be a big seller especially with the video games and it's it's gonna totally lead to more sales of that yep totally agree i've heard rumors that uh williams is working on a joust pinball machine no way yeah yeah and i heard it's gonna be it's gonna be different in some way like it's not gonna be a full size it's gonna be some kind of hybrid thing yeah that's what i hear from some of my sources in the company. You're killing it if you get that information, man. You're killing it. Yeah. Let's see. Last one. Game of the... There's other categories we're not going to bother going through, like favorite pinball location. I mean, it's probably going to be, what, the Broadway Arcade. Don't they win every year? All the New York City people just vote for it. Aladdin's Castle for me, man. Okay. I mean, I always vote for Time Out, my place in Northway Mall, but they never win shit. They never win shit at all. Let's see. Game of the year. Hmm. I mean, I'm going to go with my favorite game to play that I played out of all these. I love some Devil's Dare. I love me some Satan. Player control kickback. It's got two ball and I think three ball multiball, if I remember. It's got that flipper way up top. It talks. I mean, it's the same voice that Gottlieb uses for all its games and doesn't really fit the theme, but it talks. I have to go Vector. Vector? It's got a lot of cool stuff in it. It's got the radar gun in it. But it plays like a turd. It is a turd. But you know what? This is the future, man. It's the future. We're going to have multiple levels. We're going to have multiple. So just pack the game with tons of shit and it'll sell? Yep. I heard like they had a whole, like instead of the usual single designer, it was a design by committee. Wow. From my sources. That's what I heard. Because then they're really getting the best of all the minds. You know, you're right. They're getting the best of all the minds. All right. So I'm picking Devil's Dare, and Bruce is saying the game of the year for 1982 is Vector. Vector. All right. Okay, we're back. We're back. Did you like that? Did you like our picks? Looking back at it now, we were kind of wrong on a lot of stuff. No, we were right on. The future of pinball was going to be. Yeah, the future of pinball was video game-based games. that really worked out. And we said there wouldn't be any games in the home. We were totally wrong there. No, we were totally right. Gary said it till at least 2015. I said Revenge of the Jedi when we all know it became Return of the Jedi. Because Jedi can't have revenge. My sources were right about Joust, though. Yeah, I heard that. Yes, yes. And that didn't sell at all either. Yeah. So that was the twist. I can't believe you picked Vector. Vector's awesome, man. That game is a turd. I can't believe you picked that. Vector is awesome, man. Kids love it. Chicks dig it. It's a blast. My pick, I think, is held up better through the test of time. Devil's dare. I don't think so. Oh, come on. It's still cool. Satan rules. Everyone knows this. This is why you had problems with Al Gore and his wife back in the late 80s. Oh, when he was trying to censor everything? Yes. Yes. Yeah, but what's his face from Twisted Sister set him straight? Yeah. He wasn't going to take it. I'm not going to take it. No, no, we ain't going to take it. Okay, are you ready for the ball bag? I am always ready for the ball bag. Okay. Okay, we got first email is from Glenn. Hey, Glenn. And he says he demands an episode. Okay, what of? An episode, the one we're recording. This is our Christmas miracle. Yes, it is. Another episode. okay i'm glad you agreed with me instead of mr cry and ron over here i don't get enough time off oh my god shut up oh i'm sorry did i say something wrong okay we got next emails from cole oh by the way you can send the emails to slam till podcast at gmail.com again that's slam podcast at gmail.com and cole says hey con whoa oh wait wrong irrelevant podcast oh okay okay sorry ron but i need one more podcast in 2023 as i look forward to every episode that comes out yes my life is that sad i guess it is that sad it really is just played in a tournament and dragon fist was one of the games we played nice where was this i don't know while i got a 1.2 million and in a practice game, oh, I just wish I could get that score while playing in the tournament. I guess I just need to get out of my own head as it is a dark and scary place that nobody wants to be in, especially me. I do have to say I loved taking the fist. Oh, my. When playing it, I'll even take it up to the elbow. Wow. He's extreme. While in a previous email, I agreed with you, Ron, about Spider-Man being better than Star Trek. Thank you. as Spider-Man has a soul. Yes, it does. Unfortunately, I have to agree with Bruce that Star Wars is a turd. Yes. I have to play that piece of crap in League, and while I don't hate it as much as I did, I just don't like playing it. As Ron has said before, that Zach doesn't like fun, and Zach thinks that Star Wars is the best turn game. That only goes to prove that it sucks and it is no fun to play. Ta-da. If I want to smash a button a bunch and play a video game, I'll go with Xbox or PlayStation. There you go. Can't wait for the next episode and keep up the semi-good work. Semi-good. Awesome. Okay. Thank you, Cole. I like this guy, Cole. He's awesome. Next one's from Shannon. Hey, guys. We need one more show before New Year's Eve. Oh, you guys missed it, though. So Ron's like, what time do you want to record? I'm like, I didn't even look at the email. I was just laughing. Too many emails we had to record. Stern will announce next game and the Twippy drama continues. No, they didn't. They didn't announce it. The Twippy drama did continue, but they didn't announce the next game. Nope. It's going to be January. If anything else, do a quick show on your favorite things in 2003. All the games that came out. We went way back in time. We went 20, 40 years back in time. We went 20 more years. Yeah, 20 more years. Four score and four score. Wow. Yeah, you like that? Wow, you are old. I think that's, isn't that four, a score is 20 years. 20 years. Oh, so I fucked that up. So you fucked that up. Yeah. Oh, no, it's just a score. So a score ago. You scored, man. Yeah. Yes, his favorite is Grumpy Bruce. Okay. Have a wonderful holiday season, gents. Thank you Shannon Thank you It funny how everyone calls me grumpy but guess what I the one that giving the cheer this year Yes you are the cheer I the grumpy one Yeah See Yeah my favorite thing this year is just the sheer amount of games that came out That's a good thing. It is. More manufacturers, more games. As long as they don't suck. Well, that's kind of hard these days. All right. Steph sent another, would you, would you not buy that, with a bunch of Craigslist ads. This doesn't really work because people are not going to take a Google Visa. They delete them. Yes. Yeah, and then they're gone. Half of them are gone already. Yeah. We can't do it, Steph. Sorry, Steph. We need eBay ads. eBay ads. Or take the picture and copy it and send us the pictures with it. At least we can then joke about it. Yeah, but it's also – We can't even see half of them. Yeah, but our listeners need to see them too. Oh, I know. They hear our laughter, and that's all they need, our joy and fun. Brian says, more. More. So how many no's? How many said give wrong? No one said no. And we got a bunch of e-mails, too, as you can see here. I love it. Oh, okay. Zach, if you're listening, cover your ears because he wanted to discover this himself. How the cheats work in Jackpot. So here we go. Jackpot cheats work on casino games, casino run, and bonus. Tournament mode is every fourth. So going for the cheat on almost every circumstance makes sense unless you have done three and want to save the fourth for something, i.e. diffusing a bomb and casino run. Okay. Love the podcast and listen to pretty much everyone. Hope that helps. Brian, player 7-4-4-5. Nice. P.S. In one of the episodes, I was one of the goodbye Bruce call-outs, and the timing was surreal. I had had a big VTC at work video teleconference. I think that's what that means. Yes, it does. I've had a big VTC at work, and I was half listening to, oh, that I was half listening to, and the person in charge out of the blue calls me out and asks my opinion. Then as I'm heading to a local pinball place, I was listening to Slam Tilt and hear, Goodbye, Brian. Freaky timing. I had no idea until that day that you picked names for that. Yes, we do. We just pick out of the blue. Out of the blue? Out of the blue. I haven't even picked one today yet, so what does that tell you? I have an email from the Twippies saying the voting is now open. Hey. We made a voting. I hear tens of people are doing it. Tens of people. You're so mean. Yeah, I'm so mean. And you are. Let's see. This is from Daniel. Daniel says, hey, what's up, Ron and Bruce? Hello. I've traded my Phoenix for Firepower. Wise move. It is all Rotten Dog boards. I remember you guys talking about a Scott ROM that makes the rules for multiple more interesting. Is this something I can acquire and get to work with the Rotten Dog board set? No. No. You would need an original – well, actually, no. You would need a System 7 board set or a Kahoot board set. Then you can run pretty much anything. The problem is you don't want these, Daniel, trust me, because you're going to have to completely cut up your insert panel. You've got to get all new score displays for the seven-digit scores. You've got to cut up the panel to fit everything, which I had to do, which was a pain in the ass. And his ROM wasn't entirely stable last time I did that. But thank you, Daniel. Let's see. And the last email from Mark. Hi, Mark. Subject collide. One more December show. I love it. Mark here, the official unofficial tech. I'm voting for one more show this year because of your hate for Dipsy Doodle. Fucking turd. Turd. As an owner of this shitty game, oh, no, he said fun game, I don't take kindly to your ill will for this game. It sucks. Now I'm just bullshitting. It's an okay game at best. And when I got it for $400, let me try that again. And when I get it for $400, I couldn't pass it up. Let's see. One quick question. Doodle bug. Doodle bug, $400 by you. No. One quick question about it. Have you had issues where you hear extra relays going off whenever a 100 or 1,000 value switch is triggered? I can barely hear the large bell when it goes off. Thanks in advance, and I have to go back and listen to the early episodes, even though you're always telling us not to. Yeah, don't do that. Don't do that. Matt Hoodie D. from Rome, New York. I have not heard said relays going off. No, neither have I. and unfortunately we're not the EM experts. He was the last episode. Yes, you should have brought this question in a time before. You should have brought this in. You should have known that Zach was going to be on this episode that we didn't announce he was going to be on. Exactly. Yeah. You're finally getting it now. You're finally getting it. The ball back has been empty, Bruce. Oh, Christmas cheer. More eggnog for all. Mm-hmm. sleigh bells ring are you listening jingle bell jingle bell jingle bell rock my balls are on fire and i got a big pyre okay very good to hear such language on a christmas episode it is so christmassy it is still christmas It is now 9.15 in the Christmas morning. Everyone's got their kids running around going, and we're just sitting here in the private space. Recording this stupid podcast. Love it. All right, repairs, Bruce. You wanted to do some repairs. I'm doing. Right now I am still taking apart the play field for Quicksilver. I'm almost done. Rebuilt the pop bumpers. We had new pop bumper bases and all the fun stuff. Reusing my plastic pop bumper ring and assemblies. All cleaned up, ready to rock. Monopoly at the world-famous RPC has been re-cleaned, re-torn down. Re-torn down, yes. Yep. It's been a couple times I've done this. A platinum edition, by the way. It is a platinum. Platinum. And new incandescent bulbs are put in there, boys and girls, just for your convenience. Boo. I love it. So stupid. It is so great. It should advertise RPC. We love incandescents. The only place in the country where you can play a platinum Monopoly. Yes. Or it's only one of two with the rotation eight. How about Gamitron? Talking Gamitron. Talking Gamitron. The only one. The only one? The only one. The only one. On location. Oh, I forgot. One thing about the tournament, the classics tournament that we had at RPC. Yeah. A game made its debut. It did? It did. Our game. Oh, classic. Yes. It passed with flying colors. It doesn't have a problem now. I got a – the battery died. You broke it? Oh, yeah. The battery did. The battery, when I turned it on, it didn't have any of the cool sounds. Yes. So I set the sounds up, and I figured, okay, the battery – No, when I turned it off to change a dip switch, and I turned it on, and the sounds were still there. It's like, okay, so the battery isn't totally dead, but it's kind of – Yeah, it's iffy. Yeah, it's iffy. I'm going to put a new battery pack on it this week. Yep. It's on the repair list. Other than that, it was great. It was great. I won both matches on it. See? Thanks, Brad. Thank you, Fireball Classic. Mm-hmm. I'm almost ready to pull the harness off the old playfield and put it on the new one. That's going to suck. Oh, you mean it's Quicksilver? Yes. Okay. I'm almost there. The Quicksilver playfield swap you're doing, that if anyone is listening to this as our first episode, it's no idea. Nope. Now they do. Of course, they don't know who Zach is either or anything else. Nope. Who is everybody? We should go over a recap episode of everybody who's been on the podcast. Recap! Of everyone who ever has been on. Yes. I have repairs. Oh, wait a second. Your stuff breaks? Yeah. Well, I think I mentioned before, maybe in the last episode, I was playing Attack for Mars with Dad and the pop bumper broke. Oh, I did mention that. Yes, you did. So I figured I'd just rebuild all three, which, yeah, I had to do. But the thing is, yeah, the rod and ring assembly broke, and I'm like, am I going to be able to get this thing out easily? And it's literally the only pop-up that I think was possible to do it relatively easy. I had to remove the right ramp, but I was able to get it out. but but it led to you know i want to shop that thing at some point and there is an issue it has the bill on saucer kit in it yes it does which if you people don't know what that is that literally is one of the first mods first mods like fucking ever i remember they have it i when i got into like 20 years ago almost yep this was a thing the mod the mod everyone put this in their AFM, the few people who have AFMs, everyone put this in there. And it basically just makes the smaller saucers light up with the lights, the circular lights. And it's basically, it's just a board in the head and then these lights that you just tape or stick in the saucers. And then it goes off a transistor that flashes and knows when the pulse is. And then it runs down. Here's the problem. Everything is run directly from the saucers to the board in the head. With data cables. With, like, phone-looking cables. Phone data cables. Yeah, phone data cables. And so you can't, like, if you want to take a wire form off that has the saucer hook to it. Yep. You can't do it. No. Or you have to unplug the thing and run it all the way out and up, and that's stupid. Yes, it is. I don't want to do it. No, it's not. No, it is the way you want to do it. No. Trust me on that, because getting those bulbs back in looking proper. Oh, yeah. I'm not taking the bulbs out. No, that's the problem. What I did is, because the way he has it is the wire comes up, and then he cuts it off at some point and just does heat shrink tubing the rest of the way. Yeah. I cut off the heat shrink tubing, and there's six wires in there, just six regular wires. I'm going to put a fucking connector in there. I'm going to put connectors for each one of these. So they can be removed like every other component. Makes sense. The one on the side is going to be easy because it's easily accessible. Some of the other ones are going to suck hard. It's really hard. I may actually have to pull the whole thing out with the cable and then do it on the workbench and then put it back later. But I'm just thinking for – and I think that the wires look a big enough gauge that it should work with my connector pins. It should, yes. Like .062 pins. I have a bunch of housings, but I don't have a sixer. I have a four. I have like an eight, but I don't have a six. So there's six freaking wires. But the six, they're small enough that they should still fit through the hole in the play field. Yeah. So I think that'll make it way more serviceable. Otherwise, it's just going to suck if you have to, you know, something like that, like a pop bumper and you got to remove something where you got to take the whole thing off. It's going to be a pain in the ass if the saucer's on it. I agree. You're not hearing a disagreement from me. So I replaced that, and I had to rebuild the other two because the one popped like shit, and the other one was actually broken. The metal – what do you call them? What do you call them? The ring. No, the fiber disc, and then there's the metal disc. And the fiber plate. Yeah, it was already cracked in the center. They always do. When I removed it, it fell apart. So that one was probably going to be breaking soon. Yeah. So now, yeah, all the pop bumpers work great. that was my one repair wow you're such a repair guru yes i am yes you are oh so other than that uh repairs that's about it we've worked that stuff at the club stop yawning you woke up i did wake up we figured out world cup soccer we just put a new pole the he lost the 18 volts he just had a bad solder joint he so mark uh and you're talking about the thing we were talking about last week. Yes, with no 18 volts at all, so it had no dedicated lamps. So that was fun. Other than that, that's about it. I think that's about it. There's not much more to talk about. There's no announcement. I think by the time we do our next episode, there'll probably be a Jaws trailer out. Jaws trailer out. Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. So, Ron, what's your thoughts of 2023? Lots of games. Lots of games. Probably, no matter how you feel about award shows, it's probably the worst year to not have one. Yeah. With the amount of crap that's going on. I agree. I know. That's the way it goes. Yeah, impressive debuts with Barrels of Fun, even though horrible name, but still impressive debut as a company bad debuts for other companies you know so oh yeah like the the honey factory and the elements god they should not have brought that to expo that just made them look really bad um yeah don't bring games don't bring white what's the shows don't bring games that are completely not ready to show it's like they're going to be your production game. Yeah, wait six more months and show it at another show instead of wasting your time. And people's thoughts about it. You know, once you turn somebody off on a game, you're screwed. But if you can grab them in the beginning and show a good product, you should succeed. See Labyrinth. Yes. Just have a whole row of games that look professional and actually don't break for the entire show as they're pounded on and you'll immediately get lots of interest. Yeah. Wow. The games didn't break. Great. What a great thing. Hey, Johnny. It's not like when, you know, Highway would bring aliens to shows and they would keep fucking breaking and locking up. No, never. That would never happen. Hey, we make a good stuff. We make a good stuff. That was before them. That was before them. That was more when they were, you know, Highway. Truly British, if you will. Oh, I did have one more note. I played a game that I hadn't played. Oh, what's this? I played a James Bond 60th anniversary. Oh, and? It pissed me off. You're a fucking jerk. In a good way. But, yeah, I mean, it's okay. It's not a $25,000 game. No, not at all. I mean, no. No. That was, you talk about cash grabs. That was a cash grab. That was the biggest cash grab of the year. Yeah. Nothing was at that level. And it didn't succeed. in my mind. No, they found the ceiling for Mr. Elway. Oh, totally. Yeah. Cash grab! You need to get a soundboard now with the sound bites so you can put that in. Cash grab! Right from Monopoly. I played Final Resistance and I played Big Lebowski. Yeah, I was at Ben's house. Yes. Who I brought AFM from. So here you go. So we talked about Elton John. Yes. Now there at Ben's house, Ben is one of the – he's got like the row of the LEs, all the toppers, all that stuff. He is your LE buyer. And James was there too, another local – and he's another one that gets – LE, first names. James, I call him – we call him Alien Guy because he's had three aliens. Yes. The original Highway, which he sold. Then he had an early production Pinball Brothers, which he sold. Now he has a later production, Pinball Brothers. He fucking loves Alien. He really likes Alien. But he gets all like the Alien. And they were talking about like even they're not going for Elton John. Because even they're like it's too much. Yeah. It's getting nutty. I mean, if they're saying it's too much. It's bad. It's bad. I mean, these guys buy everything. The market is getting soft. And I know people don't want to hear that. It's adjusting. It's adjusting. It really is. and deals are coming out now with these new games where you're seeing Bond pros going for 55, 54. They're starting to come down, and that's what's going to happen. You're going to see an adjustment, and everyone who thinks this is going to be like your future 401K, it's not. No, future 401K is your investment. Yeah, it's not. This is a hobby. I think that means it's time to end the episode. I think it's time to end the episode also. Have yourself a merry little Christmas. May your jewels be rubbed. But everyone have a merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Be safe. Happy holidays. All that stuff. Vote for none of the above in all the categories. But if we happen to be the first in the drop-down, I mean – No, we definitely just go with the first. Just go with the first in the drop-down. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. You know, if you feel like you absolutely have to vote for someone, I'm not going to stop you. I'm just saying. Merry Christmas, Bruce. Merry Christmas, Ronald. Did you have a fun year of Slamtail Podcast? Oh, of course. I do this for the enjoyment. You know that. Are you ready for another year? Year seven or eight? Eight? Is it eight now? 2016. seven yes eight yeah eight years oh no what am i saying we've been doing this since the 80s remember yes that's right 80s yes yes well we retired a little bit we retired yes and then we came back yes just like brusta because we had to get jobs and stuff you know we were just little kids then we had to go to college and all that you know yes and stuff and yeah and stuff and stuff we are the slam tail podcast this has been the christmas episode a christmas episode to 21. Yes. Yes. You shoot your eye out, kid. Yes. Don't put your tongue on any poles, Bruce. Oh, fuck. I'm all right. Yeah, I got it. I'm all right. Yes. Check out our website, slamtailpodcast.com. Look in the upper right-hand corner for all our links. Our email is slamtailpodcast at gmail.com. That's slamtailpodcast at gmail.com. Merry Christmas to all Happy Holidays Hi to everyone in the Cluster of Luck thread Hi Zach Fun with Bonus Pinball Princess etc Do you have a name Bruce? I do That's very good Yay till 2024 See ya everybody Say goodbye Bruce Goodbye Mark Lawrence Boogie, can you slide? Hold my mind, hold my mind You can boogie if you try Hold my mind, hold my mind Guaranteed to keep you alive Meteor! Level Zero! Clusterfuck! George Takei! Tim Balls, Bruce Sissons, Tournament Talk, Car Holder, Cheetah, Sanadu, Cash Grab, ELO, Ball Bank, What You Buying, Game You Love, Game You Hate, Tournament Talk, Pinball Princess, Zerg. Oh my Oh my Oh my Oh my Oh my
Past Times Arcade
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medium · Ron notes licensing as potential blocker for Star Trek TNG availability

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    market_signal: Pedretti Gaming expansion into Williams Valley production reflects production bottleneck at Chicago Gaming

    high · Planetary Pinball explicitly seeking additional manufacturer due to Chicago Gaming's slow pace

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    community_signal: Josh Sharp's departure from Twippy Committee correlates with content creator award elimination policy

    medium · Ron verified via Wayback Machine that Sharp was listed in November but absent in later announcement

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    announcement: Jaws officially announced by Stern for January reveal; Keith Elwin's fifth Cornerstone title

    high · Direct discussion of announcement; Ron and Bruce confirm timing as January rather than December

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    product_strategy: Twilight Zone confirmed as next Pedretti Gaming / Planetary Pinball title; Indiana Jones and possible Star Trek TNG in pipeline

    high · Ron provides explicit list of upcoming Williams remakes in production order

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    rumor_hype: Papa Championships expected to be announced December 28th after five-year hiatus

    low · Ron cites rumor hearing; notes last championship was 2019; no official confirmation available

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    business_signal: Stern maintaining three-tier Cornerstone model with premium pricing ($25K+ Bond reference) despite market concerns

    medium · Ron's comment about Bond not selling well despite premium pricing; questioning Stern's approach to luxury tier