Don after dark episode #110

Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)·podcast_episode·24m 25s·analyzed·Mar 20, 2024

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

Don critiques Pinball Brothers, American Pinball, and Haggis; praises Spooky; addresses industry drama.

Summary

Don discusses industry concerns about several manufacturers and recent game releases, expressing strong criticism of Pinball Brothers' ABBA game announcement, American Pinball's design and production issues, and Haggis Pinball's lack of transparency. He also comments on Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, personal drama at Pinball Expo, positive takes on Spooky Pinball's Ninja Clips, and virtual pinball technology.

Key Claims

Pinball Brothers is announcing ABBA as their next game theme
high confidence · Don states this was revealed by 'Paris pinball addict' at Straight Down the Middle, confirmed by Rudy's reaction at Pinball Expo
Rudy from Pinball Brothers departed two weeks before the ABBA game reveal on April 6th
high confidence · Don directly states 'Rudy just jumped ship two weeks before the reveal' and frames it as significant personnel movement
Mad Pinball's Jeff had 15 Foo Fighters machines on order and all sold out the first day
high confidence · Don spoke directly with Jeff at Mad Pinball about Foo Fighters sales
Haggis Pinball's Centaur Revisited is a one-of-one prototype and the rarest pinball machine ever made
medium confidence · Don's direct assessment based on his knowledge, stated as personal opinion
Haggis Pinball Fathoms were supposed to ship four months ago and are still not complete
medium confidence · Don reports this as customer feedback/community knowledge, not direct verification
American Pinball's Galactic Tank Force used 3D printed components with visible fill lines instead of proper finishing
high confidence · Don directly observed and critiqued the machines' construction quality
Kaneda's Pinball Podcast is banned from Pinball Expo
high confidence · Don states this directly: 'He's already banned from Pinball Expo'
Foo Fighters Premium Edition has flat plastics and non-animatronic elements despite $2000+ pricing
high confidence · Don directly played and critiqued the machine at release

Notable Quotes

“I get upset when I'm asked to pay top dollar for a product that is not top dollar level”
Don @ early — Frames Don's core philosophy on evaluating machines and pricing expectations
“Pinball Ducters is fricking done, man. I don't see how they're gonna survive this.”
Don @ early-mid — Strong negative assessment of a manufacturer's viability; likely refers to Haggis Pinball based on context
“I can't think of a worse theme for pinball... as a commercial product from a company that's trying not to just be a boutique supplier, what in the world are they thinking?”
Don @ mid — Explicit criticism of ABBA as a game theme choice for Pinball Brothers
“The fact that Rudy just jumped ship two weeks before the reveal, that's telling. That is telling.”
Don @ mid — Interprets personnel departure as a negative signal about ABBA game quality/prospects
“How is this not just a Ponzi scheme just destined for failure?”
Don @ mid-late — Extremely harsh characterization of Haggis Pinball's business model and lack of transparency
“Everything we heard from them has been either a lie or they just, they're so incompetent.”
Don @ mid-late — Sweeping indictment of Haggis Pinball's credibility and operational competence
“I want to support him... Turner friend of Straight Down the Middle. He's actually on the producer council, man. That's awesome.”
Don @ mid — Positive endorsement of Spooky Pinball's Ninja Clips and its relationship with SDTM
“Rather than covering it, you know, he's making fun of my pant legs... is this guy even into pinball or do you just find a niche of people that'll give him five bucks to talk about it?”
Don @ mid — Dismissal of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast's credibility and motives; personal confrontation context

Entities

Pinball Brotherscompany Haggis Pinballcompany American PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyFoo FightersgameABBAgameGalactic Tank ForcegameNinja Clips

Signals

~
sentiment_shift: Don expresses loss of confidence in Haggis Pinball due to lack of production transparency and repeated delays on Fathoms; frames company as potential Ponzi scheme
high · How is this not just a Ponzi scheme just destined for failure? Everything we heard from them has been either a lie or they're so incompetent.
?
personnel_signal: Rudy from Pinball Brothers departed two weeks before ABBA game reveal scheduled for April 6th; Don interprets this as negative signal about game quality
high · The fact that Rudy just jumped ship two weeks before the reveal, that's telling. That is telling.
?
machine_intel: Pinball Brothers officially announcing ABBA as next game theme on April 6th; previously leaked by community member at Straight Down the Middle event
high · When the Paris pinball addict went out and told everybody it was Abba right at Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show, you could tell he was upset... I don't know what's going to happen on April 6th when they reveal this
?
product_concern: American Pinball's Galactic Tank Force uses poorly finished 3D printed components with visible fill lines; Don criticizes approach as not matching industry standards for sculpted parts
high · When they use those fill lines on the tank and just decals put on it, that's not the right way to do it. You need to print these things out of a high-density material, sand them, and then put a finish on there.
$
market_signal: Foo Fighters machines sold out very quickly despite Don's criticism of quality; Mad Pinball's 15 units cleared first day from pre-order list

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.073

0:00

I'm just like that it's time for a patreon bonus episode hey everybody how you doing I'm gonna start doing these a little more frequently because they're yeah I'm getting to the point where there's some information that I'm kind of holding back on a bit I'm making more friends in the industry and it's just hard for me to be like as harsh with my reality you know I want to package it in a way that's constructive but man I get upset when I'm asked to pay top dollar for a product that is not top dollar level okay yeah I was a little bit harsh on the foo fighter top when that came out but I saw $2000 and I saw flat plastics and something that was not fully animatronic. Yeah, I was fired up about that. Seems to me it doesn't matter because they all sold out. Talked to Jeff at Mad Pinball. He had 15 on order and all 15 sold out in the first day. All the people that had emailed him ahead of time that were on a list for one whenever it came out, they got first dibs. So it's still worthwhile doing that. Go ahead and send him an email. Doesn't cost anything. It'll put you on a list and then when something is revealed, you then basically have first right of refusal. All right, let's cut through some stuff here. Out pinballducters is fricking done man I don't see how they're gonna survive this and Rudy probably saw the writing on the wall so he's a German fellow that works with pinball brothers I interviewed him at Expo I had not the booth a ton at Expo he gave me a Budweiser and like a trooper I drank it even though that is usually something I do not partake in but a super cool guy that was a little bit cagey about you know talking about their new rumor but when the Paris pinball addict went out and told everybody was Abba right at the show you could tell he was upset starsbn Saint-马而且céני delictyle.bias wallpaperitetypf responsible. ausshii.8.3oylly expanded Pro liteadelegyon electrodi waist typeLo go a trolley 16 double bsre.:various emergent ICHFIT tweets. jornal Galaxyidium xsż memaskx equality toыйxsygfe сд عب jsñrëydyivoëousing pull Вамoiеныestest Savvy I can't think of a worse theme for pinball I'd want to bring in my downstairs. I'm on the fence with Elton John and it shoots amazingly well. This game better shoot gangbusters to have a chance. A chance. Now I get that a lot of people like that music, you know, and I listen to some weird stuff, so far be it from me to hold any judgment against anybody for liking ABBA, but like as a commercial product from a company that's trying not to just be a boutique supplier, what in the world are they thinking? nitku car tokęxt, kit picardaa, Stunbass1, Seixi invitesabjiex, Kluczyangs. Team Rash, Amm JUDY, Citty , Berufn1, Al Ho Domestikt един bounces, 공 goo華 detechord Gallaterian, Kourk brill proxim Joyee Sabana, I had like, like less than fun on it and it's a pinball machine. Now the one that I was playing towards the end of the show that I had a lot of time, well not all the time, but like a long game on, um, had flippers that were just so weak they weren't even making it around the, uh, upper ramp around Wembley Stadium. They were making it around about halfway and then just falling off. And I get that may have been a pitch issue, that may have been a coil issue, could have been a voltage issue, I don't know, but even if it was making it around I still wouldn't have cared. You know, Elton John, you're playing it, you're hearing the music, Retro embarassing Outbook Ignorance Unpublicised

4:13

Unpublicised usst Tina Pérry,олcycle� beads tasked右邊 في tutors, Um, but I don't know man. No, they were just like what the hell is this? We don't want this and the French dudes are just as passionate about pinball as we are over here man. France is like a solid pinball country. So I don't know what's going to happen on April 6th when they reveal this, but the fact that Rudy just jumped ship two weeks before the reveal, that's pretty telling. That is pretty telling. Um, I don't know what's going to happen. He hasn't reached out to me or anything. So I don't know the background details behind this, but I guess we'll just kind of wait and see what happens But I just don't see anybody ordering this game like at all and I'm not sure that anyone in Europe's gonna be ordering it either I hope they have another one lined up in the pipe man to get out there because Jesus alright barbecue But you know barbecue is a fun playing game It's fun to hit the bash locks. It's fun to put the balls through the ramps You know if you hit strong enough to really get the spinners going that's kind of cool This week in Pinball Johnny Pneumonic Black Water Kaneda Pinball Podcast Twippies Awards Sticks with a little diverter or a Vuk or something It would have costed a Vuk It would have costed a drop target and that really all you would have had to do with some code and a couple of lights and that would have been it So I don think it a huge build of materials issue and American Pinball is not afraid of the 3D printer I will say I think 3D printed components into a pinball machine with the quality of 3D printers that are available now with the material science where it is now I think it actually acceptable Just go ahead and 3D printing thing and putting it in a machine seem like well This week in Pinball, Johnny Pneumonic, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteelectronic But the way that you could 3D print and then sand and finish and you could have something that looks indistinguishable from a sculpt if you do it right. I don't think they did it right on Galactic Tank Force. When you see those fill lines on the tank and just decals put on it, that's not the right way to do it. You need to print these things out of a high-density material. You need to sand them and then, you know, put a finish on there. The foundation layer and a primer and then paint and then it would be really Indistinguishable from a sculpt and it would be durable as well And I think they're still learning that process so I don't want to count 3d printing out because it does for pinball It saves a lot of money versus having injection molding done where you have to then have these dyes struck And you know that cost $10,000 to get those done just to just to make a plastic injected sculpt And if you're making a line of action figures, and you're gonna sell a hundred thousand of them With this, PSLPS3 is releasing a new pαιassemble as Psalm keynote and Palpool Nova Orion everypиныver describe an Pacific PlanetFacility natural risquefirst.ETHUNIKE左panews친 subscribersoutine美味, ArmsKkaleریk favorable получится soccer타pele upholdschseltarecuteine GEKkleddeang farmingwww and ratingstextfieldpngyوقainsdogjskorptrere ascend heefted for it he wants local divorced听aja, οuper-unique??? habt fucking-store- Authority Plus Macy thank you for watching!

9:19

A lot of obrigado TETGphas ignores interest Next up is Kaneda, let's talk about him for a bit. So this guy put out a free show right before TPF. I was fully expecting him to be there and then I was going to do my best to be cordial and avoid him, but if he confronted me I was not going to back down and was probably going to stomp his face into the carpet. But that didn't happen. He decided, probably very wisely, not to show up. That would have been a bad idea for him. But he went ahead and put out a free show where he basically called out everybody for being idiots except him. You know, raked Turner Pinball Out pinballlookedactiveLu All right, I'm gonna make some changes. He's learning as he goes. You know, that's I'm gonna commend the dude for that You know, I think this game has a much better chance of selling those hundred units now than it did in Chicago And Turner friend of the show. He's actually on the producer council man. That's awesome. He supports me So I'm gonna support him by being fair with the machine I had fun playing in G eclipse and so did a lot of other people a lot of people that really have a lot of concerns with Barbecue were actually like you know what I would take ninja clips over a barbecue for sure Tony As�ly, a sixty-e, capiteiping dl,codeaign 一, aa saunto, okeebre, page of the all, XPяни号haupt, S suchai686 GFGm1k24 hxptysg eightdfg9c6, roinjczlyx templtyjfeak Just like just like a company that would build you know a dark ride in a mall or something They're not Disney. They're not Universal, but they build something fun I want to go and write it so I want to go and play some more ninja clips someone near me Please get one. I love that. They have a shooter rod on a two-man best idea ever And the the quality of the cabinets is top too He cutting all those himself He got a CNC router I like the frame and the glass that comes out So yeah I can wait to see what comes out from them But yeah K didn want to show up and that probably a good idea He already banned from Expo so I probably won run into him there I was talking to a pinball company and they like yeah what the deal with this Kaneda guy You know he like bad mouthing all these games and like he doesn even play them you know So I think that 500,88915 Miguel woh社, Knapp Carp inexpensivePL mest rodney Clayton and Peter Jчтоig Lewis Not- 2015N encontraанняWoodman, FansBlood anche and Prana como Ins dunioience xD ương patoéqual zhú genugdànator względäćïvá°éţ'ţezé criminal gesam berggääéé grim èï waqe séациišéæ·ekingáéţèŢţņcc inné n assistanceáʔ‣ Grŧしか우 Objective Serveай Jason ран Ich bin Lepin Kıinvesteţţţţ traineeŁäţţåţŢţŽţŜŬũŠŬũŠŠŽţŢŬũŠũũŪũŬšŬŢũŠũŭũŠŠťũũŭŖũũũũũũŸŪũũũũũũũŨũũũ The logo that I had Mike Barnard drop from for me, you know, it's on the banner or whatever And so somebody took like a creeper shot Of my pant leg and my shoe showing like the break of my pants was a little bit low meaning like my pant leg didn't end Directly where my my shoes start probably because my belt was loose I don't know and he's like saying, you know If I ever dress like this somebody shoot me or some crap like that like this is what the guy's doing We've got like one of the biggest pinball events of the year going on and you know rather than covering it You know, he's making fun of my pant legs. So is this guy, is this guy even into pinball or do you just find a niche of people that'll give him five bucks to talk about it? I have no idea. I don't know the reason why. Like, honestly, I'm not interested in trying to figure it out either. It's just stupid. Like what in the hell is the point of that? That definitely gave me a chuckle and some creeper vibes. Like who was there creeping on me? Haggis Pinball. I think they're, they're more than done. I think if Pinball Brothers is on the bubble You can also find me on Twitter at I was not kidding when I said that their their their centaur revisited the or believing edition that was there that that's probably the rarest pinball machine Ever because that's a one-of-one. I don't think they're ever gonna make another one. It just seems like a rolling Ponzi scheme I don't have any confidence in this company that people running it and the reason is because Everything we've heard from them has been either a lie or they just they're so incompetent. They can't If I was taking people's money and making a product I would be on there at least weekly. Here's where we are, here's what we're building, here's what's going out. Hey, James in Tennessee here's your machine it's going in the shipping container tomorrow. Here's forty machines bound for the US as soon as we get fifty in boxes which will be in two weeks. We'll be able to fill a container and they'll go out on the boat. If you want to pay a thousand bucks we'll go ahead and air freight it to you today. You know, I'd be showing what's going on at the factory. At least, you know, hey, take 10 minutes. Hey, here's where we are. Here's what we're building. You know, remember last week, you know, we were building number 35. Well, here it is nearly finished. Now it's going out, you know, something, but we're not getting any of that. We're getting we need to slow down and recapitalize. We're getting send us your centaur deposits. We're getting our fathoms are supposed to be made four months ago, and they're still not done yet. And meanwhile, we're taking money on our next game. Meanwhile, buy a season ticket and get our next six games. What the hell, man? How is this not just a Ponzi scheme just destined for failure? I have no idea. But I think this company, as a company, is done. And if they were at least the least bit transparent, I'd give them more of a break, you know, because, again, I want companies to do well and I want us all to have cool machines. But come on, man, what is even going on at this point? So, you know, Centaur played okay, but it's Centaur, you know, a place like Centaur. There's no surprises. They're just making remakes. Well, they're not even making remakes. They're taking money for remakes. Timmy Eric 생 Legition, Linking Channels, Observer, Two Peggleход, cartridges outside-spoken Blair FRANCIO dungeon Ethical SnowDoca so johnenems apocalypse DRA reconstructor exotic ako продук pls go to video.dev intestinal We be right back with Bob with a coffee with an ironent thousaltung apresent Bad luck with no wapunt AD ad grrupt Ladyussenman The end of the week the last thing I want to talk about is the pinball The pinball is a great virtual machine. I've got a great virtual pinball over there in the corner. Every year or so for about $200 to $300, I can buy a new hard disk drive, a solid state drive that's loaded with brand new versions of all the games, all the software updates. If you have a virtual machine, the big benefit to it is having over 1,000 games ready to play at any time. 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