Episode 785: "Galactic Tank & Mirrors Launch"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·10m 26s·analyzed·Mar 22, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.025

TL;DR

Kaneda tears apart Galactic Tank Force launch as 'all tank and mirrors' with weak gameplay showcase and predatory pricing.

Summary

Kaneda delivers a scathing critique of American Pinball's Galactic Tank Force launch video, condemning the marketing approach, video asset quality, mechanical showcase, and pricing strategy. He criticizes the decision to disable YouTube comments, argues the video failed to demonstrate compelling pinball gameplay or mechanics, and expresses concern that the $17,500 signature edition pricing represents unsustainable greed that threatens the industry.

Key Claims

American Pinball disabled comments on the Galactic Tank Force YouTube launch video
high confidence · Kaneda stated this directly as an unprecedented move in pinball launches, using it as evidence of the company not wanting to hear negative feedback
Galactic Tank Force Signature Edition is priced at $17,500 with only 200 units planned
high confidence · Kaneda called a distributor and received this pricing information; characterized pricing as including 3D translite, banner, poster, thermos, and lunchbox
The Limited Edition of Galactic Tank Force is $11,000
high confidence · Kaneda mentioned this price in comparison to the Signature Edition and James Cameron's Avatar Limited Edition
The launch video contained minimal actual pinball gameplay footage
high confidence · Kaneda repeatedly criticized the lack of unedited pinball action, stating 'They didn't even get like 30 seconds of unedited pinball action in this trailer'
Dennis Nordman and Zofia were expected to bring engineering improvements to American Pinball
medium confidence · Kaneda mentioned expectations about these personnel bringing 'engineering genius' but saw no evidence in the final product
The video assets in Galactic Tank Force look like '1990s bad porno movie' rather than 1950s sci-fi
medium confidence · Kaneda's subjective assessment of the video quality and thematic execution
Non-refundable deposit on Signature Edition is $5,000
high confidence · Kaneda stated this directly when questioning the deposit structure
Galactic Tank Force was in-location at arcades for two weeks before the launch video
high confidence · Kaneda referenced that people have 'been staring at this cabinet and this playfield now for two weeks'

Notable Quotes

“I've never seen this move before with any pinball launch since I've been watching pinball launches, American Pinball had to turn off the ability to leave comments on its YouTube channel where they premiered this video.”
Kaneda @ early in segment — Identifies an unprecedented marketing decision that signals the company anticipated negative reception
“I didn't see any pinball magic in this game. I didn't see anything mechanically happening in this game that was like, wow, did you see that happen?”
Kaneda @ mid-segment — Core criticism of the game's mechanical showcase and missed opportunity to demonstrate compelling gameplay
“The only thing I was laughing at today is when I called a distributor to ask how much is the signature edition of this game... The freaking signature edition is $17,500. I've never laughed so hard in my pinball life.”
Kaneda @ mid-segment — Expresses shock at pricing strategy; uses humor to convey disapproval
“Did you see anything in Galactic Tank Force that was as cool as the milk can shot in Houdini Master of Mystery?”
Kaneda @ mid-segment — Compares mechanically to established pinball classics, finds Galactic Tank Force lacking
“It's all tank and mirrors right now. You know, they use that tank package to really get everybody excited about the campiness of this game. But I'm not seeing the magic of that cabinet pull through in the actual gameplay.”
Kaneda @ mid-segment — Summarizes central critique: the tank novelty masks weak core gameplay
“This greed is really going to kill pinball. An original IP game for $18,500, pinball is over. New pinball will be dead if this is what people think an original IP game will go for.”
Kaneda @ late segment — Industry health concern; positions pricing as existential threat to new pinball market
“The moment you turn off the comments, that means you do not want to face the music.”
Kaneda @ recurring throughout — Repeats key criticism about comment disabling as evidence of intentional narrative control

Entities

Kanedaperson American Pinballcompany Galactic Tank Forcegame Dennis NordmanpersonZofiapersonJames Cameron's Avatar Limited EditiongameHoudini Master of MysterygameWe Are Pinball

Signals

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business_signal: Original IP pricing at $17,500+ perceived as unsustainable and threatening to industry; concern that overpricing will collapse new game market
high · Kaneda: 'This greed is really going to kill pinball. An original IP game for $18,500, pinball is over. New pinball will be dead if this is what people think'
?
community_signal: Launch video polarizing; Pinsider forum shows split reception with some positive responses, but mainstream criticism severe
medium · Kaneda noted Pinsider responses were positive ('it looks great. It looks funny') while his assessment was highly negative
?
design_philosophy: Game appears to prioritize novelty (tank cabinet) over core gameplay mechanics; 'all tank and mirrors' criticism suggests imbalance between form and function
high · Kaneda: 'It's all tank and mirrors...they use that tank package to really get everybody excited about the campiness of this game. But I'm not seeing the magic of that cabinet pull through in the actual gameplay'
$
market_signal: Aggressive non-refundable deposit strategy ($5,000 on Signature Edition) combined with FOMO-driven 'buy now' messaging from distributors reflects high-pressure sales tactics
high · Kaneda criticized: 'every single distributor is hitting up everybody saying, buy it now, send in your deposit, and your deposit is non-refundable'
$
market_signal: American Pinball disabled YouTube comments on launch video, unprecedented move in pinball industry; indicates anticipation of negative community reception

Topics

Marketing strategy and launch executionprimaryPricing strategy and market sustainabilityprimaryVideo content quality and gameplay showcaseprimaryMechanical design and innovationprimaryComment moderation and community engagementsecondaryComparison between licensed and original IP gamessecondaryNon-refundable deposits and sales tacticssecondaryIndustry health and market consolidation concernssecondary

Sentiment

negative(-0.92)— Kaneda is highly critical throughout, using harsh language ('atrocious,' 'piss poor,' 'greed,' 'whimper'). He expresses disappointment, frustration with pricing, and genuine concern about industry sustainability. The only positive elements are his intentions to play the game in person and hope for better content from other creators.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.031

Gotta blame it on something, gotta blame it on something, blame it on the rain, death was falling, falling. Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up. Oh, welcome to Gennady's Pinball Podcast. Alright, I'm just gonna rip the band-aid off. That was an atrocious launch video for Galactic Tank Force. And I was really excited to see this game, and they had a lot of people really excited to see this game. Dennis Nordman. He was going to be like uncuffed. We are going to see American pinball, put all this pinball magic into a game. And it was going to be campy. It was going to be cheesy. It was going to be funny. It was going to be this 1950s sci-fi throwback pinball machine about ice cream and galactic tank battles. And then you drop this video and look, the only thing I can go on is the video they've shown all of us. And I just want to say this right now. And I've never seen this move before with any pinball launch since I've been watching pinball launches, American Pinball had to turn off the ability to leave comments on its YouTube channel where they premiered this video. I want to tell you right now, in my marketing profession, whenever you have to turn off comments on a social media platform like YouTube, it means you do not want to hear how people really feel about your thing. And I've never seen any pinball company do this. And it's fine if they want to try to control the narrative and live in a vacuum, but they made this video. They decided this was good enough to show the game to all of us for the first time, even though all of us have been staring at this cabinet and this playfield now for two weeks. And they had a moment, people. They had a moment. They had a captive audience in which everyone was tuning in at one o'clock today to see this game. What I don't like about this trailer, I'm not even going to talk about the video clips that much. I don't like that this video showed us so little pinball. It is a pinball machine you are selling. You are not selling us on video assets. You're not selling us on live action. You are supposed to sell us on pinball magic and pinball moments. And I didn't see any pinball magic in this game. I didn't see anything mechanically happening in this game that was like, wow, did you see that happen? And after all of the hype, how this was the new American pinball, Dennis Nordman, and he was bringing over Zofia, and she was going to bring all of this engineering genius to this company. Where is the magic on a mechanical level in this game? Let me ask you a question ladies and gentlemen Did you see anything in Galactic Tank Force that was as cool as the milk can shot in Houdini Did you see anything mechanical in this game that really made you say Wow, was it the diverter that pops up and changes the direction of the ball? I don't know, that doesn't seem that great. The tank itself up the middle doesn't really do much, it just pops up as you hit the targets. There's a post between the flippers that lifts up. They didn't show anything about those lanes underneath the flippers themselves. They showed how we lock the balls in the game, but that's it. That's it. And then we get these video assets. And I'm just here to tell you, I felt they looked really cheesy. I felt they looked corny. And I know that's what they're going for. But what they did not achieve with these video clips is they did not achieve that campy, weird vibe of a 1950s sci-fi game. It doesn't look anything like that. These clips look like they're from a bad porno movie from the 1990s. And if the goal was to make a 1950s sci-fi throwback kind of game, they should have watched those movies and studied how they achieve that element. And when I'm looking at these clips, it leads me to believe they did not work with a video asset director who really had a vision on how to achieve that 1950s campiness. And it's bad. It's bad. And I can see the people on Pinsider are like, oh, it looks great. It looks funny. I was laughing the whole way through. How were you laughing all the way through? The only thing I was laughing at today is when I called a distributor to ask how much is the signature edition of this game, in which they're going to make 200 of them, in which the only real difference is the 3D Translite. You get like a banner and a poster and some thermos and a lunchbox. The freaking signature edition is $17,500. I've never laughed so hard in my pinball life as I did at that price. Are you freaking kidding me? $17,500 for an original IP American pinball game that doesn't really have anything more than the $11,000 LE, which also comes in tank format. And then it makes total sense why they're making this signature edition. The only reason they're making it is to get people to buy the 500 LEs of the game. They want to make you feel like that $11,000 tank version is a bargain and you almost have to be out of your mind to order that 17.5 version of the game. But again, I think it's a Trojan horse. I don't think they expect anyone to buy that top tier model. I think that is meant to sell those 500 I think they need to sell those 500 but I don think anyone saw enough today to pull the trigger on this game And maybe we going to get more videos We know that some arcades have the game on location But this was not a good introduction to this game. I don't think I've had FOMO leave my body so quickly as I did after watching that two-minute video. And it is what it is, ladies and gentlemen. We're going to see this game in Texas. We're going to see this game on location. But from what we're seeing right now, I think they did a piss poor job of getting people excited about this game. And I'm going to call it. It's all tank and mirrors right now. You know, they use that tank package to really get everybody excited about the campiness of this game. But I'm not seeing the magic of that cabinet pull through in the actual gameplay. I'm not seeing it pull through in the clips. And when I start to see stuff like Steven Bowden's in the game, I mean, what is happening right now? What are these companies doing? At this much money, you need to release a very highly polished, highly detailed product. It just feels like American Pinball made this like inside joke kind of game where they all had fun making it. But is that fun going to translate into a campy pinball machine that is worth like over $10,000? And I really am disappointed that with a straight face after taxes and everything, American pinball thinks they can sell us a game for 18,000, almost $19,000. Think about that for a minute. And this greed is really going to kill pinball. An original IP game for $18,500, pinball is over. New in-box pinball will be dead if this is what people think an original IP game will go for. Look, and I understand why they're testing the market like this. They saw the James Bonds for 20 grand. They see all these like Godfather just sold a thousand for $15,000. I understand what they're looking at, but what American Pinball needs to look at is a mirror people because you don't have the Godfather. You don't have Pulp Fiction. You don't have that stuff. And I worry that if people run to a game like this, you know, I worry that people just don't know enough. And I'm just getting to the point now where I'm absolutely tired of not getting enough information, not seeing enough of the game. At the same time this game is launching, every single distributor is hitting up everybody saying, buy it now, send in your deposit, and your deposit is non-refundable. Do you know how much the non-refundable deposit is on this signature edition of the game? A $5,000 non-refundable deposit on that version of the game. We are not this stupid We are not I understand FOMO but how can you have FOMO for an original IP game It not like you grew up with Galactic Tank Force This was the easiest game for me ever To say no to at these prices, now obviously the LE is a much better buy. It's the only thing I would even consider. We didn't see anything about the tank, how it folds down. Is it implemented in any way in gameplay? We didn't see how the topper works with gameplay. We didn't even get like 30 seconds of unedited pinball action in this trailer. They didn't do a good job of showing you how any of this stuff works together. And that is why I am reacting this way. I think there's a reason why this is what they launched with. I think they might be a little bit nervous that these assets and the acting in this video is going to be very polarizing. I've never seen a pinball company launch a game and turn off comments on YouTube. The moment you turn off the comments, that means you do not want to face the music. Now look, I feel good I get to play this game soon at Jack Bar. I'm going to play it soon at Texas Pinball Festival, but I have not seen any reason why I would separate $11 or $13 or $8 or $9 or $15 or $18 or $19,000 on this game until they show us more of this game. I'm hoping Straight Down the Middle has a video associated with this game. I'm not sure. This is one of the worst launch videos I've ever seen in pinball. They have nobody to blame but themselves. And I think the flame is going to go out real fast on this game if they don't start to show people a lot more reasons why they should buy this game. And that's just it, everybody. Galactic Tank Force, everybody was excited and they launched with a total whimper. The tank has misfired and blown itself up. They need to get something more exciting out into the marketplace. I don't see how you can expect people to part with this much money if this is what you're going to show them. It's 2023, and I think we need to keep our wallets in our pockets and wait and see a lot more before we commit to a game like this. And I'm sorry to my distro friends, but that's how Canada feels. Later. Blame it on the rain that was falling Blame it on the stars that didn't shine that night Whatever you do, don't put the blame on you Blame it on the rain