Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

Episode 29 - Pinball Podcasters are Munsters

Special When Lit·podcast_episode·24m 43s·analyzed·Dec 18, 2018
View original
Export .md

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

Special When Lit hosts discuss community feedback, Brian Eddy interview, Stern Munsters leak, and Jersey Jack pipeline.

Summary

Ken Cromwell and Bill Webb discuss their podcast growth, community feedback from a contentious Pinside thread, their recent interview with legendary designer Brian Eddy, leaked images of a Stern Munsters machine in production, speculation about Bill and Ted's pinball, Jersey Jack's release schedule, and recent code updates from Stern. They preview an upcoming year-end special episode featuring 40 community members' 2019 predictions.

Key Claims

  • Stern had a Munsters cabinet visible in the background of a manufacturing/Primus assembly line photo on Facebook

    high confidence · Ken Cromwell and Bill Webb discussing recent Stern Facebook imagery; Ken mentions he visited Stern weeks prior and saw 'monstrous things happening'

  • Stern typically manufactures Pro models first to account for 4-6 week overseas shipping lead times before domestic reveals

    medium confidence · Ken and Bill discussing manufacturing and release timing strategy

  • Brian Eddy (legendary designer) has never done a podcast before this Special When Lit interview

    high confidence · Ken Cromwell stating Brian 'has never done a podcast in his career' due to era he worked in

  • Jack Danger posted a Bill and Ted's Excellent Pinball Adventure banner image on Facebook that generated significant community interest before he pulled it down

    high confidence · Ken discussing Jack's social media post and community reaction; Jack later clarified he was 'having fun with it'

  • Jersey Jack Pinball is targeting approximately one game release per year

    medium confidence · Bill Webb citing Jack Danger's statement on This Week in Pinball about desired release cadence of 'one every nine months'

  • Stern hired additional programmers to support the main development team (Dwight, Lonnie, Tanya), speeding up code update frequency

    medium confidence · Ken and Bill discussing new hires in Stern's programming department and their impact on code update velocity

  • A contentious Pinside thread about pinball podcast listening led to moderation controversies and was eventually reopened after Robin (Pinside owner) and moderators reached agreement

    high confidence · Ken describing the thread's removal, reappearance, and eventual resolution with Pinside management

  • Special When Lit's year-end show features 40 community members sharing 2019 pinball resolutions and predictions, to be released Christmas Eve

Notable Quotes

  • “if you're listening to a podcast, why would you scratch out your eyes? Wouldn't you like plug your ears?”

    Ken Cromwell @ ~13:50 — Humorous response to harsh podcast criticism on Pinside; illustrates the hosts' ability to take negative feedback lightly

  • “Pinball, for us, it's about bringing people together and having good times.”

    Bill Webb @ ~20:00 — Core philosophy of the podcast and the broader pinball community

  • “Your ancestors you know wouldn't have made it on the Oregon Trail... they would have made it a block and been like, you know, no good.”

    Ken Cromwell @ ~35:20 — Playful ribbing about Bill's reluctance to travel; reveals personality dynamic and running jokes between hosts

  • “I just don't know that I would be in on a Lyman Sheets game at launch because I'm like so impatient.”

    Bill Webb @ ~41:40 — Reveals collector preferences regarding code maturity at purchase; Sheets is known for complex, evolving code

  • “he just knocked it out of the park on all all levels... he's extremely personable, he's got a great sense of humor... absolutely able to articulate exactly what he's trying to convey”

    Ken Cromwell @ ~18:00 — Effusive praise for Brian Eddy as interview subject and personality; first podcast appearance by legendary designer

Entities

Ken CromwellpersonBill WebbpersonBrian EddypersonJack DangerpersonDwightpersonStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    leak_detection: Stern Facebook photo of Primus/manufacturing assembly line contained visible Munsters cabinet in background, indicating game is in production phase

    high · Ken states 'Stern had uploaded some pictures on Facebook with the Primus manufacturing' and 'there was some monstrous things that were happening there when i was there' a few weeks prior; photo shows cabinet on assembly line

  • ?

    announcement: Ken and Bill discuss whether the Munsters leak was intentional Stern marketing or accidental; debate continues whether controlled leaks are strategic

    medium · Ken: 'Do you really think that multi-million dollar company would have let that leak without kind of messing with people?' Bill counters leak may have been unintentional due to busy photo background

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Jack Danger posted Bill and Ted's Excellent Pinball Adventure promotional banner that generated community interest; Brian Eddy later referenced Bill and Ted heavily in interview, stoking speculation about potential license

    medium · Ken notes Jack's image 'sat up for a little bit before Jack pulled it down' and 'Jack kind of said he was having some fun with it'; Brian Eddy 'really hitting Bill and Ted's hard, and he's smiling and he's laughing'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern manufactures Pro models first to account for 4-6 week overseas shipping lead times before coordinated domestic reveals

    medium · Ken and Bill discussing that 'pinball companies they try to time their releases so that the overseas units are received at the time that the game is revealed here domestically'

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.074

0:00
The Special When Lit Pinball Podcast is sponsored by Two Brothers Pinball Pale Ale, a juicy hot pale ale that takes your taste buds on a flavorful ride. Woo!
0:11
Coming at you out of St. Charles, Illinois, the Special When Lit Pinball Podcast starts now. Thanks for hitting that start button and taking the plunge. Here are your hosts, Ken Cromwell and Bill Webb. Hello Pinball Land and welcome to episode number 29 of the special When Lit Pinball podcast. I am Ken Cromwell. And I am Bill Webb. We're here to inform and entertain for the next 20 minutes or so. This isn't going to be a very long episode. We're going to touch on a few things because we've been hard at work on our year-end show. Real hard at work on that. Well, especially Ken. And honestly, a lot of props go out to you for putting this all together. You've been really influential with setting this all up, editing everything. where Dwight and I just get to show up and listen to it. You've been the man behind the scenes running to Stern Pinball, American Pinball, getting everybody's clips, editing, putting this all together. So thank you very much for doing that and setting this whole episode up. Dude, thanks a lot, man. It means a lot that I'm opening up the episode with some accolades and props. I appreciate that, man. Well, we don't have a Patreon. We don't get paid for this. No. And we're not setting one up or anything, so don't get nervous. Right. um not until not until next month not until next month um you know 2019 is a game changer yeah um but uh the year-end show is interesting because i we've kind of teased a little bit on on prior episodes but to be able to kind of sit down with some of these guys that you know we know a lot of these guys some of them we don't but the level of participation in this year-end show has been really exciting and in fact after we record this podcast uh tonight we are actually sitting down Dwight's on his way here right now. So we are going to sit down and you guys are going to hear everything for the first time. And for those of you that are joining the show late, the year end show is essentially this. We've got about 40 people that have offered a 2019 pinball resolution, a 2019 pinball prediction. And we just kind of compiled it in a way in which it makes it a little interesting and segmented for the listener, but it also gives yourself and Dwight the opportunity to kind of comment on these things. I'd like to jump in, even though I know what they are. It'll be a fun show. And it's it's a thank you to all of our listeners. And it's going to close out the year. It'll be uploaded. The goal here is on Christmas Eve, December 24th in the United States. And we'll see how it goes. Yeah, I'm really excited about that one. Should be just an awesome time. So once again, thank you very much for all your time and hard work into this. Thank you. This wouldn't be possible without you doing it. Well, I appreciate your your nice words and I appreciate the fact that we're still podcasting together. So that's good. That's, you know, we could talk about our resolutions and our predictions in a little bit, not on this show, but on the next show. All right. That's fine. That's fine. What else is going on in pinball land? Ken, in your eyes. You know what? It was interesting. There was a thread on pin side and it was essentially, do you listen to pinball podcasts? And I always really gravitate to those threads because if it's one thing we've both been asking for from the listenership is what can we do to be better? What are you looking for? What do you like? What you don't like? And did you get a chance to read any of that by any chance you know a week later i finally did after they reopened the post um and i really thought it was uh entertaining and a lot of these people get real passionate about this surprisingly so like negatively passionate too which you know it's not all up and up it's not all yeah sunshine and unicorns yeah but uh it was interesting it was an interesting read it didn't seem like we got slammed too much on there there were a couple of listeners that uh really went to bat for us, which, you know, honestly, I want to mention their names. The one was Thomas out of Alaska. I've kind of dealt with him on some coin doors. He posted an ad that he was looking for some System 11 coin doors, and I had some. You know, if I got parts and I don't need them, I'm going to share them. Yeah. So that worked out great. And him and I have developed a, you know, decent friendship out of this. I remember you bringing him up a couple episodes ago because it was around the time of the earthquake, and you had some concerns. I hadn't heard from him, and I was like, okay, hopefully him and his family are okay.

high confidence · Ken and Bill discussing their upcoming episode 30 special and promotion at end of show

Special When Lit Pinball Podcast
organization
Spooky Pinballcompany
Zach Sharpeperson
Lyman Sheetsperson
Robinperson
Thomasperson
Burley9043person
27D Nastperson
This Week in Pinballorganization
Two Brothers Pinball Pale Aleproduct
Jennyperson
Lonnieperson
Tanyaperson

content_signal: Contentious Pinside thread about podcast listening spawned moderation drama, thread removal/reopening, and significant community debate; Special When Lit received mixed but ultimately supportive feedback

high · Ken describes thread as 'entertaining' and 'negatively passionate'; notes 'the thread disappeared for a little bit another thread popped up' and 'third thread popped up wondering why the first two threads were knocked out'; Robin and mods eventually reopened it

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Stern hired additional programmers to support main dev team (Dwight, Lonnie, Tanya), increasing code update frequency across portfolio

    high · Ken: 'they had hired a lot of people to work in the programming department' and 'it takes a little off their plate'; 'it's got to speed up the process. And I think that's why you're seeing a lot of these games getting these code updates so frequently'

  • ?

    code_update: Stern released new code updates for KISS, Aerosmith, and Guardians of the Galaxy simultaneously or in close proximity

    high · Bill: 'they did release new KISS code. I don't know a lot about it, as well as Aerosmith code and Guardians of the Galaxy code'

  • $

    market_signal: Code maturity at launch is becoming a purchase consideration for collectors; some avoid early code due to impatience, others appreciate seeing evolution

    medium · Bill: 'I don't know that I would be in on a Lyman Sheets game at launch because I'm like so impatient'; Ken prefers waiting for mature code; both discuss code update wiping grand champ scores as pain point

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Speculation about Jersey Jack's next release; Ken suggests Willy Wonka could be announced at Texas Pinball Festival in March, but counters that another title may release before end of 2019

    medium · Ken discusses Zach Sharpe's comments on TWIP about release schedule; Ken states 'Jack comes on and he throws out some Easter eggs' in upcoming year-end show; 'I am not convinced that they will not release a pin at Texas pinball festival'

  • ?

    community_signal: Special When Lit growing in prominence within pinball podcast ecosystem; securing high-profile guests (Brian Eddy); year-end special attracting 40 community participants

    high · Brian Eddy's first-ever podcast appearance on their show; year-end special collecting 40 guest predictions; positive feedback from community members on Pinside despite criticism

  • ?

    event_signal: Special When Lit Pinball Podcast releasing major year-end special (episode 30) on Christmas Eve featuring 40 community members' 2019 pinball resolutions and predictions

    high · Ken: 'The goal here is on Christmas Eve, December 24th in the United States' for upload; 'We've got about 40 people that have offered a 2019 pinball resolution, a 2019 pinball prediction'

    • 4:17
    And then the other one that I really appreciated was Burley9043. Thank you very much, Burley. Shout out to you for listening and engaging in that Pinsight thread.
    4:28
    Just hope everyone kind of, resolution for the year, just listens to what they like and doesn't get too overly opinionated as it's pinball. It's not a liver or kidney. Your family's still breathing. what else could you really need in life? 27D Nast also on Pinside went to bat for us and just kind of recommended the show and I appreciate it. I think the one thing that I, I took a couple things out of that thread first. I mean there was some constructive criticism that I was able to kind of take to heart and realize that hey this does make sense but on the flip side of things I mean there were other people, it seemed like the those that were not interested in podcasts or had listened before but did not care to listen to them ever again whether it was a bad experience or they listened to a show that just didn't pertain to them or didn't call to them. I mean, they were so vocal about how bad they were. And it was funny because you had a couple of guys that were like, man, when I listened to this podcast, I just wanted to scratch my eyes out. And I'm thinking to myself, if you're listening to a podcast, why would you scratch out your eyes? Wouldn't you like plug your ears? I mean, why would you ruin your site because of audio audio issues that you couldn't that you could hit the pause button on? Right. So that kind of right away, I'm like, all right, well, I'm going to take that criticism uh you know as lightly as possible it was definitely an interesting read um it was that's all i took that there's a lot more that i took away from it that i just don't want to get into yeah right you know the politics of it um it just got ugly yeah well i mean it got ugly the thread disappeared for a little bit another thread popped up which was also kind of uh frozen and then a third thread popped up wondering why the first two threads were knocked out robin who runs pin side kind of came in got on the same level or talked to the moderators They all kind of came to an agreement on some changes they wanted to make They reopened the original thread and you know all is well I think that page is like seven pages long. And for those of you that are podcast listeners, and obviously if you're listening to our show, whether it be for the first time or for the third or 29th time today, you know a lot of the podcast personalities out there. You know the different shows that you like. And it's kind of fun to see some of these guys interacting within the thread. it's also fun to get feedback and and it's funny because something that you really like that you think is really good is complete garbage to somebody else and and that's just anything else in life i suppose but humbling experience uh learning experience for us in there and as we go forward in 2019 there are changes that we absolutely are making to the show not not necessarily because of that thread but ideas that we had had so it'll be interesting to see uh what happens special one lit pinball podcast in 2019 and for all the people that listen great thank you very much for all the people that chose to listen to this episode never going to listen again thank you for listening thanks for stopping by we don't take it personal someone doesn't listen or we're not their style that's fine we don't take it personal just don't make it personal and it's interesting that you said that because our most recent episode was uh the brian eddie interview and that was episode number 28 for those of you that have not caught that episode uh brian came into studio we sat down with him for a couple hours and uh you know we put out about an hour and 20 hour, 30 minutes of content. And before we get into Brian really quick, our style of an interview is more of a conversation than I think it is. Cutting edge 2020 is crazy in-depth interviews. And we've talked about this before when we envision the podcast. It's it's us having conversations with ourselves and with these people to come in. So what did you think of Brian Eddie. Now, Brian has never done a podcast in his career because back when he started in video game side of things and back, Bally Williams, there was not social media like there is now. Obviously, there wasn't like a strong there weren't podcasts, essentially. And if they were if there were podcasts, they weren't easily accessible. That might have been before chat rooms at that point. Right. Could be probably. Yeah, absolutely. But but what was your first impression of Brian? And what did you think of him in general as a person, as a designer, as somebody sitting down for the first time telling his story on a podcast as a person he was a great person to talk to um first few minutes you know getting to know him and know what he's about and relating with him on pinball was uh very easy and as the time went on it definitely became a lot easier to talk to him and you know we started joking and that was great as far as the interview you know you and i went back and forth on this where we could have sat there with for five hours having drinks with him talking pinball and Williams and everything in between. So, you know, it was hard to get everything that we wanted covered. But all in all, for being our first interview with Brian Eddy, hopefully we can continue that and have him on again. I'm confident that'll happen. Yeah, there were a lot of good things there. So I'm hoping for that as well. It was funny because he showed up and he had mentioned that he might be bringing his girlfriend, Jenny. And so the both of them arrived, obviously, together. We went downstairs and there was that getting to know each other kind of period for maybe 15, 20 minutes before we went live on the mics or recorded live on the mics. And I didn't know what to expect from Brian because we had exchanged emails. He knew that we wanted to have him on the show, and he was receptive to that idea. But we never had a conversation. We never met face to face. Again, I didn't even know what his voice sounded like. If he was able to articulate what he wanted to say in a manner in which would be interesting to people that are listening to an audio show, a podcast. and I mean he just knocked it out of the park on all all levels first of all he's extremely personable uh he's got a great sense of humor I feel like I'm on a dating site here and he's absolutely able to articulate exactly what he's trying to convey as far as answers to questions I could have sat down here with him for a long time his girlfriend Jenny was awesome she was an observer for for most of the interview until the very end you reminded me maybe we should introduce her since she was there the whole time, but she was super great. I got an opportunity to talk to her a little bit after the podcast while you and Brian had jumped off to take care of some other business. And it was just all in all, it was a really fun night. It was an honor for me to be able to have somebody that I admired for a long time, be able to kind of put everything in a package and tied up with a bow because he didn't disappoint as far as somebody that now I know personally. Yeah. And that's always a relief because I've had letdowns also with people that I admired or respected from a distance. So, well, and you know what? Every time we've met with someone that's in the pinball profession, it seems like, you know, you're always nervous to meet them. And this has happened on multiple occasions with us or with me, at least. And as soon as you meet them, you start talking pinball. Sooner or later, you're relating with one another and the rest of its history. Yeah. And it's funny because I think you'll agree. We meet a lot of people that we normally obviously would not have met if we weren't into pinball. And even people that I normally wouldn't find myself clicking with, there's a friendship and a bond there that happens because of pinball. And I think that's a pretty cool thing, too, to take out of everything that happens as far as interaction with individuals. Absolutely.
    11:21
    I've said it before and I'll say it again. Pinball, for us, it's about bringing people together and having good times. Yeah. Did you see Facebook this week? So Stern had uploaded some pictures on Facebook with the Primus manufacturing. I did. And there was a background picture, too. some images in the background what did you see in the background i don't know maybe a monster's yeah so monsters monsters cabinets yeah um which is cool i was in stern a few weeks ago taking care of some things and uh there was some monstrous things that were happening there when i was there so to see kind of some pictures get out there now and i think that that revealing picture which essentially was in the very background of one of the primus assembly line pictures You saw somebody working on a Munsters cabin. And with Stearns Manufacturing, normally the pros are manufactured first. They get a bunch ready to ship overseas. Because of the lead time it takes for them to get there. Which is probably what three weeks four weeks Six weeks Is it six weeks Probably Between four and six I would believe Okay I thought it was closer to four Maybe less I could be completely I not up to date on current shipping times Well these pinball companies they try to time their releases so that the overseas units are received at the time that the game is revealed here domestically. Whether those are domestic games or those are games going overseas, who knows? But it's exciting to know that that game is, according to the pictures, looks like it's on the line at this point. Yeah. And typically whenever we've seen something and it was in the factory, it was only, you know, days or weeks before something was shown that, you know, this is in the works. So that was cool. So I assume like there would be a teaser video or some more leaked information that will come out, probably controlled by Stern at this point. You know, that picture was controlled by them and that was just their way of trolling everybody. Do you think so? Absolutely. Do you really think that, you know, that multi-million dollar company would have let that leak without kind of messing with people? I honestly think that that could have been an honest mistake. I mean, that the graphic image of monsters is so far off in the distance of that photo. And with the Primus artwork being so vibrant and busy, monsters kind of disappeared. It wasn't something that was notable, noticeable from the naked eye, unless you really knew what you were looking for. Or if you were investigating, where's Waldo style looking for some monster stuff. And I don't know if it was on purpose or not. I mean, regardless, I think the cat's out of the bag. everybody kind of knows this machine's coming out so to have a little fun either way is fine by me i i like to get little information it keeps interest up too you know and i noticed spooky pinball had done something i'm not going to say similar but when alice cooper nightmare castle was announced they were leaking photos here and there and it just kind of kept everybody interested at least for me throughout the process prior to the reveal yeah so yeah i think they did that deliberate that's our way of keeping interest and stirring the pot but you know i mean just like bill and ted's that we know is coming out at some point i'm glad you brought up bill and ted's because we've been fielding a lot of questions now in the brian eddie interview brian had talked about bill and ted being some buddies of his that he's had some excellent adventures on and uh it threw me off a little bit because i wasn't sure where he was going i for a second i thought he was referencing somebody named Bill and Ted that had worked in pinball or at Stern, and it just so happened to be Bill and Ted's. But if you remember a few episodes prior, interview with Jack Danger, Jack had uploaded on his Facebook page a Bill and Ted's Excellent Pinball Adventure kind of banner picture, like an advertisement that you would see for a game that's coming out. And the internet kind of went wild. There were those that were like, this is the machine that I want. This is crazy. It sat up for a little bit before Jack pulled it down. Now, Jack kind of said he was having some fun with it, but he would hope that Stern would take the popularity of that image and consider it maybe for future pinball releases or maybe acquiring a license. Now, Brian comes in a couple weeks later, and he's really hitting Bill and Ted's hard, and he's smiling and he's laughing, and I couldn't get a gauge on where he was really going with it at all. I just assumed at that point that he was having some fun with us, which is fine. But that being said, I won't put anything completely out of the picture with Stern or Brian Eddy at this point, because I think they're capable of throwing a Bill and Ted's together. I don't know if the license has been discussed. Maybe Jack hit on something that was already being considered, or maybe it's just a big trolling incident, which is very, very possible. I mean, what do you think your gut feeling? Because you were down here and you were guessing like Bill Ratzenberger or something. I don't know where you're going. Fitzenruder. Yeah. Who's Bill Fitzenruder? It was a guy that used to work at Williams. That's crazy. From what I think. I know the name's familiar. What address was that at? 3401 North California Avenue in Chicago. That's awesome. I got to think with dates, numbers, and stuff like that, and history. But I don't think that there's any validity to it, but we could be completely wrong. Before they make Bill and Ted's, I'd love to see them make Die Hard. That's a great Christmas pin.
    16:24
    Die Hard would be a Christmas pin for sure. I guess so would Home Alone, but I don't know who's clamoring for a Home Alone pinball machine. I could do without it. Titles that are coming out, though. So there's been talk with Jersey Jack Pinball. And I was on This Week in Pinball two weeks ago, and I was talking to Zach. We had a conversation about the release schedule for Jersey Jack. And Zach had mentioned that he thought maybe if Willy Wonka was next, that they would reveal that at Texas Pinball Festival in March. And I kind of countered saying that I think it would kill Pirates of the Caribbean sales. we have some information and this will also be, um, you'll hear this and you don't know this yet either, but you'll hear this on the next episode, especially when lit, which is our year end holiday show. And, uh, Jack comes on and he throws out some Easter eggs, which I think a lot of people will find interesting. And I'll, I'll put it to you this way. After listening to Jack a little bit, I am not convinced that they will not release a pin at Texas pinball festival. and I'm not convinced that they will not have another pin released before, or at least announced before the end of 2019.
    17:32
    Any thoughts on that? Yeah, I think that they would release another title. I mean, they tried to do one a year anyway, so I could see that happening. I think Jack said he'd like to release a title, like, is it one every nine months? Yeah, that sounds about right. So, I mean, we're due. Yeah, I suppose. It's just from the announcement of Pirates versus when they actually started not trickling out, but like in full production, it just it seems so new to me still. Well, that was like a year, you know, almost a 10 month build up before, you know, so I could see them taking their time with getting this one right to make sure that they could put on line, you know, faster than they have previously. Do you think their line is set up to run these pins? I mean, because they're also supposedly going to continue with Wizard of Oz. I think that's going to be on the line. I haven't met a Jersey Jack pinball, and I'd really like to go in there. Talking to Jersey Jack he absolutely invited us in if we were in the area to give us a tour I like to take him up on that I want to see exactly what going on We seen Stern We seen American Pinball I mean we seen kind of the local companies I don't know what's going on at Jersey Jack. Hey, I'll drive if you want to go. I will not be driving with you. You don't have to drive. You just sit there. I would need to be tranquilized and thrown in the trunk. I can't be in. That's got to be like a 17-hour drive. No, it's like 10 or 12 hours. It's about eight and a half hours too long. No, it's just fine. I don't know. That's not for me. I'm not a big car guy. although i hate flying so that's why i might not ever get to jersey jack pinball ever you might not ever get to texas i barely get to elgro village and it's like 45 minutes from my house to get to stern right funny story when we went to go uh buy a baywatch it was in the city of chicago and ken was on the fence about going to get it i'm like i didn't want to go because it was an hour drive yeah you were like this is just too far dude you think you'll meet me halfway i'm like you know dude your ancestors you know wouldn't have made it on the oregon trail they would have made it a I've been on the block and been like, you know, no good. My ancestors must not have gone anywhere. It's not in my blood to travel. I'm not a homebody either. I like to go out. I like to go out locally. Yeah, you're a 20-minute kind of guy. I'm a 20, 25-minute kind of guy. Like, I want to make sure that I can get to a destination without having to go to the bed. Not that I have bathroom issues at all, but, you know, it's like 25 minutes. It's kind of like my perimeter around base camp. Nice. And anything after that is like it's extra effort. So, and we've gone on some pinball adventures for pinball machines. We have. Well, and in other news, before I forget, they did release new KISS code. I don't know a lot about it, as well as Aerosmith code and Guardians of the Galaxy code. Yeah, so there's a lot of code that's coming out of Stern. And if you remember, they had hired a lot of people to work in the programming department. And that's got to be a huge aid for the regular programmers, game developers, like Dwight and Lonnie and Tanya. it takes a little off their plate because they're still steering the ship and they know what direction they want these games to go in. And to have a support staff that can knock things out while he's also focusing, it's got to speed up the process. And I think that's why you're seeing a lot of these games getting these code updates so frequently. All these new guys have to be completely motivated, and when they see what's going to happen and how it's received in the community, it just has to make you more motivated to put more code out. Oh, yeah. Well, and these games seem to be shipping with better code now than before, too, which is also you know a vote of confidence where before you know you heard some people say you know i'm not sure about this game because the code's not quite where i want it to be that's tough you know and and nothing against lyman sheets because i think of all the programmers there he might be the most celebrated right now as far as having games that ultimately end up with the most complete code but i just don't know that i would be in on a lyman sheets game at launch because i'm like so impatient. I could see me getting a game that doesn't have a lot of code and getting tired of it and letting it go before it even came to fruition as far as a code standpoint. So for me, that's a detriment to be able to sit around and wait for code updates. And, you know, there's a method to Lyman's madness, and usually his games come out and they're masterpieces. I just think I'm more of a guy that would be in a position to kind of wait for him to complete that masterpiece or get as close as possible to 1.0 code before I would go in and invest because I would not reap the benefits of code updates if it took a year for a machine to get anywhere else. See, for me, though, it comes down to me not wanting to move it out of the basement. So it's going to be a basement at least a year anyway. So for me, the code wouldn't really bother me, and I don't have time right now to go down and play as much as I'd like to. So for me, the game would still be new six months down the road. I think the other cool thing, though, for those that get in on early code is that it's got to be kind of fun to see the evolution of a machine, where it started and where it ends up. Wiping my Grand Champ scores would bother me. But a lot of people complain about that. Well, why does Stern do that? When they update the code, it wipes all the scoring. And it's simply because usually there's scoring balances that are installed or there's additional features that alter the scoring. So why would you compare a Grand Champ score on a version of the game that had changed? Because there's variables that are introduced, so it's really not a true Grand Champ score that you're competing against. you're on new code that has new features so that that always you know bothered me that people would get upset about that um as i just said i hate when my grand champ scores get uh erased so i do too but you know it's sometimes just the way that the way it is so yeah we were just listening to a little uh bruce hornsby before the uh podcast started that was a good that was a good song i forgot about that getting in the podcast and move so i think that's about it though for for the news and pinball this week, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, we don't need to go on and on today. The purpose of this episode was really just to kind of, hey, we're still here. We're glad that you guys enjoyed Brian Eddy. We are glad that you are enjoying the content that we're putting out. We wanted to check in because the next show that comes out is going to be that Christmas Eve year-end special with the 40 guests. So we'll be looking out for that. And I don't know, we'll touch base with everybody sooner than later. Because guess what we have to do after we hit stop here? Record another episode. Yeah, I'm going to have to let Dwight into the Two Brothers Pinball PLL studio and sit down and probably knock out a couple hours of recording that we have to edit down to hopefully an hour and a half. If he's not here already. On that note, let's hope he's not here already. But, yeah, so I think that's it, right? For Bill Webb, I'm Ken Cromwell. Everybody have a good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Don't forget to take some time out of your day to play some pinball. So long, everybody. Hey, guys, this is Ken from Special When Lit Pinball Podcast, and I want to invite each and every one of you to join us on our next episode 30 of Special When Lit Pinball Podcast. It's our year-end holiday special and we've invited 40 guests to come in and talk about their pinball resolution and pinball predictions for 2019. We appreciate everything you guys have done to make our show such a success and we want to give this gift to you as our holiday thanks. And that's going to come out on December 24th, Christmas Eve. Special When Lit Pinball Podcast. Thanks, guys.
    24:34
    you