Homepin Confirms Expo Reveal of “Pinball For Non-Pinball People”

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·Sep 28, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.017

TL;DR

Homepin confirms sub-$5k licensed game reveal at Chicago Expo

Summary

Homepin confirmed an upcoming licensed pinball game reveal at Chicago Pinball Expo, described by founder Mike Kalinowski as "pinball for non-pinball people" targeting the mancave market at under $5,000. The game is based on an extremely famous movie license. Separately, Haggis Pinball's Centaur Revisited was shown at Australia's Pinfest with significantly expanded code depth compared to their Fathom remake.

Key Claims

Homepin's new game is based on an 'extremely well-known license' targeting a lower-cost, mancave-friendly market segment
high confidence · Direct quote from Mike Kalinowski in Aussie Pinball Podcast interview
The new Homepin game will be revealed at Chicago Pinball Expo (assumed 2023 October show)
high confidence · Mike Kalinowski stated 'Absolutely' to Dr. John's question about taking the game to Chicago
Homepin's game is positioned as 'pinball for non-pinball people'
high confidence · Direct quote from Mike Kalinowski describing his new game
Haggis Pinball's Centaur Revisited has code approximately four times deeper than their Fathom remake
high confidence · Direct statement from Damian Hartin in Aussie Pinball Podcast interview
The new Homepin game will be priced under $5,000
high confidence · Referenced from June article mentioned in this piece and Kalinowski's 'mancave friendly' positioning

Notable Quotes

“and you're going to be taking that to Chicago”
Dr. John (Aussie Pinball Podcast host) @ 24:30 mark — Confirmation of Expo reveal plans
“Absolutely”
Mike Kalinowski (Homepin founder) @ ~24:30-25:00 mark — Direct confirmation of Chicago Expo reveal
“pinball for non-pinball people”
Mike Kalinowski (Homepin founder) @ ~24:30 mark — Key market positioning statement for new game
“the new expanded code for Centaur Revisited is almost four times deeper than the expanded code the Company put in its first remake, Fathom”
Damian Hartin (Haggis Pinball) @ ~1:00:00 mark — Significant code depth improvement for sequel remake

Entities

HomepincompanyMike KalinowskipersonHaggis Pinballcompany Damian Hartinperson Dr. JohnpersonAussie Pinball PodcastorganizationChicago Pinball ExpoeventPinfesteventHomepin Spinal Tap Pinballgame

Signals

?
event_signal: Pinfest Newcastle confirmed as major showcase event featuring Australia's top pinball manufacturers and 100+ machines
high · Event attended by Gary Stern, Jack Guarnieri, Damien Hartin, Mike Kalinowski, and David Hankin with 98+ additional games displayed
$
market_signal: Homepin targeting mancave-friendly, sub-$5,000 price point positioning game toward non-enthusiast players
high · Kalinowski described game as 'mancave friendly machine' targeting lower-cost segment with positioning as 'pinball for non-pinball people'
?
announcement: Homepin officially confirmed new licensed game under $5,000 for Chicago Pinball Expo reveal
high · Mike Kalinowski confirmed to Dr. John on Aussie Pinball Podcast that new game will be shown at Chicago Expo and described as 'pinball for non-pinball people'
?
product_strategy: Haggis Pinball significantly expanded code complexity for Centaur Revisited remake vs. Fathom predecessor
high · Damian Hartin stated 'the new expanded code for Centaur Revisited is almost four times deeper than the expanded code' for Fathom
?
licensing_signal: Homepin secured an 'extremely well-known' movie license for new game
high · Kalinowski stated he 'just paid the deposit for the license' which is described as 'extremely well-known' and for a 'lower cost machine'

Topics

New game announcements and leaksprimaryHomepin product roadmap and market positioningprimaryChicago Pinball Expo 2023 revealsprimaryLicensed IP for pinball gamessecondaryPrice segmentation and mancave marketsecondaryCode depth and rules complexity in remakessecondaryAustralian pinball community and Pinfestmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Enthusiasm for new announcements and reveals; positive framing of Homepin's market strategy and Haggis's code improvements; celebratory tone about multiple new game showcases at Pinfest

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

Well, we have our first official new game reveal for the upcoming Chicago Pinnall Expo... Yesterday a new episode of the Aussie Pinball Podcast dropped on The Pinball Network. The latest episode featured talk about the recent Pinfest pinball show that took place in Newcastle Australia. The podcast's host Dr. John included a number of great interviews in the episode. One of the first interviews (24:30 mark) was with Homepin's Mike Kalinowski, during which Mike stated that he has just paid the deposit for the license for his next pinball machine. It is an extremely well-known license that Homepin will use in a lower cost "mancave friendly machine." During the interview Dr. John stated to Mike about the new game "and you're going to be taking that to Chicago" to which Mike replied "Absolutely." I assume that they were talking about the upcoming 2023 Expo show in October and not the 2024 show. Mike went on to describe the game as "pinball for non-pinball people." Back in June I wrote an article here that contains more info on Homepin's upcoming third game: Homepin Working on New Sub-$5,000 Licensed Game Based on "Extremely Famous" Movie https://www.knapparcade.org/post/homepin-plans-to-reveal-sub-5-000-licensed-game-based-on-extremely- Later on in the episode, right around the one hour mark, Dr. John spoke with Damian Hartin about his company Haggis Pinball's first ever public showing of its next game Centaur Revisited. During the Haggis interview Damian stated that the new expanded code for Centaur Revisited is almost four times deeper than the expanded code the Company put in its first remake, Fathom. Below is a link to the great show for those of you who want to check it out: This episode I’m joined by Jessy Jay after we attended Australia’s largest and longest running pinball show. We caught up with Gary Stern, Jach Guarnieri, Damien, Mike and David Hankin – Australia’s big 5 of pinball manufacturing! We experienced the new Stern Venom Pro and Premium, the new Haggis Centaur, the new Homepin This is Spinal Tap Pinball, the new Godfather by Jersey Jack and 98 other games! L to R: David Hankin, Gary Stern, Mike Kalinowski, Damian Hartin, Jack Guarnieri. Aussie Pinball Podcast – Episode 17: Pinfest - LIVE From Newcastle https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-9hxq7-14b76af