Lights, camera, auction!

TL;DR

Blockade covers Zen HOF voting, Arcade 1UP cross-compatibility, Godzilla specs, and Stern Insider pricing.

Summary

Key Claims

• Zen has had a firmware patch ready for some time that Arcade 1UP finally pushed through, making Whitewater and Junkyard 'now playable'

  high confidence · Chris and Jared discuss Arcade 1UP patch rollout; they verify this has been delayed for months

• The firmware patch allows cross-SKU flashing, meaning users can load firmware from other SKUs (e.g., Star Wars tables onto Williams cabinet) even if not originally purchased with that content

  high confidence · Chris explicitly states 'if you choose to flash the firmware from the other skus onto your let's say williams machine you can have star wars on there if you want'

• Stern Insider charges $30/month for home enthusiasts to share scores and compete online

  high confidence · Jared: 'it's a monthly fee and it's something like 30 bucks a month... $30 for a home enthusiast a month, just to share their scores and compete online, that's a big price to pay per month'

• Godzilla Pro model features only a single pop bumper, which is unusual for Stern machines

  high confidence · Chris: 'One pop bumper? Weird... It's a single pop bumper game. That's unheard of in a machine. Because, like, Gary is like, no, a stern machine isn't a stern machine. Let's say it's three pop bumpers minimum.'

• Godzilla Premium has significant mechanical differences including a moving building (time expander style), collapsing bridge, rotating standup targets, and Mechagodzilla magnet, while Pro version lacks these features

  high confidence · Chris demonstrates clear visual comparison: 'This building, think about it as the Doctor Who... Time expander. Goes from flush to all the way up to the top and moves up and down. It doesn't do jack on the Pro.'

• Sorcerer's Lair winning the Zen HOF bracket 72.5%-27.5% over Wild West Rampage is significantly imbalanced and likely due to it being the free table most players have access to

  high confidence · Chris: 'That is outrageously wrong... I just, I can't wrap my head around it.' Jared theory: 'The king of all tables? Please, inform us... There is one theory, and that's because it's their free table. And everyone has played it.'

Notable Quotes

• “That is outrageously wrong. When you come down to the finals of a bracket, they should be relatively close. That's a curb stomp.”

  Chris Freebus @ ~35:00 — Expresses strong disagreement with Zen HOF voting outcome; signals community sentiment on controversial bracket result

• “$30 a month, and this is probably $30, I think it might have been translated into Aussie dollars, $30 for a home enthusiast a month, just to share their scores and compete online, that's a big price to pay per month. That is more than any streaming service.”

  Jared Morgan @ ~45:00 — Critical assessment of Stern Insider pricing model; frames subscription as excessive compared to commercial alternatives

• “It's a single pop bumper game. That's unheard of in a machine. Because, like, Gary is like, no, a stern machine isn't a stern machine. Let's say it's three pop bumpers minimum.”

  Chris Freebus @ ~50:30 — Highlights unusual design choice on Godzilla Pro; references Gary (likely Gary Stern's design standards) as industry benchmark

• “The Pro is absolutely toothless... completely different game. Yeah. Let's see... Swords of Rage. What is it? Black Knight. Swords of Rage Pro. This is premium. Okay. Like, completely different game.”

  Chris Freebus @ ~57:00 — Strong criticism of Pro/Premium feature gap on Godzilla; compares disparity to other Stern titles as industry pattern

• “I'm just going to do a really quick Google search now... the Godzilla table, there is a huge discrepancy between the pro model and the premium model.”

  Chris Freebus @ ~42:00 — Signals intentional investigation of Pro/Premium pricing strategy disparity

• “So I mean, that's really good for people who have trouble getting their hands on one. But it's also kind of potentially good for people who are on the fence about buying another cabinet because we have to realize and acknowledge that these people who buy 1UP machines, they do like to actually collect the cabinets.”

  Jared Morgan @ ~30:00 — Analyzes cross-SKU firmware access as potential sales driver for Arcade 1UP cabinet collectors

Entities

Signals

• ?

  business_signal: Chip shortage explanation reveals cascading supply chain failures: early 2020 demand panic cancellations, COVID lockdown reversals, semiconductor factory fire, 3-month production lead times

  high · Discussion of semiconductor production complexity and 60,000 Ford trucks waiting for ECU chips

• ~

  sentiment_shift: Zen HOF voting outcome (Sorcerer's Lair 72.5% vs Wild West Rampage 27.5%) perceived as illegitimate; likely driven by free table accessibility bias

  high · Chris: 'That is outrageously wrong... curb stomp.' Jared theory: 'because it's their free table. And everyone has played it.'

• ?

  design_philosophy: Godzilla Pro model features unusually sparse mechanical design (single pop bumper, static building, flat plastic toys) compared to Premium tier, creating massive feature gap

  high · Chris: 'The Pro is absolutely toothless... completely different game' vs Premium with moving building, collapsing bridge, rotating targets, Mechagodzilla magnet

• $

  market_signal: Arcade 1UP cross-SKU firmware access could drive incremental cabinet sales by allowing collectors to trial different versions before $650 full purchase

  medium · Jared: 'It could also be a sales opportunity for people who want to try the other versions... see if they actually want to go all in and pay the $650 US for the other cabinet'

• ?

  personnel_signal: Keith Elwin confirmed as Godzilla designer; continues to bring novel mechanical innovations to Stern platform

  high · Chris/Jared: 'Another Elwynn, isn't it? Yes... these new designers coming in bring in new mechanisms'