The Pinball Show Ep 42: Slap Save Pinball Show

TL;DR

Jason Fowler addresses TPN controversy and explains his exit from pinball media, encouraging future creators.

Summary

Key Claims

• The Pinball Network faced organized opposition from influential community members prior to their reveal, including someone taking their company logo without permission

  high confidence · Zach Manning describes a global ambassador taking their company logo before their reveal, saying 'this is getting scary'

• Jason Fowler actively worked behind the scenes to recruit female and people of color for the Pinball Network, contradicting accusations of exclusivity

  high confidence · Fowler states: 'Contacting females and people of color and anything that I could do to make sure that that wasn't seen that way'

• Fowler reduced his personal collection from 23 machines to 6, kept Meteor, Flight 2000, Jurassic Park Premium, Guardians of the Galaxy Pro, Deadpool Premium, and The Hobbit

  high confidence · Fowler lists his surviving collection after moving to a new house with less dedicated game room space

• An unnamed influential person in pinball was encouraging to newcomers until they became 'too big' and then would 'lash out and try to take them down'

  medium confidence · Fowler describes losing respect for someone who influenced his early pinball ideas but later attacked others

• Dwight Sullivan designed a board game that Jason Fowler purchased on eBay

  high confidence · Fowler confirms: 'I own it. What? You bought it? I bought it, and I found it, like, in the depths of eBay'

• Led Zeppelin is Stern's final cornerstone title for 2020, designed by Steve Ritchie with Tim Sexton on code

  medium confidence · News correspondent Craig reports: 'One can only assume that the King of Flowham Stealth, Steve Ritchie, got the nod as lead designer'

• Slash praised Eric Meyer as 'one of the most amazing people I've ever worked with in any capacity' in a Consequence of Sound interview

  high confidence · Ken Rudberg reports Jersey Jack's coverage in music magazine Consequence of Sound featuring the Slash quote

Notable Quotes

• “I miss more than anything else. I miss the contacts and the people that I always talk to when we did the show regularly.”

  Jason Fowler @ ~8:00 — Fowler's emotional reflection on what he misses most after stepping away from podcasting, indicating the personal cost of his exit

• “There's certain people in the hobby that are hyper-competitive, and they count numbers and listenership as their priority at the expense of everything else. Burning friendships, burning relationships. I'm not that way.”

  Jason Fowler @ ~25:00 — Core explanation for Fowler's departure: fundamental philosophical difference with competitive individuals in the community

• “If you've got to pay me to do it, very likely it's work I don't want to do.”

  Zach Manning @ ~35:00 — Manning's philosophy on work vs passion, countering the 'do what you love' cliché

• “If you're doing it the way you want to do it, you're doing it the right way. Because if you enjoy it and you think it's entertaining, other people will too.”

  Jason Fowler @ ~36:00 — Encouragement to aspiring creators to stay true to their vision rather than respond to criticism

• “I'm above the fray, as my son likes to say. He's a very wise, wise man.”

  Jason Fowler @ ~23:00 — Fowler's new perspective after stepping back, suggesting he's achieved emotional distance from community drama

• “one can only assume that the King of Flowham Stealth, Steve Ritchie, got the nod as lead designer, with Tim Sexton leading on code.”

  Craig Bobby (News Correspondent) @ ~43:00 — Industry speculation about Led Zeppelin pinball's design team, though unconfirmed

• “It's human nature for people to try to poke holes in things. Just talk to Stern and their advertising department. They know that people just want to be disruptors.”

  Jason Fowler @ ~27:00 — Fowler contextualizes the attacks on TPN as part of broader industry dynamics of disruption-seeking

Entities

Signals

• ?

  business_signal: Haggis Pinball cabinetry and playfields assembled with underside printing for assembly efficiency; machines expected to ship 'very soon' with some uncertainty

  medium · News update: 'cabinetry is pretty much assembled and completed. The playfields have been cut and printing is on the underside' and 'we should be getting our game still, hopefully. Very soon. We'll see.'

• ?

  community_signal: Organized, multi-person campaign to sabotage/attack Pinball Network prior to launch; accusations of exclusivity contradicted by evidence of active recruiting of women and people of color

  high · Fowler: 'one influencer that's a global ambassador took my fucking company logo, Jason, prior to our reveal and said, oh, I've got it.' Manning confirms targeting of TPN members caused collateral damage to friends.

• ?

  event_signal: Haggis Pinball shipped Clan Haggis Swag Pack (merchandise) to Australian customers first, then international orders to follow

  high · Dr. John: 'Haggis...shipping their Clan Haggis Swag Pack, which includes everything from hats to t-shirts...Aussies would have already received theirs'

• ~

  sentiment_shift: Strong positive reception to Fowler's return and closure discussion; community still references his work months after departure

  high · Manning: 'Were you surprised at all with that positive response from the community when you left podcasting? I mean, people still reference Slap Safe. People still reference Missing Fowler.'

• ?

  community_signal: Encouragement from multiple voices for aspiring pinball content creators to enter the field despite drama/challenges