Triple Drain Pinball Podcast Episode 61: TPF Prep 2025

The Pinball Network·video·1h 21m·analyzed·Mar 14, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.026

TL;DR

Triple Drain goes independent; Twippies recap; Evil Dead hands-on impressions.

Summary

Triple Drain Pinball Podcast announces their independence from The Pinball Network starting with episode 61, with a dedicated YouTube channel and podcast feed. The hosts discuss The Twippies awards (where Jaws dominated and Electric Bat Arcade won best podcast), preview the Texas Pinball Festival, share detailed impressions of the Evil Dead pinball machine, and banter about personal observations and tournament preparation.

Key Claims

Triple Drain is leaving The Pinball Network to become independent starting episode 61
high confidence · Official announcement by Joel at episode start; no drama or issues cited
Electric Bat Arcade won best podcast in The Twippies
high confidence · Joel directly states this after discussing nominations
Jaws dominated The Twippies awards in multiple categories
high confidence · Joel explicitly states 'Jaws dominated um in pretty much every category'
X-Men won Innovation of the Year at The Twippies, the first time Jersey Jack didn't win LCD
high confidence · Joel notes X-Men's Danger Room flip lock/8-bit mode winning, and clarifies Jersey Jack's historical dominance
Evil Dead has a lower playfield that is mode-gated and somewhat randomly accessed
high confidence · Joel detailed concern: 'to get to the lower playfield, there's only a few modes that get you there' and mode selection is 'somewhat random'
Evil Dead features four modes based on the first film and four based on the second film
high confidence · Joel states: 'You have four modes that are that are based off of the first movie. You have four modes that are based off of the second movie'
Flippin' Out got second for best video creator at The Twippies; Fox Cities Pinball got third
high confidence · Joel announces results of video creator category
Triple Drain placed sixth for best podcast at The Twippies
high confidence · Joel states: 'Triple Drain, when it came to podcast, we got sixth'

Notable Quotes

“We are leaving The Pinball Network. Uh, there's nothing, there's no issues, there's no problems, there's no drama, there's nothing.”
Joel @ ~0:30-1:00 — Official announcement of Triple Drain's independence
“Jaws dominated um in pretty much every category.”
Joel @ ~12:00 — Summarizes The Twippies award sweep by Jaws
“I would say the only way to win best podcast is you have to own and operate an arcade and then get every one of your people to vote for you, right?”
Joel (addressing criticism about voting dynamics) @ ~18:00 — Commentary on potential Twippies voting bias toward operators
“Evil Dead is just such an interesting franchise because I personally don't really like the first two movies... but the third one, Army of Darkness, like I really like, like that one.”
Travis @ ~55:00 — Shows nuance in approach to horror IP integration in pinball
“This game is full of moments. Um, there are so many mechs in the game, and they have different modes and different multiballs that all highlight different mechs.”
Joel @ ~58:00 — Positive assessment of Evil Dead's mechanical variety and design
“They did the property justice. Like you. They. This. They have. It's all there. The the, um, the audio clips, the video clips, the art is is on point.”
Joel @ ~50:00 — Affirms quality of Evil Dead's thematic execution
“For some people, it's absolutely blowing up a machine. For others, it's just trying to keep the ball above the flippers.”
Travis @ ~63:00 — Articulates different player priorities beyond tournament-focused design
“To me I just I love pinball moments. I love I love the mini wizard modes are the unique experience with the game. Something on the game that that just stands out.”
Joel @ ~60:00 — Defines design priority around memorable, experiential moments

Entities

Triple DrainorganizationThe Pinball Network (TPN)organizationJoelpersonTravisperson Tomperson Electric Bat ArcadeorganizationFlippin' Out PinballorganizationSpooky PinballcompanyEvil Dead

Signals

?
event_signal: Triple Drain Pinball Podcast transitioning to independent channels; established podcast network departure with dedicated YouTube and podcast infrastructure
high · Official announcement: 'episode 61 and beyond, we are now we're going to be independent'
?
community_signal: Electric Bat Arcade's podcast win reflects their status as top location operator with unique perspective on route data and mechanical performance
high · Joel: 'they actually release a lot of data that a lot of other podcasts don't because they can talk about games on route, what's doing well, what's not doing well, what mechs are working'
?
competitive_signal: Evil Dead positioned as unique horror-themed game with strong thematic execution; Spooky bringing 10-11 units to TPF indicating significant inventory allocation
high · Joel: 'They did the property justice' and 'They're going to have Evil Dead. They're I think they're bring in 10 or 11 of them'
?
design_philosophy: Evil Dead mode selection mechanism is 'somewhat random' with limited access to lower playfield; Joel expresses concern about casual players experiencing key features
medium · Joel: 'to get to the lower playfield, there's only a few modes that get you there... it's somewhat random. You have to hit a captive ball to scroll through your mode'
?
design_philosophy: Different analytical approaches among hosts: Joel focuses on 'pinball moments' and mini wizard modes; Travis balances tournament mentality with end-consumer experience; Tom prioritizes accessibility across skill levels

Topics

Triple Drain independence from The Pinball NetworkprimaryThe Twippies awards results and analysisprimaryEvil Dead pinball machine hands-on reviewprimaryTexas Pinball Festival preparation and previewprimaryPinball game design philosophy and player prioritiessecondaryCommunity voting dynamics in awardssecondaryHorror theme integration in pinballsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.72)— Hosts are enthusiastic about Evil Dead, celebrate The Twippies results for Electric Bat Arcade, and are optimistic about TPF. Some mild criticism of Evil Dead's mode selection randomness. Overall tone is light, joking, and community-focused despite technical difficulties.

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

we we're three guys who like to talk and so we came up with a class our name we're Joel and Travis talking all and we call ourselves triple triple train triple train triple triple okay that's uh we're trying something new here we're trying something new I don't think Trav likes it I incredibly awkward we didn't even do an intro or anything we're just playing a theme song from the beginning so here's the deal so first off um I I know there are people that listen to this podcast that just skip ahead like five minutes every single episode so normally we start the episode hey are you ready what's going on we make fun of each other you know the all the script you know the typical script that I write for us all need to listen yeah this this part's definitely keeping people from skipping for sure like right now oh yeah oh want to get straight to pinball news um no what I'm saying is normally we do that but there's a change there's a change going on and the change is triple drain we are leaving tpn um we are leaving the pinball network uh there's nothing there's no issues there's no problems there's no drama there's nothing uh really what it comes down to was we did 30 episodes of just audio so right around episode 30 we added video we added video we've been doing video now for 30 episodes we just had episode episode 60 so here's a great transition Point episode 61 and Beyond we are now we're going to be independent we're going to be independent so what does that mean listeners or viewers please pause the episode and what you're going to want to do is you're going to want to go to whatever your podcatcher is and just search triple drain pinball podcast and you should see a new podcast subscribe to that or follow that or like that all of our previous episodes are there if for whatever reason you want to go back but find the podcast is unique and then if you're on YouTube please pause the pause the video I'll put the link in the description search triple Dr and pinball podcast and we now have we've released our our triple drain YouTube channel so I we may have one this is a joint release right now on tpn and triple drain but we may have one more of those I don't know but for future videos you are going to want to see those on our dedicated YouTube channel so sorry that you guys are going to have to put in a little bit of work to migrate over but we appreciate you we don't want to lose you guys as viewers or listeners so please follow our unique channels uh Travis you had held up your hand about a minute ago and I ignored it you have something you wanted to say I'm just hoping like everybody didn't pause immediately right there like pause the channel before you talked about or pause the video before you start talking about what you need to so ignore that previous pause and don't skip ahead don't skip like we have to establish all that I almost feel like to say it in the middle of the episode for the people that automatically skip ahead we're going to have to because there's somebody out there that skipped ahead and they're gonna be like what the hell's going on y yep yep so um updates updates first off Tom we missed you we missed you last week or not last week we missed you last episode uh Travis and I had to be nice to each other and um what are you talking about okay that's horeshit that's what we agreed on and Joel like threw me under the bus within like 8 to 10 minutes and just get me to death and I get messages nonstop like yeah I'm sure there were you know I got tons of email and and and people are like did you leave triple drain no you're a busy man yeah you're bus you're traveling America between work and and tournaments and we just we can't are you like barely lock down did you go cosplay as Walter White while you were gone Tom yeah no no I always wanted to be like Stone Cold steveo oh yeah you got a beer right now for 9:00 in the morning you ready no I had that last night for the N uh for the audio only listeners Tom has shaved his head so it's we got a different we got we had bearded Tom so we got villainous Tom was added that was a new thing roughly I don't know six months ago now we got a shaved head so so for the audio listeners if you want to see Walter White Tom graph go to the triple drain pinball podcast YouTube channel you'll see immediately there's a good plug yeah well well done well done but don't pause don't pause the episod no don't because you're listening to us on audio you can keep it going and you can multitask so this is perfect like put down the Facebook grab your iPhone like yeah do all that stuff you're good um Tom you're an unbiased opinion you have seen Travis's calfs in person what the hell why are they still talking about this they're half the size of ens that's all all right all right fine add right now didn't he grow up in like California there's like a lot of mountains it's obvious your calf's just naturally get bigger I got the feeling like elen probably walks up a mountain side with like old like Stone stairs just to go up into like the fiery pits of a temple to create whatever whatever layout that he's creating that's probably what it is and meanwhile me just chilling out in St Louis you know just you know what it whatever that may you guys haven't noticed but Keith Elman when he plays pinball he stands on his Tippy to the whole time that topper behind you is going crazy the Evil Dead topper that's pretty cool that Topper's doing some calf raises right now imagine imagine a Topper doing something that one just does c that's what he's saying he plays he plays pinball on his Tippy Toes or does calf raises the whole time he plays you know and he's not short it just that's how he C I knew I was messing up yeah try just try harder so the real question is because of you T tpf I'm just going to wear jeans the whole time he's wearing sweats that's what I was going to say guys at tpf um swe ifar short anybody comes up being mean I swear I'm G to dick punch Joel as soon as I see him every single time so were shorts the first day people would be like Travis they're not that small and he's like he go goes back and splits on sweats I'm sorry man I'm not trying to make fun of your body I'm not doing it's not fair to you it's just body shaming man body shaming it's 2025 you can't do this Joel you're going to get canell right now okay let's talk let's talk about um let's talk about tpf Texas pinball Festival so we always want to record an episode before tpf tpf no we got we got to talk about tippies first you said that you're right tppy I want I want to talk about tppy because there was two of us here that was nominated and one of us just getting made fun of the whole time and obviously I just got made fun of so you two Knuckleheads how did you get make fun make fun of you who made fun of you what we just makes fun of you every day sorry for you than anything El no I'm just being gaslighted you you just spent the past 5 minutes talking about my legs again oh I thought something would no okay oh no no I'm not talking about that I don't care about being nominated and all that except for like everybody that didn't nominate me I already told them they're all dead to me so the one the other ones were fine but well no you guys you guys did semi well that I cuz I honestly I don't except for a couple of the categories I honestly don't know the results okay I I know the podcasting one because that was like a whole [ __ ] show on Facebook I know Game of the Year okay we'll go through outside of that I don't know we'll go through them what I was going to say is the the pinball degenerates award AR this weekend maybe they added a sexiest leg category and you might have a shot on that you might I already have a pinball Jenny award that's all I need yeah so tppy uh I'm not going to go through every category but essentially Jaws dominated Jaws dominated um in pretty much every category um there was uh the innovation of the year was surprising X-Men won that um the danger room is cool uh I know that was one that did surprise me that uh flip lock or um Jaws I think the 8bit mode there's I think Charles was nominated for two innovations uh the year um but once I mean good good on good on um X-Men for winning that innovation of the Year another big upset was Jaws won LCD that's the first time that Jersey Jack hasn't won LCD um usually Jersey Jack has won like best LCD in animations literally every year they they they dominate that um and then yeah overall it was it was a good showing it was a good showing for Jaws uh when it comes to creators uh huge thank you to the people that voted um flipping out we got second for best video and Tom Fox Cities pinball got third so we uh the out of the three of us two of us are uh top three top three video creators in pinball um yeah I'll just leave it at that there's no need to say anything more right so thank you thank you for anybody that voted for me Tom do you want to than you're unless oh I was I was shocked I got nominated in the top three which was which was awesome I mean I I thank you yes and so they combined streaming and Video Creator into one category this year so um Carrie Hardy Carri Hardy one best video creator and then when um when it came to best content creator best overall content creator uh flipping out pinball stream we got third we got third uh Carrie Hardy won that and then it was the the winner for second was uh it was like pirate princess Jess or something it's it's somebody I don't know I don't I don't know them um so I'll have to look up their content but um but yeah anybody that voted on on Flipping Out There appreciate that uh triple drain when it came to podcast we got sixth we got sixth so um appreciate hard enough everybody that that voted on us there we got to put in the hours that's what we got to do yeah yeah all right guys Saturday morning shows Sunday night shows Monday night shows Thursday night shows no no no no no event at the end of the month no According to some only fans is coming over as well we're going to do that no According to some people the only way now to win best podcast is you have to own and operate an arcade and then get every one of your people to vote for right isn't that the only way that somebody can win what what have I been telling you guys for the past four years for the past four years I've told you two Knuckleheads that yes all it takes is just one company one business to really want to win and they will win like no matter what if Stern really wanted to win everything they would you would just do a marketing campaign if Jersey Jack really wanted to win a category they could just do some marketing if we want to do it we could just do a [ __ ] ton of marketing like you know there's nothing that prevents that from happening what um Travis's audio just cut in and out there a few times I don't know if make it we'll see if that makes it to the final yeah he was here's the deal behind the c yeah behind the curtain I had a little technical difficulties before Tom had some technical diffic difficulties before Travis was over cocky oh the only one of us that wasn't nominated for a video TW didn't have audio issues today so I let 45 minutes yeah oh my God no what we're saying all this in just we're saying all this in sarcasm honestly uh kale and Rachel with electric bat arcade those are two of the nicest people in pinball I have nothing but the utmost respect for them the fact that they've made pinball literally their life and their livelihood they deserve all the credit and love and appreciation that they get so the fact that electric bat arcade one best podcast thumbs hug Thumbs Up Round of Applause yeah that doesn't shock me at all cuz they have so many supporters and they their asses off seven days a week you know doing a location so yeah and it's one of the top locations in the entire world like there's nothing shocking that they're getting the fruits of their labor now but also they are delivering a little bit little bit we'll see um oh my gosh I give what I'm saying this I'll say so um um electric B arcade the fact that they um they actually release a lot of data that a lot of other podcasts don't because they can talk about games on Route what's doing well what's not doing well what mechs are working I mean they just have a very interesting perspective compared to a lot of other podcasts out there ours included which is just our personal opinions and thoughts on pinball so um yeah a huge respect to them uh what I'm going to do at this moment is I'm actually going to pause the recording to make sure that Travis's stuff does doesn't keep breaking so just say so is this fine everything's great everything's great everything's perfect we are good I've hit the button um for all the listeners thanks for bearing with us uh I don't know how much of that I'm going to cut or I don't know how I'm going to edit that all together but basically what Travis discovered was somehow his computer was running on Wi-Fi because his kids unplugged his Ethernet cable so uh yeah but here we go we're back so the lesson is never have children that don't tell you what they're doing around your gaming stuff yes yes yes yes yes okay so where where were we each I think we're good with Tes I think we're good on that uh tpf you did want to plug Thursday night the Thursday night before the tippies go ahead and plug away Travis uh karaoke yeah I got to bring up the thing so while he's bringing that up there's a karaoke night if any of the listeners want to join go ahead Travis I'm totally ready if we're on the YouTube Joel edit this in put it up yeah in front of us if you can put up a picture of me and my body you can definitely put up a picture of this poster anyway so it's a karaoke party I will put up a picture I don't I'm not not gonna promise it's the picture you want damn it okay so there's a karaoke party down at tpf on Thursday night at Two Brothers Grill in bar which is at 8308 Preston Road in Plano that starts at 9:30 and it runs till like 1:30 or 2 in the morning but it's like an annual thing that we do karaoke party that a group from Tulsa Oklahoma hanger pinball they sponsor we have like tables saved put aside so a beautiful voice oh yeah I I absolutely crush it but it was a good time last year there was like maybe 45 50 of us there I think last year and it's usually a full full packed place too so it's a lot of fun so if you're K ke and you're going to tpf Thursday do that even if you're embarrass myself doing it yeah there you go Tom will be there Joel though Joel's dish I w't I'm not flying until Friday morning so it's fine but even even if you don't sing like still you can come on out you're not forc to sing you can just hang out with us chill out have a drink have fun talk pinball all that okay all right thank you Joel I appreciate it um tpf tpf we'll uh yeah this is our pre- tpf episode so we usually like to roll through what to expect what are you going to see what are you not going to see um all three of us will be there please if you see us there at tpf come say hi we'd love to talk to you um but yeah let's just start if we look like we're confused for a minute just ignore it just lead if you see just lead Tom back to the tournament area you know see confused just actively playing a tournament game and you interrupt me I might might punch you yeah okay yeah how about that okay he's so aggressive threaten our audience let's threaten our yes um yes that audience that shave your head the the the audience that we're asking to to jump ship with us you know please if you if You' subscribed to the new one yes just don't touch Tom when he's playing a pimol how serious Tom takes his tournament now if you see Joel playing on a machine just go up there to shake the [ __ ] out of it we were talking about Evil Dead Before were we were before Travis had technical difficulties the the the one that was bragging about not but now now we're all we've all done it all I will epis and we're all still struggling I will spend 30 seconds on this have put it into the record Joel who is the who was the only one that didn't have any issues at the very beginning of this as soon as we got into the room and we're just chilling out for like first 20 30 minutes sure Travis you did not have any issues until you had issues you're right okay so evil evil dead let's talk about Evil Dead U Tom has not played it I have now I've had this game in my house for a few days so I have a few hours of play on it exactly scares me it's the only game it's the only game I've ever borrowed from Zack where honestly I have to I cover it in blankets I fold the head down and I cover it like our kids my kids have not seen it because I don't want they see that topper one time and they will my son will be in our bed for weeks so um with all that said though I might be in my wife's bed for a week o uh with all that said the game is um franie crushed it like the art on the game the game looks so beautiful in person it looks and the topper is obscene in person it's it's um if you're looking on the video uh Once Again the video on our YouTube channel um if you do look you will see that this game is a few inches higher than the other ones um there was an issue nothing with flipping out there was an issue with um the delivery of another game there was a missing leg so so they gave they gave one of the Evil Dead legs uh in the meantime uh once again nothing with flipping out there so they made it right so when this game appeared to me it only had three legs and we got creative so we put four Stern legs on it just so I could stream the game so this game is currently on four Stern game Stern legs which is why it's higher it's a widebody so it just feels like an XEL game in all in all areas it's taller and it's could you imagine you unbox a game and you're like there's three there's only three legs what do I do but Travis you're a stuff happens you know this you work for a pinball distributor stuff happens honestly here here's what I would do I would run out buy a bar stol and just put it in the back of the game well I get it you I understand put the two legs on yes I mean that would be my temporary solution but anyways go ahead Joel they made it right and I got creative to make this right and this is this is so it's it's on Stern legs so it's taller so I just I don't want any Evil Dead buyer to see this and be like what is not going to line up no no it's it'll fit well now this topper though will stand out in it in your collection because it's incredible uh my wife also put two bobby pins in the hair for me because the hair was like all down in front of the face and and I was like Nicole can you like put her hair back so I actually have a good picture I'll add that picture now I'll add that picture now my wife I don't you know she just kind of but anyways uh Evil Dead Travis you have played Evil Dead what are your initial impressions of Evil Dead to let the listeners viwers know what they should expect when they play it at tpf we're just the same as last week I'm sorry I can't I can't right now between legs and bobby pins and I know Tom Tom being in bed with his wife for a week I mean we're we're kind of all over the place right now listeners to punch him in the face welcome to Triple drain everybody this is I share my fantasies with [Laughter] everybody oh I mean we could really dive in on which part of all of that is your fantasy but uh let's yes okay all right explains why he has so many kids yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah um okay what I will say Joel's getting so yeah let's on topic no I just I don't even know what to do at this point we've we've uh I would say the episode's gone off the rails but the ra the episode I don't know if the episode even started on the rails it's because it's Friday I know and we've all had technical issues in this is a six Place podcast effort right here guys I'm super proud of us yes yes yes uh so what was your question Joel by I asked you if you want to if you want to share more thoughts on Evil Dead before I do you're welcome to at this point no I mean I just played a couple of games on it it's fine it was fun it was a pinball machine Evil Dead one Evil Dead too I mean it's yeah I think it's it's one of their more interesting games they've come out with I'm more interested in this than Texas Chainsaw Massacre then uh Looney Tunes sorry I'm still trying to keep it together you're good Tom um yeah so that's it yeah that's that's all I got great that's a solid review I will say I want to I want to play more at tpf I want to play with you guys I want to play it down there with you know bug or Luke by there so that way you know kind of like when they explained out Texas Chainsaw Massacre to us that one year Joel that way we can kind of get super helpful yeah that way we can get more explanations because I'm genuinely curious you know it's um horror it's interesting because I watch a lot of it like on my downtime as movies like always have since I was a kid so I'm fascinated by it as a pinball machine because obviously you know it's it's a very Niche thing of a niche thing that they've carved out so I'm always interested to see how that can be integrated in and Evil Dead is just such an interesting franchise because I I personally don't really like the first two movies I've seen them like several times because I just you know for whatever reason I've just been in different situations to see it but um the third one Army of Darkness like I really like like that one I really enjoy but it's just it's interesting because when you look at Evil Dead if you watch the movie if you never watched it you'll watch it you'll be like how the F can this be a pinball machine like how do you how do you even begin I think that's the feeling everybody gets so the fact that they figured it out it seems like they figured it out is like to me that speaks volumes about what they have going on there now it may not be somebody's cup of tea if they're not into horror or into having you know that type of topper in their basement because they got to cover it up all the time like Joel does but you know there's obviously a group of people out there that thoroughly enjoy that so that's good that they're able to create a product that serves that particular Niche or that particular customer base I agree there's uh what I will say with Evil Dead I've only seen the first one I actually watched earlier this week I need to watch the second one before that I stream it next week but um uh if you're a fan of Evil Dead you will they they did the property Justice like you they this they have it's all there the the um the audio clips the video clips the art is is on point and then honestly the way it's set up uh you have four modes that are that are based off of the first movie you have four modes that are based off the the the second movie and the modes are are awesome they're they're story based modes like you are playing out a scene you're playing out something that happened in the movie so you're not living in the world of Evil Dead like no you're experiencing the the situations that the that the people faced I was very curious how [ __ ] was going to work uh in pinball but um honestly one of the one of the modes you're being chased by evil and you have to at one point you have to hit a bunch of shots and then you have to hide so you can hide in in any of the areas that you can lock a ball so the Celler or under the ramp and then like the machine goes dark and so you're focusing on the LCD where like ash is like peeking out and then there's like a jump effect so it's like they really brought a lot of the theme there's some of the modes um there's this hacker up I think hack them up or hacker up mode where you're hitting red shots and it's the scene where the guy's using the AE to chop up this zombie like lady and um every time you hit a red shot the knocker is going off so like not only do you see it on the screen but the audio package is fantastic you're hearing the chopping and the screaming the the the screen the the game itself is crazy lighting effects and then you have this knocker going off making this knocking sound while you're while you're hacking away um so long story short just because I I'm going to play this game a lot more my brother and I had a black playing this this week I I we a sucker I understand the three of us view pinball very differently um and I know you guys typically view games with a tournament mentality you guys want to find a path you want to find a repeatable reliable way to points so I understand that even D and D you know we've had a lot of conversations about DN of like Travis has been tackling D and D in a different way than I do um not all the time I know you're doing the because I know at home you do wizard modes but I know you you got to remember Joel you're thinking of my own personal thing I also have to actively think of it from an end consumer point and the most consumers are not tournament Players so like I have to shut that off whenever I'm actually like formulating okay what is this game what does it mean what does it do what are the sounds like that's truly how I judge it like points are whatever like that's cool and all but honestly what we all have to do we all want to make a certain amount of progress in the game right some people want to get to a wizard mode some people just want to light a certain mode some people just want to play multiball right it's it's at different levels yeah so I think that's truly like kind of the way that that you look at it but no I agree I think all three of us look at it from the from the standpoint of what is our priority when enjoying pinball sure so for for some people it's absolutely blowing up a machine for others it's just trying to keep the ball above the flippers my yes and I know to me I just I love pinball moments I love I love the mini wizard modes are the unique experience with the game something on the game that that just stands out and and obviously and then I I want those moments I want to be able to share those moments with friends and family or anybody else that step up to the game so that's why I like you know on a Godzilla that my nephew of eight years old can hit the building and see the building fall down you know like and he can experience that moment but yet there's stuff in a game like Godzilla that's way deeper that are fun enjoyable pinball moments for all three of us at all three of our different levels um what I will say with Evil Dead is this game is full of moments um there are so many mechs in the game and they have different modes and different multiballs that all highlight different mechs and so um I think my only complaint with the game right now is to see a lot or experience some of these mechs like the lower Playfield um to right now to get to the lower Playfield there's only a few modes that get you there and the process of starting a mode is you have to a ramp and then hit under a ramp which is easy but to select your mode it's somewhat random you have to hit a cap to ball to scroll through your mode so it's like for for the average Joe if my whatever my wife came down and I wanted her to experience a lower play field we're kind of rolling the dice to see if we if we're lucky enough that she happens to get that mode um to experience the lower play field so there's little stuff like that that I that I'm curious how the the game's going to progress but as of right now it seems like a very fleshed out game all the modes are in the game um and we had an absolute blast playing it um for two hours and and we're looking forward to playing it more so if you have an evil dead on order I think I honestly think you're going to be um you're gonna enjoy this game you're GNA enjoy the game and I I highly recommend anybody at tpf to play it very unique layout um Tom are you gonna play it great we get you away from the tournament room okay cool just why make sure you don't have to punch anybody to to get to it or anything that's all if you're in line and I'm waiting too long I might punch you so but we'll just we'll just transition into tpf I mean that's essentially spooky spooky pinball is going to be down there they're going to have Evil Dead they're I think they're bring in 10 or 11 of them so there's going to be a bunch so try to hop on them um what I will say if you don't know what's going on uh to to start a mode you wna you're going to hit a white shot and then you're G to hit under the right ramp that's how you start your mode other than that it it communicates pretty well communicates pretty well what you need to do and how to do it to play the game so big thumbs up make sure you make time to play Evil Dead um let's transition to stern Stern Pinball I'm assuming will be mostly showing off Dungeons and Dragons probably Metallica because Metallica um yeah I would I would assume Metallica Dungeons and Dragons X-Men uh Jaws will probably be there Wick um there's going to be a bunch of games but I I would assume Dungeons and Dragons is going to be the main game they're going to be highlighting or having people play um there has been new code since I've played it last um but there's still most of the games there there's still uh two final wizard modes that aren't in it and one dungeon mode that I know of but um yeah nothing nothing crazy to report I mean maybe you guys have played it more than I have in the last two three weeks but anything else to report any new findings any new thoughts on D and D um well Tom I haven't really heard your thoughts on D and D what are I I haven't played it that much to be honest just because I've been I've been gone so much yeah um but uh yeah I I I don't really have an opinion of it right now um it it shoots fine but I I need to uh get deeper into the game yeah I think that's fair I Know Travis has made plenty of cont have you played it much yet Tom like how many games do you have so far like literally I played like five or 10 games I stre I streamed it one night and that's really all I had time for did you did you stream it on location or do you have one at your house oh it's right behind him I just saw he's got the cube that blue that's yeah your guy's screen so small I couldn't see it oh okay well crap what what are you doing talking us you should be playing pinball I know I've had other things going on too but as far as he's a busy man were you at a tournament recently I was at a tournament I ran a tournament well I helped run tournament it was me obviously but the Whopper Chopper is that what you talking about yeah the Whopper Chopper was awesome Tom put's in the work Travis you in the work I'm aware got to go to tpf in a week I me there's there is like no time no anything well yes play Dungeons and dragon I don't know who all will be there I assume Brian Eddy maybe Dwight I think Elizabeth geki all those people have you know obviously worked on the game so um if they're there say hi to them pull them aside um they'll they'll be happy to talk to you about the game um I'm looking forward to playing it I'm at a point I mean I've had people ask they're like do you miss it what what about this or that um I really enjoyed my time with DND D um I feel like being that I've I've played every part of the game right now I don't I don't actively miss it because I don't feel like I'm missing any out on anything but I'll tell you once they release the next wizard mode or the chance to unlock another character I very much so wanna want to play the game and and keep chipping away at it and and see how that game continues to flesh out um but yeah I I I really had a lot of fun with DND um but that I mean that's Stern that's that's that's Stern um jjp jjp uh unless they're going to announce something in the next three days or whatever I don't think jjp's gonna have anything new at uh at tpf my assumption would be Avatar um it'll still be Avatar I know CES are finally being delivered to the customers so maybe they'll have a CE on location or um at the show I don't really know um but yeah if you have an experienced Avatar hopefully tpf will be a chance to experience that um looking ahead though I do think a new jjp game is around the corner uh the rumor is Harry Potter um and I think that's going to be big even if the game it doesn't matter you've I mean Tom joked around that he would have bought rush if it had one pop Bumper in the middle of the Playfield but it's there are people I Harry Potter's gonna s it'll it'll sell it's going to sell regardless of what the game is so it's going to be big um and I'm I'm excited for jjp to see how that goes I mean once again that's a rumor though so if it's something else I mean it'll be what it is I mean uh Harry Potter is a theme I really love but I I I definitely want to see what's in the game [Music] and yeah how it's coded I've been really disappointed with like last year's coding for games I kind of wanted to talk about that of every sure of all most games most games most games seem really behind on code and um I mean where is it so let's Okay so we're talking about last year's games um so so let's start with uh what John Wick yep where's the code where's the code a AI there's a game there going but like there's no wizard modes or anything um you can tell some stuff on the Playfield isn't uh integrated yeah it's just kind of weird um obviously X-Men they rushed out D and D is got a lot of stuff going for it but there's been known crashes and things like that but um yeah I mean the speaking as a consumer it's not a good feeling when you buy these games and they seem like they're left for dead or at least you have to wait a year or two for the code to develop so yeah it's definitely it's it's a unique thing in pinball that I'm kind of seeing and I think I've talked to you guys about this off podcast before kind of what the general flow of this is through the lifespan of a game and I haven't really heard anybody else really put into words because I don't know unless you actually work in pinball and sell the games you really don't realize what's happening like in the middle at the beginning of a first run in the middle of a first run the end of it the beginning of a second run so on and so forth but what I've noticed a lot there is a lot of push back there coming from people that want to see rules or call outs or just any type of software-based feature a little bit further along than what it is out of box um now I'm not going to pretend like I know all the answers because Joel and I talked about this last podcast I have no idea what goes into coding a game or anything like that but what I do see is is what people's reactions are that are spending the money to buy these games early on and wanting to experience different parts of the game and I I fully am in the group that you need your first 10 minutes just to be super tight like nothing but focusing on that because that's what everybody on location's going to experience that's what a home user is obviously going to experience anybody that hits a start button that's what they experience now what I've noticed is if that first 10 minutes isn't tight the people that play the games are like if they're part of a message board pinside on a Facebook group whatever they're going to voice their opinion and they're going to let you know and that's strictly the pinball Enthusiast now here's what happens afterwards if somebody brand new to pinball discovers that this game exists they're going to use this little search engine called Google and they're going to look up information on it and when all they run into is pinside and a full thread of people bashing the game or a full thread of you know on Facebook they look it up and they see people you know talking about how well they're disappointed in this or they're wondering where this is or whatever that's like why would they want to go ahead and buy that game like it makes it to where it makes it awfully difficult for a second run actually happen and yeah and Discovery to happen six to 12 months down the road it makes it very difficult you know let let's be honest consumers have a very like first impression you know like I when I go up and I play a game for the first time I I want to enjoy the experience if I don't enjoy the experience I tend not to want to go back to the game so if the games aren't aren't um coded well functioning well uh it's it's it's a turnoff and that's I mean that's all valid what you're saying is all valid cuz I've seen the same same thing like full transparency I've seen the same thing with fun houses fun houses get out there they don't work correctly guess what that's going to piss somebody off they're going to tell everybody I guarantee you I could go on pinside right now and probably find a thread of somebody pissed off about that game we could probably wrote it I don't I mean we could probably go we could go anywhere and find something that somebody's pissed off about about some game and that and that doesn't mean at all that their opinion's invalid but what Tom's saying is hitting the nail on the head what really matters is how they feeling emotionally about a game and if you spend 7 to1 13,000 on a game and you get it in and you're playing it and yeah you're enjoying it for the first 10 20 50 games however long but then when you keep playing it and you're kind of wondering okay what's next okay what's next then you start talking with other people and you start getting other opinions I mean human nature a lot of us we will listen to opinions and it will have a formulation on what we think about something like that will be our filter true to what we're going to see so it's like anything else The Five People You surround yourself with or the five pieces of content creators that you usually consume that's the filter that you're going to see a lot of things through whether it's right or wrong that's what you're going to see so I really do believe that for all manufacturers like of course build quality that's number one but number two is getting the code like just really dialed in early on because if you get people praising your game that quickly and they're saying oh the codee's great oh yeah this is excellent oh this Mode's really fun they're going to post about that they're going to be your biggest cheerleaders and then new people that are looking up that game that's all they're going to see and they're going to feel good about that they're going to feel good about looking down that road for that purchase and Tom Tom is like saying everything right now he's he's preaching this is exactly what is happening like down down to the minute level that's what's happened yeah I will say um I I understand I'm in a unique position because I I have you know these games are I have a chance to play these games and just you know I have no uh Financial connected connection to them so it's not like I have this like guilt of like did I waste my money or anything I just have the game but I know a lot after that first two-hour stream and um what I mean by that is uh you know if if if in a two-hour stream I feel like I've experienced the game like to me that's not a game I want to own like if I can if I can fully experience the game in two hours like uh okay or like I want I want to leave that stream itching to to to to play it more to discover more so you know mechanically there's there's an aspect of that like like X-Men I I love the mechanical aspect of X-Men I love the kinetic satisfaction of shooting that game but I know within the first stream like okay all the modes are right there you can pick whatever one you want so it's very easy to to play all the modes because they're all available and then you beat two of them and you're in the future and it's like well uh you know check the box like it's like I experienced so you said you know Travis it's important that that first 10 minutes is tight my issue with X-Men is anybody can experience that first 10 minutes easily but then there's that's it like that's all they have and but there's a difference between experienceing it and is it tight enough to where it emotionally connects you to where you're like I want to I want to do that again yeah that's the difference that's the replay like anything's going to have a 10-minute experience we could go on any game have that are we going to want to keep having that experience and that's in pinball I always talk to you guys about you need these many hooks right it's just like content creation you need a hook to convince somebody that they want to plunge the ball you need a hook to convince somebody that you want them to hit a certain shot and you use that hook through call outs through light through just like a fun like connection right flippers to whatever shot flow you have and that all that's like super important I mean human nature is we're going to go back to what feels good we're going to go back to what makes sense and that's why we all have games right and anybody listen to this could probably could probably understand what we're about to say that multiple people that have multiple games in their collection there's always going to be one or two that you always go back to sure right it's like Old Faithful you're going to go back to it it's a good pallet cleanser that's a sign of a solid game for you and that game could be anything like for some people it could be wick for some people it could X-Men some people it could be evil dead some people it could be Galactic tank force I don't know people have different you know different opinions different wants but that's I I think that's really the key and like when I think of pinball I think of okay how can I make it to where somebody plays the game and they enjoy it the way that we want them to enjoy it because the behavior we encourage right is behavior we're going to get out of somebody like that's what they're going to do and so I'd rather encourage the behavior to to keep coming back to want to play different modes to want to do different Stacks to want to hear different sounds to explore the game because I think exactly yep that's that's where you get your money's worth right there I think you've explained that well because I'm now I'm thinking back on like okay um if I if I step up to a game of tpf that I've had that I've streamed it's like what is it that I want to experience like what is it that I'm missing so if I you know which which modes in D and D do I want to play because I miss playing those modes or which dungeon or which multiball or same thing with X-Men and and I think honestly right now there isn't a in X-Men when I streamed it there isn't any mode that stood out to me in a way that I like oh I can't wait to play that mode again because of whatever um um and yeah Wick is similar you know I I think I was so confused while playing Wick I like the layout uh but it's just like I really didn't know at the time the the modes really weren't coded in a way that there was no there was no information on the LCD to tell me what I was supposed to do so it's the modes are forgettable because I never understood them I never understood him so I I understand that that hopefully you know games like those can that can the code can really get fleshed out um while I think of some of my other games that I do miss where it's like yeah I can't wait to step up to play this to experience that and that's something that I know my brother when we finished streaming my brother I would he's above a novice but like he doesn't he doesn't really get he doesn't like dive into rules um but he was locked in on Evil Dead and and honestly the reason I'm excited to play it more is because all these level all these modes have two phases so it's like you can you can get pretty far into a mode and then you realize oh there's more there like there's a whole another phase to experience so some of these modes have already stood out to me and it's the beginning phase like I I want to dive back in to experience the the full mode now I fully trust the two of you guys are good enough players you could you know when you guys probably play this a tpf you'll probably beat the whole mode you'll beat every phase but um yeah you want that hook you're you're saying yeah which which games have really hooked me pinball moment or modes or something of like why am I pushing the start button again why do I want to play this again go deeper yeah and I think too where people tend to kind of go sideways on it is they get so enamored with a Mech right and a Mech can be cool it can be a central part of a pinball machine but how does that gel with everything else that you're trying to achieve in that game how what's the fusion of it with a light show with a sound with a rule otherwise it's just you know Mech that just moves or catches the ball but yeah that looks cool but we could also go see that at our local Science Museum doing something like that right you got you have to add everything else into it sure yeah it's got to make got to make sense for the game and the flow of the game and the story or whatever you want to call it yeah you can't just arbitrarily put mechs in a game and think it's going to be great it doesn't doesn't necessarily make a game great yeah it it well it's only great Tom and you guys remember this because we were all in offices once it's only great to the people that are basically within their first six months of pinball or they're super brand new never seen it before because it's the first time they've ever seen it they're like oh this is really cool but then when you start understanding what you like how you can control the flippers there's different rules there's different manufacturers there's different layouts then then that novelty tends to wear off a little bit and then you look at the additional layers on top of it and that's kind of key like we could probably all like here let's do this because I want to include you to in on this like what's the one game like in the past five years that you guys could think of that did have like a really cool Mech to it like any game to where you're like oh that's really cool that was super enjoyable I want to keep doing that just any anything any manufacturer past five years you said five years um you could we could say ever if you want to we could say ever well the two I and there's if I really thought about there's probably better answers but um I know just like playing Jaws I really enjoy um I really love the flip block Mech I really and I love the upper Playfield getting to the upper Playfield and trying to do like that's something that never got old um and then the other one that actually popped in my head which is probably because it's the only thing that I miss about the game but Toy Story the Duke kaboom ramp the Duke Kaboom ramp was such a fun Mech um in my mind oh I'm thinking that's the other thing with Jaws the having the moment where the fin pops up you know and having to hit that that is an enjoyable moment that everybody that played that game liked but the Duke Kaboom ramp is the one Mech and I know it's nothing crazy but it's like if I stepped up to Toy Story right now that's the only thing that I miss and that's the only thing I want to experience again like I want to hit that ramp um right but what about what what about hitting that ramp because if we just put like a little jump ramp in the middle like on a Whitewood and say yeah I hit it you're going to be like okay but like what else attached to that made you feel like okay like I want to keep doing this what else is there it's not always there and so you it's only for particular modes you got to hit a particular shot and you get one shot at it so if you miss it it's a it's a it's an experience you miss it's like crap I gotta I gotta hit the shot oh here's my chance here's my chance boom and it's so there's buildup same thing with the fin on on Jaws like def Fin's not always up it's not just a standup Target it's moving it's a moment take your shot try to hit it yeah that right there is a prime example because you're emotionally invested to completing it that's the key the game can get you to do that through any way that they make moves through any sound that you have through any reward that you have for doing it that's like the key that's the full package right Tom what what's yours I I was just going to say the f onj okay and prime example here besides just hitting the fin Tom like what else is associated with that like what do you do in order to even bring the fin up well you got to you start a multiball or like complete your encounter jackpot I mean that that's like once that comes up like you play scars and you're hitting all the shots and all a sudden that fin pops up you just want to nail it you know yep and there you go and it pops up red it you know see things change the visual cues the sound cues you know like when when the uh when the multiball progression starts and it's like kill it shoot it now now you know like that's an exciting moment in pinball right there yeah exactly and that's like truly like once you unlock this part in your brain and for the listeners out there viewers like think about that one Mech like you really really like and think about it outside the box of it's not just because of what the mech is it's the things that add on to it the surrounding atmosphere and that's really where you get the winners right there like that's what stands out so much more than everything else and when the lights the sound the rules around that could be excellent then that makes like the tight game right yeah absolutely so when we look at you know we could take X-Men for instance right like why is it not Jing with some people like why do people not like the X-Men hand or the Sentinel hand just like crashing down the ramp and the ball just like shooting down the middle or you know whatever like what about that isn't appealing to people because it because it's not rewarding when you hit a shot and the and a ramp breaks and the ball goes down the drain your ball HS yeah it it Hur you more than helps you yeah yeah I know I've said that before uh but yeah but yeah that was it's just a frustrating thing like you oh I made a shot oh it just killed me and there you and that may not yeah right and that could be prevented by not just allowing the mech just to do that and that's it it there could be a whole mode tied into that that you're actually battling the Sentinel but you have a ball save on while that's happening so you don't feel nearly as like honeydicked at the time that the ball's just shooting down the there's ways that you can work around that very true very true and yeah that would make that would maybe make that Mac more appealing and fun yeah absolutely cuz it's like yeah it could be a cool Mech obviously I'm battling a suel yes like obviously Jack put that in for it to be cool like right that's why it's there now it just needs to be implemented like there's too much time in that game if you play it it feels like obviously it's not random there is indications but for 95% of the people it's going to be random like they're not going to they're not going to see the visual Quee or the audio que the light on the hand yeah right they won't know well what I mean I do I do like X-Men but I think it's because of the shots but I think somebody somebody made the comments of like oh cool so shots they either said shots or ramps are the new Mech and it's just a sure there's kinetic satisfaction when a when the ball is whipping around and a unique way but I understand what you're saying that um if the mechs in the game aren't special if they don't make a moment if they don't bring you in if they don't if it's just there if it's just a bash toy that's always there you can bash it whenever you want all right prime example here Joel oh I'm Ready the the spinner on Evil Dead what do you think about it uh so the spinner on Evil Dead it's right up the middle you can hit it all day long but the one reason I like it is because the audio Cube is a chainsaw so when you hit it it's like it's it's it it makes you smile it makes you laugh there you go every time something so simplistic yeah right you can really draw it out aiq does that also with the spinner on the left the Hulk spinner where the gamma spins yep that right there yes and that's like the whole package coming together when the gam goes off I got to hit this thing like every every team out there is capable of doing this every single team out there is capable of doing it it's just a matter of taking what is usually in every pinball machine right could be a pot bumper could be a sling could be something like okay D and D like Elizabeth coming up with the stealth slings like that's something unique a sling is on every single game and now it's like okay I don't want to hit it because I want to you know not alert the guards or I could be like Tom and I want to punch the [ __ ] out of it so I'm just going to hit the slings anyway I'm for it so that's a good point she made a Mech she made that mode make a Mech you're right the slings are in every game it's so nobody's ever nobody ever considers that a Mech to like talk about or be excited about right that made exciting they made it exciting Point Iron Maiden did the same thing with the second tomb award when the slings become worth like 250,000 or something like that slings or something that yeah so now you're like oh I want to get mummy multiball or trooper with this so and put two or three x so I can keep something going it yeah that's what really meshes things together and makes it feel really good to even just do the simple things like that's the key I think uh I think that would be a fun activity to do is to sit down with you know look at each individual pinball machine and let's break down you know every Mech you know whether it's spinner drop Target standup Target anything and it's like is that piece of hardware at some point bringing like a value or like bringing an experience to this game that's Game Theory 101 game build 101 like every I I truly feel like if I was designing a game which I'm not I have no idea how to I'm just telling you my mindset to it maybe you guys have the same mindset maybe I have a different one if I'm building a game I want a reason for everything to exist in that and I want to try to make it it doesn't have to be the star of the show but I want it to chain together with something else to where it makes total sense for it to be there and it makes a player feel like okay it belongs instead of having a shot or a certain piece of equipment or whatever that just is like okay why is this here why do I want to shoot this I don't want I want to avoid that I just want to hit this instead you know it's like there's going to be a hierarchy of priority anyway of everything but you still want it to piece together and that's just proof right there like some people have figured out how to make slings Fun Some people have figured out how to make pop bumpers fun like Godzilla the saucer right that you you hit that pot bumper it starts a freaking multiball you know Rick and Morty figured it out like on uh the spooky game right that that was interesting say or even I was gonna the like TNA TNA has one pop bumper but the fact that it it the the light show goes nuts and the Shaker motor goes off every time you hit it it it makes it a it's that mini moment of just it scares you and um yeah think about that we're we're talking about a game with a pop bumper making like a standout moment a pop bumper yeah like we figured out slings spinners pop bumpers there you go you can do it that's a good those Mi are there yep um yeah that's for coming to my TED Talk yeah that's a good Ted so sorry everybody I started that but noas actually Travis and Joel made me feel better so no I think Tom I think you hit the nail on the head there's a lot of people feeling that way and rightfully so and I I mean it's like anything else I I think everybody in the pinball industry wishes that they could bring out a game that's like 100% po 100% done obious and I I I understand that you know the games aren't going to come out 100% but it it I mean it just seems like like some of these games are just forgotten yeah you're just saying you want you want the meat medium rare when it comes out you don't want it rare yeah that's all you're saying yeah I it's tough I it's I understand that's tough especially you know with like Stern they're still on three cornerstones a year rumor is they're going to throw in a remake as well I mean they're trying to put out a lot of product and um and I actually had that thought I'm not I'm not just here to talk up evil dead but it's like there's a difference when you have a company like spooky or a company like barrels of fun where the entire company is focused on one project for a year and a half and I understand Stern has design team so that design team has one project for 15 months maybe you know a year and a half but there's just something about when it's like when an entire company can put everything they have into one and focus in on one game that's why I was super impressed when Labyrinth came out the game was essentially complete but yet the team was actively participating in streams and adapting and adjusting the code based off of how they're seeing people play and then I'm seeing that with Evil Dead like Evil Dead sure I don't think the final wizard Mode's in the game but like it's it feels like a very fleshed out game and I know bug and Luke and others are actively watching the game and reacting and tweaking so you actually I'm excited to play Evil Dead I want to check it out for sure you did use the right phrase though and that's the key a game can be completely unfinished as long as it feels like there's something there and when you feel like there's something there then the game's on the right path it's when a player doesn't feel that something is there because if you don't feel like it's there you're going to tell everybody about it right if you feel like something's there you're going to tell everybody about that too and it kind of gives coverage you know for the future updates and future tweaking and all that yeah well we need to keep moving I I know we k a lot of time we killed a lot of time uh doing all of our uh all of our Tech issues um what I was gonna one one of the big reveals and and I don't have 100% confirmation on this but there's a very good chance that multimorphic multimorphic will have their next game at tpf they've they rumor to be portal correct that's the rumor the rumor is Portal um they have announced that Brad Brad Albright is the artist they've announced that and then they also announced I think it's even Ian heroin heroin uh I have a hard time pronouncing it um trying sorry Bud he's either the game designer or the program he's highly involved so they they've already announced so these are two new additions Brad Brad Albright his art is fantastic um so new addition to the game they have not announced what it is um um I do know loser kid loser kid's been doing a lot with um with multimorphic in the last few weeks feel free to check out their content if you're curious about it so I would assume you know watch them I will assume they'll be involved in the reveal in some way um but yeah I mean that's we're talking I mean I'm G to be at tpf exactly a week from now so sometime in the next few days that will be announced so we really don't have much to say otherwise play it if you've never played a a P3 system it's it's a unique experience all around uh I do think every game that they've released is getting like the it's only getting better in my opinion or they've improved upon it um with all that said the system is 10 years old at this point so I'm I just I'm curious how far they're going to push it if there's another iteration of the system coming I don't know I don't you know there are questions there but I think the only way to go from right now if you're not doing a new system and you're keeping with that you know that older system or just the P3 system in enal I think it's figuring out a way to get the the mechs the play field or anything anything to do with the module in front of the Scoops a little bit more like which goes against like what they really what their bread and butter is which is that interactive LCD screen or whatever you call it the screen in the middle right but I feel like saying okay yeah I feel like you got to get some mechs in front of the Scoops there like you got to get some shot paths going on that has to go beyond just the screen interacting with the ball yeah like that's kind of what I'm hoping to see with this next one like I I feel like we're going down that path right we can't always stick to the upper onethird of the Playfield I think yeah there's got to be a way to put something there to where it does come in front of there like I think Heist kind of did that the crane yeah but it's not a permanent Mech it's not like a Mech that resides on top of the no no I'm talking about something that's modular like if they could somehow figure that out I think that that would be a unique enough value prop that would make a game stand out a little bit more we will uh we'll definitely have to report back on that that'll be that's that's the one that I can think of that's the one new game I'm really confident will be there um barrels of fun you don't think barrels of fun will have I don't know barrels of fun is being tricky barrels of fun is being tricky they are Texas based what I'm saying they're being tricky is if you go to the TPS website tricky you can see the game list and right now the game list for barrels ofun is question marks so I think it's very I think it's highly probable that bars of Fun's next game will be there somebody told me the the rumor is Dune or something else there were two they said heard I've heard Dune and Goonies D andon rumored titles I have no comment but I I have no idea but those are the rumors I heard I personally am aan let the rumors fly but we will see we will see what happens uh either either way I was I've been March 21st Joel they do have they're doing a seminar at 7 to 8 so okay so we'll why would you be doing something on Labyrinth that's been around already for okay Year let lock it in then I'm just [Music] saying barel but yeah I'm just saying there's question marks there's all that but yeah the Dune the Dune and goon stuff that's interesting yeah that's I don't know I genuinely don't know I just know personally I was thoroughly impressed with Labyrinth uh when we streamed it and had it here and the game came out the gate very fleshed out well done um and I know I know it's David Vans and the rest of that company I mean they I was really impressed with Labyrinth all around so I whatever the next release is I'm I I think we're going to be in for a good time let me ask you this so I don't give away anything what's going to be your reaction if it's not Dune or not Goonies you happy about that or you be like depends on what the them interested yeah I'm just wondering are you guys all in that it has to be Goonies or it has to be Dune like you're like this is your Rush don't do anything for me like my my son would go crazy if it was Dune um but uh okay like I yeah I to me those those themes just don't hit home with me so do if it was Rush no just kidding they're going to redo Rush need another Rush game um Dune for me I loved the movies so it's like if they had movie aspects but really they have to have the sound they have to have the sound remember so that to me it's like if it was Dune there's so many well they need this this and this and if they don't have those then yes I would be let down um but if it's not doe that's fine I my I came away from Labyrinth as Labyrinth as a theme is not a theme that I love or or particularly care for but I loved everything else about the game I thought the game itself was really fun my brother talks about Labyrinth all the time wishes we had the game um so I've just always been excited for whatever barrels of funds next game is the first one was so good I have confidence the second one's going to be a blast so I'm very open-ended on I don't really whatever the theme is I'm excited I'm excited to see what it is so that's that's essentially the only two that we are really aware of that will be presenting a a new game or we don't know for sure barrels a fun possibly just based on looking at the website spe right multimorphic we just because they usually do that every tpf like last year was Princess Bride so yeah so we've yeah it's a lot different than a couple years ago you guys remember the insanity of like what was it 2023 with like seven games I think it Godfather Pulp Fiction Foo Fighters Scooby-Doo Scooby-Doo we've said jjp we're not expecting anything new Stern is going to be a lot of D and D spooky we've talked about Evil Dead multimorphic should have something barrels of fund should probably have something American pinball at this point I don't I don't think they're going to show anything new I don't even know where they're at as a company I don't even know if they're gonna have a booth I don't know what's going on uh ha is De you don't realize what they're doing right now American pinball they they changed into I I think like a manufacturer now like a yeah they're making a contract manufacturer yeah oh um cgc cgc has announced on their website it shows on their website it says cact Canyon with Saloon Mech so this is the r this has been the rumored SL somewhat shown uh new addition to Cactus Canyon remake which is behind me that um they're adding saloon doors in front of Bart and there's like one or two other little things um so if that's the case hopefully the the the goal of having them at tpf is to have people play the heck out of them for three days and if the mech survive and look good through all that testing hopefully they're at a point to actually start selling these upgrade kits with the Lyman 2.0 the Josh 2.0 does that include the code with it is that what they're going because if they are going to add a Mech there's you know there's nothing in the current code that would recognize the mech that is wild that a new mech's getting added on cuz it's that game came out November of 2021 it's been a little while like November 2021 and we're in 2025 so I know the big rumors with cgc are obviously we're waiting on that kit they're actually pumping they're they're building P fictions uh the the the Le version the higher version is people are already getting those I'm assuming they'll have P fictions there people are waiting for for them to officially announce the um the Medieval Madness remakes like hey put in your money now we're ready to sell them I don't I don't think we're going to see that at tpf Maybe I'm Wrong um what other companies am I missing Turner pinball will be there Turner ball is uh is making stuff um they're shipping games so I'm assuming people will have another chance to play uh Ninja Eclipse which is fun um I'm gonna offend somebody because I'm forgetting them uh I know well Dutch is Dutch or pinball Brothers um gonna be there and if so what would they would they have I'm not seeing a Dutch or a pinball Brothers on there cuz Dutch has wrapped up big Labowski and I think it's and they have moved on to um Alice so maybe there'll be an ALICE there maybe I don't know um you you think that uh that other smaller Alice pin like the little the little mini one's going to be there the Ki Kickstarter one yeah yeah the one with the mini ball I don't think there were I don't know the pop bumpers that make the air balls go and all that you don't think so kudos to them for finishing that Kickstarter though yeah they raised like 500,000 there's a lot of people that want mini pinball well hopefully it all gets fulfilled um well it's it's customer funded so you know or consumer funded so why not that's always worked in pinball I don't know I don't know I feel like I'm missing somebody so if I'm missing somebody s who you think you're missing I don't know it's always the the you know I've kind of red through the big ones on the exhibiter list American pinball is on there but on the actual seminars and all that I'm not seeing them but I do see that Steven B's going to be doing a X-Men rules seminar with Mike vinor so he's like presenting a Stern game so I don't I don't know if this exhibitor list is updated if American pinball don't think American has any employees that would present at this point I'm not sure I don't know maybe I mean maybe we'll get surprised and there'll be a new pinball already said Chicago gaming I'll go through it for you you said Chicago gaming Jersey Jack they're going to be there uh multimorphic um ramps ramps pinball road trip road trip I I have not played that so that'll be new for me we want to make sure you play a Joel you're GNA experience all the ramp fun um spooky of course we said Stern yeah and Turner I mean that's that's everybody that's everybody on the list so really it's I mean me personally I'm excited to play the two new games the two uh which hopefully is barrels of fun and hopefully multimorphic um otherwise there's there's going to be an opportunity to play a lot of other stuff uh and then looking ahead I mean we talked about it last time like looking ahead rumored Harry Potter uh Stern's going to be rolling off you know rolling out with another game probably in the next two months um uh yeah we're just gonna have to wait and see there's lot which one what do you think what would you want to release first if you're a jersey Jack do you want to release Harry Potter before a Stern Cornerstone or do you want to wait till after an lwin game releases I would re I think any I would release before I think yeah I would I would release four all day long especially if you have Harry Potter you're going to get a lot of sales just off the name alone but um sure there will be people that'll be holding their money to wait for both releases and then try to pick which one they want to commit to but um I just think I think you're going to lose Ellen is Ellen I think I think for people there's going to be a lot of people that pull the trigger on and then they're not going to have kind weird too I truly wonder if if somebody announced their game before the next Stern like whether or not the pinball Enthusiast crowd would be kind of Frozen up just to wait anyway so maybe that leads to like other people wanting just to wait out Stern you know it could be like a game of cat and mouse like can you imagine that standoff like everybody's like are you goingon to announce first are you going to wait like how's this going to how's this going to go uh it's a good it's a great point I don't know uh luckily though we have two big hitters like if it's Harry Potter Harry Potter is going to be big regardless of what the game is and then Len Ellen is Ellen Ellen it's gonna be big so it's luckily I would feel a lot worse if it was you know Harry Potter versus some new designer at Stern that's never released anything you know like yeah good luck you know n if you're Stern you're rooting for Jersey Jack to hit it out of the park like you want Harry Potter to be great and the reason why is because that will just draw new people into pinball and Stern has the biggest active catalog there is so why would they why would they not want that yeah once you get one um oh yeah that is something I've been seeing that more and more obviously Travis you know that well you guys both you guys have have been in the hobby a long time that your your friend group and and um people you hang out with you've seen their collections go from like what's pinball to all of a sudden they have 10 um but even in in my local friend group it's like um uh there was a guy that yeah I think I think he got a golden te and then now he's like three pins in you know it's just like every everything after that I keep hearing his name more and more of oh he's in he's interested in that it's like dang he's really he's he's all in um people go down the rabbit hole my last uh shill for Evil Dead is um now that my friend group knows that I have this game I had um a husband and wife come over um Derrick and Jenny came over yesterday during the day and then my other buddy Chris came over during the day to play this and all three of them left like uh I need to I we going to have to buy this you have friends that visit you in the middle of the day on a weekday yeah I work from home he works from home I work from home do you guys just like all get in your golf carts and just drive to each other's house is that what it is private chat one's a doctor and he has so he does weird hours and then uh there we go Tom yeah he just happens to have like the his shift he always has one of the weekday spinn on his yeah imagine nobody came over there was nobody came over on golf no no no does he have like a a on the golf cart yeah underneath lights like Fast and Furious golf cart but what I was say [ __ ] Joel you sent me pictures of your golf cart the other day I know this I have a golf cart yeah yeah we puts around the neighborhood all the time me and the dog it's great um no I was just say I I was really impressed with their uh their um let's go yeah their initial uh their initial Impressions were they they were blown away by it but um all right I think that's it uh tpf besides that eat eat barbecue eat barbecue talk to everybody there everybody that there is passionate and loves pinball um so say hi to say hi meet make some friends and if you see any of us or any of the other content creators you like feel free to say hi there are people from the industry there you know there's a chance that if you're standing in line playing a game one of the employees may have been the designer of that game that's standing right next to you so you know be social engage with others and uh you're probably going to make some friends and and meet some really really cool people um but yeah I love tpf it's going to be nice it'll be warm um should be a really good time so I'm looking forward to that um besides that we can probably start wrapping it up uh was there anything else you guys wanted to talk about or mention um we could give a quick shout out to uh Raymond Davidson for winning pin Masters this past week and then what else happened here won nationals yeah Jason Z yep and then Tom won Seventh Place um oh yeah Tom won Seventh Place Tuesday what is flipper frenzy so Cong you know that was awesome Tom he's got the to prove it it was awesome no pen Masters was a lot of fun to watch though if you guys haven't watched it yet like and you're into tournament pinball go back and I think it's I guess it's still on Twitch with backhand pinball Tom is that who it's with yes I think back PB yeah so go check that out excellent job well especially Saturday night the Saturday night stream was awesome because it was you Tom and Balden on commentary and Ron at Junior too well he showed up eventually yes but I think it was just you two for the portion I listen to and that was by far one of the most entertaining slash informative like commentary boost I've heard because it made like colins game on seawitch that much more fun like just what was happening and everything so it's like yeah I I fully believe that was like a clinic and showing commentary that's digestible for people because I mean I've told you this before Tom and Joel if you watch I don't know Joel if you watch tournament streams or not but he does it just it drives me sometimes it just like we're we're all like amateurs when it comes to that but it drives me up a wall when a player like just does nothing but talk about themselves or a commentator does nothing but talk about themselves or they critique everything or just like nonstop or they're like using derogatory words towards him I'm just like I get it you want to give some critiques but there's just a tactful way to do it that makes it fun and engaging and not like just cringe inducing and Tom like you guys you guys naed it there there's plenty of teams out there that that do it but I just want to definitely commend you for like how that went you guys had a good flow in what was happening so that was a lot of fun just the Steve's awesome at you know commentary and I I just I just fill in you know it it he makes it easy let's put it that way you both I was having that was right that's what I mean you both genuinely like felt like you guys were having fun like that was the difference we having fun and you know commentating on on on the action and it's just yeah it's easy it's easy you just got to got to love it yeah and Joel's done it before Joel did it EXP does it yeah I love it I hopefully I'll have a chance to do it some more at tpf are we supposed to do it at tpf Joel I think Jamie had reached out to me and he said he wants to get on schedule soal didn't reach out to me because he knows you're going to be in finals Tom he knows you're going to be in finals that's why right all right we'll have we'll have to do one round Joel I think we can do it oh yeah it'll be fun it'll be fun you can teach me how to do uh Redline Mania again I feel horrible for the group because we're going to break everything I just said I don't like about commentary so no that be what it is if they have a Tator that's that's all I need the yeah I love it I can handle commentary as long as I know that the people are having fun and they're genuine about it like whether they're busting balls or something like that like that's what Levy like Levy cracks me up right in I know I know he's not everybody's cup of tea and I know he's like totally over the top with everything but it's kind of like just seeing that character Play Over the Top that everything is just the most crucial game nine of if but thing it could just be at like some to Podunk tournament that's what like stuff like that if somebody's excited and they're genuine about it like that's like I'm able to digest what's happening there yeah absolutely no it'll be fun um well yeah let's go and wrap it up uh friendly reminder for the people that skipped the very beginning of the show we are no longer going to be part of the the the pinball network uh so please on your podcatcher whatever it is search triple drain pinball podcast you will see there is a separate show please follow And subscribe to that show same with YouTube I will put the link in the description if you're watching this on the pinball Network channel we have created our own YouTube channel please migrate over there like subscribe all the things um so hopefully we just don't want to lose anybody this this might be the last episode on on the pinball Network we may have one more as another friendly reminder but yes we don't want to miss uh accidentally Miss anybody um so that yeah we have full intentions of making plenty more content um 60 episodes in looking forward to having many many more um yeah but let's plug it up Travis plug away man yeah you guys can find me right here on the triple drain pinball podcast and now over on the YouTube triple drain and also on my work the pinball Company YouTube where we do like tutorials and all that and you can also find me in the gym doing calf raises perfect Tom go for it uh I will be here on Triple drain and Fox Cities Pinball yeah we got a lot of tournament streaming coming up over the next couple months so it's going to be exciting that's awesome and yes and I am Joel um you will find me on The Flipping Out YouTube channel my brother and I stream every Wednesday night from 10:00 to midnight um come check that out or watch any of the past streams uh or tutorial videos that we've been doing um yeah and then as well as here triple drain so oh and sign up sign up for Papa uh 22 in case we don't uh get an episode out I think it's April 5th and we'll get one out yeah sure we will normally normally we do a tpf followup we usually are pretty good at getting a tpf followup in for the record I'm trying to get you two bozos to record a podcast while we're down there even if it's just 20 minutes we'll do that yeah we'll see maybe we'll do that but we'll try to figure it out um yeah appreciate all the listeners thanks for everybody that uh that has yeah supported this show so far and uh whether it's just clicking on the video listening or um we have a patreon thanks for all that anything yeah we really appreciate you guys and hopefully we have a chance to meet you guys in person at tpf so um like always Tom you get the last words be excellent to each other