In 1956, he first appeared on motion picture screens across the country. His impact on audiences was instantaneous and unprecedented. His acting technique was revolutionary. His presence, overwhelming. He possessed more raw talent than any performer of his generation. He soon became an international legend, a giant who took the world by storm. Then, suddenly, at the height of his fame, he retired from motion pictures. Now, he is back, and he's more magnificent, more glamorous, more devastating than ever. Prepare yourself. The greatest star of all has returned. Godzilla Bash Pinball Episode 20 Okay, so first I gotta start with some bad news. I gotta break the bad news. Okay. We had a very special guest that was supposed to be on the show. And unfortunately, due to some scheduling conflicts on their part, their management, etc., they weren't able to make it for this episode. But, you know, we're planning on having them hopefully come back in the future and, you know, also having other guests. But anyways, I'm going to start off with that bad news so we can just move on from that. Yeah, well, at least it saves us an appearance fee. So it helps the budget a little bit. But it's okay because we have some other, you know, as you can tell, we started the episode off with something pretty cool. Yeah, right. We got the 80s, you know, movie trailer guy to do our intro. I mean, I don't think he's getting a lot of work nowadays, but... He sounds great. Yeah, he sounds exactly the same. He sounds the same. As he did in 1985. You sound a little different I'm not sure you know what Was it last episode that you were sick? Yeah yeah yeah Yeah well now I'm sick I don't think I got it from you If you listen to the last episode We got kissed by a black rose I think as it turns out she's got like You know filthy pirate mouth And I might have caught something Yeah what you kissed her right in the mouth? Well not So the last time you remember not being sick Was before you got kissed by the black rose I mean, I didn't initiate it. It was all on her. She was saying goodbye to you. Yeah. And I got a different mic, so I'm just going to sound like a totally different person this episode is the goal. Okay, so are you a Godzilla fan? So, yeah. I, I like apart from the pinball machine, are you like into Godzilla or anything? Yes and no. Right. We have, we kind of have a complicated past because, you know, since childhood I've always loved Godzilla, you know? Yeah. Just as a monster, as a creature, you know, I used to have like little action figure when I was a kid and yeah, but I never really understood the backstory. I just thought he was like this cool giant dinosaur, lizard, dragon monster from the ocean that just beat up monsters and saved japan right wait are you saying there's more to it than that oh is that it that might be it oh shoot i mean no i'm sure there's more to it because there's like 600 movies yeah yeah well you know i i never watched the movies and i never um knew any of the other monsters i just kind of i mean he's he's like an iconic figure and yeah um i've always ever since i can remember i've known who godzilla is yeah and you know he's recognizable and i like i said i used to play with i used to have a godzilla like a big godzilla action figure that i would play with yeah yeah yeah um but you know i never that's it that's the extent of my godzilla knowledge yeah i think growing up i mean i remember godzilla like being on tv but i don't ever remember being like oh godzilla let's watch that i think i was more into voltron yeah and like other giant fighting monsters creature things but i did watch the 1998 Godzilla film. Oh, dude. In the theater. I think I saw it in the theater three times. Three times? Yeah. That's kind of embarrassing. It's a terrible movie. So I remember the movie. Yeah. The font, right? It's got this edgy look. Always with the fonts with you. Yeah. Dude, in my head, I can close my eyes and it's like this edgy font with just green, right? Yeah. It was like Matthew Broderick was like the main character. Okay, yeah. Which I think he just came across kind of wimpy and like not leading man action film kind of guy. What did he do? As a main character in a Godzilla film besides Godzilla? I'm 99% certain he was a scientist of some sort. He just run away? I thought Godzilla was the main character. No. Well, I mean, I think Godzilla is like a villain, you know, in that. They painted him as a villain? I think he's villainous. What the heck? He's a monster attacking the city, New York City. The little that I know about Godzilla, he's not a villain. He's got a very complicated, very much like us humans, you know? Yeah, I think that was one of the criticisms of that movie, is maybe the one-dimensional nature of Godzilla's character. Unfortunate. I've got to watch it again. It's been a very long time. Yeah, I don't know if you want to do that. The special effects, like the CG and stuff, is truly awful. You know what we should do? we should get it on blu-ray it's gonna look so bad yeah but yeah i think the reason i was like huge led zeppelin jimmy page fan in 1998 i think i've been playing guitar for a few years and was heavily influenced by jimmy page and so he did the he was on the soundtrack to that movie with The Puff Daddy, Jimmy Page, Cashmere song, which is actually called Come With Me. I remember the music video. Yeah. Oh, really? I remember. Not really, but I remember it was getting some airplay on MTV. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, it did because, you know, P-Daddy Diddy. Puff. Puffy. Sean Combs. He was super huge then. And so it's like him collaborating, you know, it was like featuring Jimmy Page. And then Tom Morello from Rage was also produce a song, played bass and like made screechy guitar noises. That's cool. On there. But yeah, it's it's really bad. I got I dude, I have to see, you know, because now I now have more context. Like I have to hear the song again. It's been a very long time. I don't think I've seen it or heard any of that stuff since ninety nine. See, it might be fun to watch just like for the for the badness of it all. but I don't know. And now for a word from our sponsor. We know where he came from. We know how big he is. His situation has become more complicated. But our problems just multiplied. He's pregnant. What is this, the virgin lizard? You've got to find that nest before it's too late. Otherwise up to a dozen are going to be born. Think of it. Godzilla. Doesn't he need a mate? Not if he reproduces asexually. Where's the fun in that? I'm a PG-13. And now, back to the show. You been playing godzilla a lot lately yeah it obviously like the number one game on pinside and it has been since it came out essentially so for me i always kind of figured like i'm gonna own that game at some point dude i i have recently strongly considered trying to trying to get one I was like, no, it's common. I'll find it anywhere I go. I kind of want one. The only reason I haven't probably bought one already is because I want the premium. And they're kind of hard to find, and they hold their value really well. So I just feel like the pro is too compromised. They took out too much fun stuff. It's all the fun stuff. Yeah, yeah. So on one hand, it's kind of kept me from ever playing it in an arcade because it's also really common. Right, yeah. It's super available. Yeah, so somehow it being everywhere has made me play it less. Because I'm just like, I can play that later. You almost underappreciate it or something. Because you just are more focused on the games you can't find more often. Because to me, the arcade is kind of like demoing games for future purchases. I get it. And so I was like, that one's a no-brainer. I don't need to demo it. I get it. So I've got maybe like 20 games on it. But you've been playing it a lot more lately. Part of the reason is because it is common and it is available, right? And my favorite games are the 90s games, but just in terms of reliability and being able to jump on it real quick and kind of be up to date with other people today with like a semi-conventional scoring range that you can kind of judge your own personal skills. The reason I've been playing it is because that's what I'm using to kind of gauge my own skill level and advancement, right? Because I don't have a new game. yeah yeah well and it is available so i can play it often right yeah well we know you have an aversion to driving more than like 15 minutes away and there's now a godzilla at the arcade that's what like 10 minutes from here yeah it's like 10 to 15 yeah yeah which by by the way okay last time i went there i i kind of love that place now yeah oh really yeah yeah i kind of became for like i've met so many people going there to play godzilla huh um i'm pretty sure i've made a couple pinball converts slash enthusiasts now for real yeah for real yeah i believe it and uh even the like the bartenders man the last time i went he gave me a freaking tech deck do you remember those um like finger skateboards oh yeah by the way shout out to dirt okay his name is dirt dirt D-I-R-T. All right. All right. Dude, we... Oh, and Michael, right? He's another bartender. Yeah. And then Chris is my new friend. But we were shredding at the bar with the tech. We all had tech decks and we were freaking shredding, dude. That's hilarious. We had a little banner and set it on the side and we were grinding on it, doing kick flips. Yeah, I think I missed those in my 80s childhood. So he goes, keep it, man. And I put it in my pocket and I walked away and man, I totally... Anyways, I took some pictures. I'm going to put them on Instagram. Shout out to Baxter in Carborough. Yeah, well, when they got it, it was in pretty good shape and it was playing well. And so we were both, I mean, I've gone over there a couple times and played it with you too. And we were both kind of like, we got to play it before it just falls and disrepairs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just used up, yeah. And sure enough, it's like having issues now. It's just getting a ton of wear, man. Like the few times Well not few it's been often now I've been there quite a bit lately It's always dude It is always occupied There's three people at the bar You know 5, 6 o'clock PM no one's there The three people one of them is playing Godzilla It's like non stop Something about that game People just love that game gravitate towards it It's weird because you wouldn't You would think you would be like Star Wars or X-Men or something that's a little more modern, relevant property. And Godzilla's kind of like this left field. It's like we're all aware. We all know. But I don't know many people that are super into Godzilla. But they're out there. They're out there. My guess, that game, I think I finally understand why it's number one. I think I always had an idea, but now that I've actually played it probably like a hundred times total, right? A hundred percent get it, man. It's got it all. It's got the cool art, the cool music. It's got different stuff. It's got cool toys that move around. And I guess the theme itself isn't necessarily critically nostalgic or emotional, but it's familiar enough, right? And it is this like over the top thing. And I mean, you're literally crushing a building, you know? like it's so fun and yeah you're fighting monsters you know and i think Keith Elwin and stern and you know these guys they did a great job because it is to me personally my opinion that is pinball is what that game is it's a combo of all of these awesome things right yeah the freaking artwork dude pops artwork is great pops there Keith Elwin had a couple games before that but godzilla felt like all of the stuff that he was doing kind of put into one like really well executed playfield The chaos element is there with the one really scary pop bumper just sitting there so close. Yeah, terrifying. That's a really cool, innovative thing. And then, yeah, the rotating Mechagodzilla toy is super fun and reminiscent of a Williams game kind of thing. And the building is reminiscent of a 90s Williams kind of thing. Yeah. I just feel like you don't see that stuff that much anymore, especially stuff that feels fresh. Yeah. Most of the toys now all feel kind of like recycled, and those felt new and different. Dude, you know what's impressive? In one of these people that I recently played with that's like a pin baby, right? The ball locks on the top of the building. Yeah. Because you can physically see the balls stacking, and then when it lowers and it opens, it's like this cool... Yeah, it's kind of Johnny Mnemonic-ish. Yeah, yeah. You build up the balls, and then it drops them all out at different paths. very tangible very visible very physical and he goes oh my like i he was there he was like oh my god all three balls and i was like it was beautiful man you know because that's exactly what pinball should invoke when you achieve this you know like goal right of getting multi balls yeah it's really the physical ball lock there's something cool about it and they tend to ditch those on the pros it's invisible you know yeah and it's such a bummer because it's it's one of those little like intangible sort of elements that just gives you like a little bit of joy yeah and when you pull that out of the game it's just like yeah dude the the mechagodzilla magnet yeah you know how it holds the balls like yeah yeah that's super cool too and the magna grab the magna grab i forgot about the magna grab yeah and how it counts down and drops the ball and then you have to like hit that loop yeah awesome dude it's it's so cool yeah it's just like a perfectly executed layout play field like you know my my only complaint has to do with ramps and you probably agree with me on this like the right ramp good ramp classic the left ramp is like where's the ramp oh yeah yeah to me it's kind of a Keith Elwin thing to do like kind of hide the ramp in like an orbit shot or something i did not even realize there was a left quote ramp yeah you know i thought it was some weird like loop thing that somehow diverted the ball i didn realize it was technically a ramp so whenever i when i would say hit the ramps i would only go for the right ramp because it was kind of misleading a little confusing yeah i played it a lot dude a whole lot in the last month yeah that is my uh hard to shot the left ramp kryptonite yeah yeah that's my that dude the right ramp at this point i can hit it on command you say hit that ramp i'll hit it yeah yeah left ramp yeah well 30 30 chance yeah i mean the call outs the old time yeah you know like movie narrator guy yeah and then the fact that you can do japanese yeah i mean all of that awesome it just works so well like i sometimes just put on japanese because it's fun it's fine i don't really care what he's saying picking the music yeah did you say that already oh yeah and it's got like for the multiball you can choose tracks like real audio like good songs you know the blue Oyster Cult, it does have great music and call-outs. That's a big part of the whole package, you know? Part of why I think that's still the number one game. You know, it's just got everything. But I think you're right in the sense that it has to, as far as initial appeal, it has to be the premium or the LE. Like I said, I know there's tons of people who think the Pro is great, and I'm sure it is. But for me, for that game, I'm not interested in a Pro. The little bit that I've read about it, people seem to love it, but describe it as a totally different game. So they love it in a different way. Yeah, that's fair. It's also, for me, I don't like to rebuy things. And I don't like to buy inferior versions of things. Sure. If you want the best version of the best game ever, just buy the premium. Just buy the best, yeah. Buy the premium. I don't know. I'd rather save up the extra money. But I just haven't yet, because that's a lot of money to spend on a game. It is. Yeah, I mean, it's like 10 grand, right? Minimum. 96.99 is the price for the premium. But yeah, I mean, even getting used one is hard because people hold on to that game. There's not a ton of them ever for sale, it seems like, at least not around here. Yeah. And now for a word from our sponsor. Welcome to Taco Bell. Can I take your order? Let's see. 1,000 burritos supremos, 700 Mexican pizzas, and one of those new gorditas. Hey, Godzilla, want something to drink? Godzilla's a Taco Bell on four collector cups. And now you can put them in a cool Godzilla cup holder. Get them while supplies last. And now, back to the show. If I go to a tournament, like a local tournament or whatever, I'm going to get destroyed on Godzilla. Because I've played it like 20 times, and everybody else at that tournament has played it 100 plus times. Yeah. And so I tend to do really bad at it, relatively speaking, because everybody just knows that game so well. So you're kind of like able to test your skills because it's kind of become a standard. That's exactly right, man. That's exactly what I'm doing. Yeah. You know, I kind of noticed that a lot of folks were hitting one billion on Godzilla on Godzilla. And I wanted to see if I was good enough. You know, I mean, this has just been like a personal challenge for yourself. Right. Yeah. And I think this is exactly what you're talking about, because it gave me a singular metric to go by a singular point goal to say, hey, you're at this level of skill. right and that's kind of my personal pinball story i'm basically at that point where i can hit one billion on godzilla and it feels pretty good i always thought we would uh my in my mind it was always like we're gonna get a godzilla and then we're gonna split it or something yeah so now we're gonna get a godzilla we're gonna get one and then we're gonna both race to a billion oh i see i see but you kind of just went and did that by yourself without consulting with me you know we're kind of we're kind of pinball married and i'm not used to that you know it's always been a very personal thing for me and i didn't even think about that man i i thought it was funny that you kind of independently were challenging yourself to do this yeah because i was like this is something we'll do later it was just kind of like a perfect combo of factors you know like me wanting to feel like my skills were progressing and also wanting to play a newer game You just wanted to get to a billion before me. You've already hit a billion points on a newer Stern game. Not on Godzilla, though. Yeah, yeah. But you have had that kind of self... Proved myself to myself. Yeah, you proved yourself to yourself with Mando, right? Didn't you hit like... Yeah, I can't remember my exact score on that. But I mean, it's a different game, though. It's not like... Yeah, but... I mean, they are in a similar scoring range. But it's not necessarily like a high scoring game. It's not like that kind of – it's within what I would say – I mean I haven't hit a billion. At that kind of like 100 million being a decent game, Stern – we should make a name for that so we just know what we're talking about. Like Stern Standard Scoring SSS. Yeah, Stern Standard Scoring. SSS, triple S. Stern Standard Scoring, right? Yeah, it's triple S. Triple S. Triple S. Stern Standard Scoring. but i wonder if they're moving away from that because uh some of the you know john wick is definitely much lower yeah yeah although i did see there was a code update that they had a tweak to the scoring on that since we played it last time interesting he was probably beating everybody up man getting everybody sick you know a lot of people talk about scoring like and who cares just get used to it you know every game has its own scoring just get used to like the scoring in that game yeah that's fine but there's also something to be said about like the scoring being satisfying yeah and being like part of why you want to play the game yeah not like turtles well well it's like it's like a it's a baseline for you to understand how you're developing as a player and how it's easier when you're a new player yeah and your your goals are much more attainable when you get to this middle of the road right you're not like a pinball champion yeah but you're way better than like anybody locally per se right like at the arcade at any given moment right yeah you're way better than your friends that don't play pinball yeah yeah exactly how do you how good are you because i'm just kind of like meh you know yeah you yeah i mean there's something about just kind of knowing where you stand with your skill level so you have something to kind of like yeah aspire to or challenge yourself because we've talked about this a bunch but like pinball for us is like a personal challenge kind of situation and so is that good enough just to challenge just to beat yourself but also kind of knowing like where you stand what is a good score yeah yeah um because maybe you're the best in the world right well you're you're pretty close on uh on one game but we can get into that later i was for a while quote unquote right the best i think you're number i was number one on pin side for a while. Yeah, I think you're still number two. Well, that's a separate conversation. That's hilarious. Anyways. So you opted for the personal challenge of can you get to a billion and enter the billionaires club Billionaire. Pin billionaires. The Godzilla pin billionaires. Correct. Because that's the one that everybody's like, I'm trying to get a billion. Yeah. Have you got a billion on Godzilla? Yeah. Jumping in, guys. I'm trying. Yeah. knocking on that door. You know what I'm saying? So what have you been doing to try to get there? Typically, we were around like $300 million would be a pretty good... That was a really good score. Pretty good if you get like $300 or $400 million on that game. So what did you do to push yourself? Have you been doing some pin Olympics training? Yes, yes. I eat a banana every day. I've been eating a lot of sushi Gotta get that potassium And iodine I read a quick gameplay Strategy From Kineticis Which was pretty useful And I watched a cool video too with Jack Danger And Keith Elwin actually And I thought that was pretty neat Because I wanted to see Keith Elwin as the designer Play his own game And Jack Danger is awesome He did a pretty good job at describing the game And asking questions as far as what strategies were for Keith01 himself, which would have been questions that I would have had. But not in a formal way, more just as you and I hang out and talk about playing games and where you would go next. I really enjoy that, and that got me even more hyped to go out there and try these things that I was watching. It just gave me a newfound purpose and goal for... A plan of attack, I guess, is a better way to say it. Yeah, Stern has a bunch of... I don't know if you've seen these either. But Stern has posted tournament videos. I haven't. There was a tournament that Stern posted where Keith Elwin was playing Godzilla. He was in the tournament playing the game that he designed. With other Stern people? No, other random tournament people. Oh, with other players. Yeah, it wasn't just a Stern people tournament. Oh, that's even cooler. It was just totally, you know, it was like all the top players. That's neat. And he got destroyed. That's pretty funny. That's awesome. See, that's how you know it's a good game, right? Yeah, and that's like the whole thing. That's pinball, man. That's pinball. It's just like the game that you designed, you can't hit that right scoop. He could not hit the right scoop to save his life. That is a tough shot, man. And I'm sure it was just like the game he was set up on and used to playing was just like ever so slightly different, and he wasn't dialed into it. I love it. I love it. It's humbling, but it's kind of crazy to see also. I love it. I love it. That's my favorite thing is to play with a complete stranger or a pin baby and they beat me. You know? Yeah, yeah. And to be fair, he was playing against the top players in the world, but he just couldn't hit that right scoop. It is hard. It is a tough shot. Thanks for listening to the Bash Pinball Podcast. Episode 20, Godzilla. check us out on Instagram where I'll be posting some pictures of my recent attempt to hit a billion. I hope you enjoyed the episode. Godzilla Garcia. Oh, dude, it's Godzilla. Dude, Godzilla, he's calling us. Wait, his last name's Garcia? Oh, hey, you made it. I thought you weren't going to be able to join the podcast. We actually said that you weren't going to be able to make it. Hey, Godzilla, hang on just a second. We're going to use Kaiju Google Translate to translate for everybody. Oh, nice, dude. You've been shredding at the gym. Awesome. Wait. Oh. Oh, at the kaiju gym. Yeah, he wouldn't fit into a planet fitness. Oh, I got it. So they don't use weights. They use, like, other world objects, I guess. Yeah, like... Buses and... Large boulders. Buildings. Buildings. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, Matt's actually... He got sick and... I know, right? Yeah, he sounds a little bit different. It's because he's not feeling well. Oh, that's interesting. Limit one kaiju battle per week. Oh, increase seaweed intake. I'm not sure I can limit my kaiju battles to one per week. I'll try. Oh, yeah. Now that you say it, dude, the Trader Joe's throat coat, it's like the licorice ginger tea. Yeah. Matt, have you heard about that? No, I'll have to try that. Yeah, he's right. It's actually really good for your sore throat. Yeah, he would probably know. I know, right? His throat's always on fire. Oh, Zilla, you know what I wanted to ask you? I know you've got to go soon, but the 98 movie, okay? We were talking about it a little bit. How do you feel about that? I mean, I don't think it really represented you very well. So they didn't even get your permission? That makes sense. It was all CG. That's messed up. Yeah, it was kind of messed up. You weren't even there? uh yeah yeah it's the puff daddy one yeah yeah of course yeah obviously yeah that's no surprise there he did he did you dirty what uh seriously we can't translate that yeah that's oh i feel for you so hard zilla no it's not funny it's not not yeah oh hang on no no we're not laughing at you yeah no um i you know i awkwardly laugh when i get uncomfortable and i'm really sorry about that yeah respect respect all right gz well i know you got a lot going on and you know you got monsters to fight and uh kaijus and stuff okay yeah yeah oh oh nice you're gonna get brunch with ultra man IHOP all you can eat pancakes are back and they're only five dollars why did you just say that like it's an ad are you sponsored by IHOP yeah okay so Godzilla you got to do this part with us for the outro when I say always remember you say you say you rule the universe okay all right you want to count down and we'll say it together yeah are you ready Godzilla okay here we go here we go three 3, 2, 1. And always remember. Rest in peace. There's no way IHOP lets him eat there. I don't know. He's probably just going to crush the building if they don't give him to him. That's true. Apparently, he's a paid spokesperson. Spokes monster. Spokes kaiju. Well, I guess that's the episode. Leave this territory now. Return to your home. evacuate all personnel