Episode 1063: "TPF in a Week and Still Nothing!"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·25m 33s·held·Mar 14, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

TPF brings unprecedented silence on new releases; Kaneda critiques GNR's design and speculates on April game pipeline.

Summary

Kaneda discusses the unusual quiet before Texas Pinball Festival (TPF), with no major game reveals in mid-March despite historical precedent. He speculates on an April surge of releases (Predators, King Kong, Harry Potter, Portal) and provides detailed critique of Guns N' Roses pinball, concluding it lacks flow and replay value as a single-machine home collection. He outlines his dream themes (Transformers G1, Fifth Element, Akira, Rocky IV) for future purchases.

Key Claims

No manufacturers have revealed new games ahead of Texas Pinball Festival as of mid-March 2025, breaking historical pattern
high confidence · Kaneda, episode opening: 'It's the Friday before Texas Pinball Festival, and there's nothing revealed. I'm shocked.'
Barrels of Fun will not reveal their next game at TPF; David Van Ness wants to invite media and distributors privately first
high confidence · Kaneda: 'TPF is the backyard show of Barrels of Fun they're not going to be there with anything new because I know David Van Ness wants to invite media and distributors to see the game before the reveal.'
April could see four games released: Barrels of Fun title, Predators, King Kong, and possibly Harry Potter
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'it's now starting to look like april could see four games in one month'
Portal (Multimorphic P3) is expected to receive a teaser before TPF and will likely be the only/primary new game revealed at the show
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'the one game we're probably going to get today, I think we're going to get a teaser for it today... P3 Multimorphics Portal' and 'There might only be one new game revealed at TPF and that might be Portal.'
Kerry Hardy has seen Portal and reports it is 'a hit' and 'the best game to date from Multimorphic'
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'the early word on the street by folks like Kerry Hardy that have seen the game is that it is a hit. It is the best game to date from Multimorphic'
TPF no longer serves as the primary deadline for manufacturer product reveals, unlike historically
high confidence · Kaneda: 'This show is no longer the sort of deadline that everybody is working towards.'
Guns N' Roses has poor outlane drain design and lacks game flow, making it frustrating to play
high confidence · Kaneda personal gameplay review: 'The outlane drains in this game are atrocious... it's like there's just no flow. There's absolutely no flow.'
Spooky Pinball may have licensed Gremlins and is teasing it via Evil Dead box art imagery

Notable Quotes

“It's the Friday before Texas Pinball Festival, and there's nothing revealed. I'm shocked.”
Kaneda @ opening — Sets the episode's central theme: unprecedented lack of pre-show announcements breaks industry pattern
“TPF is the backyard show of Barrels of Fun they're not going to be there with anything new because I know David Van Ness wants to invite media and distributors to see the game before the reveal.”
Kaneda @ early section — Explains Barrels of Fun's strategic marketing decision, indicating a shift in launch methodology away from show reveals
“There might only be one new game revealed at TPF and that might be Portal. That might be it.”
Kaneda @ mid-section — Reinforces the decline of TPF as a must-attend industry event for new releases
“The outlane drains in this game are atrocious... it's like there's just no flow. There's absolutely no flow.”
Kaneda @ GNR review section — Core criticism of Guns N' Roses design flaw that drives negative gameplay experience
“I think my favorite wow moment in all of Lord of the Rings is after you get to destroy the ring and then you get to there and back again. It is one of the greatest pinball moments ever.”
Kaneda @ GNR comparison section — Contrasts Lord of the Rings' magical design moments with GNR's lack of similar payoff moments
“If there was less stuff going on, less multi balls, less patches, less all of that crap, then you could focus more on the magical elements that are in the game.”
Kaneda @ GNR critique conclusion — Articulates design philosophy: sometimes less is more in game rule design
“I would need a theme like Fifth Element. I would need a theme like Big Trouble in Little China. I would need a theme like Predator.”
Kaneda @ dream themes section — Identifies specific IP preferences that would justify replacing GNR in his collection

Entities

Kanedaperson[name withheld pending review]personChristopher Franchiperson[name withheld pending review]personBarrels of FuncompanySpooky PinballcompanyMultimorphiccompany Pinball Brotherscompany

Signals

?
event_signal: Texas Pinball Festival no longer serves as primary deadline for manufacturer game reveals; historically was major reveal platform
high · Kaneda: 'This show is no longer the sort of deadline that everybody is working towards... There might only be one new game revealed at TPF and that might be Portal.'
?
product_strategy: Manufacturers shifting away from show-based reveals to private media events and staggered launches; Barrels of Fun strategy exemplifies this
high · Kaneda notes Barrels of Fun holding private media/distributor preview before public reveal, with 2+ week lead time needed
$
market_signal: Economic uncertainty (stock market volatility, crypto losses) may dampen pinball purchasing enthusiasm in coming months
medium · Kaneda: 'when things get uncertain, are you going to invest in another hugely depreciating asset? And that is pinball... I think a lot of you out there, it's a shaky world right now.'
?
gameplay_signal: Guns N' Roses exhibits significant playfield flow and outlane drain issues that undermine replay value and player satisfaction
high · Kaneda after 8 months ownership: 'The outlane drains in this game are atrocious... it's just no flow... Too much stop and go.'
?
product_concern: Guns N' Roses criticized for over-complication with excessive patches/multiballs that reduce accessibility and fun factor
high · Kaneda: 'I think they overcomplicated the gameplay with all the patches and it's just not fun or rewarding. There's too much in it.'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.077

0:00

In the burning heart, just about to burst, there's a quest for answers and a creature of the best. In the talking fight, rising like a spider, in the burning heart, the unmistakable fire. In the burning heart.

0:22

Welcome everybody to Canada's Pinball Podcast. It's the Friday before Texas Pinball Festival, and there's nothing revealed. I'm shocked. March 14th. Usually, this time, right before the big Texas show, usually, we've had a manufacturer or two reveal their game to the world, so then when they bring it to the show, they can just set it up and everybody can bang on it, but there's nothing. It's nothing. Like, the whole pinball space right now, we're waiting for these games to come out. it's now starting to look like april could see four games in one month the new game from barrels of fun is it going to be dune is it going to be gremlins is it going to be goodies we're going to talk about gremlins in a second is it going to be gi joe everybody's wondering now tpf is the backyard show of barrels of fun they're not going to be there with anything new because i know david Van Ness wants to invite media and distributors to see the game before the reveal. I have not received any word on when that will happen. So until that happens, and we know that David's going to want to give media at least a couple weeks to figure out travel, let their wives and their co-workers know I'm going to be flying down to Texas on a Friday. So until we get that word, we can make a safe bet that we're not seeing the Barrels game for at least two more weeks. So that brings us into April. At the end of April, we're going to get the Pinball Brothers Predator game. We're also going to get, most likely, King Kong. Remember, John Wick was revealed to the world May 7th. And Stern Pinball usually keeps things on a similar schedule. So I think we're going to see Stern bump up King Kong. I think D&D sales are okay, but not phenomenal. I think we're going to see Jersey Jack Pinball nervous of getting scooped by King Kong. I think we're going to also see them reveal Harry Potter to the world. And the one game we're probably going to get today, I think we're going to get a teaser for it today, and I think it's going to be revealed early next week before TPF, is P3 Multimorphics Portal. and the early word on the street by folks like Kerry Hardy that have seen the game is that it is a hit. It is the best game to date from Multimorphic and so I fully expect a Portal teaser today so we can chew on something over the weekend, but I'm still shocked. It just goes to show if you're one of these people who for many, many years traveled down to TPF, it was always the show that everybody was working hard to reveal their product to get it on the floor at TPF. How times have changed. This show is no longer the sort of deadline that everybody is working towards. In fact, there might only be one new game revealed at TPF and that might be Portal. That might be it. For a lot of you out there now, you don't need to travel to Texas to play D&D. You don't need to travel to Texas to play Evil Dead. You can start to see these games out on location. And I think more and more of us are starting to sort of limit the amount of pinball shows we will get on an airplane for. And we'll probably drive to locations and shows that are closer. So we'll see what happens today. I'm a little bit surprised nobody's sort of surprised and delighted or shocked us with anything. Now, speaking of a little shock and awe, did you see this new box for Evil Dead Pinball? Christopher Franchi has put on the box an image of a woman clawing through the box. Now, that image looks exactly like the iconic Gremlins movie poster. So is this Christopher Franchi teasing to us that this company has Gremlins? Here's the thing. I still think the next game from Spooky Pinball is going to be Beetlejuice. I also think they do have Gremlins, but I don't think Gremlins is next. Gremlins would be a great, great game to release in December because the theme of the movie happens at Christmas time. Isn't Gizmo a gift from the father as a Christmas present? Now, what they need to do with Gremlins, if you get one machine wet, it pops out another machine. Wouldn't that be funny? So look, I love that they're having fun with these teasers. I'm a little surprised that the company that was famous for its teasers, Barrels of Fun, has done absolutely nothing. They've done nothing to sort of give us clues, to give us hints, to bring us on board, to have some fun with their next game about to drop. Maybe that was the factory tour with the sort of Goonies skeleton key, and maybe they're just messing with us there. but there really hasn't been anything. There's literally none of these pinball companies in March. It is mid-March. Nobody has done anything to fan the flames of their new game. There's been no teasers. There's been no interviews. There's been no rolling out of anything. And as a marketer, I look at all this stuff and I'm like, you know what? You know where I would want to be? I would want to be first or last. Those are the only two positions I would want to be in as we head into a month long period of new games, as we're watching everyone's 401ks decimated, as the stock market plummets. I mean, I'm just going to say this right now. I have a few bitcoins here and there, which has done nicely for me. I bought at a low price, but man, some of the other stuff, some of the other stuff like Ethereum I think I lost a pinball machine and a half in just like a month on a little Ethereum I was holding And it very volatile right The markets right now are very volatile And I think a lot of you out there, it's a shaky world right now. And when things get uncertain, are you going to invest in another hugely depreciating asset? And that is pinball. We shall see. I just expected someone to do something unique, something surprising, something that's different, like throw away the playbook of how to launch a pinball machine and just do something different. Nothing, nothing yet. So we shall see. So what I've been doing, what I've been doing as I've been healing with my hernia surgery, I've been playing a lot more Guns and Roses. I've been playing every day. I've been going through the game. I've started everything from the Around the World Tour to Slash's solo. I haven't got to the end of the game, which is what? The not in this lifetime, no sympathy for the devil mode. I haven't been able to get there, but I just want to give my overall, after playing this game hundreds and hundreds of times, I understand now why this game just frustrates people. It is a mixed bag game for sure. I love the energy of the game. I love the moments in which you start a song and you're rocking out and you've got a few balls locked up on that guitar neck and you're with just one ball on the lower play field and you feel good because you've got like three balls locked just in case you drain. You've got some more balls you can put into play. If it were up to me, I would have figured out a way when you lock like four or five balls on that guitar neck and you drain the one ball you have in play that not all of those guitar neck balls drop into play. I wish you could control how many balls you fed into the main play field. It would just make it more fun. I know there's some strategy involved there. This game has those moments where it gets your adrenaline going and it's a lot of fun. But here's my thing with GNR. There's two things that are just killing this game for me and make me not want to turn it on much anymore. The outlane drains in this game are atrocious. And I wrote that on Facebook and I mean it like this game. It's not just from the slingshots, all these shots and these targets and all these different things, the ball can hit on the lower half of the play field, send the ball into the outlanes so frequently. And this game doesn't have any flow whatsoever. That's my bigger gripe than the outlaying drains. It's like there's just no flow. There's absolutely no flow. You're never having any combos. All the shots and all the stuff to hit, it's all like way too close to the flippers. I wish this game like pushed everything back like two to three inches on the play field. It's a lot of stop and go. when you try to get flow going like the ball just ends up like ricocheting all over the place and that's what also is sending the ball into the outlanes all the time a lot more outlane drains on my machine than straight down the middle and so then when I just step back and think about you know what I love about pinball and games I really loved like I loved Lord of the Rings Lord of the Rings was my first pinball machine you could say I was spoiled in playing one of the greatest machines of all time. Now, Lord of the Rings was also coded by the same guy that coded Guns and Roses, Keith Johnson. But what I loved about Lord of the Rings, even though there was a lot in it, and that little wheel in the middle of Lord of the Rings that has all the little mini lights where you can collect all the different stuff, that's like the patches for GNR. But even if you didn't get into that, it was really simple to understand how to play that game, how to get to each movie's multi-ball, how rewarding it was to get to each of those. And then once you get past those three, you move on to such an iconic moment in the game where you destroy the ring. And it was so much fun. And you were able to see, and you were able to get deeper into that game and get to wow moments. I think my favorite wow moment in all of Lord of the Rings is after you get to destroy the ring and then you get to there and back again. If any of you out there have never experienced there and back again in Lord of the Rings pinball, it is one of the greatest pinball moments ever. It didn't require an LCD. You don't need animations. It's the way the music changes and the way the call outs come at you. It is so magical. And when I think about GNR, there's never any magical call outs. They never do anything like unique with the music that's really interesting. And again, I don't know why they didn't do this, right? You've got all this GNR catalog. You've got access to everything that GNR has ever done. And there's never a surprising moment musically in this game. They also could have done some stuff where you built a song maybe. Maybe that's a special mode. So imagine that, right? Have you ever played rock band? Imagine like build a song mode in gnr like a secret mode where it starts out with just the bass And then you add the drums then you add axel's vocals There's just more they could have done but in lord of the rings I knew exactly how to get through the game the same thing with batman. I knew how to start extra ball I never ever in both of those games ever had to put those games on five ball to get deep into the game. With Guns N' Roses here, not only did I have to lower the outlane posts, I also put it on five ball, and that's still not making me have any more fun. It's not getting me deeper into the game. I just don't like that GNR, when you step back and think about the game itself, after you get over all the experiences of the song modes, it's like there's not a lot else to really get excited about. The multi-balls that you start, the four multi-balls that you can keep starting in the game are not that exciting They not rewarding to start It still confusing to me how to light extra ball I don really know I think you got to collect four patches That one way to do it And maybe after you start or get through a couple album modes, it lights it again, but it's not very clear. And I've owned this machine for like eight months now, but it just doesn't for me anymore have that one more game feeling. I feel like when I get on it, I'm having some fun, But then after 20 minutes, I'm good. And I think it's a good game in a lineup where you have a lot of other machines. Like if I had a Lord of the Rings next to this and I had Batman 66 next to Guns and Roses, yeah, I'd feel really good about having GNR to break up the monotony and deliver, right? It still delivers. The most amazing modern light show, music, concert in a box ever. It still delivers on that. but it doesn't do much more than that. And in a home like mine, where I've only got one pinball machine, I can say this with full confidence. This is not a good machine to own when you only have one machine. It's a great experiential pin when you've got a lineup of other machines. And so I think I am coming to the conclusion that I might have to get rid of GNR, but I will not replace Guns N' Roses unless it's a theme that I love as much as Guns N' Roses. So yeah, I don't love Godzilla more than Guns N' Roses. I don't love Deadpool or Tron more than Guns N' Roses. For me to replace my Guns N' Roses. I would need a theme like Fifth Element. I would need a theme like Big Trouble in Little China. I would need a theme like Predator. You son of a bitch. I'm going to put Predator in there. I don't think Predator is going to be that good, but I've watched the Predator movies hundreds of times. But if I had to choose my dream theme, it would be Transformers G1, the movie, not the entire series of G1 Transformers. The movie with Unicron and Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime and Ultra Magnus and Optimus Dies and Galvatron and the album from that movie, the soundtrack from Transformers G1 is the greatest movie soundtrack maybe of all time. So Transformers G1 would be at the top of my list.