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Episode 117 - The UNDISPUTED Top Ten Games of All Time List

Wedgehead Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·56m 35s·analyzed·May 4, 2026
Buzzsprout-19001856
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.037

TL;DR

Wedgehead declares Medieval Madness the objectively #1 best pinball game ever, backed by resale value, longevity, and cultural icon status over measurable sales.

Summary

Wedgehead Pinball Podcast presents an intentionally 'objective and inarguable' top 10 best pinball games of all time, explicitly rejecting personal favorites in favor of measurable criteria including sales, resale value, cultural impact, and gameplay longevity. The top five games ranked are Medieval Madness (#1, ~4,000 original units but defies supply/demand economics with rising resale prices), The Addams Family (#2, 22,000 units sold, established mode-based gameplay blueprint), Godzilla (#3, on track to surpass The Addams Family in total sales, most common game on location in 2026), 8 Ball Deluxe (#4, masterclass drop target design and aged-well Western art), and Whitewater (#5). Notable exclusion: Firepower was cut last-minute as the 11th best due to underwhelming art package despite strong gameplay and historical significance.

Key Claims

  • Medieval Madness is the #1 best pinball game of all time

    high confidence · Alex explicitly states this as fact, not opinion; presented as objective determination based on resale value, longevity, gameplay, and cultural impact

  • Medieval Madness only sold ~4,000 units originally but defies supply/demand economics—resale prices rise when Chicago releases new runs

    high confidence · Alex provides specific sales figure (4,000) and details the unusual market behavior where increased supply drives up original unit prices

  • Addams Family sold 22,000 units and may be passed by Godzilla as the bestselling pinball game

    high confidence · Alex cites 22,000 units for Addams Family; notes Godzilla is on track to pass it, though Joe Kamenec's claim of 28,000 Godzillas sold is dismissed as unreliable

  • Godzilla is the most common pinball game on location and in homes in 2026

    medium confidence · Alex and co-host observe Godzilla's prevalence in current market; no external data provided, based on observation

  • Addams Family introduced the definitive mode-based gameplay blueprint that modern pinball copied

    high confidence · Alex argues Addams Family established the scoop-to-start-mode standard that became industry convention, though acknowledges Lights Camera Action had modes first

  • Firepower was cut from the top 10 list at the last minute and is arguably the 11th best game

    high confidence · Alex explicitly states Firepower was on the list longest before removal due to underwhelming art package disqualifying it from 'best' status

  • Godzilla is on track to pass Addams Family in total sales, potentially within 5 years or 5 days

    medium confidence · Alex cites comments from George Gomez and Stern themselves; notes announcement would come if milestone reached

  • 8 Ball Deluxe features masterclass drop target usage and art by Margaret Hudson that has aged exceptionally well

    high confidence · Alex praises Margaret Hudson's Western-themed art design and the three distinct drop target types (in-lane, center money drop, bank)

Notable Quotes

  • “This is the objectively correct list of the 10 best pinball machines of all time. Because people always ask what our favorite games are... If you disagree with this list, it's probably because you're uneducated, which isn't your fault. You might be stupid, which isn't your fault, but you are wrong because this is the correct list.”

    Alex @ Early in episode — Sets the tone for the episode—framing this as objective fact rather than opinion, establishing the 'inarguable' premise

  • “It breaks the rules of supply and demand in a way that would befuddle economics teachers. They build more of them, but because when they build new ones, the MSRP, they add some more RGB shit, they add a fancier top or whatever, they always kind of zhuzh it up a little bit. They add an extra $1,000 to the MSRP... It's absurd. It doesn't make logical sense.”

    Alex @ Medieval Madness discussion — Highlights the extraordinary market dynamics of Medieval Madness remakes, where supply increases paradoxically raise secondary market prices

  • “If you had to distill pinball down to one game and you're like if you were going to go fucking send a pinball machine into space that the aliens are going to find one day. This is the game... because they're not going to be like, are these characters from like a show that wasn't included in the space capsule that we haven't seen?”

    Co-host @ Medieval Madness discussion — Poetic argument for Medieval Madness as the purest expression of pinball, needing no external IP context

  • “If you saw that castle blow up, even if it was just one single time, when you were eight years old, 25 years ago, you remember that for the rest of your life. It's unreal. The way it sticks with people is just unlike anything else in pinball.”

    Alex @ Medieval Madness discussion — Identifies the castle toy explosion as Medieval Madness' singular most memorable moment and key to its #1 ranking

  • “You played it too much. That's what as I was making this list, I played these games too much. And that's why I think a lot of people making this list would be like, well, these aren't my 10. And you're like, you only think that because you play them too much.”

    Alex @ Addams Family discussion — Acknowledges personal fatigue with Addams Family while defending its objective #2 placement; explains why personal favorites differ from 'best' games

Entities

AlexpersonAlanpersonMedieval MadnessgameAddams FamilygameGodzillagame8 Ball DeluxegameWhitewatergame

Signals

  • $

    market_signal: Medieval Madness defies standard supply/demand economics—each new Chicago Gaming remanufactured run with higher MSRP causes original unit prices to rise instead of fall, suggesting extreme brand loyalty and FOMO-driven collector behavior

    high · Alex details: 'They build more of them... They add an extra $1,000 to the MSRP... It's absurd. It doesn't make logical sense. It doesn't follow supply and demand.'

  • $

    market_signal: Godzilla is on track to become the best-selling pinball game of all time, potentially surpassing Addams Family's 22,000-unit record; currently most common game on location and in homes in 2026

    medium · Alex states: 'It is looking like it's on track to pass the Addams family as the bestseller at some point. That might be five years from now. That might be... five days from now.' Cites George Gomez and Stern as sources; notes Joe Kamenec's 28,000-unit claim is unreliable.

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Godzilla features exceptionally broad and deep ruleset with 5 shots always available for next objective; intensive programming and stacking mechanics require deep strategic understanding but play enjoyably without it; represents modern design trend of maximal content density

    high · Co-host: 'It's incredibly deep. It is incredibly broad... You're five shots away from everything at all times... There is so much shit to do.' Alex adds game has extensive ball saves, multiball mechanics, and building staging complexity.

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Addams Family established the mode-based gameplay design paradigm—scoop-to-start-mode convention—that became industry standard and design baseline for modern pinball games despite earlier games having modes

    high · Alex: 'This really is the blueprint for modern modes... Everything else started trying to copy from that moment forward. Pinball basically shifted.' Notes Lights Camera Action had modes first but Addams Family popularized the approach.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.170

0:00
Dune, Medieval Madness Thank you. And back to the pin. It's a boring episode. I knew that when I started writing it. It's going to be a boring one because it's just objective fact and there's not much open to conjecture, you know, argument here. Well, I'd like to give a coffee plug. You know, if any listeners of the show already know, we do this show completely for free. But if you want to donate even five dollars or more to our coffee fundraiser at the URL ko-fi.com slash Wedgehead podcast, you'll get a link to our private discord where you can chat and argue with you. You can argue with your own opinions. Not on this episode, of course, because it's all going to be objective fact. It's going to be a slow week after this one because everyone's just going to be like, hmm, yeah. Yeah, they really nailed it. Alex really nailed this episode. Yeah, usually when we're giving hot takes and such, you know, you can come in there and fight us. Yeah, not this week. You could just come in and go, Alex, you nailed it. Actually, I'm going to let the people in. Well, inside baseball, I don't even know what these games are. But Alex promised that he would make a perfect list. If you took enough time, you would create the exact same list, I think. Okay. Because this is the 10 best games. That's what I was saying. This is going to be a really boring episode. It's an inarguable, objectively correct list of the 10 best pinball machines of all time. Because people always ask what our favorite games are. It comes up a lot. Alan loves answering this because he has like a little answer, like a cute little answer for fucking any kind of like, what's your favorite game, Alan? This is whitewater. I don't because my favorites change all the time. It's on my mood, what I've had access to lately, a whole bunch of factors. I always say my favorite games are transient, shifting like water. Yeah, that's what I always say. A while back, someone asked and I stated that it would be a lot easier to list the 10 best games of all time rather than my 10 favorites. That might sound the same at surface level, but it's not because 10 favorites are what I think are the 10 best or what I think are my 10 favorites. I don't even necessarily have to think they're the best games. I favor them for one reason or another. It could be because of an emotional connection. It could be because of some bullshit like, oh, I've got one near my house that I really like. That's not objective. The 10 best games of all time is objective. So that's what we're here to do. If you disagree with this list, it's probably because you're uneducated, which isn't your fault. You might be stupid, which isn't your fault, but you are wrong because this is the correct list. We're removing all emotion from this. We're looking at the facts. These games, just for reference, these games aren't in like a hard set first to tenth ranking. I did attempt to, but when you're dealing with the ten best examples, you know, out of thousands of games, whatever they've made, Squabbling over what gets fifth or sixth place doesn't really matter, but I can assure you these are the 10 best. Okay. That's known. That's that. Put it to rest. Yeah. So are you ready to hear them? I can't wait to find out what these are because I was one of those people in the Discord challenging you to write the 10 best objective list because you were like, it's so easy. It will be obvious. And I was like, write this down. This is going to be a great episode. Yeah, and when we started talking about it, it kind of started leaning towards a lot of like, well, we're going to be looking at like sales numbers and stuff. If you try to do this objectively, that's not a good metric. That's not the end all be all that you would hope it is because markets change. And just because something sells well doesn't make it the best. McDonald's hamburgers aren't the best. They just sell the most of them. Sure. And so that's not the best way. It's one metric. But it is a metric. So it definitely comes into play. The first, the number one best game of all time, though, immediately bucks that because it didn't sell that well. You probably can guess what it is. It's Medieval Madness. Whoa.

  • Medieval Madness castle toy is the most memorable single moment in pinball—unforgettable for anyone who saw it once

    medium confidence · Alex makes subjective assertion about castle's cultural impact; supported by co-host agreement but not independently verifiable

  • Addams Family was only the 12th highest-grossing film of 1991, not a major cultural event at release

    medium confidence · Alex cites box office ranking and notes only 2 of the 11 higher-grossing films (Terminator 2, Home Alone) remained culturally significant; claims Sleeping with the Enemy (24% on Rotten Tomatoes) outearned it

  • “You do argue with me often in the Discord about this game. I can't argue the facts, though. You argue that the center ramp is not a center ramp. The center ramp's a little to the right. Despite that, this is just another absolutely iconic game.”

    Alex @ Addams Family discussion — Acknowledges co-host's personal dislike of Addams Family while defending its objective ranking based on measurable data

  • “When this actually if it does pass the Addams Family in sales, we will know about it. There's no way Stern does not announce that. They'll probably do gold trim, I would assume. They'll do something to match the Addams. They'll know it. They'll take their victory lap.”

    Alex @ Godzilla discussion — Predicts Stern will publicly celebrate if Godzilla surpasses Addams Family sales; implies milestone hasn't occurred yet

  • “No one else can make a game like this. That's why Stern's the king. That's why you all keep buying Stern games, even though you complain about every release. That's why Godzilla's the number three best game of all time.”

    Alex @ Godzilla discussion — Links Godzilla's complexity and depth to Stern's manufacturing scale; suggests boutique manufacturers cannot replicate this level of programming economics

  • “It's the cowboy smoking a cigarette shooting pool. And it's not overly – it's like because it's drawn by a woman, I think that's a big part of why it's aged so well that it doesn't have any like gratuitous, you know, pandering on there.”

    Alex @ 8 Ball Deluxe discussion — Credits Margaret Hudson's art direction for the game's elegant, tasteful design that has aged better than contemporaneous titles with questionable imagery

  • “I would say Firepower because it does the lane change, which is in all other games. It sold very well. It earned very well. And it changed how everyone else designed Pinball Sheets. And to this day, fun as fuck.”

    Co-host @ 8 Ball Deluxe discussion — Makes case for Firepower's inclusion; Alex acknowledges it was on the list longest before final cut due to art package weakness

    • Firepower
    game
    Chicago Gaming Companycompany
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Margaret Hudsonperson
    George Gomezperson
    Joe Kamenecperson
    AJperson
    Lights, Camera, Actiongame
    Bram Stoker's Draculagame
    Funhouse 2.0game
    Big Bang Bargame
    Pinsideorganization
    Wedgehead Pinball Podcastorganization
    Mysticgame
    Frontiergame
    Attack from Marsgame
  • ?

    product_strategy: Chicago Gaming's Medieval Madness remanufacturing strategy involves regular new production runs with incremental feature additions (RGB, fancy tops) and $1,000+ MSRP increases; creates artificial scarcity cycles that drive collector demand and secondary market appreciation

    high · Alex describes repeated runs where 'they add some more RGB shit, they add a fancier top or whatever, they always kind of zhuzh it up a little bit. They add an extra $1,000 to the MSRP.'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Tournament players criticize Addams Family for 'ramp chair' speed-running strategy but hosts defend this as viable baby strategy present in many games; suggests ongoing debate about mode design balance and what constitutes skillful play

    medium · Alex: 'Tournament players... love to be like you just ramp chair ramp chair... If you're playing... this game's boring because it's easy, it's not set up good... [power] is probably disabled.'

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Godzilla's complex programming (extensive rulesets, integrations) represents cost that can only be recouped through large production volumes; boutique manufacturers cannot afford this type of development because unit costs would be prohibitive

    high · Alex: 'Programming to this degree is a cost that has to be spread out over units, units that the boutique guys do not have. No one else can make a game like this. That's why Stern's the king.'

  • ?

    design_innovation: 8 Ball Deluxe features masterclass drop target implementation across three distinct types (in-lane drops, center money drop, bank); all three drop target categories are actively used in gameplay, exemplifying elegant mechanical design

    high · Alex: 'The absolute masterclass in drop target usage. You've got in-lane drops, you've got one big money drop, the eight ball, and you've got a beautiful bank... How many other games can say they have drops in that kind of array?'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Hosts observe that personal favorite lists diverge from 'best of all time' rankings due to overexposure; games played too frequently (e.g., Addams Family, Medieval Madness) may be personally fatiguing despite objective quality

    high · Alex: 'I played these games too much. And that's why I think a lot of people making this list would be like, well, these aren't my 10... you only think that because you play them too much.'

  • ?

    content_signal: Wedgehead Podcast intentionally positioned this 'objectively correct' top 10 list as contrast to typical speculative/debatable content; expects lower Discord engagement due to lack of arguable positions; fundraising via Ko-fi donations

    high · Alex: 'It's a boring episode... it's just objective fact and there's not much open to conjecture... It's going to be a slow week after this one because everyone's just going to be like, hmm, yeah, they really nailed it.'

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Addams Family's licensed IP theme effectively elevated franchise cultural presence; hosts speculate Netflix's Wednesday series may owe partial debt to pinball game's decades-long reinforcement of IP cultural relevance beyond original 1991 film

    medium · Alex: 'You think that Wednesday on Netflix exists because of the pinball machine? I think the pinball machine might play a part more than people would realize... [it] has helped solidify that Addams Family is more of a cultural icon.'

    • 5:09
    Game Punch is way above its original sales number. It only did 4,000 units. And when did it come out? I didn't write down any facts for this, by the way, because I'm like, everybody knows these games. 97. So it came out, you know, at the end of the like as location pinball was dying in the 90s. It doesn't sell that well. Despite that, it quickly became one of the most iconic pinball machines of all time. Maybe only rivaled by what you'll see in the number two spot that you can probably guess right now. Some reasons why this is objectively the best game of all time. Proof that it's the best game of all time. Number one, resale value never drops. Chicago keeps rerunning. They keep remanufacturing medieval madnesses in prices just go up. It breaks the rules of supply and demand in a way that would befuddle economics teachers. They build more of them, but because when they build new ones, the MSRP, they add some more RGB shit, they add a fancier top or whatever, they always kind of zhuzh it up a little bit. They add an extra $1,000 to the MSRP, and you're like, and then they make however many, 1,000 units, however many they do in the run, I don't know. They don't tell us these numbers anymore, but they make more units, which should make the price of the old ones go down. All it does is raising the MSRP of a new model makes the old ones go up. They just kind of close that gap to the new one. It's absurd. It doesn't make logical sense. Like I said, it doesn't follow supply and demand. It shows how quickly supply and demand falls apart because the demand goes up when people realize that like they're not going to make a newer, newer, you know, it's just every time it kind of like breaks everything in a way that defies logic. I think it's notable because nothing else is like that. When Pedretti made Funhaus 2.0, it didn't fucking make a ripple on the market. Certainly it didn't bring Funhaus 1.0 prices up. It just drug Funhaus 2.0 prices down. Wow. Funhouse 2.0 has a Brian Allen problem all over it. That is true. So past that, though, this isn't again, it's not just one factor. It's not all the price is really good because there's a lot of games are worth a lot of money. Big Bang Bar is not in the top 10 best games of all time. Spoiler. The main thing about this is that Medieval Madness has unbelievable legs. It's still fun. It's still also very notably funny. You can play this game thousands of times and it's still funny. It still has charm. It still has a challenge if it's set up well. You can certainly find Medieval Madnesses with loosey-goosey tilts and closed off out lanes and, you know, that are set flat with dead flippers that play way too long, but you can say that about every game. Sure. I think a properly set up Medieval, it's still hard to get to the wizard mode. Yes. And it doesn't lean on a licensed theme. It's not up here because everyone loves the movie it's based on. It's completely on the merits of the design team and the artists and the engineers and everyone that put it together, which is it's pure pinball. It doesn't have any crutches. It's got an awesome, awesome art package. It's disgraceful and embarrassing to see people swap the art out on these. But we don't need to go off on that again. It earns like crazy despite being this old game that we've all played a thousand times. Pinheads still put five dollars in at a time if they see a Medieval Madness for a buck a play. You're not wrong about Medieval Madness. You are right about this part at least. That's what I'm saying. You're going to see. And it's like all of this because you're like it is the perfect game. I really think if you had to distill pinball down to one game and you're like if you were going to go fucking send a pinball machine into space that the aliens are going to find one day. This is the game because they're not going to be like, oh, like, are these characters from like a show that wasn't included in the space capsule that we haven't seen? You're like, no, man, this is the whole thing. It's from start to finish. The whole story is right there. It's beautiful. It's perfect. It's funny. It represents everything of 1997 culture. It's I would send them I would send them Attack from Mars just because I want to see if they thought it was funny. If they're in Aliens, we're like, this is what we think of you. Is this upsetting to you? Yeah, that's fair. That's like this is pinball. This game, I think, really is the whole package, but a lot of the games on this list are the whole package. I think what really makes Medieval the number one best game of all time, though, is the castle. The central toy in it? Yeah, I'm aware. If you've seen the castle blow up, even if it was just one single time, when you were eight years old, 25 years ago, you remember that for the rest of your life. It's unreal. The way it sticks with people is just unlike anything else in pinball. There's a lot of great moments in pinball. There's a lot of great moments, especially very memorable stuff in a lot of the games on this list. A lot of the games come from Bally Williams in the 90s. But that castle, it's like that's the one that if you saw that a single time, you know it. And it comes back and that's what makes it the best game of all time. There you go. It's fucking perfect. That's the thing. You're like, would I tweak it a little bit? Of course, because it's like it's for everybody, but it's not it's not just for me. That's why this is the objectively right. That gets us to number two. OK, number two is I don't like it, but I put it here because it is the second best game of all time. And that is the Addams Family. Finally, everybody that knows me, if you've been in the Discord, you know I always kind of say this game's overrated. I'm kind of sick of playing it. I do stand by that. I do think it's overrated.
    10:34
    But it's objectively the second best game of all time. Oh, but if you're looking at the facts. If you're looking at the facts. I cannot argue with its impact and longevity. I cannot argue with 22,000 units sold. I mean, you do argue with me often in the Discord about this game. I can't argue the facts, though.
    10:56
    You argue that the center ramp is not a center ramp. The center ramp's a little to the right. Despite that, this is just another absolutely iconic game. This is another one that when people picture Pinball, they're talking about Adam's Family. It's the one they remember. I think what's kind of interesting about this game is it does lean on a licensed theme. It executes that theme very, very well. It has phenomenal callouts by the actors in the movies. And I think this game has made people like the movie more and like hold the movie because it's an easy one to be like, well, it's tied in. It's a movie tie. And you're like the movie. If you go back and look at the facts, put your feelings aside. The movie didn't do like that. Well, it was like the 12th biggest movie in 1991. It's not like the 11 other movies they made were all fucking Jaws. Like there were 11 movies that we don't talk. OK, that's not true. One of them was Terminator 2. One of them was Home Alone. So we do talk about two of the other movies a lot. But like for reference, I believe the Julia Roberts movie Sleeping with the Enemy, which is 24 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, that earned more money than the Addams Family. Addams Family wasn't like a fucking cultural event like we might think it is. It was just kind of like a goofy, funny, family-friendly movie. You think that Wednesday on Netflix exists because of the pinball machine? I think the pinball machine might play a part more than people would realize. I think it has helped solidify that Addams Family is more of a cultural icon than this movie alone would have. Well, I guess that's why it deserves to be on the list. It does deserve to be on the list for a variety of reasons. Another one that I also have to give it its flowers for is that this is really the blueprint for what modern pinball became moving forward. I know there's other games that had modes technically first and maybe a wizard mode arguably, but this is the introduction of that that's done well. Well, so Lights, Camera, Action is said to have the first modes. Yeah, that's not a top ten best game. I'm sorry. I know, but this is the first one that everyone's like, this is a mode base game. Yeah. Like, it's built around modes. Yeah. It makes sense. It's like that's how you're playing the game. It has burned into all pinball people that you shoot a scoop to start a mode, and when games buck that trend and put a little post in the up lanes, we get mad.
    13:22
    We want scoop. The people demand scoops. Mode start on scoops, dude. And but really, like it is the it is like what everything else started trying to copy from that moment forward. Pinball basically shifted. There are some notable exceptions or some phenomenal games without modes that were made after this, like Bram Stoker's Dracula. But this really is the blueprint for modern modes. And it did it well. That's what's crazy. Usually one that's like the first kind of this like, oh, it's it's innovative, but it's not good. And you're like, no, this game is good. It does have some things that people will maybe try to knock it for, like you can speed run the modes, you can just ramp chair, ramp chair, burn through the house. That doesn't ruin the game. People think shit like that is like some like gotcha like oh you can just ramp and chair And you like if you want to do that you can but you certainly don have to do that Oh absolutely And you can also it so funny that competitors tournament players in particular love to be like you just ramp chair ramp chair ramp chair First of all, the chair is dangerous on many copies, which people like to pretend like it's not. And now on some copies, it's very easy. If you're playing, that's another thing. If you're playing in an animal family and you think this game's boring because it's easy, It's not set up good. Yeah, that's right. It probably has the power disabled. Yeah. And then I'd say the main multiball, you can beat people in a league match easily just shooting jackpots in the multiball. So people act like, oh, it's just ramp chair. No, it's not. It's not. You can play it like that. You're like, you can play a lot of, you can, there's a lot of games that have a viable baby strategy. And that's fine if you want to play them. That doesn't ruin the game. And that's something that just kind of bugs me when people discount a game by seeing like it's only one shot because the rules at the time didn't like punish you for shooting one shot. Like maybe they're smart to punish people for doing shit like that nowadays. Well, Professor Alex has put on his hat to argue for this objective place on the list. But I know Alex, the artist, hates Address Family. So what do you hate about it? I played it too much. That's what as I was making this list, I played these games too much. And that's why I think a lot of people making this list would be like, well, these aren't my 10. And you're like, you only think that because you play them too much. If you were playing these 10 games for the first time ever and you were playing all the other games for the first time ever, ever created, these would be the 10 that you'd get to the best. You'd be like, these are the best. Yeah. We'd all get to the same 10 because these are the best. Everybody would decide. And you'll understand as we keep going. Okay. Just how true that becomes when we get to the high. I'm sure all of these are completely true and inarguable. Yep. That's what you promised me. You're going to like the next one. It is a little game called Godzilla from Stern.
    16:10
    Godzilla from Stern, which is probably, I think it's rated number one on the pin side, Hot 100 still. I don't know. There's always some boutique knocking down its door, and then the Godzilla owners have to rally the fucking troops and get everybody in there to review Brigade it. It's the best ever. To be fair. The third best ever. To be fair, when they do that on Pinside and we make fun of the Pinside list a lot, at least it's justified because I'm sorry, but like Harry Potter is not better than Godzilla. No, it's fucking not close. Godzilla might not be your cup of tea. A lot of games on this list. Listen to this list. There will be a lot of listeners that are like, I don't agree. This isn't my top 10 favorite. These are the 10 best games. They're not your top 10 favorites. And Godzilla is an objectively good game. And if you disagree, why the hell do you think they've sold so many? Like, I know we've got a friend, AJ, that does not care for this game. And he must every day of his life must be confusing when people keep buying Godzilla. Because he keeps he insists it's a bad game. And it's not a matter of taste. It's he believes it's bad. That's not true. It's not true. You don't have to like it, but it's good. And yeah, they managed to take a theme that nobody seemed particularly excited about. Godzilla is a perfect canvas of a theme because no one really had expectations for what a Godzilla game was supposed to be. It's a franchise that's been around since 1954. It spanned all types of genres, all levels of from deadly serious to just the most slapstick dumb shit you can imagine. And so it really was just a canvas that they could do whatever they wanted with. I think that they could even paint him whatever color they wanted him to be, too. They literally famously he could just be green. Yeah, they make him look like Reptar if they choose to. Apparently, that's what people want because they've sold a shit ton of these. Again, we don't know the production numbers of modern games, but from everything we've heard from Stern themselves, George Gomez and stuff, it is looking like it's on track to pass the Addams family as the bestseller at some point. That might be five years from now. That might be, you know, five days from now. We don't know. We just know they've sold a lot. And also before people chime in, we are aware that Joe Kamencal popped his mouth off about how they sold like 28,000 of them. Joe Kamencal was signing like Sega Godzilla as like another great. You can't take what Joe's saying as fast. Joe's a bullshitter. Joe's a little bit. He's my hero, but he is a bullshitter. He's a bullshitter. So everyone save it. We've heard the same thing you heard. That's a rumor. When this actually if it does pass the Addams Family in sales, we will know about it. There's no way Stern does not announce that. They'll probably do gold trim, I would assume. They'll do something to match the Addams. They'll know it. They'll take their victory lap. Yeah. And they'll deserve it. It is just crazy, though, with Godzilla. It's become the most common game on location in 2026. It's also probably the most common game in houses in 2026. Oh, yeah. Because I think a lot of like the big sellers have been destroyed at this point. There's just no way that there's – maybe there's more Addams Family still out there. Well, there might be like 10,000 of them, but there's no way there's 22,000 of them. I can't imagine it. There's no way. I just don't think there's that many unaccounted for, but I could be wrong. I do think regardless of how exactly the breakdown is, this game is the face of modern pinball, for better or worse. You might not like this direction. You're looking right at me when you're saying this. I know you don't respect the facts. You might not like it, but this game is modern pinball. I don't argue it. This is it's like a lot of the time we kind of think of the generations of games by their display technology. And I'm like, to me, this is an LCD game. It is incredibly deep. It is incredibly broad. The rule set. It's both. It's like everything. It's the fucking wall of sound. But with Pinball Code, where we're just throwing fucking everything. You're five shots away from everything at all times. There is so much shit to do in this machine. It doesn't matter what you're doing because you're close to the next thing. And it's crazy. Like, it's very hard even owning the game myself. It's very, very hard to understand the rules, the best way about it, what exactly you want to do when, how it's going to affect one thing, what the perfect stack and order is, because it really matters in this game. Like the order you do things, moving to city is the wrong time. Huge detriment. What mode you're bringing in with other shit. It all matters. Everything's very important. I don't understand any of it because there's so fucking much. And it doesn't matter that you don't understand it. Doesn't matter because it is fun. You're just slopping around having fun. It shows a little Manila, everybody's least favorite character from the entire franchise. A lot. He's on the game a shit ton because he's the ball save. And boy, does this thing have ball saves? Oh, it doesn't have ball saves. Oh, dude, it has everything. What about the multi-ball start where it just dumps all three balls right down the center? Then you get more ball saves right away, right? True, there's always more ball saves. And everyone's like, man, what a cool multi-ball start. I was like, it's funny every single time it shakes. And then they drop all three right down the middle. I was like, what the fuck? Hey, it gives them time to stage the building. If you start hitting those balls, if you manage to catch one, you throw up the ramps, gets caught on top of the building. There's no optos up there. It loses the ball until you're done with your multi-ball. It's very interesting. But we don't talk about the downsides on the best. Oh, that's right. That's right. Game of all time. Yeah. We're talking about the best games of all time. And Godzilla is number three. I do think this is like the blueprint for modern games or it's become the blueprint for modern games like Adams. I think the interesting thing is other people, they can't do it. Like the boutique companies, they can throw mechs into stuff because that's a per unit cost. They can wrap their heads around. Programming to this degree is a cost that has to be spread out over units, units that the boutique guys do not have. No one else can make a game like this. That's why Stern's the king. That's why you all keep buying Stern games, even though you complain about every release. That's why Godzilla's the number three best game of all time. It's also a fun shooter. It has cool mechs, does good shit. They kind of like nailed it. It's just that's kind of a given with all the games on this list. It's like, oh, yeah, all the other stuff is good, too. I'm just kind of talking about the highlights, you know, why it's here.
    22:29
    So I know that's not a cool pick. What makes us stand out? Right. I know that's not a cool pick because we all kind of just know it. Like if you're into modern games, you're like, yeah, Godzilla is really good. That's up there. But it is good. And I think that's why it's number three. So now the opposite direction, something a little more interesting that Alan might be a little happier about. Number four, best game of all time. It is 8 Ball Deluxe from Bally.
    22:57
    Chalk up. Okay. This isn't a list of the most innovative titles. It's not a list of what earns the best or the strongest sellers. This is a list of the 10 best Pinball machines of all time, and 8 Ball Deluxe is inarguably one of the best to ever do it. Right? You're quiet because you can't argue it. I mean, I don't know what your list is because I want to bring up other... It's the best game of all time, dude. Is there another game from this era on the list? Can you tell me that? You'll have to wait and see. No. No? No. Okay, so this is where I would disagree. I would say Firepower should be on this list. Firepower art package sucks. It looks cool. Yeah, but that doesn't matter. It looks discount. It makes it a worse game. They need to hit on everything. Here's the thing. I would say Firepower because it does the lane change, which is in all other games. It sold very well. It earned very well. And it changed how everyone else designed Pinball Sheets. And to this day, fun as fuck. Absolutely fun as fuck. Firepower admittedly was on this list. It got a last minute second or a last minute cut.
    24:03
    All right. All right. Well, we'll talk. I mean, you're right. I trust you crunch the numbers easily in the top 11 games of all time.
    24:12
    That's all I can say. It was on the list. So I guess it's an 11th. OK, I know what I really because I don't want a single game on here to be like, but what about this? And I don't want to be like, you're right. And the art package on Firepower, I think, is underwhelming. And that makes it not one of the best games. I agree with that. I'm always saying that that game is ugly. But it is really a good game. I really it was on here and I just kept being like that. I just I can't have a I can't have an Achilles heel. No, I'll go in game. No, I'll go, dude. I do think that there is a spot for it in the discussion because it's like perfect at what it does. It's just not all there. So it's not a top 10 best game. It was a really hard cut. That was the one that was on here the longest that I cut. 8-Ball Deluxe, though, don't think this game—it's hard for me to explain what makes this game so unbelievably good. It just kind of does everything. To me, the two standout things about this game are the absolute masterclass in drop target usage. You've got in-lane drops, you've got one big money drop, the eight ball, and you've got a beautiful bank, all of your other pool balls. They're all used, like, they're all critical to the gameplay. And you're like, how many other games can say they have, like, drops, like, in that kind of array? It's very interesting to have all kind of, like, three, you know, drop mechs used so well. So to me, it's kind of like, this is the best drop target game. That combined with the phenomenal art package done by Mrs. Margaret Hudson. Is that her name? Margaret Hudson, yeah. Margaret Hudson that I think has held up just unbelievably well. It really helps that Western shit is very on trend at the moment. So this game just looks just fucking cool to me. Yeah. I'm like, this is like a bar. It's incredible, yeah. It's a bar appropriate game. To me, this is like the pinnacle of games that are not embarrassing to have. Like I'm always talking about – it's like I'm sitting here in front of a row that are all kind of embarrassing, right? Like that's why I like them. I've got a bunch of Godzillas, No Fear, NASCAR, Rick and Morty. They're all kind of embarrassing. That's funny to me to have that. But like 8-Ball Deluxe is just fucking cool. Like no one's going to walk in and be like 8-Ball Deluxe. Yeah, it's a cowboy smoking a cigarette shooting pool. And it's not overly – it's like because it's drawn by a woman, I think that's a big part of why it's aged so well that it doesn't have any like gratuitous, you know, pandering on there. There are like many art packages. There's a lot of phenomenal art packages from this era that it's kind of like, eh, it's, you know, like you have little kids at your house and you're like, oh, I don't know about that. And you're like, no, this one's tasteful and it's cool. It's perfect. That to me, it really is kind of like a perfect theme and art package. And that's of it's like of this era. There's other artists I like their work more, but this one is just like, man, that's a cool 80s cowboy game. And it is one of those games I think it qualifies like the other ones on this list where people that don't play a ton of pinball, if they played pinball during this era, it's the game they remember. It's the Addams Family of its time. It's the Medieval or the Godzilla of its time. People remember this game. These are icons, and I think that's not the only criteria for what puts them on this list, but they're icons for a reason. And this game is addicting as hell. It's intuitive because it's a pool game and every old guy knows, oh, there's like little pool balls on there on the drop targets. I probably got to hit those and like there's an eight ball. Like it just makes sense. This shit makes sense. It's fun to shoot. It's also dangerous. And I mean, it's one of the games on here that I would love to own more than any of them because it's definitely the one on the list I think is the most up my alley as far as what I want from like a game. And it's just so good. There's no knocks. I can't. That's what I'm saying. Every game on here, I really think if you're into this genre of game, there shouldn't be a single thing you have bad to say about it unless you want to be a contrarian. And I'm like, A-Ball Deluxe is perfect. Could use a spinner.
    28:04
    Oh, great game. Not even my favorite George Christian game. It's not my favorite either, but it's the best. Yeah, there you go. That the problem Like I love Mystic but I like I don think Mystic the best I love Frontier Frontier was a hard one not to put on here but I don want it Frontier is the best game Frontier is a really good game Frontier would be arguable I think 8 Ball Deluxe is a little more interesting I think it a safer pick for the top ten of all time Number five, another game that I think you'll be happy to see made the list. It's Whitewater.
    28:38
    Whitewater! Whoa! Go listen. We have an entire episode talking about why this game is the best. And for once, I think me and Alan are just in full agreement for a full episode. I'm like, it's the fucking best. I mean, yeah, I made my episode. It's one of my favorites of all time, and it's the fifth best game of all time.
    28:58
    So that's pretty good. It's crazy. It is crazy. It's about as good as all the different pieces coming together can ever be. Exactly. I think it's up there. The knock, why it's at number five and not number one, is I think it's tough for new players, and those new players will not get a positive impression of pinball, so it doesn't invite people in like these other games do. Eight Ball Deluxe definitely has shorter ball times, but you're not trying to do as much. People aren't discouraged by short ball times as much as some companies seem to think. They're discouraged by a lack of feeling like you're doing anything. A lack of accomplishment. Yeah, and I think Whitewater can deliver that, especially if you full plunge it. The plunge is the one issue, but I still am letting it on the list even with one issue. Even then, for the new players, they struggle hitting the two shots on the upper playfield or even knowing that flipper's there. It's difficult, but I'm like, if the one knock against the game is that maybe it's a little too difficult, I'm not saying that's a valid reason to not be a top ten best game of all time. I don't know, dude. Adam's Family hitting most of those. If you're trying to hit the different shots in Adam's Family, it's kind of hard. Some of those shots on Godzilla are kind of hard.
    30:09
    Medieval is easy. Medieval is the easy game so far. Yeah, I would say so. Because it's a fan. Godzilla is easy to keep a ball alive on, but it's not easy to do anything on. People struggle with that left ramp or hitting the scoop. People struggle, dude, just in general. People struggle, dude. They don't make players like they used to. Players don't hit up the place and just get the shit kicked out of by Adams and go, I want more. No factory ball save, dude. Yeah, man, that's why it's number two. It's pretty good. That helps it. That definitely helps its position. For sure. So Whitewater, I don't want to go on and on. Basically, the short of it is it does everything perfect. Go listen to the episode. It really is. It's like scratching my head trying to think of anything the best I can come up with is a plunge. I don't like watching people short plunge two or three times to try to get the plunge where they want it. That's the biggest complaint about the game. That's not really a complaint because I let Godzilla on here. We're not talking about that plunge and it. Yes, for real. Okay, here's one where I think some people might be surprised, some feathers ruffled, but it is the sixth best game of all time. Wait for this. Some people are just wrong about a lot of shit and they're about to be wrong again in life. Sixth best game all time. It's high speed.
    31:36
    Oh, the original high speed from Steve Ritchie. And I know because people a lot of people are like, but get away. They're completely different games. They play so different that it's like, yeah, it's a sequel like in theme, but it's like they don't really they're not comparable. It's not like playing Firepower 1 and 2. It's not like a tweak. You're like, no, those are not—getaways not even in the conversation. And High Speed on its own is a phenomenal game that's held up remarkably well. We're back with this one to big numbers. For a while, we were pretending numbers didn't matter, but now I'm back to being like, numbers do matter? And this thing sold 17,000 units? Yeah. So it did pretty well. A big part of why High Speed is so fucking good is the plunge feels cool. You plunge into the side ramp. It slams up onto those posts. It delivers it back to the side, right? It doesn't go all the way around off of a plunge. And it feels good. Game designers should really, really remember, speaking of plunges on the last couple of games, the plunge is the first thing everybody does on every pinball machine ever. And for new players, it might be the only thing they do. So please make a plunge feel good if you can. You know, I'm just asking you nicely. Seriously, I know there's a lot of shit in the way. I know there's all this stuff. Like, I get it. I get it. I've seen the other games on this list. I know why their plunges are the way they are. I'm just saying a good plunge really can help a game's initial impression. Past that, though, the game's also just rad. It has held up excellent. It's difficult by 2026 standards, which kills some enthusiasm, I think. I think that's what kills enthusiasm for a lot of Steve Ritchie games. This game, though, what makes it really noteworthy, I think it's got a good rule set, like all the other normal stuff. It's a cool theme, looks rad, cool sound package. You know, it's like a good level of difficulty. I like the rule set in it. But what really made it stand out, what kind of earns its place, the sixth best game of all time, is the way that it tells a story. And it does that so well with all of, like, the gimmicks and the light on the top. And it really makes you feel like you're in this, like, you know, in the cop chase or whatever. And that's really a change in game design. And games weren't telling stories before other than you're playing pool. You're a cowboy playing pool, which is a cool story. Sure. But this one, it's like, oh, fuck, you feel like you're really doing something. And that's one of those fundamental changes that sounds really stupid in retrospect. You're running from the cops. You're fucking what the fuck? Why? Why does it really done before that? And it changes everything. It changed everything moving forward. You're like Pinball machines are now telling a story. You're trying to make the player like feel something more than just keeping the ball alive. And it is the game that Pat Lawlor said he played on location and it made him want to become a pinball designer. I get it because you play this and you're like pinball is now more than what it once was. Yep. I love games made before this. I fucking love firepower, but I'm like high speed raised that bar. It changed the industry moving. Steve Ritchie has just changed everything. That's another one where, you know, I think that we've talked about this and we might do another episode on it before where we've argued about the Mount Rushmore of pinball designers in our Discord. Some people have the audacity to even say that Steve Ritchie doesn't deserve to be on that. To all of those people that also listen to the show and actually donate money to be in that Discord, you're fucking wrong. If Steve Ritchie's not on your list, your list isn't serious. I agree. It's like trying to make the best four NBA players and leaving Michael Jordan off. Yeah. And you're like, what even is this list then? Like, this is just Looney Tunes shit. Yeah. And I don't know. It's weird. People disrespect Steve often. A lot of his games are very cheap compared to their contemporaries. Yeah. This one included. This is probably the lowest rated, cheapest, and I don't know how it earns on location. I don't think it is particularly well. Probably not now. I had one on location and it did not do particularly well. But that doesn't matter because this list is right and people are wrong. This is the sixth best game of all time. Hey, man, I agree that as far as especially to when you consider like I think you are with this list, the importance when it was released is out of this world. It's not because that is a big part of you're catching on. That's a big part of why these games are the best games of all time. But they still have to be really fun games. And this is like, yeah, fucking this is a good game that people I'm just shocked. These are still like under two grand. And you're like, well, because they they made a lot of them, dude, they made a lot of them. But they made a lot of Adams families and they're not sure. But Adams families have like that's the problem is like when you make it's like the medieval thing where it's like if it has gimmicks, then all of a sudden that's what makes it stays invaluable. And I do think the gimmicks are important. And I think the gimmick of high speed is the flasher and the multiball start. If high speed had sold 1500 units, it would cost a lot of fucking money. That's true. It would cost a shitload of money. It's just at this weird crossroads where it's like it's iconic. It's a really good game. It's cool. And it's still cheap. Yeah. And so I'm like, this is the one. Like if you're if you're if you're listening to this show ever and you're like, what game should I buy? What's kind of like a sweet spot? You are hard pressed to find, I think, a better like bargain in pinball than a high speed. It's just a fucking phenomenal game. Thank for your buck game. One hundred percent. Six best game of all time for like two grand. Like, really, that's kind of insane when I because I really do believe it's like it's in the it's even if you disagree with me, you're wrong. But it's in the conversation. No one can argue it's not in the conversation for top ten.
    37:15
    But some people are wrong. So I'm sure I'm sure there will be some pushback. They just they can, you know, until they're blue in the face. They won't make them right. It's the sixth best. Scream at your radio in your car. Right. Number seven best game of all time. It's another it's the first repeat designer on this list. You want to guess what it is? It should be Steve Ritchie, but it's probably is it Steve Ritchie? No. Is it Keith Elwin? No. Jesus Christ. OK, I was just checking to see on the list. Come on. I'm not, you know, I had I had to give. Is it Brian Eddy?
    37:54
    It's Attack from Mars. Oh, Attack from Mars does make the list. Seventh best game of all time. Because it's like, what are you going to push out of the way? You're going to push high speed below it? You're going to push fucking white water below Attack from Mars? No, I think Attack from Mars does everything that Medieval does. It's an original theme. It's a phenomenal package in every way. It's got humor. It's got great music that doesn't get grating. It's got funny callouts that don't get old. It's not leaning on a movie license. People remember it forever. It's just the central toy isn't as good. As good as the castle. Yes. It's not as memorable. The little saucer shaking, it works functionally. I like it more. I like this. This is where I'm like, it pains me because I'm like, I think Attack is a better game of the two. If I was going to get one for the house, Yeah, I would want an attack. But I think Medieval is a better game. And I really think that comes down to the toy. That's the only and it's like it shows how tight this competition is, because like I'm like, that's the only to me kind of the only functional difference between these games. They do play different. They play more different than people will say. People say they're the exact same game. People are like, Brian just made the same game twice. And you're like, no, they play quite a bit different to me anyway. They are comparable for sure. It's just the toy that pushes one over the other. It's just this is a good game, though. Oh, it's a fantastic game. Seventh best game of all time. And really, I just I don't know. It's kind of like with these Bally Williams, you get to a point where you're like, yeah, man, like they had the best talent. So like all of the shit's good. And this is like the golden era. And you start realizing why when you play all of the games in the world like I have to make this list.
    39:30
    I'm glad you did the research. It's taken years. People are wondering why this, you know, we had to be like three years in the podcast to do this. But yeah, if you play them all, you will realize Attack from Mars, seventh best game of all time. It's another one that, yeah, I don't have anything bad to say. There's not anything bad on it. I just think the toy could be better because I saw what Brian did in Medieval Madness. If Medieval Madness didn't exist, I would probably say this was the best game of all time. It's the game that got me into pinball and I still like playing it. So, yeah, and I played it. That's the shit. The most amount of time. I mean, I've played it like everything on this list. You're like, I'm not sick of it unless it's like unless you get like a shitty setup one or something. If I play a sleepy medieval, that's not really my jam anymore because I've played that game so much. But then when you play a nice snappy one, I'm like, I'll play medieval. I'll play fucking 20 games in a row. You know, like all of these. Number eight. So this was a tough one and I had to put my feelings aside. But number eight, best game of all time is Centigrade 37.
    40:34
    Whoa. The Gottlieb Wedgehead, designed by Jeff Brenner, who did not design a lot of games, came out in 1975. It's not necessarily my favorite Wedgehead, but it's the best overall. It's a phenomenal layout. It's got a lot of design features that start feeling very modern for the EM era. It's got the lanes up top, it's got, like, the angled bank, but then it still has the cool little, like, stack of ladders that feels very EM-Bagatelli. It's got a really interesting rule set that kind of feels advanced for an EM to me. It's got a good gimmick with the thermometer that people fucking love, and it's got a phenomenal art package by Gordon Morrison. I know you've done the research here. I've done the research. The research is? This is it. No.
    41:23
    It's Eldorado, dude. Eldorado? It's got to be Eldorado. Eldorado is number 12 easy. Sold more. They kept rerunning it. More unique layout. I think Syntagrate 37, I was really – this one really was hard, and this is where I'll admit there's some holes in the system because I was really – I wasn't trying. I didn't set out to make this a perfectly well-rounded list, but when I started thinking, I'm like, how can I make the top ten best games of all times and not have a Gottlieb on here? And I was thinking – Not have an EM. It's hard because when you get to EMs, it was a different market. They put out so many more games, so the market's saturated. The games have smaller differences across them. They don't have as big of a unique feel going from one wedge to another from the same designer. You start, you know, because it's like they put out, these guys were putting out like a hundred games, you know? Yeah. So it hard to pick out a singular this is the best EM And I wasn trying to do that but I kind of felt like I needed to put a Gottlieb on here And I started thinking about it and I was like Centigrade 37 is the one that it kind of like a whole package People love this thing It valuable It sought after I know Eldorado really sick and they ran it a hundred times and it like the drop target game But I think this is a more interesting rule set and I think it interesting as Jeff Brenner on design he kind of just smashed up a bunch of the Gottliebs of the era It feels a lot like Atlantis with more shit shoved in or more shit cut out. You know what I mean? It's like a tweaked Atlantis that kind of starts feeling a little more modern. Yeah. That's kind of my argument for it. I think this is kind of the middle ground of a lot of Gottlieb ideas wrapped up in a very iconic art package with a cool gimmick in the back box. It's definitely one of the iconic art packages, one of the iconic wedge heads. That was a really hard one for me, though. I would say other ones would be Abracadabra comes up a lot. Abracadabra was on the list. The four that I had on here were, I've said them all at this point, Abracadabra, Centigrade 37, Atlantis, El Dorado. Yeah, I personally. My bias came in a little. I personally think El Dorado is the one. I probably should have put El Dorado in here talking through this. Yeah. Because of the fact it kept getting ran and everything, I think that's just a big marker of success and people still love it. It sold really well. It's still really valuable. Plus that original Wedgehead version of it as El Dorado before it became sci-fi. Maybe the best looking game of all time. That's fair. See, this is why I'm trying to be objective and I think objectively you're right. That's why this was a hard one for me. Okay. So I could correct this. I'd correct this to an Eldorado. I'll give it to an Eldorado. I think there has to be a three-inch flipper wedge on this, though. And I think these ones with asymmetrical designs are probably going to be considered the best. They're the most forward-thinking. That's kind of where Pinball trended. Obviously, we got away. They were the best-selling company at this time, at the height of Pinball's popularity. And these are the games that people are still collecting and seeking. Yeah, so this is kind of a cop-out because it's kind of like a whole era of games. But I'm like, this is the best. You can pick whichever one you like the looks of. They're all really good. If you play a snappy copy, they're fucking awesome. Yeah. You play a tired copy, all these games kind of suck. Well, yeah. That's like a disclaimer on especially when you get to EMs and you get like an old guy that hasn't rebuilt the flippers in 50 years. Yeah. All the contacts are dirty. Yeah. The rubber's crusty. You're like, hey, am I supposed to be able to get the ball to the top of the lanes? And he's like, I don't know. I don't know why they put that there. But when you play a nice any of these, if you're out at a fucking candlestick bowling lane in Massachusetts and they happen to have a lineup of wedgeheads, they'll play nice. If you see one of these on the floor at wedgehead, they're all really good, so you're kind of splitting hairs. It's kind of a cop-out. I know. This was the hard one for me. I needed to put one in the top ten because, really, I could have put ten in the top ten. Yeah, fair enough. Number nine. This is another fucking I'm not even proud of this pick, but it's Monster Bash.
    45:44
    I was getting tired writing this and I was like, I feel like I'm missing something. I'm like, yeah, fucking Monster Bash. People love Monster Bash. I love Monster Bash. I just played it so much when I got in the hobby because there was like a. Remake where I started playing, so it was always playing good. It was like fresh on the floor when I got in, and I played it on the virtual pin on my little Switch all the time, so I actually knew the rules. It was one of the first games I like actually learned rules on because I had the little virtual whatever pin all the way back. Super achievable wizard mode. Very funny. It's another one where it's licensed, but they get to do what they want. I think there's a big takeaway from that. If you can get a license, but you can inject your own humor into it, guaranteed top 10 pinball machine of all time. Yeah. It's got great. It's got great Max and Lyman Sheets on on programming. Lyman Sheets has three games on this list. Do you realize that? Dude, that's because, I mean, he's the GOAT. Like, that's kind of the thing. You start seeing like some names. It was really hard making this list to not put like five Steve Ritchie games on because but that's where my bias I had to be like, no, what's the best? If Steve was the best at every—if he was truly just the best designer—I mean, he probably is the best designer of all time, but if all of his games were the best of all time, that would be reflected in more ways than just me saying that I like them the most. And like I said, this is about facts.
    47:09
    Okay. And Monster Bash is objectively, for the same reasons as all of the other Bally Williams on this list, one of the best games of all time. I like this episode is forcing you to stop sneak dissing the 90s Valley Williams games because in your real life, Alex likes to be like, he doesn't like these 90s games. In real life, I play a game like 300 times and I'm like, I don't need to play it again. That's what happens. That's what I'm realizing. I'm like, I just have, I can't, there's, there's very few games that are really sticking with me. Like Frontier is one that's stuck with me. I don't know how many games I've played. I mean, I've hit the start button a lot more than games I've played because I restart that fucking thing a lot. But I've played an unbelievable amount of Frontier and it's stuck with me. So I'm like, that's a keeper. But a lot of these games, dude, Grand Prix, yeah, I've played that thing a lot here. Doodlebug. Doodlebug, I don't know long term. Doodlebug, I've played a shit ton for how short I've owned it. That game is so good, man. Oh, but yeah, Monster Bash, I've played probably more than everything I mentioned except for like maybe Frontier. I probably played your Frontier more than I've played my Grand Prix, which is funny. I played that Frontier just a lot and I played Monster Bash a shit ton and it is a really good game. And I think there's a reason it's one of the ones it's not that Chicago making a game is what dictates it. They just were smart. They chose the ones that these were already known to be good games before Chicago started remaking them. And the beauty of that is that they've become so much more accessible if you actually see them on location. Because you could argue, like, Theater of Magic should be in here. And I'm like, I think Theater of Magic might lose a bit of its appeal if they were suddenly in every bar like Attack from Mars is in Portland. You're like, I think some of those games will start falling apart when you get unlimited access to them. In these ones, it's like there can never be too many Monster Bashes, Attack from Mars, and Medieval Madnesses. There can be too many Cactus Canyons. And I'd say there probably are too many of our rounds. That one's the ramp's pretty dead center.
    49:18
    So Monster Bash, that's a fucking top nine game of all time. And then number 10 is Pokemon. So that's basically, that's the objective list.
    49:31
    I do have some honorable mentions. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Hold on, we gotta say this. We're recording this because I don't know when people are going to listen to this in the future. Yeah. It's like we're recording this. Pokemon's we've had a Pokemon for less than three weeks on the floor. Yeah, it's the 10th best game of all time, which is crazy.
    49:54
    It's not often you get to like witness her history being burned, you know, but 10th best game of all time. And Firepower doesn't make the list so Pokemon can be on there.
    50:08
    I bumped it. And I don't even I think we haven't I really was trying to avoid like recency bias and with legacy and lasting impact of games being such a big piece of their importance on this list to me and what makes them the best of all time. I was trying to honor that. And then I was like, I don't I this is the best of all time. I'm making the best list of all time. This isn't the best games of all time so far. This is the best games of all time, and I think we're going to see, I think in 20 years, if someone listens to this, they're going to be like, yeah, man, Pokemon should have been ranked higher. He's underrating it. I'm confident.
    50:50
    I didn't even write anything down for this. We might need to talk a little bit more about Pokemon. I would love to talk more about Pokemon. We don't talk about new games, but we need to talk about that thing, so we'll save that for another episode, or depending on the order we record things, or release things. You might have already heard it. But we have things to say about Pokemon, and this is a little bit tongue-in-cheek, but it's also a little bit for real. I think it's a monumental game, and I think it's very important for a variety of reasons, but we don't have to talk about it right now. Yeah, that's a hell of a game. I don't know if it's – I mean, I know you cross-referenced this, and you did your homework here. I did it, and this was hard because the models had to go to projections. I did. There wasn't a lot of available data. So I'm making some assumptions, and Pokemon's on track to earn about $100,000 a year for every operator.
    51:45
    You were running projections on your laptop. The laptop was working so hard crunching these numbers, it started smoking. I've never seen numbers this big before. So I think that's it. You get nine and a half. But I gave you like 14. Yeah. So that's a pretty good list. I think I think no one can argue with it. Yeah, I won't allow it. It's it's forbidden. People could run their mouths, but they're like it's like you can flap your gums. Yeah, man. Be proudly wrong. You can tell me the fucking sky's purple all you want, but it's blue. And these are the 10 best games of all time. There are some honorable mentions, though. Like I said, I want to shout out Baffle Ball by Gottlieb in 1931 and Ballyhoo by Bally in 1932. They both sold over 50,000 units. Jesus Christ. You know how many? Yeah, have you seen them? Yeah. They're like a little tabletop. Yeah, yeah, totally. You know how much those games cost? How much? $1,750 for the expensive one, $1,650 for Ballyhoo. Under $20? Under $20. It's the 30s. Yeah, totally. Like adjusted for inflation, that's like five or six hundred bucks or something. The best games. This is a list of the 10 best games of all time. The best games are sold at competitive prices because cheap games need to exist to make routing pinball actually viable. Games that games cannot be the best. They can't be. It's not like I'm not considering them. They're not in the conversation. They're not the best game at all unless people can actually play them. And like these games were notable because pinball already existed. There were way cooler games coming out in 1931. As crazy as that sounds, people were doing wild shit. And then these two fucking games came out. They sold them for under $20. They sold 50,000 units and they made pinball into an institution because they were cheap. And it sounds so fucking stupid. Operators made money. They were profitable for operators, so it created actual – what pinball is. And that's something that I can't do. That's lost today? It's why, like, a $15,000 game can't be the best. Yeah. Because no one's going to fucking see them. They're not viable. Yeah. And that's – you're like, that shit, that's – so I just wanted to touch on that. I just – I brought it up in the Discord a while back, and I'm like, I really think that you can't be the best unless you're cheap. And you're like, damn, that's what it is. Unless you're economically viable. I mean, the games could cost 15 grand, but they got to be earning in a way that Pinball machines don't earn. Yeah, they'd have to do something different. Yeah. They'd have to go back to the drawing board, which, again, a lot of these games did go to the drawing board. A lot of these best games of all time did change the way the game, you know, how the game was played. They changed a lot of stuff. And so it's like there's some on here that were safe. I think like 8 Ball Deluxe was like a safe game. It's just one of the best games of all time. But like something like Adam's Family was not safe. Yeah. And you're like, so you do have to take swings. You do have to try shit. You got to push the envelope to become the best. That's what they're doing, man. That's what Pokemon is.
    54:57
    Well, we'll get to that another time. We're going to close this episode out. I want to thank everyone for listening to another episode of the Wedgehead Pinball Podcast. Yeah, I apologize because it's boring. You already knew the 10 best going in. This was your exact list. You had it written down and everything. Yep, Synegrave 37, check. High speed, check. It's number 100, I think, of the Hot 100.
    55:23
    But, you know, in between this time, go out and play one of the top 10 best games of all time. Use the Pinball map. Find one near you. It's crazy because you'll actually be able to find these because they're good and they sold well and they're everywhere and they still earn money. Yeah. You maybe won't be able to find Disintegrate 37 or one of the wedges. Yeah. So you're lucky. If you've got a wedge head near you, you're lucky. The rest of these games, though, there's a pretty good chance you can find one. Absolutely. Well, until next time, good luck. Don't suck.
    56:07
    Thank you.