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Triple Drain Pinball Podcast Episode 62 - TPF On Location!

Triple Drain Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·1h 7m·analyzed·Mar 22, 2025
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

TPF live: Evil Dead praised, Harry Potter surprise announcement, Portal mech analysis, Cactus Canyon upgrade critique.

Summary

Triple Drain hosts a live episode from Texas Pinball Festival (TPF) discussing their first impressions of newly revealed games: Evil Dead (Spooky), D&D (Stern), Avatar (Jersey Jack), Portal (Multimorphic P3), plus Chicago Gaming's Medieval Madness Merlin Edition and Cactus Canyon upgrade. Major news includes Jersey Jack's cryptic Harry Potter announcement—confirmed to feature all eight movies—made verbally at a seminar without trailers or release date. Hosts debate design philosophy, code integration, and whether the ambitious scope will work.

Key Claims

  • Jersey Jack has confirmed Harry Potter pinball with all eight movies and has all assets; license took 10 years and millions of dollars to secure

    high confidence · Joel and Travis witnessed Jack Granary's announcement at TPF seminar; confirmed by all three hosts as accurate reporting of the statement

  • Evil Dead has only 60 units left in inventory and will likely sell out by end of TPF or MGC (later corrected to 20-30 units left)

    medium confidence · Travis mentions inventory numbers; updated by Joel during conversation

  • Evil Dead represents a significant step up in design quality and mech integration compared to previous Spooky releases

    high confidence · All three hosts independently praise design, artwork, and mechanical feel; describe it as huge step up from prior Spooky games

  • Cactus Canyon upgrade add-on costs $1,249 plus shipping and includes 10 new modes, 2 enhanced modes, new animations, sound/music, new saloon mech, and spinner

    high confidence · Tom reads exact specifications from documentation during episode

  • Portal's right ramp shot feature (ball travels horizontally across clear plexi light bridge on extended version) is novel in pinball and was nearly missed in marketing

    high confidence · Travis and Tom describe the mechanic in detail after hands-on play; Travis notes it wasn't highlighted in trailer despite being impressive

  • Portal is potentially the best P3 game released to date

    medium confidence · Tom's assessment after playing extended version; opinions based on hands-on experience at TPF

  • Jersey Jack's Harry Potter announcement strategy (no trailers, verbal seminar announcement only) is unusual and ballsy for a manufacturer known for cinematic promotion

    high confidence · All three hosts comment on unconventional approach; deliberate departure from JJP's typical trailer-heavy strategy

  • Cactus Canyon upgrade's saloon door mech placement is problematic—not visible from standing position, requiring bending down to see

Notable Quotes

  • “If I was you, I would not spend a dime. I would not spend anything until you see our next game.”

    Jack Granary (Jersey Jack Pinball, reported by hosts) @ N/A - TPF seminar, referenced ~mid-episode — Unprecedented direct manufacturer call-out advising against purchasing competitor games; major announcement tactic

  • “It's not that they have bad games, but they make good decisions on the design... It's a huge step up.”

    Tom @ Early episode — Qualified praise for Evil Dead as departure from typical Spooky design philosophy

  • “I think people that like the Evil Dead theme, and if you're already a spooky fan, I think you're going to be happy with that purchase overall.”

    Tom @ ~10 min — Summary verdict on Evil Dead's appeal to target audience

  • “To go seven it ballsy. Can they fit that all in? I don't know.”

    Joel @ ~35 min — Expresses skepticism about Harry Potter's scope fitting eight movies into single machine

  • “Because it's a theme a lot of people want. It's a theme that I'm sure there was plenty of hoops to go over.”

    Travis @ ~30 min — Acknowledges licensing complexity and cost barriers for marquee IP like Harry Potter

  • “It could be the best P3 game honestly.”

    Tom @ ~55 min — Superlative assessment of Portal's quality among Multimorphic library

  • “You've got to be like eye level with the game to see the doors... you'd have to be like four foot eight to see this.”

    Travis @ ~75 min — Identifies design flaw in Cactus Canyon upgrade mech visibility

  • “This is a really cool shot because I can't think of any other game that I've seen the ball do this on.”

    Travis (on Portal light bridge mechanic) @ ~60 min — Highlights novel mechanical feature across entire pinball industry

Entities

Texas Pinball Festival (TPF)eventJersey Jack PinballcompanyJack GranarypersonSpooky PinballcompanyChristopher FranchipersonEvil DeadgameStern PinballcompanyDungeons & Dragons (Stern)game

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Portal design team (Jerry and Ian) incorporated player feedback during first demo round—made faith plate lock gimme on ball three after many players never experienced it

    high · Hosts report: 'when they had the first round of people come and try it, there were people that played... a four-player game that never once saw that'; code update implemented as fix

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Tom is performing well in TPF qualifying (3rd in morning session); Evil Dead and Portal both mentioned in context of competitive gameplay depth

    medium · Tom states '3rd in qualifying for the morning session'; competitive player assessment of mech quality and rule integration on new games

  • ?

    product_concern: Hosts express skepticism about fitting all 8 Harry Potter movies meaningfully into single machine; question whether Pirates-style asset integration failure could repeat

    high · Joel: 'how do you pull the full Harry Potter saga into one pinball machine?'; Travis comparison to Pirates' incomplete movie asset integration; discussion of mode count feasibility (40+ modes concern)

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Evil Dead represents deliberate design shift for Spooky—integrated mechs, strong artwork, good flow versus previous Spooky titles criticized as 'pure shit'

    high · Tom: 'huge step up'; Joel: 'it's not that they have bad games, but they make good decisions on the design'; all hosts independently praise improvements

  • $

    market_signal: Evil Dead inventory severely limited—initially stated 60 units left, corrected to 20-30 units; expected to sell out by end of TPF or MGC

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.203

0:00
We're three guys who like to talk and ball. So we came up with a clever name. We're Joel and Travis Downer Talk and Ball. And we call ourselves Triple Drain. We're Triple, Triple Drain.
0:23
All right, we played the theme song. Did we? I didn't hear a crap. Triple Drain. all right we did it yep theme song everything's great everything's great uh we're trying something new here this is uh a live recording the three of us are sitting in my hotel room uh which has a balcony do you do either of your uh hotels have a balcony you know it's not awkward at all that we just told everybody hey we got to leave the party to go to joel's hotel room up on the 10th floor and just yeah there are some innuendos yeah on a friday night apparently they invited the entire Stern Army, and only these two guys showed up. No one else would have come, yeah.
1:02
We are currently at TPF. This is Friday night. My voice is already gone. Tom, how are you doing in the tournament?
1:09
Fantastic. I'm third in qualifying for the morning session. I can't wait for you to watch this later, and you're either going to be so proud of yourself or you're going to be like, man, I was so hopeful in that moment. Pretty much. And then it all fell apart. Travis, how are you doing in the tournament? I'm doing excellent.
1:25
In the tournament? I think we're tied right now, right? Are we in the tournament? In the tournament, we're tied. What tournament are we playing? Neither of them. That's the joke. Oh. Well, I think it's because the Stern Army thing. How much beer did you have? One. You had one. I had one. No, you didn't. Did you really just have one? Yeah. How many did you have, Tom? I had a Moscow meal. So one. So two responsible adults.

high confidence · Travis and Joel independently identify and critique visibility issue during hands-on play

Avatar (Jersey Jack)
game
Portalgame
Multimorphiccompany
Chicago Gaming Company (CGC)company
Cactus Canyon (CGC upgrade)game
Medieval Madness Merlin Editiongame
Harry Potter (Jersey Jack, unannounced)game
Joelperson
Tomperson
Travisperson
Josh Sharpperson
Jerry and Ianperson

medium · Travis initial claim: '60 left'; Joel correction: 'there's only like 20 or 30 left now'; describes inventory as 'well deserved' sell-out

  • $

    market_signal: Jersey Jack's unconventional announcement strategy (verbal only, no trailers, no date) represents departure from manufacturer's typical cinematic promotion approach

    high · Travis: 'this is the company that does the huge trailers... and just to go the exact opposite direction'; Joel: 'ballsy move'; hosts note unprecedented nature of strategy

  • $

    market_signal: Cactus Canyon upgrade at $1,249 perceived as expensive by at least one host; Travis notes preference for sub-$1,000 pricing despite understanding development costs

    medium · Travis: 'it would have been I would love that to have been under a thousand dollars but I understand there's a lot that went into this'; acknowledges Josh Sharp's work value

  • ?

    announcement: Jersey Jack officially announces Harry Potter pinball with all 8 movies confirmed; no trailer or release date provided; unusual strategy of verbal announcement at TPF seminar only

    high · Jack Granary statement at TPF seminar; all three hosts confirm accuracy; claim of 10-year acquisition and millions in licensing costs

  • ?

    product_concern: Cactus Canyon upgrade's saloon door mech has poor visibility—requires bending down to see from playing position; lacks clear visual feedback on door state

    high · Travis: 'you can't see the saloon doors... you have to bend down to see it'; 'you'd have to be like four foot eight to see this'; Joel confirms visibility complaint is valid

  • ?

    technology_signal: Portal's light bridge mechanic (ball travels horizontally across clear plexi on extended version) described as novel feature not seen in other pinball machines

    high · Travis: 'I can't think of any other game that I've seen the ball do this on'; mechanics coaching required due to complexity; incorporated into extended version design

    • 1:49
    Whoops. What were you doing? Anyways. We're not going to talk about how much I had We had a few comments on our last video That people typically do skip ahead A few minutes So they probably already skipped that They probably already skipped this banner So we can just get straight into pinball talk Yeah, why not, might as well We have played, all three of us have played All the new games so far here at TPF So we just wanted to get a quick episode out On our initial impressions, our initial thoughts Of those games The game that I know I've played a ton of is Evil Dead I think you've all heard my thoughts If not, go watch the streams. I'm flipping out. Travis has played in a pinball at the beach, but, Tom, this is your first experience of it. So, Tom, feel free to let us know your thoughts on Evil Dead.
    2:32
    Excuse me. It was fantastic, honestly. The shots and it didn't feel like a spooky to me, if that makes sense. Yeah. Like the design is really good. I like how you say in a good way. In a good way. Like all those other spooky games, just pure shit. This one, is that what you two are saying right now? It's not that they have bad games, but they make good decisions on the design. The artwork is fantastic.
    3:08
    You're basically saying it feels like a step up from what they've done in the past. It's a huge step up. A huge step up. I was like, wow, this is going to be a fantastic game. And, you know, not everything is there code-wise, but for what is presented in the game, it is fantastic.
    3:33
    Yeah, it's definitely a – it's an interesting game because there's so many mechs on it, right? There's just like – there's mechs everywhere. But that's what I was going to ask you guys is there are a ton of mechs, but sometimes mechs can become just not cliche, but they're just mechs for the sake of mechs. But are the mechs fun is my question. So, you know, Tom, you're a rather high-end player. Do you feel these mechs are just fancy little toys that they stuck in a game, or do you feel like they're actually integrated well into a pinball experience? No, I think they're integrated well. Now, granted, I have only played two games on it, So I've only seen the lower play field once.
    4:15
    I've hit that shotgun. The shotgun, like hitting that, it feels like really good. Granted, I didn't use the shotgun feature at all, but, like, I don't know. The layout just seems to me like it's good. It flows well.
    4:38
    I don't know. I just think it's a big step up for spooky, obviously. I don't know. I think people that like the Evil Dead theme, and if you're already a spooky fan, I think you're going to be happy with that purchase overall, right? Yeah, 100%. Yeah, and that's all that really matters, right? Just the people that absolutely want the theme that are spooky fans, then that delivers. I don't think people, it's not going to be like a Halloween situation to where somebody gets the game and they're kind of like, oh, you know, I'm not sure about this, you know, because the design is a pretty decent design. There's nothing divisive about it, right? You're either going to like it or you might not. But when you look at something compared to like Halloween and Ultraman, that was like pretty much if you get into your upper play fields, it's like it's taken a long time to get through it. Nothing feels like that in this game. It feels like everything kind of goes together. It flows together well. And the cabin multi-ball and that mechanism of getting the ball up there and having the chair stop is just really well done too. Right. And I like that you can steal locked balls as well. I think that's a good – I didn't know that because I played a single player. You can steal your own locked balls? And then I play with Joy. You better not. I know what you're about to say. You better not. I steal the heck out of Dennis Creasel's locked balls. Oh, yeah.
    6:07
    He locked two up there, and it went through all of us, and he had a chance to get them again, and then it got to me, and I took them. Because we played with Eclectic Gamers podcast group. Dennis and Tony, we had a good time with them. And then I discovered that the other night when we were playing. My brother actually locked two balls, and then boom, to take his multi-ball to steal that. What a fantastic thing you can do in a game. But I feel like I'm shilling the heck out of the game, because honestly I've been blown away by it. Unfortunately, I could never own it because it's incredibly gross and gory and gruesome. But it's awesome. Like, it really, if that's a game that you want. But you're part of the spooky boner club now, though. Why wouldn't you have it? Because it's just, I, maybe I'll add the picture, or maybe I won't. But it's my, basically the game remains under three blankets at all times. Like, I just, unless we're playing it. So, huge, huge, big thumbs up. You hear that, Franchi? That's what Joel thinks about your artwork right there It's incredible Tom and I would not cover up your artwork No, you also have older children But you don't care about your children Hey, they need to grow up You've got to handle a little blood and gore on your pinball machine, right? I'll say as of right now, there's like 60 left And then they're sold out So I honestly think they will sell out either by the end of TPF or MGC I heard there's only like 20 or 30 left now Oh wow it's well deserved and I really think if you're in on this game I think you're going to enjoy it so that was spooky Stern is here with D&D we've all played a lot of D&D we've gone over that and then Jersey Jack is here with Avatar we've gone over Avatar we've played a lot of Avatar but they made an announcement tonight are you prepared to play said announcement on the microphone? no I'm not But they made it in. Oh, is this what you want? Yes. I thought right before, you know, on our 30-second free podcast. You're wanting me to take a reel that somebody took tonight. You said we'd play it on the podcast. Right. That means you edit it in, not that I take it and I just do this. Right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right. I'm not doing that. So basically, Jersey Jack, Jack Granary, basically said, like, if I was you, I would not spend a dime. I would not spend anything until you see our next game. He made a ballsy statement with everybody. Because everybody's always playing like kumbaya, like all the manufacturers. And he's just straight up saying, don't buy shit. Wait for our stuff. Like, don't even do it. So he has confirmed it is Harry Potter. Right. He said he has, it's all the movies. And they have all the assets. Yep. Was there anything else I missed there? No, that's pretty much what he said. In the clip that we saw, that's exactly what he said. Yes. So it's an interesting thing to come to TPF with no trailers, no promo, just like saying it just at a seminar. Yeah. Right? And then word just kind of spreads around. I mean, it's an interesting tactic. I don't think it's going to make people not buy anything. Has he stated a date? No. Well, I don't know. Maybe. But in a clip we saw. you know i mean maybe in the whole thing it has and maybe by the time this comes out there's a date but there's just there's so many games getting announced this week yeah like who knows yeah there's you know what three new games at the show and plus there's probably going to be like three or four new games coming in the next couple of weeks months you know kind of thing and And, yeah, I mean, you know, if I was Jersey Jack and I didn't have my game ready, maybe I'd want to get that news out as well. But, you know, the thing is, as we all know, you got to show the goods. Yeah. Yeah, because it was just an interesting thing to do because they already have, like, obviously there's plenty of avatars that are here, right? They have Elton John. They have Godfather. They have Toy Story. They have all their games that are here. So I just found it fascinating that they made the decision for a company that spends as much as they do on the trailers and everything just to just drop that, just add a seminar, and just go from there. It's an interesting decision.
    10:39
    Yeah. Because that's a huge theme, right? That's an interesting move, Cotton. Let's see how it pays off. Yeah, like it's ballsy. It's super ballsy, right? Imagine that. Because this theme, obviously, it's probably costing millions of dollars to get it right. Did he say that on there? He said, yes. He said millions. Yeah. He said he's been chasing the license for 10 years. It took him 10 years to get the license and millions of dollars. So then let's put this in perspective, right? Millions of dollars. Yeah. 10 years at least. It's a theme a lot of people want. It's a theme that I'm sure there was plenty of hoops to go over. And I'm sure those hoops were made a little bit easier by throwing more Benjamins that direction to figure it out. Yeah. But what's so interesting about it is that this is the company that does the huge trailers. Right. Spends a lot of money on that to make it look cinematic, you know, so on and so forth. And just to go the exact opposite direction with this type of theme is just it's really interesting. And I really wonder if that will if that will work. I mean, because I think it's hard to measure it right. People are going to buy Harry Potter no matter what. You're either in or you're out. And I think even the Harry Potter fans, I think they could have said, hey, we're just doing it based off one book. They would have still bought it, right? I don't know how many people would be like, if it's not based on every single movie, I'm not getting it. I think this is the one. Besides what happened in Toy Story, I think this is the one. They could have done it based off one movie, and I think people still would have got it. True, but to announce they have all the movies, that doesn't hurt them in any way, right? No, it's kind of, I don't know. It makes me nervous. And here's why it makes me nervous. Because I think of Pirates. Like how much. Oh, yeah. Now, that didn't have all the assets, obviously, because it didn't have Johnny Depp. But I just think of how much that that game had and how many options it has. And I'm just kind of like, even if it has all the movie clips and all that, you guys know how I feel about movie clips and LCD. I'm like, that doesn't mean anything to me. I'm curious, though, how do you pull the full Harry Potter saga into one pinball machine? How do you do that to where it makes sense? Let's ask the guy that's most likely to buy this game. Tom. Okay. All right, because that's you, right? What do you need? What do you need now that you know they have all the movie assets, they have all the – what are you waiting for? If you could put a deposit down right now, would you? And if not, what do you need to see? What do you need to see to buy this game?
    13:14
    Well, one, gameplay. Two, how are the assets tied in? So, yeah, you can have all the movie assets and every character, but if they're not tied in properly into the game, it it's not gonna work out really well so you know that even even though they have everything you know you're talking what seven eight movies yeah like how many how many books are you fitting into that right books right but they made eight movies right yeah okay yeah yeah so i mean yeah i I mean, it could be like an epic game or it could be a bunch of stuff smashed in there and it's not quite what everybody's expecting. And I think that's the big thing, like expectations. you know like i i think a lot of collectors expect a lot out of jersey jack because they seem to really like go all in on their themes and and and um you know for for most of them elton john was a great game you know they put a ton of songs into it steve ritchie doing a great flow game it was really great but when it came to like pirates you know with pirates it was a good game don't get me wrong but it just left out like everything from the movies like there was like zero from the movies except for little little pieces of it that that you know didn't make sense it didn't have the characters they were on the play field you know but but they didn't tie in those movie assets and sounds and things like that. So I think that hurt it.
    15:13
    Yeah. I mean, I think it's – we had just sat down. We just saw that clip. We weren't in the seminar. So I think it's a ballsy move. It's a ballsy move. I'm curious. Grande huevos. Wow.
    15:28
    I'll be very curious if there are people that were sitting there and they're like, okay, I was ready to pull the trigger on Evil Dead. I mean, I know personally in my head it's like I'm not buying any new game until I see Ellen's next game, Harry Potter. Like we know it's right around the corner. I'm not in a rush to I got to buy it now. But also I can't buy either of those games now. But, yeah, I think it's a very interesting move to I've never heard this where a manufacturer's straight up told us what the theme is and details like that without showing anything and also not even setting a date on when they're going to announce. Yeah, well, it kind of goes to what we talked about before. I would always be interested to see what would happen if a manufacturer just sat down and had a Stern Day or a Jersey Jack Day and just announced what was coming, the approximate time, kind of like what Marvel used to do with their Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3. So it kind of feels like that in a way, but at the same time it does leave a lot of questions like how for me it's like you got eight movies right is that how many we're going with eight that's right so so like what are you gonna do like eight wizard modes with it like five modes per you're gonna have like 40 modes i don know like i mean honestly how do you fit all that into one machine if they would have just said we got the first movie and every asset every character likeness like i would have been okay if they would have just said we got the whole first movie But to go seven it ballsy Can they fit that all in? I don't know. That's like 25-plus hours of movie content. You know, I think I kind of like The Hobbit. Like, The Hobbit was a good game. It just had all the stuff. It had a fucking lot of modes. It had so many modes in that game. there's so many yep and yeah so like you're saying i mean maybe maybe it could be too much well you just run the risk right like i like here's the tightrope they got to walk with this because people will expect a lot and if you're a huge fan of the series like you want to see all the beats but at the same time it's like how do you fit all the beats into the game to where people can actually see them. Wide body. Yeah. Oh, of course. But maybe, yeah, maybe it's going to be like, I don't know. Maybe they'll do something similar to the way Spooky did, to where you pick. Like, this would be awesome if you pick what movie you're going. Now we're cooking with gas. If they go that direction, that would be huge. That seems like the most logical direction to go, but it's also pinball, and sometimes we won't do things logically, especially us three knuckleheads. So I don't know. So maybe I don't know how that'll work. He's saying with Evil Dead, when you start the game right off the plunge, you either pick the first movie or the second movie, and there's four dedicated modes for each movie. So once you technically beat all four, then you go to the next movie. And I know Alien did something similar. Are you picking Alien or Aliens? Yes. So, yeah, if they have seven books worth of stuff, that would be kind of nice. That would actually be pretty dope. If they did that, if they were, I mean, Keith Johnson's probably over there. Pretty dope, guys. I'm going to figure this out. Oh, sorry. Sorry, I forgot. The golf cart crowd. Wow. It would be pretty cool is what it would be.
    18:52
    How is that new golf cart coming? I told Travis that everything's great. We literally, we stopped playing pinball. We were walking around. So you could handle a new golf cart. Yes, I sold my golf cart. That's the crazy news. And why did I sell it? To buy a new one. That was my end of life. Does this golf cart have like a stereo system or like a TV in it? No TV. But the main thing is with the little kids, let's just go ahead and get into a golf cart. With the little kids, I got to get the right golf cart. Let's give you an on-the-spot TPF update. So the golf cart I bought, the back seats now instead of being backwards and you're worried about hitting a bump and the kids go flying off, the back seats are facing forwards. So we got, that was why we, yes. Yes, all listeners, thank you guys so much for supporting the podcast. So if you have money to spend. Because now Joel can have a golf cart where his kids are safe. Oh, wow. In the golf cart. Safety first. Yes. So thank you for all that triple drain money. If it was up to me.
    19:59
    And you have money to spend on pinball, just wait until you see how dope my golf cart is, and maybe you'll want to buy one yourself, you know, because it's got all the seasons. It's got all the assets. It's got all that. It's got everything. It's got everything you could ever want. Four wheels. It's battery-powered. Anyways, thank you. Michelin tires? I don't know. But thanks for that mini segment of Golf Carton with Joel over here. So, anyways, let's talk about games we have played. There was another announcement today. CGC has announced the Medieval Madness Merlin Edition, as well as the Cactus Canyon Remake additional Lyman code, which comes with additional parts that go into the game. We have all seen the Merlin Edition. It's still Medieval Madness, which is a great game. And then we've all played the Cactus Canyon add-on, basically. So initial thoughts on your time on Cactus Canyon. I thought it was really cool. The mech is like a saloon with five characters, I believe it was, on top. And you've got to, like, I don't know if it's like a door, but you've got to, like, bash the door, and then it opens, and you can finally, like, get the guy behind it.
    21:24
    I think it was, like, $1,250 add-on. Well, let me look at my page. let's uh figure that out um i don't let me talk amongst yourselves talk 12 49 12 49 12 49 plus shipping okay yeah um yeah i mean it was if i'm a cactus canyon owner uh i'd probably want to get this add-on because there is a lot of stuff added onto the game and this pamphlet there's 10 new modes two enhanced modes new animation sound and music new saloon mech and spinner oh that's right there's like a little spinner off to the side which i noticed while i was playing but i didn't get to hit it okay uh as as a i mean yeah as a cactus canyon owner of course i'm buying this uh is it more than i wanted to pay sure i mean it would have been i would love that to have been under a thousand dollars but i understand there's a lot that went into this uh we're friends with josh sharp who was involved in a lot of the code and planning of this we know how much work is in this um the mech it it it is actually making the game harder and i and that's not necessarily a bad thing but the bart shot the bart shot is a very safe shot in in the normal game because it hits a ramp it falls down and then it ejects backwards not at you so it's a very safe feed now this saloon door is basically a barrier that you hit and the ball's coming back at you so it's actually made it harder they added another there's a girl on the back glass like bart i forget her name um but it's a female bart so she's now in the game female um i don't know it's like barbara or not bella bella bart that seems yeah bella bart oh that's exactly right way to go tom way to pay attention bella bart is in the game there's like other hurry up saloon fight gunfight there's stuff associated with the spinner on the right franks and beans franks and beans what is that a mode that's a mode yeah so there's a lot in the game and as an owner i really enjoy the game so if you're going to tell me hey spend money to have way more in the game i'm going to give it a shot why not and then uh there there is the uh drunken multi-ball uh that was that was a carryover actually from the uh cactus canyon continued so that that mode did make it into the game from that. So I just wanted to say that. I'll get off the mic now. Travis, your thoughts. You played it? Yeah, from what I could see, it was fun. Before you guys covered up my flippers and I couldn't see anything anymore. This guy was real excited about the Stern party because free booze. So he's like, I'll just play a ball and hit whatever. Anyways, I'm excited about it. It was fine. My only critique is that you can't see the saloon doors. Yeah. That's my only critique. Like, you have to bend down to see it, so you don't even realize that there's saloon doors there, right? That is fair. Like, yeah, that's my main critique of it. But it is interesting that it kind of turns it into, like, a bash toy of sorts. So you've got to hit it a few times in order to start lighting stuff. There's a really good picture that if Travis did the editing for this episode, he might insert into – but he's not going to edit it. Oh, are you talking about this? I don't think I'm going to insert it. Well, yeah, even there, right? You can see those doors. But you'd have to be like eye level with the game to see the doors. Yeah, you've got to be like, what, like four foot eight to see this? Emoto could see the doors. Yeah, Emoto could see this, but we could not.
    25:17
    I'm curious. We'll have to give Josh a hard time because you would think there would be, if there was some other visual cue to know like this insert's lit when the door's down, it would be nice to know whether or not the door's down. That's all I'm saying. because it's a very different result on whether or not the ball bounces back at you or goes up the ramp and hits the ball. I mean, I think there is a visual cue because then you could collect your bounty or something like that, right? I was going to say there probably is, and, Josh, you'll be hearing from Josh. Yeah, I'm pretty sure there was. But you're also Joel, so you're not necessarily paying attention to any of that. I feel like I have taught you a lot today. Oh, come on. When it comes to rules, I feel like, sure, in a certain game you can school me. The main rule you were telling me was hit the captive ball to get insanity on Evil Dead. Like, that was it. You were like, hit the captive ball over and over again. Well, anyways, if you were wondering, I definitely beat Travis in Evil Dead. Like, I definitely beat him in Evil Dead. Yeah, I definitely was not draining once or twice to keep the game going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. Anyways, so that was Cactus Canyon. Cactus Canyon was great. um what else do we have portal portal let's talk about portal um i kicked joel's ass on did you guys play extend it or standard we did extended okay um we actually i know travis and i played it first um and we had jerry there and ian basically coach us through um it's very hard when you have a brand new game and you can't hear it there's a lot going on on that screen and not saying it's too much but it's just like we didn't you know we needed fundamentals like where do we even start and so to start a mode they call it a uh a room because it's like a puzzle room or something so we understood oh you hit that target and then you hit the scoop on the left but you know we were focusing on a lot of a lot of other multi balls but um i mean i'll let you guys do your first impression first otherwise i'll talk way too much uh i thought it was really cool uh There's a lot in the game, not even if you're playing the extended, but there's just some really cool mechs. There's a shot up the middle that, like, launches your ball and then locks it in the back. There's also an area, like, where it can fall down into.
    27:37
    I almost call it, like, a little mini play field that you can get the ball up into the mini play field, and there's a little little um flipper up there that you hit hit like a cube that drops and then there's scoop back there and you shoot it in there um but there was quite a bit going on there i i thought it was really cool uh it could be the best p3 game honestly and i had joel coaching me the whole time so i put up like 11 million i was like yeah in your face joel if you can't do it you coach right isn't that how it works travis you played it and we played both the extended and then we played the standard as well correct uh if you want to talk about the differences you saw there um no not really uh but but what i would like to talk about though there so there was a couple of really cool mechs on it right so this one mech is so there's one of them's not on the standard one of them is on both so the one that i was very impressed by overall was it's like the plate whatever they were calling it what what type of plate were they called the faith plate it's it's a thing from portal where you run over and it launches you up right and so that mech i was very impressed with because it was just instantaneous feedback right right up the middle yeah as soon as you hit the ball right up the middle if as long as that was activated it would just fling up that ball yep it would fling it right up into that plate up top that kind of gives away and then it would just lock in like that was cool very cool i really enjoyed that and that there was a lot of good feedback with that right because it's the easiest shot in the game but you got to see the ball do something cool but you do have to light it you do have to light it yes yes but you get to see the ball do something cool and then they had on the extended they had something that i thought was really cool and i remember telling you guys this when we saw the trailer, I was just kind of like, why are they not highlighting this even more? Because it was like a blink and you miss it. Yep. And it was gone. And then we finally got to see it in person. I'm just like, holy shit, this is a really cool shot because I can't think of any other game that I've seen the ball do this on. And that was simply whenever you hit the right ramp. Yep. Right. You got to hit it twice, I think. Right ramp, then it raises up, then you hit under it. Yes. It'll eject the ball. To the left side and it brings it. On top. Right. And it brings it down the wire form. And then you've got to use another flipper that activates an upper flipper at the top. It's like a wall. Yes. It's not a traditional flipper. But through this, you can send the ball flying across the play field horizontal onto the other side. Like not even below. It stays above everything. And that right there is pretty cool. Like you could actually do something that's different. And that's something I don't recall seeing in any other pinball machine. It was definitely a wow moment. Yeah. And because on the extended version, for them to add the extra spinner and for them to add the right lower ramp, there's actually additional plexi that goes across the top. And you really don't notice it until you notice it. But to see that ball actually purposely roll across the clear plexi is called the light bridge. So, I mean, to qualify it, it is something that you've got to be aware of. So we needed some coaching on, oh, that's how we did that. Like, to see the faith plate throw him up, the first thing you have to do is you have to get to the upper play field and then bash a cube back. And we instinctively, like, just did it. We didn't know. But we heard reports later that Jerry said, you know, when they had the first round of people come and try it, there were people that played, you know, a four-player game that never once saw that. And so they're like, okay, let's go ahead and code it in, that ball three. If that lock was never lit, let's make sure it's a gimme. because, honestly, one of the coolest mechs, like he's saying, is straight up the middle. So, theoretically, on ball three, any player should experience that mech. And it's kind of like how Houdini, the coolest mech in Houdini, is the milk crate, but the shot to get a ball into the milk crate is so tight, novice never see it. This is the exact opposite. They put one of the coolest mechs right up the middle. It's not lit all the time, but when it is lit, it's very fun to see. it's just my overall review of Portal is they did Portal incredibly well like I love both games I can't hear it but visually Brad Albright killed it to see the way that they incorporated the different puzzle modes I saw Tom beat one and it was like multi levels and stages hit these shots then the game changes to hit these shots I saw Travis complete one or two levels it's very very well done and I would say this is the funnest, the most fun that I've had playing a P3 game was just probably six games that I've put on Portal so far. Yeah. Well, one of the good things I can say about Portal is I was judging it, too, based off how my kids reacted to it. Because my two sons that are 14 and 15, they've played a lot of Portal, like a ton. So them playing this game, they realized what they were getting into. And I know that they thoroughly enjoy the theme. So it was interesting to see a theme that they actually connect with that's amongst their demographic a little bit to where they can pull pinball into that. And I asked them about it, and they're like, yeah, it feels like I'm in the world of Portal. I feel good about it. And they're even asking, are we going to get this machine? Are we going to get this machine? And they don't ever really do that. They don't ever really. Yeah, I'm like, get a job, and you can buy the machine. But yeah, I think that if you're a Portal fan, I think you're probably happy with this. I'm sure that there's several people out there that are saying, well, since Multimorphic's making it, I'm just out no matter what. I would encourage them to at least try it out. Go to a show. Check it out. Your opinion might change a little bit. I think that this theme being on the platform that is on with the P3 makes it interesting just because the scoops can act like they're actual portals. They can. And so it just cool seeing the ball do different things and seeing the ball fly around And it just yeah I think overall it a fun game and I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun it was I be honest I don't think the design is anything out of this world. The design just is what it is. But I think some of the way that the mechs are and the implementation of those mechs makes the game a lot of fun. So because the way that the P3 is designed to have multiple vertical up kicks in that back third, there's so many different shots where immediately as soon as you hit the shot up a ramp or this it'll just shoot out another ball and it really gives you that that um portal like feeling of it went here but now it's over here hey oh i'm up on the upper play field the moment i fall off the upper play field it ejected all the way over on the other side um it's really impressive um i will be honest my one piece of negative feedback which i know all three of us have experienced the the right ramp um it goes up and down but because it's hovering over top of the lcd i it we feel like it was like hovering a solid half an inch or something above the lcd so the amount of momentum that you have behind that ball it kind of shakes or moves the whole mech and it just kind of kills the momentum so you really have to hit it clean to get it up that ramp and there are other times where that ramp was felt in the way now jerry was explaining us it to us of there's a certain target you can hit that'll freeze the ramp so next time you hit any of the ramps it'll raise them up and they'll stay up so there's ways you can work around it but it's just one of those things where i was really impressed with so many parts of the game so many parts of the the mechs in the game but that is the one ramp that it's like okay if that was on if that was adhered somehow to the play field like on a wooden play field that ramp would probably be incredible but here it's it's there are physical challenges with putting a ramp above an LCD screen. And maybe, I know these are prototype games. They've only made a few of these. So maybe that's something that they will continue to improve upon or something you can dial in.
    35:51
    So we'll have to wait and see on that. I'm not really sure, right, how you can make it any different than what it is just because of the way that the system is itself. I will say, though, it looked like anybody on the right flipper that you could backhand the right ramp anyways, that close-up ramp. and it was pretty cool seeing what the ball would do. If it went up there, it went to the up kicker real quick or not up kicker. It went just to the kickback type, just the ball launcher, I guess. And you'd see the ball just go flying. I think something like that was pretty cool. It just always felt like that the ball was doing something or you were making the ball do something, which is good. The game didn't feel like it was slow. It didn't feel like it was super fast either, but it just it didn't feel like the game was a slog right and that's the key you don't want your game to feel like that and it i didn't get that feeling playing portal well if you've played venom the venom has the fast lock system and that's essentially what you're experiencing all over this game with the portals and how they're implementing it um what is interesting though is playing the standard edition so it doesn't have the mechs over the lcd at that point now you just have a fan layout and i don't mean that in a bad way but it definitely feels more friendly it's more it's safer like it was interesting playing two versions of the game where you have one's a fan layout one isn't and um that's when you start to realize having those mechs closer to the flippers makes it more dangerous or makes the geometry of some of the stuff behind it more challenging um so i'm i'm very curious about that i actually asked jerry i said you know being that this is the first p3 that they were having to design code that's going to be different depending on what model you have installed on the game. Like, how far along in the project did you realize you were going to have to start doing that? And Jerry, he goes, I'll be honest, you know, we only were planning the extended edition, but we put so much in the game that we knew the cost of it was so high that we were worried, you know, one of the promises of the P3 was that these modules would be considered cheaper.
    37:51
    So he's like, we wanted to go ahead and offer a cheaper alternative, but he said but on ordering day 98 of the modules ordered were all the extended edition so yeah and it may not have even been needed you're right and that's rightfully so i think if you if if you own a p3 or you're thinking about getting involved in it i i think that the extended is the way to go personally and that's after playing a couple of games on the standard version as well yeah just because it's noticeable that you're missing those parts. Yeah. Right? And I think that that just adds more to the game. They listen to customers and people that wanted to see something different than just being in just the back third, like that feeling of everything in the back third. Yeah. So they pulled a lot of physical mechs up that you can actually interact with, right? It's not just the targets on the side. It's not just the LCD itself. It's the actual spinner and it's the actual right ramp. I will say though there is something that's kind of cool on the standard with the virtual spinner right I didn't like I thought it worked well right I thought it was going to be kind of goofy when I first saw it and then I was like oh I'm just going to keep hitting the left orbit because I actually see the spinner like it worked just fine to me the way the geometry works on the extended is the spinner is kind of directly in front of the left orbit so they have a graphic on the standard edition of a spinner and when you hit that same ball path it detects it knows that's where you're going and it's the same spinner sound like it it surprisingly feels like you're hitting a spinner even though you're not physically hitting anything in that spot so i would say overall i'm i was super impressed with portal if i owned a p3 i would absolutely spend the five thousand dollars and buy the kit like it's it's absolutely worth that but i know none of us the three of us we don't own a p3 so it's not a five thousand dollar game for us it's a twelve thousand dollar game and and that's a commitment that I know every single release. It's like, is this the game that's going to get me over that threshold? Because the value comes in when you buy a second module or a third module. So it's not a $12,000 commitment. It's a $15,000 or $17,000 commitment. And that's an all-in commitment too. Like we talked about before, the big difference between this and other pinball machines is that a lot of times when you buy a new Unboxed game, you're not necessarily, unless it's a dream theme like it's rush for tom right you typically 90 plus percent of your purchases you get it's most likely going to be in a way that you know that you're going to sell the game eventually at some point there's a lot of collectors that are like that whereas with you know a p3 module you're not necessarily thinking like that you're pretty much going to be all in that you're going to get this module you're going to want to keep it for as long as possible so you know i i think that that presents its own barriers for some people but um but i think it's it's a great effort i i think with that and princess bride coming out back to back oh yeah they're at least on the right track to to do something with what they're what they're trying to do they're heading in the right direction that's where i think like spooky is only getting better i think p3 is only getting better um another game that i think is an improvement upon their last release is um turner pinball turner pinball we actually played merlin's arcade um interesting take we might have two different two different opinions on this okay let's start with tom he'll be the sider oh did you play it tom all right what'd you think let's decide you're going to be on here uh i mean i so okay i've only played like one ball on ninja eclipse so i and i've played a full game on merlin's arcade so you have four total balls ever on a turner pinball machine that is correct right um as far as merlin's arcade goes uh i liked it i mean it had it had good shots um i like i i actually like the theme of you basically each shot is its own kind of like what night night right so you with a k right it's not like night in the sky it's like night with a sword and whipping people oh sorry aggressive i know i i did i had to do kind of he just shaves his head he's like i'm gonna Punch people. I'm going to whip people.
    42:26
    But, no, I like the way the game's shot. I actually like the rules. Basically, you want to get a pop bumper mode going, and then you shoot the scoop, and then you hit the pop bumpers to progress. and but um anyways it you know just playing a game on it um it's it's always hard to like get a huge feel for a game with just one game but from what i played i i liked it um there is a lot of like models in the game uh you know you had you have the merlin toy in the center you have like the evil witch in the back um you have a spinner that's not like a spinner but it's a like a 3d i think it's like a 3d yeah yeah it's a foosball uh guy but it's all every Every mode basically is, or what did you call it? A night. Night. Every night mode is. Like not a night in the sky, but a night with a K that slashes and whips. Slashes. Yeah. It's all based.
    43:48
    It's just food for you. All those modes are based on some type of arcade game. The main ramp is pinball, and you've got to lock balls there. But, you know, I thought it's a solid effort. The artwork was good. I like the cartoony artwork.
    44:10
    Travis is not agreeing with me. No, I'm just listening to your opinion. But from what I played on it, I think it's a good family-friendly game that people can enjoy. Do you think Joel can have this in his basement? I do think Joel could definitely have this in his basement. Although we were asking about it because I finished one of the nights, and then it turned into a powerful evil night. Yeah. Yeah, so Joel and I were like, what's going on here? And Joel can talk more about that. We needed the deep lore of what's going on in Merlin's Arcade. And being that there's no gameplay of this game yet, it's weird. It's Merlin's Arcade, so you're in an arcade, or the realm that you're in is arcade. So like Tom was saying, it's all different arcade equipment. So food, ball table, billiards, pinball, darts.
    45:07
    There's hoops, like a shooting game. So one of the modes he got in, there's four little stand-ups. That's the one I completed, right? Yeah, four little stand-ups. So he spelled hoop, and then he hit the scoop. So then he was battling the knight that is hoops. So when he's battling him, what he has to do is actually spell hoop in order, H-O-O-P, and then he had to hit the scoop. and that got him through phase one. Then apparently the guy gets possessed or taken over by the sorcerer, and so you can qualify to get to phase two. And then what they were saying is once you get through four nights, that's when you battle somebody. So there's, like, the sorceress, and there's this other person, and then there's Merlin, and then there's King Arthur. It's a very interesting story premise.
    45:51
    I got to say another thing about this game. And like, so I'm watching Joel play it and I'm like, I am blown away by Joel's skills. I mean, he is like tap passing. I like, I am just like, what the hell is going on? Did I go into another dimension? I don't know what's going on. Come to find out there are these extra flipper buttons that actually they're called finesse flippers and they allow people like joel training wheels to do tap passes it was actually it was cool i i thought it was a neat little feature it's definitely different and it's cool that they're trying to bring that into the game so travis tell us why it sucks and why you like ninja eclipse more i didn't say you've been sitting over there biting your tongue I can't say it sucks. Tell us why. I'm just listening to you guys. The other one is so much better. I'm just listening to you guys. Okay.
    46:58
    I need to play it a few more times. Yes. Okay. I'll admit that. I think after my first couple of balls playing it, I just kind of had that oh no feeling that was occurring. I think you kind of saw it in me too because then I kind of just got through my third ball and I'm like, I'm good. Yeah. You checked out. Yeah. But so here's why. It's not that the game is like built bad. Like the flippers felt good, right? They were snappy. I think for me, I was looking at this layout and I'm like, okay, it's basically eight ball deluxe, obviously. And it's kind of feels like Sharky Shootout in a way, like games like that. and it just felt like that the way that the layout was for me it didn't seem to fit with how strong the flipper mechs were and just generally like just the shots didn't feel like it fit with with that for me right it's just it's just like when i was doing the loops so you did like two or three loops eventually that ball was not going to hug that rail anymore to where it kind of like get away from your upper flipper. I noticed that a few times. I couldn't get over the bottom slings either. The bottom slings were just so small that it almost felt like it turned the game into a toy to me down there. They just felt abnormally small. The in lanes are huge. Yes. That was just way different. That's just my first impression playing it. I know I got to play it a little bit more, But something with it, it just isn't clicking for me. And I really like Ninja Eclipse. Like that game clicked with me because it had some interesting shots to it. It's cool seeing the ball zip around. You know, in this game, you don't really see that at all. Like compared to, let's speak. It's just a more standard. It felt like, yeah, it feels like that obviously this layout has been done for a long time. And it was placed, you know, within the Turner pinball ecosystem to where they're trying to do something with it. But to me, it just feels like there's a couple adjustments that still need to come to kind of make the game just feel tight, to feel like it's meshing well together. Because it plays, because of the way the mechs are and because of the way the layout is, it plays freaking fast. It's very fast. Yes. And if you play an 8-Ball Deluxe, 8-Ball Deluxe does not play fast. It has a little bit thicker flippers. And obviously, it's a solid state that has tap passing on it. it doesn't need to play fast right you still want strong flippers but there's no need for you know ramps or anything like that because it's eight ball deluxe but on this i i don't know it just kind of just it it felt strange to me playing it and there's just a few times that you take a shot and it'd be like okay that just it just didn't feel right that's that's like the best way i can describe it and people would have to i'm sure there's plenty of people playing it i think it's you know fantastic feeling i think it's just so absolutely personal preference and it's just i I have a lot of time on an eight ball deluxe. So that's like my mental representation of it and my experience on it. So when you pull it to this, it's kind of like I, I had to directly compare it to Beatles, right. And see which cause Stern, right. They, they brought an old layout back from the Stern electronics. They, they put it with Beatles, but then they made some slight adjustments, but they still had modern Stern flippers on it and it felt right. It felt fine. And this one, I feel like there's still, there still could be some tweaks possibly to come that would help it now it's not going to happen obviously yeah but i almost feel like this game could have benefited from that a little bit sure i think um i mean my overall view with turner pinball is the technology that they put in the games is super impressive um especially if you ever if you ever at a show just ask them to lift up the play field the way that they have wired it the overall technology of how they re a lot of stuff that under the cabinet is super impressive the the way that the frame what holds the glass in all comes off and there's built-in light rails up there so the lighting effects super impressive the speaker lights everything it's a very impressive fully powder-coated game basically kind of like an le experience but at a pro price um so it's i mean yeah impressive i mean once you think about it with where their pricing's at for their standard it is the same price as the stern pro if there's 60 people in line out of the show don't ask them to lift up the play field yeah definitely don't do that so i i need more time on it though that's fair i i need to play i need to play it more and i need to figure out like i'm not even thinking about rules i'm just trying to find shots i can see the similarities they ball deluxe but there's a lot of differences too oh yeah of course because it has a ramp and it has a foosball thing on there and all that yeah and it's i mean it's got like an up the middle shot that kind of like loops back and and vice versa like you can hit the left orbit and then it comes through the flippers i mean And it's a little more diverse shots than, like, people. Yeah.
    52:08
    Maybe it's, like, turn down the flipper power a little bit. Like, give the game room to breathe during the gameplay. Because I don't know if it could be, like, just the way that the play field is. It is acrylic. Right. And it just feels like you're playing on ice a little bit. Now, I could be wrong. And maybe I just didn't hear it.
    52:31
    Tom wasn't complaining about the speed. And Tom blew it up. So maybe it's fast for you. Maybe you're a little tired. Maybe a little intoxicated. I'm judging it. I'm judging it based off how the normal, usual, everyday player that just wants to play, how they would judge it. Because that's the eyes I've got to go through. I'm not looking at it through, like, tournament player. Joel was tap passing. I was just tap passing back and forth. Okay, let me ask you this. I will just ask this straight out. What is the point of that? To impress people around you. You know? It's a novel.
    53:09
    What were you using it for during the game? To amaze others. Remember what I just talked about just the last podcast. I mean, I guess. Everything you have in the game, there needs to be a reason for it. And I see what Travis is saying there. But maybe it's to get somebody who's more of a novice player getting them that feeling of maybe more of an expert player. But I'm asking, why would you need to use it?
    53:42
    Because there's people like Joel. Well, no, I'm asking, what on the play field says that you need to get the ball in the other flipper? Just to do that, to move the ball from one flipper to the other. Have I played it enough to really know? Right, but what on the play field says you need to do that? Like, I get it's cool. I never saw Tom do it once, so I don't need to do it at all.
    54:03
    That's what I'm asking. It had its moment. You hear that, Stern? You guys want to sell more games, finesse flippers. That's what you need. Automatic tap passing. Jersey Jack, you want more Harry Potters to go? Tap passing flippers, automatic. Make it happen. It was a novelty. And, I mean, honestly, my initial impression of it. I mean, it looks cool when you do it. I'm not going to lie. It looks cool. But maybe if you owned it or played it more, maybe there would be situations. Because I know, like, Evil Dead, when I saw the sling flipper in the trailer, I'm like, that just seemed like a novelty. I was like, that seems like a poorly planned out thought idea. But they have a mode tied into that, though. Exactly. What mode is tied into finesse flipping? Maybe we didn't get to it. because maybe it was too fast, or maybe that's the wizard mode. Oh, wizard mode, training wheel tap passing. Yeah, you don't know.
    55:00
    That could be like the ultimate knight. If we get there, I think I'd be better at it, because that's just how it works.
    55:09
    My last question with that was, it is basically Stern Pro pricing. Is there a Stern? Would you take that game over any current Stern Pro? I can plead the fifth because people will call me a shill anyway since we sell Stern Pro. So I will not even answer that question. Well, I don't know. Ben, what I'll say is – I mean, I can answer it. I personally wouldn't. No. Just because – It's too fast. Well, it's the theme. Like the theme doesn't do anything for me. If I'm looking at it strictly from a theme, right? You like eclipses. You like phases. I like ninjas. You like ninjas. I like ninjas. You like ninjas. I don't need wizards. I want ninjas. It is very, like, G-rated kind of theme. I mean, it's almost Disney-esque. I mean, I almost wish instead of doing Merlin's Arcade, why couldn't they have it be Merlin's Arcade, but it's... No. I'm meaning like why is it that they're using – that it's like obviously like some fantasy world that they happen to like be in old wizard times or whatever. Oh, I hope. Thank you. F&A. Okay. So – Hell yeah. So for the video people – Vindication, baby. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Vindication. So the audio people, I pulled out my camera, which I've never used for recording, and it just died. It just died. So Travis needed this. Not so easy now, is it? Now all of us are now El Gato, no signal, are we? I will put El Gato, no signal, on the screen for the rest of this podcast. But we're wrapping it up anyway.
    57:05
    I need to go play more Merlin's Arcade. Tom had made the comment of, he's like, I feel like the art looks a lot like Looney Tunes. And I said, well, same artist. Matt Andrews, the guy that did all the art for Looney Tunes, is the same guy that is now hired by Turner Pinball that's doing the art for them. So I think that's all the new games. Barrels of Fun, as far as we know, it's 10 o'clock at night on Friday. We're pretty confident at this point they're not actually going to announce anything. Maybe they're going to have their, do they have their seminar tomorrow? They have a seminar tomorrow. So maybe they're going to tell everybody, hey, hold on to your money. We have all the assets. I was just going to say that. They're going to pull a very ballsy move and just be like, do not buy anything. Hold on to your money. You think Zach Sharp or Ken Cromwell, or no, Ken's already with Jersey Jack. You think Zach Sharp's probably like, well, shit, why didn't I think of that? That's all we have to say. That's all we have to say is just don't buy. Don't buy the other games. Stop, man. We didn't think of that one. Yeah. So we don't know. We don't know what's going on with Barrels of Fun. But, yeah, so Stern, I mean, we're not downplaying. D&D's still going strong. Dwight's here. Brian Eddy's here. I know they have a ton more to add in the game. But Stern, you know, Elwin is right around the corner. Jersey Jacks, same thing. They're obviously pushing Avatar, but they just said very clearly, don't buy anything else. I don't think they're pushing Avatar anymore. I think they pretty much just said, look, we're all in on Harry Potter. That's just the way it came off, and rightfully so. Obviously, they're confident. Why did they even bring any games? just wait just save your money uh yeah it's an interesting tactic we'll end with this question which is because i think yeah so we have barrels of fun coming we have uh stern coming we have jjp coming i think those are the three games that are not announced but as of right now if you had to make a decision what do you feel is the game of the show what do you think is the game that people are going to talk most about or leave this weekend saying that was the game that surprised me the most uh man that's tough um i i mean portal and evil dead it's so close between the two i'd almost have to give maybe a little edge to portal just because i mean they're doing some new stuff i mean they got the extension onto the play field uh the the lcd which nobody thought they were gonna do anything like that and they have some really cool interesting stuff going on with that play field so i'd i'd give them the slight edge even though i think evil dead is really well done.
    59:52
    Yeah, I think that most likely I would have to give the edge to Portal. Like, I enjoyed Evil Dead. I've played it enough. I think just for people that are seeing these games for the first time, that that might be something that people could identify with a little bit more. Just like you said, a horror game that's so niched down that you have to really be in that no kids where they see the gore and all that but i i think both games are perfectly you know serve serviceable right like i think there were there were the entries into the pinball industry lore of just released pinball games but portal i was i was very impressed by what the mechs were able to do in that game like i i was i came in with a certain expectation of just wanting to try it because i was just very curious and that's why i was telling you guys before i felt like the trailer didn't show what it could actually do to the extent it could do and pretty much the getting to make the mix do what we wanted to do yeah it was fun it was enjoyable i think plenty of people are going to get back in line for that yeah a lot now that being said evil dead still fun right i i think it's a step in the right direction for spooky and i i just personally for me with the next spooky i hope that they go back to just a standard cab and not worry about wide body so much like because i i like their standard versions that they can do so i don't know but i get why they had to go wide body on this one with the hand and everything and there is a ton of mechs in there and if they if they keep working just fine i think people that are into spooky games it's not going to be one that they'll bypass either like i think that will sell out yeah either way so yeah that's what and i'm i'm probably going to sound like a shill but i i do think I personally I think Evil Dead is probably going to be the game of the show. I remember we heard that Evil Dead was the game of the show at Pinball at the Beach. And I was like, oh, okay, that's surprising. And now that I've actually played it and put a lot of time onto it, just spending time over in the spooky booth, I didn't hear a negative word from anybody about that game. If anything, it's like, wow, this game is more beautiful in person, or wow, this game shoots better than I thought. Now with that said, I'm not saying anything negative towards Portal because I do personally think that Portal is the best. It's the most fun I've had playing a P3.
    62:15
    Absolutely. And so maybe, you know, ask me again in a day, or maybe we'll have a follow-up question next time we record. What do we feel was our favorite game? But I know it's 10 o'clock at night. We're either going to go back down, or I might edit this, but I know I'm excited to play more of both.
    62:34
    And, yeah, we're going to really feel like fools if Barrels of Fun does announce something tomorrow. or if there's any game we forgot. I'm not going to feel like a fool. Tom, are you going to feel like a fool? Hell no. Okay, never mind. I just will. Just Joel. You're the only idiot here, not us two. But I also don't want to play the significance of the Merlin edition for Medieval Madness being announced. I think that's going to sell very well. I mean, that just kind of is what it is, right? Like, if you're in pinball, you already know. Cash grab!
    63:04
    You already know it exists either way, right? So you're going to deal with it. Yeah, if you're looking for medieval madness, I mean, you're going to buy it. Yeah. I think, yeah, you don't have to do any marketing for that. You don't have to. All you got to do is just tell pinball enthusiasts, oh, hey, yeah, it's out. You want one? Yeah. Okay. Just go from there. Because there's so many people. It's been rumored for so long. And I think even Ryan White, like three years ago now at Expo, said it's coming. So it's not like this is a big surprise that all of a sudden it's here. It's been expected, right? So, yeah, I think that that'll be just fine. But to me, I still think Portal's done the best with what they have, like Multimorphic doing that. Because it's the P3 system, they have to work around that system. It's a lot different than a Spooky, because Spooky, they can just go back and forth, wide body standard. They can play around in that sandbox. So with Multimorphic, they have to play within the P3 sandbox, right? Yeah, and I don't, I mean, exactly, exactly. But I don't think you're going to be disappointed if you got either game, Portal or Evil Dead. I mean, they're both really excellent games. You were saying with the P3 you're working with in that system, I think, I know one of the complaints or one of the thoughts I've always had is how different does one P3 game feel between the next when you're only changing that back third. And I'll tell you, the Portal Extended Edition feels very different. Finally, yes. That's the first game that feels different. Huge difference. Doesn't feel anything like their other games. So super impressed. Huge thumbs up here. But, yeah, let's go ahead and plug it up. You can find me on Flippin' Out. Check out our streams there. Just because we're hitting the mic around, I'll just get mine out of the way. You know, is that all right?
    65:01
    Check us out on ServerWallSwag. yeah all that stuff go ahead Travis no I'm giving you a thumbs up I'm just telling you you're doing a great job I'm ready for you to plug oh you want me to plug oh yeah so this is Travis Triple Train Pinball Podcast thank you guys so much for watching and listening this is fantastic that the camera's out and it's not my fault this is like Christmas and freaking March and who called it Tom who said yeah this is probably going to happen at some point. Travis called it. Thank you, Tom. Thank you, Tom Graff, your beautiful SOB, and I'm going to leave it to you, Tom.
    65:39
    You can find us on our new home on the triple drain network. I was going to say. Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. We're not on TPN anymore, are we? The cat's out of the bag.
    65:57
    The pinball network is kind of dissolving. So we love everybody associated with the Pinball Network. We want to say that. But, you know, we are going to now have our content, at least our YouTube content, on our Triple Drain page. And then we will have our podcasts up on, what, Spotify, Apple, all the good stuff. so Joel will be handling that because Travis and I have no idea what we're doing you can tell it's going fantastic right now with no video right now and of course you can find me on Fox City's Pinball I'm going to be streaming the Midwest Gaming Classic coming up next my first time streaming that in Milwaukee, Wisconsin so I'm excited about that yes, yes And, yeah, so Zach and Dennis are going to announce more on the next The Pinball Show. They're going to talk more about TPN and just why, the reasoning behind everything that's going on. But, yeah, no drama, no ill will, nothing. It's just – it's essentially just dissolving. And so, yes, we have our own hosting platform now for the podcast. So please – I mean, this is probably only going to be released on our new stuff. So hopefully you found it. Make sure you follow on whatever podcatcher you use as well as follow YouTube because we'll keep going with video. But yeah, this was a ton of fun. And like always, Tom, you get the last words.
    67:31
    Have a good pinball day, y'all.