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SDTM Episode 71: Total Nuclear Annihilation Pinball Review

Straight Down the Middle·video·44m 22s·analyzed·Aug 28, 2018
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

SDTM reviews TNA: innovative retro design with exceptional music/lights, but linear rules and scoop issues.

Summary

Zach Minney and Greg Bone from Straight Down the Middle provide an in-depth review of Total Nuclear Annihilation by Spooky Pinball, designed by Matt Scott Deneski. They praise the game's innovative design, exceptional lighting/music integration, and strategic gameplay despite a linear ruleset and problematic scoop mechanic. The review covers art, layout, shots, rules, mechanics, and audio in detail, with generally positive assessments across most categories.

Key Claims

  • Total Nuclear Annihilation has sold close to 500 units

    high confidence · Greg mentions production numbers during intro: 'Yeah, close to 500, yeah' in response to discussion of sales

  • The Deneski lock mechanism using inline drop targets to lock balls is a novel feature copied by other manufacturers including Stern

    high confidence · Zach states: 'Everybody's copying that now' and 'I love being in a lot of Stern's your stickers. Just not the same thing, but similar.'

  • The scoop on TNA has a 50% rejection rate when hit directly

    medium confidence · Greg: 'The game is brutal enough. You guys, we don't need a scoop that is going to reject 50%.' and 'You can hit that thing straight on and it rejects.'

  • TNA's ruleset is highly linear with minimal player choice in shot selection

    high confidence · Explicit debate between hosts: 'This game is linear' with step-by-step progression: 'Step one: hit bank. Step two: hit the scoop. Step three: start a mode.'

  • The game's lighting choreography, music production, and shaker motor integration create a cohesive audio-visual experience unprecedented in recent pinball machines

    high confidence · Multiple statements praising integration: 'Everything is in sync, yeah. Everything is sick.' and 'The music on this is phenomenal.'

Notable Quotes

  • “This guy literally put his brand new game that never went home at the show for people to play. So really cool.”

    Zach Minney@ 3:23 — Establishes TNA's market demand and Jay Gentry's enthusiasm for the game

  • “I think this is one of the most innovative pinball machines in the last ten years.”

    Greg Bone@ 27:22 — Major claim about TNA's design significance in modern pinball

  • “The game is brutal but it's really fair. If you know how to control the ball, you get a feel of Spooky Pinball flippers and mechanics.”

    Zach Minney@ 19:25 — Balances criticism of difficulty with acknowledgment of fair design

  • “You can hit that thing straight on and it rejects. You can hit it from the side a little bit where it should roll in it. Rejects.”

    Greg Bone@ 20:00 — Detailed technical complaint about scoop functionality

  • “The light show is awesome... When the reactor blows up you're gonna feel it, buddy. And I'm not just gonna see it.”

    Zach Minney@ 28:53 — Highlights multi-sensory design integration (visual, audio, haptic)

  • “The music on this is phenomenal... The mixing is fantastic. The choreography between this, the lighting and the gameplay... that—what?”

    Greg Bone@ 30:01 — Exceptionally high praise for audio design and integration

Entities

Zach MinneypersonGreg BonepersonMatt Scott DeneskipersonTotal Nuclear AnnihilationgameSpooky PinballcompanyStraight Down the MiddlemediaJay GentrypersonMatt AndrewspersonStern Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    design_innovation: Stock audio system on TNA achieves such high quality that players mistake it for third-party sound upgrades

    medium · Zach: 'My buddy was over and he was playing it. He thought I had Flip or Fidelity's... I said, no, man, and that is, yeah, that's it, doc. You couldn't believe it'

  • ?

    design_innovation: TNA demonstrates exceptional integration of music, lighting choreography, and gameplay mechanics that sets a new standard

    high · Multiple references to synchronized audio-visual-haptic design: 'Everything is in sync, yeah. Everything is sick.' and 'The Choreography between this, the lighting and the gameplay on a shaker'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: TNA being claimed as 'one of the most innovative pinball machines in the last ten years' positions Spooky Pinball as design innovator

    medium · Greg: 'I think this is one of the most innovative pinball machines in the last ten years' though hosts debate exact level of innovation

  • ?

    design_innovation: Deneski lock mechanism using inline drop targets for ball locking is innovative and being copied by competitors including Stern

    high · Greg: 'Everybody's copying that now... I love being in a lot of Stern's your stickers. Just not the same thing, but similar.'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Disagreement between hosts on stand-up targets vs. drop targets for critical reactor shots reflects tension between chaos/speed vs. playability

    high · Extended debate: Zach advocates for drop targets; Greg defends stand-up targets for maintaining speed: 'I think that the drop targets would kill the speed of this pin too much'

Topics

Playfield layout and shot designprimaryRuleset linearity and player choiceprimaryMechanical innovation (Deneski lock, reactor core)primaryAudio-visual integration (music, lighting, callouts)primaryScoop mechanics and reliability issuesprimaryArt and theme presentationsecondaryComparison to classic and modern pinball designsecondaryCommunity reception and adoptionsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Hosts express strong appreciation for TNA's innovative design, audio production, and mechanical creativity. Balanced by specific technical criticisms (scoop rejection, linearity, stand-up targets vs. drop targets) that prevent perfect scores. Overall assessment is highly favorable with reservations on specific design choices.

Transcript

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Nicollet King the chrome at powder-coated the possibilities are endless at pinball play team.com let's kick this [ __ ] [Music] she reacted [Music] please sounds like the reactive substance [Music] hey y'all it's me Zack and Greg from straight down the middle of pinball show this is the review that these people have been waiting anxiously for hasn't it yeah probably because you promoted it really early I didn't promoted that early you did there's like a preview like a week that's not that early maybe this pin has been out for about a year now yeah they're sold a lot of them yeah close to 500 yeah which doesn't seem like a lot based on stern stuff yeah but anymore that's yeah we get to play it kind of early on a big fan of the show Jay Gentry he was a big of a fan of his right now he's like this no he was on a big finger dude was super cool at Grandal Game Room Expo down in Nashville and he got his DNA and literally unboxed it there mm-hmm and put it out for a bite up like oh yeah that's look because I never bring a game to a show and this guy literally put his brand new game that never went home at the show for people to play so really cool and people have been asking what do you guys think about total nuclear annihilation what do you guys think about Scott Danesi's new game what do you think about the new spooky game what do ya I thought when he came out there was a lot of fanfare yeah looked like a pin that I might not necessarily like with the linear code lack of ramps etc it seemed like there was a lot of backing for it because of the story yeah and I thought I don't really appreciate the story but that that doesn't that's an equate to gameplay necessarily yeah we played it up at Expo I think I went to pinball life that open house we played that and ended up coming into Nashville you know came into Expo that night remember it wouldn't be a danger yeah so we got limited and then I dropped out of the Alice Cooper got the TNA and we put a lot of time yeah a lot of time a lot of time a lot of time up until the last second of me selling it and you know what Todd can play on I will say the difference between that though is I don't know if my opinion changed but more time oh interesting wine has changed substantially really so Stan chelate hmm you guys might not like it ya see my mom didn't really change honestly it staying about the same it's one of the very few pins that that has stayed the same okay from you know put a few games looking yeah okay so without further ado let's go to me trying to give the gameplay is pretty basic but I'm going to give you guys an overview of the layout the different mechs in it some of the gameplay aspects if you guys want a full tutorial I would encourage you to go to anything Scott Denis see is done on a live stream and check out that but until then here's here's your just basic gameplay an overview of TNA all right everybody let's talk total nuclear annihilation by spooky pinball designed by Scott Denis echoed by Scott Denis seat lighting and choreography that's right it's gotten easy all right what do we you need to know about this game it is a very brutal game if we're going gameplay and layout wise left or right we have traditional inlanes outlanes what you're gonna see on the inlanes and outlanes is sa ve inserts those are gonna be save now if you liked one of those up it's going to stay lit if you light all four of them up you're gonna have the ability to save your ball for whether it's going in or out the inland so let's say you light all four of them up you're going to get a save it's going to blink white now whenever the ball is going out the outline you can hurry up use your left flipper flip it over there to the white and you're gonna save your boat let's say you're coming the in lane if you're coming in Lane and you make sure that as white you're gonna add I think ten seconds to the ball save which can always be found digitally right here going up you have stand up targets the spell out Rand so rad targets they're gonna be used throughout the game to light your mystery so spell all three lights your mister at the scoop but also when you're when your reactor is critical these are going to be lit and you're gonna need to hit those kind of tough shots a lot of times you're gonna get them off the ricochet from the pop-up er the sleaze etc all right left orbit the orbits on this game or dare I say magical you've got a spinner here that is very satisfying you advance the spinner to super spinners so that is a goal as well to open it up you spell core which we're gonna get to go up there you've got you're inlanes that are core4 core your orbits gonna come all the way back around all right stand up targets here for destroy a scoop that's gonna light your mystery as well as starting your reactor you can't enter that straight forward or you can enter it through the back by coming through the reactor stand up targets right here this is your three bank grid okay so here's the deal whenever you first plunge the ball right to get that reactor going you're gonna have to hit output down all the blue targets so many times so this one you're gonna hit down twice this one wants this one once once you get that done then you're going to start your reactor by hitting into the skip once you start your reactor you're going to try to get it back up the orbits and the control gates are gonna make they go into this reactor core this reactor core has and you have to get this thing up to 100 once it gets up to 100 your reactor will be critical once your reactor is critical you go back down here there's going to be white flashing lights on one of these random for your first two reactor it's only going to be one for the second reactor it's gonna be two and so forth you've got to hit those once you hit those the game blows up and you destroy the reactor try to get to reactor nine to beat this game alright so that's essentially the rules as we're going through here okay so you're trying to spell core up there as well you're trying to hit the 1 2 3 s 2 your reactor whenever you're up here trying to make sure if you're in the reactor you're trying to get to a hundred but if you're not you're just trying to max the value of that reactor once you blow it up it's a little flipper up here because you can keep that ball firing and going with that flipper okay all right here's the Denice he locked the Denis C lock is a series of inline drop targets that are engineered in a way that they lock balls so we'll get to that here in a minute actually cuz that's too cool not to show down here's your pop bumper yep that's right it's right here by your flippers and it creates some tails you're gonna see right down here this is your bonus area as you build up your bonus you'll see you'll see them accruing here as well as your multipliers two three four times multiplier during multiball you can get those multipliers up by hitting down the drug targets again we're trying to get it back into the hole if you hit them all down to edible all right Denise heal up we gotta see how cool this thing is let's see if I can manually here alright you hit one ball through it as you see the drop targets gonna catch it all in one lock gonna distribute another ball next one ball two okay so again to start that multiball you got a knockdown with drop targets and then your multi my friends this total nuclear annihilation my species involved alright great what did you think about the overview I liked it that's a pretty pin Purdy she's a bird even that's pretty pain right there more who didn't want top thirty when they talking to you a right yeah ice throwback you need to get you some TNA buddy hey I'm married oh those days are over with because of the expense of the pen expense of the DNA just a little pricier if you put that ring on it okay what I'd trade a TNA for some DNA okay let's start typically as we do with art it's it's weird to start with art on TNA and I'll tell you why I'm gonna be because I think it's solid but I don't think it's anything that just jumps out at you I think Matt Andrews did the art yeah if I'm wrong just ignore that but I think Matt Andrews did the art we have a lot of things to look at let's look at cabinet first the cabinet art it's bring me looks like it typical I like the flaming ball on the side that's that reminiscent of that old saw a solid state very retro that feels good head head decals are the mushroom blowing up yeah looks really good it's colorful I agree again solid nothing that blows me away agreed now you the bank laughs I do love other people about the bank law what do you love about that it is a real back glass yeah it's retro it's saturations good saturation is good exactly like I like that chick man like I think it looks good I actually do I enjoy it like I it's just it's it just works it fits it does work it's not underdone and it's not overdone it's a very good like the main character being right on that back glass giving you a little bit of that storyline yes yes you need that um yeah you know what I think you kind of do like you sort of understand you sort of you obviously understand through some of the call-outs you understand because you know the reactors and everything else of what's going on but it gives you a little bit of that more retro sort of movie vibe of what what it redlines the triangle yeah you've got the little the back glasses needs it's detailed you can you can look and see some some throwbacks to different gaming stuff I think and it does tell that tells the story more than anything to discuss the end of the character stuff cuz the playfield really doesn't the playfield there's there's there's not there's there's nice artistic design and appeal to it but there's not a lot of per se artwork characters nothing like that you know what I'm saying yeah also orbits you get a couple of the it looks like the enemies yeah whoever they may be yeah but you get good color on the playfield here so here's my thing to me this is a see artwork layup but I'm gonna give a nod I'm gonna go be because I'm gonna give a nod to the original Whitewood the original Whitewood had that overhead land mass where it shows all nine reactors yeah they're circles and he did them in a sharpie on the Whitewood and that's what it looks like on the production yes I do like that so yeah so because of that story I bumped it up to a B I do too and I went b+ which both of them are very fair it's it's it's it's better than a lot of pins but it's like I said it's not overdone it's not overwhelming it's it's there it fits yeah it is fitting it spinning solid you were a b-plus I'm gonna be let's move to the thing that people really care about mmm we've heard this recently why are you writing art nobody cares about art I'm out nobody cares about theme yeah does it play well doesn't matter to some people so let's talk about whether or not it plays little shots and lay out shots and lay out do you like shooting this pin are you asking me are you asking the people it's more of a rhetorical question so but do you do you like shooting TNA I do I do I do III have there's one shot that's a little problematic what do you like about it first off Oh we'll talk about problem obviously the orbits butter are nice magical I like the strong kickback of it if you guys hit two orbits in a row yeah it flies up in instaglam I mean it's fast and I know that this isn't necessarily one of your favorite things but I do like that that interplay field the reactor like I like it in there it's growing on me yeah like I I like cuz I know that like we're playing at one time you were like man do you really think that that flipper with those those slinging the flipper and I do I think it gives you I think it gives you like any upper play feel gives you just enough control but does to the stand up targets yeah one two three sing but it's still a little bit out of your you don't have full controls like a lot of space that there's being used for that it is but it's also in a sense DEP remenham yeah you need if it's part of the story yeah you're trying to get that reactor core going you're trying to get it to a critical level and there's chaos in a reactor core yeah because of that I'm okay with it now yeah at first when I first owned this game I thought man I want some X up there I want that's the that's where I want my ramps at or that's where I want my toy that became holy or some that's you that's so pop bumpers usually go there yeah okay so he's essentially replaced pop bumpers with a core with slings and their three slings you guys sell in the overview and that's better than pop bumpers I think so makes more sense and it sounds a little crazy I mean overall there's not a lot of shots in the game but I think I like that reactor up there the most and honestly I like the skill shot it's one of my favorite shots because that is yeah it is one of the most it's a no Channel shots no and it's very very difficult and you're always too heavy on it yeah always together always because that's how smooth the orbits are yeah I always go all the way around it like DeMuth but here's the thing a lot of strategy in this game won't talk code but one of the strategies is when you're first doing your plunge and you guys have played ta ya you will know my sentiment here your share it do you go for that does that skill shot if you hit that skill shot no hands skill shot you prep your reactor just like that yes or but if but if you don't hit it you're stuck in there and your ball save is getting drained what I do is I say to hell with it it's only a probably 5% chance I'm gonna hit it anyway I go full plunge I'm using my 10 second Bowl saver my six second Bowl save to hit those banks to react to get that reactor but I love my ball save being counted down like Oh like there cuz you know how much it's actually a little bit of it gives you a little anxiety mm-hmm and stuff because you know I'm eating you know I work some shots and I would like to see that being a Scott Denisha trademark I would second I would I really think that that it serves well right down there because when you add ball safe of the outlanes save when you add it it'll throw you that additional time there no it's just like music like when you start getting it's the surf building it oh yeah no matter what and that's what that time does when you can say ah at that time oh it changes your mood or getting nervous delaying this game I agree I agree so game shots and layup I'm actually higher than you all the people were your at I'm gonna be plus I think that's good yeah and the reason I'm at a b-plus there's just not a lot of shots okay III obviously enjoy the lock mm-hm that feels good all the time the shots do feel good most of them almost all of them feel good but we have to talk about the Denise he law yeah but there's very few has I've been done before no no no no inline drug targets have yeah but he said okay those are fun there's I'm Globetrotters is fun you know fathoms fun but why don't we lock balls back there yeah and everybody's copying that now yeah I love being in a lot of Stern's your stickers just not the same thing but similar and he put a scoop in the back of it a subway yeah which is neat how long you'd have to do that no I like it that's really good so I'm an a-minus I really really enjoy shooting this pin yeah it's brutal it is brutal you can't always control it but it is you've told me before this game is brutal but it's really fair yeah if you know how to control the ball you get a feel of spooky flippers yeah and mechanics this is fair it's playable the reason I'm gonna a - instead of an A+ this is true I would be at an A+ you guys Scott I would be in an A+ and the reason you're probably at a b-plus is that one mechanism that I don't think is well done what is that do you know the scoop the scoop I get a lot of rejections and I'm late not just there's something off with the school yeah it's not set right it's not the right type of backstop yeah you can hit that thing straight on and it rejects you can hit it from the side a little bit where it should roll in it rejects yeah the game is brutal enough you guys we don't need a scoop that is going to reject 50% I told Zack it's like when you're playing basketball it does a weird thing to a ball like you know when you is you don't bring it but you go in and it hits you in the room is like mm-hmm flies right back out that's almost what the ball does to this this one basketball you can sink shots yeah you can't sink shot on this no you can get lucky yeah a lot of times it'll bounce around and get in there yeah but the scoop I would have loved to see that maybe or indeed a little bit differently I don't know if maybe it breaks in overtime well in this one Boyle boys I think of the mechanics of it you know Scott's an engineer stuff like you need but it almost feels like that the the speed of the ball the velocity of that ball is too much and it's too short of a distance for that small of a scoop and it was like it means a little bit more room than that scooped up they've had Bally Williams that all their scoops work falling until you put a cliffy on but for the most part yeah scoops pretty safe yeah you'll figure out a hit them right yeah but man he's starting to do it as well well Aerosmith it's hard to hit that scoop um guardians of galaxy hard to hit this oh the guardians at least when you hit it is this an object yeah yeah I'm not saying it's not that it's a hard scoop to hit look if I hit it straight on on the forehand in the pops back out that's a bad scoop yes yeah you have to back in this yeah at least on the one that's the only thing it does drive me crazy in it's dipper mental to the game what I would like to have also seen the left side these stand up tour they spell out red yeah and a lot of times when your reactor is critical yeah you're gonna have to hit one of those yeah I would have loved of though for those to have been dropped target and I do I disagree that is one thing I will disagree with you on that I like that I think that equation so you try to get to that D target and you have to that thing horror I think that it's the difference between playing a a CDC Lucy or a premium in anything with the drop target yeah I see the Rose so I don't I like the pearl I love that speed of that Pro and I think that the drop targets would kill the speed of this pin too much I think that it would make it too easy I do I can't I can't advocate for the drop targets I like I like it keeping up with the speed I think it slows it down too much that pin is all about slow like five minutes and I'm already angry at you because you're wrong yeah you're wrong you're no way you're right because it's chaos with stained up targets it's like the least fun thing in pinball the least fun thing I hate it hate it it were giving me the standard targets up front those are brutal that's fine to build up the reactor don't give me those little give me drop targets for those left ones that would have put it and put it over the top you got room to max you got room probably the the building materials you don't have a room but I won't drop targets on those left ones we need what's-his-name who does drop targets for games red bandit or somebody does that time bandit time bandit yeah I'm gonna a - Denise eup knocked it out the orbits and the pop bumper right there love it rules and code rules and you're you're a pattern here I know people ask you are you yeah I'm a I'm a solid a it's hard to get better than these rules what wait a minute I know that's what I don't know any I want to hear this explanation that makes no sense on here let's explain II well you know we're not that far off I can sway anybody right this game is linear yes define linear and you'll see Tina go and I don't mind linear okay linear no and it's not that linear you still have no it's more linear no you know it's more than you a choice is no you don't you do know you have zero choices what do you why do you not have choices step one hit Bank step to hit the scoop step 30 start a mode step 3 hit the Orbitz to get that know it's linear I mean there's no other thing to do you can pick between the librarian and you can go no I'm saying this is linear more linear than ghostbusters oh yeah that's one okay yeah no no I'm saying go swish you got choice is this now it's a lot more favored though there's a lot yeah so this year either you're going through Adams there's a lot of strategy that's why I like about this code because you're trying to figure out don't want to build my multiball now or do I want to waste it now when do I want to open my multiball of a mile ball to I don't want to really botch this and then not get a lot of strategy there just like I said for the skill shot the skill shot alone that's a lot of strategy for it to be so linear in such not a lot of shots it there is a lot of strategy to to where you go I'm not really selling it Emily no you're not I'm gonna be plus and the reason I'm at that b-plus is I just it is that linear and it is fun it's an exciting game but I think that you get to a point of where that it becomes stale because you're not going through playing it the same way if you're playing it the same way every game in inside I think I think and just for me I can't speak for other players but I I plateau on games to where that I might just blow that [ __ ] up but a lot of it I'm still achieving I'm hitting a certain place in that game and like I've been plateauing on teenage yeah and so that's why it gets old very quick to me where is something like like Lord of the Rings yeah it's so difficult to go to go for multi balls yes and still more of an adventure that it breaks it up because you're going through these different adventures don't worry you're telling the story so not getting to Valinor doesn't doesn't kill it for me yeah necessarily you still might hit a level of plateau but you still ain't yourself mini wizard yeah for the ring exactly exactly okay here's the reason I'm a I'm just gonna let you blow are you think about it no I didn't hear days Ruth I have my notes right now so you're first off the safe component on this game is unlike any other I love that you try to spell save and then you can use that later on yeah you can use that on an in Lane to add to your Bowl save or you can use it on out lane to actually save that ball I love that also multiball the multiball rules are really well done load a motor like a you've got a no one to use it because when you use it then you're trying to go for those multipliers you're trying to go back up and try to get back in that scoop get in scoop your next add a ball yeah multiball love that and I love that this is linear it's supposed to be linear maybe you're progressing through it's becoming more and more difficult as you're going through your hand yeah co-op mode team mode mode team it now that is that that that there that I mean like a lot of people argue that means to the games enough the way it is and then you're gonna add because it's really brutal you're gonna add a team yeah it needs to be integrated in in in more games that is for damn sure I love that so let's move on to toys and innovation when this first came out people said where am i toys where's my where's my toy yet where's my bobblehead denisa lock is uh that's that's good enough toy for anybody oh I like it I completely agree with you I do I see this game is hidden it has hidden toys and hidden innovation I dare I say this people are gonna think I'm crazy maybe they'll agree with me I think this is one of the most innovative pinball machines in the last ten years in a sense you know what I can agree with a lot of oh really I can't because it is a different layout it's a it's a different machine it's a whole different room looks like it came from the 80s with that old solid state but it has the speed of a new pin in the necks of a new PIN yeah lights of a new piano music a new pan you're saying you sort of expected to play like a king crusher you're expecting yeah yeah or vice versa you expect King crusher because it's a new pin to play a little more like TNA but so no I agree and and you said the Denise II lock like I like I still like that reactor I know a lot of people I just I don't know how they feel about reactor core repair yeah but I like it I said okay without that I don't know don't know I don't know why I like it so you know what I do love the freaking light show it'll I show is very Wow the Cory the Cory agra fee of that light show that they mix it with the music yeah everything is in sync yeah everything is it sick even the the shaker motor so I know you guys you're saying wait a minute hold up you know objective reviewers shaker motors should not be included in toys but dammit guess what when a shaker motor is coated the way it is yeah it is it is naked without that shaker you are in critical level and the shaker continues I don't know if I still throw that in toys I know of one percent agree with what you're saying and I go along with yeah I'll bumper hits boom shake yeah but I you destroy the reactor mmm that's what happens when reactor guess what great when the reactor blows up you're gonna feel it buddy and I'm not just gonna see it no no no light shows awesome on this light show is we can we get a beacon the beacon is nice and loud yeah but it's nice and that's not the siren that just the gear I like it cuz the row back I did I like it you have your didn't easy lock you have your co-op and team I know that that is code but it is innovation it is some innovation it is got an LCD screen we'll talk about animation here in a little bit but as one package I'm at any plus yeah I think it's one of the most innovative pins that we're that we've seen in a long long time yeah where you at you're in an a all right this next category is almost laughable it's music and call outs all right you ready one two three a plus yeah that if this could be an a-plus-plus yes it would be like the music on this is phenomenal yes homeboys garden ec is a DJ i afraid so he's phenomenal the mixing is fantastic the choreography between this the lighting and the gameplay on a shaker and that what and you you go with like a and he dropped the mic on this one he did it just the Meech reactor is a different young yes right and then the beat drops whenever you plunge the ball and the sound system is just fantastic in general tell them what happen when you came over and played at my place exactly you know like we played on location a lot so our location play it's just noise in am i right this this spin stands out obviously over here and everywhere yes so I exactly said when he first games like I got this about my hook it up to a teenage son or his house man and I had that start button and you know then you get that's yeah in it boom and I'm like dude you look that freakin sub up to this thing he was like no no no not at all and I was like it sounded so rich in so spectacular I was blown away I've never heard a stock system in a membe all machines sound like that no my buddy was over and he was playing it he thought I had flip or Fidelity's he was like hey I thought the sound was good did you put flipper fidelity I said no me and that is yeah that's it doc you couldn't believe it yeah couldn't believe it so the music I don't even need call-outs in this game yeah the call-outs are fine because they kind of direct you hit the scoop to start the reactor yeah that's fine yeah don't need it though I just need this music yes the music I can't get enough of this music so much so I downloaded a couple of little songs cruising around in his Camaro I played a tournament with a guy not to all go and uh he was like his earbud in and not just first met him and he was like he was like I'm gonna share his beer but yeah he was like yeah dude he's like I heard like playing tournament like throwing some TNA and listen to TNA well you're a boy yeah he was jamming to some TV but then he came back me he was like yeah I'm not doing so good so yeah yeah because I don't guess that that says playing the Lord of the Rings 15 they I play all erratic like that anyway so it fits like you do you think I'd play ok the next category is kind of the the sour spot for me and that's displaying animation for displaying the animation I'm gonna see Greg it just doesn't do anything for me and I will agree where you have in a sense you could be mine like you could have actually done without the LCD screen and it would have been just this phenom it's even kind of faded a lot of people change your calendars but that's not really what rating here no the one thing it does do is I think that it gives that futuristic appeal to it that modernization of an early solid state it's fine to have in there I agree but the animations themselves I'm not saying they're horrible they're not D or anything no no no it's just there's just nothing like nothing memorable there's nothing you think about you know what I'm saying there's just it's not now like I hate to say that but take it or leave it with that honestly yeah it's new yeah great like we can't talk much about it there's nothing really it sums it up like a bunch of theme so theme I don't know what we're grading here because theme are we talking about the main character going into the future to destroy all the nuclear reactors and efforts not to destroy their past like what are we talking about for me I don't because that that to me is like a sea I don't care as much about that what I care about is this pin coming from the from past into the future of now and it looking like a 1980s it takes me back the sights the sounds they take me back to the 80s and the 90s when it was cool to have a mullet I said it was cool to drive a Trans Am her Camaro and the cabinet shave the look of it the complicity of it cuz I think yeah I see what you're saying cuz like I like the whole into the future saving the world nuclear reactors blowing up everything I like that and I think that's cool too I think it fits as a theme but I do think that you had our correct the the actual theme of this pin is the 80s nostalgia it's a period yeah that's what that is sort of Harriet yes they should do we should do serious reviews I have like a total monocle on or whatever nuclear annihilation is a period piece in a big wing chair that's right and what are those that Oh what yeah like masterpiece theater follow me I place and give you a gameplay play it all rigid is the beat thumps you alright I'm an a minor something yeah because of it coming back from the future bring back from the past to fill my senses if you will this is a very fair sensory pin it is very sensory pin you know you get your sights or sounds you don't get smells unless something on the board is going really wrong you could taste that good stainless steel Oh [Music] after a after a hard day's show never how much how much now not that it's a lake the flipper button at Expo let's raise some funds guys I can't how much to look at like I don't know I put a price on everything Greg I'd put a price on that would you do it for thousand no lick the flipper button no hmm juice turn pro ok I'd maybe do a 3d of a pro maybe and Ebonics that's all I need z-pak Ozzy back Z back yeah just say this the theme takes me back remember yeah we were raised then so I think a lot of the market we're seeing a lot of retro come back a lot of it is far just mama she is a hipster right to the old kind of hipster for him these are mustache right on the lock down bar I've got my craft beer let's go to play a night of tea and my IPA yeah I got my flannel on this needs to be more cage zones it should be in bar case that's this sport belongs again very fantastic I think I think you know the whole theme man it's like you said like that is I think that that's what a lot of the pen and arcade people that that's what brings you to it is that nostalgia and I think that this pin really does I think that's why it's so popular - is it gives for those 80s kids we were we were sort of just missing that mark yeah because we were so young yeah exactly Internet there's a lot of our stuff was t2 and stuff a lot of ours but you know what else it does this brings up a good point the old-school guys that like these early cell lysates it gives them a reason to buy a new pinball machine exactly yeah it's the hybrid it's the best of both worlds jump so it was the best of both worlds you believe in that for them yeah yeah I mean I enjoy it for that reason - yeah no I actually I'm fine with via office of a no ramps in this game but as we move to enjoy ability or last category yeah I love this pinball machine I like it a lot we're both a days yeah we love this pinball machine I do now do you talked a little bit about getting tired of it because the linear code yeah I don't I thought I would I have no reason not to get tired of this pin it's basic code it's a brutal gameplay I should get tired of it but I'm here to tell you I'm not tired of it did I get rid of it yeah because I got Deadpool coming in and pirates coming in but yeah I'm not gonna loan this pin again and I will happily on this pin again this this is a winning pinball machine and I didn't think I would be like that I think it's super surprising enjoyable I do I do and I think again with your friends I think it is the best the best pin that you can play with friends are in a medical setting by all by far there's nothing that touches it couldn't be more right and I do still enjoy it I just still think that I would again plateau and just not it would just get stale kind of quick at home cuz and I play too much pinball like I I get obsessive with any new game and I play this okay this doesn't just because it's so hard to get to that reactor 9 and get to 5 that's it for me yeah the inside art and then you want to have your buddies over see if they can help you get there but it's still super enjoyable like it is fun that's so you got to rate it well do you see it in how big of a pin lineup whenever I first played this a couple times it shows I thought no way I'd have it in under itting pan lino oh I've changed my mind tremendously on that let's say three to five I changed my mind on my food I changed my mind on that you need to have you know it'll fit in that common three right now is I'm getting I'm getting a Dracula worked on and getting that revamped it was just this and Premium yeah didn't get tired of it which is a shock I didn't get hard this pin because you've had Star Wars for a while so you've played I get tired of the scoop don't get me wrong but I didn't get tired of it now when we're talking pros and cons we're both days on enjoyability huh you need to sink your teeth into this pin a little bit I think cuz it's gonna it's gonna kick your ass the first 20 30 games and you're not gonna get it you're gonna turn away from it yeah give it time to breathe like a fine wine isn't gonna agree you have a little time to breathe identify what you're needing to do right now so pros and cons we talked about the pros pros are obvious hones the scoot gone scoop and price uh yeah I'm not like so the price on these is $6,000 but you're gonna wait in line because they are backordered for a year yeah so the $6,000 MSRP or you know your going rate you'll think it's worth it I think it's kind of rough I would go maybe just under stars rhodium Stern Pro you think it's worth the stern Pro yeah I think it's worth every bit of a Sturm premium it's that good I see I'm a pro guy I can't make a premium just doesn't necessarily equate to that money for me for one yet so I would have to throw it in you know if you if you win 5 it's 55 yeah they're gonna take out some more but I say I agree and good sound system a more solid cabinet and when you when you take into account the light show quality with the actual glass this thing is some hardwood it's decently fair but I still think price is sort of the con in linear no I think it's a pro I think the linear aspect of the code is a pro on this game call me crazy the other people are gonna agree with you on it though they don't care nobody whoever wants to agree with me right now they're probably I guess whatever Greg says never like the Donald Trump of pinball [ __ ] what he says I'm just gonna agree with it I love him that much we're not going there stop uncomfortable again you're not going there so make sure to get out play yourself a TA and play some play some team a I like just saying that I don't like it the bumper sticker place in the team a cumulative grade so when we put this all together I'm gonna be pleasure to be plus I'm at three point five five I like to just a hair more than you at a three-point think both are very fair I think so too well always think our grades fair because there are grades no I don't think your grades are fair sometimes well I mean I personally out of sometimes I think you're just lacking a few brain cells but it's to be determined what do these people need to do to check out other SDTM constant follow us on Facebook we've always got awesomely cool little content that pops up on their little pictures in little places we go different things where else you do YouTube which super close twits we got a little Chuck word on there winners coming oh let's see if you start coming yeah and so I should be able to start streaming quite a bit more like last year yeah a little coffee with Greg come here a little a little lunch from Greg me turkey sandwich repair sandwich for Greg turkey Sammy DNA I need to get see amazing of Turkey and TNA for lunch when you put what do you put on your turkey sandwich just some Colby cheese Colby cheese Monterey Jack nope Swiss Kobe two slices Mayo no no no I'll you some mustard with my turkey or no not with the mustard again lettuce hey lettuce tomato no hey some gingerbread coke I allowed myself a coke when I had lunch at home I allowed myself coke will chips Doritos turkey I go with the plane I like I like the plane chips the best honestly that's all true so good for those of you still watching we appreciate it check us out next week we're going to bring you I think if this or that possibly possibly been a little bit or if we get some more time on Deadpool no you're gonna see some Deadpool coming up to ya soon check that out [Music] we are rolling with our new badass camera oh yeah don't look at the screen - because it's way [ __ ] far off so focus on the lens to be easier so do you like it I like it I think it'll be pretty especially when we get the audio and everything fait accompli shoot thank you guys we finally got new equipment oh my goodness t-shirts bought us a new camera got us some sound equipment we ballin we almost did little status I need your your mood to be a little bit more lifted it'll get there no controversy was it yeah but it's good controversy good this will be gonna be oh we went from oh right now field Donahue are we that's probably not a good transition over it's and hild can we go back up to like at least an Ellen can we get back there we got that much Simon for that hey y'all

“I downloaded a couple... [of the music tracks]”

Zach Minney@ 31:23 — Demonstrates music quality so exceptional that players purchase soundtrack separately

Lord of the Rings
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Ghostbustersgame
Medieval Madnessgame
Guardians of the Galaxygame
Aerosmithgame
Pinball Expoevent
Pinball Lifecompany
Alice Coopergame
Time Banditperson
  • $

    market_signal: TNA achieving approximately 500 units sold demonstrates strong market demand for non-licensed, original-theme pinball games

    high · Greg: 'Yeah, close to 500, yeah' in response to production numbers discussion

  • ?

    product_concern: Scoop mechanism has high rejection rate (approximately 50%) even on direct hits, negatively impacting gameplay on an already difficult game

    high · Greg: 'The game is brutal enough. You guys, we don't need a scoop that is going to reject 50%.' and detailed description of rejection scenarios

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Deliberate trade-off between linearity and speed: hosts debate whether linear progression serves the game's chaos theme or limits player agency

    high · Explicit discussion of linearity: 'Step one: hit bank. Step two: hit the scoop. Step three: start a mode' with both hosts acknowledging linearity but disagreeing on its impact