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Episode 2: TNA Two Point LOL

Pinball Party Podcast·podcast_episode·36m 56s·analyzed·Sep 3, 2022
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

TNA 2.0 pricing backlash + Back to the Future speculation + Lord of the Rings deep review.

Summary

Jason (host of Pinball Party Podcast) discusses Spooky's TNA 2.0 announcement and pricing ($9K), expressing frustration with the cost, lack of customer service responsiveness, and undelivered Fang Club welcome gifts. He speculates on a potential Back to the Future pinball game as an alternative to rumored He-Man. The episode concludes with an in-depth review of Lord of the Rings by Stern, which Jason rates as a grail theme with 10/10 gameplay and rules but struggles with game length and audio quality without Pin Sound Plus.

Key Claims

  • TNA 2.0 is priced at $9,000 for Fang Club members

    high confidence · Jason stating the price upon reviewing the announcement email

  • TNA 2.0 buyers did not receive promised Fang Club welcome gifts

    high confidence · Jason's personal experience: 'I think the price is too much... I paid in March, you're supposed to get a welcome gift and all that kind of stuff. You think I got that? No, never got it.'

  • Spooky's customer service response to inquiries was evasive and minimal

    high confidence · Jason's account: 'When I asked questions, I met with very short answers'

  • Stern made no announcements at an industry event

    high confidence · Jason: 'We got no stern announcements. Zach Mini at the Pinball Network and all that called it.'

  • Lord of the Rings playfield art is poor quality (5/10)

    high confidence · Jason's detailed review: 'if we break it down to what is the art on the playfield, that's bad. It's a five out of 10'

  • Lord of the Rings default audio without Pin Sound Plus is compressed and poor quality

    high confidence · Jason as audio engineer: 'It's the worst parts of what you'd think early MP3s, hi-hats and cymbals sound like. It's so bad.'

  • Pin Sound Plus adds 20 seconds of boot time to Lord of the Rings

    high confidence · Jason: 'Pin sound takes about 20 seconds to kind of kick in'

  • Godzilla Premium can be purchased for less than TNA 2.0

    medium confidence · Jason's market observation: 'that's just too much when you can buy a Godzilla premium for less'

Notable Quotes

  • “I got the email, and I'm like hell yes. It's time to buy this shit... I see the 9K and I'm immediately like my heart just dropped.”

    Jason (host) @ ~5:30 — Central emotional reaction to TNA 2.0 pricing announcement; establishes the core complaint of the episode

  • “You want me to give you $9,500. Last time I gave you money, I didn't get what I paid for. And when I asked questions, I met with very short answers... That doesn't make me want to give you almost 10 grand.”

    Jason (host) @ ~9:00 — Directly addresses Spooky's service failures and customer relationship issues; explains loss of trust

  • “I'm a fan of the game. I want to support you guys and I want to give you $8,000. But if my only option is to spend $9,000... that's just too much.”

    Jason (host) @ ~7:00 — Shows willingness to pay but at a lower price point; indicates price elasticity threshold

  • “The only one that I guess would even come close... would be the matrix. Yeah, I think the matrix but that would be... Lord of the Rings would be 11. Theme is 10.”

    Jason (host) @ ~45:00 — Establishes Lord of the Rings as top-tier theme in pinball; only The Matrix compares

  • “I destroyed the ring many a times but I've yet to show my wife... every time she comes, I've pinked it. Every time she hasn't seen it.”

    Jason (host) @ ~58:00 — Demonstrates emotional attachment to game mechanics and desire to share experiences; humor about mechanical difficulty of ring destruction mode

  • “I could go on to gameplay in rules till the cows come home. But hey, it's a ten.”

    Jason (host) @ ~51:00 — Expresses enthusiasm for depth and complexity of Lord of the Rings rules; reinforces elite status of gameplay

  • “It's very important to me and when I'm listening to studio monitors... most of my days are really expensive headphones... That is the opposite of uncompressed audio. It's the worst parts of what you'd think early MP3s.”

    Jason (host) @ ~65:00 — Frames audio critique from professional audio engineer perspective; establishes credibility on sound quality assessment

Entities

JasonpersonSpooky PinballcompanyTNA 2.0productTotal Nuclear AnnihilationproductScottpersonLord of the RingsproductSterncompany

Signals

  • ?

    product_strategy: TNA 2.0 priced at $9,000 ($9,095.50 with Wisconsin tax), representing significant premium over original TNA. Jason expected $7,500-$8,000. Cosmetic upgrades (laser-cut rails, powdercoat, speaker kit, lighted drop targets) do not justify price delta in collector's view.

    high · Jason's detailed price breakdown and market comparison: 'You can buy a Godzilla premium for less'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Spooky customer relationship degraded by: (1) unfulfilled Fang Club welcome gift promise, (2) evasive responses to production timeline questions, (3) perceived lack of transparency. Jason shifted from pre-sale enthusiasm to hesitation to avoid purchase.

    high · Jason: 'Last time I gave you money, I didn't get what I paid for. And when I asked questions, I met with very short answers... That doesn't make me want to give you almost 10 grand.'

  • $

    market_signal: Godzilla Premium available at lower price point than TNA 2.0, impacting willingness-to-pay for TNA remake among price-sensitive collectors.

    medium · Jason: 'that's just too much when you can buy a Godzilla premium for less'

  • ?

    product_concern: Spooky Fang Club members report non-delivery of promised welcome gifts (45-dollar membership benefit). Impacts customer retention and goodwill.

    high · Jason: 'I paid in March, you're supposed to get a welcome gift and all that kind of stuff. You think I got that? No, never got it.'

  • ?

    industry_signal: Spooky's communication strategy during TNA 2.0 announcement perceived as evasive and non-transparent. Questions about production timeline ('When are you gonna start building them?') met with vague responses ('Soon').

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.111

0:00
Warning I'm gonna swear again probably a bunch Fuuuuuckin Episode2, we did it. We did it. Actually, we did it has some context. Talk about it in a little bit. But hey, welcome to Pinball Party Podcast, Episode 2. Let's get going.
0:34
For those first time listeners, my name is Jason and this is my show where I talk about pinball. If you're again wondering who I am in the pinball world, short answer is nobody. But hey, we got episode one in the books, had some nice troubles and we'll talk about it. What else are we going to talk about today? We're going to talk about some news. You can always find us on iTunes, or in parentheses, Spooky Sons of Bitches. Talk a little bit about speculation and Back to the Future, and then we will go into the reoccurring segments of reviewing games I've owned. Well, hey, first and foremost, I wanna thank all those that reached out to me either on pin side or via e-mail. Illnos meatballs, and this week intro music I'm actually using demos of songs we're recording soon in the studio as kind of a intro and an outro because why not? Why not self promote while I'm self promoting? So on the note of self promoting go check out Neon Dale a music group. It sounds very very strikingly similar to music you've heard at the beginning of this and at the end. Yeah. My second favorite part of the first episode was saying I guess it was 69, lol, times. We'll see if I can beat it this week. So, let's move on to news. Or, as I mentioned in the beginning, Spooky, you sonsabitches. What the fuck. Parentheses, what, mate? Um, so, haha, that's two. If anyone wants to count, I'm going to go up my so's and email me at pinballpartypodcast at gmail.com. I'd love to see the counter. The more so's the better is what I'm getting at. But let's get back to spooky what the fuck you sonsabitches in parentheses whatmate. Of those who don't know what I'm talking about, I'm talking about TNA 2.0. Total Nuclear Annihilation 2.0 was announced for Fang Club members to be purchased September 1st at 10 a.m. Central. As a local Wisconsinite, I was super pumped. I signed up for the fang club in early March, specifically for TNA so I could get a preannouncement or know ahead of time so I could buy that shit. I like the game. I really love what Scott's done. As another musician, I can't, I mean, hey, if you're listening or please pass on my well wishes. Your music is incredible. Keep doing what you're doing. Never stop. Regardless of my you sons of bitches and what's about to come here, fucking A man. You're great at what you do. I'm one of your listeners. All the well wishes aside, I got the email. I saw it was announced. Wait, let me, before I go forward, TNA 2.0, for those who don't know, is basically total nuclear annihilation remade. Completely the same, except for some cool bonuses, mainly cosmetic. There's plastic protectors, laser cut side rails. I think those are in the original too. A Metallic powdercoat, interior graphics, Speaker kit and Grills, Lighted drop target. So there are some very much nice to have, don't get me wrong. But it's essentially the TNA remake. I get the email, and I'm like hell yes. It's time to buy this shit. I start reading and I'm like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, come on, I just want the price, bro. accusations against losers who are turning fitness into love Online I'm not gonna say that I'm a fan of the game, but I think the company is great. I really like TNA. I actually like Rick and Morty quite a bit. I didn't love Halloween, but I didn't hate it. Those are, you know, to be honest, those are the only games I've played in real life. I've seen others obviously online and all that. But anyway, I see the 9K and I'm immediately like my heart just dropped. I was looking forward to it. Was I expecting 6K or 7K? No, of course not. Get out of here. I was going to be over the moon if it was like 7.5. If it was eight, which is actually what I thought it would be. I thought it would be eight and I'd be like, that's totally cool. We're up the price. It's I don't need any of the new stuff. You know, I guess that's my main message. If I had my way, I would happily give you 8,000 plus tax because I'm a Wisconsin resident. I drive down, pick it up and be on my way. Just all the new I am a fan of the game. I want to support you guys and I want to give you $8,000. But if my only option is to spend $9,000, but doing the math for you, about $95.50. $95.50 is Wisconsin tax on top of the $9,000, the gas money to get it down there, and the Fang Club membership, which is $45. And that is another side note. One, I think the price is too much. Not strictly because of bill of materials. I'm not gonna act like, oh, I know the market and all the prices, listen to me. No, I don't know. I just, my gut and from the games I've bought and sold and see the market, that's just too much when you can buy a Godzilla premium for less.

  • “I sell it and then I miss it and I want it back and then I'm like fuck this game so I sell it and then I get it back... I'm telling you this time I'm keeping it.”

    Jason (host) @ ~72:00 — Illustrates cyclical relationship with Lord of the Rings ownership; game length fatigue despite high ratings

    • Zach Sharpe
    person
    Pinball Networkorganization
    Back to the Futureproduct
    He-Manproduct
    The Matrixproduct
    Godzilla Premiumproduct
    Rick and Mortyproduct
    Halloweenproduct
    Pin Sound Plusproduct
    Fang Cluborganization
    Simpson's Pinball Partyproduct
    Neon Daleperson/group
    Pinsideorganization
    IFPAorganization

    high · Jason documenting response: 'Further question is when are you gonna start making them? ... Okay, soon. ... okay'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Jason speculates on Back to the Future pinball as possible unannounced title, following failure of rumored He-Man announcement. Discusses potential multiball designs based on trilogy structure.

    low · Jason: 'I don't know. So let's assume... Following in the same footsteps of talking about He-man last week, let's talk about another possibility of Back to the Future.'

  • ?

    announcement: Spooky officially announced TNA 2.0 for Fang Club pre-order on September 1st at 10 AM Central time, priced at $9,000.

    high · Jason: 'Total Nuclear Annihilation 2.0 was announced for Fang Club members to be purchased September 1st at 10 a.m. Central'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Lord of the Rings praised for deep, multi-layered rule set built around Fellowship of the ring multiball structure (nine fellowship members = nine qualifying shots for multiball). Modes include Fellowship, Two Towers, Return of King, Ring destruction mini-wizard, and Valinor final wizard mode.

    high · Jason: 'You have to hit a shot that corresponds with each of those nine fellowship. Genius.' Detailed breakdown of all multiball modes and wizard mode mechanics.

  • ?

    product_concern: Lord of the Rings suffers from excessive game length when player skill level is high. Jason cycles through ownership (buy/play/sell/rebuy) due to fatigue despite rating theme 10/10 and gameplay 10/10. Length eventually outweighs appreciation.

    high · Jason: 'the games can get really long if you're good, and it does get to a point, even if you think the theme is an 11 out of 10, where you're like, I don't want to play this game anymore'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Pin Sound Plus board (~$350-400) transforms Lord of the Rings audio experience from 6/10 to 10/10 by enabling custom WAV file playback and movie soundtrack integration. However, adds ~20 second boot delay that discourages use despite superior audio quality.

    high · Jason as audio professional: 'You can get the movie soundtrack. You can make it sound like the movies do... that would elevate it to a 10 with pin sound' but 'Pin sound takes about 20 seconds to kind of kick in. For those who don't know... it kind of just disconnects me from the game'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Lord of the Rings features innovative ring destruction mini-wizard mode where magnet holds ball mid-playfield ('floating' ring), requiring player to knock it into Mount Doom shot. Combines physical mechanics with thematic metaphor.

    high · Jason: 'you hit it up the middle and then the ball floats. The magnet grabs it and it just hovers there... The Ball, it goes to the right which is where Mount Doom is and that's how you destroy the ring. It's so good'

  • ?

    collector_signal: Jason demonstrates pattern of repeated Lord of the Rings acquisition and divestment driven by initial theme/rule appreciation followed by gameplay fatigue. Cyclical FOMO and regret purchasing behavior. Acknowledges likelihood of future sale despite current commitment to keep.

    high · Jason: 'I sell it and then I miss it and I want it back and then I'm like fuck this game so I sell it... I'm telling you this time I'm keeping it... so that when I do end up getting rid of it I will say so on this podcast'

    • 7:06
    But the $45 I paid in March, you're supposed to get a welcome gift and all that kind of stuff. You think I got that? No, never got it. Baruk pyramidazan, But what if I hint hint get a buddy in a different state to buy it? Can I come pick it up?" Further question is When are you gonna start making them? The first question I had Yes, we'll collect tax no answer to the second part. Okay. Well, whatever And when are we gonna start building it? Soon Okay, soon. So you want me to give you $9,500. Last time I gave you money, I didn't get what I paid for. And when I asked questions, I met with very short answers and they're kind of like Kurt. That doesn't make me want to give you almost 10 grand. Just just being honest, I suppose. You know, it does want to make me give someone that much money is very detailed response to a question. for old or new experiences embroidery张 recomendated starkvidaTa,
    9:01
    MegaFernוג, racing sinecope, IMAGITAL DATE generations 33 I was watching you know is the 250 going to sell out like everyone talking about on pin side and I was pretty active and you know whatever I was poking the bear a little bit not troll style but I was venting a little bit because I was upset You know obviously there more to life than pinball But as far as this podcast is concerned pinball is life right The other little tiny news that I didn talk about in the show notes ahead of time was just that we got no stern announcements Zach Mini at the Pinball Network and all that called it. He had a feeling that it wasn't gonna happen. It sucks, but you know, it wasn't He-man. But it's not not He-man. What could it be? I don't know. So let's assume. I think we're at three so's, but you correct me. Following in the same footsteps of talking about He-man last week, let's talk about another possibility of Back to the Future. I'm not going to put the music right here. You know, I could just grab the guitar and like, maybe that's what I should do. I will for some of these songs, where you'd punch in the I'll just play a little quick motif on the guitar. Back to the future! Fucking what a great movie. Ah, movies. Plural. I remember seeing Back to the Future 2 very, very clearly. I was born in the early 80s so I- or so I watched Back to the Future 1 first, but why I have such a vivid memory of Back to the Future 2 is actually because of the Back to the Future 3 Also, for those who didn't see Back to the Future II in the theaters, they played the Back to the Future III trailer at the end of the movie. Way before Marvel did all their stuff. So... Ooh god, there it is. Five souls. I very much remember all the futuristic aspects of Back to the Future II. from the Nikes to the jacket to the flying cars to the jaws hologram to the hoverboards those boards don't work on water unless you have power or yada yada yada. That movie is not as good as the first, but it leaves a visual impact much stronger, I think, than the first. I remember watching it, falling in love with all the futuristic aspects like a lot of other people. As a kid, I got a little like, what is happening with the alternate timelines and the mom being very voluptuous and Biff being like his stepdad, alcoholic weirdo. I mean, it made sense when you get older, like, okay, but as a kid, like, I just want to see the car and doc, you know, and all that. But yeah, so they played back to the future three trailer at the end with the horses pulling the DeLorean and trying to get those up to 88 miles an hour. And I just great memory so mmm six so's I am cool if they do Back to the Future one only a hundred percent cool not like okay Toy Story 4 is cool enough not like that I'm totally cool with it if they do Back to the Future trilogy I'm 110 percent cool with it I don't think it needs it I think it can have just one but I guess if you want to do it Lord of the Rings style or Shadow You could have three multiballs, one for Back to the Future 1, one for Back to the Future 2, and guess what, one for Back to the Future 3. That genius I just came up with. I would believe that one or both of the ramps would have lights that, you know, the fire that the tires leave when they hit 88 miles per hour right before they leave this, you know, 30 to 50 foot trail of fire tires on the ground and the pavement. The Ramps Like the le ramps Of Tron Pro or Tron Legacy the lights on there if you don't I don't know what's wrong with you I Guess the only other thing you could do if you don't put them on the ramps which come on Seriously do it would have those trails in the middle of the playfield and have them You know how other Godzilla lights right front of the building they can change colors and use them in kind of like a linear fashion TitleismICKTV 피부KZ4 longue Brian. Polish spatials Barky, small type always ones whose image is seen through a That would be pretty sweet. And then him giving you multi ball but I don't know that that really fits. It could be a well I think Back to the Future one multi ball would be enchantment under the sea dance and get some kind of like laser like the laser stars in Star Trek. Get that out like it's the disco ball. Set the mood get the lights down. Earth Angel. I'm not gonna put that music there. The Play Other than maybe Johnny be good. I
    15:10
    Won't play that either. It's too hard Anyway, get the get all that music I think getting the rights to the actual score itself is the largest hurdle It's up there with all of John Williams stuff It's not John Williams, but it is Silvestri who's up there in my book with yeah He's done stuff for the Avengers and a lot of the other Marvel go to pokeb cheated ocupation teaches the people, cousin of the person who's gonna write the song, the song and yay time, crazy stuff. But what he's playing earlier is The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News. That one, I guess I, fuck it, I'm putting that one in here. Tçoska, The Yeah, I think getting licensing to a lot of the music that's not particular the soundtrack slash score would be kind of an uphill battle, but I don't know the art. I'd be cool with just Photoshop shit like Lord of the Rings, to be honest, just to get the game out there. Otherwise, I'm not sure if a zombie Yeti Artstyle would fit, but he's pretty incredible so he could make anything fit. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see what happens. Craig Bobby style. Wait and see. All that.
    16:53
    All right. There's a little news. There's a little Back to the Future speculation. Now to the reoccurring segment where I review the games that I've owned. I didn't time this purposefully, but I'm thankful that the timing is so perfect. I used some more licensed music! But for those who didn't get it, the game I'm going to review is Lord of the Rings by Stern. A quick aside before I get into this. A couple people that reached out actually said, hey, it's nice to hear someone who goes through games so quick. I also go through games somewhat quick and sometimes get shit about it. And I couldn't empathize more. It's so strange to me in this hobby. The strangest thing I've found is how people get so hung up on, quote, bolting things to the floor or I've owned it forever. It's never leaving my house. That game never. What the fuck? Z изучhtis Jimmy Sark igen, malander SWU and a 00ề , coq CPR6 renovation , the Commons and yeah hey I owned it four times I love it so let get right into it review let start with theme and as I mentioned last podcast if you listen to it if not it called episode one for me this is a grail theme as they say this is a 10 out of 10 easy 11 out of 10 if we could cheat but let not cheat it a 10 out of 10 I did not grow up on Lord of the Rings or Hobbit. I knew about the Hobbit maybe in my mid-teens. I read it and like, okay, it's fine. But the first time I saw Lord of the Rings, I didn't know much about it. I saw it in the theater. I think I confused it with like, what is it like Legend of the Ten Rings, some Asian stuff. I don't know. In my head, it was all convoluted into I thought it was I had no idea what it was going to be. I saw the trailer and oh, okay, it's something a little different. I went in only knowing that people revered it. They loved it and I was willing to give it a chance. I after the three hours, I guess the original cut, I think three hours of theatrical. I couldn't fucking believe it was so good. It was so good. More than anything, you know, the story is great. It's it's the mood. The New mood is not the strongest word atmosphere all that the feng shui all that in one the feeling of just
    20:03
    Watchinging the Shire scene I could take that Shire scene make it seven and a half hours long. I wouldn't leave I Just you get engrossed in everything about it the feeling of you know Kind of like an almost like an ancient Ireland kind of feeling and in Hobbiton in the Shire Z weekendал spend catalog directedW Ок 30 DWinderagegere, алеktston, ingredients, ad historic Fourth History epic I'm a fan of the game code, but it's actually on my radar. It's just something I want to design myself. I've created Middle Earth maps on wood, both from wood burning and just drawing. I collect, not a lot of collect, but I guess that would be for me talking shit earlier about people collecting. Now I'm like, yeah, but I collect. I have a few statues, four from Gentle Giant, not crazy expensive, but nice ones. So yeah, suffice to say the theme is a 10 out of 10. I can't think of a better theme in pinball. The only one that I guess would even come close and it wouldn't beat it for me personally, that would even come close would be the matrix. Yeah, I think the matrix but that would be it'd be a 10 without a rating Lord of the Rings would be 11. Theme is 10. Let's move on gameplay. That shit is also a 10. Now I'm not talking about the okay, you get you know, you play hour long games for a The game is a 10. The shots, I mean, I guess you can call it a fan layout, sure, there's a fan layout, but there's so many shots to hit. Each one feels different. I, my favorite two shots, thanks for asking, are the Legolas ramp on the left and surprisingly the Aragon ramp, Aragorn, ramp on the right, that, that clunky son of a bitch, only if I backhand it though. I hate the way it feels from the left flipper. From the right flipper, you backhand it and if your coils stay good the whole game, you can always backhand it. I don't know, because it, I don't know, something about that shot, I guess I can't put it into words. TheFUNKSHUAYA, Gameplay, 10. Period. That's it. Game length aside and all that, and we'll talk about that later. Ruless, we got ourselves another 10. Rules, deep. Deep, deep, deep. And not deep in an overly, like there's just so much to do, half of it's not fun, a la Simpson's Pinball Party, in my opinion. WPPRKNOWN Fun έχει chronicles R documentary in p53 Andrew Hu, Oct tadiF GonzalezPlanet Infinite WindsalıAlexander一起고기 괜찮아 , Sielapie basti, You've run out of time, The story is about the Fellowship, the nine creatures, the beings, the Folk of Middle Earth that accompany Frodo to try to destroy the Ring. That's the first book, mainly.
    24:54
    So how do you get that multiball? You have to hit a shot that corresponds with each of those nine fellowship. Genius. Two towers, what's that? Well that one's you know, not as like, oh my god, so good. It's just Zlock a couple balls and It's multiball so whatever. Third one though, Collecting the souls. Getting up there and hearing Gimli say a hundred souls, five hundred souls is lame after a while âr Hopkins and the Return of the King is a close second. Two towers, eh, whatever. It's fine. So getting to each of those is great. Back to the ring Destroy the ring mini wizard mode.
    25:49
    So you get it lit. The flasher starts going. I like it on 2 ball in the settings. I think it's two ball, the one where you get it to float. Whichever one it is, that's what I'm talking about. The setting of the wizard mode is what I refer to. Where you hit the ring shot once up the middle and then it floats. The magnet grabs it and it just hovers there. And to me, well, okay, that's after you hit the four qualifying shots. It's four easy qualifying shots. Eight times out of ten you're gonna hit those shots. They're fine. And then you hit it up the middle and then the ball floats. To me, that's the ring dangling. That's the ring you have to knock into Mount Doom, which also happens to be right up there. The Ball, it goes to the right which is where Mount Doom is and that's how you destroy the ring It's so good and then on the screen you see Frodo and Gollum fighting You know the music is super tense, and I I've destroyed the ring many times, but not to brag like hey You know hey, I've destroyed the ring many a times but I've yet to show my wife, and I've wanted you so many times. I there's been I've been in the house, I'm in the other room, okay, I got to destroy the ring, I got a great game going, the coils are nice and strong, I'm like, I'm going to hit this, I hit the four shots, and I've done it before, I'm like, Dana, Dana, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, cross the house where I call her from my phone, I'm holding, like, I have the ball in left flip or something, I call her from the, come here, come here, I just want to show her what happens, but I've tried four times, I've tried another time where I get the ball dangling, and I'm like, okay, and she comes and she's watching, I'm like, I just got to hit the shot, and I'm, and I've Pina Prick every time she hasn seen it but I want her to see it and for those who have gotten there I want you to see it you have to play it with you on it or get somewhere we can get to that mode if you haven and destroy the ring Once you destroy the ring the pinball machine fucking explodes all the lights goes to the other stream Well let it be the same
    28:07
    It makes your day, especially if you haven't done it in a while. The end mode is you're throwing your end is a tree for those who don't know living tree that you know they're pissed off at sour Mon so in this mode you open up the the orthon shot which is you hit the pinball into it and on the animation a and picks up a big rock looks like a pinball and throws it at orthon to hit it just like in the game just what you did in the game The game they do it on the animation and they put up in the souls and then you collect the slow souls and whatever whatever for those that know the actual timeline of the story that actually somewhat makes sense as well it's it's after that happens in the book and in the movies is when you're collecting the souls but that's an aside that mode is fantastic but back to the point of there and back again you do all the modes you don't need to beat the modes you do need to beat the modes if you want to do Valinor but go through all the modes I guess you can somewhat cheat Star Trek style and just hold the ball and time them out and that's fine I try not to rywpragitive M PUNCH! But it's a great second little mini wizard mode with fantastic music. It feels like you're in Hobbiton, all that, you know, that's going on. I could go on to gameplay in rules
    30:05
    till the cows come home. But hey, it's a ten. Hope I've made my point clear. Visuals. What I do again, for those who don't know, is I combine lighting and art and all that into one instead of separating visuals is where we go under ten. I have this at an eight. I had it at a seven, but I'm changing it to eight because I think that the whole, you know, under the playfield environment is pretty perfect. And I consider that a visual. But if we break it down to what is the art on the playfield, that's bad. It's a five out of 10. I guess it's just it's passable at best. The back box is great because it's just the first movie of the fellowship. The side art is pretty great. I think everything else is good. The elvish kind of lettering and all that going on. But the playfield is garbage. Garbage can. But I think the lighting, aside from the wizard modes, I'm talking about the incandescent. I think that does that game wonders. I've had games with just the incandescent. I've had them with no ghosting, non-ghosting, whatever there. LEDs? Bad. I don't think it looks great. It pops, but it doesn't look right. and at the most recent one I have has LEDs with the LED OCD that makes the LEDs mimic an incandescent which is the first time I've owned that and I'm actually gonna rip it out and put an incandescence I think nothing can touch the incandescence in that game it has this kind of subtle gold glow to it that makes me think of you know the ring the gold a very warm real earth you know it just feels right and and to me that game with incandescence with the The playfield under glass or whatever I forget the even phrase can't think of it. You know what I mean? Awesome under the glass and then the outside art aside from the paint the playfield is pretty great. We'll give that an eight. Audio without pin sound plus is a six. The custom call outs are cool and this is the only reason it's above a five for me. It's custom call outs from some of the actors and I think the first time you hear mattressler Bae, I'm a fan of the old ones so much. One as a, you know, an audio guy, a musician and all that. It's very important to me and when I'm listening to studio monitors, you know, most of my days are really expensive headphones or doing mixes in, you know, what you want to hear is neutrality and you're working with super high bit rates and uncompressed audio. That is the opposite of uncompressed audio. It's the worst parts of what you'd think early MP3s, hi-hats and cymbals sound like. It's so bad. I kept turning it down. Second time I owned it. I had a pin sound. That transformed that game. You know, you can get just real, real audio in it. Uncompressed WAV files if you'd like. You can get the movie soundtrack. You can make it sound like the movies do. They can have stereo sound, all that. You know, that would elevate it to a 10 with pin sound with one caveat and that caveat is when you turn on a game that has pin sound, for those who haven't owned one, you know when you turn on a Stern before Spike 2, you just turn it on and Instantly you can play it. You can hit start within like one second and you're playing the game. That's- for me I really like that about those older games. You don't have to wait for it to boot up and it's a PC. It- I honestly- it- it makes me avoid a lot of newer games, it's as small as it may seem. So on Lord of the Rings where it's like alright I'm playing a game, turn it on, good to go, Pin sound takes about 20 seconds to kind of kick in. For those who don't know and I know I mentioned like you can use whatever sounds you want, it's this board you put in the backbox, you hook up a bunch of stuff, You're basically bypassing the game's audio and inputting in your own and then you can tweak treble and bass and loudness and it's amazing. It's about uh what 350 400 bucks something like that a little under colored dmd
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    but when you have to wait that 20 seconds it kind of just disconnects me from the game it's it's kind of like that feeling of when you mod a game to death and you kind of miss the stock version it's something like that so all right so we got theme 10 gameplay 10 rules 10 visuals 8 audio 6 The game is a B plus, if we use my numbers. I guess, just like last week, what's my personal feeling on this game? It's an A, not an A plus, just because the games can get really long if you're good, and it does get to a point, even if you think the theme is an 11 out of 10, where you're like, I don't want to play this game anymore. I don't want to play it and I'm you know hey I'm living proof I don't want to play it so I sell it but then I miss it and I want it back and then I'm like fuck this game so I sell it and then I get it back and every time like I'm gonna keep it and I'm telling you this time I'm keeping it and I'm saying that so that when I do end up getting rid of it I will say so on this podcast Well, that's a wrap. Episode two.In the bag.We did it.I'll see if this one gets auto deleted by the man.Hey, next time you want to delete it, just reach out.Maybe I own some of this music, bro.Anyway, thanks for sticking with me.My name is Jason, Wild Rover on Pinside.Thoughts, questions, concerns, tell me what you think.PinballPartyPodcast at GV. DE afterward E mailbandmake at Moder
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