Episode 302: Matthias Theißen, Twitch’s “pinballboy”

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·24m 17s·analyzed·Apr 14, 2021

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Interview with German streamer Matthias Theißen on pinball streaming, content creation, and community engagement.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Matthias Theißen ("pinballboy"), a German Twitch streamer and pinball content creator who produces gameplay streams, technical guides, and pin golf challenges from his home setup of 16 machines. Discussion covers streaming logistics, his entry into pinball via Theater of Magic, online competitive formats like ICR challenges, modding culture, and Germany's pinball landscape relative to the Netherlands and North America.

Key Claims

Matthias has produced approximately 100 quick guide videos across old and new pinball machines
high confidence · Matthias states: 'I have now the fifth season and I now have roundabout 100 videos about separated pinball machines'
Theater of Magic was the pinball machine that got Matthias into the hobby and where he first reached wizard mode
high confidence · Matthias: 'I really think this is the first pinball machine where I reached the wizard mode. And I was so proud on that day.'
Stern pinball machines in Germany are distributed through KMS company with proper licensing permissions
high confidence · Matthias explains: 'if we have this pinball machine coming from Stern Pinball directly to the KMS company, where I do my streams, and they are the main distributor for pinball machines in Germany, and they have the permission'
Germany lacks arcade locations with quarter-fed games compared to the Netherlands
high confidence · Matthias: 'in germany we don't have arcades where you can put in your quarters and play pac-man and stuff like that we don't have this but if you go across the dutch border there you find it on every camping ground'
Pinball machines were leaving German bars in the 1990s
high confidence · Matthias: 'in the 80s, we still had pinball machines and bars and stuff like that. And in the 90s, the time when I got into these bars, the pinball machines were leaving'
IFPA 18 tournament is scheduled to happen in Germany (next year from interview date)
high confidence · Jeff states: 'next year's IFPA 18 is happening in Germany'
Matthias streams Led Zeppelin pinball Pro version and plans to stream the Limited Edition version
high confidence · Matthias: 'We just played the pro version when it arrived in Europe for the first time. And this Friday, actually, you'll be playing the Limited Edition'
Theater of Magic's left orbit strategy can be mitigated through rule changes at different venues

Notable Quotes

“It's just about fun and meeting people, talk to them like we did. And it's a great place to be there. People forget that it was fun that got us interested in pinball in the first place.”
Matthias Theißen @ mid-episode — Emphasizes community connection and fun as central to pinball culture over competitive rankings
“I really learned with the inserts and how I do the shots how a pinball machine really works. I mean, it's 25 years ago. I mean, back in my days.”
Matthias Theißen @ mid-episode — Highlights Theater of Magic as foundational to learning pinball mechanics
“even if I don't have met these persons in real life, I still feel very connected, and, yeah, it feels like friendship.”
Matthias Theißen @ early-mid episode — Demonstrates value of online streaming and remote competition in building community during lockdowns
“I mean, if you have lit speaker panels and you want to try to put them into your stern pinball machine that's just four screws and then you're done with it, that's more my level.”
Matthias Theißen @ late-episode — Defines modding comfort level: simple cosmetic mods vs. complex wiring projects
“Sometimes it really depends on the community, because, I mean, of course, I do a little test. I record 10 minutes and I listen to it.”
Matthias Theißen @ late-mid episode — Shows iterative approach to streaming audio balance based on viewer feedback
“the great sights you should be drinking is more the question that you should ask.”
Matthias Theißen @ late-episode — Humorous comment about German beer culture

Entities

Matthias TheißenpersonJeff TeolispersonAlbert MedallionpersonPinball BoymediaTheater of Magicgame Led ZeppelingameDutch Pinball MuseumvenueKMScompany

Signals

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community_signal: Matthias uses Twitch streaming and content creation as primary tool for building pinball community connections, including Friday night streams, technical guides, and pin golf challenges with international participants
high · Matthias streams 16 machines Friday nights, produces 100+ quick guide videos, hosts pin golf challenges with viewers from multiple countries; emphasizes 'it feels like friendship' even without meeting in person
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community_signal: German pinball community is smaller and less organized around streaming than North American community; majority of content remains in German language
high · Matthias notes: 'we don't have that much streamers here in Germany' and 'Mostly, of course, my videos are in German'; contrast with North America's larger streaming ecosystem
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market_signal: Online pinball competition via ICR challenges and streaming is emerging as viable alternative to live tournaments during pandemic/lockdown periods
high · Both Jeff and Matthias discuss ICR matches, pin golf challenges, and Twitch streaming as primary competitive/social outlet when tournaments unavailable; Jeff mentions following 35 different pinball streams
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event_signal: IFPA 18 scheduled for Germany, representing international tournament organization in non-traditional location
high · Jeff states: 'next year's IFPA 18 is happening in Germany' with tentative IFPA 17 in Florida
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market_signal: Geographic differences in pinball availability: Germany lacks quarter-fed arcade culture present in Netherlands and North America; pinball machines largely disappeared from German bars by 1990s

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.073

0:00

it's time for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teals you can find everything on pinballprofile.com past episodes subscriptions and more you can follow us on twitter and instagram at pinball profile please email us pinball profile at gmail.com i do a lot on social media i'm on facebook but so does our next guest and not only social media but streaming and so much more and we go to West Germany right now. Joining us, Matthew Tyson. Hey, Matthew, how are you? Yes, hey, Jeff. Good to be here, man. It's really a pleasure. You know, one of my favorite things about pinball, and I've done over 300 of these episodes, not everyone I'm very familiar with. In fact, some people I'm talking to for the very first time, this would be this case. But you and I actually did cross paths recently because of the IFPA's ICR challenge. Good friend of yours, Albert Medallion, challenged me to a match and he said, do you mind if I stream it? I'm like, sure, because I let everyone see as I'm playing the game. I'll put up my iPad. I don't stream like you do, but I let him watch the video, and he goes, yeah, is it okay if we stream? And that's where you came in on Pinball Boy. Yes, and it was really fun because it was the first time when I hosted one of these matches. You had Jeff on the left and Albert on the right, and I was in the middle of it, and it was really fun. That's how we do it now with all the Internet stuff, and we do not have any tournaments right now. But it's really fun to compete online against each other. And it was really fun hosting this match. And, yeah, it was good to know you. I was glad to do that and certainly get to meet you. Just that brief moment there, Matthew, and now we get to know a little bit more here on Pinball Profile. But I had done that once before. In fact, I guess twice before. Once with Chuck Webster in the United States. He's in Massachusetts. But also somebody you know very well, the people at JDL Pinball, Jim and Dina Lindsay. We did that with Fishtails. They are really great people. Like when it comes really to tournament streams, they're really hooking us up. They're monsters. It's really great to see them. And we always cross each other at some tournaments and stuff like this. But, yeah, I haven't seen them in a while, sadly, because of all the lockdown stuff. And, yeah, that's how we do. But you did mention a good point. Because we're in lockdown, because people like yourself are streaming, we are still able to connect. And yes, I enjoy watching what Jim and Dina do when it comes to tournaments, but I've been watching a little bit of Pinball Boy as well, too. And it's not just streams from your home. You have 16 pins there, but you do something kind of every Friday night. And recently I watched you play Led Zeppelin, and that was a lot of fun, too. Plus you also have tech guides and other things, too, on Pinball Boy. But what did you think of the game, and what was it like streaming it? We just played the pro version when it arrived in Europe for the first time. And, yeah, the Pro version was very fun. And this Friday, actually, you'll be playing the Limited Edition. And I'm, yeah, looking forward to see the comparison and how the spinner is doing and how this changed the game and stuff like that. So, yeah, the Pro version was already great, and it was fast like you expected from Steve Ritchie. But now let's see how the LE version goes. And, yeah, I'm looking forward to that this Friday. It's nice to be able to stream new pinball machines or really any pinball machines. It's funny, I watch some streamers and they'll say, vote on the game. And it might be something new, like a Led Zeppelin, or it might be something old. And a lot of times I find myself voting for an older one, too, because you don't get to see as many of those streams. And maybe you learn something, too. And I know an older game is basically the pinball machine that got you into pinball and that really hooked you in. And that's one of my favorite games in Theater of Magic. Oh, it really is. I really love that game. Yeah, I could stop talking about it. We did a little pin golf challenge on that last time, and I was playing against a true wizard. Like every time that he loses one challenge, he was doing a magic trick, and it was really fun to play together with Cybercadier on this little challenge. And Albert also joined later on, and it's really great to see how people connect over the Internet. And even if I don't have met these persons in real life, I still feel very connected, and, yeah, it feels like friendship. Matthew, I've got two questions. One, what did you do for pin golf? Because I know you like to do different challenges, which I think is great, as opposed to just straight score. And secondly, more importantly maybe, what were the magic tricks he was doing? Yeah, it was just like he had a special cam set up and Parvis, that's his name, he was doing like juggling tricks. Like he had a scarf and then it magically turned off his neck and stuff like that. It was really a fun stream for us all. and a great challenge, and I would like to do it again, and next time we do it on Batman 66, and maybe next year a recap of the Theater of Magic. With pin golf, unfortunately I don't see a lot of this anymore because of the way maybe the IFPA is structured as far as getting TGP and things like that for those that kind of want to maximize their tournament experience, but I find the actual pin golf tournament, forget points, forget ratings and everything else. I just find it fun because of the different challenges. It's not the way you normally play a pinball machine. So maybe you've got this machine you've played the heck out of, but now you're playing it a different way. And it's almost like a new machine. And I find it a lot of fun with the different things you can do in pin golf. Exactly. And with this ICR match with Albert, there was the chat on Twitch that said, hey, man, come on, let's do a round cross-handed. And then I told you that and you said, okay, come on, let's do three balls cross-handed and let's see how I get the mountain of points. And that's really fun of it. It's just like not playing for points. You have these little challenges and who reaches this first and stuff like that. And that really a whole different way to play a pinball machine like you said exactly Matthew I just remember that now because I played a lot of these ICR challenges I find them just absolutely fun and again a great way to connect to people that I know and that I don know And with Albert, we were playing ACDC, and it was maybe a straight game or can you start three multi-balls or best score in one ball or best score with one hand. And it was just, you know, it didn't matter. We were both doing the same thing. I could care less. It's still pinball. It was so much fun. Yeah, of course. If you're not going to go out to some tournaments like that, it's fun to compete in that way. And, yeah, I don't understand the people that don't like these matches. Like, hey, it's not really comparable. You have two different machines and blah. And that's like, man, it's not about the big points and we don't get a statue at the end of the year. It's just about fun and meeting people, talk to them like we did. And it's a great place to be there. People forget that it was fun that got us interested in pinball in the first place. Exactly. And I guess that's why Theater of Magic really drew you in because that is a fun game. I mean, there's a lot of different things that happen there. Things pop up. The shots are great. Great orbits, great ramps. The trunk itself. I can see how you were hooked. Yes, really. I learned pinball from that machine. You have to hit the trunk three times to start a mission, and you can spell the word magic with the ramp and stuff like that. I really learned with the inserts and how I do the shots how a pinball machine really works. I mean, it's 25 years ago. I mean, back in my days. I mean, it's really always a good time to remember. And I really think this is the first pinball machine where I reached the wizard mode. And I was so proud on that day. And I still remember this day. And it's great memories. I know some of my friends from the pinball league, they say, the seat of magic, that's not a good one. I know. I mean, of course, there are a lot of good machines, new machines, old machines. I don't care. They are equally as good or maybe better, but I still love this pin and I will always love that. I think you might hear from competitive people that say, oh, Theater of Magic, you know, it's just left orbit all day. Okay. I mean, if you play that game at something like Indisc in California where they change things a little bit, well, there's different strategies. So the game itself shoots wonderful. Yeah, the code could be a little bit different, but again, it's about having fun. And I think you certainly did that. One of the things you just mentioned a few minutes ago, you were talking about Batman 66 and you're going to be streaming that. I did see on pinballboy.de, that's your website, I saw a guide that you did. It was a tech guide for Batman 66. So I know you've really been both feet in in pinball in the last five years. Are you a good tech? Yeah, I have these tech guides and I have these quick guides. I have now the fifth season and I now have roundabout 100 videos about separated pinball machines like you have. Yeah, where you have to shoot to get lock lit and then you have to shoot there to lock the ball and stuff like that. I just explain very briefly what you have to do in this pin. And it's really across old pinball machines, the 90s, the new pinball machines. And yeah, I put a lot of effort into these videos for the last years. I also have tech guides, but they're more about how you set up lit speaker panel and stuff like that, like really technical stuff. But the quick guides are really, yeah, I would say my favorite videos because I love to do them. And I love to travel across the country and meet other people. Like I asked one, hey, who has a Wizard of Oz? I want to shoot a video of this pin. And somebody in the community said, hey, man, you can come over to my place. And I have another pin, The Hobbit. Maybe you want to film that too. And I was like, yes, man, two at a time. I drove there and I shoot the videos about this. And really, I try to do this in five or six minutes and just say, OK, shoot there, shoot here. There's a super jackpot and there's a skill shot and go for it. So anyone listening to Pinball Profile knows when it comes to teching, I'm not very good. I can solder a wire if I see that it's come off. I've got that. But switch tests, I can change bulbs. But, I mean, really, diagnosing the problem is very difficult for me. And is it safe to say that the older the game, the harder it is to diagnose, especially if it's an EM? Yes, you're definitely right. But when it comes to wiring and stuff, I may have the same level that you got.

10:29

But, yes, if you have an early or something like that, an electronic machine, that is really something that you have to know about if you try to put your screwdriver in it. just to test it, what happens. But I'm always not doing this all by myself. I have really good friends at the Pinball League, and they're really there for help. And like, hey, what's the problem? And they come on, I come over and help you. And even the Internet, if you have a great forum like Flippermarkt in Germany, you can ask your questions there. And there are a lot of people who are sending you pictures and stuff like that. And, hey, man, you have to wire it this way and blah, blah, blah. And, yeah, it's really helpful if you have good friends that look over your shoulder if you try to wire something. That is the great thing about the guides that you do on pinballboy.da, on your stream, on Twitch as well for Pinball Boy. But the fact that there's so many different people out there to help, whether it's on a forum, whether it's Pinside, whether it's Tilt Forums. I'm sure there are German forums that I'm not familiar with. But it's great that so many people are willing to help. and it's as easy as picking up an iPad or Facebook Messenger or something to video through that. I had Ken Walker. He's a good guy in Chicago, and he's at Galloping Ghost, and he walked me through a fix on my Medusa game. And I was kind of stuck until he said, look, let's just go on FaceTime or whatever the case may be, and he walked me through it. Quick fix. He knew exactly what the problem was. So I guess, you know, maybe that should be a goal for me for 2021, that I should be less afraid to fix games, take the plunge, ask for help like you do and it could be a lot easier But seeing videos that you do these things do make it easier Yeah I hope so And especially if I just explaining there are some people that comment on these videos or sending me private messages, and I'm always there to help. And, yeah, one guy, I mean, he's a beginner. He asked me one time, like, hey, every time I have a free game, my pinball machine makes a weird sound. It sounds like the box is something. Is there something broken or stuff? No, no, it's okay. The knocker? Yeah, the knocker. It has to be that way. You can get a walking dead pin, and I could say, okay, you can make it a little bit less louder and stuff like that. But, you know, it was really fun if somebody who came new into this pinball madness has questions like this, and I'm always there to help. And if somebody just, hey, man, what's your favorite pin? I'm always there to answer those questions. I'm not a huge mod guy myself. I mean, I go to different leagues and different collections, certainly outside of the pandemic, and I see the mods, and I marvel at how amazing they are. I don't do a lot on my machines. The only mods I've really done are on my ACDC machine, replacing the junky plastic cannon, putting on a really nice one, kind of almost like a die-cast one, and a few other things here and there. Comet Pinball, I know, has got some great mods for lighting up your flipper buttons and things like that, Measel mods. There's so many great mod makers out there. I don't know if that's something that you like. Is that something that's popular in Germany? Is it just maybe something that we see a lot here in North America? No, it's the same thing that some people say, man, that's really fun, and I put this into my pin and this into my pin and this into my pin. Really, if you have, like, for example, the Theater of Magic, you have this moving chainsaw, that's really a must-have mod. Oh. Yeah, but, I mean, it really depends on what you like. I mean, I have one friend, he said modding is, you know, he doesn't like that. The only thing that he does is he puts mirror blades into his pinball machine, and that's all. I mean, okay, it's good if you don't like this, but I personally, I have some mods in my pins, but it's a little limited, I would say, because I don't want to fix some wires here and stuff like that. It's just easy ones. I mean, if you have lit speaker panels and you want to try to put them into your stern pinball machine that's just four screws and then you're done with it, that's more my level. So, yeah, modding is okay. It looks good. It's fun. But there are a lot of people who don't like that. Well, a couple of things. You talk about putting in speakers and lights and this and that and mods even, too. I know with streaming and any kind of changes to a machine, I know Stern recently did their EULA, their end user license agreement. Oh, yeah. Did that change things for you for streaming if you had mods or even the music with the DMCA? Yeah, I mean, in Germany, if we have this pinball machine coming from Stern Pinball directly to the KMS company, where I do my streams, and they are the main distributor for pinball machines in Germany, and they have the permission. So there is no one telling otherwise, and we don't play pinball machines modded. They just came in as they came from Stern, so we don't have the problems there at all. and when I uploaded the stream of video, that's the best scenes from the last streams, there was no problem with the music. It was just like, you can't see it in Cuba. So every, my fans in Cuba, I'm really sorry. You can watch this video there. But I mean, that's not a problem at all. Okay, I didn't know, especially if someone sees mods on there or the music has changed or lights or this and that. I doubt mirror blades, but you never know. I mean, they have to protect their licenses and I understand why they do that. but I just didn't know for someone who streams as much as you if you've come across anything like that. Yeah, I've read it. I mean, it's a hard discussion in the forum, but we don't have that much streamers here in Germany, and I couldn't remember anyone who has a pimped-up Stern pinball machine, and I don't guess there is a problem. I mean, we are not that much here in Germany, like I said, and yeah. I watch a lot of different streams on Twitch. I think I counted 35 different pinball streams that I follow. It's always nice to go onto Twitch and see who's on and pop in for a chat a little bit, watch a little bit of stream. Again, especially without live competition and, again, just to connect as well. What is it like for you for streaming to get the sound just right? Because you talked about Led Zeppelin. The music is such a big part of the game. And not only the music, but the sounds in the game. Ripping the spinner, I mean, that's a unique sound. and there's all kinds of good stuff on there that you want to get in there, but you also have to be commentating as well, too. So is that a tough thing to find the balance? You mentioned earlier about what's that noise after the free game, the knocker. I think of a game like Fishtails. I unplugged the topper because it's so loud, and I don't want to wake everybody up in the house when I'm playing late at night. So what's it like getting the sounds just right for streaming?

17:16

Sometimes it really depends on the community, because, I mean, of course, I do a little test. I record 10 minutes and I listen to it. And we're trying now to hook up the game with a device that you can put the sound of the pinball machine directly into your computer. And then it's a little bit clearer than just standing there with a mic. And, yeah, sometimes the community says, hey, could you please turn off the volume or something like that? And it was at the first Led Zeppelin stream that we did. We started with volume 10. Like we want to talk to each other and we want to say like, hey, you have to shoot this and this. And every time a new one comes in like, hey, man, can you turn off the volume a little bit? And later on we were at 30 or 40, I don't know. And it was just only loud music and playing pinball. Sometimes it just depends on what the community and all the watchers and the viewers want to see and to hear And yeah that is the balance Yeah a challenge for sure Now, I have not spent much time at all. I think two total days, and they were both basically at the Frankfurt Airport in Germany. I was planning on coming to Germany last summer. It doesn't look like this summer will be the case, but there's a lot of great places to play, a lot of amazing German players, so many tournaments. Fulda certainly comes to mind, but you're in West Germany. I assume there's a lot in your area. And being in West Germany, you've got to be close to the Dutch border there, so the Dutch Pinball Museum. That place is so terrific. You really have to go there. I met this guy, Gerhard. He is really an amazing person and really open-minded when it comes to pinball machines. And I did a small interview with him on his place where we reopened the Dutch Pinball Museum after the first lockdown at a new location. And it's really a great place to stay. And even if you ever come across Germany, just let me know. I pick you up and show you some good places. I definitely will do that. And like you said, we are very close to the Dutch border. So the possibility to play on Dutch tournaments is, for me, an option. If you live in Bavaria or stuff like that, it's an eight-hour drive if you want to go to the Netherlands. and so yeah if you want to find something to play a place to play even in the in holland you have a lot of places where you can play pinball it's not like in germany in germany we don't have arcades where you can put in your quarters and play pac-man and stuff like that we don't have this but if you go across the dutch border there you find it on every camping ground you have at least two pinball machines, you have a bowling alley and stuff like that. You find a lot of entertainment with this. So I learned this in that country because in the 80s, we still had pinball machines and bars and stuff like that. And in the 90s, the time when I got into these bars, the pinball machines were leaving. So yeah, that's the dilemma. And so I could be very glad that I'm living next to the Dutch border and that they have so many places to play there. Now, I have to be careful because if I go to the Netherlands and I'm looking for pinball and I say, oh, look, there's a high speed game there. I can tell by the red light siren on the top of the game. And I walk into the place and that's the wrong red light district. Whoops. I got to be careful. It's really a great place. I mean, Amsterdam, it's just a two hour drive if you go from Germany because you had a speed limit in Holland. It's just ridiculous if it compared to Germany. Yeah, but it's really fun there. It's a fun place. And even if you go there and go to a coffee shop or stuff like that for a joint, I mean, who cares? It's just one trip. It's always once a year. So if you come across this place, I show you everything. Well, Matthew, I might take you up on that because this year the IFPA 17 looks like tentatively, and it probably will happen the way the vaccines are going in North America, and I assume the IFPA will be back up and running by definitely November. Who knows? It's just speculation. So the IFPA 17 is going to happen in Florida, but next year's IFPA 18 is happening in Germany. So fingers crossed, I'll be there for that. I hope so. That Germany trip should be happening soon. So give someone like me, who really hasn't spent time in Germany, and outside of pinball, what should I be looking for? What are some of the great sights I should be seeing? The great sights you should be drinking is more the question that you should ask. I'm Canadian. We're good there. We have that in common. Oh, great, man. Yeah, but there are, of course, some beautiful sites that you could see. Like if you're across Cologne, it is a real beautiful city. Yeah, there are so many great places that you can go. Like you have Pinball for Fun. That is one great place. I mean, okay, you said beside pinball. Yeah, I'm just thinking of like we only have beer, Autobahn, and the Oktoberfest. So maybe you come to October and then we're going to show you the action there. It's really a crazy place to be. Matthew, everyone can check you out on Pinball Boy. Why don't you share where people can connect to you? Yeah, I mean, you just said it on my homepage, pinballboy.de. You have all the links that you can find for Instagram, for Facebook, for Twitch, and, of course, my YouTube channel. I would love if you just take a visit. I also have interviews with English guys like Jack Danger or Gary Stern. I met them at the Dutch Pinball Open. So feel free to visit me. Leave a comment. I will read that. And especially if you have something for Friday, come to our stream and chat with us. We can always switch to English if you like. Mostly, of course, my videos are in German. but I always like to switch and tell stories about all this and answer all your questions. I really love to connect with all the guys from all over the country. Thank you very much. I appreciate talking to you and we will check you out on Pinball Boy on Twitch. Matthew Tyson. All the best, buddy. Jeff, thanks a lot and really thanks for all the work that you're doing because you can really see and hear the love on this pinball profile And, yeah, I love that you're doing this and put so much effort into this work. And, yeah, man, please stay healthy and give us more, more, more, more, more. Take care, Matthew. Bye-bye. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com. Check us out on our Facebook group. We're also on Twitter and Instagram at pinballprofile and email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. I'm Jeff Teolis.