Wow. We almost made it. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. For me, Christmas Eve is the main Christmas. This is when we always celebrated it. So I wanted to bring someone on who's always been a good friend of the show, a friend of mine. Let's get to it. 12 Days of Balls. 12 Days of Balls. Ball 11. One of the first people to ever reach out after hearing the The pinball party oh so long ago has stayed in contact, been a constant positive light in this pinball media life. He works for a pinball company that makes some of the subjectively, if not objectively, most beautiful pinball machines out there. Someone who has a lot of experience in the industry and even in the pinball media creation. And there has been some rhyme or reason for the people I've asked to come on and really It's the ones that I just wanted a reason to reach out, say hello, talk to, catch up with, see how they thought of 2023, what they're thinking of 2024. And yeah, this was one of the first people I messaged immediately and thankfully he obliged. So let's talk to Ken Cromwell from Jersey Jack Pinball. Oh, and quick side note, Jersey Jack Pinball has always been a huge supporter of the show. So I didn't want to tarnish any of their image or Ken's and ask his favorite curse word for us degenerates on this degenerative podcast. So let's go. The Pinball Podcast is brought to you by the Pinball Train, one half a man's better shoe, Matt Zach Meny. Well, Merry Christmas to one of my favorites, Ken Cromwell from Jersey Jack Pinball. How you doing? Jason, good to be back. Thanks for having me back on the Pinball Party. Yeah, you were one of the first on the Pinball Party, I'll say back in the day, but it was really like a year ago. It doesn't seem like a long time ago. I remember I wrote you an email and you hit me up and got back to me and then invited me on. So it was fun. It might have been the last time I went on a podcast, actually. So two for two with you this year. Are you serious? Yeah, I can't recall being on another show. Well, you were doing Special Unlit still for a while. And is that kind of on a hiatus or where's that at? Yeah, so Special Unlit, I mean, we still jump on from time to time. I think we maybe have seven or eight episodes this year that we kind of just put out. But there's not anything that's on a regular cadence or schedule, which is kind of nice. So, but other than Special One Lit, I think the only other podcast that I've been on this year is the Pinball Party. And this will be a part two. Yes. And for those who don't know your name or what you do, Ken Cromwell, well, what is your title at Jersey Jack Pinball? My official title at JJP is marketing and communications specialist. Yeah, specializing in this shit. That's right. Sounds important over there. Yeah. Doing what I can. Kyle Ray, Oh, kill me. Yeah, I get it. I get it. But I want to come down there, man. We used to have flights out of Eau Claire into Chicago. That was twenty five minutes. But they stopped doing that. How long is your drive in from Eclair? Is it like two, three hours? Four and a half. Oh, okay. So yeah, it's pretty significant. That's about right at the threshold of where I don't want to drive. Four and a half, five hours is about as far as I'll go. Yeah. Yeah. So we've been doing these 12 Days of Balls. Thank you for... You were one of the first people I texted. Thank you for being so accommodating, just jumping on right away and doing this. No, thanks for having me on, man. Appreciate it. Yeah, for sure. And I've been asking people basically the same questions, but there was one special question for you that came out of Kevin Mann from Buffalo Pinball. I was doing this, I don't remember when this is going to air, so if his hasn't aired yet, he's going to be on one of these. All right, I like Kevin. He mentioned, what he was saying for, spoiler, one of the last questions is like, what are you looking forward to in 2024 in pinball? But his was, whatever Mark Seiden's next pinball game is, and can you ask Ken what game that is? Yeah, you could certainly ask me. So Mark Seiden is, he's next in the queue. So we're excited to kind of debut that game in 2024. So, you know, unfortunately, I can't, I can't confirm or deny what the theme is. But it's, it's something that I think people will find popular and fun to play. And, you know, I don't want to get too far into the weeds on it. I mean, there's a lot of things I'd love to tease. Oh, I would love it if you did. I know, but I think, you know, especially I think that's something that the designer and his team or her team, depending on who's building, that's for them to kind of share that kind of information with. And when it comes time for me to market, you know, I'm ready to go. But I'm anxiously awaiting that title because it's going to be fun. We've got Elton John that's out right now, and those games are shipping. When people get a chance to play it, I think they're going to have real positive experience. And, you know, I'm looking forward to that, too. Everything's kind of trending up at Jersey Jack Pinball from, you know, a pinball standpoint, from a positive team standpoint. And of course, I'm towing the company line here, but I definitely believe it. Yeah, I unfortunately have not played Elton John yet, and I have wanted... There has not been a JJP release recently that I've wanted to play more than Elton John. The four and a half hour drive is the only sticking point. And if it was local, like I, you know, a music fan, probably not a surprise to some people listening to this, but I love Steve Ritchie's layouts. I'm, my first, you know, cherry popping game was Star Trek, which, you know, this looks similar. And, you know, I think a lot of these designers, when they have something that like works, do it, you know, keep doing, make variations. Like I do the same thing when I make song. I'm not like, well, now let me try rap. Now let me try country. You know, like you find something that works and just do it. The Man, that thing looks fun. How much of how much have you played it? Probably a little bit I played it a ton and the thing is I played it for so long that I Still it's look it's just it's a fun game. It's what pinball should be It just makes you feel good when you're playing it like you want to step up and the game presents so well Elton John is is a powerhouse in the music industry as a recording artist and so everything that that you're familiar with with Elton John is there, you know Jack Guarnieri says that the game was kind of like a love letter to Elton John, but it really just kind of celebrates his career. But it's got all the familiarities of like a Steve Ritchie kind of design that you would expect. It's very flowy. It's very fast. I from all of the feedback that I've received for the most part, and I would say 99 percent just going from pinball shows, everybody that plays it really really likes it I mean we had super long lines at Expo and people would get back in after waiting 40 45 minutes and play it again We had people that played it four or five times You know I wish we had more games that we had brought out but you know the feedback is positive And when you think about Jersey Jack and I don't, you know, edit this out if you want to, but I mean, 90% of our, you know, of our buyers, they are people that are home owners. They're owning games within the home, right? So we don't really have when a game comes out, it's not out at 500 locations. So for us, a lot of, you know, being able to kind of drive, you know, interest in a game after the initial launch is getting the game in front of people and letting people play it and then having that positive experience. So, you know, right now we're in a transition of we've launched the game and it's been out and now it's starting to ship and we get that second wave of, you know, momentum and it's exciting. It's going to be fun. What I like about that, I mean, again, the problem of driving four and a half hours ago, I don't have one at home. I wish I did. I see some other manufacturers kind of trying to be everything to everyone. It sounds like, again, correct me if I'm wrong, that you are concentrating on some of that home market or at least it's a major point you're thinking of while designing and doing it. Because I see others were like, you got to pick something or lean into something. Is Jersey Jack machines being a home game one of the main points you're making or is it... I don't know that we're making the point. It's just kind of a matter of circumstance. Right now where we're coming in at, more people are buying in the homes than on location, and that's not to say that we're not trying to pay attention to locations. In fact, we've got a couple things in the works that we think may make it more appealing for additional locations to kind of get more of our games at their location, so to speak. And I'll have more news about that, I think, a little bit later. But obviously, it's advantageous to have your games in bars and restaurants and arcades, and we do have some of that, but it's something that I would like to focus on increasing the jimmaldie glueda ju� Consulting jimmaldie glueda ju 느낌 toy textbook lie know Yeah, you got it, man. All right. What is your favorite pinball thing from 2023? Could be a game, could be a person, could be a thing, could be an event. I think we kind of touched on it. And that was just Steve Ritchie being able to launch a game with Jersey Jack Pinball for the first time, that first reveal. I've known Steve for a long time, for years prior to him coming over to Jersey Jack Pinball. So I didn't really know what to expect when he had come in and to kind of see all of his hard work with his team kind of come to fruition. And now he's got this game that he's bringing to Pinball Expo in Chicago. What was an important thing for Steve, but it was fun for me to watch and it was a thrilling experience to kind of see the reaction people that had on the game to see Steve's reaction. And and, you know, some of it was was personal for Steve. You know, I think that he had some things that he wanted to prove to some people and including himself. And I think that he had done that. And I know that he's proud of what he accomplished. And I'm proud to have been working in a small capacity with getting that game out. But that was the most exciting thing pinball-wise that happened for me personally in 2023, just kind of experiencing that and being along for the ride. And I don't know if this is something you can share or not. So I can edit this out. But Steve's not done at Jersey Jack. Was that a one-off or is he still making stuff? No, Steve's not done at Jersey Jack. Nope. Yeah, good. Do you believe in aliens? But what's your definition of an alien? Like, what are we talking about? Anything that's not from planet Earth? Yeah, sure. Yeah, without a doubt, I think that there there are aliens. There may be aliens here. When I look at and it's interesting, they said I was having this conversation with somebody a couple of weeks ago, the amount of kind of disclosure that's going on with the U.S. government right now, where they're kind of dropping these bombs. With UFOs and UAPs and alien technology. If you would have dropped this information maybe 30 years ago, 20 years ago, even 10 years ago, I think it would have been a huge topic of public conversation. People would be buzzing about it. There would be concerns. But it's like we've been so desensitized as a nation to shocking things that it's like you could literally say, hey, by the way, there are aliens here and we're kind of under their control and we're part of this little zoo exhibit. I don't think that it would shock too many people, honestly. I think it'd be like, oh, okay, whatever. We'll go with the flow. The other way to look at it is, you know, is disclosing this stuff a distraction for something else that's coming down the pipeline? I wouldn't rule anything out. But if I had to guess, I would say that, mathematically speaking, there has to be intelligent life somewhere else, and I wouldn't be shocked if it's here or it has been here in the past. So I guess the answer to aliens would be absolutely yes. 100%. Does Jersey Jack employ any aliens or is that something you can't discuss? Yeah, no, I could not because of confidentiality. Right, okay. Do you believe in ghosts? Oh wow, okay, so this is, we're way out in the weeds here. Oh yeah, there's nothing to do with pinball. This is not pinball stuff. Do I believe in ghosts? Yeah. My first inclination is to say, yeah, I do believe in ghosts. I think some of like paranormal activity is stuff that's kind of like memories that are Vidya Lakshma Shamantachondra, social networking writers, Demonic things that can take the form of like an apparition, like a typical ghost, and I think could probably scare the hell out of you if it wanted to or whatever. I did grow up for a few years in a house that we lived in in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, that I was pretty convinced as somebody that was in like fourth, third, fourth grade that there was some paranormal activity going on there. I never saw a headless person or a bent neck lady or anything like that, but there were some strange unsettling happenings where you would hear, clear as day, hear somebody humming in a corner or whistling, or you would see out of the corner of your eye something that definitely moved and you couldn't figure out why. And then when I was younger, I didn't realize it, but there was a tragic incident at that house where somebody had taken their own life in the garage. So again, you know, it was, are these memories on the ether? Just somebody that's living their life somehow that's just kind of ingrained and burned and I'm just kind of hearing residuals of that or, I don't know, it's a fascinating question but again, I would probably say that, yeah, I do absolutely believe in ghosts. I'm not scared of ghosts but I do believe in them. The things that freak me out about it I don know and I more like you if I going to you know believe it more that kind of like the in whatever but for me it that like sometimes I feel like my I playing tricks on myself Like if I think of something and like I start to think of fear the thinking of it possibly being like a demonic ghost or something like that it like I don know maybe it my maybe I should be talking to a therapist about this but you know that stuff is what freaks me out Well, welcome to my couch here, Jason. I appreciate it. We can talk this out. But you make a lot of sense. I think there's very few things that are more powerful than the feeling of fear. And when you start thinking something, and you probably are a lot like me, you can be very over analytical on things. And the mind is such a powerful thing that it can create a sense of fear or even make you believe that you're seeing something or experiencing something. But sometimes there's another sense that we have. As humans, we have that fight or flight kind of mentality that's ingrained. And if something's off, I think that we can tell. And obviously if there's a ghost or... Do you have something going on in your house or do you have something that happened where you're kind of like it's on your mind? No, but I don't even like thinking about it. Even the question coming up is interesting to me. No, it's just something that honestly I've been... So these questions on here, maybe this is a good time to talk about it. I put these questions on here not for some like big reason of like all the deep thinking, but when I look back at the questions I have, which only look at six or seven, it's things that I just am either into subconsciously or whatever. I'm a fan of the pinball, obviously, talked about that. But the ghost, like I've always had this slight fear of just that, the kind of the dark, the unknown, even as a 41-year-old. Like I'm not always super comfortable by myself, alone, in the woods, in the dark, like something like that. Well, the woods are a creepy place to be in general, because I mean, you're off the grid, and if something's going to happen to you, it's probably going to be in the woods. It's just like, it's horrific out there. I remember when Blair Witch hit and you're like, oh my gosh, what if I walk up into the woods and I just keep circling and I can't get out and yeah, you're doomed. It's just, it's a bad place. And then I run into a witch in the basement. Yeah. It's more the psychological horror of it that really just... Oh, it's something, you know, I think I'm just maybe working on. Could you imagine like, like you're going to bed at nighttime and you pull the covers up and you're kind of sleeping, three o'clock in the morning wakes up and, you know, the covers just get whipped off you and on the floor. Like, how do you react to something like that? I jump. Because if something's, yeah, out the window probably. Yes. If something's there, you're not getting away. You're not gonna, you're not gonna fight or shoot a ghost. It's just, it's there. It's gonna get ya. It's creepy. No. And the more real it is, the more creepy it is to me. The, the worst thing to ever happen for me, not in real life, like I didn't see a thing, but the most creeped I ever got was, what was the movie called? Paranormal Activity, right? It's just. Oh, yeah. Yeah. The same time the game Borderlands came out, I remember that because my wife and daughter were out of town. I was playing Borderlands on Xbox Live with one of my friends who was in a different city, you know, and we were Halo friends, so we were playing Borderlands. I had watched that movie and it freaked me out so much because it's just a very much like you're in your house, your house is haunted, and it's like a demonic who knows what it is, and it's like the fear itself is the fear. It sets the tone for anybody at any time in their life, in their house. Yes. Yeah, for sure. So I'm playing Borderlands with him and I'm probably 25 at this age or something and I remember playing and I just asked him like dude can we just keep playing like I I made something up but I ended up playing the game with him online all the way until the sunrise because I just couldn't even like I couldn't the protection I was it was straight fear and I made shit up because I want to be like I'm a guy I'm not scared like whatever but it terrified me to the bone of in it yeah some of that stuff still does you know it's the worst like you see something that kind of creeps you out right before you go to sleep and then you wake up in the middle of the night you've got to go to the bathroom and you're like Do I really want to go across the hall and try to use the restroom? What could possibly happen to me at this time? Your mind plays tricks on you. I'm glad I'm not alone, man. Well, hopefully the listeners out there, yes, a 41-year-old male still somewhat afraid of some of the unknown spiritual stuff. You're better off being a little bit concerned. I would rather think the worst and hope for the best than be unprepared. I think you're okay. Sure. I got a proton pack as well. Well, I got, uh, you know, Ghostbusters tonight. That's right, you got the, you ready to go? Would you mind telling me something that you're proud of about yourself? Oh, something I'm proud of about myself. Mm-hmm. It's tough for us humble Midwesterners sometimes, but... I guess what I would say, and some people, I would consider this a strength and something that I'm proud about. Maybe some people think it's a weakness, but when I consider myself, um, as a person, I consider myself to be very, very genuine. And I'm trying to think how to put this into words. For instance, I'll never assume something about somebody when I meet them. I kind of let them go through the beginning of a relationship, whether it's business or professional, and kind of show me who they are as a person before I cast judgment. And I think I'm a very good judgment of character, but I also, you know, I'll treat somebody very genuine. I try not to be fake to people. And there's a quote that's kind of a favorite of mine, and it plays well for me, and I'll kind of paraphrase it. And it's something along the lines of, you might meet somebody who's met me, and they'll say that I'm a great person. And you'll meet somebody else that says, I'm a big jerk. And I would encourage you to believe them both, because I don't treat people poorly, I just treat them accordingly. So I feel like if, If we're clicking because we are respectful to one another, I'm good with it. But if I find that we're not clicking because there are things that I don't agree with you about, and it's not like petty things, it would be more like moral issues and things like that. Don't be surprised if I'm not as willing to engage or to act fake, so to speak, with quotes. At this point in my life, in my 40s also, I'm looking to kind of surround myself with John Popadiuk, Bob Betor, Knapp Arcade, pyro disey by Julie but all Oh! Ah, yeah! Back in the day, I was hired at Bally Total Fitness as a, like just membership sales, and then eventually I ended up running health clubs. So yeah, I mean, working out and living a healthy lifestyle is huge for me. It waxes and wanes based on what's going on a lot with personal life. Of course, yeah. You know, just like any workout routine. But I would say, like back in the day when I was lifting, I never really went for like Would this be aああ what a good question. Like, as you're saying, I made a seriously secret fit first try-up and went through a lot of different v with a lot of modifications evet 2003 als if I on a heavy day Yeah Yeah Man that awesome I had no idea you worked at I thought you would say Bally Williams for a second I think a lot of people thought that. That was the teaser, right? Bally Williams? Yeah. Yeah, health club days, those were crazy days, but for sure. And you're a big health guy because I remember listening to you and Cale, you guys were talking about athletic greens all the time and there were times I was driving into work eating my sausage, egg McMuffin, and I was like, I should just put this down and eat a protein The Out of the Pinball Show, Knapp Arcade, Ballywin, Straight Down the Middle, Ballywin's Pinball Podcast, Zach Meny, Dennis Kriesel, Knapp Arcade, The Valley Company, Subsidiary of Walter Kidde & Co., Inc., Mirco Playfields, Tim Tim Kitzrow, Scott Danesi. You're probably one of the worst people to ask this question because you're in marketing for a pinball machine company, but maybe, um, this initially was going to be a play on Festivus, this show. It was going to be a Festivus special. I was going to do what I'm doing now, but tie it all together and just, but then it turns out, well, if we do Signfolds Festivus, it's airing grievances, the battle of strengths, and it's a bunch of negativity. But I still do have one kind of slightly negative question in here. Feel free to pass since you're in marketing, but do you have a pinball grievance you could air for 2023? Is there anything in the world of pinball that you're just like, oh, I'm not for that. All right, hold my beer, Jason. Let's go. Yeah. So I don't know if you would consider it a pinball grievance. I mean, Industry-wise, there's not anything that sticks out where I would be negative or encouraged to talk poorly about. It's really not. But being in marketing and overseeing social media and having to be online a lot, I would say my biggest pinball grievance is the Mr. Pinball Negative Nancy, the guy that... Pinball machines are made to create enjoyment for people. These are fun things, supposed to give you an escape, supposed to make you smile, have fun. John Popadiuk, Bob Betor, Knapp Arcade, I'm going to go ahead and get myself a cup of coffee, jump on the computer and see how they can make everybody's life miserable when they're trying to have a good time. And that's unfortunate because that has a tendency to catch on in a certain extent or a certain way. And it's like, you know, pinball is not perfect and the people that are working in pinball aren't perfect. Um, but when, when you're just kind of like never really looking at concepts or looking at, at the positives and you're just kind of always concentrating on, on calling out failures or perceived failures, that, that tends to get a little disappointing. And, uh, that would be kind of, kind of my grievance, I guess, for pinball. Uh, what do you want for Christmas this year? I like to give gifts and I, I, you know what, for whatever reason, maybe because I'm bad, I don't really get a lot of gifts in return. *** *** I'm going to go ahead and smash him on the... but you can't do that on the grill because you smash him in between the grill grates and you can't really use an electric skillet inside. It doesn't get hot enough to kind of put the sear on the burger. Okay. I think... do you know what the Blackstone Grill is? Like the outside kind of griddle where you can kind of... you can make burgers or you can throw 40 eggs on there and it's kind of like it's an outdoor grilling experience. I haven't heard of it. Okay. All right. Well, I mean, if anyone's looking for some last-minute Christmas ideas and Cromwell, John, while Jersey Jack Pinball with like a Blackstone grill. Last question. What are you looking forward to most in the world of pinball in 2024? What I'm looking forward to most, and I hope this doesn't come across as controversial. Obviously, I'm a Jersey Jack pinball guy, and I believe that we make the best machines in the industry. I do look forward to healthy competition in 2024 because the way that I look at it, there There are more pinball companies now that are making games than any time I can remember being part of the hobby. And when I look back in the past, I don't know that there have ever been this many. There's like nine, 10, 11 companies that have either teased the game or shown a game or shown some type of a concept of the game. And to me, to have that competition, it's good for the entire industry. You don't want to become complacent. You don't want to feel like you've done all that you can do. You want to constantly be pushing. And yeah, I mean, I mean, that's that's super exciting to me when I every game that I've played over this past year and they've been from several different manufacturers like I've found redeeming qualities and things that I enjoyed in every single one of them. Sure. Again, I think ours are the best, but I do enjoy legitimately playing all these companies games. So 2024, if it's shaping up like I think it will be, it'll be interesting and I'm looking forward to some competitive rivalry for sure. So, before we get to last time you and I were chatting on the podcast, I just, you don't have to respond, I just need to tell Jersey Jack, please make Matrix, please make Harry Potter, please make Lord of the Rings, could be anything, could be another Hobbit, could be anything in that universe, please make a Star Wars, take my favorite themes and just do what you do, which is make incredible games. The Wally Winka Show, Knapp Arcade, Straight Down the Middle, Bally Williams, Straight Down the Middle, What is the goodness thing the middle- 에� comedy game brings to you? I'm going to bring them in. You can just come over here and party. It's fine. Okay. Appreciate it, man. Well, good to see you. Happy holidays to you and your family. Yeah, brother. Merry Christmas. I appreciate it, man. Merry Christmas. www.subsedit.com