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Pinball Omnibus Episode 11

Cary Hardy·video·22m 26s·analyzed·Sep 10, 2024
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

Stern X-Men launch analysis, JJP Avatar leak intel, and manufacturer pipeline updates.

Summary

Cary Hardy discusses the recent Uncanny X-Men release from Stern, speculation about unreleased code and delayed gameplay streams, Jersey Jack's upcoming Avatar reveal with media event, American Pinball's financial challenges and Cuphead development, Dutch Pinball's mod board announcement, and updates from Turner Pinball, Barrels of Fun, and Chicago Gaming Company. Hardy wrestles with FOMO around X-Men but commits to playtesting before purchase, and expresses skepticism about American Pinball's marketing strategy and theme choices.

Key Claims

  • Uncanny X-Men code is likely in the 0.7-0.8 range and not ready for gameplay stream

    low confidence · Cary Hardy speculation about why no gameplay stream has been announced despite physical release

  • JJP is holding a media event on the 13th to show Avatar to select industry figures

    high confidence · Cary Hardy confirming media gather event with specific attendees mentioned (Kanae, Kinetis, Jason Knapp expected)

  • Avatar is rumored to have six flippers, breaking from typical pinball layouts

    medium confidence · Cary Hardy citing rumors about Avatar design specifications

  • American Pinball will not reveal their game before Expo

    high confidence · Cary Hardy citing interview with American Pinball representative; later clarified as game not being ready

  • American Pinball appears to function as a subsidiary relying on parent company Ametron financial support

    medium confidence · Cary Hardy discussing interview where company leader describes financial dependency and red/black year cycles

  • Dutch Pinball's Alice in Wonderland will ship with a modular mod board for customization

    high confidence · Cary Hardy citing official announcement from Dutch Pinball/Stumblr

  • Chicago Gaming Company is rumored to be making Medieval Madness remakes before year-end

    medium confidence · Cary Hardy reporting rumor about Chicago Gaming Company plans

  • Turner Pinball is actively manufacturing parts and progressing toward game completion

    high confidence · Cary Hardy citing official photos posted by Turner Pinball on Facebook showing pallets of legs and ramps

Notable Quotes

  • “It's impossible to create a game today that has no correlation to a particular point in another game. It's just impossible. It can't be done.”

    Cary Hardy@ 2:35 — Defending X-Men's design evolution as drawing from pinball heritage

  • “if it's a licensing holding up, or if the code's not done, in the end, the game isn't ready to show us”

    Cary Hardy@ 4:25 — Rational speculation about X-Men gameplay stream delay

  • “I was so close to pulling the trigger on this game before playing it... this game reached inside and it pulled out something I do not like about me. And evidently I have a little bit of FOMO”

    Cary Hardy@ 4:39 — Personal reflection on collector psychology and pre-purchase decision-making

  • “I guarantee you 90% of the people that are going to walk up to this game anywhere are not going to know who Barry is”

    Cary Hardy@ 14:09 — Criticism of American Pinball's marketing approach centered on designer tribute

  • “The main thing is you should just create a more intriguing, fun, entertaining game than your competitors”

    Cary Hardy@ 17:11 — Philosophy on competitive positioning in pinball manufacturing

  • “We don't want to show off a game until we are 100% certain that the game is 100% ready to go, no issues, no problem”

    American Pinball representative (via Hardy quote)@ 17:38 — American Pinball's stated rationale for not revealing game at Expo

Entities

Cary HardypersonJack DangerpersonStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack PinballcompanyAmerican PinballcompanyDutch PinballcompanyChicago Gaming Companycompany

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: American Pinball operating with parent company subsidy model; cycling between red/black years; expressed uncertainty about long-term financial viability

    high · Hardy citing interview: 'first year in the red... second year in the red but only by x... third year in the black... now may be back in red or black, doesn't matter... rumors going around this company is merely a tax write-off'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Hardy experiences FOMO around X-Men but commits to hands-on playtesting before purchase; conflicted between collector impulse and disciplined decision-making

    high · Hardy: 'I have a little bit of FOMO and I'm not happy about that... I don't want to buy something unless I play it first... this still holds true'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Stern accelerated X-Men release timing to pre-empt JJP's Avatar; JJP responding with exclusive media event to build hype among influencers

    medium · Hardy: 'they released this game as quickly as they did to get in front of what they knew jjp was going to be doing... this is going to be an interesting battle between two companies'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: X-Men layout inspired by historical games (Gold Wings, Spy Hunter, Freddy Krueger, Johnny Mnemonic) as deliberate evolution rather than novel invention

    high · Hardy: 'Jack Danger obviously took liberties... nugget here nugget there from these games and put something together that is a breath of fresh air'

  • ?

    event_signal: JJP hosting exclusive media event on the 13th with hand-selected industry figures (Kanae, Kinetis, Jason Knapp); emulating Stern's John Wick reveal strategy

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.067

0:01
Now this year we may be back in the red a little bit, maybe back in the black, doesn't matter. I assure you, it matters!
0:20
What's up guys and welcome back to the channel where I talk and do everything pinball. So if that sounds interesting to you then join the over 10,000 that have hit the button before you. So, first on the list here is Stern Pinball with their release of the Uncanny X-Men last week. And on my stream that I did that night of the release, a lot of you were there. I mean, I think that was actually my biggest audience so far on a stream. Thanks to those of you that joined, especially even more thank you to those that contributed to Super Chats and stuff like that. it was a great moment for all of us to be excited again about a game release i mean there's obviously every game that gets released there's a little bit of excitement among the few because of the theme and stuff like that but i think that this particular release did a little more than that it reached out to even though people didn't like the theme they still looked at the design and went could be fun or it's different i mean and the thing is different could be a good thing different could be a bad thing and that's what's funny about this is that it's a common thing that i do if in life let's just say for instance you get into a car accident i mean i got out of my car and i was like well that's different but the thing is and why we're excited about this being different is because for such a long time we've had the traditional machine with the italian bottom and a lot of you out there don't know what that means when i say italian bottom i'm not talking about butts or anything like that. It's the bottom third of a play field, the typical layout where your flipper bats are at and your in lanes and your out lane kind of thing. And this game has changed that. Now it's not the first time to do this. A lot of you already know this. There's games from the past that Jack danger obviously took liberties from here and there to put this whole package together for us. We've got a little bit of gold wings or spy Hunter, uh, Freddy Krueger with a hand that moves, you know, the ball off the track. It's kind of a little bit of a nod to that. Or Johnny Mnemonic with a hand and stuff. We're getting little hints of other games from the past that we kind of go, ooh, a little bit of a moment there. A little bit of a nugget from that game. It's impossible to create a game today that has no correlation to a particular point in another game. It's just impossible. It can't be done. so i think what he's done though has like i said nugget here nugget there from these games and put something together that is a breath of fresh air and the thing is now where we're at is that we're excited about it we're looking forward to seeing it shoot more than anything else and that's what we're waiting on right now and what the rumors are starting to speculate is that the reason we haven't seen a gameplay stream yet or even an announcement of a gameplay stream is because the game is not ready code wise it seems that more than likely they like i said speculation that they released this game as quickly as they did to get in front of what they knew jjp was going to be doing or any other pinball manufacturer for that point they wanted to get this game out sooner than later and more than likely this code is probably right there in the high 0.7 to possibly low 0.8 that's my guesstimation at this point in time of where the code's currently at if it's better than that sweet but it's not the first time that they've released a game shown it up and then not mentioned or said anything about a stream this we've had releases before guys where we haven't had like an immediate date for a gameplay stream i don't know why that certain people are starting to pile on of where's my gameplay stream at where's my gameplay stream at It's coming. But the thing is, either the code's not ready, or possibly there could be licensing issues when it comes to getting approvals on what they can show on the screen with video assets. So either way you look at it, though, if it's a licensing holding up, or if the code's not done, in the end, the game isn't ready to show us.
Barrels of Fun
company
Turner Pinballperson
Uncanny X-Mengame
Avatargame
Cupheadgame
Alice in Wonderlandgame
Medieval Madnessgame
Labyrinthgame
Kanaeperson
Kinetisperson
Jason Knappperson
Nap Arcadeperson
Barry Auslerperson
Ametroncompany

high · Hardy: 'they're selecting hand-picked individuals throughout the hobby... bringing them in on 13th for early access... This is kind of like what Stern did with John Wick release'

  • ?

    leak_detection: Avatar images circulating with high quality, indicating non-anonymous source despite claims; Nap Arcade strategically releasing to legitimize public disclosure

    high · Hardy's analysis: 'you don't get leaks with images of this quality from anonymous sources... when Nap posted that it was from an anonymous source... I was like Bullshit'

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Cuphead development experiencing art approval delays; glove height specification conflicts with license holder

    medium · Hardy: 'art team or whoever's doing the art for Cuphead probably had conflicting ideas between them and the license holder... glove being not at the correct height'

  • $

    market_signal: American Pinball's barbecue game heavily marketed on designer tribute to Barry Ausler, a figure unknown to 90% of general pinball audience

    high · Hardy: 'I guarantee you 90% of the people that are going to walk up to this game anywhere are not going to know who Barry is... you're putting a lot of weight on Barry's name to sell this game'

  • ?

    product_strategy: American Pinball withholding Cuphead reveal until completion; stated rationale is quality assurance, not competitive positioning

    high · Hardy: 'the game's not ready yet... We don't want to show off a game until we are 100% certain that the game is 100% ready to go'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Uncanny X-Men gameplay stream not announced; code speculation suggests 0.7-0.8 version, well behind typical release readiness

    medium · Hardy: 'more than likely they released this game as quickly as they did... the code is probably right there in the high 0.7 to possibly low 0.8'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Chicago Gaming Company rumored to produce Medieval Madness remakes before year-end; unclear if they'll debut at Chicago Expo

    medium · Hardy: 'Rumor is they will be making Medieval Madness remakes before the end of the year... I'm kind of wondering what they're going to be doing at Chicago Expo'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Dutch Pinball shipping mod board stock with Alice in Wonderland, enabling community customization of lights and servo motors

    high · Hardy: 'Dutch has announced that... this game is going to be catering to you modders... This board is going to give you the ability to control all kinds of things... lights and servo motors'

    • 4:36
    Now, I'm talking about this game a lot in this episode, guys, because honestly this game reached inside and it pulled out something I do not like about me. And evidently I have a little bit of FOMO and I'm not happy about that. I was so close to pulling the trigger on this game before playing it. And this is one of those things that I harp on the most about myself is that I don't want to buy something unless I play it first. And that still holds true. Don't get me wrong, guys. don't start thinking I've already bought the game. No, I have not bought the game. Do I want the game? Yes. I want to see how it shoots, first off, but I also want to play it. And this is not a game that I'm just not going to be able to obtain, guys. This is going to be made for a long time. It's already selling relatively well from what little notes I've gotten from distros. It's doing better than the previous couple of games from Stern So as close as I was to possibly going even for an le it like all i did was basically step back and i just waited i was like and it was almost like a post nut clarity as webster merriam defines it like i know what post nut clarity is oh thank god i thought i was gonna have to explain it to you and then i look like the bad guy and then i'm like villainized you're telling me to leave i think you should say the postman clarity says get out sister you are not welcome you know just hold back if i want to get a premium i can get one they're not going to be unobtainable or anything guys and i can hold off for another month and play it at expo just to be really sure that the game is going to be something that i would like to own and my local arcade is getting a pro evidently so i'll be able to little hop in a skip jump down the street and be able to enjoy it that way as well but like me and most of you out there if you want a new game not necessarily the uncanny x-men but any new game our game rooms are getting pretty full so chances are people are putting the games that they're willing to sacrifice out on the market so they can put the new in this is the common thing about pinball and thus in the industry for as long as we've been in here is that our game rooms are full for a lot of us unless you're william you know who you are who's building an extra building to incorporate another 40 games so all right but like a lot of us have only a limited amount of space and what you see behind me is not my entire collection i've got three other games in my house that don't need to be in that particular room i don't want them to be in there but that's just where they're at at this point in time but it's the same for me i am going to be getting rid of a game or possibly two to get x-men premium if things go according to plan and i plan on this game being highly enjoyable for me but we shall see spent a lot of time on that but i think we're going to spend just a little bit more on pointing out something that i literally just saw and for those of you that would like to see how x-men shoots what have i told you you could right now get an idea of how x-men shoots i will put a link in the video description down below this individual has created this particular software and he has replicated to the best of it of the current abilities the x-men the uncanny x-men game now obviously this isn't going to be a one-to-one perfection of how the game shoots i mean this is literally putting things on top of images that are stretched out to get it somewhat close and whereas an actual designer and creating these they got to get things down to the millimeter so this just would give you an idea but overall the software looks amazing i think this is something that a lot of you that want to tinker around with pinball design could get into so by all means link in the video description down below to check this software out next up is jersey jack pinball so we've gotten leaks leaks over the past couple of weeks and this is funny is that you see people like oh from an anonymous source no you don't get leaks with images of this quality from anonymous sources it's just a source that would like to remain anonymous but yeah so and and my first indicator that I knew that it wasn't an anonymous source is when Nap Arcade posted that it was from an anonymous source. No, because Nap has received plenty of other pictures and information in regards to manufacturers and what they're doing, and he doesn't share them out of respect for them. So, for him to share an image and go, I received this from an anonymous source, and here you go, I was like... Bullshit.
    9:36
    Bullshit. Now, obviously, when the images get out on the interweb and pin side and stuff like that, then NAP's like, well, it's out in the public. It is what it is. So let me do a write-up publication on this. But for him to be the initial release of a leaked image from an anonymous source, I was like, hmm, I'm not falling for that one. So along with these leaked images of Avatar, we also have what is going to be a media gathering to show off Avatar to select individuals in the hobby. This is kind of like what Stern did with the John Wick release, only now JJP's doing it with their avatar. So they're selecting hand-picked individuals throughout the hobby or the industry to bring them into the facility on the... Is it this Friday coming up? I think that's the 13th, because the initial release is on the 12th. So they're bringing them in on 13th for them to get early access and to play this game. So I'm sure we'll get write-ups from a lot of different individuals. I don't have like a list, like an attendance sheet of who all is going to be attending this and everything. I do know that Kanae is going to be there. I think that Kinetis is also going to be there. I'm assuming that Jason Knapp will be there. He should be there, just saying. But other people, I just don't know who all is going to be there at this point in time. But I know some people asked if I was going to be there. No, I will not be there. So as far as the Avatar game and what we seeing and stuff like that how do I feel or what do I think about what going on This is going to be an interesting battle between two uh companies jjp and stern for their releases to be so close together i think that what we seeing so far with avatar it looks like we're going to be getting hints and things that are not commonly seen in pinball as well so i'm sure we'll probably still have the italian bottom but as far as like underneath the play field and stuff like that it looks like we're getting hints of things that just haven't been done before and we know that they're going to pack the game with all sorts of like you know types of you know scopes and stuff we've already got a hint of a floating island and stuff like that so what the hints we're getting is also from rumors is that there's like six flippers and so it's going to be a different game more than likely it's going to be a beautiful game but as of right now i just don't have any kind of excitement or interest in it mainly because of the theme, I guess. I mean, we'll see how that changes. So as I put out these polls during my live streams and on my community page for YouTube, I'm also kind of curious to see how I weevil and wobble between the Uncanny X-Men and the Avatar game. Because at this point in time, I'm gung-ho about X-Men, and I'm just kind of like, eh, it's Avatar, but we'll see where it goes. Ugh, American Pinball. okay so look they're not going to be releasing revealing their game before expo now there was an interview that he did while he was in the uk i will put a link for this interview in the description down below if you'd like to watch it in its entirety he goes over a lot of different things and from what little hints that i got throughout this cuphead is definitely going to be their next game that if you pay attention to what he's talking about licensing and how art can be a factor in that and how they can be picking and choosing and he points about a glove being not at the correct height and stuff like that so it sounds like their art team or whoever's doing the art for a cuphead probably had you know conflicting i guess ideas between them and the license holder on that so that's speculation on that but it talks about a number of different things and i guess you know obviously i'm just going to do a little key speaking about certain things so one look i get i get it that the barbecue game was an homage to barry ausler and this was all for him this is you know and i i understand your feelings of why you created this game i understand that the thing is you created it and you have all these feelings and everything towards Barry and that's awesome whereas the thing is you're catering this game for the masses and I don't know how you can translate correlate all these thoughts and feelings to the masses I guarantee you 90% of the people that are going to walk up to this game anywhere are not going to know who Barry is. They don't know, and more than likely will not care.
    14:23
    So, I'm happy for you, people there at American Pinball, have created this game and you're happy with it and you love it. But it seems like you're putting a lot of weight on Barry's name and who he is in order to sell this game when no one knows, at least on the general amount of people in the pinball hobby. even a lot of us in the pinball hobby probably don't know who Barry Owsler is those of us deep in with it and know pinball designers and know their history yeah we're gonna know it but then we see what the game has in it and we're also kind of like yeah I okay it's a it's a pinball game that exists but I think there could be more in it I would like to see more in it and if you're not going to put more in it then I think the prize should kind of like you know reflect that but when talking about price this was a funny segment that i saw in that interview where he talks about it you know what i'm just going to play it for you right here and as a parent company it's like dad i need money to do this now granted he sees the value he sees that he's supporting us but he wants us to grow he wants us to stand on our own first year I was at the company we were in the red like say by xx second year I was in the company we were in the red but only by x cut it in half the next year third year we weren't in the red we're in the black now this year we may be back in the red a little bit maybe back in the black doesn't matter I think it definitely does matter I mean there's obviously rumors going around that this company, American Pinball, is merely a tax write-off for Ametron. But I like how David specifies that he feels like, even in his own mind, that Ametron looks at American Pinball like their 20-year-old child that still lives at home. It's like, here's you some allowance, here's you some money, this should get you going, but we would really like it if you could build up and save up some money and go out and explore the world on your own and be your own person. Even he acknowledges that's more than likely what it is in this interview.
    16:41
    So that was intriguing for him to even say And there a couple of other notes that I wanted to put in here And I think the main takeaway and we can complain about how they not going to be revealing or showing off their game at Expo but I think the initial rumor was they weren't going to do it because they didn't want to be in between all these other bigger manufacturers and their game was just going to be kind of an afterthought. And my end result, thoughting on that, was that as long as your game is great, it doesn't matter what other games on the market. The main thing is you should just create a more intriguing, fun, entertaining game than your competitors. And I felt that them not doing this at Expo was a little bit like, okay, you're not very confident in what you're creating. But in this interview, he turns out, he says, basically, the game's not ready yet. Okay, I can respect that. I mean, if that's your reason for not wanting to reveal and show off a game, it's because the game's not ready to reveal. We don't want to show off a game until we are 100% certain that the game is 100% ready to go, no issues, no problem. The code is really far along. If only another manufacturer would follow that suit. But, I can respect that American Pinball. If the game isn't ready, then don't show it to us. But, when you do show it to us, try to do it with a trailer that you had for Houdini and for your barbecue game. I know who did the trailers, so by all means, have him do it when you decide to release this game. It helps. So, Dutch Pinball. They have released information today. This is something I've been savvy about, but this is actually getting video footage and stuff like that from Stumblr themselves. Dutch has announced that, basically, for you modders out there, this game is going to be catering to you if you would like to add stuff or put things into the game to make it even better than it. potentially already is. And if you would like to know more about this whole mod board, that's going to be available to the public as well, but it's merely an announcement that the board is going to be coming stock inside of The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. This board and everything is going to give you the ability to control all kinds of things when it comes to lights and servo motors and stuff like that. If this is something that you're interested in doing and developing mods for any of your games out there, then by all means, I highly recommend looking into doing this for all the future games for all you modders out there keep doing what you're doing to improve these games by all means my hat i salute you on that all right so real quick let's touch base on turner pinball he has posted some official pictures showing off the pallets full of legs and the ramps and stuff like that it's available on his facebook page to basically give a lot of you out there that have put the money in that hey look here's here's parts we're making games it's certain things like this that help i want to say with those that have put money in for a deposit and stuff they want to know for sure like hey especially with historical reasons on this that hey we're making the games and so far it looks like definitely uh chris is going to be going all in he wants these games to be built i'm supposedly going to be visiting the facility maybe this month that's still in the air at this point we shall see and speaking of visiting a facility we've also got barrels of fun that will have a tour for those of you that are going to the houston arcade expo for information on that i will put links in the video description down below as well you have to purchase a ticket to the houston arcade show in order to be eligible for the tour at barrels of fun now chicago gaming company is once again just silent we don't really know what's going on with them at this point in time. Rumor is they will be making Medieval Madness remakes before the end of the year. So I'm kind of wondering what they're going to be doing at Chicago Expo. I mean, are they going to be bringing Pulp Fiction and a couple of their other remakes, or are they going to be doing an announcement and showing off more of their Medieval Madness remakes? I don't know. They have to be seen. All I know is that they're very quiet, which is not out of the ordinary for them. So we're gonna have to wait and see what they're doing now back to the labyrinth on barrels of fun i saw this posted on their facebook page and this just caught my eye and i really wish that this individual would make many other pinball flyers like this i think this would sell like hot cakes especially at like expos and pinball festivals and stuff like that to have because I've got a flyer collection for every game that I own up here. You can't see it, but I've got every flyer for every game. I know a lot of you out there collect the flyers, and they probably have them hung up or whatever or in a drawer. It doesn't matter. The fact is I thought this was really cool to see, and I would like it seen done to other flyers as well. So there you go, guys. That wraps up all the bullet points that I have at this current point in time. We have a new release this week for Jersey Jack. I will be busy the day of, but that night, hopefully I can do another live stream and we can go through the game and chat about what we think about it so far on just the videos and the visuals that they provide for us let me know your thoughts and opinions down below on every point that I've got here or a certain one that really caught your interest and until next time guys peace out