Pokémon by Stern Pinball - Our Reaction

Pinball Pursuit·video·15m 45s·analyzed·Feb 18, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.025

TL;DR

Pokémon pinball reaction: Stern targets gateway machine with approachable design in 288B franchise.

Summary

Mrs. J and Dr. C from Pinball Pursuit react to Stern's newly announced Pokémon pinball machine. They discuss the massive cultural footprint of the Pokémon franchise (288 billion dollar IP), the game's approachable design philosophy, playfield features across Pro/Premium/LE tiers, and 182 Pokémon available at launch via Insider Connected. Both express enthusiasm about the machine as a potential gateway game for arcades and children, though they haven't yet played it.

Key Claims

Pokémon is a 288 billion dollar franchise globally (cards, shows, games, merchandise combined)
high confidence · Mrs. J cites Retro Ralph as source; framed as context for franchise dominance
The most expensive Pokémon card ever sold went for 18+ million dollars (16 million more than host's initial 2 million guess)
medium confidence · Mentioned as recent news ('just this week') but no specific source cited
The Pokémon LE sold out before it was even announced
high confidence · Direct observation from both hosts about Stern's production/sales
182 different Pokémon are available to catch at launch, tracked in Insider Connected app
high confidence · From official interviews hosts watched; Stern development team statement
Jack Danger started designing Pokémon but stepped away; George Gomez finished and tweaked the design
high confidence · Stated as confirmed fact from video interview with Loser Kid (Josh)
Pro and Premium versions are functionally very similar; main gameplay difference is the magnet under Meowth and ball capture under Pokéball in Premium
high confidence · Based on direct observation of game and official materials reviewed
Premium and LE differences are cosmetic only (Master Ball on shooter rod, purple coating, side art, speaker design)
high confidence · Hands-on comparison from promotional materials and interviews
Stern is prioritizing Pro production for locations first, then LE/Premium
high confidence · Official strategy mentioned in promotional materials
Pokémon Company is promoting the pinball game across all 30th anniversary Pokémon celebrations
medium confidence · Mentioned as 'apparently' confirmed but source not explicitly cited

Notable Quotes

“288 billion dollar franchise... You could take the next like three or four franchises in the world and combine them and it still has not earned as much as Pokémon.”
Mrs. J @ ~6:30 — Establishes why Pokémon is a strategic win for Stern; massive cultural IP dominance
“Every arcade's going to want one. Every single arcade. And kids are going to want to play it. If one machine is going to get kids hooked, it would be this one.”
Mrs. J @ ~10:00 — Gateway machine positioning; commercial appeal across demographics
“The LE sold out before the game was shown. Which is nuts. They could have made double, I think, in sales.”
Mrs. J @ ~13:30 — Extreme FOMO/scarcity signal; production constraint or deliberate strategy
“This game is going to kill first turn. Yeah. Then you're going to make so much money off this machine.”
Mrs. J @ ~13:50 — Revenue prediction for location operators; confidence in commercial success
“Get hip with the kids. There's that classic Skinner. Am I so out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong.”
Mrs. J @ ~15:30 — Dismissive tone toward gatekeeping criticism; defending broad market appeal
“I think the Pro is pretty loaded... if you just buy more Pros, then we could open up the budget for more.”
Mrs. J/Dr. C @ ~16:00 — Value proposition of Pro tier; budget-conscious buyer dynamic
“I'm surprised that they actually were brave enough to number the LEs... people are going to try and get the number corresponding to their favorite Pokémon.”
Mrs. J @ ~17:00 — Collectible strategy; secondary market speculation potential
“We gotta catch them all! I'm excited. You're excited.”
Mrs. J/Dr. C @ ~end — Catchphrase closure; dual enthusiasm for upcoming hands-on play

Entities

Pokémon (Stern Pinball)gameMrs. JpersonDr. CpersonGeorge Gomezperson Jack DangerpersonStern PinballcompanyPokémon CompanycompanyPikachuproductMeowthproduct

Signals

?
business_signal: Stern prioritizing Pro production for location operators first, LE second—acknowledging location market as revenue foundation despite collector prestige tier
high · 'Pros are being made first... Prioritizing locations... they want to get this out, Get it out there, which is smart'
?
community_signal: Insider Connected collectible tracking (182 Pokémon at launch, planned expansions for leveling/training) designed as engagement/retention driver matching Pokémon IP mechanics
high · Explicitly stated Stern planning feature expansions; hosts note this will drive app adoption and engagement unlike previous games
?
competitive_signal: Pokémon positioned as inevitable arcade fixture ('every arcade near us is going to get one'), raising bar for operator inventory strategy and location selection
high · Both hosts confidently predict all arcades will stock Pokémon; Mrs. J notes Texas Pinball Festival will definitely have units
?
design_philosophy: Stern intentionally designed Pokémon as 'approachable' gateway machine with busy, visually engaging playfield to attract casual players and children
high · Multiple hosts and review sources cited emphasizing approachability; giant Pikachu, multiple toys, and non-technical rules explicitly highlighted as market strategy
?
licensing_signal: Pokémon Company actively co-promoting pinball across 30th anniversary events, signaling strong licensing partnership and IP integration commitment
medium · 'Pokémon Company apparently is already promising to bring the game to all of their 30th anniversary stuff'

Topics

IP licensing and franchise appealprimaryMachine tier differentiation (Pro/Premium/LE)primaryGateway machine strategy and arcade market penetrationprimaryInsider Connected app integration and collectible mechanicssecondaryDesigner transitions and creative decision-makingsecondaryLE scarcity and FOMO sales dynamicssecondaryPlayfield design philosophy (busy vs. minimal)secondaryHome collector budget allocation strategiesmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.88)— Both hosts express genuine enthusiasm about Pokémon as a theme and approachable design. Mrs. J particularly excited (was #1 on 2025 wish list); Dr. C cautiously optimistic but pragmatic about value proposition. No significant criticism or concerns raised; brief acknowledgment of online gatekeeping dismissed as irrelevant. Tone remains upbeat throughout.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.047

Welcome to Pinball Pursuit! I'm Mrs. J. And I'm Dr. C. Today we're gonna be reacting to the newest game that was announced by Stern. Can you guess? And just so everyone knows, I already owned this. He did. He's had it for a long time. A long time. That was before I came in the picture, you've had that for quite some time. We're going over obviously Pokemon. Yes. I have my Ash Ketchum hat. Big fan of the series. Tell me a little bit, I'll talk about my history in a second. What's your history with Pokemon? As a theme. My history dates back, dates back, wow. Dates back to the fourth grade. Cool kids had Pokemon cards, I did not. I was not super interested. I remember it coming on Saturday morning cartoons And people watching it, I remember Team Rocket. Team Rocket, Jesse and James. Yeah. But that's like honestly all I really remember. That's it? That's it. I have very little history of Pokemon. Got it. Yeah. For me, I, whew, boy. So the game came out, the first game came out in 1996. Okay. I was 12. Wow. Like prime, prime aged for Pokemon. I never watched the show much. Like I would see a couple of episodes here and there. You know, like, who's that Pokemon? Who's that Pokemon? Did you ever see that? No. It was in commercial breaks. Oh, and it was a shadow. I do remember that. I do remember that. It's Meowth. Or whatever. Ghibli Pal. Yeah. But I played Pokemon Yellow. So there was red and blue and they had yellow. So I played Pokemon Yellow. What gaming system is this on? Game Boy. Game Boy. so played that one i played sapphire so there was sapphire and ruby and then i skipped a bunch until i was like much more of a adult at that point and then i had a nintendo ds okay it was the first handheld that i had since my family we all shared a game boy oh yeah and so that's why that's where i played the other ones um i got a ds and pokemon black and white for the new So I played Pokemon Black and then I had a 3DS and I played Pokemon Y. Jeez Louise. And I played the remake of Alpha Sapphire which was great. So many games. And that's it. That's it. Also for the N64 with Pokemon Yellow you could play Pokemon Stadium where you could put your game cartridge in and load your characters from the game and you could battle in an arena. and we would do that all the time wow it was so good i just know the pokemon in super smash brothers and also you too i mean mewtwo in the specials four he was my main and then the newest one ultimate he's my second best character i'm best with king kimi oh and then not a pokemon you choose my second see i know a few things uh i also uh will troll people with jigglypuff sometimes because i'm decent with jigglypuff there we go uh so i i really like you are excited about this theme uh if you remember our 2025 wish list dream theme which we're gonna do another one here soon for 2026 we're a little late sorry we need to figure that out we had a kid um my number one wish list game that was rumored was was that your number one it was me yeah it was pokemon so So I am so excited about this. It crazy It like we were watching the Olympics just before this and there was a commercial not for a new video game But just for Pokemon in general Lady Gaga doing the Jigglypuff song Jigglypuff Jigglypuff And it's like the grocery store that we shop at there's a Pokemon card vending machine. Yes. When you walk out It's nuts how big of a resurgence it's had. It is never And you can't buy cards. It's always empty well retro ralph told me that it is a 288 billion dollar franchise franchise you could take the next like three or four franchises in the world and combine them and it still has not earned as much as pokemon billions shows cards video games merchandise they have a chokehold on the children at recess uh yeah it's the new uh my my friend who has kids that are in elementary school they're all boys he said that oh pokemon cards is the new currency for cool the currency for cool pokemon cards they have those little binders and everything they don't even play the game i don't think they just collect cards right i've got a cool holographic one um and i think it was just this week the most expensive card ever sold do you want to guess how much it sold for? Pokemon card. 2 million. Try 16 million more. Well. Who is buying that? I don't know. I don't know. So needless to say, I know, right? Needless to say, Stern, I think, picked a very strong theme. I'm excited for it. And you know what? With the theme they picked, they wanted something approachable. but that was really fun looking. Yeah. By golly, I think they did it. Well, here's the thing is, as you very well know, I have not much tie to Pokemon, but I'm really excited to play it. I think they did a really good job. Me too. There's a lot going on on the play field, and that makes me very excited. Yeah, super cool. Let's get into a few details. So the game is designed, so Jack Danger started designing it. Okay. And then he stepped away, because he wanted to do other things. And so George Gomez, who designed our favorite game, Batman. Batman. And another game that we love, Deadpool. Deadpool 2. Came in and finished the design. Okay. Kind of tweaked a few things. So I watched the interview with Loser Kid. Shout out to you, Josh. Did a video interview. Used some of our footage, actually, from our Deadpool tutorial. To talk about the game and interview the team. so that's super cool yeah uh so let's go by a couple of like just your thoughts on the play field like what do you what excites you i've said it before about other machines i don't like boring playfields this is not a boring play field no giant pikachu in the corner yep there's the little pokeball there's the the meowth balloon all of the things so many things going on i think that's super fun i just also like that there's endless possibilities it feels like there are so many Pokemon. They all evolved. You've been teaching me about evolution. You were telling me about biomes. Yes. And the different places where the different Pokemon live. I just think that there's so much opportunity here. I think it's genius. 100%. And there's so much going on. It just looks really fun. I mean, Insider Connected for this is going to be huge. I think they said 182 at launch. Different Pokemon that you can catch. Yeah. And you'll be able to go in your Insider Connected and then see what ones you caught. Okay, I like that. Right? I like accomplishments. Right? And it's just, it's more than a badge. It's a Pokemon you can collect. They haven't said anything about if you're able to level them up or train them. They haven't mentioned that. They really early on in the code The interviews that I seen so far is like oh we planning on like this or we have ideas for this we planning on things for this So it's still very early in terms of what they can do for the code. But man, if there's anything that's gonna get them, like people on the app and connected, it's gonna be this. It's gonna be this. Well, I just like how a lot of the reviews that we've watched, they talk about how approachable this machine is. And I love that because that's definitely for something that I look for. But I also think it's very smart of Stern to do that because, again, I feel like this is going to be a gateway pinball machine. Oh, 100%. Every arcade's going to want one. Every single arcade. And kids are going to want to play it. And if one machine is going to get kids hooked, it would be this one. It's Pokemon. It's Pokemon. It's funny because I've seen a lot of, shall we say, grumpier people online. And when I've been looking at stuff that are like, this is a dumb thing. Why are they doing this? and it's like 288 billion that's all i can say this is bigger than the harry potter on theme alone this game the le sold out before it was even announced you could not find an le anymore shut up and take my money so this game was revealed on friday yes the 13th friday the 13th uh they had media day on that wednesday the 11th that's right and we got invited and I was traveling all this week. You had just come back from paternity leave. It was just bad timing. It was hard to take time off of work. So we would have loved to have gone and seen this game and given you all the footage from like hands-on. We planned to go on to another one in the future, but just didn't work for us this time. Which is sad. You would have loved this one. I know. It would have been so good. Erica had that giant Pikachu. Yes, that was so funny. But yeah, so let's start with the differences. Pro, Premium, Kelly. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So, I mean, from what I've seen, the Premium and the Pro seem pretty similar. Yeah, they didn't take a lot out of it. I love that they don't have any of just the little plastic replicas, you know? Yeah, it's like the actual full Pikachu. In the Pro, yeah. It doesn't move. So in the Premium... It moves. It moves. You've got the big Pikachu. You've got... You've got the Pokeball. It moves. It's still there in the Pro. It just doesn't move. You've got the Meowth Balloon. both work exactly the same yeah um the only thing that i think really makes a difference in gameplay is the premium version underneath the pokeball it'll like lift up and capture the ball in a subway which is cool which is cool right and then they'll shoot it out from the side and there's a magnet underneath meowth that'll like make the that'll make the ball move around more and then there's a whirlpool people call it a toilet bowl yep that's the squirtle squad um that comes off of the the left flipper reminds me of that water slide at seven peaks yes that does the same little thing um but that's it i mean yeah functionally though i feel like you don't miss you don't miss out on too much like you said the animatronic pieces don't move but that's okay that's okay with me too yeah like i don't know how much the magnet makes a difference in terms of how wild it gets in the battle area yeah the whirlpool looks cool yeah um but like i don't know i need it capturing the ball underneath cool doesn't change a ton yeah no ball paths are changed so like i don't know if you're if you're thinking about this i don't think you can go wrong with a pro. What about Premium versus LE? So the LE is all cosmetic, right? It's got the cool Pokeball on the... Yeah, on the shooter rod. On the shooter rod. The Master Ball. The Master that right that right I had to ask Cameron what the Purple Ball was It like the guaranteed capture of a Pokeball But I also I did like the purple coating The purple coating looks really with the yellow It looked really cool. I like that the side art has Eevee and Pikachu teaming up. Yeah. Because they're like the two most iconic ones. The speakers. Oh, the speakers that have the Pokeball cut out. Yeah, and just the way that they light up. Yeah, super well done. I think, I mean, if you were lucky enough to get an LE, I think you're sitting pretty. But again, sold out before the game was shown. Which is nuts. So crazy. They could have made double, I think, in sales school, though. So crazy. It's that scarcity, man. I know, right? This game is going to kill first turn. Yeah. Then you're going to make so much money off this mission. They've already sold out all the LEs. The pros are being made first. That's right. Prioritizing locations. because they want to get this out. Get it out there, which is smart. And the Pokemon Company apparently is already promising to bring the game to all of their 30th anniversary stuff. That's so crazy. This was such a win for Star Trek. And any grumpy old people that are like, this is not a cool thing, get hip with the kids. There's that classic Skinner. Am I so out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong. my question is i know you're high on batman right now oh i am and we've got a budget for 2026 for a new pinball machine probably what will happen every year um if it weren't for your hopes for batman this year would you consider without having played it getting a poke without having played it no no i think i would have to play it the thing is because i think the pro is pretty loaded yeah It does make the budget work a little easier. I know. I keep telling him, I'm like, if you just buy more pros, then we could open up the budget for more. More and more. I think I'm going to want to play it. But here's the thing. It's fair. Every arcade near us is going to get one. Oh yeah. Like, no doubt. Yeah. Every arcade. We're going to be able to play this. Might be a minute. Might be a hot minute. But here's the nice thing. We're going to Texas Pinball Festival. Oh, you're right. And it's going to be there. Shut up. I didn't even think about that. They're going to have all of them. We'll get to play the pro and the premium. We can see which one they have. Will they have an Ellie? They'll probably have, I don't know. But also that. Why even show them off? I don't know. I just want to see one. I just want to see one. Don't crush my dreams. They might. They probably will. They might. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. But yeah, I'm surprised that they actually were brave enough to number the Ellies. Oh, that's right. I saw the little, it's got the little plate on the side. Like, people are going to try and get the number corresponding to their favorite Pokemon. Oh, do you think they will? Oh. Oh. Well, I mean, how many L.E.s are they? Like, 151 would be like Mewtwo. Yeah, but how many L.E.s are they making? 750. Are there 750 Pokemon? There's 1,068 Pokemon. Maybe. Okay. Never mind. Correct the number. It's over 1,000. What number did you say? I said 1,068. 1,068. Okay, we'll see if he knows. We'll see if I'm right. Probably not. You just made that number up. There's less than 1,100 and more than 1,000. Okay. Narrowed it in. You are technically correct. The best kind of correct. So that's our first impressions. We haven't played it. But when we go to Texas Pinball Festival here in a little bit, we're definitely going to play it. Yeah. All in all, I'm excited to try this one. I'm not always excited to try them all. Walking Dead, not excited to try that one. But... But Pokemon? We got to catch them all. Yep. No, we gotta catch them all! I'm excited. You're excited. Yep. We'll let you know once we play what we think. But until then... Keep flipping!