The 2024 Kaneda Kudos Pinball Awards / Saturday Morning Spectacular!

Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives·video·1h 22m·analyzed·Dec 29, 2024

Analysis

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TL;DR

Kaneda's 2024 awards showcase Jaws and Evil Dead dominance while condemning weak theme selection.

Summary

Kaneda presents his 2024 Kaneda Kudos Awards, a personal retrospective of pinball games revealed in 2024, critiquing themes, design, and industry direction. He awards Metallica (best sound), The Princess Bride (best toy/mech), Jaws (best animations/display and best rules), Avatar (best topper), Jaws (best theme), Evil Dead (best theme integration and best callouts), while criticizing the overall weak lineup of themes and expressing concerns about the industry's market research and pricing strategy.

Key Claims

2024 was the worst year for themes in pinball history
high confidence · Kaneda emphasizes this repeatedly, showing 14 games revealed and saying 'these are not really the themes that blew us away' and 'worst year for themes in pinball history'
The pinball industry does very little market research and has been too successful for too long without it
high confidence · Kaneda states: 'this is indicative of an industry of a hobby that does very little market research that has been too successful for too long doing no market research'
Jaws has poor theme integration despite being the best theme, specifically the Orca upper playfield is cheap-looking
high confidence · Kaneda criticizes: 'the upper playfield doesn't look like a boat at all... it is the cheapest cheapest like flat plastic looking upper playfield'
Evil Dead is the next major Spooky game after Goonies, with Goonies featuring a pirate ship
medium confidence · Kaneda predicts: 'Goonies is coming... watch how quiet they get right now when I say Goonies is next with a big pirate ship' and Spooky Luke responds 'I'm busy designing Goonies'
John Wick was one of Stern's weakest launches in company history
high confidence · Kaneda states: 'this is probably one of Stern's weakest launches uh in company history uh next to Venom and WWE and Mustang'
Spooky Pinball has significantly improved theme integration capability in the last 5 years
high confidence · Kaneda: 'five years ago they didn't they just didn't I think they've learned a lot I think they've grown as a company and now I think they're definitely punching above their old weight class'
Jersey Jack paid for travel and ~$800 hotel costs for media to visit Avatar reveal
high confidence · Kaneda compares to Stern: 'Jersey Jack Pinball did the right thing and set up everybody with not just travel but hotel room I think Jersey Jack gave us somewhere around like $800 to book our travel'
A Metallica LE recently listed for $225,000 on Pinside

Notable Quotes

“I just think overall this is indicative of an industry of a hobby that does very little market research that has been too successful for too long doing no market research”
Kaneda @ ~15:30 — Core criticism of entire pinball industry direction and complacency on game selection
“it's a game where when you look at what they put on the screen it's just integrated so well uh and I don't think anything is has done a better job than Jaws”
Kaneda @ ~40:00 — Praise for Jaws animations/display and rules integration
“the best theme integration Kudo winner is Spooky Pinball's Evil Dead and this game I I mean I wish it wasn't Evil Dead again I wish it was Goonies Goonies is coming”
Kaneda @ ~70:00 — Major signal that Goonies is Spooky's next release; hints at leak/confirmation
“I'm busy designing Goonies”
Spooky Luke (via chat) @ ~72:00 — Spooky Luke acknowledges Goonies is in development, providing semi-official confirmation
“the Cliffs of Insanity mechanism and seeing that ball go up the rope magnetically is super cool”
Kaneda @ ~35:00 — Praise for Princess Bride's creative mech; Multimorphic recognition
“it absolutely is I still believe to this day one of the biggest misses when it comes to theme integration I also think the upper playfield doesn't look like a boat at all”
Kaneda @ ~65:00 — Critical analysis of Jaws playfield design despite awarding it best theme
“this is probably one of Stern's weakest launches uh in company history uh next to Venom and WWE and Mustang”
Kaneda @ ~25:00 — Major criticism of John Wick commercial performance
“I think we've all seen too much gameplay of the Sentinel mechanisms working uh where you know it doesn't really create the wow I think people thought it would”
Kaneda — Criticism of X-Men Sentinel mech execution vs. expectations

Entities

KanedapersonSpooky PinballcompanyStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack Pinballcompany Spooky Lukeperson Christopher Franchiperson Bugperson Keith Elwinperson

Signals

?
business_signal: Stern Pinball experienced multiple major launch failures in recent history including John Wick, Venom, WWE, and Mustang; John Wick specifically called 'one of Stern's weakest launches in company history'
high · Kaneda: 'this is probably one of Stern's weakest launches uh in company history uh next to Venom and WWE and Mustang... you know there's not that many Stern games that have just been flops'
?
community_signal: Community callout quality has declined from Bally/Williams era; modern voice direction lacks energy and animation compared to Medieval Madness and Attack from Mars benchmarks; broader callout culture assessment
high · Kaneda: 'I think that people should go back and listen to how the voice actors were directed in the Bally Williams days... they did such a better job getting animated and getting energy into the callouts'
?
competitive_signal: Jaws ruleset praised for replay value and progressive structure despite mechanical shortcomings; rules depth and addictiveness separated from physical design quality in player perception
medium · Kaneda awards best rules to Jaws while criticizing theme integration; states 'when you watch people talk about Jaws and what makes this game so addictive'
?
product_concern: X-Men Sentinel mech failed to deliver promised 'wow factor' despite extensive gameplay footage; mechanical implementation did not match expectations or hype
high · Kaneda: 'I think we've all seen too much gameplay of the Sentinel mechanisms working uh where you know it doesn't really create the wow I think people thought it would'
?

Topics

2024 Game Theme Selection and Industry MarketingprimaryAward Categories: Sound, Toys/Mechs, Animations, Rules, Toppers, Theme, Theme Integration, CalloutsprimaryJaws Pinball: Best Theme but Poor Theme IntegrationprimaryEvil Dead and Spooky Pinball's Improved Design CapabilityprimaryStern Pinball's Recent Launch Failures (John Wick, Venom, WWE, Mustang)secondaryJersey Jack Pinball Avatar Reveal and Media ExperiencesecondaryUpcoming Spooky Pinball: Goonies with Pirate ShipprimaryMetallica Remastered Secondary Market and FOMOsecondaryIndustry Pricing and Affordability ConcernssecondaryPinball Topper Culture and Over-Emphasis on Cosmeticssecondary

Sentiment

negative(-0.62)— Kaneda is critical of the overall industry direction, theme selection, and complacency in market research, though he praises specific games (Jaws, Evil Dead, Avatar). He expresses frustration with pricing, mechanic quality, and the prioritization of cosmetics over gameplay substance. However, he maintains enthusiasm for well-executed titles and the potential for manufacturers like Spooky to improve.

Transcript

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people come through the door how's everybody doing here we go all right so everybody Welcome to the Saturday morning spectacular I'm your host Canada um you know I said I was to try to record this on Audacity but it is what it is we're just going to do it here I'll take the audio off of YouTube everybody how's everybody going first and foremost I want to say I hope everybody had a really great holiday I hope you enjoyed time with family I think it's so important that we remember the priorities in life that's why I just spoiled Brenda I think I got her a more than a pinball machine and some nice stuff to wear on her wrists so instead of buying a pinball machine I'm GNA keep the wife very happy your wife is hot yes she is very very hot thank you so much for saying that um what we're going to do is we're going to look at on this episode of the Saturday morning spectacular starting about 20 minutes late we're going to look at all the games that were revealed basically in 2024 not all of them came out some of them are going to be eligible for categories because we saw maybe the artwork or we saw the toys in a game and I'm gonna give you just my opinion on who deserves a kudos a canudo award for bringing some of the best to pinball in 2024 how does that sound is everybody ready for this show insert the Applause insert the tippies before the tippies insert I don't know if can is going to go down to Wormhole pinball to see the 2024 trippies all right so just put in the comment section the last comment I got was from Kelly Daniel is that is that it are we done there are you guys still typing I want to make sure my chat is refreshing automatically all right wait on John to get here John Erick is not in the house yet all right well how many people we got in the house right now let's see let's see what we got all right we're good let's get this party started all right and look write your comments in the chat because I'm going to be following along with the chat as we go into the caned Kudos Awards uh right now let's see what we got here we've got just 45 lonely Souls watching I know when I do this on Facebook uh we always get more people but we'll get people a few minutes to come in the door before we start this I do want to say uh that it's GNA be an exciting couple of weeks we're gonna see the new game from Brian Eddy and Stern Pinball uh no Stern Pinball has not invited Canada uh to visit on January 7th uh Tuesday I would not go anyway as I've been saying because it is basically the first week back back at work and I just don't think people should have to burn a vacation day to go visit Stern I think they should have done it over the weekend I also think all pinball content creators should have their own webinar so we could see this game without having to travel and if Stern Pinball wants us to travel I think they should pay for the travel and they paid for the travel when people went in to see John Wick uh Jersey Jack pinball did the right thing and set up everybody with not just travel but hotel room I think Jersey Jack gave us somewhere around like $800 to book our travel to go see Avatar so I just don't think but here's the thing Cody it's like the webinar would be leaked well you know do it all at once you know do it all at once I I don't know I don't know what to tell you guys I guess there's there there's no way to prevent leaks in the world of pinball we're all just so damn hungry to see what's around the corner um all right so let's do this let's just say you know 2025 is going to be a better year than 2024 and as we see about last year's games let's first look at who the contestants are these are the games that are eligible to win a caned Kudos award in 2024 uh there's some games that are not on here that you might think should be on here we'll talk about that for a little bit and then we will get to the awards themselves how does that sound you guys ready all right and I'm curious us what you guys think in the chat as we watch the Canada Kudos Awards 2024 so I'm going to give you guys all the games that came out in the order in which they came out so if you were alive on planet Earth starting in December of 2023 this is the order in which games came out and we learned about each of these games for the first time so the first one is Texas chainsaw Mass December 2023 is eligible for awards Looney Tunes same exact layout different art package December 2023 came out then we got Jaws in January it was a big January for Stern Pinball Keith elwin's much rumored Jaws made its way to the market and it's now a hard game to get if you want an Le of Jaws pinball good luck then we got the bride from multimorphic was revealed to the world in February of 2024 I still don't think anybody has in their possession this version of the game with the swords on the side and sort of like the Ellie package of the game so it just goes to show you some of these games the gap between reveal and delivery can be humongous you're not going to see on this list uh Pulp Fiction that game is two years old I'm not giving Pulp Fiction what's wrong I don't Jesse said something's wrong is anything wrong did I get something wrong all right so that's February then in March we got ninja eclipse from Turner pinball in its new cabinet Chris Turner took the advice from everybody put the game in a normal normal cabinet brought it to tpf and had since sold all 100 units of his ninja Eclipse game and at the rate at which pinball prices are going through the ceiling I think everyone feels ninja Clips is a somewhat decent Buy in the world of pinball these days then we get barbecue challenge came out in March as well I got a lot of slack from a lot of people because I left off barbecue challenge in Canada's worst of 20 24 um so I'm going to put it into the best of and spoiler alert I'm just going to let you know right now it is not going to win any awards for the best of pinball in 2024 okay uh then we had Abba pinball from the pinball Brothers in April uh this is uh one of the most inspired cabinet artworks of all time I can't believe this ever got approved I'm not not sure what they were going for but they definitely nailed it and failed it at the same exact time then we got the fun housee remake from padr gaming in May of 2023 we got John Wick pinball uh what a launch that was no guns on the artwork John Wick pinball in May of 2023 Stern Pinball invited people fully expense paid trip to come there and shill the game and we know who went over there most people didn't buy it but some people did but this is probably one of Stern's weakest launches uh in company history next to Venom and WWE and Mustang and you know there's not that many Stern games that have just been flops this game really was the flops then we got X-Men in September I hope I got these dates right so may uh nothing June July August you know September we start to new titles this is usually what happens every year as people get ready for Expo and the end of the year we saw The Uncanny X-Men I think this game has a really bipolar sort of response from the community it had an incredible launch it's obviously a gorgeous game uh but there is definitely Marvel fatigue and the issues with the uh the the game itself both codewise and some of the mechanical issues with the game game have really soiled uh the launch and the reception this game has had over the last few months Avatar uh Jersey Jack pinball flew a bunch of media myself included to go to Jersey Jack pinball and see uh Avatar pinball it was a rumored theme for a long time it was a questionable theme beautiful art package on the game very stunning game to walk up to uh but we will see you know how well this game does when we look at the Kudos Awards uh it's a theme that really has a gargantuan Hill decline when it comes to is this a theme we even wanted in pinball and then we got Metallica remastered in October and Stern just dropped the hammer down with this game instant sellout they went back to 500 Lees uh they really kind of made an all new game with it by adding a lot of clips and a lot of band footage and new artwork and we all know now this game I just I think I just saw one on pinside someone wants $225,000 firm that's a Bonkers ludicrous price uh but Metallica Le sort of took all the wind out of the sales of X-Men and everything else so that came out in October we also got Alice's Adventures in Wonderland the much debated zombie Yeti colorization game um from Dutch pinball X Barry and Melvin over over there lots of sort of conversation around this game uh I believe they're all spoken for that being said every time someone looks for a spot they don't seem to have a hard time finding one so I think while people have given a deposit on this game when they finally get their game or they get asked to pay for the remainder of the deposit I think you're going to see more and more of these games uh pop up for sale is a beautiful game uh it is still very controversial the fact that it exists um but as you can see a very stunning piece of artwork which is really the point of this uh game itself and then we're also going to throw Evil Dead into the mix it just got revealed I think we've seen enough of Evil Dead gameplay of artwork of topper of uh call outs of code uh to include it in this year's caned Kudos Awards I always think it's fortunate when the trippies make a game like this ineligible to be recognized uh as the best of 2024 uh because we all were looking at and celebrating this game in this fiscal year and I don't think anybody I don't think anybody wonders whether or not you know we're gonna see uh these games make their way into boxes yes I thank you Jesse for keeping me honest Alice may have been September uh not October but no big deal there so ladies and gentlemen I think this is probably the most important slide all should just think about an entire fiscal year went by and these are the themes that all of the pinball company Market in a year in which pinball is the most expensive it has ever been okay this is what they think you and I want and I just want to say when you look at this when you look at these games how bad this hobby has missed the mark in overall in giving us a plethora of themes that are what 40 to 60 year old men who buy these overpriced toys the the you know these themes should be jumping off the page at us these themes should have an emotional and a gravitational pole that makes you want to spend this kind of money on these games and I just think overall this is indicative of an industry of a hobby that does very little market research that has been too s too successful for too long doing no market research uh and is now sort of waking up to the sober reality that um it's not good enough anymore you you've got to really make sure that you know you put a theme out there that we want so here's how we're going to do it it's going to be real simple real fun I'm I'm curious what you guys think in the comments we've got over a hundred people watching right now thank you everybody oh my god did I I left out did I I wait wait David I didn't I didn't leave out Labyrinth right Labyrinth came out in 2023 I just want to make sure I get that right so Labyrinth is a game that was not eligible uh because Labyrinth did come out in 2023 or was revealed then in October I believe so David I just want to make sure we're right with that I also did not include uh Pulp Fiction because Pulp Fiction is two years ago so I I just want to make sure this is it is there anything missing from this list that you think should be here right now I know there's maybe spinal tap I know Blues Brothers I know maybe a pinball Adventures game but you know right now I'm counting one two three four five six seven 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 pinball machines 14 I mean that is absolutely Bonkers that there are so many games and yet I think deep down we all know these are not really the themes that blew us away all right so here's here's what we're gonna do there's a little bit of a you know what my font got a little messed up on this so I'm gonna I'm going to read over this thing when the screen changes I'm waiting for it to change on YouTube okay it it got messed up on when I converted over to this font so we're going to do best sound best toys in mechs best animations display best rules best topper best theme best theme integration best call outs best launch reveal coolest company in pinball best artwork best gameplay layout and Game of the Year how does that sound all right all right so I hope I hope these fonts are not they're not the fonts I used so we might see some font issues on this version of of my PowerPoint so in terms of best sound and what was the best sound in a pinball machine I'm curious what you guys think had the best sound in a pinball machine in 2024 you walk up to the game and what you're hearing from an audio standpoint like absolutely sort of B and I know what's always hard with best sound is some games have the you know they have music from a critically claimed artists but my kudos for best sound and again there wasn't really no I'm not doing a best location award I just want to clarify this I hate best location awards for pinball every pinball location is a great location some are better than others but the fact why would you give it an award like this location beat that location right no one says like I no you know what I'm saying like we don't think about locations like that and the fact that there's like eight or nine trippy awards for best location Northeast northwest southeast it's just so silly gang I just I think it's so ridiculous that that is even a category all right so even though I love playing on location I'm not going to give kudos Awards because again like I haven't visited any of them other than one or two so why would I give that in Awards all right so the best sound Kudo winner goes to and I think this is flipping a little bit slower than me is Metallica And I know what you might be saying that Metallica is using Metallica music but look out of all of the games this game just rocks from an audio standpoint and when you stand over this game and the speakers are set to like Volume 11 uh Metallica easily has the best sound in a game and they made it even better and so I don't look again I know there's always the debate whether or not music pin should be excluded but it is okay and so other than that I want to give this game the best sound winner of 2024 all right best toys in mechs in a game so this one is hard this one is hard because I I really do think when you look at all of these games and we look at the best toys in the Mex and I'm sorry that the font is going off here because when I uploaded it to Brenda's computer she doesn't have the same fonts I have but um you know look I I just got to say overall overall it was a horrible year for toys and mix I horrible year for toys and Mi you know what I know someone is saying Evil Dead and I'm telling you right now I'm telling you right now Evil Dead I I didn't give it to Evil Dead and I'll tell you because I I gave it to the one mechanism that I think was the most creative single Mech in all of pinball in 2024 and I would say yes honorable mention Evil Dead had the most amount of fun toys in mechs in it but I I again I'm just saying right now the single Mech that I think does the most creative thing from a from a physical standpoint you're gonna hate me you're gonna hate me and don't worry don't worry people but I think the best toy from just a pure creativity standpoint is the magnetic ball grab in the Cliffs of insanity in The Princess Bride where it magnetically grabs the pinball and slowly goes up the cliffs of insanity I just just thought out of all the toys that was one of the most unique pinball toys I'd seen in a while and I also look I yes I have not played the Evil Dead that is my excuse for not making Evil Dead the winner but I just want to see more stuff like this in pinball and I think that you know multimorphic has put a lot of really great mechanical mechs into its games albeit it is all pushed to the back of the game but I just want to say that like that Cliffs of insanity mechanism and seeing that ball go up the Rope magnetically is super cool all right so that wins my best toy or Mech in pinball of 2024 and again gang it was a crappy year for toys and mechs there nothing in Godzilla was a wow nothing in John Wick uh you know the X-Men Sentinel I you know again like I I think we've all seen too much gameplay of the Sentinel mechanisms working uh where you know it doesn't really create the wow I think people thought it would there's cool stuff happening but again it just didn't execute in that way that I think a Mech should all right so the best animations and display in a pinball machine are and as we think about you know everything out there and the roster games and and what is the best animations or display this is a hard one to me because I do think when it comes to best animations and display I do think you need to look Beyond just like the clips because obviously Jersey Jack is displaying an Avatar movie that cost uh you know $500 million to make or whatever it costs to make and when I think about animations and display I think about you know oh you know I haven't played enough Metallica people are saying Metallica is awesome and so but for me the one that won this uh just because I think about you know what's on the screen does it use the assets that you want to see does it arrange them in a way that lets you enjoy them and have they coded you know animations that make their way up onto the display that is really creative and really unique uh and of course are the clips synced up with what you're seeing and so I think Jaws to me wins the caned Kudos award for the best animations and display uh because again I just think it's a game where when you look at what they put on the screen it's just integrated so well uh and I don't think anything is has done a better job than Jaws I think Jaws is one of the nicest sort of coded games uh in pinball in a long time and I think Keith Elwin just gets the best team out there to help him put his game's Vision uh into fruition on that screen in a way that is is really really well done so so here's the thing so best rules in a game now I I got to say I got to say like I don't this is really hard this one because obviously I you know I Metallica should win this because lyman's rule sets the best and lyman's amazing but again like Lyman did that 12 years ago so uh I I do think again when we look at all the machines that came out has the replay value which game is giving people the most fun to jump on time and time again and you know I'm gonna I'm going to give this one in to Jaws pinball and I I think Jaws does have the best rules I think it has sort of the the I think the owners when you watch people talk about Jaws and and what makes this game so addictive You know despite not having the mechanical magic I think this game should have I do think what it does do well and and I think it does make anyone who loves Jaws really fall fall in love with the rule set and how you progress through the game uh and so I do think Jaws pinball is the best rules you guys you know again I'm reading the chat I'm wondering if you guys think uh differently some people are saying does Metallica allow you to play with linan rules only I'm not sure I don't think so this is turning into can's job interview for stern uh it is not Don I do you think Don that Jaws does not deserve to win best rule set uh I think it does uh what's the best for newbies Godzilla 70 you know what I didn't put in here and I'm going to add it I'm gonna do it right now um I'm gonna do it when I talk about best topper because I I did the worst game you could buy um I'm gonna do the one that doesn't have a slide I I'll do it now with best topper but before I do best topper award I want to give an award for what's the best I'll do it at the best new in box bang for the buck you could buy in pinball I'll do that at the end I'll do that later on let's let's stay on the slides um Hopper now look I think there's a few here going on that obviously oh I've just lost my my breath for a minute let me get some coffee man I need some energy hold on H now I've seen the Evil Dead topper I've seen the Metallica topper the Avatar topper um I've seen the Looney Tunes and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre we've seen the one for Princess Bride I've seen the Jaws topper in the end the best topper you know when I when I think about this and what a Topper uh you know there's way first of all there's the Alice and Wonderland topper is really cool very sculpted the thing is is this in my honest opinion I I think Toppers have become the topic of conversation way too often and I think this is why looking at all these games I I think we've started to migrate above the damn game itself because so much of what's under the glass is uninspired that we're trying to find a way to justify the cost of these machines and we're now celebrating something you barely will ever see when you um when you play the game all right if you don't pick the like K I'm just gonna say this right now this is a tough one this one came between two different games but I look I've seen the Evil Dead topper it is it is very cool and unique um but I I'm giving it to Avatar I'm I'm giving it to Avatar and I'll tell you why I'll tell you why look the evil nothing against the Evil Dead topper which would obviously be the runner up here but if you've never stood in front of the Avatar CE topper I don't think you understand this is easily the most beautiful sort of gorgeous thing I've ever seen on top of a game and and I mean that I mean that it it is it is way better than the Mandalorian topper and it looks insane and again this is nothing against the Evil Dead topper um but I I just think theer to me is you know it it just it's not as like gorgeous I actually like the I'm just gonna say I actually like don't kill me I like the franchy version of the Evil Dead topper like even better than the $1300 topper here because the art syncs up perfectly with the game and it just feels so connected where you know this Evil Dead topper to me it it does feel a little like aftermarket like home brewi kind of stuck on top I'm just saying I'm just saying thank you Zach for saying I'm high it's look it's a gang it would easily be number two but I def definitely I mean I wish I could give two awards for best Toppers because they're both really nice uh but I think the Avatar topper is just so stunning I again again the this is very subjective and I I like that this has created some division amongst people in the chat I like that we have about a hundred people watching right now I like that Christopher franie is booing me right now um all of this is good um franie I'm sorry uh I every they're trading their Canada Club deposits okay I mean also Jersey Jack has to win something right just something something okay the best theme in pinball what was the best theme in what is arguably the worst year for themes in pinball history I I mean that this look look at this this is what these companies came up with for 40 to 60-year-old millionaires this is what you think gets them going Looney Tunes Avatar barbecue ninja eclips Abba John Wick funh house it was the worst year in a long time for best theme of pinball this one was easy this one was easy obviously Jaws pinball ball is the best theme that came to Market in 2024 it it is an iconic movie it is a a Spielberg movie it has everything you want it has you know it it's just such a it's it's a great theme for Pinball it's a great theme for pinball Canada hitting it on the head with the themes Okay so the best theme integration right all right Jaws is the best theme is Jaws going to win for best theme imigration no it's not spoiler alert how can I give the best theme integration in which the word integration is off the screen my font issues to a game about a shark that eats things and the damn Shark doesn't eat anything it absolutely is I still believe to this day one of the biggest misses when it comes to theme integration I also think the upper Playfield doesn't look like a boat at all it doesn't look like the Orca have you stood over jaws and just looked at that Orca it is the cheapest cheapest like flat plastic looking upper play field that's meant to look like a ship I mean then go look at the pirate ship in Jersey Jacks Pirates of the Caribbean and you tell me that Stern is charging us $113,000 and that's what a ship is supposed to look like it's terrible it's absolutely terrible so the best theme in a graded pin when I I want to give you like my criteria for what I mean I mean a game that I mean it takes everything you love about the theme it builds a world underglass that brings that theme to life with everything you'd want I mean a game that gives you all the moments from the subject matter on the screen with synced up audio and and video I I mean a game that just connects the moments from that property into the game playay right into modes into like mechanical things and moments of wow right if like if you think about a game like Lord of the Rings like how amazing is it destroying the ring or or like battling ballog when he swings out to block your pathway right it's like we need more of that in pinball we need more of that in pinball and there's not enough of it and when I look at this game and I you and I look at the integration of the source IP into the game itself without a doubt without a doubt the best theme integration Kudo winner is spooky pinballs Evil Dead and this game I I mean I wish it wasn't an evil tender again I wish it was Goonies Goonies is coming they know it's coming watch how quiet they get right now when I say Goonies is next with a big pirate ship they know it's next bug is not gonna say anything franie is not hey bug franie all spooky Luke all you guys on here right now just in the chat deny that it's Goonies next all right you're not gonna see them deny it they're not going to be able to write anything um but evil dead to me is what we want and it is what we want when it comes to theme integration and the thing is this when you listen to the team over at spooky pinball when you listen to them talk about what went into making this game there is just a level of passion and connection to these themes that they are now and I and I mean this they now have the talent to integrate the themes in the right way I I would say five years ago they didn't they just didn't I think they've learned a lot I think they've grown as a company and now I think they're definitely punching above their old weight class and they're and they're bringing pinball machines uh into Market with you know amazing stuff so did spooky Luke say anything about Goonies I'm busy designing goodies um I've won magnet lift Mech oh that's amazing that that's amazing okay you know what spooky Luke I I get it I get it this game also does deserve to win the kudos for for the most amount of toys and mechs in a game I I will give you an an honorary Kudo if we if we were to go off of like total toys and mechs in a game Evil Dead should get the Kudo for it I'm getting pressured I'm getting pressured here I I feel the peer pressure um best pinball machine in front of a window Canada oh man you guys are you guys are brutal you guys are brutal all right so the best call outs in a pinball machine right and do believe that call outs is an important part of every pinball game and sometimes call outs can be a unique way you take the clips from the TV show or the movie right and you use them again I use Lord of the Rings as an example of the way they grab the moments from the film really create an amazing journey and and sort of chopping up the film to make those call outs so exciting is what makes Lord of the Rings such a fun game to play um the thing about you know when you think about Jaws and they got Richard dfus doing the call outs uh were those the best call outs in pinball I know Jaws definitely uses the clips from the movie in a good way uh when we look one of the weirdest call outs like the call outs kind of only tell you what to shoot you're not really getting uh excitement from those call X-Men's call outs have been really how do you say this I mean it's just for some reason when they get some of those voice actors with Sabertooth and the other Marvel characters they're just not exciting people um Metallica callouts you know again like I maybe you know I I think that Metallica definitely has some energetic call outs um this one was hard you know and and again I I think that the best call outs in all of these games and just having listened to them recently and I went back and I watched a bunch of gameplay is I do think the call outs in evil dead to me are just like the best because I just think what they wrote and what they've told Ash to say Bruce Campbell to say like in these clips is just really really great um a lot of Anthony like what the Happ okay like I what I'm this is this is open for debate but like I I in my honest opinion you know I think the put the stuff they put into this game has a lot of really good call outs um that's my thing um so I'm I'm the mob is speaking here so I I'm wondering if you guys think another game should have best call outs in it I I think overall the entire pinball world's call outs are flat and I think that people should go back and listen to how the voice actors were directed in the Bal Williams days like like go listen to the call outs in Medieval Madness and attack from Mars and all those classic games they they did such a better job getting animated and getting energy into the call out so I say overall overall we need to see just better energy and better call outs from these pinball companies all right so next game was who had the best launch and reveal of of a game and this one you know even as I'm about to show you who won um I think this one comes down to a criteria that is um because I looked at this just from I looked at this from a pure marketing standpoint right like who when they revealed their game to the world like who just revealed it in the best way possible and I I also want to say that when it comes to marketing and doing something exciting during your pinball reveal I said this to Seth Davis I said it to uh Gary I said it to um you know George Gomez I I think all pinball marketing when it comes to a move that a company can make that everyone would remember forever as the way they revealed and launched the game is something that this industry needs to sort of improve upon and I'll give you an example gang like if I was working over at storm pinball how are you not having a DN tournament to see who wins DN D number one Le off the line like how did you not think to do that and again the reason why these companies are so they're so stuck in a boring way of revealing a game is we all know it's Dungeons and Dragons and so they easily could have just revealed the theme without showing you the game and Stern Pinball could have had a fun DND D tournament that took place at Expo or took place you know around different key markets where you give people a chance to win an Le by being the best D and player and pinball fanatic right so D and D isn't really a game you win how's it not a game you win nobody wins you just keep playing there's no way to there's no way to make a DN D tournament that's so weird to me all right so that's that's crazy to me so you just play the game and you just level up these characters and that's it and so how do you win the pinball machine wow this is like honestly or or okay okay so if you can't win in D and D how fun would it be to just do a DND D tournament where pinball fans can come up I'm gonna give you a new idea all right a new idea of course I didn't do research on D and D because nobody I knew played D and D growing up nor did I but I do know that there's a 20-sided die right all right so imagine this idea number too can's brain doesn't stop imagine if you had a tournament in which people could just go head-to-head against each other and each roll the die and whoever rolls the highest number advances to the next round and you do a 20-sided die contest to see who gets D and D number one all right can you do that can we do that would that would that be enough of a of a fun thing to do but in the end G like there's really not much that's ever done now look just on a pure marketing level on a pure marketing level the best launch was the $100,000 I mean they spent a $100,000 on the launch video gang it should be the best uh reveal and launch of a game and I think in the end the game didn't deliver but when they launched it remember everyone's got to remember this when this game launched there was a moment in which a lot of our skepticism was sort of taken over by the beauty of that launch moment and that video and the way they put that all together was pretty Spectacular Now I want everybody to go do this go back and watch that $100,000 launch video and watch how they talk about the game but then watch how they actually show you the footage of the game what is coming out of Mark sidon's mouth and the team at Jersey Jack does not syn up at all with the actual footage that is so pedestrian and mediocre they're like oh then then you battle the colonel and then you see the colonel like cheap little toy that doesn't really interact with the ball just the knife going up and down so it's kind of funny right and then the UV ink didn't really work and Carri Hardy like exposed the fact that they had extra UV Lighting on the ceiling and so the whole thing was a little bit of smoke and mirrors in a way and they knew they didn't have enough of a game so but it but it still was the best video and and I do think when it comes to like the best Vibes yeah the Evil Dead launch was great Vibes and and Jaws was also really good as well um all right the coolest company in pinball who's the the coolest company in pinball I mean I always say this the criteria for this one you got Turner you got American pinball you've got pinball Brothers padr gaming you got Dutch pinball you know when you think about who's the that is just like the one you want to open up the door and go have a beer with the one who's part of the community day in and day out the one who seemingly cares the most now about you know bringing to Market something and listening to feedback I mean it's it's you know who I'm going to put up here and and the reason why I think we should celebrate the the folks over in Benton Wisconsin and spooky pinball uh because we're not we're obviously not celebrating their sorial choices here um but we should celebrate the fact that this company just really cares a lot has grown in the right way uh I think continues to do what all of us really want is they continue to be both a part of the community but also a manufacturer they continue to listen to feedback in real time and respond to people uh they continue to make tons of content on a weekly basis they continue to make strategic hires like bringing Christopher franie on board that was really smart I I think you got to and and they just seem seem like they're having fun right they just seem like they're having a good time you know when you open the door to Stern Pinball it's so damn big you might not even see anybody for like a quarter mile um and you know like they've got dogs in their photos I mean to me like that's it like they have dogs like inside the company walls like that to me is what every pinball company should have all right all right so spooky pinball you guys are are pretty cool almost as cool as Canada all right we got 120 wow we got how do we get 126 people are now watching word has got out that the can Kudos award the most the most celebrated pinball award show in the history of 2024 the only pinball award show happening in 2024 uh spooky pinball congratulations all right best artwork damn man damn if this wasn't the one that made me um made me step back for a little bit have a shot of whiskey and and really this is the hard one this one was like the hardest because there's like there's a lot um there's a lot and I think you know when I was like looking at all of these I will say like artwork is an area where pinball has really grown tremendously and you know I I know you don't even see Alis here but to me these were the four I mean Alice Alice was not going to win best artwork people I mean it it's I do like Alice for sure but it it you know there's too much there's too much controversy around the Alice art package for it to win best art work and I I sort of I landed on these four really I really sort of struggle to even pick a winner because when it comes to Art package you know to me it's not just the cabinet it's also what's happening on the Playfield right it's also on the translate on the backbox but sometimes just got to step back and and I mean this you got to just like step back and look at the game and just like almost like close your eyes and then open them up and be like wow is this like exciting me does this feel like fresh original like have we seen this before or does this feel like you know like something we haven't seen before uh and you know and then every every element you got to look at you got to look at the the apron you got to look at you know everything uh and so I I had a hard time with this one but in the end in the end again much to my chagrin because I wish it was another theme I still think that you know and we've seen lots of different art packages from franie and I I mean it when I say it like these things are just stunning and they're laid out in a way that I think has really shown over time his Mastery of knowing how to lay out a pinball art package in a way that just is perfect for the theme and and the thing I love about franie is his style is so it's like it works on anything that has great source material that he can just enhance and do his thing on and it just looks so damn good uh you know what I'm saying like you're not you know we're we're like and Yeti I mean I want to say this like yetis are package on X-Men is phenomenal I mean that like absolutely phenomenal I mean I like when you watch Yeti hand illustrate X-Men line by line there there's no better illustrator in the history of pinball uh and X-Men I love the layout of it but I think where X-Men you know falls down a little bit is as we've seen a lot of Marvel artwork right so it doesn't have as much originality Avatar is also a beautiful game but but emotionally I think there's just something about the Avatar art package that like you know it's it's like you don't get excited about Avatar the way you do about the other ones uh a Metallica stunning Le package on the Metallica Le remastered but he's a more of a poster artist and that's why like the translate and the the cabinet for Metallica are so cool and the backbox I find the Metallica Playfield though to be pretty bad and I think the Metallica is is a little underwhelming and that's the thing about Alis too gang is while while Alis has like a beautiful I mean let's go back to the I I'm gonna go quickly here because I'm gonna get back to all the games like I wanna I wanna I want to go to Alice real quick you're gonna see a quick scroll through but out of all the games close your eyes gang um the thing about Alice is the Playfield is not nearly as good as the cabinet you know what I'm saying like the the yeti artwork does not pull through enough for it to win um best art package but it's it's still very stunning still controversial all right we're going to go forward what do we at here all right all right we did Art launch reveal TOS company best art all right Evil Dead all right best gameplay layout um I'm I'm watching my little screen flip through so the the gameplay layout this one man another one where I have to be honest very very underwhelming year in this category uh I I look at all these games and I'm I'm wondering you know like where where is it where is the best gameplay layout I I wanted to give this to X-Men I did I did I wanted to give it to X-Men because of its creativity but I can't because of all the issues people are having with their games and I think you know when you look at the issues it's really not it's you know it's really a shame because you can take creative leaps with a layout and if it doesn't work right or you're having issues with the you know I don't know like the auto plunger or the the hand breaking up the wire forms is not exciting or is more frustrating than fun what game do you just walk up to and once you know where all the shots are at you're gonna have the most fun playing it and you know so in the end even though I don't love the the toys in it I I still think the layout of Jaws from a pure shooter St point is is still the best when you play a dialed in Jaws um I'm seeing some people here say Texas Chainsaw Massacre yeah look I I also again I got to be candid here like I I think Stern always has an advantage here because they've got the best flippers they still have the best flipper feel um and I think that even though look I know you're not seeing Texas Chainsaw Mass win anything here but it's elwin's just still on a different level here and I think I don't think people would argue that Jaws his layout um you know and and for a guy that has done a lot he continues to make games that just have incredible flow in Combos and shots um I'm seeing a lot of people here maybe just a few people here uh but Texas Chainsaw Massacre seems to be another fan favorite yeah I mean that the layout of spooky Texas and Looney Tunes uh is is definitely worth a shout out uh a lot of of interesting shots in those games a lot to shoot at and shoot for so but Jaws is the one that Canada picked as the best layout um in pinball um the best pin in front of window so I I know this is one I snuck in here and you know this can and as I look at my Guns and Roses which you can see it's not in front of the window you can see it here there's a gap there's a gap I mean I I will die on that Gap people I will die on that Gap trust me it kills me there's nowhere else I can put my guns and roses in this room I've uh I I knew exactly the the hate I'd get when people saw that so let's um let's look at the winner for this um Melvin your name is the fonts have messed it up a little bit but Melvin Williams he I mean he's not even trying here he he's got a retro Atomic Zombie Adventure Land from deep root smack dab right in front of a window I mean this thing is not even it's not even in front of a window it's also covering a doorway I mean this is the double whammy of where you don't put a pinball machine and it looks like he's got stuff stacked underneath it as well so I I've talked to Melvin about this game and apparently he's made some changes he fixed the ramp on the game he says it plays well um so yeah this is this is the worst pin maybe the worst pin in front of a window both you know we get it he closed the minines all right Melvin's a good friend so he he'll get a kick out of this game of the year game of the year here I mean have you picked up the theme gang see I want to say like Evil Dead who that has won a bunch of awards really no one's played it so it's obviously not going to win here butning here is not an indictment of the game um I think now is a good time to talk about what the best purchase of the year was and that was easily Metallica remastered Le if you got your hands on one of those Metallica L you easily you saw your game go up $5,000 uh maybe more now uh you know it's just the the truth is every other game here a significant loss in value across the board on every single title you know how I feel about modern pinball pricing I don't think these products are worth where the pricing is and so as we think about Game of the Year in what is arguably one of the most lackluster years in pinball since I've been covering the Hobby uh the the easy winner here is uh is is Jaws and Keith Elwin and and I think it's um it's it's easily a game that you know I I it's so hard for me to sort of disconnect the pricing for what the game is and I don't think Jaws is better than Godzilla but I think it's a really good game I don't think it's like a masterpiece but it's a really good game I think the assets we're we are all shocked at the amount of assets they got Roy shider and all this stuff in the game it you know it's there's enough there to really love about this game and the code in this game is absolutely phenomenal um but the thing is is that this is the best game of the year and and I don't think you could pick a another game that's better than this um and and look for those saying like it's not better than Metallica I'm sorry but I just have a problem giving a game that was made 12 years ago by a coder who's no longer with us and you know I I don't think Metallica should win game of the year when it is a remaster of a 12-year-old sorry I I just don't think that's that's like giving like if they re-release Star Wars for an anniversary giving it best movie of the year like it doesn't work like that you I you can't you can't I I think we need to award games that were released for the first time in that fiscal year and not a Remastered game okay so that's that was my criteria now look gang I I think I wanted to sort of look at some of the rumored games you know we're hearing about in 2025 and I want to really really like I think this year is is pivotal I I think it is Paramount that these companies stop with the nonsense like just stop stop doing no market research stop bringing out themes that we don't really want stop charging so much money you know what we want and you know how to make it and you know how to put the Magic in now do it and I think a lot of us are at a point now where we're just tired of feeling like it's you know everything's around the corner it's not enough it's not good enough anymore because all my friends are losing so much money in the Here and Now who just buy all these games in 2024 2023 it's just not enough um you know what you're not seeing Back to the Future on here people because you know unless Dutch inks a deal with Stern to make Back to the Future you're not going to see Back to the Future in 2025 people I if Dutch designs it and releases it on its own it's you might they might re they might tease it in 2025 but you're not going to see see it I mean they're not even going to be able to make all the alyses barely make all the Alles by the end of 2025 so you know I think there's a lot happening in pinball and I think a lot is coming and when I look at this list of games I really do get excited by a lot more of what's up here than what we saw last year so that is um exciting and and as I think about creating pinball content in 2025 I'm a lot more excited to be making shows and doing weekly podcasts about pinball when I look at these kinds of themes um and the last thing I'll ask from each and every one of you if you could please vote for Canadas pinball podcast in the upcoming tippies which is happening I I think January 2 or 3 opens up I'm going to stop screen sharing and get back to each and every one of you uh it was a lot of fun sorry for the the technical difficulties in getting this show going today that I as you see I need it to share with you the the PowerPoint all the work I put into that I I I'm glad to see that there was disagreement on some of the stuff that's good I think all of this is subjective I think that that's what makes this hobby a lot of fun and you know and you look at other Hobbies ladies and gentlemen you know like imagine trying to collect watches there's hundreds of watches that come out a year you can't really get your arms around it there's there's so many cars that come out a year there's so many bottles of wine there's so much that happens in the video game space but in pinball as much as so many of them miss the mark there's only 14 things you need to know about that's not a lot and the way they're spaced out is easy for us to sort of absorb and deconstruct and discuss uh each new when it comes out so I think hopefully you enjoy the the 2024 caned Kudos we will see how stuff syns up with the trippies uh that opens as Colin is saying January 3 and I think it's going to be um I think it's G to be a good next year in pinball I I think a lot of us are going to be happy to get past this year I I do I think a lot of a lot of what we've been sort of surviving is the right word is just these crazy prices and a lot of uninspired themes and uninspired games and I think the only way to get back to the magic is if people just stop buying and just demand more and I don't think that's being negative I don't think that's a um you know I don't think that's a bad position to be in and and in in a way like we all control the destiny of this hobby if our expectations and our and and what we demand from these manufacturers we we have the ability to control that and and I'm glad to see that this hobby has woken up right Avatar sales are not good John Wick's sales were abysmal we're not seeing great sales with Elton John we're not seeing great sales with X-Men right now we we we've seen you know sales in a lot of these games like is ABBA selling well I don't know probably not funh housee remake you go on pinside there's only two pages of the funh house remake Owners Club I think a lot of people are just sort of keeping their money reserved for when they see something that deserves your money right reserve your money until something deserves your money I think that's another good Canada phrase I could start to to put out there in the in the pinball Community um but look we started a little late so I'll stay on here um you know I think um I think we're going to see Dungeons and Dragons and I and I think the hope for D andd that I have is the same hope each and everybody has it's each and everyone has it's that it's a sequel to Medieval Madness kind of that it's going to give us that those The Vibes of Medieval Madness has some crazy awesome mechanisms in it and just the campy fun of Medieval Madness I think that is what everybody is hoping to get in Brian Eddy's Dungeons and Dragons Elton John is still perhaps the perest pin of all says angry alaka I think that's Orbiter Albert no I Elton John is not the prettiest game it's it's a nice game for sure but you know Elton flying off the piano with his butt in the air to me is not what most 40 to 60y old men want to look at when they when they walk into their game room hey Canada get some UV film on that window I do have UV film on the window you guys always say this like you're like you're going to UV do you understand that you can get clear UV film there is UV film on that window on these windows in front of me it's clear all right it blocks 99% of UV rays so I'm not going to fade the cabinet on my Guns and Roses is Canada on the list for Super Mario Le No I um I don't know if that game is for sure or not all right won't know if DN D will give us that for at least two years when the code is done it's not going to take two years for D and D code to be done I don't think Dwight takes that long this Saturday morning deserves the best spectacular of the Year award well thank you Eric I appreciate it um I'm gonna have to rip the audio for the uh the patreon subscribers I will say like I don't know you know I I keep going back and forth I like YouTube it gives you better video better chat um but I do yeah I don't make any money here I make I made money on Facebook Facebook Stars was fun like there's nothing happen no I don't even I think I gotta have a certain number of videos or views or subscribers before people can even send money via this but I don't know if if I have to turn it on somehow um I think that look in two weeks D and D is going to be out we're going to start to get some evil Deads on the line soon Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will be hopefully on the line in January is Canada buying Evil Dead raffle tickets um yeah how much are the raffle tickets for Evil Dead 100 bucks uh let me know how much they are I I probably should buy one right I I'm kind of like I I went a little we got a little boozy at lunch yesterday and I may have I may have like walked into Tiffany's with Brenda and I may have bought a spent more than a jersey Jack C on her in total um yesterday so you know you sometimes have to pull back a little bit you're spending when you spoil your wife but it's a lot of fun she looks amazing like the diamonds on her wrist look incredible so that happened um can't tax deduct that from from my pinball patreon money um people put a put a a link in the chat here to the raffle okay so one ticket is 120 two is 240 and three that doesn't make it why well there's no deal if you buy three like I already said like of course that's just what those numbers are funny because like well the well yeah that's just 120 times one two and three um no not in the dogghouse at all like it just just kind of felt like spoiling my beautiful wife who does more um more for this family than anything I this is um I feel very blessed Brenda's sister's joining us for a little over a week today it's been such a good holiday I'm in just such a good mood and the kids have had such a great holiday and everyone is just in a in a real really great mood in this household and we have a lot more to be thankful for than anything else and I think that is um that is why you know when you have like a couple espresso martinis and you know you walk into a jewelry store it's it's you know it's it's a dangerous time it's a dangerous time um but you know I do that every once in a while like not I don't do it as often as Bill Brandis can do it but you know sometimes it's like all right like you know spend here pull back a little bit over here and we sold the apartment in New York city so that's going to help out with our mortgage and and you know daycare is a disaster 6,000 a month uh so that's always fun uh yeah well probably shouldn't have done what I did but I again probably shouldn't we none of us should probably have bought Pinon machines over the last 10 years I was looking at what Bitcoin was 10 years ago gang it'll it'll make you cry it'll make cry if if we all bought Bitcoin instead of pinball machines 10 years ago you abs like we wouldn't we'd be having this conversation on Mars yeah but you know what Gino there's something to be said about the experience of like walking into a Tiffany's and buying their quality is really good and and there's something to be said for that I I do believe that like you're having a glass of champagne and you know you're you you have a moment there like when you just get it from a wholesaler and it's not the same I I mean this I I think sometimes remembering the day that that thing was put on you or on your wrist or on your neck and and the lunch you had and the you know the that's to me that's that needs to be part of a day like that and and again like it's not it's not it's not just about the money it's about the experience um DND neck beard sle uh okay whatever I I don't know why does the chat here suck Justice I don't get it it's the same th this chat doesn't scroll over the footage like Facebook I think it's easier to read the chat here what do you guys think I I think the chat on Facebook is harder to follow ohhh man well the thing about jewelry too gang is you buy something that you love and you hold on to it you don't resell it like it's you know the Facebook Chat is better I prefer YouTube I Love It I look dang I'm I'm super happy with the patreon support that Canadas pinball podcast has um you know I I don't want to do Superfluous efforts and I will say this like Facebook is fun when you just want like non-stop attention because it's so easy to just just keep spamming Facebook spam with lives spam you know it's like it it they've they've made it the easiest to just be like lowlevel lift for attention but I still prefer doing the podcast I still prefer the patreon subscribers getting rewarded with the best pinball podcast out there it is it is you guys know this you know it I mean like 720 something people can't be wrong it's great you know and we've had more people up the Annie and raise their subscription prices over the last uh few months which is nice so even though we've lost like I think at the height I had seven 50 subscribers but we're actually I'm making more now with 724 than I did with 750 you know a few dudes that go from five to 30 erase uh the you know the 20 or 30 people that have left yes hopefully brend is very happy I mean it's I will say you know being a parent gang it's exhausting it's exhausting and the weekends are exhausting and the holidays can be exhausting like yesterday daycare was open from 9 to 4: nobody told me and I showed up at 8:00 and uh I had to bring the kids back home and back there again but they're so worth it I I mean this when you see how excited a child gets around the holidays and Killian just wanted PAW Patrol and wanted this Robo dog and we got him this little power wheels or big Power Wheels monster truck from hi colle is the company that makes these these like 24 volt thing's amazing um it has like Bluetooth it plays like Paw Patrol music it's a little loud though like when the thing's going you can't hear the Bluetooth but absolutely incredible watching the holidays Through The Eyes of a of a three and a half year old boy reminds me of everything we're chasing in this Hobby and I've said this before like we are chasing that feeling gang we're all we're all getting older we're not getting any younger life gets more stressful as you get older I think we all start to see the world so differently especially when you have children and and most of you know this and and then you realize like how short life is and how few days there are to wake up in a good mood have peace of mind and to bring joy to those who really need it the most and I think about it too especially during the holidays the amount of children that really don't have any gifts under the tree and and we probably next year should do some fun fundraising uh to get to get more gifts into you know children's hands versus huge gifts for us like and I mean this and I don't know it should it should really be a season where we think about giving as much as getting I I mean that but man Life Is Life Is Short you know I'm I'm lucky to have both of my parents still here Brenda has her parents still here all of our siblings are still here uh doesn't mean there's no drama in in the family world but we're all still here uh happy to still be employed uh you know as you get older it's it's hard you know the unfortunate thing about Corporate America these days is is the lack of of loyalty just across the board I I go on LinkedIn every day and I just see so many extremely talented people that just get cut loose you know in their 40s and 50s and then they can't find anything and they've got 20 30 years of experience and and know them and they hire all these young kids who don't even want to be there agism is a real thing and it's difficult it makes it hard to plan my my father was I mean he worked for 37 years for one company I mean he was basically forced into early retirement guess what age my dad retired at and he's been retired since he never took another job because because it it kind of like depressed him like he to give 37 years to one company and then because there was leadership change they sort of pushed you aside he got kind of forced into early retirement when he was just 55 years old I mean 55 I mean luckily my dad is very very conservative with his money and and never was a spend Thrift he never went to Gucci he never bought expensive watches he never bought beach house houses he never bought any my dad never buys anything like to flex and if you met if you meet my dad he's the opposite of me like he's like who had like a good career like a much better career than me he he's very humble he's very nice he he will never make you feel small or try to flex on you or try to show off or do anything like that he's just a really nice guy you know he he asked me once he's like he's like H he's like should I get into watches because he was looking for something just to get into and I was like absolutely not absolutely not dad do not do not go down a rabbit hole of of like something you put on your wrist that you're gonna just chase this like weird Flex it's all flexing watches if you ever gone to like a watch show it is the lamest thing you could ever go to like it's just all dudes like no women it's all dudes just like this the whole like the whole like they're just like you know it's like like at least with pinball like we we can play the game and talk about the the game play and the art and the modes and like there's an experience there's no experience once you put a watch on your wrist you're still the same jackass before and after it just signifies how much money you have franie I went down the action figure Road for a long time with Transformers I had a lot of fun um you know with these little kids it would just never would work they would rip open those boxes and be playing with them when I went to work so I'm kind of like you know much more of a minimalist I I love my little Toyota more than I do my Dodge Demon and I because it's just more fun to drive and I tell you everywhere I take that little Toyota with the Fuji Mara tofu shop on the side like I it gets so many thumbs up and people love it you know you know why because it's the kind of car where like it it disarms people it makes them happy it it telegraphs that you you all you care about is the joy of driving and there's there's a beauty in that you know it's not this you know these guys in these towns these eye Bankers who'd show up to cars and coffees with like $300,000 por like Porsche GT3 rs's you know they've never taken it to a track and they just that's great like and they're nervous they're nervous about the miles they're nervous about the rims they're nervous about like anything happening to it like I don't know I already backed up my Toyota into the garage door and I had to repaint the rear bumper like it you know cost me like 400 bucks I don't care get a whole new bumper for like $800 you hit the rear bumper of a Porsche you're talking like shoot like $8,000 um so yeah have you tracked your car I haven't tracked it yet Carl I don't have any time to do anything like to be completely honest with each and every one of you I don't have time to to do too much of that like extracurricular outside the house activities um you know when you have young kids and you have daycare it's a weird thing like the only time you have to yourself is when your kids are in daycare and then you're working so it it's like I'm excited to go into the office like I'm excited to go to work and have a nice lunch in New York City because I'm like I don't have to like you know do the do the parenting stuff for a little bit but that being said I mean I absolutely just love my children to death and and the um and the blessing we feel I think most of you know this but we we had a a really terrible complication with our second pregnancy that we had um we had to early terminate our child um K Ken is his you know is his name and it's just it devastated us and to have baby cassan little chubby fat man healthy and happy and developing normally it it is everything to us and you know I say that because each and every one of us has has our own trauma and our own issues and our own you know things that we're suffering through and I think that's why I love this hobby I mean that I this this hobby brings so many of us together in so many unique ways and I think debating these games and celebrating them and making fun of them I I think it's healthy I think it's healthy I think giving a an extraordinary amount of value to something as trivial as a pinball machine is is a really healthy way uh to wake up in a good mood every day I mean that happy New Year is to you as well Nick um pinball Vibes only guys I I really do I you know what sucks is like the only thing that I hate about the holidays it should the NFL playoffs should be happen now like why are the NFL playoffs like these two extra weeks are annoying college football sucks I mean it like college football there's no defense it's like the worst game I I try to understand the defense in college football and then I watch these games and the crowds are the best the energy is the best in college football but the game itself is just terrible like it's terrible like it's like so easy to like for the QBs to scramble they there's no defense anywhere to be found on the field I don't understand I don't understand they can't shut down offenses in college anyway can we see the making of the feature of your kids yeah um yeah I mean it's um I hear him downstairs he's got all of his Paw Patrol toys from Christmas and he's going nuts all right everybody look we've now done 90 minutes of this the first four were were kind of brutal but I hope you enjoyed that