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episode 20. trip reports and more fun Final Mix

The Spinner Is Lit Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·2h 4m·analyzed·Apr 6, 2019
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TL;DR

Reno league director discusses league growth, pin golf format, and new games from Texas Pinball Festival.

Summary

Spencer Klingin interviews Mark Scott about the Reno Pinball Arena League, which has grown to 26-30 players in its third season. They discuss league operations at Press Start arcade, the innovative pin golf qualifying format, venue variety, and Mark's trip to Texas Pinball Festival where he played new games including Oktoberfest, Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road Limited Edition Road edition, and Multimorphic's linked cosmic kart racing.

Key Claims

  • Reno Pinball Arena League has grown from 12-16 players three seasons ago to 24-26 average attendance per night

    high confidence · Mark Scott, league organizer, speaking directly about league statistics

  • Press Start arcade has approximately 24-25 games in rotation with diverse eras represented

    high confidence · Mark Scott describing Press Start (Reno) lineup during conversation

  • Season 3 of Reno league used pin golf format with 9-hole objective-based scoring across all six weeks of qualifying

    high confidence · Mark Scott detailing the innovative qualifying format he implemented

  • Over 60 objectives were written for pin golf qualifying across Press Start (Reno) machine lineup

    high confidence · Mark Scott explaining rule development process with Jim Martin and Doug Taylor

  • Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road Limited Edition Road Limited Edition removed the flying monkey mech from the original design

    high confidence · Mark Scott reporting firsthand observation at Texas Pinball Festival

  • Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road Limited Edition features improved door mechanisms on the upper playfield escape to reduce motor burnout issues

    high confidence · Mark Scott comparing hardware reliability between original and LE versions

  • Multimorphic demonstrated linked cosmic kart racing with four P3 machines at Texas Pinball Festival using LAN connectivity

    high confidence · Mark Scott describing hands-on experience with the feature at the show

Notable Quotes

  • “We started out three seasons ago with 12 to 16 people, and now it's grown to 30 people. We have on average about 24 to 26 people that show up every time.”

    Mark Scott — Demonstrates significant growth of local pinball league and community engagement

  • “I decided for Season 3 to have pin golf for qualifying for all six weeks... we had roughly over 60 objectives written up.”

    Mark Scott — Shows innovative league format design and extensive rule development effort

  • “It's fun to shoot. It's fun with the modes. It's definitely cheesy. The music is cheesy. The art is cheesy. But it fits with the theme. It works. It really does work.”

    Mark Scott — Nuanced gameplay impression of Oktoberfest that acknowledges deliberate theme execution

  • “I felt exactly the same going to Texas [Pinball Festival]. People were super welcoming. I felt like I was at home... It was nice because I didn't feel like a foreigner.”

    Mark Scott — Positive commentary on festival community culture and inclusivity

  • “It's a magnetic ring that's on the ramp, and it actually boosts your ball... The graphics are pretty cool on the playfield itself because it kind of gives you motion while you're shooting the ball.”

    Mark Scott — Technical description of innovative magnetic mechanic in Multimorphic's cosmic kart racing

Entities

Mark ScottpersonSpencer KlinginpersonRoger BrownpersonJohn SimpsonpersonJim MartinpersonDoug TaylorpersonMichael HuntsmanpersonCheryl CohenpersonChris BartlettpersonPress Start (Reno)venue[name withheld pending review]event

Signals

  • ?

    venue_signal: Reno Pinball Arena League grew from 12-16 to 26-30 players across three seasons, operating exclusively at Press Start Arcade with consistent venue commitment

    high · Mark Scott: 'We started out three seasons ago with 12 to 16 people, and now it's grown to 30 people. We have on average about 24 to 26 people'

  • ?

    operational_signal: Introduction of pin golf qualifying format with objective-based scoring across nine games, over 60 custom objectives written, three-person groups instead of four to reduce time

    high · Mark Scott detailed extensive rule development: 'we had roughly over 60 objectives written up' with objectives revised during testing

  • ?

    venue_signal: Press Start Arcade provides free play during league nights and tournaments, prioritizes player enjoyment over quarter revenue, hosts monthly kids' hours last Sunday

    high · Mark Scott: 'they put all the games on free play every time we have league and every time we have tournaments so they're not even concerned about quarter drop'

  • ?

    event_signal: Texas Pinball Festival demonstrated strong community welcoming atmosphere comparable to Golden State Pinball Festival; large game selection with multiple copies reducing wait times

    high · Mark Scott: 'People were super welcoming. I felt like I was at home' and noted they had 10+ copies of Oktoberfest to reduce lines

  • ?

    product_concern: Original Jersey Jack Yellow Brick Road edition had motor burnout issues with upper playfield door mechanisms; LE version incorporates reliability improvements

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.373

0:00
Welcome to episode 20 of the Spinner is Lit Pinball Podcast. I'm your host, Spencer Klingin, and tonight's episode is Trip Reports and More Fun. Back with us on the show from about a year ago, and the composer of Spinner's Lit theme song, Mark Scott. Mark, welcome back to the show. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. You know, it's good to talk with you again.
0:51
Absolutely. So, hey, how's the Arena League going? Wow. Reno has really grown in their league. We started out three seasons ago. We're in our third season right now. And it is amazing how originally it started off with 12 to 16 people, and now it's grown to 30 people. We have on average about 24 to 26 people that show up every time because some people have prior arrangements or things that don't allow them to come to league. but we offer a four out of six attendance requirement so they don't have to attend the full six weeks to qualify for playoffs if they do really well. So it's been growing leaps and bounds. We're having it now at press start the whole time, and it's been very useful having it at one location, but still having a variety of different eras to represent the machines to play. It has been a lot of fun. It is a lot of work to run a league, but it's very rewarding when I see more and more people excited about pinball.
1:57
Oh, no doubt. So what's the lineup over at Press Start now? Oh, wow. We have, I think currently we have about 24 or 25 games. It changes because we keep rotating things in different, or we keep rotating different games depending on what's ready. But for the most part, we have Pharaoh. Let's see if I can remember going down the line. We have, starting off, that's closest to the entrance, we have Attack from Mars, Revenge from Mars. The Attack from Mars is the remake. And then we have Twilight Zone, Star Wars, Gorgar. and I'm not going in order, but I'm trying to remember. That's okay. Guardians of the Galaxy, No Good Gophers,
Texas Pinball Festival
event
Golden State Pinball Festivalevent
[name withheld pending review]event
Oktoberfestgame
Yellow Brick Roadgame
[name withheld pending review]game
Bride of Pinbot 2.0game
Lexy Lightspeed - Escape From Earthgame
Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
Multimorphiccompany
JubJubsvenue
Eric Neffperson

high · Mark Scott: 'The one problem that I've seen in a lot of owners is the motor burning out opening those doors... with the less mechanical problems with those doors, that will be a huge plus'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Multimorphic's cosmic kart racing features magnetic rings on ramps that boost ball speed, creating visual motion effect on playfield graphics during linked multiplayer racing

    high · Mark Scott: 'there's a magnetic ring that's on the ramp, and it actually boosts your ball... The graphics are pretty cool on the playfield itself because it kind of gives you motion'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Multimorphic cosmic kart racing demonstrated LAN-based linked play at Texas Festival; developers exploring internet connectivity for remote competition, already implemented in Bride of Pinbot 2.0

    high · Mark Scott: 'It was working through LAN' and 'I'm hoping that if they develop the technology to be able to do it through the Internet'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Oktoberfest includes ball save mechanic triggered by nudging to hit in-lane targets on both sides; designed to help beginner players retain balls and extend play time

    high · Mark Scott: 'if you move the machine and nudge it properly, it will hit a little stand-up target that will save your ball... it's nice for beginner players to not all of a sudden drain all their balls'

  • ?

    community_signal: Multiple league seasons show new competitive players rapidly improving; beginners discovering they are stronger players than expected in competitive setting; skill leveling across all divisions

    high · Mark Scott: 'I hear these players that are interested... sometimes those people that don't think they're that really good at it are actually very good players' and Spencer noted seniors getting 'shut out pretty early' as field leveled

  • ?

    venue_signal: Press Start maintains 24-25 game lineup spanning EM, early solid state, and modern machines; strategy attracts newcomers to classics; Pharaoh selected over Black Knight for superior mechanics and timed Magna Save feature

    high · Mark Scott: 'Roger Brown and John Simpson... replaced the Black Knight with Pharaoh... It's actually, in my opinion, a lot more fun than Black Knight'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Jersey Jack's Yellow Brick Road LE edition removed flying monkey mech and redesigned door mechanisms to address reliability issues from original; maintained shooting mechanics and playfield design

    high · Mark Scott: 'The flying monkey mech [was] gone for sure' and 'the mechanism for the escape upper play field does work a lot better'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Oktoberfest demonstrates deliberate cheesy aesthetic matching Bavarian party theme; colorful playfield, cheesy music, and art style work together despite acknowledged corniness

    high · Mark Scott: 'It's definitely cheesy. The music is cheesy. The art is cheesy. But it fits with the theme. It works. It really does work'

    • 2:51
    8-Ball Deluxe, Radical, and then on the other side, we have Centaur, Circus Voltaire, Simpsons Pinball Party,
    3:09
    Haunted House, Pharaoh, Tron Pro version, Bronco, which is an EM, Deadpool, and the other one is, if I'm not mistaken, it's Banzai Run. And I'm sure I missed a couple others because there's so many to count. But as you can see, it's a great lineup of games. Yeah. Well, you know, I always like when, you know, a location has a wide variety of not just the newer Sterns and Jersey Jacks and Spook, you know, like that. But, you know, they've got a little bit of everything. Having an EM there is fantastic.
    3:53
    Gorgar, you know, a fairly popular game. Great game. But then you have a Banzai Run. You have a Pharaoh, which you don't see too often anywhere. So that's really cool. Yeah, we originally had a Black Knight, and it wasn't working really well. So Roger Brown, who is owner of the Press Start Arcade, along with John Simpson, they had a Pharaoh available, and we were like, oh, we definitely want to have a solid state represent the lineup. So they replaced the Black Knight with Pharaoh, and it is a fun game. It's actually, in my opinion, a lot more fun than Black Knight. It has the Magna Saves, but the Magna Saves are timed. So instead of having it where Black Knight, you press it once, and then it activates it, and then it falls into the in lane, it allows you to hold the button down, and that activates the magnet. And then when you let go, it releases so that you can deflect the ball or you can hold it, depending if you earn it by hitting the drop targets on the lower play field. Very cool. Yeah, it's very cool. I've only played a couple games on Pharaoh, you know, at the show. So, you know, the different shows. So I haven't had a lot of time on it. But it's a really neat-looking game. And as I recall, it was fun to play. So, well, that's cool. So I remember a while back you guys had a dialed in. Is that not in the lineup now? We do have a dialed in, but it's not at Press Start. It's currently at JJ's Pizza, which is near downtown. that is on location. A couple of other games have been put out on location, and that's how the games get rotated. But lately we've been having the games pretty much stay there for the past year now.
    5:44
    And a lot of that has to do with Rick Bartlett, who donated his machines to Press Start, which allowed us to have more machines at the location. Oh, nice. So we have a really nice collection, and it's a lot of fun to play all those different eras. And it's wonderful to see people who are not real familiar with pinball and they decide to get gravitated towards those older games, which usually doesn't happen, but you see people playing 8-Ball Deluxe and Centaur constantly when I walk in there. So it's really a joy to see all the different people play all the variety of games and get exposed to what we grew up with as kids. Absolutely You know that That kind of thing comes up You know we've been doing the comic book Conventions all around Northern California To promote The Golden State Pinball Festival Which is 42 days away In beautiful sunny Lodi, California at the Lodi Great Festival Fairgrounds Best show ever It's so underrated People do not know what they're missing If they don't come to Golden State Pinball Festival They have to go. It's an awesome show. I love it. I'm counting the days like you are on the pin side thread. Yeah, you know, we'll have newer games, you know, like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ghostbusters at the comic book conventions. And then we'll have a couple of older titles. And it's always neat when people come up and go, oh, wow, you know, this is a really neat machine with the new games. But then they'll see, you know, Black Knight 2000 and go, oh, I haven't seen the Black Knight in forever or Black Knight 2000. and, you know, we'll get a story about, you know, me and my best friend would ditch, you know, physical ed or whatever or math class to run down the street to the 7-Eleven to play, you know, Black Knight. I always love hearing those stories, man. You know, look on people's faces. It's like seeing an old friend. So, you know, so having the older games there for people who, you know, remember them from when they were younger Or, like you said, people who, especially a lot of, I noticed a lot of people in their teens and 20s who have just recently discovered pinball for the first time, and they're exposed to the newer games, but then they get exposed to games from the 90s, the 80s, the 70s, and they see what it had to offer. And then they go, oh, wow, this is still really cool and really fun. Yeah, and it's interesting to see how many people play Haunted House. probably one of the most brutal Gottlieb machines I've ever played. It's so difficult. But people get attracted to that because of the three-level play fields. It's really cool to see that out on location. That's not a common one you see. In fact, when I was at Aladdin's Castle in my younger years, in the 80s, that was one of the first pinball machines I played on public location was Haunted House. So it brings back a lot of memories. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I remember when I was in high school, there was one in a local kind of a college burger hangout in Chico, and they had a haunted house. It was an absolutely savage, brutal game. But, like I said, three-level play field, beautiful artwork, cool music, all kinds of cool features on that game. So it's absolutely still, you know, can knock it out of the park if it's maintained well. and people discovering that for the first time, that's got to be pretty cool. Exactly. And having all of these games available allowed me to try something that probably not many league directors do. I decided for Season 3 to have pin golf for qualifying for all six weeks. Oh, wow. Yeah. And I have to say that it was a blast being able to have nine different games every time because we had a nine-hole course. It went for about two to three hours, which wasn't bad. And the nice thing about it is that instead of having them play in four-person groups, we had them play in three-person groups. And amazingly, that allowed us to get done in a shorter amount of time, but still have half of a golf course, nine holes. It was awesome. The other thing is that we set it up so that it was objective-based. It was not score-based. A couple of times we did score-based on the EM because we kind of ran out of ideas to do the objectives. My friend Jim Martin and Doug Taylor got our heads together, and we came up with about three or four objectives per machine in all of Press Start. So we had roughly over 60 objectives written up. And it was interesting because my learning experience, I found that thanks to Michael Huntsman and everybody else observing the rules, that some of them were not clear or there were discrepancies in the rules that needed to be cleared up. So a lot of times we revised them the same night as we were testing the objectives to make it work properly for the people trying to accomplish those goals. So it was quite a challenge to write goals clearly for beginner players, but still have the more advanced players be able to understand what to do. So it was kind of like, all right, we don't want to get too detailed, but we don't want to be too vague where you don't learn the rules of the game. So they ended up being like paragraph objectives, but it did do a great job in explaining what to do for each hole. That sounds awesome. Well, you know, like I said, too, for more novice players that, you know, they come in and play pinball machine and they're just basically flipping the flippers and trying to, you know, get points and keep the ball alive. It gives them a better understanding of, oh, okay, each game has individual rules and, you know, it tells a story basically. Exactly. And what I decided to do was at the end of the six weeks, then for the playoffs for the top 50% that had the lowest strokes or the best score, they will play a 10-strike progressive tournament instead of doing a pin golf finals just because that way they got their feet wet, they understand the rules a little bit, they got to play all the different games. and then we'll have about eight or nine of them to choose randomly for the groups that make it into the finals. In this case, we have 13 people that made it because we had 26 players. So we had 13 people that made it into the playoffs, and that happens actually next weekend on April 13th. Oh, nice. So do you have a B division, or it's just the top 13? Last season we had a B division, but only two people showed up. So what we decided to do, or what I decided to do as a director, is not have a B division and just keep it with the top 50% and whatever the results are from the 10-strike progressive format.
    12:57
    And then that ranking would determine, of course, first, second, and third place. I do have prizes for fourth, fifth, and sixth, which would probably be gift cards of some sort. And for the people who didn't make it, we have Cheryl Cohen, who is part of our league. she's putting on a for fun tournament for those people who did not make the playoffs. So it's not necessarily a B division. It's more or less people to have fun so everybody can celebrate the end of the season. Oh, that's nice.
    13:28
    That's nice. So it gives everybody a chance to play. But I was just disappointed last season when only two people showed up for B division. So I was like, well, I don't know if it constitutes to have another B division because there's just not enough players. If we had, like, 60 players in league, that might be a different story. But we just don't have enough to validate having a B division. Yeah. You know, well, too, you know, it's, you know, like you're talking about, you know, people only be able to make four of the six league nights because, you know, life gets in the way, life, work, and family.
    14:02
    And that happens occasionally, you know, like at our finals. Everybody can make the Thursday night league night, but not everybody can make finals. So, you know, a couple times a couple people get bumped up from B division to A because, you know, a couple of A people can't make it for whatever reason. And then sometimes we'll have, you know, sometimes we've had at finals, we've had eight, ten people show up for B division. And like you talked about, sometimes we've only had, you know, two or three show up. So, you know, it's life. So does Capital Quarter Pinball League have a B division then? For the league? Oh, they do. Yeah, during finals. Just like you, the top 50% is usually, because we usually have about the same number you have. We have somewhere 26 to 30 people in a season in Lodi, where I play, which is really funny because Folsom is like 15 minutes from my house. Lodi is nearly an hour. But Folsom League plays Tuesday nights, and my boys have trail life. So I play in Lodi.
    15:13
    And so we usually have, you know, usually 26 to 28 people. I think there's 30 signed up, but on typical, you know, again, life, work, and family, you know, getting away at pinball.
    15:29
    But, yeah, so we'll have, you know, the top 50% or the top 13 in A Division, and then we have the remaining whoever shows for B Division. And first place in B division gets a trophy, and then first, second, third in A division get trophies. That's good to know. If I have more players, then I think I will have a B division again. But right now, Cheryl is taking over. The hard part about it is I am the league director, and I also play in the league, and it's sometimes difficult to run two tournaments at the same time when I'm playing as well. So another reason why I didn't decide to go with the B division, because it was very confusing, especially picking the right machines so that it didn't conflict with the A division machines, if you know what I mean. Yeah. Well, your idea sounds really good, too, that you have, you know, for the more novice or newer players, they have, you know, a fun little tournament that they can just, you know, show up, have a good time, and also, you know, build on their skills. Have you noticed people who maybe – have you noticed a lot of people who started out in league in the first season that were brand new to pinball or brand new to competitive pinball? And have you noticed a lot of them have really upped their game each season?
    16:50
    Absolutely. That's the one thing that I've noticed a lot. I hear these players that are interested. They email me and they say, hey, you know, I'd like to join league. I've never played competitive pinball before. And sometimes those people that don't think they're that really good at it are actually very good players, and they don't even realize it until they see it in a competitive setting. And there's some others that have just improved dramatically just because they're playing more. And that's what's nice about League. You get nine games to play every time you meet for that week for the League night. So you're getting to play a lot. Even though you might have par values that might be a three or four or five, there's still a lot of games to be exposed to to be able to learn the rules, know how it shoots, and basically have fun with everybody without as much pressure to get a high score.
    17:48
    Yeah, exactly. It's something we talk about in our league, you know, people who started out, you know, and it's like the playing field is really level now. At the last league finals, we just had our first league night last Thursday, so a week ago from yesterday. But the week before that, we had league finals. And a lot of the senior players who were really, really good got shut out pretty early on. because the playing field is so level now, and everyone's talking about that. It's like, wow, everybody's really upped their game. And I'm starting to see that in Reno Pinball as well. The Reno Pinball League, we've gotten one person that we didn't even know. Actually, he came for a tournament, and he is from Elko, and he won the whole tournament. Didn't realize he was in the top 1,000 in IFBA. So go figure on that one.
    18:48
    That's right. And actually he won the Classics last year at TPF. So very interesting. Wow, that's really cool.
    18:58
    So what's for the future? Well, you've got your pin golf going. That's a really neat, really cool thing, and you're going to have finals coming this next weekend. So what's going on for the future of Reno League? So we're going to have a selfie, super selfie league that's going to start in May. It's going to be one month, May 1st till the end of May. And it is going to consist of machines all around the Reno area so that location play is more noticeable by people all around Reno so that we can play a variety of games beyond just press start. And that's going to be a best score format. We're going to use Match Play software along with a picture of the score with the person in it, so it verifies that that's their score. We're hoping that everybody plays honestly and doesn't cheat. I know one thing you could do is you could play the game before a league even starts and then take a picture of it on that day, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to play by the rules, and it's going to be a lot of fun. We've never done it before. We've heard that San Francisco does it, and we were going to try it. So we're hoping that Doug Taylor, who is organizing this little league, selfie league, super selfie league, they're going to, it'll be pretty fun because we'll be able to see the scores in real time on Match Play. And we came up with a really cool idea to be able to record the score quickly. We're going to put QR codes on all the machines all around town. So all the people have to do is scan the QR code, takes them right to that machine for the score, and they can just put in their score. Oh, neato.
    20:40
    Well, I think that's really cool that you guys are doing that because it's also promoting, like you said, promoting location pinball throughout the city and Reno area. You know, I haven't looked lately on pinball map, but I know Reno's got a really good, solid, you know, a lot of good locations to play at now. They do. Press Start is my favorite. JubJubs has some of the machines. I know Michael Huntsman has those over there. And there's a couple of hidden spots. Like there's one at the mall, which is called Games Galore, and they actually have three machines. They have an X-Men, a Medieval Madness remake, and a Doctor Who, which is pretty awesome that it's in that kind of location. And then we, of course, have Beach Hut Deli. They have three games. but as far as league goes the only location that really works for us is press start and like i said i can't thank roger and john enough for having us there on tuesday nights the greatest thing about it is even though it's location play they put all the games on free play every time we have league and every time we have tournaments so they're not even concerned about quarter drop they just want people to have fun and of course it's a bar so they're going to order drinks as well and um kick back, relax, and play some pinball. Nice. Well, they're getting a free shout-out on the show, too. So, hey, if you're in Reno, you know, check it out.
    22:07
    Absolutely. Press Start is the place to go if you're visiting Reno and you're looking for pinball. Now, that's 21 and over, right? It is. It's a 21 and over. They do have kids that are allowed in there on the last Sunday of the month. So the Sunday in the last week of every month, they have it open to minors. So they don't open up the bar for alcohol. They just only serve soft drinks. Oh. And I actually went there with my wife and my son this past weekend and had a really good time playing on Sunday. They're open from 11 to 6 p.m., and then they open the bar up for the 21 and over crowd. Nice. That's good to know, man. Thanks for giving that shout out because, you know, last inning month is great because that way you can take the kids, introduce them to pinball and a good location, introduce them to the classics that, you know, you're probably not going to find a lot of other places in Reno or anywhere for that matter. I mean, you know, not a lot of EMs on location these days. A few, but not a lot. Not a lot. Michael Huntsman does a super job of putting EMs on location. He had an Atlantis over at JubJubs, and that was a mint machine. I was kind of surprised that he put it out there because it was beautiful Atlantis.
    23:27
    The older version, the EM, which is such a fun game. It reminds me of the Centigrade machine, kind of the same, similar design with the in lanes on the right side. Right. Yeah, it's such a cool game. One of the greater EMs, in my opinion. And he had that on location, and he also had Knight Rider on location. So he always likes to expose people to having EMs and older solid state games so people can play them. So shout out to Michael Huntsman for allowing him to have his collection out there to have us play older games. Yeah, definitely. Michael Huntsman's a real asset to the pinball hobby, a really good dude. So, you know, we used to lose him.
    24:17
    That's cool, man. So you went to the Texas Pinball Festival. I did. First time ever that I went to Texas Pinball Festival.
    24:28
    So what was your first impressions? Well, I know how much I love going to Golden State Pinball Festival for the people and the welcome atmosphere. I felt exactly the same going to Texas. People were super welcoming. I felt like I was at home, and everybody was just talking to everybody, even though they didn't know each other. So it was like a big family reunion, similar to what we feel in Lodi. So it was nice because I didn't feel like a foreigner or anything going to the show. I felt right at home.
    25:04
    And the first thing that I thought of, because I didn't really get to see the show yet because it didn't open until 5, I was there for the Classics Tournament, But when it opened, I was blown away of how big the room was housing all the games. There were tons of games, and there were all variety of them just mixed in throughout the entire convention area at the embassy in Frisco, Texas. It was amazing to see all the new games. there were a lot of games to play where the lines weren't as long because, for example, they had Oktoberfest, which was one that I wanted to try out. And they had like 10 games plus two that were kind of scattered throughout the showroom. So it was really awesome to see that they were available to play. There was Alice Cooper. They had two machines there set up and then one that was in a lineup from a distributor. They had Multimorphic. four of the games were linked together to allow us to experience cosmic cart racing, which was really fun. It was like playing Super Mario Kart, but playing it with pinball.
    26:17
    And the other game that was neat to see was, let me see if I can remember correctly, it was Alice Cooper. They had also the Jersey Jack Yellow Brick Road Edition and that was on display after it was announced. So that was cool to see in person. Very beautiful game as far as the yellow color that they had and then the sparkles within the yellow brick road on the play field. But there were some things lacking in it that some people were disappointed with. Yeah, from what I understand, they've removed the flying monkey mech.
    26:53
    Yep, that was gone for sure. But you talk about, you know, you see pictures of games, And pictures and even video never do any of the new games justice. They really don't until you see it in person. So I guess it's like a gold glitter or metal flake in the paint?
    27:14
    That's correct. Yep, it's kind of like a metallic sparkle yellow paint. So it looks really cool. It does look really cool. There's a lot of yellow in it, but it makes sense if it's a yellow brick road edition. and it is eye-catching for sure. It shot just like the other one and the mechanism for the escape upper play field does work a lot better because the one problem that I've seen in a lot of owners is the motor burning out opening those doors. The doors get stuck and then it's hard to shoot into the saucer to escape and finish that mode and with the less mechanical problems with those doors, that will be a huge plus for the yellow brick road edition. So for both home use and operators. Correct. Nice. Okay, good to know. Yeah, because I've, you know, I got a little bit of information on it. Yeah, and I'm curious to know more about cosmic kart racing too. So it's just like Mario Kart except you're playing pinball. It's like Mario Kart and it's neat because you have power-ups, So you have to shoot up the ramp, and the neat mech that's in those games is there's a magnetic ring that's on the ramp, and it actually boosts your ball, kind of like what it does on Getaway on high speed. Oh, okay. But if there's more magnets, the ball goes faster, and it allows you to get further in the race to get ahead, which is really neat. The graphics are pretty cool on the play field itself because it kind of gives you motion while you're shooting the ball. And having them linked is really neat because you're all playing against each other. And it worked really well. It was working through LAN, so it wasn't exactly – hold on. Let me make sure I got this okay. My connection went out.
    29:17
    the neat thing about it was, you can still hear me? Yeah, your coverage is great. I just wanted to make sure that I was not cut off after my computer went to sleep.
    29:29
    So to answer your question, it was a neat experience when people pressed start, four people finally could join, and then you were racing against each other, and you could see on the screen who was in first, who was second, who was third, and who was fourth. And then when you had those boosts, you changed your position. So it was really fun. It was timed fairly shortly so you didn't have to wait in line long to be next. But a neat concept. And I'm hoping that if they develop the technology to be able to do it through the Internet, then somebody who has a P3 multimorphic machine can play with somebody across the world and compete with each other, which I'm hoping that happens. I know they're working on it, but it's not official yet. But they've been talking about that's what they really want to do. Yeah, and that sort of thing has been talked about a lot Is getting connectivity Which, that's one of the really cool features on Bride of Pinbot 2.0 Is you can do that through the internet You know, you can compete And they have leaderboards And you can just put that on your cell phone or your pad or whatever It's really cool.
    30:47
    Eric Neff has the 2.0 kit. Had it for a while. He showed me that one night. It was really neat. Yeah, that's a neat concept. Wouldn't that be cool? I mean you could just have a like you said be able to compete with one another without being physically there Of course the joy of pinball is playing with people that are face and they right next to you But if you want to be able to have that online experience, that would be the best of both worlds. Yeah. Well, you know, somebody goes into, you know, a location and is playing, then they see a little, like on the display, they see something pop up, say, you know, a player in, you know, say you're in Reno and say there's a player in Quebec or United Kingdom or Ohio and they're like, oh hey, cool, somebody's on. Yeah, let's play. So that's kind of a neat feature too.
    31:42
    There's so much more I'm sure that can be done with the platform itself, the multi-market platform. I've so far only played Lexi Lightspeed and I really do liked that game a lot. Yeah, I wanted to play it more when I was at Texas Pinball Festival, but I was trying to see all the new games that I wouldn't see for quite a long time here in Reno. So I gravitated towards those. And then, of course, I played all the ones that were out on the showroom floor. But for the most part, I went to Oktoberfest, which is the next game that I played. I want to hear more about that because I'm very intrigued. the video I've seen, it looks jam-packed with stuff and it looks like a lot of fun.
    32:28
    I think that's the best way to describe this game is that it is fun. It's fun to shoot. It's fun with the modes. It's definitely cheesy. The music is cheesy. The art is cheesy. But it fits with the theme. It's a big party atmosphere. The colors just spill all throughout the play field. But it works. It really does work, and the way that it has it set up with all the mechanics, you got the corkscrew with the wire form that's all shaped like a roller coaster, is just really cool to see it kind of go through the wire form as it goes slowly. And it doesn't go real fast, so you could really enjoy it as it goes in all different directions and then finally gets to your right flipper. The other thing that's neat is the keg. So when you shoot for that to lock it, it's not that easy to do, but it's very rewarding when you can start that multi-ball, which unfortunately I was not able to do. And the modes are fun because there's really different kinds of shots. There's an interesting thing on the left and the right side where the in-lane is, and is if you move the machine and nudge it properly, it will hit a little stand-up target that will save your ball. Oh. So that if you drain it, it's like a ball save. Okay, cool. So it's kind of like with Jersey Jack, you know how you have a saved total, and then you have the other one where it hits the pop bumper, and if you hit all those standard targets, you get a second chance. It's kind of like that, but when you shake the machine and you hit it and you drain it, it saves your ball and the ball is back in play. Oh, neat. If it hits that target, and it's on both sides. So it makes it a little easier, but it's nice for beginner players to not all of a sudden drain all their balls. And it is a long playing game for sure, but it would be a fun one to have at a bar just because of the theme with the drinking and the party and all that stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of Oktoberfest where I'm originally from in Milwaukee because it would fit perfectly with that environment.
    34:35
    Yeah, no, absolutely. I did not know you're a Wisconsin boy. That's cool. Yes, I am. Wow, wow. That's true. Yeah, there's so much new good stuff coming out and stuff that, you know, we may have seen. Well, like, okay, last year at Golden State, I got to play a few games on Alice Cooper, but it was really early in the code stage. And from what I understand, that game has really been polished up, and people are really speaking highly of it. Big time. Alice Cooper was a real shock to me as far as how well it played and the rules. The thing that was really the most intriguing were the animations on the LCD. The comic book artwork is fantastic. It really does the game well. And the artwork on the play field itself, the cabinet, it's very solid. And I can see why Spooky took a while to release it and finally manufacture it. They wanted to get it right. And I truly believe they did. Yes, the shots are very tight. It's definitely for more an advanced pinball player, in my opinion. But, wow, what a great game. And the rule set that Bowen came up with is just amazing. And to beat the game, I don't know how I can do it, but I had the opportunity to see Bowen live, and maybe you've seen it on the stream, and he blew that machine up in front of a live audience, which blew me away. And he honestly said, when I talked to him afterward, he said, I just want to let you know I was not planning on getting all the way to Million Dollar Babies. And he did. He got to Million Dollar Babies, and, of course, he drained it on purpose because we ran out of time, and he didn't want to give away the wizard mode. Oh, wow. Pretty amazing, though. I haven't got to see the stream yet. I've been hearing people talk about it. Oh, sorry. I gave it away. No, no, it's okay. Well, you know, I've heard other people talk about it on podcasts and on the forums. So it's cool. I'm going to sit down maybe this week and I'll sit down and watch it, you know, bits and pieces of it. Oh, it's a great stream. And Bowen is so amazing because he's so relaxed and he entertains the crowd, yet he is so good and precise at his shots. He says, I'm going to hit this, and he hits it. it's mind-blowing to see him play. And I've seen a lot of streams with him on Papa and everything, but when you see him live playing in front of an audience, it was a kick. It was really neat to see that. And the other thing I noticed from Alice Cooper is that the game had a really good sound system. He had it like on a quarter of the volume because he didn't want to blow out the people on the stream. But it was amazing how great the bass sounded, the treble, everything. and me being an audiophile, I always hear that kind of stuff. And that game sounds superb. It really has a good sound system, very similar to, like, TNA, which also has a great sound system. Yeah, you know, Spooky's really upping their game. Each release they come up with, you know, is better than the one before. And you talked about the animations. The animations, what I saw, you know, a year ago were outstanding. So I'm excited to hope we should have at least one. And, in fact, I'm pretty sure there's going to be at least one at Golden State, so I'll get some more time on it with the updates. So that should be fun. Oh, I hope we have two because I would hate for people to miss out waiting in line forever. If we have two, that would be awesome because it's such a great game. I kept getting gravitated to it all the time. It was like, man, I'm going to go wait in line again and play Alex Cooper. And it was awesome to see Charlie there. He was actually there helping out with the rules, So he was telling players what to do. It was kind of like having him as a buddy at a pinball bar or something like that, and he's explaining the rules. It was a neat experience, and his whole family was there too representing Spooky. Just the nicest people, the whole family. They are so nice. They are. Really nice, down to earth. And I could tell Charlie was beaming about his design and all his work that he put into it, And he deserves all the praise in the world because it really is a great game. And I know they have one in Sacramento, and you're very fortunate. And I know my buddy Jim Shelby had a chance to play that as well, and he said it's just awesome. So when he came to Texas Pinball Festival, he went and played Alice Cooper, even though he could play it in Sacramento. So that just tells you how great the game is. Yeah, absolutely. So, hey, what are your impressions of Munsters? Munsters. Good question. They had a pro and they had more premiums that I've seen at a show. They had, I can't even keep count, but the whole Marco booth had several premiums. And I have to tell you, when I saw it on the pictures, I was like, okay, that's pretty cool. It's black and white. It looks nice. But wow, when you see it in person, it really is a work of art seeing them black and white. It's eye-popping. It's really neat how the colored inserts go with the theme of black and white throughout the playfield, and the artwork really stands out. I don't know. I can't describe it. You have to see it in person to really understand it, but it definitely is a great collectible pinball machine to have as a premium, to have that black and white artwork. It's really neat. It looks, just from the photos and the video I've seen, it looks really, really cool. So far, I've only played the pro. So, there's one on location in Lodi, like literally just around the corner from Adam's house. So, his new house. He bought a house a few months ago. Oh, he did? Oh, that's good. Yeah. Is he still in Lodi? Yeah, no, he's in Lodi proper now, not Woodbridge. Oh, okay. Yeah, it's actually only about five to eight minutes from his old house. Oh, nice. It's a little bigger house, more room for more games, so, you know. More room, more pins. There you go. So, yeah, after league finals resting, I stopped in there and put five bucks into it, so, into the Munsters. It shoots beautifully. I mean, it really is fun. I really like the pro version because it's fast and furious. Yeah. And it's not as easy to play. There's a little more rest with the LE or the premium in the lower play field. You kind of get a little break. But with the pro, it's just nonstop keeping that ball from draining. And it's fun. It shoots really well. It has great flow. and it's one of those games that I've found in all versions where it's like a, it has that replayability factor. I don't know what it is. The rules are simple. I mean, you just pretty much complete the characters, start Monster Madness and repeat. But it's like, well, I want to get to level two. No, no, I want to get to level three. And of course I haven't got past level one yet. I did Monster, actually I did get past one at the show and then I drained it, of course, in level two, but it's just got that replayability factor where you can,
    42:09
    you're like, okay, now let me try this. Let me try getting all the characters and I'll do Monster Madness, or let me try to stack these up before I get the super jackpot. And that's what I like about it. There's a lot of risk and reward in it and a lot of strategy, like when should I hit Kitty and get it up to six times and then collect the jackpot. But of course, when you try to do that, the risk sometimes turns to a drain. And I've found that happen a lot where it's like, oh, man, I should have just collected the jackpot a ball ago. He's like, nope, I drained it. Yeah, yeah. No, it's, you know, you bring out the point of, okay, well, the rules are simple. And I found that kind of, okay, well, I got, you know, the monster madness, and now I'm doing it again. But then you bring up that point is you learn the rules more and go, okay, well, don't go for the jackpot right away, you know, because that's what I did. You know, I just went, okay, jackpot. Yeah, I'm taking it. But you bring up great points. That's one of the things, I mean, I like everything about Iron Maiden because I like the band. But that game, she's fantastic as well. Oh, that game is my favorite. And that's why it won Game of the Year at the Twippies because it is such a fun game. And we are so excited. But we are going to be playing Jim's game. Jim Martin, he is bringing a game back to Reno that he's purchasing at Golden State. So we're going to be playing his game, and we're bringing it back. Nice. So we're finally going to get an Iron Maiden. We can't wait. Yeah, that game is fantastic. And, you know, we have all the different features, you know, the ramps, the spinners, the pop pumpers, the stand-up targets, the drop targets. And you get those up to the supers, and you can cash them in individually, or you can, you know, collect them. But if you lose your ball, you'll lose it all. Exactly. And the other cool thing is the loop. Trying to get that loop and just keep it going in the upper loop. Yeah. Oh, that's so cool. And it's really rewarding if you can cash it in because it's a lot of points. Yeah, yes, it is. And, yeah, so there's so many strategies. And I'm sure there's going to be some code updates for monsters that's going to be good. Plus, I need to learn the rules better. I mean, I had the basic rules, collect all the characters, you know, get Monster Madness and then move on. But what I didn't really get, and you explained it, went, oh, okay, I've got to give this some more thought, is about, you know, the risk-reward factor. Okay, now, all right, that makes more sense. Makes me want to play it again now even more.
    44:42
    Oh, yeah, definitely. And you can cash in. If you time it just right and you have all of your characters lit and you hit that kitty to get to six times and then you shoot that super jackpot shot by the Dragula, I can't remember what it's called. I call it the Dragula shot because it kind of goes past those targets and then into like a kicker. That will cash in if you keep it going. The best thing to do, and this is the other thing, is when you have the zap button and you only have like one or two super jackpots that you can collect, you can cancel it and hold that button down on the zap button. And then as you build it, then you can decide, okay, now I'm going to let it go. And one time I let it go and I had $52 million for a super jackpot, which got me up to $100, I think I got up to like $190 million as my final score on Munsters. Oh, wow. but that was because I waited and cast it in. So that's where it's fun, kind of like Monster Bash too, right? With Monster Bash, you shoot the monsters, but then you can stack it a certain way. So you start Frankenstein and then try to collect all the monsters, and then you can get the instruments, and then you can start Monsters of Rock. So, yeah, so I mean that's kind of the same thing. It's simple rules, but anybody can walk up to it and have fun with it. So I would have to say that Munster's Pro is fun to shoot because it's very fast. But Premium and LE are nice because it has the lower play field that adds another element to the game. And it's actually really fun. Did you get a chance to play with the lower play field yet or no? No, I've only played the Pro so far. Oh, okay. So you have to try the LE and see how that suits you. Or the Premium. I'm sure, you know, because Marco's going to be at the – Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, the Premium. Yeah, you are. People probably won't bring LEs. Well, you never know. You never know. But, yeah, so I'm looking forward to playing the premium. I'm looking forward, hopefully, to playing a Deadpool premium. They had one at Pinnagogo in October, and I missed Pinnagogo this year. It was the same weekend as the Trail Life Camper E. Oh, that's right, yes. Yeah, so I didn't get to make Pinnagogo this year, and they had a pro and premium. Really, my wife and I both, you know, Rusty, we're both huge Deadpool fanatics, and so we really both love that game. That's another great game, and the rules are really fun. but yet it's easy to understand. It's not too complex. Yeah. But fun. With monsters, I think it's going to have, you know, it's just my early prediction, it's going to have really long legs as a location game because the basic rules are really simple. What do I got to do? Well, I got to shoot the shots and collect all the characters. Oh, okay. I can do that, you know, even for the casual player where, you know, there's some games which, you know, like you mentioned Twilight Zone via location, fantastic game. Very loved and respected game in, you know, the collector community and the competitive player community. But when that game came out, it didn't do very well on location because if you don't know the rules, you're like, what am I doing here, you know? And that is a complex rule set in Twilight Zone. It is, it is. But once you learn the rules, you're like, okay, now it all makes sense. Right. Right, and you can choose which rules you want to go with to get your score. That's what I like about it, too. With monsters, it's the same kind of thing. It's like, oh, should I just go for Grandpa's Laboratory and just keep going down the lower play field?
    48:14
    So you have all those choices, which really makes it have a huge variety of ways to score, to get a good score.
    48:24
    So, I mean, I really like that. It's a lot of fun. And to be able to complete modes. So, yeah, I agree with you that Twilight Zone can definitely be a little intimidating at first, but, man, once you learn the rules and you get it, oh, it's such an awesome game. Probably one of the best Pat Waller games.
    48:44
    So, yeah, I agree. Yeah, I'm real excited because, you know, I'm a huge Pat Waller fan. I love his work. I'm real excited at the prospect of Willy Wonka, which the theme for me is a dream theme kind of, too. I can't tell you for sure it's the first movie I ever saw without my parents, but it's the earliest one I remember. I grew up north of Sacramento, a real small town. One single-screen movie theater at the time. Now there's a multiplex there. I would go with my older cousins, and we'd all walk from our house.
    49:21
    It was about five blocks. We'd stop on the way. there was a little mom and pop grocery to get penny candy, we'd go to the matinee on Saturdays. And I still remember being, you know, seven, eight years old and seeing Willy Wonka, you know, first run on the big screen. And so that brings back a lot of memories. And, of course, I've watched it, you know, numerous times over the years. But I'm really excited. You know, there's two games, and everything I get excited about, you know, it's pinball. It's all good. But the two are just like totally jacked, waiting, you know, just like, you know, a little kid at Christmas is to see Willy Wonka released and when the new Black Knight sort of rage, when that was, you know, when the teaser trailer came out and, you know, me and a couple of the local guys were texting back and forth. Did you see that? You know, and it's like immediately, like, everybody's collections, like, games are going up for sale, you know, on all the message boards. And, you know, Craigslist, I mean, like, just you can see the list of games just skyrocketing for sale. You know, I'm getting texts, you know, like that night, like Tuesday when they did the pro and the premium little teaser trailer. And, you know, I'm getting texts at 11 o'clock, 1130. It's like, dude, what should I sell? I'm like, I don't know, man. You know, sell one of your kids, you know, keep your game.
    50:51
    You know, so. So what are your thoughts on Black Knight Sword of Rage? I mean, I know it wasn't at Texas Pinball Festival, but. I know. And it just kills me because we were just there and we saw Steve Ritchie's seminar. And it was a question and answer type of session. And there was nothing about it. And I understand why. I mean, it's too bad. The crowd would have gone nuts even if they would have showed that teaser trailer. But they chose not to, and I know why, because they had Pat Priest there. They had the actor who plays Eddie Munster. And they had the cars there. So the showcase was Munsters. And I don't think they wanted to take that away from them to all of a sudden people say, well, heck, forget Munsters. I'm ready for Black Knight. So now it's, of course, happening at a show where I grew up in Milwaukee, out of all places, at the Midwest Gaming Classic, and they're going to reveal it there. And I'll tell you something, Spencer, I feel the same way because both games are going to be getting revealed. From what I heard with Wonka, I'm hearing that it may get revealed at Midwest Gaming Classic. Is that correct? Yeah, that's the rumor. That's the rumor. Well, you know, Jack's posted on Facebook today, Seven days until the Midwest Gaming Classic.
    52:15
    Yeah. So, you know. Well, is he going to be out of town? Because I heard he's going to be in Europe. Yeah, that's what I've been hearing, too. But, you know, I mean, there's the rest of the team, you know, Pat Lawler and Butch Peel and, you know, the programmer whose name escapes me who makes impossible rule sets that only an alien can understand. But, no, I'm kidding. Yeah. I'm sorry. I forget his name. I'm terrible. You know, and I'm going to backtrack a minute to Pirates, and there's a lot of people, you know, some good friends, the Bannisters kind of Pirates. Have you had a chance to play Pirates? I have. Planetary Pinball Supply had one that was available to stream. We actually put it on Reno Pinball. Probably the worst games we ever played on a stream, but it was a lot of fun, and that game is awesome. I mean, come on, you can start multiple multi-balls at once and stack them? I don't know. That's just incredible. Yeah, it's really a good game. And what I'm amazed with, and maybe you agree with me, Spencer, is that the shooting capability of it doesn't feel like a wide body. Not at all. It feels like a regular, what do you call that? Standard body. Standard body, right?
    53:32
    Oh, man, it is so awesome how the ball moves around so fast and there's so many shots that you can make on that game. And the upper play field with the rocking. Oh, yeah. You can't get better than that. Come on, a ship that's actually rocking back and forth? Genius. Absolutely. And it's really fun to shoot. Yeah, you know, and a lot of people, you know, were a bit disappointed with the three concentric circle spinning disc when that was going to get taken out. But, you know, I applaud the fact that they said, you know what, this is going to have issues, especially on location. and the whole point of it is to get games on location is to not have constant issues. So they took it out. And you know what? It's still a fantastic game.
    54:18
    And I'm excited to see Wonka because, again, I love the theme and I can't wait to see what they do with it. But, you know, Pirates, every game they up their ante, you know. And they put everything in it. Everything in it. Yeah, they don't skimp, you know. No. And, of course, the price is a bit more than a comparable Stern. But with what you get in the game, holy moly. I mean, yeah, Pirates has got everything. They literally threw in everything, including the kitchen sink in that game. Yeah, it's a very good game.
    54:54
    As all Jersey Jack games are, it is a little difficult to understand what you're doing. But then when you just focus on the skull and crossbone inserts, and you just shoot for those and then you shoot for that chapter start, the rest of the game is more understandable. But if you don't know that, then you're like shooting around and you have no idea what you're doing and it's like, okay, what am I supposed to do next? But once you focus on those shots and you know that when they're blinking and they're ready to go, that really makes it easier to understand how to start multiball. Right, right. Well, you know, I'm looking down at the little inset compass screen, you know, and I'm picking my character. And it'll give a real, real basic overview of, you know, like, oh, you know, easier to start multiball or, you know, triple X scoring or something like that. So, okay, I know I'm getting that. And then, like you said, just look for the lit skull and crossbows. Oh, hey, okay, shoot for that. Yeah, exactly. But having those go all at once, it's so cool. I mean, I had one time, and it really helps. When you get those multiballs stacked and you have them all starting, Oh, man, your points just skyrocket. I had that opportunity. Of course, my ball got stuck, and then I had to get it. I had to let it ball search, and it kind of took away my rhythm. But I had a really good score on it, and it was because I started all those multi-balls at once. Nice.
    56:19
    So I didn't want to take away from that, but Black Knight, Black Knight. Okay, so Black Knight. Okay, the biggest complaint, obviously, is there's no upper play field on the Pro, and the whole point of the Black Knight series is the upper play field. However, have you looked at the pictures in the video of the Pro?
    56:39
    I have not seen the videos. If you're talking about the promo video? Yeah, the short one, yeah. Yeah, it looks fun. I can't really judge it yet until I see it streamed in gameplay. So when Jack does it on, I think it's April 9th, is that right? I believe so, yes. Yeah, April 9th, when he streams that, then I can make my judgment call on it. But I'm very excited to see how both of them shoot. And, yeah, it is interesting. I mean, Black Knight always was known for upper play field. So that is interesting they chose that. But, come on, that mech with the Knight, with the spinning flail, Yeah. And the shield that, and I don't know, but does it, it goes up and down, but does it go left and right? So it deflects the ball a certain angle, or does it push it kind of like those targets in Haunted House where it pushes it back? I think, I'm not sure. I think it just goes up and down, I think. But behind there, there's a saucer from the photo skills I've seen. So it locks the ball.
    57:48
    Okay. So it's where you lock the ball in. Well, it's one of the places you can lock a ball, or at least get a ball in and get something, points or some kind of. Well, you know, from what I've heard is even the pros going to be not just Fast and Furious does Steve Ritchie, right? But it's the storyline where the Sword of Rage is actually the player's weapon.
    58:12
    Yes. And you're going to fight like different, like an army of skeletons and all these bosses. and the Black Knight himself is like the wizard mode, the head boss. So even with the pro, you know, removing the upper play field, there's still going to be a lot going on. Like I said, you've got the knight toy with the flail and with the shield, and you've got, you know, spinners galore. You've got, you know, that ramp looks really cool. You've got all kinds of other stuff to keep people, you know, occupied. And the storytelling and the modes should really, even with the pro, I think people, once they get to play it, will maybe not forget about the upper play field, but I don't think it will take too much away from the game.
    58:54
    Yeah, I have to say, when a designer creates a game that has a story and a journey for the player, that gets me excited. That's when I see a game that I want to play. Yeah. When I'm that character, just like in a video game, you know, when I'm playing Mario, I'm Mario. And I try to get past the bosses. When you're the Black Knight, well, you're not the Black Knight, but when you're trying to defeat the Black Knight, it is really engaging for people to get through that journey to finally get to the wizard mode. And there's a storyline. There's a plot. There's enemies you have to fight. I just can't wait. This is one of the games, if I had the money, it would probably be my first new in box. Yeah. Because I love Black Knight 2000. I mean, come on, when you hear that, you know, show me your money. Oh, yeah. I mean, when they do that, you know, I am the Black Knight. You know, I mean, it's just so much fun to hear that. And you can hear that game a mile away above all the other machines you know that Black Knight 2000 is in there. And that chorus going. And now with the new music that they're going to add to it with Scott Ian from Anthrax. Oh, yeah. having a modernized version with just total metal, that is going to be awesome. I mean, in your face, it has that heavy metal theme. It's got the medieval theme. It's got the monsters. I think it's going to be a winner for Stern. I really do. I hope all the hype is worth it. But I am a fan of Steve Ritchie for sure. And if it shoots really well and has good flow, which I'm really hoping it does, it's going to be a game that's going to be sold out very quickly after that stream on April 1st. I agree. You know, and it's also nice to see, well, you know, a quote-unquote unlicensed theme. It's also really nice to see, for one, Steve Ritchie's hands aren't tied by a license. And, you know, like with me, you can look at a lot of games, and you look at like, well, his last two games, Game of Thrones and Star Wars. You know With the art package and everything else Not that they were terrible but you can see The license holder Really tied Steve's hands He just had to do what he had to do Not that they're not good games But You know what I mean where this is like He just had free reign just to create Go nuts and just From the pictures and the short video You can see the difference You know because like here's what the man Can do when he's left to his own devices You know, here's what he's got, this. And you look at that. And he is so passionate. He's really excited about this game. Obviously, when I saw him in person, he didn't mention anything about this. But he definitely, and I can confirm it because I know the rumors are out there that he's retiring after this game. He is not retiring. He said it straight in my face along with my other friends at Texas Pinball Festival that he is not retiring He is still going to be designing games Yeah that been confirmed Thank you for reconfirming it I reconfirming it because I heard it from him directly not just through the interwebs, but actually directly face-to-face. And he even mentioned it without me even asking. He just said, and by the way, those rumors are false. I am not retiring. He was pretty adamant about it. Good for him. But he's really excited about it. And I love his games. And, man, I tell you, Wonka and Black Knight, these days are going really slow right now. Right. Usually I don't want them to go fast, but I can't wait until they get it revealed at Midwest Gaming Classic to see the looks on people's faces. I think just with the energy of the music and the call-outs and the story and the, I'm hoping the animations are really cool, the way it shoots. It's going to be brutal. I know it's going to be brutal because it's the Steve Ritchie game, but it's going to make me want to play it more. And that flail that spins in different directions totally changes the physics. So if you're shooting up the ramp, it's going to fire it up faster than if you just shoot it right, or it's going to be level in a horizontal position, and then you're just shooting it up as a normal flow. And then it's going to turn towards you, and then it's going to deflect the ball, and who knows where the ball is going to go. Genius. I really like it. And it's so cool to finally see a toy that we can brag about that Stern made. Because a lot of times Stern doesn't do a lot with toys. This one, on the other hand, even people who are not familiar with licensed themes, in this case, this one is a license through Black Knight, through actually Planetary Pinball, because we're going to be getting an Ellie, which we're very excited about.
    63:51
    So we'll get to play it. But the other thing behind it is that having the ability to have that toy interact with you and then the topper that they talked about is going to be a real engaging for people to walk up and say, hmm, I wonder what this machine is. Wow, that's really cool with a black knight sitting right in the middle of the play field. So I think it's going to attract a lot of people that are used to licenses. You know, I see Guardians of the Galaxy or Star Wars. Oh, I'm going to play that. I think this one's going to get a lot of plays from a variety of people. That's my prediction. Oh, yeah. But we'll see. Yeah, and, you know, the rumors were that Sturm was nervous about it because, you know, not being a quote-unquote license theme. And think about this. You know, when we were talking just a minute ago, it just really hit me. Okay, you have, you know, a Midwest gaming classic, God willing, you know, Wonka's going to get debuted there, and you're going to have the debut of the new Black Knight. And two new games that are going to be runaway smash hits, you know, everybody's predicting, from arguably the two biggest, you know, baddest giants in pinball design, you know, Steve Ritchie and Pat Lawler. wow what a good I didn't even think about that you got a heavy weight it's like having Babe Ruth and Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig you know what I mean of pinball you know wouldn't it be cool if they had like a title fight type of theme where they had like spotlights on Steve Ritchie and his game and then they go over to Wonka and battle it out that would be awesome yeah I mean it's If both those games are there, which I already know Blackhawks is going to be there for sure, you know, sort of rage. But it's a pretty good bet that Wonka's going to be there. And two stellar titles that everybody's looking forward to from the two titans of pinball design. And that really has not happened, I don't know, ever if they've released, you know, because, you know, when they were both working at Bally Williams, you know, their game's probably coming out, you know, months apart. So that's a very exciting time in pinball. I mean. Very exciting year already. Already, right. So we've got, I mean, if you look at what's going on, okay, so we've got obviously Stern, you know, and right now we've got what? We've still got, are they still running Guardians of the Galaxy? I think they are, right? Oh, yeah. They're still running that. I'm almost following them, yeah. It's a fantastic game. Great game. Love that game. Yeah, me too. My wife and Rusty and I both love that game. play it as much as possible. So you got Guardians, you got, they're still running Deadpool. Yeah, absolutely, Deadpool. They're running Monsters, of course, they're going to be running Black Knight. What else are they still, are they still running Star Wars or is that off the line now? I think they're still running that too. I mean, they have such a huge production facility. and they're still running Batman, Batman 66 yeah, exactly, you have all that, you have the new Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road, Wonka you have Oktoberfest Oktoberfest, yep, from American Inland and you've got Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle, so right now and then who knows what's going to come down the pipe So, you know, just wow, what a great time in pinball. Not since, you know, the 90s, the early 90s has it been. I know. There's such a resurgence. I just hope it doesn't blow up, you know, like a bubble bursting because the market is so oversaturated right now with so many games to choose from. But there's a lot of wealthy people out there that won't even have a problem to choose. They'll just buy all of them. Well, and location play. Look how much Reno's blown up. And location plans. Sacramento. Exactly. There's all kinds of new locations popping up every day where, you know, when I first moved to Sacramento seven years ago, it was a pinball wasteland. There was nothing. Nothing. There was nothing in Reno. Nothing. There were a few places that had pinballs. It would be, you know, a pizza place, and there would be one. And it was usually just, you know, beat to death. If it worked at all, half the features weren't working. And now, you know, you know, Alex, of course, Alex Lambert. And I just he was just in Vegas. He's going to come back on the show soon and do a trip report from Vegas. Oh, great. Yeah. And, you know, he texted me the other night and goes, hey, look where I'm at. And I'm like, where's that? He goes, dude, it's like a mile from your house. And I'm like, no kidding. It's a new bar or a new brewery company. And they have like a couple of games, you know. and in Sacramento yeah and like all the wow there's a dead pool and a little blues bar like a half a mile from my house um and you know there's this like and then right around the corner from my house there's a straw hat pizza hey it's probably four blocks they have a South Park for years they've got a Lord of the Rings now but I mean it's just more and more oh my gosh yeah more and more pinball everywhere you know and I mean new location like on pinball map every I check it out once a month or so, and every time I check it out, boom, there's new games at new places, you know.
    69:40
    That is great. Yeah, fantastic. Oh, and we're leaving one company out of the equation. What is Deep Root coming up on? I'm glad you brought that up because I was going to bring that up next.
    69:52
    Did they have any kind of showing at all? I mean, like banners, anything at TPF this year? they had the only thing they had and we can have this as a segue is they had it for the tournament they were sponsoring the tournament as far as any representatives from deep root i saw nobody it was completely absent of deep root anything i was kind of shocked to not see anybody representing the company maybe i didn't didn't uh look careful enough but But I know I talked to Steve Bowden, and he did say something to me that was very eye-opening. He did say, or ear-opening, he said that he is really glad that they did not reveal at Texas Pinball Festival. He said they were not ready. It would have been a disaster because they want to get it right.
    70:47
    But he says, wait until you see what's coming out. And he's like, I can't say anymore, but it's going to blow you away. Well, see, that's what I like. The fact that they're just staying quiet until they've got something to show. Because nothing frustrates me more than when somebody shows up at a show with a box of lights, you know, or a play field or a flyer or what have you. You know, don't show anything until it's ready. and it can ship. And Jack learned his lesson. These Wonka machines are going to ship within a month versus waiting a year for Pirates to come out. Right, right. So they need to make sure they don't make that mistake because then the hype kind of starts to fizzle and then people are already looking at the next game that's coming out. So, yeah, it will be very interesting to see what Deep Root has to offer. I'm excited I'm all for it I didn't deal with that J-pop scandal with the Magic Girl speaking of that I did get to see a Magic Girl in person it was at the show I can't remember which booth it was at it was obviously hands off but have you seen that in person? I have not I know somebody locally who owns one I don't know if they sold it yet but last I knew it was still sitting in the box.
    72:19
    That game is the most gorgeous film machine I have ever seen in my life. It is, the colors are unique because it's got more of a purplish hue to all the different colors that are in it. It's more like a pastel, but the back glass alone, when you see it in person, it blows your mind. It is so detailed, orientated, and just a gorgeous piece of art. It's amazing how detailed the art is. It's almost like a stained glass, if that makes sense. Right? But it has that glow to it, and the play field is like, it's almost like it's made out of crystal. I can't describe it until you see it in person. And I did, thanks to the guys, and I wish I could remember their names, they did let me flip. Oh, no kidding. I got to flip a Magic Girl.
    73:14
    They got it working, but it was not ready. It does not flip well at all. The ball got stuck a lot, but the design is just off the rocker. It's so unique, typical J-pop.
    73:28
    And, oh, man, when they get that game working, it's going to be a fun game to shoot. But, unfortunately, I got to flip it, and then the ball got stuck. But, hey, I got to try out a $26,000 machine in person. That was quite a treat. So thanks to those guys. If you're listening, I can't remember your names, and I apologize. But thanks for offering me to play that. Well, hopefully, you know, they'll probably make some changes because, you know, some stuff may just not ever work the way, you know, J-Pop wanted it to. So, but, you know, if it's beautiful like that and it shoots well, they'll have it in on their hands. So, you know, and I dig the fact, you know, like I said, that they're just staying quiet until they can deliver the goods. And they have yet to ask for a penny from anybody. So, you know, that's right. And, like I said, if Robert can fulfill his promise and ship those games after they release them right away and people can get them in their homes. I mean, if he can come up with a game that is feature-packed for $5,000, that may be my inbox machine, because that I could save up for. But when it gets to the $9,000 mark, that's just totally out of my price range, unfortunately. Right, right. I'm there with you.
    74:46
    I don't know. We'll see what happens. The question is when that everybody's asking, but I have a feeling that it's definitely going to be this year sometime. I'm thinking probably Expo, probably October is when they're going to reveal everything and do the five days of Deep Roof and all that stuff that they're doing for their marketing. Yeah, I'm thinking Expo, too. You know, it is a shame that, you know, they weren't able to do it at Texas because that's, you know, their backyard. I know. You know what, man? It's San Antonio. You know what? Don't pull the trigger until, you know, you're ready.
    75:22
    Cosmic Carnival, did you get to look at that at all? I did. I didn't play it because it was, at first I looked at it and I was like, hmm, that looks familiar. It looks kind of like Hurricane or what's the other one? Cyclone? Cyclone. Yeah. It looked like that with the plastic ramps and stuff like that.
    75:42
    And I don't know what to say about it. I kind of walked by it and I looked at it and I played it a little bit.
    75:50
    Actually, I take that back. I did not play it because it was not playable because there was something wrong with it and they were trying to fix it. And it was in its prototype stage, so I'm sure they were running into issues.
    76:02
    But it looks cool. I don't know until I see it when it's in its finished form. But, yeah, it might be a sleeper. Who knows? But, honestly, I really can't critique that one because I didn't flip it. Yeah. I wish I would have shot some video because the pictures look interesting. You know, I just like to see some gameplay video.
    76:27
    Right. And the LCD didn't have a lot of animations and stuff like that. It was more basic. Real early beta.
    76:34
    Right. Real early beta kind of format. I'll look forward to see what they can do. And I mean, you know, and they got Dirty Donnie art, man. The art package looks great. So, you know, how can you go wrong? Yeah, it's it's. Yeah, it's a neat game. We'll just have to see what it has to offer. I did get to play a Kingpin remake. Oh, yeah, I was going to ask about that. And that was fun. I had a good time playing that. That was a good game to shoot. Did you play the original ever? It felt like the real thing. Is it going to go to Oklahoma State? Yes. I did. It's a fun game. I see why a lot of people want it. I love playing it. They're saying that they're going to be shipping them soon, but who knows? We'll see what happens with that. Well, do you have a manufacturer yet?
    77:25
    Well, that's the problem. We don't know. I mean, there's rumors that Chicago Gaming Company might do it, or maybe American Pinball. I don't know, because those are the ones that can do manufacturing, but we'll have to see. I don't know exactly what the facts are behind that. I know the rumors are out there, but it's a good game. Well, that's where the rubber meets the road, man. Can you actually, you know, because, I mean, There's a lot of people that make some really amazing and interesting and fun-looking, you know, prototype games or homebrew games. But, you know, when you've got to actually manufacture and ship them in a timely manner, that's where, you know, the saying, pinball is hard, that's where the rubber meets the road. Talking about Rumor Mill, have you played Alien?
    78:15
    I have. I've played Alien. It was not at the show. at least I didn't see it but I did get to play it at good old Golden State Pinball Festival last year yeah I played a bunch of it and then a great pinball place next time you get into California if you get the chance we should go that's the Flipper Room in Concord they that is a fantastic location absolutely fantastic and the people and runners are just amazing folks they had one there for a bit in fact Unfortunately you couldn't make it this year The volunteer party Was at the Flipper Room I'm going to definitely try to make it next time As long as they volunteer Yeah they had an alien And we played a bunch more there It's such a fantastic game Well the latest rumor Somewhat substantiated The Pinball Brothers who took over Controller ownership of the Now defunct Highway Pinball Are Shopping around a manufacturer, looking for somebody to continue to manufacture that game. So it's not dead in the water yet, you know, not officially. So there may be, hopefully down the road, maybe more alien games being built and shipped. We can only hope. Because I love... The soundtrack on that game is awesome by David. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. It's awesome. In fact, I had a great experience. I've never shot the game at all. and I played it my first time and I got grand champion on it. You seem to do that a lot, man, which is for the listeners that don't know, that's actually how you and I and my wife, Rusty, that's how the three of us met was playing a three-player game on Hobbit with you. On Hobbit, that's right. That's how we met. That's how we met at Pinnagogo and you destroyed that game.
    80:11
    Yeah, that was pretty funny. I had no clue what I was doing. I was just keeping on getting the locks with the rollovers and then shooting up slog. That's a great game. Oh, it is a good game. Especially with the updated code. It's a really, really good game. Underrated.
    80:31
    There's so many good games. And with more games, there's opportunities to be better at pinball. And that's a great segue to talk about the classics that I participated in at Texas Pinball Festival. Very well, sir. Congratulations.
    80:47
    I did pretty well. I ended up 27th. I was doing amazing on Phoenix. I had the number one score, and it lasted for about four hours. And then, as you know, with best games, with the time limit, the people who were playing in the regular Wizards tournament, Texas Wizards tournament, then they decided to play in the Classics. And one of those people was my good friend, Steve Bowden, who knocked me out, unfortunately. But, hey, it was a great run. And the nice thing about it is two guys from Reno, David Mosher and I, represented, and we at least got the top 30. He made it into the playoffs. Unfortunately, he got knocked out the first round. But I think it was nerves that took over and lack of sleep because we had a hotel that was an hour away where we stayed, and we had to drive every day and we had a little less sleep and he might have not been super alert. But I was doing great. I had a great game on Phoenix. I had a great game on Jungle Lord. Two of the games I had the highest score. And then I played Heat Wave and talk about a great game. That's a fantastic game. Chris Bannister has one. Oh, he does? Oh, wow. Yeah. Kevin Woods has one too, unless he sold it, but I was familiar with that game. So I'm going to give a little secret for everybody who plays Heat Wave in a tournament. I was trying to figure out how could you get the rollovers to register better so you could move up that meter to get higher bonus and higher score. So what I found out is, and I asked, I made sure I was not cheating, but you can have multi-ball if you want because it's that manual, I don't know how you call it. Right, the elevator, yeah, the ball elevator. The elevator, the ball elevator, thank you.
    82:53
    That, you can shoot as many as you want, but of course your game is going to go pretty fast. So what I thought, I was like, okay, maybe we can slow the ball down a little bit instead of trying to get a totally accurate plunge and have it kind of trail along the ball so it sinks a little bit and goes over the roller of the targets. So what I did is I put two balls in the shooter lane, I pulled back on the plunger, and just about medium speed, it went up and the balls trailed next to each other. So it was almost like a train of two balls. And it sunk a little bit lower, and it did exactly what I was predicting. It rolled over those rollovers on the top, which increased the thermometer, and that helped me be able to set up my shots for the center target. I ended up scoring over 3,000 on that game because of being able to use that strategy. Of course, I had one less ball, but it really helped because then I was able to get it all set up, hit those swinging targets that went back and forth, and then be able to shoot the center target, and that was a huge winner.
    84:06
    So I did well on three games. The games that did not do well for me was Lancers. I don't know if you ever played Lancers, but it's an EM. Fun game, another great EM. Is it a Williams or a Valley?
    84:19
    I can't remember exactly. I'd have to look it up. But it was definitely a fun shooting EM, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the score high enough to get in the top 20, because then I would have been guaranteed to get in the top 24. And it was funny because at first they had it at 16, and then more players entered, and then they increased the top qualifying to 24. So I just missed the cutoff just like two below because I was tied for 26. So I was two below, or actually three below at 27th, and that's where I ended up and didn't make the playoffs. And, yeah, I was bummed. It was a little depressing because it was like, oh, man, I had my shot, and all I had to do was do better on one game, and I just couldn't pull it off. That's pinball. What a great opportunity, though. That was pinball. And I looked at it, and I said, well, at least I have time to not have to play in the finals, and I can go and play all the games on the showroom floor. So that's what I did. Well, you know, Golden State Pinball this year, the format has changed. It's not going to be pin golf this year.
    85:32
    I heard. When I talked to Michael, he said that he's going to do a different kind of format because the pin golf was so difficult to manage and run because there were so many people. So it sounds like it's going to be a best game format. Is that correct? Yeah. All the rules are on the website. So if you plan on attending the Golden State Pinball Festival, GoldenStatePinball.org or GSPF.org. And that will have all the information. You brought up Phoenix. That's one of my grill games because that's one of the games that I just put probably two years of college money into as a kid. It's a local arcade growing up, Williams-Phoenix. That's Barry Orsler's first game, if I recall correctly.
    86:19
    fun shooting game. I love the top drop targets. It kind of reminds me of Medusa. Right? And then they pop up at certain amounts. You know, they have, like, one and then two targets and then three targets. And it was very similar. So I was like, oh, this is kind of like Medusa. Yeah, and then off that left, that little kind of wire form shot up to a target, you know, like kind of like a, I don't know what to call it. But it's a great game, man. Good spinner, fun game. Weird art, but yeah. Yeah, definitely weird art. Great early solace state though, man. So much fun to play though. Yeah, really good selection of games for the classics. Did not do well on 8-Ball Deluxe.
    87:04
    I couldn't get the left loop because that's a safe shot, and I couldn't do it. I couldn't get it going, and then did not do well on Fathom either. That was another one that was a bad one. That is a really, really brutal, tough game.
    87:20
    Especially in tournaments. Yeah. Well, you know, I've never played that in a league or a tournament setting. I've only just played, you know, just casually playing it. There's a collector in the Bay Area. You'd probably hear him get mentioned on the show. Shout-out to Mo. And I missed, I did not last episode, I did not do a Practical Steve shout-out. So, Practical Steve, here's your shout-out, brother. So, yeah, man. But you know what, man? You represented Reno. You had a good time. You got to play in a huge major tournament. Well, you're going to Pinnberg this year too, right?
    87:58
    Oh, I wish I was. But, no, this year I am not because I got to give a shout-out to my wife for supporting me in this crazy hobby. Even though we don't have any games, she allows me to participate in podcasts and do streaming of pinball for Reno Pinball and everything like that. So a shout out to her. So we're celebrating our 25th anniversary, and we are going to go to Mexico to celebrate. And going to Pinburg two weeks later would be a little too much, especially when school starts in August. Well, you know what, man? Congratulations on 25 years. That's an amazing accomplishment.
    88:35
    Yeah, I love my wife dearly. and she calls me Dilly because I'm so into pinball. But she understands and she supports me. I'm going to start calling you. Let's see if you go. I'm going to call you Dilly. You're so Dilly, she always says. You're so Dilly. Hey, but you have a game at your house.
    88:52
    I used to. I used to have a world poker tour that I was – basically I was babysitting it, and I got to play it. It was a John Friedrichs game who lives in Fallon, and he finally sold it to his friend who is now totally getting into pinball and he's starting to build a nice collection of his own. So now I am gameless, unfortunately. You've got to buy a game, man.
    89:15
    I know. I'm thinking when I go to Golden State, I'm going to look for an EM that's fairly affordable to at least start. So I would like to do it higher. The one thing I really regret is not getting that World Cup soccer that was for sale. I think it was at Golden State or maybe it was at Pinnagogo but it was sold for it was sold originally at $3,300 and it went down to $2,600 Dan here locally because he's trying to raise money for his Black Knight he just sold a really, yeah, pretty nice quality but really nice quality actually a demo man for a fairly good price he's got a home use only monopoly and you know most people that game is fantastic if you got one that's clean and everything works and it's playing right this is a I've never seen one this clean okay we played it in league last season and that's on the chopping block man so and I mean it's you'll never see and the only thing he did to it I mean he cleaned it you know he cleaned the play field even though it was really a clean put LEDs in it and he put Titan rubbers on it. And he had to adjust like one switch.
    90:32
    The only thing about it is a little bit of cabinet thing on one side. That's it. That is pretty incredible. I'm wondering what he's going to sell it for if he sells it.
    90:47
    This is what he told me was $3,500 to outsiders, $3,000 to anybody in the inner circle. Wow, that's a pretty good price for a Monopoly. Well, especially one that nice.
    91:01
    Yeah, exactly. It is pristine, man. And it's a baller, you know. And it's a fun game, you know. It is a fun game when you know how to play it. It's fun. All the other ones I've ever played have been location games, and they were literally, you know, they've been on location for 10 years. They've never had the glass for a while. You know, and they had the original stern black rubber. So, you know, it was like, hey, there's a play field somewhere underneath there.
    91:29
    We have one here at Bully's in Sparks, and you could barely see the artwork on the play field. Black, black, black, yeah. It's horrible. It plays well. It shoots fairly well. But, yeah, if I played one that was mint condition, that game would be awesome. but unfortunately there's none out in the field that play the way it's designed. Well, Vicky's bringing it to the show if he doesn't sell it first.
    91:56
    Okay. Hmm, something to look out for. That sounds like a good deal. Yeah, so, you know. Yeah, now I probably edit that because people are like, I'll give you $30,000 for it. It's like, no. Yeah.
    92:08
    Damn, hurry up and sell that thing because I'm pulling this episode tonight and I don't edit anything. You know why? Because I don't know how. so technologically man I'm like literally one step above the arm and I'm too busy to learn I got too many irons in the fires it is but you're doing a podcast and the kitchen table discussion is definitely original and I love it the last one I sent everybody down before we do this one I'm not drinking tonight because I rarely drink I always have a really well stocked liquor cabinet because I rarely touch this stuff. But it's like, that's one of the few times I do is when we're doing the podcast because I know I'm not having to drive anywhere and it's like, okay, this is the time I can have a cocktail. But yeah, the episode before was a little bit of a hurricane and I'm like, alright, everybody got to raise your hand to talk one person at a time because it just getting too out of control know the comedy factor is there and I love everybody opinions on things So you know it good stuff man It's a lot of fun, and I'm going to keep doing it.
    93:18
    That's great. Yeah, so the show, just to kind of wrap up on the show, the Texas Pinball Festival I'm referring to, we didn't really go off on a tangent because we were talking about the games coming up and everything. but I thought the highlight of the show was meeting all the podcasters. Shout out to Zach and Greg. They did a fantastic job putting on the Twippy Awards, the Twippies. That was incredible production. Zach put in tons of hours putting the videos for all the games listed and the features and everything from all the categories. and I think, if I'm not mistaken, the voiceover that was done was either the one from Total Nuclear Annihilation or from Iron Maiden, but it was very professional and she had that English accent. So I don't know. I've got to talk to Zach and find out who he used for the call-outs and the voiceover for the video. But it was just like an award show. They were all dressed up. They had a podium that they stood next to, and they had all the people be guest speakers and presenters from all the industry and podcasters. It was really a great show, and it was very entertaining, and it went really well. So hats off to him. Another shout-out I want to give, after the Twippy Awards, I went out on the main showroom again. and I don't know if it's the showroom, but the game floor, the main area. And we got to see the guys from Buffalo Pinball. So we saw Kevin and we saw Nick Lane. And they were a blast. We played a game called Stallball. Have you ever heard of Stallball? I've heard of it.
    95:10
    Okay. So this is a great game to play if you don't want to be limited to just four players playing a pinball game. So what you do is you stand in a line, and if you are familiar with knockout in basketball, it's very similar to saw ball for pinball. So what you do is you stand in a line, and the object when your turn is up is to stop the ball in some form, whether it's a scoop, a saucer, maybe a magnet, something that will stop the ball entirely and then start up again. When you shoot the shot into a saucer or any place where the ball stops or stalls, then you move out of the way in the next three minutes. If you drain the ball, then you're out.
    96:02
    And the last person standing wins the money. So we play a dollar game. So everyone puts a dollar. And we're going to play this at Golden State, I guarantee you. We're going to try to get a huge line of people to play it. I'm sure Michael is actually planning on that for his tournament in the late evening, or should I say early morning, where he's going to have like the midnight madness. He's going to have that as one of the formats. But anyway, you put the dollar into the coin return, and then the last person standing collects all the money. And then you have a lot of dollar bills to play dollar games or play another game of stall ball. So we got to play with Nick and, of course, my friends from Reno. And then we had Dwight Sullivan join us.
    96:49
    Yeah, so we had Dwight Sullivan. And then we had Eric, who watched it, Eric Munier, who is, of course, the designer for Pirates. So we had all these guys playing together. That was the highlight for me for the show was getting to see everybody and play games with them. It was awesome. And I'll tell you, Kevin and Nick are really cool guys in person. along with Zach and Greg. Very welcoming. Didn't have the attitude of being celebrities. They were just like every other guy, every other gal. And I got to meet his wife, Zach's wife, and got to talk to Steve Ritchie, like I mentioned before. We got to see John Borg. And actually, I'm in contact with him, and we text back and forth with each other. and share ideas and stuff like that. So he's real supportive of our stream. We actually had him as a guest to talk about his story behind the design and everything. And renopinball.com is our website where we have Twitch streams that we do usually twice a month. We're going to have more now that Jim, a shout out to Jim Martin, by the way. He had the idea of starting a stream, and Planetary Pinball supplied the equipment and everything, and we were able to stream the games, and John Borg actually FaceTimed with us and talked to us before the unboxing. Oh, nice. So it was awesome. I haven't had a chance to watch that yet, and I've been meaning to.
    98:26
    Yeah, yeah, it turned out really well. We actually played Monster's LE, and it was a lot of fun. David blew up the game. Well, I won't give it away, but he did really well. and I had fun commentating, and it's fun. It's just a fun time to get together and be able to share our love for pinball. And now we're pretty respected from the other podcasters, and we hope people who listen to those podcasts and watch the streams can also check out renopinball.com. It's a great website to just get to everything pinball and Reno. so it's a lot of fun and it's amazing how more and more people are getting involved in Reno there's more new faces that are joining League, there's more people interested in being part of the stream it's just a huge family and I'm very very thankful for all my friends who support it and keep it growing nice, nice that's a great shout out man, thank you for sharing that, that's cool too, it's cool to see things grow, you know, and see more people come into the fold and get involved and have a good time, you know. And that's what I thought it was. Yeah, it's social interaction. It's always the people, man, you know. Yeah, I have a really great story to tell you of I was, and this is great. You walk around and there's like a threesome playing and they're like, hey, you want to join us for a four? It was like always like that, just kind of like Gold State where, you know, people weren't hogging the machine and putting in four players for one person. And it was like, oh, you want to join us? Well, I met this one guy, didn't know who he was, and he let me play. And we played, it was Jackpot. And got into a conversation. I said, hey, where are you from? And he's like, oh, I'm from Brookfield. I go, Brookfield? That's where I grew up. No way. Ends up, he's the one that runs Midwest Gaming Classic. Right on.
    100:27
    So, yeah. So go figure on that. So I give him all of the success for his show, and he's got quite a collection, too. He's got, I think, 300 machines, supposedly. So, yeah. So I'm excited. If I ever go to Milwaukee, I'll definitely go visit him. Yeah, Midwest Gaming Classics on my bucket list of shows I want to attend at least once. Yeah, his name is Tom. And I can't remember his last name, but he definitely is very passionate about pinball. And it was really fun to meet those guys from my hometown. And it was total random. It was like, oh, wow, I can't believe this. Here are friends that I never met in my life, and they're pinheads, and they're from where I grew up. So small world. No doubt. Yeah, talking about upcoming shows. Well, Minbus Gaming Classic is next weekend. And that's what, Friday, Saturday, Sunday?
    101:28
    That's correct. And it used to be over at the Radisson in Brookfield, and now they moved it to the Convention Center in downtown Milwaukee. It's growing like crazy now, and it's starting to be a major show. And obviously we got two reveals. That pretty much says it. There you go, right. Well, you know, and then currently going on, which is a little odd with the days, but right now it's the Ohio Pinball Show. And it started yesterday, April 4th. And, of course, this is going on right now. And tomorrow, Saturday the 6th, is the last day. So, and that is in, I'm scrolling it right now. No, it's at the Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
    102:18
    Yeah, that's really close to Cochran. I don't, I've never been to Ohio. That's where my father's from. Well, that's where it is. And then, of course, next week we've got Midwest Gaming Classic.
    102:34
    And then, you know, we've got the Golden State Pinball Festival coming up in May. May 18th, 19th, and 20th. And beautiful, sunny Lodi, California at the Lodi Great Festival Fairgrounds.
    102:48
    GSPF.org. That is a show not to miss. I'm going to tell you right now. We want Jack Danger. Jack Danger, if you're listening, you've got to come to this show. He's going to try his best. He's going to be in Banning for that weekend, but he's going to try to drive up to Golden State. Was there some go on in Banning that weekend?
    103:11
    There's just a private celebration, I think a birthday party or something like that, and he's going to be down there. But I said you've got to get up to Golden State. That's the place to be. You've got to come up to it. But, yeah, I'm hoping he does. I admire him. He definitely inspired us in Reno to stream on Twitch now, and we're getting better at it. We had a lot of bumps in the road. We still have issues with Internet connections. You know what? It's part of the learning curve. Look at me with podcasting. I mean, you know, I don't know what the heck I'm doing. It's still though. Right. But it's getting better.
    103:47
    And thanks to Planetary Pinball for having us stream all the games we had the opportunity, nobody else did, to stream Monster Bash LE. That was cool because we had a lot of people watch it. And that was actually a great stream and a lot of fun. No doubt. I want to give a shout-out to one more show right after, just a couple weeks after Golden State Pinball Festival. We've got the Northwest Arcade and Pinball Show. And that, of course, is Friday, May 31st. Saturday, June 1st, and Sunday, June 2nd. And that's at, I know it's in Tacoma, Washington.
    104:32
    That's correct. And that is, I heard, a really great show. I have never been to it. Have you been to the Northwest show? I have not had the pleasure yet. Yeah, it's at the Tacoma Convention Center in Tacoma, Washington. Another interesting great thing about that show is it's also a show where they give the proceeds to charity. They do like college scholarships Yeah, that's great And they also have a really good pin golf tournament They're known for that They have an awesome pin golf tournament Kind of like what they did at Golden State Okay, cool Yeah, so you've got tournaments You've got arcade games and video games You've got, of course, tons and tons of pinball so another great show to check out I'll keep, you know, next episode I'll talk about more shows but that's what's coming up in the not too distant future so What I like is Golden State Pinball Festival is at a perfect time because a lot of games get revealed or they've been touched up and dialed in so that when we have the show we already get to play the games because you know like when they have the October show, the Expo, they sometimes get announced, but they're just prototypes, and they don't even have any games to play on the floor. And Golden State does. I mean, I got to play the Hobbit. I'm sure, is Jersey Jack going to be coming to Golden State? He always does. It was really funny, you know. The first year it came, and it was like, oh boy, it's Jersey Jack. And the second year, it was like, hey, it's Jack's back. And then now it's just like, oh hey Jack, barbecue's over there, grab yourself a cold one. Oh, hey, Butch, do you want a soda? Do you want a beer? Right over there, grab a hot dog. They're just part of the gang now. I don't have confirmation on that yet, but I imagine with Wonka coming out, most likely they'll be there.
    106:31
    If he's there and he brings Wonka, just think how awesome that will be for us. Yeah, I'm just going to bring a sleeping bag and sleep under the game. So, you know, plus, you know, I want to throw this out to anybody listening. And, of course, you was, you know, well, you're listening. So, you know, we'll be there in the yurt again at the campground at Camp Silver Ball right outside the building. Just look for the restrooms and the showers. We'll be camped right next to it like last year. Come over and say hi. You know, come over before the show opens in the morning. Say hi. have coffee with me and the family or in the evening. We're usually going to be camped over there and having coffee and drinks and stuff. Come over, say hi. Have a cup of coffee or drink with us.
    107:18
    And I know you are going to improve the restroom facilities. I know that was one of the main complaints, which is not bad. The biggest complaint was, wasn't actually, well, the restrooms there weren't as many of them. It was paper towels. There were no paper towels. It was those stupid hand blowers. That issue I know, talking to the board, that issue, like, literally, like, after the show was over, you know, the board went into the secret chambers, and they've already got – they had that resolved, like, the day the show ended last year. So I know that's been resolved. A lot of other good stuff going on. I don't want to reveal too much yet.
    107:58
    That's okay. That's about right. Good stuff will be coming in the next couple weeks to a month. But I know you already got your – I think you already got your tickets to the dinner, right?
    108:09
    I didn't purchase the tickets yet, but I did the reservation on Google. Okay, great. Okay, excellent. I haven't done that yet, but I am going to definitely participate in the dinner this time. Well, you know, I'll be hosting the dinner Friday night, you know, and master ceremonies, if you will, and presenting the second annual Steve Charlin Spirit Award in memory of our dear friend Steve Charlin, who unfortunately we lost to cancer just a couple years ago now.
    108:40
    And, yeah, so. I wish I got to know Steve. I only talked to him briefly when he had all of the lineup of the Spirit. What was that game? Yeah. The Spirit games, yeah. That was the only time I got to see him, and I know he was really passionate about it, and he was talking to everybody and being super friendly, but I really didn't get to know him personally, and I wish I did. But you got to meet him, and you got to play to see the Spirit lineup, man.
    109:12
    Which was incredible. Well, you know what? I'm sure you heard the episode two episodes ago. No, it was one episode ago. So when, you know, Rusty and I went out to Idaho, and we met up with Steve's wife, Kathy, and his daughter, Amber, and had barbecue with them and had a lovely time.
    109:38
    And they still have some games. They sold a lot of Steve's Clutch Shop, but there's a few they kept, a few real good ones, too. and they're still active in the pinball community somewhat. And they'll be there. They're supposed to be there for the dinner. So that's going to be a lot of fun. The food is amazing.
    109:59
    I've heard the food is really good. I know it's a silly question because the whole entire floor has pinball, but is there any chance of pinball during the dinner or no? Or is that just something that's there? Yeah, no, because it's in a separate area. So it's in a separate building. last year it was in a little tiny building.
    110:21
    This year it's going to be in the building where they have Pinball University. So Pinball University won't start until Saturday morning. Oh, okay. Because they sold out so fast last year. And I can tell you for a fact, Eric Neff's wife Andrea and her Girl Scout troop, she's a Scout mom, I guess Scoutmaster, whatever They call that in the Girl Scouts. Her church has the dinner, and it is fantastic. So you won't go away hungry, and you won't go away disappointed.
    110:55
    That sounds really fun, and it will be great to see all my Sacramento buddies and the area and the whole pinball community. It will be a lot of fun. I know I'll get to play plenty of pinball, so that won't be an issue. With the dinner, with pre-dinner hors d'oeuvres and then dinner and the awards ceremony, It usually runs about an hour and a half. Well, usually. We did it for the first time last year. It ran about two hours. So, you know, from like 6 to 8. It's on Friday, so you've got plenty of pinball time. Plus, are you staying on site or did you get a hotel?
    111:31
    I got a hotel. I got the one that the blocked rooms that were over at Holiday Inn Express. You're not too far.
    111:38
    The pinball never stopped. Okay. The door is closed on – Oh, that's right. I keep forgetting that. In the RV campsite area, the pinball was going 24-7, you know.
    111:55
    Fireball 2, whose real name I honestly forget. Mark? Mark. I believe it's Mark also. Bless his heart. He had an old EM wood rail, I think, or maybe it wasn't a wood rail, but it was like an old 60s EM, and they had a Star Wars LE right next to it.
    112:16
    And those games were on basically every night, all night, and there were a few other people. And then, of course, you know, Michael Huntsman with the Midnight Madness tournament. So, like, literally, you know, it's like, you know, bring a case of Red Bulls and some really good espresso. Or come over to our tent. We have, you know, a really good coffee. And, just, you know, you can sleep on the drive home if you've got somebody else driving or whatever, you know, because it's, Camp Silver Ball basically doesn't sleep.
    112:53
    Yeah, I don't think you can sleep with all the noise going on with the machines. Now, there's no issues with people living nearby. I mean, I was surprised that the cops didn't show up from all the noise from the Midnight Madness tournament. It's far enough out away from, you know, away from anybody's homes that, yeah. I mean, and I slept like a baby. I mean, I, you know, I mean, all of us running all day playing games and talking with people and everything else. You know, when it was crash time, I was like, boom, you know, I was sawing mugs. So, yeah. Are they going to have a pin golf tournament like they were talking about? Oh, the Midnight Navigator? Because that would be fun on the campground. I don't know. Oh, maybe. I don't know. Yeah, maybe. I don't know. You know what? Somebody, who knows? I mean, because once the door is closed, as long as you're not lighting anything on fire or being rude or too loud, it's pretty much, you know, just, yeah, play pinball all night. Have fun, you know?
    113:54
    Nice. That's what makes this the campground that makes that show so much fun. Well, everybody was so well-behaved. I mean, there was no shouting or loudness. You know, people were respectful of others that wanted to get some sleep, but they were still having a good time, you know. So, yeah. Right. And you can always bring a set of earplugs if you need to. Again, it didn't bother me at all. So, you know. So, yeah, so it was a good time. But, yeah, everybody was well-behaved, so.
    114:22
    Well, I'll say it again. Golden State Pinball Festival, May 17th through the 19th. It's something that you're going not to miss. I screwed that up. I should know. I know it's 42 days away. I got that right. Is it 17th through the 19th? I should know this. Good God. What's wrong with me? It's been a long work day. It's been a long work week.
    114:44
    I understand. Yeah. So. Let's see. I'm checking right now on the calendar, making sure. Yeah. It's 17th through the 19th. I'm going to get nothing but grief for that. And we are at 42 days.
    115:01
    Coming up soon. I can't wait. I know. I've got to do it this week. Well, probably next week. No, I've got to do it this weekend or the weekend after that. I've got to get him to do some minor tuning to Black Rose before we get it out on the show floor. So lots. Yeah, there's so many good shows that it's hard to choose now. I'll tell you this, though. Texas Pinball Festival, I'd go back. it had that same vibe and it was wonderful to see all the people from the industry and the podcasters and the streamers all in one place it was awesome i've got it's on my list man maybe next year we'll see we'll see how it pans out you know yeah it was it was great cool so much fun mark we're uh an hour and 50 56 minutes man so it goes fast you don't realize it until you have a conversation, you're like, oh my goodness, we're like two hours in already. I think I covered everything.
    116:04
    Just a shout out again to all my friends, Jim Martin, Doug Taylor, David Mosher, Planetary Pinball, renopinball.com is our website, like I said before. If you want to learn more about how to play the game, we have a format where we stream the game, but we have a commentary behind the scenes or basically while the person is playing and go through rules while the person is playing. So it's more understandable instead of going through all the rules first and then playing and getting confused. So it's like, oh, what shot do you want to make? Oh, okay. Go for Grandpa's Lab and try to get the jackpots in the lower play field on Munster's LE or something like that. So we always put it on YouTube as well. If people can't see the stream live on Twitch.
    116:55
    And I'm just so proud of all my friends who support pinball in Reno. And it's growing like crazy. I had to turn people away from League Season 3 because there were just so many demands and I just didn't have enough to go around for 30 people, or actually for more than 30 people. But some people dropped out and it worked out. But there's people already contacting me like, oh, can I join for next season? So it's for a small area or for a small town that we live in, which actually is growing a lot more, we're getting a lot of people interested in playing pinball.
    117:32
    That's awesome. All right, man. Well, my shout-outs for tonight, I'm going to give a shout-out to an old friend that I kind of reconnected with on Facebook back from the old neighborhood growing up, John Rogers. He's a friend of the show on Facebook, so I think he listens. So, hey, John, if you're listening, John Rogers, man, shout out to you. It's nice to see you're doing well and wish you and your family all the best.
    118:00
    Shout out to Michael Hosier for helping me always answer my questions about league. I had a whole story talking about scoring, but I'm not going to go into it. I'm trying to figure out how to compensate for absences when the score would be a zero, when it would actually be a lower score. So we finally figured out a way to fix that. And also shout out to Jim Shelby for always letting me play his games, which are a sight to behold how he mods them and how he has all the lights flashing and everything. And they're the best shooting games ever. So shout out to him as well. Well, I'm going to give a shout out to my lovely wife, Mary Ann Rusty, who snuck into the kitchen table studios earlier and kissed me goodnight and, you know, who supports me in this crazy hobby. who we call the hobby. It's really an obsession.
    118:53
    It's an obsession and an addiction. And I want to give a shout-out to my wife, Heidi Scoff, and my kids, Nathan and Cassidy, for supporting me in my crazy addiction with pinball as well. Two more shout-outs to go. I'm going to give a shout-out to The Flippin' Room and Concord. And they have just type Flippin' Room, Concord, and go to their website. But they do like a kid's day every month now. I think it's like a tournament, but it's just, you know, teaching kids about pinball.
    119:27
    And then they do a, I think it's the last Sunday of the month. They do, it's third, third Sunday. Third Sunday of the month, they do a tournament every month. So they have a fantastic lineup of older and newer games. and they're all kept immaculate. I mean, they're beautiful.
    119:49
    And so check out the Flipper Room if you're in the Bay Area and support location pinball. And then Sacramento, the second Saturday every month, put on by Michael Hosier and the Capital Quarter of Pinball League, they have a tournament.
    120:06
    And so check that out if you're in the Sacramento area. Support location pinball. Two best locations. There are many good ones now, but still the two best ones are, of course, Coin Op downtown, Sacramento and K Street, and then Fanny Ann's in Old Sacramento.
    120:26
    Both locations are different operators, but both are kept immaculate, and the games are just kept really nice. Good operators, good pinball folks. So give shout-outs to those. And one other thing, too, shout-out to Press Start in Reno. If you ever come to the Reno area and you want to get your pinball fix, come on out to Press Start. And Kevin Woods, who is the tech, shout out to him for always having those games working when we needed them for league and for people who walk into the establishment and want to play pinball. Yeah, I still have to get up there, man. It's going to happen. Well, you know what, man? You need to come down here. And then the weather, you know, has been. Oh, yeah, the winter, it's really hard. We had a brutal winter. I mean, we could never get over the past. It's been a really savage winter out there. But spring has sprung, man, and it's April now. So we'll hopefully be able to get up there this summer. Because I know Alex has been badgering me constantly. I was like, dude, I want to go. But, you know, it's time. It's getting the free weekend, and then the weather's got to cooperate. So all right, man. It's such a pleasure to talk with you. And in 42 more days, we'll be hanging out. Actually, 41, because you'll be there Thursday, right?
    121:49
    That's right. I'll be there Thursday hanging out with Jim, and then I'm going to get there early in the morning and help set up games. Well, in that afternoon, when we're all done setting up games, come on over to the yurt and hang out and be resting the kids and have some food.
    122:07
    That sounds like a great idea. And anyone who wants to enjoy themselves, there's always that picnic out on Camp Silver Ball, which is a great party atmosphere to hang out with people. Sparky barbecue on Saturday, that's right. As far as I know, that's happening. I haven't got confirmation yet, but, you know, all will be known very soon.
    122:28
    Yep, all will be known, and it's always something to look forward to. Of course, J.J. Babich, too, from Game Exchange. GameXchange is always there too and yeah he is he's awesome and I got Steam in Texas too and Marco and everybody yeah Marco and some people from Sacramento we had Joe and Justin all the people yep that's right Joe Abate who is the game guru for CoinOp good dude man oh yeah definitely another righteous dude All right, man. We're at over two hours, and I know. Wow. Well, it was a great conversation, Spencer. Thank you so much for having me on the show. Thanks for the great music.
    123:16
    Oh, absolutely. I'm working on a pinball project, like I said, in my previous podcast with you. I haven't done much with it, but I'm working on it. But you know what? Next, when you get more going and can talk about it, let's have you back on. sounds wonderful thanks again for having me alright kids you guys know what time it is play pinball keep America strong
    124:01
    Thank you.