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Kaneda's Pinball Podcast Saturday Morning Spectacular Aug 30

Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives·video·20m 25s·analyzed·Aug 31, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Star Wars criticized for Spike 2.5 compromise; Beetlejuice priced at $9,999 with 999 production run.

Summary

Kaneda discusses Star Wars: Fall of the Empire's design philosophy, criticizing Stern's use of existing Spike 2.5 cabinets instead of rolling out full Spike 3 hardware. He speculates that John Borg's traditional design approach may result in a more casual-friendly game lacking the creative layouts of Jack Danger or Keith Elwin. He also announces Spooky's Beetlejuice production will hit 999 units at $9,999 MSRP, and expresses frustration about the lack of impressive mechanical features across both Stern and Jersey Jack's recent releases.

Key Claims

  • Star Wars: Fall of the Empire is based on Episodes IV, V, and VI with movie assets from those films

    high confidence · Kaneda states 'I have confirmation on that' after addressing Sad Boy's super chat question

  • Fall of the Empire is on Spike 2.5, not full Spike 3, because Stern is using up existing leftover cabinets

    medium confidence · Kaneda speculates: 'I guarantee you this is why: Stern wants to use up existing cabinets' and theorizes they have unused inventory from X-Men and D&D

  • John Borg's design is more traditional and fan-layout oriented compared to Jack Danger and Keith Elwin's creative approaches

    medium confidence · Kaneda's opinion: 'Borg's more traditional, right? Borg's more fan layout. He's traditional. He doesn't design like Keith or Danger'

  • Star Wars game reveal is expected next week before media day the following Wednesday

    medium confidence · Kaneda: 'I think it's going to be revealed maybe next week because the media day is the following Wednesday'

  • Spooky Beetlejuice will have 999 production run at $9,999 MSRP

    high confidence · Kaneda announces official pricing and production numbers: '999 of the Beetlejuice games' and '$9,999'

  • Jersey Jack would have executed Star Wars better with their platform and hot rails mechanics

    low confidence · Kaneda's opinion to hypothetical question: 'Jersey Jack would execute Star Wars way better than Stern. Blow away. 100%'

  • Neither Stern nor Jersey Jack have produced impressive mechanical features in recent years

    medium confidence · Kaneda: 'I have not seen an impressive mechanism from both Jersey Jack and Stern Pinball in years. I think both companies mechanically are kind of mailing it in, cost cutting.'

  • Spooky has better mechanical features than both Stern and Jersey Jack

    low confidence · Kaneda's opinion: 'I think Spooky has way better mechanical features than both companies right now'

Notable Quotes

  • “I think Jack Danger and Keith Elwin took design to a whole new level, right? They made games that were just so creative with their layouts. They were just so much more creative. Borg's more traditional, right? Borg's more fan layout.”

    Kaneda @ ~10:30 — Core criticism of John Borg's design philosophy vs. contemporary designers; speaks to expectations for Star Wars design creativity

  • “And coming off some of the recent games, it might feel a little bit more pedestrian in terms of the design of Star Wars.”

    Kaneda @ ~11:00 — Predicts Star Wars may be underwhelming compared to recent high-design games

  • “How did you not have all your stuff ready to go? How did you not have Spike 3 in its totality ready to go? ... I guarantee you this is why: Stern wants to use up existing cabinets.”

    Kaneda @ ~14:00 — Speculates on Stern's inventory management strategy and its impact on Star Wars platform implementation

  • “I have not seen an impressive mechanism from both Jersey Jack and Stern Pinball in years. I think both companies mechanically are kind of mailing it in, cost cutting.”

    Kaneda @ ~33:00 — Broad industry criticism about mechanical design quality across major manufacturers

  • “Jersey Jack would execute Star Wars way better than Stern. The things Jersey Jack could do with the overall presentation of the theme is going to blow away anything Stern's going to give us. Blow away. 100%.”

    Kaneda @ ~28:30 — Comparative assessment of platform capabilities between Stern and Jersey Jack for Star Wars theme

  • “$9,999 Beetlejuices. That's $5,000 less than a Harry Potter Collector's Edition.”

    Kaneda @ ~51:00 — Official Beetlejuice pricing announcement with market comparison context

  • “I'm not going to give you all the details, but I'm just here—Nine times. I'm really happy to report.”

    Kaneda @ ~55:00 — Teases additional news about Beetlejuice that will be shared on his podcast (incomplete due to stream cutoff)

Entities

John BorgpersonJack DangerpersonKeith ElwinpersonFall of the EmpiregameStar Wars: Fall of the EmpiregameSpike 2.5product

Signals

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Jersey Jack hypothetically better positioned to execute Star Wars with platform capabilities and presentation

    low · Kaneda: 'Jersey Jack would execute Star Wars way better than Stern... The things Jersey Jack could do with the overall presentation... is going to blow away'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Big Bang Bar remake criticized for including remaker company logo on original Capcom artwork

    medium · Kaneda: 'It's idiotic to slap your company logo over it. I don't want it. You're remaking Capcom's Big Bang Bar'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: John Borg's traditional, fan-layout design approach contrasts with more creative contemporary designers

    medium · Kaneda: 'Borg's more traditional... He's traditional. He doesn't design like Keith or Danger'

  • $

    market_signal: King Kong sales significantly underperformed vs. Stern's projections

    medium · Kaneda: 'their projections for King Kong sales and the actual Kong sales weren't close. They weren't even close.'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Speculation about Keith Elwin potentially moving to Jersey Jack, representing Stern's vulnerability

    low · Chat question: 'If Elwin moves to Jersey Jack, do you think Stern is to move Jack back in the designer role? Yeah, I do. Elwin's exposed is Stern's vulnerability'

  • $

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:04
We are live. We are gonna We're gonna do this until the Maybe the battery runs out. Uh yeah. Let's see where my juice is at. Like half B. Maybe we'll make it 90. We're going to do it anyway. We're gonna do it anyway. We're gonna talk pinball Saturday morning spectacular. And we're live. I don't know why I do it on Facebook, too, but we do it on both places. Saturday morning, spec spectacular.
0:43
[Music] Where is everybody? Where is everybody? I don't know if people thought I was doing this on Patreon or not. I didn't I didn't clarify for people.
1:02
We're gonna do it anyway. Sad boy hitting right away with the $20 super chat becoming a weekly tradition here with um please tell me this isn't an original story like Kong and they're using the actual films as content. All right, let me pin this to the top.
1:31
I'm going to start. You know, when you do the super chats, we're going to give you guys a lot more loving. Um, let's see.
1:55
to you can't pin super chat. They just go to the top. Um, so here's the deal. First of all, welcome everybody. Happy Saturday morning. Hope everyone's doing well. We're going to just move this over just a little bit so I can see. Uh oh, my connection is unstable. Is it choppy? Is it choppy? Did we pause? Man, I might be too far from the There we go. I I I don't know. It's good on mine. Is it good on Is it good? Is it good on your end? Um, answering Sad Boy's commentary first and foremost. This the answer is is this. The game is not going to be an all original Star Wars game. It is based on four, five, and six. There are movie assets in it from those four or three movies. I have confirmation on that. So, this is, believe me, I think this is going to be all the major moments from the first three movies. We love the fall of the empire. Uh sort of strangely titled that by Storm Pinball who uh that could be the joke of this company if this game doesn't like become a sales success. Um I you know I think you're going to be playing all the major battles and I think that's how the game is going to be and it's if they do it right could be awesome. I haven't seen it. We're going to see it in less than two weeks. So, I think it's going to be probably revealed maybe next week because the media day is the following Wednesday. They got to give people time to travel. I They normally reveal the game before the media day, don't they? Um I don't know. So, it's interesting that they they teased it so early and then had nothing to follow it up with because now, you know, they just kind of killed sales of anything dros are holding on to right now. Um, what's up Jeremy? What's up Keith? We got Anthony. We got You guys say hi. I'll say hi back. Who did I miss? Who's in the house right now? We got 35 people. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, you know, people aren't waiting around at 10 a.m. like I got six people on Facebook. You know, I've noticed this. It's the last Saturday basically in summer. Um, and people are traveling. They're out and about. That's how it should be. This beautiful beach town I live in is amazing. this time of year. If you've ever been to Rowan, Connecticut, it is heaven on earth. Absolutely love it. Brenda's sister is in from Ireland for the next like week. Um, we've been having such a good time. So, I think everyone's in a good mood. And, you know, the last thing I really want to do is spend 13 to $15,000 on a pinball machine. It really It's true. It's true.

  • King Kong sales fell significantly short of Stern's projections

    medium confidence · Kaneda: 'I have to imagine their projections for King Kong sales and the actual Kong sales weren't close. They weren't even close.'

  • Big Bang Bar is being remade but shouldn't have the remaking company's logo on the artwork

    medium confidence · Kaneda in response to $50 super chat: 'I've seen pictures of it... It's idiotic to slap your company logo over it' and 'It should always be you're remaking Capcom's Big Bang Bar'

  • “It's idiotic to slap your company logo over it. I don't want it. You're remaking Capcom's Big Bang Bar.”

    Kaneda @ ~40:00 — Critique of remix/remake marketing strategy and IP attribution

    • Spike 3
    product
    Beetlejuicegame
    Spooky Pinballcompany
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
    Big Bang Bargame
    King Konggame
    Kanedaperson
    Sad Boyperson
    Chance Hammerperson
    Canadaperson

    market_signal: Spooky Beetlejuice priced at $9,999, $5,000 less than Harry Potter Collector's Edition

    high · Kaneda announces: '$9,999 Beetlejuices... That's $5,000 less than a Harry Potter Collector's Edition'

  • ?

    announcement: Spooky Beetlejuice production run confirmed at 999 units with customer game number selection available

    high · Kaneda: 'There are going to be 999 of the Beetlejuice games... Spooky now lets you request your game number'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Spike 3 delayed; Star Wars launching on Spike 2.5 instead of full Spike 3 platform

    high · Kaneda: 'it's Spike 2.5, right? Because it's not the new cabinet... How did you not have all your stuff ready to go?'

  • ?

    product_concern: Neither Stern nor Jersey Jack producing impressive mechanical features; both cost-cutting

    medium · Kaneda: 'I have not seen an impressive mechanism from both Jersey Jack and Stern Pinball in years. I think both companies mechanically are kind of mailing it in'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Stern using existing cabinet inventory for Star Wars instead of rolling out new platform generation, limiting features

    medium · Kaneda speculates: 'Stern wants to use up existing cabinets... didn't use those cabinets probably for X-Men and D&D. The orders weren't there.'

    • 4:39
    So, from what I heard, from what I heard from my source at Stern is that Star Wars is okay. And I'm like, oh, which means like I think what's coming I I here's the thing. I think Jack Danger and Keith Elwin took design to a whole new level, right? And they made games that were just so creative layouts. Like, they were just so much more creative. Borg's more traditional, right? Borg's more fan layout. He's more traditional. He's not like he doesn't design like Keith or Danger, right? And so I think that is when people say like Star Wars is okay. It might be a game that's designed even to just appeal to more mainstream casual pinball player. I don't think we're going to get like a crazy insane layout. And I think coming off of like some of the recent games, it it might feel a a little bit more pedestrian, if you will, in terms of the design of Star Wars. So, but where Star Wars needs to win in my book is Moments of Magic. If if that's the brief, you know, Richie's game didn't have it. It just it just did not have it. And my brief for this game would have been, John, I want you to watch these three movies and I want you to create moments of magic the way and I would call out a few games that have it. Like I want that kind of feeling we gave people with Lord of the Rings, right? The way we captured all of those moments of magic and I want you to do it for Star Wars. Uh, and I think that should have been the brief. So, uh, we'll see what we get. You know, look, it's always fun a new pin week, 97 modes like Harry Potter, right? Um, I I just think like it's going to be a the the way we're going to look at this launch with it being Star Wars, the biggest theme in all of Pinball, Spike 3, right? The the next platformer, Spike two and a half, right? Because it's not the new cabinet. First and foremost, I'm annoyed by that. How did you not have all your stuff ready to go? How did you not have Spike 3 in its totality ready to go? You know why they're not doing that? Any guesses? I guarantee you this is why? Cuz Stern wants to use up existing cabinets. They simply want to use up existing cabinets they have because they didn't use those cabinets probably for X-Men games and and Dn D. Like the orders were not there. They didn't use them up in King Kong. I bet we're just getting leftover cabinets and because of that we're not going to get the full Spike 3 platform. That is that is that is annoying. That is that that sucks. And it's like again like why cuz cuz again when you buy a $13,000 Star Wars like you you might like own it. You want to own it forever. You don't want to like why you don't want to have like the end of the old platform. Star Wars Spike 3 should have been the the beginning of everything new that's amazing from your platform. So, you know, we're not going to get it. We're not going to get it. And so, there's always going to be like, well, what could it have been if if we gave it everything? They've had Spike 3 ready to go forever, gang. Spike 3 was supposed to come out with Metallica Remastered was supposed to be all new Spike 3.
    8:14
    The 50th will have it. You're not wrong, Chance. I mean, there's going to be the 50th anniversary of Star Wars in in a year and a half. A year and a half. It's not really me. We're almost at 2026 and then, you know, I think they're going to bring out the 50th right away, right? January 2027. We're going to get it. Unless, you know, it's kind of same with Jaws. Jaws was like a year and a half and then the anniversary edition came out. Um, Um, I don't think like Stern like cares less. I don't think anything they do is with malicious intent. I think a lot of it is just to like financially like survive, you know, like a really big operation going on. And you know, they've been they've been releasing some real duds and I think they I think they slept on too many other themes and, you know, it's just not really working out. I you know I I I have to imagine their projections for King Kong sales and the actual Kong sales were not that they weren't even close. Full Spike 3 is Pokemon. It's just funny to me, man. Like it's so funny. None of you like Pokemon. None of you. Do any of you like Pokemon? You don't dislike it, but you're not into Pokemon. Like who here is like into Pokemon? Like you trade, you play Pokémon Go, you have the cards. Any of you, any of you, you're all you're all You might be fatigued by it, but you've all seen the Star Wars movies many, many times. It's just like I I don't know. Pokemon is not It's the biggest IP in the world. It is. And I'm not denying it. It's just like I don't just don't know. I don't know what the crossover is going to be like.
    10:04
    Like I I've seen all the Harry Potter movies. I have not like seen any Pokemon TV shows.
    10:12
    I never saw the Pokemon movie. Like I I just I just don't know.
    10:22
    Um kids these days, but who what kids are buying pinball machines? Nobody.
    10:33
    H Jack Danger. What's I don't you know I I I don't know. I miss Jack being I I don't want him not to design. I don't want him, you know, like now that we know what he's capable of. His design career can't end after like two and a half games. It It just can't. Mark, we're on YouTube as well. Welcome. I don't know if I'm going to keep doing either. We only got one super chat and I'm going to call you guys out when when you guys super chat. It can even just be a dollar, you know. It doesn't have to be a lot. It doesn't have to be 20 like sad boy. But all the super chats are gonna get special shoutouts and we're gonna you can you can ask anything in super chat and just like we'll focus on that question and I you know maybe 50 bucks super chat who's making Big Bang Bar. I might tell you might not. Yeah, it's coming back though. I've seen pictures of it. Um can't share the photos but um it looks cool. Looks cool. don't like how they're putting the company name on the artwork. Like, I wouldn't do that. It should It should always be You're always Because here's the thing. You're always making Capcom's Big Bang Bar. It is an idiotic move and hopefully they change this. It is an idiotic move to slap your company logo over like I don't want it. Like, it's you're remaking Capcom's Big Bang Bar. Even if you like change the artwork, it it doesn't matter. Like don't now say it's your game. It's not. You know what I'm saying? It's not.
    12:19
    Picked up a wick premium for 6500. Wow, Mark. Good. Good pickup, right? That's a $3,000 loss on a premium. It's funny, man. I'm I'm loving it all. Um, still they sold thousands of Kongs. Most of the other companies are like I don't think they've sold thousands of Kongs. I mean they might have sold like what do you think they sold of King Kong? Like like honestly what do you think the sales of Kong were? Three at most which is a failure though for Stern sold way more Harry Potters. Way more Harry Potters got sold.
    13:02
    Um, if Elwin moves to Jersey Jack, do you think Stern is to move Jack back in the designer role? Um, yeah, I do.
    13:16
    I think you know what Elwin's exposed is Stern's vulnerability to losing, you know, their marquee designer. Chance Hammer with the 10 bucks. chance. Thank you so much. Let me star this. Let me heart it. I mean, let me like this. Would Jersey Jack have executed Star Wars better? Oh, wow. That's a great question, Chance. Would Jersey Jack have executed Star Wars better? Let's talk about that. I mean, it's a full hypothetical. I can tell you right now, Brian C, thank you for the 99 cents, brother. Um, really appreciate it. I'll tell you this, Star Wars with the big LCD on JJP, the JJP platform, the hot rails. Imagine the Hot Rails like going into the hyperdrive or the you you could with the RGB LEDs, like you can make it seem like you're you're and you're going into hyperspace. 100%. Jersey Jack would execute Star Wars way better than Stern. Like the things Jersey Jack could do with like the the like just the overall presentation of the theme is going to blow away anything Stern's going to give us. Blow away. So 100% I think Jersey Jack would have executed Star Wars better. The thing is and and I I I mean this when I say this. I mean this when I say this. I haven't seen an impressive mech from either company in years. Let me repeat that. I have not seen an impressive mechanism from both Jersey Jack and Stern Pinball in years. I think both companies mechanically are kind of mailing it in, are kind of cost cutting, are kind of DND's mech, the dragon mech. Nah, it's not like it's okay. It just fires balls back. It's okay. It's not. It could have done way more. I I will say D and D is probably like one of the cooler mechs, but like think about it though. Like nothing in Jaws, nothing really. I mean, maybe X-Men Sentinel had it had a shot at it, but it was kind of like, you know, it was kind of kind of mess. It didn't really work very well. Um, nothing in King Kong is really impressive. Nothing in um Venom or John Wick. Nothing in James Bond. Nothing in Jaws. I already said nothing in uh Yeah, it's just been a Nothing Metallica Remaster. Like nothing. Like and Jersey Jack like nothing in Potter's a wow. Nothing in Avatar was a wow. Nothing in GNR was a wow. Nothing in uh Godfather was a wow. Nothing in Elton John was a wow. I mean, the Elton John piano mech probably the coolest, right? I mean, just just as an overall physical thing to put in a game that was really cool. The spider and King Kong, but you know what I mean, gang? You know what I mean? It's like it's like both companies I I I think Spooky has way better mechs than both companies right now. Spooky's put better mechs in Evil Dead. They might use servos. I don't care. I I just more stuff that interacts with the ball. That's fun.
    16:43
    is the staircase is cool. The staircase is cool, but it's, you know, it's a it's it's a diverter. It's a it's a it's a it's not really like Wow. It's cool. I I
    16:58
    not just the building in Godzilla, like the magnet that grabs the ball in Godzilla. Super cool. You know, I really want to see more of that. So, um let's talk spooky. Do you guys want to hear um the news? Is it I I mean I I can tell you I'll repeat it on my podcast.
    17:21
    Um I'm really excited about this news. There's going to be 999 of the games. So they're making 111 more than they made. So news number one is Canada has been given game number 999. I I'm so excited to get game number 999. And I heard that Spooky now you can you can they'll actually build you your game number, right? You don't have to like wait to the end of the line. So I don't have to be the last game off the line to have 999. Uh correct me if I'm wrong because someone told me they saw like Evil Dead 700 and something in Europe and like there's no way they've made 700 yet. So I'm game number 999. I'm so happy to get it that that's not the news. I think did did you guys learn like I did like with Luke on my show and Bug like that 999 like did they did they announce that exclusively on Canadas like live the other day or did everyone know that already because I I I wasn't sure.
    18:35
    You know what's also going to be fun is when people hear what the price of the game is.
    18:49
    Yeah. It's going to be real real interesting when you hear the price of Beetlejuice
    18:56
    in a good way. In a good way. Uh oh, Canada's telling us. Yeah, it's gonna Yeah. They're they are really going to get a lot of love when people hear the price of the game.
    19:16
    Yeah, that is the price of the game. $9,999. And it's $5,000 less than a Harry Potter CE. $3,000 less. Now look, you butter cabinet it. You You know the topper is going to be some, you know, not with a topper. Matthew, come on. Where you been? Where you been?
    19:50
    9999 Beetle Juices for 9,9. I mean, let's do the math. Like that's like was Isn't that like a cool Is that $10 million? that 10 mil right before any accessories, before any butter, before
    20:07
    how do I get one? Okay, so here's the other news. Can I give you guys the news that we're going to do?
    20:18
    Nine times. Um, I'm really happy to report. I'm not going to give you the it's not a lot, but I'm just here