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Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)·podcast_episode·19m 29s·analyzed·Aug 7, 2024

Analysis

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TL;DR

Don reports rumors of Stern X-Men, JJP Avatar, and upcoming Spooky title on Patreon-exclusive podcast.

Summary

Don shares Patreon-exclusive rumors about upcoming Stern and Jersey Jack Pinball titles, including an X-Men comic-inspired game by Jack Danger potentially launching in August as Stern's next Cornerstone title, and a James Cameron's Avatar machine from Jersey Jack Pinball featuring water-themed lighting effects. He also discusses Spooky Pinball's upcoming mystery title, Chicago Gaming Company's Medieval Madness remake and potential AIQ remake in development, and American Pinball's new oral lighting system being released as an aftermarket product.

Key Claims

Stern X-Men game is based on Uncanny X-Men comic license (not X-Men 97 show or movie)
medium confidence · Don citing information from 'a person out there' who saw leaked art files
Stern X-Men could launch in August 2024 as Cornerstone title, breaking normal October/Chicago Expo schedule
medium confidence · Don referencing Jason Knapp's earlier reporting and speculating on John Wick sales slowdown forcing production pivot
Jack Danger is designing the Stern X-Men game
medium confidence · Don speculating based on Jack Danger's known role at Stern, no direct confirmation
Jersey Jack Pinball is developing a James Cameron's Avatar pinball machine with water-themed lighting effects
medium confidence · Don citing 'talked to somebody that talked to somebody' and visual leaks about water coloring effects
Spooky Pinball has an unannounced title in development with Christopher Franchi on art, launching December, not at Pinball Expo
medium confidence · Don citing multiple sources within Spooky Pinball empire without specific details
Chicago Gaming Company is developing a potential AIQ remake in addition to Medieval Madness
low confidence · Don posing as a speculative question: 'Would you guys be interested in an AIQ or similar complex modern pinball machine game'
John Wick sales are underperforming, prompting Stern to accelerate production of replacement Cornerstone title
medium confidence · Don's interpretation of supply chain signals and production schedule changes
American Pinball's oral lighting system will be released as an aftermarket product for non-American Pinball games
high confidence · Don directly reporting what was passed to him through American Pinball channels

Notable Quotes

“So you can get a patent for this, you know, is this X-Men 97? Is this X-Men movie license? Is X-Men comic license? And what I heard back was that this is Uncanny X-Men.”
Don @ early — Establishing the X-Men game licensing source as comic-based rather than TV/movie
“If we think about Keith Elwin's Avengers, right? That drew from the comics. It didn't draw from a specific movie or TV show or something that would require licensing and all that. The art, the art kind of is already done for you.”
Don @ mid-early — Providing rationale for why comic licenses are more efficient than movie/TV licenses for pinball
“John Wick sales are, I been joking saying John Wick sales are all caught up, probably because the game is not selling very well.”
Don @ mid — Suggesting John Wick underperformance may be driving production schedule changes
“Deadpool and Spooky and Wolverine seems to be just juggernaut-ing, haha, X-Men reference, its way through the cultural zeitgeist”
Don @ mid — Highlighting X-Men IP's cultural relevance at time of rumored announcement
“I think this is going to be a game that I certainly would hold in higher regard than The Godfather, which really had the lighting effects but really didn't create a world that I wanted to hang out in. This might be different.”
Don @ mid-late — Expressing cautious optimism about Avatar game's potential despite IP reservations
“I don't want to force you into position. I don't want to feel like I'm shilling for them. But I love these games and I'm glad I have both of them and I'm not selling them.”
Don @ late-mid — Demonstrating personal attachment to Spooky Pinball games while avoiding promotional bias
“I don't know what's coming from Spooky Pinball, but I can't wait to see what it is. And it's probably going to be in December, and it's probably not going to be at Pinball Expo from everything that I've gotten out of them.”
Don — Providing timing and exclusivity information on Spooky's unannounced title

Entities

Donperson Jack Dangerperson Keith Elwinperson Steve Ritchieperson Christopher Franchiperson Jason KnapppersonStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack Pinball

Signals

?
machine_intel: Stern Pinball X-Men game based on Uncanny X-Men comic license (not X-Men 97 TV show), designed by Jack Danger, graphic art seen in leaked files, potentially launching August 2024 as Cornerstone title
medium · Don citing leaked art files and speculating on production timeline based on John Wick sales and cultural relevance of X-Men IP in summer 2024
?
product_concern: John Wick pinball sales underperforming, code update released same day, production run potentially being cut short to avoid inventory buildup
medium · Don joking 'John Wick sales are all caught up, probably because the game is not selling very well' and theorizing this forces Stern to pivot production schedule
?
machine_intel: Jersey Jack Pinball developing James Cameron's Avatar game with water-themed lighting effects on playfield, potentially Avatar: The Way of Water or full franchise license, wide-body cabinet with LED beacons
medium · Don citing 'talked to somebody that talked to somebody' and visual leaks describing water coloring effects and lighting capabilities
?
design_innovation: Jersey Jack Pinball known for superior lighting design across Wizard of Oz, Guns N' Roses, and Elton John; Avatar game expected to showcase water/UV lighting effects
high · Don extensively praising JJP's historical lighting capabilities and expressing optimism for Avatar's visual spectacle
?
machine_intel: Spooky Pinball has unannounced title in development, Christopher Franchi on artwork, launching December 2024, not debuting at Pinball Expo, community describes it as 'the game that makes'

Topics

Upcoming machine announcements and rumorsprimaryStern Pinball production strategy and John Wick salesprimaryJersey Jack Pinball's lighting technology and Avatar themeprimaryLicensing strategy: comic vs. movie/TV IPsecondarySpooky Pinball's unannounced title and launch timingprimaryChicago Gaming Company's remake strategysecondaryAmerican Pinball's aftermarket lighting productsecondaryDon's personal game collection and preferencesmentioned

Sentiment

mixed(0.6)— Don is cautiously optimistic about most upcoming titles but expresses hesitation about X-Men and Avatar themes. Strong positive sentiment toward Spooky Pinball games. Neutral-to-negative on John Wick sales performance. Overall tone is speculative and measured, avoiding hype while sharing insider information.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.058

Let's take it back a little bit to the old school intro music. How you doing everybody? It's dawn from the road. It's road dawn, and it's time for some Patreon internal Content because I've got some rumors that I would like to deliver straight to you guys and kind of avoid the more, you know, public facing, uh, effacement of the cast. Can you hear this? Okay. Trying out my road recording equipment again. Man, having a great time out here in South Dakota. Can't wait to get into it. Let's drop some info about Stern and JJP right now. So you can get a patent for this north face ping pong, husband, N You know, is this x-men 97 is this x-men movie license is x-men comic license And what I got back was that this is uncanny X-Men Was the title or at least the the theme that they were drawn from so I'm guessing that that means that this is a comic book inspired you know source Draw from the IP or whatever. This isn't a movie. Apparently. It's not the x-men97. Oh, that would've been awesome Yes, this is a fun game. This game is called X-Men, and it's a great game, and I just really love it. I'm a fan of the game. I'm a fan of the game. It's awesome. I don't know who's making it or anything, but this is strictly based on some art that was seen. I don't know if this was like a leaked file that's floating around somewhere, but I got what's pretty reasonable information that this person out there had for me. So, I guess it's X-Men. Now, this makes sense. If we think back to the last, you know, comic book Marvel titles, if we think about Keith Elwin's Avengers, right? That drew from the comics. It didn't draw from a specific movie or TV show or something that would require likeori проверasht territen and کا 전 sudah зна��ある KRAcade в The Art the art kind of is already done for you You know you don't have to like if you're doing it from the movie you have to then you know to spend money and resources Rendering the movie assets and pinball form right so the comic is just that's just easy You know if you just go to that well, and then you know the only person you have to deal with approvals is one So you know I would love to have seen X-men 97 because I was digging that show I started watching it just based on this rumor that it was coming and then you for paid And we'll see what Jack Danger can do with the layout if he is doing this game. I don't know. I was at the Stern factory when the dude was running around working on a couple of different projects it seemed like. But I didn't see any inkling as to exactly what that is. So we'll wait and see. But from what I'm hearing, this somebody saw the graphic art for X-Men machine that's kind of like in production like now, getting ready to be released. So it sounds like what we've been hearing from Jason Knapp breaking that the Stern Cornerstone is coming sometime this month in August, which like I wasn't expecting. I don't think anybody else was Stern's production schedule for Cornerstone releases would say that it would come out sometime around October coinciding with the Chicago Pinball Expo, which would totally make sense to me. That makes that's makes the most sense. Now, what could be happening is that their other rumor title Metallica was going exmodime in cornerstone release fats A couple of things are happening Number one John Wick sales are I been joking saying John Wick sales are all caught up probably because the game not selling very well Now code updates just dropped today I can wait to see what they doing with this you know daily code changing or gameplay changing I have to wait till I get back home to kind of dig in to see what that like But you know if sales of John Wick are not stellar then maybe they need to cut that production run short so they don end up at unsold inventory And so they need someone else to put on the line At the same time that that happening Deadpool Spookyarn Wolverine seems to be just juggernauting. Haha, X-Men reference. Its way through the cultural zeitgeist, I guess. You know, it's really popular right now. There's an X-Men movie in theaters that's like selling out showings, at least in major cities. And it seems to be very culturally relevant right now, right now in the end of summer. So, if you were sitting on these two titles and they were essentially done, this Metallica game plus the X-Men, vog📹 incónagistrica All right, let's get started. So, maybe that's what they said. They said, you know what, uh, Wick's drying up, we need a banger coming out right now, Danger's got one of the pipe that's ready, and this movie and this license is really popular right now, let's put this out. You know, we saw them kind of turn and burn with that Deadpool code that dropped in there, and that was fantastic. I mean, way to pivot and turn. So that's what I'm thinking. So if it's happening, it makes sense. It makes sense that this would be, even though I don't want it to be, uh, based on the comic license for X-Men, and then we get a new X-Men game out there. All right, cool. As long as it's new layout and it's fun to flip and play, then I'd be interested in maybe playing this one on location. I'll probably wait and see on this one. This is one I might pick up if I do during the second or third run. I'm not rushing out to get something right now. I get some money in the pinball budget, but I'm really saving that for what Spooky's bringing out, of which I still don't know what it is. All right, so that's Stern. That's what I know about Stern. What do I know about JJP? Well, I talked to somebody that talked to somebody trongrit dedi talent proch 5. The Fault of the I think it's coming probably sooner than later. And it seems to be based on Avatar, the blue people one, not the Swedish death metal band, which is what I'd really like to see. And not the last airbender, which I think really has a bad taste in everybody's mouths, even though, you know, culturally, that would be kind of an awesome thing. Distance embed the certificate hear from Mr.Ohno and us Ngafne Sten A lot of mix of shots or layout but they did let it slip that there's a lot of coloring effects that have like the illusion of water on the playfield. So I don't know if this is a way of water or if it's just kind of encapsulating the entire avatar license which would make sense but then it is JJP. They did do Toy Story 4 instead of all of Toy Story but water does play a big role in the new Avatar film. I did watch it. I enjoyed it for what it was. You know it's not a theme like I'm incredibly demanding of but I will say that like for gonna rip up a bunch of tape grown-up Titanic whatever that lady name was you know this wasn like a compelling story It was just the spectacle of you know the creatures and the environment in the space that created So is there another company besides JJP that killing it at a level of lighting than they are you know look at the lighting you know all the way back to Wizard of Oz you know the rainbow puke that everybody complained about the light shows and Guns and roses are amazing The the sparkling that present in Elton John is fantastic So if you were to marry the the luministic capabilities of Jersey Jack with the new Ritchie flippers with a Passable layout and a license that at least you know, we recognize but if it's done in a spectacular way with like a lot of glowing water effects in the playfield and maybe some of those UV effects for Tham beep lados Mustang richt pana The game plays okay. I'm not enamored with it to where I have to own it, but it's a wide body, it's got the LED effects of the beacons on top, and when the thing is going off in someone's home, it really looks like something impressive. So I've got some hope now for Avatar. I'm not holding out my $15,000 to go ahead and put into that thing to get it day one new in box or anything, but I'm more excited about it than I was when I heard about the theme. I'm gonna go ahead and get this game out of the way and let's see, apparently they've got more in the can coming as far as like some bigger licenses coming out but for right now, it seems like Avatar is coming, it seems like water is playing an effect in the playfield, I want to see a lot of this blue light and a bit of a spectacle, a little bit of a razzle dazzle plus with good flippers and if the layout is good, I think this is going to be a game that I certainly would hold in higher regard than Godfather which really had the lighting effects but really didn't create a world that I wanted to hang out in, this might be different, this might be This might be different. I already know that with the avatar license when I go to Animal Kingdom in Florida where they have a whole land devoted to this license which is bioluminescent at night, it's fantastic. Now when it comes to the two rides in the land, I don't care for them that much. I don't think they put a lot of information or imagination into them. There's a flight simulator that goes about a minute too long and I get nauseous and there's just one of the most disappointing water dark rides I've ever seen. Just when it starts getting going, it's over. So it's like really? Really? That's it? That's it? So I'm hoping for more but in the right setting I think this could have some legs I could think of the class of legs you'd hear the motorcycles outside my room right now even coming through on here man the motorcycle rallies going off alright so what else what else do we have to cover what else do I have to cover spooky Pinball I don't know what they're coming out with next they won't tell me I kind of don't want to know I want to be surprised but from from what I'm hearing Christopher Franchi's on the art I have heard from people within the spooky Empire that know that are saying like this is going to be the game that make swourckouts as tasty, all I want is like comport personnate cont Arts inside the jungle commentary Expression. virungeon solución delinquent Carp nourrición singer delina del ».Virunción est particulo de sh Oftentimes personal T-CM is right behind it, I go through bits and spurts but both of those games are just great. More and more people are asking me like, you know, Don I've got an opportunity to pick one of these up, what do you think, should I get this or should I get a Deadpool or something second hand and I'm like, look, I don't want to force you into position, I don't want to feel like I'm Win Schilling for them but I love these games and I'm glad I have both of them and I'm not selling them, I'm keeping both of them, they're awesome, I'm just going to have to make room when something else new is coming up because I just don't want to get rid of them. I hope they go down and gain the notoriety that I think they're deserving of. That layout is just so much fun. At least for me, I love it. Four ramps, four wireforms, under flipper shots. It's just fun to play. And the way they integrated the scenes and everything, the cartoons that are in there, they're full screen. It's fun to play. It's fun to play. The game's not totally perfect. I think the right orbit shot's a little bit tight. But other than that, I'm digging it. I'm digging it. I don't know what's coming from Spooky, but I can't wait to see what it is. And it's probably going to be in December, and it's probably not going to be at Expo from everything that I've gotten out of them. Thanks for all of you that listen to the Bug Interview, either on Patreon or on the regular channel. I got about 900 or so listens already, which is pretty awesome. And I got a mention from Jason Knapp again. What such a cool guy man We having such a good time here All right what else do I have for you guys CGC a little nugget to talk about here So Medieval Madness is coming I don know exactly when I don know prices or anything but that coming We all kind of know that it's already out there. What isn't out there yet, and this was also passed to me through some channels, is how would you guys feel about another remake coming from CGC? Now it's probably not going to come soon, but it may actually be in development. Would you guys be interested in an Addams Family? Well this week is pregunta's we shake внут percentages for attentUDE That might be a good question, but enjoy the video until the end of it! We'll you that we gracias troubadour! at Pentium, a little something from American pinball their oral lighting system they want to turn this into more of a product so it sounds like they're gonna be releasing the oral lighting which is kind of their version of pin stadiums it is included in the collectors edition of Berrios barbecue challenge is first place we've seen it I don't think they had it on galactic tank force no I think it was new for Berrios barbecue challenge but any extra This week in pinball, Johnny Pneumonic, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteelectronic penball is a good thing. I do like how AP has done this where it actually bolts onto the playfield so it moves around and doesn't stick to the art blades like the pin stadiums do. But apparently they're turning this into an aftermarket product not just for American pinball games but for other ones as well. And so I'm hearing about a backbox LED lighting upgrade for like older games like, you know, Gottlieb games and, you know, Solid State, System 11s or whatever. So more to hear about that. They even reached out to me to see if I had any older games myself so they can send me a trial version to go check out and install and tell everybody about so I said sure man, I've got a Gottlieb wipeout and I've got a Tales from the Crypt right now, Data East, so if those would be appropriate I'm go ahead and send them by and I think I may have a package coming so We'll see more about what exactly that is. It was hard to kind of understand other than some kind of backbox lighting upgrade Peng kn Sammy unten85 intelligents So there's some little nuggets for you guys. I think I'm looking at my voice. I've been on the road for two days. More road trip to come and I'll do live streams when I can. I did one today in Deadpool? No, Deadwood, South Dakota where I am right now. I'm gonna go ahead and post this for everybody. Go ahead and put some comments down below. Join the discord. We'll talk about this some more. But I just want to put that out there. Not necessarily like I don't want to put this on the Facebook page and blast it to everybody Um, cause some of this is still seems like a little proprietary, but I want to go ahead and share it with my patreon friends and family. So there you go, man. You know, thank you for the five bucks. Really appreciate it. I'll keep some more coming. The feedback that I've gotten is people really love the extra content that comes on here. So that just makes me want to make more of it. Now that I'm hoping to be, you know, home and not on the road as much, it's gonna be even easier to dump that and with fall coming up, there'll be even more information to come. And man, the rumbling on the motorcycles is nuts. All right, guys, take care of yourself and your others. Give yourself permissions to have some mirth in your life, and I'll talk to you again soon. Later, everybody. Do I have an outro programmed in this? Oh, listen to that. Here we go. Don's Pinball Podcast, gmodel.com. You know how to get hold of me. Otherwise, Discord, Facebook, let's talk, let's chat. We'll keep it up. I'll do livestreams when I can, whenever I got the 5G. Otherwise, enjoy this special content and discuss it on the Discord page, as the Pinball Show would say. Alright guys, hopefully I made your commute a little more bearable. See ya!