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Dear Stern Pinball - your toppers are a ripoff and middle finger to the fans...cash grab DLC??? EWWW

Walt Wood Pinball·video·40m 18s·analyzed·May 22, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Walt Wood condemns Stern's toppers as exploitative paid DLC locking exclusive modes, urges fan boycott.

Summary

Walt Wood criticizes Stern Pinball's topper monetization strategy as predatory 'DLC' that locks exclusive modes behind $1,000-$2,000 paywalls released 1-2 years after game launches. He argues this pattern, particularly under designer Brian Eddy's recent games (Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Venom, Dungeons & Dragons), exploits the fanbase, contrasts negatively with Gary Stern's passion-driven leadership, and calls for community pushback against the practice.

Key Claims

  • Star Wars: The Mandalorian topper was released 2 years after game launch with exclusive modes

    high confidence · Walt Wood reviewing official Stern Pinball marketing materials and timelines on video

  • Venom topper costs $1,300 and unlocks exclusive Symbiote Mania wizard mode and Ghost Rider character

    high confidence · Walt Wood showing official pricing and Stern Pinball product descriptions

  • Dungeons & Dragons app shows locked character 'Rowan Free Wanda' with message 'Play with topper attached'

    high confidence · Walt Wood citing Papa Duke (Nap) forum post screenshotting app interface

  • Stern topper design has become formulaic—all toppers use same oval shape with animation space and adjacent boxes

    medium confidence · Walt Wood visual comparison of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Venom toppers side-by-side

  • Recent Stern games lack replayability compared to classics like No Fear; players are 'one and done' and leave credits

    medium confidence · Walt Wood personal play experience and observation

  • Pattern of topper releases suggests games release, then 1-2 years later toppers drop when players have already moved on

    medium confidence · Walt Wood timeline analysis of Star Wars, Venom, and Dungeons & Dragons releases

  • Brian Eddy is the designer on Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Venom, and Dungeons & Dragons—all with exclusive topper modes

    medium confidence · Walt Wood connecting designer credit pattern across three games

  • Stern's culture changed after Disney involvement and Gary Stern's departure; now 'sales driven' rather than passion-driven

    low confidence · Walt Wood speculation about Stern leadership and business strategy shift

Notable Quotes

  • “You are nickel and diming your fucking people left and right... they're trying to ring out the people that they do have like sponges bro how much can we get from the fans that we do have”

    Walt Wood@ 1:14 — Core thesis: Stern exploits loyal fanbase through incremental monetization

  • “Topper exclusive modes. So you can only play that shit if you buy that fucking topper, dude. Mini Wizard mode. So I can't get that if I don't buy your topper.”

    Walt Wood@ 14:40 — Identifies locked gameplay content as the central predatory mechanic

  • “Locked. Play with topper attached. What are you doing? Stern. What are you doing? Look in my eyeball. Look in my infested eyeball and tell me the secrets I need to know.”

    Walt Wood@ 33:13 — Reaction to Dungeons & Dragons app UI evidence of topper-gated character

  • “Could you imagine like Funhouse pinball And it's like you're playing it and it's like Oh this game is okay Well yeah you know what You gotta buy the upgrade to get to midnight multiball Like that's an upgrade”

    Walt Wood@ 34:05 — Hypothetical comparison to beloved classic game to illustrate absurdity of model

  • “Stern is different now, it's rant, like, that fucking Disney dude coming in, taking everything over, bro... now they're more sales driven, they're more focused on how do we get more money coming in”

    Walt Wood@ 36:01 — Attribution of cultural shift to external leadership influence (Disney)

  • “Gary Stern was awesome... makes everybody feel important... when Gary Stern was around, it was more of a passion project, dude... The only reason he kept it going is because he was passionate about it.”

Entities

Walt WoodpersonStern PinballcompanyBrian EddypersonGary SternpersonPapa Duke (Nap)personStar Wars: The MandaloriangameVenomgame

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Suspected leadership/cultural shift at Stern from passion-driven (Gary Stern) to sales-driven model; attributed to Disney involvement and new management

    low · Walt speculation: 'that fucking Disney dude coming in, taking everything over... now they're more sales driven'; contrast with Gary Stern keeping company afloat in early 2000s despite lack of profit due to passion

  • ?

    community_signal: Content creators characterized as biased toward Stern, unwilling to criticize; Walt calls for more honest, critical content coverage of games

    medium · Walt: 'a lot of these content creators are just trying to move product for Stern... so fucking biased. They won't say anything bad... they walk around eggshells'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: King Kong art direction and design criticized as not meeting expectations for flagship Stern release; falls short compared to designer Keith Elwin's historical innovation

    medium · Walt: 'Kong's going to be a banger, and it's just not... I expected better from Keith, man, honestly, it's not great... it reminds me a lot of John Trudeau, like, Hollywood Heat kind of thing'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Topper design formulaic: all recent toppers follow same oval shape with center animation space and adjacent boxes; lack of originality in cosmetic design

    medium · Walt visual comparison: 'one thing in the middle and then a bunch of boxes next to it, the same fucking thing as the Venom topper bro... same shape like an oval... same fucking shape'

  • $

    market_signal: Apparent strategy to reduce secondary market enthusiasm by delaying attractive cosmetic/gameplay upgrades until after peak demand window; players already 'over' games by topper release

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.121

0:01
Yo. Bro, Stern is killing me lately with these fucking toppers, dude. Seriously, fucking killing me. I wasn't even going to say anything. Like, I don't know, I don't even care lately. But like, fucking, dude, they're killing me with these toppers. Like, not in a good way, like, yo, dude, this is a great time to live, and oh my god, have you seen the fucking dergy derg that comes out of the dergy? No. Like, what the fuck are you doing to your people, dude? You are nickel and diming your fucking people left and right. And then, you know what? I go down a rabbit hole, and I start thinking, yo, they've been doing this for like fucking five years, six fucking years. By the way, please forgive me, I'm a little second, my eyes are swollen, dude, I don't know why, I don't know what the fuck, I got a pink eye or some shit, I don't know, look, I don't know what the fuck is going on, you probably can't even see, so forgive me if I seem loud, I'm just going, yo, what are you doing to your fucking people, bro, it's like they're trying to fucking, they're trying to ring out the people that they do have like sponges bro how much money can we get from the fans that we do have like they already tried to grow an audience that didn't work with fucking like let's look at the track they tried to grow an audience with john wick right so let's hire all these random content creators who aren't in the pinball to fucking come down and check our game out, and they're still doing that, like, I still see, like, half the videos I saw for King Kong, I'm like, bro, these people don't play pinball, I never see them play pinball, like, have you ever, like, do you have a game in your house, like, do you fucking, and bro, I don't have a game in my house either, but I got, like, over a thousand pinball games on my fucking computer.
2:16
You want to see Alien Star? Loading it. You want to see fucking Rocky and Bullwinkle? It's here. You want to see whatever? It's there. You understand me?
2:29

Walt Wood@ 36:17 — Nostalgia-driven comparison of current vs. past Stern leadership philosophy

  • “I think you guys need to push back I think you guys need to say Yo Stern enough's enough and we're not going to take it anymore... stop buying for a while. Stern will get the message”

    Walt Wood@ 38:39 — Explicit call to action for community boycott

  • “not every game is good, and don't be afraid to say fuck... a lot of these pinball content creators I watch, bro, are like, older than me, and they're scared to say the word fuck, are you, what is wrong with you”

    Walt Wood@ 39:27 — Critique of other content creators as biased Stern apologists

    • Dungeons & Dragons
    game
    King Konggame
    John Wickgame
    No Feargame
    Godzillagame
    Keith Elwinperson
    David Thielperson
    Disneycompany
    Insider Connectedproduct
    Whirlwindgame
    Funhousegame

    medium · Walt: 'We're bored of the fucking game by now... You gotta release this shit closer to launch dude... I'm already fucking over the game, I'm bored with it, I'm done'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Brian Eddy identified as designer on three consecutive games (Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Venom, Dungeons & Dragons) all featuring exclusive topper modes; potential design philosophy or strategy influence

    medium · Walt tracing 'breadcrumbs' connecting Brian Eddy to all three games; acknowledgment of not targeting Eddy personally but noticing pattern

  • $

    market_signal: Topper pricing ($1,300-$2,000+) for cosmetic/exclusive mode content perceived as unsustainable and exploitative; community concern about value proposition

    high · Walt documenting exact pricing ($1,300 for Venom, ~$2,000 for another); multiple toppers over time adds up; pattern recognition across three games

  • ?

    product_strategy: Topper releases consistently lag game launch by 1-2 years; timing strategy appears deliberate to milk fanbase at different lifecycle stages

    medium · Timeline: Mandalorian game launch → 2 years → topper release; Venom game launch (unclear exact date) → topper release ~2 months before video; Dungeons & Dragons game ~1 year old, topper suspected upcoming per pattern

  • ?

    product_strategy: Topper exclusivity strategy creating tiered gameplay access; modes/characters unavailable without hardware purchase; mirrors DLC model in traditional gaming

    high · Venom: Symbiote Mania wizard mode + Ghost Rider character; Dungeons & Dragons: Rowan Free Wanda character app shows 'Locked. Play with topper attached'

  • ?

    product_concern: Recent Stern games criticized as lacking replayability; players report 'one and done' experience, leaving credits; music/callouts/code perceived as 'safe' and boring

    medium · Walt: 'lately, the new Sterns, no replayability bro, I'm one and done, I leave credits all over the place... it's boring'; King Kong described as not a 'banger'; Godzilla last game with replayability

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Community sentiment toward Stern turning negative; even pro-Stern voices (Papa Duke/Nap) expressing concern; Walt calls for boycott

    high · Papa Duke's quoted agreement on forum: 'I don't like when Stern provides exclusive modes or features that are available to people who buy us one or two thousand dollar topper'; Walt positioning as pushback moment

    • I put in my fucking hours. This is what it just drives me nuts, dude, because I know you guys are fans. Not of me. I don't care if you're fans of me or not. I'm talking about fans of pinball. I know you guys are fans. I'm not talking about fans of me. I don't give a fuck about that. I'm talking about fans of Stern. I know you guys are fans of pinball, dude. And they're taking advantage of you fuckers, dude. This is fucked up. They've been doing this for years. And it all started with Mandalorian, dude. With the fucking topper that you had to buy that had the extra mode in it. And now I'm looking at some shit. Let's go down a rabbit hole together. What the fuck do you say about it? I say let's go.
    3:12
    This shit irritates me, bro. Fucking shit. You know why? You're taking advantage of the small community we got, bro, and trying to bully them, manipulate them into fucking, you know you want the last mode. Oh, you got to fucking, bro, just put it all in the fucking game. God damn it.
    3:35
    I blow that at you, Stern. I blow that shit at you. mad at you right now. And this isn't because, you know, I was trying to work there years ago and, you know, I contacted people and nobody hit me back. It's not because of that. I got over that.
    3:55
    I made my peace with it, okay? I'm just saying, if you want to make a pinball machine that's a banger, hit me up. unless you want to keep going down the road making this shit, then go ahead, dude, that's all I'm saying, so anyway, that's not the reason why I'm mad at Stern, like, I'm not jealous, I'm not fucking butt hurt because they didn't hit me back, I'm just, dude, you're literally taking advantage of your fucking people, like, the small, the small audience that we do have, you're fucking ringing them out like, fucking, this is you, Stern, it might as well say Stern on my fucking knuckles as I ring out my fucking people, dude, for more, like, shaking them upside down, what do you got in there, you got more, you got a fucking nickel in there, come on, I know you got some more money in there, this is your legs, and I'm shaking you upside down, I'm not jerking off two cocks at the same time, okay, fucker, so yeah, Mandalorian topper, that was the first one I noticed where you had to buy it, and it had, like, an extra mode or some shit in it, right? Fuck you. I don't want your extra fucking mode, dude. I don't, or, I'll have it. I don't want to have to buy it. And then don't release it, like, two years later. Like, who gives a shit by then? I'm fucking done with the game. I don't want to go back. See, this is the problem, dude, if you want me to buy the stupid fucking topper, put it out at launch, like, what the fuck, dude, they always put it out, like, a year or two later, and by that time, I'm already fucking over the game, I'm bored with it, I'm done, because their replayability lately, I mean, Godzilla had banging replayability, I can't remember a last game after that that's got banging replayability, like, yo, I leave credits around all the fucking time, dude,
    5:54
    Bro, you know what? I played No Fear the other day. I got 25 fucking billion on it. 25 billion. And I had like three games. I still played another game. Because I wanted to get 20 jumps in a row. I don't know if you remember No Fear or not. It's got the loop up top. Where you can fucking... If you get the timing of it down, you can... Ow!
    6:25
    No. It feels good. It just feels good hitting it. I was trying to get 20, and I got the 19. No, first I got the 14, then 13, then 19.
    6:36
    I was so fucking pissed. I could not get 20, dude. So I started another game to try again, and I just couldn't get it.
    6:43
    I still played another game. Replayability. On point. I loved it. but dude, like, lately, the new Stairings, no replayability, bro, I'm one and done, I leave credits all over the place, I don't give a fuck, I'm one and done, dude, because it's boring, like, most of these games are, like, the code is boring for some reason or another, I don't know what it is, the music isn't engaging me, the callouts aren't engaging me,
    7:09
    I don't know what it is, it seems safe, a lot of the times it seems safe, and then we can go back to Wick and noticed that, where they took the fucking guns off of it.
    7:20
    Which I'm still pissed off about. I'm still mad about that. And they expect, all you guys expect, like, oh, we'll just get over it with time. That's what Stern expects. You know, they'll get over it. You know? Like, I know they're pissed now, but they'll get over it. Well, fuck you. I'm still mad. I'm even madder.
    7:41
    I'm madder than yesterday. Every day I'm more mad. um, but these toppers, bro, so Mandalorian, I noticed that one, and then a Venom, I was looking at Venom,
    8:04
    so here, here's the topper, and then, again, topper for Venom, right, like, when did this come out, Two months ago? Bro, how fucking old is Venom? And you're hitting me with a topper two months ago. This is what I'm talking about.
    8:21
    Are any of you still playing Venom? Like, gung-ho about it? No, you're fucking bored of Venom. It's obvious everybody's fucking bored of Venom. This is what I'm talking about. You gotta release this shit closer to launch, dude. We're bored of the fucking game by now. Christ, I thought this was a little later. Good lord. let's see what we got in here, ready?
    8:49
    well first of all, let's go back to the Mandalorian let's trace this shit where it started okay? let's fucking, this is a murder scene and we're gonna find the fucking first footprint before we go forward that's what we're gonna do this is a crime scene um okay so i want to find uh here we go stern i'll do stern pinball hold on stern pinball mandalorian game accessories at least that came out the same year look it says four years ago premium le and then four years ago game accessories i got nothing oh there we go okay well the fucking video went like four seconds without playing anything i'm like i got nothing dead air i just think of dave uh or dave i just think of dating divino and it's always sunny he like eating his fucking crackers dead air okay all right let see this is so this is the mandalorian top this is where it all started it might have started before this but this is where i first noticed this shit if you guys noticed it before then let me know
    10:29
    yo that come on again like really look at that who buys all these accessories bro it seems like they're all their accessories are so half-assed dude look at that it's just it literally looks like just like a pinball dude okay whatever razor crest control shooter knob you've gotta have it Bro, and by the way, everybody that walks up is going to be like, oh, that's cool. You got a pinball as a shooter knob.
    11:09
    90% of motherfuckers. 90. 93% of motherfuckers. I upped it. I just upped it to 93%. 93% of people. Mark my words. What do you think that looks like? And I guarantee you 97%. I just upped it again to 97% of people will admit that that looks like a fucking pinball. I guarantee you they're not going to be like, oh, that's the fucking, what is it called? What is it called again?
    11:44
    Come on, asshole. Show me what it's called. I want to know. Yeah, Razor Crest Control Shoot-em-up. Oh, that's the Razor Crest. I see it. Yeah, right, bro. they're gonna be like, that's a fucking pinball, shut up, go ahead, shotgun on the side, yeah, I could take or leave that, you know, it's kind of cool, but I could take or leave it, like, bro, if you told me that was free, I'd be like, oh, great, if you told me I had to pay for it, I'd be like, nah, I'm good, our play is again, same thing, take it or leave it,
    12:38
    where's the topper, where's the fucking topper, dude, tell me about the topper, I want to see the topper, bro Topper Where's the fucking topper? Maybe that's why it was the same year Oh yeah, look, two years ago Fuck you Damn it, Stern, I gave you some credit when you didn't deserve it Because the first time I saw the two videos Side by side, they were both at four years apart Four years ago, okay So I just assumed that the topper Was in that video, which it was not So I gotta backtrack and correct my old self right now, okay? Because this is the actual Mandalorian topper video from two years ago. So that means, again, two years went by. I'm starting to notice a trend here, and we'll get into this later in the video. Two years go by, Stern drops a topper.
    13:29
    Fuckers. I'm starting to notice what you fuckers are doing. Stern is going to... Dude, I'm telling you, bro. People are coming for Stern. People are getting sick of this. I'm getting sick of this. I don't even own games. I'm getting sick of you, Stern. Seriously. You're fucking people up. Like, this is fucked up, dude. Seriously.
    13:51
    And I was so disappointed, bro, because I'm like, oh my god, Kong's going to be a banger, and it's just not. And I'm just like, fuck my life. And then I realized, like, yo, what are they doing to me? You know? I put all my eggs in this basket. Fuck me. It's my fault. I build them up.
    14:09
    All right, here we go. Alright, here's the topper. Here we go. Topper, topper. Here we go. So this was released two years after the game.
    14:23
    They tricked me. They fucking tricked me. Okay. See, look. Topper exclusive modes. So you can only play that shit if you buy that fucking topper, dude.
    14:52
    Mini wizard mode. So I can't get that if I don't buy your topper. This is a... Dude, anybody that's considering buying a new pinball machine, I'm telling you, you gotta watch videos like this, bro. This is what you're getting into.
    15:10
    Look at that, dude. It doesn't even look worth it. It's a fucking spider up there. Who gives a shit?
    15:18
    It's not even like that cool looking, dude. Fuck you. That's what I think about it. Fuck you. I think that's bullshit, bro. Look at it. Exclusive modes. Exclusive that.
    15:47
    Fucking shit. What's this guy say about it? Oh, my God. It's the greatest topper I've ever seen. That's the greatest. That's really the greatest topper you've ever seen, bro. Really?
    16:04
    Really. all these stern fanboys bro really really really bro have you ever seen the topper on whirlwind the fan the fan is way better than that come the fuck on dude so again exclusive modes all these things you gotta i'm starting to notice another thing this is a brian eddy thing mandalorian venom that's the next one i'm gonna go over because again they did it again with venom so what was after this there was venom wait hold on there is here's the topper right here we go hold on hold on
    16:52
    two months ago and then when did venom come out was it two years ago yeah look so again they did it again it's like two years it seems like they release a game and then two years later after the hype dies down then they put a topper up like it's it's almost like they're like yo you know what we release a game people go nuts on it and then it fizzles out fizzles out fizzles out and then two years later we'll release the topper because that'll reinvest it'll it'll like rekindle the interest in the game that people are tired of it should be more of a red flag that people are sick of your games in two years like bro you know like how many games hold up that are 30 fucking 40 years old you know godzilla holds up i'll play a godzilla right now but you gotta think like that's a deeper question stern needs to ask themselves internally like what are we doing wrong here at stern where every two years people are already sick of our game and we got to release a thing to reinv to like rekindle interest to reignite there you go that's a better word to reignite the flame remember this old game it's not even that old but remember it it's back with a topper and a new mode.
    18:26
    I'm just speculating in my own mind right now. Really. But I think there's... I'm noticing, like, it's every two years. Like, two years pass. At least the first two. And now I'm noticing this with D&D, but they did it a little quicker. It was like a year.
    18:47
    But... Let's see what we got here. Hold on. Okay, so here's the Venom. So that was the Mandalorian topper. Here's the Venom topper, right?
    19:03
    Again, released two years after the game. So it's like people are already bored of it. Choose your accessory, change your game. With the official Venom default accessories. Launch into action right from the plunge with a sculpted symbiote tendril shooter knob. The shooter knob adds an immersive feel and fun element to the start of your pinball mayhem. Make your speakers pop with the official speaker expression lighting system accessory. With intelligent RGB LED lighting, fully integrated and dynamically responsive to game events. Protect yourself and your game with a venomized sidearm. It's the same thing as Mandalorian, dude. It's literally the same fucking thing. Like, in the stages, too. Like, here's the sidearm. Remember how in Mandalorian I had a gun? but now it's got a face like they just the knob the side armor it's like the same four things every time this dramatic side armor like this pinball machines got golden fucking legs if you buy it whoa like that be a cool mod further dimension but that not it always the shooter knob it always this thing it always the topper and it always the art blades like it's always the same four fucking things have you guys noticed that i just noticed that like right now it's always the same four fucking things pinball gaming experience fully dress up the inside of your game dude this video is like a public service announcement bro i'm serious if you motherfuckers are thinking about buying pinball machines, just stop for a second, okay, and just think about what you're getting into, bro, especially with Stern, half these games aren't done code-wise, they're not done, you know, and then fucking, and then they're gonna add more modes that you have to pay for, again, after you already dropped, like, how much was this game, 10, 11, 12, 13,000 let's say 10 to 13 grand in between there I'll put a hyphen in there 10 to 13 grand and now you gotta drop another whatever the fuck call them the fuck on so this is like a public service I don't get paid by Stern I don't give a fuck I wouldn't work for them if they asked me honestly because I don't like the road they're going now I see where they're headed these greedy bastards I see where they're fucking going with this Stern needs some competition. I think we need to start a new pinball company and go after their fucking asses, dude. That's what I think that needs to happen. If you want my fucking opinion about it, but hey.
    21:38
    What do I know? I'm an idiot. Beside Art Blades. Featuring stunning and distinctive hand-drawn artwork of venomized heroes and enemies by Zombie Yeti. These Art Blades add an entirely new dimension inside this world under glass. The symbiote containment top will transform your gaming experience Featuring choreographed RGB lighting Illuminated decorative plastics And an interactive symbiote LCD screen Players will be able to play as a new host, Ghost Rider See, there you go There you fucking go Ghost Rider You get to play as a new character That only you'll get if you buy that hunk of shit topper That looks boring as fuck Look at the fucking screen I'm sorry Am I supposed to have my dick blown off by the little video screen with the balls fucking... No, I'm good. I mean, come on.
    22:32
    Really? Is this blowing your cock off? Is it? Good. Give me $1,300 then. However the fuck much it costs.
    22:42
    Yeah, go... So you get an extra guy. What else do you get that us simpletons don't get? What the fuck? Let's see.
    22:53
    So you get the extra guy. Wait, wait, what did that say? Hold on, hold on. Hold on, what did that say?
    23:13
    Okay. Yeah, see, all new wizard mode, symbiote mania. So you get a new wizard mode and you get a new fucking guy. for how much over over it's at least a thousand dollars over a thousand dollars for an insider connected players will have the ability to continue their adventure as ghost rider and play symbiote mania on any connected game for up to three months even if it doesn't have a topper so you pay the 30 okay let me let me transcribe that so you pay the whatever over a thousand dollars i don't know if it's 1300 i don't know exactly how much toppers, you pay the 1,000 whatever dollars, and you unlock the Symbiote Mania and Ghost Rider on your account, your Stern Insider, so if you go to another, if you go to another Venom and log in, then you'll have Ghost Rider and all that shit, and then, and then no one will give a fuck, like, who gives a shit, dude, seriously, and I know that this mode isn't, it's probably an afterthought, because if it was really, really good, they would have put it in the actual fucking game.
    24:21
    Transform your Venom Pinball experience today at SternPinball.com. Fuck you. How much is that? You fucks. Let me see. Where do I go to find out how much that is? What do the Stern fanboys say? I think if I sell my Venom pinball I will have enough money to pay for the accessories Oh yo, at least you're getting some pushback here Art blades should be standard on all machines The cost of scale is minimal In fact, your application can be made consistent And accurate over self-installing They also add material flavor to the game There you go how much is that? Let's see. How much is it? How much does that cost? Stern pinball, venom, copper, 1300 bucks. There you go. 1300. So you can pay $1,300, get unlock a new guy and unlock a new mode and get a topper that looks, dude, it seems like they do the same thing on every topper. I'm noticing a lot of, of, of, uh, similarities between this topper and the Mandalorian Topper we just watched, there's a space in the middle for some animation or some things to happen, just like Mandalorian, and then there's, like, a bunch of boxes right next to it, same fucking thing, same design, it's, it's literally just a mold, bro, like, they do that with everything, even these fucking accessories, dude, they're just, they're just doing the same accessories over and over again, art blades, shooter knob, fucking, uh, yeah, art blade, inner art blades, the outer, uh, armor art, the shooter knob, and then there's, like, fucking, and then there's, like, one more cosmetic thing, usually, that changes, it's always the same three, four fucking things, yeah, there's one more cosmetic thing that changes, uh, depending on that particular machine. So, in this particular example, there was a new topper mode, which looks exactly like the Mandalorian topper. I'm telling you, there's some things in the middle, and then boxes next to it. Just like the Mandalorian one. Here, I'll fucking pull it up right here so you can see. Stern is doing their people dirty, bro. I'm telling you right now. Don't let them get away with this. Do not fucking, whatever the next game even Kong, I would say stop buying Kong, Kong's not even that good, really, it's okay,
    27:05
    it's not great, I expected better from Keith, man, honestly, it's not great, but it's, here we go, it's good, it's not great, it reminds me a lot of Trudeau, like, Hollywood Heat kind of thing, fucking, like, go back and, like, I know Trudeau's kind of like a fucking, ah, god, kid touch her, but fucking, seriously though, Trudeau had some really innovative designs, dude, I know what he did, I get it, I get it, I get it, I get it, I get it, Hitler bad, I get it, fucking, but dude, he really had some really unique, innovative designs back in the day, and I'm seeing a lot of that in Keith, like, Keith is a real innovative guy, Jack too, Jack too, um, those two need to break off and just start their own fucking thing, dude, just leave everybody else in the fucking dust, grab Ray Day, grab Ray Day, grab fucking, grab, Jerry Thompson, man, I love you, grab Jerry, you blew me off, bro, I'll never forget it, but I don't give a fuck, I got no secrets, bro, that motherfucker blew me off, I'm trying to figure out how to, like, get in with Stern, that motherfucker blows me off, whatever, so fucking grab him, he's a good, he's a good sound designer, though, grab him, grab Thiel, Thiel's legit, Dave Thiel is, like, the only dude who would ever hit me back about advice and shit, dude, he's a real cool, accessible guy, every other sound designer I contacted seemed like, oh, God, this guy might want to take my job or something, fuck him, block, you know what I mean, like, but Dave Thiel was like, yo, well, if you're really into it, you got to realize you're going to be broke, you got to realize, you know, play games on mute to imagine what you hear, like, dude, Dave Thiel is the shit, like, I love that guy, he really inspired me to start thinking differently when it came to sound design, literally everyone, everyone else blew me off, everybody, everybody blew me off, which is fine, I don't give a fuck, I don't really care, I don't want friends, I don't give a fuck, I'm not trying to be popular, but I am just trying to figure out how to fucking, how to figure out how to make the game sound good, and what these guys' programs they use, and all this kind of shit, so, you know, but, whatever, I digress, anyway, this is, oh, yo, this topper was two grand, what the fuck, how is the, how is the Topper on Venom 1,300, and this one's two grand, what the fuck are you doing, okay, um, but look at the middle, though, look at the middle, though, this is what I'm talking about, look at the middle, though, it's almost like the same fucking thing, look at this, There's Beauty. Aw. Look at this. Let me see it. Look at this. Look, see? Look it got one thing in the middle and then a bunch of Look it got one thing in the middle and then boxes next to it the same fucking thing as the venom topper bro it followed the same blueprint and it's in the same shape like an oval look it's even in the same fucking shape look at this look it's even in the same fucking shape dude so they probably got like all these like shapes that they used for every fucking topper, do you see that, like, how, like, unoriginal that is, fuck off, dude, Stern, come on, and this one's 1300, but I'm noticing that this is what this fucking Brian Eddy guy is doing, bro, like, is that something he's thinking of, I don't know, that I don't know, I don't fucking know, but what I do know is that this is his next game, so there was Mandalorian, Venom, and then Dungeons and Dragons, right, so maybe this is a Brian Eddy thing, I don't know, bro, is there any other toppers doing this, we're locking you out of modes, and, oh, and trust me, I'm not just trying to shit on Brian Eddy, bro, I just call it like I see it, but it seems like I'm following the trail of breadcrumbs, and they're leading me back to your ass, here we go, you know what I'm saying, it's like, I'm not, like, I didn't wake up today, like, all right, I got my fucking, wash my face, I don't smell like shit, all right, it's time to shit on Brian Eddy, like, I didn't get out of bed like that, you know what I'm saying, I get out of bed, thinking about some shit, and I'm following the breadcrumbs, and here we go, leading it to, leading me to your front door, here we go, okay, so, this is this game, and I'm thinking that the fucking, the next one, Dungeons and Dragons, was his last one, I don't think there was a one in the middle, okay, so look, so here's the post from, from Nap, he goes, um, Stern Pinball recently unveiled new character pages on its app for its Dungeons and Dragons pinball machine, um, when scrolling through playable characters, one can see a placeholder for a character named Rowan Free Wanda.
    32:31
    His name is Rowan, and he wanders free. Oh, I get it. Rowan Free Wanda. Ah, I see what you did there. A human fighter that has the following message.
    32:46
    Locked. Play with topper attached. That's what it says. You don't believe me? Come here. Come with me and read for yourself. Look.
    33:03
    Locked. Play with topper attached. What are you doing? Stern. What are you doing? Look in my eyeball. Look in my infested eyeball and tell me the secrets I need to know. What are you doing? Tell my eyeball the truth. Tell him, you greedy bastard.
    33:32
    What are you guys doing? Why don't you just make better games instead of trying to jerk your fucking customers off for more money? Instead of having your customers jerk you off for more money.
    33:52
    What the fuck, dude? What are we doing? Like what the fuck are we doing Could you imagine like Funhouse pinball And it's like you're playing it and it's like Oh this game is okay Well yeah you know what You gotta buy the upgrade to get to midnight multiball Like that's an upgrade If you had to fucking buy an upgrade To get to the god damn Fucking midnight multiball Kiss my nutsack Like dude I will batwing my balls spread them out and you kiss my nuts right in the middle seriously bro fuck you and fuck your topper seriously look at this even this guy nat i'm afraid this would happen and he goes you know i think his cool players kind of unlocks up on the character game by achieving some objectives i don't like when stern provides exclusive modes or features that are available to people who buy us one to two thousand dollar topper i agree nap i agree with you bro and you're like usually a fan boy you love stern dude you got a stern you open up your shirt says stern on it we all know i know you know your grandpappy knows it's all good i just know stern for who they truly are bro Stern is a different place than when Gary was around, dude. Gary was awesome. Gary's a fucking awesome dude, bro. Like, Gary takes the time to, like, listen to you, bro. And, like, makes everybody feel important.
    35:33
    Like, dude, I watched Gary talk to, like, a hundred fucking people, dude. This is before I talked to him.
    35:40
    And hung out with him at the fucking hotel, dude. This is before. And he was still ready to go, bro.
    35:48
    god damn, this is, but Stern is different now, it's, it's rant, like, that fucking Disney dude coming in, taking everything over, bro, I'm telling you right now, that had an impact, okay, whether you want to admit it or not, that dude, now they're more sales driven, they're more focused on how do we get more money coming in, how do we, when Gary was around, it was more of a passion project, dude, that's why, bro, otherwise, he would have shut down shop in the early 2000s. The only reason he kept it going is because he was passionate about it. There was no money in pinball in the early 2000s so why the fuck keep the company going? Because he was passionate about it. This motherfucker would have closed up shop day fucking one. This was a Seth Davis whatever fucking guy. Day one.
    36:38
    Fucking hour three he would have said we're out. We're fucking out. Goodbye pinball forever. Not Gary. Okay? Not Gary.
    36:53
    Yeah. So again, this guy... I agree. I agree with this guy. And this is the thing I guess they found. Play with toppers. That's funny.
    37:13
    That's fucked up, bro. I think you guys need to... I think you guys need to make a stand. And this is, I think this is just speculation, because I haven't been able to find anything about a Dungeons & Dragons topper.
    37:33
    But Nap is pretty, and we're noticing, I'm noticing a pattern here, like the game comes out two years, and then a year, I'm sorry, the game comes out two years later, the topper comes out. Dungeons and Dragons pinball topper. We noticed that with Mandalorian. We noticed that with Venom.
    37:53
    That's why I think it might be a little early for a topper here, but I don't know for sure. Like, I'm not seeing anything on Stern's site. I should see something on Stern's site, like, right away.
    38:08
    Yeah, I'm not seeing anything. So, but again, it's still early. Like if we're following their model They're still not due to release The topper for a fucking year Cause how old is Dungeons and Dragons It's like What a year old How old is that game I don't fucking remember God damn it But anyway That's all I'm gonna say bro I just wanted to talk about the toppers and Stern And I think you guys need to push back I think you guys need to say Yo Stern enough's enough and we're not going to take it anymore. Fuck you.
    38:47
    I think you do. I think you guys need to push back and stop buying for a while. Stern will get the message and then go back. If you guys just keep buying everything up, dude, you fucking shills. And it's not all your fault. You guys, a lot of these content creators are just trying to move product for Stern. That's all they're trying to do. I could tell because they're so fucking biased. They won't say anything on buy. they won't say anything that hurts the game's image, everything is perfect, they walk around eggshells, fuck all of you, bullshit, not every game is good, and don't be afraid to say fuck, you know what I'm saying, you're a grown fucking man, and you're afraid to say fuck, you'd be surprised, a lot of these, like, pinball content creators I watch, bro, are like, older than me, and they're scared to say the word fuck, are you, what is wrong with you, Those are the guys you gotta be scared about, by the way. Because they're bottling up emotion. Their whole fucking life. They can't say fuck. And they can't say shit. And it's like... And then one day... A nursery blows up.
    39:57
    The children's wing in a hospital. He breaks in and kicks... With a flamethrower. because you didn't let him say fuck for years just saying i think you guys should push back that's all i gotta say peace