1, 2, 3, 4, 5, baby, don't mess around, if you love me, go, I know for sure. But does she really want to, but can't stand to see me walk out the door? Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up. Welcome everybody to Canada's Pinball Podcast. Happy Monday. We are in November. Is anything new going to happen in the pinball world this month? I've been watching it. I've been watching what's going on. John Wick code update. Like people are starting to realize there might be a decent game inside this John Wick pinball machine. Is that going to make more people actually consider John Wick? Here's where I think John Wick is going to end up. It's going to be one of these games where, of course, it's fun. It's pinball. No one is ever going to ever want to pay anywhere near $13,000 for an LE. Here's what I think is going to happen. They're going to make the game fun and approachable. And if you want to experience the John Wick game after they're done with the code, because I don't think anyone's even going to go near this game until it's code complete. And then when you do get a chance, if you want to own one, I think you're going to go get a John Wick LE for like $8,500. I mean it. They made a thousand of those things and they're nowhere near going to hold the price of $13,000. And then if you want to go get a premium, go get a used one for somewhere around $8,000, $7,500. And that's going to be what John Wick always becomes. Because it's not like Stern just makes one or two games a year. Because they make so many games a year, when these games come out like Venom and John Wick, and there's no real demand on launch, even if the code is good, even if the game is fun, everybody knows this. That's not enough. That's not enough to make you want to spend this much money on a pinball machine. Look, I had fun playing Avatar. I'm not going to say pinball is not fun. But do you want to spend $12,000 to $15,000 on an avatar? Absolutely not. I have a ton of fun playing Elton John. I think it's one of the most fun games that's come out in the last five years. Do I want to own one? No. I'm just going to go to Jack Bar or some location and play Elton John for like $30 or $40. Try to beat my high score. See most of the game when you play it. And I'm good. I don't need to spend 15K to have a topper that's using leftover screens from Toy Story because they didn't sell enough Toy Stories to use all the inventory of those cheap screens. And that's where we're at in pinball. There's so much going on. But be honest with yourselves. How much of what's gone on in this hobby over the past like three to four years actually makes you want to spend this much money on a game. Like we're all watching these X-Men, like people talk about the issues with the game. We've had issues with Elvira from the new Stern factory, issues with X-Men, issues with Godzilla black and white edition. Did Stern pinball change all the problems you were having with your trans lights because the black and white looks yellow? No, they didn't fix that. there were major issues with the Elvira manufacturing, and now there's major issues with the X-Men manufacturing. And I think everyone's realizing, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Maybe it's not smart to run and buy these things at this much money. And then you become the guinea pig. And by the time they figure it out, right? By the time Stern Pinball actually figures out how to fix these X-Men issues, by the time the code might actually be good, guess what? LEs will be worth $10,000. Premiums will be selling for $7,500. And the only game that holds value in the modern Stern world right now is Metallica LE and any pro version of a game. Now, speaking of Metallica LE, I hope these games are made well. That's my major thing with Metallica LE. I hope the quality is there because this is going to be another new factory game. and I just hope they nail the quality and everyone who gets that game, I think this month, is happy with the game, okay? So if you have a Metallica LE or a Premium coming, I hope you get a great build. I don't know about you, but now I'm all of a sudden just really getting excited about what's next. This is how pinball is. I don't know about you, but for me, what's fun about pinball is not spending full price on any of these games lately and just speculating and wondering what's around the corner because that's what makes pinball fun for most of us is just watching all these newbies buy all these expensive games, lose their shirt on the prices of those games, and then we can swoop in and buy these games for the prices they should be. A Stern LE should be no more than $10,500. A Stern Premium should be no more than $8,500. And a Stern Pro should be $6,000 to $6,500. And that's it. That's a fair price to me. Think about it. If you price a Stern Pro at $6,500, that means the LE is $4,000 more than that. Right now, an LE is twice the price of the Pro. that is the dumbest business decision that was ever made in pinball and i'm never gonna get soft on this topic it's inexcusable that's like two machines you're telling me i can have two stern pros or one le that's not really limited it's a no-brainer we're all getting ripped off we all know it we all should be listening to canada and just wait on the sidelines because if we do if we all hit pause on buying new in box games, guess what's going to happen, ladies and gentlemen? These companies are not going to go out of business. They're just going to lower prices. So I don understand why more people didn just like avoid buying a Venom LE a John Wick LE If you do they going to have to bring prices back down Or they going to have to make games that justify these prices And I think they're going to have a hard time doing that. They're really going to have a hard time. They need to go three for three every new launch with a home run. It's not going to happen. Will Dungeons and Dragons blow us away? Will Brian Eddy finally put a mechanism into a Stern game that reminds us of the magic of the Medieval Madness castle. Now, unfortunately for Brian Eddy, it sounds like Chicago Gaming Company is actually gonna start remaking Medieval Madness right on top of when they're gonna release Dungeons and Dragons. So I hope it's something good. Is this the mechanism that Keith Elwin saw and said, oh my gosh, I can't believe something this impressive is coming from the Stern Factory. I hope it is. My fear about Dungeons and Dragons is not even the mechanical side of it. My fear is that Dwight Sullivan, a dude that always creates the most role-playing game, overly complex, multiplier madness rule sets. Imagine Dwight coding Dungeons and Dragons. It's like a double whammy, an already complex theme like D&D. Like how many of you out there actually played Dungeons and dragons i gotta be honest i never did it was like the dorks and nerds and losers played dnd it was so nerdy right it was like so why would you be playing that when you could be playing nintendo and sega like much more enjoyable things but man people played it i get it but it's very nerdy and i think if dwight goes down that rabbit hole of really complex like you're gonna roll the die and then you're going to be getting this and that's how you get to this multiplier. I think it could be a total code nightmare, but we shall see. And I just don't even know what you base D&D on. Is it going to be based on the 80s cartoon? I hope so because at least that was easier to follow. It sort of translated the nerdy game into something a lot more fun. But I don't know, Dungeons and Dragons 2024. Does that feel like it's going to be a hit for Stern Pinball? I don't know. I really don't know. If I were to make a guess, I would say no. And again, because everyone's just witnessing what happens when a game doesn't take off right away. You lose like 30% of value in these new in box prices. All right. And then we hear that American Pinball might be releasing Cuphead sometime in November. We'll have to see how that game launches in the pinball world. And you know this, like the crossover, this is the challenge. I know there are Cuphead fans. I know the video game has been played millions of times, but is there crossover between a Cuphead fan base and a pinball buying person? I don't think so. We shall see. You could ask the same question. is there a crossover between the Harry Potter fan base and the pinball buying fan base? Where I think Harry Potter is going to succeed is that almost every single one of us, it's most likely your partners, your wives, and your kids who love Harry Potter so much. I've yet to meet a lot of grown men, ages 40 to 60, that are infatuated with Harry Potter the way we are infatuated with Back to the Future, with Star Wars, with Big Trouble in Little China, with Transformers G1, with Die Hard, with Matrix, with Fifth Element. You know, there's so many more things that I think get our blood boiling much more than Harry Potter. But that being said, I think a Harry Potter theme is gonna be something the whole family will want. What I'm so excited to see about Harry Potter is I know that this is going to be Eric Meunier's dream theme. He has never designed a game based on a theme that he personally loves. He was not a Pirates aficionado. He wasn't even a big Guns N' Roses fan. And we know that he probably didn't even see the Godfather movies even after designing the Godfather pinball machine. So he is finally going to get an assignment in which his personal passions align with the theme. And so I'm excited because Eric is capable of putting a lot in a pinball machine. Now, I wish Harry Potter was a wide body and I hope this game has a lot of mechanical magic, but I'm worried. I'm so worried because when it comes to Jersey Jack and integrating a theme in the right way, they always find a way to mess it up. They've only really done it right twice. Wizard of Oz and Guns and Roses. Those are the only two themes I think they truly nailed. And if I were to pick a third one, yes, Elton John, I think, also nails the theme. So that's it. Guns and Roses, Elton John. It's hard to mess up a music theme integration. And then Wizard of Oz. Everything else they've done, and they've made, what, like 10 games now. Everything else they've done. I think they've sort of fumbled integrating the theme in the right way. I don't think they did Avatar right. I don't think they did Pirates right. I don't think Hobbit was integrated to the best possible way. You know, I just don't get it. I just don't get it. And every time they talk, they're like, we're going to put everything you want into this game. Well, here's your moment. This is your moment, Jersey Jack. We say this with every Jersey Jack release, but this time it's really it. The problem with Jersey Jack is it doesn't ever have to be their moment. They don't ever have to get it right because they have so much money from the people that own them that getting it right doesn't matter. And I think that works against them. I think it works against them. I think because of that, they don't hear the feedback. Because of that, they don't make the necessary changes to actually make the best pinball machines in pinball. Nobody out there and I mean this nobody in the pinball world would say that Jersey Jack makes games that are more fun than what you getting from Stern Pinball I think everybody would say they make the most beautiful games So they're making the most beautiful games, but they don't have the most beautiful personality. And that's my issue with Jersey Jack games. When you walk up to games like Avatar and you play it, you feel nothing. It doesn't pull you into that world at all. and you walk up to Godzilla, you walk up to Foo Fighters, you walk up to James Bond, you walk up to any modern Stern machine, Jaws, you walk up to it and within two to three minutes, you are pulled into that game. You are pulled into that world, Stranger Things, Ghostbusters, Batman. You go down a list of all of these Stern games and you could say what you will about the quality. You could say they don't have the best light shows, but man, oh man, oh man, what Stern does so well is you feel transported into that theme and the games just have personality. They click with you. They connect with you. And after 10 or 11 years of Jersey Jack, I don't know why it's so hard. Why is it so hard for them to understand the elements that make games fun goes beyond sexy toppers. It goes beyond sparkled playfields and like 30,000 lights. You've got to find a way to code these games that makes it click with you. And it can't just be a handful of dudes that want to study these long rule sets that just create such a disconnect. When you walk up to a Jersey Jack machine, you have no idea what's going on. The game doesn't communicate what's really going on. And it just doesn't pull you in. Like when you start playing Avatar, trust me, when you start playing this game, look at the streams. Where in it do you even get communicated to that you are a member of the Na'vi? It never tells you that. Where in the game does it tell you what the mission is? Like what we are here to do as you're playing this game? Does it even ever tell you we're trying to defeat the humans and get them out of Pandora? Nope. It never tells you that. It doesn't make you feel like you're going on a journey, like you're going on this battle to do something meaningful or memorable. You're just kind of starting a game and then you're just kind of collecting musical notes and you're just kind of getting to like moments in the movies that are like muted clips. It just doesn't work for me. So Harry Potter is their chance to get it right. It is. And this is it to me, people. This is it. Like if Jersey Jack can't nail this, then what? Well, like I said, it doesn't matter. We're just going to be on to the next, and I think it's going to be maybe Steve Ritchie's Sonic the Hedgehog. That sounds exciting to me. If anyone knows how to make a fast, fun game, it's Steve Ritchie and Sonic the Hedgehog. But here's the thing. Everybody's nervous about that because we know if Jersey Jack makes Sonic the Hedgehog, they're most likely going to make it based on the Sonic movies and not the Sega a Genesis game that everybody loves. We have no nostalgia for those movies. You need to make it based on the 8 or 16-bit version of Sonic. Case closed. We don't want anything else. All right, so that's going on there. Pulp Fiction, all these are going to Europe. They're going over to Europe. They finally figured out how to make a topper after three years, and this game is going overseas and nobody cares. Chicago Gaming Company has not told us when the Cactus Canyon remake code is gonna be available. Once again, this company stinks. They absolutely stink. If you're gonna show us something that we've waited like four years for, the Cactus Canyon code, wouldn't you communicate to the owners when the code is gonna be released? I'm so tired of guessing. I'm just gonna say this right now. I will never, ever, ever buy another CGC product as long as this company treats us like this. On principle alone, I don't need to ever support these people with a new in-box purchase. It is the worst treatment I've ever seen of a buyer base. There's absolutely no excuse. Like they can't do something simple like a Facebook live. Hey, let's walk around the factory. Nope. They can't give you a release date. Nope. Takes them three years to make plastic toppers. I'm over it. I'm so tired of them. And then they're just going to go back and make more medieval madnesses. So what? So all you Royal edition guys are about to get burned. And then they're going to do what? They're going to make Halo. I mean, that's the next game from this company. Play mechanics is making Halo. It is a Mark Ritchie game. And let me tell you how many people in the pinball world want a Halo pinball machine? Let me tell you, it's the number that a Halo makes. Zero. Zero people want Halo pinball. Halo as a game, it's so over in culture. Nobody cares anymore. And the reason they're making it is because Raw Thrills has the deal with Microsoft. And yeah, you can make Halo arcade games because people might want to throw five bucks in and play one. But who the heck wants to spend $10,000 or more on a Halo pinball machine when it's never going to be a better experience than just playing the damn Halo video game for like $60? A total disaster theme selection. All right, what else is going on in pinball? Anything exciting you can add to the new John Wick code? All the John Wick LE owners are being like, see, we told you so. And everybody else is like, yeah, cool. You guys just lost $4,000. enjoy that mirrored backlash that you just lost $4,000 on. You're not allowed to do this. You're not allowed to make fun of people who are losing money. You're not allowed to sell a Metallica LE for more money. You've got a champion, everything going on in pinball. The truth is this, everybody. You all know this. Pinball is oversaturated and overpriced. And that's going to be good for each and every one of us. If you wait and see, like I've always been saying, you're going to be able to get all these games for way less money. Yeah probably even Alice Adventures in Wonderland I know I hyped that game up I know it But like I said on my show on Saturday the thing with Alice is this Now that it been revealed now we got a long wait to get the game It going to suffer from no more hype Like there no way they going to get people more excited about the game. It's not like you saw these like amazing magical mechs in the game. Melvin made the game to J-Pop's specifications and I give him credit for that. The issue for the rest of you out there like you weren't wanting j-pop's foam core game to be a reality and let's face it j-pop did make that game as a way to hoodwink people into giving more money in his ponzi scheme so that is the origin of that foam core right it was smoke and mirrors it wasn't real and it also wasn't finished in any way shape or form so who's to know if j-pop would have realized that thing needed a few more magical mechs. I do wish the game had like a ringmaster mech or some crazy theater of magic magic box. It just doesn't have those things. It is a beautiful game. You're going to wait a while to get it. But as I said on my show, I think at the end of the day, it's going to be a good game. It's never going to be a great game. It's never going to be like something that can compete with anything happening over at Stern or Jersey Jack. And it's not trying to be that. But what's going to happen next? Will people be patient and be willing to wait what will be almost an entire year to do the entire run? Now, from what I've heard over there, it's a little bit easier to make this game than Big Lebowski. So hopefully they can get about 15 out a week. And I really hope they start mailing these games to people in January. I've heard that Barry has started ordering the parts, which is good because you can't build games without the parts. And it takes months to get the parts in. It's also a really big deal that Lior is making all these sculpts because that's not the simplest thing to get in stock. And so I hope he's been cranking on these toppers and cranking on all those sculpts and people start to get their Alice's in January as promised. Remember, as promised, we're going to keep all these companies honest. I can do hype shows. I will every once in a while. But in the end, Kaneda will not have a podcast that has any followers if I don't call it like I see it. So I'm going to be looking closely at Dutch and making sure they get Alice's on the line in January. And we will go from there. And then it comes down to Spooky's game. I think it's Spooky's December to win or lose. It's going to be Evil Dead. It's going to be a theme in which I think they don't make too many. I think this is going to be the best spooky game to date. I do. I think we're going to see the best spooky game to date. I'm glad that it's not going to be a shared design. I hate that. A shared design. The same game can be Looney Tunes as Texas Chainsaw Massacre. That's stupid. I don't like that bug. I don't like that, Luke. That's lazy to me. Imagine if I went to a client and said, hey, I designed an idea for you, and I'm going to give it to Oreo, and I'm going to give it to Jameson Whiskey. It's the same concept. You both get it, and we're going to execute it at the same time. I think it's lazy. I think it's unoriginal. And I think people are over it. And I know they're over it. They're never going to do it again. And so I applaud the fact that Evil Dead is going to only be Evil Dead. It's not going to be like Evil Dead and Beavis and Butthead. By the way, do you know John Borg really wants to make Beavis and Butthead? This is a true story. John Borg has gone to the Stern leadership team and has begged them to make Beavis and Butthead. And the response he's getting from the Stern leadership is they think Beavis and Butthead is too risque. Too risque? It's like you're making John Wick. He kills like 3,000 people. How is Beavis and Butthead too risque? And Stern, guess who you're selling games to? 40 to 60 year old men. Don't go woke on us all of a sudden. Make Beavis and Butthead. And if you think about Beavis and Butthead, that would be an amazing theme for pinball. The two of them would be making fun of the player. And I think you got to make a game where they make fun of just what's going on in the pinball industry. You know, you bought it early. You're probably going to sell it with less than 200 plays. Like the things you could do. And I heard that Mike Judge 100% is on board and wants to make a pinball machine. Stern, you don't need to send out surveys. You would probably sell more Beavis and Buttheads than Venom, John Wick, and Foo Fighters combined. All right, everybody. Happy Monday. How's everybody doing? We're trying to get to 800 subscribers by the end of the year. Can we do it? We just need like 60 people. just 60 of you invite a friend just give him it as a gift like sign them up give them 60 bucks say here you go listen to canada he knows what he's talking about he's coming in every week with some fire it's a great show you're gonna enjoy it ed Ed Robertson listens to this show zombie yeti jack danger stern leadership jersey jack pinball everybody listens to canada's pinball podcast who else you're going to listen to that drops it like this two to three times a week and tells you it like it is. I don't have many friends in the pinball industry because, hey, I'd rather be friends with all of you. Everybody, happy Monday. Get ready for Election Day tomorrow. Everyone's about to be happy and disappointed at the same time. But just get out there and vote. That's the most important thing. And look, just like in life, not everyone's going to get what they want. It's weird. When elections happen, everyone feels entitled to win. But guess what? Life's not fair. And whatever happens will happen. In the end, you know how I feel. I'm very moderate. I think division is a terrible thing. And I think the way people argue about this stuff is a terrible thing. Achigo Ichi, as they say in Japan. Learn how to live in the moment and enjoy each moment of your life because it's going to end way too fast. Kaneda out. Outro Music