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Ep 83: The TPF Interviews
37 Plays3 years ago
Thanks to: Stephen Silver, Butch Peel, David Fix, Rob Berk, Dr John, Chris Franchi, Ken Cromwell, and Raymond Davidson for taking a minute or two to chat with us!
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsor Shoutout
00:00:06
Speaker
Thanks for tuning into the loser kid pinball podcast.
00:00:08
Speaker
We are on episode 83.
00:00:09
Speaker
I am Josh Roop with me is not Scott Larson.
00:00:14
Speaker
Technically he is my co-captain.
00:00:17
Speaker
And while we were down at Texas pinball festival, we did some interviews.
00:00:20
Speaker
Actually, he got all these interviews together.
00:00:24
Speaker
And I didn't realize he had done some of these.
00:00:25
Speaker
And they're pretty cool to listen to.
00:00:27
Speaker
I figured they deserve their own episode because we have 30, 40 minutes worth of content here.
00:00:32
Speaker
So why not we dig into these?
00:00:34
Speaker
Before we do that, though, I want to give a shout out to our sponsor, Flippin' Out Pinball.
00:00:37
Speaker
with Zach and Nicole many.
00:00:39
Speaker
If you're looking for great customer service, if you're looking for that new pinball machine or those accessories, raw thrills, any of those machines, it is time to give them a call or hit them up on Facebook.
00:00:49
Speaker
That's what I do through Messenger.
00:00:51
Speaker
Zach always takes care of me.
00:00:53
Speaker
I will admit I have had issues with my new in-box pinball machines.
00:00:57
Speaker
but it's almost like they never had an issue because he gets it taken care of so quickly and so efficiently that my machine is not down.
00:01:05
Speaker
I don't think any of my machines have been down since I've been with Flippin' Out.
00:01:08
Speaker
So if you want that new machine, hit up Flippin' Out.
00:01:13
Speaker
I'm gonna kick it over to Scott Larson
Weird Al's Influence on P3 System
00:01:15
Speaker
now.
00:01:15
Speaker
He's starting off with Steven Silver of Multimorphic.
00:01:20
Speaker
I won't give it a shot.
00:01:22
Speaker
Okay, this is Kyle Lush from Loser Kid.
00:01:24
Speaker
Everybody seems to enjoy the variety of modes and stuff that we've got.
00:01:28
Speaker
Now, when you take something to playtesting like this at a location, so afterwards, what are you looking at?
00:01:35
Speaker
Because I'm assuming you're going through, you're looking at the drains, you're looking at game times, you're looking at all that kind of stuff.
00:01:41
Speaker
Yeah, so we're doing that.
00:01:42
Speaker
We're also finding out all the bugs we didn't catch before.
00:01:45
Speaker
There's a couple out here that we had to do.
00:01:47
Speaker
Jerry was in the hotel room this morning fixing some stuff that was plaguing us on day one.
00:01:52
Speaker
and so it seems like they're holding up a lot better now but mostly just looking at all that stuff and and kind of watching people and seeing which things are giving people trouble which things we need to communicate better on the screen and that's one thing we could do on this big play field screen is that we could communicate really well so we think we got a little bit more work to do we've got other stuff to finish out in the game but I think we've got some pretty good data.
00:02:12
Speaker
Now Heist is, sorry, this is your first
00:02:18
Speaker
really licensed games.
00:02:19
Speaker
And you've had other things.
00:02:21
Speaker
You had like the Lightspeed, which I think was the big one that people were like, oh, this is really interesting.
00:02:25
Speaker
You have Heist, which I thought was hilarious.
00:02:26
Speaker
I loved playing that at Expo.
00:02:29
Speaker
But this is the first game where it seems like you're branching out into people who know nothing about pinball, but they know something about Weird Al.
00:02:37
Speaker
So tell me about that impact.
00:02:40
Speaker
It's been huge.
00:02:41
Speaker
You know, I always say, social media is really easy when you've got a guy with 5 million followers sharing your video.
00:02:47
Speaker
You know, I've got all these celebrities going on there saying, I want a machine and stuff like that.
00:02:51
Speaker
So it's been awesome seeing it get spread far and wide.
00:02:54
Speaker
But by waiting until now, like Heist did really well, so it was able to fund the development of their licensed game.
00:03:01
Speaker
And now when people come in and they look at Weird Al, it's not just Weird Al.
00:03:04
Speaker
They're looking at Weird Al with four other games that they could buy for the system.
00:03:08
Speaker
plus 10 additional software games that they can buy for the system.
00:03:11
Speaker
And so it's a much more compelling proposition.
00:03:14
Speaker
And it is the full vision of the P3 system coming to fruition here.
00:03:18
Speaker
And so every person that buys Weird Al, a lot of them are going to go buy Heist.
00:03:24
Speaker
You know, the pricing compared to other new inboxes is a no-brainer.
00:03:28
Speaker
And if I say so myself, Heist is a fun game.
00:03:31
Speaker
And it'll go back and buy Lexi and CCR, Constant Kart Racing.
00:03:35
Speaker
There's a ton of games for each one of those play fields.
00:03:37
Speaker
that all these other all these customers are potential customers for all those as well.
00:03:41
Speaker
So it's starting to grow, it's starting to build momentum and we've got great stuff playing in the future.
00:03:46
Speaker
So like Jerry likes to say we've got the best customer loyalty program in the industry where you know we don't want you to sell your game to fund your next game from us.
00:03:56
Speaker
We want you to keep making the game you bought better over time and every person that owns a P3
00:04:02
Speaker
everybody that owns a B3 could buy an owl for $3000 bucks, right?
00:04:06
Speaker
That's crazy
Multimorphic's Strategy and Future Developments
00:04:07
Speaker
in pinball.
00:04:07
Speaker
So there's more stuff coming and we're really excited about it.
00:04:11
Speaker
So it'll just keep getting better.
00:04:13
Speaker
Now, one of the challenges when you have a big game like this, the question is,
00:04:19
Speaker
How are you going to keep up?
00:04:21
Speaker
Because this obviously will jump you to a next sphere of interest, but there's always so much time that you have to fulfill that desire before people move on to the next shiny thing.
00:04:31
Speaker
So how are you going to accomplish that?
00:04:33
Speaker
So again, it's a little bit different.
00:04:35
Speaker
Like I said, the success has been really good.
00:04:37
Speaker
We're booked out on our build schedule for about a while.
00:04:40
Speaker
I would suggest now, if you're interested in a P3, jump in the queue.
00:04:45
Speaker
And because, you know, as this goes on and then a future release has come out, the interest is just going to keep growing and growing and growing.
00:04:52
Speaker
So, but the idea is that on most of these games, that's absolutely true.
00:04:56
Speaker
You've got a small window where you've got to capitalize on all that.
00:05:00
Speaker
So like I said, Heist came out two years ago, right?
00:05:03
Speaker
We've got a ton of more people that are going to come into the system, want more value out of the system, are going to come back and buy Heist.
00:05:09
Speaker
So these games are going to continue to...
00:05:12
Speaker
be valuable for the customers this game, the customers of the next game, and the next game after that, as they see this stuff in our back catalog that they're like, yeah, this makes sense to add it to my library.
00:05:22
Speaker
So, you know, as we keep going, we're not sitting on our laurels, right?
00:05:27
Speaker
We're starting work on future games right now, and we're really excited about what's in the pipeline.
00:05:33
Speaker
And I say this to somebody who's a huge Weird Al fan,
00:05:36
Speaker
and I I was it was the highlight of my career to be able to work on this game and I'm super excited about the stuff we got coming up.
00:05:44
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:05:45
Speaker
Okay so if someone wants to get a P3 what's the best way of getting it?
Purchasing a P3 Machine
00:05:50
Speaker
You can go to Multimorphic.com you can contact one of our distributors we've got a website we got a place on our website that has our distributors listed or you can just go to Multimorphic.com you put in a $2000 deposit that locks your place in
00:06:04
Speaker
We get you a build schedule like when it's going to come.
00:06:06
Speaker
If that works for you, that's fine.
00:06:08
Speaker
You keep your deposit.
00:06:09
Speaker
If not, you get refunded if you don't want to wait that long.
00:06:12
Speaker
But then you don't pay anything else until your machine is going on the line.
00:06:17
Speaker
And then we tell you what it is and you can build it out at that time.
00:06:19
Speaker
You can decide to add whatever options.
00:06:21
Speaker
We'll have light speaker drills and the side lighting kits and
00:06:25
Speaker
all these other options that you can add on at that time if you want to.
00:06:28
Speaker
It's like ordering a car.
00:06:29
Speaker
If I want chrome wheels and a central candle in it, I can get that.
00:06:34
Speaker
Yeah, and you can also request the other play fields and stuff at that time that go out.
00:06:39
Speaker
And if you already got a P3 and you just won the game, get in line and we've got two lines going.
00:06:44
Speaker
We've got a line that's just building the modules as well.
00:06:47
Speaker
So that can be
00:06:48
Speaker
That's one of the advantages of this system is that we can build those faster and get those out faster.
00:06:53
Speaker
But the big limiting factor right now is just parts in the supply chain.
00:06:58
Speaker
Like everybody.
00:06:58
Speaker
Like everybody, right?
00:07:00
Speaker
So that's why we've been extremely cautious about how we've been scheduling everybody out.
00:07:09
Speaker
And as long as I've known Jerry in this business, he's never sold anything that anybody didn't get.
00:07:15
Speaker
He's never...
00:07:16
Speaker
taking people's money and used it for anything other than building their machines.
00:07:20
Speaker
And, you know, this stuff will get it.
00:07:22
Speaker
And he's built a reputation on over-delivering and under-promising on these things.
00:07:27
Speaker
So we'll see.
00:07:28
Speaker
I think we feel good about the episodes we gave out for everybody.
00:07:31
Speaker
But that's the idea.
00:07:33
Speaker
You go and multiborfic.com is where you can put that order.
00:07:36
Speaker
Perfect.
00:07:37
Speaker
Well, we're in line and it looks like I'm about ready to play here.
00:07:41
Speaker
This has been Steven Silver with Multimorphic and P3 and remind them again, what did you do on Weird Al?
00:07:48
Speaker
I'm the creative director for Weird Al.
00:07:50
Speaker
So he's the guy that made it fun.
00:07:56
Speaker
Alright, Scott Luston, Loser Kid Pinball here.
American Pinball's Future Projects and Collaborations
00:07:59
Speaker
We're with David Fix from American Pinball.
00:08:00
Speaker
David, you just finished your seminar for those who couldn't make it to the Texas Pinball Festival.
00:08:06
Speaker
What did you talk about and what's coming up?
00:08:08
Speaker
Well, we talked about some nice surprises.
00:08:10
Speaker
One of the biggest things was that Chris Franchi has signed on to do the art for our next game.
00:08:17
Speaker
So that's a big announcement there.
00:08:20
Speaker
Chris is a good friend, and we're excited to have him start working with us on some art projects and showing the world what true Chris Franchi artwork is when it's not...
00:08:32
Speaker
let's put it this way, not by a license.
00:08:34
Speaker
So this is actually fresh art.
00:08:36
Speaker
This is kind of like his interpretation of some cool stuff.
00:08:40
Speaker
So we're excited about that.
00:08:42
Speaker
We also had a very nice talk about our good friend Barry, who I'm happy to say that Barry, he was the fastest designer.
00:08:55
Speaker
He got his first full design done to us,
00:08:59
Speaker
So it's kind of exciting that we're probably going to be showing that next year.
00:09:05
Speaker
We don't know what show we'll be at, but his game is in rotation to bring it out.
00:09:09
Speaker
So we're finally going to get to see a Barry Osler game.
00:09:13
Speaker
And he also worked with Steve Bowden on rules.
00:09:15
Speaker
And so at least he was able to engineer the groundwork so that Steve can implement that.
00:09:21
Speaker
Is that correct?
00:09:22
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:09:23
Speaker
So when we brought Steve on, Barry was already working on
00:09:28
Speaker
quietly behind the scenes as it were and it was just bringing those two back as a tag team that they had worked on so many good games from another company that we'll probably never see the light of day and that was six games in three years but six rule sets so Steve was excited to work with Barry again and really get his input on what he wanted to design the game.
00:09:51
Speaker
Yeah and at Expo you actually
00:09:54
Speaker
You put an open casting call out for anybody who wants to design a homebrew and bring it up.
00:10:00
Speaker
Let's talk about the update.
00:10:01
Speaker
Have you heard much of information from people, or you're still looking forward to Expo to see what people come and show up?
00:10:10
Speaker
I'm still looking to see what's coming to Expo.
00:10:12
Speaker
It's amazing the colleges that have reached out that are trying this.
00:10:18
Speaker
It's amazing.
00:10:19
Speaker
I've had some overseas people, some people.
00:10:21
Speaker
I mean, I'm just kind of excited for Expo, and I keep telling people, let's reach out to Expo or reach out to me at American Pinball.
00:10:29
Speaker
Let me know what's coming.
00:10:31
Speaker
And, guys, listen, this is going to be an exciting year at Pinball Expo.
00:10:36
Speaker
I know it is.
00:10:37
Speaker
And just to see all these unbelievable designs from people.
00:10:40
Speaker
There was one here even at Texas I was kind of impressed with, the Elf Games.
00:10:46
Speaker
So people are working diligently to work on games, and it's kind of exciting to see these games come to fruition.
00:10:54
Speaker
I mean, this is a, you know, I hate to say it, but our design crew of our pinball guys are getting much older.
00:11:00
Speaker
We need the new young blood, and I'm happy to see and promote the young blood that are coming to these shows and showing off these great games.
00:11:07
Speaker
Now you've been with American Pinball for how long now?
00:11:09
Speaker
It's a little over a year now.
00:11:12
Speaker
But you've been in the industry, shall we say, for 30 years.
00:11:17
Speaker
So you have a wealth of knowledge to come upon.
00:11:20
Speaker
And so what are you seeing for the next couple of years of American Pinball?
00:11:24
Speaker
What can the community expect?
00:11:26
Speaker
The community can expect some licensed titles.
00:11:29
Speaker
We're already working on that.
00:11:30
Speaker
We're working on some other surprises that, you know, we're going to keep going out surprises over the course of this year of stuff that's coming.
00:11:38
Speaker
Personnel, the people who are joining American.
00:11:41
Speaker
We can't tell you who's all joining American, but the floodgates are open.
00:11:46
Speaker
And I'm still looking for people.
00:11:48
Speaker
So programmers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, you know, if you guys are out there,
00:11:55
Speaker
And you've been in the pinball industry and you've been on a hiatus for the last couple of years.
00:11:58
Speaker
You want to get back into it, give me a reach out to me.
00:12:00
Speaker
You know, this is a growing industry.
00:12:03
Speaker
We're growing by leaps and bounds.
00:12:05
Speaker
We're doing an awful lot also with a lot of colleges right now supporting pinball and education.
00:12:11
Speaker
And that's almost a whole new wing that Steve Bowden and I are working on.
00:12:15
Speaker
to continue to promote this in colleges and so forth to get new designers and new kids into the industry.
00:12:23
Speaker
Yeah, and as someone who actually was a mechanical engineer in college, I totally appreciate that because we need people to reach out to those communities to actually get the projects out there.
00:12:33
Speaker
So that's amazing.
00:12:36
Speaker
So if someone is looking for a job, how do they contact you?
00:12:39
Speaker
They can go to HRUSA at American Pinball.
00:12:44
Speaker
and all you have to do is send an email and a resume there and we'll take care of the rest.
00:12:49
Speaker
All right, perfect.
00:12:49
Speaker
Thanks, Dave.
00:12:50
Speaker
We'll see, well, throughout the summer, but definitely at Expo.
00:12:54
Speaker
Oh, absolutely.
00:12:54
Speaker
I'll be at more shows.
00:12:56
Speaker
There's a lot of shows.
00:12:57
Speaker
Midwest Gaming Classics is right around the corner.
00:12:59
Speaker
We may have a surprise announcement there.
00:13:02
Speaker
We're going to have some other, you know, just stay tuned.
00:13:04
Speaker
American is growing and people here at Texas are loving Valhalla.
00:13:09
Speaker
and Hot Wheels and are still asking.
00:13:12
Speaker
I couldn't believe it last night.
00:13:13
Speaker
There was five deep at midnight waiting to play Houdini.
00:13:17
Speaker
And it just tells you there's a lot of love for these games.
00:13:19
Speaker
So we're very excited for the entire company and where we're going.
00:13:23
Speaker
Okay.
00:13:24
Speaker
Thanks, Dave.
00:13:24
Speaker
Okay.
00:13:26
Speaker
Scott Larson, Loser Kid Pinball
Chicago Expo vs. Texas Pinball Festival
00:13:28
Speaker
Podcast here.
00:13:28
Speaker
Today we are with Rob Burke, who is down from Expo.
00:13:33
Speaker
And Rob, what's your main job?
00:13:35
Speaker
My main job is I'm in the restaurant supply business, but pinball is really more fun.
00:13:41
Speaker
But you also are heavily involved in the Chicago Expo, which I went to a few months ago.
00:13:45
Speaker
Well, that's my show, but yes, it is.
00:13:47
Speaker
And we're doing another show, number 38, believe it or not.
00:13:50
Speaker
It's going to be October 19th to 22nd in Schaumburg.
00:13:53
Speaker
We've got 66,000 square feet of vendor space.
00:13:59
Speaker
So we're going to do our very best to fill it up and hopefully, Scott, all your listeners will be there lined up to join us.
00:14:06
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:14:07
Speaker
Okay.
00:14:07
Speaker
So now how, what differentiates you guys from the Texas Pinball Festival?
00:14:13
Speaker
Well, the one thing is we have the tour of the Stern factory.
00:14:16
Speaker
So that's really special, very unique.
00:14:18
Speaker
It's something they don't offer just for anyone walking off the street.
00:14:22
Speaker
We have a lot of pinball artists and designers that come to our autograph session, which is also very special for people that want to see it.
00:14:31
Speaker
And there's a lot of similarities, no question about it.
00:14:35
Speaker
But what's unique to me is you'll see people that come to our show that don't go to Texas and vice versa.
00:14:41
Speaker
I guess the demographics of where the people live.
00:14:44
Speaker
And we have, last year we had around 400 games.
00:14:48
Speaker
I'm not sure how many they got here.
00:14:50
Speaker
But with Stern being there and Jersey Jack and, in fact, everyone being there now, American Pinball and Chicago Gaming, all these guys are there.
00:15:00
Speaker
So they seem to bring out, they seem to clean out their closets because it's right there next door, right there in Chicago.
00:15:06
Speaker
So we're very fortunate to have their support.
00:15:09
Speaker
And now with Dave Fixley, who used to be a Pinball Expo attendee, now with him working at American Pinball, he's really stepped up that company's efforts.
00:15:18
Speaker
And they're producing games left and right.
00:15:20
Speaker
As a matter of fact, we have a home brew section, which is a very large section.
00:15:24
Speaker
That's another thing that we have at our show that's quite large is the home brew section.
00:15:28
Speaker
But American Pinball has offered any home brewers that if they build a game that is picked as the best game at the show, there's a very good chance American Pinball will contact that person in hopes of building that game.
00:15:46
Speaker
So this is a very, very unique opportunity for the home brewers out there.
00:15:50
Speaker
Now, like Sonic, they were the best at the show last Expo, and they don't qualify, but anyone who's developed a game in development or wants to do a game for the show and present it there at the show, they could have their game built.
00:16:05
Speaker
Yeah, and the challenge with Sonic was mainly a license.
00:16:08
Speaker
It was a license thing, correct?
00:16:09
Speaker
Right, right.
00:16:10
Speaker
But these homebrew guys are really creating some great stuff, so it's a golden opportunity for someone to build a game.
00:16:17
Speaker
And with a little bit of luck and the votes from the people, as well as Dave Fix's nod, he may choose as a game that they will build if the person so desires to go to the next step.
00:16:29
Speaker
And how long have you been doing this?
00:16:31
Speaker
Since day one.
00:16:32
Speaker
This is 38 years now, so it's... You know, anyone that does these shows, it's a labor of love, let's face it.
00:16:38
Speaker
And for someone to...
00:16:40
Speaker
doing the same show so long.
00:16:42
Speaker
Especially Ed down here in Texas and some of the other guys, they know the amount of effort you put into it and worrying about it and making sure Ed was having a good time.
00:16:53
Speaker
And it's just an endless project.
00:16:56
Speaker
It's a year-round project, really, because after the show's over, you start thinking about next year.
00:17:01
Speaker
So Ed's got a great following, and we hope Expo does as well.
00:17:06
Speaker
And, you know, the one thing you ask about what makes our show different is
00:17:10
Speaker
We get a lot of European attendees as well as European vendors that come to our show.
00:17:15
Speaker
So that makes it really cool as well to see some of these guys.
00:17:19
Speaker
So, Scott, start warming the car up and get ready because there will be a lot to offer this year.
00:17:25
Speaker
It sounds good.
00:17:26
Speaker
Okay, so if they want more information on the expo, how do they find it?
00:17:29
Speaker
PinballExpo.com.
00:17:30
Speaker
All right.
00:17:31
Speaker
Thanks, Rob.
00:17:31
Speaker
Thank
Classics Tournament Tips and Performance
00:17:32
Speaker
you.
00:17:32
Speaker
Okay, we are with world number one Raymond Davidson.
00:17:37
Speaker
Raymond, sounds like you had a big day today.
00:17:40
Speaker
Yeah man, the Classic Tournament was good to me.
00:17:44
Speaker
So I hear you didn't finish better than first, is that correct?
00:17:49
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I could only get first, I couldn't do any better.
00:17:51
Speaker
Okay, so for everyone else who is completely unaware, Classics is super hard because you have to know all these random sets, but there's so much randomness in the Classic, but Raymond, you seem to find a way of making it easy.
00:18:08
Speaker
So what's your recommendation for people who are playing classic?
00:18:13
Speaker
I would say try to boil them down to one shot or strategy and see how many times you can do that and have a plan.
00:18:20
Speaker
If it's on this flipper, I'm always shooting this.
00:18:23
Speaker
Or if it's on this flipper, I'm always trying to pass it to the other flipper.
00:18:27
Speaker
And then just be vigilant, be aware, and then also don't try to get too cute.
00:18:31
Speaker
At some point, you just got to flip it away.
00:18:33
Speaker
How are you doing the main?
00:18:37
Speaker
I'm qualified number one so hopefully I can do the finals as good as I did in Classic.
00:18:42
Speaker
But either way I'm already happy with the results this weekend so just gravy on top.
00:18:47
Speaker
Yeah and Raven's also one of the main coders on Rush and the new release just came out 0.91 correct?
00:18:55
Speaker
Yeah always be updating your code you know I love I love putting in more and more stuff into every release and I want to see everyone enjoying it and it's so great
00:19:04
Speaker
I've seen everybody play it and just love it, and I'm so happy to be a part of it.
00:19:08
Speaker
Yeah, well, good luck, Rick.
Art and Enthusiasm in Pinball
00:19:09
Speaker
Thank you so much.
00:19:10
Speaker
This is the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast with world-famous pinball artist extraordinaire Christopher Franchi and the Super Awesome Pinball Show.
00:19:22
Speaker
So, Chris, what's going on?
00:19:23
Speaker
Hi, this is Jeremy Packer.
00:19:25
Speaker
Chris couldn't make it.
00:19:27
Speaker
Well, you know what?
00:19:27
Speaker
Your games are really selling really well.
00:19:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:31
Speaker
Yeah, we're a family friendly podcaster.
00:19:37
Speaker
Alright, yeah, no it's actually Chris French.
00:19:39
Speaker
Having a great time, good to see you guys, good to see everybody else, good to be back.
00:19:42
Speaker
It's been three years and I've been all smiles.
00:19:46
Speaker
It's been great to see everybody, feeling the love, having a great time.
00:19:50
Speaker
Yeah, it's good.
00:19:52
Speaker
So what do you got here at the booth today?
00:19:55
Speaker
Well, let's see, sold out of most everything, but I've got Jaws trans lights left.
00:20:01
Speaker
Sold all the Beetlejuice, Wonder Woman, a whole bunch of art prints.
00:20:05
Speaker
Yeah, it's like, I got a couple crumbs left.
00:20:08
Speaker
There you go.
00:20:09
Speaker
Well, hey, there's still another day left, right?
00:20:13
Speaker
What, to get rid of the crumbs?
00:20:15
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully.
00:20:16
Speaker
To get all the milk and cookies, that's where the crumbs go.
00:20:19
Speaker
That's right, exactly.
00:20:20
Speaker
And congratulations on the success of your show and your industry award, is that what you won?
00:20:26
Speaker
Yeah, we got pinball industry last year.
00:20:27
Speaker
Yeah, awesome, congrats.
00:20:29
Speaker
Yeah, great.
00:20:29
Speaker
So what have you been up to?
00:20:32
Speaker
Anything interesting that we should know about coming up?
00:20:36
Speaker
With luck, two games coming out this year, one in October and one in November.
00:20:41
Speaker
That's all I can say.
00:20:42
Speaker
Two different companies, two different games.
00:20:45
Speaker
All right.
00:20:45
Speaker
Well, that's pretty good.
00:20:47
Speaker
Been working hard.
00:20:48
Speaker
Right.
00:20:49
Speaker
What else have you been up to?
00:20:52
Speaker
Bought a new house.
00:20:53
Speaker
Got a house with a fenced-in yard so a little pinball pup can run around, have a good time.
00:20:59
Speaker
So basically I've been moving, painting rooms, rebuilding.
00:21:04
Speaker
refurnishing, built a game room, you know, an arcade.
00:21:07
Speaker
I even got the official planet, Dayglo planet carpeting, you know, with the black lights and all that.
00:21:14
Speaker
And that's about it.
00:21:16
Speaker
Just getting work done.
00:21:19
Speaker
Always important.
00:21:20
Speaker
Always important.
00:21:21
Speaker
Thanks again, Chris.
00:21:22
Speaker
Alright, thank you guys.
00:21:23
Speaker
Everybody have fun.
Cactus Canyon Updates
00:21:26
Speaker
Alright, Loser Kid with Butch Peel.
00:21:28
Speaker
We're on the floor, so it's kind of loud, but Butch, you had your little presentation today on Cactus Canyon.
00:21:34
Speaker
How'd that go?
00:21:35
Speaker
It was last night, yeah.
00:21:36
Speaker
It went pretty well.
00:21:37
Speaker
It's on Twitch if anybody wants to watch it and anybody cares to.
00:21:41
Speaker
But yeah, it went really well.
00:21:42
Speaker
I thought it was well-received.
00:21:44
Speaker
Yeah, I thought it was really good.
00:21:45
Speaker
You were talking about all the little things you guys did to upgrade Cactus Canyon because Cactus really wasn't a finished game.
00:21:51
Speaker
That's right, yeah.
00:21:52
Speaker
and when it wasn't finished it wasn't finished in software and then the hardware we just added our thing did our upgrading more lights more cool features fixed those drop targets which was a big pain but yeah we're working a lot better now yeah and there's a lot of stuff going on too especially with the topper upgrades you were telling about different ways of keeping the the topper from being installed incorrectly because each one of those windows is different size
00:22:18
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:22:20
Speaker
Little details, that's what is really cool is Chicago gaming.
00:22:23
Speaker
You know, you can't even assemble the top or rung because everything's made just a little slightly different shape and size.
00:22:29
Speaker
So all those kind of details add up to a good quality game that lasts you a while and holds its value.
00:22:35
Speaker
Yeah, and even the mine thing and also you upgraded the train that's come across with the tracks.
00:22:41
Speaker
Oh yeah, that original train was just like something vacuum-formed styrene, you know, and so we made a die-cast metal one that just gleams and shines.
00:22:50
Speaker
Really cool.
00:22:51
Speaker
Yeah, but it seems like there's been a lot of demand for that.
00:22:54
Speaker
Yeah, there is, and I had a lot of people after the seminar coming up and playing the game and really enjoying it, and
00:23:00
Speaker
And yeah, giving it a chance and it's a fun game.
00:23:03
Speaker
It really is.
00:23:04
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:23:04
Speaker
It's really good.
00:23:05
Speaker
It's really good to enter that to the collection.
00:23:07
Speaker
And it's one of the few ones where you're going to have an updated code that you can buy afterwards that was being worked out with Lyman Sheets and Josh Sharp.
00:23:17
Speaker
Yep, yeah, they did an extended code package that's going to have a new set of rules that will supplement the complete... Really?
00:23:26
Speaker
Wow!
00:23:26
Speaker
That is so awesome!
00:23:28
Speaker
I can't wait to see it!
00:23:29
Speaker
When am I going to get my game?
00:23:31
Speaker
Woo!
00:23:36
Speaker
So yeah, we're going to do an extended rules package that'll supplement what we have in the game now.
00:23:41
Speaker
And it'll include a mech also, so it'll have rules that are tied in with a new mechanism.
00:23:45
Speaker
So it's kind of a kit.
00:23:46
Speaker
It'll probably be available later this year, we'll hope.
00:23:49
Speaker
Okay, sounds good.
00:23:50
Speaker
We're all looking forward to it.
00:23:51
Speaker
We'll certainly have you on when it's available.
00:23:53
Speaker
Hey, sounds like a plan, man.
00:23:55
Speaker
Okay, so this is Scott and... I was going to say Scott and Jeff.
00:24:01
Speaker
Take two.
00:24:02
Speaker
Okay, take two.
00:24:03
Speaker
Hey, this is Scott and Josh from Loser Kid Pinball Podcast.
Guns N' Roses Pinball and Industry Insights
00:24:07
Speaker
We are here with Ken Cromwell.
00:24:08
Speaker
He is the PR director of Jersey Jack Pinball.
00:24:11
Speaker
So we're touching base with him.
00:24:13
Speaker
How's the show been for you?
00:24:14
Speaker
The show is good.
00:24:15
Speaker
It's good seeing you guys here.
00:24:16
Speaker
It's been a long time, right?
00:24:17
Speaker
Since we get out, everybody's out at a show environment, looking around, people smiling, playing pinball.
00:24:24
Speaker
My voice is cracking because I'm losing it.
00:24:27
Speaker
It's what it's all about.
00:24:28
Speaker
It's a good time.
00:24:30
Speaker
So how has Guns N' Roses been released?
00:24:33
Speaker
You released it how long ago?
00:24:35
Speaker
Yeah, so Guns N' Roses was released October 5th of 2020.
00:24:37
Speaker
So it's been quite a long time, you know, when you consider what you consider a game release schedule.
00:24:44
Speaker
So we're ready to have another game here real soon.
00:24:47
Speaker
It's going to be exciting, you know, from a personal standpoint.
00:24:49
Speaker
To be able to market a new game is always exciting.
00:24:52
Speaker
And then just for the community that are anticipating another release, something coming is good.
00:24:56
Speaker
If you heard Jack today in his seminar,
00:24:59
Speaker
still predicting that we could have two games out by the end of this year and if you consider it right now we're in March.
00:25:05
Speaker
It'd be remarkable for us to have two games out at the end of the year but I can tell you from internal kind of inside look I could see that actually being in the cards.
00:25:14
Speaker
Sure but since you guys have moved production now from you know from New Jersey back to Illinois so everything is going to be a little different now but you and you moved during COVID so
00:25:25
Speaker
That had to have been challenging.
00:25:27
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it was a huge challenge.
00:25:29
Speaker
If you think about it, a lot of that probably played into some delays.
00:25:32
Speaker
I came in when the company was already kind of completing their move in April of 2020.
00:25:36
Speaker
And if you think about during COVID, being able to build a factory, get a new game on the line, have it be a huge seller.
00:25:45
Speaker
I mean, it's quite a feat.
00:25:47
Speaker
I understand that everybody wants that next game, that next game, but considering the circumstances, supply chain, pandemic, I think everybody is proud of Jersey Jack what we were able to accomplish.
00:25:56
Speaker
Yeah, it certainly has been a fantastic game.
00:25:59
Speaker
And I would argue, and you don't release numbers, but I would say it's probably the game I see most and probably the biggest seller if I were guessing.
00:26:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you're right about the numbers, but I can confidently say that this has been a tremendous hit for Jersey Jack, 100%.
00:26:17
Speaker
You know, and with the advertisement, when G&R came out, you just killed it with the advertisement.
00:26:22
Speaker
Love the commercials and stuff like that.
00:26:24
Speaker
You're looking to one-up yourself on this next release?
00:26:26
Speaker
Yeah, well, you know, it potentially could be a different approach to this kind of reveal.
00:26:32
Speaker
I don't want to get into redundancy where everybody knows what to expect.
00:26:35
Speaker
So the effort's going to be there.
00:26:38
Speaker
We are working with the same company that we had done the original promo for G&R with, with Element Studios.
00:26:44
Speaker
So we're always excited to work with them, and they're top-notch.
00:26:47
Speaker
So yeah, I would anticipate something that's going to be wowing.
00:26:51
Speaker
And we talked to Jack at the seminar and Josh had asked that you have four designers now and you guys have been releasing games every two years.
00:27:00
Speaker
So that's going to be stacked up.
00:27:02
Speaker
But yeah, just like you said, it seems like you guys are on the cusp of being able to take it to that next level and have more releases.
00:27:09
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's important to understand in this instance with GNR going back to October of 2020,
00:27:15
Speaker
The game cycle for us wouldn't typically be 20 months.
00:27:19
Speaker
Jersey Jack Temple right now, we're making the most amount of games on a daily basis than we've ever made since we started the company.
00:27:25
Speaker
And we've got two lines that are running.
00:27:26
Speaker
We can put two games on a line.
00:27:28
Speaker
We can keep GNR on a line while we're running a new release.
00:27:31
Speaker
We can have two new releases running simultaneously.
00:27:33
Speaker
So, I mean, it's exciting.
00:27:36
Speaker
Well, it's certainly a luxury to have a game that's such a big seller to keep the lights on.
00:27:41
Speaker
Yeah, keep the lights on?
00:27:42
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:27:43
Speaker
We try to keep them on over there.
00:27:44
Speaker
It helps everybody out in the long run.
00:27:46
Speaker
Well, when the world first met, you were just a humble pinball podcaster.
00:27:50
Speaker
What would you tell someone wanting to get in the industry that might be, you know, just a humble media type for the pinball industry?
00:27:57
Speaker
I think it's a tremendous asset.
00:27:58
Speaker
It's almost like you've got a resume kind of built up.
00:28:01
Speaker
When you're able to establish good contacts in the community and you're able to gain respect to the community by respecting others,
00:28:07
Speaker
If you're looking to get into pinball, I think it does kind of pay dividends for you.
00:28:10
Speaker
That being said, I realize most people are probably not getting into creating content because they want to break into the industry side of things.
00:28:16
Speaker
But if you're interested in doing it, I would highly recommend looking into it.
00:28:19
Speaker
It's very interesting when we come from podcasting and we make assumptions and we think what we know makes sense with companies.
00:28:28
Speaker
We're able to discuss these things.
00:28:29
Speaker
Speculation is always good.
00:28:31
Speaker
But it's also pretty shocking to get in on the other side and to really see...
00:28:34
Speaker
what is going on and why decisions are being made and why some decisions are not being made, it'll blow your mind.
00:28:41
Speaker
It's pretty impressive.
00:28:42
Speaker
Yeah, that certainly makes sense.
00:28:43
Speaker
Well, we're certainly looking forward to it.
00:28:45
Speaker
When's the next show you're going to?
00:28:46
Speaker
When's the next what?
00:28:48
Speaker
What's the next show you're going to?
00:28:49
Speaker
Oh, that's a good question.
00:28:50
Speaker
I'm not sure what the show schedule is looking like.
00:28:52
Speaker
Okay, but either way, you're going to be at Expo this fall.
00:28:56
Speaker
Yeah, of course we'll be at Expo in the fall.
00:28:57
Speaker
I think we might be doing a show in Florida.
00:28:59
Speaker
And other than that, I'm not sure what's left on the schedule.
00:29:02
Speaker
I want you guys to come to Chicago, come out so we can get you a tour of the company.
00:29:05
Speaker
And if you want to take a tour of the factory, it's fun.
00:29:08
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:29:09
Speaker
We'll love to do it.
Pinball Collection and Weird Al Game Thoughts
00:29:10
Speaker
Hopefully it'll be a lot easier now with the COVID stuff ramping down.
00:29:14
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:29:14
Speaker
And I want to congratulate you guys because I know you've established yourselves.
00:29:17
Speaker
Unbelievable podcast.
00:29:19
Speaker
You've got all the big guys, all the big knitters coming on there.
00:29:21
Speaker
It's good hearing your banter.
00:29:22
Speaker
And it's just nice to see the progression of the podcast.
00:29:25
Speaker
And you guys have not fizzled out and gotten stressed out.
00:29:28
Speaker
So congratulations to you.
00:29:29
Speaker
I know you're presenting tonight at the Twippies too, right?
00:29:32
Speaker
Yes, we are.
00:29:33
Speaker
And honestly, coming from you, Kim, that's a great honor.
00:29:36
Speaker
Honestly, looking up to what you did through Special One Lit, what you did was a very great accomplishment.
00:29:43
Speaker
I still look back to when you did the 24-hour charity.
00:29:46
Speaker
I don't know anyone else in the industry that would have done that.
00:29:48
Speaker
And you helped in an aspect of the hobby that needed to be helped.
00:29:54
Speaker
And it was awesome the people that you brought together to do that.
00:29:56
Speaker
And so...
00:29:57
Speaker
With your, I want to say clout, but with your clout, it's really cool that you've complimented us.
00:30:03
Speaker
We both say about, you know what, it means the world that you would say something like that to me.
00:30:07
Speaker
It really, really does, but feeling's mutual, guys.
00:30:10
Speaker
The respect is on my end with you, and I appreciate everything you guys do, and keep it up.
00:30:13
Speaker
And then, you know, at some point, quit your jobs and come work at a pinball company.
00:30:17
Speaker
I'll see what I can do.
00:30:18
Speaker
I'll see what you can do.
00:30:20
Speaker
Be good for everybody involved here.
00:30:21
Speaker
Let's go.
00:30:25
Speaker
This is Scott Larson from the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast.
00:30:28
Speaker
Who am I with today?
00:30:29
Speaker
Dr. John.
00:30:30
Speaker
Dr. John from down under.
00:30:32
Speaker
With hardly any voice left from yelling at people all night in Texas.
00:30:37
Speaker
Hey, how long did it take you to get here?
00:30:40
Speaker
It took me an hour to fly to Sydney and then 16 hours to get here.
00:30:44
Speaker
A direct flight from Sydney to Dallas, which is good because otherwise it's about 31 hours if you go via LA.
00:30:50
Speaker
And what does it say that Ryan and Marty didn't show up?
00:30:53
Speaker
I can't say that word on your podcast.
00:30:57
Speaker
Marty's busy building my mermaid edition Fathom at the moment and Ron's just a big girly sook.
00:31:04
Speaker
So what have you been up to?
00:31:09
Speaker
Basically playing lots of games.
00:31:11
Speaker
I've been increasing my collection with old and new so I got a new Guns N' Roses and I got an old Genie.
00:31:19
Speaker
and I've just ordered Weird Al so that'll be here next year.
00:31:23
Speaker
Did you get the complete package with all the games?
00:31:25
Speaker
No, just Weird Al and Heist.
00:31:27
Speaker
Okay, but that is a fantastic game.
00:31:29
Speaker
We were just playing it.
00:31:30
Speaker
I know.
00:31:31
Speaker
I'm looking forward to it.
00:31:31
Speaker
I've always wanted a multi-morphin.
00:31:33
Speaker
I've just been holding off and now I think I've got the exact right time to jump in.
00:31:37
Speaker
Yeah, it seems like to.
00:31:39
Speaker
It's a great game.
00:31:40
Speaker
Yeah, it is a lot of fun.
00:31:42
Speaker
We were trying to play, would you rather buy this game or then... I would say Weird Al was bumping up to the top of most of it.
00:31:47
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
00:31:48
Speaker
Of all the new releases, it's the one I'm looking forward to getting the most.
00:31:52
Speaker
How many do you think are going to go down to Australia?
00:31:55
Speaker
I asked Jerry that.
00:31:56
Speaker
I don't know if I'm going to say that, but he said there's been at least 10 authors.
00:32:00
Speaker
So we'll have another team.
00:32:02
Speaker
Hey, it's still building up.
00:32:03
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:32:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:04
Speaker
Well, there's already, I know one location near me has one on location.
00:32:08
Speaker
It was a Lexi Lightspeed.
00:32:10
Speaker
But yeah, so there's a few coming down and there'll be a few more.
00:32:13
Speaker
He's had a lot of orders come in already.
00:32:16
Speaker
And I think he's actually starting to look for a distributor.
00:32:19
Speaker
Because people like to buy from a distributor locally if there's issues or whatever rather than get it sent all the way over and then have to send back stuff.
00:32:27
Speaker
So having a distributor makes sense.
00:32:29
Speaker
So hopefully that'll be happening soon too.
00:32:30
Speaker
Sorry, are we going to see you stream it?
00:32:32
Speaker
Oh yeah, of course.
00:32:34
Speaker
Of course.
00:32:35
Speaker
I'll even try to talk Emily to playing with me.
00:32:38
Speaker
Yeah, she's probably better than both of us right now.
00:32:40
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:32:41
Speaker
Yeah, she's just started university so the pinball's on her back.
00:32:46
Speaker
burner for probably about six months and then we have the big Brisbane Masters tournament coming out in July in Brisbane and we'll have Escher coming over for that and Ryan from Comet Bimble's coming over and we've had Bowen and Colin Urban there before but we're hoping to encourage as many people as possible to make the little trip.
00:33:05
Speaker
If they want to come over how do they get a hold of that information?
00:33:08
Speaker
If they either contact me.
00:33:11
Speaker
How would they do that?
00:33:13
Speaker
Just look up John Colson on Facebook.
00:33:16
Speaker
Okay.
00:33:16
Speaker
They can do that.
00:33:17
Speaker
Or the official website is BPAC, B-P-A-C is my accent.
00:33:22
Speaker
Terrible.
00:33:23
Speaker
It stands for Brisbane Pinball and Arcade Collective on Facebook.
00:33:27
Speaker
All right.
00:33:28
Speaker
That'll link you to the tournament organizers.
00:33:30
Speaker
Okay.
00:33:30
Speaker
Good luck flying home.
00:33:31
Speaker
Thanks, mate.
00:33:32
Speaker
You have a good one.
00:33:34
Speaker
I hope you found those interviews awesome.
Podcast Wrap-up and Listener Engagement
00:33:36
Speaker
It was fun to listen to.
00:33:38
Speaker
If you want to get a hold of us, we are LoserKidPinballPodcast at gmail.com.
00:33:42
Speaker
Look for us on the socials at Twitter, Instagram, Twitter,
00:33:45
Speaker
Facebook, all at LoserkidPinball.
00:33:47
Speaker
Same with Twitch.
00:33:50
Speaker
We will see you probably next week.
00:33:52
Speaker
Kind of weird that we're dropping an episode in between the two weeks.
00:33:55
Speaker
I hope you're enjoying the content, and we hope to hear from you soon.
00:34:51
Speaker
Shut up and sit down.