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Triple Drain Pinball Podcast Episode 62 - TPF On Location!
845 Plays1 month ago
Triple Drain Pinball Podcast Episode 62 - TPF On Location!
Hosts: Joel Engelberth, Tom Graf and Travis Murie
We recorded together LIVE here at Texas Pinball Festival. It’s Friday night and we’ve all had a chance to play some of the latest games available. Tune in to hear our thoughts on Portal, Evil Dead, Cactus Canyon Remake (with Lyman code), Merlin’s Arcade, and Medieval Madness Merlin Edition. So much new pinball to enjoy!
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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/triple_drain
Travis' stuff: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePinballCompany
Tom's stuff: https://www.youtube.com/@Foxcitiespinball
Joel's stuff: https://www.youtube.com/@FlipNOutPinball
Shoutout to Jackson Gee and his incredible artwork. jacksongee.com
Shoutout to Brad Johanson and his company Alter Creative Media for his intro video. Altercreativemedia.com
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Transcript
Introduction & Podcast Setup
00:00:04
Speaker
We're three guys who like to talk and ball. So we came up with a clap, our name. We're Joel and Travis Donwood Talkin' Ball. And we call ourselves Triple Drain.
00:00:16
Speaker
Triple Drain. Triple Drain. We're Triple. Triple Drain. All right, we played the theme song. Did we? I didn't hear crap.
00:00:29
Speaker
Triple Drain. All right, did it. Yep, theme song. Everything's great. Everything's great. We're trying something new here. This is a live recording. The three of us are sitting in my hotel room, ah which has a balcony. do you Do either of your hotels have a balcony? You know, ah it's not awkward at all that we just told everybody, hey, we got to leave the party to go to Joel's hotel room up on the 10th floor and just, yeah.
00:00:51
Speaker
There were some innuendos. Yeah, on a Friday night. yeah Apparently they invited the entire Stern army and only these two guys showed up. Nobody else wouldn't come.
00:01:02
Speaker
um We are currently at TPF. This is Friday night. My voice is already gone. um Tom, how are you doing in the tournament? Fantastic. I'm third in qualifying for the morning session.
00:01:13
Speaker
I can't wait for you to watch this later and you're either going to be so proud of yourself or you're going to be like, man, I was so hopeful in that moment. that Pretty much. And then it all fell apart. Travis, how you doing in the tournament? I'm doing excellent.
00:01:26
Speaker
In the tournament? I think we're tied right now, right? Are we in the tournament? In the tournament, we're tied. yeah with like What tournament are we playing? Neither of them. That's the joke. Oh, oh. i Well, I think it's because the Stern Army thing. I had a... How much beer did you have? i had One.
00:01:40
Speaker
You had why I had one. No, you didn't. Did you really just have one? Yeah, how did you have, Tom? I had a Moscow meal. So one. So two responsible adults. and Oops. Anyways. ah we're not We're not going to talk about how much I had. We had a few comments on ah on our last video that that people typically do skip ahead a few minutes. So they probably already skipped that. They probably already skipped this banner. So we can just get straight into pinball talk. Yeah, why not? Yeah, might
Evil Dead Pinball Game Overview
00:02:06
Speaker
as well.
00:02:06
Speaker
um We have played, all three of us have played all the new games so far here at TPF. So we just wanted to get a quick episode out on our initial impressions, our initial thoughts of those games. um The game that I know I've played a ton of is Evil Dead.
00:02:20
Speaker
I think you've all heard my thoughts. If not, go watch the streams. I'm flipping out. Travis has played in a pinball at the beach, but Tom, this is your first experience of it. So Tom, feel free to let us know your thoughts on Evil Dead.
00:02:31
Speaker
ah Excuse me. It was ah fantastic, honestly. ah the these shots and it it didn't feel like a spooky to me, if that makes sense. Like, like, yeah, like, like the design is really good. how Like I say in a good way, and it like all those other spooky games, just pure shit. This one, is that what you two are saying? right know It's not that they're, it's not that they have bad games, but they, they make good decisions on the design. The artwork is fantastic.
00:03:07
Speaker
um you're but you're basically saying it feels like a step up from what they've done in the past yeah okay there we there we huge step up like i i was like wow this this is going to be a fantastic game and and you know not not everything is there code wise but um it for what is presented in the game it is fantastic Yeah, it's it's definitely a... It's an interesting game because there's so many mechs.
00:03:39
Speaker
on it, right? There's just like, there's mechs everywhere. But that's that's what I was gonna ask you guys is there are a ton of mechs, but sometimes mechs can become just, ah not cliche, but they they're just mechs for the sake of mechs. But are the mechs fun is my question. So, you know, Tom, you're a rather high-end player. Do you feel these mechs are just fancy little toys that they stuck in a game or do you feel like they're actually integrated well into a pinball experience?
00:04:06
Speaker
No, I think they're integrated well. Now, granted, i I have only played two games on it, so I've only seen the lower play field once. um i've i I've hit that shotgun. The the shotgun like hitting that, it feels like really good. Yeah.
00:04:24
Speaker
um but granted i didn't i didn't use the shotgun feature at all but um like i don't know the layout just seems to me like it it's good it flows well um i don't know i like i just think it's a big step up step up for spooky obviously ah i don't know I think people that people that like the Evil Dead theme, and if you're already a spooky fan, I think you're going to be happy with that purchase overall, right? 100%. Yeah, I think, and that's and that's all that really matters, right? Just the people that absolutely want the theme that are spooky fans,
00:05:07
Speaker
Then that delivers. I don't think people it's not going to be like a Halloween situation to where somebody gets the game and they're kind of like, oh, you know, I don't I'm not sure about this, you know, because the design is a pretty decent design. There's nothing divisive about it. Right. You're either going to like it or you you might not.
00:05:24
Speaker
But when you look at something compared to like Halloween and Ultraman, that was like. Pretty much if you get into your upper play fields, it's like it's taken a long time to get through it. Nothing feels like that in this game. It feels like everything kind of goes together. It flows together well.
00:05:39
Speaker
And the cabin multi-ball and that mechanism of getting the ball up there and having the chair stop is just really well done, too. Right.
00:05:50
Speaker
And I like that you can steal locked balls as well. I think that's a good... I didn't know that because I only i didn't i played a single player You didn't steal your own locked balls? And then I played joy. You better not. I know what you're about to say. You better not. I steal the heck out of Dennis Creasel's locked balls. Oh, yeah.
00:06:07
Speaker
He locked two up there, and it went through all of us, and he had a chance to get them again, and then it got to me, and took them. I took them. Because we played with Eclectic Gamers podcast group. Dennis and Tony, we had a good time with them. And then I discovered that the other night when we were playing. My brother actually locked two balls, and then boom, to take his multi-ball to steal that. What a fantastic thing you can do in a game. But I feel like I'm shilling the heck out of the game because, honestly, I've been blown away by it.
00:06:35
Speaker
um Unfortunately, i could never own it because it's it's incredibly gross and gory and gruesome. But it's awesome. like you really if that's it But you're part of the spook you're part of the spooky boner club now, though. like yeah why Why wouldn't you have it?
00:06:49
Speaker
Because it's just – maybe I'll add the picture or maybe I won't. But it's ah my – basically, the game remains under three blankets at all times. Like I just – unless we're playing it. So huge, huge big thumbs up. You hear that, Franchi?
00:07:04
Speaker
that That's what Joel thinks about your artwork right there. It's incredible. tom Tom and I would not cover up cover up your artwork. No, you also have older children. Joel. you don't care about your children. so yeah Hey, they need to grow up. You've got to handle a little blood and gore on your pinball machine, right?
00:07:22
Speaker
I'll say as of right now, there's like 60 left, and then they're sold out. So i I honestly think they will sell out either by the end of TPF or MGC.
Harry Potter Pinball Announcement
00:07:30
Speaker
yeah I heard there's only like 20 or 30 left now. Oh, wow. Yeah. and no It's well-deserved. It's well-deserved. And I really, I think if you if if you're in on this game, I think you're going to enjoy it.
00:07:40
Speaker
um So that was spooky. um Stern is here with D&D. We've all played a lot of D&D. Yeah, we've we've gone over that. We've gone over that. yeah um And then Jersey Jack is here with Avatar. We've gone over Avatar. We've played a lot of Avatar.
00:07:53
Speaker
But oh they they made an announcement tonight. Oh, are you prepared to play said announcement on the microphone? No, I'm not. But they they made it. and Oh, is this what you want? You want me? I thought right before, you know, on our 30-second free podcast.
00:08:10
Speaker
you're You're wanting me to take reel that somebody took tonight. said we'd play it on the podcast. Right. That means you edit it in, not that I take it and I just do this. Right, right, right, right, right. I'm not doing that. So basically...
00:08:25
Speaker
Basically, Jersey Jack, Jack Ranieri basically said, if like if I was you, I would not spend a dime. I would not spend anything until you see our next game. He made a ballsy statement with everybody. Because everybody's always playing like Kumbaya, like all the manufacturers. And he's just straight up saying, don't buy shit.
00:08:42
Speaker
Wait for our stuff. Like, don't even do it. So he has confirmed it is Harry Potter. Right. He said he has, it's all the movies. And they have all the assets. Yep. Was there anything else I missed there? No, that's pretty much what he said. In the clip that we saw, that's exactly what he said.
00:08:59
Speaker
Yes. So it's ah it's an interesting thing to come to TPF with no trailers, no promo, just like saying it just at a seminar. Yeah. Right? And then word just kind of spreads around. I mean, it's an interesting tactic.
00:09:17
Speaker
I don't think it's going to make people not buy well anything. but i said anno like hes Has he stated a date? because No. that's ah Well, I don't know. Maybe. But in a clip we saw...
00:09:29
Speaker
you know i mean maybe in the whole thing it has and maybe by the time this comes out there's a date but there's just there's so many games getting announced this week yeah like who knows yeah there's you know what three new games at the show and plus there's probably going to be like three or four new games coming in the next couple of weeks months you know kind of thing and Yeah, I mean, you know, if if I was Jersey Jack and I didn't have my game ready, maybe I'd want to get that news out as well.
00:10:01
Speaker
But, you know, the thing is, as as we all know, yeah you got to show the goods. yeah Yeah, because it was just an interesting thing to do because they already have, like obviously there's plenty of avatars that are here, right? They have Elton John, they have Godfather, they have Toy Story, they have all their games that are here.
00:10:24
Speaker
So I just found it fascinating that they made the decision for a company that spends as much as they do on the trailers and everything, just to just drop that, just at a seminar and just go from there. It's an interesting decision.
00:10:38
Speaker
It's, uh, yeah. it Because that's a huge theme, right? That's an interesting move. Cotton. Let's see how it pays off. Yeah. Like it's ballsy. It's it's super ballsy, right? Imagine that. Cause this theme, obviously it's probably costing millions of dollars to get. said that.
00:10:54
Speaker
Right. Did he say that on there? He said, yes. He said millions. Yeah. He said he's been chasing the license for 10 years. Took him 10 years to get the license and millions of dollars. So so then look like, let's put this in perspective, right?
00:11:05
Speaker
Millions of dollars. so Yeah. 10 years at least, it's a theme a lot of people want. It's a theme that I'm sure there was plenty of hoops to go over, and I'm sure those hoops were made a little bit easier by throwing more Benjamins that direction to figure it out. yeah But what's so interesting about it is that this is the company that does the huge trailers, right? Spends a lot of money on that to make it look cinematic, know so on and so forth.
00:11:32
Speaker
And just to go the exact opposite direction, With this type of theme is just it's really interesting. And I really wonder if that will if that will work. I mean, because I think it's hard to measure it, right? Like people are going to buy Harry Potter no matter what you're there in or you're out you you're out. And I think even the Harry Potter fans, I think they could have said, hey, we're just doing it based off one book.
00:11:53
Speaker
They would have still bought it. Right. I don't think yeah I don't know how many. Yeah. I don't know how many people would be like, if it's not based on every single movie, I'm not getting it. I think this is the one, you know, besides what happened a Toy Story. I think this is the one they could have done it based off one movie. And I think people still would have got it But to announce they have all the movies, that doesn't hurt them in any way. Right. No, it's kind of I don't know. It makes me nervous.
00:12:17
Speaker
And here's why it makes me nervous because I think of pirates, like how much was just sitting now that didn't have all the assets, obviously, cause it didn't have Johnny Depp, but I just think of how much that that game had and how many options it has.
00:12:30
Speaker
And I'm just kind of like, Even if it has all the movie clips and all that, you guys know how I feel about movie clips and LCD. I'm like, yeah that doesn't mean anything to me. I'm curious, though, how you how do you pull the full Harry Potter saga into one pinball machine?
00:12:49
Speaker
Like, how do you how do you do that where it makes sense? Let's ask the guy that's most likely to buy this game. Tom. OK. All right. Because that's you. Right. You just yeah what what do you need? Like, what do you need now that, you know, they have all the movie assets, they have all the what do you what are you waiting for? it Like, if you could put a deposit down right now, would you? And if not, what do you need to see? What what what do you need to see to buy this game?
00:13:14
Speaker
Well, one, gameplay. Two, what are the ah what are the how are the assets tied in? So, like yeah, if you you can have all the movie assets and in every character, but if they're not tied in properly into the game, it it's not good.
00:13:34
Speaker
going to work out really well so you know that even even though they have everything you know you're talking what seven eight movies yeah like how many how many books are you fitting into that right books right but they made eight movies right yeah okay yeah yeah so i mean yeah i mean it it could be like an epic um Or it could be a bunch of stuff smashed in there and it's not quite what everybody's expecting. And I think that's the big thing, like expectations.
00:14:15
Speaker
You know, like, I think a lot of collectors expect a lot out of Jersey Jack because they seem to they seem to really, like, go all in on their themes. and and And, um you know, for for most of them, Elton John was a great game.
00:14:33
Speaker
You know, they put a ton of songs into it. Steve Ritchie doing a great flow game. It was really great. But when it came to, like, Pirates... you know With Pirates, it was a good game, don't get me wrong, but it just left out like everything from the movies. like There was like zero from the movies, except for little little pieces of it that that you know didn't make sense. It didn't have the characters. They were on the play field, but they didn't tie in those movie assets and sounds and things like that.
00:15:10
Speaker
So I think that hurt it. i Yeah. I mean, I think it's – we had just sat down. We just saw that clip. We weren't in the seminar. So I think it's ah it's a ballsy move. It's a ballsy move.
00:15:23
Speaker
um I'm curious. Grande huevos. Wow. oh I'll be very curious if there were people that were sitting there and they're like, okay, I was ready to pull the trigger on Evil Dead. or i' I mean, I know personally in my head it's like I'm not buying any new game until I see Elwyn's next game, Harry Potter. like We know it's right around the corner.
00:15:44
Speaker
I'm not in a rush. to to I got to buy it now. But also I can't buy either of those games now. um But, yeah, i think it's I think it's a very interesting move to – I've never heard this where a manufacturer's – Straight up told us what the theme is and details like that without showing anything. And also not even setting a date on when they're going to announce it.
00:16:05
Speaker
Yeah, well, it it kind of goes... Sorry, don it kind of goes to what we talked about before. like I would always be interested to see what would happen if a manufacturer just sat down and had like a Stern Day or a Jersey Jack Day and just announced what was coming, the approximate time, kind of like what Marvel used to do right with their Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3. So it kind of feels like that in a way, but at the same time, it does leave a lot of questions. Like, how...
00:16:32
Speaker
For me, it's like you've got eight movies, right? Is that how many we're going with? Eight? It's a lot of movies with seven books. Right. So what are you going to do? Eight wizard modes with it?
00:16:44
Speaker
Five modes per? Are going to have like 40 modes? I don't know. I mean, honestly- How do you fit all that into one machine? If they would have just said, we got the first movie and every asset, every character's likeness, I would have been okay if they just said, we got the whole first movie. But to go seven, it's- It's ballsy. Can they fit that all in?
00:17:02
Speaker
I don't know. That's like 25 plus hours of movie content. You know, I think I kind of like The Hobbit. Like The Hobbit was a good game. it just, it it had all the stuff. It had a fucking lot of modes.
00:17:16
Speaker
It had so many modes in that game. There were so many. Yep. And yeah, so like you're saying, I mean, maybe maybe it could be too much.
00:17:28
Speaker
Well, you just run the risk, right? like i Like, here's the tightrope they got to walk with this because people will expect a lot. And if you're a huge fan of the series, like you want to see all the beats.
00:17:40
Speaker
But at the same time, it's like, how do you fit all the beats into the game to where people can actually see them? Wide body. Yeah. Oh, but maybe maybe, yeah, maybe it's going to be like, I don't know. Maybe maybe they'll do something to similar to the way spooky did to where you pick like, this would be awesome. If you pick what movie you're going,
00:18:01
Speaker
Now we're cooking with gas. If they go that direction, that would be huge. That seems like the most logical direction to go, but it's also pinball. And sometimes we won't do things logically, especially us three knuckleheads. So I don't know. Maybe.
00:18:15
Speaker
So I don't know how that'll work. He's saying with evil dead, when you start the game right off the plunge, you either pick the first movie or the second movie. And there's four dedicated modes for each movie. So once you technically beat all four, then you go to the next movie. And I know Alien did something similar. Are you picking Alien or Aliens? Yes.
00:18:31
Speaker
So, yeah. if they can If they have seven books worth of stuff, that would be kind of That would actually be pretty dope. Yeah. If they did that, if they were – I mean, Keith Johnson's probably over there like – Pretty dope, guys. I'm going to figure this out. oh sorry sorry. I forgot. with The golf cart crowd. Wow. Wow. It would be pretty cool is what would be. Wow. wow ah how is How is that new golf cart coming?
00:18:55
Speaker
I told Travis that there everything's great. and We literally we had we stopped playing pinball so you can handle new golf cart. Yes, I sold my golf cart. That's the crazy news.
00:19:06
Speaker
And why did I sell it? To buy a new one. Does this golf cart have like a stereo system or like a TV in it? No TV. No TV. But the main thing is with the little kids, that well that's let's just go ahead and get into a golf cart segment here, With the little kids, I got to get the right golf
Humorous Digression: Joel's Golf Cart
00:19:26
Speaker
cart. Let's give you ah an on-the-spot TPF update. So the golf cart I bought, um the back seats now instead of being backwards and you're worried about hitting a bump and the kids go flying off, the back seats are facing forwards. So we got – that was why we – yes, yes. Yes. All listeners.
00:19:43
Speaker
Thank you guys so much for supporting the podcast. So if you have money to spend. Now Joel if you can have a golf cart where his kids are safe. Oh, wow. In the golf cart. Safety first. Yes. Yes. So thank you for all that triple drain money. We can support Joel and his golf cart. And you have money to spend on pinball.
00:20:01
Speaker
Just wait until you see how dope my golf cart is. And maybe you'll want to buy one yourself. You know, because it's got all the seasons. It's got all the assets. Yeah. It's got all that. It's got everything.
00:20:14
Speaker
It's got everything you could ever want. Four wheels. It's battery. Anyways. ah Thank you. Michelin tires. No, I don't know. But thanks for my ah thanks for that that mini segment of ah ah golf carton with Joel over here. So anyways, um let's talk about games we have played. um There was another announcement today.
Cactus Canyon Remake Discussion
00:20:32
Speaker
CGC has announced.
00:20:34
Speaker
the Medieval Madness Merlin Edition, as well as the Cactus Canyon remake additional Lyman code, which comes with additional parts that go into the game.
00:20:45
Speaker
um We have all seen the Merlin Edition. It's still Medieval Madness, which is a great game. And then we've all played the Cactus Canyon add-on, basically. um So initial thoughts on your time on Cactus Canyon.
00:21:03
Speaker
um I thought it was really cool. The mech is like a saloon with five characters, I believe it was, on top. And you got to like, is it I don't know if it's like a door, but you got to like bash bash the door and then it opens and you can finally like get the guy behind it.
00:21:23
Speaker
um I think it was like $1,250 add-on. bracelet. well i mean look i'm pretty... as it was there was Let's ah figure that out. don't i mean, talk amongst yourselves.
00:21:40
Speaker
talkco twelve forty nine 1249. 1249 plus shipping. 1249 plus shipping. Okay. Yeah. um Yeah. I mean, it was ah if I'm a Cactus Canyon owner, I'd probably want to get this add-on because...
00:21:56
Speaker
There is a lot of stuff added onto the game and this pamphlet. There's 10 new modes, two enhanced modes, new animation, sound and music, new saloon mech and spinner.
00:22:11
Speaker
Oh, that's right. There's like a little spinner off to the side, which I noticed while I was playing, but I didn't get to hit it. Okay. ah as as i i mean yeah As a Cactus Canyon owner, of course I'm buying this. ah Is it more than I wanted to pay? Sure. I mean, it would have been all i would love that to have been under $1,000, but I understand there's a lot that went into this.
00:22:34
Speaker
ah We're friends with Josh Sharp, who was involved in a lot of the code and planning of this. We know how much work is in this. um The mech, it is actually making the game harder.
00:22:46
Speaker
and And that's not necessarily a bad thing. But the bart shot the Bart shot is a very safe shot in in the normal game because it hits a ramp, it falls down, and then it ejects backwards, not at you.
00:22:57
Speaker
So it's a very safe feed. Now this saloon door is basically a barrier that you hit and the ball's coming back at you. So it's it's actually made it harder. They added another, there's a girl on the back glass, like Bart, I forget her name, um but it's a female Bart. So she's now in the game. Female Bart. um I don't know. It's like Barbara or not Bella. Bella Bart. That seems. Yeah. Bella Bart. Oh, that's exactly right. Way to go, Tom. Way to pay attention. Bella Bart is in the game. There's like other hurry up saloon fight gunfight. There's stuff associated with the spinner on the right. Franks and beans.
00:23:34
Speaker
but What? Is that a mode? a mode. So there's a lot in the game. And as an owner, i really enjoy the game. So if you're going to tell me, hey, spend money to have way more in the game, I'm going to give it a shot.
00:23:45
Speaker
Why not? There is the ah drunken multiball. um that was That was a carryover, actually, from the Cactus Canyon Continued.
00:23:58
Speaker
So that that mode did make it into the game from from that. So I just wanted to say that. I'll get off the mic now. Travis, your thoughts? You played it?
00:24:10
Speaker
Yeah, from what I could see, it was fun. Before you guys like covered up my flippers and I couldn't see anything anymore. This guy was real excited about this stern party because of free booze. So he's like, I'll just play a ball and hit whatever. So anyways, I'm excited about it. It it was fine. like but only So my only critique is that you can't see the saloon doors.
00:24:31
Speaker
Yeah. That's my only critique. like You have to bend down to see it so you don't even realize that there's saloon doors there. Right. That is fair. Like it. Yeah. That's my, that's my main critique of it, but it is interesting that it kind of turns it into like a bash toy yeah of sorts. So you got to hit it a few times in order to start lighting stuff. But there's a really good picture that, um, if Travis did the editing for this episode, he might insert into, uh, but he's not going to edit it. So are you talking about that I don't think I'm going to insert it. Well, yeah, even there, right. You can see those doors, yeah but you have to, you'd have to be like, eye level with the game see doors. Yeah. You've got to be like,
00:25:08
Speaker
what like four foot eight i don't know to see this emoto could see the door yeah and ah yeah emoto could see this yeah but we could not so uh it's i'm curious we'll have to give josh a hard time because you would think there would be if there was some other visual cue to know like this inserts lit when the door's down it would be nice to know whether or not the door's down that's all i'm saying um because it's a very different result on whether or not the ball bounces back at you or goes up the ramp and hits i mean, I think there is a visual cue cu because then you could collect your bounty or something like that, right? was going to say there probably is, and Josh, you'll be hearing from Josh. Yeah, I'm pretty sure there was. But you're also Joel, so yeah you're not necessarily paying attention to any of that.
00:25:48
Speaker
I don't... I feel like... I have taught you a lot today. Oh, come on. When it comes to rules, I feel like, sure, it Stern game, you can school me.
00:26:01
Speaker
The main rule you were telling me was hit the captive ball to get insanity on Evil Dead. Like, those that was it. You're like, hit the captive ball over and over again. Well, anyways, ah if you were wondering... um I definitely beat Travis in Evil Dead.
00:26:14
Speaker
like i death I definitely beat him in Evil Dead. Yeah, and they definitely was not draining once or twice to keep the game going along. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. Anyways, ah so that was Cactus Canyon. Cactus Canyon was great.
00:26:26
Speaker
um What else do we have? Portal. Portal. Let's talk Portal.
Portal Pinball Game Analysis
00:26:30
Speaker
um I kicked Joel's ass on it. I kicked Joel's ass on board. Did you guys play extended or standard? We did extended.
00:26:38
Speaker
Okay. um We actually, i know Travis and I played it first, um and we had Jerry there and Ian basically coach us through. um It's very hard. When you have a brand new game and you can't hear it,
00:26:51
Speaker
there's a lot going on on that screen and not saying it's too much, but it's just like, we didn't, you know, we needed fundamentals. Like where do we even start? And so to start a mode, they call it a, a room because it's like a puzzle room or something.
00:27:03
Speaker
So we understood, Oh, you hit that target and then you hit the scoop on the left. But you know, we were focusing on a lot of, a lot of other multi balls, but um I mean, I'll let you guys do your first impression first. Otherwise I'll talk way too much. I thought it was really cool.
00:27:16
Speaker
there's There's a lot in the game. ah not Not even if you're playing the they extended, but there's just some really cool mechs. There's a shot up the middle that launches your ball and then locks it in the back.
00:27:33
Speaker
um There's also an area like where it can fall down into. um i almost call it little mini playfield that you can... get the ball up into the many mini play field and there's a little little um flipper up there that you hit hit like a cube that drops and then there's scoop back there and you shoot it in there um but there was quite a bit going on there i i i thought it was really cool ah it could be the best p3 game
00:28:04
Speaker
Honestly. And I had Joel coaching me the whole time. So I put up like 11 million. I was like, yeah, in your face, Joel. If you can't do it, you coach, right? Isn't that how it works?
00:28:15
Speaker
Travis, you played it um and we played both the extended and then we played the standard as well. Correct. If you want to talk about the differences you saw there. um No, not really. but But what I would like to talk about, though, there so there was a couple of really cool mechs.
00:28:31
Speaker
On it, right? Oh, yeah. So this one mech is, so there one of them's not on the standard. One of them is on both. So the one that I was very impressed by overall was, it's like the plate, whatever they were calling it. What what type of plate were they call called it? called faith plate. It's a thing from Portal where you run over and it launches you up. Right. And so that mech I was very impressed with because it was just instantaneous feedback. Right. so Right up the middle. Yeah. As soon as you hit the ball right up the middle, if as long as that was activated, it would just fling up that ball. Yep. It would fling it right up into that plate up top that kind of gives it away and then it would just lock in like that was cool. Very cool. I really enjoyed that. And that there was a lot of good feedback with that.
00:29:15
Speaker
Right. Because it's the easiest shot in the game, but you got to see the ball do something cool. But you do have to light it. You do have to light it. Yes. Yes. But you get to see the ball do something cool. And then they had on the extended, they had something that I thought was really cool and i remember telling you guys this when we saw the trailer i was just kind of like why aren't they not highlighting this even more because it was like a blink and you miss it yep and it was gone and then we finally got to see it in person i'm just like holy shit this is a really cool shot because i i can't think of any other game that i've seen the ball do this on and that was simply whenever you hit the right ramp yep right you gotta hit it twice i think
00:29:53
Speaker
Right ramp, then it raises up, then you hit under it. Yes. It will eject the ball. To the left side and it brings it. top. Right. And it brings it down the wire form. And then you got to use another flipper that activates an upper flipper at the top. It's like a wall. Yes.
00:30:07
Speaker
Yes. It's not a traditional flipper. But through this, you can send the ball flying across the play field horizontal. onto the other side. Like not even below, it stays above everything.
00:30:19
Speaker
And that right there is pretty cool. Like you could actually do something that's different. And that's something I don't recall seeing in any other pinball machine. It was definitely a wow moment. yeah And because the on the extended version,
00:30:32
Speaker
for them to add the extra spinner and for them to add the right lower ramp, there's actually additional plexi that goes across the top. And you really don't notice it until you so you notice it. but it's it's um But to see that ball actually purposely roll across the clear plexi, it's called the light bridge. right So, I mean, to qualify it, it is something that you've got to be aware of. um So we needed some coaching on, oh, that's how we did that. Like to see the faith plate throw him up,
00:30:59
Speaker
The first thing you have to do is you have to get to the upper play field and then bash a cube back. And we instinctively like just did it. We didn't know. But we heard reports later that Jerry said you know when they had ah the first round of people come and try it, there were people that played you know a four-player game that never once saw that.
00:31:17
Speaker
And so they're like okay, let's go ahead and code it in that ball three. If that lock was never lit, let's make sure it's it's a gimme. Because honestly, that one of the coolest mechs, like he's saying, is straight up the middle. So theoretically on ball three, any player should experience that mech.
00:31:31
Speaker
um And it's kind of like how Houdini, the coolest mech in Houdini is the milk the milk crate, but the shot to get a ball into the milk crate is so tight, novice never see it. This is the exact opposite. They put one of the coolest mechs right up the middle. It's not lit all the time, but when it is lit, it's very fun to see.
00:31:47
Speaker
um It's just... My overall review of Portal is they did Portal incredibly well. Like I love both games. I can't hear it, but visually Brad Albright killed it.
00:31:58
Speaker
To see the way that they incorporated the different puzzle modes, I saw Tom beat one and it was like multi-levels and stages hit these shots. Then the game changes to hit these shots. Then the game changes hit these shots. I saw Travis complete one or two levels.
00:32:13
Speaker
It's very, very, very well done. And I i would say this is the funnest The most fun that I've had playing a P3 game was just ah probably six games that I've put on on Portal so far. Yeah, well, one of the one of the good things I can say about Portal is I was judging it too based off like how my kids reacted to it. Because my two sons that are 14 and 15, they've played a lot of Portal.
00:32:37
Speaker
Like a ton. So, them playing this game, they realized what they were getting into. And I know that they thoroughly enjoy the theme. So, was interesting to see a theme that they actually connect with.
00:32:48
Speaker
that's their, you know, amongst their demographic a little bit to where they can pull pinball into that. And I asked them about it and they're like, yeah, it feels like I'm in the world of portal. Like I feel good about it. And they're even asking like, are we going to get this machine or we going to get this machine? And they don't, they don't ever really do know that. Yeah. They don't ever really. Yeah. I'm like, get a job and yeah you can buy the machine. Yeah.
00:33:10
Speaker
But yeah, I think that if you're a portal fan, I think you're probably happy with this. I'm sure that there's several people out there that are saying, well, since Multimorphic's making it, I'm just out no matter what. I would encourage them to at least try it out, go to a show, check it out.
00:33:29
Speaker
Your opinion might change a little bit. I think that this theme being on the platform that it's on with the P3 makes it interesting just because the scoops right can act like they're actual portals.
00:33:41
Speaker
They can. yeah And so it's it's just cool seeing the ball do different things and seeing the ball fly around. And it's just, yeah. I think overall it's a fun game and I was pleasantly surprised. like by like how much fun it was. So it's like, I'll be honest, i I don't think the design is anything like out of this world. Like the design just is what it is.
00:34:01
Speaker
But I think some of the way that the mechs are and the implementation of those mechs makes the game a lot of fun. So because the way that the P3 is designed to have multiple vertical up kicks in that back third,
00:34:14
Speaker
There's so many different shots where immediately as soon as you hit the shot up a ramp or this, it'll just shoot out another ball. And it really gives you that that um portal-like feeling of it went here, but now it's over here.
00:34:26
Speaker
Oh, I'm up on the upper play field. The moment I fall off the upper play field, it ejected all the way over on the other side. um It's really impressive. um I will be honest. My one piece of negative feedback, which I know all three of us have experienced, the the right ramp,
00:34:42
Speaker
um It goes up and down, but because it's hovering over top of the LCD, i it we feel like it was like hovering a solid half an inch or something above the LCD. So the amount of momentum that you have behind that ball it kind of shakes or moves the whole mech and it just kind of kills the momentum. So you really have to hit it clean to get it up that ramp.
00:35:04
Speaker
And there are other times where that ramp was felt in the way. Now Jerry was explaining us it to us of there's a certain target you can hit that'll freeze the ramps. So next time you hit any of the ramps, it'll raise them up and it'll will stay up.
00:35:16
Speaker
So there's ways you can work around it, but it's just one of those things where I was really impressed with so many parts of the game, so many parts of the, the or mechs in the game, But that is the one ramp that it's like, okay, if that was on if that was adhered somehow to the play field, like on a wooden play field, that ramp would probably be incredible. But here it'ss there are physical challenges with putting a ramp above an LCD screen.
00:35:41
Speaker
And maybe I know these are prototype games. These are they've only made a few of these. So maybe that's something that they will continue to improve upon or something you can dial in. um Yeah, I'm not off to wait and see on that. I'm not really sure you're right how you can make it any different than what it is just because of the way that the system is itself. I will say, though.
00:36:00
Speaker
It looked like anybody on the right flipper that you could backhand the right ramp anyways, that close-up ramp. And it was pretty cool seeing what the ball would do. If it went up there, went to the up kicker real quick. Or or not up kicker, went just to the kickback type. yu Just the ball launcher, I guess. And you'd see the ball just go flying. I think something like that was pretty cool. yeah It just always felt like that the ball was doing something or you were making the ball do something.
00:36:28
Speaker
Yeah. which which is Which is good. The game didn't feel like it was slow. It didn't feel like it was super fast either, but it just it didn't feel like the game was a slog. No. And that's the key. You don't want your game to feel like that, and I didn't get that feeling playing Portal. Well, if you've played Venom, the Venom has the fast lock system, and that's essentially what you're experiencing all over this game with the portals and and how they're implementing it.
00:36:50
Speaker
um What is interesting, though, is playing the standard edition so it doesn't have the mechs over the LCD, At that point now, you just have a fan layout. And I don't mean that in a bad way, but it definitely feels more friendly. It's more so it's safer.
00:37:02
Speaker
like It was interesting playing two versions of the game where you have one's a fan layout, one isn't. And um that's when you start to realize... Having those mechs closer to the flippers makes it more dangerous or makes the geometry of some of the stuff behind it more challenging.
00:37:17
Speaker
um So i'm I'm very curious about that. I actually asked Jerry, I said, you know, being that this is the first P3 that they were having to design code That's going to be different depending on what model you have installed on the game. Like ah how far along in the project did you realize you're going to have to start doing that?
00:37:34
Speaker
And Jerry, he goes, I'll be honest. ah You know, we only were planning the the ah extended edition, but we put so much in the game that we knew the cost of it was so high.
00:37:46
Speaker
that we were worried, you know, one of the promises of the P3 was that these modules would be considered cheaper. um So he's like, we wanted to go ahead and offer a cheaper alternative. ah But he said, but on ordering day, 98% of the modules ordered were all the extended edition.
00:38:02
Speaker
So yeah and it may not have even been needed. You're right. And that's rightfully so. I think if you, if, if you own a P3, or you're thinking about getting involved in it. I think that the extended is the way to go personally. And that's after playing a couple of games on the standard version as well. yeah Just because it's it's noticeable that you're missing those parts. yeah right And I think that that just adds more to the game. like They listen they listened to customers and people that wanted to see something different than just being in just the back third. Like that feeling of everything in the back third. yeah So they pulled a lot of physical mechs
00:38:40
Speaker
up that you can actually interact with, right? It's not just the targets on the side. It's not just the LCD itself. It's the actual spinner and it's the actual right ramp. I will say though, there is something that was kind of cool on the standard with the virtual spinner, right? I didn't like, I thought it worked well, right? I thought it was going to be kind of goofy when I first saw it. And then I was like, oh I'm just going to keep in the left orbit. Cause I actually see the spinner. Like it, it worked just fine to me. The way the geometry works on the extended is the spinner is kind of directly in front of the left orbit. So they have a graphic on the standard edition of a spinner.
00:39:13
Speaker
And when you hit that same ball path, it detects it. It knows that's where you're going. And it's the same spinner sound. Like it, it's surprisingly feels like you're hitting a spinner, even though you're not physically hitting anything in that spot. So I would say overall, I'm, I was super impressed with portal. If I owned a P three, I would absolutely spend the $5,000 and buy the kit.
00:39:33
Speaker
Like it's, it's absolutely worth that. But I know none of us, the three of us, we don't own a P three. So It's not a $5,000 game for us. It's a $12,000 game. and And that's a commitment that I know every single release. It's like, yeah is it now?
00:39:49
Speaker
Is this the game that's going to get me over that threshold? Because the value comes in when you buy a second module or a third module. So it's not a $12,000 commitment. It's a... 15 or $17,000 commitment, you know, like.
00:40:01
Speaker
yeah that's And that's an all in commitment too. Cause like we talked about before, the big difference between this and other pinball machines is that a lot of times when you buy a new inbox game, you're not necessarily, unless it's a dream theme, like it's rush for Tom, right?
00:40:16
Speaker
You typically 90 plus percent of your purchases you get, it's most likely going to be in a way that you know that you're going to sell the game eventually. at some point. There's a lot of collectors that are like that. Whereas with you know a P3 module, you're not necessarily thinking like that. You're pretty much going to be all in if you're going to get this module, you're going to want to keep it for as long as possible. So...
00:40:40
Speaker
yeah I think that that presents its own barriers ah hundred books for some people, but um but I think it's ah it's a great effort. i I think with that and Princess Bride coming out back to back, oh yeah they're at least on the right track to to do something with what they're what they're trying to do. They're heading in the right direction. That's where I think like Spooky is only getting better. I think P3 is only getting better.
Turner Pinball's Merlin's Arcade
00:41:04
Speaker
um Another game that I think is an improvement upon their last release is um Turner Pinball. Turner Pinball, we actually played Merlin's Arcade. um Interesting take.
00:41:15
Speaker
We might have two different two different opinions on this one. Okay, well, let's start with Tom. He'll be the sider here. did you play it, Tom? i All right, what did you think? Let's see who's side you're going to be on here. I mean, i and so, okay.
00:41:29
Speaker
I've only played like one ball on Ninja Eclipse. so And I've played a full game on Merlin's Arcade. so you have four total balls ever. Correct.
00:41:42
Speaker
on a turner pinball and machine that is correct right um as far as merlin's arcade goes uh i liked it i mean it had ah had good shots um i like i i actually like the theme of you you basically each shot is its own kind of like what night night right so you with a k right it's not like night in the sky it's like night with a sword and whipping people oh sorry sorry i know i i did i can't do kind of he just shaves his head he's like i'm gonna punch people i'm gonna whip people but uh
00:42:27
Speaker
No, i i like the way I like the way the game's shot. i like I actually like the rules. um that Basically, you like you want to get a pop-umper mode going, and then you you shoot the scoop, and then you hit the pop-umpers to progress. But...
00:42:48
Speaker
but Anyways, you know, just playing a game on it um it's it's always hard to, like, get a huge feel for a game with just one game.
00:43:04
Speaker
But from what I played, i liked it. um There is a lot of, like... models in the game ah you know you had you had the merlin toy in the center you have like the evil witch in the back um you have a spinner that's not like a spinner but it's a like a 3d i think it's like a three yeah yeah it's a foosball uh guy But it's all, every every mode basically is, or or what did you call it?
00:43:38
Speaker
A knight. Every knight mode. Like not like not a knight in the sky, but a knight with a K that slashes and Slashes. Yeah, it's all based, all those modes are based on some type of arcade game.
00:43:55
Speaker
ah The main ramp is pinball, and you gotta lock balls there, but i you know i thought it's a solid effort. The artwork is i the artwork was good. i like the cartoony artwork. you know Travis is not agreeing with me.
00:44:12
Speaker
No, I'm just listening to your opinion. But you know for what i from what I played on it, I think it's a good family-friendly game that people can enjoy.
00:44:23
Speaker
do you think Joel can have this in his basement? I do think Joel could definitely have this in his basement. Although um we were asking about it because I finished one of the nights and then like it turned into like a powerful evil night.
00:44:39
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Yeah. Joel and I were like, what's going on here? And Joel can talk more about We needed the deep lore, lore of what's going on in Merlin's Arcade. And being that there's no gameplay this game yet, it's it's weird.
00:44:52
Speaker
It's Merlin's Arcade, so you're in an arcade or the realm that you're in is arcade. So like Tom was saying, it's all different arcade equipment. So food, ball table, bill billiards, pinball.
00:45:04
Speaker
Darts. Darts. um There's ah hoops, like a shooting game. So one of the modes he got in, there is there's four little stand-ups. That's that Yeah, four little stand-ups. So he spelled hoop, and then he hit the scoop. So then he was battling the knight that is hoops.
00:45:20
Speaker
So when he's battling him, what he has to do is actually spell hoop in order, H-O-O-P, and then he had to hit the scoop. And that got him through phase one. Then apparently the guy gets possessed or or taken over by the sorcerer. And so you can qualify to get to phase two.
00:45:35
Speaker
And then that what they were saying is once you get through four knights, um that's when you battle somebody. So there's like the sorceress and there's this other person and then there's Merlin and then there's King Arthur.
00:45:47
Speaker
It's a very interesting story premise. I gotta say another thing about this game. and like So I'm watching Joel play it, and I'm like, blow I am blown away by Joel's skills.
00:46:02
Speaker
I mean, he is like tap passing. i like I am just like, in for what the hell is going on? Did I go into another dimension? I don't know what's going on.
00:46:13
Speaker
Come to find out, there are these extra flipper buttons that actually, they're called finesse flippers. And they allow people like Joel.
00:46:24
Speaker
Training wheels. ah To do tap passes. It was actually, was cool. I thought it was a a neat little feature. It's definitely different and it's cool that they're trying to bring that into the game.
00:46:40
Speaker
So, Travis, tell us why it sucks and why you like Ninja Eclipse more. I didn't say it sucks. You've been sitting over there biting your tongue. I didn't say it sucks. Tell us why. I'm just listening The other one's so much better.
00:46:53
Speaker
i I'm just listening to you guys. Okay.
00:46:58
Speaker
I need to play it a few more times. Yes. Okay. I'll o admit that. I think after my first couple of balls playing it, I just kind of had that oh no feeling. That was occurring. I think you kind of saw it in me too because then I kind of just like just got through my third ball and I'm like, I'm good.
00:47:14
Speaker
Yeah, you checked out. Yeah, yeah. But so here's why. It's not that the game is like built bad. Like the flippers felt good, right? They they were snappy. I think for me, I was looking at this layout and I'm like, okay, it's basically eight ball deluxe, obviously.
00:47:33
Speaker
And it's kind of feels like Sharky Shootout in a way, like games like that. And it just felt like that the way that the layout was for me, it didn't seem to fit with how strong the flipper mechs were and just generally like just the shots didn't feel like it fit with with that for me, right?
00:47:54
Speaker
it' because It's just like when I was doing the loops. So you did like two or three loops, eventually that ball was not gonna hug that rail anymore. Yeah. yourre upper flipper i noticed that a few times that just i couldn't get over the bottom slings either like the po slings were just so small yeah that it almost felt like it turned the game into a toy To me down there, they just felt like abnormally the inlades are huge. Yes. Like there was that was just way different. And I don't know, like that's just my first impression playing it. yeah So I know I got to play it a little bit more. But something with it, it just isn't clicking for me. And I really like Ninja Eclipse.
00:48:34
Speaker
Like that game clicked with me because it had some interesting shots to it. It's cool seeing the ball zip around. You know, in this game, you don't really see that. at all like compared to my speech is some more standard it felt like yeah it feels like that obviously this layout has been done for a long time and it was placed you know within the the turner pinball ecosystem to where they're trying to do something with it but it to me it just feels like there's a couple adjustments that still need to come to kind of make the game just feel tight to feel like it's meshing well together
00:49:09
Speaker
Because it it plays, because of the way the mechs are and because of the way the layout is, it plays freaking fast. very fast. Yes. And if you play an 8-Ball Deluxe, 8-Ball Deluxe does not play fast. It has you know a little bit thicker flippers.
00:49:23
Speaker
And obviously, it's a solid state that has tap passing on it. It doesn't need to play fast, right? You still want strong flippers, but there's no need for you know ramps or anything like that because it's 8-Ball Deluxe. But on this, I don't know. It just kind of just...
00:49:38
Speaker
It felt strange to me playing it. and there's just a few times that you take a shot and it'd be like, okay, that just, it just didn't feel right. that that's That's like the best way I can describe it. And people would have to play. I'm sure there's plenty of people playing it that think it's, you know, fantastic feeling. I think it's just so absolute personal preference. And it's just, I have a lot of time on an eight ball deluxe.
00:49:58
Speaker
So that's like my mental representation of it, my experience on it. So when you pull it to this, it's kind of like I, I had to just directly compare it. to Beatles, right? And see which, cause Stern, right? They, they brought an old layout back from the Stern electronics. aids They put it with Beatles, but then they made some slight adjustments, but they still had modern Stern flippers on it and it felt right. It felt fine. And this one, I feel like there's still, there still could be some tweaks possibly to come that would help it. Now it's not going to happen obviously, yeah but almost feel like this game could have benefited from that a little bit.
00:50:35
Speaker
Sure. I think, um, I mean, my overall view with Turner Pinball is the technology that they put in the games is super impressive, especially if you ever if you're ever at a show, just ask them to lift up the play field the way that they have wired it.
00:50:49
Speaker
The overall technology of how they've reengineered a lot of stuff that's under the cabinet is super impressive. the The way that the the frame, what holds the glass in, all comes off and there's built-in light rails up there.
00:51:03
Speaker
So the lighting effect's super impressive. The speaker lights, everything. It's a very impressive, fully powder-coated game. Basically kind of like an LE experience, but at a pro price.
00:51:14
Speaker
um So it's i mean yeah's impressive. I mean, once you think about it with where their pricing's at for their standard, it is the same price as a Stern Pro. If there's 60 people in the line at a show, don't ask them to lift up the play field. Ha ha ha.
00:51:31
Speaker
Yeah, definitely don't do that. But I need more time on it, though. That's fair. I need to play i need to play it more, and I need to figure out... like I'm not even thinking about rules. i just trying to find shots. I can see the similarities to 8-Ball Deluxe, but there's a lot of differences, too. Oh, yeah, of course, because it has a ramp, and it has a foosball thing on there and all that. Yeah, and it's i mean it's got like an up-the-middle shot that kind of like loops back, and and vice versa. like You can...
00:51:59
Speaker
hit the left orbit and then it comes through the flippers. i mean, there's, it it's a little more diverse shots than like, people yeah i just Maybe it's like turn down the flipper power a little bit. like Give the game room to breathe sure during the gameplay. because I don't know if it it could be like just the the way that the play field is.
00:52:22
Speaker
isaaccrylic right and It It feels like you're playing on ice now a little bit. I could be wrong. and maybe i just Maybe I didn't hear it. Tom wasn't complaining about the speed.
00:52:33
Speaker
the Tom blew it up. Tom blew it up. So maybe it's fast for you. Maybe you're a little tired. Hey, maybeoxated I'm judging it. I'm judging it based off how the normal, usual, everyday player that just wants to play. Yeah.
00:52:49
Speaker
How they would judge it. Because that's the eyes I got to go through. I'm not looking at through like tournament player. like Joel was tap as it. I was just tap passing. Okay. Let me ask you this. what is What I will just ask. I'll just ask this straight out. What is load is my what is the point of that? ah To impress the people around you.
00:53:06
Speaker
You know, like it's it's it's a novel. like ah What were you using it for during game? To amaze others. like Remember what I just talked about just the last podcast. I mean, I guess everything you have in the game, there needs to be a reason And I see what Travis is saying there, but maybe maybe it's to get somebody who's more of a novice player getting them that feeling of maybe more of a expert player.
00:53:38
Speaker
So like, but I'm asking like, why would you need to use it Like what on the play field? Because there's people Joel. Well, no, I'm asking like what on the play field says that you need to like get the ball in the other flipper?
00:53:51
Speaker
Just to do that, to move the ball from one flipper to the other. Have I played it enough really But what on the play field says you need to do that? Like I get it. I never saw i never saw Tom do it once. apparently don't need to do it at all.
00:54:03
Speaker
That's what I'm asking. Yeah. It was, ah it had its moment. You hear that, Stern? You guys want to sell more games. Finesse flippers. That's what you need. Automatic tap passing. Jersey Jack, you want more Harry Potters to go?
00:54:18
Speaker
Tap passing flippers. Automatic. Make it happen. It was a novelty. And I mean, i honestly, my initial impression. I mean, it looks cool when you do it. I'm not going to lie. like It looks cool. But.
00:54:29
Speaker
I just want to know the purpose Maybe if you owned it or played it more, maybe there would be situations because I know like Evil Dead, when I saw the sling flipper in the trailer, I'm like that. I just seemed like a novelty. I was like, that seems like a poorly played out. They have a mode tied into that. Exactly. And what mode is tied into finesse flipping?
00:54:47
Speaker
Maybe we didn't get to it because maybe it was too fast or maybe that's ah the wizard mode, you know? Oh, I don't know. Wizard mode training wheel tap passing. Yeah, you don't know. You don't know. like That could be like the ultimate night. if we If we get there, I think I'd be better at it.
00:55:06
Speaker
Because that's just how it works. um My last question with that was, it is basically Stern Pro pricing. Is there a Stern? Would you take that game over any current Stern Pro?
00:55:23
Speaker
I can plead the fifth because people call me a shill anyway since we sell Stern Pro. So I will not even answer that question. Well, I don't know. ben and ah i all What I'll say is... ah I mean, I can i can answer it. i I personally wouldn't. oh just Just because... It's too fast.
00:55:39
Speaker
Well... It's the theme. like the theme The theme doesn't do anything for me. If I'm looking at it strictly from a theme... right like eclipses like phases i like ninja You like I like I I don't need wizards. I want ninjas.
00:55:56
Speaker
it It is very like G-rated kind of theme. I mean, it's it's almost Disney-esque.
Game Standouts at TPF
00:56:07
Speaker
I mean, I almost wish instead of doing Merlin's Arcade, why couldn't they have it be Merlin's Arcade, but... Slower. No! No! I'm meaning like why like, why is it that they're using, that it's like obviously like some fantasy world that they happen to like be in old wizard times or whatever.
00:56:30
Speaker
Oh, I hope. Thank you. Thank you. F and A. for the video people. Vindication, baby. Vindication. So the audio people, ah I pulled out my camera, which I've never used for recording, and it just died. it just died. so Oh, Travis needed this. Not so easy now, is it? it Uh, now, now all of us are now Elgato, no signal, are we? We will. I will put Elgato, no signal on the screen for the rest of this pocket, but we're wrapping it up anyway. So, um,
00:57:06
Speaker
no I need to go play more Merlin's Arcade. Tom had made the comment of, he's like, I feel like the art looks a lot like Looney Tunes. And I said, well, same artist, Matt Andrews, the guy that did all the art for Looney Tunes is the same guy that is now hired by Turner Pinball ah that's doing the art for them. So I think that's all the new games. ah Barrels of Fun, as far as we know, it's 10 o'clock at night on Friday.
00:57:27
Speaker
i We're pretty confident at this point they're not actually going to announce anything. Maybe they're going to have their... Do they have their seminar tomorrow? They have a seminar tomorrow. So maybe they're going to tell everybody, hey, hold on to your money. We have all the was just going to say that.
00:57:41
Speaker
They're going to pull a very ballsy move and just be like, do not buy anything. you think Hold on to your money. You think Zach Sharp or Ken Cromwell or no, ken and Ken's already with Jersey Jack. You think like Zach Sharp's probably like, well, shit, why didn't I think of that? told me about the market That's all we have to say is just don't die don't buy else. Ah, man. We didn't think of that one.
00:58:05
Speaker
Yeah. um So we don't know. We don't know what's going on with barrels of fun. But yeah, so Stern, I mean, we're not downplaying D and D still going strong. Dwight's here. Brian Eddie's here. I know they have a ton more to add in the game, but Stern, you know, Ellen is right around the corner.
00:58:19
Speaker
Jersey Jack, same thing there. They're obviously pushing um Avatar, but they just said very clearly, don't buy anything else. I don't think they're pushing Avatar anymore. I think they pretty much just said, look, we're all in on Harry Potter.
00:58:31
Speaker
yeah That's just the way it came off, and rightfully so so. Obviously, they're confident. Why did they even bring any games? Just wait. Just save your money. i ah Yeah. It's an interesting tactic.
00:58:44
Speaker
We'll end with this question, which is – Okay. Good idea. Yeah. So we have Barrels of Fun coming. We have Stern coming. We have JJP coming. I think those are the three games that are not announced. But as of right now, if you had to make a decision – What do you feel is the game of the show? What do you think is the game that people are going to talk most about or or leave this weekend saying that was the game that surprised me the most?
00:59:05
Speaker
ah Man, that's tough. um I mean, Portal and Evil Dead, it's so close between the two. I'd almost have to give maybe a little edge to Portal, just because, i mean, they're doing...
00:59:26
Speaker
Some new stuff. I mean, they got the extension onto the playfield, ah the the LCD, which nobody thought they were going to do anything like that.
00:59:38
Speaker
And they have some really cool, interesting stuff going on with that playfield. So i I'd give them the slight edge, even though I think Evil Dead is really well done.
00:59:52
Speaker
Yeah, I think that most likely I would have to give the edge to Portal. like I enjoyed Evil Dead. I've played it enough. I think just for people that are seeing these games for the first time, that that might be that might be something that people could identify with a little bit more. Just like like you said, a horror a horror game that's so niched down yeah that you have to really be in that No kids where they see the gore and all that.
01:00:23
Speaker
But I think both games are perfectly, you know, serve serviceable, right? Like, I think there were there were the entries into the pinball industry lore of just released pinball games. But Portal, i was I was very impressed by what the mechs were able to do in that game. Like, I was...
01:00:41
Speaker
I came in with a certain expectation of just wanting to try it because I was just very curious. And that's what I was telling you guys before. I felt like the trailer didn't show what it could actually do to the extent it could do. And pretty much though getting the getting to make the mix do what we wanted to do.
01:00:56
Speaker
yeah it It was fun. It was enjoyable. I think plenty of people are going to get back in line for that yeah a lot. Now, that being said, Evil Dead, still fun. right I think it's a step in the right direction for Spooky. and i just Personally, for me, with the next Spooky, I hope that they go back to just a standard cab and not worry about wide body so much.
01:01:17
Speaker
like Because I like their standard versions that they can do. so I don't know. But I get why they had to go wide body on this one with the hand and everything. And there is a ton of mechs in there. And if they if they keep working just fine, I think people that are into spooky games, it's it's not going to be one that they'll bypass either.
01:01:34
Speaker
Like, I think that will sell out yeah either way. so yeah That's what... And I'm i'm probably going to sound like a shill, but I do think... i I personally, i think I think Evil Dead is the is probably going to be the game of the show. I remember we we heard that Evil Dead was the game of the show at Pinball at the Beach.
01:01:51
Speaker
And I was like, oh, okay, that's surprising. And then now that I've actually played it and put a lot of time onto it, just spending time over in the spooky booth, I didn't hear a negative word from anybody about that game. if If anything, it's like, wow, this game is more beautiful in person or wow, this game shoots better than I thought.
01:02:05
Speaker
um Now, with that said, I'm not saying anything negative towards Portal because I do personally think that Portal is the best. It's the most fun I've had playing a P3. um Absolutely.
01:02:16
Speaker
and And so maybe, you know... at Ask me again in a day or maybe we'll have a follow-up question you next time we record. what what What do we feel was our favorite game? But I know it's 10 o'clock at night.
01:02:27
Speaker
We're either going to go back down or I might edit this, but I know I'm excited to play more of both. um And yeah, we're going to really feel like fools if Barrels of Fun does announce something tomorrow or if there's any game not going to feel like a fool. Tom, are you going feel like a fool?
01:02:45
Speaker
I don't know. Okay, never mind. I just will. Just Joel. You're the only idiot here. Not us, too. But i don't I also don't want to play the significance of the Merlin edition for for Medieval Madness being announced. I think that's going to sell very well. I mean, that just kind of is what it is, right? Like, if you're in pinball, you already know. Cash grub!
01:03:05
Speaker
You already know it exists either way, right? So you're going to do whatever. Yeah, if you're looking for a Medieval Madness, I mean, you're going to buy it. Yeah.
01:03:15
Speaker
Yeah, I think yeah you don't have to do any marketing for that. you don't have to All you got to do is just tell pinball enthusiasts, oh, hey, yeah, it's out. You want one? Yeah, okay. Just go from there. like Because there's so many people, it's been rumored for so long, and I think even Ryan White, like three years ago now at Expo, said it's coming. So it's not like this is that you know a big surprise that all a sudden it's here. It's been expected, right? So...
01:03:40
Speaker
nope Yeah, I think that that'll be just fine. But but to me, I still think i think Portal's done the best with what they have. Like, Multimorphic doing that. Because it's the P3 system.
01:03:52
Speaker
They have to work around that system. It's a lot different than a Spooky. Because Spooky, they can just go back and forth. Wide body standard. They can play around in that sandbox. So with Multimorphic, they have to play within the P3 sandbox.
01:04:06
Speaker
Right? Yeah. and i And I don't, I mean, yeah exactly. Exactly. But I don't think you're going to be disappointed if you got either game, Portal or or Evil Dead. i mean, they're both really excellent games.
01:04:24
Speaker
Yeah. You were saying with with the p three you're working within that system. i think ah what I know one of the complaints or one of the thoughts I've always had is how different does one P3 game feel but but between the next when you're only changing that back third.
01:04:37
Speaker
And I'll tell you, the the Portal Extended Edition feels very different. Finally, yes. That's the first game that feels different. It doesn't feel anything like... their other games. um So super impressed. Huge thumbs up here.
01:04:49
Speaker
ah But yeah, let's go ahead and plug it up.
Episode Conclusion & Future Teasers
01:04:53
Speaker
You can find me on Flippin' Out. Check out our streams there. ah Just because we're hitting the mic around, I'll just get mine out of the way. You know, or is that all right?
01:05:01
Speaker
Check us out on Server Ball Swag. um Yeah, all that stuff. Go ahead, Travis. No, I'm giving you a thumbs up. I'm just telling you you're doing a great I'm ready for you to plug. just Oh, you want me to plug? bro Oh, yeah. So this is Travis Triple Train Pinball Podcast.
01:05:19
Speaker
Thank you guys so much for watching and listening. This is fantastic that the camera's out and it's not my fault. This is like Christmas and freaking March. And who called it, Tom? Who said, yeah, this is probably going to happen at some point. Travis called it. Thank you, Tom. Thank you, Tom Graff. You're beautiful SOB and I'm going to go to leave it to you, Tom. All right.
01:05:40
Speaker
Well, you can find us on our new home on the triple triple drain network, I was ah I forgot about that.
01:05:51
Speaker
we're We're not on TPN anymore, are we so So the cat's out of the bag. kind of ah The pinball network is kind of dissolving. so um we We love everybody associated with the pinball network. We want to say that.
01:06:08
Speaker
um But you know We are going to now have our content, at least our YouTube content, on on our Triple Drain page. And then we will have our podcasts up on what Spotify, Apple, all the all the good stuff. and So joel Joel will be handling that because Travis and I have no idea what we're doing. Yeah, and you can tell it's going fantastic right now. and No video right now. going great.
01:06:37
Speaker
And, of course, you can find me on Fox City's Pinball. I'm going to be streaming the Midwest Gaming Classic coming up next. My first time streaming that in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. So I'm excited about that.
01:06:52
Speaker
Yes, yes. And yeah, so Zach and Dennis are going to announce more on the next, the pinball show. They're going to talk more about TPN and just why the reasoning behind everything that, ah everything that's going on. But yeah, no drama, no will, will, nothing. It's just, ah it's essentially just dissolving. And so, yes, we have our own hosting platform now for the the podcast. So please, I mean, I, this is probably only going to be released on our new stuff. So hopefully you found it.
01:07:18
Speaker
Uh, make sure you follow, uh, on whatever pod catcher you use as well as follow YouTube because we'll keep going with video. Um, but yeah, this was a ton of fun. And, uh, like always, Tom, you get the last words.
01:07:32
Speaker
Have a good pinball day y'all.