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Top 5 Pinball of 2025
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Not only are we talking Top 5 pinball of 2025, we're also covering Beetlejuice and Walking Dead Remasterd!
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Transcript
Thanksgiving & Eating Habits
00:00:07
Speaker
Thanks for tuning into the loser kid pinball podcast. I am Josh Roop with me, my co-captain Scott Larson. And it's another beautiful day. Thanksgiving is upon us. I actually had my first Thanksgiving meal of, uh, three that started today. So I'm, I'm, I'm already stuffed with Turkey and I'm ready for more Turkey the rest of the week. You look like you're about 18 weeks pregnant. So maybe you'll be full term by the end of the third meal. Well, I've been doing calorie counting. And the funny part is, is like, I did all my calories after i ate for Thanksgiving meal today. like, well, I ate everything at lunch today.
00:00:40
Speaker
All 2,600 calories. I was a champ. So I sent you the fries that I had that were fried in beef tallow for dinner. yeah That's what I had. So, well, and then when I'm hungry, I just drink frescas because they're zero calories. And like, well, this is what I get for the rest of the day. So, Or zero Mountain Dew, man.
00:00:54
Speaker
But the caffeine's too late. It's, it's nine o'clock here. We're, yeah, we're recording, we're recording late. So, uh, you know what? I want to talk about our favorite people in the world. Zach and Nicole, many support us here at loser kid pinball podcast. They've got some amazing product and even better customer service.
00:01:12
Speaker
Uh, Scott, you just recently bought
Zach and Nicole Many's Products
00:01:15
Speaker
from them. What did you get? Well, actually I just ordered jobs 50 it's for my friend who's really moving and he's moving in and he, and I said, Hey, they have a spot for the jobs 50. Uh, this is the last, last run. So he's like, yeah, hook me up.
00:01:28
Speaker
So, well, and they just talked about their unveiling. We've are both of us have already used it, but they're unveiling a new, ah shipping thing that they're doing. I used Foo Fighters. I shipped it back to Zach.
00:01:40
Speaker
So the way it works is they ship you this, this giant pod with like all the shipping blankets, all the, the, everything you'll need to tape everything. And you essentially take your new game out. So I took out King Kong and then I opened up King Kong, put it in place. And then I folded up Foo Fighters and put it back in, put the packing blankets around it. It's literally just a big wooden box. The the door opens up.
00:02:02
Speaker
sides come off, you put the sides back on, you slap the door back on. I found it was amazing. How about you, Scott? I, I felt it was great. I actually, i ultimately never, never decided to use one of my games. And so I shipped it back and I, uh, I use that credit toward buying my Merlin edition of medieval madness. So it just, it's super easy. My biggest hangup, I'm a pin hoarder because I hate selling.
00:02:25
Speaker
So it it was just a good deal. um Just being able to ship it out, let him deal with all that stuff. And if you want a low hassle way of doing it, it's a good way of trading up for a game. So again, Zach and Nicole Manny flipping out pinball.
00:02:38
Speaker
All right, Josh. Awesome. What do we got on store for them tonight?
Pinball Releases: Walking Dead & Mystery Game
00:02:42
Speaker
So let's talk about, there has been two releases since we last spoke. ah I guess the last episode you and I have done together was, was expo. Wasn't it back in August? Yeah. Yeah. Cause we did recap a Winchester and we did ah we did Beetlejuice. So um yeah, it's been a minute.
00:03:04
Speaker
And since then we had walking dead revealed by John Borg, the remake. And, and we've had obviously partially, we still don't know everything about that. So we're going to talk about that, but we still don't know all of the details.
00:03:16
Speaker
Yes. There, there's a lot of mystery surrounding it. Granted, I haven't went to the website and download the PDF fact sheet and went through that because put it on a video. So I coach watch i don't know. You know i'm saying?
00:03:28
Speaker
Um, so let's talk about walking dead first. That came out first. That came out, uh, three weeks ago. um First impressions. I did a first first impressions video here on the channel.
00:03:40
Speaker
I have warmed up to it. I will say that it, I'm not a fan the art, but there was, there was a clip that Kerry Hardy had put on his Facebook where they took out the blues and the greens and it was solely just reds and oranges and then that black and gray. And I felt like that looked really, really good. Okay. That's the art. What do you
Licensors' Influence on Pinball Art
00:03:58
Speaker
get of the way? We've all heard it. Okay. I, I, I'm going to jump in on this though too. Okay.
00:04:03
Speaker
Um, the R was polarizing. However, Josh, do you remember the games that I sent you right when it was released? Okay. I sent you Halloween. I sent you the evil dead.
00:04:16
Speaker
Yep. I, I sent you, um you know, what I can't remember what the other one was. And I looked at him like, it was Texas chainsaw massacre, chainsaw massacre. And I said, yeah, these are vibrant color palettes.
00:04:30
Speaker
Yes. And Beetlejuice too. I sent Beetlejuice too. And I said, these are, these are not subtle color palettes. Yeah. And we were fine with with that art. um I will all also remind people that who has the ultimate responsibility to approve the art package?
00:04:48
Speaker
The licensor. The licensor. And who did this art package? The licensor. Okay. So if there's anything that you don't prefer about it, that's that's okay. I'm not saying you have to like everything, but you have to realize that Stern is playing in a world where they are working with with a licensor. And this is the direction the licensor wanted to go.
00:05:10
Speaker
And so I, I, I have looked at the art package and okay, I think it's fine. I, I, I like it. i I think there could be different things, but there's a reason why we need to understand that there are limitations on what they can, they can present because this is what the licensor wants.
00:05:28
Speaker
And,
Types of Pinball Players
00:05:29
Speaker
and so I, I'm just gonna, I will say from the art, I'll just appreciate, I'll just appreciate that Stern may have had some direction from the people who own the license. And so just leave it at that. Cause everybody said, why, why don't we do a black and white? It's like, okay, but you want to stand out too.
00:05:47
Speaker
But what the thing with me though, is, is like, I actually do enjoy some of the art. Like I feel like it's, it's that kind of photo realistic. It's not like Frenchie photo realistic, but it's still going down that Avenue and all those games you mentioned. So like Beetlejuice and evil dead, I feel like their color palettes are,
00:06:05
Speaker
matched the tone or the actual colors from the movies. So like, I just don't feel like the walking dead matches the tone or the vibes of the TV series. Cause obviously they've went the TV route. Right. But honestly, the art looks really good in terms of like actual drawing and artistic design, the color palette just isn't for me.
00:06:30
Speaker
And I do find it funny. Like someone did point out like the same zombie is drawn on like the left part of the apron, the right part of the apron and like smack that between the flippers. Yeah.
00:06:41
Speaker
Yeah. I don't get why someone did that. I don't know. I don't know why it wasn't caught in quality control. yada. I don't know. Do you like remember, do you remember Wonka?
00:06:52
Speaker
Yeah. That's why I'm like Wonka dialed in. Okay. There was, yeah. But again, who made that decision? ah It's a licensor. It was the licensor. And so, yeah. Okay. You can look at that and say, wow. Okay. There's a reason why with Metallica, Metallica was such ah a successful game, especially the
Walking Dead Gameplay & Artwork Debate
00:07:11
Speaker
dirty Donnie art package, because they basically said, do whatever you want. And by the way, the new one with it's Joseph.
00:07:17
Speaker
Who was it? Joseph Reese. Did I, am I getting that right? Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. We'll, ah we'll correct that. But you know, the new art package, they basically had the freedom to do what they wanted.
00:07:30
Speaker
And so when you have a license sort of allows that great. And if you look at it, even historically, the walking dead, there were limitations on the walking dead where it was almost like a zombie.
00:07:43
Speaker
It was like a zombie game that had the walking dead logo on it. Remember that? Yeah. And so the original art was, was rough. Yeah. the they And so I, again, I'm going to allow for the understanding that the licensor may have a direction for their license and I'm just going to let, let it go.
00:08:03
Speaker
I agree. And that's why I'm like the the sound, like the, the art itself is subjective, whether you like it or not, you know what saying? It did make me chuckle. We had a couple of complaints on, on the the comments and one of them was like, there's not enough blood.
00:08:17
Speaker
And was like, I hope this is sarcastic. Cause I can't read your tone. You know what I'm saying? Cause I'm like, you've got Michonne chopping a zombie's head off. You got Daryl shooting a crossbow through ah a zombie's head. And like the, the back glass is literally a bloody X across it. So I'm like, you've gotta be joking me, but like, i don't know. Like it's weird to me. We've got a remake game.
00:08:41
Speaker
Granted, I feel like the game wasn't in high demand. This is definitely a game that is geared more towards competition play. And it is is ah is a harder game to play, right? Like is is not a family friendly It's not a like ah a novice player friendly game. And so I want to know about more about the gameplay, what they've done to to make it a little more accessible.
00:09:02
Speaker
And I just, I feel like we're blowing past all that for the artwork. Wouldn't you say? Yeah. i the
Beetlejuice Pinball Impressions
00:09:10
Speaker
Okay. and Do you also remember anytime an art package comes out, it's amazing how strong people feel about it.
00:09:16
Speaker
And it's, I think it's totally unfair. We know what the games are. the Spider-Man versus the ultimate Spider-Man. you remember that, that thing where people like, why there a big, why is there big talking bubble on the back? Less? I'm like, cause it's a comic, it's a comic book edition. Like, so what? Yeah.
00:09:34
Speaker
And how often do you, okay, I get that art. That's what we see first, right? That's the hook on the game. But how often do you actually look at the side of the game? The only game that I see the side of is Metallica.
00:09:50
Speaker
Because when I walk around my stairs, that's my end game. Okay. Do you want to ask me how many times I've looked at the sight of Beatles? Like it's. How many times?
00:10:01
Speaker
None. None. You slide it in. Yeah. yeah It's the back glass. That's really what you see or the translate or whatever you want to call it. out So it's okay.
00:10:13
Speaker
art is it's, it's one of those things where, you know, your favorite book, Josh, and then you hear they're going to make a movie of it.
Spooky Pinball Strategy Discussion
00:10:20
Speaker
How many times do you love the movie version of the book?
00:10:25
Speaker
It depends on the book. Okay. Okay. But usually you're disappointed because Scott Pilgrim versus the world was ripped off. It should have had more. ease It should have more to the series than just the one movie. It's totally true. I've never seen it. Um,
00:10:41
Speaker
Okay. But it's it because in your mind, you have already told the story. And so you've imagined this is what the character is supposed to look like. this is This is the way it's supposed to go. This is going to be the tone of that. And so when you read a book, your imagination is part of it.
00:10:56
Speaker
So if you watch even if you watch a show, you can say, oh, I wish they had done this. I wish they done that. So having an adaptation of it, I think it's pretty hard to get something where you're like, oh that is exactly what I was thinking.
00:11:11
Speaker
yeah There are some times when that does happen, when the secret sauce is in there. Like when you get something like Halloween, Halloween sold 1250 off the art package alone. And by the way, go look at that art package. It's super vibrant.
00:11:26
Speaker
So, okay. So sometimes they, they hit that Venn diagram of your expectations versus the product. But a lot of times it's, it's just what people think. And with, with the walking down, you have the comic books, which are black and white.
00:11:41
Speaker
You have the, you know, you have the series, which, you know, it kind of eventually petered out after, ah you know, it it started off strong, was strong for a while, then kind of petered out. So people have their own version of what should be included.
00:11:55
Speaker
So I'm just going to let let it lie. There are things that are packages where I wish it were different, but I appreciate that. Hey, that's that's what they want. So I like, I'm so over the art thing. Like,
Viewer Criticism of Spooky
00:12:09
Speaker
I feel like it's just the weirdest catch all for this. And it's unfair. It's it is. And I get something feel like, and so here's, here's I think it's, too I think so too. And I, and here's the other thing too, is as I agree with you, like once you slide into a lineup, Nine times out of 10, you really don't miss like notice the side art. You can kind of see Jaws behind me, but you can't really get a good idea of it. it just
00:12:31
Speaker
It's the goofiest thing because I feel like there's there's two distinctive type of pinball players, right? There's the person that plays pinball for pinball. They want to know the rules. They want to know... the technique, they want to know how to blow up the score, they want to know everything about her.
00:12:48
Speaker
And then there is the other person is, and and these kind of intermingle, it's not it's not exclusive from each other, but the other one is a moments person. right It's the fine dining, it's the the art has to match the the filling of the game, which has to match the sound of the game, which has to, like it has to have this perfect just
Beetlejuice & Industry Trends
00:13:09
Speaker
from From appetizer to dessert, everything has to be on point. Everything's fantastic, right? And a lot of these people are people that are looking for specific themes tailored to their tastes that feel like it does justice to that theme.
00:13:23
Speaker
I think the pinball player... doesn't really care about the, like they they enjoy the theme. Like there's some of them that just won't, there's specific themes they just won't have in their house. But I think the moments person is looking for more of very specific themes to come into their collection because that's all they're looking for. They might not necessarily care about score. They might not care about how the game plays and the geometry and how it feels. They just want a good immersive game that does justice to the theme.
00:13:52
Speaker
i I think overall that's kind of what everyone's looking for, but I think you're either one camp or the other and there's a little meshing in the middle, but I think that's where the walking dead comes in, right? Like the walking dead isn't revered as a casuals game. And so it gets a lot of slack for the fact that like everything else has to be on point. And I just don't feel like walking dead has a major rabid fan base. And the fact that like,
00:14:17
Speaker
KISS has a Ravage fan base. like They will buy almost anything. but you They got coffins for sale, right? like They've obviously got a fan base that's going to buy anything. I feel like people love Walking Dead. They felt like it was a a cultural touchstone, but they just don't tie into that theme into their life like they would maybe KISS or something like that. um i just i don't think it's fair I don't think it's fair to Borg that he's he's gotten a lot of heat for this game when it's I think a lot of people have just looked at the art and passed on it. And granted, like I agree, like I'm not a fan the the greens and the ball blues in it, but it doesn't affect the rest of the game for me. But I enjoy playing the game because I love playing pinball to explore and dive deep into pinball and the rule set and stuff like that.
00:15:02
Speaker
I'm looking forward to the rule set and seeing how it evolves because what they did with Metallica was great. Like they they took a rule set and as we know, it was a Lyman rule set. Okay. What makes walking dead great? It's a hard layout and it also has a Lyman rule set And so it rewards the elite players.
00:15:28
Speaker
So the people who are really good and they want to to sharpen their skills and a complete rule set and an elevated rule set really will help that out.
00:15:38
Speaker
I'm really looking forward to what the rule set has because they they really haven't explained much about what the extra features are in this.
00:15:49
Speaker
So I'm looking forward to seeing what who they actually have augment the rule set, what the actual result is. And then I want to talk to the elite players, not, not the Scott and Josh is out there.
00:16:02
Speaker
We're talking like the Tom grass. We're talking to Travis Murray. We're talking to Carl D'Angelo's of the world. Yeah. And we want to see an angel, uh, angel, angel. And ji ah by the way, i'm wearing my triple T, uh, triple drain t-shirt today. So, uh, shout out guys.
00:16:17
Speaker
Um, So I want to see what they think of it, because when you have an elite rule set already, I want to see how it is appreciated, especially by the elite players.
00:16:28
Speaker
Now, we we know that Stern doesn't have to have a Godzilla every release. they They just need to make a certain amount, and they're going to take risks on certain games.
00:16:39
Speaker
This could be one of those games where they thought, hey, we have a tournament game that is well-respected, Let's see what we can do because as we know, we, there are different, different consumers out there.
00:16:51
Speaker
And so having a game that is even, you know, geared more toward the competitive scene, I don't think that's a bad thing. No, I agree. And, um,
00:17:03
Speaker
The other thing I find interesting about this, they only did 500 limited editions. As far as I'm aware, Stern hasn't even sold out from them to their distributors. So obviously there's still allotment there. um So if you want one of these ah LEs, they're floating around.
00:17:17
Speaker
i don't And they might be floating around for a minute or two. um i I still think Walking Dead is a great game. I would love to get some time in on
Top Pinball Machines of 2025
00:17:26
Speaker
this. I'm... I'm excited to play it.
00:17:29
Speaker
I don't have interest in it owning it um or moving something out. you know what I'm saying? Like in the right circumstance, I would own it, but I just, this isn't a day one new in box purchase for me.
00:17:41
Speaker
You know i'm saying Okay. I'm actually going to shock you. I am. I'm actually kind of interested. I'm interested. I'm interested because as something that would help level up my pinball skills, I'm having a game like this would be great in my lineup.
00:17:59
Speaker
And when I'm doing my expansion, i I don't have room for it right now, but I am looking at expanding my game room and I wouldn't mind sliding this thing in. because i think you i don't disagree with you. It would be a really good game to elevate my skills.
00:18:15
Speaker
And you need, you know, you need a, um you know, what are those knife sharpeners in your drawer? You need to be able to, to get better at pinball. And this is an excellent game to do that.
00:18:29
Speaker
I think so too. All right. You might've convinced me. i don't know if I'm still buying new in box, but I might get one later. Okay. Let's find out. Let's find out. Let's find out when they announce the extra code stuff, because we still don't know. That's a black box.
00:18:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:46
Speaker
right. Um, let's, let's move on to the other reveal. Uh, you and I were ground. We, we got in on this before a lot of people got to see it. It was really, I like, I feel very honored. that we were trusted by spooky pinball to come in and work with them on doing day of release on this and then sending us footage that we could use in our podcast. Uh, if you watched on our YouTube, you got to watch and check out the stuff we were talking about as we were talking about it.
00:19:10
Speaker
I gotta say Beagle juice is pretty fantastic. Um, I am still concerned with, i I've been playing pinball long enough to understand usually how game is going to play.
00:19:23
Speaker
I'm intrigued. I don't, know how this spooky is going to play most spookies you should play short um longer sorry and i feel like they're a little easier to the pinball player because they want to for you to explore the game right where everything being pretty much two-thirds or forward towards the flippers i feel like this is gonna be a faster game outside of like maybe the couch the waiting room area um so i'm i'm really intrigued to see how this plays uh what do you think scott
00:19:54
Speaker
but You know what? It looks great. but i it spooky ah Spooky definitely capitalizes on theme integration. And Spooky,
Game Reviews: Evil Dead, King Kong, Portal
00:20:04
Speaker
they know who they are They know who their audience is They know who their fan base is And I'm excited for this.
00:20:11
Speaker
there are There are going to be people who are like, why did they only do 999? will argue that remember... and i will argue that remember When you're selling a supply, Josh, if I have a thousand that I'm trying to sell, how many do I want demand for?
00:20:31
Speaker
$9.99. Thanks, Josh Sharp. Nope. Nope. You want a thousand and one. Oh, you nevermind. I see. your Okay. You, I, you see what I was saying though. Yeah. I get you. You basically want one person out there who cannot get the product.
00:20:44
Speaker
Yeah. Because that is exactly where you want to be. So if for all the people out there is like, they could have sold 10,000 Beatles. No, they couldn't. They're, they know who they are. They, they shot a little high um,
00:21:01
Speaker
on Halloween and Ultraman and all those things. And i think it hurts long-term. ah So having like a limited run, striking while the iron's hot, and they they definitely hit it with Texas Chainsaw Massacre. They hit it with Evil Dead and Beetlejuice. They know what the audience is and what the market will demand for their game.
00:21:24
Speaker
So if this was a lovic I felt like there's a little goldfish memory loss here, right? Like you talk about Halloween. So they had a Halloween and Ultraman together, right? So it was 1750 total. Yep. And there was issues there. There was a lot of quality issues and bug had stated that in our Beetlejuice episode. Yeah. And so I feel like they did talk about like protecting the market on the the secondary value market and whatnot. which I guess you can kind of argue like Rick and Morty has retained its value for the most part. It's, it's questionable. Like it's, it's still around 10 grand. So it is what it is. TNA has TNA. It's still TNA what it was.
00:22:02
Speaker
Yep. And then evil dead, evil dead has skyrocketed and that's been with the last year, but here's the thing. So since Halloween, They've cut back numbers. I feel like quality's gotten back under control.
00:22:14
Speaker
um There are still issues here and there, but point me to the company that doesn't have any issues. This is the one thing that bothers me. Everyone harps on like everyone harps on the like quality issue Achilles heel. I get it. like If it's consistently issue after issue after issue, there's a problem.
00:22:30
Speaker
But like when it's just something simple that it's unrelated and it it's maybe one-off thing or it's only happened to a handful of people, it just it bugs me because... like Spooky has better control over it because it knows the people that work on their factory line and they can work with them and say, hey, this is how it needs to be. And it's similar in Stern's situation, but Stern's situation is there's a lot of people coming in and out on that factory line. So it's it's a new learning curve, right? And we've learned in pinball, if anything's even off like a 16th of an inch, it can affect the game itself.
00:22:59
Speaker
And so, anywho, back to the point. So the quality control is getting better and under control. And what's upsetting me is is we're seeing that Sorry, I apologize. What what it upsets me is we're seeing that people are complaining about the limited number runs with Beetlejuice.
00:23:16
Speaker
And they're like, they should have known to make more than 999 because it would have been a guaranteed sellout. Well, they didn't sell out on Texas Chainsaw Massacre. They didn't sell out on Looney Tunes. They didn't sell out on Scooby-Doo. You can still get all those games through Spooky on their website today as it sits.
00:23:34
Speaker
Yeah. So how did they know that evil... Like, they didn't know Evil Dead was going to sell out, and it didn't sell out until... Texas pinball festival. right That was three months after reveal Texas chain ahw chainsaw pinball festival. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And so, and that, so like the fact that everyone's like, well, they should have known better. And, and Buck said it in our episode, like, yeah, they want to protect the secondary market.
00:23:58
Speaker
but I'd rather be the quality control. I don't want to have issues with my game. right like so here's here's I shared this comment with you this past week. We've we've gotten a ridiculous amount of comments on uns Spooky and how they handled Beetlejuice. I think you guys handled Beetlejuice just fine. You're a small company.
00:24:17
Speaker
I don't know what you could have done different outside of maybe tell your distributor not to say, um you can buy it now when... They hadn't even done a teaser trailer. You know what I'm saying? I think that's the only thing out of it. Like, get your, you work with your distributors and not like it's spring, spring a leak or whatever.
00:24:35
Speaker
Okay. But it's, it's been about as good of a release as you could expect for spooky. Like spooky is ecstatic with this. Yeah. Oh yeah. And I don't blame them. And it looks for them. It's guaranteed work for the next year and it keeps their people fed. And like they can now focus on the next game. Like it's still, they can still focus on beetle juice stress theory and focus on the next game. Not on worrying about the next year. It's amazing. It's brilliant. In my opinion, I saw, let me read this comment to you. Okay. This is what I sent you. Okay. Okay. Yeah.
00:25:06
Speaker
Loser Kid Pinball. The number of games made should not affect their quality control. It should be set a set standard that they meet regardless of scale. Limiting Beetlejuice to such a low number to me reads like an excuse not to be overwhelmed with orders for machines.
00:25:21
Speaker
This is where they suffer from being a small company. I do understand that. I love what they're doing, but I will most likely not. Never own any of those games with those limited numbers. Well, guess what? You can still buy Scooby-Doo. You can still buy Texas Chainsaw Master. You could still buy Looney Tunes.
00:25:38
Speaker
yeah These are all limited number games. and You could own one today, my good sir or ma'am. Why aren't you? You know what I'm saying? I don't get this argument, and I think it's very ridiculous.
00:25:52
Speaker
that you say the number of a games should not affect your quality control. They make games once a year. They make the same game for a full year. Whether they make 999 or 10,000, it shouldn't affect their quality control. Excuse me. It it it absolutely does. and Anybody knows scalability is the hardest thing in manufacturing. Yeah. And,
00:26:14
Speaker
As we know, back in the Williams days, like they still needed to keep the line moving. They did. They didn't keep. yeah There were some outliers, you know Twilight Zone, Adam's family. But for the most part, they wanted to say relevant. And so they kept announcing new things so they could, so I, I would actually argue that guns and roses may have hurt JJP a little bit yeah because they produced that for so
Winchester: Top Game of 2025?
00:26:41
Speaker
long.
00:26:42
Speaker
They, there was nothing new coming out for a while. And I think they kind of fell out of like a, Oh, that like, what else are are they doing? Oh, it's that game. They already have. So having this model where they just have,
00:26:55
Speaker
a new game every year is actually really good for a small company. No, I agree. So I think, I think spooky is killing it outside of like some people didn't get a bill juice.
00:27:06
Speaker
I'm sorry. That stinks for you guys. Like you knew this was coming like this. We, we talked about beetle juice three months ago. I want people to understand that the thumbnail is beetle juice versus star Wars. This is before star Wars announced and beetle juice was announced.
00:27:22
Speaker
Did you know Zach many takes interested lists yeah for titles? Just in case you're like, Hey, I may have an, you know what? I have a, ah like hello kitty Island adventure. I may be interested in that theme if it ever comes out. So why don't you put your name on a list?
00:27:37
Speaker
This is how good he, this is customer service at its best. Let me tell you this. When Ryan White still worked for CGC and he announced that they were coming out with medieval madness in 2023, he,
00:27:50
Speaker
And they said it'd be at the end of the year. He announced at the beginning of 2023. And then finally it rolls around to this year. medieval madness starts getting announced this year. Zach hit me up. I forgot I was on the list. And he said, Hey, Josh, I just want to follow up. Make sure I'm not glossing over you.
00:28:08
Speaker
Do you still want medieval madness now that they've announced it? Excuse me. I think I was like fourth on the list because I was like one of the first ones. Yeah. If you you knew Beetlejuice was coming six months ago, you should have got on the list. Right. And, and like, that's the thing too. Right.
00:28:24
Speaker
It just, again, like I got the call. I was sitting in the hot tub. I got the call. Zach's like, Hey, do you want one? And I said, yeah, because I, I'm probably going to put it in my place in St. George.
00:28:36
Speaker
And then I texted back, Hey, my buddy also wants one. Can you get one? And he's like, let me see. I may be out. And we were like, one of the last ones like, okay, I got you too. So I got one. My buddy got one for each location. We paid for them, but absolutely. So it's,
00:28:56
Speaker
I'd be upset if you didn't pay for him. Where's my deal? I want free medieval madness. Zach, yeah hook me up. You got a fun house behind you. Okay. Um, he talking about that was not free. I paid for that. Okay. All right. right Don't you be misleading our people listening to here? And that's the last thing I need on my comments. Yeah.
00:29:18
Speaker
I was paid for. Okay. Okay. All right. All right.
00:29:24
Speaker
Oh, anywho. Okay. I want to get to our next segment. I think this has been really great discussion. I think to wrap it up, I think both Walking Dead, Beetlejuice, both you and I agree, have been shortchanged in very weird ways. But I think they've ah Walking Dead needs to be given a chance. And I think Beetlejuice needs the heat taken off of of like, guys, it looks like a great game.
00:29:44
Speaker
No one's played
Reflection on Pinball Trends & Favorites
00:29:45
Speaker
it yet. but let's Let's let the room breathe for a second. I'm assuming the first time you'll be able to play these at at a public convention is going probably TPF. Get out there and play them. Oh, oh, that's the other thing.
00:29:56
Speaker
So shh. Can I let you guys, everyone listening to Loser Kid, I'm going to let you in on a secret. You ready for this? Go ahead. They're all sold out except for, did you know Spooky makes extra games for shows?
00:30:10
Speaker
So if you really, really want a Beetlejuice, like this is, I've got to have a Beetlejuice. Go to Texas Pinball Festival. Figure out where Spooky's going to be. They usually have extra games there that are not sold.
00:30:22
Speaker
to the general public. These are show games. Show games. I know it's kind of weird. I know that we say there's 999, but they are actually extra games. And I could be i could be corrected, but that is how I understand.
00:30:34
Speaker
Because obviously they're all bought and sold, you know? So why would they? Because they they don't want to take them home. Well, not only that. yeah You volunteer. Hey, I know your your game's coming in a week, but we have Texas Pinball Festival. Do you mind if we take it and people jam on it for like a full weekend and then we ship it to you? Yeah. Spooky, don't do that. so Yeah, that's not it.
00:30:53
Speaker
So yeah, get your tickets to Texas Pinball Festival. I don't know if they'll be at Pinball at the Beach. I don't know where they'll be at. But if you want a Beetlejuice, you might want to get your ticket to one of those. Drive your car down there and show up first thing Thursday morning, whenever they open. Maybe even try to get them before they open. Say, hey, I want to go check this out and I want to put my name on if this is what I want.
00:31:12
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? Hey, na you would know. So if loser kid that is the case, you can always message Bug and see what's going on. Yep. And maybe I'm... Yeah.
00:31:23
Speaker
Yeah. So, uh, and I'm going to get a message from spooky. I'm going have to redact all that. So now we'll see. Alrighty. Uh, let's move on to, it's been a fantastic year, 2025. I know it's not done. We're at the end of November. We still have a month to go as I foresee it.
00:31:41
Speaker
I could be wrong. This would not be the first time that I'm wrong. I'll crow. As I foresee it, all the games have been released for 2025. I don't foresee anything in December. Best case scenario is a teaser trailer.
00:31:54
Speaker
Worst case, or nothing. And now it's not released. there's There's no way any games are going to get released. No. So Scott and i have put our lists down and we are going to talk about the top five pinball machines of 2025. You ready for this?
00:32:10
Speaker
Okay, Josh, do you want to recap for the listening audience? So they know exactly. And so they can start making their list for themselves. Yes. So anything produced in 2025, sorry. Yes. Anything produced and shipped in 2025. So honorable mention will be Beetlejuice because it was shown this year. It will not ship till 2026. So we. has Has Walking Dead shipped yet?
00:32:30
Speaker
walking dead has shipped and okay has been at conventions so okay walking dead is actually out the door so we have we're we're going chronological order i do apologize we missed anything but we went through this evil dead dungeons and dragons portal merlin's arcade dune king kong medieval madness merlin edition harry potter predator jaws fiftieth Star Wars, Fall of the Empire, and Winchester.
00:33:01
Speaker
So that hits everything that has been released and shipped this year, or is shipping. that I think we're kind of going by the Twippy standards, right? the One machine has left their door to go out to location. You did say Dune, right? I was i was i did say Dune. I said Dune in
Community Shoutouts & Listener Invitation
00:33:17
Speaker
between King Kong and Portal, I want to say. All right. Oh, Merlin's arcade and King Kong. So yeah that is the list. Uh, that is did you count how many games? There's gotta be like 12, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, Hey, look at that
00:33:34
Speaker
I know. So enthralling here. We're so professional. So yeah can I count them on all my 12 fingers. We've distilled it down to five games for the whole year. We're going to go from five to one, starting with number five. Do you want to go first? Do you want me to get my number five?
00:33:50
Speaker
You know I want you to get your number five because I forgot what my number five was. My number five is Spooky's Evil Dead. I think this game was one of those games I was not expecting to enjoy. it was just another theme that I think was a cult classic, a cult following. So I was like, well, it is what it is.
00:34:11
Speaker
And it came out and I was like, dang, this is, this is really good. This looks really, really good. Um, I got to play one of these. And we finally got our hands at one i expo and I enjoyed it.
00:34:23
Speaker
Um, it, it played really well. I felt the geometry was, was good. I'd give it probably about a eight out of 10. ah There was a couple spots I felt were like, I don't get the whole flipper inside the ah sling thing. So that does dock it a little bit for me. But other than that, man, this game is awesome. This game is awesome for the fact of the theme immersion.
00:34:43
Speaker
They took a theme and they drew you into that world. They didn't print. They didn't pull evil dead into spooky's world. They spooky got pulled into evil dead world, just like they did with the the book of the dead, right? Like they just, they,
00:34:58
Speaker
oh, this game is so cool. And the fact that it's retained its value and actually went up in value over the year is insane to me. But it's so cool to see that Spooky is just getting better and better with releases and they are taking what they know and refining it and distilling it down and putting it into their games as they move forward. So for number five, I present to you Evil Dead. What do you got, Scott?
00:35:22
Speaker
I'm mixing it up a little bit. Oh. And i am going to say this understanding that there were, there are going to be people who disagree with me. Okay.
00:35:35
Speaker
Well, this isn't a gospel. This isn't a gospel list. It's all subjective. It's me and you. Okay. I'm going to put King Kong at five. Oh, wow. Why so low? Okay.
00:35:45
Speaker
So this is now, this is the problem of other people really stepping up this year. And i i love Elwynn games. I am a huge fan of Keith Elwynn.
00:36:00
Speaker
I would say, hands down, most bankable designer out there right now. Okay? And this is a great game. And I love it. I want it. I will buy it when I have the space.
00:36:17
Speaker
I will also say that there are so many excellent games available that he has that I'm okay waiting a little bit on this one. And so if I'm going to say, Hey, I love this game. And I do, there are other Elwin games that I think are so good and I can still scratch that itch.
00:36:39
Speaker
And I, I have, this is no criticism on Elwin at all or King Kong because I truly love this game. I, it it is actually a It is a recognition that other manufacturers have really stepped up this year.
00:36:59
Speaker
Yes. And so i this this is suffering under the weight of consistent expectations. And so I love King Kong.
00:37:10
Speaker
I'm still going to put it at number five because there's a few games on here that give me a different vibe and I'm interested in. And I think that it's it's the flavor that they brought this year.
00:37:25
Speaker
Okay. No, that's that's reasonable to me. I think that's that's very reasonable. um Let's have you go next. let's You do your number four. Okay. Number four,
00:37:36
Speaker
Portal. I'm putting Portal as number four. This is the first P3 game that legit could have felt like a standalone game.
00:37:48
Speaker
like yeah and i I like the P3 options of saying, hey... buying this and now you can slide in different things this is the first one when i played where it felt like it it didn't feel like a cartridge in the back of the machine which by the way is not a is is not a knock on it it is a different vibe like i i love what they're trying to do is saying hey we have a lot of options back there And if you look at it, it is a huge bang for the buck because you can get Portal and you can buy the extended kit. And it was really close to a full pinball machine.
00:38:27
Speaker
You can also, you can get Princess Bride in there for cheap. You can get Weird Al in there for cheap. You can get, um ah oh I'm sorry. The Scott Denisey one in there for ah final Final resistance. Yes, that one. And so there are so many options that you can get.
00:38:45
Speaker
This is the perfect gateway into P3. And if you even if you're like, you know I don't have the money to buy all of the game modules, you will be satisfied with Portal. And my own son said, Dad, this is a great game. We should buy it.
00:39:04
Speaker
And if you can impress 15-year-old that is that's, that's a high mark. Okay. Yep. So, and again, this is, this is me saying that P three has really stepped up and this is the, the most impressive release that they've had so far.
00:39:19
Speaker
Yep. I agree. right. My number four, i i'm I'm really wrestling with myself, but I really think this is number four for me. Harry Potter.
00:39:31
Speaker
Um, this game is amazing. When we played at expo, it had that one more feel, um, to it. It was fast. It was, it was good. Like it was a really fun game.
00:39:45
Speaker
Um, for me, it reaches into number four, um,
00:39:54
Speaker
compared to everything else, I just, I'm going basically off if I slide it in my connection or into my collection. And this is, where it is at the list. I just, there are other games that have come out this year. I think you've alluded to it, Scott. Like there's just been ah such an insane year for pinball.
00:40:12
Speaker
And I feel like Harry Potter any other year would have just dominated, but I just, I, I don't know, man. Like I, I want this game. Like I don't, I don't want to do this. So like from here up, I want all these games.
00:40:27
Speaker
And so I'm just like, I just, I don't know. But with Harry Potter, I just, it was a really great game. I think the artwork was fine. i I don't get the whole AI stuff. Like i get like the Derpy Dragon was back. i will I will not give that a pass. Like that was that was rough.
00:40:46
Speaker
But other than that, like this game has really stood up against the other Jersey Jack games. And I felt like Elton John was the turn of it.
00:40:57
Speaker
And now we're starting to see like this. like everyone's It's like the secret sauce, right? like People are starting to figure out this dynamic layout. The fact that like you want mechs that change the direction of the ball and stuff like that. And Harry Potter gives you all that. And even like the Quidditch field is really, really cool. Just a simple upper play field that's slightly, you know, it's repeatable, whatnot.
00:41:18
Speaker
I don't man. Like it's a great game. um I need more time on it to tell you what where it falls short because I've only played a handful of games. But for me, number four is Harry Potter.
00:41:29
Speaker
And since I made you go back to back, I will go back to back. My next one. Your number four is my number three, Portal. Okay. Portal, I was more than impressed with at Pinball Expo. the insanely cool ball launching mechs, the different portals to different areas, the cause the, the companion cube, how it's portaling from portal or from side to side, just the immersion to this game. And it fits so perfectly on a P three, like the technology. It just, it's like this game was meant to be on P three. I don't think like any other company could have done justice to it Like it, like P three and multimorphic did. And it's one of those games that I i need to sell something to to get it.
00:42:19
Speaker
um And so like I'm debating because my collection is pretty packed at the moment. but i'm just And again, it's a P3. It's not a space thing. Anyhow. ah yeah Okay, but it's still a money thing. I mean, come on. It's a money thing. This isn't... it these These things cost money, you know? So, so it's, you, you still have, have to budget for And so I totally understand it. It is less of a space issue, but yes, you still. What was my P3 P3 for the fact portal, the rumor of portal was coming in. I wanted to be prepared for it. And so I wanted to get more time on a P3 for our listener. Cause there's a lot of, there's actually a lot of questions about like is about P3s. And so I wanted to learn more about it. Cause there's one in the state of Utah. It's out of what I have. that I know of. And so, but overall portal, like it's coming into my house at one point time or other, it's, it's like guaranteed set.
00:43:13
Speaker
So, okay. What's your, what's your number three? My number three is Winchester. Um, Winchester definitely came out of the blue.
00:43:25
Speaker
We heard that, that there was something new coming from a high level player. And we didn't know anything about it.
00:43:37
Speaker
And then we're like, oh, it's Winchester. And I'm like, okay. And Winchester. And I was like, okay, what was that? Let me tell the theme. like, okay. i I remember hearing something about a a spooky haunted house.
00:43:50
Speaker
um The lady felt like she was had to keep building or confuse the ghost. or I still don't totally understand the story. But I'm like, okay, this is interesting.
00:44:02
Speaker
And then when i went to play it, yeah if Carl DeAngelo is not an elite pinball designer within the next five years, I will quit Loser Kid and definitely retire from pinball forever.
00:44:19
Speaker
because Because Carl understands pinball way more than 99.9% people out there. He understands the the what makes games flow, what makes them fun.
00:44:33
Speaker
And he also understands rule sets. If you want to learn how to play a game, the first thing you do is Google tutorial. And if you find a Carl D'Angelo tutorial, that's a pretty solid one to look at.
00:44:46
Speaker
Yeah. The game is awesome. And ye I only ranked it as number three because I'm super disappointed that there's not going to be a, so far, there's not going to be a standard version that I can buy because the limited edition sold out.
00:45:02
Speaker
So ah just the way that Winchester played and everything was so good about that. I also a hundred percent believe that this surprised barrels of fun because barrels of fun, ah they had no idea they had a grand a walk-off grand slam in their hands because they didn't know carls this is his first yeah game and and they were like hey we took we like hey they have like three different elements you have a theme you have a limited quantity you have a new designer hopefully some of those will resonate with buyers and when people went and played it they're like dang
00:45:45
Speaker
This is a really good game. So I, I didn't even play it until it was already sold out. That's how, that's how quickly it went. So I, I love everything about this and I i really probably will just pay a premium ah for a few hundred, a few hundred thousand yeah for a few thousand more sticker price.
00:46:06
Speaker
And I will probably have this in my house. Yeah. yeah So my number two, that was your number two, right? well No, that was my number three. Okay.
00:46:17
Speaker
So that's your number three. So have you done number three yet? You did number three. Yeah, but I did portal. Okay. so So let's alternate now. because Okay. So you give me your number two. No, I think i think Winchester. yeah you want oh yeah Okay. Okay. Yeah, I'll do my number two. I'll do my number two. Okay.
00:46:32
Speaker
Number two for me is King Kong. I have a pro behind me. This game, the ball paths on it are insane.
00:46:43
Speaker
Like the the code is still maturing, right? Like that's, it's been out since May. yeah ah The thing about Elwin that I appreciate is I feel like his code out of the gate, nine times out 10 is pretty well fleshed out for a novice player. So it gives me a good idea of the direction it's heading. And I can usually get to the wizard mode at, at,
00:47:07
Speaker
l1's early early code or not wizard mode i can get to the end ish but with this game man i know i went with a pro because i felt like the king kong mech really didn't do much like it was like it's cool don't get me wrong it's very very cool it doesn't interact with the ball in a way that i felt was meaningful That's just me. That's my personal preference. And the subway was cool, but it's just a ball lock.
00:47:33
Speaker
And so like ball locks can be cool. I just didn't feel like it justified upgrading from a proto premium, right? You sell those drop targets with the cool Gary Stern golden idol hidden behind them with that little upper flipper plus the river that comes down.
00:47:49
Speaker
This is a game i turn on my collection and I just play just day after day. when I'm in a pinball mood, I come to King Kong first. It just, it is so unique.
00:48:01
Speaker
I don't think I have played a game, any other pinball game like King Kong. And that's what kind of frustrates me is people dog on it. And I just don't get where the hate's coming from. I get if you feel like mechanically, it's not as sound as other Keith Elwin games.
00:48:18
Speaker
um But I feel like a lot of the fixes, like the the vertical up kicker, it's an angle bracket you can buy for like, two bucks off of amazon i just the pro to me i feel like it's very very solid and i haven't had any issues with it and man it just such a good game i am not sorry i traded my food fighters pro to get my king kong pro if you haven't played one what are you doing get out there and try it so what's your number two scott so my number two is dune
00:48:52
Speaker
Like it barrels of fun have that have figured out how to take the secret sauce that Eric did with Guns N' Roses and to sprinkle it into Dune to have a complete thematic immersion.
00:49:09
Speaker
Because this game, when you from the plunge, it has a continuous soundtrack going on it. It has the light show. It has all the molds in it that make the pass.
00:49:27
Speaker
I thought the paths were awesome. I thought they were fun. They were they were innovative. And I loved the, okay, I still haven't seen Dune. But when you're when you have like the sandworm that you're trying to like, you know, it has that little mechanism that's banging up and down to like to summon the sandworm.
00:49:48
Speaker
Okay. That feels awesome because your hands are on the machine and you're feeling the vibration of the, of the speaker and you're feeling the pounding. You're seeing the, the, the, the the total projection in the back.
00:50:04
Speaker
It's the, the LCD in the back panel and it is just so good. that, okay, what makes a great pinball machine? They don't all have to be like Godzilla level, like shooters.
00:50:20
Speaker
They don't, they have to be fun. And this, it this was fun, challenging. It had easy shots. It had hard shots. It had that awesome sandworm that, that telescopes up and eats the ball. And it's just, it is so good.
00:50:38
Speaker
And doing i really hope they continue making this because it is such a great game i definitely want it i just don't have space right now but i i love the game and there's okay there's a reason why joel's wife played it and said this is a cool game yeah like she nailed it she's like you want to be in this environment and then you have the the pain box thing i mean come on like it's so good
00:51:10
Speaker
that i I really want this game. Yeah, it really is. It's ah it's something special. And i think I remember being at Expo when they revealed Labyrinth.
00:51:23
Speaker
And I was like, this is really cool. I'm not a huge Labyrinth fan, but like what they're doing is very intriguing. And then when Dune came out, I was like, this isn't just like a fluke thing. This is this is a legit. And then when you and I played it at Expo, I was like, dang, this this is awesome. like This is...
00:51:40
Speaker
This is like validity to me that they are more than a legit company, right? Like they are, they are taking it to the next level. And yeah. So that's your number two, right? That's my number two.
00:51:52
Speaker
All right. So that we're down to our number ones. Do you want to do honorable mentions before we reveal our number ones? Yes. So my honorable mention, uh, is going to be doing, it did not make my top five list. I know some people are booing.
00:52:05
Speaker
I agree with you, Scott, like everything you said, i agree. I just, I felt like there were five other games before it that I would, that I would prefer to have my collection.
00:52:17
Speaker
Um, I don't know, honestly, it's a fight for fifth between evil dead and doing. I really, really enjoyed doing like it was, it was a really good game, but I've already made my bed. I'm going to lay in it. So yeah doing remains on my honorable mentions. How about you? And well, okay. Evil dead was my honorable mention and, it Again, it suffers a little bit just because of the, the niche attitude.
00:52:42
Speaker
Like it it you can't, it for me to have like a a top five appeal, it really has to be like a, Hey, This can go anywhere to anybody at any time.
00:52:55
Speaker
And it's, there's definitely a focused group for evil debt. Now, again, that group loved it and bought it and it is, is perfect that way. But it's, uh, there were five that I, I would rank higher on my own ability list.
00:53:13
Speaker
So that that's really, when I'm thinking of a top five, I'm thinking of top five games I would have in my collection. Yeah. i Same here. So, so, so that that is nothing about spooky and, and that, because it is, it's a great game. We really had an embarrassment of riches this year.
00:53:33
Speaker
Yep. And we really did like 2025 was a rough year for like, for competition. It was all solid, right? Like it just, it was rough. And the fact that like for your wallet, yeah, it took a pounding. Yeah. Or you just had to say my house, my space, my space. I don't have space.
00:53:50
Speaker
Yeah, I could have easily doubled my collection this year. year Easily. And I don't feel that about every... I don't know if I've felt about that for pinball for a while now. You know i'm saying? that Last year there was Jaws, and there was which I obviously got.
00:54:08
Speaker
And then there was Metallica, which you got. um Evil Dead was awesome, but that didn't reveal to the end of the year. I'm trying to think. Labyrinth.
00:54:19
Speaker
wasn't my cup of tea so okay again labyrinth suffers from not that was from 2023 yeah yeah so i'm just like i'm just trying to think like last year like i wasn't a fan of x-men like ah we can get to that later okay we're doing our top ones okay all right uh scott give us to the honors if you're number one let's see let's hear this number one no question hands down Harry Potter.
00:54:42
Speaker
I knew it. knew it. It is so good, Josh. i i The way that Eric designed this game, it is so great. It flows so good. It has possibly one of the best upper playfields ever invented because your Quidditch battle, you not only have an upper...
00:55:09
Speaker
an upper loop that you can repeat, but it also has a wire form that you can shoot and has a one 80. It is super challenging. It's, but, but it is, it is achievable, which is, you know, there's a lot of games where it's like, you know, it's kind of like that side, that, that, that stupid flipper in Led Zeppelin, like that, the only person that can shoot that side shot is John is Joel, but, um,
00:55:35
Speaker
it It has so much in there. It is so packed. The staircase mechanism, the diverter that causes so many different options there.
00:55:46
Speaker
It is a baptism into the Harry Potter world. And given there are eight films and seven books, the way that you are just liquid poured into this game is unbelievable. The art, by the way, is awesome. I don't care what anyone says. Okay. You can talk about the, you know, distracted, distractible things such as, Oh, they may have used AR. Okay. Whatever.
00:56:15
Speaker
It looks so good in person. You would never know any of this stuff. And the collector's edition looks so good with the, you know, the, okay. Marilena. I, I'm, I know I'm not saying that. Yeah. mean Mima mi ma Lima. Yeah.
00:56:31
Speaker
And it's the, it's basically the art that feels like you're reading the book. And then you have the wizard, the wizard edition that has like all of the movie assets and it looks so great on the, on the side. And then you also have the option of getting an arcade edition. Yes. Okay. I get it. It's $10,000 or 99,999, but this is something that will make money. I guarantee if Harry Potter were downstairs in my collection, that is a hundred percent. The first game anybody will go to hands down,
00:57:03
Speaker
because it is so good and so eric 100 i bow to you you totally nailed this one and yeah 100 best game of the year it is a pretty wonderful that's why my i had a really hard time with this list because it's yeah yeah okay my number one what do we have we have 12 games uh Okay.
00:57:31
Speaker
You're slow rolling it. I already know what it is. I already know. I want to see. Oh, you just guess. Let's see. You guess it. You're going to say Winchester. It's Winchester. And I'm going to tell you why. Boom. Yep. I'm going to tell you why.
00:57:43
Speaker
Okay. Winchester. It's not the fact that I get shocked. us It's not like there's this is drop. I like spooky things. I'm not a fan of the Winchester house. It's not like, it's like I have Winchester merchandise. What? Yeah.
00:57:55
Speaker
Here's the thing. You have that tattoo. Yeah. I do have that tattoo of the ghost on my butt. Yes, that is true. Here's the thing about Winchester. When I played it at Expo, it plays so smooth.
00:58:12
Speaker
And this is one thing we talked about with Carl D'Angelo on the podcast when we had him on. It's that years of tweaking games, fixing games, just knowing where the geometry is at.
00:58:24
Speaker
I feel like between the peppers ghost between that crazy, cool spinning will the, the, the turntable with the different paths and how quickly it it it reacts to where it needs to be the ramps themselves. It's a hard playing game. Like it's, it's a tougher playing game. I didn't feel like it was hung like really hard. The fact that like you can, you can like go to different rooms and keys and like you can explore the game.
00:58:54
Speaker
Or you like you can kind of shortcut to certain areas, but you're still exploring the game. like If you just want to enjoy the game for what it is, you can. This game hits on so many different levels.
00:59:05
Speaker
I feel bad for the other companies because I feel like Carl D'Angelo said, this is what pinball should be. This is pinball. And I totally agree. And I i know, Scott, you consider yourself lower tier player.
00:59:20
Speaker
i would consider myself on the Upper side, I'm not top 1000 or top 100. I think if I really had the time and the means and whatnot, and I really wanted to dedicate my life to competition pinball, I feel like I could be in the top 1000. Another reason like I say this too is like if you have an insider connected, go look at your high scores and it will compare you to other people on insider connected to their high scores. Every game I played except for like three, I'm in the top 1%.
00:59:49
Speaker
So I feel like coming from a person that understands the geometry of pinball and how a game feels, Winchester just feels so good. The sound from Jeff Dodson at dirty pin, pull, a Pim dirty pool pinball just hits on so many levels. It just, it's so good. The artwork, Brad Albright tied this all together. This game, in my opinion, is the perfect package for this year and it scores high on my list. And the only thing I'm upset about with this game is I asked Zach
01:00:22
Speaker
do you have Winchester? And he said, yes. I said, i I'm going to Expo. I asked him on Tuesday. no yeah Monday, what day were it revealed? I'm going to Expo on Wednesday.
01:00:33
Speaker
it should be set up Thursday. I'm going to play it and I'll get back to you. I missed out because I had to play the game first, which I don't think is anything wrong with. No one, no one expected for this to sell out. i I agree with you.
01:00:50
Speaker
Like it's one of those games going to set and see how it does. Okay. I'm not, I'm not to the point where I'm about to sell two games or whatever it is to move one Winchester in my collection. Cause let's be realistic. It's 11, six and we know what the use market's going to do on it. Right.
01:01:08
Speaker
But this game is just so good. And it's just, it's, it's when something, it's it's a perfect storm in my opinion. And it just makes me excited even more for barrels of fun moving forward in the future and seeing now that they have Carl D'Angelo, like it's literally the clash of the Titans in my opinion, between D'Angelo and Elwin. the nice part about Ellen is at least all of his games will be available. And I don't have to stress because a pro is half of almost half of what a Winchester is. Right.
01:01:40
Speaker
So moving forward, I guess that's just one thing I got to keep an eye on. But for me, winter of 2025, Winchester without a doubt. So yeah if you guys agree, let us know if you disagree less in the comments, all that stuff. Okay. So I'll recap my top five. So Harry Potter, number one. Yep.
01:01:58
Speaker
Dune, number two. Winchester, number three. Portal, number four. Kong, number five. Okay? By the way, which one of those games would you not want to own?
01:02:09
Speaker
Yeah. All of them. all you All of them. You would want to own all of them. When's the last time we had a ah year? And by the way, I would put Evil Dead, my honorable mention, just because like if you're looking at the the aggregate market out there,
01:02:28
Speaker
that you would definitely put that in there. And so, okay. So all major companies have made a showing. you Okay. I'm not going to throw the Merlin edition or the Chicago gaming on that,
01:02:40
Speaker
All the major companies have had a major show this year. And I will even add, I did get, oh, so I got the upgrade kit for Cactus Canyon. So even like Chicago Gaming is making some some big strides. And by the way, opening that kit, it looks amazing. I'm going to be installing it this week.
01:03:00
Speaker
But, okay, when is the last time that we have had five or six major companies have a big hit in one year? Yeah.
01:03:13
Speaker
Um, I can't remember. really can't. It's been at least 30 years. It's been one week. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Okay. So Josh recap your top five.
01:03:25
Speaker
My top five, number one, Winchester, number two, King Kong, number three, Portal, number four, Harry Potter, and number five, Evil Dead. And I feel like the the list itself, and five, Evil Dead slash Dune, I feel like the list is very, like, I could be persuaded one way or the other. Okay, we have the same six, but if you noticed, we prioritize them differently.
01:03:47
Speaker
Yeah. But all of those games are great games. Yep. So that, That gives you options. It's not like the year where it's like, well, there's only one game that you can really put in there.
01:04:00
Speaker
So yeah how lucky are we this year? i Like I said, I can't remember. We've been doing this podcast coming up on seven years here in January. And all the years that we've been doing this, I don't remember a year where it's been like, holy crap, I've got to own all these games from all these companies. I've just...
01:04:23
Speaker
Yeah, I want to play them, but I just haven't been like, I've got to own these games. And I i seriously am like, how am I going to get these five games, these four games? My personal, yeah.
01:04:35
Speaker
These five games. I actually, because of my life situation right now, I actually think I would bump evil dead down to six and do it up to five because my family situation. know Okay. i I would say your, your ranking is correct.
01:04:48
Speaker
Now yeah there's a big difference between a ranking list and a personal purchase list. Yeah, there is. So, so evil, evil, that's still on your top five.
01:05:00
Speaker
I would say 2021 the last year. That was, i mean, Cactus Canyon remake, Godzilla, Rush, which I don't have much heartburn over not owning, but you love that. So that's why I'm throwing that in here. Weird Al, which I thought was amazing. Yeah.
01:05:16
Speaker
Toy Story. You can argue on it, whether you like it or not. I thought it was a great thing family. think it's enough. I think it's fun enough. And that's the other that spooky also did total nuclear annihilation brought back for a second round. Okay. That was a pretty good year. Yeah. So 2020, 2021.
01:05:31
Speaker
one I will give that year. And that's stretching it, in my opinion. yeah It's like, hey, it's not the same as this year. Yeah, it's not. It's not.
01:05:41
Speaker
Having barrels of fun in there. and they They had two games in my top five. Yeah. They had two and three. i mean, come on' They're a big player. like they're they're They're coming to play. yeah And I don't think they're afraid of...
01:05:55
Speaker
Um, I interested to see what they do with quality numbers or quality quantity numbers moving forward. Right. So, um, that pretty much wraps it up for the episode. Um, we do have a couple of notes here at the end that we just want to hit really, really quick. Um, we do have a new shirt on silver ball swag.com. It is similar to, did Stern still our idea? We have the loser kid. That's kind of similar to this flag.
01:06:19
Speaker
Ha ha. Ha ha. So go check it out. I will give some shout outs. I, I don't want this person to be flooded with requests, but just so you know, I, I got some banners.
01:06:34
Speaker
I got a Metallica banner and I got, I actually bought the, ah the old school Metallica banner. So if you're watching, you can see both of them. And my secret Santa also got this awesome ball lock.
01:06:47
Speaker
which is from CSI. So I'm holding up a skull. So this is great. Thank you so much. You know who you are. i don't want you get getting flooded with a lot of requests, but your um your generous help is greatly appreciating the visual content of this show. We're starting to rotate some banners behind me. And I i think Josh may be considering doing something like that, but it's just a nice way of getting people to see ah some of the things we're talking about.
01:07:14
Speaker
Yep. If we've been talking about portal, we talked about how amazing portal is princess bride. I love princess bride. I'm enjoying my word out. My kids like what I am more. i like princess bride more. It's a fight. It is what it is.
01:07:26
Speaker
thousand dollars off that is still that is because i got a p3 it's part of the referral program so if you don't know anyone that owns a p3 but you still want that thousand dollars off email us here at loser kid pinball podcast at gmail.com we will get you in touch with jerry and sarah and we will get that thousand dollars off of that new portal game or princess bride or final resistance whatever it may be there are a little terms and conditions we can talk about that if you email us Do that. Or if you're looking for a fun house, doesn't matter if it's the the standard edition or if it's the LE, we can get you $500 off there as well.
01:08:01
Speaker
please email us at loser kid pinball podcast at gmail.com. Other than that, if you want to get ahold of us, all the socials loser kid pinball podcast, uh, gmail.com at loser kid pinball at Facebook, Instagram, all that jazz. So, uh, we appreciate all the Patreon support because it does help by these little things that make it fun for, for you to watch and listen to.
01:08:23
Speaker
And so we really appreciate everybody who has signed up and we want to wish everybody a Merry Thanksgiving and Merry holidays for whatever your holiday plans are. We have a a year-end wrap-up show coming up and we do have a special guest plan. So we're excited on that.
01:08:39
Speaker
um Okay. let's turn Give us the last word. Give you the last word. ah Play pinball and happy holidays, everyone.
01:08:55
Speaker
you