Eclectic Gamers Podcast - Pinball & Video Games

Tony and Dennis are joined by Zachary Meny, of Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show, to talk about the silver ball. Pinball: In pinball news, discussion focuses on This Week in Pinball being open to donations, John Popadiuk filing an appeal in his civil case regarding Zidware, a leaked image of the Deadpool playfield from Stern Pinball, the rapid sell-out of the Supreme pinball machine, the announcement that Star Trek pinball is getting a Vault Edition, and Homepin indicating their second pinball machine will target the Chinese market. After the news, Tony leads everyone into the final round of The Worst of the Fall. Zach then describes his approach as a pinball collector, and how SDTM handles reviewing pinball machines. Finally, everyone tries the SDTM approach and reviews Wrestlemania. Video Games: Zach, Tony, and Dennis have a brief discussion on the best video game consoles of all time. Links: Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show (YouTube channel): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAoeA05zcyks

Tony and Dennis are joined by Bruce Nightingale, of the Slam Tilt Podcast and The Silverball Saloon, to talk a bunch of pinball and a bit on the virtual side. Pinball: This episode has a huge focus on news-driven items. Discussion revolves around liquidation details for Heighway Pinball, that former pinball designer John Trudeau was arrested yet again, the pricing range currently proposed by deeproot Pinball, the Women's International Pinball Tournament happening at Replay FX this year, Dutch Pinball's announcement of litigation beginning between them and their former contract manufacturer, and a bit about the evidence regarding the growth of the pinball hobby as noted in an article with This Week in Pinball. From there, Bruce provides some details regarding operating the Silverball Saloon (and how pinball integrates into that venture). Tony walks everyone through the next round of The Worst of the Fall (a tournament where you vote for the WORST of any given pinball match-up), and the pinball segment conclu

Pinball: After a brief mention of Stern Pinball's Iron Maiden LE gameplay (provided by Deadflip), we move into a couple legal/business updates. The first is Zidware and pinball designer John Popadiuk's legal defeat in a civil suit regarding his failure to produce pinball machines. The second is the collapse of Heighway Pinball, its ongoing liquidation, and the rumors/drama surrounding the failure of yet another pinball company. The pinball segment concludes with the results of the Slam the Top 101-200 and the setup of Round 4 of The Worst of the Fall. Video Games: It's BattleTech day. Tony walks through his hands-on experience with the latest game in the franchise. There is also a bit of discussion regarding Mad Max and Prey. Links: Deadflip's gameplay video of Stern Pinball's Iron Maiden LE: https://youtu.be/besY8TS0Ges This Week in Pinball-The Fall of Heighway Pinball: http://thisweekinpinball.com/twip-the-fall-of-heighway-pinball-new-info-on-elvira-3-iron-maiden-le-more/ Pinball News interview with And

In this episode, Ryan C. (of Head2Head Pinball) joins in to talk about all sorts of pinball topics. In pinball news, there is discussion of Spooky Pinball's Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle at the 2018 Midwest Gaming Classic. From there, we talk about continued fallout regarding Jersey Jack Pinball's Pirates of the Caribbean with changes to the spinning disc and treasure-chest ball lock for production models versus the prototypes. Finally, there is a brief discussion of Dennis' Atari pinball article over at Pinball News. After the news, a collection segment begins, where Ryan gives his thoughts on pin collecting from a player's standpoint. Two data segments follow this, both involving Pinside data. The first examines game ratings versus category of ownership. The second explores the ratio of wishlist to ownership for the top 200 solid-state pins. Pinball wraps up with some games. The first is Slam the Top 101-200, modeled on a Head2Head game. The second it the round 3 match-ups in our ongoing Worst of the F

In pinball, Dennis and Tony discuss Stern Pinball's recently announced Iron Maiden pinball. They also talk about Pinball Expo (it's back on, but there are changes still versus prior years). They also briefly spend some time on the Trash Talker Invitational Podcaster Bloodbath. Finally, it's time for Round 2 of The Worst of the Fall. The video game segment consists of gaming updates, because updates are good! Links: This Week in Pinball's Iron Maiden information: http://thisweekinpinball.com/twip-iron-maiden-reveal-premium-and-le-info-keith-elwin-interview-deadpool-image-leak-spooky-updates-more/ Pinball News & Pinball Magazine: http://www.podcastgarden.com/podcast/pinballmagazine Pinball News article on Pinball Expo 2018: https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2018/04/03/pinball-expo-2018-latest-news/ Round 2 of The Worst of the Fall voting: https://goo.gl/forms/pDN8ZurORASdItff1

Discussion revolves around the 2018 Texas Pinball Festival, the first round of our The Worst of the Fall Tournament, and a couple video game topics (Mad Max and Overwatch). A setting was wrong on Dennis' microphone input so he will have more echo than ideal, sorry! Links: Fun with Bonus: https://funwithbonus.com/ Roanoke Pinball Museum: https://www.roanokepinball.org/ The Pinball Podcast: http://www.thepinballpodcast.com/ Head2Head Pinball: http://www.head2headpinball.com/ Straight Down the Middle: A Pinball Show: http://www.podcastgarden.com/podcast/httpyoutubeubovjgfcizw This Week in Pinball: http://thisweekinpinball.com/ Pinball News: http://www.pinballnews.com/site/ Audio of Steve Ritchie's seminar at TPF 2018: https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/tpf-2018/tpf-2018-steve-ritchie.mp3 Round 1 of The Worst of the Fall voting: https://goo.gl/forms/MMNJxI6tRsNZ99Vx2

No interviews and no guest hosts, just Tony and Dennis talking about games. A big mix this time (even the tabletop segment makes a return!). Pinball: Pinball topics consist of Chicago Gaming Company announcing they will no longer be revealing their third remake pin at the 2018 Texas Pinball Festival and the announcement of a Pinball Palooza in the Chicago area (due to a split between the two partners who put together Expo for years). Dennis also talks a bit about a project Laser War machine, and an article he co-wrote about Ted Zale. Video Games: A huge mix of games gets discussed. Specifically: Subnautica, Dragon Ball FighterZ, XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, Gems of War, Into the Breach, South Park: The Fractured but Whole, and BATTLETECH by Harebrained Schemes. We also talk some about the recent Nintendo Direct event. Tabletop: Yes, a brief return, regarding the fallout of a long-ago mentioned project from Palladium Books for Robotech RPG Tactics. Links: Laser War gameplay video: https://youtu.be/zNAFzwZTik

In this episode, Tony and Dennis are joined by Taylor Reese (owner/operator of Reese Rails and one of the hosts of This Flippin' Podcast). Given Taylor's pinball background, most of the discussion centers on that hobby. The guys announce the conclusion of the "shame" pinball tournament, discuss Stern Pinball's Supreme pin, provide a Skit-B legal update, talk about some quality issues that have arisen with the Attack from Mars Remake, and cover Ben Heck's announcement that he has left Spooky Pinball. In addition, time is spent on collector aspects of the pinball hobby, and a fun discussion about pinball "conventional wisdom" and where the guys buck the trend on what they favor. Links: Reese Rails: https://pinside.com/pinball/biz/directory/1004-reese-rails This Flippin' Podcast: http://www.podcastgarden.com/podcast/thisflippinpodcast This Week in Pinball's Ben Heck interview: http://thisweekinpinball.com/interview-ben-heck-leaving-spooky-alice-coopers-nightmare-castle-preview-next-ben-heck/

This episode kicks off with a lengthy interview Dennis held with Robert Mueller, Principal of deeproot Tech, who joined the show to provide additional information regarding deeproot Pinball and its plans on entering pinball production. After the interview Tony and Dennis give their thoughts/analysis regarding what was learned in the interview. This is followed by setting up the fourth, and final, round of the "shame" pinball tournament, Spooky Pinball's announcement that Total Nuclear Annihilation is their best-selling game to date, and some information coming out of the Head2Head Pinball regarding American Pinball securing a trademark for an Oktoberfest pinball machine. In video games, a discussion regarding the Overwatch League and its impact on the future of eSports starts things off, and is followed by Microsoft and some of the acquisition rumors floating around to further enhance the Xbox's first-party line-up. Links: Flippin' and Mashing podcast link: http://www.podcastgarden.com/podcast/flippinandma

Tony and Dennis are joined by Steve Bowden, top world-ranked pinball player and the mind behind Fun With Bonus (a website about all things pinball). As such, expect a pinball-heavy episode. The pinball topics start with the third round of the "shame" pinball tournament, and wrap-up of round two. Then, the latest pinball news is discussed (focusing on Stern Pinball's Luci AC/DC Vault Edition announcement, This Week in Pinball's follow-up interview with deeproot Pinball, and the TWIPY pinball award results). From there, competitive pinball topics are discussed, including some talk of the IFPA's new $1 fee (which went into effect at the start of the year), games that have fatal rulesets for competitive play and how they can be fixed, and ideas on what local pinball scenes can do to attract new players into competitive pinball tournaments. There are a couple video game topics as well. The guys discuss the Nintendo Labo (cardboard + Nintendo = Profit?) and Dragon Ball FighterZ (the latest fighting game from Arc

Pinball: We cover Multimorphic's P3 for our year-end review (as we did not in the prior episode). We talk a bit of Heighway Pinball's Alien, Stern Pinball at CES, and Round 2 in our "shame" tournament. Video Games: We talk about Nintendo's mini-direct event, Halo Wars 2, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, and Quantum Break. Links: Solid Sate Pinball Supply: http://www.solidstatekc.com/ T-shirt Giveaway entries: https://goo.gl/forms/CmIsn8VjRWXz0XFu1 "Shame" Pinball Tournament-Round 2 voting: https://goo.gl/forms/4kUfg2p8DJ3TvA7z1 EGP Discord: https://discord.gg/sgnrsBT

Tony and Dennis summarize 2017 for pinball and video games, plus launch round 1 of the best "shame" pinball machine. Happy New Year! Links: Round 1 of 2017 Best "Shame" Pinball Tournament: https://goo.gl/forms/dVSm69UDvpeuGNRU2

Pinball: We open with a couple news updates (Stern's notices for SPIKE systems to fix node board and capacitor issues, plus Star Wars receiving its v1.0 code), following by the TWIPY awards, our "shame" pinball tournament, and the 2018 Texas Pinball Festival. Video Games: Tony talks Breath of the Wild, while Dennis talks Rocket League. There's also some more Star Citizen news! Links: TWIPY pinball award voting: https://goo.gl/forms/5tUPMcGcVPiZe0Eo2 Submission form for "shame" pinball machines: https://goo.gl/forms/PIFC19xatUz7dw7e2

Pinball: We open with the latest code update for The Walking Dead and Heighway Pinball's announcement regarding Alien Pinball production. After that, we focus on The Week in Pinball's interview with deeproot Pinball and Dennis' latest Pinball News article on Harry Williams and the game's he designed for Bally in the early 1970s. Video Games: We start with the latest on EA and Battlefront 2's loot boxes. From there, an update is provided on the long-awaited Star Citizen and news regarding Battletech. Finally, Dennis talks about about Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Links: This Week in Pinball's interview with deeproot Pinball: http://thisweekinpinball.com/exclusive-interview-deeproot-next-misadventure-pinball-revolution/ San Antonio Business Journal article on deeproot: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2017/08/16/san-antonio-financial-adviser-raises-15m-from.html Dennis' article on Harry Williams' Bally-produced pinball machines at Pinball News: https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2017/11/30/harr

In this super-special episode, Tony and Dennis are joined by Nic (of Nic's North American Pinball Tour fame) to talk all about electromechanical (EM) pinball machines. They start off with a basic discussion of the three primary manufacturers (Gottlieb, Williams, and Bally). From there, a general discussion of the three basic gameplay concepts employed by EMs in the 1960s and beyond. Then follows a deep discussion of both the IPDB and Pinside Top 10 EM list (we talk each game, but also the ratings systems as a whole). Finally, the discussion opens up into other good EM games and some of the more controversial restoration techniques (using LED lighting and whether or not it is okay to clearcoat).

Pinball: We start off with some news, move into a follow-up on "street level" pins, and close out with the results of our 2017 System 11 Tournament and some thoughts on games with that boardset (such as our Top 5!). Video Games: We lead off with a loot crate update. From there, it's EA's acquisition of Respawn. Tony then goes into Bomber Crew, Dennis talks more Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, and Tony concludes with Endless Space 2. Links: Dennis' Pinball News article on "street level" pins: https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2017/11/16/the-history-of-street-level-pinballs/ Eclectic Gamers Podcast page of past tournament results: https://eclecticgamerspodcast.wordpress.com/past-tournament-results/ Bomber Crew: http://store.steampowered.com/app/537800/Bomber_Crew/ Endless Space 2: http://store.steampowered.com/app/392110/Endless_Space_2/

Pinball: We open with the set-up for Round 5 (the final!) for our 2017 System 11 Tournament. After that is a short update on Heighway Pinball's Alien games. From there, Dennis and Tony talk about Stern Pinball's Guardians of the Galaxy reveal. Finally, Dennis presents his research project on the Gottlieb "Street Level" pinball series of games, an experiment by the company in the early 1990s. Video Games: Tony leads off with his research project, the world of loot boxes. The show ends with a summary of BlizzCon 2017 announcements (Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and Heroes of the Storm). Links: Round 5 voting for the 2017 System 11 Tournament: https://goo.gl/forms/649S5jGmQ5IoTkOm2 Street Level-Silver Slugger details: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2152 Street Level-Vegas details: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2724 Street Level-Deadly Weapon details: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=645 Street Level-Title Fight details: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2573 Street Level-Car Hop details:

Pinball: The talk is all about the 2017 Pinball Expo. We also launch Round 4 of our 2017 System 11 Tournament. Video Games: We talk about Doki Doki Literature Club, EA's decision to close Visceral Games, Mafia 3, Dungeons 3, Middle Earth: Shadow of War, Forts, and Titanfall 2. Links: Round 4 voting for the 2017 System 11 Tournament: https://goo.gl/forms/9OcAtqAi7o4Gv83i2 Doki Doki Literature Club: http://store.steampowered.com/app/698780/Doki_Doki_Literature_Club/

Pinball: After quick updates about 2017 Expo (and Jersey Jack Pinball's plan to reveal game #4 there) and Heighway Pinball confirming an Alien Pinball shipment, we go on into Pinapalooza VI, the latest Project Pinball Charity sweepstakes, and the next stage of our System 11 tournament (poor Pinbot!). Video Games: We talk Pinball FX3, Mafia 3, Cuphead, and Factorio. Links: Project Pinball Charity's Total Nuclear Annihilation Sweepstakes: https://projectpinball.rallyup.com/totalnuclearannihilation-sweepstakes Round 3 voting for the 2017 System 11 Tournament: https://goo.gl/forms/Dt77SI52WGUnTZv73

Ah, the news. Mostly bad, a little bit good. Such is fate in these hobbies. Pinball: We open with a few quick news items (Heighway Pinball and their maybe-shipping Alien pins, some Skit-B legal updating, and Spooky Pinball's art on the upcoming Alice Cooper pin), and then go into the more meaty topics. The big one is John Popadiuk (JPop) being tied to deeproot Pinball, LLC. From there, we discuss the response seen in the pinball community following Homepin's reveal in an interview with Head2Head Pinball Podcast that end users won't be able to apply software updates to Thunderbirds directly (and a related discussion that Homepin's board takes from the PinHeck design Spooky Pinball uses but without giving credit). Finally, we move into Round 2 of our 2017 System 11 Tournament! Video Games: We talk fallout of PUBG vs. Fortnite (with PUBG accusing the latter of replicating their Battle Royale PvP model). After that, Dennis disses Dishonored 2 and Tony summarizes a mod for Cold Waters he's been trying out. After