Eclectic Gamers Podcast - Pinball & Video Games

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...

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...

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 Ton...

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...

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:...

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...

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...

No heavy topics this time, just enjoyable discussions! Pinball: We launch our 2017 System 11 Tournament. Vote for your favorite System 11 pinball games (see link below). Then, we have a discussion about licenses in pinball during the 1990s, comparing the efforts of Premier/Gottlieb, Bally/Williams, and Data East/Sega. Video Games: We mention Destiny 2 (really, we do hardly anything else regarding...

Don (formerly of The Pinball Podcast and The Link Cable Podcast) joins Tony and Dennis once more, to talk all about pinball and video games. Pinball: The segment opens with an interview Dennis conducted with Terry of Pinball Life (mostly on Pinball Life as a company, but there is a bit about Terry's efforts on the ScoreGasm Master project). From there, Don, Dennis, and Tony turn to the somber topi...

Pinball: Tony and Dennis start off with the results of their ranking poll on best modern era billiards-themed pinball machines. From there, it's some rapid fire news from Stern Pinball (an update on their manuals' ghosting clause, a KISS code update, and a new Marketing Director). After that, a brief discussion of Stern's Star Wars Premium pinball, as streamed by DEAD FLIP. The segment closes with...

So many games, so many discussions! Pinball: Dennis and Tony cover Stern Pinball's manual indicating ghosting on inserts is normal, the finalized details of Spooky Pinball's Total Nuclear Annihilation, Dennis' acquisition of Sharkey's Shootout, a ranking poll the guys are running on the best billiards-themed pinball machine (solid state and later only), and they end the segment with more thoughts...

We've got three topic categories this time, though KantCon 2017 (a tabletop convention we helped sponsor) is the highlight. Pinball: We open with a very brief Dutch Pinball update. Then, it's on to the gameplay footage of Star Wars as presented by Dead Flip. Finally, we dedicate a sizable chunk of time on the recently concluded Pinball Done Quick and the announcement that the donations made to ben...

While post-E3 exhaustion may reign, this is another longer-than-typical episode! In pinball, Tony and Dennis briefly attempt to describe the Stern Pro Circuit (launching in 2018). From there, they dive into Dutch Pinball, summarizing a webinar the company hosted and also the latest newsletter's contract manufacturer update. To wrap up pinball, there is a length update about Skit-B and the Predator...

After a brief pinball segment (minor news updates regarding Heighway Pinball and Dutch Pinball), Dennis and Tony are joined by a roundtable (Mike, Eric, and Jake) to talk all about E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017). The roundtable tackles the major presentations (EA, Microsoft, The PC Gaming Show, Bethesda, Ubisoft, Sony, and Nintendo), plus anything else that caught their eyes and ears. Pre...

Pinball: Dennis talks about the an interesting variant to Playmatic's Space Gambler called Flash Baseball out of Portugal. From there, it is pinball news time! Tony and Dennis cover the investor group takeover of Heighway Pinball, the decision by Dutch Pinball to reject Nivoge's offer, and Stern Pinball's latest announced pin: Star Wars! Video Games: Tony and Dennis talk XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Ci...

Pinball: Tony and Dennis cover the latest Skit-B legal news, provide an update on Dutch Pinball's most current update, talk about the Total Nuclear Annihilation translite, cover Stern Pinball's encore edition of AC/DC, and have an interview with Gerry Stellenberg (the founder of Multimorphic, Inc.) who explains the P3 Pinball Platform. Video Games: Tony talks NieR: Automata. Dennis covers XCOM 2,...

With special guest host Bowen Kerins, this episode is heavy on the pinball (and math!). In pinball news, we cover two more Skit-B related hearings, the latest on Dutch Pinball, the IFPA's announced Challenge Matches coming in 2018, and Total Annihilation being renamed Total Nuclear Annihilation. From there, we get into the more theoretical pinball topics. We discuss what people can do to increase...

Pinball: Tony and Dennis issue a correction about the P3 game Heads Up, talk about Spooky Pinball making Total Annihilation, and dive into more Skit-B legal happenings. From there they go over two Pinside specific topics: revisions to the Top 100 ranking system and the initiation of "The Purge" to clean up trolling and bad behavior on the forum. Video Games: The guys talk about Middle-Earth: Shado...

Pinball: Tony and Dennis didn't talk about P3 in their 2017 TPF recap, and so hit upon the cutting-edge in pinball technology this go-around. Dennis then gives some thoughts on Batman 66 now that he's been able to play it. After that, an update regarding Dutch Pinball and ARA provides some additional information on the status of The Big Lebowski. From there, Dennis provides an interview with Keri...

A most straightfoward episode. Besides announcing the final results of the 2017 Modern Widebody Tournament, Tony and Dennis give a massive trip report of the National Videogame Museum and the 2017 Texas Pinball Festival. Fun times!

Pinball: We set up the final round of the 2017 Modern Widebody Tournament. We talk about Alien Pinball gameplay. And finally Dennis sets off to bore everyone with a regression analysis of Pinside's solid-state game ratings. Video Games: We of course cover Overwatch, both ongoing PTR tests and the new character (Orisa). Dennis hits on some 2017 GDC (Game Developers Conference) highlights. Tony trie...

A metric ton of pinball happenings dominates our discussion, with a small video game segment thrown in (no tabletop this time). Pinball: We set up Round 4 of the 2017 Modern Widebody Tournament. We talk about Aerosmith gameplay. We talk about Alien Pinball shipping. We talk about the death of Super League. We discuss the latest involving Skit-B legally. We cover the problems facing The Big Lebowsk...

Hey look, Episode 28 actually has a solid balance across pinball, video games, and tabletop gaming for once! Pinball: Discussion revolves around the Kansas State Pinball Championship, move into Round 3 of the 2017 Modern Widebody Tournament, and name some games we think have a solid layout but are stinkers because the rules are poor. Tony and Dennis also spend a lot of time discussing what they ar...

Pinball: Another large pinball section this episode. We cover the just-announced Jetsons Pinball. We wrap up round 1 of the 2017 Modern Era Widebody Tournament and discuss the match-ups in round 2. We discuss the legal happenings around Skit-B and the failed Predator pinball project. We talk about the P3 system going into production. And (finally!) we cover the Attack from Mars Remake that was ann...

Whoa, there is a lot of news to cover in this episode! Pinball: The 2017 Modern Widebody Tournament is explained and the first round's match-ups announced. From there, the guys talk about the Aerosmith reveal and their initial thoughts. Dennis then transitions to Zidware and the legal happenings on the JPOP front. Tony and Dennis then give their impressions of the Batman 66 gameplay shown on the D...