Dirtypool Pinball - PODCAST - An Exploration Of The Pinball Industry

▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS9lWVjGsygallsiz2_TJ_oxIlhl29fLC&si=iLC8oBnZfl_U7pJj

Francis from Pinball Capital joins me to talk about running an arcade in Chicago, right in the middle of one of the biggest hubs for pinball manufacturing and design.

We get into the realities of operating a modern arcade, maintaining a large lineup of games, his relationship with the manufacturers and people building games nearby, what Chicago’s pinball scene is actually like from an operator’s perspective, and where he sees location pinball heading.

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▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS9lWVjGsygallsiz2_TJ_oxIlhl29fLC&si=iLC8oBnZfl_U7pJj

Keith Elwin joins the Dirty Pool Podcast to talk about his path from competitive player to game designer, how Randy helped pull him into pinball, and the way he approaches building a new machine from the earliest ideas forward.

We also talk about the pressure that comes with being called the best, the designers he looks up to, what defines Keith outside of pinball, obscure Steam games, and, most importantly what sandwich relates to each flipper skill.

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#Pinball #KeithElwin #SternPinball #PinballPodcast #DirtyPoolPinball

▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS9lWVjGsygallsiz2_TJ_oxIlhl29fLC&si=iLC8oBnZfl_U7pJj

Tasker Smith joins the podcast to talk about his book Pinball: A Quest for Mastery and a bigger question behind it: can you actually learn pinball from a book?

We talk about what can and can’t be taught through text, how much of pinball comes from repetition and instinct, whether fundamentals translate from classic games to modern machines, and how Tasker decided what knowledge was important enough to put on the page.

We also get into practice, competition, ball control, and what it really means to get better at pinball.

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#pinball #taskersmith #pinballpodcast #dirtypoolpinball

▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS9lWVjGsygallsiz2_TJ_oxIlhl29fLC&si=iLC8oBnZfl_U7pJj

Joel and Jared Engelberth join the Dirty Pool Podcast to talk about the evolution of their weekly Flip N Out Pinball stream, going from brothers with very different levels of pinball experience to hosting one of the most popular regular streams in the hobby.

We talk about Joel's early days in pinball media, Jared starting out as the pinball novice, how their relationship with Zach Meny and Flip N Out developed, getting early access to new games, working with manufacturers and designers, and giving honest opinions when thousands of dollars in purchasing decisions may be riding on them.

We also get into first impressions they've gotten wrong, games they disagree on, the inevitable "shill" accusations, balancing industry relationships with audience trust, and where pinball streaming goes from here.

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#Pinball #PinballMachine #PinballPodcast #FlipNOutPinball #DirtyPoolPinball

▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS9lWVjGsygallsiz2_TJ_oxIlhl29fLC&si=iLC8oBnZfl_U7pJj

Serge from Electric Bat joins us for Podcast 37.

Serge has spent a lot of time behind the mic calling tournament pinball, so we wanted to dig into how he approaches it. How much homework goes into a broadcast? How do you explain a game without talking over it? What do you do when absolutely nothing interesting is happening?

Serge has a great perspective on the game from the other side of the glass, and this felt like a good excuse to finally get him on and talk about it. Plus he promised after I tricked him to play Bon Jovi after his trip to LA.

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#pinball #dirtypoolpodcast #electricbat #pinballart #pinballcommunity #art #commentary

▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS9lWVjGsygallsiz2_TJ_oxIlhl29fLC&si=iLC8oBnZfl_U7pJj

🕰️ Ayscrim Studios

🛒 Website https://ayscrimstudios.com

📷 Instagram https://instagram.com/ayscrimstudios

📘 Facebook https://facebook.com/ayscrimstudios

Philippe Grégoire is the owner of Ayscrim Studios, where he hand-builds officially licensed pinball clocks using artwork from classic machines and original collaborations with pinball / adjacent artists.

We’ll talk about how a homemade Gottlieb Surf Champ score-reel clock grew into a fully licensed business, the engineering hidden inside each clock, working with original game artwork, and the strange process of building a creative niche inside an already very specific creative niche. Also how to bring these products to market and showing them at conventions to reveal the mystery behind the billion dollar lucrative business of pinball arts and crafts. /s

The original clock documented on pinside:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/gottlieb-score-reel-clock-project

We’ll also get into the one-of-a-kind Great Pyramid clock Philippe made for Dirty Pool, complete with a moving eye that watches back. Pretty damn cool.

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#pinball #dirtypoolpodcast #ayscrimstudios #pinballart #pinballcommunity #art #hobbyart

▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist

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Mike Vinikour (MXV) has had one of the more unusual careers in pinball. From testing games at Williams/Bally Midway during the arcade era, to competitive Mortal Kombat, to helping shape modern Stern Pinball software and rules, he's been involved with games from several different angles.

In Episode 35 of the Dirty Pool Podcast, we'll be talking about Mike's path through the game industry, how rule design has evolved, balancing depth with accessibility, software testing, field testing, working with designers, the realities of developing modern Stern machines, and plenty of stories from both the arcade and pinball worlds. We'll also get into his photography, massive vinyl collection, and whatever unexpected rabbit holes the conversation decides to find.

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00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:12 - Mike’s Record Collection

00:02:50 - Why Vinyl Matters

00:06:45 - Guessing the Record Count

00:08:44 - 16,000 Records

00:09:32 - Choosing What to Play

00:13:28 - Mortal Kombat Begins

00:16:36 - 105 Wins in MK2

00:18:10 - Meeting Midway at a Punk Show

00:20:16 - Revolution X and Game Testing

00:21:20 - Helping Build Midway QA

00:22:50 - The Punk Vault

00:23:40 - Photography and Punk Zines

00:26:53 - Favorite and Worst Shows to Shoot

00:29:18 - Getting to Stern

00:30:00 - Growing Up With Pinball

00:31:14 - Lyman Sheets Pushed for Mike

00:32:30 - George Gomez and Stern

00:34:08 - Working With Lyman on Batman 66

00:37:18 - James Bond and John Wick

00:38:26 - The “Saved the Game” Misunderstanding

00:40:48 - Rule Design Without Programming

00:42:10 - Earning Trust at Stern

00:43:18 - Working With Dwight Sullivan

00:46:00 - The MXV Skill Shot

00:48:23 - Secret Skill Shots and Mortal Kombat

00:49:40 - NDAs and Keeping Secrets

00:52:00 - Keith Elwin Made It a Thing

00:52:33 - Godzilla as Mike’s Favorite Game

00:54:10 - When a Rule Fails

00:55:28 - The Game Tells You

00:56:45 - Working With Lonnie Ropp

00:59:10 - Are Modern Rules Too Complex?

01:00:16 - Designing for New and Expert Players

01:01:10 - Risk and Reward

01:03:31 - Multiple Ways to Blow Up a Game

01:04:42 - Shot Difficulty in Rule Design

01:06:08 - Music Pins Without Being a Jukebox

01:08:32 - Dream Theme: Skinny Puppy

01:09:48 - Designing Around the Toy

01:10:42 - George Gomez’s Creative Brain

01:13:07 - Mike’s Basement Collection

01:15:08 - Work-Life Balance With Pinball

01:15:48 - The Raven Question

01:18:10 - Expo, Portland, and Shows

01:20:32 - Top Punk Albums

01:21:35 - Punk Rock Pinball Shoutout

01:24:00 - Raid and Praise the Great Pyramid

01:25:10 - Outro

#pinball #sternpinball #dirtypoolpodcast #podcast #arcade

▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS9lWVjGsygallsiz2_TJ_oxIlhl29fLC&si=iLC8oBnZfl_U7pJj

Jason Knapp of Knapp Arcade joins Dirty Pool Podcast to talk about running one of the few dedicated pinball news sites still trying to keep track of the hobby in real time.

We get into pinball journalism, how stories are chosen, how much work goes into keeping information accurate,and what it’s like covering a small industry where the people, companies, rumors, and drama all exist. Also I eat a taco. It was pretty good.

We also talk about the Knapp Arcade redesign, what changed behind the scenes, how the site has grown, and the balance between building something useful for the community without getting dragged into every argument the hobby creates for itself.

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📘 Facebook http://www.facebook.com/dirtypoolpinball

🔊 Discord http://discord.gg/ySs5Wjb3Je

👕 Apparel http://www.dirtypoolpinball.com

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:01 - The charity dart tournament origin story

00:03:00 - Craigslist finds, Facebook groups, and starting his own page

00:05:01 - When Knapp Arcade became something people depended on

00:06:20 - Building a permanent archive outside Facebook

00:07:25 - The site redesign, dark mode, and son-powered web development

00:09:04 - How Jason handles rumors and confidence levels

00:11:27 - Writing the news he would want to read

00:12:25 - The Stern Indiana Jones rumor and being right until you are wrong

00:14:31 - Fact-checking, Deep Root, and reporting what can be verified

00:16:11 - Why AI is not a source

00:17:21 - IPDB, Pinside, and preserving pinball history

00:18:54 - OPDB and organizing a massive photo archive

00:19:31 - Live questions and the Resident Evil pricing mess

00:23:52 - American Pinball under new management

00:25:29 - Supporting smaller manufacturers without ignoring the risks

00:27:21 - Worlds commentary, Goonies, and dream pinball themes

00:30:54 - Balancing family, work, travel, and fast writing

00:32:50 - Automotive competitive intelligence and chasing information

00:34:13 - The moments that make running Knapp Arcade worth it

00:36:20 - Jealous people, pinball drama, and doing the work

00:39:04 - Paywalls, ads, and keeping the site sustainable

00:44:54 - Future tiers, rankings, and a larger photo library

00:45:43 - Favorite manufacturers and the pull of Insider Connected

00:47:08 - Jason compliments Winchester Mystery House

00:48:45 - What pinball journalism still has not covered

00:51:11 - Pinball magazines, archives, and historical ads

00:54:21 - Bringing younger fans into the hobby

00:56:34 - Location play, leagues, and keeping arcades alive

00:60:47 - The Knapp Arcade app and push notifications

00:63:20 - Daily game photos and collecting every machine

00:66:13 - Bucket list arcades, Next Level, and missing Banning

00:69:05 - The Knapp Arcade logo and the 9/12/15 date

00:71:02 - Making Knapp Arcade part of the morning routine

00:72:13 - Rock Fantasy, home games, and the Raven argument

00:73:29 - Raven, Hollywood Heat, and Predator Raven

00:75:20 - Praise the Great Pyramid

#DirtyPoolPinball #DirtyPoolPodcast #Pinball #KnappArcade #KnappArcadePinball

▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS9lWVjGsygallsiz2_TJ_oxIlhl29fLC&si=iLC8oBnZfl_U7pJj

Steve Bowden has one of the stranger paths through modern pinball. Tournament player. Broadcaster. Rules analyst. Designer. deeproot employee. American Pinball employee during one of the company’s rougher stretches. A lot of the modern hobby overlaps with Steve somewhere along the way.

The conversation moves through tournament strategy, how commentary changed the way players learn rules and scoring, balancing games for casual players versus high-level competition, working inside pinball manufacturing, streaming culture, and the lingering fallout from the deeproot era now that parts of that story have started resurfacing again in community discussions.

There’s a lot of history attached to this one.

🎁 Fun With Bonus:

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Shoutout:

🌐 https://thepinballchick.com/table-review-index/

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00:00:00 - Network panic intro and finally getting Steve Bowden on

00:02:42 - How Steve accidentally became a PAPA commentator

00:07:59 - Did PAPA broadcasts make players better at pinball?

00:10:29 - Steve explains the “predict three things” commentary trick

00:11:49 - Do commentators need to be elite players?

00:13:27 - Learning unfamiliar games live on commentary

00:14:20 - Teaching players through rules design

00:17:24 - Home collectors vs route players

00:18:32 - Monster Bash, Spider-Man and layered rules

00:21:20 - IPDB disappearing and old pinball internet lore

00:23:03 - Great Pyramid shirt lore and Fun With Bonus

00:27:55 - Deeproot, American Pinball and getting into rules design

00:29:04 - “The second dollar is the important dollar”

00:30:47 - Dune tournament stories and weak flippers

00:39:42 - Balancing depth without scaring off new players

00:43:18 - Working inside American Pinball during the transition years

00:52:11 - Cutting features and simplifying rule ideas

00:58:44 - Designing rules for route players instead of home collectors

01:08:27 - Risk reward design and tournament strategy

01:14:52 - Tournament minded rules and player psychology

01:23:35 - The Raven joke returns

01:31:06 - Deeproot employment and behind the scenes instability

01:37:48 - American Pinball stories and industry chaos

01:46:33 - Commentary shaping player knowledge and competitive growth

01:52:04 - Commentary psychology and reading the room

02:02:11 - Raven jokes, old broadcasts and modern pinball culture

#Pinball #DirtyPoolPinball #SteveBowden #PinballPodcast #CompetitivePinball #IFPA #TournamentPinball #PinballCommunity #PinballRules #AmericanPinball #Deeproot #PinballBroadcast #Arcade #PinballMachine #Silverball #PinballTalk #PinballLife #SternPinball #BarrelsOfFun #ArcadeCulture #PinballPlayers #PinballDesign #RetroGaming #PinballStreamer #TexasPinballFestival #PinballNews #PinballIndustry #Podcast

▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS9lWVjGsygallsiz2_TJ_oxIlhl29fLC&si=iLC8oBnZfl_U7pJj

The P3 has carved out a very different lane in modern pinball. Swappable modules, a ball tracked LCD playfield, physical mechs, and a platform that approaches game design from a completely different angle than most traditional machines. Gerry joins the Dirty Pool Podcast to talk about the origins of the Multimorphic platform, designing games around modular hardware, how different modules take advantage of the system in unique ways, and how the P3 has evolved over the years.

We also get into the balance between physical and digital integration in pinball, the realities of building a platform meant to support multiple experiences in one cabinet, and how players have responded to pinball that experiments outside the standard format.

🧬 Multimorphic / P3 Pinball https://www.multimorphic.com/

If you had a P3 cabinet, which module would you want to try first?

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00:00:00 - Multimorphic, P3, and the strange corner of modern pinball

00:01:21 - Gerry’s tech background before pinball

00:02:42 - P-ROC starts as a way to mess with existing machines

00:03:24 - Tracking a bouncing pinball in real time

00:04:48 - Infrared grids, multiple balls, and what the system actually sees

00:05:50 - P-ROC becomes the brain inside the P3

00:06:38 - Choosing modules and LCD playfields over a normal pinball machine

00:07:40 - Building new pinball tech when Stern was almost alone

00:08:41 - Fighting the “that’s not real pinball” reaction

00:10:35 - Roguelike pinball and software-only game ideas

00:11:23 - Asking players to trust an $11k unfamiliar platform

00:13:37 - Portal, first impressions, and the flipper feel debate

00:16:55 - How much of “different” is mechanical and how much is psychology

00:17:49 - Why operators are nervous about putting P3s on location

00:20:03 - Old hardware criticisms and the problem of lasting first impressions

00:22:11 - The LCD gets judged before people actually play the game

00:22:55 - Princess Bride, physical mechs, and not hiding behind the screen

00:24:41 - Final Resistance and Scott Danesi’s traditional P3 approach

00:25:45 - The spaceship cannon and P3’s back trough system

00:26:40 - Lexy Lightspeed as the overlooked early module

00:27:39 - Full modules, add-on games, and how the P3 library works

00:28:55 - Cosmic Cart Racing and online multiplayer pinball

00:31:05 - Third-party developers building directly on the platform

00:31:51 - Original themes, licensed IP, and keeping games available

00:33:47 - Weird Al, Portal, and why recognizable licenses changed things

00:35:04 - Scorbit, APIs, and community integrations

00:35:57 - What it actually costs to buy into P3

00:36:40 - Shipping modules through UPS and swapping cabinet art

00:37:36 - Why the P3 is heavier than people expect

00:39:00 - Module seams, alignment, and the transition between playfields

00:42:00 - Upgrades, backboxes, scoop changes, and replacing older parts

00:43:31 - Backward compatibility and the fear of a future P3 generation

00:45:01 - Customer trust when people buy into an ecosystem

00:48:00 - International shipping and getting P3s outside the US

00:49:03 - Portal as Gerry’s favorite Multimorphic experience

00:49:53 - Eighteen balls in Portal and Heist taking the multiball crown

00:52:08 - What tracked balls let designers do differently

00:54:00 - Texas pinball, other manufacturers, and the hard part of building games

00:57:01 - Cabinet materials, plywood, and build quality questions

00:59:59 - Server checks, ownership, and whether games keep working offline

01:03:00 - Virtual targets, screen-based scoring, and every pixel becoming gameplay

01:05:59 - Publishing original P3 games as a third-party developer

01:07:34 - Filling the lower screen without making it feel empty

01:09:00 - Portal as the current high-water mark and what comes next

01:12:00 - Future mechs reaching farther into the lower playfield

01:14:59 - Where people can find and play a P3 in person

01:16:49 - Final plugs, Buffalo Pinball, and finding the P3 for yourself

#DirtyPoolPinball #DirtyPoolPodcast #Multimorphic #P3Pinball #Pinball #PinballMachine #PinballPodcast #Arcade #ArcadeGames #PinballCommunity #ModularPinball #PinballDesign #GameDesign #PinballTech #LCDPlayfield #PhysicalPinball #InteractivePinball #PinballIndustry #PinballStream #PinballCollectors #Silverball #ArcadeCulture #PinballLife #PinballAddict #PinballEnthusiast #GamingPodcast #RetroGaming #PraiseTheGreatPyramid