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Same! Telling all my D&D friends haha

Oi Renata!

I'm ready to play some pinball! 🤓🤘 More things to come!

@@erikaspinballjourney Stoked! Heal fast

Haha some fun stuff 🤓

Woah 😳

Next time! I’ll have more to come 🤓

Thank you 😊 and yeah I honestly keep putting it back and forth in my number one spot now ahead of LOTR 😅🤪 but I guess with time I’ll find out 🤓 Hope you have a great day too!

@@erikaspinballjourney I have yet to play LOTR in person, but based on playing it on VPX it definitely strikes me as worthy of the number one spot! I have yet to play Elton John but from everything I've seen, I think I would get addicted, and I'm not even that big of a fan of Elton John! Thanks for the reply!

Thank you for watching, glad you enjoyed it!

Hi @NightlitePinball, yeah.... this pins art oversexualization is not for me. One would hope things would be different... I think I need more time to collect my thoughts on it. I think things should have been done differently.

​@@erikaspinballjourney Cary Hardy's "joke" at the end of his reaction video was pretty telling - and frustrating. He says "I think the female form looks good on pinball machines. Apparently a lot of you would prefer the male form." He plays it off as an intentionally "triggering" joke, but even setting aside very 2006-era "haha ur gay" homophobia of it, it pretty clearly demonstrates two major issues that still exist in mainstream pinball groupthink: first, that this kind of exaggerated oversexualization should be considered a perfectly fine representation of, as he puts it, "the female form" (yuck), and secondly it doesn't even allow for the possibility that anyone watching might be a woman, who very well could be made uncomfortable by this and also WOULD probably prefer the male form! In his mind, you are either fine with these sexualized cartoon characters, or you are woke (or worse, gay!) and it's beyond comprehension that you might actually BE female. The subtext seems to be that apparently women in pinball don't (shouldn't?) exist? It makes me sad because I'm a fan of Cary, and I know being controversial is his schtick, but as a spokesperson for a large part of the pinball community I think he should do better. Joke's on me I guess, I got triggered, but his joke says a lot without actually saying it. And it's not just Cary; this kind of rhetoric popping up in comments from the larger pinball community is so disappointing because it feels like we have made good progress away from this era of pandering to the male gaze. Games have been coming out for a good while now featuring plenty of women without being gross about it. Women - and minors too - are much better represented in the pinball community these days, both in leagues and in tournament play, but some of that old fashioned toxicity still exists. It really feels like a certain element of the pinball world has been waiting for this moment to crawl out of the woodwork and say "finally, a new game for US, just like in the good old days!" I can only imagine how that makes women in the hobby feel. And I want to finish this mostly incoherent ramble by saying: if a pinball company wants to make it their niche to make adults-only games covered in art of fetishized women, then so be it. That's their decision to make, and their profits will show if that's a good idea or not. It's also fine for us in the community to voice the opinion that we don't like representing women that way on games and it should be left in the past. It doesn't make us woke or gay to not want a game in our home or public places with Alice's boobs hanging out around our families and children. If people like it, that's good for them, but it's also fine for people to not like it. People shouldn't be getting shouted down or made fun of for thinking it's distasteful. And as hard as it may be for some people to believe, some people in the community might actually be women.

@@ThePinballNoobThank you for sharing your thoughts-I totally get where you're coming from. In my live stream, I decided to brush over this topic, but reading these comments makes me realize how important it is to address these kinds of issues directly. The joke Cary made, even if meant to be playful, really highlights the disconnect that still exists in parts of the pinball community, especially when it comes to how women are represented. As someone who cares about inclusivity in pinball, I agree that this oversexualization can be uncomfortable, particularly when it involves characters like Alice, who is originally portrayed as a child. It’s frustrating when these concerns get brushed aside or reduced to jokes about being 'woke,' when really it's just about wanting pinball to be welcoming to everyone, including women and families. I appreciate you taking the time to write this. I definitely will be looking to voice myself a bit more when I have all my thoughts collected. It’s important that we feel comfortable voicing our opinions on this without fear of being dismissed.

@@ThePinballNoobjeez. You must get easily offended by the littlest thing.

@@JeffYPbPr actually, I don’t! In fact when I first saw the side art, I didn’t think much of it at all. As a middle-aged straight man, I’m exactly in the target demographic for this game. It doesn’t have any negative connotations for me, just like it doesn’t for Cary and I’m guessing you too. We don’t have to worry about being approached by creeps in dark arcades, or belittled, dismissed, or harassed in person or online. The pinball community is pretty comfortable for us, and we can take sexualized art like this in stride because we can be confident knowing that it was designed by guys like us, for guys like us. It wasn’t until I started to see reactions from people who don’t look like me that I started to think about how this makes other people in the pinball community feel. And then I saw Cary’s video where he basically says “if you don’t like it, you’re gay” and all the comments cheering him on and I realized that this sucks. I know it’s probably hard for someone like you to do, but it IS actually possible to consider the perspective of somebody other than yourself!

Hey thanks for watching @ThePinballNoob! Yeah definitely leaves more to be desired for gameplay. The art definitely was a choice, makes me think certain things about who their audience is. Guess come expo and orders we will find out. Making only 500 of these was probably the right choice. I'll be looking to try it at Expo. Locations that are getting this game, I wonder haha.

Hey Todd, Thanks for your feedback. Being these were initial thoughts, some of the points you brought up do make sense. I’ll be sure to add the connected side of things on the next one. I did ask the team if that’s something we will see from them and they just said to stay tuned. So highly likely they will have some sort of connected feature in the future. Thanks again for your feedback 🙏

@@erikaspinballjourney Go look at the history, Erika. They *had* connected feature with Scorbitron and got rid of it quite some time ago. Maybe this will come someday, I don't know, but no faith in their promises after they took away this previously held connected integration. Do your research on the subject, you'll see what I'm saying is 100% accurate.

@@ToddRussellTV Yeah, it's a weird call for them to get rid of Scorbit. I guess what they are working on they hope will be better somehow. It is a shame since I know the guys at Scorbit have been working on some amazing features. I guess we will just have to wait and see. 🤷‍♀

Stranger things is pretty lame. Brian Eddy made three great games in the past and can't catch that lightning in the bottle again.

I tore a tendon in my foot 😅 I’m on the road to recovery though. Should be 100% in 2025

@@erikaspinballjourney you tore it fighting over a pinball machine? lol. Hope you feel better soon. ❤😃

You bring up some good points. I think for me to get a JJP I’d need an aftermarket pin. But I know the prices still hold pretty well. Glad to see everyone raising the bar tho! Pinball has come a long way.

Yeah! They feel great 😄🤘not as fast and flowy as Elton, but still a fun game with great shots.

Once you get your game I’m sure you’ll love it! It has a lot to offer and looks amazing 🤩 congrats on your purchase 🙌

Oh my gosh thanks so much! I’m a fan of the shenanigans! 😄🤘

@@erikaspinballjourney Oh right on! Thanks back at ya :)

#pinballproblems 😅😝

Yeah it was awesome! Glad you love your GNR 😊 we all have a game bolted for us 🤓 My Lord of the Rings is that game!

Yeah, the price is a tough one for me too. They don’t seem to be coming down in price anytime soon. So it’s just a game I gotta save up a bit more to make the purchase. 😅 Until then I’ll be playing on location 🤓

Yeah 😄🤘

Haha right!?

Haha I wish! But Manu does provide great content 😊

Wow thank you 🙏 I’ll keep trying 😊

It’s an amazing game for sure. The team should be so proud 😊

I thought to mention it in the beginning, but then I realize people might focus a bit too much on it then haha so I left it for the end. Thanks for the watch!

Thank you! Yeah I’m a very visual person so I enjoy this format as well 😊 And yeah great seeing you at Enterrium! I’ll see you soon at Expo!

I don’t yet own an arcade or operate games, so I can’t speak for this entirely true. But at least for the first few months and as a great touchstone theme I think it could do well. Once it’s on location I guess we’ll find out 😊 Thanks for watching!