Periodically, if I have no time to talk to industry providers regarding recent events.

Sometimes it is interesting to hear others opinions. BUT, the reality of present pinball, sometimes, is far from the points presented, meaning truth and fiction are not hand in hand, such as the industry health, production, unit costs, company progress, and so on. They simply are not accurate in providing a clear cut present levels of success.

However, these days I have stepped away from the potential drama, especially after watching the wheels of time turn over again.
Some of the best podcasts are those from the past with interviews from designers, company management, technicians, and distributors in the earlier days of the internet (10+ years ago) when things were less political and "filtered". Right now there are a number of people that are afraid of being "blacklisted", due to the size of present industry, and others who simply are not active anymore to care and left. This limits the pool of people who really understand and can report what is going on.

Impressive that K's recent series podcast was able to interview Dave (CEO), who seemed knowledgeable. However, it is NOT Dave Peterson, the primary stern investor that "redirected" Stern Pinball in 2009 and present CEO. It's no history lesson, more of a reflection of understanding of the present industry and how Stern is a private equity company which has more feasibility in terms of ebb/flow survival in terms of an economic recession and loss of sales. The same cannot be said for other pinball companies other than JJP, but this company had to be propped up twice already, so a bit of gamble IMHO. It also was a reminder for pinball novices that Gary Stern does not control the company anymore (or make theme/license decisions) and has not done so for nearly a decade.

There are opinions, and then there are informed perspectives when it comes to podcasts. It is like fine wine when it comes to providing entertainment and information at the same time.

Many podcasts rarely go into detail of companies such as the overlooked Deeproot's present claim to mythical greatness, P3's lack of continued sales, JJP's absence of profitable income after FOUR games, Spooky delivery deadline drops, and AP's production capability shortfalls. We are not at the end of companies that will falter, it is partially recession based and the rest on the "one and done" potential failures of games of how many times a company can absorb losses.

It is easy to cite companies that failed now (some which were accurately predicted as early as late 2014 and early 2015!), but many people were unwilling to accept it at the time even when poor business practices were clear and financial evidence was provided.

Interested pinball purists need a cohesive understanding source, not a cheerleader podcast. This means actual research (including history) and solid guests. Tournament podcasts don't offer much in this area. It is not a particular surprise that quite a few podcasters are stopping, because the industry is also showing signs of slowing due to recession, which is not the same area as private sales or general pinball interest. You cannot report industry developments that do not exist. Old game reviews don't endear audiences. The other primary reason is those listed podcasters have simply moved onto other hobbies, or are becoming "dormant" for a multitude of reasons, but machine cost is a common occurrence. This hobby can lose its luster pretty fast when a person is priced out.

Still one of the best "old skool" pinball podcasts, and I don't mean EM machines.
New enthusiasts could learn a lot from this pinball history, especially considering the number of special guests, developers, artists, designers, and engineers. Unfortunate, the show only lasted 3 years.

http://www.pinrepair.com/topcast/past.php

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