FIFA and sure other games have big years but we have had ten big years since say Minecraft came out. It’s hard to quantify the biggest game which is why I said arguably. Fortnite is a massive game but it’s also free to play so it’s hard to compare. The latest GTA came out like 7 years ago.

Well, I think this subject has run it's course. Before I bow out for a while, I'll just make a few quick responses.

I don't think the constant Kaneda-bashing on Pinside is cool either. A couple weeks ago I made several posts stating such. As far as his mental health goes, Chris often intentionally makes trolling and controversial statements just to get a reaction out of people. Not just on his own show, but also during other people's live streams. I feel like if he didn't like the responses he was getting, he wouldn't keep doing it. So no, I'm not too worried about his mental health.

Well, you were acting like things said on the internet don't matter, and that online postings shouldn't have an impact on someone's mental well-being. Seems to run counter to your claimed knowledge of how online abuse works.

Just call 'em, like I see 'em.

That sucks, I really enjoyed listening to Jason’s Slap Save podcast. I especially liked his common sense approach to pinball topics. I Also really felt for him when he lost his dog. Sounds like a tough couple of months. Hope things start going his way and wish him the best. Thanks for all the good podcasts and helping me get through my day.

that's what balls are for

Wow, that's disrespecting, trivializing and sexist at the same time! - Good job!

The drama is just so laughable - play pinball and have fun! I could not care any less about the manufactured drama
I'll probably listen to a few of the TPN shows - having them all together under 1 title or separate makes no difference to me at all as only 1-2 of the shows interest me. I applaud all that devote their time to provide me with free entertainment. People act like ZMeny is the first one in the universe to create infotainment podcasts and videos to promote his business - there's a ton of them and it's a good business move. Just let the crap slide off - when you put yourself out in the public, some people can't resist being a hater. I look forward to more SDTM shows!

I just read through 120 + posts , some negative some positive . In the background the Family Guy was on and it was the episode where everyone is spewing up on each other and it made me laugh , and it made me realise all these comments are just back and forth banter . Don't take any of this seriously or personally . Just focus on what makes you happy and makes you laugh . Life is too short to get worked up by any of this .

IMG_20200219_233520 (resized).jpg

Was listening to the Pinball Show mid week update episode (last Thurs) on the train this morning.

Constructive criticism for Zach - pick a voice and stick with it for an entire episode. Every other minute you're switching voices to make lame jokes. Are those voices supposed to be imitations I should recognize? Not getting it. It is very distracting to listen to because:

1) Interrupting the co-host(s) with a lame joke, spoken in an odd high pitched voice, forces the co-host to stop their train of thought and provide you with a courtesy chuckle. In pinball terms, your jokes and odd voices break the flow and make the podcast stop and go.

2) Switching over to those high pitched ,whiny voices is incredibly annoying when listening with headphones. I was often lowering my volume because everything was fine, but then Zach is blowing out my eardrums. Raise it back up to hear normally, then back down, rinse and repeat. Was trying to sit and relax with my eyes closed and kept needing to adjust my headphones volume.

3) Too many non-sequiturs, see #1 above.

It wouldn’t be a thread on Pinside without Darscot mentioning he works for EA then pontificating at length about it.

Dude, you’re more than where you work. Try being interesting.

Beyond the fact that I enjoyed Skate or Die on my C64 I don't give a shit about EA. Has nothing to do with pinball as Darscot has proven a million times. Remember when he said Stern hiring more software people wouldn't help them crank out code updates?

Remember he's "contractually obligated " to tell us.

So I listened to 28 minutes if it seemed like a decent discussion. Had an issue with firefox not being able to skip to audio after 27 minutes on multiple devices so that was weird, works on Chrome though.
I thought it was a lovely discussion but Zach def sets himself up as the foil to Pinside so that's a chicken and egg things that might be hard to get out of.
I'll finish her up today

Are you guys trying to cyber bully me LOL. Instead of whining why don’t you just put me on ignore. You clearly read everything I post so you know I have to be completely transparent about my profession. I can’t be in a position that some one can say EA has people secretly posting about online abuse. So my opinions are my own and not a reflection of where I work. How would bragging be in any way fun it just draws negativity endlessly.

Today I learned I can ignore people...

A few thoughts/responses given the wave of posts lately. Hopefully not all over the place but it is what it is:

Obviously, Greg has chosen to post here now but the avoidance of the topic was not wanting to over-step (it was felt Greg and Jason would be the best ones to explain, if they wanted to explain, why they decided to step away from content creation). I did think we should have formally made clear they were no longer involved (and that was done on the second episode of The Pinball Show) and that it wasn't due to internal strife between the participants or anything exciting like that.

I think most podcasters get along, behind the scenes at least. TPN or no TPN, there are a number of people I privately correspond with in this hobby, including podcasters. Talking about ideas I like they did, thoughts on their show, etc. Based off those conversations I get the sense that most podcasters have similar conversations with others, so it seems to be a pretty friendly bunch. Not 100% of course, but what is?

I wouldn't describe it quite that way (it is my goal to be honest, but I wouldn't say I'm more honest), but different, sure, because I just see things differently.

I assume this was why Zach asked for me to be involved with TPN. It was the aspect Jeff with TWIP and Zach both said they liked about having me over with the TWIP Podcast. Zach and I just see certain parts of the hobby in different ways and are comfortable with expressing it to each other directly.

Sometimes I get the impression that people think Zach and I fight a lot (behind the scenes). We don't. It's quite professional and respectful.

I hadn't noticed but I can be dense sometimes. It felt, to me, similar in tone to the TWIP Podcast thought obviously the pacing is quite different because of Ken's presence. Maybe the candidness is driven by Ken asking more pointed questions than happened in a two-host set-up? I don't know, I'd need to think about this. Glad you enjoyed it regardless.

I'm glad you enjoyed the episode. I probably have a more jaded perspective than the other hosts (not for any pinball related reason, my personality is probably just less positive overall).

Ha ha I’ll say your welcome but you probably won’t see it

You're really the best when it comes to ignoring the main thing.

CyberBullying is a thing.
Doesn't matter what you think about it, it's not about having "balls", about where a person that brought that up works or anything else.

So two people just left and you really think it's appropriate to say that they have no balls?
What is wrong with you?

The "humour" some people continuously spread here are mostly bitter and sarcastic comments wich, all in all, shape the overall impression of pinside... A bitter and sarcastic bunch of old farts that know everything better.

Of course that doesn't go to everyone here; the worst thing is that people this is actually pointed towards to wouldn't ever realize that they're meant.

I would never! - Well with the (awesome) "The Hobbit" discussion I assumed Zach may have been a bit annoyed a bit.

DennisK - I have to say, The Pinball Show really needs you on there full time. I enjoyed the last episode much more because of the much needed balance you provide. You have quickly become one of my favorite podcasters.

It's funny because some of the most 'bitter' sounding posts come from you.

I know that and I didn't exclude myself.

(And I wrote about "bitter" humour; there is still people that you can't get anythig else but bitter/ snarky comments from.
And still better bitter then having the empathy of a brick, that advises bullyed people to grow balls.)

But again this is a great example of changing the topic and loose yourself in sub-arguments!

If this is meant for me I feel I should clarify. First I assume we are all adults and children are not part of this equation. Cyber bullying is off course real. I also said I completely understand the need to step away for your mental health. I never said or intended to imply they people need to have balls or man up. If I gave that impression I apologize. The only point I was trying to make is do not give them power or let it affect you.

First off, I haven't listened to TPN at all. Seemed like a strange idea to me when I saw it announced. I honestly don't care to listen to much pinball stuff in general so it's nothing against TPN or the idea, it's just not my thing as guys geeking out or arguing about pinball doesn't interest me much. I did enjoy some of the SDTM episodes but I have to confess I usually even scanned through them. I have noticed a huge piling onto Zach both on pinside and on all social media. Some of the childish stuff said and thrown around is simply ridiculous and many people should be absolutely ashamed of themselves and need to find something productive to do with their lives. Zach has never been anything but upfront and honest with me and has bent over backwards to fix some games issues that some of my friends have had. So if you don't like him for whatever childish reason just don't listen to him or block him on social media accounts. Acting like little social media bullies is really pathetic. I'm sorry to see Greg is no longer active and the SDTM is currently dead or at least on the back burner but life changes. Looks like Greg has been very busy with his job and I honestly have no clue how Zach even has time to do any of this crap with everything on his plate and the basketball team of children. Both look to be doing pretty well to me. It's always the people that have nothing going for them trying to tear those that do down.

All is good!

It's only meant for you brought that "CyberBullying" topic up but it ended as that "where you work" argument, wich is compeltely unneccesary and sadly off topic.

That "grow balls" thing refers to this:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-pinball-network-/page/11#post-5479489

I'm off on a pinside vacation.

Read you on TPF/ Deeproot Reveal!

Well, maybe a bit. He does really enjoy The Hobbit. But does he really enjoy Popeye? Unknown.

I'm afraid it would be very difficult for me to accommodate that schedule. The TPS record time is similar to my EGP record time, and I'm busy with a lot of other things as well. Biting off more than I can chew is the expression that comes to mind.

This, 100%.

What makes cyber bullying so 'easy' is the anonymity behind it. These keyboard commandos can easily type out hate and act all bad ass - because there is no repercussion for their action. A lot of these people live far away from the target and they know it. They also know that there is nothing that can be done back to them. I bet if you guys were neighbors you would be singing a different tune. We content creators vulnerably put ourselves out there to the public in actual form (audio and/or video). We don't hide behind an Avatar or pseudonym. Yes, that is our choice and how we react to the hate is also our choice. Some can handle it - most can't. People just need to type out their responses and make an effort at making them constructive criticism instead of just i.e. "you suck". If you don't like the content why not try giving some feedback to help make the content better? It is so easy to be hateful of someones efforts when you don't know what all is involved in making the content. I would LOVE for the usual haters to make a video or podcast of content for everyone else to judge and comment upon. I doubt it will happen. More often than not - those that talk a lot of shit can't take it. Even when I'm talking poorly about STh I don't like to because I know all the time and effort that goes into making these games.

I'm not at all worried about beeing anonymous and in my fairly new view most aren't. Maybe i'm abit biased on level on anonymity, due to beeing swedish. Here people do all they can to stay invisible.
Most here me included have no trouble posting pictures etc.

On the whole "constructive critisism" that door should swing both ways. If certain podcasters choose to redicule thoose with different views and manufacturers call pinside a sleezepool, well, how interested are they in civil and constructive critizism?

I agree it's a more interesting dynamic with Dennis in the mix.

It might make more sense to make the The Pinball Show an alternating week thing, always includes Dennis, is long form (60-90 minutes) that goes in-depth on recent news, has certain fun segments, etc. There's not that much to talk about for a long-run weekly IMHO and you end up with questionable time fillers like the "Dennis/x on the couch" segments and 20 mins of Zach talking like a baby about a minature Dennis, etc. that has nothing to do with pinball and many find off-putting.

...And then have the mid-week show just be a quick catchup on current events, 30mins max, focussed and to the point.

Just a suggestion FWIW: Reduce your EGP time demand by cutting out pinball from it. This portion of the podcast is already redundant with your Zach Meny pinball show discussions and in all honesty, Tony doesn't add much to it.

People could listen every other week too if they just wanted the podcast with Dennis? Maybe it's just me but this site seems to have lost its grip on reality (I include myself as I come here way too often). Here we have a free podcast(s) talking about a very unimportant subject matter and it's crazy town. Sometimes I feel like I've been dropped into an alternate universe where pinball is going to cure cancer if only we can all get on the same page. My two cents are if you want to criticize something or someone keep it constructive and small in scope (realizing that you're probably not going to re-write the whole format/schedule of the show, etc.), but if you have major issues with it just forget about the podcast and this thread. Personally, I just come to this thread to see what's happening content-wise with TPN and all this other stuff is irritating noise.

The whole -- I'm just keeping them honest to save the hobby thing that gets posted in one form or another, strikes me as weird too. It seems like just a justification to take everything way too seriously. Honestly, if Pinball disappeared tomorrow we'd all carry on somehow -- I have a lot of faith in everyone here. Frankly, I'd rather this place be a fun place to hang out where everyone has fun talking about a silly hobby and have pinball go down in a ball of flames than everyone picking sides and going to war to save pinball. We can do this! Well, no we probably can't -- but at least I can be a hypocrite and write a couple of paragraphs not talking about the podcast content. So I have that.

Okay, I need to take my own advice and just walk away . Sorry for the rant everyone.

Jeebus, god forbid Zach tries anything new...

As far as I know TPN is much more than just Zach so I don't get all the hate his way.

As far as Zach goes, from everything I've seen and heard and my dealings with him, his heart is in the right place and just trying to bring enthusiasm and more eyeballs to pinball.

Shill or no shill it doesn't really matter because he is usually on a podcast with someone that will disagree with any "shilling" take which balances it out and at that point just makes him a devil's advocate and that's good for conversation anyway.

Creative criticism is one thing just being shitty is another.

This whole thing is brand new, give it a little time to level out and take shape.

It's just entertainment.

I listened to about the first 30 minutes of the second episode of the Pinball Show. I wanted to get a handle on what the weird back and forth conflict was about regarding this thread.

I can definitely understand people on here being a bit irked as the first 8:30 is largely a gripefest about people......griping.

What seems lost on the main group of people that pushed forward with this network is that the entire notion was concocted in this weird clandestine way, where everyone simultaneously announced their departures from long, ongoing podcasts of their own. That very approach was sure to irk people. Rather interested parties could have all jumped under this new banner, and the TWIPYS, SDTM, Cary Hardy, Greg Bone and other groups and people wouldn't have been willing or unwilling casualties.

This didn't need to happen. And if growth is the longterm intent, of course intial breaks will happen before growth occurs, develops and strengthens.

I guess this all, at this time, seems more disruptive than harmony creating, for the time being. So the blowback in turn, didn't just birth itself. It did so via many people deciding some big explosion and then rebirth was necessary for pinball media growth. That wasn't the decision of the listeners, viewers and forum members here.

Inevitably there's only so much news, so much content to be created beyond just opinion. And I wonder if all of this might be shooting way farther than pinball has to merit such output.

As far as criticisms go, I didn't notice much advertising up front at all, and Zach seemed same as he always is as an online presence. Dennis seemed bitter and somewhat hostile, and Ken was as always a nice, balanced go between.

Overall it's nice to always have options, but I don't understand the desire to take all of this so seriously, when largely most of these episodes will focus on editorializing and general opinions.

Ultimately, good on everyone for making an effort, and most of all have fun doing it.

Just had a chance to listen to the first two episodes on a long drive home and really enjoyed! Great job by all involved. Discussions were interesting and pace was good. Not quite sure who would complain, but it takes all types I suppose. People that don’t like Zach promoting Stern or his business are idiots. Anyone else in his position would do the same. If you deny it then you’re a bold faced liar. Think of it as payment for his time and livelihood if that helps.
Great job again guys and gals. Now let’s all kiss and make up

Just heard your 2nd show and my family and children really appreciate raising the level of your language. Think you now have one of the best shows in pinball with the 3 of you hosting, Ken, Zack and Dennis!

I hope we all give TPN and everyone on board some respect and give this a shot.
I am watching SDTM Episode 84 tonight and it really made me think about how much time went into all of these. Alot of work, maybe the best way for him to be a bigger part of the hobby was to jump in as a distro. Now he can afford to go to more (if not all) of the shows and maybe the thought was to help bolster up some more people to get them on board to share exposure. Watch SDTM 84 now-again and tell me we should be judging what they are doing. Thank you for the entertainment.

In other words as I would put it, life losers sitting around in their wife beater outfits all day knocking down Cheetos and chips and salsa tearing down good successful people?

Sounds about right

Pinside is being overrun

Ok finally finished ep2 and I thought it was dynamite. First off, I only heard the distro name mentioned maybe one or twice never noticed/bothered me.
But blah blah let's get to the shillery, i didn't really feel it to be honest.
This one was more my style that ep1, as this seemed more old school vs new school. I don't see Zach as shillin' as much as a dude that really thinks Stranger things is "more fun not better " than everything made before 2005.
Sure there was some standard nonsense like 'LE owners love their games that's why they bought them" but I actually enjoyed almost all of this and I hate people.
Haha but man them guys were roasting Zach something fierce, is that the hate speech everyone is talking aboot? You guys sound like people I would talk to; well done.
And there you have it, from a non podcast guy

Don’t you have some posting to do in the ‘Do you still eat candy’ thread?

Let me post it here. I don’t eat candy.

Please, no, EGP is great!

I agree. I’ve been critical of the whole distributor run podcast network thing from the very beginning but I have to say that episode 2 was probably one of the most enjoyable podcasts I have ever listened to. Dennis, Ken and Zach work very well together. Well done.

You’re more of a Cheetos and chips kind of guy then?

I feel bad for the podcasters, because the only way forward is to ignore the bullshit and not waste time defending yourself. Don’t gripe about it on air, don’t post about it, don’t give it any oxygen.

Which sucks, because of course you want to defend yourself and your friends! But you can’t, because it’s an endless soul-sucking cycle of misery.

Just enjoy doing the show and keep growing your audience.

Feel bad for the podcasters?
Is there some other thread i've missed?

Great to hear from Den Den “The Curmudgeon” Kriesel again. I think Ken, Dennis and Zach make an amazing trio. Can’t wait for future podcasts.