I'm with you. I listen to and enjoy both podcasts. Honestly I think no one gives two shits about any of this drama stuff except for the parties involved.

Basically the one of them that’s been banned from every group or forum he’s ever been on bashes manufacturers, suppliers other podcasters, other members of his actual 9-5 profession, collectors, hobbyists, his own listeners every chance he gets. I can appreciate that he entertains you, but if you’ve even listened to him once you have to an idea of what he probably said and should not be surprised.

Oh I have no doubt that he's said some not great things, he's admitted as much on many many occasions. But he's essentially the Howard Stern of the pinball industry, a polarizing figure who brings up emotions of both directions. And the reason people listen is exactly the reasons you listed, because he calls out things that nobody else would, which essentially gets him blackballed from everything. Which gets people bitter at him too (hence my original comment about the latest TPN episode).

I just want to listen to pinball stuff, not pinball politics, lol.

The Eagle cry is the Highlight of the show. I giggle every time.
Turn it up.

First off another great episode. Love me some Den Den.

I was a bit confused too. I admit that I subscribe to Chris' podcast mostly because I walk over 40 miles a week and consume as much pinball and other content as I can find. I hadn't heard him say much about you lately but I don't watch his Facebook Live streams anymore because they're usually a drunken embarrassment.

I'm sorry you're going through this. As much as he says he's matured and changed, I really don't see much difference in his behavior from when he was on Pinside, KLOV and other venues where he has since been banned. I'm now feeling kind of icky for subscribing.

On a side note, has Dennis ever even acknowledged his existence? I've listened to every TPS and EGP show and can't recall one time that he's mentioned him.

I'd pay!

But yeah, he continues to cross the line way too way times. With all due respect, I don't have an issue with him saying whoever was in charge of marketing James Bond should be fired. The game should have never been unboxed. This was Stern's worst reveal and they have always had an impeccable reputation for reveals. Everything else you mentioned, I 100% agree with.

Alcohol makes people do and say things that they otherwise wouldn't. And no, that doesn't make it OK. Some people shouldn't drink. I'm one of those people, so I don't. Whenever this guy comes into the conversation, all I can think of is the video recording of his terrible behavior at NYCPC a few years ago. I was also privy to seeing more video of that night that never went public. Anyone that would dog cuss respected members of our little hobby and even throw a drink in the face to one, well... If there's any doubt I'm gonna take Zach's side in the argument every time.

Agreed. Zach and Nicole are honest people that run a terrific business. Pure class.

Sadly, most of the people who defend Chris weren't on Pinside before he was banned, don't know the stories of him throwing the drink in the Stern employee's face, ripping that kid off on the Wreck It Ralph, sending Robin threats, etc.

Yeah it makes me wonder if we are the idiots putting out content for free. I know we enjoy making Triple Drain because it's a fun conversation with friends but are we apparently leaving a few thousand dollars on the table every month? I'm glad I can offer free pinball content because I know how much free pinball content I enjoy myself but maybe we are all crazy for doing the work with no compensation. There are plenty of pinball podcasts I'd happily pay for because I enjoy their content and want to support them for what they are doing and stand for. I know my personal goal is to make sure I'm supporting and encouraging people's enjoyment of pinball and hopefully sharing some laughs along the way. At the end of the day it is just a toy that we are all obsessed with but it is this community that really makes it a blast. I have no interest in dragging drown any person or anything they have made in this hobby and any negative feedback I've shared has always been with hope that it can be improved or addressed. As a content creator the words of support really mean a ton but boy does the negative feedback sting so much more. We need more positivity and support in this hobby.

Same people saying they don't care in some form aren't the focus of vitriol. I'm sure they'd all have a different approach if it was them who was in that same situation

Love your positive spin Joel and your play streams... Just all round fun discussions and entertainment!!! Keep it up

I second that and that goes for everyone on TPN. Joel, George, Hadi, Jedi, HUP and others are just fun and positive people trying to spread the fun of the hobby to the people.

I don’t want y’all to take this the wrong way but it feels good watching streams and streamers that play like me. I love watching Karl and Ray and tourney streams but watching that then trying to go duplicate what the people do can be discouraging sometimes. Seeing just normal people who are playing pinball for fun and enjoyment is refreshing and helps me rebalance my expectations when I play.

As far as the crap that is being slung at Zach and his family it’s really disappointing. When people take a fun hobby be it video games or pinball or whatever and bring their toxic energy into it, it just blows my mind. People harassing others over something that’s supposed to be fun just doesn’t compute.

Wrapping it up Zach love the positive energy you bring to your podcast YouTube videos and running your business are good for pinball in my opinion so keep up the good work

With the number of keyboard warriors and "talk shit - get hit" tough-guys you see around Pinside and coin-op communities in general, it's truly incredible to turn around and hear that a person simply asking for decency and talking about protecting their family is met with anything other than high praise. Such is the internet, I guess. Fuck any noise otherwise, I thought it was a mature and measured take on the situation. Sorry you're having to deal with it.

Man, these new posts here had me listen to the show today. It's still a hard listen for me due to the childish, mouth sound effects and soft humor like puns and dad jokes.

If the Pinball Show were a pinball machine, it would have to be Punny Factory.

There's a topic....which pinball machine represents each podcast or podcaster?

Slam Tilt would be South Park.

I watched a Kaneda Saturday morning show once. At first I was confused because he kept mentioning “Kaneda” so I thought he was some sort of representation of some other guy. I’m still not sure why he refers to himself in the third person, but I’m guessing it’s because the public unanimously agrees that it’s a super cool thing for someone to do.

As for the content, most of it was him calling people out by name to give him money. It was like live streaming one of the lines during a fund raiser, or an open casting call for a sugar daddy. If I followed correctly, it sounds like the funds were so that he could buy his wife dinner. I’m not clear on if he reached the goal and what that meant for her being able to eat that night.

Anyway, it was weird, and I’m not into it. I would say if he is coming at you Zach, remember that you actually contribute something to the hobby.

I’m happy to represent the lower skill level of pinball streamers. Someone has to set the bar!

If you really work hard, someday you might even get to the MILESTONE of 562 subscribers.

Not idiots, but sadly (in my view) the podcasting model isn't really designed for fair monetization. It's why so many open up merch options (and you know how unimpressive those do when you finally see your cut on the shirts). I think this is a main reason we see far more people content create via Twitch (as we know streaming is way harder than podcasting). Twitch has a pretty low bar for Affiliate status. From there, you have the Subs as a potential revenue option that can be recurring (and thus predictable). But also Bits, which means even the one-off viewer might show you appreciation for your efforts. Nothing like that exists for podcasts. You either need a third-party service like Patreon or some sort of advertising arrangement (which also is often third party in nature and many entities would never entertain ads for the volume of listeners pinball commands).

I mean, that's why I do my other hobby content creation on YouTube. The Partner requirements were a lot rougher than Twitch but I get passive ad revenue on all my videos (plus they support versions of Subs and Bits and other things like merch integration and so forth... but it's the ads that matter). My first monetized month my videos generated more revenue than EGP has in its entire existence (and I've been doing that show over six years now).

I've continued to do the shows due to a combination of habit and enjoying the conversations. But it has gotten harder to want to. Probably just standard burnout. There's a reason most pinball podcasts flame out within two years.

I totally agree. It's all fun and games until you have a real concern for you and your family's safety. Kaneda is out of control. He needs to start acting like an adult, and setting an example for his son. Not acting like an idiot on social media.

Here’s the issue… and I haven’t heard him in almost a year, so this may have changed… but for every one thing that he calls out correctly, there’s about 20 that are wildly inaccurate, completely misinformed, or flat out wrong. In addition, he’s cooked up this whole little world of drama that’s completely meaningless. I guess some people like listening to fake drama, but Chris’s problems and social issues are lame

It was clear to me what Zach was referring to

I agree with Zach, yes we all fuck up and make mistakes - the difference is most of us quickly learn from our mistakes.
He just posted another long apology on a live which did sound 100% sincere ...
I believe him when he says he is sorry and embarrassed ..... except it's his typical pattern and history shows he will continue to do stupid offensive stuff.

Our pet finch in the other room let out some chirps after hearing it from my computer. It was pretty funny. It entertains more than just people. Looking forward to the next one.

I think Ron and I have made... $50 in 3 years... Tough to say I'm not jealous that an outrage podcaster who spends hours repeating the same thing (clearcoat, everyone is against you) over and over is being paid $2,500+ USD a month... but I am... He wins

You won my pinball heart though!

I enjoy and listen to your show but don’t you guys cut down David Dennis all the time? Maybe it’s just a joke but I don’t understand that type of behaviour. Always wondered what your beef was?

They love David Dennis , there is no beef , it's just a running joke . ( that's the way I see it )

Don't Feed The Troll Zach . You're giving him the attention he craves .
Bullies / trolls persist while they think they are having an effect .

Ok cool, I love the Silverball chronicles boys! I think we’re all so fortunate to have so many podcasts to enjoy. I know it’s a ton of work. Keep it up gang!

Targeted harassment has been a huge problem in the video game world. It's serious shit. It's hard to describe awesome people in a hobby get literally chased out of it because they happened to get targeted (arbitrarily assigned to some grievance or because of their identity) by somebody with a platform and following. I thought Zach described the pattern of behavior perfectly. It's a pattern more people should be aware of. It has gone from aggrieved nerds taking out their hate on certain people working in the video game industry to heads of state doing it on twitter, all using the same methods and following the same patterns. No reason to play stupid about any of it or the damage it can do.

https://audea.io/home is trying to help the monetizing of podcast

Can't believe people are still giving him money. Also why are sources still talking to him? There needs to be a sticky thread on pinside that lists all the reprehensible acts he's done over the years, so that new people don't fall into his trap.

Zach, you have every right to go at him publicly.

It’s the same thing over and over.

Throw a punch… call people stupid and incompetent… say outrageous and harmful things. Then, admit a mistake was made and wonder out loud “why can’t we all just talk pinball… let’s get back to talking about what we’re here for, pinball. “

And every time, the apology is delivered as if it was a blip that will never happen again.

Damage is done, brother.

Yeah; as entertaining as he can be, I can no longer in good conscious support the guy. I was one of the people making excuses for subscribing, but this has been weighing on my conscious so I'm tapping out. Like I mentioned earlier, Zach and Nicole are wonderful people that don't deserve the drama.

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Another good reason to unsubscribe might be:

"Kaneda pronounces "Frustrating" as "Fustrating," which is inexcusable."

Yeah David and I have always gone after each other. I don't know why but HE STARTED IT. I mean I can tolerate him enough to have him on my stream last week...

I mean this was the card he sent me when I BOUGHT one of his Silverball Chronicles shirts.

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My card was sincere...

Great interview. I freaking love the Nudge content and agree the magazine is one of the coolest magazines I have seen in a while. I was expecting it to be good and it turned out to be great!

I gotta go back and listen to episodes 1-4, I really like the tone and content of this podcast as it seems a lot of people do as well.

Now I want to do a deal with Jason so I can have my pinball sales/buying etiquette rated for the world to hear.

Do you have it figured out?

Yes, get in and get out kinda deal guy. But happy to show new comers. Sold a game recently to first time buyer and spent a good 45 min showing him the ins and outs.

I was glad to hear ZMeny describe on the pod what has been happening, although I felt it was like Anderson Cooper (political leanings aside, AC is a sharp guy and good human being) asking viewers to beware of the rantings and ravings of Alex Jones. Absolutely a warranted statement when it comes down to a potential safety concern for one's family.