Dirty Pool Podcast - Ep38 - Joel & Jared Engelberth - Flip N Out Pinball
Dirty Pool Podcast - Ep38 - Joel & Jared Engelberth - Flip N Out Pinball
▶ Full Dirty Pool Podcast Playlist 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. 📡 Twitch 📺 YouTube 📷 Instagram 📘 Facebook 👕 Apparel
Kineticist’s take
Flipping Out streamers discuss authenticity, distributor relationships, and the 'shill' accusation in pinball content creation.
Synopsis
Joel and Jared from Flipping Out Pinball discuss their streaming journey starting from 2020 (Joel recording in a minivan during COVID), their relationship with distributor Zach and the Pinball Network, and the community perception that content creators who speak positively about games are "shills." They emphasize their authentic approach to streaming, the importance of distributor relationships, and how mechanical/operational issues versus design flaws affect game perception.
Highlights
- Joel started streaming pinball in 2020 from a minivan in his garage during COVID while managing a newborn and toddler.
- Jared joined Joel's streaming roughly 4 years ago (around 2022); they now stream together every Wednesday.
- Some people on Pinside forums decided not to buy Galactic Tank Force (GTF) based on the poor streaming experience due to technical and mechanical issues during their reveal stream.
- Pokemon had an alignment problem with the left wall guide on release that caused the ball to drain unexpectedly down the middle, similar to an issue seen on Medieval Madness at Tappers arcade.
- Joel works in the printing industry and has an undergrad in graphic design; streaming is his creative outlet, not his day job.
- Joel owns 75+ shirts from a single brand (Roosevelts) that he curates and rotates to match the game being streamed; they hold resale value similar to pinball machines.
- Jared lives only 8 minutes from Joel's house; they moved to be close to family and now have kids growing up together in the same school system.
- Joel has never had to pull a game from streaming because it was non-functional, though there was one instance where technical capture issues caused him to pivot to another game last-minute.
Entities
- Bon Jovi· game
- Cirqus Voltaire· game
- Galactic Tank Force· game
- Medieval Madness· game
- Pokémon· game
- Stranger Things (Pro)· game
- Winchester Mystery House· game
- Dirtypool Pinball· organization
- Flipping Out Pinball· organization
- IE Pinball· organization
- Pinball Network· organization
- Triple Drain· organization
- George· person
- Greg Bone· person
- Jared Engelberth· person
- Karl D'Angelo· person
- Zach· person
- Roosevelts· product/brand
- Tappers· venue