Episode 12: "He Played them both, What's the better game?"
In this episode, we go to Electric Bat to visit Cale Hernandez. Cale just returned from Chicago, where he played Avatar from Jersey Jack and X-Men from Stern Pinball. Let's get his reaction and talk about it!
Kineticist’s take
Retro Ralph and Kale compare Avatar and X-Men pinball machines with operator perspective on profitability.
Synopsis
Retro Ralph interviews Kale from Electric Bat Arcade about two major recent pinball releases: Jersey Jack's Avatar and Stern's X-Men. The discussion covers gameplay impressions, innovative mechanical features, designer interactions, community dynamics, and operator economics. A notable tension emerges around Jersey Jack's lack of awareness of Electric Bat's prominence in the industry, and broader concerns about game profitability at commercial venues versus home collections.
Highlights
- Jersey Jack's Avatar took at least twice as long to develop as a typical Stern game (approximately 2 years)
- Avatar features a unique single-flipper mode where using the right flipper forfeits bonus or points
- Avatar includes a novel mechanical element: a flat plate that functions as three different ball paths (standard path, scoop, and jump ramp)
- Jersey Jack machines at Electric Bat arcade do not generate enough revenue to justify their cost compared to Stern machines
- Only one Jersey Jack machine (Wizard of Oz) has paid off at a major California arcade after 8 years
- Jack Jersey (Jersey Jack owner) was not aware of Electric Bat's prominence when meeting Kale at the media mixer
- Electric Bat operates 'one of the most popular arcades in the nation' and houses 'the largest single location pinball league in the entire world'
- X-Men has a standard flipper gap but appears wider due to visual design
- Avatar uses UV lighting effects that simulate an eclipse gradually across the playfield and monitor
- Avatar's artist is a first-time pinball artist who previously worked on Hearthstone cards
Entities
- Electric Bat Arcade· company
- Interium· company
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Marco Specialty· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Avatar· game
- Elton John· game
- Godzilla· game
- Jaws· game
- Wizard of Oz (WoZ)· game
- X-Men· game
- The Flipside Pinball Podcast· organization
- Aaron (Game Room Goodies)· person
- Gomez· person
- Jack Danger· person
- Jack Jersey· person
- Kale Hernandez· person
- Kaneda· person
- Keith Elwin· person
- Mark Seiden· person
- Rachel· person
- Rachel (Avatar mechanical engineer)· person
- Retro Ralph· person
- Scott Denise· person
- Wason· person