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Triple Drain Pinball Podcast
Triple Drain Pinball Podcast
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Triple Drain Pinball Podcast Ep 19: Big Woody

PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago2 hr 6 min listen
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Triple Drain Pinball Podcast Episode 19: Big Woody Hosts: Joel Engelberth, Tom Graf, & Travis Murie Buckle up as we discuss our final thoughts on owning GNR, as well as doing an in-depth breakdown...

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Highlights

  • Guns N' Roses is highly polarizing: some love it initially then grow out of it; others hated it then grew into it; many don't care
  • GNR's gameplay becomes repetitive: build phase → multiball song → reset to build phase, creating a 'rinse and repeat' loop
  • GNR has a narrow, linear optimal progression path focused on left ramp repetition to collect patches and lock balls
  • JJP machines sometimes ship with missing components: Travis received GNR with chipped scoop (no protector), later received another JJP game with no power cord
  • GNR's wizard modes (4 of them) are designed to be skipped/timed out rather than played for points: community tells streamers 'don't play the wizard mode'
  • GNR appeals strongly to new/casual players and non-pinball enthusiasts but loses appeal quickly for experienced tournament players
  • Tom and Joel still own GNR but consider it on their 'chopping block' for future sale; neither plans to keep it long-term in limited collections
  • Elite pinball games (Avengers, Godzilla, Elwin titles) offer multiple viable strategic paths; players can adjust tactics mid-game if initial shot plan fails

Notable quotes

“I was blown away, blown away by the experience. And I was warned, like I was kind of warned by Tom. I was kind of warned by Travis.”
Joel
“The first time I streamed it was just like discovering the game... then the second stream... then the last few times I've streamed it, what I've found is it is very kind of rinse and repeat.”
Joel
“It's very much, you have the build phase before the song, and then you have the song... as soon as you get out of that song, you're back to square one.”
Joel
“I don't think I've ever seen people divide it over a certain pin as much as GNR when it came to just playing the game.”
Travis
“Where the scoop is, there was no protector there, and it was already chipped... So I went back and forth to Jersey Jack for a while, and I don't think I ever got a scoop.”
Travis
“It's one of the first times that I felt kind of overwhelmed with the rule set at the very beginning... once you figured out the path that you needed to go to, it became very narrow.”
Tom
“Don't give me modes in the game that you have to achieve that you're then telling me you don't need to do.”
Joel
“If it weren't for Cliff Protector... I was just kind of like, okay, this is the ongoing theme.”
Travis
“That's what Jersey Jack is kind of going right now with GNR and Toy Story, that they're really focusing on themes that resonate with people, that have a lot of fans, that might have some staying power.”
Travis
“If I had a larger collection, if I could afford to own 10 pins or something, I'd keep it... But I would be happy to have that in a 10-pin collection.”
Joel

Entities

  • CGC· company
  • Elwin· company
  • Jersey Jack Pinball· company
  • Spooky Pinball· company
  • Stern Pinball· company
  • Avengers· game
  • Deadpool· game
  • Godzilla· game
  • Guns N' Roses (GNR)· game
  • Metallica· game
  • Stranger Things· game
  • The Simpsons· game
  • Total Nuclear Annihilation (TNA)· game
  • Toy Story· game
  • Weird Al· game
  • Indianapolis Pinball League (Indisc)· organization
  • Triple Drain Pinball Podcast· organization
  • Carl· person
  • Joel· person
  • Tom· person
  • Travis· person
  • Never Drains (with Z)· person/vendor
  • Pin Monk· person/vendor

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