
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
Wedgehead
A weekly pinball podcast brought to you by the people that run Wedgehead, a pinball bar in Portland, Oregon. Each week Alan and Alex discuss a different pinball topic, with a focus on location play, often with other interesting guests.
Support our show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast
If you have any questions, or might want to guest on a future episode, please email : [email protected].
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Top 10 Wedgehead Pinball Podcast Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Wedgehead Pinball Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Wedgehead Pinball Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Wedgehead Pinball Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Episode 33 - Die on this Hill: A Nightmare on Elm Street
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
06/03/24 • 54 min
Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast
Ian Matheson, owner and operator of Propeller Arcade comes back onto the show to defend his love of all things Freddy Kreuger, but especially his love for Gottlieb's 1994 pinball machine, A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Hear Ian passionately defend Freddy as a great gateway game, with incredible theme integration as Alan reads him scores of bad reviews for the game that he pulled from the depths of the internet.
...don't forget, we use adult language.

Episode 5 - Video Modes
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
11/20/23 • 34 min
Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast
In this episode Alan and Alex talk about what Alex likes to describe as the "best thing that has ever happened to pinball!". Hear about what they are, when they started, and whose fault they are.
We discuss our opinions on them in general and talk about some of our favorites, and which ones should be deleted for good.
Are they fun and engaging, or inherently a bad idea?
...also we're adults, we swear sometimes.

Episode 4 - The Brief History of Wedgehead
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
11/13/23 • 31 min
Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast
In this episode Alan is joined by his business partner Chris Rhodes, and they form like Voltron into Wedgehead. We discuss how we met, the beginning of our pinball bar, the evolution and challenges presented by covid and the economy, and about what we feel makes us different from the rest with some occasional colorful swears.
Disclaimer: This episode was recorded in far from ideal circumstances, in our bar with makeshift mics, due to scheduling limitations with myself and Rhodesie. Thus, the raw recording was extremely noisy and echoey. I spent a lot of time trying to get this recording cleaned up and salvageable, and I think that while it's still noisy, it's at least listenable, so I am still releasing it for you to enjoy.
I am learning about audio recording and editing on the fly in my spare time, and am trying to get better with each episode. Some reverb and imperfections exist in the previous episodes too, but this is the most noticeable, and I really thought I wasn't gonna be able to get it to this point even, so I hope y'all like it. I learn a lot with each one of these, and I promise future episodes will be better.
Lesson learned: Don't record in Wedgehead itself, on bad mics!

Episode 3 - Boutique Manufacturers
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
11/06/23 • 32 min
Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast
In this episode Alan and Alex talk about the rise of the little guys in pinball, and what it means to have so many small and independent pinball makers. We discuss our experiences with some of these manufacturers and their games from both the operator and the home collector's perspective, and we talk about some of the positive and some of the negative aspects of this rapid rise in small scale pinball manufacturing.
It's a brave new world in the number of active pinball manufacturers, and we talk about what to expect, and what to avoid when buying boutique games in general.
As always, we're adults here so there's some swear words in this episode.

Episode 6 - Howdy Pardner!
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
11/27/23 • 37 min
Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast
Special guest Zoe Vrabel joins Alan and Alex as they discuss the history of the popular casual team based pinball tourney format "Howdy Pardner!"
We discuss what it is, how it works, and what makes it so much different than standard pinball tournaments, and describe how Alan created the format from scratch to host each Thursday night at Wedgehead.
Zoe speaks from her background as a top IFPA player and tournament director, and why Howdy is such a great breath of fresh air into organized pinball, including why she enjoyed playing in and running it so much.
It's a rootin' tootin' good old time!
...with some swearing. *%$#

Episode 7 - Die on this Hill: Gilligan's Island
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
12/04/23 • 25 min
Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast
In this episode, we are doing a special new segment which we hope to continue in the future. It's called "I'm gonna die on this hill!" and it's where we have a guest on to speak about and defend a "bad" game that they unironically love.
In this first DOTH episode we bring Zoe Vrabel back to talk about her DOTH game, Gilligan's Island.
Tune in to hear her explain (against all odds) why Gilligan is actually a great machine that is wrongly crapped on by the pinball community at large.
...as always, we're adults so we swear sometimes.

Episode 12 - Die on this Hill: WWF Royal Rumble
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
01/08/24 • 28 min
Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast
In the 3rd installment of our "Die on this Hill" series, we welcome back Greg Dunlap, former pinball programmer whom we interviewed on Episode 11, to defend Data East's 1994 game 'WWF Royal Rumble.
Hear why Greg thinks this an underrated game, and hear our reactions to the pile of bad reviews I found for it all over the internet.
...includes some adult language.

Episode 13 - Superpins
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
01/15/24 • 51 min
Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast
In this widebody episode of the Wedgehead pinball podcast, Alan and Alex welcome the return of Chris Rhodes back to the show. He is the other half of Wedgehead, and he is back to discuss the 7 widebody pinball machines released by Bally/Williams during 1993 and 1994.
We cover the definition of a "Superpin" and have a discussion about about each game, and what we like or dislike about each one. We also give a unique award to each game, and at the end of the episode, you can find our own personal rankings from best to worst, including the lists from our previous episode guests Zoe, Greg, Daniel, and Ty.
...episode might contain some swear words, we are adults after all.

Episode 16 - So You Wanna Buy a Pinball Machine?
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
02/05/24 • 40 min
Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast
In this episode Alan and Alex discuss the most common new post on any pinball forum, subreddit, or facebook group: Buying your own pinball machine to put into your house.
This episode is meant to give a better, more whole picture of owning pinball machines. Alex is a home collector, and Alan owns Wedgehead as an operator, and they discuss why you don't need your own machine to enjoy the hobby of pinball, but if you do want to own them, you are gonna have to learn how to fix them, as well as get accustomed to talking to a lot of old dudes on the internet who don't know how to text.
We talk the good, the bad, and the ugly so that you can make an informed decision for yourselves. There's a lot of other pinball pods that are either hosted by distributors, or sponsored by them, and many of the hosts are themselves home collectors. There's nothing wrong with any of that, but home collecting is almost a separate sub hobby of playing pinball, and one that is a much bigger commitment than some of them might lead you to believe. We aren't sponsored by a distributor, so we speak freely about what happens after you take the plunge and purchase a pinball machine for yourself.
...we're adults so there may be some swearing in the episode.

Episode 30 - Throwback Games
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
05/13/24 • 45 min
Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast
In this episode, Alan and Alex discuss the outlier machines released in the last 7 years without ramps, and with simpler rulesets.
We talk about Total Nuclear Annihilation, Beatles, Bond 60th, and Pulp Fiction, and why we love seeing the variety added to modern pinball offerings.
But sometimes we use swear words.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Wedgehead Pinball Podcast have?
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast currently has 78 episodes available.
What topics does Wedgehead Pinball Podcast cover?
The podcast is about Leisure, Hobbies, Games, Pinball and Podcasts.
What is the most popular episode on Wedgehead Pinball Podcast?
The episode title 'Episode 4 - The Brief History of Wedgehead' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Wedgehead Pinball Podcast?
The average episode length on Wedgehead Pinball Podcast is 50 minutes.
How often are episodes of Wedgehead Pinball Podcast released?
Episodes of Wedgehead Pinball Podcast are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Wedgehead Pinball Podcast?
The first episode of Wedgehead Pinball Podcast was released on Oct 23, 2023.
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