What the Hell is Happening With the TWIPYs? A Goofenbacher’s Too-Long Guide to the Controversy Sweeping the Pinball Awards Right Now
You know that you’ve got a pinball problem when Nudge is the adult in the room. If you’re a fan of pinball media, and that’s likely if you’re reading this article, you might have some tangential awareness of the controversy going on right now with the TWIPYs, a pinball award that for the last seven years has showcased the best in pinball and pinball content creation. The goal of this post? To catch you up on what’s going on. We’re not here to take sides (for the most part).
In fact, the more I talked to people about this article, the more I realized that there’s a pretty nuanced view of this thing that sort of speaks to real problems in our extremely-online society as a whole. Wow, we really outdid ourselves on the whole journalism thing. TWIPY worthy!
In a nutshell, here’s a timeline of the most recent pinball drama.
Be warned: this is about to get nerdy and petty as hell. (Folks are gonna argue about this timeline, probably, but it also gives us the most succinct way to talk about this going forward)
Aug 2023 - Somewhere around this time Will approaches Colin to help on the TWIPY committee – before Colin buys TWIP. Meanwhile, Kaneda incites online drama with Don’s Pinball Podcast. The details are too insane even for us to document, but it leads Kaneda to publicly apologize after Don reveals some messages and texts that show Kaneda calling for Don to get his wife under control. Yeah, it’s pretty cringe, and everyone feels gross about it afterward. Even Kaneda eventually realizes and apologizes, but it’s sort of a too-little too-late situation. Woof.
Sept 2023 - The Pinball Media Mixer is organized by The Kineticist and TWIP. A happy hour of pinball content creators, they decide NOT to invite Kaneda after it is revealed that his presence would potentially upset some of the media members and sponsors because of his history with other content creators. When Kaneda formally inquires about his invitation status, he is told that he’s not welcome. Guess what? Kaneda doesn’t take it well at all.
Oct 2023 - Kaneda responds by repeatedly saying that he may attend the media mixer anyway on his live Facebook Stream. He also emails Colin behind the scenes several times. Are these emails from Kaneda petty? Well, yes, obviously. This whole thing is petty. The Kineticist responds that there may be legal repercussions for those actions if he decides to show up. It’s during this time that the first TWIPY committee call happens, where it’s suggested that they add more rules or a code of conduct that precludes folks who traffic in abuse or harassment. This proposal is ultimately shot down.
Oct 2023 (cont) - Imoto, Lucas, and Will of the TWIPY committee go on the LoserKid Pinball podcast to talk about the TWIPYs. Colin believes THIS is when the miscommunication really started, as Chris (Kaneda) misunderstands the level of personal involvement. He believes this is when he became, “the number one target.”
Nov 2023 - At some point, Kaneda is removed from the TWIP creator database. Most see this as a prelude to removing Kaneda from eligibility for a TWIPY. Kaneda starts a campaign to fight this, including an attempt to call Colin live during a Facebook stream. Eventually, TWIP decides to remove the database entirely after they feel unduly pressured by Kaneda’s “doxxing” attempt (their words). Even in the eyes of TWIP this isn’t seen as a big deal, no one much used the database, but it is seen as a precursor to eliminating Kaneda from TWIPY contention.
Dec 2023 - TWIP announces that the content creator awards side of the TWIPYs are now cancelled, according to several folks it is directly related to the campaign Kaneda has been waging against Will and Colin. A large backlash from not just fans of Kaneda, but content creators ensues. Many see it as censorship, virtue signailng, and any number of other catchphrases that you hear people use online. For his part, Kaneda initially threatens to reveal Colin’s phone number online if they aren’t reinstated but quickly deletes that comment and eventually takes the post down entirely. He releases several Facebook lives that are seen as problematic and harassment by some, entertainment by others, and cringe by a few. That’s the world we live in.
Dec 2023 - Rhetoric ramps up as both sides struggle to defend themselves. Who will arbitrate this case and make sense of it all? Yes, it WILL be your stoner older brother in pinball, NUDGE MAGAZINE.
Is this pinball news? Probably not, but it does involve a lot of people and a little bit of pinball – we’ll try and make it fun with prose that the pinball reddit once described as “bad ChatGPT”.
What is a TWIPY and why the hell do I care?
The TWIPYs are the annual awards show run by This Week in Pinball. Founded by Jeff Patterson, This Week in Pinball was like THE newsletter for pinball news for years. A few years ago, Jeff sold TWIP to Will Oetting, who ran it very similarly, though with less frequent updates. These days, it’s one of a couple of important sites (including Knapp Arcade and a few others) that people go to for pinball news.
The TWIPYs are an award show based entirely on audience participation. Over the last six years, they’ve become the most important pinball award there is. Kaneda has won six times in a row as Favorite Pinball Podcaster, something he markets HEAVILY on his page and with his followers, and he’s not the only one. Awards are frequently referenced in Stern’s marketing materials over the last few years. Here’s an important thing to remember that will come up later: while the TWIPYs are associated with TWIP, they’re actually two distinct organizations. The TWIPYs are run by a panel of content creators NOT by the owner of TWIP.
Enter the Kineticist
The infamous ‘free pizza’ from the pinball media mixer that drove KANEDA INSANE.
Recently, Oetting partnered TWIP with a new site called The Kineticist. While not a controversial move in itself, it was unexpected. The Kineticist is a new site and its owner/editor/writer/whatevs, Colin Alsheimer is relatively new to the pinball media space. As we all know, though, pinball is EXTREMELY welcoming to newcomers (SARCASM), so this happened without ANY controversy or stress.
What brought TWIP and the Kineticist together in the first place? The aforementioned fateful pinball media mixer, organized by The Kineticist, that aimed to connect all the content creators in one space and sort of create a united front moving forward. It was our version of Yalta. They invited everyone, and I mean everyone. Did we go? Well, the promise of free pizza was too much for us to pass up, so you bet your sweet bippy we did. We even took pics.
There was only one problem: They forgot to invite the ‘bad boy of pinball’.
OK, OK, but what the hell is a Kaneda?
Before we get into the drama of the last few months, it’s time for a history lesson on the biggest pinball podcast to ever exist. Yes, we speak of Kaneda’s Pinball Podcast, winner of the 6 aforementioned TWIPYs. Created/hosted/recorded by Chris Kooluris, aka Kaneda, it’s basically the antithesis of all the other pinball media out there. If Deadflip is friendly, Kaneda is brash. If The Pinball Show hypes every game, Kaneda is the one to throw water on it and call it overpriced. If Nudge is cool as hell then, uh, well uh, let’s just keep our name out of this.
Why? Because historically Kaneda has ALSO been involved in nearly every feud and pinball controversy of note over the past ten years. Here’s a partial list.
Threw a drink in Tim Sexton’s face at the 2018 Women’s Pinball Championships in New York City.
Controversial post revealing Stern artwork early (the OG TWIP/Kaneda controversy) and ending his relationship with Jeff of TWIP in 2019ish.
Ongoing rivalries with Zach Meny of FlipNOut Pinball, Buffalo Pinball, Don’s Pinball Podcast, Christopher Franchi, Cenzgis, and basically a billion other people. This has included some drunken posts where fans have been incited (either directly or indirectly) to harass some of these content creators.
Is that a lot for ten years? It depends on who you ask. For most people, yes. For a drinkin’ bro from the East Coast? Maybe not. To be honest, it’s hard to give you a full history of these events BECAUSE there is so much he said/she said. Actually, let’s be real: it’s he said/he said. Very few women are involved in this story at all because it’s mostly white dudes fighting over attention for pinball content. That’s really the crux of this issue: is Kaneda that bad for pinball? Is he *gasp* toxic? So what does the average pinball content consumer and content creator think? It depends.
Are the TWIPY’s really this important?
So the crux of this issue really centers around your views on the intersection of censorship, free speech, bullying, and whether awards shows are even worth it in the first place. Are other folks being unfairly punished? Is Kaneda? Almost no one you ask outside of the Kaneda army will say yes to the second question, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t real consequences for the folks from the first one.
Depending on who you ask, the TWIPY’s are either extremely important to content creators, or useless trinkets that feed pinball creator’s egos. Both are probably kinda right. In the last week, pinball media members like The Eclectic Gamer Podcast, The Pinball Show, and Loserkid Pinball Podcast have all said a variation on the TWIPY’s need to be canceled if they’re leading to folks being put in danger or being harassed theme. Of course most people if you ask them are against harassment, but the problem comes with exactly WHAT constitutes harassment. Especially when the majority of folks who are affected never had anything to do with it in the first place.
Beck Gallagher: The Streamers Caught in the Crossfire
Beck Gallagher is one of the hosts of HUP Challenge, a Youtube and Twitch stream that focuses on the fun and silly parts of pinball. Over the last four years, they’ve built a small but dedicated following based on their hilarious personalities and over-the-top TikTok videos. They post every week, and have some great bits that we, at Nudge, have really enjoyed over the years. They’ve also never been able to win a TWIPY, but that didn’t stop them from trying.
Beck: When we started, the TWIPPY was really exciting. We were like ‘Oh my gosh, we can get a little bit of recognition?’ We knew it was a popularity contest and that we wouldn’t beat someone like Deadflip or IE pinball because they’d been around for so long, and had so many people behind us, but we thought, ‘well maybe someday we can sneak in at number 3!’
Nudge: How aware are you of the Kaneda drama?
B: I'm not. I don't interact with any of the pinball drama. I feel like I hear my pinball drama from Cliff, uh, WarlockPinball777, my buddy. So I get stuff secondhand from him.
So I know that he’s probably a biased source. Um, but on the same hand, like, I don't care at all. Because pinball to me is playing pinball with your friends, and like going and meeting people, and doing the tournaments, and being in the community of it. I'm, sure you've noticed that HUP has never been in any sort of like pinball drama controversy because we just don't give a fuck We just want to have fun
Nudge: So you wake up, you see this announcement (about the TWIPYs), then what?
B: I’m going to pull up the announcement. I like to make sure that I'm being factual with what I'm reading and what I'm reacting to because I can pop off a little bit sometimes. (laughs)
Um, but the whole, like. ‘I determined that these categories were no longer being our mission of celebrating the pinball hobby.’ What the fuck? These categories, like, are a major, major part of the pinball hobby and the community and everything we love about it. Like, the whole point for people being able to just, like, hop on Twitch or YouTube or TikTok or is that you have a platform immediately and all of these people can interact with you.
Like, in a good way OR in a bad way; positive, negative, whatever. It's like, We're getting more people to look at pinball and be interested in pinball, whether they are wrestling fans, whether they're like into like, whatever…
N: Whether they like watching Jordan in a maid uniform…
Unlike most pinballers, it seems like those clothes are so clean. Thank God.
B: Exactly! It's just like these categories, to me, are where all of the new blood for pinball is. It's giving everyone the opportunity to be a part of it in their own way and it's not like a gate-keeping situation, because anyone can just be nominated by their followers. That’s great!
This feels like it's kind of silencing voices in a way that are, like, the ones who maybe aren't in control of the hobby already. Like, it's disproportionately hurting those kinds of content creators and stuff like that. It's like people who have money have influence and have the power to do this kind of stuff and take away things that people may have otherwise been very interested in and excited about.
N: Was being a part of the TWIPYs fun for you?
B: Yes! We were so excited about the TWIPYs. We campaigned hard from 2021 up until last year. It makes me sad because there are so many new creators out there. I feel like there’s been a lot more different types of people and different types of content being made, and this sucks because now they might never get out to that audience. The TWIPYs is where I found out about some of my favorite content creators.
N: What would like to see as a resolution to this whole debacle?
B: I mean, drama begets drama, right? If you poke the bear, the thing with these types of people - and I don’t know Kaneda and don’t follow it, so I can’t speak to who’s wrong or right - but the more you pick at people and make it a bigger deal, it just riles them up. Their fanbase is mobilized, all that stuff.
It's literally the same bullshit that's happening in the political sphere. When you continue to just pick and poke and piss people off, it just amplifies and I feel like that's kind of what happened here. Instead of dealing with it in a better way, they just canceled the awards altogether. Yes, you fixed the problem with that person, but now you have all of these other people that you just upset with no real explanation, and especially for people who don't follow all the drama, I woke up and just like ‘what in the actual fuck is life?’
N: Is there a ‘right’ way to deal with a problematic pinball personality? People are going to say, well there’s a history of people not dealing with Kaneda which led us to this…
B: I feel like, if you wanted to remove him from the ability to be voted for because he's had multiple infractions, then you call them out and you say this is why he's being disqualified, this is from Kaneda being part of this drama and, like, we're not going to have any further discussion about it.
If that's what they wanted to do, it could have been done in a very direct way. Because obviously, the issue is between Zach and Colin and Kaneda and his people and whoever else might be part of that. I don't know. But to just eliminate all of it because of like one big problem doesn't make any sense at all.
N: Where do we go from here?
B: Reinstate the categories! It’s not too late to walk that back. It could literally happen today, and I don’t think voting is even supposed to start for another week or two.
Jon Ehrlich: Kaneda listener, pinball operator, and free speech fan
Jon Ehrlich is the owner and operator of Jackbar in NYC. A brash, caustically funny dude, he’s most famous to Nudge readers as the guy who wrote our dope Yelp Guide for Operators in Issue 2. Oh you don’t have one of those yet? Pick one up. He’s also pinball-famous as one of the dudes in the comment section on any spicy Kaneda post.
While that COULD disqualify him in some folk’s minds as being too biased, I’d argue he’s just normal-biased. He frequently comes out against Kaneda when the podcast host is being hyperbolic, most recently Jon was one of the loudest voices asking for Kaneda’s apology when the stuff with Don went down. Point being, he’s not a strict Kaneda apologist, but he IS a free speech advocate. Unlike Beck, Jon was super familiar with the Kaneda drama before we spoke.
Nudge: So give us your take on this TWIPY’s vs Kaneda ordeal
Jon: Well, at its base, it’s censorship and I don’t know many people who vote for censorship. Yeah, there are plenty of people nominated for awards around the world, I don’t like what they do or agree with what they say. So what?
I could sit here and preach what my feelings are on Chris - Kaneda - and there are a number of things he does that I really like and there are a number of things he does that I really don’t like. I’m happy to tell him that on both sides of the equation – and most times he’ll agree with me. But in the end, it shouldn’t matter what my feelings are and it shouldn’t matter what Colin’s feelings are.
N: The thing that many people will point to is that Kaneda is inciting violence with his rhetoric. That even if he doesn’t directly attack Zach Meny or Don his followers might. I’ve seen some of their messages and they are pretty heinous. How do you navigate that?
J: I’ve never seen any violence. There are definitely things he says that you would think to yourself, ‘If he continues to escalate them, not that they would lead to violence as much as they would lead to verbal assault. When I think violence, I think physical assault. I don’t think verbal, you know?
In my Facebook exchanges today, there are people verbally assaulting each other left and right. That’s what social media is. It’s people either praising or punishing each other and there’s almost no middle ground.
N: What would you say to those people who say they feel like they have a Kaneda-sized target on their back?
J: Look, I’ve told people involved with this stuff to do what I do, use it as a template. But you know, another choice I have, which I decide not to do because I much more enjoy his content and being friendly with him, is I could just ignore him altogether and he would go away.
You know, it’s like dealing with a child. When my three-year-old daughter is like, ‘I want a popsicle’ and it’s just not a possibility, I could sit here and argue with her – why she can’t have a popsicle. In which case, she’ll continue to ask for a popsicle and escalate it further and further and further. OR, I could just pretend she didn’t say it and seven seconds later she’ll forget she said it. That’s Kaneda.
N: So going forward, what would your advice be to Colin on what he should have done? What would you say TWIP should do?
J: Well, those are two different entities.
N: Sure, break down both. I’m interested.
J: Well, Colin, as the person who makes the decisions – or according to him one of the people that makes the decision there, I would tell him not to engage and to leave the categories intact. I mean, it’s clearly to spite Kaneda, so I mean there’s no denying that. The writing is as on the wall as it’s ever been.
So you don’t engage with him either on a personal or organizational level and you let the people vote for what they want to vote for. And if Kaneda wins it, which he probably will? Then awesome, he deserves it, it’s the popular vote.
Nudge: Sure, yeah.
J: And for TWIP? I would say, look the last thing they want to be doing is any move that will lose them a single follower. You should be growing it – and even that is an uphill climb. This move is the exact opposite of that. You know, while not everybody cares, a lot of people do. If you lose one follower, vote, subscriber, whatever it is, because of a move you made as the manager of that organization? Well, you did it wrong.
We interviewed Kaneda. Here’s what he said.
The most Kaneda image of all time.
The other thing that no one wants to say is this: Kaneda IS the most popular podcast. He’s got 6 TWIPYs to prove it. He’s been doing this long enough that his connections are solid and real in the pinball industry. He routinely has scoops that have been carried by Knapp Arcade. And off the record? I’ve talked to plenty of industry people who have NO qualms about listening to Kaneda whatsoever. He’s got 700 paid subs on Patreon and boasts thousands of listens to his free podcasts and “Saturday Morning Spectaculars” – a Facebook live-stream Kaneda does every Saturday. Like him or loathe him, he’s BY FAR the most popular pinball content out there, especially since DeadFlip stopped regular streams. That’s just a fact.
We interviewed Kaneda for this story, and let’s just say this: the guy has charisma. As someone who didn’t come into this story with any real POV, I was charmed almost immediately. That’s dangerous, you know? A charmer is about the most destructive person you can deal with in an interview. But that said, I DID try to ask some tough questions to understand how much responsibility he feels like he actually has for what he does and what his followers do. Will you feel differently about Kaneda after reading this? Probably not, but I did find his answers thoughtful and candid.
Nudge: How did you find out the TWIPYs had been cancelled?
Kaneda: it was weird. Someone sent me a message at 4 in the morning and it was a URL that was a TWIP link that had the announcement. I didn't get the official, um, newsletter announcement about it until later in the day, like 10 AM or 9 AM – whenever their stuff goes out. Yeah. So it was, you know, it was weird. I was like, wow, everyone's being very dramatic, like crossing out all those categories in the announcement? I was like, wow, they're really going for it
N: What was your reaction?
K: Well, I think it just makes everybody sad. The easiest solution is just to let the show go on. I mean, that's what's weird about it. And now they keep digging the grave deeper by doubling down on the decision. And again, you just got to listen to feedback. I mean, he (Colin) works in marketing. He works in media. I work in marketing and media. Once you get feedback, no matter what your intentions are, you have to be able to pivot in real time based on the feedback. That's the part too that I think has people being like, all right enough. You heard the feedback and now you're still not willing to bend.
And, you know, it's hard to have biases and vendettas guiding things like TWIP, which used to just be this like unbiased, you know, thing. Nobody even cared about the database. The TWIPYs were fun.
N: You must know how you’re viewed by a lot of content creators in pinball. We were warned about you right off the bat. That’s sort of the life cycle of a pinball content creator. You join the space, you find Kaneda right away, you listen, you see the drama, and eventually, you fall off (or not). Many of the folks, Like Zach Meny or Don, have said they feel threatened by you. Can you speak to that? Do you think your podcast is toxic?
K: Yeah, I hear that a lot. Maybe my show should have a warning label, right? But here's the thing too, Ian, like, everything you said, whether people like me, don't like me, like the show, hate the show, it's okay. I think all those things can happen simultaneously and still be true, right? it's okay for opposing things to be happening and, and both sides to be right in their stance or their views on things, which is American, right?
We're getting to this weird place where everything has to be black or white. Someone has to be good or evil. There are no areas of gray. In terms of the whole, like, Kaneda, and Kaneda’s army going to get pitchforks and go ruin people's livelihoods and do stuff and threaten people. Uh, there's never been a single incident where anything's ever happened or anyone ever did anything. If people have said stuff or sent, you know, nasty private messages to people, I can't control people's behavior other than my own. But as I always do, I advocate on my show to be responsible and to not do any of that. And, especially yesterday where I knew people were going to be mad at the parties involved with the cancellations of the content categories.
N: What did you say?
K: I said to everybody who follows me, don't do anything stupid. Don't be mad at these people. Like respect their decision. We can respectfully disagree with it. We can boycott the show. That's that's in our power to do that, which is what I advocate people do and just kill them with silence and kindness, because that's also what I do.
Like I just did a show today. I barely mentioned this. I get right to Spooky's two new games. I just want to talk about pinball. My show doesn't talk about content and creators ever. I think for the haters, I used to go at people more personally on the show, for sure, years ago, and they're still stuck in that moment. And, you know, they don't listen. So I don't know what to do. Like, I've done 400 shows since then, and if they’d maybe tune in and realize in 20 minutes I just cover what's going on in the hobby. So, you feel kind of, like, trapped by your history.
N: What do you say to the people, like Zach or Don, who have felt the Kaneda crosshairs in the past?
K: I'm a flawed individual. And I always say this, every terrible thing people say about me is somewhat true, but I do feel like I'm much more than that as well.
I also believe that when we get a little bit buzzed or drunk, that is not who we are 24/7. Like, it's weird when I hear people say things like, ‘his true colors come out when he drinks’. I'm like, oh, man, like, who amongst us doesn't get a little stranger and different when we are, you know, under the influence (of alcohol).
N: Maybe the difference there is that you DO actually have some power, right? Like our community is small, and in comparison to other pinball content creators, you have an ‘army’ that you can mobilize.
K: The only power I have is to entertain people. I really don't think that I will create a game sales success or sales failure based on my opinions on that game. I think everyone is a grown adult. They can make up their own mind on whether or not, you know, they want to buy a Galactic Tank Force or an Elton John. I think what I do and the reason why people like following it is that I say stuff that isn't holding back. And, you know, I can say that galactic tank force is horrendous.
N: The thing that I’ve always found to be a strength of your podcast is your perspective. We may not always agree, but you have a definite point of view. I think a mischaracterization is that Kaneda fans all have one opinion on something when actually it’s a pretty diverse set of opinions.
K: I will say I always try to improve the show. It's always a work in progress. It's a 10 year work in progress. I think the show now is as positive as it's ever been. I think the Facebook lives are as good as they've ever been.
And, you know, this whole thing, I probably started it the wrong way. I shouldn't have made such a big deal out of not being invited to a media mixer, right? I got mad.
N: Can you explain what went down with the pinball media mixer?
K: It made sense from [TWIP’s] perspective. I mean, they were throwing their own party. There were some people going there that were part of it that weren't going to be comfortable if I was there. So it's cool. They told me, ‘You can't come.’ And then, you know, I don't know…
N: I don't want to give you too much credit, but I do think that was kind of some bullshit. Like that was one thing that I actually contacted Colin about because I was thinking, “he’s the biggest name on the list, and we’re all just fighting over scraps anyway. Why not have him?”
K: I mean, look, it's all stupid, right? I was actually just going to go and surprise them but then I asked (Colin) if I could RSVP. And that's when it was like, ‘Oh, you can't RSVP because we don't want you here.’
If I had gone, I think the people who had the issues with me, probably would have just talked it out and broke bread, and had a good time. That's always what happens. It literally is always what happens at all these shows. it's always a good time and everyone's always respectful. And, look, not that everybody wants to talk to me or hang out or be friends, but you know, there's enough, it was in this big arcade, like it would have been fine. There were probably 50 plus people there…
N: Did you feel like this was a carryover from what happened with Don?
K: Probably some from that. Which is fine. Again, it's their party. I respect that. I get it. You know, I tried to, you know, get Colin on a Facebook Live to explain his rationale, which I probably shouldn't have done. I know that's not really fair. But then from there, right, there's like, okay, we both jabbed, we both poked, we both got into it. There could have been a de-escalation of things right then and there instead of what happened.
N: Right.
K: The thing is, this isn't really good for business, right? If this is what you want to be, you want to have as many friends as possible. Even your enemies, you want to sell to. I mean, if you're a media outlet – doubly so.
N: So what do you say to the people who say, ‘he made his bed with this.’ He’s got a history of provoking content creators, creating drama, your history with Tim and Zach and Don, etc?
K: I get it. But, you know, let everybody fight their own fight. It's just weird because it seems to be this small group that has had this very targeted approach over the last week. It was all, like, synchronized. We're going to say this, then this show will say it, then another show is going to drop, all of it basically telling you the same thing:
‘We made a mistake creating the pinball content creator awards, because of Kaneda.’ Is it a mistake just because you now don't like it? Because you think it created a monster narcissist in New York City who's gloating all the time about how he's the best because of it?
I don’t think so. It’s supposed to be fun. And, and for those content creators, why are you advocating for the lack of recognition for all the hard work people put into their content? Like what's happening?
N: Thanks for your time.
Is Colin Alsheimer and TWIP bad for pinball? No. And also he’s a human being. He doesn’t always have to be right for us to treat him well.
Like him or loathe him, it’s easy to see that Colin is feeling some pretty intense backlash from this decision. When I talked to him about this article, he was afraid of putting anything on the record for that very reason. He said he felt like he had a target on his back. As someone else who creates pinball content and has felt the sting of the internet’s wrath (just look at any of the comments on r/pinball Reddit for Nudge posts and see what we mean), it’s hard not to empathize.
Is he blameless? Most definitely not! That’s OK, and shouldn’t preclude you from empathizing with him. This was a shitty, shitty thing to happen to him. As best as I can tell, he got caught up in a bad situation, was pushed there from two different sides, and eventually got the brunt of the backlash – from Kaneda, from us, and from the pinball community at large. And all for just wanting to create something of his own.
Reinstate the TWIPY Categories, Don’t fight Kaneda, Win the day
That said, there’s a reason that Kaneda always wins these fights: he’s charismatic, he’s funny, and he’s willing to go places that other people aren’t willing to go. Colin knew this and STILL felt prodded into a fight. The moment Colin started making this personal (or retaliated), Kaneda had already won. Yes, it’s difficult to deal with, but if Colin had just responded with nothing when Kaneda tried to force him into a call – it probably would have resolved itself in a week.
I’ve always compared Kaneda to a professional wrestler, and when I mentioned that to Colin, he essentially said yes, but wrestlers don’t pull random people out of the crowd to do moves on them. That is a totally fair point – and probably does feel like that to anyone in his crosshairs. It’s like walking into Wrestlemania and taking an elbow right to the dome. But the crux of this matter lies in one thing: is this harassment, and does it merit canceling the pinball awards?
There is no clear answer here, except for this: everyone is to blame for what happened. We all killed the TWIPYs in our own way, just like in a terrible Agatha Christie novel. That sucks because awards shows mean parties, parties mean memories, and in the end, a good memory is all we’re ever going to want. I hope we figure this out, but if not let the next pinball awards show not be swayed or changed by a petty lil’ guy like Kaneda – in the end the only people hurt are your friends.
