2025 State of Zen Studios with Mel Kirk
48 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Dec 9, 2025

The BlahCade Pinball Podcast’s primary focus is digital pinball on mobile, PC, and console from the industry’s leading game developers. Real pinball machines get their due too as we play them in arcades, leagues, and our own homes.
And then there’s the episodes where we get completely distracted and talk movies or some yummy food we just ate. Amazingly enough, we tend to find a way to relate it all back to pinball.
The show originates from the East Coast of Australia and the West Coast of California with new episodes available most weeks.
There are a lot of pinball podcasts out there, but none quite like the BlahCade Pinball Podcast.
"Chris and Jared guide the way through all things digital pinball be that on Steam, console, mobile, or pincab. And every so often when there isn't news (or maybe just the slightest smidgen of it) there is a speculation special, a large part of which turns out to be accurate. Without fail the podcast is full of stuff and things."
Videos on YouTube7 new in 90 days · latest Nov 3Rated 5.0 (2 ratings)
The BlahCade Pinball Podcast’s primary focus is digital pinball on mobile, PC, and console from the industry’s leading game developers.
48 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Dec 9, 2025
The Lost Halloween episode! (that should have come out a few days ago but didn't, oops)Lots of pinball tidbits and a fair amount of talk about Alien: Earth
38 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Nov 1, 2025
Blockade Pinball hosts discuss games they love but suck at, nostalgic podcast moments, and LEGO collecting.
1 hr 30 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Aug 30, 2025
Deep cost analysis of premium home pinball VR and cabinet setups.
1 hr 26 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Jul 28, 2025
Tomb Raider Pinball launches across all Zen platforms; JJP Harry Potter faces AI art backlash.
1 hr 10 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Jun 23, 2025
Continued discussion of the Arcade2TV-XR controller and the software it comes with, Arcade Ranger and Pinball FX VR.
1 hr 30 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · May 26, 2025
BlahCade reviews X-Arcade VR controller and discusses Zen pinball's multi-platform strategy.
1 hr 3 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · May 11, 2025
Deep dive into Quest 3 VR setup and first impressions of Pinball FX VR.
1 hr 51 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Apr 7, 2025
In this episode, we dive into Zen's announcement for Pinball FX VR!
1 hr 41 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Mar 16, 2025
BlahCade covers pinball controllers, Zen VR plans, and community-created Wikipedia pages for Pinball Effects.
1 hr 24 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Feb 16, 2025
BlahCade hosts review 2025 plans and analyze AtGames/Zen pinball table release roadmap through August.
1 hr 47 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Jan 12, 2025
Three new tables have been added to Pinball FX as well as a whole new way to play Zen on a mobile app, Pinball World.
1 hr 38 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Dec 15, 2024
Chris and Jared respond to a comment thread regarding the interview with Mel Kirk.
1 hr 31 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Nov 24, 2024
Zen Studios reports successful AtGames cabinet launch, VR/mobile expansion, and recovery after industry downsizing.
1 hr 16 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Nov 10, 2024
Zen/AtGames solved latency crisis; 5 cabinet skins shipping with 52 tables planned for 2025 and retail expansion incoming.
20 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Nov 4, 2024
Stern's $4,900 Jurassic Park (Home Edition) at Costco targets casual buyers, but enthusiasts question value and build quality.
1 hr 40 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Oct 14, 2024
BlahCade discusses Stern's Uncanny X-Men announcement and recent film viewings.
1 hr 21 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Sep 13, 2024
Podcast discussion of Zen/AtGames digital pinball releases, restoration culture, and OTG mode technical issues.
1 hr 30 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Aug 5, 2024
In this episode, Chris and Jared break down all the advantages and disadvantages of owning a real pinball machine versus a digital pinball cabinet.
1 hr 29 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · Jun 23, 2024
Zen announces 45 table packs for AtGames Legends 4K; hosts discuss new releases and platform optimization challenges.
1 hr 5 min listen · By Chris Friebus and Jared Morgan · May 26, 2024