Chicago Gaming Company

Thrill Of The Chase: Pulp Fiction BMF LE Pinball Machine

February 28, 2025 By ausretrogamer

Worth the Wait: Our Pulp Fiction Pinball Adventure!

Some things in life are totally worth the wait—like the perfect coffee, a great concert, or finally getting your hands on that dream pinball machine. In this case, we waited almost TWO YEARS (yes, you read that right!) for our Pulp Fiction Bad Mother Flipper Limited Edition pinball machine (Ed: Wow, that name is a mouthful!).

The Thrill of the Chase

Our quest began in March 2023, when a fateful social media post set our pinball-loving hearts racing. A new machine was coming, designed by Mark Ritchie (yes, THAT Mark Ritchie!) from Play Mechanix, under the umbrella of RAW Thrills, and manufactured by Chicago Gaming Company.

When I hit play on the official trailer, Ms. Ausretrogamer happened to walk past. Her reaction?
💥 “We HAVE to get this!”
💥 “We HAVE to get the Limited Edition with that amazing topper!”

Well, as a certified pinball tragic, I didn’t need much convincing. The only problem? Securing one.

A Little Pinball Luck

Call it fate, serendipity, or just good timing—Wayne from Mr. Pinball Australia sent out an email just an hour after the trailer dropped. He had all the details on how to lock in an order, and I wasn’t about to waste a second.

My reply? “Lock us in for a Bad Mother Flipper Limited Edition!”. Deposit paid. Order confirmed. Now all we had to do was… wait.

The Agonising Wait

At first, we were optimistic. Production was supposed to kick off in late 2023—perfect timing for an epic Christmas surprise! But as the weeks turned into months, doubts started creeping in. Pinball forums buzzed with news of delays, and it became clear that our patience was about to be seriously tested.

23 Months Later… Jackpot!

As the saying goes, “Good things come to those who wait”—and in this case, 23 months of waiting!

Then, the moment we’d been dreaming of finally arrived: an email confirming our machine was ready for pickup! 🎉 The excitement was REAL. Seeing that notification pop up put a massive grin on my face—and on Ms. Ausretrogamer’s too!

We had done it. We had secured one of our dream pinball machines, and now it was finally coming home to the Ausretrogamer Fun Factory.

Was it worth the wait? Absolutely. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got some flippin’ to do! 😎🎮

Exciting News from Pinball Expo 2023!

October 3, 2023 By ausretrogamer

PSA: Watch the Official PULP FICTION Pinball Livestream

April 28, 2023 By ausretrogamer

PSA – Pinball Service Announcement!

No need for too many words here – just to make you all aware that the official livestream of the PULP FICTION pinball machine will be on at 9:00am on Saturday, April 29th (Australian time!) on DeadFlip’s Twitch channel!

We are hyped!

PS: If you miss the livestream, you can always subscribe to DeadFlip’s YouTube channel so you can be notified when the VoD is available!

source: Raw Thrils, Inc.

Pulp Fiction Pinball – The Bad Mother Flipper

March 14, 2023 By ausretrogamer

When Ms. Ausretrogamer gets excited for a new pinball machine, you know it is going to be a special one!

One of the most requested themes in the pinball world has been Pulp Fiction, the cult classic 1994 crime film by Quentin Tarantino. Almost 30 years since the movie was released, Chicago Gaming Company and Play Mechanix Pinball have answered our prayers with a lineup of Pulp Fiction pinball beauties!

The Pulp Fiction lineup!

image source: Chicago Gaming Company (prices in $USD)

The Bad Mother Flipper LE

Designed by Mark Ritchie, who also designed classic pinball machines Fish Tales and Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure in the early 1990s, this new machine is in keeping of the era, reminiscent of the alphanumeric / early solid state machines, which translates well with this theme. Checking out the below trailer, there is no doubt that Pulp Fiction translates well into the world of pinball.

source: Chicago-Gaming Company

From their website, Chicago-Gaming Company state:

Pulp Fiction is a retro-inspired full-featured modern pinball machine. Developed at the request of Quentin Tarantino who wanted an 1980’s style Pulp Fiction themed pinball machine for his home. Tarantino’s continued involvement throughout the project shaped the final game. Tarantino rarely licenses his intellectual property, it is a unique privilege to produce a game which pays tribute to this masterpiece.

Legendary pinball designer Mark Ritchie masterfully crafted a playfield which on its surface appears comparable to games from this era but outside of initial perception features more mechanisms and greater depth than most games produced today. David Thiel forcefully pulls the player into this world utilizing over 250 iconic lines from Pulp Fiction’s legendary cast, five licensed songs from the original movie soundtrack, and a number of original compositions. Josh Sharpe developed an approachable rule set that is both intuitive and deep enough to engage even the most skilled player. Scott Pikulski’s vintage inspired art package is both stunning and perfectly cohesive.

The Limited Edition (LE) will surely sell out quite quickly, are you getting one?

image source: Chicago-Gaming Company

Pinball Expo 2020 Goes Virtual – Oct. 14-17

October 13, 2020 By ausretrogamer

For those new to pinball, Pinball Expo is an event that is held annually in Chicago. Pinball Expo has been running since the mid 80s and is one of the pinball industry’s most celebrated events. This expo always attracts the major pinball manufacturers, pinball industry professionals, pinball players, collectors and enthusiasts from all around the world.

Since 2020 is no ordinary year, Pinball Expo will be run virtually this time round. The Virtual Pinball Expo kicks off this Wednesday, October 14th, at 7:00pm (Chicago time – GMT-5) for a live broadcast on Twitch, and then continues for three days with heaps of tournaments, guest speakers, seminars, latest news in the world of pinball and all sorts of other pinball fun for lovers of the silverball game.

The best part of this year’s event is that it is totally free to view on Twitch, so make sure you bookmark www.twitch.tv/pinballexpo! Hope to see you all online at Pinball Expo 2020.

image source: Pinball Expo

Flipout 2019 Highlights: We Had A (Silver) Ball!

October 29, 2019 By ausretrogamer

We always look forward to Mr. Pinball Australia Flipout Show as it gives us a chance to play heaps of pinball machines we would otherwise never get a chance to play out in the wild.

Flipout 2019 delivered the desired ‘pinball fix’ we were after, a state of pinball high which we are still riding – the buzz of playing so many pinball machines is still with us, days after the conclusion of the show! To say we had a (silver) ball at Flipout 2019, would be a gross understatement – we loved it!

A lot of hard work goes into preparing and setting up a show of this magnitude, so kudos must be given to Wayne Gillard and his Mr. Pinball Australia team, Martin Robbins from Melbourne Silverball and Scott Kellett from Zax Amusements for supplying over 70 wonderful fun machines for us to enjoy all weekend long. From our highlights package below, you’ll see that each era was represented, from gorgeous EM (Electro-Mechanical) machines, early and late Solid State machines to DMD and right up to the current LCD based pinball machines, the show catered for all pinball tastes.

The awesome folks that brought Flipout 2019 alive [L to R]: Scott Kellett (Zax Amusements) and Wayne Gillard (Mr. Pinball Australia)

The ever smiling Martin Robbins (Melbourne Silverball), showrunning the tournaments at Flipout 2019

From the pinball smorgasbord the most popular were the new offerings from American Pinball (Oktoberfest), Jersey Jack Pinball (Willy Wonka), Stern Pinball Inc. (Jurassic Park), Chicago Gaming Company (Monster Bash Remake) and Spooky Pinball (Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle). The Jersey Jack Pinball (JJP) machines proved popular all weekend long, with a long wait to play on Dialed In and Pirates of The Caribbean machines.

The JJP and Stern machines were popular with all attendees!

We had a blast playing some mid-1990s machines we hadn’t played in a long time, like Williams’ No Fear, Junk Yard and the original Monster Bash. Stern’s Elvis LE pinball machine was a surprise blast which had us pressing the start button more than a few times. Lord Of The Rings was another blast from the past which left us smiling ear to ear – an absolute brilliant machine. It was also great to experience the lesser known titles for the first time, like Thunderbirds (we won’t comment any further on this one!). We reacquainted ourselves with Team Pinball’s The Mafia and Spooky’s America’s Most Haunted – it still plays like a dream.

The Flipout 2019 walkthrough!

The highlight and ‘Best In Show’ machine for 2019 for us was Haggis Pinball‘s debut title, CELTS! This pinball machine blew our expectations by a mile. Not only was this Australian designed and made machine looking gorgeous (we love the Scottish Highland Games art theme by Sam Greenwood, aka: Most Ill), but it also sounded great (we love bagpipes) and most importantly, it played like a dream – the shots felt true and fun to hit, with the geometry being spot on. The upper flipper was fun to smack the ball around and also bumping the ball in the upper playfield against the slings definitely kept us smiling while playing. Even though the CELTS pinball machine was a pre-production model, the whole package still felt solid, something that you would expect from a JJP Collector’s Edition or Stern Limited Edition machine. We actually can’t stop thinking about CELTS, and at the current entry price point, it is very very tempting to add one to our collection.

Still dreaming about the Aussie made CELTS pinball machine by Haggis Pinball!

Who would’ve thought we’d like a game with a single level playfield! #pinball #FlipOut pic.twitter.com/liCWGNxyCh

— ausretrogamer (@ausretrogamer) October 28, 2019

A neat little non-pinball touch were the balloons around the floor, these created a festive mood and the mini chocolates strewn around the venue were great for our energy levels to keep us flipping.

Enjoy the Flipout 2019 highlights and we hope to see you there in 2020!

The Sandbelt Hotel – the perfect venue for Flipout 2019

Energy to keep us flippin!

We love a signed flyer!

The Melbourne Silverball Flipout 2019 tournament machines are checked one final time!

Oo’er, aren’t the tournament trophies just so gorgeous!

Having a well earned rest!

Attack From Mars Pinball Promo Video – It’s deliciously cheesy

June 24, 2019 By ausretrogamer

You all know how much we love the Attack From Mars pinball machine – we love it so much that we jumped on-board and bought the Attack From Mars Remake back in 2017.

This machine is one of those timeless classics which always comes up in many ‘top pinball machines of all time’ lists. Our interest is always piqued whenever we find information or other content about this game, so when we came across the original promo video, we thought we’d share it with you all. The promo video is just as cheesy as the actual theme, which makes it perfect!

source: Jan van den Munckhof

Flipout 2018 Highlights

December 3, 2018 By ausretrogamer

Wow, what a weekend it was! The third Mr. Pinball Flipout 2018 in Melbourne was an absolute flippin blast!

To ensure we got our fill of pinball, we arrived at Flipout 2018 nice and early and were quite chuffed to have found ourselves first in line for entry. Within minutes of arriving, we looked behind us and were greeted by a line snaking through the Sandbelt Hotel, with guests eagerly awaiting the clock to strike 10:00!

Once the doors flung open, we were greeted by a cacophony of pinball machine noises that were music to our ears. Being first through the doors, our eyes immediately fixated on the pair of Jersey Jack Pinball’s new Pirates of The Caribbean (PoTC) machines. We knew we had to play these right away otherwise we would have had to queue up to play these, as Jersey Jack Pinball machines always prove popular with the masses. Once we drained our third ball on PoTC it was time to move on to the next big new pinball machine for 2018 – Chicago Gaming Company’s Monster Bash Remake (MBR)! This was the first time the machine was available for play anywhere in Australia, so we counted ourselves quite lucky. There were two MBR machines to play and an original Monster Bash (MB) so we could play them back-to-back and compare the old versus the new – as much as we are fans of the original MB, the Remake just takes it to another level, from the vivid art work and amazing light and sound package, to the ultra clear coated playfield that ensured your shots were precise, making this a complete and wonderful experience. Oh yeah, the huge HD screen just topped off what already is a stellar pinball machine.

Up close and personal with the new Monster Bash Remake

Pinball has had its fair share of controversies over the years, and none are bigger than John Popadiuk’s failed Zidware venture. We won’t bore you with the controversy, which is still a sore point for many (and rightly so), but Mr Pinball had somehow secured one of only a handful of Magic Girl machines to be available for play at Flipout. As you will see in the video and accompanying photos, Magic Girl is one tall and absolutely stunning machine. The machine might be gorgeous, but that’s where it all ends – there is no substance to it, as the game is incomplete, rendering the experience to be somewhat subdued. However, it was amazing to actually see and touch this rare and exotic machine.

Oo’er, the exotically rare and controversial MAGIC GIRL

From one controversial machine to another, we threw some tokens into Alien and plunged the ball to check out (the now defunct) Heighway Pinball’s last production machine. The dark theme nails the feel and atmosphere of the huge movie franchise and of course the Xenomorph sticking its tongue out to grab your ball was one feature we were keen to see in the flesh – it didn’t disappoint. Alien is a striking machine, demanding your attention with it’s unique lines and huge backboard. I just wish Heighway had completed the machine and got the code to a level where the game would just suck you right into the Alien universe. Hopefully the dedicated community of owners out there will do this machine justice with code updates in the future!

Heighway Pinball’s strikingly beautiful and scary Alien machine

While there were plenty of other hard-to-find-on-location machines on free play, like Team Pinball’s The Mafia and Spooky’s Total Nuclear Annihilation (TNA), it was Ben Heck’s America’s Most Haunted (AMH) that actually grabbed us by the scruff of our neck and would not let go. While initially waiting for our turn on TNA, we noticed that no one was playing AMH, so we thought, what the heck, let’s flip this thing. Wow, the machine sucked us in right away – it was so up our alley, that we forgo more machines, including playing TNA more than a couple of times! We played AMH close to 60 times, so we would say that it was our most played machine at Flipout. The cheesy theme, the great sarcastic callouts and butter smooth shooting were among the many things we loved about it. The changing RGB lighting was just the icing on an already delicious cake! We may have to have a chat to Mr Pinball’s Wayne Gillard about finding AMH a new home.

Pinball Party Bus’ Dion Miksad shows us how to play AMH

Ausretrogamer and Pinball Press Co-Founder, Alex Boz reckons AMH was best in show!

With 60 plus machines on offer, including some amazing EM machines, there was plenty of variety to cater for all kind of pinball tastes at Flipout 2018. Of course the event also had an array of great seminars, from Jersey Jack Pinball CEO, Jack Guarnieri’s keynote speech, to Haggis Pinball’s unveiling of their new pinball machine theme. For the competitive types, Melbourne Silverball ran IFPA endorsed tournaments all weekend which were also streamed live on Twitch.

After 7 hours of constant pinball in a day, we had a bout of severe arm-pump, which sadly rendered our day complete. We definitely didn’t leave disappointed – Flipout 2018 far exceeded our expectations. We left the venue with a big smile on our face, knowing that we will have great memories locked away in our cerebral cortex. We can’t wait for Flipout 2019!

We have our tickets ready!

Big thumbs up for Scott Danesi’s TNA!

Plenty of great seminars at Flipout 2018

Just one final plunge!

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Pinball: FlipOut 2018

November 6, 2018 By ausretrogamer

To say pinball is going through a resurgence would be a gross understatement.

With pinball becoming ever so popular it was inevitable that a major event would pop up, and thanks to Mr. Pinball, we now have the annual FlipOut event held on the first weekend of December.

FlipOut 2018 will be on December 1 and 2 at the Sandbelt Hotel in Moorabbin. The event will have a swag of awesome and boutique pinball machines to play, from Heighway Pinball’s (defunct) Alien, American Pinball’s Houdini, Spooky’s TNA and the exotically rare Magic Girl, to Chicago Gaming Company’s Remakes and Jersey Jack Pinball’s array of brilliant machines – Dialed In, Wizard Of Oz, The Hobbit and their latest, Pirates Of The Caribbean. You would be hard pressed at finding any of these machines to play on location, so FlipOut 2018 may be your only opportunity to experience some of these games.

Highlight from FlipOut 2016 – meeting the one and only Jack Guarnieri

It’s not all just playing pinball, FlipOut will also feature a keynote presentation by the ever so brilliant Jersey Jack Pinball founder, Jack Guarnieri and a stacked list of pinball related seminars. If you are the competative type, FlipOut will have IFPA sanctioned tournaments to prove your wizardry against some of the best players in Australia. Oh yeah, there will be autograph/signing sessions and lots of prizes and giveaways throughout the two days of FlipOut 2018.

If you want to attend FlipOut 2018, you better hurry, as tickets are selling fast! We have our tickets and can’t wait to get there! Hope to see you all at FlipOut 2018!

Event Details:

Event: FlipOut 2018
When: December 1 and 2, 2018
Where: Sandbelt Hotel, 630 South Road, Moorabbin
Sponsors: Mr. Pinball, American Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball, Chicago Gaming Company, Pin Stadium Lights, Team Pinball, Hot Rodded Pins and Melbourne Silverball
Tickets: Available via Mr. Pinball – ranging from $30 (single day entry) to $100 (full access all weekend, plus tournament entry)

Thrill Of The Chase: Attack From Mars Remake

January 11, 2018 By ausretrogamer

image source: Chicago Gaming Company

It’s not often that the stars align for us, but when they do, oh boy it’s exciting!

Speaking of celestial bodies, we have always had a fondness for space and the cosmos at large. We are fascinated with our planetary brethren in the family of the solar system, especially that red planet not too far away from us and its inhabitants.

So what the hell has space and Martians got to do with this thrill of the chase? Glad you asked! Put simply, when you mix pinball with Mars and its Martians invading our little blue marble, you get a very special and top rated pinball machine – Attack From Mars (AFM)!

This is no ordinary AFM though, it’s Chicago Gaming Company’s ‘Remake’, which comes in three different editions – Classic, Special and super duper Limited Edition. With the feature list as long as our arm (our arms are long!) on the Limited Edition, like the jaw-dropping 19¼” XL HD colour display that has to be seen to be believed, shaker motor, enhanced DCS sound system, cabinet side mirrors, RGB lighting to name just a few, this machine was always going to tickle our fancy.

Naturally, we gravitated to the fully blinged Attack From Mars Remake Limited Edition (AFMR LE) version! We have never been one for pinball toppers, but the custom Doug Watson one on our AFMR LE is absolutely damn awesome! Doug Skor and the gang at CGC should be immensely proud of producing yet again a beautiful and faithful classic pinball machine.

We sourced our brand new in box AFMR LE from the Australian distributor, Mr. Pinball. We were kept up to date on the freight by keeping track of the Maersk Line ship that was carrying our precious cargo. The container landed in Melbourne in late December, giving us the rare opportunity to have the machine up and ready for family and friends to enjoy for Christmas! Oh yeah, she was quite heavy, so thank you to Lucas Bardin from Bayside Pinball Club for delivering the machine and Stacey ‘Dr Curlytek’ Borg for helping us set it up – you guys rock!

As you may have already guessed, this is a very special machine which we love and are thrilled to have in our ausretrogamer fun factory. If you ever get the chance to play one of these Remakes, do yourself a favour, have a go, they will give you an enormous endorphin rush!

Off the shipping container and ready to go home!