As we sit down with Martin Robbins over some home-baked banana almond muffins, we notice a glint of excitement in his eye. You see, Martin was recently in the US and attended Arcade Expo 2.0 at the Museum Of Pinball in Banning, California. This is part one of Martin’s experience at one of the biggest pinball and arcade machine expos in the US. Take it away Martin!
Wow, where does one even start with an event like Arcade Expo 2.0? When I decided to head over to the US for Arcade Expo 2.0, I went without any expectation other than to experience the event first hand and have fun for three days. I was looking forward to seeing pinball and arcade machines that I hadn’t seen or played in years. I was also excited to be participating in the ‘It Never Drains In Southern California‘ pinball tournament and to see the world’s best players like Keith Elwin and Karl DeAngelo in action. I was also looking forward to checking out new pinball reveals and wasn’t disappointed after seeing Keith and Randy Elwin’s Archer pinball whitewood demonstration. Let’s just say that Arcade Expo 2.0 didn’t disappoint.
Immortalised on the Arcade Expo 2.0 Signature Wall!
The big reveal, Keith an Randy Elwin’s Archer pinball whitewood!
Playing on the one of a kind
Upon arrival at the Museum Of Pinball, I was immediately struck by the enormity of it all. The vibe was great, even outside the venue was surrounded by food trucks, indie musicians and chiptune artists. Everyone who entered got to autograph a giant wall on the way in, and once inside you chose right for the arcade machines or left for the pinball tables. Of course I turned left. I was met by a glorious sight – rows and rows of pinball machines from the early 1960s through to modern tables, all assembled in order of manufacturer. There were pinball tables from Gottlieb, Williams, Bally, Atari, Game Plan, Zaccaria, Data East, Alvin G, Sega, Capcom, Midway, Spinball and Stern. Even though I had 3 days to enjoy, with over 550 machines to choose from I knew I had to be selective and focus on the machines I really wanted to play – I was not disappointed with what I found.
Glorious pinball!
A sight for sore eyes
Flippin action, old school style
What did surprise me was the number of extremely rare machines in great condition such as the two Joust machines that were side by side, an Atari Hercules and a row of Game Plan machines including my bucket list game Cyclopes – it lived up to expectations. Other rare games I managed to play were Spinball’s Verne’s World and Jolly Park which were loads of fun, Alvin G’s Pistol Poker and Al’s Garage Band Goes On a World Tour were also great! Special mention must go to Time Fantasy from Williams (1983), this machine has really strange but awesome art design including what I can only describe as an “Acid Snail” – look it up! To think that that majority of these machines were all from the private collection of one person, John Weeks, is just staggering. I also kept finding myself coming back to the Electro-Mechanical (EM) machines which were in fantastic condition. They really helped me fine tune my nudging skills and ultimately helped me with my ‘other’ reason for attending Arcade Expo 2.0.
Evel Knievel!
Seeing red
Electro-mechanical magic
Apart from immersing myself in this great expo, I was also there to compete in the Professional and Amateur Pinball Association (PAPA) Circuit Event: ‘It Never Drains In Southern California’ (INDISC). Having played a number of local pinball tournaments in Australia, I was looking forward to experiencing a tournament of this size. With a mix of modern and classic tables, ‘It Never Drains In Southern California’ was an awesome experience. I’ll admit I was a bit nervous as I had only decided to go over the week before and hadn’t researched the format of the tournament nor did I know the list of machines till I was due to fly out. When I arrived at the tournament area I was greeted by INDISC organisers Karl DeAngelo and Jim Belsito whom, with the help of software created by Karl, had created a very accessible format. There were 12 machines in the Modern Tournament including well known machines; The Walking Dead, Demolition Man, Dr Who, The Getaway and Lord of the Rings and some really unique and less often ones, including; Godzilla, Hoops, Twister, Laser War, Grand Lizard, Torpedo Alley and Waterworld! To make things more interesting, a lot of these machines had been made challenging by removing the rubbers on the outlanes and centre posts, as well as some additions to make certain shots harder like the massive rubber on the lock shot on Grand Lizard – only a precise shot would work. It was also great to see my fellow competitors sharing gameplay tips and hints. Their positive encouragement and sportsmanship provided that extra confidence boost.
Oh yes, Joust in the flesh!
Atari’s Hercules – world’s largest pinball machine under lights
The Big Bang!
So how did I go? Not knowing the rules meant that I did much better in the Classics (pre 1990) Tournament where I relied on flipper skills and nudging alone. Having qualified equal 16th in the A division, I had to compete in a play-off, which I lost, but the upside of it was that I qualified 1st for the B division. My high B division qualification afforded me the choice of machines we would play (or not play – yep, I am looking at you Skateball!). I ended up coming second but felt a great camaraderie with my fellow Classics B division finalists and was really happy with my experience.
Tournament Play!
Calling the tournament action
In Never Drains In Southern California intensifies!
I would absolutely recommend going to Arcade Expo in 2017 and to participate in the INDISC pinball tournament. I often hear that pinheads are the friendliest people in the world, and I can safely say, this was made abundantly clear at the expo – everyone was accessible and helpful, especially when it came to the format of the tournament and the table rules. I promise I’ll be better prepared next time, so watch out!
Rather than tell you more about Arcade Expo 2.0, I thought I would share my album and let the photos speak for themselves. Oh yeah, in part two of Arcade Expo 2.0, I’ll be sharing my arcade experience (with heaps of pics) – so stay tuned!
What do you get when a bunch of great friends invite you to Sydney to participate and assist in their retro gaming exhibit at one of the biggest gaming events of the year? You get a huge rush of adrenaline mixed with a massive dose of fun that lasts for 5 days!
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Just like Arnie famously said, “I’ll be back” – well, we’ll be back too for our third straight 
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When I first heard about the 
As I step out of the car, I immediately wish I’d stayed home. Who the heck is going to show up to this thing? 4 people total? It’s all about those Sony Playtendo whozits now. Nobody wants to play pinball anymore. I ask the reception lady about the pinball expo and am told it’s “outside, to the left in a big tent”. Pffft, tent? I’ve come this far so I’ll begin my perilous journey to that tent. As it comes into view, my regret quickly turns to not-so-regret. “That’s a pretty big tent” I think to myself, immediately followed by “Hey! Is that Aqua Golf?! Holy crap. I should go do that!”. I approach the tent, take obligatory photos (my sincerest apologies for the quality – my phone is as old as the bands that I listen to), and make my way in. I slam my order confirmation down on the counter and demand my Ultimate Warrior neon bracelets. If I’m going to play some pinball, I have to look the part, and what better way than with neon colours adorning my wrists. I step inside and am frankly, amazed. That’s a lot of pinball and look, there’s already dozens of people here. Colour me impressed (or badd, that works too).
My first order of business was to locate the Terminator 2 machine. Oh, it’s right there. That was easy. I should take some photos and video. Clickity click, walkety walk. That was fun. Let’s play some T2. Wait, what’s that next to T2? Is that… it is… a Street Fighter II machine! My all time favourite pinball machine mere feet away from my all time favourite video game. Hold on, that’s not a Street Fighter II machine. That’s a cabinet running an emulator that just happens to be running Street Fighter II. Screw it, don’t care, I’m playing. Guile Guile Guile Guile. awww. I lost. I’ll come back and play later. That, in a nutshell, was my day. I would attempt to play Terminator 2 whenever it was available, follow it up with some Street Fighter, and fill in the gaps with the plethora of other machines available (Indiana Jones got a good playin’ too). 6 hours of standing was all that I could stand (pun obviously intended) so at 3:00pm, 2 hours before closing, I made my journey home. Even the cheapskate in me was too tired to play any longer. There’s always tomorrow.
Is the cost of admission worth the time? Absolutely! With close to 200 machines ranging from 1940 all the way to the current digital machines, there really is something here for everyone. Everything is, as far as I can tell, arranged by period with the earlier machines at the far end of the tent and the latest and greatest closer to the entrance. The old simple machines had a charm to them that the newer machines cannot replicate. The pinging and minimalistic gameplay transported me back to the good old days when I’d go down to the local speakeasy, have a few, ogle some women and come home to my wife. Good times. With that said, it was the machines of the 70s, 80s and 90s that felt right to me while the entirely digital machines were just… wrong. No steel balls, no flippers, no pinging, no ponging. If I wanted to play a digital version of pinball, I’d head to Steam and buy Pinball FX2 or better yet, go retro and play some Pinball Dreams, Pinball Fantasies or Slam Tilt on the Amiga. Part of the appeal of pinball is the ding ding, bzzzzz, pooookh, bing, boof. You need that boof (Ed: tactile pleasure!).
As one would expect, the machines from the 40s, 50s and 60s were seldom used while the newer machines had a constant queue of people waiting to get their chance to outdo one another. What I personally found most interesting is the range of people that had turned up. Male and female, old and young. Everyone was covered. The older folk (50+) stuck to the older machines while everyone else generally played with anything that wasn’t an older machine, with the exception of the kids that would play on anything that was free. The hipsters that showed up also primarily hung around the older machines, presumably because the pinging of old hardware isn’t mainstream, so it soothes them. I did what I could to play from every period, with the exception of the purely digital machines, because they’re the poo-poo faces of the pinball world and don’t deserve my time.
If you have the opportunity to attend an expo like this, I suggest you do it. If you have to, drag your family along. Everyone will have fun and if they don’t, divorce/break-up/disown/post drunk photos of them online! The Australian Pinball Expo was a thoroughly enjoyable event – make sure you go in 2015!
Frankie!
Rolling on from the major video gaming events in October, November also gets in on the event action with the 
Those great people at PAX Aus 2014 have finalised the schedule of tournaments, panels and quiz shows. If you would like to view the entire schedule, head on over 
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