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STAR WARS Comic Art Pinball: May The Force Be With You

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far too close to home, I was excited when Stern Pinball announced their Star Wars pinball machine. I was so excited by this news, I almost bought one without playing it!

But there was a disturbance in the (pinball) FORCE in mid 2017! Bear with me here, as this story delves into the depths of the dark side before I see the light.

Cooler heads prevailed and I took Ms. ausretrogamer’s advice to play the pinball machine before making a decision to buy it or not. Well, on that fateful day in mid 2017, my initial impression of Stern’s Star Wars pinball wasn’t at all positive. I played the Pro model of the game, and let’s just say that it didn’t inspire me to press the start button to play it again. The FORCE just wasn’t strong enough to engage me. I was gutted! I felt that the machine did not capture the theme and universe of my all-time favourite movie franchise. I buried my disappointment and forgot about the machine. As the great Jedi Master, Yoda once said, “Disappointment is the path to the dark side. Disappointment leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Welllll, he didn’t say that exactly, but you get my drift.

Luckily I did not give in to the disappointment, no matter how tempting the dark side of the force was. At the time, I found solace in another pinball machine, Chicago Gaming Company’s Attack From Mars Remake. My pinball mojo was back to peak level and the disappointment of the Star Wars pinball machine was all but a distant memory.

source: Stern Pinball Inc.

Then in mid 2019, there was a flicker in the FORCE. My brother-in-law, who got the silverball bug after playing our machines, went hunting for his first pinball game and settled for a Stern Star Wars Premium pinball machine. I remember thinking to myself, I hope he loves the game. Well, to my surprise, he did. What surprised me even more was my reaction to the game – once I pressed the start button and started flipping, I was immediately grabbed by the FORCE, just like Darth Vader’s force choke. Taking Yoda’s advice to heart, we had to unlearn what we learned about this game.

Wow, what a difference two years had made! The updated code and of course, this being the Premium model of the game, it felt like I was in the middle of the (original) Star Wars universe! I found that my excitement for the machine was at the same level as when Stern first announced that they were making a Star Wars pinball game. I knew then that I had to hunt down a machine to fulfil my wish of owning my pinball dream theme.

Just like all Star Wars stories, starting with a struggle and then ending on a positive note, so has this musing. I finally saw the light side of the FORCE and procured my pinball dream theme, a Stern Star Wars Comic Art Premium machine, beautifully presented by Star Wars comic artist, Randy Martinez – it’s so eye-poppingly beautiful. It was a long time coming to get to this point, but I am glad I went on this journey and reached my destination. The moral of my story is, never judge a book by its cover and always come back to a pinball game you haven’t played in a while, it may surprise you.

Thanks to the folks at Zax Amusements for fulfilling my wish – they made this Padawan very happy. May the FORCE be with you!

A lightsaber is required to bust open this beauty!

The Ausretrogamer Fun Factory is READY!

The machine is (almost) in its position – love the right side cabinet art!

Love the left side art cabinet too!

And we are upright!

We have the keys to the Millennium Falcon

Time to play and defeat the evil Empire!

Always Use The Force!

Love the LCD – it integrates the theme with visual Star Wars eye-candy

The comic art is eye-poppingly gorgeous on this machine

Taking in the comic art with the glass off!

Randy Martinez should be commended for his brilliant art work on this machine

Let’s blow up the Death Star

Making the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs

The magnets on this machine whiz the balls around on the hyperspace loop at breakneck speeds!

And we are on, like Donkey K… Ah, never mind!

Who doesn’t like seeing their name on the high score table

Just enjoying the view

A handsome threesome in the Fun Factory

 

Where To Play Pinball in Melbourne

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Location pinball is experiencing a renaissance where the silverball game is popping up at more locations in and around one of the world’s most liveable city. If you want to get your pinball fix you may want to check out these establishments.

MELBOURNE

THE PINBALL PARLOUR (Located inside Man Cave Madness at 4/1813 Sydney Road, Campbellfield)
Melbourne’s newest and biggest pinball venue! Over 45 machines and growing. Classics from the 70s, 80s, 90s and latest and greatest pinball machines. Open every Saturday and Sunday with two, two hours sessions per day! Prices start at $30 for adults / $20 for kids.

BARTRONICA (335 Flinders Lane, Melbourne)
Right in the heart of the Central Business District (CBD) of Melbourne, Batronica is the place to be seen at. The renovated venue (titled: Batronica 2.0) has made playing pinball (and arcade) machines even easier while you enjoy a drink.

MOON DOG WORLD (32 Chifley Drive, Preston)
This brewery can accommodate 700 patrons spread across its massive floor space which sports an indoor lagoon, a bar equipped with 72 taps, a beer garden, a hidden tiki bar, a waterfall and best of all, pinball machines!

GENERAL PUBLIC (366 Boundary Rd, Dingley Village)
Home of the Bayside Pinball Club, this awesome venue has it all, from great food, lots of fun attractions, including bowling and of course beautifully maintained pinball machines for you to flip to your heart’s content. But wait, there is more – there is another General Public in Frankston with more pinball action (16-22 Playne St, Frankston).

B. LUCKY & SONS (Level 3/211 La Trobe St, Melbourne)
It may only have one pinball machine inside, but B. Lucky & Sons quirky arcade is so cool with other distractions, you won’t want to leave. Oh yeah, the big plus is that it is inside Melbourne Central located on the entertainment level, level 3!

FORTRESS MELBOURNE (enter via Shop 25, Lower Ground, Emporium Shopping Centre)
Open 7 days a week, Fortress Melbourne is Australia’s largest video games venue with a smattering of pinball machines in their Arcade Alley area. Entry is always free, so do yourself a favour, when in the CBD, hit up Fortress Melbourne, you may never leave!

MARVEL STADIUM (740 Bourke St, Docklands)
If you are heading out to the footy at Marvel Stadium, why not hit the pins there too. They currently have Deadpool, Spider-Man Vault Edition and Avengers: IQ!

TIMEZONE (various shopping centre locations: Highpoint, Knox, Forest Hill and Craigieburn)
That old staple is starting to add more and more pinball amongst their arcade and redemption machines – which is a good thing! Know and Forest Hill have a lineup of multiple newer Stern pinball machines, which we hope means other Timezones will follow suit.

BRAYBROOK HOTEL (353 Ballarat Rd, Braybrook)
In the heart of the west, you’ll find a Guardian Of The Galaxy (GOTG) pinball machine and some bronze statues of a couple of Footscray Football Club’s legendary players.

ARCADE GARAGE (518-530 High St, Northcote)
Arcade Garage Northcote is Melbourne’s largest retro arcade with more than 60 machines (including a handful of pinball machines) available to play spanning from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s+.

HIGHPOINT HOTEL (Level 1 Tenancy 10, Highpoint Shopping Centre, Maribyrnong)
If Timezone Highpoint’s pinball machine doesn’t tickle your fancy, then walk around the corner to the Highpoint Hotel where you can play NBA Jam and some cool Stern pinball machines.

FUNDERDOME (inside Hoys Highpoint Shopping Centre, Maribyrnong)
Looks like Highpoint Shopping Centre is the place to be, with not one, but three venues sporting pinball machines (Highpoint Hotel, Timezone and Funderdome)! Funderdome has Stern favourites, Deadpool, The Munsters and Black Knight: Sword of Rage – all at $2.50 per game.

THE DONCASTER HOTEL (855 Doncaster Road, Doncaster)
According to our intel, Bob’s Diner at The Doncaster Hotel has two machines for your enjoyment!

RIDDELLS CREEK HOTEL (10-12 Hamilton St, Riddells Creek)
Heading out of Melbourne? Stop by this hotel to get some Grand Prix pinball action with your beer and burger!

KARTING MADNESS (Factory 9/841 Mountain Hwy, Bayswater)
Don’t let the name of this place fool you, Karting Madness also has a mad collection of pinball machines that will keep you occupied for quite a while.

PEACOCK INN HOTEL (210 High St, Northcote)
This sleek venue serves up a couple of pinball machines amongst their gastropub menu. Oh yeah, they also have a beer garden when you need to take a break from flipping.

THE HAWTHORN HOTEL (481 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn)
With its wood-paling bar, bistro food, trivia and karaoke, it’s amazing that this comfy pub could fit in any pinball – luckily, they do!

TOWER HOTEL (686 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn East)
With $7 schooners, Stern’s Mustang and Star Trek, you are all set for some cool pinball action.

THE OLYMPIC HOTEL (31 Albert St, Preston)
If you are heading out to Preston, then you can get some dinosaur pinnie action on Stern’s Jurassic Park!

TAYLORS LAKES HOTEL (7 Melton Hwy, Taylors Lakes)
Hit the family hotel for some good food, good drinks and of course, pinball.

COMMERCIAL HOTEL (111 Walton Street, Werribee)
Situated 35km west of the city, the Commercial Hotel offers a couple of pinball machines to be enjoyed while watching live sports and having a tipple.

RETREAT HOTEL (280 Sydney Road, Brunswick)
Head toward the back of the Retreat for a special surprise – pinball. With live music , craft beer on tap and hearty pub grub, you can’t really go wrong.

GRANDVIEW HOTEL (429 Heidelberg Road, Fairfield)
This 130+ year old triple story grand Victorian hotel will keep your hands occupied, both with drinks and pinball.

THORNBURY EXPRESSO COFFEE BAR (792 High Street, Thornbury)
A café with pinball? Yep, enjoy a coffee and perhaps an ice-cream while also playing some pinball in this ultra casual and cool cafe.

THE SALOON BARCADE (273-274 Nepean Hwy, Edithvale)
With locally brewed craft beers, cocktails, wine, spirits, and of course, PINBALL (arcade and pool), The Saloon Barcade is the place to be if you are out Edithvale way! Oh yeah, for those with the munchies, there are the staples, pizza, burgers and pasta too.

Oh yeah, another pro-tip is to check out your local AMF Bowling Centre and the foyer of Hoyts or Village Cinemas, as they usually have at least one (or more) pinball machines!

This was never going to be an exhaustive list, but it should get you started playing pinball in and around Melbourne. Due to the nature of locations changing their lineup or removing machines, this ‘Where to play pinball’ list is correct as at the time of publishing. We’ll endeavour to update this post as new locations pop up (and remove the ones that no longer have pinball machines).

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Mad Max Pinball – The Original 1979 Movie

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We have featured quite a few custom re-theme homebrew pinball machines, like Doom, Kill Bill, Undertale (Underpin) and Dragon’s Lair, but this custom re-theme by Australian Kurt Savage (aka: Jakusu on Pinside), is something else!

Based on the original 1979 Mad Max movie, Kurt had a dream to re-theme a Getaway pinball machine into the iconic Australian dystopian action thriller, complete with a young Mel Gibson (playing as “Mad” Max Rockatansky) on the backbox side-art!

Fast forward 10 months and Kurt’s dream has now roared into reality like a supercharged V8 Interceptor! The attention to detail on this custom re-theme is nothing short of jaw-dropping. We are in awe of this creation, where it seems no expense was spared, from the key start (an ignition car key starts a game of pinball), gear shift, speaker panel based on the XB Ford Falcon, supercharger and blower,  the brilliant aural attack with brilliant sounds from the classic movie, to the playfield, cabinet and backbox art, and last but not least, the complete integration of the theme just oozes everything from George Miller’s brilliant 1979 movie.


source: Kurt Savage

When you check out the photos and videos of Kurt’s Mad Max Pinball (model cleverly named ‘Last of the V8 Interceptors’), you’ll no doubt be totally blown away. If Kurt decided to mass produce this machine, fully licensed of course, we guarantee he would be busy for a very long time. With the cost being around AUD$17,000 to complete his custom re-theme project, we reckon it was money very well spent. Take a bow Mr. Kurt Savage, this is an amazing accomplishment.

NOTE: Kurt was finalising the animations at the time of this post!

image source: Jakusu via Pinside

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Pinball Press
Pinball Press is here to spread the word on everything pinball across the known universe. For business / PR email: [email protected]

Follow Pinball Press on Twitter and Facebook

 

 

 

Super Awesome Pinball Birthday Cake

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Once we saw this pinball shaped birthday cake, we knew we had to track down its creator to ask her some hard hitting questions about pinball, and of course, the flippin’ amazing pinball birthday cake!

So sit back, relax, grab some cake as we speak to Belles & Chimes Melbourne pinball tournament player, Katrina Pingnam (aka: Kat), about her love of pinball and also making awesome and very yummy pinball shaped birthday cakes amongst other sweet creations!

AUSRETROGAMER [ARG]: How did you get into pinball?
Kat: I always liked it as a kid, but stumbled across the pinball community after researching some unique venues for my 40th birthday party. FlipOut Melbourne 2019 popped up in my Facebook feed, which turned out to be my first pinball event I attended and am now hooked on pinball!

ARG: What do you enjoy about competitive pinball?
Kat: Although I’m not playing to win (as there’s so many skilled players), it does give you motivation and purpose to play. I enjoy two player games as well for that reason, having a reason to gain points also makes you aware of what to aim for in the games.

Most people who aren’t in the pinball community (like myself at first) wouldn’t even be aware that there are certain goals to achieve in the game. It’s so much more than just aimlessly flipping those flippers! The competition side of it is also fun as everyone shares their advice on the games.

ARG: Favourite pinball machines (& why they are your fave)?
Kat: I have so many favourites! Funny enough, it’s not ones that I thought would be my favourites (ie: based on themes). For example, I’ve never watched Guardians of the Galaxy, yet that is one of the most fun to play as it’s so easy to activate multi ball! Whereas Super Mario Bros which I’ve been a fan since the very first one, isn’t as fun as I’d hoped!

My other favourites I’ve played at the Australian Pinball Museum are Total Nuclear Annihilation (designed by Spooky Pinball), it’s a very fast playing game designed to have an 80s theme with modern technology, it even has a bass amp!

I also discovered Revenge from Mars at the museum which is a fun game and a nice smooth playfield. It looks (shape) like an old school stand-up arcade machine. It has a projection which changes for each scene you play. It also has my two favourite colours, red and green!

I’m hoping to play Stern’s Stranger Things in the near future! Other favourite pinball machines to play include:

  • Ghostbusters
  • Pirates of the Caribbean (LE)
  • Medieval Madness
  • The Simpson’s Pinball Party
  • The Walking Dead
  • Johnny Mnemonic
  • Judge Dredd (Super multi ball mode)
  • Bonsai Run
  • America’s Most Haunted (nice smooth playfield)
  • Jackbot
  • The Munsters (purely for the cute mini pinball game under the main playfield)

Favourite machines based on appearance, are JJP’s:

  • Willy Wonka; and
  • Wizard of Oz (love those ruby ‘flippers’!!)

Katrina’s brilliant creation! That playfield looks so flowy (and darn yummy)!

ARG: Tell us more about your awesome pinball birthday cake – what it’s got inside it and how long it took to make?
Kat: The cake itself is basically a Mars Bar slice, with a layer of chocolate, then fondant icing (pre-rolled from the supermarket) and the edible icing sheet with the playfield printed onto it.

The cake is complete with edible silver coated Maltesers ‘pinball’ and fairy lights for effect. The actual making of the cake and assembly/decorating only took a few hours. However, designing the playfield took about 10hrs all up, not including the backbox, which I designed separately and my husband, Luke, helped add lights to make it come alive.

As I mentioned initially, instead of traditional cake, I made a super thick Mars Bar slice (about 18 mars bars in it!) as I wanted it to be very sturdy, plus we had the petite cupcakes so then guests could have both cake and slice.

The slice itself didn’t take long to prepare, it was more designing the playfield to be printed onto an edible icing sheet. Since I’m no graphic designer and only have very basic skills in paint editing software, it took about 2 days at around 5hrs/day to design.

I found a website where you could design your own virtual pinball playfields. There were some uploaded that could be downloaded, so I took a screenshot so I had the general playfield already designed and edited the image by removing/adding images, customising to include little details about myself/things I love and changing up the colours. It took a long time as I only had Paint3D on my computer, and was basically self educating using the program as I went along. Plus, some images needed pixel by pixel filling/erasing, which took a long time.

The cupcakes were made by a cake shop, they were red velvet and I just added the edible ‘pinballs’ on top. ARG: Wow, just wow. Wish we could have a slice – Mars Bar cake is our fave!

ARG: We absolutely love your cake, I mean it looks like a playable pinball machine, and it is made out of Mars Bars! Have you made other cool cakes?
Kat: I haven’t really, as I’ve only learnt a bit of cake decorating from high school for one semester where we made and decorated a Christmas cake. For that one, I decorated mine with cartoon characters.

The other thing I’ve made isn’t a cake as such, but Choc truffle bouquets, where I customise the colour of the choc coating then match it with similar coloured edible glitter and decorations and make it into an edible bouquet.

The yummy choc truffle bouquet that was the inspiration for the pinballs!

The only other recent cake I’ve made was a ‘joke’ cake I made for my friend’s kitchen tea, which was a take on the Masterchef’s (a reality TV cooking show) lolly-bag cake complete with detailed ‘pressure test’ instructions! Except, mine had about 12 layers of all different flavoured lolly themes, such as Musk frosting, banana lolly syrup and popping candy choc spread. It was hideous and tasted horrible but it was hilarious!

Katrina’s joke cake! We actually wouldn’t mind trying this one.

Well there you have it peeps. Katrina’s natural talents and passion for pinball have culminated into one amazing birthday cake that not only looks great, but is also darn yummy (we are still drooling and waiting for our piece!).

Well done and thank you for chatting to us Kat. We wish you all the best on your special occasion and of course, in your pinball playing journey.

The pinball cake whitewood!

Playfield done!

The finished product! We can stare at it all day.
image source: used with permission from Katrina Pingnam

 

Star Wars Premium Pinball You Are Like Cinnamon!

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Following on from the Diary Of A First Time Pinball Buyer feature, Nick has put pen to paper (Ed: shouldn’t that be fingers to keys?) to give us his take on owning Stern’s Star Wars Premium pinball machine.

We have now had our Stern Star Wars Premium pinball machine for 3 and a half months and have already clocked up playing over 6,400 balls or over 2100 total plays! The whole family has loved it, from my wife to our 11 and 7 year old sons. Although I still classify myself as a novice player, I have found it a really rewarding and enjoyable pin to play. Having the four different Star Wars characters and all the different missions, means it is an incredibly deep game to really engross yourself in, or just have a bash and see what happens!

As a huge fan of Star Wars, this is a very special pin to me. The artwork, playfield, excerpts from the films and the game itself, is just a terrific homage to the original Star Wars trilogy (which are arguably the best films of them all!). Stern have done a great job of making the playfield pop out and use of the screens without detracting from the mechanical elements of the game.  I also love the ramps and the hyperdrive loop, they are so satisfying to hit again and again! While playing this machine over and over again, I find new details, scenes or features that I haven’t seen before.

I still haven’t managed to blow up the Death Star – through Death Star or Endor missions, but have been one shot away (hitting the hyperdrive loop) from doing so. I have adjusted the settings to easy, so as to encourage longer play and obviously some bigger scores. Also, playing the game at night with only the pinball lighting up is really cool – the Escape from Bobba Fett mission looks pulsating and amazing when you get to it.

Except for an occasional stuck ball, the machine has been trouble free. I have also bought a cover for the machine it doesn’t get affected by UV in our gaming shed. Since I do not have the official topper, I came up with one of my own – decorating it with Return Of The Jedi themed bobble-heads! It is an evolving collection!

Star Wars Premium Pinball, you are like cinnamon!

PS: For those that don’t get the you are like cinnamon reference, check this out 😉

 

Stern Pinball Unveils STRANGER THINGS Pinball! It’s Bitchin’

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Stern Pinball Inc. announced today their new line of pinball machines celebrating the iconic Netflix series, Stranger Things!

Stranger Things is the comeback game for one of our favourite pinball designers of all time, Brian Eddy. Brian joined Stern Pinball in 2017 after being out of the pinball design game for a couple of decades. Brian is best known for two of the greatest machines of all time, Medieval Madness and Attack From Mars. With that kind of design pedigree, the excitement is quite high for his debut Stern title.

Well, from what we have seen of the three editions (Pro, Premium and Limited Edition), we reckon Brian has given us something magical – mind you, we haven’t played it yet, so once we do, we’ll give you our opinion.


source: Stern Pinball Inc.

Experience the terrifying forces in Hawkins, Indiana that turn this small town “upside down” with supernatural elements, strange sightings, and government secrets. Stranger Things pinball machines will immerse players in a search to unravel the extraordinary mysteries and secret government experiments taking place at the Hawkins National Laboratory. The gameplay focuses on unlocking the hidden meanings of supernatural events occurring in and around the town, including the appearance of a girl known as “Eleven” with telekinetic abilities. The ball is wild as Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will, Joyce, and Police Chief Jim Hopper help Eleven close the dimensional gate.

The Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition models all feature distinct hand-drawn art in addition to the custom sculpted, interactive Demogorgon bash toy, guarded by drop targets and a rotating ramp. All models include two hideout ball scoops, a Demodog spinner, three custom ramps, and game rules that will transport players into the Upside Down.

The Premium and Limited Edition models feature a first ever video projector that displays images and animations directly on the playfield, creating dramatic interactions with gameplay action. The center of the playfield features a unique ramp that doubles as a screen and leads the player into a direct battle with the Demogorgon. These models also feature a new Eleven themed “telekinetic” magnetic ball lock.

As mentioned already, we’ll let you know what we think of Stranger Things pinball once we flip it – so stay tuned!

source: Stern Pinball Inc.

Star Wars Pin: The Force Is Strong In This One!

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We recently visited our friends at Zax Amusements to wish them all the best for the Festive Season and while we were there we got to play Stern’s Star Wars Pin. In case you weren’t aware, this is the ‘home’ edition of Stern’s popular Star Wars commercial pinball machines.

Don’t let the ‘home’ moniker fool you, this machine shares a lot of DNA with its bigger brother, like the Spike operational system architecture, flipper, drop targets, slingshots and pop bumper sub-assemblies. Not only that, the playfield dimensions are also identical! The best part of this machine is its price, at AU$6,850 it is almost $2,500 cheaper than the entry level Star Wars Pro model. So for those budget conscious pinball fans that are into Star Wars and don’t want the complex maintenance, this machine may be for you.

So how does it play? Well, since it’s a George Gomez designed game, it of course shoots darn well! All of the 11-shots (in a fan layout) feel great when nailed, some being easier than others, which makes it great for all skill levels. What we loved most about this machine was its flow and ease of understanding in how to progress through the game, including getting to the timed wizard mode called Jedi Multiball. The implementation of sounds and iconic dialogue from the original Star Wars trilogy also add to the overall experience and theme immersion. Nothing is ever perfect in this world, so our main gripe was the small screen as we struggled to view the videos when looking up quickly while playing, meaning we missed our shot and drained our ball. Apart from this niggle, we felt that there was enough on the playfield to shoot at, from drop targets, a spinner that sounds awesome when hit and the two ramps, to keep us coming back for one more go – we were hooked by the FORCE.

For those that love easy to understand rules and objectives, this machine keeps things fairly simple – hit the F-O-R-C-E target on the left side of the playfield to light up each letter. Once FORCE is all complete, the Rebels (Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker) are then lit, which you then shoot one (for example Luke Skywalker) and proceed to complete the designated shots for that character. Once all Rebel characters are completed (including R2-D2), the timed wizard mode Jedi Multiball begins, with the objective being to rescue Luke, Princess Leia and Han Solo by shooting the lit shots before time runs out – pretty straight forward if you manage to not lose that elusive silverball.

With four multiballs, including the aforementioned timed wizard mode Jedi Multiball, super jackpots, timed double scoring, bonus mutlipliers and the clever R2-D2 ball lock (which you can use to start or steal your opponents locked ball for the R2-D2 mutliball) , there is enough depth in the game to have you playing over and over again. Without a doubt, one of our fave and most satisfying objectives and shot (apart from ripping the blaster spinner) is destroying the Death Star – the light show, video and sound are choreographed perfectly, making you feel like you had a hand in the Rebels bringing down the Empire.

This game really surprised us. We love pinball, so we were sceptical at first since this machine is targeted for the home. But once we started flipping it, all that scepticism went away. The total package does look and feel good, from the art, sound, sound effects to the video (even though the screen is on the small side) and general playfield, we felt like we were in the original Star Wars universe. If you are interested in Stern’s Star Wars Pin, you can contact the folks at Zax Amusements today to have a flip and see if it is for you. However, if after playing it you feel that this machine is not to your liking, then then check out the commercial-grade Star Wars Comic edition.

The Force is definitely strong in this Pin!

 

 

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tiny Electronic Pinball

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“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Heroes in a Half-shell Turtle Power”

Boom, just in time for Christmas, a tiny replica of the original Data East TMNT pinball machine! Well, it’s not identical to the Data East machine from 1991, but this Boardwalk Arcade TMNT Electronic Pinball machine is pretty darn cool, and considerably cheaper than the real thing 😉

You can grab the tiny Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Electronic Pinball Machine via Amazon US or Amazon Australia. It makes a great Kris Kringle / Secret Santa Xmas gift!

PS: All we need now is for Stern to release the new modern TMNT pinball machine! Yep, you read that right, a new modern real TMNT pinball machine is coming. We are quite excited, so keep an eye out for the news on our social channels!


title image and video source: Pixel Dan

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Pinball Press
Pinball Press is here to spread the word on everything pinball across the known universe. For business / PR email: [email protected]

Follow Pinball Press on Twitter and Facebook

 

 

 

Dragon’s Lair Pinball

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When it comes to pinball themes, there is a ton of video game franchises that would translate (and sell) quite well in their silverball incarnation. Getting the permission and license to translate the said video game franchise to make a pinball machine is another story altogether – unless you go homebrew!

Step in Enea Toluzzo, the Italian homebrew pinball extraordinaire, who is in the middle of creating a pinball machine based on Don Bluth and Rick Dyer’s classic arcade video game, Dragon’s Lair. Interestingly, Dragon’s Lair was originally going to be produced by Gottlieb after Black Hole, and an early whitewood prototype was built by the Black Hole designers. However, the idea ended up being scrapped and they built Haunted House instead.

Just checking out the eye popping photos of Enea’s creation will induce a heap of nostalgia and plenty of excitement! Enea aims to complete the homebrew machine and showcase it at Pinball Expo 2020! We may be visiting Chicago in October next year 😉

You can follow Enea’s progress via the Dragon’s Lair Pinball Facebook group.

image source: Dragon’s Lair Pinball – Facebook

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Pinball Press
Pinball Press is here to spread the word on everything pinball across the known universe. For business / PR email: [email protected]

Follow Pinball Press on Twitter and Facebook

 

 

 

Pinball 2000: Party Like It’s 1999

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There is no doubt that pinball is currently going through a great resurgence and is the ‘in’ thing right now, but the silverball game was struggling to stay relevant in the 21stcentury and was subsequently killed off in October 1999 before it could showcase the future of pinball with the Pinball 2000 platform. Wow, that was 20 years ago!

To observe the anniversary of pinball’s downfall, let’s turn the clock back two decades. It was the last year of the nineties and the last for the 20th century, so just like Prince sang many moons ago, “I’m gonna party like it’s nineteen ninety-nine”! Ah 1999, we were all panicking about the inevitable doom that the Y2K bug was going to befall on all of us, but at least the year started well for pinball.

The story goes back a few years to 1997, the then President and CEO of Williams (WMS), Neil Nicastro, challenged the pinball division to come up with something new or risk being closed down. Williams’ designers worked hard throughout 1998 to come up with something innovative, a brand new kind of pinball machine, which became Pinball 2000. Pinball 2000 (P2K) fused video with classic pinball gameplay, almost like an early augmented reality (AR), it aimed to preserve what was great about pinball yet opening up new possibilities for a product that was on its last legs.

One of the most successful pinball designers of the decade, George Gomez and Pat Lawlor had shown their new modular creation and future of pinball, with the official unveiling of the Pinball 2000 architecture and the first game on the platform, Revenge From Mars, in January 1999. Even though Pinball 2000 was a success with Revenge From Mars selling 6800+ units, Williams’ President did not see that his pinball division had innovated enough to reinvigorate pinball. Once the last Pinball 2000 machine, John Popadiuk’s Star Wars: Episode 1, was released, Neil Dicastro and his executive team dropped a bombshell by jettisoning pinball in favour of gaming (gambling) slot machines, which was very lucrative for Williams. This meant that the next two Pinball 2000 machines, Wizard Blocks and Playboy, would never see the light of day – which is a darn shame. Closing down the Williams pinball division seemed like, at the time, the death of pinball.

As history would have it, the story of Pinball 2000 came to be, and its inevitable death, at the hands of Williams’ executives, but there was one company that survived and kept the pinball light flickering, Stern Pinball. A lot has transpired in pinball since 1999, with a new golden age that is currently in full swing, so the rest, as they say, is history. Long live PINBALL!

PS: There is a great in-depth documentary on Pinball 2000, TILT: The Battle To Save Pinball, which you can watch on Amazon Prime right now!

 

image sources: pinball2000.de & The Arcade Flyer Archive

 

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