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LEGO: The Amazing Pinball Machine

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Remember Vladimir van Hoek’s playable Lord Of The Rings pinball machine made from Lego? Well, not to be outdone, The Brothers Brick’s Bre Burns has created the ultimate playable space themed Lego pinball machine!

Boasting some 15,000 bricks, this Lego built Benny’s Spaceship Adventure pinball machine has to be seen and heard to be believed! The level of detail that Bre has undertaken is simply breathtaking. Using LEGO’s Mindstorms NXT programmable bricks, Bre has ensured that this masterpiece gives you aural pleasure while also keeping score, just like a real pinball machine. Find out more about the technical details and build process here.

image source: The Brothers Brick

While we are all collectively picking up our jaws of the floor, watch the video of Bre’s brilliant pinball machine and be in awe of the loving detail of her masterpiece. AMAZING STUFF!


source: The Brother Brick

 

Rising From The Ashes: Argonauts Pinball Club Tournaments Are Back!

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Like the phoenix rising from ashes, the Argonauts Pinball Club is back with new pinball machines and new tournament format with the same awesome group of pinball fanatics!

Come along to the Golden Fleece Hotel this Thursday (May 3rd) for the Argonauts Monthly Pinball Quest – The Horrid Hydra tournament. Bring your friends, bring your family, play pinball and soak up the fantastic atmosphere as Melbourne’s pinball community gather to battle it out for great prizes and IFPA points. Oh yeah, everyone is welcome, so you have no excuse!

The tournament format has changed to an 8 game limited qualifier, meaning that there is more time to socialise and hang out!

Tournament Details:

  • Qualifying time: 5:00pm to 9:00pm
  • Finals (start time): 9:15pm to 11:00pm (the aim is to be finished by 11:00pm, but it could run later)
  • Cost: $15.00 (entry fee covers ALL games for the night!)

The competition consists of limited qualifying and head-to-head final rounds. During qualifying, each player will play ONE game only on each machine and a SECOND game on one machine of their choosing. A point system will be used to rank each player’s best score on each machine. Those who rank highest at the end of qualifying will participate in the head-to-head final rounds.

This tournament will be managed through the rules and regulations of the IFPA.

Current Pinball Machine Lineup:

  • Medieval Madness Remake
  • Dialed In!
  • Indianapolis 500
  • Jack*Bot
  • The Shadow
  • Bally Playboy
  • Star Trek – The Next Generation

For more information visit the Argonauts Pinball Club on PinballScore.

image source: Argonauts Pinball Score

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Pinball Press
Pinball Press the coolest PR & Social Media engine that drives awareness to your pinball related products, events, news, podcasts and streams!

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Pinball: What Would Be Your Dream Theme?

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*** POLL CLOSED on May 9, 2018 ***

OK, it is time to head to Utopia where everything you want is there, including every pinball machine that doesn’t exist!

Having said that, in an ideal world like Utopia, which one of these pinball themes would you like to see made?

For the record, we would love an original Masters Of The Universe based pinball theme, with the player assuming the role of Prince Adam who has to become He-Man to free Eternia from the evil clutches of Skeletor! The playfield would be complete with Snake Mountain and Castle Grayskull interactive toys, left and right orbits and a couple of ramps to get the pinball juices flowing. Oh yeah, the artwork would have to be done by Alex Ross, with the below masterpiece as the backglass art!

source: sideshowtoy

This time around we will give you all more time to cast your very important vote – the poll will close on Wednesday, May 9! Spread the word and vote now or forever hold your peace.

We just hope Stern Pinball and/or Jersey Jack Pinball are reading this 😉

 

The Best Stern Pinball Machine Since 2010 – Winners

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First of all, thank you all that voted in our Best Stern Pinball Machine Since 2010 poll!

We won’t keep you waiting any longer in announcing the winner, so here we go – the Best Stern Pinball Machine Since 2010 is [drum roll please] The Walking Dead!

This comes as no surprise, as The Walking Dead (32% of the vote) is an absolute beauty to play – it has a great balance of being easy enough to play casually and challenging to the max with its great modes if you want to become grand champion and the last man standing. Star Trek (12% of the vote) took out second place, as it should, as this machine is Steve Ritchie at his best – fast and flowing! The biggest surprise for us was third – TRON Legacy, which garnered 11% of the vote. The two machines that we thought would feature in the top 3 ended up being tied for fourth, Metallica and Ghostbusters (both 9% of the vote).

The brand new Stern machine Iron Maiden got votes too (3%), which was surprising, as it’s just rolling off the production line as we speak, so we can only imagine that this machine will climb up the votes in the months and years ahead – so look out The Walking Dead! For now, we reckon John Borg should be commended for having two of his games in the top 3 Best Stern Pinball Machines Since 2010.

There you have it peeps. This was a public vote open to all, so the pinball gamers around the world have spoken. What do you think? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook and join in the conversation.

image source: Stern Pinball Inc.

 

Vote For Stern Pinball’s Best Machine Since 2010

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This decade may not be over but we still reckon we can run a poll to find out what is Stern Pinball Inc’s best machine since 2010!

We have to doff our collective hat to Stern, they have been prolific in releasing pinball machines year in year out. So without further ado, here is the poll – vote now for what you think has been Stern’s best pinball machine since 2010.

You better hurry as voting closes on April 16!

 

The First Stern Iron Maiden Pinball Machine Is Boxed and Ready for Action!

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Witnessing pinball history in the making is so flipping awesome – check out the first ever Iron Maiden pinball machine being boxed for delivery at Stern Pinball’s Elk Grove Village factory (near Chicago)!

Iron Maiden machines will soon be invading the entire planet and we can’t wait to tame the beast!

Forget unboxing videos, watch the first ever Iron Maiden pinball being boxed!

What a great sight! Iron Maiden machines as far as the eye can see!


source: Stern Pinball via Facebook ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pinball Press
Pinball Press is your cool PR engine that drives awareness to pinball related products, events and news!

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Flipper Hütte: The Literal Pinball Bar

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Ever wondered what a pinball bar would look like if it was made entirely of discarded pinball machines and their respective playfields?

Welcome to the Flipper Hütte, a German bar where you could enjoy a drink and try your luck at picking the pinball machines that make up its walls and ceiling!

Described in a German magazine as the “freaky garden house”, we can thank Ralph Jourdan for sharing his photos of this most unique bar situated in the Federal State of Hesse. The only thing missing is actual playable pinball machines!

image source: Ralph Jourdan

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Pinball Press
Pinball Press is your cool PR engine that drives awareness to pinball related products, events and news!

Follow Pinball Press on Twitter and Facebook

 

 

Flipping Cool: Stern Pinball Arcade – Nintendo Switch

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Let’s get something straight off the bat, there is definitely room for two pinball video games on the Nintendo Switch! The gamer is the winner here as both pinball games on the Switch are unique in their own way to warrant them being in your games library.

Stern Pinball Arcade is distinct from Pinball FX 3 as it allows playing real world pinball machines on your Switch. And with the latest digital update allowing portrait mode (TATE) play and full in-game touch control, Stern Pinball Arcade is currently our go to pinball game on the Switch (sorry Pinball FX 3).

Look, you can now play Stern Pinball Arcade in TATE mode!

Oo’er, TATE loveliness

As mentioned earlier, playing real world pinball machines is this game’s main drawcard. We are huge fans of Stern’s real world machines, so to be able to play the likes of AC/DC, Ghostbusters, Star Trek, Mustang and Starship Troopers is pretty damn cool. For those of you that want to know exactly which tables you can play in Stern Pinball Arcade, here is the complete list (tables can be purchased in add-on packs):

  • Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
  • Ripley’s Believe it or Not!
  • Starship Troopers
  • Ghostbusters Premium
  • Ghostbusters Limited Edition
  • Star Trek Vengeance Premium
  • Star Trek Enterprise Limited Edition
  • Harley Davidson / Third Edition
  • High Roller Casino
  • Last Action Hero
  • AC/DC Premium
  • AC/DC Back In Black Limited Edition
  • Mustang Premium “Boss”
  • Mustang Limited Edition
  • The Phantom of the Opera

Each table has leaderboards to chase for bragging rights whether you compete against friends or players around the world. There is also a Stern Challenge mode that sees you hitting a target score on each table to earn challenge points before moving on to the next. If you want to get to grips with a table and understand how to play it or dig deeper in its ruleset, then hit the instructions and table goals to get you up to speed.

Speaking of speed, Stern Pinball Arcade has got you covered. Ball trajectory and flipper aim is accurate, so hitting targets and ramps is easier, giving you that satisfied feeling when you make your shot! The greatest satisfaction of playing Stern Pinball Arcade on the Switch is that it has the fundamental concepts of gravity, force and acceleration down pat. If you can’t find these Stern pinball machines to play in real life, then Stern Pinball Arcade is your next best bet! Get flipping and tilting (actually, don’t tilt!).

Should we play Stern’s Ghostbusters in YOKO (horizontal) mode; OR …

TATE (vertical) mode? Hmm….

Better luck next time!

Let’s learn the Star Trek ruleset

Woohoo, full in-game touch control!

Stern Pinball Arcade add-on packs were kindly provided by Stern Pinball for this review.

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Pinball Press
Pinball Press is your cool PR engine that drives awareness to pinball related products, events and news!

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Blast Some Xenomorphs in Alien Pinball

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Back in March 2017 we were going gaga over Heighway Pinball’s Alien machine. Fast forward almost a year and a lot has changed. We won’t go into specifics of the company upheaval from last year, but rest assured that the new Heighway owners weren’t going to let this important IP go to waste.

Eerie glowing egg bumpers and the Xenomorph waiting to snatch your ball!

We are finally seeing more and more Alien machines reaching their customers and hitting barcades across North America. We are hoping Australian establishments site this cool machine ASAP! We definitely want to wage a flippin war against the Xenomorphs, so we may need to visit Wayne at Mr Pinball, the Australian distributor of Heighway’s highly anticipated machine, in the very near future to get our Alien fix.

Choose your mission, Alien or Aliens and watch out for those pesky facehuggers!

Alien Pinball is an absolute treat for fans of the first two films of the classic sci-fi horror series. From the facehugger slingshots, glowing egg bumpers and the scary Xenomorph head that snatches balls from the playfield, it’s up to you, the pinball wizard, to complete the two sets of missions (there are five missions in each set) to reach the ‘All Out War’ multiball wizard mode.

Just like Ellen Ripley, the fate of the universe rests in your hands, so search and clear all decks, watch for the proximity alert, avoid the acid burn and before you yell “game over, man!” just remember, in space no one can hear you tilt!

Photos: Heighway Pinball

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Pinball Press
Pinball Press brings you news from the world of pinball – events, product reviews, code updates, service bulletins, interviews and the people in pinball!

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LEGO Lord Of The Rings Pinball

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If we didn’t see it, we would not have believed it!

Vladimir van Hoek’s playable Lego Lord Of The Rings pinball machine creation needs to be seen to be believed. The level of detail in this MASSIVE undertaking is mind blowing – there is over 20KG of Lego bricks in this pinball machine! The level of detail is so awesome that it also allows a Lego brick to be used in the coin slot to get play credits!

Check out the video below to see this brilliant Lego pinball machine in action and then head to Vladimir’s Flickr page to see photos that show the level of detail on each part of his Lego LoR pinball machine. We are in absolute awe!


source: Vladimir van Hoek