pinball

Pinball Isn’t As Random As It Seems

16/03/2021 By ausretrogamer

To the casual observer, pinball seems random and chaotic, but if you watch carefully, there are skills involved that make pinball not as random as it seems.

Don’t be fooled by the flashing lights and seemingly random callouts, there are rules and set objectives (ie: modes) in pinball that reward the player that can control the flippers best. By aiming at specific targets at specific times, the player unlocks specific secrets of the machine and activates other objectives all while racking up a high score.

Watch closely, as you may learn that pinball is definitely not random once you know how to control the silverball.

source: Vox

ABC News – This Day Tonight: Pinball Parlours (1976)

12/03/2021 By ausretrogamer

We absolutely love archival footage from television broadcasters, especially footage from amusement centres (or as we used to call them, parlours) from back in the day!

The below video is from the popular segment on ABC News’ ‘This Day Tonight’, with this particular occasion focusing on Pinball Parlours in Australia in the mid 70s. This is very intriguing with some very enlightening discussions with Malcolm Steinberg (from Leisure & Allied Industries (LAI) and Timezone fame) about video gaming and pinball entertainment that are apt to this day.

So, how much did you spend on gaming back in the day? In 1976 a player might’ve spent as much as $5 (approx. $35 in today’s money) on amusement machines!

source: ABC NEWS via Facebook

LEGO Star Wars Helmets Collection

09/03/2021 By ausretrogamer

While enjoying some much needed time off during the summer break, we finally got around to completing a fun project that had been on our plate for months!

With the way 2020 turned out, we really had no excuse of procrastinating on our already lengthy to do list. So when the Festive Season rolled around, we unboxed and started to build our Lego Star Wars Helmets! The experience of building these Lego sets had a calming effect, which was a great and unexpected by-product! We didn’t build these in one sitting, we basically did about an hour each day for about a week. Oh yeah, the instruction were awesome and a breeze to follow!

As mentioned, the build didn’t take as long as we imagined, but that may have something to do with the excitement and fun we were experiencing while completing each Star Wars helmet. Once they were all done, we found the perfect home for them – right on top of our Star Wars Comic Art pinball machine!

We reckon this custom pinball topper compliments the pinball’s Star Wars villainous artwork just perfectly – but we are biased 😉

Mega Man Pinball: A Retheme of Williams’ 1979 Flash Pinball

27/01/2021 By ausretrogamer

Homebrew pinball machines have always fascinated us. For one, making or re-theming a real pinball machine is not for the faint of heart. The mechanical engineering, software control systems, coding rules and art that go into making your own pinball machine makes our head spin, not knowing where to start!

Luckily for us, there are smarter folks out there that take on projects like retheming existing pinball machines into something they love, be it a music band, movie, tv show or in this case, a video game! We came across Well Fed Games’ Mega Man pinball machine (rethemed from Williams’ Flash pinball machine from 1979), we had to share this with you all

The video below provides an overview of this retheme project, which is fascinating and darn awesome! We’d love to flip this one!

source: Well Fed Games

LEGO IDEAS – The Pinball Machine

25/01/2021 By ausretrogamer

We don’t have to tell you how much we love the creations on Lego Ideas, especially ones that are pinball related, and this latest one is no exception!

Without waffling on too much, check out this Lego Ideas – Pinball Machine, it is so darn awesome! Created by Sebas Chilidog, this works just like a real pinball, with a ball shooter / plunger, flippers, score reel and pop bumbers just to give you that silverball fix.

You have over 400+ days left to vote for this Lego Ideas creation, so there is no sense of urgency right now, however, if you are like us, you may want to vote now before you forget to do so later down the track. Flip on peeps!

source: Lego Ideas The Pinball Machine

Alien Pinball by Pinball Brothers: The Beast Is Back

19/01/2021 By ausretrogamer

It was all quiet on the Pinball Brothers front since the demise of the Heighway Pinball venture a few years ago.

Just like the rise of the phoenix (Ed: or should that be Xenomorph?), so have the Pinball Brothers ! Towards the end of 2020, we noticed that Pinball Brothers (PB) had quietly setup their online presence with a website and social media channels, which immediately piqued our interest and set off our motion tracker.

With nothing much to glean in the way of pinball news or information from their site initially, we kept a close eye on their cryptic social media posts, which were intriguing to say the least. With every tweet, Facebook and Instagram post, we were glued to our social timeline, trying to piece together their cryptic clues. Surely all of this was pointing to the resurrection of the Alien pinball machine.

Well, on December 18, 2020, all was answered of course when the Pinball Brothers team appeared on The Super Awesome Pinball Show (TSAPS podcast) – announcing that the coveted Alien pinball machine was going to be relaunched! For those that do not know the history of Alien pinball or Pinball Brothers’ involvement in the failed Heighway Pinball saga, we’ll spare you the sordid details here, as there are plenty of posts on forums and other pinball news sites that have documented their past quite well (Ed: Google is your friend!).

We first played the Heighway Pinball ALIEN machine at FlipOut 2018 – the theme integration was off the charts!

From their interview on TSAPS, the good news was that they were working on bringing back an Alien Standard Version (SV) first, followed by a Limited Version (LV) towards the middle of 2021. Even better news was that they were not going to take pre-order money this time, meaning that if you want one of their new Alien pinball machines, you would have to go via one of PB’s approved distributors (for those in Australia, the local distributor is Mr. Pinball Australia). As you could imagine, distributors were immediately inundated with pinballers clamouring to get on the list for an Alien Standard Version – the Limited Version order banks have not yet opened. Interestingly, PB did not disclose any more details about the features on the Limited Version of the machine, which has left folks speculating of what will (or won’t) appear on the high-end machine.

This Alien pinball remake has had a number of tweaks that distinguish it from the original Heighway Pinball version, including a standard backbox, wide-body Bally Williams style cabinet, removal of the LCD on the playfield above the flippers and a physical ball lock to name just a few. PB mentioned that they had also spent these last two years working under the hood to ensure that this new Alien pinball experience would be durable and reliable, something that the original was not (without a lot of tinkering and TLC).

Heighway Pinball’s ALIEN (left) and PB’s ALIEN remake (right)

With their almost indestructible playfields being produced in Germany by Buthamburg, the build and manufacturing of the machines will be in Italy, by Pedretti Gaming, who produce pinball replacement parts and sell used pinball machines. 2021 just got interesting, and rest assured, we’ll be keeping a close eye on this Xenomorphic pinball venture!

For now, it’s not GAME OVER for Alien pinball!

For more information on Alien, please visit the Pinball Brothers website.

PS: We will update this post once there is video footage of this machine being played!

image source: Pinball Brothers

Stern Pinball Showcasing Led Zeppelin Game at ShowStoppers CES 2021

14/01/2021 By ausretrogamer

If you are in Australia and are not a night owl, you may have missed Stern Pinball’s live virtual press conference (Ed: it was at 3am local time), showcasing their new Led Zeppelin pinball machine at ShowStoppers @ CES 2021.

Luckily for you, there is now a video on-demand from all of the virtual conferences from January 12 (US time), including the Stern Pinball showcase!

So, kick back and enjoy! Oh yeah, if you would like to skip straight to the Stern Pinball presentation, just go to 37:55.

PS: Jack Danger (aka: DeadFlip) rocks!!

ShowStoppers Press Conference – 12-Jan-2021 11 AM Eastern from Event Resources on Vimeo.

Happy Holidays and All The Very Best for 2021

24/12/2020 By ausretrogamer

Wow, it has been a year that most of us would probably rather forget. Here’s hoping that 2021 is a better, safer and healthier year for everyone!

From the ausretrogamer team, we wish you all an awesome Festive Season, which we hope is filled with fun, laughter and lots of gaming, be it video games, pinball, boardgames or otherwise!

Be merry and we’ll see you all in 2021!

The Star Wars Lego Christmas Special

17/12/2020 By ausretrogamer

Now this is the kind of Star Wars Christmas Special we can get behind and actually enjoy – no cheesiness added 😉

Here are some of our favourites from the ‘Celebrate the holidays in a galaxy far far away‘ Lego Ideas contest – there’s heaps more if you click on the link.

May the X-mas Force be with you!

source: Lego Ideas – Celebrate the Holidays in a Galaxy Far Far Away

Stern Pinball Rock and Rolls in 2020 with Led Zeppelin Pinball!

16/12/2020 By ausretrogamer

If there is one certainty in the world of pinball, it’s that Stern Pinball keeps producing pinball machines like clockwork, year in, year out. Even with the kind of year we have had, Stern Pinball forges ahead with their releases so that the pinball playing public can enjoy the latest and greatest silverball titles!

The latest pinball machine from Stern is Led Zeppelin, which now joins the illustrious stable of music themed pins from Stern, like Aerosmith, Kiss, The Beatles and Metallica to name just a few. As it is quite apparent, rock & roll and pinball go together hand in hand – it is a perfect fit!

Stern says that in this high energy rock and roll pinball concert experience, players will be transported back to Led Zeppelin’s early days and tour the world from 1968-1980. Pinball and music fuse together, changing features with the start of each verse in ten iconic Led Zeppelin songs including:

· Good Times Bad Times
· Whole Lotta Love
· The Song Remains the Same
· Rock and Roll
· Trampled Underfoot
· Ramble On
· Kashmir
· Immigrant Song
· Black Dog
· Communication Breakdown

The Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition models all feature a custom-molded Hindenburg Zeppelin toy based on the iconic imagery from the Led Zeppelin I album artwork. When lit, the Hindenburg Zeppelin toy scores speed locks on the player’s musical journey to Zeppelin multiball. A custom Swan Song Records trademark Icarus sculpted leaper toy magically takes flight when smashed by a chaotic pinball in addition to 3 custom steel ramps, a 3-bank of drop targets, and 3 full size flippers that keep the pinball action rolling.

The three Led Zeppelin models – Pro, Premium and Limited Edition (LE)

The Premium and Limited Edition (LE) models feature an innovative interactive toy called the Electric Magic device. The Electric Magic device is a unique motorized toy that syncs with the pinball action, rising from below the playfield to create different magical pinball experiences. An optical spinner charges the Electric Magic Magnet, capturing and making balls disappear. The Electric Magic device can also convert into a physical pinball bash toy capable of locking a ball or launching a ball up and down the playfield. In true pinball rock concert fashion, an expression lighting system with 96 intelligent RGB LEDs enables the full colour spectrum control. Positioned to provide colour themed full playfield illumination, this integrated playfield lighting system synchronizes custom light shows specifically designed for every song. As an encore, these models have an additional custom metal Hot Shot reversing combo ramp, allowing players to keep the hits coming with constant adrenalized pinball action.

The LE model is limited to 500 units globally. The limited version includes an exclusive Icarus themed full colour mirrored backglass, exclusive custom themed cabinet artwork, custom high gloss Paradise Shimmer Blue powder-coated armour, a custom autographed bottom arch, exclusive custom art blades, upgraded audio system, anti-reflection pinball glass, a shaker motor, and a sequentially numbered plaque.

Pricing (inc. GST) and Availability:

Pro Model: $AU 9,450
Premium Model: $AU 12,250
Limited Edition Model: $AU 14,500

Led Zeppelin pinball machines are available through authorised Stern Pinball distributors and dealers around the world. For Australian LZ fans wanting this pinball machine, get in touch with Amusement Machine Distributors (NSW) or Zax Amusements (Vic) right now!