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Ultra Rare Pinball: IO MOON by SLEIC

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Now here is a pinball machine we did not know about till now! Introducing IO MOON!

Produced in 1994 by Spanish pinball manufacturer, SLEIC, IO MOON is a rarity (and oddity) in the pinball machine landscape, where not too many people played it or owned one.

There is an opportunity right now for a collector to jump on this machine via Pinside, where it is being sold for an eye-watering US$15,000! If you have been in the pinball hobby for a while, you will understand that this high price is justified due to the rarity of the machine.

The seller, CaptainNeo, states that it took him 10 years to find IO MOON, which has been the flagship of his collection. He has done a lot of work to the machine, including the replacement of every lamp socket and more importantly, installing English ‘ROM’ sets just in case you don’t understand Spanish. The machine is also playable, which is a bonus 🙂


source: Neo S

The IO MOON rule set is apparently close to the iconic The Addams Family pinball machine, which is definitely a good thing. As keen astronomers, we love the theme, but the rarity and price are something we’ll just admire from afar.

If anyone out there has seen or played this rare pinball machine, hit us up on Twitter or Facebook to let us know what you thought of it.

source: Pinside

 

Stern Pinball Unleashes The Heroes In A Half-Shell in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pinball

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Oh wow, we finally have a good reason to unleash all of the iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles quotes we’ve had in our head over the last 30 years! Let’s see how many we can sprinkle in this righteous announcement then! COWABUNGA Dudes!

If you haven’t yet worked out what we are talking about then let’s just cut to the chase, the cool folks at Stern Pinball have just announced their latest cornerstone title, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) pinball! This new machine oozes everything that is great and iconic about the TMNT cartoon series, from the heroes (our fave is Michelangelo – he is such a cool dude), their sensi, Master Splinter, their NYC sewer lair, their tough friends, the villains (yep, we are looking at you Krang, Shredder and the Foot Clan!), lots of pizza and of course, their ultra gnarly vehicles – these machines have captured it all!

Stern Pinball – TMNT Pinball Game Trailer

For those of you that are too excited to read more and just want to check out how the three TMNT pinball models (Pro, Premium and Limited Edition (LE)) look like, scroll down now (and then scroll back here)! Oh yeah, check out the videos too (above) and just a tad further below to whet your Ninja Turtles appetite.

Right, for those of you that are a tad more patient, let’s talk about what we have seen in the press kit, including videos of the different models in action, features list and of course, the hi-res photos of the three models.

Zombie Yeti’s gorgeous playfield artwork (Premium model)

The first thing you notice is the eye popping hand-drawn art by Zombie Yeti (aka: Jeremy Packer) – just check out the pic above (from the Premium model), it’s so bodacious! Each model has a distinct and unique art package, with Zombie Yeti nailing the cartoon aesthetics of this iconic series, and just like Michelangelo drooling over a pizza, we reckon you will be doing the same with the look of these machines – all three are gorgeous!

The design of the game is by none other than John Borg, who brought us The Munsters, Guardians of the Galaxy, Kiss, The Walking Dead, Metallica and Tron: Legacy to name just a few. With a design pedigree like that, you know John will give us all a heart racing and fun shooting machine in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pinball. From the software side, Dwight Sullivan is in charge of code, so we can expect a game that is both deep and easy to get into – perfect for all player skills, from the novice to the pinball wizard.

Stern Pinball – TMNT Pinball Premium / LE game features

Stern Pinball – TMNT Pinball Pro game features

Once we get past the beautiful artwork, we are immediately greeted (and gobsmacked) by the playfield – it’s packed with Turtle Power! There is the obvious differences between the entry (street) level Pro model when compared with the Premium and Limited Edition (LE) – more on this in a bit, however the differences won’t make you feel like you are missing out too much.

All three models are powered by Stern’s SPIKE 2 system and feature three flippers, with the third flipper positioned in the upper left side of the playfield. Other common traits include:

  • a high-speed magnetic spinning pizza disc, capable of holding and throwing 3 balls during pizza multiball mayhem
  • 3 high-speed ramps
  • 3 pop bumpers
  • foot spinning target
  • turtles van
  • hidden ninja training ball lock area
  • 17 RGB software controlled LEDs
  • 6 balls (Pro) / 8 balls (Prem/LE)

For the complete list of features, check out the TMNT Feature Matrix here.

The Premium and LE models up the ante with an interactive custom sculpted Turtles Van, equipped to lock up to 4 balls inside with a mechanical opening/closing side door, ready to unleash multiball havoc. They also feature the iconic TMNT Glider, a custom-sculpted, player-controlled diverter assembly stationed above both ramps, giving players the ability to control and transport the ball to the flipper of their choice. In addition, a custom-sculpted mechanical Krang toy hovers over the pop bumpers, jumping up and down while taunting players throughout game action.

 

As it’s model name suggests, the Limited Edition will be limited to 500 machines globally. The LE oozes additional unique features such as an exclusive mirrored backglass, exclusive custom themed cabinet artwork, a custom autographed bottom arch, exclusive custom art blades that compliment the playfield, upgraded audio system, anti-reflection pinball glass, a shaker motor, and a sequentially numbered plaque.

To spice up the player experience, Stern have implemented a 4-player co-op mode, just like the old Konami TMNT 4-player arcade machine – so the only problem you’ll have is picking which turtle you’ll play as! Completing the theme integration is the audio and video, with the original 1987 theme music, plus 80s tracks complementing the action with speech call outs from 17 characters and custom video scenes and events created exclusively for a complete TMNT immersive pinball experience.

We like what we see in the initial photos and videos of these machines, so to say we can’t wait to flip this would be a gross understatement. Right, it’s time to order some pizza. COWABUNGA!  

Pricing (in $US / $AU)* 

  • TMNT Pro Model: $US 6,099 / $AU 9,450
  • TMNT Premium Model: $US 7,699 / $AU 12,250
  • TMNT Limited Edition Model: $US 9,099 / $AU 14,250

*pricing correct as at time of publishing.

For those of you radical dudes and dudettes that skipped the wall of words above, feast your peepers on Stern’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pinball machines; starting with the Pro, followed by the Premium and LE models. Be warned – scroll slowly, as you may miss something really cool! These are definitely better than cheesy pizza (well, almost) 😉

Stern TMNT Pinball Pro

Stern TMNT Pinball Premium

Stern TMNT Pinball LE

All press assets supplied by: Stern Pinball Inc.

 

 

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

 

Podcast: Vertical Hold – Retro Gaming In Self Isolation

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I can’t believe that we (myself and Ms. ausretrogamer) have never appeared together on a podcast! Well, I am here to tell you that we finally made our debut together in guest speaking on episode 275 of the Vertical Hold podcast!

The topic of discussion was how we were passing the time and keeping our sanity in this worldwide pandemic. We delve into the midst of nostalgia and discuss all things gaming, from retro and modern, pinball, arcade, board games to the Commodore 64, SNES, RetroPie and Nintendo’s Wii! Oh yeah, Double Dragon and Zelda came up in conversation too 😉

Thank you to Alex Kidman and Adam Turner for having us on their brilliant weekly Vertical Hold podcast, we had a blast!

 

Self Isolate by Bringing the Arcade to your Home

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As the global coronavirus pandemic continues to rear its ugly head, we have all been told to practise social distancing and self isolation to give us a chance at beating this insidious pathogen.

With non-essential businesses shutting down across the board – for the greater good we might add, there is no way we can carry on going out to play our fave arcade or pinball machines at our local entertainment venues. Unless you are one of those lucky folks with a games room full of machines, there are now options to rent arcade or pinball machines for a month (or more) to keep you and your family (sane and) entertained while in quarantine.

In the US, Portland barcade, QuarterWorld, decided to get quite creative during the mandatory four week shutdown of all bars and restaurants by offering their machines for home rental to supplant their income. The Oregonian’s video shows just how QuarterWorld makes the home rental look easy and very enticing.

If you are in Australia, then you are in luck too! Month-long rentals are available from operators that are doing it tough, with pick-up or delivery. The rental cost will depend on the title selected and of course, a better deal could be had if you opt for more than one machine or when you extend the rental for more than a month.

Lil-ausretrogamer enjoys pressing pinball machine buttons at home while in social isolation

In the Sydney metro area, The Pinball Network have machines for rent per month in the range of $400 to $450, with pick-up from Camperdown or delivery at an additional cost. If you are in Sydney and in need of some pinball action, get in touch with Gary at The Pinball Network via their Facebook Page.

If you are south of the border, then all of you Melbournians are in luck, as you have a number of rental options. You can hit up David at Reality Games Australia to grab yourself a great pinball title, starting at $350 for the month! But wait, there is more! Our good friend and awesome pinball operator, Ryza (Ryan), has unleashed his extensive list of brilliant (and well kept) titles to be enjoyed in your home starting at $375 per month. With machines like the classic Williams Fish Tales, to the newer Stern machines, Ryan has you covered. Hit up Ryan via the Melbourne Pinball Tournaments Facebook Group now.

These are tough times indeed, so if you have the means to help out struggling operators by renting one (or more) of their machines, you will ensure that they will be around when things get back to normal in the near future.

Stay safe, stay at home and have some fun!

image source: RePlay Magazine

 

Rumble In The West: The Pop-Up Retro Arcade and Pinball Bar

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NOTE: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, this event has been cancelled!

 

Now this is a great cause to support! The Sydney Pinball and Arcade Company presents Rumble in the West – a charity POP-UP RETRO ARCADE and PINBALL Bar, coming to Western Sydney on April 25 and 26, 2020. Rumble In the West will help raise funds for CheckPoint, a nonprofit organisation connecting games and gamers with mental health.

The Rumble in the West pop-up arcade and pinball bar will host over 15 pinball machines, 15 arcade machines and video game consoles from the 80s and 90s. Mixing wood fired pizzas, craft beer and cocktails with gaming, the organisers of Rumble in the West aim to create an authentic feeling of classic arcades.

Nostalgia certainly plays a part in the excitement of an event like this! However, there is something to be said for the fun of arcade games in a social environment like a bar. It is the opposite of the home console gaming experience of today. This event is designed to bring people together and experience the fun of these games in a face to face setting.

Rumble in the West organisers have set a goal to raise $10,000.00 for CheckPoint who support the mental health of gamers with resources, community engagement, videos and articles. CheckPoint strive to spread awareness and educate about mental health issues, while reflecting on how those issues impact the lives of people who play games.

John from The Sydney Pinball and Arcade Company says “We couldn’t make this event happen without the support of the local community members who are passionate about games. We want to pass on that goodwill, which is why we decided to make this donation goal to CheckPoint”.

Early bird tickets are currently on sale for the event. Getting to Rumble in the West is easy because they will have a courtesy bus making trips every hour from the Blacktown station. for more information, please visit the event website www.rumbleinthewest.com.

Events Details:

Event: Rumble in the west – a pop-up retro pinball and arcade bar
When: 25th – 26th of April 2020 (1pm till midnight on the 25th & noon to midnight on the 26th)
Where: 30 Holbeche Rd, Arndell Park N.S.W. (10 minutes from Blacktown. 25 minutes from Parramatta)
Tickets: Early bird ticket price: $40.00 (available till March 25th) – purchase here. Entry tickets get you into the venue for the entire day and entry to all competitions, except the pinball competition. All games and activities are free to play. Food and drinks are additional. Kids 14 and under gain free entry.

image source: Rumble in the West

 

Arcade Raid Over Dubbo

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Have you ever dreamed of raiding a warehouse full of arcade machine we used to play back in the day?

Well, that dream is now a reality, thanks to Dubbo Arcade and Amusements! From looking at the photos on their Facebook page, we reckon they may have pretty much what most of us are after, either an old school arcade machine from the 80s or 90s, those hard to find arcade game boards, Hankin cocktail tables, or perhaps a jukebox or a pinball machine to tickle your nostalgic nerve.

Whatever you are after, we reckon a visit to Dubbo may be in order 😉

image source: Dubbo Arcade and Amusements via Facebook

 

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).

If you appreciate what we do, please feel free to show your appreciation via the ausretrogamer virtual tip jar 🙂



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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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