Australia's Retro Gaming and Pinball E-Zine
Just like the pinball prohibition era in the US, an Australian council (Heidelberg, Victoria) took it upon themselves to ban pinball machines. This ABC TV report from July 13 1978 shows how close our silverball pastime came to being driven out of milk bars, cafes and fish and chip takeaway shops!
If this ban had gone ahead, we may have required the pinball wizardry of Roger Sharpe to reverse the ban order! Luckily cooler heads prevailed.
source: ABC TV
From little things, big things grow. This is definitely the case with Spooky Pinball.
In a little rural Wisconsin town called Benton where the population is a smidgen under 1,000 people, we witness what the power of family, friends and community can achieve when they all work together towards a common goal. Charlie Emery’s vision of making his own pinball machines was a big risk, but he was never going to be swayed by all the people that told him he was mad for leaving his secure job of 20 years to pursue his dream.
Joel and Dana Reeves’ Things That Go Bump in the Night: The Spooky Pinball Story chronicles the story of how Spooky Pinball came to be, from its very humble beginnings with their podcast, its hardships in starting up the manufacturing of pinball machines to its eventual and continued success.
With unprecedented access to the Emery household, key folks from Benton and pinball industry luminaries, this documentary weaves a narrative that keeps you glued from start to finish. From Chuck’s re-theming of Firepower II to Godzilla and chance meeting with DIY extraordinaire Ben Heck (Heckendorn) at the Midwest Gaming Classic in 2011, to America’s Most Haunted, Domino’s Pinball Adventure and Rob Zombie Spookshow pinball table productions, you live through the ups and downs of being a pinball manufacturer.
If you are into documentaries that delve into the resilience and determination of people that strive to succeed in the boom-or-bust world of pinball manufacturing no matter what, then Things The Go Bump In the Night: The Spooky Pinball Story cannot be missed! Get on Vimeo right now and rent (or buy) this film – you will love it!
Oh yeah, we have our fingers crossed that Spooky Pinball will produce Ben Heck’s dream machine, Bible Adventures with its numbered modes; Adam and Eve 2-ball multi-ball where every shot scores except for the apple, 40 days and nights of flood, 40 years in the wilderness, 7 deadly sins, 10 Commandments and the 10 Plagues of Egypt – what’s there not to like!
Film: Things That Go Bump in the Night: The Spooky Pinball Story
Where: Vimeo
Released: June 30, 2017
Duration: 1 hour 4 minutes + bonus features
Price: Rent AUD$5.20 or Buy AUD$11.72
source: Things That Go Bump Movie
Cristiana Felgueiras from Get Hands Dirty YouTube channel shows us exactly how to make an awesome mechanical 2 player pinball game – it looks like a lot of fun to play!
Skip to 14:28 to see the finished table in action.
Source: Get Hands Dirty via Laughing Squid
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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.
Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter
When our friend Rusty Pinball made us aware of the Masters Of The Universe Future Pinball machine, we were thoroughly impressed and absolutely gobsmacked! Look at it, it’s beautiful to look at, audio is amazing, nostalgia tingling full motion video and a playfield flow that oozes Eternian spirit!
Not taking anything away from TerryRed’s masterful digital version of MOTU pinball, we just can’t help but wish it was a real table that we could bump, slam and tilt on! Oh yeah,we can also imagine the real MOTU table with a Castle Grayskull topper – how cool would that be?!
The thought of a real Masters Of The Universe pinball machine is truly making us weak at the knees. We just hope Jersey Jack Pinball is listening *nudge nudge wink wink*
source: TerryRed
When we visited Marcus for his Rosstown Retro Pinball Arcade competition in September last year, we were gobsmacked by the sheer number of classic titles that were available for play. When Marcus mentioned his new IFPA endorsed Rosstown Retro Pinball Tournament for 2017 and some new additions to his marvellous collection, we had to get him to tell us more! So here it is, take it away Marcus!
Rosstown always prides itself on having a collection that not only includes classic pinball machines from well-known manufacturers like Gottlieb, Bally and Williams, but also from the lesser known ones such as Zaccaria, Playmatic and Atari. Speaking of Atari, after searching for one of their machines for a number of years I finally found a superb 1978 Atari ‘Superman’ machine in good working order to add to the Rosstown classics collection. Atari pinball machines are rarely seen, even in private collections, and even if you’re lucky enough to stumble upon one – it’ll likely be in a non- or semi-working state. So it’s a rare treat to be able to play this working ‘Superman’ machine – it’s a wonderful pinball table. The backglass is faultless and the playfield is bright with no wear. The widebody (typical of an Atari pinball) makes sure there is plenty to do with some great long spinner shots on each side.
Atari Superman
The other new addition to the Rosstown line up is Bally’s ‘Vector’ from 1982. This is another hard to find machine that had to be added to the retro pinball collection. The outstanding feature on ‘Vector’ is its flip-o-meter that calculates the ball’s speed up the ramp and into the energy containment unit (ball lock). This game oozes cool features that were ahead of its time, thanks to its innovative design team. This machine has an elaborate (and perhaps wicked) drop target sequence that allows the player to shoot for the vectorscan ramp. The player must knock down the three drop targets in order, and if they fail, then another 3 pop up – talk about ramping up the difficulty! ‘Vector’ keeps the player on their toes by ensuring that they think and choose their shots wisely.
Bally Vector
With Atari’s ‘Superman’ and Bally’s ‘Vector’ added to the Rosstown Reto Pinball line up, it has made the IFPA sanctioned tournament even more interesting. As part of the Rosstown tournament, each entrant plays every pinball table in the collection to earn qualification. Qualifiers are spread across monthly sessions running from April to August (5 months), with the 12 highest ranked players being invited back to compete in the September finals.
Bayside Pinball Club’s new beer, Plunger Pale Ale!
But it’s not all serious. At the last qualifying round players got to enjoy the new pinball brew, Plunger Pale Ale produced by the Bayside Pinball Club. Let’s just say that the beer went down a treat and was the perfect tonic to let the players relax in-between playing some serious pinball. For those of you that haven’t entered the tournament, you better hurry as there are only three remaining qualifiers in June (17th), July (15th) and August (19th). For further details on the IFPA sanctioned Rosstown Retro Pinball tournament, head over to the Aussie Arcade forum. Flip it, flip it good!
In Stern’s factory far, far away (from Australia), Star Wars Pinball machines are rolled off the production line in record numbers!
With Star Wars celebrating its 40th anniversary, Stern Pinball has come to the party with three machines (designed by Steve Ritchie) that will have every Star Wars (and pinball) fan drooling uncontrollably! So strong is the Star Wars franchise, the pinball machines are reportedly selling like hot cakes, with the 800 run of LE machines already spoken for! Shipping (to Australia) for the Pro model begins in July, with the LE and Premium editions to follow not too long after. Don’t fret about the Pro and Premium models selling out, Stern will build an unlimited amount of these machines to fulfil demand.
Talking to RePlay Magazine, Stern’s Director of Marketing and Licensing Jody Dankberg states that, “There’s been a lot of excitement and anticipation around this title, resulting in record sales for a game that had not even been seen in person. Everyone loves the original trilogy: It’s the basis for all things Star Wars. We felt that these movies helped us tell the best story possible while being able to use cool elements from the original films. The majority of our customers are nostalgic for those movies.”
For those curious to know why Stern chose to tap the original trilogy instead of Disney’s new Star Wars films, Dankberg told RePlay that the firm believes more customers are interested in the originals over the new movies. We reckon Stern have got that right!
Australian pricing for the three pinball models (including GST):
The force is definitely strong with these pinball machines!
source: Stern Pinball Inc.
By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.
Aerosmith, KISS, AC/DC and Metallica all have one. The Rolling Stones and Guns N’ Roses have one too.
Why doesn’t ABBA, who has sold more than 375 million albums and singles worldwide and been offered a rumoured nine figure deal to tour again, have a pinball machine on the market?
It’s hard to believe that Stern or Jersey Jack Pinball haven’t thought about obtaining the licensing rights for the Swedish super group that produced huge hits like Mamma Mia and SOS from 1972 to 1982.
Take a Chance On Me and Dancing Queen seem like perfect extra ball or bonus points sound cues for a pinball machine.
A DJ friend once told me, “There’s two types of people: those who love ABBA and those who love ABBA and don’t admit it.”
Some have called ABBA tacky; I think they were pop kitsch. And in all of that bubblegum kitsch, the music still brings joy to a great deal of people globally. Pop kitsch is ideal for an attention grabbing pinball machine.
An ABBA pinball machine would appeal to a large spectrum of music lovers. ABBA is a cross generational band. Ages range from teenagers to grandparents who love Dancing Queen. And the Meryl Streep film ‘Mamma Mia’ has strengthened people’s affection for a group that parted ways thirty-five years ago. However, ABBA never officially broke up.
I can just imagine a group of young people at an arcade or bar putting coins into an ABBA pinball machine, hearing Dancing Queen as their first game ball drops for play, “having the time of their lives.”
Whoa, what a way to start June!
Stern Pinball finally announced their new machine, the Steve Ritchie designed Star Wars! Funnily enough, the announcement came via a brief spot on The Star Wars Show (see embedded video). Stern has promised that Star Wars Pinball will take players to a galaxy far, far away! More information, photos and pricing to come – we can’t wait!
Stern’s new STAR WARS pinball machine makes a cameo appearance on The Star Wars Show!
source: The Star Wars Show
Also going all out was Jersey Jack Pinball. With the announcement that their latest machine, Dialed In! was in production, the New Jersey-based factory went all Hollywood by producing a very flashy and cool promotional video to show off Pat Lawlor’s brilliant original concept game. Mark our words, Dialed In! is destined to be a top 10 pinball machine of all time!
Jersey Jack Pinball’s DIALED IN! official trailer!
source: Jersey Jack Pinball
Wow, wish every month starts like this! Stay tuned for more pinball news!
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Pinball Press
Pinball Press brings you news from the world of pinball – events, product reviews/updates, interviews and the people in pinball!
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Imagine if we had a crystal ball to see into the future to see what pinball machines would look like – what would we see?
The future of pinball depends on innovation to ensure it remains relevant. Innovation can be obtained via the use of current and emerging technologies, and unlike the end of the 20th century, the technology is already available for pinball manufacturers to leverage and perhaps get an advantage over their competitors.
The current leaders in pinball innovation, Jersey Jack Pinball (JJP) have not only forced their competitors to innovate just to keep up with them, they are constantly pushing themselves to come up with new ideas for their pinball machines. JJP’s Dialed In! was the first pinball machine to feature Bluetooth® connectivity that provides new capabilities (like controlling the flippers) through a smartphone. Innovation never ceases, so pinball manufacturers need to keep up or risk perishing.
Jersey Jack Pinball’s Dialed In! is the first pinball machine with Bluetooth connectivity
With all this talk of innovation one wonders what current or emerging technologies can be used to catapult pinball machines to the bleeding edge. There are current technologies that pinball designers and manufacturers can leverage to provide a better and immersive experience for their target market – be it the player, operator or collector. The advent of cloud computing has allowed a myriad of services to be used, from big data to streaming analytics and real-time telemetry monitoring via Internet of Things (IoT) to deliver innovative products and services.
First things first, what the hell is this Internet of Things (IoT)? In a nutshell, it is a system of ubiquitous sensors connecting the physical world to the Internet. Although things, Internet, and connectivity are the three core components of IoT, the value is in closing the gap between the physical and digital world in self-reinforcing and self-improving systems. IoT creates these systems by connecting things, animate or inanimate, to the Internet with unique identifiers that provide context, giving visibility into the network, the devices themselves, and their environment. Equipped with rich data sets and using advanced analytics, IoT can give us enormous insight into our world, and this is where pinball manufacturers can differentiate themselves by providing IoT-ready pinball machines and mobile applications that can provide telemetric real-time data analysis and information, event processing, pattern analysis and recognition from a player, operator or collector’s perspective.
Pinball manufacturers in the 21st century that want to stand out from the crowd could enrich the pinball experience with a number of innovations using IoT, like:
Innovation should improve and enrich the experience of pinball by providing deeper real-time insights about the machine, either from a player wanting to know how hard they hit the ball or the operator acting proactively on fixing a component before it fails.
For pinball to remain relevant, manufacturers must challenge the status quo by pushing the technology envelope to keep players, collectors and operators flipping for longer. Long live the silver-ball!
Which pinball innovation tickles your fancy? Tell us now on Twitter or Facebook.
He came, he conquered, we talked, we drank, we played pinball and we bought some very cool art!
Dirty Donny’s Blacklight Rebellion Art Show / Book Signing at the Kustom Lane Gallery was a resounding success. Held last Friday and Saturday, the event saw Dirty Donny’s art and book on show – ready to be bought and signed by the great artist. Among the cool stuff were two of Donny’s famous pinball works, Stern’s Metallica and Aerosmith.
The crowd were kept entertained with free-play pinball (thanks to Geoff from Pinball Perfection) and a well stocked Tiki bar. With the event being intimate, attendees had access to Donny for a great chat and to also get their art, book and even pinball parts signed! It was great seeing Donny being accessible to his fans (us included!) – Dirty Donny Gillies is one awesomely cool and humble dude!
If you missed out on Dirty Donny’s art show at the Kustom Lane Gallery, then let our highlights make you feel like you were there!
The great Dirty Donny Gillies was always available for a chat!
The blacklight made Dirty Donny’s art pop!
The famous Screaming Hand!
There was a lot of interest in Donny’s work on Stern Pinball’s Aerosmith LE machine!
Lots of interest in Metallica too. Donny’s art on these machines is iconic!
The crowd mingles and admires Dirty Donny’s art
There were a number of original and print works available to buy
It was a good night to chat, admire art work, have a drink and play pinball
Supplier of the event’s pinball machines, Geoff Wills from Pinball Perfection with Dirty Donny
image source: Pinball Perfection
Dirty Donny was busy signing books, art and pinball parts!
Roast’em!
The event also allowed us to catch up with great friends! Big thumbs up for an awesome evening!
Hardest decision we’ll have to make – where to hang our cool Zodiac print?!
