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Ben Heck’s Mini Pinball Kit

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We are huge fans of Ben Heck’s creations, from the giant Game Boy to the awesomely cool portable Atari 2600. This time around, Ben and his team have hit the mark with the Mini Pinball machine, which they aim to turn into a kit for us to use and enjoy! Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long.

After watching this update video, we must say we are quite excited about the prospect of having a mini pinball machine in our games room! We eagerly await future updates on this amazing bit of kit.


source: The Ben Heck Show

 

Australian Jordan Tredaway Wins Division B At PAPA 20 World Pinball Championships

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Young Australian pinball wizard, Jordan Tredaway wins the PAPA 20 (Professional & Amateur Pinball Association) World Championship B Division!

The 16 year old Melbournian showed poise and maturity beyond his years by beating veterans double and even triple his age from across the globe in the world’s most prestigious pinball championship. We managed to grab Jordan as he was tucking into a well deserved dinner to ask him how he was feeling right now, “Ecstatic! Feels like a dream come true”. Also flying the flag high for Australia was Martin Robbins, whom also had a fantastic tournament.

14 year old Jordan (JTH) smashes Game Of Thrones at PAX Aus 2015

Jordan’s PAPA 20 (Division B) win was just reward for his hard work and consistent pinball tournament wins in Australia. We first met Jordan at Supanova in 2015 when he won the Under 18s Pinball vs. Supanova Championship at the tender age of 14! With his current IFPA world ranking at 231, we are pretty sure that this win at PAPA 20 will propel him in the top echelon of pinball wizards, and who knows, perhaps an A Division win at next year’s PAPA 21!

The PAPA World Pinball Championships is the most renowned event in all of competitive pinball which is held annually in Carnegie, Pennsylvania USA.

PAPA 20 competition floor!

Jordan in action!

Martin Robbins keeps an eye on the standings, while Jordan keeps an eye on the competition!

Jordan Tredaway, PAPA 20 Division B World Pinball Champion!
image sources: Martin Robbins and Carme Martinez

Jordan’s impressive points tally in Division B at PAPA 20

 

PAPA World HQ Site On The Market!

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REPLAY FOUNDATION OUTGROWS WORLD HEADQUARTERS
World’s Largest Pinball Tournaments to Continue

With PAPA 20 around the corner, Replay Foundation, the NPO that operates the Professional & Amateur Pinball Association (PAPA) brand of tournaments, has just announced that it is placing the PAPA World Headquarters, a facility in Scott Township, just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the market. This facility currently houses more than 700 rare and valuable pinball and arcade games in the Replay collection.

PAPA Buildout – January 2004

Since its founding in 2011, Replay Foundation has operated two of the largest pinball tournaments in the world, the PAPA World Pinball Championships and the Pinburgh Match-Play Championship. In 2013, the PAPA World Headquarters, which opened for the first public PAPA event in the Pittsburgh area in 2004, was donated to Replay Foundation and used to operate these events. The Pinburgh championship quickly outgrew the PAPA World Headquarters facility and was moved to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, as part of the annual ReplayFX event, starting in 2015.

PAPA 7 – September 2004

PAPA 9 – August 2006

This reduced the headquarters to hosting only one public event each year, and that event, the PAPA World Pinball Championships, has exceeded the facility’s capacity for the past several years. Consequently, the headquarters is being put up for sale on the commercial real estate market, effective immediately, with a transaction expected to close sometime after the PAPA 20 event this month. Replay Foundation will not be reducing the size of its collection, nor are there plans to discontinue the PAPA World Pinball Championships.

PAPA 13 – August 2010

PAPA 19 – April 2016
source: PAPA

“We recognize that our followers have thirteen years of nostalgia and great memories of the headquarters, but the facility has hit its limits in terms of attendance and logistics, and of course parking was always a nightmare,” said Kevin Martin, chairman of Replay Foundation. “We are very optimistic about the continued growth of our events and the PAPA brand, and we look forward to making further announcements regarding PAPA 21 and next year’s Circuit Final.”

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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!

If you have any pinball news to share, hit Pinball Press on Twitter

 

 

 

Clever Marketing: Using Pinball To Promote A Credit Card

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So how does a bank promote their new unlimited cashback credit card for us to notice it? They tap into popular culture and see what is currently hot!

As we all know, pinball is going gangbusters all around the world, so Standard Chartered Bank thought they’d cleverly use a pinball playfield, not just as a metaphor, but to get their message across about their new credit card – a simply brilliant piece of marketing! We may need this credit card for our next pinball machine purchase *winks*

Keep flippin’!


source: Standard Chartered Bank

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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!

If you have any pinball news to share, hit Pinball Press on Twitter

 

 

 

Magic Girl Pinball Appears After 5 Years

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Some 5 years in the making, Zidware’s disappearing Magic Girl finally appears in a magical puff of smoke!

With only 20 Magic Girl machines assembled (by American Pinball) and only a handful more in existence, Chris Kooluris was one lucky and extremely patient customer that decided to share the moment he picked up, unboxed and assembled his ultra rare beauty.

But it seems that this Magic Girl will again be disappearing. Chris has decided to part ways with his special machine, so if you have a cool US $45,000 (or best offer), head to his Magic Girl eBay auction now!

This is about as close we will ever get to seeing, let alone playing John Popadiuk’s Magic Girl.

image source: Chris Kooluris (Facebook)

source: eBay

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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!

If you have any pinball news to share, hit Pinball Press on Twitter

 

 

Jersey Jack Pinball Is Calling All Pinball Enthusiasts

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When Jersey Jack Pinball’s Jack Guarnieri puts out a call to all pinball enthusiasts, we sit up and take note!

The Jersey Jack Pinball (JJP) team will be keeping busy in March as they hit the event circuit by attending the Louisville Arcade Expo this coming weekend (March 3 – 5) and then the Texas Pinball Festival (March 24 – 26). JJP will be taking their finest games to these mighty fine events – we just wish we could be there too!

Finally, we had to share this great pinball note from Jack Guarnieri about Dialed In!:

“As most of you know by now, our newest game, Dialed In!, is designed by the legendary Pat Lawlor, himself. This game is special for so many reasons, but the story of how Pat became involved is special, and one I thought you might enjoy.

In 2011, I found myself renting a building from Pat in Harvard, IL for JJP. I knew he had been retired for several years, but welcomed him to see the work we were doing and shared our vision. Pat saw that vision come to life with our first game, The Wizard of Oz, and grew excited. He began to toy with the idea of returning to pinball design – one day.

By late 2013, after expressing his interest, we made Pat part of the JJP team – a pivotal decision for the company. The idea was simple: design an unlicensed, original game – something directly from Pat’s imagination.

Fast forward to the birth of Dialed In! What a game. I have to tell you, the result is amazing, and the reaction of people who’ve played it has been incredibly gratifying and such an affirmation of Pat’s genius. In it, we’ve built a game with groundbreaking technology and features never before seen in a pinball machine.

Ever the dedicated pro, Pat has been visiting the game in the field, studying it and making signature tweaks. I can’t ever remember a new game having received such care and attention.

As we near production, we want to give everyone interested in owning a Dialed In! an opportunity stake their claim now on this historic game with a completely refundable deposit of $250, and balance due upon game production.

We hope you’ll take advantage of this offer and stop by our upcoming events (more below) to experience Dialed In! for yourself: a game that embodies true passion for a game we all love.”

Jersey Jack Pinball’s Jack Guarnieri at the Australian unveiling of Dialed In!

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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!

If you have any pinball news to share, hit Pinball Press on Twitter

 

 

Pinball: A Good Win At The IFPA Australian Championship Series

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New South Welshman Brett Goodwin has been crowned the 2016- 2017 IFPA Australian Championship Series (ACS) champion.

After a gruelling two days of competition at the Thornbury Bowls Club, the field of 32 players was down to just two: New South Welshman Brett Goodwin and Victoria’s Johnny Crabtree. The State Of Origin was on, with Johnny Crabtree taking out round 1 in the best of 5 rounds, on Stern’s Metallica. Round 2 saw Brett Goodwin sneak in a win on Gilligan’s Island to square the ledger. Brett then took out round 3 on Stern’s 1977 Pinball machine leading the final 2 – 1, leaving Johnny the table pick for the all-important round 4.

With the pressure mounting, Johnny chose his pet table, Stern’s AC/DC. Both players had a phenomenal game, but Brett was simply unstoppable, playing a near perfect game, scoring 120+ million to Johnny’s 75+ million, giving him a 3 – 1 win and the crown as the IFPA Australian Championship Series champion for 2016 – 2017.

The 3rd place playoff saw Matthew Venables (NSW) take on Robert Macauley (SA). Matthew took out 3rd place by winning both rounds 1 and 2 on Dirty Harry and AC/DC respectively.

As per all great competitions, there are a number of people that make things happen and ensure the competition is run smoothly and is fun for all. IFPA Australian Championship Series directors, Luke Marburg and Dan Robar did a fantastic job in organising the event and running it like clockwork.

Of course, the 15 tournament pinball machines didn’t just spontaneously appear, they were provided by these great people: Lucas Bardin, Geoff Wills, Marcus Sezonov, Dan Robar, Adam Clarke, Dan Brown, Alex Nunn, Jordan Tredaway and Johnny Crabtree – thank you all for providing your machines for the 2016-2017 IFPA ACS final!

See you all in Adelaide for the 2017 – 2018 IFPA Australian Championship Series final!

For all of the results and standings from the weekend, go and check them out on pinballscore.com.

The champion’s trophy and a $400 1st place prize. The pinball wizard deserves to be rewarded!

IFPA ACS Co-Director, Luke Marburg keeps an eye on proceedings

Two beauties!

The machines look very inviting. But first we must turn them on!

The Minnow will NOT be lost!

Alex Boz is mesmerised by Avatar

Busting ghosts!

Johnny Crabtree gives us the thumbs up!

A dead flip!

Getting in some action before the finals!

Even the beer is retro!

Young gun, Jordan Tredaway samples some Pinball Magic and gets 20 million!

The crowd is readying for the finals!

Beer is put down, time to play!

3rd place play-off between Robert Macauley and Matthew Venables. First up, Robert on Dirty Harry!

Matthew Venables feels lucky, punks! 1.23billion on Dirty Harry ain’t too shabby at all!

And the 3rd place in the IFPA ACS final goes to… Matthew Venables.

Down to the last two standing: Johnny Crabtree sets a winning score on Metallica in Round 1

Brett Goodwin steps up to Metallica

Johnny Crabtree getting in the zone on Gilligan’s Island

Brett Goodwin takes out round 2 of the ACS grand final!

Johnny sees the light on Pinball

Brett sets a round 3 winning score on Pinball

New South Welshman, Marc Bell (left) had an excellent tournament, making the finals on the Sunday after posting a 2nd in Pool B

Turn me on Johnny!

Johnny Crabtree sets a reasonable score on Stern’s AC/DC in round 4 of the grand final

But it’s not good enough, as Brett Goodwin gets the win and snags the title as the 2016-17 IFPA ACS Champion

The winner is congratulated

There are no losers in pinball! Fellow pinball wizard, Wal Dickie congratulates Johnny on his valiant effort

Show me the money: the top 8 players all received cash prizes

IFPA ACS Co-Director, Dan Robar presents Johnny with his trophy and cash winnings

It’s all smiles for the champion, Brett Goodwin

L-R: Matthew Venables (3rd place), Brett Goodwin (1st place), Johnny Crabtree (2nd place)

The final standings

Geoff Wills starts the bump-out – another great championship is done and dusted

Check out the awesome panoramic pic on Facebook!

 

Creating The Playfield With Jersey Jack Pinball’s Butch Peele

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Ever wondered how a high-quality pinball playfield is made? We definitely have!

Well, wonder no more as pinball tech wizard, Butch Peel, details the intricate process behind creating a high-quality Jersey Jack Pinball playfield.

Once you finish watching this episode, you may also like to check out Butch Peele’s playfield tours of Jersey Jack Pinball’s groundbreaking games, Wizard Of Oz and The Hobbit – trust us, they are worth watching!


source: Jersey Jack Pinball

 

First Impressions Of Stern’s Batman 66 Pinball Machine

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SOCK! POW! ZOK! WHAP! BIFF! OOOOF! NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA BATMAN!

We enjoy visiting our friends at Zax Amusements. Not only is it fun to catch up with the Zax crew, but it’s also fun to gawk in wonder at the machines on their showroom floor. One machine that caught our eye was the new Batman 66 Premium Edition pinball table from Stern.

Batman 66 is the first machine that Stern has released with a full colour high definition (HD) LED screen integrated in the backboard instead of the traditional dot matrix display. We were quite impressed with the HD LED screen’s vividness and its animation – it captures the cheesiness brilliantly from the 1966 Batman TV show. We initially thought that the HD LED display was on the small side, but seeing it in action it actually suits the machine to a T.

The visual package of the machine is complete with the awesome artwork by Christopher Franchi. The purple and blue hues of the artwork on the cabinet are eye catching (they stand out from a mile away!) and the equally beautiful backglass (above the LED display) and playfield art just scream sixties kitsch!

Being pressed for time, we only had five games on the machine, so we thought we’d comment on our first impressions on how the machine plays rather than an indepth review on its many play modes and features. First things first, the (software) code is nowhere near complete, which shows. We noticed that there were no callouts at the start or during the game, which obviously took away from the Batman experience – the game seemed too quiet. The playfield lighting about three quarters of the way up was on the dark side, making the ball hard to see, but it wasn’t anything major that detracted from the enjoyment of playing the machine – again, this may be an easy fix with a code update. We absolutely loved the illuminated batphone target and the villain vision TV set magnet feature.

Batman 66 features many cool toys, but the one that truly stands out for us is the interactive KG Bird Crane Co crane toy on the right hand side of the playfield. Once initiated, it takes a hard flip to smash the “wrecking ball” on the crane (a bit like Slimer in Ghostbusters), which sends your ball careening all over the playfield – truly heart stopping play! As mentioned earlier, the animation on the LED screen is great, giving the player lots of feedback on modes and features at play. Each go we had we got a higher score as we got to know the features, modes and the general flow of the playfield.

Batman 66 (Premium Edition) will definitely appeal to Generation X’ers that grew up with the TV show, but it also has the general pulling power due to its brilliant presentation. Once Stern irons out the software code, it will exponentially enhance the cheesy Batman KAPOW experience!

Batman 66 (PE) is eye catching from any angle!

Oo’er, Premium Edition!

Batman In Colo(u)r!

Autographed by none other than Adam West

Taking it all in – it looks so cheesily good!

Flipper button seems in the right place… Love the side art!

The Bat Gadget selector is begging to be pressed!

It all STARTS here!

Let’s give Batman and Robin a hand in defeating their evil foes!

Here comes the villain vision TV set! Watch that magnet lock!

Let’s see what this KG Bird Crane Co can do…

Bash that (wrecking) ball on the crane!

No!!! The game should never be over!

Damn, we didn’t match on the Bat Score-Match-Analyzer. Ah well, another credit…

Thank you to Zax Amusements for allowing us to play the new Stern Batman 66 Premium Edition pinball machine.

Timeshock! – The Arcade Edition Coming To Arcooda Video Pinball

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Video pinball has come a long, long way and Arcooda is leading the way with their innovative and advanced Arcooda Video Pinball machine.

Hot on the heels of their partnership with FarSight Studios (makers of The Pinball Arcade), Arcooda has just announced that it has partnered with Barnstorm Games Limited, to release Timeshock! – The Arcade Edition, an advanced video pinball cabinet version of the popular and realistic Pro Pinball:Timeshock! game.

If you remember the Pro Pinball series, then you’ll no doubt have fond memories of Timeshock!, one of just four video pinball tables released in the series between 1995 and 1999. With advanced pinball physics, a brand new lighting engine and photo realistic graphics at spectacular resolutions, Timeshock! – The Arcade Edition will take pinball simulation to heights never before seen on a full sized video pinball machine.

Working with Arcooda, Barnstorm Games will add many new features suitable for full cabinet support including multi backglass display, multi colour DMD, real pinball parts support including: pinball coils, plunger, shaker motors, advanced tournament feature and much more.

To say we can’t wait to get flippin’ on the Arcooda Video Pinball machine would be a massive understatement!

The most innovative and advance video pinball machine!

image source: Arcooda