A new year and a new PINcast as Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News review all the news from the pinball world throughout December 2021 and the first few days of January 2022.

There’s the latest new game news as Stern Pinball reveal their latest title, lots of new appointments in the industry, tons of new code and features for existing games, the continuing saga of Deeproot Pinball’s collapse, details of current production and upcoming machines, and news of those sadly lost to the pinball world over the holiday season.

Plus, exciting news as regular caller Gary also gets a code update, with unexpected results.

Categories: News

Stern Pinball reveals RUSH

Editor

Posted on January 4, 2022

RUSH Pro, premium and LE cabinets

Following a teaser video, last week, Stern Pinball have now revealed their newest cornerstone title RUSH. Below is the Gary Stern mailing to distributors with lots of info:

“Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Last week we aired a teaser video for our latest cornerstone game, RUSH. Today we are making a full announcement of this game, with press release, feature matrix, photos, webinars, gameplay videos, and this email from me. Jack Danger and our RUSH design team will stream the game 6pm Chicago time, Friday, January 7 at https://www.twitch.tv/deadflip.

Formed in Toronto in the late 1960’s, RUSH is known for complex compositions drawing heavily on science fiction and fantasy. Over its more than 5 decades of popularity, RUSH‘s music spanned from blues-inspired hard rock through progressive, to synthesizers, and back to guitar driven hard rock. Third only behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in the most consecutive gold and platinum albums, RUSH has sold over 40 million albums. In 2013 the band was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame.

RUSH pinball uses the band’s album cover art in addition to hand drawn artwork created custom for this game. The game LCD makes extensive use of concert footage, augmented with custom animations. At the beginning of each ball players can select among 16 songs performed by RUSH:

Headlong Fight Cygnus X-1

Far Cry Big Money

One Little Victory Subdivisions

Working Man Limelight

2112 Fly By Night

Tom Sawyer La Villa Stranglatto

Spirit of Radio Bastille Day

Free Will Red Barchetta

Speech calls, 600 of them, are voiced by band members Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee along with game consultant and Barenaked Ladies lead, fellow Canadian Ed Robertson.

This game is Rock N’ Roll.

RUSH Limited Edition and Premium playfield

John Borg and Tim Sexton have built RUSH pinball around these iconic RUSH songs and RUSH symbols. A ramp leads to a custom molded RUSH electromagnet Time Machine, holding and then expelling balls out forward and back. The 3-bank drop targets are coded to collect guitar, bass, and drums. Rules are visually portrayed with R-U-S-H spell out target, 1-2-3 arrows, 17 RGB lit inserts, and 3 RGB pop bumpers. Its two large metal and plastic ramps include a player and game controlled diverter, redirecting the ball to either return lane. Scoops facing the playfield front and side lead to an under playfield subway; players can view ball flow through an insert before the balls are kicked out the front scoop. Added to this are red and white GI lighting, 3 flippers, 4 main mulitballs, 6 main timed modes, and more. Games are ready to add the accessory Expression Lighting System, a must for a rock game.

RUSH LE / Premium playfield

The Premium/LE have important changes from the Pro. The Time Machine ramp is motorized, up and down, with custom lighting effects on its side and floor. Neil Peart’s drum is custom molded into a Clockwork Angels Clock, with motorized minute hand to stop at all 12 face numbers. Behind the drop targets is a ball lock post system, using a captured ball as a Newton ball. The under-playfield subway can lock balls and kick out the side scoop in addition to the front scoop, kicking balls out both at once. An added VUK fires the ball up a wire ramp. GI lighting is red and white plus blue.

Stern will make 1,000 Limited Edition games featuring these enhancements and collectibles:

Expression Light System™ – included, not as an accessory
High gloss guitar shaped side armor, legs, hinges, and front molding
Mirrored backglass
Reflective foil cabinet decals
Upgraded audio system
Shaker motor
Non-glare playfield glass
Certificate of authenticity signed by me
Designer autograph
Sequentially numbered (1 to 1,000) plate

RUSH Pro playfield

RUSH will ship equipped for Insider Connected™. Another new title with all games fully equipped for connectivity is essential to achieving the greatest early Insider Connected adoption and fastest success. All Stern commercial LCD games are being manufactured equipped for Insider Connected. We have shipped thousands of kits to upgrade earlier Stern LCD games with Insider Connected. We will ship thousands more starting this month. Near 20,000 players are registered. Thousands of games are connected, half in commercial locations.

On New Years’ Eve Day we stopped production to take year end inventory. We will resume production during the second week of January with RUSH Pro. We will follow later in January with RUSH LE, then in February RUSH Premium. We increased our production rate in December, and we are staffed and have parts to increase it more.

We again ask that our USA customers help us dedicate the first Pro models produced for commercial use. This is a good policy for international customers also. More people can see and play a new game on location than can see it in someone’s home.

The wholesale RUSH Pro and Premium prices will be the same as Godzilla, in spite of continued supply chain cost increases. As previously announced, all other Pro and Premium models will also be the same prices. Contact your sales rep regarding any order impact. The RUSH LE price is increased; your sales rep will contact you with details. As normal, full LE payment is due with order and without cash discounts. Costs for specifying an LE number remain the same.

A new UMRP, MAP and MSRP list will be sent to USA customers shortly. The USA MSRP’s are as follows:

Pro $ 6,899
Premium $ 8,999
Limited Edition $ 11,099

A full line of accessories will be available. We will provide you separately with dates for art blades, side armor, shooter rods, toppers, and Expression Lighting Kits for Pro and Premium.

I have a preproduction RUSH in my apartment. It plays absolutely great! Watch the RUSH game play video over and over, both on our webinar and on Stern sites. Get the game on your showroom floor. You will agree — RUSH pinball is Rock N’ Roll.

Best regards,

Gary

Gary Stern

President

Stern Pinball, Inc.”

Over 50 images of all three RUSH models are available on Stern Pinball’s Facebook page.

Categories: News

Bowen Kerins and Colin MacAlpine join Multimorphic

Editor

Posted on December 16, 2021

Multimorphic, the company behind the highly innovative pinball platform P3 which released games such as Lexi Lightspeed, Cosmic Cart Racing and Heist, is announcing Bowen Kerins and Colin MacAlpine joining the Multimorphic team. Here’s what the official press release says:

As incredibly accomplished pinball players, rules experts, and creative geniuses, Bowen and Colin bring a wealth of pinball knowledge and experience to the Multimorphic development team. They’ll be involved in the full creative process on current and future Multimorphic titles with a special focus on game rules and ensuring P3 games are fun and engaging for players of all skill levels.

Bowen has been playing pinball his entire life. He won his first of five World Championship titles in 1994, was a tournament director at Pinburgh, the world’s largest pinball tournament, and most recently acted as rules director on two titles from Spooky Pinball. Throughout his career as a competitive player and through video tutorials for countless games, Bowen has demonstrated expert knowledge of a vast array of pinball rulesets and strategies, and he’s excited to help deliver both traditional and new playing experiences on the P3. Outside of pinball, Bowen writes math textbooks, is a tutor for grades 5 and up, and has been a mathematical advisor for over 20 game shows. He loves Slurpees and once won $1000 for knowing the number of degrees in a right angle!

Colin lives with his wife and three children in Austin, TX, where he works as Director of Product Management for a specialty chemical manufacturer. His infatuation with the silver ball began as a kid at a local pizza joint in Minnesota, and after years of battling only against high score tables, he started playing competitive pinball events in 2011. Since then, Colin helped found Austin’s Bat City Pinball Club, has traveled around the world to find the greatest levels of competition, winning many tournaments along the way, and has developed a deep knowledge of pinball rulesets and what makes games fun to play. Colin has advised Multimorphic informally on a few existing P3 games and is excited to officially join the team and help develop fun, exciting, approachable, and novel rules for the ever-growing library of P3 titles.

The additions of Bowen and Colin show Multimorphic’s continued emphasis on building a world-class team and connecting new ideas and the unrivaled features of the P3 with the raw pinball experiences that everybody loves. We welcome them with open arms and look forward to building amazing games together.

For more information about Multimorphic, the P3, and P3 games, please visit www.multimorphic.com.

Categories: News

Updated: New Upgrade Kit for Funhouse: Rudy’s Nightmare

Editor

Posted on November 19, 2021

Pedretti, the Italian contract manufacturer for the Alien pinball machine from Pinball Brothers, and partner of Planetary Pinball for producing Williams/Bally licensed parts and mods, is announcing an upgrade kit for Williams’ Funhouse. The upgrade kit is called Funhouse Rudy’s Nightmare and allows Funhouse owners to add a whole new look and game to their Funhouse pinball machine. While the upgrade kit is still pending licensor approval, Pinball Magazine has all the details on what the kit will offer.

The Rudy’s Nightmare kit contains the following:

New speaker panel (wood and artwork)
New 14 inch LCD HD Display
New high-quality speakers
Playfield mini display and artwork
PCBs: Fast CPU and Pinsound XL
Custom inner cabinet art blades
Custom translite (printed on 4mm acrylic)
Custom T-shirt (Size L) for the first 200 kits
Completely new code
Customized packaging

Once installed, which should be easy plug and play – no drilling required, the game will have new graphics, two color displays, new music, sound effects and voices, and new modes. The game’s playfield remains mostly the same, although the mini display will replace the mirror above the scoop. The upgrade kit will allow Funhouse owners to choose between playing the game with the original rules, music, and call-outs, or the new Rudy’s Nightmare code. When playing the original rules, the display will show the scores and text. There are no additional animations programmed (yet).

The promotional video for Rudy’s Nightmare lists the following nine modes:

Duck Hunt
The Evil Clones
Hotdog Combat
Rudy & the Monkizz
Haunted Roller Coaster
Don’t You Want a Balloon?
Melt The Clone
Evil Rudy Multiball
Wizard Mode

While Pedretti is the initiator and manufacturer of this upgrade kit, the project is an international collaboration between quite a few pinball companies:

Team Pinball (U.K. – game code programming)
Fast Pinball (U.S.A. – new PCB design that runs all game code for this kit)
PinSound (France – modified version of PinSound XL that drives the audio, the two displays and hosts and runs the complete 2.0 code engine)
Planetary Pinball Supply (U.S.A. – licensing)

Animations and artwork are by the Italian artist Morti Morti. Zanhell, also an Italian artist, produced the new music package. Janos Kiss of Team Pinball programmed the new game code.

AndreaDM, Director of Pedretti says, “Rudy’s Nightmare will be a great kit for Funhouse owners that already own the game for several years. It brings new life to the game and a great modern look to Funhouse as well.”

Although pricing hasn’t been confirmed, Funhouse Rudy’s Nightmare will likely be priced at €2,100 / $2,200 USD. Rudy’s Nightmare will be available through the following distributors:

Pedretti webshop (Italy, Europe)
Free Play (Sweden, Europe)
RS Pinball (Austria, Europe)
Freddy’s Pinball Paradise (Germany, Europe)
CoinTaker (U.S.A.)
Planetary Pinball (U.S.A.)
Mr. Pinball(Australia)

Two years ago, Pedretti agreed with Planetary Pinball to produce enhanced “2.0” upgrade kits for several System 11 pinball games. They decided to start with Funhouse, one of the most iconic games from the early ’90s. While it took two years to develop Rudy’s Nightmare, Pedretti hopes to release more System 11 titles in the future, aiming at one title per year.

For more info visit the Pedretti website or the websites of the distributors listed above (all clickable).

Update: A video of gameplay is now available:

Categories: News

Pinball Expo ’21 highlights

Editor

Posted on October 29, 2021

Pinball Expo is currently taking place at the Renaissance Hotel in Schaumberg, Illinois. The event has a packed seminar program. Similar to the virtual 2020 edition of the event, many seminars will be streamed on Pinball Expo’s Twich channel. On Thursday, October 27th, streaming of the seminars only started during the 6:00 PM seminar of Todd Tuckey and Frank Lindenmuth. That seminar was followed by a seminar of American Pinball and a fireside chat Q&A with veteran pinball designer Pat Lawlor. The recorded livestream of Day 1 can be watched on Twitch.

Highlights of Pinball Expo ’21 Day 1:

The American Pinball team: David Fix, Steven Bowden, Michael Grant, Josh Kugler, Scott Gullicks, Frank Gigliotti.

The American Pinball seminar can be watched here.
Scott Gullicks and Frank Gigliotti of Riot Pinball discussed how they got into homebrew pinball design and their latest game Legends of Valhalla, which is being manufactured by American Pinball. At the end of the seminar they mentioned that Legends of Valhalla is not a ‘one-and-done’ deal. They are working on another game title for American Pinball.
David Fix of American Pinball announced the American Pinball American Dream contest for homebrew pinball designers. They will have one year, up to Pinball Expo 2022, to design a pinball machine and bring it to Pinball Expo. Based on feedback from the community and the American Pinball team, one game will be declared the winner and American Pinball will take that game into production.
The entire fireside chat with Pat Lawlor was golden, as it contained so many great stories and insights on some of Pat’s games and changes in game design from Pat’s 40-year career in coin-op.

Pat Lawlor during his fireside chat

Highlights of Pinball Expo ’21 Day 2:

Quite a few seminars went into fixing pinball machines, the tools you need for that and such.
Chicago Gaming revealed Cactus Canyon remake with new interactive shooting gallery topper.

The topper is currently only available on the Limited Edition model, of which 1,250 units will be made. The LE is priced at $9,250, and also includes a burned wood bottom arch. There is also a Special Edition without the topper, inner art blades and less bells and whistles (details will be sent to distributors later today), which is priced at $8,000. The software on the game has been further completed and includes the Bionic Bart mode, which is missing in the original game. CGC will be focusing on the production of LE and SE games first, before taking a Standard model into production.

The remodeled Bad Guy Bart sculpt on the playfield

Lyman Sheats and Josh Sharpe are working on an alternative rule set for the game, which will become available as a paid add-on. That game code will only be released when completely finished, which may still take some time. The Cactus Canyon remake currently has no internet connectivity, but CGC is talking to Scorbit about integrating their system. Cactus Canyon remake can be ordered with CGC dealers and distributors, such as Planetary Pinball, Nitro Pinball, Little Shop of Games, PinballPro, and others.
Gary Stern was inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame
Keith Johnson, Gil Pollock and Eddie Adlum got inducted into the Pinball Expo Hall of Fame
Jersey Jack Pinball did not reveal a new game, but their seminar was still interesting.

Below is a listing of the seminars of Day 2 and livestream link:

Pinball Troubleshooting – Ron Coon, Jr
Scorbit
What Else Can You Do With This Amazing Hobby – Mike Mahood
Total Pinball Restorations – Keith Holbrook
Emily Brooks Pinball Luminaries Showcase – Zombie Yeti, Randy Martinez, Ryan Cravens, Bill Brooks
Intro to Reading EM Schematics including recommended Tool List – Mike Hale
Best and Worst Advice Seen on the Internet – Mark Gibson, Nick Schell, Rob Anthony (Borygard), Dave Alverson (moderator)
What’s Happening at Chicago Gaming, Cactus Canyon Remake reveal – Ryan White
Playfield & Cabinet Customization using 3D Printing – Andy Sokol
Arcade Dreams:100 Years of Arcade History – Zach Weddington & Bruce Zamost
Induction Ceremony for the International Video Hall of Fame – Todd Friedman & Lonnie McDonald
Pinball Expo Hall of Fame Inductee Ceremony – Rob Berk
An Evening with Jersey Jack Pinball – Jack Guarnieri & Staff

Highlights of Pinball Expo ’21 Day 3:

Below is a listing of the seminars of Day 3 and livestream link:

9:00 a.m. “Collecting Advertising Memorabilia” – Damon Granger
10:00 a.m. “A Homebrew Black Knight Pinball Machine Built Completely From Scratch” – Rolando Martin. (Editor’s note: Highly recommended if you’re interested in how to build and program your own pinball machine.)
11:00 a.m. “Custom Pinball Cabinets” – Tanner Petch discusses some of his unusual homebrew game and cabinet designs
11:40 a.m. “ShipMyPinball.com is Easier Than You Think!” – Dino Gaspari
12:00 noon “The Banning Museum of Pinball – Q&A” – John Weeks
1:00 p.m. – Talking Retro Games – ZapCristal, Mr. Wright Way, Adam Koralik, & Ray Price. Moderator: Todd Friedman
3:00 p.m. “The Making of LED ZEPPELIN” – Tim Sexton and team (without Steve Ritchie)
4:00 p.m. “Jack Danger and Waison’s Jurassic Park Pin” – Jack Danger & Waison
5:00 p.m. “The Making of The Mandalorian” – Brian Eddy & Dwight Sullivan
6:00 p.m. “George Gomez’s New Project” (Insider Connected) – George Gomez
7:00 p.m. “Keith Elwin & Team’s Godzilla” – Keith Elwin & Team
8:00 p.m. “Family Feud Without the Family” – Dwight Sullivan & Corey Stup

This article will be updated as Pinball Expo ’21 continues.

Also check out the in-depth coverage of Pinball Expo on Pinball News.

Categories: News

Pinball Magazine website and webshop now SSL secured

Editor

Posted on October 25, 2021

The Pinball Magazine website and webshop are now secured by SSL technology.

In the past there were certain issues to get both websites SSL-secured, but these have now been taken care off. So browsing the website and webshop is now even more secure than it already was.

Categories: News

American Pinball reveals Legends of Valhalla

Editor

Posted on October 23, 2021

American Pinball revealed Legends of Valhalla as their newest pinball title, available in two versions. The game has an original Viking-inspired theme. Read the official press release with additional info below.

CHICAGO, October 23, 2021 — American Pinball Inc. (API) adds their fourth game, Legends of Valhalla to their growing lineup of pinball machines for arcades, homes, and collectors.

American Pinball, Inc., makers of collector-quality pinball machines for the arcade and home markets including Houdini – Master of Mystery, Oktoberfest – Pinball on Tap, and Hot Wheels, is proud to manufacture Legends of Valhalla designed by Scott Gullicks for Riot Pinball, LLC. Scott Gullocks is a well-known pinball designer coming from the homebrew community. Several years ago he also designed a wide-body game called Wrath of Olympus.

Features

Challenge 16 unique battle modes where you can test your might against Viking Legends on your quest to Ragnarok, “The End of the World.”
Overcome the Kraken who will grab the ball via a hidden magnet beneath the playfield and throw it in unpredictable directions.
Prepare for War by building your army, and board your Viking ship to begin Multiball play.
Demonstrate proper Viking values to prove that you are worthy of Valhalla.
Prove that you are skilled enough to call upon the power of the Valkyries. They can assist you in your quest to defeat your enemies who stand in the way of reaching Valhalla.
Utilize the might of Thor’s Hammer by activating it via the third flipper button. The power of Thor comes crashing down like a lightning strike, by capturing the ball via a magnet over the top lanes, giving you more control and leading to higher scores.

Models

Legends of Valhalla is available in Classic and Deluxe Editions.

The Classic Edition includes black powder-coated rails, legs, backbox hinges, lockdown bar, over 100 RGB lights, interactive Thor’s Hammer, hundreds of callouts, 22 total game modes including various Multiball modes.
The Deluxe Edition is limited to 300 units and includes enhanced features such as a mirrored backglass, topper, upgraded powder coated side rails, backbox hinges, lockdown bar and legs, shaker motor, sculpted and hand-painted figures, and anti-glare “Magic” Playfield Glass.

Deluxe Editions are available to order now with an MSRP of $8,395. American Pinball will only be accepting orders for the Deluxe Edition at this time. Pricing for the Classic Edition will be announced at a later date. Classic Editions will ship after all 300 Deluxe Editions have shipped.

Games on Public Location:

American Pinball newest policy is to have games available for public play at the time of the reveal of the game. The following locations have Legends of Valhalla Deluxe Edition available to play now:

Enterrium, 2 Woodfield Mall Unit A, Schaumburg, IL 60173
Pinball Gallery, 81 Lancaster Ave, Malvern, PA 19355
Bang Back Pinball Lounge, 741 Saluda Ave, Columbia, SC 29205
Pocketeer Billiards, 2444 Clinton St, Buffalo, NY 14224
Jackbar, 143 Havemeyer St, Brooklyn, NY 11211

The following locations will have Legends of Valhalla Deluxe Edition available to play the week of October 25:

TILT Pinball Bar, 113 E 26th St #110, Minneapolis, MN 55404
Colorado Pinball Pub, 6209 S Santa Fe Dr, Littleton, CO 80120
Ayce Gogi Van Nuys, 7128 Van Nuys Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91405
Ayce Gogi West Hills, 6705 Fallbrook Ave, West Hills, CA 91307
Next Level Pinball Shop & Museum, 1458 NE 25th Ave, Hillsboro, OR 97124
CoinTaker, 1437 PA-61, Sunbury, PA 17801

Special Pinball Expo Announcement:

American Pinball will be hosting an Open House on Wednesday, October 27 from 10:00am until 4:00pm. Masks are required.

Click here for Legends of Valhalla photo gallery on American Pinball’s Facebook page.

Related Links:

https://www.riotpinball.com/

https://www.american-pinball.com/

https://www.facebook.com/americanpinball

https://www.instagram.com/americanpinball/

https://twitter.com/americanpinbal1

https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-pinball-inc

Categories: News

Stern Pinball reveals Godzilla Toho

Editor

Posted on September 14, 2021

Following a teaser video last week, Stern Pinball today officially revealed their new cornerstone title: Godzilla. The game is designed by Keith Elwin and his team, with art by Jeremy ‘Zombie Yeti’ Packer. Pictures of the game look very promising. Below is Stern’s official announcement of the game on Facebook.

Godzilla LE playfield

While the Facebook post above contains the generic press release info from Stern Pinball, Gary Stern also sent out a email to distributors, which can be read below.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen

Today, right now, we are announcing our next cornerstone game, Godzilla. It is our first game manufactured already equipped for Insider Connected™ with QR reader and dongle. (It can be played and operated without connectivity; QR reader cover up art is provided.) In the future, all Stern commercial LCD games, new titles and older titles, will be manufactured equipped for Insider Connected. Machines previously manufactured can be retrofitted with a connectivity kit. A new title with all games fully equipped for connectivity is the best way to introduce this new system, achieving the greatest early adoption and fastest success.

By now you should have seen videos and read articles describing the current and some future features and advantages of Insider Connected. I am going to concentrate on description of Godzilla.

We are maintaining our desired cadence and schedule — new cornerstone titles with Pro, Premium and Limited Edition versions in the beginning of the year, in the spring, and in the fall. In spite of severe supply chain difficulties facing manufacturers in all industries, we have significantly increased our production and are continuing to increase the rate even more.

Designer Keith Elwin has captured the essence of Toho Japan’s Godzilla, pulling from 10 of the earliest, campiest and most iconic of the 32 movies. Appearing first in 1954 and continuing today (3 movies in the last 5 years), Godzilla has been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is licensed not only for toys and games but also apparel, housewares, car gear and more, and now pinball.

The player is Godzilla, ridding the earth of Xiliens, trashing a few cities along the way. The game of course has a skyscraper, with virtual lock for one of the 6 multiballs, which range from 2 to 6 balls. It has an industry first “Magna Grab” magnetic Newton ball directing the ball from 5 different directions, often setting the ball up for the 3rd flipper; words can’t describe how this feature works and how cool it is, so you have to play it. Godzilla has a scoop to change cities, 3 spinning targets, great wire ramps, 13 RGB lights, and new return lane chase lights strobing as balls return to the flippers. It utilizes movie scenes and audio from 10 movies, the movie Godzilla music, Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla”, custom speech in English and Japanese, and subtitles. The Zombie Yeti art is fantastic.

Additions and changes for the Godzilla Premium/LE are substantial. The skyscraper is motorized to collapse down multiple levels, and 3 balls are locked on its roof by a vertical upkicking skyway ramp. A breakaway bridge ramp collapses to drop pinballs on the playfield. The Premium/LE models have another motorized device – a rotating 3 bank of targets that reveal a spinning target and jump ramp. There is a 2nd magnet in a sculpted Mechagodzilla to catch the ball. Godzilla itself is added as another sculpted toy. And more.

Godzilla is a great game by a great designer, and it introduces Insider Connected. In light thereof, and because of demand for the last few LE’s, we have decided to make 1,000 Limited Edition Godzilla, each with:

High gloss metallic silver Mechagodzilla armor and legs
Mirrored backglass
Reflective foil cabinet decals
Upgraded audio system
Shaker motor
Non-glare playfield glass
Certificate of authenticity signed by me
Designer autographed
Sequentially numbered (1 to 1,000) plate

We plan to reduce model changeovers in order to increase our production rate of Godzilla. Pro production starts in about a week. Of the USA Pros, we will first supply games through our distribution to commercial locations; we ask for information about these locations so that we can help market and attract players to see and try Godzilla. LE’s come during the last week of September and early October. The Premium production will start in October. We also will continue manufacturing many other games – all the commercial LCD games will contain the components needed for Insider Connected.

News reports confirm manufacturers in all industries are struggling with supply chain shortages resulting in higher parts costs (supply and demand elasticity). Our parts costs continue to increase, daily. Freight costs are way up, and often we must use high cost air freight. Because of worker shortages, to add needed factory staffing and increase our production rate, we have had to increase wage rates to the tune of nearly $100 a game.

We also have the added costs for the components of Insider Connected.

We have been saying for months that we could not hold prices indefinitely. We must raise Godzilla wholesale price $600 for Pro’s and $500 for Premium/LE. Because all the other LCD commercial games manufactured after we start Godzilla will contain the Insider Connected components, we must raise the wholesale price $200 for these games; that’s about the wholesale price of Insider Connected retrofit kits. (We will soon announce a 6 months discount price for the kits.) All commercial LCD games shipped after January 1, 2022 will increase to the Godzilla wholesale price. USA MDF and export discount will be $200 for all games; we are discontinuing the extra $75 export pro game discount. Similarly, after we start Godzilla, all The Pin games shipped will have a $300 wholesale price increase.

A new UMRP, MAP and MSRP list will be sent to USA customers shortly. On the list Godzilla will be increased more than the wholesale increase, as will the MSRP for other games.

We have had to raise wholesale prices on existing game orders in the past. We will accept you cancelling orders, should you so desire.

A full line of accessories will be available. We will provide you separately with dates for art blades, side armor, shooter rods and toppers.

…

Jack Danger will stream Godzilla Premium/LE with the game team live on Friday, September 17 at 6pm Chicago time at https://www.twitch.tv/deadflip.

Today is the beginning of a new era for pinball, as we introduce Insider Connected with a great Keith Elwin game and its very cool historic title, Godzilla.

Best regards,

Gary

Gary Stern
President
Stern Pinball, Inc.

Godzilla LE playfield, top view

As always, the Premium playfield is identical to the Limited Edition playfield, minus the inner sideblade art. For that reason the Premium playfield isn’t pictured here. The Pro playfield is somewhat stripped down, as can be seen below.

Godzilla Pro playfield

Godzilla Pro playfield, top view

An overview of all features, and applicable to which model, can be found below.

Categories: News

Chicago Gaming announces Cactus Canyon Remake

Editor

Posted on August 21, 2021

At the Southern Fried Gaming Expo, Chicago Gaming revealed their newest title will be Cactus Canyon Remake. The company was scheduled to host a seminar in which they would discuss the history of Churchill Cabinets and Chicago Gaming. Instead, they announced Cactus Canyon Remake (CCR). Originally the plan was to reveal the game at the show. Unfortunately, the game is not present at the event. The reason? Availability of the game is subject to licensor approval, which may take another four to six weeks. The good news: the game is already in production and over 850 playfields have been screened so far. Once the licensors have approved the game, it could be in customer’s hands within one to two weeks.

Ryan White of Chicago Gaming during the presentation at Southern Fried Gaming Expo (photo credit: Kaneda’s Pinball Podcast)

While the reveal of the game may have come as a surprise, the title has been rumored for years. Chicago Gaming is known for their remakes, of which the Limited Edtion model of a title unusally comes with an exclusive topper. Cactus Canyon Remake LE is no different with an interactive topper that’s actually a mini game. The game comes with new and improved finished game code. The original designers have been contacted to understand their original intent with the game, which software-wise was never finished. Chicago Gaming is launching a new operating system for all upcoming titles, of which CCR will be the first. CCR will have RGB general illumination, and an XLCD display.

The team that developed CCR consists of Sean Wilson – Project Manager, Jim Thornton – Project Manager, Sam Zehr – Programmer, Joe Schrober – Programmer. Thronton worked for American Pinball, but apparently left to start working for Chicago Gaming.

At the seminar it was also announced that Medieval Madness Remake will be back in production in 2023, that Chicago Gaming is aiming to get to two titles per year and they currently have five pinball projects in the works. The entire seminar van be watched here.

Ryan White, Chicago Gaming’s spokesperson will be a special guest on the upcoming Pinball Magazine & Pinball News PINcast, that will summarize the pinball industry news of August 2021.

Categories: News

NEWS: Pinball Magazine No. 2 back in stock, new shipping option, U.S. postal rates

Editor

Posted on January 13, 2020

Good news and more good news! First, the good news: Pinball Magazine No. 2 is back in stock! The other good news: the Pinball Magazine webshop now has a new shipping option available. Please read all about it below.

Pinball Magazine No. 2 back in stock
Pinball Magazine No. 2 sold out over two years ago. Since then, there has been a growing demand for a reprint. Thanks to several new advertisers, this reprint is now available in the Pinball Magazine webshop.

The cover story in Pinball Magazine No. 2 focuses on the career of pinball designer Dennis Nordman (White Water, Demolition Man, Blackwater 100, Pirates of the Caribbean, Wheel of Fortune, and more). Pinball artist Greg Freres joins Dennis on the games they worked on together (Elvira and the Party Monsters, Dr. Dude, The Party Zone, Scared Stiff, Whoa Nellie).

Did you know that Dennis Nordman designed several videogames in the ‘80s? That’s just one of the many topics discussed in this cover story. But there is a lot more. The cover story also has contributions from Steve Ritchie, Chris Granner, John Youssi, Doug Watson, Roger Sharpe, and others, all discussing working with Dennis at some point during his career in pinball.

Aside from the cover story, Pinball magazine No. 2 also has side articles on Pinball News, The Pinball Arcade, ColorDMD, Pinball Expo, Silverball Museum, and more.

In terms of content, most articles in Pinball Magazine No. 2 remained the same, although some typos were corrected. New advertisements were added to fund the printing of this reprint partly. As you may have noticed, the cover of the reissue has a different background color as well. Check out the feedback that came in on Pinball Magazine No. 2.

Bonus set of postcards
New with the reprint of issue two is a set of eight postcards with photos of games designed by Dennis Nordman. When Pinball Magazine No. 2 originally came out, no postcards came with the magazine as I started doing that later on with the publication of Santiago Ciuffo’s PINBALL book. Since then, a limited edition set of postcards also came out when Pinball Magazine No. 4 and 5 came out. In line with previous postcard sets, the photos on the new postcard set have also been taken by Argentinean photographer Santiago Ciuffo.

For those who ordered Pinball Magazine No. 2 the first time around and that are interested in the new set of postcards: extra sets of postcards can be ordered separately as well in the Pinball Magazine webshop. However, I would advise ordering such a set of cards together with another magazine or book. When ordering another magazine, the added postal costs for the postcards are almost non-existent. When ordering only a set of postcards, that’s not the case. For most territories, the postal charges are the sum of a fixed price per package plus a rate for the weight of the package. While the weight of a set of postcards will be less than 100 grams, for some territories, the fixed price per package is rather steep. Hence the suggestion to combine ordering the set with another book or magazine, or maybe even wait for Pinball Magazine No. 6. Issue 6 is supposed to come out later this year, although I can’t say when exactly.
Note: when ordering the reprint of Pinball Magazine No. 2, there is no need to add the postcards, as these will be included with the reprint anyway.

New shipping option in the Pinball Magazine webshop
When you’re placing your order in the Pinball Magazine webshop, and get to the part of estimating your postal costs, you’ll notice an extra shipping option has been added. For years I’ve been working with Deutsche Post, which is still an option to choose from. New is the option to choose for shipping with PostNL. PostNL offers different postal rates, which may be cheaper you’re your order is close to 2 or 5 kilograms (4 or 10 lbs).

PostNL may, in some cases, be more expensive than Deutsche Post, but it does have some advantages. Packages of over 2 kilograms are most likely to include track and trace. Packages shipped with PostNL are expected to ship out sooner as well, as these can be dropped off at the post office on any business day. With Deutsche Post, there is a minimum number of packages to ship. For that reason, shipments to Deutsche Post occur monthly. It’s now up to you to decide which postal service you prefer.

Note regarding future North American postal rates
While postal rates are adjusted at the beginning of each year, my account manager at Deutsche Post informed me last week that postal rates to the U.S. are expected to go up significantly around July 2020. It was explained to me as a political response to cheap postal rates from China being addressed. Postal rates from other countries are likely to be affected, as well. The exact details are yet unknown, but chances are it will be cheaper to order your Pinball Magazine products before the postal rates will be increased.

Categories: Pinball Magazine No. 2

Pinball Magazine wins TWIP award for Favorite Pinball Publication 2018

Editor

Posted on March 24, 2019

Pinball Magazine No. 5 was voted Favorite Pinball Publication of 2018 by visitors of This Week In Pinball. Editor Jonathan Joosten received a TWIPy Award for the publication at the Texas Pinball Festival 2019. Below, check out the videostream of the TWIPy Awards.

Bekijk The 2nd Annual TWIPY Pinball Awards van SDTMpinball op www.twitch.tv

Categories: News

Free downloadable supplement to Pinball Magazine No. 5

Editor

Posted on December 11, 2018

Here’s a FREE downloadable PDF supplement for Pinball Magazine No. 5. As you may know, the magazine focuses largely on Wayne Neyens’ career in pinball, during which he designed 180 pinball machines. John Osborne was hired by Wayne in the early ’70s which resulted in John designing several electromechanical and solid-state pinball machines for Gottlieb. In this interview John talks about how he got into pinball, getting hired, the games he designed, the prototype assemblies he designed and of course working with Wayne. Pinball Magazine No. 5 is packed with more interviews like this. Order your copy in the Pinball Magazine webshop. Download

Categories: News

Pinball Magazine No. 5 is here!

Editor

Posted on August 30, 2018

Today, the printed copies of Pinball Magazine No. 5 came in I’m really happy how this issue turned out in print. The magazine can now be ordered in the Pinball Magazine webshop.

Content listing:

With 360 glossy full-color pages our biggest issue ever (it’s definitely more like a book…)

Two specials: the most in-depth interview ever with living pinball legend Wayne Neyens and an article by Gordon Hasse on Wayne Neyens career in pinball. Wayne recently celebrated his 100^th birthday. He started in the pinball industry in 1937 at Western and started working at Gottlieb in 1939. In 1947 he started designing his first game and since then designed 180 games in total of which 159 made it into production. Each and every one of these, as well as several prototypes, are featured in the magazine. Former colleagues and pinball collectors also comment on working with Wayne, Gottlieb’s transition from EM to solid-state games, what makes Wayne’s games so special and more.
Scott Danesi discusses how he designed Spooky Pinball’s best-selling hit game Total Nuclear Annihilation. Besides designing the game, Scott also programmed all the rules, light shows and other code, and he produced all of the great music featured in the game.
Essential Website: Jack Danger discusses streaming pinball on his Dead_Flip channel.
Private Collection: Randy Peck’s incredible Nu-Pike Arcade.
Shop: Steve Young (The Pinball Resource) discusses his business and storing the Gottlieb archive.
(P)in Business: Doug Skor talks about Churchill Cabinets and Chicago Gaming.
(P)in Business: Gary Stern discusses Stern Pinball’s current business model, taking more time off, and more.
Pinball Personalities: Antoinette Johnson.
Upgrade: Michael Pupo (Flipper Fidelity) discusses upgrading the speakers in your pinball machine.
Museum: Terra Technica in Czech Republic.
and much more

Order your copy in the Pinball Magazine webshop. In case you’ll be attending the Vancouver Flipout show, please note a limited supply of Pinball magazine No. 5 will be available at the show in the Nitro Pinball stand.

Upcoming USA resellers:

Pinball Classics – Rob Anthony
The Pinball Resource – Steve Young

Reviews:

Pinball News
For Amusement Only podcast
Head 2 Head pinball podcast, starting at the 2:00:00 mark

Categories: News

New: 3 posters by Kevin O’Connor

Editor

Posted on February 1, 2018

New in the Pinball Magazine webshop: 3 posters with concept art by Kevin O’Connor. The three available posters are:

Backglass art for King Kong (Data East, only nine prototype games ever built),
Concept backglass art for Playboy (Data East) This magic marker sketch was made when the Playboy 35th Anniversary game was set to be themed around a Playboy photoshoot. Eventually the theme was changed to a pool party.
Concept backglass and cabinet sketches for Star Trek (Data East) The poster includes early magic marker scetches and the magic marker sketches that got approved.

Like all posters in the Pinball Magazine webshop they are priced at Euro 6.50, or any three posters for Euro 15.00. The posters are sized 50 x 70 cm. Note that all three posters have a white border all around the center image.

Categories: News

News from Pinball Magazine

Editor

Posted on September 26, 2017

As there are some developments going on, please find the latest news regarding Pinball Magazine below:

Starting with the October Newsletter, which will be the September 2017 pinball industry recap, the monthly Pinball Magazine Newsletter will mainly contain the headlines of each manufacturer. The monthly recap will be posted on the Pinball Magazine website, and the newsletter will contain links to that summary.
While the newsletters will be send out at the beginning of each month, the pinball industry update of that month will be published and updated already during that month. This way the latest headlines and summaries will be availble much sooner.
None other than pinball historian Gordon Hasse wrote a 62-page article on the career of Gottlieb pinball designer Wayne Neyens for Pinball Magazine No. 5. Pinball Magazine also has 180(!) pages of transcripts of conversations with Wayne Neyens. The current plan is to use the article by Gordon Hasse as the lead article, but anecdotes from Wayne will be added to be as complete as possible in covering this career.
Pinball Magazine will start taking advertisements for Pinball Magazine No. 5 soon. Potential advertisers will receive an email soon with all the details. If you haven’t received this email, but would like to advertise as well, please contact: editor @ pinball-magazine .com (no spaces).
Pinball Magazine editor Jonathan Joosten is scheduled to host a seminar at Pinball Expo, Friday, October 13, at 1:00 PM. In this seminar, the upcoming Pinball Magazine No. 5 and a second upcoming publication will be discussed.
The Pinball Magazine website has been updated in some sections. Some posts on the front page appear now as shorted version and have a “Read more” button added to them.
The September batch of Pinball Magazine orders shipped out September 26th.

Categories: News

The next batch of Pinball Magazine orders ships: first week of June 2018

Editor

Posted on September 25, 2017

Due to a minimum required quantity of packages Pinball Magazine ships its incoming orders (books, posters and magazines) in monthly batches. This also qualifies us for a more economical postal rate, which helps since it’s such a heavy magazine and it’s being shipped from The Netherlands (Europe). The next shipment is scheduled for the first week of June 2018. In case the minimum required number of orders is met prior to that, they will ship earlier. To order Pinball Magazine No. 1, Pinball Magazine No. 3, Pinball Magazine No. 4, Santiago Ciuffo’s PINBALL book a package deal of the magazines and book and/or PINBALL Posters (discounted when ordered 3, 6, 9 etc.) please visit the Pinball Magazine webshop.

Categories: News

Feedback to Pinball Magazine No. 4

Editor

Posted on January 5, 2017

Below is a selection of feedback that came in once Pinball Magazine No. 4 started arriving at the homes of those that ordered a copy:

“It’s great!” – Mark Ritchie
“@PinballMagazine Your magazine is a work of art married to a plethora of useful and interesting information- great job! #TakingItHomeToRead” – Jack Guarnieri (JJP)
“Thank you for sending a copy of No. 4. It will be a fun read. Actually, I did read my interview first! I thought it was very smart and professional, the choice of images and their placement throughout the article, to complement the different things that I said, to provide a visual aid to those who may not be familiar with the games that I referenced. Very nice.” – Jay Stafford, IPDB
The magazine arrived just today. Now, the likely reason this issue took as long as it did to arrive is because it apparently was dropped during unloading upon reaching New York’s air cargo terminal and was simply kicked around and run over several times, before someone realized it was a bit too heavy to sweep into their dustpan and then was forced to actually reach down and pick it up off the tarmac.As luck would have it (and as a testiment to your fantabulous packaging skill) the much anticipated, highly regarded and obviously incredibly valued contents inside remained nearly perfectly unharmed. Bravo! And bravo on another wonderful issue chock full of great content – sure to provide many hours of brain stuffing, eye glazing reading. Many thanks as always!” Cliffy (Passion for Pinball)
“The magazine came in today’s mail Jonathan… looks great and can’t wait to read all about Taro! Thanks for being a force for good in pinball. Hope to see you in Texas sir! Take some time off over the holidays and play some pinball.” – Charlie Emery (Spooky Pinball)
“Bonjour Jonathan, I received your magazine yesterday. I spent at least 15 minutes just to browse it, looking at the titles and pictures. It’s just AWESOME and the postcards are a nice add-on, especially during this upcoming Xmas period. Hence the reason why I did not ask if you were doing fine, because I had no doubt about it ;)” – Pascal Janin, FLIPPP

Categories: News

New Euro / Dollar and Paypal policy

Editor

Posted on January 1, 2017

Effective January 1st, 2017 Pinball Magazine will invoice orders for advertisements and bulk orders for magazines and book only in Euro. This means the invoices should be paid in Euro as well. When paid via PayPal the costs for such transaction (currency exchange and costs Paypal applies for transferring money) should be at the expense of the paying party. The easiest way to handle this is to indicate the transfer is a gift. Alternative payment options are a bank transfer, or transferring money via Transferwise.com.

Categories: News

Pinball Magazine No.4 is here!

Editor

Posted on November 16, 2016

Pinball Magazine No. 4 is here! With 244 pages Pinball Magazine No.4 is another book and has a great variety of articles to enjoy. Here’s what you can expect:

Special: pinball designer Mark Ritchie discusses his entire career at Williams Pinball, Capcom and beyond, in a 100+ page cover story including game designs such as Thunderball, Firepower II, Sorcerer, Big Guns, Taxi, Fish Tales, Indiana Jones, Kingpin and more. Contribution by others about Mark Ritchie include Eugene Jarvis, George Petro, Steve Ritchie, Chris Granner and others, all revealing great insights in working with Mark Ritchie.
Dutch Pinball owners Barry Driessen and Jaap Nauta discuss the making of The Big Lebowski in a 17-page interview.
Pinball animation artist Jean-Paul de Win discusses his work for Jersey Jack Pinball (The Hobbit, Dialed In!), Dutch Pinball (The Big Lebowski), Silver Castle Pinball (Timeshock) and more.
Showtime: Ed vanderVeen discusses the very successful Texas Pinball Festival.
Dan Ferguson discusses the Lone Star Pinball Museum in Hockley, Texas.
Jeff Frick discusses collecting prewar pinball machines.
A triple interview on Dallas makerspace’s VECTOR Committee where some great pinball restorations take place.
Essential Website: the Internet Pinball Database, interview with manager Jay Stafford
Store: Pinball Universe‘s new approach to bringing pinball to the people
Artist Lippy discusses the first issue of Binge Trigger
and much more

To order your copy of Pinball Magazine No.4 visit the Pinball Magazine webshop.

Categories: News

Feedback on Pinball Magazine No. 3

Editor

Posted on October 20, 2015

Below is a selection of reviews and feedback received on Pinball Magazine No. 3.

Reviews:

Pavlov Pinball
Coast2Coast Pinball Podcast Episode 201 (Pinball Magazine comments start at 48:30)
Pinballsupernova
Three sides of the coin (KISS podcast) Episode 156, 04:40 – 11:30 (see brief transcript below)

Michael: “If you’re a KISS colloctor, a KISS magazine collector, if you own a KISS pinball machine – the original or the new one – you want this.”
Tommy: “It’s amazing!”
Michael: “About one third of this magazine is devoted to KISS pinball stuff. There’s a ton of photos of behind the scenes stuff. This is just so freaking cool and well done.”
Tommy: “When I started going through this I was like, here’s another article, here’s another photo, it’s just boom-boom-boom-boom thoughout the whole thing.”
Michael: “By all means: get it! …. This is qlearly in-depth. … I would guess the people behind this are KISS fans.”
Tommy: “It’s too cool not to be.”
Michael: “The quality and the depth they put into this is not done by someone who is assigned a project to write a story about KISS. … I feel like this was written by somebody who understands KISS.”

Categories: News

Pinball Magazine No. 3 is here!

Editor

Posted on October 5, 2015

Pinball Magazine No. 3 is here! With 260 pages even bigger than Pinball Magazine No. 2!

Pinball Magazine No. 3 contents:

260 glossy full color pages (it’s more like a book…)
Almost everything there is to know about KISS-themed pinball machines (total KISS-related content is about 88 pages out of 260 pages)
Former pinball designer Jim Patla discusses his entire career at Bally Pinball, including lots of new details on his 1979 KISS pinball design as well as other games
Former Bally Marketing and Licensing Director Tom Nieman talks about his years at Bally, inventing the licensing model, lots of details on Bally’s KISS marketing campaigns and much more
Pinball artist Kevin O’Connor discusses his years and games at Bally, including the artwork he did for KISS and lots more. This article features unique sketches and artwork!
Stern’s Director of Marketing and Licencing Jody Dankberg discusses their current KISS game
Stern Pinball designer John Borg discusses his new KISS design
9-page pinball review of Stern’s KISS by Pinball News
2 Bally KISS restoration features
Very rare painting of Gene Simmons from 1982 by a well-known pinball artist
Barenaked Ladies leadsinger Ed Robertson talks about his pinball passion
The French Connection: four articles on French manufacturers of replacement printed circuit boards that will enhance your game
Showtime: Festi’Flip, Europe’s biggest pinball show
Museum: Freddy’s Pinball Paradise, location to play and game distributor
Plus articles on Jersey Jack Pinball (USA), Project Pinball Charity (USA), Pinball Creative (U.K.), Pinball Dreams (Germany), Pavlov Pinball (U.K.), Who’s Working On What?, Show Diary,and lots more

Pinball Magazine No. 3 can be ordered in the Pinball Magazine web shop

Categories: News

Reviews + Feedback gallery for Santiago Ciuffo’s PINBALL book

Editor

Posted on May 7, 2014

REVIEWS:

Review by Pinball News
Review by Pavlov Pinball (interesting new website, just launched, do check it out!)
Review by Don Fregede on PinballArcadeFans
Review by Credit Dot Pinball (interesting new website, check it out!)
Review by Pinball Aficionado (interesting blog, recommended!)
Review by Gene X on PinballSoul

FEEDBACK:

“We received a book today. Younger son Nate (4) could not hide his excitement. He recognized couple of pinball machines from our small collection and happily took a picture with a new book. Thanks Pinball Magazine and Santiago for bringing pins back to life and promoting them to the young generations.” – Teo

Click READ MORE below for more feedback >>>

Categories: News

Book: ‘PINBALL’ – Santiago Ciuffo now available

Editor

Posted on May 1, 2014

As mentioned earlier Pinball Magazine got the rights to publish the international edition of PINBALL, a beautiful photo book by Argentinean photographer Santiago Ciuffo. The book (hard cover, 208 pages, 11.3 inch x 8.7 inch) is now available and can be ordered in the Pinball Magazine webshop.

To get an idea of the photos in the book, see the pictures below:

Categories: News

Pinball Magazine & Pinball News November 2021 PINcast

Editor

Posted on December 2, 2021

A new month means a brand new Pinball Industry News PINcast from Jonathan Joosten of Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub of Pinball News, covering the events throughout November in the amazing world of pinball.

They bring you all the latest news from a dozen pinball companies around the globe, including a new kit for Funhouse to give Rudy nightmares, a new edition of the Cactus Canyon remake and a Chinese mini-pinball which is a whole new ball game.

Plus, there’s news from the big pinball shows, staffing changes and new jobs opportunities in the industry, the latest details of upcoming titles, extra game features in the newest software updates, a new pinball publication, multiple seminars to watch, and Martin’s exhausting travels across the USA in an attempt to visit three pinball shows in just one week.

Lots of pinball happened in November. Make sure you don’t miss any of it.

Categories: News

Free Pinball Magazine downloads

NEW: Pinball posters by Santiago Ciuffo (now available)

Book: ‘PINBALL’ – Santiago Ciuffo now available

The latest pinball news and rumors: Who’s working on what?

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