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Pinball News and Pinball Magazine Podcast
Pinball News and Pinball Magazine Podcast
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Pinball Magazine & Pinball News PINcast April 2024 recap

PodcastAnalysis updated 6d ago1 hr 27 min listenBy Martin Ayub, Jonathan Joosten
From the creator

As we start the month of May it’s time to join Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News for their look back at all the excitement from the pinball industry...

Listen on Pinball News and Pinball Magazine Podcast

Highlights

  • Pinball Brothers ABBA was originally scheduled to launch April 6, 2024, but details leaked two days early in haphazard fashion
  • ABBA game exists in two editions: Arrival (500 units) and Voyage (300 units), limited runs with different artwork but identical gameplay and playfield
  • HomePin Blues Brothers is licensed to the SNL characters, not the movie; ownership is split among four parties making movie license extremely difficult
  • HomePin Blues Brothers will be open-source, Arduino-based, with moderation-approved community code modifications and custom music/sound support
  • Blues Brothers price target is under $5,000, using simple playfield design inspired by 1970s-80s Stern Electronics era with minimal ramps and toys
  • ABBA prototype had mechanical issues including helicopter ball lock dropping unexpectedly and weak auto-launch on steep wire ramp
  • Martin Eb had advance knowledge of Blues Brothers license ~7-8 months before April 2024 announcement and kept it confidential
  • Community reception to HomePin Blues Brothers was negative due to Homepin's past track record with Thunderbirds and Spinal Tap licensing and concerns about Taiwan manufacture of Chicago-themed property
  • ABBA game rules and code incomplete at launch event; scoop function on left had no rules, not all songs included in prototype
  • ABBA music videos were originally filmed in 4:3 aspect ratio but are displayed on 6:9 screen using creative cover-flow effect to fill space

Notable quotes

“if you're aiming for the average ABBA fan, it doesn't have to be – the average ABBA fan is not a pinball wizard that knows everything about deep rules and all that...far more ABBA fans than pinball wizards out there”
Martin Eb
“the intellectual property of the movie is owned by four different parties who don't seem to get along very well. So it's easier to license the logo and the likeness of the two characters”
Martin Eb
“the first open source pinball machine ever which will allow customers who buy the machine or people who have access to a machine to modify the code, have it approved through a home print moderated forum and basically change the rules of the game”
Martin Eb
“it all kind of just rolled out at its own pace after that. the old launch schedule was kind of abandoned”
Jonathan Euston
“I have no idea whether he even looks at them or takes them seriously...I just want them to get the best ABBA game out there”
Martin Eb
“I think the bar has been raised since Pulp Fiction came out, and there are now certain expectations for the assets”
Jonathan Euston
“I had no idea it was going to be a scoop but I've known about this for I think at least seven eight months already”
Martin Eb
“Why exhibit it? But apparently that's what Mike Kalinowski wanted to do”
Martin Eb

Entities

  • HomePin· company
  • Pinball Brothers· company
  • Stern Electronics· company
  • Clarion Hotel Örebro· event
  • Taipei Arcade Expo· event
  • ABBA (game)· game
  • Blues Brothers (HomePin)· game
  • Pulp Fiction (Stern)· game
  • Pinball Magazine· organization
  • Pinball News· organization
  • Daniel Jensen· person
  • Jonathan Euston· person
  • Ludwig Andersen· person
  • Martin Eb· person
  • Mike Kalinowski· person
  • Roger· person

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